The Omics-Driven Machine Learning Path to Cost-Effective Precision Medicine in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a significant and growing global health challenge, making early detection and slowing disease progression essential for improving patient outcomes. Traditional diagnostic methods such as glomerular filtration rate and proteinuria are insufficient to capture the complexity of CKD. In contrast, omics technologies have shed light on the molecular mechanisms of CKD, helping to identify biomarkers for disease assessment and management.

Liver Disease Complicating Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Study on 66 Patients Out of 533 Adult From the JIR Cohort.

Background: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common monogenic autoinflammatory disease, associated with MEFV mutations. FMF patients can experience liver involvement, potentially leading to cirrhosis.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate liver involvement in FMF patients at a French tertiary centre for adult FMF.

Opicapone as adjunct to levodopa in treated Parkinson's disease without motor complications: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitors are routinely used to manage motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease (PD). We assessed the effect of opicapone on motor symptom severity in levodopa-treated patients without motor complications.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, 24-week, placebo-controlled study of opicapone 50 mg as adjunct to levodopa (NCT04978597).

Treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Introduction: The treatment landscape of metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) has evolved with the emergence of programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) inhibitors. This study assessed mUC treatment patterns in Europe.

Methods: Data were derived from the Adelphi mUC Disease Specific Programme™ (November 2020 to April 2021), a large, cross-sectional, patient record-based survey of physicians in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Impact of Pediatric Posterior Fossa Tumor Treatments on Working Memory Tracts Using Resting-State fMRI and Tractography.

Background And Purpose: Working memory, a primary cognitive domain, is often impaired in pediatric brain tumor survivors, affecting their attention and processing speed. This study investigated the long-term effects of treatments, including surgery, radiotherapy (RT), and chemotherapy (CT), on working memory tracts in children with posterior fossa tumors (PFTs) using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and diffusion MRI tractography.

Methods: This study included 16 medulloblastoma (MB) survivors treated with postoperative RT and CT, 14 pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) survivors treated with surgery alone, and 16 healthy controls from the Imaging Memory after Pediatric Cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults study (NCT04324450).

Impulsivity behaviors and white matter mediate the relationship between genetic risk for cannabis use disorder and early cannabis use in adolescents.

Background And Aim: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is strongly influenced by genetic factors; however the mechanisms underpinning this association are not well understood. This study investigated whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) based on a genome-wide association study for CUD in adults predicts cannabis use in adolescents and whether the association can be explained by inter-individual variation in structural properties of brain white matter or risk-taking behaviors.

Design And Setting: Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses using data from the IMAGEN cohort, a European longitudinal study integrating genetic, neuroimaging and behavioral measures.

The Population-Based Incidence and Prevalence of Catatonia.

Objective: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is associated with a range of medical and psychiatric illnesses. Although many single-center studies have been conducted, uncertainty over the population-based incidence and prevalence of the disorder remains. This study reports on the incidence and prevalence rates of catatonia extrapolated from two large epidemiologic studies in the United Kingdom and United States.

Pacmanvirus isolated from the Lost City hydrothermal field extends the concept of transpoviron beyond the family Mimiviridae.

The microbial sampling of submarine hydrothermal vents remains challenging, with even fewer studies focused on viruses. Here we report the first isolation of a eukaryotic virus from the Lost City hydrothermal field, by co-culture with the laboratory host Acanthamoeba castellanii. This virus, named pacmanvirus lostcity, is closely related to previously isolated pacmanviruses (strains A23 and S19), clustering in a divergent clade within the long-established family Asfarviridae.

Evaluating the effect of noise reduction strategies in CT perfusion imaging for predicting infarct core with deep learning.

This study evaluates the efficacy of deep learning models in identifying infarct tissue on computed tomography perfusion (CTP) scans from patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion, specifically addressing the potential influence of varying noise reduction techniques implemented by different vendors. We analyzed CTP scans from 60 patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy achieving a modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score of 2c or 3, ensuring minimal changes in the infarct core between the initial CTP and follow-up MR imaging. Noise reduction techniques, including principal component analysis (PCA), wavelet, non-local means (NLM), and a no denoising approach, were employed to create hemodynamic parameter maps.

DFT-Based Polarizable Ion Models for Molten Rare-Earth Chlorides: From Lanthanum to Europium.

We developed a systematic polarizable force field for molten trivalent rare-earth chlorides, from lanthanum to europium, based on first-principle calculations. The proposed model was employed to investigate the local structure and physicochemical properties of pure molten salts and their mixtures with sodium chloride. We computed densities, heat capacities, surface tensions, viscosities, and diffusion coefficients and disclosed their evolution along the lanthanide series, filling the gaps for poorly studied elements, such as promethium and europium.

Improving Examination Skills in Neuromuscular Disorders Through an Educational Video.

Background: The acquisition of practical skills is a key objective of medical education. Improving knowledge and skills is essential for early diagnosis of patients suffering from neuromuscular (NM) diseases.

Approach: Multimedia tools have proved to be useful and effective for learning clinical skills.

Reliability and Accuracy of the Fitbit Charge 4 Photoplethysmography Heart Rate Sensor in Ecological Conditions: Validation Study.

Background: Wrist-worn photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors allow for continuous heart rate (HR) measurement without the inconveniences of wearing a chest belt. Although green light PPG technology reduces HR measurement motion artifacts, only a limited number of studies have investigated the reliability and accuracy of wearables in non-laboratory-controlled conditions with actual specific and various physical activity movements.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the reliability and accuracy of the PPG-based HR sensor of the Fitbit Charge 4 (FC4) in ecological conditions and (2) quantify the potential variability caused by the nature of activities.

Dental Anomalies and Cranio-Dental Ontogeny in a Captive Wild Boar Population From France.

Dental anomalies are frequent in boars and pigs, and they generally affect the first premolar loci. The prevalence of these dental anomalies was investigated in a large number of populations around the world. These studies mainly focused on the influence of domestication, size, sexual dimorphism or food hardness on these anomalies.

Improving Real-Time Feedback During Cochlear Implantation: The Auditory Nerve Neurophonic/Cochlear Microphonic Ratio.

Objectives: Real-time monitoring of cochlear function to predict the loss of residual hearing after cochlear implantation is now possible. Current approaches monitor the cochlear microphonic (CM) during implantation from the electrode at the tip of the implant. A drop in CM response of >30% is associated with poorer hearing outcomes.

'Truly, Madly, Deeply': Using Law to Compel Health and Lifestyle Influencers to Tell the Truth.

Influencers are content creators who post online about their lives and can amass a significant following. Influencers can be dangerous by negatively affecting their followers' body image and marketing products in a deceptive way. The limited academic writings which consider influencer regulation note an incongruency between influencer conduct and the corresponding regulatory system.

Implementation of a program to strengthen oral hygiene in patient with cleft deformities: a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: Cleft lip and/or palate is the most common congenital orofacial deformity, affecting 1/800 births. A thorough review of the literature has shown that children with cleft have poorer oral hygiene and dental health than other children, with higher levels of caries in both temporary and permanent teeth and poorer periodontal health. Cleft patients are treated by a multidisciplinary team that aims to provide comprehensive care from pre- or post-natal diagnosis to early adulthood and the end of growth.

Faricimab efficacy in type 1 macular neovascularization: AI-assisted quantification of pigment epithelium detachment (PED) volume reduction over 12 months in Naïve and switch eyes.

Background: This study evaluates the efficacy of intravitreal Faricimab in reducing pigment epithelium detachment (PED) and fluid volumes in both treatment-naïve eyes and eyes unresponsive to anti-VEGF mono-therapies, all diagnosed with type 1 macular neovascularization (T1 MNV) over a period of 12-month.

Methods: A retrospective, single-center cohort study was conducted at the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. Clinical records of treatment-naïve and non-responder switch patients presenting T1 MNV secondary to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) from September 2022 to March 2023 were reviewed.

Changes in pulse pressure variation induced by passive leg raising test to predict preload responsiveness in mechanically ventilated patients with low tidal volume in ICU: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Pulse pressure variation (PPV) is limited in low tidal volume mechanical ventilation. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate whether passive leg raising (PLR)-induced changes in PPV can reliably predict preload/fluid responsiveness in mechanically ventilated patients with low tidal volume in the intensive care unit.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were screened for diagnostic research relevant to the predictability of PPV change after PLR in low-tidal volume mechanically ventilated patients.

Mania secondary to cotrimoxazole antibiotherapy: a case report and review of literature.

Background: Antibiomania is the manifestation of manic symptoms secondary to taking an antibiotic, which is a rare side effect. In these cases, the antibiotics most often incriminated are macrolides and quinolones, but to our knowledge, there are no published cases of antibiomania secondary to cotrimoxazole. Furthermore, we also provide an update of pharmacovigilance data concerning antibiomania through a search of the World Health Organization (WHO) database.

Development and pilot testing of INTERVENER, a web-based tool to match barriers to the cancer continuum organization to evidence-based interventions.

Background: Barriers to the cancer continuum organization and interventions to approach them have been identified; however, there is a lack of a tool matching them. Our aim was to develop a web-based tool to identify the main barriers to the process of the cancer continuum organization, and propose matched evidence-based interventions (EBI) to overcome them.

Methods: A questionnaire on barriers at six steps of the process of the cancer continuum organization was answered by collaborators.

Decreasing hepatitis B seroprevalence in pregnant women in Taiwan between 2016 and 2021: a claim-based cohort study.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) seroprevalence was high before the national vaccine policy was introduced in Taiwan, indicating significant HBV infection rates. The success of the HBV immunization program and other preventive measures likely led to decreased HBsAg prevalence among pregnant women. This study reports on the HBV seroprevalence among pregnant women in Taiwan from 2016 to 2021, including those potentially affected by the universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth.

A sweeping view of avian mycoplasmas biology drawn from comparative genomic analyses.

Background: Avian mycoplasmas are small bacteria associated with several pathogenic conditions in many wild and poultry bird species. Extensive genomic data are available for many avian mycoplasmas, yet no comparative studies focusing on this group of mycoplasmas have been undertaken so far.

Results: Here, based on the comparison of forty avian mycoplasma genomes belonging to ten different species, we provide insightful information on the phylogeny, pan/core genome, energetic metabolism, and virulence of these avian pathogens.

Continued Treatment with Nintedanib in Patients with Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis: Data from INBUILD-ON.

Purpose: In the INBUILD trial in patients with progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF), nintedanib slowed the decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) versus placebo, with a safety profile characterised mainly by gastrointestinal events. INBUILD-ON, the open-label extension of INBUILD, assessed the safety of nintedanib during longer-term treatment. Data on FVC were collected.

Marriage and Steady Relationships with Women in Men Who Have Sex with Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Mixed-Method Systematic Review and Meta-analyses.

High HIV prevalence in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) in men who have sex with men (MSM) leads to greater risk for their wives and other steady female partners because of prolonged exposure. To provide insights into the context possibly contributing to the risk of HIV transmission from MSM to women, our mixed-method synthesis about MSM' marriage and steady relationships with cisgender women aimed to: (i) assess the extent of engagement in steady relationships with women and in risky behaviors with these women across SSA's four regions; (ii) explore the underlying dynamics within these relationships by gathering qualitative information. We used quantitative and qualitative data specifically pertaining to related to marriage or other steady relationships with women from a systematic review on men who have sex with both men and women (MSMW) in SSA (PROSPERO-CRD42021237836).

Commutability assessment of new standard reference materials (SRMs) for determining serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D using ligand binding and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays.

Commutability is where the measurement response for a reference material (RM) is the same as for an individual patient sample with the same concentration of analyte measured using two or more measurement systems. Assessment of commutability is essential when the RM is used in a calibration hierarchy or to ensure that clinical measurements are comparable across different measurement procedures and at different times. The commutability of three new Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) for determining serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], defined as the sum of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], was assessed through an interlaboratory study.