Comparing and optimizing protein extraction methods with different lysis buffers for the analyses of human fecal microbiome via metaproteomics approach.

Metaproteomic analysis offers critical insights into gut microbiome function; however, efficient microbial protein extraction from fecal samples remains challenging due to the complexity of different types of bacterial cell walls in the microbiome. In this study, we systematically compared three representative detergent-based lysis buffers (sodium dodecyl sulfate_urea, dodecyl β-D-maltoside_urea, sodium dodecyl sulfate_ dodecyl β-D-maltoside_urea) for metaproteomics sample preparation. After multiple levels of analyses, we identified SDS_DDM_urea as the most efficient option for extracting diverse microbial proteins, peptides, and identifying microbial species.

Real-World Effectiveness of a Novel AI-Software Dependent Neuromodulation (ASDN) with Remote Monitoring Capability Field Stimulation Device for Chronic Pain: A 24-Month Analysis of Over 2000 Patients.

Importance: Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and conventional pharmacologic treatments are often limited by side effects, inadequate efficacy, and risk of dependency. Non-invasive neuromodulation therapies such as TENS and EMS offer alternatives but are traditionally constrained by fixed stimulation protocols and low user engagement.

Objective: To evaluate the 24-month real-world effectiveness of EcoAI™, an AI-driven wearable system delivering adaptive TENS and EMS for chronic pain management in community settings.

Biofilm state Limosilactobacillus reuteri modulates aryl hydrocarbon receptor activity and suppresses experimental necrotizing enterocolitis.

Background: Decreased Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) signaling pathway activation is implicated in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) pathogenesis. Limosilactobacillus reuteri (Lr) is a probiotic that catabolizes tryptophan into AHR ligands. We have previously shown that Lr in its biofilm state has improved efficacy against NEC.

Mortality Trends Across Key Diagnostic Groups in Australian and New Zealand ICUs Over the Past 30 Years.

Objectives: The Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Adult Patient Database (APD) has been operational for 3 decades. It is important to understand how mortality outcomes have changed across diagnostic groups over time to facilitate the planning of future healthcare resources. We evaluated the trends in risk-adjusted mortality for ICU patients over the last 30 years.

Social stress worsens colitis through β-adrenergic-driven oxidative stress in intestinal mucosal compartments.

Psychological stress is a known risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the mechanisms linking stress to worsened disease remain unclear. Because distinct stress paradigms activate different neuroimmune circuits, it is critical to investigate model-specific effects. We examined how social stress primes the gut for heightened inflammation and whether this is mediated by specific neuroendocrine pathways, including α2-/β-adrenergic (sympathetic) or glucocorticoid/ corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor (CRHR1) (HPA axis) signaling.

Gene-expression signature predicts autoimmune toxicity in metastatic melanoma.

Objectives: To identify predictive gene-expression signatures for immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with melanoma treated with anti-PD-1 inhibitors, in the adjuvant therapy (AT) and first-line therapy (FLT).

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed baseline whole-blood gene expression profile from 161 patients with resected stage III or unresectable stage III-IV melanoma treated with anti-PD-1 inhibitors. RNA was extracted from baseline peripheral blood samples and profiled using the NanoString nCounter PanCancer IO 360 panel.

Radial Artery Conduit Use After Transradial Catheterisation.

Background: Transradial catheterisation (TRC) via the radial artery (RA) is now the default approach for coronary angiography, but TRC is known to be associated with endothelial damage and vasodilatory dysfunction of the RA. To date, there is insufficient evidence regarding the impact of TRC on RA graft patency.

Method: This retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with previously catheterised RA grafts was conducted at two major hospitals in Victoria, Australia.

Postoperative 20% Albumin Infusion and Acute Kidney Injury in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients: The ALBICS AKI Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is a common and serious complication. Protein loading appears nephroprotective; thus, continuous hyperoncotic albumin infusion may impact AKI following high-risk cardiac surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of postoperative 20% albumin infusion compared with usual care on the occurrence of AKI in high-risk cardiac surgery patients.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Early Active Mobilization During Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU: An Economic Evaluation Alongside the Treatment of Mechanically Ventilated Adults With Early Activity and Mobilization (TEAM) Trial.

Objectives: Early mobilization is recommended by the Society of Critical Care Medicine ICU Liberation Bundle. The Treatment of Mechanically Ventilated Adults With Early Activity and Mobilization (TEAM) randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared early active mobilization to usual care mobilization and found no difference in the primary outcome of days alive and out of hospital to day 180; however, it did find an increase in adverse events in the intervention group. To date, no RCT of early mobilization has reported costs or cost-effectiveness.

Outcomes of Septal Myectomy Associated With Surgical Volume.

Background & Aim: Previous studies have reported an inverse relationship between hospital septal myectomy (SM) volume and outcomes, without assessments of surgeon volume and SM outcomes. This Australia and New Zealand-based study sought to appraise the relationships between hospital volume, surgeon volume, and SM outcomes.

Methods: Data were collected from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Database, from the time of inception of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Database (2001) until 1 January 2021.

Altered nasal and oral microbiomes define pediatric sickle cell disease.

Unlabelled: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic blood disorder that disrupts multiple organ systems and can lead to severe morbidity. Persistent and acute symptoms caused by immune system dysregulation in individuals with SCD could contribute to disease either directly or indirectly via dysbiosis of commensal microbes and increased susceptibility to infection. Here, we explored the nasal and oral microbiomes of children with SCD (cwSCD) to uncover potential dysbiotic associations with the blood disorder.

Long-Term Functional Outcomes in the First 12 Months After VA-ECMO in Adult Patients: A Prospective, Multicenter Study.

Background: Long-term outcomes and quality of life have been identified as core patient-centered outcomes for venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) research. The aim of this study is to investigate the incidence of death or new disability at 12 months after the initiation of VA-ECMO.

Methods: Prospective, multicenter, registry-embedded cohort study in 26 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand from February 2019 through April 2023.

The Metabolomic Mind: Microbial Metabolite Programming of Microglia.

Background: The gut microbiota is increasingly recognized as a critical regulator of brain function, influencing neurodevelopment, brain physiology, and disease vulnerability in part through its interactions with microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system. Microbial metabolites, beginning prenatally and persisting throughout the lifespan, modulate fundamental aspects of microglial biology.

Summary: Microglia from germ-free mice exhibit persistent immaturity, altered energy metabolism, and blunted inflammatory responses, which can be partially reversed by microbial colonization or supplementation with specific bacterial metabolites.

The impact of red blood cells storage duration on the development of acute kidney injury: A secondary analysis of the TRANSFUSE multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background: Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is associated with an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI). The extent to which RBC storage affects this association is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the association between storage duration and the occurrence or worsening of any degree of AKI in critically ill patients.

Facilitated Clearance of Small, Asymptomatic Renal Stones With Burst Wave Lithotripsy and Ultrasonic Propulsion.

Purpose: We tested feasibility of burst wave lithotripsy and ultrasonic propulsion to noninvasively fragment and expel small, asymptomatic renal stones in awake participants.

Materials And Methods: Adult patients suspected of having 2- to 7-mm stones were consented and screened for eligibility. Burst wave lithotripsy and ultrasonic propulsion were applied to up to 3 stones in 1 kidney of qualifying participants for a 30-minute total exposure.

Blood Transfusion Practices in Intensive Care: A Prospective Observational Binational Study.

Importance: Blood transfusions are a common and potentially lifesaving intervention in ICU patients but are associated with harm and often transfused inconsistently with guidelines. However, it is not well known how ICU transfusion practice has recently changed and if there is variation in transfusion practice.

Objectives: To describe blood transfusion practices in ICU, the variation in practice across sites, and to compare transfusion practices against national guidelines and with prior published practice.

Adverse events during and after early mobilisation: A post hoc analysis of the TEAM trial.

Background: The Treatment of Mechanically Ventilated Adults with Early Activity and Mobilisation (TEAM) trial reported a higher occurrence of adverse events with greater mobilisation. However, their timing and nature remained unexplored. We conducted an in-depth exploration of such events.

No Injury Observed in Kidneys Treated with Burst Wave Lithotripsy in Therapeutically Anticoagulated Pigs.

Current American Urological Association guidelines recommend that patients with acute obstructive kidney stone requiring continuous anticoagulation/antiplatelet therapy should not be treated by shockwave lithotripsy or percutaneous nephrolithotomy because of the risk of catastrophic renal hemorrhage possible with those techniques. Currently, ureteroscopy is the only recommended surgical treatment. We evaluated if burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) could be used in these cases by treating pigs with BWL while undergoing anticoagulation therapy.

Associations among rearing environment and the infant gut microbiome with early-life neurodevelopment and cognitive development in a nonhuman primate model ().

Early gut microbiome development may impact brain and behavioral development. Using a nonhuman primate model (), we investigated the association between social environments and the gut microbiome on infant neurodevelopment and cognitive function. Infant rhesus monkeys ( = 33) were either mother-peer-reared (MPR) or nursery-reared (NR).

Olanzapine versus quetiapine in critically ill patients with hyperactive delirium: Protocol for a multicentre, cluster-randomised, double-crossover, pragmatic clinical trial (CALM-ICU).

Background: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) frequently develop hyperactive delirium, which may be accompanied by behaviour that increases clinical risks to themselves as well as other patients and staff. There is a paucity of evidence to inform the urgent enteral administration of antipsychotic drugs to treat such hyperactive delirium and behavioural disturbances.

Objective: The aim of this study is to test the efficacy and safety of administering enteral olanzapine when compared to quetiapine in critically ill patients with hyperactive delirium.

Hospital-level volume in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cases and death or disability at 6 months.

Objective: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a high-risk procedure with significant morbidity and mortality and there is an uncertain volume-outcome relationship, especially regarding long-term functional outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the association between ECMO centre volume and long-term death and disability outcomes.

Design Setting And Participants: This is a registry-embedded observational cohort study.