NMR metabolomics of cerebrospinal fluid differentiates inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system

BACKGROUND: Myriad infectious and noninfectious causes of encephalomyelitis (EM) have similar clinical manifestations, presenting serious challenges to diagnosis and treatment. Metabolomics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was explored as a method of differentiating among neurological diseases causing EM using a single CSF sample. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 1H NMR metabolomics was applied to CSF samples from 27 patients with a laboratory-confirmed disease, including Lyme disease or West Nile Virus meningoencephalitis, multiple sclerosis, rabies, or Histoplasma meningitis, and 25 controls. Cluster analyses distinguished samples by infection status and moderately by pathogen, with shared and differentiating metabolite patterns observed among diseases. CART analysis predicted infection status with 100% sensitivity and 93% specificity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These preliminary results suggest the potential utility of CSF metabolomics as a rapid screening test to enhance diagnostic accuracies and improve patient outcomes

Healthcare understanding of COVID-19 antibody

Objective: : The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shed light on the difficulties in spreading uniform information. We rely on national and international organizations to provide scientifically accurate information to the public at large. With so many different sources of information, often not scientific, there appears to be an incomplete understanding of many aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We sought to gain information about healthcare worker understanding of the implications of a positive serum COVID-19 antibody test result. We identified a broad range of responses among all categories of healthcare workers in our facility. Most notably we found that there was not complete understanding that there can be asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 infection. Methods: : We provided health literacy and opinion questions to the healthcare workers of our facility. Results: : Upon analysis of the data, we identified many differences in level of understanding among our healthcare workers. Conclusion: : We identified a lack of consensus on important details leading to potentially growing uncertainty with respect to SARS-COV-2 antibody. A diminished health literacy with respect to antibody testing could potentially suggest future issues with understanding the importance of vaccination benefits

Building Blocks for a 24GHz Phased-Array Front-End in CMOS Technology for

Abstract—According to a recent European Union report, lighting represents a significant share of electricity costs and the goal of reducing lighting power consumption by 20 % demands the coupling of light-emitting diode (LED) lights with smart sensors and communication networks. In this context, this paper proposes the integration of these three elements into a smart streetlight, incorporating a 24GHz phased-array (Ph-A) front-end (FE). The main building blocks of this Ph-A FE integrated in a low-cost 90 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology are fully characterized. The selected FE’s architecture allows the implementation of transceivers as well as Doppler radar sensors functionalities. More specifically, the Ph-A technology is applied to a Doppler radar sensor in order to realize multi-lane road scanning and pedestrian detection. That way, the smart streetlight can become eco-friendly by turning on the LEDs only when necessary as well as to measure traffic parameters such as vehicle speed, type and direction. Intercommunication between the smart streetlights is based on a time-sharing mechanism that uses the same FE reconfigured as transceiver. Thanks to this functionality, the recorded traffic information can be relayed through adjacent streetlights to a control center, and control commands and warnings can be spread through the network. The system requirements are derived assuming a simplified model of the operating scenario with a typical inter-light distance of 50

Clinical Presentation of Inhalational Anthrax Following Bioterrorism Exposure: Report of 2 Surviving Patients

The use of anthrax as a weapon of biological terrorism has moved from theory to reality in recent weeks. Following processing of a letter containing anthrax spores that had been mailed to a US senator, 5 cases of inhalational anthrax have occurred among postal workers employed at a major postal facility in Washington, DC. This report details the clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and initial therapy of 2 of these patients. The clinical course is in some ways different from what has been described as the classic pattern for inhalational anthrax. One patient developed low-grade fever, chills, cough, and malaise 3 days prior to admission, and then progressive dyspnea and cough productive of blood-tinged sputum on the day of admission. The other patient developed progressively worsening headache of 3 days\u27 duration, along with nausea, chills, and night sweats, but no respiratory symptoms, on the day of admission. Both patients had abnormal findings on chest radiographs. Non-contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the chest showing mediastinal adenopathy led to a presumptive diagnosis of inhalational anthrax in both cases. The diagnoses were confirmed by blood cultures and polymerase chain reaction testing. Treatment with antibiotics, including intravenous ciprofloxacin, rifampin, and clindamycin, and supportive therapy appears to have slowed the progression of inhalational anthrax and has resulted to date in survival

Metabolomics of Cerebrospinal Fluid from Humans Treated for Rabies

Rabies is a rapidly progressive lyssavirus encephalitis that is statistically 100% fatal. There are no clinically effective antiviral drugs for rabies. An immunologically naïve teenager survived rabies in 2004 through improvised supportive care; since then, 5 additional survivors have been associated with use of the so-called Milwaukee Protocol (MP). The MP applies critical care focused on the altered metabolic and physiologic states associated with rabies. The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic profile of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from rabies patients during clinical progression of rabies encephalitis in survivors and nonsurvivors and to compare these samples with control CSF samples. Unsupervised clustering algorithms distinguished three stages of rabies disease and identified several metabolites that differentiated rabies survivors from those who subsequently died, in particular, metabolites related to energy metabolism and cell volume control. Moreover, for those patients who survived, the trajectory of their metabolic profile tracked toward the control profile and away from the rabies profile. NMR metabolomics of human rabies CSF provide new insights into the mechanisms of rabies pathogenesis, which may guide future therapy of this disease