Team resilience in the NBA: When teams fall behind

National Basketball Association (NBA) games have become more volatile in scoring as the pace of the game has quickened and reliance on the three-point shot has increased. This research analyzes 20-point scoring deficits and the comeback abilities of NBA teams from an archival, as well as team resilience perspective, which is the ability of a team to deal with adversity. The collective experience of challenge by all team members is a process more complex to study than individual resilience due to the diverse interactions between teammates. Another aspect of this study is the context of locale or home versus away in investigating these great deficit games. A series of Pearson correlations shows a greater frequency of such games in more recent seasons. It was also found that of games that hit a 20-point score difference and then return to a tie, both teams have roughly an equal chance of winning the game (i.e., lack of momentum). This suggests that teams that fall behind by 20 points, as well as teams that lose this lead, demonstrate team resilience. Lastly, away teams are more likely to fall behind, but home teams are more likely to make a comeback. Ways to improve team resilience in professional basketball are discussed

Eliminating hepatitis C: Part 2. Assessing your patient for antiviral treatment

With the introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in Australia in 2016, most people with chronic hepatitis C can be cured of this infection. GPs and suitably qualified nurse practitioners working in all areas of primary care have a key role in identifying, testing and treating their patients with hepatitis C. The previous article in this series discussed how to identify your patients with hepatitis C. This article provides practical advice on assessing a patient after diagnosis in preparation for DAA therapy. This includes determining whether they can be safely treated in general practice or require specialist referral

Exploring the mental health research priorities of parents with depression and their children

Background: While patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is growing, PPI in the setting of research priorities at an early stage of the research process has been limited to date. Where research priorities have been assessed, this has been done by working with members of the general public. Research priorities are likely to vary between different groups, and families affected by depression have been recognised as an important group for research. Objective: We aimed to explore the mental health research priorities of parents with a history of depression and their children. Methods: Data came from the Early Prediction of Adolescent Depression (EPAD) study—a UK longitudinal cohort study of parents with a history of depression and their children. During interviews, parents (n=161) and their young adult children (n=131) were asked open-ended questions about their research priorities. Responses were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings: Parents and their young adult children highlighted the following research priority categories: treatment and intervention, including prevention and early intervention, public understanding of mental health, environmental or social factors that might contribute to poor mental health, the role of genetics in intergenerational transmission, and a developmental and intergenerational approach to research. Conclusions: While prior research has identified the importance of intervention and social factors, our study also identified public understanding of mental health and aetiological research, particularly on the contribution of genetics relative to environmental factors, as priorities for parents with depression and their children. Clinical implications: Findings highlight the value of involving diverse groups in priority-setting exercises, including groups that are recognised as important for research, to allow their views to be incorporated into agenda-setting initiatives, including for research funding

ABHD11 inhibition drives sterol metabolism to modulate T cell effector function 2 and alleviate autoimmunity

Chronic inflammation in autoimmunity is driven by T cell hyperactivation. This unregulated response to self is fuelled by heightened metabolic programmes, which offers a promising new direction to uncover novel treatment strategies. α/β-hydrolase domain-containing protein 11 (ABHD11) is a mitochondrial hydrolase that maintains the catalytic function of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (α-KGDH), and its expression in CD4+ T cells has been linked to remission status in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the importance of ABHD11 in regulating T cell metabolism and function – and thus, the downstream implication for autoimmunity – is yet to be explored. Here, we show that pharmacological inhibition of ABHD11 dampens cytokine production by human and mouse T cells. Mechanistically, the anti-inflammatory effects of ABHD11 inhibition are attributed to increased 24,25-epoxycholesterol (24,25-EC) biosynthesis and subsequent liver X receptor (LXR) activation, which arise from a compromised TCA cycle. The impaired cytokine profile established by ABHD11 inhibition is extended to two patient cohorts of autoimmunity. Importantly, using a murine model of accelerated type 1 diabetes (T1D), we show that targeting ABHD11 suppresses cytokine production in antigen-specific T cells and delays the onset of diabetes in vivo. Collectively, our work provides pre-clinical evidence that ABHD11 is an encouraging drug target in T cell-mediated autoimmunity

Mitochondrial ABHD11 inhibition drives sterol metabolism to modulate T-cell effector function

α/β-hydrolase domain-containing protein 11 (ABHD11) is a mitochondrial hydrolase that maintains the catalytic function of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (α-KGDH), and its expression in CD4 + T-cells has been linked to remission status in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the importance of ABHD11 in regulating T-cell metabolism and function is yet to be explored. Here, we show that pharmacological inhibition of ABHD11 dampens cytokine production by human and mouse T-cells. Mechanistically, the anti-inflammatory effects of ABHD11 inhibition are attributed to increased 24,25-epoxycholesterol (24,25-EC) biosynthesis and subsequent liver X receptor (LXR) activation, which arise from a compromised TCA cycle. The impaired cytokine profile established by ABHD11 inhibition is extended to two patient cohorts of autoimmunity. Importantly, using murine models of accelerated type 1 diabetes (T1D), we show that targeting ABHD11 suppresses cytokine production in antigen-specific T-cells and delays the onset of diabetes in vivo in female mice. Collectively, our work provides pre-clinical evidence that ABHD11 is an encouraging drug target in T-cell-mediated inflammation

A multi-center prospective study of plant-based nutritional support in adult community-based patients at risk of disease-related malnutrition

IntroductionThere is an emerging need for plant-based, vegan options for patients requiring nutritional support.MethodsTwenty-four adults at risk of malnutrition (age: 59 years (SD 18); Sex: 18 female, 6 male; BMI: 19.0 kg/m2 (SD 3.3); multiple diagnoses) requiring plant-based nutritional support participated in a multi-center, prospective study of a (vegan suitable) multi-nutrient, ready-to-drink, oral nutritional supplement (ONS) [1.5 kcal/mL; 300 kcal, 12 g protein/200 mL bottle, mean prescription 275 mL/day (SD 115)] alongside dietary advice for 28 days. Compliance, anthropometry, malnutrition risk, dietary intake, appetite, acceptability, gastrointestinal (GI) tolerance, nutritional goal(s), and safety were assessed.ResultsPatients required a plant-based ONS due to personal preference/variety (33%), religious/cultural reasons (28%), veganism/reduce animal-derived consumption (17%), environmental/sustainability reasons (17%), and health reasons (5%). Compliance was 94% (SD 16). High risk of malnutrition (‘MUST’ score ≥ 2) reduced from 20 to 16 patients (p = 0.046). Body weight (+0.6 kg (SD 1.2), p = 0.02), BMI (+0.2 kg/m2 (SD 0.5), p = 0.03), total mean energy (+387 kcal/day (SD 416), p < 0.0001) and protein intake (+14 g/day (SD 39), p = 0.03), and the number of micronutrients meeting the UK reference nutrient intake (RNI) (7 vs. 14, p = 0.008) significantly increased. Appetite (Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) score; p = 0.13) was maintained. Most GI symptoms were stable throughout the study (p > 0.06) with no serious adverse events related.DiscussionThis study highlights that plant-based nutrition support using a vegan-suitable plant-based ONS is highly complied with, improving the nutritional outcomes of patients at risk of malnutrition

Author Correction: Scalable and robust SARS-CoV-2 testing in an academic center.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper