A potential model for hepatic regulation of peripheral adipose tissue expansion

Given the established relationship between liver and white adipose tissue, we hypothesize that hepatokines—particularly adropin—are the source of coordinated gene expression in peripheral adipose tissue driving fat mass expansion.https://knowledgeconnection.mainehealth.org/lambrew-retreat-2023/1026/thumbnail.jp

Outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft surgery

This review article summarizes the major studies that have investigated the outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). The article includes a review of the literature in the areas of: history of CABG; indications for CABG; and measurement of quality of life following CABG, including prolongation of life, physical functioning (ie, relief from angina and dyspnea, physical activity, as well as complications of surgery and re-hospitalization), psychological functioning, and social functioning. Overall, the literature demonstrates that the outcomes of CABG have historically been measured in terms of mortality and morbidity; however, it has now been well recognized that adjustment to CABG is a multidimensional phenomenon that is not fully explained by medical factors. Therefore, in addition to studying mortality and morbidity outcomes following CABG, many recent studies have identified that it is important to investigate various physical, psychological, and social variables that have a significant impact on post-operative adjustment to CABG

Sun-Protective Clothing Worn Regularly during Early Childhood Reduces the Number of New Melanocytic Nevi: The North Queensland Sun-Safe Clothing Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Numerous pigmented moles are associated with sun exposure and melanoma risk. This cluster randomized controlled trial aimed to determine if sun-protective clothing could prevent a significant proportion of the moles developing in young children (ACTRN12617000621314; Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry). Twenty-five childcare centers in Townsville (19.25◦S), Australia, were matched on shade provision and socioeconomic status. One center from each pair was randomized to the intervention arm and the other to the control arm. Children at 13 intervention centers wore study garments and legionnaire hats at childcare and received sun-protective swimwear and hats for home use, while children at the 12 control centers did not. The 1–35-month-old children (334 intervention; 210 control) were examined for moles at baseline (1999–2002) and were re-examined annually for up to 4 years. Both groups were similar at baseline. Children at intervention centers acquired fewer new moles overall (median 12.5 versus 16, p = 0.02; 0.46 versus 0.68 moles/month, p = 0.001) and fewer new moles on clothing-protected skin (6 vs. 8; p = 0.021 adjusted for confounding and cluster sampling) than controls. Intervention children had 24.3% fewer new moles overall (26.5 versus 35) and 31.6% (13 versus 19) fewer moles on clothing-protected skin than controls after 3.5 years. Sunlight’s influence on nevogenesis is mitigated when children regularly wear UPF 30-50+ clothing covering half their body, implying that increased clothing cover reduces melanoma risk. Sun-protective clothing standards should mandate reporting of the percentage of garment coverage for childrenswear

Effectiveness of Lifestyle Measures in the Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease — A Case Series

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of lifestyle measures in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) among adults attending a dietetic practice.\ud \ud Methods: A retrospective case series of adult patients presenting with GERD to a dietetic practice over a three year period. The routine lifestyle counselling for treatment of symptoms of GERD included: not reclining within two to three hours of eating; a diet low in fat; small frequent meals; avoiding dietary components considered to relax the lower esophageal sphincter; and avoiding local irritants.\ud \ud Results: Twenty three cases were included (12 male). Eighteen, (9 female) were referred by their doctor, 7 (6 female) presented for GERD alone, 7 (4 female) presented for GERD together with comorbidities, and 9 (1 female) incidentally mentioned GERD during a dietary consultation for another disorder. Thirteen participants (9 female) had previously undergone endoscopies, 18 (11 female) were taking medication for GERD, and 19 (7 female) had comorbidities. Twenty two (10 female) reported an improvement in symptoms with 11/18 taking GERD medication at presentation reducing their medication following treatment.\ud \ud Conclusions: These results suggest that a more thorough investigation of lifestyle modification in the treatment of GERD is warranted

Neuro-ophthalmologic and blood biomarker responses in ADHD following subconcussive head impacts: a case–control trial

IntroductionThis clinical trial aimed to determine the influence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on neuro-ophthalmologic function and brain-derived blood biomarkers following acute subconcussive head impacts.MethodsThe present trial consisted of age- and sex-matched samples with a ratio of 1:1 between two groups with a total sample size of 60 adults (age ± SD; 20.0 ± 1.8 years). Soccer players diagnosed with and medicated daily for ADHD were assigned into an ADHD group (n = 30). Soccer players without ADHD were assigned into a non-ADHD group (n = 30). Participants performed 10 soccer headers with a soccer ball projected at a velocity of 25mph. King-Devick test (KDT), near point of convergence (NPC), and serum levels of NF-L, tau, GFAP, and UCH-L1 were assessed at baseline (pre-heading) and at 2 h and 24 h post-heading.ResultsThere were no statistically significant group-by-time interactions in outcome measures. However, at baseline, the ADHD group exhibited lower neuro-ophthalmologic functions compared to the non-ADHD group (NPC: p = 0.019; KDT: p = 0.018), and persisted at 2 h-post (NPC: p = 0.007; KDT: p = 0.014) and 24 h-post heading (NPC: p = 0.001). NPC significantly worsened over time in both groups compared to baseline [ADHD: 2 h-post, 1.23 cm, 95%CI:(0.77, 1.69), p < 0.001; 24 h-post, 1.68 cm, 95%CI:(1.22, 2.13), p = 0.001; Non-ADHD: 2 h-post, 0.96 cm, 95%CI:(0.50, 1.42), p < 0.001; 24 h-post, 1.09 cm, 95%CI:(0.63, 1.55), p < 0.001]. Conversely, improvements in KDT time compared to baseline occurred at 2 h-post in the non-ADHD group [−1.32 s, 95%CI:(−2.55, −0.09), p = 0.04] and at 24 h-post in both groups [ADHD: −4.66 s, 95%CI:(−5.89, −3.43), p < 0.001; Non-ADHD: −3.46 s, 95%CI:(−4.69, −2.23), p < 0.001)]. There were no group-by-time interactions for GFAP as both groups exhibited increased levels at 2 h-post [ADHD: 7.75 pg./mL, 95%CI:(1.41, 14.10), p = 0.019; Non-ADHD: 7.91 pg./mL, 95%CI:(1.71, 14.14), p = 0.015)] that returned to baseline at 24 h-post. NF-L levels increased at 2 h-post heading in the ADHD group [0.45 pg./mL, 95%CI:(0.05, 0.86), p = 0.032], but no significant NF-L changes were observed in the non-ADHD group over time.DiscussionTen soccer headers elevated GFAP levels and NPC impairment in both groups. However, persisting group difference in NPC, blunted KDT performance, and increased NF-L levels in the ADHD group suggest that ADHD may reduce neuro-ophthalmologic function and heighten axonal response to soccer headers.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier ID: (NCT04880304)

An experimentally-validated numerical model of diffusion and speciation of water in rhyolitic silicate melt

The diffusion of water through silicate melts is a key process in volcanic systems. Diffusion controls the growth of the bubbles that drive volcanic eruptions and determines the evolution of the spatial distribution of dissolved water during and after magma mingling, crystal growth, fracturing and fragmentation, and welding of pyroclasts. Accurate models for water diffusion are therefore essential for forward modelling of eruptive behaviour, and for inverse modelling to reconstruct eruptive and post-eruptive history from the spatial distribution of water in eruptive products. Existing models do not include the kinetics of the homogeneous species reaction that interconverts molecular () and hydroxyl () water; reaction kinetics are important because final species distribution depends on cooling history. Here we develop a flexible 1D numerical model for diffusion and speciation of water in silicate melts. We validate the model against FTIR transects of the spatial distribution of molecular, hydroxyl, and total water across diffusion-couple experiments of haplogranite composition, run at 800–1200°C and 5 kbar. We adopt a stepwise approach to analysing and modelling the data. First, we use the analytical Sauer-Freise method to determine the effective diffusivity of total water as a function of dissolved water concentration and temperature for each experiment and find that the dependence of on is linear for wt.% and exponential for wt.%. Second, we develop a 1D numerical forward model, using the method of lines, to determine a piece-wise function for that is globally-minimized against the entire experimental dataset. Third, we extend this numerical model to account for speciation of water and determine globally-minimized functions for diffusivity of molecular water and the equilibrium constant for the speciation reaction. Our approach includes three key novelties: 1) functions for diffusivities of and , and the speciation reaction, are minimized simultaneously against a large experimental dataset, covering a wide range of water concentration ( wt.%) and temperature (), such that the resulting functions are both mutually-consistent and broadly applicable; 2) the minimization allows rigorous and robust analysis of uncertainties such that the accuracy of the functions is quantified; 3) the model can be straightforwardly used to determine functions for diffusivity and speciation for other melt compositions pending suitable diffusion-couple experiments. The modelling approach is suitable for both forward and inverse modelling of diffusion processes in silicate melts; the model is available as a Matlab script from the electronic supplementary material

Radiative and isospin-violating decays of Ds mesons in the hadrogenesis conjecture

The masses and decays of the scalar D_{s0}^*(2317) and axial-vector D_{s1}^*(2460) charmed strange mesons are calculated consistently in the hadrogenesis conjecture. These mesons decay either strongly into the isospin-violating pi^0 D_s and pi^0 D_s^* channels or electromagnetically. They are generated by coupled-channel dynamics based on the leading order chiral Lagrangian. The effect of chiral corrections to chiral order Q_\chi^2 is investigated. We show that taking into account large-N_c relations to determine the strength of these correction terms implies a measurable signal for an exotic axial-vector state in the eta D* invariant mass distribution. The one-loop contribution to the electromagnetic decay amplitudes of scalar and axial-vector states is calculated. The Lagrangian describing electromagnetic interactions is obtained by gauging the chiral Lagrangian for hadronic interactions and adding gauge-invariant correction terms to chiral order Q_chi^2. In addition the role of light vector meson degrees of freedom is explored. We confront our results with measured branching ratios. Once the light vector mesons are included, a natural explanation of all radiative decay parameters is achieved.Comment: 102 pages, 7 figures, further improved presentatio

Association Between Proteomic Blood Biomarkers and DTI/NODDI Metrics in Adolescent Football Players: A Pilot Study

While neuroimaging and blood biomarker have been two of the most active areas of research in the neurotrauma community, these fields rarely intersect to delineate subconcussive brain injury. The aim of the study was to examine the association between diffusion MRI techniques [diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation/dispersion density imaging (NODDI)] and brain-injury blood biomarker levels [tau, neurofilament-light (NfL), glial-fibrillary-acidic-protein (GFAP)] in high-school football players at their baseline, aiming to detect cumulative neuronal damage from prior seasons. Twenty-five football players were enrolled in the study. MRI measures and blood samples were obtained during preseason data collection. The whole-brain, tract-based spatial statistics was conducted for six diffusion metrics: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial/radial diffusivity (AD, RD), neurite density index (NDI), and orientation dispersion index (ODI). Five players were ineligible for MRIs, and three serum samples were excluded due to hemolysis, resulting in 17 completed set of diffusion metrics and blood biomarker levels for association analysis. Our permutation-based regression model revealed that serum tau levels were significantly associated with MD and NDI in various axonal tracts; specifically, elevated serum tau levels correlated to elevated MD (p = 0.0044) and reduced NDI (p = 0.016) in the corpus callosum and surrounding white matter tracts (e.g., longitudinal fasciculus). Additionally, there was a negative association between NfL and ODI in the focal area of the longitudinal fasciculus. Our data suggest that high school football players may develop axonal microstructural abnormality in the corpus callosum and surrounding white matter tracts, such as longitudinal fasciculus. A future study is warranted to determine the longitudinal multimodal relationship in response to repetitive exposure to sports-related head impacts