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BackgroundThe cell type composition of heterogeneous tissue samples can be a critical variable in both clinical and laboratory settings. However, current experimental methods of cell type quantification (e.g., cell flow cytometry) are costly, time consuming and have potential to introduce bias. Computational approaches that use expression data to infer cell type abundance offer an alternative solution. While these methods have gained popularity, most fail to produce accurate predictions for the full range of platforms currently used by researchers or for the wide variety of tissue types often studied.ResultsWe present the Gene Expression Deconvolution Interactive Tool (GEDIT), a flexible tool that utilizes gene expression data to accurately predict cell type abundances. Using both simulated and experimental data, we extensively evaluate the performance of GEDIT and demonstrate that it returns robust results under a wide variety of conditions. These conditions include multiple platforms (microarray and RNA-seq), tissue types (blood and stromal), and species (human and mouse). Finally, we provide reference data from 8 sources spanning a broad range of stromal and hematopoietic types in both human and mouse. GEDIT also accepts user-submitted reference data, thus allowing the estimation of any cell type or subtype, provided that reference data are available.ConclusionsGEDIT is a powerful method for evaluating the cell type composition of tissue samples and provides excellent accuracy and versatility compared to similar tools. The reference database provided here also allows users to obtain estimates for a wide variety of tissue samples without having to provide their own data.

Background and objective. Anemia is a widespread public health problem. While anemia can be caused by malaria, schistosomiasis, or chronic kidney disease, nutritional deficiencies are among the biggest causes. The purpose of this project was to review literature to identify the proportion of anemia in women of childbearing age due to deficiencies of specific nutrients including iron, folate, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, thiamine, and vitamin E. Methods. A search of 17 online databases between November 14, 2020 and December 14, 2020 yielded 5,598 results. Two reviewers independently screened document abstracts and titles via Covidence. The inclusion criteria were as follows. longitudinal intervention studies, including non-randomized controlled trials, randomized controlled trials, and intervention trials without control groups; micronutrients were provided to anemic women to observe if their anemia was eliminated; and micronutrients were administered orally for at least four weeks. Primary outcomes were change in hemoglobin concentration and change in anemia prevalence. Studies will be synthesized using armbased network meta-analysis with the pcnetmeta package in R. Results. We expect individual and pooled estimates of the effect sizes of each micronutrient and combinations of micronutrients on nutritional anemia reduction among women of reproductive age. Results will be stratified by delivery method of treatment, study duration, age of women (10-19, 15-49, 10-50 years), nutrient administered, and dosage of nutrient administered. Conclusions. We expect further evidence of the impact of oral micronutrient treatments (singly or combined) on hemoglobin concentration and anemia prevalence. This project will provide an up-to-date perspective on a variety of micronutrient treatments for anemia. Compared to previous systematic reviews, which usually focus on only one or two nutrients, this analysis will compare oral treatments with multiple nutrients across low-, middle- and highincome countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Food fortification has the potential to deliver essential micronutrients to populations at large scale, thereby reducing nutritional anemia. Objective. The purpose of this project was to review literature and conduct a meta-analysis to identify the proportion of anemia ameliorated by fortification of wheat flour, maize flour, rice and oil (singly or combined) among adolescent girls and women of child-bearing age from across the globe. Methods. A search in 17 online databases between November 14, 2020, and December 4, 2020 yielded 2284 results. Only English-language documents were included and no restrictions on location or publication date were imposed. Relevant references from systematic reviews and meta-analyses were checked for inclusion. Longitudinal, pre-post cross-sectional, efficacy and effectiveness studies were included. Primary outcomes were change in hemoglobin concentration and change in anemia prevalence. Two reviewers independently screened document abstracts and titles (via Covidence) and extracted key information from all studies (via Excel). Studies will be synthesized using arm-based network meta-analysis with the pcnetmeta package in R. Results. We will calculate individual and pooled estimates of the effect sizes of fortified maize flour, wheat flour, rice, and oil on nutritional anemia reduction among women of reproductive age. Results will be stratified by food vehicle, nutrients added, intervention duration, severity of anemia during the pre-fortification assessment, public health significance of anemia during the pre-fortification assessment, and women's age (10-19, 15-49, 10-50 years). Conclusions. We expect further evidence of the impact of grains and oil fortification on anemia. Compared to previous systematic reviews which focused on food fortification and nutritional anemia in low- and middle-income countries among select population groups, this analysis will solely assess the impact of maize flour, wheat flour, rice, and oil fortification on nutritional anemia across multiple countries irrespective of income levels among adolescent girls (10-19 years) and women of child-bearing age (15-49 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mortgage discrimination alters the distribution of investment, opportunity, and economic advantage-key contributors of health disparities. Leveraging Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, we assessed mortgage denial risk in 380 U.S. urban areas. We estimated the risks by census tract-relative to the urban-specific average-using a Bayesian spatial model with conditionally autoregressive distributions fitted with integrated nested Laplace approximation. This approach borrows information through spatial and non-spatial smoothing, resulting in stable estimates in the presence of sparse data. The method, publicly accessible, allows researchers to apply our approach, fostering deeper insights into mortgage lending discrimination and systematic neighborhood disinvestment., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None

Objective: Cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) contribute to poor outcome following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). With the paucity of effective treatments, the authors describe their experience with intrathecal (IT) nicardipine for this indication., Methods: Patients admitted to the Emory University Hospital neuroscience ICU between 2012 and 2017 with nontraumatic SAH, either aneurysmal or idiopathic, were included in the analysis. Using a propensity-score model, this patient cohort was compared to patients in the Subarachnoid Hemorrhage International Trialists (SAHIT) repository who did not receive IT nicardipine. The primary outcome was DCI. Secondary outcomes were long-term functional outcome and adverse events., Results: The analysis included 1351 patients, 422 of whom were diagnosed with cerebral vasospasm and treated with IT nicardipine. When compared with patients with no vasospasm (n = 859), the treated group was significantly younger (mean age 51.1 ± 12.4 years vs 56.7 ± 14.1 years, p < 0.001), had a higher World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies score and modified Fisher grade, and were more likely to undergo clipping of the ruptured aneurysm as compared to endovascular treatment (30.3% vs 11.3%, p < 0.001). Treatment with IT nicardipine decreased the daily mean transcranial Doppler velocities in 77.3% of the treated patients. When compared to patients not receiving IT nicardipine, treatment was not associated with an increased rate of bacterial ventriculitis (3.1% vs 2.7%, p > 0.1), yet higher rates of ventriculoperitoneal shunting were noted (19.9% vs 8.8%, p < 0.01). In a propensity score comparison to the SAHIT database, the odds ratio (OR) to develop DCI with IT nicardipine treatment was 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.44-0.84), and the OR to have a favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score ≤ 2) was 2.17 (95% CI 1.61-2.91)., Conclusions: IT nicardipine was associated with improved outcome and reduced DCI compared with propensity-matched controls. There was an increased need for permanent CSF diversion but no other safety issues. These data should be considered when selecting medications and treatments to study in future randomized controlled clinical trials for SAH.