Ulcerative Colitis Severity Classification and Localized Extent (UC-SCALE): An Artificial Intelligence Scoring System for a Spatial Assessment of Disease Severity in Ulcerative Colitis.

Background And Aims: Validated scoring methods such as the Mayo Clinic Endoscopic Subscore (MCES) evaluate ulcerative colitis (UC) severity at the worst colon segment, without considering disease extent. We present the Ulcerative Colitis Severity Classification and Localized Extent (UC-SCALE) algorithm, which provides a comprehensive and automated evaluation of endoscopic severity and disease extent in UC.

Methods: Ulcerative Colitis Severity Classification and Localized Extent consists of 3 main elements: (1) a quality filter selecting readable images (frames) from colonoscopy videos, (2) a scoring system assigning an MCES to each readable frame, and (3) a camera localization algorithm assigning each frame to a location within the colon.

Context-Specific Stress Causes Compartmentalized SARM1 Activation and Local Degeneration in Cortical Neurons.

Sterile alpha and TIR motif containing 1 (SARM1) is an inducible NADase that localizes to mitochondria throughout neurons and senses metabolic changes that occur after injury. Minimal proteomic changes are observed upon either SARM1 depletion or activation, suggesting that SARM1 does not exert broad effects on neuronal protein homeostasis. However, whether SARM1 activation occurs throughout the neuron in response to injury and cell stress remains largely unknown.

The role of genetic testing in diagnosis and care of inherited cardiac conditions in a specialised multidisciplinary clinic.

Background: The diagnostic yield of genetic testing for inherited cardiac diseases is up to 40% and is primarily indicated for screening of at-risk relatives. Here, we evaluate the role of genomics in diagnosis and management among consecutive individuals attending a specialised clinic and identify those with the highest likelihood of having a monogenic disease.

Methods: A retrospective audit of 1697 consecutive, unrelated probands referred to a specialised, multidisciplinary clinic between 2002 and 2020 was performed.

Models of cardiovascular surgery biobanking to facilitate translational research and precision medicine.

Biobanking in health care has evolved over the last few decades from simple biological sample repositories to complex and dynamic units with multi-organizational infrastructure networks and has become an essential tool for modern medical research. Cardiovascular tissue biobanking provides a unique opportunity to utilize cardiac and vascular samples for translational research into heart failure and other related pathologies. Current techniques for diagnosis, classification, and treatment monitoring of cardiac disease relies primarily on interpretation of clinical signs, imaging, and blood biomarkers.

Long term clinical outcomes associated with CMR quantified isolated left ventricular non-compaction in adults.

Background: Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a complex clinical condition with several diagnostic criteria but no diagnostic gold standard. We aimed to evaluate our thresholding technique in a group of patients with LVNC and assess the risk of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) scans of patients with Petersen criteria LVNC and quantified noncompacted myocardial mass.

Bacterial variability in the mammalian gut captured by a single-cell synthetic oscillator.

Synthetic gene oscillators have the potential to control timed functions and periodic gene expression in engineered cells. Such oscillators have been refined in bacteria in vitro, however, these systems have lacked the robustness and precision necessary for applications in complex in vivo environments, such as the mammalian gut. Here, we demonstrate the implementation of a synthetic oscillator capable of keeping robust time in the mouse gut over periods of days.

Development of MAST: A Microscopy-Based Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Platform.

Antibiotic resistance is compromising our ability to treat bacterial infections. Clinical microbiology laboratories guide appropriate treatment through antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of patient bacterial isolates. However, increasingly, pathogens are developing resistance to a broad range of antimicrobials, requiring AST of alternative agents for which no commercially available testing methods are available.

ARHGAP18 Protects Against Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Formation by Mitigating the Synthetic and Proinflammatory Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype.

Rationale: Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a potentially lethal condition, which can affect individuals of all ages. TAA may be complicated by the sudden onset of life-threatening dissection or rupture. The underlying mechanisms leading to TAA formation, particularly in the nonsyndromal idiopathic group of patients, are not well understood.

Birth "Out-of-Hours": An Evaluation of Obstetric Practice and Outcome According to the Presence of Senior Obstetricians on the Labour Ward.

Background: Concerns have been raised that a lack of senior obstetricians ("consultants") on the labour ward outside normal hours may lead to worse outcomes among babies born during periods of reduced cover.

Methods And Findings: We carried out a multicentre cohort study using data from 19 obstetric units in the United Kingdom between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 to examine whether rates of obstetric intervention and outcome change "out-of-hours," i.e.

International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics opinion on reproductive health impacts of exposure to toxic environmental chemicals.

Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals during pregnancy and breastfeeding is ubiquitous and is a threat to healthy human reproduction. There are tens of thousands of chemicals in global commerce, and even small exposures to toxic chemicals during pregnancy can trigger adverse health consequences. Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals and related health outcomes are inequitably distributed within and between countries; universally, the consequences of exposure are disproportionately borne by people with low incomes.

Reconstitution of proteins on electroformed giant unilamellar vesicles.

In vitro reconstitution of simplified biological systems from molecular parts has proven to be a powerful method for investigating the biochemical and biophysical principles underlying cellular processes. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in reconstitution of protein-membrane interactions to understand the critical role played by membranes in organizing molecular-scale events into micron-scale patterns and protrusions. However, while all reconstitution experiments depend on identifying and isolating an essential set of soluble biomolecules, such as proteins, DNA, and RNA, reconstitution of membrane-based processes involves the additional challenge of forming and working with lipid bilayer membranes with composition, fluidity, and mechanical properties appropriate for the process at hand.

Surgery for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetically determined cardiac disease characterised by otherwise unexplained myocardial hypertrophy of the left ventricle, and may result in left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. It is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults due to arrhythmias. Septal myectomy is a surgical treatment for HCM with moderate to severe outflow tract obstruction, and is indicated for patients with severe symptoms refractory to medical therapy.

Delivery of treatment for hepatitis C virus infection in the primary care setting.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection through a primary care-based model for the delivery of HCV services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Participants And Methods: This observational cohort study recruited participants through seven primary care clinics in NSW, Australia, between November 2010 and June 2013. Patients with HCV genotype 2/3 were treated without specialist review, whereas those with genotype 1 required an initial specialist review.

Genetic oscillations. A Doppler effect in embryonic pattern formation.

During embryonic development, temporal and spatial cues are coordinated to generate a segmented body axis. In sequentially segmenting animals, the rhythm of segmentation is reported to be controlled by the time scale of genetic oscillations that periodically trigger new segment formation. However, we present real-time measurements of genetic oscillations in zebrafish embryos showing that their time scale is not sufficient to explain the temporal period of segmentation.

Four countries, four ways of discussing low-risk pregnancy and normal delivery: in France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The 2012 "4 countries meeting" of the French, Dutch, British and German Societies of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (CNGOF, NVOG, RCOG, DGGG) was dedicated to the topic "Low-risk pregnancy and normal delivery". The objective was to compare how each country organises prenatal care and normal delivery. The discussion is outlined in the article and provides new opportunities to learn from each other's strengths in order to provide the highest level of care regardless of social, demographic, educational and clinical differences.

Evaluating maternity care using national administrative health datasets: how are statistics affected by the quality of data on method of delivery?

Background: Information on maternity services is increasingly derived from national administrative health data. We evaluated how statistics on maternity care in England were affected by the completeness and consistency of data on "method of delivery" in a national dataset.

Methods: Singleton deliveries occurring between April 2009 and March 2010 in English NHS trusts were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database.

The segmentation clock: inherited trait or universal design principle?

Metamerism is a widespread feature of multicellular body plans; however, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that generate these patterns is currently based on only a few model organisms. In particular, vertebrate embryos use a segmentation clock to rhythmically and sequentially add segments in concert with posterior elongation of their body. Recent evidence of a segmentation clock acting in arthropods indicates that this mechanism may be a widely used strategy for generating serial anatomy in animals.