Protein and transcriptional biomarker profiling may inform treatment strategies in lower respiratory tract infections by indicating bacterial-viral differentiation.

Unlabelled: Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) remain a significant global cause of infectious disease-related mortality. Accurate discrimination between acute bacterial and viral LRTIs is crucial for optimal patient care, prevention of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, and resource allocation. Plasma samples from LRTI patients with bacterial ( = 36), viral ( = 27; excluding SARS-CoV-2), SARS-CoV-2 ( = 22), and mixed bacterial-viral ( = 38) etiology were analyzed for protein profiling.

Exposing illegal hunting and wildlife depletion in the world's largest tropical country through social media data.

Globally, illegal sport hunting can threaten prey populations when unregulated. Due to its covert nature, illegal sport hunting poses challenges for data collection, hindering efforts to understand the full extent of its impacts. We gathered social media data to analyze patterns of illegal sport hunting and wildlife depletion across Brazil.

Microbial aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalised adults: A prospective study utilising comprehensive molecular testing.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the microbial aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults admitted to a tertiary care hospital and assess the impact of syndromic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels on pathogen detection.

Methods: Conducted at Haukeland University Hospital, Norway, from September 2020 to April 2023, this prospective study enrolled adults with suspected CAP. We analysed lower respiratory tract samples using both standard-of-care tests and the BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia Plus Panel (FAP plus).

Diagnostic Stewardship in Community-Acquired Pneumonia With Syndromic Molecular Testing: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Lower respiratory tract (LRT) infections, including community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), are a leading cause of hospital admissions and mortality. Molecular tests have the potential to optimize treatment decisions and management of CAP, but limited evidence exists to support their routine use.

Objective: To determine whether the judicious use of a syndromic polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based panel for rapid testing of CAP in the emergency department (ED) leads to faster, more accurate microbiological test result-based treatment.

The diagnostic utility of microscopic quality assessment of sputum samples in the era of rapid syndromic PCR testing.

This prospective study assessed the value of initial microscopy evaluation of sputum samples submitted for rapid syndromic PCR-based testing. Bacterial detections by the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel in 126 high- and 108 low-quality sputum samples, based on initial microscopy evaluation in samples from patients with lower respiratory tract infections were compared. We found that high-quality samples had a higher proportion of bacterial detections compared to low-quality samples ( = 0.

Climate determines transmission hotspots of Polycystic Echinococcosis, a life-threatening zoonotic disease, across Pan-Amazonia.

Polycystic Echinococcosis (PE), a neglected life-threatening zoonotic disease caused by the cestode is endemic in the Amazon. Despite being treatable, PE reaches a case fatality rate of around 29% due to late or missed diagnosis. PE is sustained in Pan-Amazonia by a complex sylvatic cycle.

Long-term temporal trends in incidence rate and case fatality of sepsis and COVID-19-related sepsis in Norwegian hospitals, 2008-2021: a nationwide registry study.

Objectives: To estimate temporal trends in incidence rate (IR) and case fatality during a 14-year period from 2008 to 2021, and to assess possible shifts in these trends during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting: All Norwegian hospitals 2008-2021.

Participants: 317 705 patients ≥18 year with a sepsis International Classification of Diseases 10th revision code retrieved from The Norwegian Patient Registry.

The changing spectrum of microbial aetiology of respiratory tract infections in hospitalized patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was met with strict containment measures. We hypothesized that societal infection control measures would impact the number of hospital admissions for respiratory tract infections, as well as, the spectrum of pathogens detected in patients with suspected community acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: This study is based on aggregated surveillance data from electronic health records of patients admitted to the hospitals in Bergen Hospital Trust from January 2017 through June 2021, as well as, two prospective studies of patients with suspected CAP conducted prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic (pre-COVID cohort versus COVID cohort, respectively).

Impact of rapid molecular testing on diagnosis, treatment and management of community-acquired pneumonia in Norway: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial (CAPNOR).

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) causes a large burden of disease. Due to difficulties in obtaining representative respiratory samples and insensitive standard microbiological methods, the microbiological aetiology of CAP is difficult to ascertain. With a few exceptions, standard-of-care diagnostics are too slow to influence initial decisions on antimicrobial therapy.

Rapid syndromic PCR testing in patients with respiratory tract infections reduces time to results and improves microbial yield.

Lack of rapid and comprehensive microbiological diagnosis in patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) hampers appropriate antimicrobial therapy. This study evaluates the real-world performance of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia panel plus (FAP plus) and explores the feasibility of evaluation in a randomised controlled trial. Patients presenting to hospital with suspected CAP were recruited in a prospective feasibility study.

Comparison of rapid molecular testing methods for detecting respiratory viruses in emergency care: a prospective study.

Background: Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) caused by contagious viruses are common among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). Early detection of these viruses can help prevent nosocomial transmission.

Aim: To investigate the efficacy of three rapid molecular methods, namely FilmArray Pneumonia Panel plus (FAP plus), ID NOW Influenza A and B 2 (ID NOW2) point-of-care test, and an in-house real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, to identify patients with viral RTIs requiring isolation in an emergency setting.

BL30SEC Method for Detection of Beta-Lactams in Raw Commingled Cow Milk: AOAC Performance Tested MethodSM 061902.

Testing milk for antibiotics before acceptance into dairies is required by the U.S. Pasteurized Milk Ordinance.

Genetic and morphological diversity of mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) in northern Madagascar: The discovery of a putative new species?

Tropical forests harbor extremely high levels of biological diversity and are quickly disappearing. Despite the increasingly recognized high rate of habitat loss, it is expected that new species will be discovered as more effort is put to document tropical biodiversity. Exploring under-studied regions is particularly urgent if we consider the rapid changes in habitat due to anthropogenic activities.

Outcomes after implementing restrictive blood transfusion criteria in extremely premature infants.

Objective: To assess mortality and morbidities in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants before and after changing to a restrictive blood transfusion guideline (RTG).

Study Design: This is a large retrospective study comparing outcomes of a liberal transfusion guideline (LTG) and RTG in VLBW infants admitted to a large single neonatal intensive care unit. Blood and platelet transfusion details, mortality, and diagnoses of frequently diagnosed morbidities were collected for each infant.

Serum- and albumin-free cryopreservation of endothelial monolayers with a new solution.

Cryopreservation is the only long-term storage option for the storage of vessels and vascular constructs. However, endothelial barrier function is almost completely lost after cryopreservation in most established cryopreservation solutions. We here aimed to improve endothelial function after cryopreservation using the 2D-model of porcine aortic endothelial cell monolayers.

Epidemiology and impact on all-cause mortality of sepsis in Norwegian hospitals: A national retrospective study.

Background: Although sepsis is the leading cause of death from infection, there are few population-level epidemiological sepsis reports. The impact of sepsis-related deaths on all-cause hospital mortality is insufficiently described, in particular in Europe where data are non-existent. The objective of this study was to provide nationwide epidemiological results on sepsis hospitalizations in Norway and to estimate sepsis' contribution to overall hospital mortality in a European setting.

The ground-state potential energy curve of the radium dimer from relativistic coupled cluster calculations.

The potential energy curve for the ground-state of radium dimer (Ra2) is provided by means of atomic and molecular relativistic coupled cluster calculations. The short-range part of this curve is defined by an equilibrium bond length of 5.324 Å, a dissociation energy of 897 cm(-1), and a harmonic vibrational frequency of 20.

IBM's Health Analytics and Clinical Decision Support.

Objectives: This survey explores the role of big data and health analytics developed by IBM in supporting the transformation of healthcare by augmenting evidence-based decision-making.

Methods: Some problems in healthcare and strategies for change are described. It is argued that change requires better decisions, which, in turn, require better use of the many kinds of healthcare information.

Magnetically controlled exchange process in an ultracold atom-dimer mixture.

We report on the observation of an elementary exchange process in an optically trapped ultracold sample of atoms and Feshbach molecules. We can magnetically control the energetic nature of the process and tune it from endoergic to exoergic, enabling the observation of a pronounced threshold behavior. In contrast to relaxation to more deeply bound molecular states, the exchange process does not lead to trap loss.

Evidence for universal four-body states tied to an Efimov trimer.

We report on the measurement of four-body recombination rate coefficients in an atomic gas. Our results obtained with an ultracold sample of cesium atoms at negative scattering lengths show a resonant enhancement of losses and provide strong evidence for the existence of a pair of four-body states, which is strictly connected to Efimov trimers via universal relations. Our findings confirm recent theoretical predictions and demonstrate the enrichment of the Efimov scenario when a fourth particle is added to the generic three-body problem.

A standards-based solution for public health reporting and surveillance.

Our team built a standards-based prototype system for multi-national public health reporting and surveillance. It uses interoperability specifications from Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) and open source technologies from Eclipse OHF. Public health organizations leveraging interoperability standards implemented within the clinical domain will have the most standardized data ever achieved; allowing them to focus attention on creating new tools to better visualize population health, detect outbreaks, determine policy effectiveness, and perform forecast modeling.