Serum protein risk stratification score for diagnostic evaluation of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Background: Reliable, noninvasive tools to diagnose at-risk metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) are urgently needed to improve management. We developed a risk stratification score incorporating proteomics-derived serum markers with clinical variables to identify high-risk patients with MASH (NAFLD activity score >4 and fibrosis score >2).

Methods: In this 3-phase proteomic study of biopsy-proven metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic fatty liver disease, we first developed a multi-protein predictor for discriminating NAFLD activity score >4 based on SOMAscan proteomics quantifying 1305 serum proteins from 57 US patients.

Assessment of compatibility of dextran/PEMA blends by thermal, topologic and viscoelastic analysis.

In this study, the compatibility of polymer blends of dextran (DEX) and poly(ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PEMA) was evaluated with their enhanced thermal and dynamic mechanical properties as well as structural and topological properties. Blends were prepared in various ratios via solution casting method. The effects of composition and dispersion on interactions, thermal, viscoelastic and topological properties of the blends were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis.

An In house ELISA using recombinant GRA1 and BAG1 proteins as antigen successfully detected Toxoplasma gondii infection in a flock of sheep suffering from abortions.

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the main pathogens causing abortion in sheep. In this study, an in house ELISA using recombinant GRA1 and BAG1 proteins as antigen was used to detect T. gondii infection in a flock of sheep suffering from abortions.

An optimized ROP6 mRNA construct successfully expressed immunogenic Toxoplasma gondii ROP6 protein in cell culture.

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite infecting all mammals including humans and causes toxoplasmosis. There is no vaccine available for humans and thus vaccine development efforts continue using novel antigens and/or vaccine platforms. Since our previous microarray screening study showed that ROP6 is a suitable antigen to be used in vaccine studies, in this study, we aimed to design an optimized mRNA construct encoding the ROP6 protein and then demonstrate its efficiency and immunogenicity using in vitro methods.

Impact of EUCAST Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (RAST) on optimal antimicrobial therapy in gram-negative bloodstream infections.

Objectives: To evaluate the possible impact of RAST on optimal antimicrobial therapy via de-escalation or escalation, and to determine the reduction in antibiotic susceptibility reporting time with RAST.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective descriptive study, RAST was performed on clinical blood cultures containing E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii isolates.