Surveillance Imaging and GAAD/GALAD Scores for Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis.

Background And Aims: Early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is crucial for improving survival in patients with chronic hepatitis. The GALAD algorithm combines gender (biological sex), age, α-fetoprotein (AFP), agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP (AFP-L3), and protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) for HCC detection. Similarly, the GAAD algorithm incorporates gender (biological sex), age, AFP, and PIVKA-II.

Modelling timelines to elimination of sleeping sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounting for possible cryptic human and animal transmission.

Background: Sleeping sickness (gambiense human African trypanosomiasis, gHAT) is a vector-borne disease targeted for global elimination of transmission (EoT) by 2030. There are, however, unknowns that have the potential to hinder the achievement and measurement of this goal. These include asymptomatic gHAT infections (inclusive of the potential to self-cure or harbour skin-only infections) and whether gHAT infection in animals can contribute to the transmission cycle in humans.

Accelerating Progress Towards the 2030 Neglected Tropical Diseases Targets: How Can Quantitative Modeling Support Programmatic Decisions?

Over the past decade, considerable progress has been made in the control, elimination, and eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Despite these advances, most NTD programs have recently experienced important setbacks; for example, NTD interventions were some of the most frequently and severely impacted by service disruptions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Mathematical modeling can help inform selection of interventions to meet the targets set out in the NTD road map 2021-2030, and such studies should prioritize questions that are relevant for decision-makers, especially those designing, implementing, and evaluating national and subnational programs.

The efficacy of multi-disciplinary lifestyle modifications in Taiwanese nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients.

Lifestyle modification is the standard of care for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of a short-term lifestyle modification program in the disease course of Taiwanese nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients with paired biopsies. All patients received a 6-month, strict multidisciplinary program of lifestyle modifications led by physicians, dieticians, and nursing staff.

Third vaccine boosters and anti-S-IgG levels: A comparison of homologous and heterologous responses and poor immunogenicity in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The immune response of patients with chronic liver disease tends to be lower after receiving their second coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine dose, but the effect of a third vaccine dose on their immune response is currently unknown. We recruited 722 patients without previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection from three hospitals. The patients received homologous (MMM) and heterologous (AZAZBNT, AZAZM) boosters, where AZ, BNT, and M denoted the AZD1222, BNT162b2, and mRNA-1273 vaccines, respectively.

The interplay of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and viral hepatitis on liver disease severity: A large community-based study in a viral endemic area.

Background And Aim: The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and its interplay with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in terms of liver disease severity is elusive.

Methods: A mass surveillance program was conducted in a viral hepatitis endemic area. The objective was to identify MAFLD/non-MAFLD subjects with advanced liver disease.

Community-centered Disease Severity Assessment of Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Fatty Liver Disease.

Background And Aims: Disease severity across the different diagnostic categories of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) remains elusive. This study assessed the fibrosis stages and features of MAFLD between different items. We also aimed to investigate the associations between advanced fibrosis and risk factors.

Polymer Nanoparticles Applied in the CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) Process of Chip Wafers for Defect Improvement and Polishing Removal Rate Response.

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is a wafer-surface-polishing planarization technique based on a wet procedure that combines chemical and mechanical forces to fully flatten materials for semiconductors to be mounted on the wafer surface. The achievement of devices of a small nano-size with few defects and good wafer yields is essential in enabling IC chip manufacturers to enhance their profits and become more competitive. The CMP process is applied to produce many IC generations of nanometer node, or those of even narrower line widths, for a better performance and manufacturing feasibility.

Towards the sustainable elimination of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in Côte d'Ivoire using an integrated approach.

Background: Human African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by trypanosomes among which Trypanosoma brucei gambiense is responsible for a chronic form (gHAT) in West and Central Africa. Its elimination as a public health problem (EPHP) was targeted for 2020. Côte d'Ivoire was one of the first countries to be validated by WHO in 2020 and this was particularly challenging as the country still reported around a hundred cases a year in the early 2000s.

Health economic evaluation of strategies to eliminate gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the Mandoul disease focus of Chad.

Human African trypanosomiasis, caused by the gambiense subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei (gHAT), is a deadly parasitic disease transmitted by tsetse. Partners worldwide have stepped up efforts to eliminate the disease, and the Chadian government has focused on the previously high-prevalence setting of Mandoul. In this study, we evaluate the economic efficiency of the intensified strategy that was put in place in 2014 aimed at interrupting the transmission of gHAT, and we make recommendations on the best way forward based on both epidemiological projections and cost-effectiveness.

A people-centered decentralized outreach model toward HCV micro-elimination in hyperendemic areas: COMPACT study in SARS Co-V2 pandemic.

Objectives: Gaps in linkage-to-care remain the barriers toward hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination in the directly-acting-antivirals (DAA) era, especially during SARS Co-V2 pandemics. We established an outreach project to target HCV micro-elimination in HCV-hyperendemic villages.

Methods: The COMPACT provided "door-by-door" screening by an "outreach HCV-checkpoint team" and an "outreach HCV-care team" for HCV diagnosis, assessment and DAA therapy in Chidong/Chikan villages between 2019 and 2021.

A modelling assessment of short- and medium-term risks of programme interruptions for gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the DRC.

Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (gHAT) is a deadly vector-borne, neglected tropical disease found in West and Central Africa targeted for elimination of transmission (EoT) by 2030. The recent pandemic has illustrated how it can be important to quantify the impact that unplanned disruption to programme activities may have in achieving EoT. We used a previously developed model of gHAT fitted to data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country with the highest global case burden, to explore how interruptions to intervention activities, due to e.

Decision tree algorithm predicts hepatocellular carcinoma among chronic hepatitis C patients following viral eradication.

Successful eradication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) cannot eliminate the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Next-generation RNA sequencing provides comprehensive genomic insights into the pathogenesis of HCC. Artificial intelligence has opened a new era in precision medicine.

Artificial intelligence based on serum biomarkers predicts the efficacy of lenvatinib for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Lenvatinib has been effective not only as a first-line but also as a later-line systemic therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) in real-world clinical practice. How to predict the efficacy of lenvatinib and guide appropriate therapy selection in patients with uHCC have become important issues. This study aimed to investigate the impact of serum biomarkers on the treatment outcomes of patients with uHCC treated with lenvatinib in a real-world setting using an artificial intelligence algorithm.

Universal scaling of extinction time in stochastic evolutionary dynamics.

Evolutionary dynamics is well captured by the replicator equations when the population is infinite and well-mixed. However, the extinction dynamics is modified with finite and structured populations. Experiments on the non-transitive ecosystem containing three populations of bacteria found that the ecological stability sensitively depends on the spatial structure of the populations.

Baseline Circulating miR-125b Levels Predict a High FIB-4 Index Score in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients after Nucleos(t)ide Analog Treatment.

The regulatory role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in HBV-associated HCC pathogenesis has been reported previously. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum miR-125b and liver fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients after nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) treatment. Baseline serum miR-125b levels and other relevant laboratory data were measured for 124 patients who underwent 12-month NA therapy.

Advantage of clinical colchicine concentration to promote sorafenib or regorafenib anti-cancer effects on hepatocellular carcinoma.

The advantage of colchicine to promote sorafenib or regorafenib anti-cancer effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was investigated. Four primary cultured HCC cell lines (S103, S143, S160, S176) were studied by clinically achievable plasma sorafenib (5, 10 μg/mL), regorafenib (2, 4 μg/mL) and colchicine (4 ng/mL) concentrations. Sorafenib and regorafenib target genes and cancer stem cell markers (NANOG, POU5F1) were selected for experiments.

Amelioration of glucose intolerance through directly acting antiviral agents in chronic hepatitis C cirrhotic patients without overt diabetes.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) eradication through antivirals ameliorates metabolic profiles. The changes in 2-h plasma glucose (2HPG) levels by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who receive directly acting antivirals (DAAs) was elusive. Five hundred and thirty-three CHC patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR, undetectable HCV RNA throughout 3 months after the end-of-treatment) by DAAs were consecutively enrolled.

Persistent cryoglobulinemia after antiviral treatment is associated with advanced fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients.

Background: High dosage and longer duration of antiviral treatment has been suggested to treat cryoglobulinemia patients. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of antiviral treatment in cryoglobulinemia patients and analyze the associated factors of persistent cryoglobulinemia.

Methods: Totally 148 patients after completion of anti-HCV treatment were enrolled in our study.