Backgroud Pregnant women are at high risk of developing febrile illness during the flu season. Early identification of a viral or bacterial infection is crucial in the management of febrile pregnant patients. Neutrophil CD64 (nCD64) has been shown to have more important diagnostic value in sepsis than traditional inflammatory indicators. Methods The pregnant women enrolled were divided into three groups according to disease: influenza A infection, bacterial infection and healthy controls. Peripheral blood CD64, leukocyte, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and human Th1/Th2-related cytokines levels were routinely measured. The correlation between and diagnostic value of the nCD64 index and other biomarkers were evaluated using Spearman’s correlation test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results Pregnant women with bacterial infection had significantly elevated levels of leukocytes (8.4 vs. 5.95, 10^9/L; P=0.004), CRP (89.70 vs. 50.05, mg/ml; P=0.031), PCT (0.13 vs. 0.04, ng/ml; P=0.010), and TNF-α (0.46 vs. 0.38, pg/ml; P=0.012) and an elevated nCD64 index (12.16 vs. 0.81; P<0.001) compared to those with influenza A infection. The area under the curve (AUC) of the nCD64 index to discriminate bacterial infection among pregnant women (area = 0.9183, P < 0.0001) was the largest. The sensitivity and specificity of the nCD64 index at an optimal cut-off value of 3.16 were 84% and 100%, respectively, with a negative predictive value (NPV) of 94%. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the clinical value of the nCD64 index in distinguishing between bacterial infection and influenza A in pregnant women during the flu season.

Phloem sap transport, velocity and allocation have been proposed to play a role in physiological limitations of crop yield, along with photosynthetic activity or water use efficiency. Although there is clear evidence that carbon allocation to grains effectively drives yield in cereals like wheat (as reflected by the harvest index), the influence of phloem transport rate and velocity is less clear. Here, we took advantage of previously published data on yield, respiration, carbon isotope composition, nitrogen content and water consumption in winter wheat cultivars grown across several sites with or without irrigation, to express grain production in terms of phloem sucrose transport and compare with xylem water transport. Our results suggest that phloem sucrose transport rate follows the same relationship with phloem N transport regardless of irrigation conditions and cultivars, and seems to depend mostly on grain weight (i.e. mg per grain). When compared to xylem sap water movement, phloem sap velocity (in m s -1) was 5.8 to 7.7 times lower. Depending on the assumption made for phloem sap sucrose concentration, either phloem sap velocity or its proportionality coefficient to xylem velocity change little with environmental conditions. Taken as a whole, phloem transport from leaves to grains seems to be homeostatic within a narrow range of values and following relationships with other plant physiological parameters across cultivars and conditions. This suggests that phloem transport per se is not a limitation for yield in wheat but rather, is controlled to sustain grain filling.

In this paper, a noteworthy compact dual band wireless power transfer (DB-WPT) system is presented and studied. This system is proposed using interdigital capacitor which reduced the size of the whole system and accomplished high efficiencies. An interdigital capacitor is printed in the ground plane of the design and loaded with a chip capacitor to produce dual bands. The operation of the system is verified by fabricating the proposed DB-WPT system, which shows measured coupling efficiencies of 96 % and 98.8 % at 0.53 and 1.1 GHz, respectively at a transfer space of 12 mm. The fabricated structure has dimensions of 13.5 mm × 20 mm. The results show good agreement between the circuit model and the measurements. The idea of this design makes it applicable for compact near field WPT applications.

Background and aims Thoracic air leak syndrome (TALS) is a complication related to chronic pulmonary graft-versus-host disease (pGvHD) that affects approximately 0.83% to 3.08% patients after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Such complication is defined as the occurrence of any form of air leak in the thorax, including spontaneous pneumomediastinum or pneumopericardium, subcutaneous emphysema, interstitial emphysema and pneumothorax and has a negative impact on post-transplant survival. The aim of the present study is to describe a single-center experience in the surgical management of recurrent TALS in adolescents and young adults and its outcome. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical notes of patients with previous allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant who underwent surgical procedures for recurrent TALS from January 2016 until March 2021. As well we analyzed clinical data, number of episodes of thoracic air leak, surgical procedures and relative outcome. Results In the examined period, four patients, aged 16 to 25 years, underwent surgical procedures for TALS, including thoracostomy tube placement, thoracoscopic pleurodesis and thoracotomy. All the patients had been diagnosed with pGvHD before the onset of TALS, with a mean time lapse of 276 days (range 42 – 513). These patients experienced on average 4.5 air leak episodes (range 3 – 6). All the patients experienced at least two episodes before surgery. One patient underwent emergency tube thoracostomy only, three patients underwent thoracoscopic pleurodesis and two patients underwent thoracotomy. After surgery, patients were free from air leak symptoms for a mean time of 176 days (range 25 – 477). Pulmonary function progressively deteriorated, and all the patients eventually died because of respiratory failure after a mean time of 483 days (range 127 – 1045) after the first episode of air leak. Conclusions Surgery provides temporary relief to symptoms related to TALS. When TALS develops, pulmonary function progressively worsens toward respiratory failure and death.

This commentary discusses a framework for the benchmarking of hydrological models for different purposes when the datasets for different catchments might involve epistemic uncertainties. The approach might be expected to result in an ensemble of models that might be used in prediction (including models of different types) but also provides for model rejection to be the start of a learning process to improve understanding.

A model of the evolution of the onshore wind turbine blade mass installed in Denmark is proposed described by a Weibull distribution and the age of the blades is estimated from decommissioning data to t50 %,onshore = 29 years when half of the blade mass of an installation year has been decommissioned. This is considerable longer than the 20 year design life time of onshore turbines, which is often assumed to be an estimate of the End-of-Life of turbine blades. Thus blade waste predictions using the simple assumption may predict that installed blade masses are entering recycling processes about 9 years sooner that what is observed in Denmark. The blade mass for decommissioning in Denmark is estimate to peak at 2000 ton/year and 5000 ton/year in 2028 and 2045 using the Weibull model.

TITLE: UMBILICAL CORD HEMANGIOMA AND PSEUDOCYST WITH FAVORABLE FETAL OUTCOME

IntroductionLangerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare hematological disorder characterized by intense and abnormal proliferation of bone marrow-derived immature myeloid dendritic cells; Langerhans cells (LCs) in the skin, bone, lymph nodes, and other organs.1Although, due to its low occurrence, limited information on the epidemiology of LCH is available, an estimated 5 to 9 cases per million in children < 15 years of age, and 1 case per million in patients > 15 years of age have been reported.2Depending on the different clinical manifestations, LCH had been classified conventionally by the International Histiocyte Society into three different types: Type I - Eosinophilic granuloma (chronic focal LCH), Type II - Hand-Schüller-Christian disease (chronic disseminated LCH) and Type III - Letterer-Siwe disease (acute disseminated LCH).3 However, because clinical findings are widely manifested, the disease has also been classified into unifocal and multifocal forms; depending on the extent of its spread throughout the body. The unifocal form presents only one destructive lesion in an organ, affecting bones or skin (80% of cases), liver, spleen, brain, and lymph nodes more frequently3 The disease manifests itself in a variety of ways, from isolated disease that resolves on its own to life-threatening multisystem disease, with a 20% mortality rate.4The involvement of head and neck region is quite common in LCH, particularly the bones of skull and jaws. The oral soft tissue lesions are also common and are mostly seen on the hard palate and gingiva. Since the symptoms of LCH may first appear in the oral cavity before occurring elsewhere in the body, a thorough knowledge of the clinical presentation of the disease is important.1Awareness among clinicians regarding the clinical, histological, and immune-histopathological features of the disease will help in early diagnosis and treatment for better prognosis. Thus, this report aims to present a case of Langerhans cell histiocytosis with the oral and dermal manifestations seen in a pediatric patient.

Investigating the conveying and mixing characteristics of high-viscosity fluids in an inclined flow channel under the excitation of acoustic frequency vibrations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. As the intensity of the acoustic vibration excitation increases, the free surface of the liquid transitions from generating Faraday waves to generating disordered jets. Continued increase in the amplitude leads to the liquid filling most of the vessel space, causing a blockage. However, slowly increasing the amplitude alleviates the blockage phenomenon. When high-viscosity materials are subjected to high-intensity acoustic vibration, the flow field is dominated by shear flow, which is accompanied by efficient stretching and folding. Changing the amplitude or frequency alone can cause blockage, and increasing the frequency of vibration excitation alone will not alleviate the blockage. Instead, increasing the amplitude can generate more mixing-promoting reflux, effectively relieving blockage while maintaining stable conveying capacity.

Rotavirus molecular surveillance remains important in the post vaccine era in order to monitor the changes in transmission patterns, identify vaccine induced antigenic changes and discover potentially pathogenic vaccine related strains. The Canadian province of Alberta introduced rotavirus vaccination into its provincial vaccination schedule June 2015. To evaluate the impact of this program on stool rotavirus positivity rate, strain diversity and seasonal trends, we analyzed a prospective cohort of children with acute gastroenteritis recruited between December 2014 and August 2018. We identified dynamic changes in rotavirus positivity and genotype trends during pre- and post- rotavirus vaccine introduction periods. Genotypes G9P[8], G1P[8], G2P[4] and G12P[8] predominated consecutively each season with overall lower rotavirus incidence rates in 2016 and 2017. The demographic and clinical features of rotavirus gastroenteritis were comparable among wild type rotaviruses; however, children with G12P[8] infections were older (P<0.001). Continued efforts to monitor changes in the molecular epidemiology of rotavirus using whole genome sequence characterization is needed to further understand the impact of the selection pressure of vaccination on rotavirus evolution.

RATIONALE: The high sensitivity of the miniature mass spectrometer plays an irreplaceable role in rapid on-site detection. However, its analysis accuracy and stability should be improved due to the influence of sample pretreatment and use environment. The present study investigates the processing effects of EEMD feature enhancement methods on the determination coefficient and relative standard deviation of caffeine mass spectrometry signals. METHODS: This paper employs the EEMD method combined with polynomial curve fitting to enhance the characteristics of seven Caffeine mass spectrum signals with different concentrations and fifteen groups of Caffeine mass spectrum signals with the same concentration, and the wavelet analysis method was used for comparative verification. The determination coefficient and relative standard deviation of the two methods were compared. RESULTS: We found the EEMD method’s capability in adaptively decomposing Caffeine mass spectrum signals is better than wavelet analysis method. The determination coefficient of the EEMD enhanced feature is better than 0.999, and the relative standard deviation is better than 2%, and both are better than wavelet analysis methods. CONCLUSIONS: The feature enhancement processing using the EEMD method has significantly improved the determination coefficient and relative standard deviation of the sample curve, improving the accuracy and stability of the data and providing a new way for miniature mass spectrometer signal processing.

Epigenetic modifications, like DNA methylation, generate phenotypic diversity in fish and ultimately lead to adaptive evolutionary processes. Euryhaline marine species that migrate between salinity contrasted habitats have received little attention regarding the role of salinity on whole-genome DNA methylation. Investigation of salinity-induced DNA methylation in fish will help to better understand the potential role of this process in salinity acclimation. Using whole genome bisulfite sequencing, we compared DNA methylation patterns in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles in seawater and after freshwater transfer. We targeted the gill as a crucial organ involved in plastic responses to environmental changes. To investigate the function of DNA methylation in gills, we performed RNAseq and assessed DNA methylome-transcriptome correlations. We showed a negative correlation between gene expression levels and DNA methylation levels in promoters, first introns and exons. A significant effect of salinity on DNA methylation dynamics with an overall DNA hypomethylation in freshwater-transferred fish compared to seawater controls was demonstrated. This suggests a role of DNA methylation changes in salinity acclimation. Genes involved in key functions as metabolism, ion transport and transepithelial permeability (junctional complexes) were differentially methylated and expressed between salinity conditions. Expression of genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism was increased as well as the expression of DNA methyltransferases 3a. This study reveals novel aspects on the link of DNA methylation and gene expression patterns.

Background Up to 25% of patients with HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), which is mainly comprised of oropharyngeal SCC (OPSCC), will experience disease recurrence, which is often considered incurable when manifested at a metastatic and/or recurrent stage. Objectives To provide an overview of the molecular landscape of recurrent/metastatic HPV-positive HNSCC, novel molecular biomarkers and current trends in treatment options. Type of review A critical qualitative systematic review. Design A literature review was conducted to identify studies reporting on the molecular characteristics of recurrent/metastatic HPV-positive HNSCC, novel molecular biomarkers and treatment options. The reviews of abstracts, full articles, and revision of the included studies, followed by data extraction and quality assessment were performed by three independent assessors. Results The literature search resulted in the identification of 1995 articles. Sixty-six articles were selected for inclusion in the systematic review. Several studies reported that recurrent/metastatic HPV-positive HNSCC had higher rates of TP53 mutation and were genomically similar to HPV-negative HNSCC. The detection of circulating tumour tissue-modified HPV DNA (ctHPVDNA) as a specific biomarker has shown promising results for monitoring treatment response and recurrence in the subset of HPV-positive HNSCC. Conclusions Our review outlines the latest evidence on the distinct molecular profiles of recurrent/metastatic HPV-positive HNSCC as well as the clinical potential of ctHPVDNA testing in routine practice. More controlled and longitudinal studies are needed to identify additional molecular targets and to assess the performance and benefits of novel molecular biomarkers in clinical practice.

In somatic cells, microRNAs (miRNAs) bind to the genomes of RNA viruses and influence their translation and replication. Here we demonstrate that a significant number of miRNA binding sites locate in the NSP4 region of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and the intestinal human miRNAs exert evolutionary pressure on this region. Notably, in infected cells, NSP4 promotes the formation of double-membrane vesicles, which serve as the scaffolds for replication-transcriptional complexes and protect viral RNA from intracellular destruction. In three years of selection, the loss of many miRNA binding sites, in particular, those within the NSP4, has shaped the SARS-CoV-2 genomes to promote the descendants of the BA.2 variants as the dominant strains that define current momentum of the pandemics. Findings highlight the possibility that intestinal tissue may significantly impact evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and may play a pivotal role in the long COVID.

IntroductionTuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common global health burdens caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.1 Almost half of the TB cases remain unreported, contributing to the underdiagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.2 The worldwide incidence of disseminated TB is also in increasing trend. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is one of the most devastating complications of tuberculosis and is seen in 10% of all disseminated TB cases, accounting for 1% of all TB cases.3 CNS involvement may present as meningitis, cerebral tuberculoma, tuberculoma abscess, and thoracic transverse myelopathy.1,4The predominant symptoms of disseminated TB are fever, cough, malaise, loss of appetite, weakness, and weight loss. In addition, symptoms according to system involvement are often seen, like a headache in the case of meningeal tuberculosis and abdominal pain in peritoneal or intestinal tuberculosis.5Although the treatment of disseminated and pulmonary TB are considered the same, CNS involvement warrants a longer duration of treatment. The four-drug regimen of rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol is administered daily for two months, followed by rifampicin and isoniazid for two months. In disseminated cases, these two drug regimens can be extended. There is no clear evidence of the effectiveness of corticosteroids in disseminated TB cases. However, steroids are often used in disseminated cases. 6 Early identification and prompt management are the cornerstones for optimal patient management in disseminated TB with CNS involvement.We reported this case following the updated consensus-based Surgical Case Report (SCARE) Guidelines. 7

COVID-19 infection and Leser-Trelat sign: is there an association?Farhad Handjaniab, Roya Radanfarab, Mozhdeh Sepaskhahab*, Niloofar Dehdari EbrahimicaMolecular Dermatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranbDepartment of Dermatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IrancStudent Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran*corresponding author

In the last two decades, there have been significant advancements in the development of more physiologically relevant organ-on-a-chip (OOC) systems that can mimic the tissue microenvironment. Despite the advantages of these microphysiological systems, such as portability, the ability to mimic physiological flow conditions, and the reduction of reagents required for preparation and detection, they lack real-time detection of analytes with high accuracy. To address this, biosensor technologies have been integrated with OOC systems to enable simultaneous analysis of different analytes in a single device. However, integrating biosensors with OOC systems is challenging due to the competing demands for low-cost, simple fabrication processes, and speed. This study presents the fabrication of a glucose sensing device integrated with a liver-on-a-chip (LOC) platform. The conductive PLA-based three-electrode system was printed using FDM 3D printing technology to simplify the fabrication process. The sensitivity of the glucose biosensing device was enhanced by adding multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the electrodes. The biosensing integration study using a perfusion-based LOC showed the stability, biocompatibility, and sensitivity of the glucose sensing devices. Furthermore, drug toxicity studies on the LOC platform demonstrated the device’s ability to detect a broad range of glucose concentrations and its enhanced sensitivity.

At present, the horse or human rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) used for post-exposure prevention of human rabies (PEP) has high cost and limited availability. It is strongly encouraged to replace RIG with equivalent or more effective and safer products. Mouse and human monoclonal antibodies have been shown to protect rodents from lethal rabies virus (RABV) attacks. In this study, we reported a human-mouse chimeric monoclonal antibody, 12-2A12, which showed a strong neutralization potency and a wide breadth against multiple street viruses of RABV in vitro. The antibody binds the viral glycoprotein (G) with nanomolar affinity. The complex structure of 12-2A12 bound to RABV G reveals that the antibody recognizes an epitope that partially overlaps with the recognition region for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). The antibody therefore would interfere with the nAChR/G interaction to block the viral receptor binding. In addition, comparison of our complex structure with the G structure in the acidic state reveals a clear steric clash, highlighting that the antibody would further prevent the conformational changes of the viral glycoprotein that are essential for membrane fusion. In light of these functional and structural data, we believe that 12-2A12 might be developed to be included in an antibody cocktail for potential use in human rabies PEP.