A low pre-existing anti-NS1 humoral immunity to DENV is associated with microcephaly development after gestational ZIKV exposure.

Background: Gestational Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with the development of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), which includes microcephaly and fetal demise. The magnitude and quality of orthoflavivirus-specific humoral immunity have been previously linked to the development of CZS. However, the role of ZIKV NS1-specific humoral immunity in mothers and children with prenatal ZIKV exposure and CZS remains undefined.

Mimics of pancreatic neoplasms at cross-sectional imaging: Pearls for characterization and diagnostic work-up.

Interpreting imaging examinations of the pancreas can be a challenge. Several different entities can mimic or mask pancreatic neoplasms, including normal anatomic variants, non-pancreatic lesions, and both acute and chronic pancreatitis. It is important to distinguish these entities from pancreatic neoplasms, as the management and prognosis of a pancreatic neoplasm, particularly adenocarcinoma, have considerable impact on patients.

Non-invasive telemonitoring programs for patients with chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Aims: To assess whether telemonitoring improves outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure.

Methods And Results: A literature search was conducted on studies of randomized controlled trials involving non-invasive telemonitoring and heart failure using Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalization, and hospitalization for heart failure.

A single-center case study series assessing the effect of selumetinib use in patients with neurofibromatosis-related plexiform neurofibromas.

Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common genetic disorder of phenotypic variability with age-dependent penetrance. This study describes the diagnosis, clinical characterization, management, and outcomes of a large patient cohort with plexiform neurofibroma (PN) treated with selumetinib in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: This single-center observational study consecutively enrolled patients with NF1-PN treated with selumetinib from April 2018 to 2023.

The Escherichia coli TolC efflux pump protein is immunogenic and elicits protective antibodies.

Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing worldwide public health burden that threatens to make existent antimicrobials obsolete. An important mechanism of antimicrobial resistance is the overexpression of efflux pumps, which reduce the intracellular concentration of antimicrobials. TolC is the outer membrane protein of an efflux pump that has gained attention as a therapeutic target.

Prediction of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Bananas during Ripening Using Non-Destructive Parameters as Input Data.

Vegetable quality parameters are established according to standards primarily based on visual characteristics. Although knowledge of biochemical changes in the secondary metabolism of plants throughout development is essential to guide decision-making about consumption, harvesting and processing, these determinations involve the use of reagents, specific equipment and sophisticated techniques, making them slow and costly. However, when non-destructive methods are employed to predict such determinations, a greater number of samples can be tested with adequate precision.

Utility of the WHO dengue guidelines in pediatric immunological studies.

Dengue is a significant health problem due to the high burden of critical infections during outbreaks. In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified dengue as dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). It was revised in 2009 (updated in 2015), and the new guidelines recommended classifying patients as dengue without warning signs (DNS), dengue with warning signs (DWS), and severe dengue (SD).

Radiographic texture of the trabecular bone of the proximal phalanx in horses with metacarpophalangeal osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent condition in horses, leading to changes in trabecular bone structure and radiographic texture. Although fractal dimension (FD) and lacunarity have been applied to quantify these changes in humans, their application in horses remains nascent. This study evaluated the use of FD, bone area fraction (BA/TA), and lacunarity in quantifying trabecular bone differences in the proximal phalanx (P1) in 50 radiographic examinations of equine metacarpophalangeal joints with varying OA degrees.

Transportation as a Disease Vector in COVID-19: Border Mobility and Disease Spread.

More than a year after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, the U.S.A.

Accuracy of linear measurements for implant planning based on low-dose cone beam CT protocols: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to verify the accuracy of linear measurements performed on low-dose CBCT protocols for implant planning, in comparison with those performed on standard and high-resolution CBCT protocols.

Methods: The literature search included four databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus). Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full texts according to eligibility criteria, extracted the data, and examined the methodological quality.

FAIR+E pathogen data for surveillance and research: lessons from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exemplified the importance of interoperable and equitable data sharing for global surveillance and to support research. While many challenges could be overcome, at least in some countries, many hurdles within the organizational, scientific, technical and cultural realms still remain to be tackled to be prepared for future threats. We propose to (i) continue supporting global efforts that have proven to be efficient and trustworthy toward addressing challenges in pathogen molecular data sharing; (ii) establish a distributed network of Pathogen Data Platforms to (a) ensure high quality data, metadata standardization and data analysis, (b) perform data brokering on behalf of data providers both for research and surveillance, (c) foster capacity building and continuous improvements, also for pandemic preparedness; (iii) establish an International One Health Pathogens Portal, connecting pathogen data isolated from various sources (human, animal, food, environment), in a truly One Health approach and following FAIR principles.

NS1-Specific Antibody Response Facilitates the Identification of Children With Dengue and Zika in Hyperendemic Areas.

Background: Infections by dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) have some similar symptoms and a cross-reactive immune response, although with different risk populations and outcomes. Here, we evaluated the virologic characteristics and the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1)-specific antibody responses to DENV and ZIKV in children suspected of dengue in different epidemiologic moments in Colombia.

Methods: Viral RNA, circulating NS1 and IgM/IgG specific for DENV and ZIKV were performed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 301 children suspected of dengue enrolled in a hospital setting during the ZIKV epidemic and a primary healthcare setting during a DENV epidemic.

Frequency, Markers and Costs of Secondary Bacterial Infection in Pediatric Dengue.

Background: Secondary bacterial infection (SBI) occurs in a proportion of individuals with dengue and results in longer hospitalization, higher mortality, and increased health-related costs. However, the frequency, risk factors and predictive biomarkers of this comorbidity in pediatric dengue is partially known.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study in a dengue hyperendemic region of Colombia, analyzing 1597 children from two pediatric cohorts.

Perivascular Innervation in the Nasal Mucosa and Clinical Findings in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Idiopathic Rhinitis.

 The nonspecific hyperreactivity of rhinitis has been attributed to neurotrophins activating sensory nerves and inflammatory cells. The relationship between these markers and the intensity of the symptoms is not well established and few studies have evaluated individuals with idiopathic rhinitis.  The present study aims to evaluate whether perivascular innervation and nerve growth factor (NGF) are related to the intensity of the clinical conditions in allergic rhinitis (AR) and idiopathic rhinitis (IR).

Efficiency of Automated Viral RNA Purification for Pediatric Studies of Dengue and Zika in Hyperendemic Areas.

The isolation of nucleic acids is a critical and limiting step for molecular assays, which prompted the arrival in Colombia of automated purification instruments during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The local application of this technology in the study of tropical diseases, such as dengue and zika, is beginning to be tested. We evaluated the efficiency of the automated extraction of viral RNA for studies of pediatric dengue and zika.

Oral clinical findings and intensive care unit prognostic scores.

Objective: Hospitalisation in intensive care unit (ICU) may cause changes in oral environment, which may influence patients' health status. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of intraoral and extraoral findings observed during ICU admission, and to verify if there is an association with clinical prognosis scores.

Methods: Data regarding clinical characteristics of patients hospitalised in an ICU were collected from medical records.

Unique Immune Blood Markers Between Severe Dengue and Sepsis in Children.

Background: Pediatric dengue and sepsis share clinical and pathophysiologic aspects. Multiple inflammatory and regulatory cytokines, decoy receptors and vascular permeability factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of both diseases. The differential pattern and dynamic of these soluble factors, and the relationship with clinical severity between pediatric dengue and sepsis could offer new diagnosis and therapeutic strategies.

Protein domains provide a new layer of information for classifying human variations in rare diseases.

Using the ACMG-AMP guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants, it remains difficult to meet the criterion associated with the protein domain, PM1, which is assigned in only about 10% of cases, whereas the criteria related to variant frequency, PM2/BA1/BS1, is reported in 50% of cases. To improve the classification of human missense variants using protein domains information, we developed the DOLPHIN system (https://dolphin.mmg-gbit.

Electrical Conductive Properties of 3D-PrintedConcrete Composite with Carbon Nanofibers.

Electrical conductive properties in cement-based materials have received attention in recent years due to their key role in many innovative application (i.e., energy harvesting, deicing systems, electromagnetic shielding, and self-health monitoring).

Quantifying the impact of immune history and variant on SARS-CoV-2 viral kinetics and infection rebound: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: The combined impact of immunity and SARS-CoV-2 variants on viral kinetics during infections has been unclear.

Methods: We characterized 1,280 infections from the National Basketball Association occupational health cohort identified between June 2020 and January 2022 using serial RT-qPCR testing. Logistic regression and semi-mechanistic viral RNA kinetics models were used to quantify the effect of age, variant, symptom status, infection history, vaccination status and antibody titer to the founder SARS-CoV-2 strain on the duration of potential infectiousness and overall viral kinetics.

Light-induced shifts in opsin gene expression in the four-eyed fish .

The development of the vertebrate eye is a complex process orchestrated by several conserved transcriptional and signaling regulators. Aside from partial or complete loss, examples of exceptional modifications to this intricate organ are scarce. The unique eye of the four-eyed fish is composed of duplicated corneas and pupils, as well as specialized retina regions associated with simultaneous aerial and aquatic vision.

Precision health diagnostic and surveillance network uses S gene target failure (SGTF) combined with sequencing technologies to track emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Introduction: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic revealed a worldwide lack of effective molecular surveillance networks at local, state, and national levels, which are essential to identify, monitor, and limit viral community spread. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) such as Alpha and Omicron, which show increased transmissibility and immune evasion, rapidly became dominant VOCs worldwide. Our objective was to develop an evidenced-based genomic surveillance algorithm, combining reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing technologies to quickly identify highly contagious VOCs, before cases accumulate exponentially.