Epidemiology of ROP update - Africa is the new frontier.

Several epidemics of blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) have been described, with the most recent (the third) occurring in middle income countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe initially, and more recently in the more advanced economies in Asia. In these settings, which are characterized by variation in the quality of neonatal care and inadequate coverage of ROP screening and treatment, larger, more mature infants are affected as well as extremely preterm infants. In 2010 the annual incidence of blindness and visual impairment from ROP globally was estimated to be 32,300, with the lowest incidence in sub-Saharan countries. However, ROP is likely to become an increasingly important cause of blindness in children in sub-Saharan Africa as neonatal care expands unless policies and programmes for control are included at the outset

Pancreas and islet morphology in cystic fibrosis: clues to the etiology of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a multi-organ disease caused by loss-of-function mutations in CFTR (which encodes the CF transmembrane conductance regulator ion channel). Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) occurs in 40-50% of adults with CF and is associated with significantly increased morbidity and mortality. CFRD arises from insufficient insulin release from β cells in the pancreatic islet, but the mechanisms underlying the loss of β cell function remain understudied. Widespread pathological changes in the CF pancreas provide clues to these mechanisms. The exocrine pancreas is the epicenter of pancreas pathology in CF, with ductal pathology being the initiating event. Loss of CFTR function results in ductal plugging and subsequent obliteration. This in turn leads to destruction of acinar cells, fibrosis and fatty replacement. Despite this adverse environment, islets remain relatively well preserved. However, islet composition and arrangement are abnormal, including a modest decrease in β cells and an increase in α, δ and γ cell abundance. The small amount of available data suggest that substantial loss of pancreatic/islet microvasculature, autonomic nerve fibers and intra-islet macrophages occur. Conversely, T-cell infiltration is increased and, in CFRD, islet amyloid deposition is a frequent occurrence. Together, these pathological changes clearly demonstrate that CF is a disease of the pancreas/islet microenvironment. Any or all of these changes are likely to have a dramatic effect on the β cell, which relies on positive signals from all of these neighboring cell types for its normal function and survival. A thorough characterization of the CF pancreas microenvironment is needed to develop better therapies to treat, and ultimately prevent CFRD

Differences in IDO1+ dendritic cells and soluble CTLA-4 are associated with differential clinical responses to methotrexate treatment in rheumatoid arthritis

ObjectiveAntigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) and monocytes play an essential role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis, however, their tolerogenic potential remains unclear. Herein, the tolerogenic profiles of DCs are characterized in treatment-naïve RA patients to determine their role to inflammatory arthritis management.MethodsThirty-six treatment-naïve RA patients were enrolled, of which 62% were non-responders to methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy based on disease activity score (DAS) after 6-months of therapy. DC and monocyte subset frequencies, activation (CD40, CD86, CD209 expression), and tolerogenic profile (intracellular indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase [IDO1] and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 [CTLA-4] expression) were examined in the baseline peripheral blood by multicolor flow-cytometry. Soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4) levels in plasma were measured.ResultsDC subsets were decreased in RA compared to healthy controls (HC), and the frequency of conventional DCs (cDC) inversely correlated with inflammatory markers and improvement in disease activity. CD141+ cDC1s were the major IDO1-expressing cells. IDO1+cDC1s were reduced in RA patients compared to HC. The baseline frequency of IDO1+cDC1s inversely correlated with improvement in disease activity. CTLA-4 expression in CD1c+ cDC2s and monocytes was lower in RA patients compared to HC. Moreover, MTX-responders had a significantly lower frequency of IDO1+cDC1 cells and higher level of sCTLA-4 in the plasma compared to MTX non-responders. There was a strong predictive association of low IDO1+cDC1 cells, low sCTLA-4 and non-response to MTX.ConclusionsOur findings reveal altered DC and monocytes immunophenotypes that are associated with RA pathology and treatment response. The frequencies of tolerogenic IDO1+cDC1s and the low level of sCTLA-4 are strongly associated with MTX non-responsiveness and therapeutic outcome. These results suggest that investigation of the association IDO1+cDC1 and sCTLA-4 with response to treatment may be more generalizable to other autoimmune diseases

The sugar content of children’s and lunchbox beverages sold in the UK before and after the soft drink industry levy

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with an increased intake of sugary soft drinks and juice drinks. The aims of this study were (1) to report the sugar and energy content in commercial fruit juice (FJ), juice drinks (JD) and smoothies (S) specifically targeted at children in the UK, (2) to identify beverages liable for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and (3) to compare the amount of sugar in these beverages before and after the levy. Methods: The beverages were retrieved using the online shopping tool my Supermarket, websites of nine major supermarket in the UK and manufacturers webpages. Comparisons of sugar content were taken before and after the introduction of the SDIL. Results: 131 FJJDS fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean sugar content of all the beverages was 6.3g±4.5/100mL. There was large variation in the sugar content from 0.1g/100mL to 15.2g/100mL, with smoothies found to contain the most sugar (11.55±1.62 g/mL). The beverages were reanalysed in September 2018 to determine their eligibility for the SDIL. Of the 131 products only 7 JD were eligible for the levy. Four of these beverages had reformulated their ingredients since the initial analysis resulting in a sugar content of <5g/100mL. Conclusions: The majority of the beverages targeted at children and children’s lunch boxes were not eligible for the SDIL. This study suggests the necessity to adapt the SDIL to include all FJJDS aimed at children as the total sugar content of these beverages are still above the recommended quantities for this age group

Design and analysis of a microstrip patch antenna at 7.5 GHz for X-band VSAT application

In this paper, a microstrip patch antenna is designed to be used for X-band VSAT application at 7.5 GHz. The antenna is proposed to replace the massive and commonly used parabolic reflector antennas (46.0 inch × 29.3 inch × 13.5 inch (116.84 cm × 74.42 cm × 34.29 cm) with weight of 66.2 kg) in terms of portability due to its compact and lightweight features, with overall dimensions of 19.00 mm × 30.55 mm. The 7.5 GHz frequency is chosen based on the X-band frequency used in Malaysia, as reported by STRIDE. The microstrip patch antenna is first designed and simulated using CST Microwave Studio (CST MWS) and exhibits a good return loss (S11) of -42.09 dB, a bandwidth of 399 MHz, directivity of 7.63 dB and gain of 7.18 dB. The antenna is then fabricated using RT/duroid ® High Frequency 5880 substrate with a dielectric constant of εr = 2.2, loss tangent of δ = 0.0009 and thickness of t = 1.574 mm. Next, the return loss and radiation pattern measurements are carried out to confirm the simulated results. The measurement of the antenna prototype provides a return loss S11 of -30.53 dB, bandwidth of 455 MHz, directivity of 5.51 dB and gain of 3.88 dB

Enhancing the UV/heat stability of LLDPE irrigation pipes via different stabilizer formulations

Herein different stabilizer formulations of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) against UV- and heat-initiated degradation are described. The project aims at outdoor applications, such as irrigation piping and profiles, in the Middle East desert regions, where long-term weathering stability due to high temperatures and solar radiation is important. Two UV/heat formulations, without and with carbon black (CB) as pigment, were incorporated into LLDPE by melt compounding. Neat LLDPE and the stabilized compounds were exposed to accelerated UV and heat aging. Morphological analysis through scanning electron microscopy of the UV-exposed neat LLDPE showed more severe surface cracking compared to the CB-containing LLDPE, while all stabilized compounds did not show any surface degradation. Crack formation was less visible for the thermally aged samples. A significant decrease in molecular weight (MW) was observed for the neat UV-exposed LLDPE, while both unpigmented stabilized compounds showed little change in MW. Mechanical properties, thermal analysis, and carbonyl index results supported the morphological results, which confirmed that CB alone was slightly more effective in protecting the LLDPE against UV initiated degradation, but performed worse against thermal initiated degradation. UV1 and UV2 compounds were efficient against both UV- and heat-initiated degradation, with UV1 performing better for unpigmented compounds, and UV2 for the pigmented ones.This publication was made possible by the NPRP award (NPRP 9-161-1-030) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). We are also grateful to BASF and Sabo for supplying the additives at no cost. We further express our gratitude to Dr. Robert Brüll from Fraunhofer LBF, Darmstadt, Germany for doing the GPC analyses on our samples. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author(s).Scopu

Genome-wide association study identifies a variant in HDAC9 associated with large vessel ischemic stroke

Genetic factors have been implicated in stroke risk but few replicated associations have been reported. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in ischemic stroke and its subtypes in 3,548 cases and 5,972 controls, all of European ancestry. Replication of potential signals was performed in 5,859 cases and 6,281 controls. We replicated reported associations between variants close to PITX2 and ZFHX3 with cardioembolic stroke, and a 9p21 locus with large vessel stroke. We identified a novel association for a SNP within the histone deacetylase 9(HDAC9) gene on chromosome 7p21.1 which was associated with large vessel stroke including additional replication in a further 735 cases and 28583 controls (rs11984041, combined P = 1.87×10−11, OR=1.42 (95% CI) 1.28-1.57). All four loci exhibit evidence for heterogeneity of effect across the stroke subtypes, with some, and possibly all, affecting risk for only one subtype. This suggests differing genetic architectures for different stroke subtypes

Transverse-Momentum Dependence of the J/psi Nuclear Modification in d+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV

We present measured J/psi production rates in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV over a broad range of transverse momentum (p_T=0-14 GeV/c) and rapidity (-2.2<y<2.2). We construct the nuclear-modification factor R_dAu for these kinematics and as a function of collision centrality (related to impact parameter for the R_dAu collision). We find that the modification is largest for collisions with small impact parameters, and observe a suppression (R_dAu<1) for p_T<4 GeV/c at positive rapidities. At negative rapidity we observe a suppression for p_T1) for p_T>2 GeV/c. The observed enhancement at negative rapidity has implications for the observed modification in heavy-ion collisions at high p_T.Comment: 384 authors, 24 pages, 19 figures, 13 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/info/data/ppg123_data.htm

Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on J/psi Yields as a Function of Rapidity and Nuclear Geometry in Deuteron-Gold Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

We present measurements of J/psi yields in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV recorded by the PHENIX experiment and compare with yields in p+p collisions at the same energy per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measurements cover a large kinematic range in J/psi rapidity (-2.2 < y < 2.4) with high statistical precision and are compared with two theoretical models: one with nuclear shadowing combined with final state breakup and one with coherent gluon saturation effects. To remove model dependent systematic uncertainties we also compare the data to a simple geometric model. We find that calculations where the nuclear modification is linear or exponential in the density weighted longitudinal thickness are difficult to reconcile with the forward rapidity data.Comment: 449 authors from 66 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm