User-Centered Development of HEARTPrep, a Digital Health Psychosocial Intervention for Prenatally Diagnosed Congenital Heart Disease.

User-centered models for the development of digital health interventions are not consistently applied in healthcare settings. This study used a five-phase, user-centered approach to develop HEARTPrep©, a psychosocial intervention delivered via mobile app and telehealth to mothers expecting a baby with congenital heart disease (CHD) to promote maternal, family, and child well-being. Phases of intervention development were: (I) establishing partnerships; (II) creating content; (III) developing prototype and testable intervention; (IV) conducting think-aloud testing; and (V) completing beta testing. Partnerships with parents, clinicians, and design/technology experts were integral throughout the development of HEARTPrep©. Parents of children with CHD also served as participants in Phases II-V, contributing to the creation of content and providing feedback to inform the iterative refinement of HEARTPrep©. These five phases produced a refined digital health intervention with promising feasibility, usability, and acceptability results. This user-centered approach can be used to develop digital health interventions targeting various health outcomes.

Identifying biodegradation pathways of cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) using metagenome, metatranscriptome, and metabolome tri-omics integration.

Traditional research on biodegradation of emerging organic pollutants involves slow and labor-intensive experimentation. Currently, fast-developing metagenome, metatranscriptome, and metabolome technologies promise to expedite mechanistic research on biodegradation of emerging organic pollutants. Integrating the metagenome, metatranscriptome, and metabolome (i.e., tri-omics) makes it possible to link gene abundance and expression with the biotransformation of the contaminant and the formation of metabolites from this biotransformation. In this study, we used this tri-omics approach to study the biotransformation pathways for cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) under aerobic conditions. The tri-omics analysis showed that CTAB undergoes three parallel first-step mono-/di-oxygenations (to the α, ß, and ω-carbons); intermediate metabolites and expressed enzymes were identified for all three pathways, and the ß-carbon mono-/di-oxygenation is a novel pathway; and the genes related to CTAB biodegradation were associated with Pseudomonas spp. Four metabolites - palmitic acid, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), myristic acid, and betaine - were the key identified biodegradation intermediates of CTAB, and they were associated with first-step mono-/di-oxygenations at the α/ß-C. This tri-omics approach with CTAB demonstrates its power for identifying promising paths for future research on the biodegradation of complex organics by microbial communities.

The structure of biodegradable surfactants shaped the microbial community, antimicrobial resistance, and potential for horizontal gene transfer.

While most household surfactants are biodegradable in aerobic conditions, their biodegradability may obscure their environmental risks. The presence of surfactants in a biological treatment process can lead to the proliferation of antimicrobial-resistance genes (ARG) in the biomass. Surfactants can be cationic, anionic, or zwitterionic, and these different classes may have different effects on the proliferation ARG. Cationic hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium (CTAB), anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and zwitterionic 3-(decyldimethylammonio)-propanesulfonate inner salt (DAPS) were used to represent the three classes of surfactants in domestic household clean-up products. This study focused on the removal of these surfactants by the O2-based Membrane Biofilm Reactor (O2-MBfR) for hotspot scenarios (∼1 mM) and how the three classes of surfactants affected the microbial community's structure and ARG. Given sufficient O2 delivery, the MBfR provided at least 98% surfactant removal. The presence and biodegradation for each surfactant uniquely shaped the biofilms' microbial communities and the presence of ARG. CTAB had by far the strongest impact and the higher ARG abundance. In particular, Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas, the two main genera in the biofilm treating CTAB, were highly correlated to the abundance of ARG for efflux pumps and antibiotic inactivation. CTAB also led to more functional genes relevant to the Type-IV secretion system and protection against oxidative stress, which also could encourage horizontal gene transfer. Our findings highlight that the biodegradation of quaternary ammonium surfactants, while beneficial, can pose public health concerns from its ability to promote the proliferation of ARG.

Dietary Methionine Restriction Reduces Inflammation Independent of FGF21 Action.

OBJECTIVE: Methionine restriction (MR) decreases inflammation and improves markers of metabolic disease in rodents. MR also increases hepatic and circulating concentrations of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Emerging evidence has suggested that FGF21 exerts anti-inflammatory effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of FGF21 in mediating the MR-induced reduction in inflammation. METHODS: Wild-type and Fgf21-/- mice were fed a high-fat (HF) control or HF-MR diet for 8 weeks. In a separate experiment, mice were fed a HF diet (HFD) for 10 weeks. Vehicle or recombinant FGF21 (13.6 µg/d) was administered via osmotic minipump for an additional 2 weeks. Inflammation and metabolic parameters were measured. RESULTS: Fgf21-/- mice were more susceptible to HFD-induced inflammation, and MR reduced inflammation in white adipose tissue (WAT) and liver of Fgf21-/- mice. MR downregulated activity of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in WAT of both genotypes. FGF21 administration reduced hepatic lipids and blood glucose concentrations. However, there was little effect of FGF21 on inflammatory gene expression in liver or adipose tissue or circulating cytokines. CONCLUSIONS: MR reduces inflammation independent of FGF21 action. Endogenous FGF21 is important to protect against the development of HFD-induced inflammation in liver and WAT, yet administration of low-dose FGF21 has little effect on markers of inflammation.