Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have long been postulated as constituents of the interstellar gas and circumstellar disks. Observational infrared emission spectra have been plausibly ...interpreted in support of this hypothesis, but the small (or zero) dipole moments of planar, unsubstituted PAHs preclude their definitive radio astronomical identification. Polar PAHs, such as corannulene, thus represent important targets for radio astronomy because they offer the possibilities of confirming the existence of PAHs in space and revealing new insight into the chemistry of the interstellar medium. Toward this objective, the high-resolution rotational spectrum of corannulene has been obtained by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy, and the dipole moment (2.07 D) of this exceptionally polar PAH has been measured by exploiting the Stark effect.
There is increasing interest in the potential contribution of the gut microbiome to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous studies have been underpowered and have not been designed to ...address potential confounding factors in a comprehensive way. We performed a large autism stool metagenomics study (n = 247) based on participants from the Australian Autism Biobank and the Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain project. We found negligible direct associations between ASD diagnosis and the gut microbiome. Instead, our data support a model whereby ASD-related restricted interests are associated with less-diverse diet, and in turn reduced microbial taxonomic diversity and looser stool consistency. In contrast to ASD diagnosis, our dataset was well powered to detect microbiome associations with traits such as age, dietary intake, and stool consistency. Overall, microbiome differences in ASD may reflect dietary preferences that relate to diagnostic features, and we caution against claims that the microbiome has a driving role in ASD.
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•Limited autism-microbiome associations from stool metagenomics of n = 247 children•Romboutsia timonensis was the only taxa associated with autism diagnosis•Autistic traits such as restricted interests are associated with less-diverse diet•Less-diverse diet, in turn, is associated with lower microbiome alpha-diversity
Large autism stool metagenomics study finds limited direct autism associations, in contrast to strong relationships with dietary traits, stool consistency, and age, suggestive of a model whereby genetic and phenotypic measures of the autism spectrum promote a less-diverse diet that reduces microbiome diversity.
This study used Lactobacillus casei 334e, an erythromycin-resistant derivative of ATCC 334, as a model to evaluate viability and acid resistance of probiotic L. casei in low-fat Cheddar cheese and ...yogurt. Cheese and yogurt were made by standard methods and the probiotic L. casei adjunct was added at approximately 10⁷ CFU/g with the starter cultures. Low-fat cheese and yogurt samples were stored at 8 and 2 °C, respectively, and numbers of the L. casei adjunct were periodically determined by plating on MRS agar that contained 5 μg/mL of erythromycin. L. casei 334e counts in cheese and yogurt remained at 10⁷ CFU/g over 3 mo and 3 wk, respectively, indicating good survival in both products. Acid challenge studies in 8.7 mM phosphoric acid (pH 2) at 37 °C showed numbers of L. casei 334e in yogurt dropped from 10⁷ CFU/g to less than 10¹ CFU/g after 30 min, while counts in cheese samples dropped from 10⁷ CFU/g to about 10⁵ after 30 min, and remained near 10⁴ CFU/g after 120 min. As a whole, these data showed that low-fat Cheddar cheese is a viable delivery food for probiotic L. casei because it allowed for good survival during storage and helped protect cells against the very low pH that will be encountered during stomach transit.
Lupus nephritis is a potentially fatal autoimmune disease for which the current treatment is ineffective and often toxic. To develop mechanistic hypotheses of disease, we analyzed kidney samples from ...patients with lupus nephritis and from healthy control subjects using single-cell RNA sequencing. Our analysis revealed 21 subsets of leukocytes active in disease, including multiple populations of myeloid cells, T cells, natural killer cells and B cells that demonstrated both pro-inflammatory responses and inflammation-resolving responses. We found evidence of local activation of B cells correlated with an age-associated B-cell signature and evidence of progressive stages of monocyte differentiation within the kidney. A clear interferon response was observed in most cells. Two chemokine receptors, CXCR4 and CX3CR1, were broadly expressed, implying a potentially central role in cell trafficking. Gene expression of immune cells in urine and kidney was highly correlated, which would suggest that urine might serve as a surrogate for kidney biopsies.
Background
Readmission rates after pneumonia, heart failure, and acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations are risk-adjusted for age, gender, and medical comorbidities and used to penalize ...hospitals.
Objective
To assess the impact of disability and social determinants of health on condition-specific readmissions beyond current risk adjustment.
Design, Setting, and Participants
Retrospective cohort study of Medicare patients using 1) linked Health and Retirement Study-Medicare claims data (HRS-CMS) and 2) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases (Florida, Washington) linked with ZIP Code-level measures from the Census American Community Survey (ACS-HCUP). Multilevel logistic regression models assessed the impact of disability and selected social determinants of health on readmission beyond current risk adjustment.
Main Measures
Outcomes measured were readmissions ≤30 days after hospitalizations for pneumonia, heart failure, or acute myocardial infarction. HRS-CMS models included disability measures (activities of daily living ADL limitations, cognitive impairment, nursing home residence, home healthcare use) and social determinants of health (spouse, children, wealth, Medicaid, race). ACS-HCUP model measures were ZIP Code-percentage of residents ≥65 years of age with ADL difficulty, spouse, income, Medicaid, and patient-level and hospital-level race.
Key Results
For pneumonia, ≥3 ADL difficulties (OR 1.61, CI 1.079–2.391) and prior home healthcare needs (OR 1.68, CI 1.204–2.355) increased readmission in HRS-CMS models (N = 1631); ADL difficulties (OR 1.20, CI 1.063–1.352) and ‘other’ race (OR 1.14, CI 1.001–1.301) increased readmission in ACS-HCUP models (N = 27,297). For heart failure, children (OR 0.66, CI 0.437–0.984) and wealth (OR 0.53, CI 0.349–0.787) lowered readmission in HRS-CMS models (N = 2068), while black (OR 1.17, CI 1.056–1.292) and ‘other’ race (OR 1.14, CI 1.036-1.260) increased readmission in ACS-HCUP models (N = 37,612). For acute myocardial infarction, nursing home status (OR 4.04, CI 1.212–13.440) increased readmission in HRS-CMS models (N = 833); ‘other’ patient-level race (OR 1.18, CI 1.012–1.385) and hospital-level race (OR 1.06, CI 1.001–1.125) increased readmission in ACS-HCUP models (N = 17,496).
Conclusions
Disability and social determinants of health influence readmission risk when added to the current Medicare risk adjustment models, but the effect varies by condition.
Abstract
Strong evidence demonstrates a significant association between cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). For this reason, interest in understanding the underlying ...vascular pathologies that contribute to AD remain. CAA research has primarily focused on arterioles and capillaries, overlooking the draining venules. Therefore, this study sought to examine venular amyloid pathology and its relationship to arteriolar amyloidosis throughout AD progression in the TgF344-AD rat model. Antibodies targeting the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) sequence suggest morphological differences between arteriolar and venular amyloid. Mass spectrometric analyses of isolated cortical parenchymal plaques, arteriolar and venular amyloid demonstrated presence of Aβ in all three samples, as well as proteins known to be associated with AD. Histopathological analysis indicates a significant age effect for both arteriolar and venular amyloid accumulation, with accumulation initiated in the somatosensory cortex followed by the motor and cingulate cortex. Lastly, significant arteriolar amyloid accumulates relative to venular amyloid deposition in AD progression. Overall, understanding venular and arteriolar amyloid pathology provides insight into the complex connection between CAA and AD.
This paper describes MUSTANG 2, a 338 element focal plane array that is being built for the Green Bank Telescope. Each element consists of a profiled feedhorn coupled to two transition edge sensor ...bolometers, one for each polarization. Initial deployment will be with 32 detectors, but once fully populated, MUSTANG 2 will be capable of mapping a
8
′
×
8
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area to
23
μ
Jy in 1 h with good image fidelity on angular scales from
9
′
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to
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. As well as an instrument overview, the choice of bandpass and the design of the feeds, detectors and readout are given.
Neurofibromatosis 1 is a hereditary syndrome characterized by the development of numerous benign neurofibromas, a small subset of which progress to malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). ...To better understand the genetic basis for MPNSTs, we performed genome-wide or targeted sequencing on 50 cases. Sixteen MPNSTs but none of the neurofibromas tested were found to have somatic mutations in SUZ12, implicating it as having a central role in malignant transformation.
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