Medical comorbidities in bipolar disorder (BIPCOM): clinical validation of risk factors and biomarkers to improve prevention and treatment. Study protocol

BACKGROUND

BIPCOM aims to (1) identify medical comorbidities in people with bipolar disorder (BD); (2) examine risk factors and clinical profiles of Medical Comorbidities (MC) in this clinical group, with a special focus on Metabolic Syndrome (MetS); (3) develop a Clinical Support Tool (CST) for the personalized management of BD and medical comorbidities.

METHODS

The BIPCOM project aims to investigate MC, specifically MetS, in individuals with BD using various approaches. Initially, prevalence rates, characteristics, genetic and non-genetic risk factors, and the natural progression of MetS among individuals with BD will be assessed by analysing Nordic registers, biobanks, and existing patient datasets from 11 European recruiting centres across 5 countries. Subsequently, a clinical study involving 400 participants from these sites will be conducted to examine the clinical profiles and incidence of specific MetS risk factors over 1 year. Baseline assessments, 1-year follow-ups, biomarker analyses, and physical activity measurements with wearable biosensors, and focus groups will be performed. Using this comprehensive data, a CST will be developed to enhance the prevention, early detection, and personalized treatment of MC in BD, by incorporating clinical, biological, sex and genetic information. This protocol will highlight the study's methodology.

DISCUSSION

BIPCOM's data collection will pave the way for tailored treatment and prevention approaches for individuals with BD. This approach has the potential to generate significant healthcare savings by preventing complications, hospitalizations, and emergency visits related to comorbidities and cardiovascular risks in BD. BIPCOM's data collection will enhance BD patient care through personalized strategies, resulting in improved quality of life and reduced costly interventions. The findings of the study will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between medical comorbidities and BD, enabling accurate prediction and effective management of MetS and cardiovascular diseases.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN68010602 at https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN68010602 . Registration date: 18/04/2023.

A High-Energy Tellurium Redox-Amphoteric Conversion Cathode Chemistry for Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries are potential candidates for sustainable energy storage systems at a grid scale, owing to their high safety and low cost. However, the existing cathode chemistries exhibit restricted energy density, which hinders their extensive applications. Here, a tellurium redox-amphoteric conversion cathode chemistry is presented for aqueous zinc batteries, which delivers a specific capacity of 1223.9 mAh gTe -1 and a high energy density of 1028.0 Wh kgTe -1. A highly concentrated electrolyte (30 mol kg-1 ZnCl2) is revealed crucial for initiating the Te redox-amphoteric conversion as it suppresses the H2O reactivity and inhibits undesirable hydrolysis of the Te4+ product. By carrying out multiple operando/ex situ characterizations, the reversible six-electron Te2-/Te0/Te4+ conversion with TeCl4 is identified as the fully charged product and ZnTe as the fully discharged product. This finding not only enriches the conversion-type battery chemistries but also establishes a critical step in exploring redox-amphoteric materials for aqueous zinc batteries and beyond.

The lipid droplet lipidome

Lipid droplets (LDs) are intracellular organelles with a hydrophobic core formed by neutral lipids surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer harboring a variety of regulatory and enzymatically active proteins. Over the last few decades, our understanding of LD biology has evolved significantly. Nowadays, LDs are appreciated not just as passive energy storage units, but rather as active players in the regulation of lipid metabolism and quality control machineries. To fulfill their functions in controlling cellular metabolic states, LDs need to be highly dynamic and responsive organelles. A large body of evidence supports a dynamic nature of the LD proteome and its contact sites with other organelles. However, much less is known about the lipidome of LDs. Numerous examples clearly indicate the intrinsic link between LD lipids and proteins, calling for a deeper characterization of the LD lipidome in various physiological and pathological settings. Here, we reviewed the current state of knowledge in the field of the LD lipidome, providing a brief overview of the lipid classes and their molecular species present within the neutral core and phospholipid monolayer.

Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Acetylenic Polymers for High-Performance Bifunctional Photoelectrodes

Due to the drastic required thermodynamical requirements, a photoelectrode material that can function as both a photocathode and a photoanode remains elusive. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that, under simulated solar light and without co-catalysts, donor-acceptor conjugated acetylenic polymers (CAPs) exhibit both impressive oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) photocurrents in alkaline and neutral medium, respectively. In particular, poly(2,4,6-tris(4-ethynylphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine) (pTET) provides a benchmark OER photocurrent density of ~200 μA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at pH 13 and a remarkable HER photocurrent density of ~190 μA cm-2 at 0.3 V vs. RHE at pH 6.8. By combining theoretical investigations and electrochemical-operando Resonance Raman spectroscopy, we show that the OER proceeds with two different mechanisms, with the electron-depleted triple bonds acting as single-site OER in combination with the C4-C5 atoms of the phenyl rings as dual sites. The HER, instead, occurs via an electron transfer from the tri-acetylenic linkages to the triazine rings, which act as the HER active sites. This work represents a novel application of organic-based materials and contributes to the development of high-performance photoelectrochemical catalysts for the solar fuels' generation.

Estimating multiplicity of infection, allele frequencies, and prevalences accounting for incomplete data

BACKGROUND

Molecular surveillance of infectious diseases allows the monitoring of pathogens beyond the granularity of traditional epidemiological approaches and is well-established for some of the most relevant infectious diseases such as malaria. The presence of genetically distinct pathogenic variants within an infection, referred to as multiplicity of infection (MOI) or complexity of infection (COI) is common in malaria and similar infectious diseases. It is an important metric that scales with transmission intensities, potentially affects the clinical pathogenesis, and a confounding factor when monitoring the frequency and prevalence of pathogenic variants. Several statistical methods exist to estimate MOI and the frequency distribution of pathogen variants. However, a common problem is the quality of the underlying molecular data. If molecular assays fail not randomly, it is likely to underestimate MOI and the prevalence of pathogen variants.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

A statistical model is introduced, which explicitly addresses data quality, by assuming a probability by which a pathogen variant remains undetected in a molecular assay. This is different from the assumption of missing at random, for which a molecular assay either performs perfectly or fails completely. The method is applicable to a single molecular marker and allows to estimate allele-frequency spectra, the distribution of MOI, and the probability of variants to remain undetected (incomplete information). Based on the statistical model, expressions for the prevalence of pathogen variants are derived and differences between frequency and prevalence are discussed. The usual desirable asymptotic properties of the maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) are established by rewriting the model into an exponential family. The MLE has promising finite sample properties in terms of bias and variance. The covariance matrix of the estimator is close to the Cramér-Rao lower bound (inverse Fisher information). Importantly, the estimator's variance is larger than that of a similar method which disregards incomplete information, but its bias is smaller.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the model introduced here has convenient properties, in terms of the mean squared error it does not outperform a simple standard method that neglects missing information. Thus, the new method is recommendable only for data sets in which the molecular assays produced poor-quality results. This will be particularly true if the model is extended to accommodate information from multiple molecular markers at the same time, and incomplete information at one or more markers leads to a strong depletion of sample size.

Relation between socioeconomic status and maternal serum lipids to infant lipid concentrations and anthropometry in the first year of life

PURPOSE

The physical health and development of an individual are influenced by multiple parameters and shaped by internal and external factors during pregnancy. However, it is unclear whether there is an association between maternal lipid concentrations in the third trimester of pregnancy and infant serum lipids as well as anthropometric growth, and whether these factors are influenced by the socioeconomic status (SES) of the mothers.

METHODS

Between 2011 and 2021, 982 mother-child pairs were recruited in the LIFE-Child study. To investigate the influence of prenatal factors, pregnant women at the 24th and 36th week of gestation as well as children at the age of 3, 6 and 12 months were examined and serum lipids determined. Socioeconomic status (SES) was assessed using the validated Winkler Index.

RESULTS

A higher maternal BMI was associated with a significantly lower Winkler score and a higher infant weight, height, head circumference and BMI from birth up to the 4th-5th week of life. In addition, the Winkler Index correlates with maternal HDL cholesterol and ApoA1 levels. There was no relation between the delivery mode and the maternal BMI or SES. For the maternal HDL cholesterol concentration in the third trimester, an inverse relation to children's height, weight, head circumference and BMI up to the first year of life as well as the chest and abdominal circumference to an age of 3 months was found. Children born to mothers with dyslipidemia in pregnancy tended to have a worse lipid profile than those born to normolipidemic mothers.

CONCLUSION

Serum lipid concentrations and anthropometric parameters of children in the first year of life are affected by multiple factors like maternal BMI, lipid levels and SES.

Technical assessment of resolution of handheld ultrasound devices and clinical implications

PURPOSE

Since handheld ultrasound devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, objective criteria to determine image quality are needed. We therefore conducted a comparison of objective quality measures and clinical performance.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A comparison of handheld devices (Butterfly IQ+, Clarius HD, Clarius HD3, Philips Lumify, GE VScan Air) and workstations (GE Logiq E10, Toshiba Aplio 500) was performed using a phantom. As a comparison, clinical investigations were performed by two experienced ultrasonographers by measuring the resolution of anatomical structures in the liver, pancreas, and intestine in ten subjects.

RESULTS

Axial full width at half maximum resolution (FWHM) of 100µm phantom pins at depths between one and twelve cm ranged from 0.6-1.9mm without correlation to pin depth. Lateral FWHM resolution ranged from 1.3-8.7mm and was positively correlated with depth (r=0.6). Axial and lateral resolution differed between devices (p<0.001) with the lowest median lateral resolution observed in the E10 (5.4mm) and the lowest axial resolution (1.6mm) for the IQ+ device. Although devices showed no significant differences in most clinical applications, ultrasonographers were able to differentiate a median of two additional layers in the wall of the sigmoid colon and one additional structure in segmental portal fields (p<0.05) using cartwheel devices.

CONCLUSION

While handheld devices showed superior or similar performance in the phantom and routine measurements, workstations still provided superior clinical imaging and resolution of anatomical substructures, indicating a lack of objective measurements to evaluate clinical ultrasound devices.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Isolated from Equine Hair Follicles Using a Method of Air-Liquid Interface

Equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of various origins have been identified in horses, including MSCs from the bone marrow and adipose tissue. However, these stem cell sources are highly invasive in sampling, which thereby limits their clinical application in equine veterinary medicine. This study presents a novel method using an air-liquid interface to isolate stem cells from the hair follicle outer root sheath of the equine forehead skin. These stem cells cultured herewith showed high proliferation and asumed MSC phenotype by expressing MSC positive biomarkers (CD29, CD44 CD90) while not expressing negative markers (CD14, CD34 and CD45). They were capable of differentiating towards chondrogenic, osteogenic and adipogenic lineages, which was comparable with MSCs from adipose tissue. Due to their proliferative phenotype in vitro, MSC-like profile and differentiation capacities, we named them equine mesenchymal stem cells from the hair follicle outer root sheath (eMSCORS). eMSCORS present a promising alternative stem cell source for the equine veterinary medicine.

Tree diversity increases productivity through enhancing structural complexity across mycorrhizal types

Tree species diversity and mycorrhizal associations play a central role for forest productivity, but factors driving positive biodiversity-productivity relationships remain poorly understood. In a biodiversity experiment manipulating tree diversity and mycorrhizal associations, we examined the roles of above- and belowground processes in modulating wood productivity in young temperate tree communities and potential underlying mechanisms. We found that tree species richness, but not mycorrhizal associations, increased forest productivity by enhancing aboveground structural complexity within communities. Structurally complex communities were almost twice as productive as structurally simple stands, particularly when light interception was high. We further demonstrate that overyielding was largely explained by positive net biodiversity effects on structural complexity with functional variation in shade tolerance and taxonomic diversity being key drivers of structural complexity in mixtures. Consideration of stand structural complexity appears to be a crucial element in predicting carbon sequestration in the early successional stages of mixed-species forests.

Impact of home-based training and nutritional behavior on body composition and metabolic markers in cancer patients: data from the CRBP-TS study

Introduction

Obesity and physical inactivity are known to affect cancer's development and prognosis. In this context, physical aerobic and resistance training as well as a Mediterranean nutrition have been proven to have many positive health effects. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the effect of home-based training on body composition and certain metabolic laboratory parameters.

Methods

Patients with breast, colorectal and prostate cancer who underwent curative surgery at stages T1N0M0-T3N3M0 were eligible for this trial and randomized to an intervention and control group. In the intervention group the patients carried out online-based strength-endurance home training during the 6-month study period. Body composition was assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis (baseline, 3 months and 6 months). Metabolic blood parameters were also analyzed and nutrition behavior determined using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS).

Results

The intervention group's fat mass decreased while their lean body mass increased (time effect p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). We found no interaction effect in body weight (p = 0.19), fat mass [p = 0.06, 6-months estimates -0.9 (95% CI -1.8 to -0.1)] and lean body mass (p = 0.92). Blood samples also failed to show a statistically significant interaction effect between time × group for HbA1c% (p = 0.64), Insulin (p = 0.33), Adiponectin (p = 0.87), Leptin (p = 0.52) and Triglycerides (p = 0.43). Only Adiponectin revealed significance in the time effect (p < 0.001) and Leptin in the group effect (p = 0.03). Dietary behavior during the study period was similar in patients in the intervention and control groups (interaction p = 0.81; group p = 0.09 and time p = 0.03).

Discussion

Individualized online-based home training in postoperative cancer patients revealed only minor changes, with no group differences in body composition or metabolic laboratory parameters, which were predominantly in the reference range at baseline. More studies investigating effects of online-based home training on body composition and nutrition behavior are needed.

Trial registration

https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00020499, DRKS-ID: DRKS00020499.

Effect of home-based online training and activity feedback on oxygen uptake in patients after surgical cancer therapy: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Exercise training is beneficial in enhancing physical function and quality of life in cancer patients. Its comprehensive implementation remains challenging, and underlying cardiopulmonary adaptations are poorly investigated. This randomized controlled trial examines the implementation and effects of home-based online training on cardiopulmonary variables and physical activity.

METHODS

Of screened post-surgical patients with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer, 148 were randomly assigned (1:1) to an intervention (2 × 30 min/week of strength-endurance training using video presentations) and a control group. All patients received activity feedback during the 6-month intervention period. Primary endpoint was change in oxygen uptake after 6 months. Secondary endpoints included changes in cardiac output, rate pressure product, quality of life (EORTC QoL-C30), C-reactive protein, and activity behavior.

RESULTS

One hundred twenty-two patients (62 intervention and 60 control group) completed the study period. Change in oxygen uptake between intervention and control patients was 1.8 vs. 0.66 ml/kg/min (estimated difference after 6 months: 1.24; 95% CI 0.23 to 2.55; p = 0.017). Rate pressure product was reduced in IG (estimated difference after 6 months: - 1079; 95% CI - 2157 to - 1; p = 0.05). Physical activity per week was not different in IG and CG. There were no significant interaction effects in body composition, cardiac output, C-reactive protein, or quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

Home-based online training among post-surgery cancer patients revealed an increase of oxygen uptake and a decrease of myocardial workload during exercise. The implementation of area-wide home-based training and activity feedback as an integral component in cancer care and studies investigating long-term effects are needed.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

DRKS-ID: DRKS00020499 ; Registered 17 March 2020.

A network-based approach to identifying correlations between phylogeny, morphological traits and occurrence of fish species in US river basins

The complex network framework has been successfully used to model interactions between entities in Complex Systems in the Biological Sciences such as Proteomics, Genomics, Neuroscience, and Ecology. Networks of organisms at different spatial scales and in different ecosystems have provided insights into community assembly patterns and emergent properties of ecological systems. In the present work, we investigate two questions pertaining to fish species assembly rules in US river basins, a) if morphologically similar fish species also tend to be phylogenetically closer, and b) to what extent are co-occurring species that are phylogenetically close also morphologically similar? For the first question, we construct a network of Hydrologic Unit Code 8 (HUC8) regions as nodes with interaction strengths (edges) governed by the number of common species. For each of the modules of this network, which are found to be geographically separated, there is differential yet significant evidence that phylogenetic distance predicts morphological distance. For the second question, we construct and analyze nearest neighbor directed networks of species based on their morphological distances and phylogenetic distances. Through module detection on these networks and comparing the module-level mean phylogenetic distance and mean morphological distance with the number of basins of common occurrence of species in modules, we find that both phylogeny and morphology of species have significant roles in governing species co-occurrence, i.e. phylogenetically and morphologically distant species tend to co-exist more. In addition, between the two quantities (morphological distance and phylogentic distance), we find that morphological distance is a stronger determinant of species co-occurrences.

A flexible age-dependent, spatially-stratified predictive model for the spread of COVID-19, accounting for multiple viral variants and vaccines

BACKGROUND

After COVID-19 vaccines received approval, vaccination campaigns were launched worldwide. Initially, these were characterized by a shortage of vaccine supply, and specific risk groups were prioritized. Once supply was guaranteed and vaccination coverage saturated, the focus shifted from risk groups to anti-vaxxers, the under-aged population, and regions of low coverage. At the same time, hopes to reach herd immunity by vaccination campaigns were put into perspective by the emergence and spread of more contagious and aggressive viral variants. Particularly, concerns were raised that not all vaccines protect against the new-emerging variants. The objective of this study is to introduce a predictive model to quantify the effect of vaccination campaigns on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 viral variants.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

The predictive model introduced here is a comprehensive extension of the one underlying the pandemic preparedness tool CovidSim 2.0 (http://covidsim.eu/). The model is age and spatially stratified, incorporates a finite (but arbitrary) number of different viral variants, and incorporates different vaccine products. The vaccines are allowed to differ in their vaccination schedule, vaccination rates, the onset of vaccination campaigns, and their effectiveness. These factors are also age and/or location dependent. Moreover, the effectiveness and the immunizing effect of vaccines are assumed to depend on the interaction of a given vaccine and viral variant. Importantly, vaccines are not assumed to immunize perfectly. Individuals can be immunized completely, only partially, or fail to be immunized against one or many viral variants. Not all individuals in the population are vaccinable. The model is formulated as a high-dimensional system of differential equations, which is implemented efficiently in the programming language Julia. As an example, the model was parameterized to reflect the epidemic situation in Germany until November 2021 and future dynamics of the epidemic under different interventions were predicted. In particular, without tightening contact reductions, a strong epidemic wave is predicted during December 2021 and January 2022. Provided the dynamics of the epidemic in Germany, in late 2021 administration of full-dose vaccination to all eligible individuals (e.g. by mandatory vaccination) would be too late to have a strong effect on reducing the number of infections in the fourth wave in Germany. However, it would reduce mortality. An emergency brake, i.e., an incidence-based stepwise lockdown, would be efficient to reduce the number of infections and mortality. Furthermore, to specifically account for mobility between regions, the model was applied to two German provinces of particular interest: Saxony, which currently has the lowest vaccine rollout in Germany and high incidence, and Schleswig-Holstein, which has high vaccine rollout and low incidence.

CONCLUSIONS

A highly sophisticated and flexible but easy-to-parameterize model for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is introduced. The model is capable of providing useful predictions for the COVID-19 pandemic, and hence provides a relevant tool for epidemic decision-making. The model can be adjusted to any country, and the predictions can be used to derive the demand for hospital or ICU capacities.

Predicting the combined effects of case isolation, safe funeral practices, and contact tracing during Ebola virus disease outbreaks

BACKGROUND

The recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Uganda and the Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Ghana reflect a persisting threat of Filoviridae to the global health community. Characteristic of Filoviridae are not just their high case fatality rates, but also that corpses are highly contagious and prone to cause infections in the absence of appropriate precautions. Vaccines against the most virulent Ebolavirus species, the Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) are approved. However, there exists no approved vaccine or treatment against the Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV) which causes the current outbreak of EVD. Hence, the control of the outbreak relies on case isolation, safe funeral practices, and contact tracing. So far, the effectiveness of these control measures was studied only separately by epidemiological models, while the impact of their interaction is unclear.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

To sustain decision making in public health-emergency management, we introduce a predictive model to study the interaction of case isolation, safe funeral practices, and contact tracing. The model is a complex extension of an SEIR-type model, and serves as an epidemic preparedness tool. The model considers different phases of the EVD infections, the possibility of infections being treated in isolation (if appropriately diagnosed), in hospital (if not properly diagnosed), or at home (if the infected do not present to hospital for whatever reason). It is assumed that the corpses of those who died in isolation are buried with proper safety measures, while those who die outside isolation might be buried unsafely, such that transmission can occur during the funeral. Furthermore, the contacts of individuals in isolation will be traced. Based on parameter estimates from the scientific literature, the model suggests that proper diagnosis and hence isolation of cases has the highest impact in reducing the size of the outbreak. However, the combination of case isolation and safe funeral practices alone are insufficient to fully contain the epidemic under plausible parameters. This changes if these measures are combined with contact tracing. In addition, shortening the time to successfully trace back contacts contribute substantially to contain the outbreak.

CONCLUSIONS

In the absence of an approved vaccine and treatment, EVD management by proper and fast diagnostics in combination with epidemic awareness are fundamental. Awareness will particularly facilitate contact tracing and safe funeral practices. Moreover, proper and fast diagnostics are a major determinant of case isolation. The model introduced here is not just applicable to EVD, but also to other viral hemorrhagic fevers such as the MVD or the Lassa fever.

A maximum-likelihood method to estimate haplotype frequencies and prevalence alongside multiplicity of infection from SNP data

The introduction of genomic methods facilitated standardized molecular disease surveillance. For instance, SNP barcodes in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria allows the characterization of haplotypes, their frequencies and prevalence to reveal temporal and spatial transmission patterns. A confounding factor is the presence of multiple genetically distinct pathogen variants within the same infection, known as multiplicity of infection (MOI). Disregarding ambiguous information, as usually done in ad-hoc approaches, leads to less confident and biased estimates. We introduce a statistical framework to obtain maximum-likelihood estimates (MLE) of haplotype frequencies and prevalence alongside MOI from malaria SNP data, i.e., multiple biallelic marker loci. The number of model parameters increases geometrically with the number of genetic markers considered and no closed-form solution exists for the MLE. Therefore, the MLE needs to be derived numerically. We use the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm to derive the maximum-likelihood estimates, an efficient and easy-to-implement algorithm that yields a numerically stable solution. We also derive expressions for haplotype prevalence based on either all or just the unambiguous genetic information and compare both approaches. The latter corresponds to a biased ad-hoc estimate of prevalence. We assess the performance of our estimator by systematic numerical simulations assuming realistic sample sizes and various scenarios of transmission intensity. For reasonable sample sizes, and number of loci, the method has little bias. As an example, we apply the method to a dataset from Cameroon on sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance in P. falciparum malaria. The method is not confined to malaria and can be applied to any infectious disease with similar transmission behavior. An easy-to-use implementation of the method as an R-script is provided.

Path integral Monte Carlo approach to the structural properties and collective excitations of liquid [Formula: see text] without fixed nodes

Due to its nature as a strongly correlated quantum liquid, ultracold helium is characterized by the nontrivial interplay of different physical effects. Bosonic [Formula: see text] exhibits superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation. Its physical properties have been accurately determined on the basis of ab initio path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations. In contrast, the corresponding theoretical description of fermionic [Formula: see text] is severely hampered by the notorious fermion sign problem, and previous PIMC results have been derived by introducing the uncontrolled fixed-node approximation. In this work, we present extensive new PIMC simulations of normal liquid [Formula: see text] without any nodal constraints. This allows us to to unambiguously quantify the impact of Fermi statistics and to study the effects of temperature on different physical properties like the static structure factor [Formula: see text], the momentum distribution [Formula: see text], and the static density response function [Formula: see text]. In addition, the dynamic structure factor [Formula: see text] is rigorously reconstructed from imaginary-time PIMC data. From simulations of [Formula: see text], we derived the familiar phonon-maxon-roton dispersion function that is well-known for [Formula: see text] and has been reported previously for two-dimensional [Formula: see text] films (Nature 483:576-579 (2012)). The comparison of our new results for both [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] with neutron scattering measurements reveals an excellent agreement between theory and experiment.

Bias-corrected maximum-likelihood estimation of multiplicity of infection and lineage frequencies

Background

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are devoted to eradicate a range of infectious diseases to achieve global well-being. These efforts require monitoring disease transmission at a level that differentiates between pathogen variants at the genetic/molecular level. In fact, the advantages of genetic (molecular) measures like multiplicity of infection (MOI) over traditional metrics, e.g., R₀, are being increasingly recognized. MOI refers to the presence of multiple pathogen variants within an infection due to multiple infective contacts. Maximum-likelihood (ML) methods have been proposed to derive MOI and pathogen-lineage frequencies from molecular data. However, these methods are biased.

Methods and findings

Based on a single molecular marker, we derive a bias-corrected ML estimator for MOI and pathogen-lineage frequencies. We further improve these estimators by heuristical adjustments that compensate shortcomings in the derivation of the bias correction, which implicitly assumes that data lies in the interior of the observational space. The finite sample properties of the different variants of the bias-corrected estimators are investigated by a systematic simulation study. In particular, we investigate the performance of the estimator in terms of bias, variance, and robustness against model violations. The corrections successfully remove bias except for extreme parameters that likely yield uninformative data, which cannot sustain accurate parameter estimation. Heuristic adjustments further improve the bias correction, particularly for small sample sizes. The bias corrections also reduce the estimators’ variances, which coincide with the Cramér-Rao lower bound. The estimators are reasonably robust against model violations.

Conclusions

Applying bias corrections can substantially improve the quality of MOI estimates, particularly in areas of low as well as areas of high transmission—in both cases estimates tend to be biased. The bias-corrected estimators are (almost) unbiased and their variance coincides with the Cramér-Rao lower bound, suggesting that no further improvements are possible unless additional information is provided. Additional information can be obtained by combining data from several molecular markers, or by including information that allows stratifying the data into heterogeneous groups.

Spot urine iodine levels below the WHO recommendation are not related to impaired thyroid function in healthy children and adolescents

PURPOSE

Iodine deficiency in childhood and adolescence may lead to later thyroid dysfunction, stunted growth and cognitive impairment. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued recommended age-dependent urine iodine concentration targets, but a critical threshold beyond which clinical sequelae are to be expected remains undefined. Our study aimed to investigate spot urine iodine concentration in a typical Central European cohort of children and adolescents, and consider the implications of these values in regard to laboratory parameters for evaluating thyroid function.

METHODS

Using the Sandell-Kolthoff method, spot urine iodine concentration was measured cross-sectionally from 1802 healthy children and adolescent in the age range of 0.25-18 years within the LIFE-Child epidemiological study based in and around the city of Leipzig (Germany). Additionally, serum thyroid biomarkers of these subjects were measured and correlated to urine iodine levels.

RESULTS

In our cohort, 61.39% of boys and 65.91% of girls had an iodine level of < 100 µg/L (57%, 67%, 65% of the age groups 0-5, 6-12 and 13-18 years), the median iodine excretion was 86 µg/L in boys and 80 µg/L in girls. The iodine levels revealed no significant correlation with the thyroid biomarkers TSH, FT4 and FT3. Moreover, iodine values revealed no correlation with levels of antibodies against thyroid peroxidase or thyroglobulin.

CONCLUSION

In our cohort of children and adolescents, the relatively high number of iodine levels below the WHO recommendation appears not to be related to clinical or subclinical thyroid diseases in the respective participants.

Various cross-linking methods inhibit the collagenase I degradation of rabbit scleral tissue

BACKGROUND

Collagen cross-linking of the sclera is a promising approach to strengthen scleral rigidity and thus to inhibit eye growth in progressive myopia. Additionally, cross-linking might inhibit degrading processes in idiopathic melting or in ocular inflammatory diseases of the sclera. Different cross-linking treatments were tested to increase resistance to enzymatic degradation of the rabbit sclera.

METHODS

Scleral patches from rabbit eyes were cross-linked using paraformaldehyde, glutaraldehyde or riboflavin combined with UV-A-light or with blue light. The patches were incubated with collagenase I (MMP1) for various durations up to 24 h to elucidate differences in scleral resistance to enzymatic degradation. Degraded protein components in the supernatant were detected and quantified using measurements of Fluoraldehyde o-Phthaldialdehyde (OPA) fluorescence.

RESULTS

All cross-linking methods reduced the enzymatic degradation of rabbit scleral tissue by MMP1. Incubation with glutaraldehyde (1%) and paraformaldehyde (4%) caused nearly a complete inhibition of enzymatic degradation (down to 7% ± 2.8 of digested protein compared to control). Cross-linking with riboflavin/UV-A-light reduced the degradation by MMP1 to 62% ± 12.7 after 24 h. Cross-linking with riboflavin/blue light reduced the degradation by MMP1 to 77% ± 13.5 after 24 h. No significant differences could be detected comparing different light intensities, light exposure times or riboflavin concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

The application of all cross-linking methods increased the resistance of rabbit scleral tissue to MMP1-degradation. Especially, gentle cross-linking with riboflavin and UV-A or blue light might be a clinical approach in future.

The long-lasting impact of unemployment on life satisfaction: results of a longitudinal study over 20 years in East Germany

BACKGROUND

Economic disruption in East Germany at the time of reunification (1990) resulted in a noticeable increase in unemployment. The present study provides data from a German cohort for over 20 years. The aim was to examine how the frequency of experiencing unemployment affects life satisfaction and whether their relationship changes over time.

METHODS

In the Saxon Longitudinal Study, an age-homogeneous sample was surveyed annually from 1987 to 2016. Since 1996, 355 people (54% female) have been examined for issues related to unemployment. Life satisfaction was measured with both the Global Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Questions on Life SatisfactionModules questionnaire.

RESULTS

In 1996, the participants were 23 years old and 50% of the sample was affected by unemployment. At all 16 different measuring points, participants who were never unemployed indicated higher life satisfaction than those who were once unemployed. The repeatedly unemployed consistently reported the lowest values of life satisfaction. In each year, there were significant differences with small to medium effect sizes.

CONCLUSION

Our results support the notion that the adverse effects of unemployment on life satisfaction increase with the time spent unemployed. In 2016, only 2% of the cohort were currently unemployed, but differences between people with and without unemployment experience still exist. This indicates that the negative effect of the unemployment experience will last for a very long time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates the effect so persistently at so many measurement points for over 20 years.

Proliferation and Cluster Analysis of Neurons and Glial Cell Organization on Nanocolumnar TiN Sub-Strates

Biomaterials employed for neural stimulation, as well as brain/machine interfaces, offer great perspectives to combat neurodegenerative diseases, while application of lab-on-a-chip devices such as multielectrode arrays is a promising alternative to assess neural function in vitro. For bioelectronic monitoring, nanostructured microelectrodes are required, which exhibit an increased surface area where the detection sensitivity is not reduced by the self-impedance of the electrode. In our study, we investigated the interaction of neurons (SH-SY5Y) and glial cells (U-87 MG) with nanocolumnar titanium nitride (TiN) electrode materials in comparison to TiN with larger surface grains, gold, and indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates. Glial cells showed an enhanced proliferation on TiN materials; however, these cells spread evenly distributed over all the substrate surfaces. By contrast, neurons proliferated fastest on nanocolumnar TiN and formed large cell agglomerations. We implemented a radial autocorrelation function of cellular positions combined with various clustering algorithms. These combined analyses allowed us to quantify the largest cluster on nanocolumnar TiN; however, on ITO and gold, neurons spread more homogeneously across the substrates. As SH-SY5Y cells tend to grow in clusters under physiologic conditions, our study proves nanocolumnar TiN as a potential bioactive material candidate for the application of microelectrodes in contact with neurons. To this end, the employed K-means clustering algorithm together with radial autocorrelation analysis is a valuable tool to quantify cell-surface interaction and cell organization to evaluate biomaterials' performance in vitro.

A novel direct co-culture assay analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry reveals context- and cell type-specific immunomodulatory effects of equine mesenchymal stromal cells

The immunomodulatory potential of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) provides a basis for current and future regenerative therapies. In this study, we established an approach that allows to address the effects of pro-inflammatory stimulation and co-culture with MSC on different specific leukocyte subpopulations. Equine peripheral blood leukocyte recovery was optimized to preserve all leukocyte subpopulations and leukocyte activation regimes were evaluated. Allogeneic labeled equine adipose-derived MSC were then subjected to direct co-culture with either non-stimulated, concanavalin A (ConA)-activated or phosphate 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin (PMA/I)-activated leukocytes. Subsequently, production of the cytokines interferon-γ (IFN- γ), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and presence of FoxP3 were determined in specific cell populations using multicolor flow cytometry. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was measured in the supernatants. ConA-stimulation induced mild activation of leukocytes, whereas PMA/I-stimulation led to strong activation. In T cells, PMA/I promoted production of all cytokines, with no distinct suppressive effects of MSC. However, increased numbers of CD25/FoxP3-positive cells indicated that MSC supported regulatory T cell differentiation in PMA/I-activated leukocyte cultures. MSC also reduced numbers of cytokine-producing B cells and granulocytes, mostly irrespective of preceding leukocyte activation, and reversed the stimulatory effect of ConA on IFN-γ production in monocytes. Illustrating the possible suppressive mechanisms, higher numbers of MSC produced IL-10 when co-cultured with non-stimulated or ConA-activated leukocytes. This was not observed in co-culture with PMA/I-activated leukocytes. However, PGE2 concentration in the supernatant was highest in the co-culture with PMA/I-activated leukocytes, suggesting that PGE2 could still mediate modulatory effects in strongly inflammatory environment. These context- and cell type-specific modulatory effects observed give insight into the interactions between MSC and different types of immune cells and highlight the roles of IL-10 and PGE2 in MSC-mediated immunomodulation. The approach presented could provide a basis for further functional MSC characterization and the development of potency assays.

The Dox-pDC - A murine conditionally immortalized plasmacytoid dendritic cell line with native immune profile

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) constitute a very rare blood cell population and play a significant role in immune response and immune-mediated disorders. Investigations on primary pDCs are hindered not only due to their rarity but also because they represent a heterogeneous cell population which is difficult to culture ex vivo. We generated a conditionally immortalized pDC line (Dox-pDC) from mice with Doxycycline-inducible SV40 Large T Antigen with a comparable immune profile to primary pDCs. The Dox-pDC secrete pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines upon Toll-like receptor 9 stimulation and upregulate their MHCI, MHCII and costimulatory molecules. Further, the Dox-pDC activate and polarize naïve T cells in vivo and in vitro in response to the model antigen Ovalbumin. Due to their long-term culture stability and their robust proliferation Dox-pDC represent a reliable alternative to primary mouse pDC.

Detection of human disease conditions by single-cell morpho-rheological phenotyping of blood

Blood is arguably the most important bodily fluid and its analysis provides crucial health status information. A first routine measure to narrow down diagnosis in clinical practice is the differential blood count, determining the frequency of all major blood cells. What is lacking to advance initial blood diagnostics is an unbiased and quick functional assessment of blood that can narrow down the diagnosis and generate specific hypotheses. To address this need, we introduce the continuous, cell-by-cell morpho-rheological (MORE) analysis of diluted whole blood, without labeling, enrichment or separation, at rates of 1000 cells/sec. In a drop of blood we can identify all major blood cells and characterize their pathological changes in several disease conditions in vitro and in patient samples. This approach takes previous results of mechanical studies on specifically isolated blood cells to the level of application directly in blood and adds a functional dimension to conventional blood analysis.

Cell adhesion heterogeneity reinforces tumour cell dissemination: novel insights from a mathematical model

BACKGROUND

Cancer cell invasion, dissemination, and metastasis have been linked to an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of individual tumour cells. During EMT, adhesion molecules like E-cadherin are downregulated and the decrease of cell-cell adhesion allows tumour cells to dissociate from the primary tumour mass. This complex process depends on intracellular cues that are subject to genetic and epigenetic variability, as well as extrinsic cues from the local environment resulting in a spatial heterogeneity in the adhesive phenotype of individual tumour cells. Here, we use a novel mathematical model to study how adhesion heterogeneity, influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, affects the dissemination of tumour cells from an epithelial cell population. The model is a multiscale cellular automaton that couples intracellular adhesion receptor regulation with cell-cell adhesion.

RESULTS

Simulations of our mathematical model indicate profound effects of adhesion heterogeneity on tumour cell dissemination. In particular, we show that a large variation of intracellular adhesion receptor concentrations in a cell population reinforces cell dissemination, regardless of extrinsic cues mediated through the local cell density. However, additional control of adhesion receptor concentration through the local cell density, which can be assumed in healthy cells, weakens the effect. Furthermore, we provide evidence that adhesion heterogeneity can explain the remarkable differences in adhesion receptor concentrations of epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes observed during EMT and might drive early dissemination of tumour cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that adhesion heterogeneity may be a universal trigger to reinforce cell dissemination in epithelial cell populations. This effect can be at least partially compensated by a control of adhesion receptor regulation through neighbouring cells. Accordingly, our findings explain how both an increase in intra-tumour adhesion heterogeneity and the loss of control through the local environment can promote tumour cell dissemination.

REVIEWERS

This article was reviewed by Hanspeter Herzel, Thomas Dandekar and Marek Kimmel.

Influence of nanoparticle-mediated transfection on proliferation of primary immune cells in vitro and in vivo

INTRODUCTION

One of the main obstacles in the widespread application of gene therapeutic approaches is the necessity for efficient and safe transfection methods. For the introduction of small oligonucleotide gene therapeutics into a target cell, nanoparticle-based methods have been shown to be highly effective and safe. While immune cells are a most interesting target for gene therapy, transfection might influence basic immune functions such as cytokine expression and proliferation, and thus positively or negatively affect therapeutic intervention. Therefore, we investigated the effects of nanoparticle-mediated transfection such as polyethylenimine (PEI) or magnetic beads on immune cell proliferation.

METHODS

Human adherent and non-adherent PBMCs were transfected by various methods (e.g. PEI, Lipofectamine® 2000, magnetofection) and stimulated. Proliferation was measured by lymphocyte transformation test (LTT). Cell cycle stages as well as expression of proliferation relevant genes were analyzed. Additionally, the impact of nanoparticles was investigated in vivo in a murine model of the severe systemic immune disease GvHD (graft versus host disease).

RESULTS

The proliferation of primary immune cells was influenced by nanoparticle-mediated transfection. In particular in the case of magnetic beads, proliferation inhibition coincided with short-term cell cycle arrest and reduced expression of genes relevant for immune cell proliferation. Notably, proliferation inhibition translated into beneficial effects in a murine GvHD model with animals treated with PEI-nanoparticles showing increased survival (pPEI = 0.002) most likely due to reduced inflammation.

CONCLUSION

This study shows for the first time that nanoparticles utilized for gene therapeutic transfection are able to alter proliferation of immune cells and that this effect depends on the type of nanoparticle. For magnetic beads, this was accompanied by temporary cell cycle arrest. Notably, in GvHD this nonspecific anti-proliferative effect might contribute to reduced inflammation and increased survival.

Monoclonal Antibodies 13A4 and AC133 Do Not Recognize the Canine Ortholog of Mouse and Human Stem Cell Antigen Prominin-1 (CD133)

The pentaspan membrane glycoprotein prominin-1 (CD133) is widely used in medicine as a cell surface marker of stem and cancer stem cells. It has opened new avenues in stem cell-based regenerative therapy and oncology. This molecule is largely used with human samples or the mouse model, and consequently most biological tools including antibodies are directed against human and murine prominin-1. Although the general structure of prominin-1 including its membrane topology is conserved throughout the animal kingdom, its primary sequence is poorly conserved. Thus, it is unclear if anti-human and -mouse prominin-1 antibodies cross-react with their orthologs in other species, especially dog. Answering this issue is imperative in light of the growing number of studies using canine prominin-1 as an antigenic marker. Here, we address this issue by cloning the canine prominin-1 and use its overexpression as a green fluorescent protein fusion protein in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells to determine its immunoreactivity with antibodies against human or mouse prominin-1. We used immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry and immunoblotting techniques and surprisingly found no cross-species immunoreactivity. These results raise some caution in data interpretation when anti-prominin-1 antibodies are used in interspecies studies.