A multiple biomolecules-based rapid life detection protocol embedded in a rover scientific subsystem for soil sample analysis

Outcome of liver disease in children is mainly determined by severity and progression of liver fibrosis. Liver biopsy is the accepted standard for evaluating fibrosis but is limited by the need for sedation in children, sampling error, and risks including bleeding. The aim of the present study was to compare tools for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in a paediatric cohort. Children undergoing liver biopsy for chronic liver disease were recruited and underwent transient elastography (TE). Liver biopsies were scored by a hepatohistopathologist from F0 (no fibrosis) to F4 (cirrhosis). TE was compared with biopsy score. During the study period, 104 children (62 boys) were enrolled (median age 13.6 years). Diagnosis was autoimmune liver disease in 27; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in 37; posttransplant in 16; hepatitis B/C in 8; Wilson disease in 5; and the remainder, miscellaneous. TE was successful in all but 7 patients and was a good discriminator of significant fibrosis (≥ F2) (P < 0.001), severe fibrosis (≥ F3) (P < 0.001), and cirrhosis (F4) (P = 0.003). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the prediction of ≥ F2, ≥ F3, and F4 using TE was 0.78, 0.79, and 0.96, respectively. TE performed best in children with autoimmune liver disease and in those posttransplant. The present study demonstrates that TE is a reliable tool in distinguishing different stages of liver fibrosis in paediatric patients. Thus, TE may serve as a useful adjunct to liver biopsy for diagnostic purposes providing a reliable method of noninvasively monitoring liver disease progression in children.

Ovarian reserve index outperforms AMH, Inhibin B, and FSH in predicting poor egg supply

To compare the circumpapillary and macular vessel density (cpVD/mVD) of eyes with temporal visual field (VF) defect and band atrophy (BA) of the optic nerve and normal controls using OCTA and to verify the association of VD parameters with circumpapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (cpRNFL) thickness, macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) thickness and VF loss. Thirty-three eyes of 26 patients with BA and 42 eyes of 22 age-matched normal controls underwent OCT + OCTA scanning. cpVD and cpRNFL were expressed as average and sector measurements. mVD and mGCC were calculated as averages and in quadrants and hemiretinas. VF loss was estimated using the 24-2 and the 10-2 protocols. Generalized estimated equation models were used for comparisons and area under the receiver operating characteristics (AROC) were calculated. Compared with controls, BA eyes displayed smaller average cpVD and mVD values (p < 0.001 and AROC = 0.91 for both). Sectorial measurements were also reduced, especially the nasotemporal sector average cpVD (p < 0.001 and AROC = 0.96) and the nasal retina mVD measurements (p < 0.001 and AROC = 0.93). cpVD and mVD correlated strongly with corresponding cpRNFL and mGCC thickness measurements in affected regions (r range: 0.67-0.78 and 0.56-0.76, respectively). Similarly, cpVD and mVD parameters correlated significantly with corresponding VF loss (r range: 0.45-0.68). cpVD and mVD are significantly reduced in BA eyes compared with controls and are strongly correlated with retinal neural and VF loss. cpVD and mVD reduction on OCTA could serve as a surrogate for retinal neural loss in compressive optic neuropathy and might be useful in its management.

Midgut neuroendocrine tumors (NET) derive from enterochromaffin cells, which have a close interrelationship with intestinal microbiota. Recently, we have utilized 16S rRNA sequencing to uncover that midgut NET patients have a depleted gut microbiome and a specific fecal microbial signature. This study aims to validate these findings and to further characterize the role of microbes and microbial metabolic pathways in midgut NET patients with and without carcinoid syndrome (CS). Fecal samples from 60 midgut NET patients and 20 household-matched controls were subjected to whole metagenome sequencing. The gut microbial community composition of midgut NET patients differed from that of controls, with 2 genera, 17 species and 9 microbial pathways showing differential abundance (P < 0.001). No differences in the microbial composition were observed between midgut NET patients with and without CS (P > 0.05). However, we did observe changes in inter-genus correlations of Bacteroides, Odoribacter, Parasutterella, Klebsiella, Ruminococcus and Proteobacteria when comparing these two patient groups. A signature of 16 microbial species (area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve 0.892) or 18 microbial pathways (AUROC 0.909) accurately predicted the presence of a midgut NET. Furthermore, a microbial signature consisting of 14 functional microbial pathways distinguished CS patients from non-CS patients (AUROC 0.807). Thus, this study confirms that the gut microbiome of midgut NET patients is altered at the metagenomic level, which is not related to the presence of CS. A fecal microbial signature could constitute a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of midgut NET or CS.

BackgroundBreath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be useful for asthma diagnosis and phenotyping, identifying patients who could benefit from personalised therapeutic strategies. The authors aimed to identify specific patterns of...

BackgroundNew Injury Severity Score (NISS) and Glasgow Coma Scale, Age and Pressure (GAP) scoring systems have cutoffs to define severe injury and identify high-risk patients. This is important in trauma quality monitoring and improvement. The overall aim was to explore if GAP scoring system can be a complement or an alternative to the traditional NISS scoring system. MethodsAdults exposed to trauma between 2017 and 2021 were included in the study, using data from The Swedish Trauma Registry. The performance of NISS and GAP scores in predicting mortality, and ICU admissions were assessed using the area under the receiver operator characteristics (AUROC) in all patients and in subgroups (blunt, penetrating trauma and older (≥65 years) trauma patients). Patients were classified as severely injured by NISS >15 as Severely Injured NISS (SIN) or with a high-risk for mortality, by GAP 3–18 as High Risk GAP (HRG). Undertriage was calculated based on the cutoffs HRG and SIN. ResultsOverall, 37,017 patients were included. The AUROC (95 % CI) for mortality using NISS was 0.84 (0.83–0.85) and for GAP 0.92 (0.91–0.93) (p-value <0.001), the AUROC (95 % CI) for ICU-admissions was 0.82 (0.82–0.83) using NISS and for GAP 0.70 (0.70–0.71) p-value <0.001, in the overall cohort. In older patients the AUROC (95 % CI) for mortality was 0.76 (0.75–0.78) using NISS and 0.79 (0.78–0.81) using GAP, p-value <0.001. Overall, 8,572 (23.2 %) and 2,908 (7.9 %) were classified as SIN and HRG, respectively, with mortality rates of 13.7 % and 34.3 %. In the HRG group low-energy falls dominated and in the SIN group most patients were exposed to MVCs. In the SIN and HRG groups the rate of Emergency Trauma Interventions according to Utstein guidelines (ETIU) and ICU admission was 14.0 vs 9.5 % and 47.0 vs 62.5 % respectively. ConclusionOur findings suggest that the GAP score and its cutoff 3–18 can be used to define severe trauma as complement to NISS >15 and can be a valuable tool in trauma quality monitoring and improvement. However, both scoring systems were less accurate in predicting mortality for the older trauma patients and should be explored further.

30-Day Outcomes Post Veno-Arterial Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) After Cardiac Surgery and Predictors of Survival

BackgroundFibrosis, a severe complication of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, represents a major concern in the disease progression. Although liver biopsy remains the gold standard for fibrosis diagnosis, its invasive nature and high cost highlight the need for reliable non-invasive alternatives.AimThis study aimed to develop a simple, non-invasive fibrosis risk score based on clinical and biochemical variables in a Mexican population.MethodsA total of 295 participants from the Health Workers Cohort Study were included. Fibrosis was assessed using transient elastography (FibroScan), which served as the reference standard for the development and validation of the risk score. Participants were classified according to the Meta-analysis of Histological Data in Viral Hepatitis (METAVIR) system. The diagnostic performance of candidate predictors was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and optimal cutoffs for fibrosis detection were identified.ResultsThe fibrosis risk score developed for the Mexican population, including sex, triglycerides, glucose, waist circumference, hypertension, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and insulin, achieved an area under the ROC (AUROC) of 81.1% (95% CI, 74.4, 87.8). In the subsample with available insulin measurements, the AUROC was comparable (79.8, 95% CI, 72.9–86.8). When compared with existing fibrosis scores, including the BARD score (based on BMI, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio, and type 2 diabetes) and the AST/ALT ratio, the newly developed score demonstrated superior diagnostic accuracy for fibrosis detection.ConclusionThis fibrosis risk score, based on routinely available clinical and biochemical data, demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy in the Mexican adult population. As a non-invasive tool, it may facilitate the early identification of fibrosis in primary care settings and reduce the need for liver biopsy. Further validation in larger and more diverse populations is warranted.

Our objectives were to compare the single-line and two-line methods of cervical length measurement in the first trimester of pregnancy and to evaluate the potential value of the first trimester cervical length measured by the two methods in predicting spontaneous preterm birth. This was a prospective study in singleton pregnancies at 11+0 to 13+6 weeks of gestation. Cervical length was measured by two methods: (i) a linear distance between the two ends of the glandular area around the endocervical canal (single-line method) and (ii) a sum of a linear distance from the internal os to the greatest cervical curvature and a linear distance from this point of the cervix to the external os (two-line method). The screening performance of the first trimester cervical length measured by the two different methods for the prediction of spontaneous preterm delivery was assessed by receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. The areas under the ROC (AUROC) were compared by De Long test. A total of 1484 consecutive singleton pregnancies were included in this study. Spontaneous preterm delivery at <37and <32weeks occurred in 75 cases (5.1%) and 12 cases (0.8%), respectively. The median cervical length measured by the single-line method was significantly shorter than that by the two-line method (33.5vs 36.5mm, p<.001). Compared with the term delivery group, the median cervical length measured by the two-line method was shorter in women with spontaneous delivery at <32weeks of gestation (36.5vs 33.6mm, p<.01). No significant difference in the median cervical length measured by the single-line method was detected between the spontaneous preterm delivery and term delivery groups. Receiver-operating-characteristic curves demonstrated that cervical length measured by the two-line method achieved better performance in predicting spontaneous delivery at <32weeks compared with the single-line method (AUROC: 0.72 vs 0.61, p<.01). We have demonstrated that the first trimester cervical length, measured by the two-line approach, holds promise as a potential screening tool for early spontaneous preterm delivery.

ObjectivesTo develop (part I) and validate (part II) an electronic fall risk clinical rule (CR) to identify nursing home residents (NH-residents) at risk for a fall incident.DesignObservational, retrospective case–control study.SettingNursing...

PurposeEndoscopically identifying eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is difficult due to its rare incidence and subtle morphology. We aimed to develop a robust and accurate convolutional neural network (CNN) model for EoE identification and classification in endoscopic images.Materials and MethodsWe collected 548 endoscopic images from 81 patients with EoE and 297 images from 37 normal patients. These datasets were labeled according to the four eosinophilic esophagitis endoscopic reference score (EREFS) features: edema, rings, exudates, and furrows. A multi-task U-Net with an auxiliary classifier on various levels of skip connections (scaU-Net) was proposed. Then, scaU-Net was compared with VGG19, ResNet50, EfficientNet-B3, and a typical multi-task U-Net CNN. The performances of each model were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively based on accuracy (ACC), area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC), and gradient-weighted class activation map (Grad-CAM), and were also compared with those of 25 human endoscopists.ResultsOur sca4U-Net with 4th-level skip connection showed the best performances in ACC (86.9%), AUROC (0.93), and outstanding Grad-CAM results compared to other models, reflecting the importance of utilizing the deepest skip connection. Moreover, the sca4U-Net showed generally better performance when compared with endoscopists with various levels of experience.ConclusionOur method showed robust performance compared to expert endoscopists and could assist endoscopists of all experience levels in the early detection of EoE–a rare but clinically important condition.

We aimed to develop a machine-learning (ML) algorithm that can predict intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired bloodstream infections (BSI) among patients suspected of infection in the ICU. The study was based on patients' electronic health records at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and at Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC), Haifa, Israel. We included adults from whom blood cultures were collected for suspected BSI at least 48h after admission. Clinical data, including time-series variables and their interactions, were analyzed by an ML algorithm at each site. Prediction ability for ICU-acquired BSI was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) of ten-fold cross-validation and validation sets with 95% confidence intervals. The datasets comprised 2351 patients from BIDMC (151 with BSI) and 1021 from RHCC (162 with BSI). The median (inter-quartile range) age was 62 (51-75) and 56 (38-69) years, respectively; the median Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores were 26 (21-32) and 24 (20-29), respectively. The means of the cross-validation AUROCs were 0.87 ± 0.02 for BIDMC and 0.93 ± 0.03 for RHCC. AUROCs of 0.89 ± 0.01 and 0.92 ± 0.02 were maintained in both centers with internal validation, while external validation deteriorated. Valuable predictors were mainly the trends of time-series variables such as laboratory results and vital signs. An ML approach that uses temporal and site-specific data achieved high performance in recognizing BC samples with a high probability for ICU-acquired BSI.

BackgroundGalectins are proteins that bind β-galactosides such as N-acetyllactosamine present in N-linked and O-linked glycoproteins and that seem to be implicated in inflammatory and immune responses as well as fibrotic mechanisms. This preliminary study investigated serum galectins as clinical biomarkers in lung transplant patients with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), phenotype bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS).Materials and MethodsNineteen lung transplant patients [median age (IQR), 55 (45–62) years; 53% males] were enrolled in the study. Peripheral blood concentrations of galectins-1, 3 and 9 were determined with commercial ELISA kits.ResultsGalectin-1 concentrations were higher in BOS than in stable LTX patients (p = 0.0394). In logistic regression analysis, testing BOS group as dependent variable with Gal-1 and 3 as independent variables, area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve was 98.9% (NPV 90% and PPV 88.9%, p = 0.0003). With the stable LTX group as dependent variable and Gal-1, 3 and 9 as independent variables, AUROC was 92.6% (NPV 100% and PPV 90%, p = 0.0023). In stable patients were observed an inverse correlation of Gal-3 with DLCO% and KCO%, and between Gal-9 and KCO%.ConclusionGalectins-1, 3 and 9 are possible clinical biomarkers in lung transplant patients with diagnostic and prognostic meaning. These molecules may be directly implicated in the pathological mechanisms of BOS. The hypothesis that they could be new therapeutic targets in BOS patients is intriguing and also worth exploring.

Critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) are at an increased risk of acquiring bacterial bloodstream infections (BSI). We aimed to describe patient characteristics, risk factors, and the microbiological spectrum in blood cultures and evaluate the impact of ICU-acquired BSI on outcomes in a Nordic setting. A prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted on adult invasively mechanically ventilated (IMV) COVID-19 patients. The primary aim was to identify the proportion of ICU-acquired BSI and its aetiology. Secondary outcomes were duration of IMV, length of stay (LOS), and mortality for individuals with and without BSI, respectively. Logistic regression was used to identify potential predictors of ICU-acquired BSI. Predictors were assessed by calculating an Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristics (AUROC) curve. Of 354 included patients, 17% had an ICU-acquired BSI. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen. Patients with BSI had a longer duration of IMV (20 days versus 9 days, p < 0.001), longer ICU-LOS (24 days versus 11 days, p < 0.001), and hospital-LOS (38 days versus 24 days, p < 0.001). A BSI was associated with increased mortality; odds ratio (OR) 3.21, 95% CI: 1.61-6.38, p < 0.001. Adjusted analyses showed that higher BMI; OR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.11, p = 0.014, diabetes mellitus with organ complications; OR 2.66, 95% CI: 1.33-5.29, p = 0.005, and number of symptomatic days before ICU admission; OR 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.07, p = 0.008, were associated with a BSI. The AUROC was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58-0.74). ICU-acquired BSIs were found in 17% of critically ill COVID-19 patients and were associated with a longer duration of IMV and LOS as well as increased mortality. Staphylococcus aureus was the dominating pathogen. We found several factors associated with ICU-acquired BSIs at ICU admission. However, their ability to predict BSIs was poor.

Background: Trauma is an injury to living tissue from an external source. The severity of traumatic injuries plays a crucial role in the determination of mortality in patients with trauma, thus a proper understanding of the severity of trauma is very important for improving trauma care. Several scoring systems are available for the objective, initial assessment of the severity of injury to help treatment strategy. Aim of the study was to compare Emergency Trauma Score (EMTRAS) with Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) for prediction of early mortality in adult trauma patients. Methods: Study was conducted with 100 patients of either sex, age 18 years or above with history of trauma due to road accident, fall and assault. REMS and EMTRAS score was calculated from the laboratory and patient characteristics mentioned in the Trauma scoring datasheet, within 30 minutes of arrival of the patient in the hospital and 24 hours after hospitalization. Results: Comparison of the REMS score within 30 mins of patient arrival and at 24 hrs was statistically significant (p=0.0099). Comparison of EMTRAS SCORE Within 30 mins of patient arrival and at 24 hrs was not statistically significant (p=0.0505). Comparison of REMS vs Outcome at 24 hrs (Non-Survivors and Survivors) was statistically significant (p=&lt;0.0001). Comparison of EMTRAS vs Outcome at 24 hrs (Non-Survivors and Survivors) was statistically significant (p=&lt;0.0001). Comparison of AUROC (Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristics) of REMS and EMTRAS were 0.689 and 0.789 respectively, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: We conclude that both REMS and EMTRAS are easy, accurate predictors of in-hospital early mortality in Adult Trauma Patients. But in our study, EMTRAS AUROC was greater than AUROC of REMS. Hence EMTRAS should have good prognostic power for predicting in-hospital early mortality in Adults Trauma patients.