N. N. Leonenko, I. Papić, A. Sikorskii and N. Šuvak
Theor. Probability and Math. Statist. 99 (2020), 137-147.
Abstract, references and article information

The city's annual Jazz Marathon will be held on April 25.

The all-day music event will see artists from France, India, Italy, Japan, the Mainland, Russia and the US collaborate with local musicians to create a borderless jazz soundscape.

The Day Marathon Concert will be held from 2.30pm to 6pm while the Night Marathon Concert will be held from 7.15pm to 10.45pm.

 
Ahead of the concerts, jazz workshops with the artists will be held on April 24.

Presented by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department, the events will be held at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai.

Tickets are available at URBTIX.

Click here for details.

With the northeast monsoon over southern China being stronger than normal in April, the month was slightly cooler than usual, the Hong Kong Observatory said today.

The monthly mean temperature was 22 degrees Celsius, 0.6 degrees below normal.

The mean minimum temperature was 20 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees below average, while the monthly mean maximum temperature was 25.1 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degrees above normal.

The month was also drier than usual with a total rainfall of 77.8mm, about 55% below the normal figure.

The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first four months of the year was 213.7mm, about 36% below average.

Monthly weather summary in Hong Kong

(Kessler Foundation) Andrew Houtenville, Ph.D., research director of the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability: 'Unlike the Great Recession and the Great Depression, many workers in the COVID Recession may be 'on temporary layoff' (aka furloughed) and may be recalled, rather than losing their jobs completely. To further investigate this issue, we plan to release a Special nTIDE Report on May 15.'

Nora Linscheid
Apr 14, 2020; 0:RA119.001878v1-mcp.RA119.001878
Research

For the April edition of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft repaired a total of 110 security vulnerabilities across their product line. Included in this count are 37 remote code execution bugs, and 33 elevation of privilege bugs. The company rated eighteen of the vulnerabilities “Critical.” This release’s most notable item is the follow-up to last month’s announcement, […]

Genetic and genomic research has greatly advanced our understanding of heart disease. Yet, comprehensive, in-depth, quantitative maps of protein expression in hearts of living humans are still lacking. Using samples obtained during valve replacement surgery in patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP), we set out to define inter-chamber differences, the intersect of proteomic data with genetic or genomic datasets, and the impact of left atrial dilation on the proteome of patients with no history of atrial fibrillation (AF).  We collected biopsies from right atria (RA), left atria (LA) and left ventricle (LV) of seven male patients with mitral valve regurgitation with dilated LA but no history of AF. Biopsy samples were analyzed by high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS), where peptides were pre-fractionated by reverse phase high-pressure liquid chromatography prior to MS measurement on a Q-Exactive-HF Orbitrap instrument. We identified 7,314 proteins based on 130,728 peptides. Results were confirmed in an independent set of biopsies collected from three additional individuals. Comparative analysis against data from post-mortem samples showed enhanced quantitative power and confidence level in samples collected from living hearts. Our analysis, combined with data from genome wide association studies suggested candidate gene associations to MVP, identified higher abundance in ventricle for proteins associated with cardiomyopathies and revealed the dilated LA proteome, demonstrating differential representation of molecules previously associated with AF, in non-AF hearts. This is the largest dataset of cardiac protein expression from human samples collected in vivo. It provides a comprehensive resource that allows insight into molecular fingerprints of MVP and facilitates novel inferences between genomic data and disease mechanisms. We propose that over-representation of proteins in ventricle is consequent not to redundancy but to functional need, and conclude that changes in abundance of proteins known to associate with AF are not sufficient for arrhythmogenesis.

The cell surfaces of many bacteria carry filamentous polypeptides termed adhesins that enable binding to both biotic and abiotic surfaces. Surface adherence is facilitated by the exquisite selectivity of the adhesins for their cognate ligands or receptors and is a key step in niche or host colonization and pathogenicity. Streptococcus gordonii is a primary colonizer of the human oral cavity and an opportunistic pathogen, as well as a leading cause of infective endocarditis in humans. The fibrillar adhesin CshA is an important determinant of S. gordonii adherence, forming peritrichous fibrils on its surface that bind host cells and other microorganisms. CshA possesses a distinctive multidomain architecture comprising an N-terminal target-binding region fused to 17 repeat domains (RDs) that are each ∼100 amino acids long. Here, using structural and biophysical methods, we demonstrate that the intact CshA repeat region (CshA_RD1–17, domains 1–17) forms an extended polymeric monomer in solution. We recombinantly produced a subset of CshA RDs and found that they differ in stability and unfolding behavior. The NMR structure of CshA_RD13 revealed a hitherto unreported all β-fold, flanked by disordered interdomain linkers. These findings, in tandem with complementary hydrodynamic studies of CshA_RD1–17, indicate that this polypeptide possesses a highly unusual dynamic transitory structure characterized by alternating regions of order and disorder. This architecture provides flexibility for the adhesive tip of the CshA fibril to maintain bacterial attachment that withstands shear forces within the human host. It may also help mitigate deleterious folding events between neighboring RDs that share significant structural identity without compromising mechanical stability.

4 March 2020 , Volume 96, Number 2

Diabetes Core Update is a monthly podcast that presents and discusses the latest clinically relevant articles from the American Diabetes Association’s four science and medical journals – Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Clinical Diabetes, and Diabetes Spectrum. Each episode is approximately 20 minutes long and presents 5-6 recently published articles from ADA journals.

Intended for practicing physicians and health care professionals, Diabetes Core Update discusses how the latest research and information published in journals of the American Diabetes Association are relevant to clinical practice and can be applied in a treatment setting.

This issue will review:

1. Normalization of functional beta cell capacity after weight loss in type 2 diabetes
2. Screening for glucose intolerance and diabetes in patients with coronary artery disease
3. Trends Prescribing Preferences for SGLT2 Inhibitors and GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, 2013–2018
4. Impact of a Telephone Intervention to Improve Diabetes Control on Healthcare Utilization and Cost for Adults in South Bronx, New York –
5. Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin Plus Saxagliptin Versus Insulin Glargine Over 52 Weeks as Add‐on to Metformin With or Without Sulfonylurea in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
6. The Association Between Poor Glycemic Control and Health Care Costs in People With Diabetes

For more information about each of ADA’s science and medical journals, please visit www.diabetesjournals.org.

Presented by:

Neil Skolnik, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Associate Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Abington Jefferson Health

John J. Russell, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Chair-Department of Family Medicine, Abington Jefferson Health

In this first episode of a three-part series on “Disrupting Therapeutic Inertia in Diabetes Management,” Drs. John Russell and Neil Skolnik examine a case study of a 55-year-old man with type 2 diabetes (3 years duration, A1C 8.2%). In so doing, they review six articles that define achievement gaps in reaching A1C goals and the reasons for why those gaps exist. In episodes 2 and 3 of this series, Drs. Russell and Skolnik we will look at additional causes of therapeutic inertia and solutions for overcoming it. This special three-part series on therapeutic inertia is supported by independent educational grant from Sanofi (https://www.sanofi.com).

This issue will review:

1. Achievement of target therapeutic goals in persons with T2DM
2. Achievement of therapeutic goals from 2005 – 2015
3. Clinical Inertia in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 DM
4. Clinical Inertia over Time in Type 2 DM
5. Gap Between Efficacy in Randomized Controlled Trials and Effectiveness in Real-World Use
6. Difference between Clinical Trial and Real-World Studies Achievement of Target A1C <7.0% in Patients Treated with Basal Insulin in RCTs and Clinical Practice

For more information about each of ADA’s science and medical journals, please visit www.diabetesjournals.org.

Presented by:

Neil Skolnik, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Associate Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Abington Jefferson Health

John J. Russell, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Chair-Department of Family Medicine, Abington Jefferson Health

This special issue focuses on Diabetes, Covid-19 and managing patient’s diabetes when they are sick.

Recorded April 1, 2020.

This podcast will cover:

1. How do we help our patients with diabetes stay safe
2. Helping patient negotiate safety issues in the workplace
3. Safety Issues when people do not come in for care
4. Managing SGLT-2 inhibitors during the pandemic
5. Home detection and care of DKA
6. Renewing Medications
7. Telemedicine Visits

Intended for practicing physicians and health care professionals, Diabetes Core Update discusses how the latest research and information published in journals of the American Diabetes Association are relevant to clinical practice and can be applied in a treatment setting.

Presented by:

Louis Philipson, MD, PhD, ADA Past President, Medicine & Science, University of Chicago

Anne Peters, MD, Diabetologist, University of Southern California

This special issue focuses on Diabetes, Covid-19 and Inpatient Management.

Recorded April 3, 2020.

This podcast will cover:

1. Risk with Diabetes of Covid-19 and Complications of Covid-19
2. Management of Hyperglycemia during Covid-19 Infection
3. Sub-cutaneous Insulin for DKA
4. CGM in the Hospital Setting
5. Diabetes Education in the Hospital During Covid-19

Intended for practicing physicians and health care professionals, Diabetes Core Update discusses how the latest research and information published in journals of the American Diabetes Association are relevant to clinical practice and can be applied in a treatment setting.

Presented by:

Irl Hirsch, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle

Guillermo E. Umpierrez, MD, CDE, Professor of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta Georgia

This special issue focuses on Diabetes, Covid-19 and Inpatient Management.

Recorded April 14, 2020.

This podcast will cover:

1. Inpatient Medication Management for Persons Admitted with Diabetes
2. Outpatient Medication Management for Persons with Diabetes
   1. Hypoglycemic Medication Management
   2. ACE and ARBs
   3. NSAIDs

Intended for practicing physicians and health care professionals, Diabetes Core Update discusses how the latest research and information published in journals of the American Diabetes Association are relevant to clinical practice and can be applied in a treatment setting.

Presented by:

Neil Skolnik, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Associate Director, Family Medicine Residency Program, Abington Jefferson Health

Dr. Joshua Neumiller, Vice Chair & Allen I. White Distinguished Associate Professor of Pharmacotherapy at Washington State University