Michael & Associates

Abstract Introduction A computational model developed by others was applied retrospectively to our survey data on dental staff to determine whether the pre-existing infection control practices left dental staff at greater risk of infection with Covid-19. Method Survey data was used and passed through a computational model. Methods were devised to check for impact of the missing variables in the survey data, compared to the dataset used for the development of the computational algorithm. Results The model predicted 82/2888 (2.84%) of dental staff were infected. The model correctly predicted the results of all seven respondents who also reported PCR test results. The lack of included data on sex in the original survey had no impact on the output of the model by itself. Adding in the effect of skipped meals gave an upper bound of infected dental staff as 5.78% Discussion The model estimated between March 24 th - April 21 st 5.36% of mobile app users were infected with Covid-19. The estimated range of Covid-19 infections with dental staff compared favourably with this. Conclusion UK dental staff did not appear to be at increased risk of infection with Covid-19 compared with the background population during the beginning of the pandemic using the pre-existing infection control measures.

Abstract Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease, yet current classifications fail to capture its complexity or enable precision care. Here, we introduce a clinically scalable, immune-based endotyping strategy using routine blood immune cell counts - neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes - from over 1,500 individuals with newly diagnosed T2D across three independent longitudinal European cohorts. Unsupervised clustering identified four consistent and clinically meaningful immune endotypes: Severe Inflammatory Diabetes (SIND), Mild Inflammatory Diabetes (MIND), Lymphocyte-Rich Diabetes (LYRD), and Lymphocyte-Deficient Diabetes (LYDD), that named immunotypes. These endotypes were associated with divergent long-term outcomes, with SIND and LYDD showing increased cardiovascular, renal, and mortality risks, and MIND and LYRD linked to more favorable trajectories. Multi-omic profiling revealed endotype-specific inflammatory signatures, including selective expansion of CCR2hi and CD39hi classical monocytes in the SIND endotype. Integration with single-cell RNA-seq uncovered distinct monocyte subsets in SIND, enriched for chemotaxis and myeloid activation transcriptional programs, alongside skewed adaptive immunity. Strikingly, this pro-inflammatory immune profile was attenuated by IL-1β antagonism and bariatric surgery-induced diabetes remission, underscoring its therapeutic relevance. These findings position immune-based endotyping as a robust and accessible tool to stratify risk, uncover disease mechanisms, and guide personalized intervention strategies in T2D.

Recent advances shed light on the importance of mitochondrial metabolism in supporting essential neutrophil functions such as trafficking, NETosis, bacterial killing, and modulating inflammatory responses. Mitochondrial metabolism is now recognized to contribute to a number of lung diseases marked by neutrophilic inflammation, including bacterial pneumonia, acute lung injury, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this mini review, we provide an overview of neutrophil metabolism focusing on the role of mitochondrial programs, discuss select neutrophil effector functions that are directly influenced by mitochondrial metabolism, and present what is known about the role for mitochondrial metabolism in lung diseases marked by neutrophilic inflammation.

Cet ouvrage est issu de la thèse doctorale d’Isabelle Lemelin à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), où l’auteure est actuellement enseignante-chercheuse. Il porte sur le récit de 2 Maccabées (2 M) 7, qui raconte le martyre d’une mère juive et de ses sept fils lors de la persécution menée par le roi Antiochus IV Épiphane (deuxième siècle ANE). La thèse avancée est que ce récit constitue le premier martyrologe de l’histoire des monothéismes, ce genre littéraire étant défini comme « le ré...

The Starkey Project, a large-scale, multidisciplinary research venture, began in 1987 in the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in northeast Oregon. Researchers are studying effects of forest management on interactions and habitat use of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus), elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), and cattle. A habitat database was compiled, using GIS (geographic information systems), to examine relations of environmental variables to ungulate distribution and habitat use. The database contains over 100 variables associated with vegetation, water, soils, roads, topography, and structural features such as fences. We describe database construction and documentation of GIS layers from 1987 to 1997. Error estimates associated with each variable or layer and sample applications of the database also are presented.

Introduction: Data suggests that women with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have worse clinical outcomes than men. However, data from large multi-center studies on gender differences in patients who undergo septal myectomy (SM) is scarce. Methods: The National Inpatient Database was queried from 2011- 2019 for relevant ICD-9 and -10 diagnostic and procedural codes. We compared baseline characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with HCM who underwent SM stratified according to male vs. female gender. A p-value <0.001 was considered statistically significant. Results: We identified 10,805 patients with HCM who underwent SM, of which 55.4% were female. Women were significantly older (60.9 vs. 56.3 years), had more obesity (31% vs. 26.8%), heart failure (44.6% vs. 40%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (12.2% vs. 9.2%) and pulmonary hypertension (16.2% vs. 11.5%) (p<0.001 for all) compared to men. Men had more hypertension (75.4% vs. 69.7%), tobacco use (41.5% vs. 34%), alcohol use (3.5% vs. 1.4%), hyperlipidemia (59.3% vs. 55.6%), obstructive sleep apnea (25.9% vs. 15%), coronary artery disease 41% vs. 32%), chronic kidney disease (12.6% vs. 8.7%), atrial fibrillation (46% vs. 40.9%), and atrial flutter (8.5% vs. 4.7%) (p<0.001 for all) compared to women. In-hospital outcomes demonstrate women had higher all-cause mortality (3.3% vs. 1.6%, OR: 2.4 [1.5-4]) and more frequently required intra-aortic balloon pump placement (OR: 6.9 [2.7-19]) compared to men. Men had more intraoperative cardiac complications (OR: 1.4 [1.1-1.6]), pneumothorax (OR: 1.7 [1.25-2.5]), and pericardial complications (OR: 10 [3-33]) (p<0.001 for all) compared to women. Conclusions: In patients with HCM who underwent SM, women had higher all-cause mortality despite having less comorbidities than men. These highlights potential gender differences in outcomes in patients referred for SM. Whether biases exist in referral patterns needs to be further elucidated.

The Kudryashov and Sinelshchikov (KS) equation address pressure waves in liquid-gas bubble mixtures while considering heat transport and viscosity. This study mainly includes two types of generalized solutions: polynomial function traveling wave solutions and rational function traveling wave solutions. In this study, we constructed the KS equation’s exact traveling and solitary wave solutions with variable coefficients by the generalized unified method (GUM). These newly created solutions play a significant role in mathematical physics, optical fiber physics, plasma physics, and other applied science disciplines. We illustrated the dynamical behavior of the discovered solutions in three dimensions. We proposed the possibility of discussing wave interaction and other wave structures using bilinear form related to the Hirota method for the fractional solutions.

We know little about the underlying genetic control of phenotypic patterns of seed traits across large-scale geographic and environmental gradients. Such knowledge is important for understanding the evolution of populations within species and for improving species conservation. Therefore, to test for genetic variation in Plantago lanceolata, we made reciprocal crosses between northern and southern genotypes that span the species’ range in Europe. The results provide evidence of transgenerational genetic effects on seed mass and germination timing. Northern mothers produced larger seeds with delayed germination, in contrast to southern mothers, which produced smaller seeds with accelerated germination. A maternal latitude affected both the seed coat, solely maternal tissue, and embryo/endosperm tissues. Thus, latitudinal variation in seed size and germination timing can be explained, in part, by the direct influence of maternal genotype, independent of zygotic genes that parents pass directly to the embryo and endosperm. Data suggest that researchers exploring the existence and evolution of large-scale geographic variation within species test for transgenerational genetic effects. In addition, data suggest that transgenerational control of seed traits should be considered when developing procedures designed to facilitate species conservation and restoration.