This study details the profile of 13 cell surface cluster differentiation markers on human reserve stem cells derived from connective tissues. Stem cells were isolated from the connective tissues of dermis and skeletal muscle derived from fetal, mature, and geriatric humans. An insulin/dexamethasone phenotypic bioassay was used to determine the identity of the stem cells from each population. All populations contained lineage-committed myogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic progenitor stem cells as well as lineageuncommitted pluripotent stem cells capable of forming muscle, adipocytes, cartilage, bone, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. Flow cytometric analysis of adult stem cell populations revealed positive staining for CD34 and CD90 and negative staining for CD3, CD4, CD8, CD11c, CD33, CD36, CD38, CD45, CD117, Glycophorin-A, and HLA DR-II. Anat Rec 264: [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] 2001.

Clonal populations of lineage-uncommitted pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells have been identified in prenatal avians and rodents. These cells reside in the connective tissue matrices of many organs and tissues. They demonstrate extended capabilities for selfrenewal and the ability to differentiate into multiple separate tissues within the mesodermal germ line. This study was designed to determine whether such cells are present in the connective tissues of postnatal mammals. This report describes a cell clone derived by isolation from postnatal rat connective tissues, cryopreservation, extended propagation, and serial dilution clonogenic analysis. In the undifferentiated state, this clone demonstrates a high nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio and extended capacity for self-renewal. Subsequent morphological, histochemical, and immunochemical analysis after the induction of differentiation revealed phenotypic markers characteristic of multiple cell types of mesodermal origin, such as skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, fat cells, cartilage, and bone. These results indicate that this clone consists of pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells. This report demonstrates that clonal populations of reserve stem cells are present in mammals after birth. Potential roles for such cells in the maintenance, repair, and regeneration of mesodermal tissues are discussed.

This study examines the association between social deprivation and patient characteristics and outcomes in a nationally representative cohort of incident renal replacement therapy (RRT) patients. All Caucasian patients reported to the UK Renal Registry between 1997 and 2004 by centers in England and Wales with high data completeness were included. Social deprivation was assessed using the Townsend index. Socially deprived patients were more likely to be referred late. They were less likely to receive peritoneal dialysis (25.1 vs 34.8% on day 1, P trend <0.0001) or a renal transplant (5.3 vs 12.4% at 1 year, P trend <0.0001), and were less likely to attain UK Renal Association standards for hemoglobin and phosphate at 1 year. Crude survival decreased significantly with increasing deprivation for patients under the age of 65 years, but not for those aged 65 years and above (likelihood ratio for age-social deprivation interaction P<0.0001). Social deprivation was significantly associated with poorer survival after adjustment for age, gender, and cause of renal failure. After adjusting for baseline co-morbidity, social deprivation was no longer associated with poorer survival. Baseline differences in co-morbidity seem to explain poorer crude survival in incident Caucasian RRT patients from socially deprived areas in England and Wales. Differences also exist in some processes of care and intermediate outcomes, which may be amenable to intervention.

Why do people vary in how well they discriminate musical sounds? The present research explored personality traits as predictors of auditory discrimination ability, a cornerstone of many popular musical aptitude tests. According to investment-theory approaches, personality traits can shape the growth of cognitive abilities by affecting the kinds of activities and experiences people select. It thus seems likely that Openness to Experience -a broad trait associated with aesthetic and creative interests -would predict variation in auditory abilities because it is associated with greater engagement with music. A sample of 183 young adults completed an auditory discrimination task (the Musical Ear Test), the HEXACO personality inventory, and items measuring past music training. As expected, Openness to Experience significantly predicted auditory ability (β = .28 [.14, .42]). Mediation models indicated that this effect was fully mediated by music training: people high in Openness had significantly more formal training in music, and music training in turn significantly predicted auditory ability. The findings thus strongly support an investment-theory approach to understanding the role of personality in musical auditory abilities.

Aim: To report changes in admission rates, patient characteristics, processes of care and outcomes for all patients with COVID-19 admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Methods: Population cohort of all 10,287 patients with COVID-19 appearing in the Case Mix Programme national clinical audit from 1 February to 2 July, 2020. Analyses were stratified by time period (pre-peak, peak, post-peak) and geographical region, and multivariable regressions were used to estimate differences in 28-day mortality, adjusting for variation in patient characteristics over time. Results: Admissions to ICU peaked on 1 April, nine days after commencement of &ldquo;lockdown&rdquo;, and occurred simultaneously across regions. The number of patients in ICU peaked ten days later. Compared with patients admitted during the pre- and post-peak periods, patients admitted during the peak were younger and had lower levels of prior dependency but more severe respiratory and renal dysfunction. Use of invasive ventilation and renal replacement reduced over time. Twenty-eight-day mortality reduced from 43.5% (95% CI 41.6% to 45.5%) pre-peak to 34.3% (95% CI 32.3% to 36.2%) post-peak; a difference of &minus;8.8% (95% CI: &minus;5.2%, &minus;12.3%) after adjusting for patient characteristics. London experienced the highest admission rate and had higher mortality during the peak period but a greater reduction in post-peak mortality. Conclusion: Observed trends suggest opposing effects of ICU strain and clinical learning. Further investigation is needed to identify modifiable system factors that could alleviate strain in future epidemics and changes in clinical practice that contributed to improved patient outcomes.