Feasibility study of smartphone-based Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) for salted minced meat composition diagnostics at different temperatures

This research work evaluates the feasibility of a smartphone-based spectrometer (740–1070 nm) for salted minced meat composition diagnostics at industrial scale. A commercially available smartphone-based spectrometer and a benchtop NIR spectrometer (940–1700 nm) were used for acquiring 1312 spectra from meat samples stored at four different temperatures ranging from −14 °C to 25 °C. Thereafter, for each spectrometer, PLS and Random Forest regression models specific for each temperature and global models were created to predict the fat, moisture and protein contents. Fat and moisture can be estimated with the global model in a wide range of temperatures by using the smartphone-based spectrometer, which has an acceptable accuracy for quality control purposes (RPD > 7) and comparable to the accuracy of a benchtop spectrometer.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Poor outcome of patients with COVID-19 after CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell malignancies: results of a multicenter study on behalf of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Infectious Diseases Working Party and the European Hematology Association (EHA) Lymphoma Group

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Càncer hematològic; Malalties infecciosesCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Cáncer hematológico; Enfermedades infecciosasCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Haematological cancer; Infectious diseasesCOVID-19 is posing a significant threat to health in vulnerable patients, such as immunocompromised patients. For hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients and patients with hematologic malignancies it is known that COVID-19 leads to severe morbidity and high mortality as compared to the general population [1–3]. For patients treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T-cell) therapy for B-cell malignancies however, descriptions of the clinical course and outcome are still limited to small case series and case reports [4–8]. CAR-T-cell therapy recipients are believed to be at high risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to their severely immunocompromised state, caused by prior lymphodepleting immunochemotherapy and CAR-T-cell therapy related side effects such as B-cell depletion, hypogammaglobulinemia, and cytopenias. In order to rapidly inform the medical field on the impact of COVID-19 on CAR-T-cell therapy recipients, the EBMT Infectious Diseases Working Party and the EHA Lymphoma Group joined forces and present the clinical course of COVID-19 in the largest European cohort to date

Commissioning of the BRIKEN beta-delayed neutron detector for the study of exotic neutron-rich nuclei

Beta-delayed neutron emission (Beta-n) is a form of radioactive decay in which an electron, an anti-neutrino and one or more neutrons are emitted. This process arises if the energy window of the decay Q_Beta is greater than the neutron separation energy S n of the daughter. The probability in each decay of emitting neutrons is called the Pn value. This form of decay plays a key role in the synthesis of chemical elements in the Universe via the rapid neutron capture process, or r-process. The r-process proceeds far from the valley of nuclear stability, and leads to very neutron-rich nuclei that then decay to the line of stability. Most of these nuclei are ßn emitters. The initial abundance distribution is shaped by the decay half-life T1/2, but the neutron emission affects the final abundances in two ways: on the one hand it shifts the decay path to lower masses and on the other hand it provides a source of neutrons for late captures that will shift it in the opposite way. Thus, a good knowledge of Pn and T1/2 values of the nuclei between the line of stability and the r-process path is needed for a correct understanding of the observed abundances. Besides the astrophysical interest, the measurement of new Pn values and half-lives is also useful for refining nuclear structure models, constraining parameters of the models and testing ß-strength functions [3]. Our current understanding of the process of ß-delayed multiple neutron emission, as well as the competition between different open channels (gamma, one-neutron, two-neutron, etc), is incomplete because of the scarcity of experimental data. With these ideas in mind, the BRIKEN (Beta-delayed-neutron-measurements at RIKEN) collaboration was established, with the aim of greatly improving the quantity and quality of data the decays of very neutron-rich nuclei close to the r-process path.Postprint (published version

First results from the HENSA/ANAIS collaboration at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory

The HENSA/ANAIS collaboration aims for the precise determination of the neutron flux that could affect ANAIS-112, an experiment looking for the dark matter annual modulation using NaI(Tl) scintillators. In this work, the first measurements of the neutron flux and Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum are reported.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Oral contraceptives do not modify the risk of a second attack and disability accrual in a prospective cohort of women with a clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis

Cohort study; Oral contraceptives; Second relapseEstudio de cohorte; Anticonceptivos orales; Segunda recaídaEstudi de cohorts; Anticonceptius orals; Segona recaigudaObjective: To evaluate whether oral contraceptive (OC) use is associated with the risk of a second attack and disability accrual in women with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Reproductive information from women included in the Barcelona CIS prospective cohort was collected through a self-reported cross-sectional survey. We examined the relationship of OC exposure with the risk of a second attack and confirmed Expanded Disability Status Scale of 3.0 using multivariate Cox regression models, adjusted by age, topography of CIS, oligoclonal bands, baseline brain T2 lesions, body size at menarche, smoking, and disease-modifying treatment (DMT). OC and DMT exposures were considered as time-varying variables. Findings were confirmed with sensitivity analyses using propensity score models. Results: A total of 495 women were included, 389 (78.6%) referred to ever use OC and 341 (68.9%) started OC before the CIS. Exposure to OC was not associated with a second attack (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.33–1.61) or disability accrual (aHR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.17–3.76). Sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. Conclusion: OC use does not modify the risk of second attack or disability accrual in patients with CIS and early MS, once considered as a time-dependent exposure and adjusted by other potential confounders.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by FIS PI15/0070 from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain

A single-dose strategy for immunization with live attenuated vaccines is an effective option before treatment initiation in multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis; Infections; VaccinationEsclerosi múltiple; Infeccions; VacunacióEsclerosis múltiple; Infecciones; VacunaciónBackground: Mumps-Measles-Rubella (MMR) and Varicella zoster vaccines (VAR) are live attenuated vaccines, usually administered in a two-dose scheme at least 4 weeks apart. However, single-dose immunization schemes may also be effective and can reduce delays in immunosuppressive treatment initiation in patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) who need to be immunized. Objectives: To evaluate the immunogenicity of a single-dose attempt (SDA) versus the standard immunization scheme (SIS) with VAR and/or MMR in pwMS. Methods: Retrospective observational study in pwMS vaccinated against VAR and/or MMR. We compared seroprotection rates and antibody geometric mean titers (GMTs) between the two strategies. Results: Ninety-six patients were included. Thirty-one patients received VAR and 67 MMR. In the SDA group, the seroprotection rate was 66.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 53.3–78.3) versus 97.2% (95% CI: 85.5–99.9) in the SIS (p < 0.001). For the seroprotected patients, GMTs were similar for both schemes. Conclusion: An SDA of VAR and/or MMR vaccines could be sufficient to protect almost two-thirds of patients. Testing immunogenicity after a single dose of VZ and/or MMR could be included in routine clinical practice to achieve rapid immunization.This study has been funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project PI19/01606 and co-funded by the European Union and ECTRIMS clinical fellowship awarded to René Carvajal from 2021 to 2022

Deciphering multiple sclerosis disability with deep learning attention maps on clinical MRI

Deep learning; Disability; Structural MRIAprendizaje profundo; Discapacidad; Resonancia magnética estructuralAprenentatge profund; Discapacitat; Ressonància magnètica estructuralThe application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to MRI data has emerged as a promising approach to achieving unprecedented levels of accuracy when predicting the course of neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, by means of extracting image features not detectable through conventional methods. Additionally, the study of CNN-derived attention maps, which indicate the most relevant anatomical features for CNN-based decisions, has the potential to uncover key disease mechanisms leading to disability accumulation. From a cohort of patients prospectively followed up after a first demyelinating attack, we selected those with T1-weighted and T2-FLAIR brain MRI sequences available for image analysis and a clinical assessment performed within the following six months (N = 319). Patients were divided into two groups according to expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score: ≥3.0 and < 3.0. A 3D-CNN model predicted the class using whole-brain MRI scans as input. A comparison with a logistic regression (LR) model using volumetric measurements as explanatory variables and a validation of the CNN model on an independent dataset with similar characteristics (N = 440) were also performed. The layer-wise relevance propagation method was used to obtain individual attention maps. The CNN model achieved a mean accuracy of 79% and proved to be superior to the equivalent LR-model (77%). Additionally, the model was successfully validated in the independent external cohort without any re-training (accuracy = 71%). Attention-map analyses revealed the predominant role of frontotemporal cortex and cerebellum for CNN decisions, suggesting that the mechanisms leading to disability accrual exceed the mere presence of brain lesions or atrophy and probably involve how damage is distributed in the central nervous system.MS PATHS is funded by Biogen. This study has been possible thanks to a Junior Leader La Caixa Fellowship awarded to C. Tur (fellowship code is LCF/BQ/PI20/11760008) by “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The salaries of C. Tur and Ll. Coll are covered by this award

Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first-year college students: First cross-national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Although mental disorders and suicidal thoughts-behaviors (suicidal thoughts and behaviors) are common among university students, the majority of students with these problems remain untreated. It is unclear what the barriers are to these students seeking treatment. AIMS: The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to future help-seeking and the associations of clinical characteristics with these barriers in a cross-national sample of first-year college students. METHOD: As part of the World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative, web-based self-report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first-year students in eight countries across the world. Clinical characteristics examined included screens for common mental disorders and reports about suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Multivariate regression models adjusted for socio-demographic, college-, and treatment-related variables were used to examine correlates of help-seeking intention and barriers to seeking treatment. RESULTS: Only 24.6% of students reported that they would definitely seek treatment if they had a future emotional problem. The most commonly reported reasons not to seek treatment among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help were the preference to handle the problem alone (56.4%) and wanting to talk with friends or relatives instead (48.0%). Preference to handle the problem alone and feeling too embarrassed were also associated with significantly reduced odds of having at least some intention to seek help among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help. Having 12-month major depression, alcohol use disorder, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were also associated with significantly reduced reported odds of the latter outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of first-year college students in the WMH-ICS surveys report that they would be hesitant to seek help in case of future emotional problems. Attitudinal barriers and not structural barriers were found to be the most important reported reasons for this hesitation. Experimental research is needed to determine whether intention to seek help and, more importantly, actual help-seeking behavior could be increased with the extent to which intervention strategies need to be tailored to particular student characteristics. Given that the preference to handle problems alone and stigma and appear to be critical, there could be value in determining if internet-based psychological treatments, which can be accessed privately and are often build as self-help approaches, would be more acceptable than other types of treatments to student who report hesitation about seeking treatment.status: publishe

WHO World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Project: Prevalence and Distribution of Mental Disorders

Increasingly, colleges across the world are contending with rising rates of mental disorders, and in many cases, the demand for services on campus far exceeds the available resources. The present study reports initial results from the first stage of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student project, in which a series of surveys in 19 colleges across 8 countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, United States) were carried out with the aim of estimating prevalence and basic sociodemographic correlates of common mental disorders among first-year college students. Web-based self-report questionnaires administered to incoming first-year students (45.5% pooled response rate) screened for six common lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, mania/hypomania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorder. We focus on the 13,984 respondents who were full-time students: 35% of whom screened positive for at least one of the common lifetime disorders assessed and 31% screened positive for at least one 12-month disorder. Syndromes typically had onsets in early to middle adolescence and persisted into the year of the survey. Although relatively modest, the strongest correlates of screening positive were older age, female sex, unmarried-deceased parents, no religious affiliation, nonheterosexual identification and behavior, low secondary school ranking, and extrinsic motivation for college enrollment. The weakness of these associations means that the syndromes considered are widely distributed with respect to these variables in the student population. Although the extent to which cost-effective treatment would reduce these risks is unclear, the high level of need for mental health services implied by these results represents a major challenge to institutions of higher education and governments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).status: publishe