Geophysical investigations of a geothermal anomaly at Wadi Ghadir, eastern Egypt

During regional heat flow studies a geothermal anomaly was discovered approximately 2 km from the Red Sea coast at Wadi Ghadir, in the Red Sea Hills of Eastern Egypt. A temperature gradient of 55 C/km was measured in a 150 m drillhole at this location, indicating a heat flow of approximately 175 mw/sqm, approximately four times the regional background heat flow for Egypt. Gravity and magnetic data were collected along Wadi Ghadir, and combined with offshore gravity data, to investigate the source of the thermal anomaly. Magnetic anomalies in the profile do not coincide with the thermal anomaly, but were observed to correlate with outcrops of basic rocks. Other regional heat flow and gravity data indicate that the transition from continental to oceanic type lithosphere occurs close to the Red Sea margin, and that the regional thermal anomaly is possibly related to the formation of the Red Sea

NetMets: software for quantifying and visualizing errors in biological network segmentation

One of the major goals in biomedical image processing is accurate segmentation of networks embedded in volumetric data sets. Biological networks are composed of a meshwork of thin filaments that span large volumes of tissue. Examples of these structures include neurons and microvasculature, which can take the form of both hierarchical trees and fully connected networks, depending on the imaging modality and resolution. Network function depends on both the geometric structure and connectivity. Therefore, there is considerable demand for algorithms that segment biological networks embedded in three-dimensional data. While a large number of tracking and segmentation algorithms have been published, most of these do not generalize well across data sets. One of the major reasons for the lack of general-purpose algorithms is the limited availability of metrics that can be used to quantitatively compare their effectiveness against a pre-constructed ground-truth. In this paper, we propose a robust metric for measuring and visualizing the differences between network models. Our algorithm takes into account both geometry and connectivity to measure network similarity. These metrics are then mapped back onto an explicit model for visualization

Persistently Elevated Right Ventricular Index of Myocardial Performance in Preterm Infants with Incipient Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

OBJECTIVES: Elevated pulmonary vascular resistance occurs during the first days after birth in all newborn infants and persists in infants at risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). It is difficult to measure in a non-invasive fashion. We assessed the usefulness of the right ventricular index of myocardial performance (RIMP) to estimate pulmonary vascular resistance in very low birth weight infants. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective echocardiography on day of life (DOL) 2, 7, 14, and 28 in 121 preterm infants (median [quartiles] gestational age 28 [26]-[29] weeks, birth weight 998 [743-1225] g) of whom 36 developed BPD (oxygen supplementation at 36 postmenstrual weeks). RESULTS: RIMP derived by conventional pulsed Doppler technique was unrelated to heart rate or mean blood pressure. RIMP on DOL 2 was similar in infants who subsequently did (0.39 [0.33-0.55]) and did not develop BPD (0.39 [0.28-0.51], p = 0.467). RIMP declined steadily in non-BPD infants but not in BPD infants (DOL 7: 0.31[0.22-0.39] vs. 0.35[0.29-0.48], p = 0.014; DOL 14: 0.23[0.17-0.30] vs. 0.35[0.25-0.43], p<0.001; DOL 28: 0.21[0.15-0.28] vs. 0.31 [0.21-0.35], p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In preterm infants, a decline in RIMP after birth was not observed in those with incipient BPD. The pattern of RIMP measured in preterm infants is commensurate with that of pulmonary vascular resistance

Congenital Diarrhea and Cholestatic Liver Disease: Phenotypic Spectrum Associated with MYO5B Mutations.

Myosin Vb (MYO5B) is a motor protein that facilitates protein trafficking and recycling in polarized cells by RAB11- and RAB8-dependent mechanisms. Biallelic MYO5B mutations are identified in the majority of patients with microvillus inclusion disease (MVID). MVID is an intractable diarrhea of infantile onset with characteristic histopathologic findings that requires life-long parenteral nutrition or intestinal transplantation. A large number of such patients eventually develop cholestatic liver disease. Bi-allelic MYO5B mutations are also identified in a subset of patients with predominant early-onset cholestatic liver disease. We present here the compilation of 114 patients with disease-causing MYO5B genotypes, including 44 novel patients as well as 35 novel MYO5B mutations, and an analysis of MYO5B mutations with regard to functional consequences. Our data support the concept that (1) a complete lack of MYO5B protein or early MYO5B truncation causes predominant intestinal disease (MYO5B-MVID), (2) the expression of full-length mutant MYO5B proteins with residual function causes predominant cholestatic liver disease (MYO5B-PFIC), and (3) the expression of mutant MYO5B proteins without residual function causes both intestinal and hepatic disease (MYO5B-MIXED). Genotype-phenotype data are deposited in the existing open MYO5B database in order to improve disease diagnosis, prognosis, and genetic counseling

Response of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Leaf Surface Defenses to Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate

Helianthus annuus, the common sunflower, produces a complex array of secondary compounds that are secreted into glandular trichomes, specialized structures found on leaf surfaces and anther appendages of flowers. The primary components of these trichome secretions are sesquiterpene lactones (STL), a diverse class of compounds produced abundantly by the plant family Compositae and believed to contribute to plant defense against herbivory. We treated wild and cultivated H. annuus accessions with exogenous methyl jasmonate, a plant hormone that mediates plant defense against insect herbivores and certain classes of fungal pathogens. The wild sunflower produced a higher density of glandular trichomes on its leaves than the cultivar. Comparison of the profiles of glandular trichome extracts obtained by liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) showed that wild and cultivated H. annuus were qualitatively similar in surface chemistry, although differing in the relative size and proportion of various compounds detected. Despite observing consistent transcriptional responses to methyl jasmonate treatment, we detected no significant effect on glandular trichome density or LC-MS profile in cultivated or wild sunflower, with wild sunflower exhibiting a declining trend in overall STL production and foliar glandular trichome density of jasmonate-treated plants. These results suggest that glandular trichomes and associated compounds may act as constitutive defenses or require greater levels of stimulus for induction than the observed transcriptional responses to exogenous jasmonate. Reduced defense investment in domesticated lines is consistent with predicted tradeoffs caused by selection for increased yield; future research will focus on the development of genetic resources to explicitly test the ecological roles of glandular trichomes and associated effects on plant growth and fitness

Diagnostic yield of next-generation sequencing in very early-onset inflammatory bowel diseases: a multicenter study (vol 12, pg 1104, 2021)

Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background: A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97\ub71 (95% UI 95\ub78-98\ub71) in Iceland, followed by 96\ub76 (94\ub79-97\ub79) in Norway and 96\ub71 (94\ub75-97\ub73) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18\ub76 (13\ub71-24\ub74) in the Central African Republic, 19\ub70 (14\ub73-23\ub77) in Somalia, and 23\ub74 (20\ub72-26\ub78) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91\ub75 (89\ub71-93\ub76) in Beijing to 48\ub70 (43\ub74-53\ub72) in Tibet (a 43\ub75-point difference), while India saw a 30\ub78-point disparity, from 64\ub78 (59\ub76-68\ub78) in Goa to 34\ub70 (30\ub73-38\ub71) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4\ub78-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20\ub79-point to 17\ub70-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17\ub72-point to 20\ub74-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view-and subsequent provision-of quality health care for all populations

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely