Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures on the management, health, and behavior of the cystic fibrosis population in France during 2020 (MUCONFIN).

Background: Most of the studies on cystic fibrosis (CF) focused on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and suggested a low incidence of infection in this population. We aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic and related lockdown measures implemented in May 2020 in response to the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection on healthcare access, health, and behavior in CF patients.

Methods: A national questionnaire opened online from May 15th, 2020 to June 11, 2020 was completed by 751 CF-patients, aged 14 years and over.

Structure-Based Discovery of Negative Allosteric Modulators of the Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5.

Recently determined structures of class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) revealed the location of allosteric binding sites and opened new opportunities for the discovery of novel modulators. In this work, molecular docking screens for allosteric modulators targeting the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu) were performed. The mGlu receptor is activated by the main excitatory neurotransmitter of the nervous central system, L-glutamate, and mGlu receptor activity can be allosterically modulated by negative or positive allosteric modulators.

Incidence, Characteristics, and Outcomes of Ventricular Fibrillation Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction in Women Admitted Alive in the Hospital.

Background Little data are available in women presenting with ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We assessed frequency, predictors of VF, and outcomes, with a special focus on women compared with men. Methods and Results Data were analyzed from the FAST-MI (French Registry of Acute ST-Elevation or Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program, which prospectively included 14 406 patients admitted to French cardiac intensive care units ≤48 hours from AMI onset between 1995 and 2015 (mean age, 66±14 years; 72% men; mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 52±12%; 59% with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction).

Symbols and mental programs: a hypothesis about human singularity.

Natural language is often seen as the single factor that explains the cognitive singularity of the human species. Instead, we propose that humans possess multiple internal languages of thought, akin to computer languages, which encode and compress structures in various domains (mathematics, music, shape…). These languages rely on cortical circuits distinct from classical language areas.

Alternative splicing encodes functional intracellular CD59 isoforms that mediate insulin secretion and are down-regulated in diabetic islets.

Human pancreatic islets highly express CD59, which is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell-surface protein and is required for insulin secretion. How cell-surface CD59 could interact with intracellular exocytotic machinery has so far not been described. We now demonstrate the existence of CD59 splice variants in human pancreatic islets, which have unique C-terminal domains replacing the GPI-anchoring signal sequence.

Apixaban vs. standard of care after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: the ATLANTIS trial.

Aims: The respective roles of oral anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remain debated. ATLANTIS is an international, randomized, open-label, superiority trial comparing apixaban to the standard of care.

Methods And Results: After successful TAVI, 1500 patients were randomized (1:1) to receive apixaban 5 mg (2.

Circulating inflammatory biomarkers, adipokines and breast cancer risk-a case-control study nested within the EPIC cohort.

Background: Inflammation has been hypothesized to play a role in the development and progression of breast cancer and might differently impact breast cancer risk among pre and postmenopausal women. We performed a nested case-control study to examine whether pre-diagnostic circulating concentrations of adiponectin, leptin, c-reactive protein (CRP), tumour necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ and 6 interleukins were associated with breast cancer risk, overall and by menopausal status.

Methods: Pre-diagnostic levels of inflammatory biomarkers were measured in plasma from 1558 case-control pairs from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Temozolomide and Radiotherapy versus Radiotherapy Alone in Patients with Glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype: Post Hoc Analysis of the EORTC Randomized Phase III CATNON Trial.

Purpose: In a post hoc analysis of the CATNON trial (NCT00626990), we explored whether adding temozolomide to radiotherapy improves outcome in patients with IDH1/2 wildtype (wt) anaplastic astrocytomas with molecular features of glioblastoma [redesignated as glioblastoma, isocitrate dehydrogenase-wildtype (IDH-wt) in the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of central nervous system tumors].

Patients And Methods: From the randomized phase III CATNON study examining the addition of adjuvant and concurrent temozolomide to radiotherapy in anaplastic astrocytomas, we selected a subgroup of IDH1/2wt and H3F3Awt tumors with presence of TERT promoter mutations and/or EGFR amplifications and/or combined gain of chromosome 7 and loss of chromosome 10. Molecular abnormalities including MGMT promoter methylation status were determined by next-generation sequencing, DNA methylation profiling, and SNaPshot analysis.

Characterization of Surgical Tools for Specific Endovascular Navigation.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to mechanically characterize a specific active guidewire and catheters that are commercially available, for further implementation into numerical simulation of endovascular navigation towards complex targets.

Methods: For the guidewire, 3-point bending tests and bending with added masses were used to obtain the Young moduli of its various components. To study its behavior, the guidewire was activated under "ideal" conditions and its performance was investigated.

Associations of early-life pet ownership with asthma and allergic sensitization: A meta-analysis of more than 77,000 children from the EU Child Cohort Network.

Background: Studies examining associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with childhood asthma have reported inconsistent results. Several factors could explain these inconsistencies, including type of pet, timing, and degree of exposure.

Objective: Our aim was to study associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with asthma in school-aged children, including the role of type (cat vs dog), timing (never, prenatal, or early childhood), and degree of ownership (number of pets owned), and the role of allergic sensitization.

Intraperitoneal Insulin Delivery: Evidence of a Physiological Route for Artificial Pancreas From Compartmental Modeling.

Background: Intraperitoneal insulin delivery has proven to safely overcome a major limit of subcutaneous delivery-meal announcement-and has been able to optimize glycemic control in adults under controlled experimental conditions. In addition, intraperitoneal delivery avoids peripheral hyperinsulinemia resulting from the subcutaneous route and restores a physiological liver gradient.

Methods: Relying on a unique data set of intraperitoneal closed-loop insulin delivery obtained with a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), we develop a compartmental model of intraperitoneal insulin kinetics, which, once included in the UVa/Padova T1D simulator, will facilitate the investigation of various control strategies, for example, the simpler Proportional Integral Derivative controller versus MPC.

Clinical outcomes after treatment with direct antiviral agents: beyond the virological response in patients with previous HCV-related decompensated cirrhosis.

Background: In HCV-infected patients with advanced liver disease, the direct antiviral agents-associated clinical benefits remain debated. We compared the clinical outcome of patients with a previous history of decompensated cirrhosis following treatment or not with direct antiviral agents from the French ANRS CO22 HEPATHER cohort.

Methods: We identified HCV patients who had experienced an episode of decompensated cirrhosis.

Association of Accuracy, Conclusions, and Reporting Completeness With Acceptance by Radiology Conferences and Journals.

Background: Preferential publication of studies with positive findings can lead to overestimation of diagnostic test accuracy (i.e. publication bias).

Deep-learning-based synthesis of post-contrast T1-weighted MRI for tumour response assessment in neuro-oncology: a multicentre, retrospective cohort study.

Background: Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are widely used to enhance tissue contrast during MRI scans and play a crucial role in the management of patients with cancer. However, studies have shown gadolinium deposition in the brain after repeated GBCA administration with yet unknown clinical significance. We aimed to assess the feasibility and diagnostic value of synthetic post-contrast T1-weighted MRI generated from pre-contrast MRI sequences through deep convolutional neural networks (dCNN) for tumour response assessment in neuro-oncology.

Identification of Differential Responses of Goat PBMCs to PPRV Virulence Using a Multi-Omics Approach.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute transboundary infectious viral disease of small ruminants, mainly sheep and goats. Host susceptibility varies considerably depending on the PPR virus (PPRV) strain, the host species and breed. The effect of strains with different levels of virulence on the modulation of the immune system has not been thoroughly compared in an experimental setting so far.

Preoperative REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Outcome in Parkinson Disease 1 Year After Surgery.

Background And Objectives: To determine whether patients with Parkinson disease (PD) eligible for subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) with probable REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) preoperatively could be more at risk of poorer motor, nonmotor, and quality of life outcomes 12 months after surgery compared to those without RBD.

Methods: We analyzed the preoperative clinical profile of 448 patients with PD from a French multicentric prospective study (PREDISTIM) according to the presence or absence of probable RBD based on the RBD Single Question and RBD Screening Questionnaire. Among the 215 patients with PD with 12 months of follow-up after STN-DBS, we compared motor, cognitive, psycho-behavioral profile, and quality of life outcomes in patients with (pre-opRBD+) or without (pre-opRBD-) probable RBD preoperatively.

Individual patient data meta-analysis of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery versus upfront surgery for carcinoma of the oesophagus or the gastro-oesophageal junction.

Introduction: Which neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced thoracic oesophagus (TE) or gastro-oesophageal junction carcinoma is best remains an open question. Randomised controlled trials variously accrued patients with adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, making strong conclusions hard to obtain. The primary objective of this individual participant data meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on overall survival (OS).

Use of systemic glucocorticoids and risk of breast cancer in a prospective cohort of postmenopausal women.

Background: Glucocorticoids could theoretically decrease breast cancer risk through their anti-inflammatory effects or increase risk through immunosuppression. However, epidemiological evidence is limited regarding the associations between glucocorticoid use and breast cancer risk.

Methods: We investigated the association between systemic glucocorticoid use and breast cancer incidence in the E3N cohort, which includes 98,995 women with information on various characteristics collected from repeated questionnaires complemented with drug reimbursement data available from 2004.

Lipoprotein(a) and Benefit of PCSK9 Inhibition in Patients With Nominally Controlled LDL Cholesterol.

Background: Guidelines recommend nonstatin lipid-lowering agents in patients at very high risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) if low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) remains ≥70 mg/dL on maximum tolerated statin treatment. It is uncertain if this approach benefits patients with LDL-C near 70 mg/dL. Lipoprotein(a) levels may influence residual risk.

Functional annotation of the 2q35 breast cancer risk locus implicates a structural variant in influencing activity of a long-range enhancer element.

A combination of genetic and functional approaches has identified three independent breast cancer risk loci at 2q35. A recent fine-scale mapping analysis to refine these associations resulted in 1 (signal 1), 5 (signal 2), and 42 (signal 3) credible causal variants at these loci. We used publicly available in silico DNase I and ChIP-seq data with in vitro reporter gene and CRISPR assays to annotate signals 2 and 3.