| 1. |
- Wang, Haidong, et al.
(author)
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Global, regional, and national levels of neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality during 1990-2013 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
- 2014
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In: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 384:9947, s. 957-979
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Remarkable financial and political efforts have been focused on the reduction of child mortality during the past few decades. Timely measurements of levels and trends in under-5 mortality are important to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) target of reduction of child mortality by two thirds from 1990 to 2015, and to identify models of success.METHODS: We generated updated estimates of child mortality in early neonatal (age 0-6 days), late neonatal (7-28 days), postneonatal (29-364 days), childhood (1-4 years), and under-5 (0-4 years) age groups for 188 countries from 1970 to 2013, with more than 29 000 survey, census, vital registration, and sample registration datapoints. We used Gaussian process regression with adjustments for bias and non-sampling error to synthesise the data for under-5 mortality for each country, and a separate model to estimate mortality for more detailed age groups. We used explanatory mixed effects regression models to assess the association between under-5 mortality and income per person, maternal education, HIV child death rates, secular shifts, and other factors. To quantify the contribution of these different factors and birth numbers to the change in numbers of deaths in under-5 age groups from 1990 to 2013, we used Shapley decomposition. We used estimated rates of change between 2000 and 2013 to construct under-5 mortality rate scenarios out to 2030.FINDINGS: We estimated that 6·3 million (95% UI 6·0-6·6) children under-5 died in 2013, a 64% reduction from 17·6 million (17·1-18·1) in 1970. In 2013, child mortality rates ranged from 152·5 per 1000 livebirths (130·6-177·4) in Guinea-Bissau to 2·3 (1·8-2·9) per 1000 in Singapore. The annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2013 ranged from -6·8% to 0·1%. 99 of 188 countries, including 43 of 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, had faster decreases in child mortality during 2000-13 than during 1990-2000. In 2013, neonatal deaths accounted for 41·6% of under-5 deaths compared with 37·4% in 1990. Compared with 1990, in 2013, rising numbers of births, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, led to 1·4 million more child deaths, and rising income per person and maternal education led to 0·9 million and 2·2 million fewer deaths, respectively. Changes in secular trends led to 4·2 million fewer deaths. Unexplained factors accounted for only -1% of the change in child deaths. In 30 developing countries, decreases since 2000 have been faster than predicted attributable to income, education, and secular shift alone.INTERPRETATION: Only 27 developing countries are expected to achieve MDG 4. Decreases since 2000 in under-5 mortality rates are accelerating in many developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The Millennium Declaration and increased development assistance for health might have been a factor in faster decreases in some developing countries. Without further accelerated progress, many countries in west and central Africa will still have high levels of under-5 mortality in 2030.
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| 2. |
- Bestas, Burcu, et al.
(author)
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Splice-correcting oligonucleotides restore BTK function in X-linked agammaglobulinemia model
- 2014
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In: Journal of Clinical Investigation. - 0021-9738 .- 1558-8238. ; 124:9, s. 4067-4081
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is an inherited immunodeficiency that results from mutations within the gene encoding Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). Many XLA-associated mutations affect splicing of BTK pre-mRNA and severely impair B cell development. Here, we assessed the potential of antisense, splice-correcting oligonucleotides (SCOs) targeting mutated BTKtranscripts for treating XLA. Both the SCO structural design and chemical properties were optimized using 2'-O-methyl, locked nucleic acid, or phosphorodiamidate morpholino backbones. In order to have access to an animal model of XLA, we engineered a transgenic mouse that harbors a BAC with an authentic, mutated, splice-defective human BTK gene. BTK transgenic mice were bred onto a Btk knockout background to avoid interference of the orthologous mouse protein. Using this model, we determined that BTK-specific SCOs are able to correct aberrantly spliced BTK in B lymphocytes, including pro-B cells. Correction of BTK mRNA restored expression of functional protein, as shown both by enhanced lymphocyte survival and reestablished BTK activation upon B cell receptor stimulation. Furthermore, SCO treatment corrected splicing and restored BTK expression in primary cells from patients with XLA. Together, our data demonstrate that SCOs can restore BTK function and that BTK-targeting SCOs have potential as personalized medicine in patients with XLA.
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| 4. |
- Idris, Shaza B., et al.
(author)
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Global Gene Expression Profile of Osteoblast-Like Cells Grown on Polyester Copolymer Scaffolds
- 2011
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In: Tissue Engineering. Part A. - NEW ROCHELLE, NY : Mary Ann Liebert. - 1937-3341 .- 1937-335X. ; 17:21-22, s. 2817-2831
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One of the principal goals in tissue engineering is to produce scaffold materials that will guide cells to differentiate and regenerate functional replacement tissue at the site of injury. Poly(l-lactide-co-1,5-dioxepan-2-one) [Poly(LLA-co-DXO)], a potential scaffolding material for bone tissue engineering, has high hydrophilicity. Previous in vitro studies using human osteoblast-like cells (HOBs) demonstrated greater cytocompatibility and enhanced osteogenic differentiation when HOBs were seeded onto Poly(LLA-co-DXO) compared to Poly(llactide) [P(LLA)] scaffolds. The aim of the study was to identify the gene expression profiles of HOBs obtained from alveolar bone and grown on Poly(LLA-co-DXO) biodegradable polymer scaffolds compared to P(LLA) one. Illumina HumanWG-6 v3.0 Expression BeadChips were used for the gene expression analysis. Several genes were found as differentially expressed at 24 h and at 21 days. Expression of genes related to cell adhesion, cytoskeleton, antiapoptosis, proliferation, and bone mineralization was influenced by adding the monomer 1,5-dioxepan-2-one to the l-lactide. Genes related to three biological pathways involving Integrin, Notch, and Ras were found to be upregulated. For selected genes, results were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase– polymerase chain reaction. Further, calcium content analysis revealed a significant enhancement of calcium deposition on both tested scaffolds. This observation was confirmed by Von Kossa and Alizarin Red S staining. Findings of this study are relevant to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the behavior of HOBs in bone regenerative procedure.
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| 5. |
- Lin, Jun, et al.
(author)
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Bandpass filtering of DNA elastic modes using confinement and tension
- 2012
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In: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 102, s. 96-100
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During a variety of biological and technological processes, biopolymers are simultaneously subject to both confinement and external forces. Although significant efforts have gone into understanding the physics of polymers that are only confined, or only under tension, little work has been done to explore the effects of the interplay of force and confinement. Here, we study the combined effects of stretching and confinement on a polymer's configurational freedom. We measure the elastic response of long double-stranded DNA molecules that are partially confined to thin, nanofabricated slits. We account for the data through a model in which the DNA's short-wavelength transverse elastic modes are cut off by applied force and the DNA's bending stiffness, whereas long-wavelength modes are cut off by confinement. Thus, we show that confinement and stretching combine to permit tunable bandpass filtering of the elastic modes of long polymers. © 2012 Biophysical Society.
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