The expression level of BAALC -associated microRNA miR-3151 is an independent prognostic factor in younger patients with cytogenetic intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease whose prognosis is mainly related to the biological risk conferred by cytogenetics and molecular profiling. In elderly patients (⩾60 years) with normal karyotype AML miR-3151 have been identified as a prognostic factor. However, miR-3151 prognostic value has not been examined in younger AML patients. In the present work, we have studied miR-3151 alone and in combination with BAALC, its host gene, in a cohort of 181 younger intermediate-risk AML (IR-AML) patients. Patients with higher expression of miR-3151 had shorter overall survival (P =0.0025), shorter leukemia-free survival (P =0.026) and higher cumulative incidence of relapse (P =0.082). Moreover, in the multivariate analysis miR-3151 emerged as independent prognostic marker in both the overall series and within the unfavorable molecular prognostic category. Interestingly, the combined determination of both miR-3151 and BAALC improved this prognostic stratification, with patients with low levels of both parameters showing a better outcome compared with those patients harboring increased levels of one or both markers (P =0.003). In addition, we studied the microRNA expression profile associated with miR-3151 identifying a six-microRNA signature. In conclusion, the analysis of miR-3151 and BAALC expression may well contribute to an improved prognostic stratification of younger patients with IR-AML

Randomized Trial of Anticoagulation Strategies for Noncritically Ill Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Prior studies of therapeutic-dose anticoagulation in patients with COVID-19 have reported conflicting results. OBJECTIVES We sought to determine the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic-dose anticoagulation in noncritically ill patients with COVID-19. METHODS Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 not requiring intensive care unit treatment were randomized to prophylactic-dose enoxaparin, therapeutic-dose enoxaparin, or therapeutic-dose apixaban. The primary outcome was the 30-day composite of all-cause mortality, requirement for intensive care unit-level of care, systemic thromboembolism, or ischemic stroke assessed in the combined therapeutic-dose groups compared with the prophylactic-dose group. RESULTS Between August 26, 2020, and September 19, 2022, 3,398 noncritically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were randomized to prophylactic-dose enoxaparin (n = 1,141), therapeutic-dose enoxaparin (n = 1,136), or therapeutic-dose apixaban (n = 1,121) at 76 centers in 10 countries. The 30-day primary outcome occurred in 13.2% of patients in the prophylactic-dose group and 11.3% of patients in the combined therapeutic-dose groups (HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.69-1.04; P = 0.11). All-cause mortality occurred in 7.0% of patients treated with prophylactic-dose enoxaparin and 4.9% of patients treated with therapeutic-dose anticoagulation (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.52-0.93; P = 0.01), and intubation was required in 8.4% vs 6.4% of patients, respectively (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.58-0.98; P = 0.03). Results were similar in the 2 therapeutic-dose groups, and major bleeding in all 3 groups was infrequent. CONCLUSIONS Among noncritically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the 30-day primary composite outcome was not significantly reduced with therapeutic-dose anticoagulation compared with prophylactic-dose anticoagulation. However, fewer patients who were treated with therapeutic-dose anticoagulation required intubation and fewer died (FREEDOM COVID [FREEDOM COVID Anticoagulation Strategy]; NCT04512079).Dr Stone has received speaker honoraria from Medtronic, Pulnovo, Infraredx, Abiomed, and Abbott; has served as a consultant to Daiichi-Sankyo, Valfix, TherOx, Robocath, HeartFlow, Ablative Solutions, Vectorious, Miracor, Neovasc, Ancora, Elucid Bio, Occlutech, CorFlow, Apollo Therapeutics, Impulse Dynamics, Cardiomech, Gore, Amgen, Adona Medical, and Millennia Biopharma; and has equity/ options from Ancora, Cagent, Applied Therapeutics, Biostar family of funds, SpectraWave, Orchestra Biomed, Aria, Cardiac Success, Valfix, and Xenter; his daughter is an employee at IQVIA; and his employer, Mount Sinai Hospital, receives research support from Abbott, Abiomed, Bioventrix, Cardiovascular Systems Inc, Phillips, BiosenseWebster, Shockwave, Vascular Dynamics, Pulnovo, and V-wave. Dr Farkouh has received institutional research grants from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, and Novartis; has received consulting fees from Otitopic; and has received honoraria from Novo Nordisk. Dr Lala has received consulting fees from Merck and Bioventrix; has received honoraria from Zoll Medical and Novartis; has served on an advisory board for Sequana Medical; and is the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Cardiac Failure. Dr Moreno has received honoraria from Amgen, Cuquerela Medical, and Gafney; has received payment for expert testimony from Koskoff, Koskoff & Dominus, Dallas W. Hartman, and Riscassi & Davis PC; and has stock options in Provisio. Dr Goodman has received institutional research grants from Bristol Myers Squibb/Pfizer Alliance, Bayer, and Boehringer Ingelheim; has received consulting fees from Amgen, Anthos Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, Novartis, Pendopharm/Pharmascience, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi; has received honoraria from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, JAMP Pharma, Merck, Novartis, Pendopharm/Pharmascience, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, and Servier; has served on Data Safety and Monitoring boards for Daiichi-Sankyo/American Regent and Novo Nordisk A/C; has served on advisory boards for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Eli Lilly, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, JAMP Pharma, Merck, Novartis, Pendopharm/Pharmascience, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Servier, and Tolmar Pharmaceuticals; has a leadership role in the Novartis Council for Heart Health (unpaid); and otherwise has received salary support or honoraria from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/University of Toronto (Polo) Chair, Canadian Heart Failure Society, Canadian Heart Research Centre and MD Primer, Canadian VIGOUR Centre, Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Centre for Clinical Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, New York University Clinical Coordinating Centre, PERFUSE Research Institute, and the TIMI Study Group (Brigham Health). Dr Ricalde has received consulting fees from Medtronic, Servier, and Boston Scientific; has received honoraria from Medtronic, Pfizer, Merck, Boston Scientific, Biosensors, and Bayer; has served on an advisory board for Medtronic; and has leadership roles in SOLACI and Kardiologen. Dr Payro has received consulting fees from Bayer Mexico; has received honoraria from Bayer, Merck, AstraZeneca, Medtronic, and Viatris; has received payments for expert testimony from Bayer; has received travel support from AstraZeneca; has served on an advisory board for Bayer; and his institution has received equipment donated from AstraZeneca. Dr Castellano has received consulting fees and honoraria from Ferrer International, Servier, and Daiichi-Sankyo; and has received travel support from Ferrer International. Dr Hung has served as an advisory board member for Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca, Fosun, and Gilead. Dr Nadkarni has received consulting fees from Renalytix, Variant Bio, Qiming Capital, Menarini Health, Daiichi-Sankyo, BioVie, and Cambridge Health; has received honoraria from Daiichi-Sankyo and Menarini Health; has patents for automatic disease diagnoses using longitudinal medical record data, methods, and apparatus for diagnosis of progressive kidney function decline using a machine learning model, electronic phenotyping technique for diagnosing chronic kidney disease, deep learning to identify biventricular structure and function, fusion models for identification of pulmonary embolism, and SparTeN: a novel spatio-temporal deep learning model; has served on a Data Safety and Monitoring Board for CRIC OSMB; has leadership roles for Renalytix scientific advisory board, Pensive Health scientific advisory board, and ASN Augmented Intelligence and Digital Health Committee; has ownership interests in Renalytix, Data2Wisdom LLC, Verici Dx, Nexus I Connect, and Pensieve Health; and his institution receives royalties from Renalytix. Dr Goday has received the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral Research Award) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Furtado has received institutional research grants from AstraZeneca, CytoDin, Pfizer, Servier, Amgen, Alliar Diagnostics, and the Brazilian Ministry of Health; has received consulting fees from Biomm and Bayer; has received honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Servier, and Pfizer; and has received travel support from Servier, AstraZeneca, and Bayer. Dr Granada has received consulting fees, travel support, and stock from Cogent Technologies Corp; and has received stock from Kutai. Dr Contreras has served as a consultant for Merck, CVRx, Novodisk, and Boehringer Ingelheim; and has received educational grants from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca. Dr Bhatt has received research funding from Abbott, Acesion Pharma, Afimmune, Aker Biomarine, Amarin, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Beren, Boehringer Ingelheim, Boston Scientific, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cardax, CellProthera, Cereno Scientific, Chiesi, Cincor, CSL Behring, Eisai, Ethicon, Faraday Pharmaceuticals, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, Fractyl, Garmin, HLS Therapeutics, Idorsia, Ironwood, Ischemix, Janssen, Javelin, Lexicon, Lilly, Medtronic, Merck, Moderna, MyoKardia, NirvaMed, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Owkin, Pfizer Inc, PhaseBio, PLx Pharma, Recardio, Regeneron, Reid Hoffman Foundation, Roche, Sanofi, Stasys, Synaptic, The Medicines Company, Youngene, and 89bio; has received royalties from Elsevier; has received consultant fees from Broadview Ventures and McKinsey; has received honoraria from the American College of Cardiology, Baim Institute for Clinical Research, Belvoir Publications, Boston Scientific, Cleveland Clinic, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Novartis, Population Health Research Institute, Rutgers University, Canadian Medical and Surgical Knowledge Translation Research Group, Cowen and Company, HMP Global, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, K2P, Level Ex, Medtelligence/ReachMD, MJH Life Sciences, Oakstone CME, Piper Sandler, Population Health Research Institute, Slack Publications, WebMD, Wiley, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care; has received fees from expert testimony from the Arnold and Porter law firm; has received travel support from the American College of Cardiology, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, American Heart Association; has a patent for otagliflozin assigned to Brigham and Women’s Hospital who assigned to Lexicon; has participated on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board for Acesion Pharma, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, AngioWave, Baim Institute, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Boston Scientific, Cardax, CellProthera, Cereno Scientific, Cleveland Clinic, Contego Medical, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Elsevier Practice Update Cardiology, Janssen, Level Ex, Mayo Clinic, Medscape Cardiology, Merck, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, MyoKardia, NirvaMed, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, PhaseBio, PLx Pharma, Regado Biosciences, Population Health Research Institute, and Stasys; serves as a trustee or director for American College of Cardiology, AngioWave, Boston VA Research Institute, Bristol Myers Squibb, DRS.LINQ, High Enroll, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, and TobeSoft; has ownership interests in AngioWave, Bristol Myers Squibb, DRS.LINQ, and High Enroll; has other interests in Clinical Cardiology, the NCDR-ACTION Registry Steering Committee; has conducted unfunded research with FlowCo and Takeda, Contego Medical, American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee, Inaugural Chair, VA CART Research and Publications Committee; and has been a site co-investigator for Abbott, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, CSI, St Jude Medical (now Abbott), Phillips SpectraWAVE, Svelte, and Vascular Solutions. Dr Fuster declares that he raised $7 million from patients for this study granted to Mount Sinai Heart, unrelated to industry. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.S

Vineyard microclimate and yield under different plastic covers.

The use of plastic cover in vineyards minimizes effects of adverse weather conditions. The northwest of São Paulo State is one of the largest grape producing regions in Brazil; however, few studies investigate the effects of different plastic covers on vineyards in this region. This study compared the effect of black shading screen (BSS) and braided polypropylene film (BPF) on BRS Morena vineyard microclimate, grown on an overhead trellis system in the northwestern São Paulo. The experiments were carried out during three growing seasons (2012 ? 2014). BSS allowed superior incoming solar radiation (SR) transmissivity, resulting in higher net radiation (Rn), and higher ratio between photosynthetically active (PAR) and SR. No differences were observed between the average air temperatures (T) and relative humidity (RH) of covered environments (BPF and BSS) and outside condition (automatic weather station ? AWS), due to high air circulation, despite wind speed (WS) reduction caused by plastic covers. BPF provided better conditions for vineyard growth with higher fruit yield than vineyard under BSS regarding the number of shoots with bunches per plant, bunch and stem weights, longitudinal diameter of berries, quantity of fertile buds per shoot, and yield per shoot and per plant. BPF covers also influenced leaf size and growth speed of plants in vineyards. Keywords Black shading screen . Braided polypropylene film . BRS Morena . Leaf wetness duration . Yiel

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: A comparative risk assessment

Background: High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods: We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of population-based health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the effects of risk factors on cause-specific mortality from meta-analyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the effects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specific population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specific deaths. We obtained cause-specific mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the final estimates. Findings: In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10·8 million deaths, 95% CI 10·1-11·5) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined effect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7·1 million deaths, 6·6-7·6) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined effects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation: The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing effect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the global response to non-communicable diseases. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, US National Institutes of Health. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Global disparities in surgeons’ workloads, academic engagement and rest periods: the on-calL shIft fOr geNEral SurgeonS (LIONESS) study

: The workload of general surgeons is multifaceted, encompassing not only surgical procedures but also a myriad of other responsibilities. From April to May 2023, we conducted a CHERRIES-compliant internet-based survey analyzing clinical practice, academic engagement, and post-on-call rest. The questionnaire featured six sections with 35 questions. Statistical analysis used Chi-square tests, ANOVA, and logistic regression (SPSS® v. 28). The survey received a total of 1.046 responses (65.4%). Over 78.0% of responders came from Europe, 65.1% came from a general surgery unit; 92.8% of European and 87.5% of North American respondents were involved in research, compared to 71.7% in Africa. Europe led in publishing research studies (6.6 ± 8.6 yearly). Teaching involvement was high in North America (100%) and Africa (91.7%). Surgeons reported an average of 6.7 ± 4.9 on-call shifts per month, with European and North American surgeons experiencing 6.5 ± 4.9 and 7.8 ± 4.1 on-calls monthly, respectively. African surgeons had the highest on-call frequency (8.7 ± 6.1). Post-on-call, only 35.1% of respondents received a day off. Europeans were most likely (40%) to have a day off, while African surgeons were least likely (6.7%). On the adjusted multivariable analysis HDI (Human Development Index) (aOR 1.993) hospital capacity > 400 beds (aOR 2.423), working in a specialty surgery unit (aOR 2.087), and making the on-call in-house (aOR 5.446), significantly predicted the likelihood of having a day off after an on-call shift. Our study revealed critical insights into the disparities in workload, access to research, and professional opportunities for surgeons across different continents, underscored by the HDI

Hitchhiking to the abyss

Abstract We investigated, for the first time, the hitchhiker‐host fidelity of deep‐diving whale sharks and Chilean devil rays. We found that two of the most ubiquitous oceanic hitchhikers, the common remora and the pilot fish, are able to follow their hosts to bathypelagic depths, where they are exposed to extreme gradients of light, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pressure. We documented a deep dive of a large whale shark hosting remoras and pilot fish. Common remora was observed at the deepest section of the dive, at 1460 m, where the water temperature was 3.6°C. A pilot fish was recorded at 900 m, during the ascent phase, with the water temperature of 7.5°C. Although the adaptations that allow these hitchhikers to mitigate the impacts of such extreme environmental conditions remain unknown, we discuss these findings in the framework of the ecophysiology of deep diving and the hitchhiker‐host fidelity

Semeoticons -Reading the face code of cardio-metabolic risk

What if you could discover your health status by looking at yourself in the mirror? Since November 2013, the EU FP7 Project SEMEOTICONS is working to make this possible. The Project is building a multi-sensory device, having the form of a conventional mirror, able to read the semeiotic code of the face and detect possible evidence of the onset of cardio-metabolic diseases. The device, called Wize Mirror, integrates unobtrusive imaging sensors used to capture videos, images and 3D scans of the face. These are processed to assess the risk of a cardio-metabolic disease and thereby suggest possible strategies to prevent its onset