Nevin Manimala

Clin Respir J. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1111/crj.13421. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical role of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) family members in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) patients.

METHODS: CXCL1, CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL12 expressions in the serum samples of IPAH patients (N=39) and age/gender-matched controls (N=40) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In IPAH patients, clinical features were collected and survival information was documented.

RESULTS: CXCL1 (P<0.001), CXCL8 (P=0.001), CXCL10 (P<0.001) and CXCL12 (P<0.001) were increased in IPAH patients compared with controls, and receiver’s operating characteristic curves showed that their combination was highly correlated with IPAH risk (area under curve: 0.881, 95% confidence interval: 0.805-0.958). Meanwhile, CXCL1 was positively correlated with mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) (P=0.029) and high sensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP) (P=0.015); CXCL8 was positively correlated with mPAP (P=0.044) and HsCRP (P=0.018) but negatively correlated with 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance (P=0.029); CXCL10 was positively correlated with mean right artery pressure (P=0.002); and CXCL12 was positively correlated with World Health Organization functional class (P=0.047), mPAP (P=0.009), pulmonary vascular resistance (P=0.004), HsCRP (P=0.003) but negatively correlated with 6MWT distance (P=0.003) in IPAH patients. Moreover, CXCL12 was negatively correlated with overall survival (OS) (P=0.025), while CXCL1, CXCL8 and CXCL10 only showed minor tendencies to be negatively correlated with OS in IPAH patients without statistical significance (all P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: CXCL1, CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL12 associate with increased IPAH risk, unfavorable clinical features; besides, CXCL12 correlates with worse OS in IPAH patients.

PMID:34260815 | DOI:10.1111/crj.13421

Clin Otolaryngol. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1111/coa.13836. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

●A functioning facial nerve is a critical structure that limits the margin of resection in parotid malignancies. There was no difference in disease-free survival with close or negative resection margins. ●Microscopic positive (R1) resection margins were associated with poorer disease free survival, but this was not statistically significant, implying that more functional and less radical surgery may be acceptable when followed by adjuvant therapy. ●Perineural invasion was found in 37% of tumours ●Five-year overall and disease-free survival were 82% and 71%. ●Age >50, pT classification 3-4, higher tumour grade, perineural invasion, and advanced TNM stage were all associated with worse overall and disease-free survival.

PMID:34260814 | DOI:10.1111/coa.13836

J Thromb Haemost. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1111/jth.15463. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 have increased risks of venous (VTE) and arterial thromboembolism (ATE). Active cancer diagnosis and treatment are well-known risk factors; however, a risk assessment model (RAM) for VTE in patients with both cancer and COVID-19 is lacking.

METHODS: Among patients with cancer in the CCC19 cohort study, we assessed the incidence of VTE and ATE within 90 days of COVID-19 associated hospitalization. A multivariable logistic regression model specifically for VTE was built using a priori determined clinical risk factors. A simplified RAM was derived and internally validated using bootstrap.

FINDINGS: From 3/17/2020 to 11/30/2020, 2804 hospitalized patients were analyzed. The incidence of VTE and ATE was 7.6% and 3.9%, respectively. The incidence of VTE, but not ATE, was higher in patients receiving recent anti-cancer therapy. A simplified RAM for VTE was derived and named CoVID-TE (Cancer subtype high to very-high risk by original Khorana score +1, VTE history +2, ICU admission +2, D-dimer elevation +1, recent systemic anti-cancer Therapy +1, and non-Hispanic Ethnicity +1). The RAM stratified patients into two cohorts (low-risk, 0-2 points, n=1423 vs. high-risk, 3+ points, n=1034) where VTE occurred in 4.1% low-risk and 11.3% high-risk patients (c statistic 0.67, 95% CI 0.63-0.71). The RAM performed similarly well in subgroups of patients not on anticoagulant prior to admission and moderately ill patients not requiring direct ICU admission.

INTERPRETATION: Hospitalized patients with cancer and COVID-19 have elevated thrombotic risks. The CoVID-TE RAM for VTE prediction may help real-time data-driven decisions in this vulnerable population.

PMID:34260813 | DOI:10.1111/jth.15463

Pest Manag Sci. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1002/ps.6554. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Lolium rigidum is the weed of greatest economic impact in Australia due to its formidable capacity to evolve herbicide resistance. In this study, 579 field-sampled L. rigidum populations were tested for resistance to 21 herbicides applied at the recommended rate. Nine herbicide treatments were binary mixtures.

RESULTS: A total of 15 876 individual resistance tests were conducted by screening two million seeds at the recommended label rate. The overall frequency of resistant populations was 31%, 14%, 71%, 6% and 0% in response to the post-emergence herbicide treatments clethodim, clethodim + butroxydim, imazamox + imazapyr, glyphosate and paraquat, respectively. The resistance frequency to stand-alone pre-emergence wheat-selective herbicides ranged from 10% to 34%. Conversely, the levels of resistance to pre-emergence mixtures or stand-alone propyzamide were significantly lower, ranging from 6% to 0%. In winter, the responses to glyphosate, paraquat, cinmethylin, prosulfocarb, pyroxasulfone and trifluralin were reassessed, with 7%, 0%, 0%, 21%, 21% and 28% as the respective resistance frequency. South Australia and Victoria are identified as epicenters for L. rigidum population resistance to pyroxasulfone, whereas populations in New South Wales have the greatest resistance to glyphosate and in Western Australia to clethodim.

CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, resistance levels to stand-alone herbicides and binary mixtures are geographically ranked across the Australian continent by benchmark statistical analysis of resistance frequencies and distribution. The extension of these results will raise awareness of rapidly-emerging patterns of herbicide resistance, encouraging the adoption of cost-effective modes of action and integration of diverse strategies for weed resistance management. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34260812 | DOI:10.1002/ps.6554

Pediatr Diabetes. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1111/pedi.13248. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed conflicting results on the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and type 1 diabetes in the offspring, and the role of maternal pre-pregnancy physical activity is unclear. We aimed to assess whether maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and physical activity predict type 1 diabetes in their offspring.

METHODS: Prospective study including women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II with follow-up from 1989 to 2011. Women repeatedly reported their BMI and physical activity, from which pre-pregnancy exposures were derived; and retrospectively reported their BMI at age 18 and physical activity at ages 18-22, considered early adulthood exposure. We estimated risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) using generalized estimating equations, adjusted for covariates. Findings at p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: We identified 276 cases of type 1 diabetes among offspring (n=70,168) with maternal pre-pregnancy information and 448 cases among offspring (n=111,692) with maternal early adulthood information. Pre-pregnancy and early adulthood maternal BMI and physical activity were not associated with offspring type 1 diabetes. The RR comparing overweight to normal weight mothers was 1.08 (95%CI: 0.73-1.59) and comparing obese to normal weight was 0.94 (95%CI: 0.49-1.79, p-trend: 0.98). Comparing highest to lowest quartile of maternal physical activity the RR was 0.90 (95%CI: 0.61-1.32; p-trend: 0.73). Maternal type 2 diabetes was associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring (RR=1.87; 95%CI: 1.25-2.80).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings do not support a relationship between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI or physical activity and the risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34260806 | DOI:10.1111/pedi.13248

J Appl Microbiol. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1111/jam.15218. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: Detection of bacterial contamination in healthcare and industry takes many hours if not days. Thermal imaging, the measurement of heat by an infrared camera, was investigated as a potential none-invasive method of detecting bacterial growth.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Infrared thermography can detect the presence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on solid growth media by an increase in temperature before they are visually observable. A heat decrease is observed after treatment with ultraviolet light and heat increased after incubation with dinitrophenol.

CONCLUSIONS: Infrared thermography can detect early growth of bacteria before they are detectable by other microbiology-based method. The heat observed is due to the cells being viable and metabolically active, as cells killed with ultraviolet light exhibit reduced increase in temperature and treatment with dinitrophenol increases heat detected.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Infrared thermography detects bacterial growth without the need for specialised temperature control facilities. The method is statistically robust and can be undertaken in situ, thus is highly versatile. These data support the application of infrared thermography in a laboratory, clinical and industrial setting for vegetative bacteria, thus may become into an important methodology for the timely and straightforward detection of early-stage bacterial growth.

PMID:34260801 | DOI:10.1111/jam.15218

Psychooncology. 2021 Jul 14. doi: 10.1002/pon.5766. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of depression after diagnostic workup for prostate cancer (PCa), regardless of the histopathologic outcome, with that of a cancer-free population.

METHODS: A nationwide cohort of Danish men who had a prostatic biopsy sample in 1998-2011 was identified from the Danish Prostate Cancer Registry and compared to an age-matched cohort from the background population. Men with other cancers, major psychiatric disorder, or prior use of antidepressants were excluded. The risk of depression defined as hospital contact for depression or prescription for antidepressants was determined from cumulative incidence functions and multivariate Cox regression models.

RESULTS: Of 54,766 men who underwent diagnostic workup for PCa, benign results were found for 21,418 and PCa was diagnosed in 33,347. During up to 18 years of follow-up, the adjusted hazard of depression was higher in men with PCa than in the background population, with the highest risk in the two years after diagnosis (hazard ratio (HR) 2.77, 95% CI 2.66-2.87). Comorbidity and lowest or highest income were significant risk factors for depression and the cumulative incidence was substantially higher in men with metastatic or high-risk disease. In men with benign histopathology the HR for depression was 1.22 (95% CI 1.14-1.31) in the first two years but no different from the background population after that.

CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic workup for PCa is associated with an increased risk of depression, mainly among men with a diagnosis of PCa. Clinicians should be aware of depressive symptoms in prostate cancer patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34260790 | DOI:10.1002/pon.5766

Rev Med Virol. 2021 Jul;31(4):e2200. doi: 10.1002/rmv.2200. Epub 2020 Dec 4.

ABSTRACT

Population-based prevalence surveys of Covid-19 contribute to establish the burden of infection, the role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission, and allow more precise decisions about reopen policies. We performed a systematic review to evaluate qualitative aspects of these studies, assessing their reliability and compiling practices that can influence the methodological quality. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, bioRxiv and medRxiv, and included cross-sectional studies using molecular and/or serological tests to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in the general population. Survey quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies. A correspondence analysis correlated methodological parameters of each study to identify patterns related to higher, intermediate and lower risks of bias. The available data described 37 surveys from 19 countries. The majority were from Europe and America, used antibody testing, and reached highly heterogeneous sample sizes and prevalence estimates. Minority communities were disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Important risk of bias was detected in four domains: sample size, data analysis with sufficient coverage, measurements in standard way and response rate. The correspondence analysis showed few consistent patterns for high risk of bias. Intermediate risk of bias was related to American and European studies, municipal and regional initiatives, blood samples and prevalence >1%. Low risk of bias was related to Asian studies, nationwide initiatives, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction tests and prevalence <1%. We identified methodological standards applied worldwide in Covid-19 prevalence surveys, which may assist researchers with the planning, execution and reporting of future population-based surveys.

PMID:34260777 | DOI:10.1002/rmv.2200

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Jul 14:ciab630. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab630. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Although interim results from several large placebo-controlled phase 3 trials demonstrated high vaccine efficacy (VE) against symptomatic COVID-19, it is unknown how effective the vaccines are in preventing people from becoming asymptomatically in- fected and potentially spreading the virus unwittingly. It is more difficult to evaluate VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection than against symptomatic COVID-19 because infection is not observed directly but rather is known to occur between two antibody or RT-PCR tests. Ad- ditional challenges arise as community transmission changes over time and as participants are vaccinated on different dates because of staggered enrollment of participants or crossover of placebo recipients to the vaccine arm before the end of the study. Here, we provide valid and efficient statistical methods for estimating potentially waning VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection with blood or nasal samples under time-varying community transmission, stag- gered enrollment, and blinded or unblinded crossover. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed methods through numerical studies mimicking the BNT162b2 phase 3 trial and the Prevent COVID U study. In addition, we assess how crossover and the frequency of diagnostic tests affect the precision of VE estimates.

PMID:34260716 | DOI:10.1093/cid/ciab630

Bioinformatics. 2021 Jul 14:btab514. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab514. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Identification and interpretation of noncoding variations that affect disease risk remain a paramount challenge in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of complex diseases. Experimental efforts have provided comprehensive annotations of functional elements in the human genome. On the other hand, advances in computational biology, especially machine learning approaches, have facilitated accurate predictions of cell-type-specific functional annotations. Integrating functional annotations with GWAS signals has advanced the understanding of disease mechanisms. In previous studies, functional annotations were treated as static of a genomic region, ignoring potential functional differences imposed by different genotypes across individuals.

RESULTS: We develop a computational approach, Openness Weighted Association Studies (OWAS), to leverage and aggregate predictions of chromosome accessibility in personal genomes for prioritizing GWAS signals. The approach relies on an analytical expression we derived for identifying disease associated genomic segments whose effects in the etiology of complex diseases are evaluated. In extensive simulations and real data analysis, OWAS identifies genes/segments that explain more heritability than existing methods, and has a better replication rate in independent cohorts than GWAS. Moreover, the identified genes/segments show tissue-specific patterns and are enriched in disease relevant pathways. We use rheumatic arthritis (RA) and asthma (ATH) as examples to demonstrate how OWAS can be exploited to provide novel insights on complex diseases.

AVAILABILITY: The R package OWAS that implements our method is available at https://github.com/shuangsong0110/OWAS.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID:34260700 | DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btab514