Lisa M.

Abstract Efforts to produce aromatic monomers through catalytic lignin depolymerization have historically focused on aryl–ether bond cleavage.

Abstract The leaf-cutter ant fungal garden ecosystem is a naturally evolved model system for efficient plant biomass degradation.

Shutterstock Lisa M. Given Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University

Data on the middle school outcomes of preterm children are limited and have methodologic issues. To study the association between preterm birth and grade 7 school performance. A retrospective population-based cohort study of children born in Manitoba, Canada between 1994 and 2006 using their grade 7 school performance data. A secondary sibling cohort was created comprising children born preterm and their full-term siblings. Primary exposure was preterm birth categorized as <28, 28–33 and 34–36 weeks gestation. The two co-primary grade 7 outcome measures were: not meeting the mathematics competencies, and not meeting the student engagement competencies. Multivariable logistic regression models tested the association between preterm birth and both co-primary outcomes; adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. 7653 preterm (gestational age median [IQR]: 35 weeks [34,36]) and 110,313 term (40 [39,40]) were included. 43% of < 28 weeks, 18% of 28–33 weeks and 17% of 34–36 weeks had the mathematics co-primary outcome compared to 13% of term children. The corresponding % for the student engagement outcome were 42%, 24%, 24% and 24% respectively. Preterm birth was associated with the mathematics (<28 weeks: 5.48, 3.89–7.70; 28–33 weeks: 1.47, 1.27–1.70; 34–36 weeks: 1.26, 1.16–1.35) and student engagement outcomes (<28 weeks: 2.49, 1.76–3.51; 28–33 weeks: 1.21, 1.06–1.39; 34–36 weeks: 1.09, 1.01–1.16). However, there was no difference in outcomes among the sibling cohort. Children born preterm had lower grade 7 performance compared to children born term in this population-based cohort. Screening and supports for them in their middle school years are warranted.

Research Open access Published: 05 March 2024 Associations of geographic-based socioeconomic factors and HPV vaccination among male and female children in five US states

Abstract Planning of marine areas has spread widely over the past two decades to support sustainable ocean management and governance.

Abstract In mice, exit from the totipotent two-cell (2C) stage embryo requires silencing of the 2C-associated transcriptional program.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a distinct form of coronary artery disease that represents a major cause of death beyond the first year after heart transplantation. The pathophysiology of CAV is still not completely elucidated; it involves progressive circumferential wall thickening of both the epicardial and intramyocardial coronary arteries. Coronary angiography is still considered the gold-standard test for the diagnosis of CAV, and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) can detect early intimal thickening with improved sensitivity. However, these tests are invasive and are unable to visualize and evaluate coronary microcirculation. Increasing evidence for non-invasive surveillance techniques assessing both epicardial and microvascular components of CAV may help improve early detection. These include computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and vasodilator stress myocardial contrast echocardiography perfusion imaging. This review summarizes the current state of diagnostic modalities and their utility and prognostic value for CAV and also evaluates emerging tools that may improve the early detection of this complex disease.

Judith Campisi, one of the foundational members of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and an internationally recognized cell biologist for

One of the most significant challenges in human health risk assessment is to evaluate hazards from exposure to environmental chemical mixtures. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of ubiquitous contaminants typically found as mixtures in gaseous and particulate phases in ambient air pollution associated with petrochemicals from Superfund sites and the burning of fossil fuels. However, little is understood about how PAHs in mixtures contribute to toxicity in lung cells. To investigate mixture interactions and component additivity from environmentally relevant PAHs, two synthetic mixtures were created from PAHs identified in passive air samplers at a legacy creosote site impacted by wildfires. The primary human bronchial epithelial cells differentiated at the air–liquid interface were treated with PAH mixtures at environmentally relevant proportions and evaluated for the differential expression of transcriptional biomarkers related to xenobiotic metabolism, oxidative stress response, barrier integrity, and DNA damage response. Component additivity was evaluated across all endpoints using two independent action (IA) models with and without the scaling of components by toxic equivalence factors. Both IA models exhibited trends that were unlike the observed mixture response and generally underestimated the toxicity across dose suggesting the potential for non-additive interactions of components. Overall, this study provides an example of the usefulness of mixture toxicity assessment with the currently available methods while demonstrating the need for more complex yet interpretable mixture response evaluation methods for environmental samples.