The ICU-Diary study: prospective, multicenter comparative study of the impact of an ICU diary on the wellbeing of patients and families in French ICUs.

Background: Post-intensive care syndrome includes the multiple consequences of an intensive care unit (ICU) stay for patients and families. It has become a new challenge for intensivists. Prevention programs have been disappointing, except for ICU diaries, which report the patient's story in the ICU.

Aspergillus korhogoensis, a Novel Aflatoxin Producing Species from the Côte d'Ivoire.

Several strains of a new aflatoxigenic species of , , were isolated in the course of a screening study involving species from section found contaminating peanuts () and peanut paste in the Côte d'Ivoire. Based on examination of four isolates, this new species is described using a polyphasic approach. A concatenated alignment comprised of nine genes (, , , , , , , and ) was subjected to phylogenetic analysis, and resulted in all four strains being inferred as a distinct clade.

Effect of Transfusion on Mortality and Other Adverse Events Among Critically Ill Septic Patients: An Observational Study Using a Marginal Structural Cox Model.

Objectives: RBC transfusion is often required in patients with sepsis. However, adverse events have been associated with RBC transfusion, raising safety concerns. A randomized controlled trial validated the 7 g/dL threshold, but previously transfused patients were excluded.

Piperine inhibits aflatoxin B1 production in Aspergillus flavus by modulating fungal oxidative stress response.

Aspergillus flavus, a soil-borne pathogen, represents a danger for humans and animals since it produces the carcinogenic mycotoxin Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Approaches aiming the reduction of this fungal contaminant mainly involve chemicals that may also be toxic. Therefore, identification and characterization of natural anti-aflatoxigenic products represents a sustainable alternative strategy.

Pharmacogenetics may influence the impact of inflammation on voriconazole trough concentrations.

How pharmacogenetics modulates the inhibitory effects of inflammation on voriconazole trough concentration (Cmin) remains unknown. In 29 recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation retrospectively studied, both a genetic score (which aggregated CYP2C19 and CYP3A genotypes) and inflammation significantly influenced voriconazole Cmin (n = 260). A trend toward (p = 0.

Added Value of Next-Generation Sequencing for Multilocus Sequence Typing Analysis of a Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia Outbreak1.

Pneumocystis jirovecii is a major threat for immunocompromised patients, and clusters of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) have been increasingly described in transplant units during the past decade. Exploring an outbreak transmission network requires complementary spatiotemporal and strain-typing approaches. We analyzed a PCP outbreak and demonstrated the added value of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) study of P.

Aerosolization of Mycotoxins after Growth of Toxinogenic Fungi on Wallpaper.

Many fungi can develop on building material in indoor environments if the moisture level is high enough. Among species that are frequently observed, some are known to be potent mycotoxin producers. This presence of toxinogenic fungi in indoor environments raises the question of the possible exposure of occupants to these toxic compounds by inhalation after aerosolization.

ICU-acquired candidaemia in France: Epidemiology and temporal trends, 2004-2013 - A study from the REA-RAISIN network.

Objective: Candidaemia is a life-threatening infectious disease, associated with septic shock, multiple organ failure, and a high mortality rate. In France, reported data on the incidence of ICU-acquired candidaemia and the causative Candida species are scarce. The objective of this study was to determine temporal trends in epidemiology and risk factors of intensive care unit-acquired candidaemia (ICU-Cand) and ICU mortality among a very large population of ICU patients.

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in Vascular Homeostasis and Disease.

It is well established that control of vascular morphogenesis and homeostasis is regulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), Delta-like 4 (Dll4), angiopoietin, and ephrin signaling. It has become clear that signaling by bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which have a long history of studies in bone and early heart development, are also essential for regulating vascular function. Indeed, mutations that cause deregulated BMP signaling are linked to two human vascular diseases, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Coupling LiDAR and thermal imagery to model the effects of riparian vegetation shade and groundwater inputs on summer river temperature.

In the context of global warming, it is important to understand the drivers controlling river temperature in order to mitigate temperature increases. A modeling approach can be useful for quantifying the respective importance of the different drivers, notably groundwater inputs and riparian shading which are potentially critical for reducing summer temperature. In this study, we use a one-dimensional deterministic model to predict summer water temperature at an hourly time step over a 21km reach of the lower Ain River (France).

Identification of the Anti-Aflatoxinogenic Activity of Micromeria graeca and Elucidation of Its Molecular Mechanism in Aspergillus flavus.

Of all the food-contaminating mycotoxins, aflatoxins, and most notably aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), are found to be the most toxic and economically costly. Green farming is striving to replace fungicides and develop natural preventive strategies to minimize crop contamination by these toxic fungal metabolites. In this study, we demonstrated that an aqueous extract of the medicinal plant -known as hyssop-completely inhibits aflatoxin production by without reducing fungal growth.

Impact of echinocandin on prognosis of proven invasive candidiasis in ICU: A post-hoc causal inference model using the AmarCAND2 study.

Objective: guidelines recommend first-line systemic antifungal therapy (SAT) with echinocandins in invasive candidiasis (IC), especially in critically ill patients. This study aimed at assessing the impact of echinocandins compared to azoles as initial SAT on the 28-day prognosis in adult ICU patients.

Methods: From the prospective multicenter AmarCAND2 cohort (835 patients), we selected those with documented IC and treated with echinocandins (ECH) or azoles (AZO).

Long-term sera storage does not significantly modify the interpretation of toxoplasmosis serologies.

Background: Serological investigation of Toxoplasma gondii can answer many questions about toxoplasmosis in human pathology. Along these lines, studies on serum storage in biobanks need to be performed especially in terms of determining the impact of storage on relevance of sera analysis after freezing. This study assessed the impact of long-term sera storage on the stability of anti-Toxoplasma immunoglobulins.

Restoring BMPRII functions in pulmonary arterial hypertension: opportunities, challenges and limitations.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a cardiopulmonary disorder in which mechanical obstruction of the pulmonary vascular bed is largely responsible for the rise in pulmonary arterial pressures. The discovery of heterozygous BMPR2 germline mutations as critical predisposing factors together with a remarkable progress in our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms have helped identify the significant and complex roles of the BMPRII axis in PAH. However, their precise contributions to the condition are still incompletely understood.

Interpretation of the Elecsys Toxo IgG avidity results for very low and very high index: study on 741 sera with a determined date of toxoplasmosis.

Initial results with the Elecsys Toxo IgG Avidity assay showed some potential for interpretation of a very low or very high index result. We aimed to examine these new insights into interpretation using a large panel of serum samples and to define the optimal thresholds. A total of 741 patient serum samples with known date of infection (from a few weeks to more than 9 months after infection), were analysed with the Elecsys Toxo IgG Avidity assay.

Superiority of SDS lysis over saponin lysis for direct bacterial identification from positive blood culture bottle by MALDI-TOF MS.

Purpose: Fast species diagnosis has an important health care impact, as rapid and specific antibacterial therapy is of clear benefit for patient's outcome. Here, a new protocol for species identification directly from positive blood cultures is proposed.

Experimental Design: Four in-house protocols for bacterial identification by MS directly from clinical positive blood cultures evaluating two lytic agents, SDS and saponin, and two protein extraction schemes, fast (FP) and long (LP) are compared.

Antifungal therapy for patients with proven or suspected Candida peritonitis: Amarcand2, a prospective cohort study in French intensive care units.

Objective: The clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients treated for Candida peritonitis (CP) were compared according to the type of systemic antifungal therapy (SAT), empiric (EAF) or targeted (TAF) therapies, and the final diagnosis of infection.

Methods: Patients in intensive care units (ICU) treated for CP were selected among the AmarCAND2 cohort, to compare patients receiving EAF for unconfirmed suspicion of CP (EAF/nonCP), to those with suspected secondarily confirmed CP (EAF/CP), or with primarily proven CP receiving TAF.

Results: In all, 279 patients were evaluated (43.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Cluster Analysis at Time of Diagnosis.

Background: The classification of obstructive sleep apnea is on the basis of sleep study criteria that may not adequately capture disease heterogeneity. Improved phenotyping may improve prognosis prediction and help select therapeutic strategies.

Objectives: This study used cluster analysis to investigate the clinical clusters of obstructive sleep apnea.

Continuous renal replacement therapy versus intermittent hemodialysis in intensive care patients: impact on mortality and renal recovery.

Purpose: The best renal replacement therapy (RRT) modality remains controversial. We compared mortality and short- and long-term renal recovery between patients treated with continuous RRT and intermittent hemodialysis.

Methods: Patients of the prospective observational multicenter cohort database OUTCOMEREA™ were included if they underwent at least one RRT session between 2004 and 2014.

Impact of systemic antifungal therapy on the detection of Candida species in blood cultures in clinical cases of candidemia.

The diagnosis and follow-up of candidemia still rely on blood cultures (BCs). In vitro studies show that antifungals can significantly modify the result of blood culture not containing adsorbing agents. We aimed to evaluate, under clinical conditions, the impact on BC yeast detection of systemic antifungal therapy (SAT).

Prospective Evaluation of a New Aspergillus IgG Enzyme Immunoassay Kit for Diagnosis of Chronic and Allergic Pulmonary Aspergillosis.

Anti-Aspergillus IgG antibodies are important biomarkers for the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). We compared the performance of a new commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (Bordier Affinity Products) with that of the Bio-Rad and Virion\Serion EIAs. This assay is novel in its association of two recombinant antigens with somatic and metabolic antigens of Aspergillus fumigatus In a prospective multicenter study, 436 serum samples from 147 patients diagnosed with CPA (136 samples/104 patients) or ABPA (94 samples/43 patients) and from 205 controls (206 samples) were tested.

Proteins involved on TGF-β pathway are up-regulated during the acute phase of experimental Chagas disease.

Studies developed by our group in the last years have shown the involvement of TGF-β in acute and chronic Chagas heart disease, with elevated plasma levels and activated TGF-β cell signaling pathway as remarkable features of patients in the advanced stages of this disease, when high levels of cardiac fibrosis is present. Imbalance in synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix components is the basis of pathological fibrosis and TGF-β is considered as one of the key regulators of this process. In the present study, we investigated the activity of the TGF-β signaling pathway, including receptors and signaling proteins activation in the heart of animals experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi during the period that mimics the acute phase of Chagas disease.

BMP signaling in vascular biology and dysfunction.

The vascular system is critical for developmental growth, tissue homeostasis and repair but also for tumor development. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling has recently emerged as a fundamental pathway of the endothelium by regulating cardiovascular and lymphatic development and by being causative for several vascular dysfunctions. Two vascular disorders have been directly linked to impaired BMP signaling: pulmonary arterial hypertension and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.