Risk Assessment of Ocular Hypertension and the Use of Medication

Ocular hypertension (OHT) is the only known modifiable risk factor of glaucoma development. Intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering therapy reduces the risk of glaucoma development. The 5-year risk of glaucoma conversion is <10% for untreated OHT patients. Cost-effectiveness analyses suggested that it is not cost-effective to treat all patients with OHT. Treatment should be targeted towards the higher-risk group—namely, patients with older age, a higher level of IOP, a thinner central corneal thickness (CCT), a larger vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR) and a smaller pattern standard deviation (PSD) value on visual field (VF) test. These risk factors were established by the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) and the European Glaucoma Prevention Study (EGPS). However, there is significant variability in the measurement of the currently known risk factors, especially if the assessment is taken from a longitudinal perspective. This can lead to overtreatment or under-treatment: the former exposing the patient to unnecessary side effects of IOP-lowering eye drops and the latter putting the patient at risk of developing glaucoma. The advancement of new VF algorithm and ocular imaging can lead to the identification of new approaches to risk stratification and, thus, more specific treatment for OHT patients

Dear Incoming Graduate Student Colleague

2020. “Dear Incoming Graduate Student Colleague.” In Diversity, Decolonialization, and the German Curriculum, edited by Regine Criser and Ervin Malakaj. Palgrave, 309–326

The derived category of surface algebras: the case of the torus with one boundary component

In this paper we refine the main result of a previous paper of the author with Grimeland on derived invariants of surface algebras. We restrict to the case where the surface is a torus with one boundary component and give an easily computable derived invariant for such surface algebras. This result permits to give answers to open questions on gentle algebras: it provides examples of gentle algebras with the same AG-invariant (in the sense of Avella-Alaminos and Geiss) that are not derived equivalent and gives a partial positive answer to a conjecture due to Bobi\'nski and Malicki on gentle $2$-cycles algebras.Comment: 22 pages, a mistake concerning the computation of the mapping class group has been fixed, version 3: 25 pages, to appear in Algebras and Representation Theor

Longitudinal Evaluation of Pediatric Residency Didactics Transition from Noon Conference to an Academic Half Day

BACKGROUND: In 2009, the UNM Pediatric Residency transitioned program didactics from noon conference to an academic half day. Immediate evaluation of resident and faculty satisfaction, resident attendance, board exam pass rate and In-Training-Exam (ITE) scores showed improvements with this change. OBJECTIVE: Investigate the longitudinal impact of the academic half day at UNM on resident and faculty satisfaction, resident attendance and clinical knowledge in the form of standardized exam results. METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, surveys regarding satisfaction were conducted of current pediatric residents (n=32) and faculty (n=32) at UNM. To assess clinical knowledge, quantitative measures such as senior resident ITE scores and pediatric board exam pass rate will be evaluated. Finally, focus groups were conducted with pediatric residents and faculty separately to evaluate concepts related to resident autonomy, competence and engagement with the academic half day. RESULTS: Preliminary review of survey data shows 88% and 63% overall satisfaction with the academic half day format from residents and faculty respectively, consistent with 2012 study results. Similar to prior, residents feel that the academic half day does not interfere with clinical education (97%) or patient care duties (83%). Pediatric Board exam pass rate from 2015-2017 is 65% which is similar to pass rates prior to the academic half day. Senior resident ITE scores and resident attendance rates are currently being compiled. Initial review of focus groups shows preference for academic half day in relation to decreasing interruptions to patient care and increase in resident autonomy in clinical areas. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data shows sustained overall satisfaction amongst residents and faculty. Board exam pass rates are unchanged, focus groups have identified further areas of intervention including increased resident engagement in didactics

Genome maps across 26 human populations reveal population-specific patterns of structural variation.

Large structural variants (SVs) in the human genome are difficult to detect and study by conventional sequencing technologies. With long-range genome analysis platforms, such as optical mapping, one can identify large SVs (&gt;2 kb) across the genome in one experiment. Analyzing optical genome maps of 154 individuals from the 26 populations sequenced in the 1000 Genomes Project, we find that phylogenetic population patterns of large SVs are similar to those of single nucleotide variations in 86% of the human genome, while ~2% of the genome has high structural complexity. We are able to characterize SVs in many intractable regions of the genome, including segmental duplications and subtelomeric, pericentromeric, and acrocentric areas. In addition, we discover ~60 Mb of non-redundant genome content missing in the reference genome sequence assembly. Our results highlight the need for a comprehensive set of alternate haplotypes from different populations to represent SV patterns in the genome

Enhanced ex vivo expansion of adult mesenchymal stem cells by fetal mesenchymal stem cell ECM

Large-scale expansion of highly functional adult human mesenchymal stem cells (aMSCs) remains technologically challenging as aMSCs lose self renewal capacity and multipotency during traditional long-term culture and their quality/quantity declines with donor age and disease. Identification of culture conditions enabling prolonged expansion and rejuvenation would have dramatic impact in regenerative medicine. aMSC-derived decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) has been shown to provide such microenvironment which promotes MSC self renewal and “stemness”. Since previous studies have demonstrated superior proliferation and osteogenic potential of human fetal MSCs (fMSCs), we hypothesize that their ECM may promote expansion of clinically relevant aMSCs. We demonstrated that aMSCs were more proliferative (∼1.6×) on fMSC-derived ECM than aMSC-derived ECMs and traditional tissue culture wares (TCPS). These aMSCs were smaller and more uniform in size (median ± interquartile range: 15.5 ± 4.1 μm versus 17.2 ± 5.0 μm and 15.5 ± 4.1 μm for aMSC ECM and TCPS respectively), exhibited the necessary biomarker signatures, and stained positive for osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic expressions; indications that they maintained multipotency during culture. Furthermore, fMSC ECM improved the proliferation (∼2.2×), size (19.6 ± 11.9 μm vs 30.2 ± 14.5 μm) and differentiation potential in late-passaged aMSCs compared to TCPS. In conclusion, we have established fMSC ECM as a promising cell culture platform for ex vivo expansion of aMSCs.Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technolog

Cluster M Mycobacteriophages Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey with Unusually Large Repertoires of tRNA Isotopes

Genomic analysis of a large set of phages infecting the common hostMycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 shows that they span considerable genetic diversity. There are more than 20 distinct types that lack nucleotide similarity with each other, and there is considerable diversity within most of the groups. Three newly isolated temperate mycobacteriophages, Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey, constitute a new group (cluster M), with the closely related phages Bongo and PegLeg forming subcluster M1 and the more distantly related Rey forming subcluster M2. The cluster M mycobacteriophages have siphoviral morphologies with unusually long tails, are homoimmune, and have larger than average genomes (80.2 to 83.7 kbp). They exhibit a variety of features not previously described in other mycobacteriophages, including noncanonical genome architectures and several unusual sets of conserved repeated sequences suggesting novel regulatory systems for both transcription and translation. In addition to containing transfer-messenger RNA and RtcB-like RNA ligase genes, their genomes encode 21 to 24 tRNA genes encompassing complete or nearly complete sets of isotypes. We predict that these tRNAs are used in late lytic growth, likely compensating for the degradation or inadequacy of host tRNAs. They may represent a complete set of tRNAs necessary for late lytic growth, especially when taken together with the apparent lack of codons in the same late genes that correspond to tRNAs that the genomes of the phages do not obviously encode

Enhancing caregivers’ understanding of dementia and tailoring activities in frontotemporal dementia:two case studies

PURPOSE: To describe the intervention process and results of the Tailored Activities Program (TAP) in two people diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). METHOD: TAP is an occupational therapy (OT) community-based intervention program that prescribes personalised activities to reduce difficult behaviours of dementia. The OT works with carers over a 4-month period (assessment, activity prescription, and generalisation of strategies). Study measures were collected (blind researcher) pre- and post- intervention: cognition, functional disability, behavioural symptoms, and Caregiver Confidence and Vigilance. RESULTS: A 51-year-old woman with behavioural-variant FTD could consistently engage in more activities post-intervention, with scores indicating improvements to behaviour, function, and caregiver confidence. A 63-year-old man with semantic variant FTD engaged well in the prescribed activities, with scores reflecting reduced carer distress regarding challenging behaviours and improved caregiver vigilance. CONCLUSIONS: TAP is efficacious in FTD, allowing for differences in approach for FTD subtype, where behavioural symptoms are very severe and pervasive

The “Narratives” fMRI dataset for evaluating models of naturalistic language comprehension

The “Narratives” collection aggregates a variety of functional MRI datasets collected while human subjects listened to naturalistic spoken stories. The current release includes 345 subjects, 891 functional scans, and 27 diverse stories of varying duration totaling ~4.6 hours of unique stimuli (~43,000 words). This data collection is well-suited for naturalistic neuroimaging analysis, and is intended to serve as a benchmark for models of language and narrative comprehension. We provide standardized MRI data accompanied by rich metadata, preprocessed versions of the data ready for immediate use, and the spoken story stimuli with time-stamped phoneme- and word-level transcripts. All code and data are publicly available with full provenance in keeping with current best practices in transparent and reproducible neuroimaging

Bridging of Neisseria gonorrhoeae lineages across sexual networks in the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis era

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been used to investigate transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, but to date, most studies have not combined genomic data with detailed information on sexual behaviour to define the extent of transmission across population risk groups (bridging). Here, through combined epidemiological and genomic analysis of 2,186N. gonorrhoeae isolates from Australia, we show widespread transmission of N. gonorrhoeae within and between population groups. We describe distinct transmission clusters associated with men who have sex with men (MSM) and heterosexuals, and men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) are identified as a possible bridging population between these groups. Further, the study identifies transmission of N. gonorrhoeae between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Our data highlight several groups that can be targeted for interventions aimed at improving gonorrhoea control, including returning travellers, sex workers, and PrEP users.D.A.W. (GNT1123854), E.P.F.C. (GNT1091226), and J.C.K. (GNT1142613) are supported by Early Career Fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. B.P.H. is supported by a Practitioner Fellowship from the NHMRC (GNT1105905). D.J.I. is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 643476. Work in this study was supported by a Project Grant from the NHMRC (GNT1147735) and a Partnership grant from the NHMRC (GNT1149991). MDU PHL is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services