Immunogenicity of the CoronaVac vaccine in children: a real-world study.

Background: Despite its proven effectiveness and safety, there are limited real-world data on CoronaVac's immunogenicity in children, especially in lower-income countries, particularly for SARS-CoV-2 variants. We present a real-world study evaluating CoronaVac's immunogenicity in Colombian children stratified by previous exposure to this virus.

Methods: 89 children aged 3-11 years were enrolled (50 Non-Exposed and 39 Exposed).

Assessing pest control treatments from phenology models and field data.

Background: Efficacy of insecticides is often determined from apparent yield loses due to a target pest. However, pests can affect yields even when controls work as expected. Further, most pest populations are monitored through adult counts without procedures to assess dynamics of immature stages.

Predictive modelling of the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 in Bogotá: Methodological innovation involving different variants and computational optimisation efficiency.

The uncertainty associated with the future of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 poses a challenge to public health officials because of its implications for welfare, economics and population health. In this document, we develop an age-stratified epidemiological-mathematical model to predict various health outcomes, considering the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. The analytical model proposed and developed for this research is based on the approach constructed by the COVID-19 International Modelling Consortium.

Entropy Production and Filling Time in Hydrogen Refueling Stations: An Economic Assessment.

A multi-objective optimization is performed to obtain fueling conditions in hydrogen stations leading to improved filling times and thermodynamic efficiency (entropy production) of the de facto standard of operation, which is defined by the protocol SAE J2601. After finding the Pareto frontier between filling time and total entropy production, it was found that SAE J2601 is suboptimal in terms of these process variables. Specifically, reductions of filling time from 47 to 77% are possible in the analyzed range of ambient temperatures (from 10 to 40 °C) with higher saving potential the hotter the weather conditions.

Non-invasive assessment of severe liver fibrosis in patients with Fontan-associated liver disease: The VALDIG-EASL FONLIVER cohort.

Background & Aims: Fontan-type surgery is a palliative procedure for congenital heart disease with univentricular physiology that may, in the long term, lead to advanced chronic liver disease. Herein, we assessed the accuracy of conventional non-invasive models for assessing liver fibrosis in the context of Fontan circulation and developed a new risk score employing non-invasive tools.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted across five European centers and encompassing all consecutive adult patients with Fontan circulation, liver biopsy and non-invasive tests (e.

Demographic Trends in Liver Transplant Survivors After 3 Decades of Program Implementation: The Impact of Cohort and Period Effects on Life Expectancy.

Background: Demographic analyses may reveal current patterns of change in the outcomes of rapidly developing medical procedures because they incorporate the period perspective.

Methods: We analyzed the changes in size, age structure, and hospitalizations in the population of liver transplantation (LT) survivors in our center during the last 30 y (n = 1114 patients) and generated projections, including life expectancy (LE), considering cohort and period effects. Life tables were used to project the complete LE (overall 1990-2020 experience), the cohort LE (according to the decade of surgery: 1990-2000, 2000-2010, and 2010-2020), and the period LE (current 2015-2020 experience).

Low and High-Normal Triplet Cytosine, Guanine Guanine Repeats Affect Ovarian Reserve and Fertility in Women Who Underwent Fertilization Treatment? Results from a Cross-Sectional Study.

Dynamic mutations in the 5' untranslated region of are associated with infertility. Premutation alleles interfere with prenatal development and increase infertility risks. The number of CGG repeats that causes the highest decrease in ovarian reserves remains unclear.

The development and implementation of a low-cost mechanical ventilator in a low-middle-income country during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Unisabana-HERONS.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America generated the need to develop low-cost, fast-manufacturing mechanical ventilators. The Universidad de La Sabana and the Fundacion Neumologica Colombiana designed and manufactured the Unisabana-HERONS (USH) ventilator. Here, we present the preclinical and clinical study results to evaluate its effectiveness and safety characteristics in an animal model (Y and five patients with acute respiratory failure receiving mechanical ventilatory support for 24 h.

An artificial intelligence-generated model predicts 90-day survival in alcohol-associated hepatitis: A global cohort study.

Background And Aims: Alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) poses significant short-term mortality. Existing prognostic models lack precision for 90-day mortality. Utilizing artificial intelligence in a global cohort, we sought to derive and validate an enhanced prognostic model.

MR-LINAC, a New Partner in Radiation Oncology: Current Landscape.

Technological advances in radiation oncology are oriented towards improving treatment precision and tumor control. Among these advances, magnetic-resonance-image-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) stands out, with technological advances to deliver targeted treatments adapted to a tumor's anatomy on the day while minimizing incidental exposure to organs at risk, offering an unprecedented therapeutic advantage compared to X-ray-based IGRT delivery systems. This new technology changes the traditional workflow in radiation oncology and requires an evolution in team coordination to administer more precise treatments.

Predictive models for health outcomes due to SARS-CoV-2, including the effect of vaccination: a systematic review.

Background: The interaction between modelers and policymakers is becoming more common due to the increase in computing speed seen in recent decades. The recent pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus was no exception. Thus, this study aims to identify and assess epidemiological mathematical models of SARS-CoV-2 applied to real-world data, including immunization for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

Total Neoadjuvant Therapy Approach for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: Where Do We Stand?

Background: For the management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), initial treatment with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery and chemotherapy in selected patients is considered one of the recommended options by the main international clinical guidelines. Nonetheless, the administration of all chemotherapy before definitive treatment (total neoadjuvant therapy [TNT]) is an optimal alternative with a growing level of evidence that must be evaluated in multidisciplinary boards. This review summarizes the available data and controversies in this scenario.

Portal hypertension increases the risk of hepatic decompensation after 90Yttrium radioembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a cohort study.

Background: Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is increasingly used in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This treatment can induce or impair portal hypertension, leading to hepatic decompensation. TARE also promotes changes in liver and spleen volumes that may modify therapeutic decisions and outcomes after therapy.

NK cells from Men Who Have Sex with Men at high risk for HIV-1 infection exhibit higher effector capacity.

Despite being under constant exposure to HIV-1, some individuals do not show serological or clinical evidence of infection and are known as HESN (HIV-Exposed Seronegative). Multiple studies in different HESN cohorts have linked the NK cells as a correlate of resistance; however, little is known about the role of these cells in Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) with high risk sexual behaviors. We evaluated a general overview of activation and effector features of NK cells of MSM co-cultured with LT CD4 HIV in which MSM at high risk of HIV-1 infection (HR-MSM) exhibit higher capacity to eliminate infected cells, reduced percentages of CD69 cells when compared to MSM at low risk of infection (LR-MSM).

Hepatic hemodynamic study: More than just HVPG measurement.

Evaluation and staging of liver disease is essential in the clinical decision-making process of liver tumors. The severity of portal hypertension (PH) is the main prognostic factor in advanced liver disease. Performing an accurate hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement is not always possible, especially when veno-venous communications are present.

Randomized trial evaluating an mHealth intervention for the early community-based detection and follow-up of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural Colombia.

Background: In Latin America, cutaneous leishmaniasis primarily affects dispersed rural communities, that have limited access to the public health system and medical attention. Mobile health (mHealth) strategies have shown potential to improve clinical management and epidemiological surveillance of neglected tropical diseases, particularly those of the skin.

Methods: The Guaral +ST app for Android was designed to monitor cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment and assess therapeutic response.

CT-derived liver and spleen volume accurately diagnose clinically significant portal hypertension in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) is a landmark in the natural history of cirrhosis, influencing clinical decisions in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous small series suggested that splanchnic volume measurements may predict portal hypertension. We aimed to evaluate whether volumetry obtained by standard multidetector computerised tomography (MDCT) can predict CSPH in patients with HCC.

Development and validation of a prototype for the on-line simultaneous analysis of quality caprolactam synthesized on an industrial scale.

Caprolactam is a highly useful monomer obtained through the Beckmann arrangement, which generates large profits worldwide and is widely used in different industries. During the synthesis process, various components can be generated that weaken the quality of the final product, to have control of the monomer, monitoring is carried out during the synthesis and characterization of the final product. These characterizations generally take time due to the different techniques that must be performed to obtain the data.

Prognostic implications of systolic function in patients with cirrhosis.

Introduction: LV intrinsic systolic cardiac function in cirrhotic patients is conditioned by the degree of sympathetic activation and the use of non-selective beta-blockers (NSBBs). Systolic function can be non-invasively measured by ultrasound using Ejection Intraventricular Pressure Differences in the LV (EIVPD). We aimed to address the relationship between systolic function and long-term clinical outcomes using EIVPD.

Respiratory support in patients with severe COVID-19 in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection (ISARIC) COVID-19 study: a prospective, multinational, observational study.

Background: Up to 30% of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 require advanced respiratory support, including high-flow nasal cannulas (HFNC), non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV), or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, outcomes and risk factors for failing non-invasive respiratory support in patients treated with severe COVID-19 during the first two years of the pandemic in high-income countries (HICs) and low middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: This is a multinational, multicentre, prospective cohort study embedded in the ISARIC-WHO COVID-19 Clinical Characterisation Protocol.

Liver and spleen volumes are associated with prognosis of compensated and decompensated cirrhosis and parallel its natural history.

Objective: Cirrhosis is characterized by the complex interplay among biological, histological and haemodynamic events. Liver and spleen remodelling occur throughout its natural history, but the prognostic role of these volumetric changes is unclear. We evaluated the relationship between volumetric changes assessed by multidetector computerised tomography (MDCT) and landmark features of cirrhosis.

Sensitivity and Specificity of the Remote Evaluation of Therapeutic Response in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Using Photographs from a Mobile Application.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) primarily affects people in remote settings with limited access to health services. mHealth tools offer an opportunity to overcome knowledge gaps about clinical response to treatment. We evaluated the validity of the Guaral+ST mobile application for the remote assessment of therapeutic response in patients with CL, through photographs of lesions captured with the app by community health volunteers.