Self-titration by experienced e-cigarette users: blood nicotine delivery and subjective effects (Study Data)

This is a UK laboratory study of twelve experienced e-cigarette users (11 males; 1 female; note the female participant’s data was removed from all analyses in the published paper) to understand the effects of e-liquid nicotine concentration on puffing patterns, plasma nicotine levels and subjective effects. All participants completed two vaping sessions under low (6 mg/mL) and high (24 mg/mL) nicotine e-liquid concentrations in two separate (counterbalanced) sessions at the University of East London (UEL). The data include puffing patterns (puff number, puff duration, volume of e-liquid consumed), plasma nicotine levels, craving and withdrawal symptoms after 10, 30 and 60 minutes of ad libitum vaping and self-reported positive and negative effects at 60 minutes

Deconvolution of conformational exchange from Raman spectra of aqueous RNA nucleosides

Ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are key to the central dogma of molecular biology. While Raman spectroscopy holds great potential for studying RNA conformational dynamics, current computational Raman prediction and assignment methods are limited in terms of system size and inclusion of conformational exchange. Here, a framework is presented that predicts Raman spectra using mixtures of sub-spectra corresponding to major conformers calculated using classical and ab initio molecular dynamics. Experimental optimization allowed purines and pyrimidines to be characterized as predominantly syn and anti, respectively, and ribose into exchange between equivalent south and north populations. These measurements are in excellent agreement with Raman spectroscopy of ribonucleosides, and previous experimental and computational results. This framework provides a measure of ribonucleoside solution populations and conformational exchange in RNA subunits. It complements other experimental techniques and could be extended to other molecules, such as proteins and carbohydrates, enabling biological insights and providing a new analytical tool

Coexpression analysis of large cancer datasets provides insight into the cellular phenotypes of the tumour microenvironment

Background: Biopsies taken from individual tumours exhibit extensive differences in their cellular composition due to the inherent heterogeneity of cancers and vagaries of sample collection. As a result genes expressed in specific cell types, or associated with certain biological processes are detected at widely variable levels across samples in transcriptomic analyses. This heterogeneity also means that the level of expression of genes expressed specifically in a given cell type or process, will vary in line with the number of those cells within samples or activity of the pathway, and will therefore be correlated in their expression.Results: Using a novel 3D network-based approach we have analysed six large human cancer microarray datasets derived from more than 1,000 individuals. Based upon this analysis, and without needing to isolate the individual cells, we have defined a broad spectrum of cell-type and pathway-specific gene signatures present in cancer expression data which were also found to be largely conserved in a number of independent datasets.Conclusions: The conserved signature of the tumour-associated macrophage is shown to be largely-independent of tumour cell type. All stromal cell signatures have some degree of correlation with each other, since they must all be inversely correlated with the tumour component. However, viewed in the context of established tumours, the interactions between stromal components appear to be multifactorial given the level of one component e.g. vasculature, does not correlate tightly with another, such as the macrophage

An evaluation of enteral nutrition practices and nutritional provision in children during the entire length of stay in critical care

<b>Background</b> Provision of optimal nutrition in children in critical care is often challenging. This study evaluated exclusive enteral nutrition (EN) provision practices and explored predictors of energy intake and delay of EN advancement in critically ill children.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> Data on intake and EN practices were collected on a daily basis and compared against predefined targets and dietary reference values in a paediatric intensive care unit. Factors associated with intake and advancement of EN were explored.<p></p> <b>Results</b> Data were collected from 130 patients and 887 nutritional support days (NSDs). Delay to initiate EN was longer in patients from both the General Surgical and congenital heart defect (CHD) Surgical groups [Median (IQR); CHD Surgical group: 20.3 (16.4) vs General Surgical group: 11.4 (53.5) vs Medical group: 6.5 (10.9) hours; p <= 0.001]. Daily fasting time per patient was significantly longer in patients from the General Surgical and CHD Surgical groups than those from the Medical group [% of 24 h, Median (IQR); CHD Surgical group: 24.0 (29.2) vs General Surgical group: 41.7 (66.7) vs Medical group: 9.4 (21.9); p <= 0.001]. A lower proportion of fluids was delivered as EN per patient (45% vs 73%) or per NSD (56% vs 73%) in those from the CHD Surgical group compared with those with medical conditions. Protein and energy requirements were achieved in 38% and 33% of the NSDs. In a substantial proportion of NSDs, minimum micronutrient recommendations were not met particularly in those patients from the CHD Surgical group. A higher delivery of fluid requirements (p < 0.05) and a greater proportion of these delivered as EN (p < 0.001) were associated with median energy intake during stay and delay of EN advancement. Fasting (31%), fluid restriction (39%) for clinical reasons, procedures requiring feed cessation and establishing EN (22%) were the most common reasons why target energy requirements were not met.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b> Provision of optimal EN support remains challenging and varies during hospitalisation and among patients. Delivery of EN should be prioritized over other "non-nutritional" fluids whenever this is possible.<p></p&gt

Genetic Diversity of PCR-Positive, Culture-Negative and Culture-Positive Mycobacterium ulcerans Isolated from Buruli Ulcer Patients in Ghana.

Culture of Mycobacterium ulcerans from Buruli ulcer patients has very low sensitivity. Thus confirmation of M. ulcerans infection is primarily based on PCR directed against IS2404. In this study we compare the genotypes obtained by variable number of tandem repeat analysis of DNA from IS2404-PCR positive cultures with that obtained from IS2404 positive, culture-negative tissue. A significantly greater genetic heterogeneity was found among culture-negative samples compared with that found in cultured strains but a single genotype is over-represented in both sample sets. This study provides evidence that both the focal location of bacteria in a lesion as well as differences in the ability to culture a particular genotype may underlie the low sensitivity of culture. Though preliminary, data from this work also suggests that mycobacteria previously associated with fish disease (M. pseudoshottsii) may be pathogenic for humans

Cotinine-assessed second-hand smoke exposure and risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults

Objectives: To examine whether second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure measured by serum cotinine is associated with increased coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke risk among contemporary older British adults. Design: Prospective population-based study with self-reported medical history and health behaviours. Fasting blood samples were analysed for serum cotinine and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk markers. Setting: Primary care centres in 25 British towns in 1998–2001. Patients: 8512 60–79-year-old men and women selected from primary care registers. Main outcome measures: Fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI; n=445) and stroke (n=386) during median 7.8-year follow-up. Main exposure: Observational study of serum cotinine assayed from fasting blood sample using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method, and self-reported smoking history. Results: Among 5374 non-smokers without pre-existing CVD, geometric mean cotinine was 0.15 ng/ml (IQR 0.05–0.30). Compared with non-smokers with cotinine ≤0.05 ng/ml, higher cotinine levels (0.06–0.19, 0.2–0.7 and 0.71–15.0 ng/ml) showed little association with MI; adjusted HRs were 0.92 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.35), 1.07 (0.73 to 1.55) and 1.09 (0.69 to 1.72), p(trend)=0.69. Equivalent HRs for stroke were 0.82 (0.55 to 1.23), 0.74 (0.48 to 1.13) and 0.69 (0.41 to 1.17), p(trend)=0.065. The adjustment for sociodemographic, behavioural and CVD risk factors had little effect on the results. The HR of MI for smokers (1–9 cigarettes/day) compared with non-smokers with cotinine ≤0.05 ng/ml was 2.14 (1.39 to 3.52) and 1.03 (0.52 to 2.04) for stroke. Conclusions: In contemporary older men and women, SHS exposure (predominantly at low levels) was not related to CHD or stroke risks, but we cannot rule out the possibility of modest effects at higher exposure levels

Adaptation of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) in Spanish

The impact of social networks on people's daily lives is worrisome, particularly in adolescents and young people, who seem to exceed the limits of normal use. Constant excessive use can lead to pathological behaviors linked to social media addiction (SMA). Our objectives were to 1) adapt the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) to Spanish and 2) evaluate its psychometric properties in a young population. The BSMAS was adapted to Spanish, involving experts on social media addiction and people from the target population during the adaptation process. For the psychometric evaluation, 650 Peruvian college students responded to the Spanish version (53.5 % women aged 18 to 40, M = 21.5 SD = 2.7). The one-dimensional measurement model proposed for the original BSMAS was confirmed for our version (X2(9) = 23.9315, CFI = 0.994, TLI = 0.990, SRMR = 0.032, RMSEA = 0.061). The reliability was good (α = 0.863; 95 % CI: 0.848–0.870; ω = 0.864; 95 % CI: 0.846–0.844), and the measurement invariance was confirmed for sex and age by fitting models. The concurrent validity with external social media addiction and mental health indicators was also confirmed. This study provides new and relevant information on the BSMAS validity and allows its application to Spanish-speaker college students from Peru and similar countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio