https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index en-au 5 https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:50532 Wed 28 Feb 2024 15:56:07 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:22104 in vitro measures of fibrosis: cell attachment, proliferation and viability, and ECM deposition, were examined. Among these peptides, peptide 1C1 (FBLN1C1) enhanced ASM cell and fibroblast attachment. FBLN1C1 increased mitochondrial activity and proliferation in fibroblasts. In addition, FBLN1C1 stimulated fibulin1 deposition in PF and COPD fibroblasts, and augmented fibronectin and perlecan deposition in all three groups. Peptides FBLN1C2 to FBLN1C7 had no activity. The active fibulin-1C peptide identified in this study describes a useful tool for future studies. Ongoing investigation of the role of fibulin-1 may reveal the mechanisms underlying the pathphysiology of chronic lung diseases.]]> Wed 11 Apr 2018 16:41:15 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:46351 n = 115) and Perth (n = 30), Australia. The Newcastle cohort was enriched with people with asthma (n = 37) and COPD (n = 38). Gene expression for ACE2 and other genes potentially associated with SARS-CoV-2 cell entry was assessed by qPCR, and protein expression was confirmed with immunohistochemistry on endobronchial biopsies and cultured AEC. Results: Increased gene expression of ACE2 was associated with older age (P = 0.03) and male sex (P = 0.03), but not with pack-years smoked. When we compared gene expression between adults with asthma, COPD and healthy controls, mean ACE2 expression was lower in asthma patients (P = 0.01). Gene expression of furin, a protease that facilitates viral endocytosis, was also lower in patients with asthma (P = 0.02), while ADAM-17, a disintegrin that cleaves ACE2 from the surface, was increased (P = 0.02). ACE2 protein expression was also reduced in endobronchial biopsies from asthma patients. Conclusion: Increased ACE2 expression occurs in older people and males. Asthma patients have reduced expression. Altered ACE2 expression in the lower airway may be an important factor in virus tropism and may in part explain susceptibility factors and why asthma patients are not over-represented in those with COVID-19 complications.]]> Tue 15 Nov 2022 15:15:58 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:45231 Thu 27 Oct 2022 12:56:33 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:40361 Thu 14 Jul 2022 08:03:43 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:32991 In utero exposure to particulate matter (PM) from a range of sources is associated with adverse post-natal health; however, the effect of maternal exposure to community-sampled PM on early post-natal lung and immune development is poorly understood. Objectives: Using a mouse model, we aimed to determine whether in utero exposure to PM alters early post-natal lung function and immune cell populations. We used PM collected from ceiling voids in suburban houses as a proxy for community PM exposure. Methods: Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were intranasally exposed to ceiling derived PM, or saline alone, at gestational day (E) 13.5, 15.5, and 17.5. When mice were two weeks old, we assessed lung function by the forced oscillation technique, and enumerated T and B cell populations in the spleen and thymus by flow cytometry. Results: Maternal exposure to PM impaired somatic growth of male offspring resulting in reduced lung volume and deficits in lung function. There was no effect on thymic T cell populations in dams and their male offspring but PM decreased the CD4 +CD25 + T cell population in the female offspring. In contrast, maternal exposure to PM increased splenic CD3 +CD4 + and CD3 +CD8 + T cells in dams, and there was some evidence to suggest inhibition of splenic T cell maturation in male but not female offspring. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that maternal exposure to ceiling void PM has the capacity to impair early somatic growth and alter early life immune development in a sex specific manner.]]> Thu 03 Feb 2022 12:19:29 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:10053 Sat 24 Mar 2018 08:10:14 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:41607 smoothness, which requires that the posterior distribution should not be dominated by the data. To address this limitation we introduce the sparse and smooth Dirichlet Belief Network (ssDirBN) which can achieve both sparsity and smoothness simultaneously, thereby increasing modelling flexibility over the DirBN. This gain is achieved by introducing binary variables to indicate whether each entity’s latent distribution at each layer uses a particular component. As a result, each latent distribution may use only a subset of components in each layer, and smoothness is enforced on this subset. Extra efforts on modifying the models are also made to fix the issues which is caused by introducing these binary variables. Extensive experimental results on real-world data show significant performance improvements of ssDirBN over state-of-the-art models in terms of both enhanced model predictions and reduced model complexity.]]> Mon 08 Aug 2022 10:31:34 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:41530 Fri 05 Aug 2022 15:32:58 AEST ]]>