Actigraphy in Human African Trypanosomiasis as a Tool for Objective Clinical Evaluation and Monitoring: A Pilot Study

The clinical picture of the parasitic disease human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, also called sleeping sickness) is dominated by sleep alterations. We here used actigraphy to evaluate patients affected by the Gambiense form of HAT. Actigraphy is based on the use of battery-run, wrist-worn devices similar to watches, widely used in middle-high income countries for ambulatory monitoring of sleep disturbances. This pilot study was motivated by the fact that the use of polysomnography, which is the gold standard technology for the evaluation of sleep disorders and has greatly contributed to the objective identification of signs of disease in HAT, faces tangible challenges in resource-limited countries where the disease is endemic. We here show that actigraphy provides objective data on the severity of sleep-wake disturbances that characterize HAT. This technique, which does not disturb the patient's routine activities and can be applied at home, could therefore represent an interesting, non-invasive tool for objective HAT clinical assessment and long-term monitoring under field conditions. The use of this method could provide an adjunct marker of HAT severity and for treatment follow-up, or be evaluated in combination with other disease biomarkers in body fluids that are currently under investigation in many laboratories

Autofocus algorithm using one dimensional Fourier

A new autofocus algorithm based on one-dimensional Fourier transform and Pearson correlation for Z automatized microscope is proposed. Our goal is to determine in fast response time and accuracy, the best focused plane through an algorithm. We capture in bright and dark field several images set at different Z distances from biological organism sample. The algorithm uses the one-dimensional Fourier transform to obtain the image frequency content of a vectors pattern previously defined comparing the Pearson correlation of these frequency vectors versus the reference image frequency vector, the most out of focus image, we find the best focusing. Experimental results showed the algorithm has fast response time and accuracy in getting the best focus plane from captured images. In conclusions, the algorithm can be implemented in real time systems due fast response time, accuracy and robustness. The algorithm can be used to get focused images in bright and dark field and it can be extended to include fusion techniques to construct multifocus final images beyond ofthis paper

Comparison of Patient Outcomes of Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Using Pre-Sedation Radial Versus Post-Sedation Femoral Arterial Sites for Blood Pressure Monitoring

OBJECTIVE: To compare outcomes among patients with and without preprocedural radial arterial catheters who underwent transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TF-TAVR) under deep intravenous (IV) sedation and to assess predictive variables for preprocedural placement. DESIGN: Single-center, retrospective, cohort analysis. SETTING: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, which is a tertiary care, university-affiliated hospital. PARTICIPANTS: The study comprised 157 patients. The primary focus was the 106 patients who underwent TF-TAVR when routine placement of preprocedure radial arterial catheters was abandoned. They were analyzed for hospital length of stay, 30-day mortality, and predictive factors of preprocedure placement. The remaining patients served as historical controls when routine radial artery catheter placement was practiced. INTERVENTIONS: Patient, procedure, and provider factors were analyzed. The transitional period consisted of 169 consecutive days from April 13 to September 28, 2017. A reference group of historical patients served as a control. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seventy-five of 106 patients did not have a preprocedural radial arterial catheter. The primary outcome measures of length of stay and 30-day mortality within the transitional group were not different. Secondary outcome measures included identification of predictive variables for preprocedure placement and outcome comparisons between the transitional and historical groups. Anesthesia provider (p = 0.015) and ejection fraction (p = 0.039) were significant factors. There were no differences in outcome measures. CONCLUSION: There was no difference in primary outcomes in patients with or without radial arterial catheters for TF-TAVR. The findings of this study suggest anesthesia provider and ejection fraction were significant factors for preprocedural placement

Unexpected coupling of Cp and two RNC ligands at a {Mo-2(mu-SMe)(3)} nucleus

cited By 21International audienceReaction of the bis-isonitrile complex [Mo2-Cp2(μ-SMe)3(t-BuNC)2] (BF4) (1) with n-BuLi (in hexane) produced the dealkylated derivative [Mo2Cp2(μ-SMe)3-(t-BuNC)(CN)] (2) in quantitative yield. However, upon treatment with either NaOH (suspension) or (Me4N)OH (in MeOH), 1 was converted into a mixture of 2 and the μ-alkylidyne species [Mo2Cp(μ-SMe)3μ-(η5-C5 H4)(t-BuN)-CN(t-Bu)C] (3), in which a deprotonated Cp and both isonitrile ligands of 1 are now linked by new carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen bonds

Cytotoxicity and lipase Inhibition of essential oils from amazon annonaceae species

Los aceites esenciales de especies amazónicas están ganando un creciente interés en todo el mundo debido a sus aplicaciones medicinales y cosméticas; sin embargo, la relación entre los constituyentes químicos y sus propiedades biológicas no está bien explorada. Por lo tanto, la presente investigación tiene como objetivo obtener una comprensión de la bioactividad de los compuestos químicos en los aceites esenciales de plantas de la familia Annonaceae (Bocageopsis pleiosperma, Onychopetalum amazonicum, Unonopsis duckei, U. floribunda, U. rufescens, U. stipitata, U. guatterioides, Duguetia flagellaris y Xylopia benthamii). Mediante cromatografía de gases acoplada a espectrometría de masas, ensayos citotóxicos y antilipasa in vitro, análisis de componentes principales y acoplamiento molecular, fue posible establecer los principales compuestos que pueden ser responsables del efecto citotóxico de O. amazonicum y B. pleiosperma. Además, también se estableció el potencial antilipasa de D. flagellaris, así como su composición relacionada con la actividad. Así, mediante la estrategia empleada, se sugirieron el alo-aromadendreno, la criptomeriona, el δ-cadineno y el β-bisaboleno como agentes citotóxicos plausibles contra líneas celulares cancerosas, y el dehidroaromadendreno, el espathulenol y el elemol, contra la lipasa. El presente estudio proporciona información significativa sobre el perfil químico y los estudios de bioactividad de las plantas aromáticas anonáceas amazónicas.Revisión por pares