Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Borderline Quantiferon-TB Gold Plus Results for Latent Tuberculosis Screening under Routine Conditions in a Low-Endemicity Setting

Quantiferon-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) is an interferon gamma release assay used to diagnose latent tuberculosis (LTB). A borderline range (0.20 to 0.99 IU/ml) around the cutoff (0.35 IU/ml) has been suggested for the earlier QFT version. ABSTRACT Quantiferon-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) is an interferon gamma release assay used to diagnose latent tuberculosis (LTB). A borderline range (0.20 to 0.99 IU/ml) around the cutoff (0.35 IU/ml) has been suggested for the earlier QFT version. Our aims were to evaluate the borderline range for QFT-Plus and the contribution of the new TB2 antigen tube. QFT-Plus results were collected from clinical laboratories in Sweden and linked to incident active TB within 3 to 24 months using the national TB registry. Among QFT-Plus results from 58,539 patients, 83% were negative (<0.20 IU/ml), 2.4% were borderline negative (0.20 to 0.34 IU/ml), 3.4% were borderline positive (0.35 to 0.99 IU/ml), 9.6% were positive (≥1.0 IU/ml), and 1.6% were indeterminate. Follow-up tests after initial borderline results were negative (<0.20 IU/ml) in 38.3%, without any cases of incident active TB within 2 years. Applying the 0.35-IU/ml cutoff, 1.5% of TB1 and TB2 results were discrepant, of which 52% were within the borderline range. A TB2 result of ≥0.35 IU/ml with a TB1 result of <0.20 IU/ml was found in 0.4% (231/58,539) of all included baseline QFT-Plus test results, including 1.8% (1/55) of incident TB cases. A borderline range for QFT-Plus is clinically useful as more than one-third of those with borderline results are convincingly negative upon retesting, without developing incident active TB. The TB2 tube contribution to LTB diagnosis appears limited.
Histological, transmission electron microscopic, and immunohistochemical study of the adrenal gland in the Persian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus)

This research was aimed to present the histological and ultrastructure properties of the adrenal gland in the Persian squirrel. Two male and female animals were included in the study. The adrenal gland was bean‐shaped and located on the cranial pole of kidney. The enveloping capsule was dense connective tissue that reacted positively with Periodic‐Acid Schiff (PAS) and Masson trichrome stainings. The parenchyma of the gland consisted of two‐part, namely cortex and medulla; the cortex had three layers: zona glomerulosa (ZG), zona fasciculata (ZF), and zona reticularis (ZR). The cells of the ZG were mainly spherical and ovoid with circular arrangement and few lipid droplets in TEM micrographs. The cells of the ZF were columnar and spherical that were arranged in cord‐like rows. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated conspicuous lipid droplets and mitochondria in this zone. The cells of the ZR were arranged in a tangled networks and were almost similar to those in the ZF. TEM images showed fewer lipid vesicles in the ZR compared to the ZF and ZG. Chromaffin cells were located in the medulla of the adrenal gland in two layers. TEM images showed that some of them were smaller and contained fewer secretory granules; other cells were larger and contained more electron‐dense secretory granules. Immunofluorescence staining showed that steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1) expressed from cortex to the corticomedullary junction (CMJ) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expressed in the medulla. In conclusion, the results indicated both similarities and differences between the adrenal gland of the Persian squirrel and other animals such as mammals and rodents.
X‐irradiation and gamma‐irradiation inactivate lymphocytes in blood components

Irradiation of selected blood components is standard practice for the prevention of transfusion‐associated graft‐versus‐host disease (TA‐GvHD). Currently, gamma‐irradiation is the most widely used form of irradiation, but there is an increasing interest in X‐irradiation, which is considered to be functionally equivalent and safer. However, there is a paucity of contemporary data regarding the ability of X‐irradiation to inactivate lymphocytes in blood components. Therefore, the effect of gamma‐ and X‐irradiation on lymphocyte viability and function in blood components was compared.
Feasibility of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Diagnosing Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis in the Emergency Department

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for diagnosing hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) in the emergency department (ED). Methods A retrospective study was conducted in infants aged younger than 90 days who were brought to the ED due to vomiting between January 2015 and December 2019. Of these, infants who were clinically suspected of having HPS and underwent ultrasound were included and categorized into 3 groups: POCUS only, POCUS followed by radiologist-performed ultrasound (RADUS), and RADUS only. All confirmative diagnoses of HPS were made by RADUS. The diagnostic performance of POCUS was analyzed, and the ED patient flow was compared between the POCUS-performed (POCUS only or POCUS followed by RADUS) and RADUS-only groups. Results Overall, 171 patients with a median age of 34 days were included. Of these, 79 patients (46.2%) underwent POCUS only, and none had HPS; 50 patients (29.2%) underwent POCUS followed by RADUS; and 42 patients (24.5%) underwent RADUS only. Overall, 41 patients (24.0%) were diagnosed with HPS, and POCUS showed a sensitivity of 96.6% and specificity of 94.0%. In the total cohort, length of stay in the ED (EDLOS) was shorter in the POCUS-performed group than in the RADUS-only group (2.6 vs 3.8 hours, P = 0.015). Among non-HPS patients, time to disposition (1.8 vs 2.7 hours, P = 0.005) and EDLOS (2.0 vs 3.0 hours, P = 0.004) were shorter in the POCUS-performed group than in the RADUS-only group. Performing POCUS followed by RADUS did not significantly delay the treatment among HPS patients. Conclusions Point-of-care ultrasound is accurate and useful for diagnosing HPS and improved the ED patient flow by reducing EDLOS and door-to-disposition time in non-HPS patients.
WITHIN-SUBJECT VARIATION IN THE COGNITIVE TIMED UP AND GO TEST AS AN EXPLANATORY VARIABLE IN FALL RISK IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Objective To explore the use of within-subject variation in the Cognitive Timed Up and Go test (Cognitive TUGWSV) as an explanatory variable in fall risk in the Parkinson’s disease population. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods Fifty-three patients with Parkinson’s disease completed 3 trials of the Cognitive TUGWSV. Within-subject variation was calculated using the standard deviation of an individual’s repeated measurements, and compared on the basis of the fall history reported in the previous 6 months. Participants who reported < 2 falls were classified as “non-recurrent fallers” (n = 31) and those who reported ≥ 2 falls were classified as “recurrent fallers” (n = 22). Univariate and a multivariate logistic regression were used to investigate the statistical impact of the Cognitive TUGWSV as an explanatory variable in fall risk. Discriminative ability and cut-off score were determined based on receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results There was a significant difference between groups in the Cognitive TUGWSV (p = 0.002). Univariate logistic regression indicated a significant association between Cognitive TUGWSV and fall risk (χ2=12.365, p < 0.001), with an odds ratio of 2.5 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.34–4.65). Multivariate logistic regression showed that body mass index (BMI), Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), Cognitive TUGWSV, and the mean velocity of the centre of foot pressure under closed eyes condition (Velocity COP (CE)) were significant explanatory variables in fall risk. Cognitive TUGWSV was the most important independent variable. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed an acceptable discriminative power (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.757, 95% CI = 0.619– 0.864, p < 0.001) and a cut-off point of 1.53 s. Conclusion A higher Cognitive TUGWSV correlated significantly with higher fall risk. Thus, diagnostic tests and exercise programmes could consider Cognitive TUGWSV when assessing fall risk in the Parkinson’s disease population. LAY ABSTRACT Motor deficits in patients with Parkinson’s disease usually worsen when tasks are performed simultaneously or under maximal challenge conditions. Assessment of these motor complications has an important role in the prediction of fall risk. A range of parameters is used to assess motor alterations. Among them, within-subject variation is normally used as a parameter of reliability in validation studies. Nevertheless, the use of within-subject variation during a single session in the Timed Up and Go test with the addition of a cognitive dual task (Cognitive TUGwsv) performed at maximum speed has not yet been studied as a predictor of fall risk in the Parkinson’s disease population. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a higher Cognitive TUGwsv is related to a higher risk of falling in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, health professionals could consider this variable when assessing the risk of falling in this population.
Evaluating the treatment of heavy metals in acidic wastewater by activated carbon

Abstract The study investigated the use of activated carbon (AC), produced from pinewood, to remove copper, zinc and iron from modified landfill leachates. South Africa faces an imminent water crisis, hence the need to see wastewater as an important source that must be treated and reused to combat water deficits in future. The use of AC as a soil amendment for the removal of heavy metals (HM) is not well researched. This study aimed to determine the ideal amount of AC (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% [w/w]) to add to soil using leaching columns for optimum HM adsorption. Modified acidic wastewater (pH > 2) was leached through soil columns packed with sandy loam soil and different amounts of AC (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% [w/w]). The results indicated that all the columns efficiently removed 94% copper, 80% zinc and 99% iron. Even a small amount (5% w/w) of AC was effective in removing HMs and can thus be considered as a possible cost-effective treatment option for acidic wastewater.
Action Anticipation Using Pairwise Human-Object Interactions and Transformers

The ability to anticipate future actions of humans is useful in application areas such as automated driving, robot-assisted manufacturing, and smart homes. These applications require representing and anticipating human actions involving the use of objects. Existing methods that use human-object interactions for anticipation require object affordance labels for every relevant object in the scene that match the ongoing action. Hence, we propose to represent every pairwise human-object (HO) interaction using only their visual features. Next, we use cross-correlation to capture the second-order statistics across human-object pairs in a frame. Cross-correlation produces a holistic representation of the frame that can also handle a variable number of human-object pairs in every frame of the observation period. We show that cross-correlation based frame representation is more suited for action anticipation than attention-based and other second-order approaches. Furthermore, we observe that using a transformer model for temporal aggregation of frame-wise HO representations results in better action anticipation than other temporal networks. So, we propose two approaches for constructing an end-to-end trainable multi-modal transformer (MM-Transformer; code at https://github.com/debadityaroy/MM-Transformer_ActAnt) model that combines the evidence across spatio-temporal, motion, and HO representations. We show the performance of MM-Transformer on procedural datasets like 50 Salads and Breakfast, and an unscripted dataset like EPIC-KITCHENS55. Finally, we demonstrate that the combination of human-object representation and MM-Transformers is effective even for long-term anticipation.
Serum Visfatin as a Diagnostic Marker of Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have been reported to be caused by a complex interplay of immunological, infectious, and genetic factors. Previous studies have suggested that adipokines play a role in IBD by inducing proinflammatory cytokines. We aimed to evaluate the role of visfatin in the diagnosis algorithm of active IBD. METHODS 85 newly diagnosed IBD patients [56 diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 29 with Crohn's disease (CD)] and 30 healthy controls were included. IBD phenotypes were described accordingly to Montreal classification. Hemoglobin, total leucocytic count (TLC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, fecal calprotectin and serum visfatin were measured. RESULTS The serum visfatin level was found to be significantly higher in patients with IBD than those in the control group (p<0.001). It was significantly positively correlated with CRP, ESR, and FC in both IBD groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of visfatin in diagnosis of UC revealed an area under curve of 0.911. At cutoff ≥1.4 ng/ml, the sensitivity was 92.9% and the specificity was 86.7%. In CD group, at the same cutoff, AUC was 0.974, sensitivity was 96.6% and specificity was 86.7%. There was a statistically significant elevation of serum visfatin in extensive UC (E3) as compared to the other groups. A cutoff ≥3.25 ng/ml revealed 88.9% sensitivity, and 100% specificity in detection of E3 UC. Serum visfatin was significantly increased in CD stricturing phenotype (B2) as compared to non-stricturing non-penetrating CD (B1). A cutoff ≥3.5 ng/ml revealed 83.3% sensitivity, and 100% specificity in detection of B2. CONCLUSIONS The serum visfatin level were significantly higher in patients with IBD than in controls. Serum visfatin might be a novel noninvasive marker to detect activity in IBD patients and can be used as predictor of disease extension in patients with UC.
Co‐delivery of fibrin‐laminin hydrogel with mesenchymal stem cell spheroids supports skeletal muscle regeneration following trauma

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is traumatic or surgical loss of skeletal muscle with resultant functional impairment. Skeletal muscle's innate capacity for regeneration is lost with VML due to a critical loss of stem cells, extracellular matrix, and neuromuscular junctions. Consequences of VML include permanent disability or delayed amputations of the affected limb. Currently, a successful clinical therapy has not been identified. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess regenerative and immunomodulatory properties and their three‐dimensional aggregation can further enhance therapeutic efficacy. In this study, MSC aggregation into spheroids was optimized in vitro based on cellular viability, spheroid size, and trophic factor secretion. The regenerative potential of the optimized MSC spheroid therapy was then investigated in a murine model of VML injury. Experimental groups included an untreated VML injury control, intramuscular injection of MSC spheroids, and MSC spheroids encapsulated in a fibrin‐laminin hydrogel. Compared to the untreated VML group, the spheroid encapsulating hydrogel group enhanced myogenic marker (i.e., MyoD and myogenin) protein expression, improved muscle mass, increased presence of centrally nucleated myofibers as well as small fibers (<500 μm2), modulated pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory macrophage marker expression (i.e., iNOS and Arginase), and increased the presence of CD146+ pericytes and CD31+ endothelial cells in the VML injured muscles. Future studies will evaluate the extent of functional recovery with the spheroid encapsulating hydrogel therapy.
Multiscale analysis reveals that diet-dependent midgut plasticity emerges from alterations in both stem cell niche coupling and enterocyte size

The gut is the primary interface between an animal and food, but how it adapts to qualitative dietary variation is poorly defined. We find that the Drosophila midgut plastically resizes following changes in dietary composition. A panel of nutrients collectively promote gut growth, which sugar opposes. Diet influences absolute and relative levels of enterocyte loss and stem cell proliferation, which together determine cell numbers. Diet also influences enterocyte size. A high sugar diet inhibits translation and uncouples intestinal stem cell proliferation from expression of niche-derived signals, but, surprisingly, rescuing these effects genetically was not sufficient to modify diet’s impact on midgut size. However, when stem cell proliferation was deficient, diet’s impact on enterocyte size was enhanced, and reducing enterocyte-autonomous TOR signaling was sufficient to attenuate diet-dependent midgut resizing. These data clarify the complex relationships between nutrition, epithelial dynamics, and cell size, and reveal a new mode of plastic, diet-dependent organ resizing.
Hematopoietic Recovery using Multi-Cytokine Therapy in 8 Patients Presenting Radiation-Induced Myelosuppression after Radiological Accidents

Treatment of accidental radiation-induced myelosuppression is primarily based on supportive care and requires specific treatment based on hematopoietic growth factors injection or hematopoietic cell transplantation for the most severe cases. The cytokines used consisted of pegylated erythropoietin (darbepoetin alfa) 500 IU once per week, pegylated G-CSF (pegfilgrastim) 6 mg × 2 once, stem cell factor 20 µg. kg–1 for five days, and romiplostim (TPO analog) 10 µg. kg –1 once per week, with different combinations depending on the accidents. As the stem cell factor did not have regulatory approval for clinical use in France, the French regulatory authorities (ANSM, formerly, AFSSAPS) approved their compassionate use as an investigational drug “on a case-by-case basis”. According to the evolution and clinical characteristics, each patient's treatment was adopted on an individual basis. Daily blood count allows initiating G-CSF and SCF delivery when granulocyte <1,000/mm3, TPO delivery when platelets <50,000/mm3, and EPO when Hb<80 g/L. The length of each treatment was based on blood cell recovery criteria. The concept of “stimulation strategy” is linked to each patient's residual hematopoiesis, which varies among them, depending on the radiation exposure's characteristics and heterogeneity. This paper reports the medical management of 8 overexposed patients to ionizing radiation. The recovery of bone marrow function after myelosuppression was accelerated using growth factors, optimized by multiple-line combinations. Particularly in the event of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation in dose ranges inducing severe myelosuppression (in the order of 5 to 8 Gy), with no indication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
High prevalence of long-term olfactory, gustatory, and chemesthesis dysfunction in post-COVID-19 patients: a matched case-control study with one-year follow-up using a comprehensive psychophysical evaluation.

BACKGROUND Using an age and gender matched-pair case-control study, we aimed to estimate the long-term prevalence of psychophysical olfactory, gustatory , and chemesthesis impairment at least one year after SARS-CoV-2 infection considering the background of chemosensory dysfunction in non-COVID-19 population. METHODOLOGY This case-controlled study included 100 patients who were home-isolated for mildly symptomatic COVID-19 between March and April 2020. One control regularly tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and always tested negative was matched to each case according to gender and age. Chemosensory function was investigated by a comprehensive psychophysical evaluation including ortho- and retronasal olfaction and an extensive assessment of gustatory function. Differences in chemosensory parameters were evaluated through either Fisher's exact test or Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS The psychophysical assessment of chemosensory function took place after a median of 401 days from the first SARS-CoV-2 positive swab. The evaluation of orthonasal smell identified 46% and 10% of cases and controls, respectively, having olfactory dysfunction, with 7% of COVID-19 cases being functionally anosmic. Testing of gustatory function revealed a 27% of cases versus 10% of controls showing a gustatory impairment. Nasal trigeminal sensitivity was significantly lower in cases compared to controls. Persistent chemosensory impairment was associated with emotional distress and depression. CONCLUSION More than one year after the onset of COVID-19, cases exhibited an excess of olfactory, gustatory , and chemesthesis disturbances compared to matched-pair controls with these symptoms being associated to emotional distress and depression.
Breast cancer treatment-related cardiovascular disturbances: advocacy for a watchful attitude in this never-ending story

ABSTRACT Introduction Thanks to the emergence of new therapeutics, prognosis and outcome of breast cancer patients (any subtype) have improved significantly. This raises the issue of the interactions and side effects related to the use of multiple drugs. Thus, to decide on a treatment, the optimal benefit risk-ratio should be carefully watched as toxicities such as cardiac ones effect on long-term survival. Indeed, nowadays in France, cardiovascular diseases rank first as causes of death in women. Areas covered This non-exhaustive review aims to report the currently available data on cardiac side effects caused by the use of emerging drugs in breast cancer, in localized or metastatic diseases alike. We will focus on HER2-inhibitors, cyclin-dependent-kinase 4/6 and PARP inhibitors, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, before discussing the means of prevention. Expert opinion Although this issue has largely been studied, the recent emergence of new drugs emphasizes the necessity for oncologists to adapt their practice to a multidisciplinary model that includes cardio-oncology.
Problematic online gambling among adolescents: A systematic review about prevalence and related measurement issues

Abstract Background and aims Despite its illegality among adolescents, online gambling is a common practice, which puts their mental health and well-being at serious risk. This systematic review summarises international scientific literature from the last 20 years on problematic online gambling among adolescents (11–21 years old) to determine its prevalence and to analyse related measurement issues. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed and a protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, IC: CRD42020162932). Five academic databases were consulted, which resulted in an initial sample of 658 papers. Results Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. All studies were cross-sectional and targeted students from elementary school, secondary school or university. Most followed a convenience sampling procedure. The primary measurement instruments used were the DSM-IV-MR-J and SOGS-RA. Between 0.77% and 57.5% of adolescents present some degree of problematic online gambling (problem, pathological or disordered) depending on the instruments used, the study samples and the timeframe analysed. Between 0.89% and 1% of adolescents exhibited an online gambling disorder. Discussion and conclusion There is a great heterogeneity in the methodology of the reviewed studies (samples, measurement instruments, cut-off points and criteria applied). The limited number of studies and the limited generalizability of their results suggest the need for further research and for development of specific instruments to assess different levels of problematic online gambling in representative samples of adolescents based on clinical ‘gold standard’ criteria and more accurate cut-off points.