Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and outcomes after heart transplantation: A multicenter study.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a leading cause of late graft failure and mortality after heart transplantation (HT). Sharing some features with atherosclerosis, CAV results in diffuse narrowing of the epicardial coronaries and microvasculature, with consequent graft ischemia. Recently, clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) has emerged as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. We aimed to investigate the relationship between CHIP and posttransplant outcomes, including CAV. We analyzed 479 HT recipients with stored DNA samples at 2 high-volume transplant centers, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. We explored the association between the presence of CHIP mutations with CAV and mortality after HT. In this case-control analysis, carriers of CHIP mutations were not at increased risk of CAV or mortality after HT. In a large multicenter genomics study of the heart transplant population, the presence of CHIP mutations was not associated with an increased risk of CAV or posttransplant mortality

Embedding Indigenous Perspectives in Reviewing Welcome to Country with Australian High-School Students: More than a Book Review

Review of: Murphy, Aunty Joy. Welcome to Country, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy, Black Dog Books, 2016.   DOI: 10.1353/jeu.2017.000

Relaxed predation selection on rare morphs of Ensatina salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae) promotes a polymorphic population in a novel dune sand habitat

Abstract The ring species Ensatina represents a classic example of locally adapted lineages. The Monterey ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii eschscholtzii) is a cryptic subspecies with brown coloration, although a recently discovered polymorphic population within a wind-blown sand region also contains leucistic (pink) and xanthistic (orange) morphs. In the present study, the frequency of leucism/xanthism was mapped across the subspecies’ range, revealing that these morphs are generally rare or absent except within regions containing light-coloured substrate. Attack rates were estimated using clay models of the three morphs, deployed only at the crepuscular period and during the night, on both light and dark substrates at a site within the dune sand region. Model selection found that the interaction between morph and substrate colour best predicted attack rates. Typical morphs had equal attack rates on both substrates while xanthistic and leucistic morphs incurred significantly fewer attacks on light vs. dark substrate, and there was no significant difference in attack rates among morphs on light substrates. These results support the idea that xanthistic and leucistic morphs are poorly adapted for dark substrates compared to typical morphs, but they are more or less equally adapted for light substrates. We suggest that this microgeographic island of relaxed selection on light-coloured morphs helps to explain the existence of this polymorphic population

Embedding Indigenous perspectives in reviewing welcome to country with Australian high-school students: more than a book review

This article reports on a collaboration between an Australian University and a nearby-high school during a local community children's literature festival. As a real-life example of embedding Indigenous perspectives, a partnership developed between a young Aboriginal pre-service teacher, an academic and 8 Grade Ten high-school girls as they learned how to write a book review, using a new Aboriginal picture book to learn about Indigenous culture while also learning how to review. The article includes their reflections as well as the co-authored review

Risk Factor Analysis for Growth Arrest in Paediatric Physeal Fractures—A Prospective Study

Background: Fractures through the physis account for 18–30% of all paediatric fractures, leading to growth arrest in up to 5.5% of cases. We have limited knowledge to predict which physeal fractures result in growth arrest and subsequent deformity or limb length discrepancy. The purpose of this study is to identify factors associated with physeal growth arrest to improve patient outcomes. Methods: This prospective cohort study was designed to develop a clinical prediction model for growth arrest after physeal injury. Patients ≤ 18 years old presenting within four weeks of injury were enrolled if they had open physes and sustained a physeal fracture of the humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia or fibula. Patients with prior history of same-site fracture or a condition known to alter bone growth or healing were excluded. Demographic data, potential prognostic indicators, and radiographic data were collected at baseline, during healing, and at one- and two-years post-injury. Results: A total of 332 patients had at least six months of follow-up or a diagnosis of growth arrest within six months of injury. In a comparison analysis, patients who developed growth arrest were more likely to be older (12.8 years vs. 9.4 years) and injured on the right side (53.0% vs. 45.7%). Initial displacement and angulation rates were higher in the growth arrest group (59.0% vs. 47.8% and 47.0% vs. 38.8%, respectively), but the amount of angulation was similar (27.0° vs. 28.4°). Rates of growth arrest were highest in distal femoral fractures (86%). Conclusions: The incidence of growth arrest in this patient population appears higher than the past literature reports at 30.1%. However, there may be variances in diagnostic criteria for growth arrest, and the true incidence may be lower. A number of patients were approaching skeletal maturity, and any growth arrest is likely to have less clinical significance in these cases. Further prospective long-term follow-up is required to determine risk factors, incidence, and true clinical impact of growth arrest when it does occur.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCObstetrics and Gynaecology, Department ofOrthopaedics, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearche

Tunable Surface Repellency Maintains Stemness and Redox Capacity of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) hold great promise for regenerative medicine due to their multipotent differentiation capacity and immunomodulatory capabilities. Substantial research has elucidated mechanisms by which extracellular cues regulate hMSC fate decisions, but considerably less work has addressed how material properties can be leveraged to maintain undifferentiated stem cells. Here, we show that synthetic culture substrates designed to exhibit moderate cell-repellency promote high stemness and low oxidative stresstwo indicators of naïve, healthy stem cellsin commercial and patient-derived hMSCs. Furthermore, the material-mediated effect on cell behavior can be tuned by altering the molar percentage (mol %) and/or chain length of poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG), the repellant block linked to hydrophobic poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) in the copolymer backbone. Nano- and angstrom-scale characterization of the cell-material interface reveals that PEG interrupts the adhesive PCL domains in a chain-length-dependent manner; this prevents hMSCs from forming mature focal adhesions and subsequently promotes cell–cell adhesions that require connexin-43. This study is the first to demonstrate that intrinsic properties of synthetic materials can be tuned to regulate the stemness and redox capacity of hMSCs and provides new insight for designing highly scalable, programmable culture platforms for clinical translation