Prognostic value of the ratio between prothesis area and indexed annulus area measured by multiSlice-CT for transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedures

Background Postprocedural aortic regurgitations following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures remain an is- sue. Benefit of oversizing strategies to prevent them isn’t well established. We compared different level of oversizing in our cohort of con- secutive patients to address if severe oversizing compared to normal sizing had an impact on post-procedural outcomes. Methods From January 2010 to August 2013, consecutive patients were referred for TAVI with preoperative Multislice-CT (MSCT) and the procedures were achieved using Edwards Sapien® or Corevalve devices®. Retrospectively, according to pre-procedural MSCT and the valve size, pa- tients were classified into three groups: normal, moderate and severe oversizing; depending on the ratio between the prosthesis area and the annulus area indexed and measured on MSCT. Main endpoint was mid-term mortality and secondary endpoints were the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC-2) endpoints. Results Two hundred and sixty eight patients had a MSCT and underwent TAVI procedure, with mainly Corevalve®. While all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates were similar in all groups, post-procedural new pacemaker (PM) implantation rate was significantly higher in the severe oversizing group (P = 0.03), while we observed more in-hospital congestive heart-failure (P = 0.02) in the normal sizing group. There was a trend toward more moderate to severe aortic regurgitation (AR) in the normal sizing group (P = 0.07). Conclusions Despite a higher rate of PM implantation, oversizing based on this ratio reduces aortic leak with lower rates of post-procedural complications and a similar mid-term survival

High sensitivity of mobile phone microscopy screening for Schistosoma haematobium in Azaguié, Côte d'Ivoire

Schistosomiasis infections continue to impact African settings disproportionately, and there is an urgent need for novel tools to evaluate infection control and elimination strategies at the community level. Mobile phone microscopes are portable and semiautomated devices with multiple applications for screening neglected tropical diseases. In a community-based schistosomiasis screening program in Azaguie, Cote d'Ivoire, mobile phone microscopy demonstrated a sensitivity of 85.7% (95% CI: 69.7-95.2%) and specificity of 93.3% (95% CI: 87.7-96.9%) for Schistosoma haematobium identification compared with conventional light microscopy, and 95% sensitivity (95% CI: 74.1-99.8%) with egg concentrations of five or more per 10 mL of urine. Mobile phone microscopy is a promising tool for schistosomiasis control and elimination efforts

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) promotes wound re-epithelialisation in frog and human skin

There remains a critical need for new therapeutics that promote wound healing in patients suffering from chronic skin wounds. This is, in part, due to a shortage of simple, physiologically and clinically relevant test systems for investigating candidate agents. The skin of amphibians possesses a remarkable regenerative capacity, which remains insufficiently explored for clinical purposes. Combining comparative biology with a translational medicine approach, we report the development and application of a simple ex vivo frog (Xenopus tropicalis) skin organ culture system that permits exploration of the effects of amphibian skin-derived agents on re-epithelialisation in both frog and human skin. Using this amphibian model, we identify thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) as a novel stimulant of epidermal regeneration. Moving to a complementary human ex vivo wounded skin assay, we demonstrate that the effects of TRH are conserved across the amphibian-mammalian divide: TRH stimulates wound closure and formation of neo-epidermis in organ-cultured human skin, accompanied by increased keratinocyte proliferation and wound healing-associated differentiation (cytokeratin 6 expression). Thus, TRH represents a novel, clinically relevant neuroendocrine wound repair promoter that deserves further exploration. These complementary frog and human skin ex vivo assays encourage a comparative biology approach in future wound healing research so as to facilitate the rapid identification and preclinical testing of novel, evolutionarily conserved, and clinically relevant wound healing promoters

Effector cell mediated cytotoxicity measured by intracellular Granzyme B release in HIV infected subjects

CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity is currently believed to be one of the key immunologic mechanisms responsible for the prevention or attenuation of HIV-1 infection. The induction of CD8+ T cell activation may also result in the production of soluble or non-classical lytic factors that are associated with protection from infection or slower disease progression. Traditionally, CD8+ CTL responses have been measured by the classic chromium release assay, monitoring the ability of T cells (Effector cells) to lyse radiolabelled HLA – matched “target cells” that express the appropriate antigen-MHC complex. This method is not only labor intensive, semi quantitative assay at best, but also needs fresh, non-cryopreserved cells. Recently, cytokine specific ELISPOT assays or tetrameric MHC-I/ peptide complexes have utilized to directly quantitate circulating CD8+ effector cells, and these assays are more sensitive, quantitative and reproducible than the traditional CTL lysis assay and can also be performed on cryopreserved cells. Although these are reproducible assays for the assessment of soluble antiviral activity secreted by activated T cell populations they can be extremely expensive to perform. We have used FACS Analysis to measure Granzyme B release as a function of cell mediated cytotoxicity. This method helps quantitate the CTL activity and also identifies the phenotype of the cells elucidating this immune response. The method described not only monitors immunological response but also is also simple to perform, precise and extremely time efficient and is ideal for screening a large number of samples

Reasons to Be Skeptical about Sentience and Pain in Fishes and Aquatic Invertebrates

The welfare of fishes and aquatic invertebrates is important, and several jurisdictions have included these taxa under welfare regulation in recent years. Regulation of welfare requires use of scientifically validated welfare criteria. This is why applying Mertonian skepticism toward claims for sentience and pain in fishes and aquatic invertebrates is scientifically sound and prudent, particularly when those claims are used to justify legislation regulating the welfare of these taxa. Enacting welfare legislation for these taxa without strong scientific evidence is a societal and political choice that risks creating scientific and interpretational problems as well as major policy challenges, including the potential to generate significant unintended consequences. In contrast, a more rigorous science-based approach to the welfare of aquatic organisms that is based on verified, validated and measurable endpoints is more likely to result in “win-win” scenarios that minimize the risk of unintended negative impacts for all stakeholders, including fish and aquatic invertebrates. The authors identify as supporters of animal welfare, and emphasize that this issue is not about choosing between welfare and no welfare for fish and aquatic invertebrates, but rather to ensure that important decisions about their welfare are based on scientifically robust evidence. These ten reasons are delivered in the spirit of organized skepticism to orient legislators, decision makers and the scientific community, and alert them to the need to maintain a high scientific evidential bar for any operational welfare indicators used for aquatic animals, particularly those mandated by legislation. Moving forward, maintaining the highest scientific standards is vitally important, in order to protect not only aquatic animal welfare, but also global food security and the welfare of humans

Low Levels of Fruit Nitrogen as Drivers for the Evolution of Madagascar's Primate Communities

The uneven representation of frugivorous mammals and birds across tropical regions - high in the New World, low in Madagascar and intermediate in Africa and Asia - represents a long-standing enigma in ecology. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these differences but the ultimate drivers remain unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that fruits in Madagascar contain insufficient nitrogen to meet primate metabolic requirements, thus constraining the evolution of frugivory. We performed a global analysis of nitrogen in fruits consumed by primates, as collated from 79 studies. Our results showed that average frugivory among lemur communities was lower compared to New World and Asian-African primate communities. Fruits in Madagascar contain lower average nitrogen than those in the New World and Old World. Nitrogen content in the overall diets of primate species did not differ significantly between major taxonomic radiations. There is no relationship between fruit protein and the degree of frugivory among primates either globally or within regions, with the exception of Madagascar. This suggests that low protein availability in fruits influences current lemur communities to select for protein from other sources, whereas in the New World and Old World other factors are more significant in shaping primate communities

Determinants of male reproductive health disorders: the Men in Australia Telephone Survey (MATeS)

Background: The relationship between reproductive health disorders and lifestyle factors in middle-aged and older men is not clear. The aim of this study is to describe lifestyle and biomedical associations as possible causes of erectile dysfunction (ED), prostate disease (PD), lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and perceived symptoms of androgen deficiency (pAD) in a representative population of middle-aged and older men, using the Men in Australia Telephone Survey (MATeS). Methods: A representative sample (n = 5990) of men aged 40+ years, stratified by age and State, was contacted by random selection of households, with an individual response rate of 78%. All men participated in a 20-minute computer-assisted telephone interview exploring general and reproductive health. Associations between male reproductive health disorders and lifestyle and biomedical factors were analysed using multivariate logistic regression (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]). Variables studied included age, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, co-morbid disease and medication use for hypertension, high cholesterol and symptoms of depression. Results: Controlling for age and a range of lifestyle and co-morbid exposures, sedentary lifestyle and being underweight was associated with an increased likelihood of ED (1.4 [1.1-1.8]; 2.9 [1.5-5.8], respectively) and pAD (1.3 [1.1-1.7]; 2.7 [1.4-5.0], respectively. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease were both associated with ED, with hypertension strongly associated with LUTS and pAD. Current smoking (inverse association) and depressive symptomatology were the only variables independently associated with PD. All reproductive disorders showed consistent associations with depression (measured either by depressive symptomatology or medication use) in both age-adjusted and multivariate analyses. Conclusion: A range of lifestyle factors, more often associated with chronic disease, were significantly associated with male reproductive health disorders. Education strategies directed to improving general health may also confer benefits to male reproductive health.Carol A. Holden, Robert I. McLachlan, Marian Pitts, Robert Cumming, Gary Wittert, Johnathon P. Ehsani, David M. de Kretser, David J. Handelsma