The risk of death according to left ventricular ejection fraction and right ventricular dilatation in 17 321 adults with heart failure from 40 high-, middle- and low-income countries - A Global Congestive Heart Failure (G-CHF) study.

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the prognostic importance of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) versus right ventricular (RV) dilatation and dysfunction in patients with heart failure (HF) from countries of different income levels.

Methods And Results: We enrolled 17 321 participants with HF from 40 countries. Participants were followed for a median (25th-75th percentile) of 2.

Non-invasive assessment of portal hypertension in patients with primary biliary cholangitis is affected by severity of cholestasis.

Background&aims: Non-invasive tests (NITs) for ruling-out clinical significant portal hypertension (CSPH) and high-risk varices (HRV) in patients with primary biliary cholangitis(PBC) and compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) are lacking. We evaluated NITs in these patients and the influence of cholestasis on their performance.

Methods: Consecutive patients from the "Italian PBC registry" and two UK large-volume PBC referral centres with upper endoscopy within 6 months from biochemical evaluation and transient elastography were included.

Enhances Hook. f Growth and Flowering in Different Growing Media.

spp. are widely reported to regulate plant growth by improving nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, and abiotic stress tolerance. However, their possible application for bedding plants is little explored, especially when comparing different growing media.

Optimal Task and Motion Planning and Execution for Multiagent Systems in Dynamic Environments.

Combining symbolic and geometric reasoning in multiagent systems is a challenging task that involves planning, scheduling, and synchronization problems. Existing works overlooked the variability of task duration and geometric feasibility intrinsic to these systems because of the interaction between agents and the environment. We propose a combined task and motion planning approach to optimize the sequencing, assignment, and execution of tasks under temporal and spatial variability.

Ultra-processed foods and mortality: analysis from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.

Background: Higher intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has been associated with increased risk of CVD and mortality in observational studies from Western countries but data from non-Western countries are limited.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between consumption of UPFs and risk of mortality and major CVD in a cohort from multiple world regions.

Design: This analysis includes 138,076 participants without a history of CVD between the ages of 35 and 70 y living on 5 continents, with a median follow-up of 10.

A dichotomic approach to adaptive interaction for socially assistive robots.

Socially assistive robotics (SAR) aims at designing robots capable of guaranteeing social interaction to human users in a variety of assistance scenarios that range, e.g., from giving reminders for medications to monitoring of Activity of Daily Living, from giving advices to promote an healthy lifestyle to psychological monitoring.

A Mind-inspired Architecture for Adaptive HRI.

One of the main challenges of social robots concerns the ability to guarantee robust, contextualized and intelligent behavior capable of supporting continuous and personalized interaction with different users over time. This implies that robot behaviors should consider the specificity of a person (e.g.

Personalizing Care Through Robotic Assistance and Clinical Supervision.

By 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) foresees a worldwide workforce shortfall of healthcare professionals, with dramatic consequences for patients, economies, and communities. Research in assistive robotics has experienced an increasing attention during the last decade demonstrating its utility in the realization of intelligent robotic solutions for healthcare and social assistance, also to compensate for such workforce shortages. Nevertheless, a challenge for effective assistive robots is dealing with a high variety of situations and their interactions according to living contexts and habits (or preferences) of assisted people.

Risk factors, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in South America: a PURE substudy.

Aims: In a multinational South American cohort, we examined variations in CVD incidence and mortality rates between subpopulations stratified by country, by sex and by urban or rural location. We also examined the contributions of 12 modifiable risk factors to CVD development and to death.

Methods And Results: This prospective cohort study included 24 718 participants from 51 urban and 49 rural communities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

The Anti-Coronavirus Therapies (ACT) Trials: Design, Baseline Characteristics, and Challenges.

Background: Effective treatments for COVID-19 are urgently needed, but conducting randomized trials during the pandemic has been challenging.

Methods: The Anti-Coronavirus Therapy (ACT) trials are parallel factorial international trials that aimed to enroll 3500 outpatients and 2500 inpatients with symptomatic COVID-19. The outpatient trial is evaluating colchicine vs usual care, and aspirin vs usual care.

Variations in the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across 5 continents: A cross-sectional, individual level analysis.

Background: COVID-19 has caused profound socio-economic changes worldwide. However, internationally comparative data regarding the financial impact on individuals is sparse. Therefore, we conducted a survey of the financial impact of the pandemic on individuals, using an international cohort that has been well-characterized prior to the pandemic.

Variations in risks from smoking between high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: an analysis of data from 179 000 participants from 63 countries.

Background: Separate studies suggest that the risks from smoking might vary between high-income (HICs), middle-income (MICs), and low-income (LICs) countries, but this has not yet been systematically examined within a single study using standardised approaches. We examined the variations in risks from smoking across different country income groups and some of their potential reasons.

Methods: We analysed data from 134 909 participants from 21 countries followed up for a median of 11·3 years in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) cohort study; 9711 participants with myocardial infarction and 11 362 controls from 52 countries in the INTERHEART case-control study; and 11 580 participants with stroke and 11 331 controls from 32 countries in the INTERSTROKE case-control study.

Dancing With Parkinson's Disease: The SI-ROBOTICS Study Protocol.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most frequent causes of disability among older people, characterized by motor disorders, rigidity, and balance problems. Recently, dance has started to be considered an effective exercise for people with PD. In particular, Irish dancing, along with tango and different forms of modern dance, may be a valid strategy to motivate people with PD to perform physical activity.

Effect of Colchicine vs Usual Care Alone on Intubation and 28-Day Mortality in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia have high rates of morbidity and mortality.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of colchicine in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Estudios Clínicos Latino América (ECLA) Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) COLCOVID trial was a multicenter, open-label, randomized clinical trial performed from April 17, 2020, to March 28, 2021, in adults with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection followed for up to 28 days.

Variations in the association of height with mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer in low-, middle- and high-income countries.

Background: Final adult height is a useful proxy measure of childhood nutrition and disease burden. Tall stature has been previously associated with decreased risk of all-cause mortality, decreased risk of major cardiovascular events and an increased risk of cancer. However, these associations have primarily been derived from people of European and East Asian backgrounds, and there are sparse data from other regions of the world.

Psychosocial Risk Factors and Cardiovascular Disease and Death in a Population-Based Cohort From 21 Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries.

Importance: Stress may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Most studies on stress and CVD have been conducted in high-income Western countries, but whether stress is associated with CVD in other settings has been less well studied.

Objective: To investigate the association of a composite measure of psychosocial stress and the development of CVD events and mortality in a large prospective study involving populations from 21 high-, middle-, and low-income countries across 5 continents.

Combined effect of silicon and non-thermal plasma treatments on yield, mineral content, and nutraceutical proprieties of edible flowers of Begonia cucullata.

Edible flowers are becoming popular as a nutraceutical and functional food that can contribute to human nutrition with high antioxidant molecules and mineral elements. While comparative studies between different flower species have been performed, less is known about the best agronomical practices to increase yield and nutraceutical proprieties of blooms. Silicon stimulates plant resistance against stress and promotes plant growth while non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology has been applied for the disinfection and decontamination of water, as well as for increasing plant production and quality.

Association of ultra-processed food intake with risk of inflammatory bowel disease: prospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the relation between intake of ultra-processed food and risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: 21 low, middle, and high income countries across seven geographical regions (Europe and North America, South America, Africa, Middle East, south Asia, South East Asia, and China).

Onclarity Performance in Human Papillomavirus DNA Detection in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Cervical Samples.

Objectives: Diagnosis of HPV infection is usually performed from cervical liquid-based cytology specimens (LBC), but these often contain a large amount of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes, most of which might cause transient infections. The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of BD Onclarity HPV test genotyping method on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cervical specimens compared with genotyping results from LBC.

Materials And Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens from women surgically treated for cervical intraepithelial lesions (CINs) at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, from September 2012 to June 2013 were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Pathology of the European Institute of Oncology.

Global variations in the prevalence, treatment, and impact of atrial fibrillation in a multi-national cohort of 153 152 middle-aged individuals.

Aims: To compare the prevalence of electrocardiogram (ECG)-documented atrial fibrillation (or flutter) (AF) across eight regions of the world, and to examine antithrombotic use and clinical outcomes.

Methods And Results: Baseline ECGs were collected in 153 152 middle-aged participants (ages 35-70 years) to document AF in two community-based studies, spanning 20 countries. Medication use and clinical outcome data (mean follow-up of 7.

Association of dairy consumption with metabolic syndrome, hypertension and diabetes in 147 812 individuals from 21 countries.

Objective: Our aims were to assess the association of dairy intake with prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (cross-sectionally) and with incident hypertension and incident diabetes (prospectively) in a large multinational cohort study.

Methods: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is a prospective epidemiological study of individuals aged 35 and 70 years from 21 countries on five continents, with a median follow-up of 9.1 years.

The household economic burden of non-communicable diseases in 18 countries.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death globally. In 2014, the United Nations committed to reducing premature mortality from NCDs, including by reducing the burden of healthcare costs. Since 2014, the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study has been collecting health expenditure data from households with NCDs in 18 countries.

Targeting p53 and histone methyltransferases restores exhausted CD8+ T cells in HCV infection.

Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) represents a unique model to characterize, from early to late stages of infection, the T cell differentiation process leading to exhaustion of human CD8+ T cells. Here we show that in early HCV infection, exhaustion-committed virus-specific CD8+ T cells display a marked upregulation of transcription associated with impaired glycolytic and mitochondrial functions, that are linked to enhanced ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and p53 signaling. After evolution to chronic infection, exhaustion of HCV-specific T cell responses is instead characterized by a broad gene downregulation associated with a wide metabolic and anti-viral function impairment, which can be rescued by histone methyltransferase inhibitors.