Contact thermography — a modern method and its role in breast cancer prevention

Breast cancer is one of the most common oncological conditions among Polish women and is a serious health, social, as well as economic problem. Knowledge of early cancer detection methods, risk factors and prevention methods are key issues in the fight against breast cancer in women. Introduction of modern technologies using contact thermography can be both practical and complementary diagnostic method in relation to mammography or ultrasonography of mammary gland

Impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and delivery — current knowledge

The World Health Organization announced on 12 March 2020 a global pandemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causingCOVID-19 disease associated with pneumonia and acute respiratory failure. SARS-CoV-2 has caused so far over 6.66 millionrecorded cases, of which 393,000 ended in death (as of June 1, 2020). Despite the demographic statistics of incidence,there is no current recording of cases in the group of pregnant or perinatal women. Changes occurring in the female bodysystem during pregnancy also affect and alter the immune system, and as studies based on other viral respiratory infectionshave shown, the population of pregnant women is at risk of having a severe course of the disease. The aim of the study isto summarize current reports on the course of COVID-19 disease in a group of pregnant women and the possible impactof SARS-CoV-2 on the foetus and vertical transmission, taking into account changes occurring in the woman’s immunesystem during pregnancy. Available advice and recommendations for antenatal and perinatal care of pregnant womenduring the pandemic period are also included

The fecal microbiome and metabolome differs between dogs fed Bones and Raw Food (BARF) diets and dogs fed commercial diets

Introduction: Feeding a Bones and Raw Food (BARF) diet has become an increasing trend in canine nutrition. Bones and Raw Food diets contain a high amount of animal components like meat, offal, and raw meaty bones, combined with comparatively small amounts of plant ingredients like vegetables and fruits as well as different sorts of oil and supplements. While many studies have focused on transmission of pathogens via contaminated meat and on nutritional imbalances, only few studies have evaluated the effect of BARF diets on the fecal microbiome and metabolome. The aim of the study was to investigate differences in the fecal microbiome and the metabolome between dogs on a BARF diet and dogs on a commercial diet (canned and dry dog food). Methods: Naturally passed fecal samples were obtained from 27 BARF and 19 commercially fed dogs. Differences in crude protein, fat, fiber, and NFE (Nitrogen-Free Extract) between diets were calculated with a scientific nutrient database. The fecal microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and quantitative PCR assays. The fecal metabolome was analyzed in 10 BARF and 9 commercially fed dogs via untargeted metabolomics approach. Results: Dogs in the BARF group were fed a significantly higher amount of protein and fat and significantly lower amount of NFE and fiber. There was no significant difference in alpha-diversity measures between diet groups. Analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) revealed a significant difference in beta-diversity (p < 0.01) between both groups. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LefSe) showed a higher abundance of Lactobacillales, Enterobacteriaceae, Fusobacterium and, Clostridium in the BARF group while conventionally fed dogs had a higher abundance of Clostridiaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae. The qPCR assays revealed significantly higher abundance of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Clostridium (C.). perfringens and an increased Dysbiosis Index in the BARF group. Principal component analysis (PCA) plots of metabolomics data showed clustering between diet groups. Random forest analysis showed differences in the abundance of various components, including increased 4-hydroxybutryric acid (GBH) and 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the BARF group. Based on univariate statistics, several metabolites were significantly different between diet groups, but lost significance after adjusting for multiple comparison. No differences were found in fecal bile acid concentrations, but the BARF group had a higher fecal concentration of cholesterol in their feces compared to conventionally fed dogs. Conclusion: Microbial communities and metabolome vary significantly between BARF and commercially fed dogs

The magnetic model of the LHC in the early phase of beam commissioning

The relation between field and current in each family of the Large Hadron Collider magnets is modelled with a set of empirical equations (FiDeL) whose free parameters are fit on magnetic measurements. They take into account residual magnetization, persistent currents, hysteresis, saturation, decay and snapback during initial part of the ramp. Here we give a first summary of the reconstruction of the magnetic field properties based on the beam observables (orbit, tune, coupling, chromaticity) and a comparison with the expectations. The most critical issues for the machine performance in terms of knowledge of the relation magnetic field vs current are pointed out.peer-reviewe

A Syd-1 homologue regulates pre- and postsynaptic maturation in Drosophila

A proteomics approach identifies Drosophila Syd-1 as a Bruchpilot binding partner that controls maturation on both sides of the neuromuscular junction

Non-operative treatment for perforated gastro-duodenal peptic ulcer in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: a case report

BACKGROUND: Clinical characteristics and complications of Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by skeletal and cardiac muscle degeneration are well known. Gastro-intestinal involvement has also been recognised in these patients. However an acute perforated gastro-duodenal peptic ulcer has not been documented up to now. CASE PRESENTATION: A 26-year-old male with Duchenne muscular dystrophy with a clinical and radiographic diagnosis of acute perforated gastro-duodenal peptic ulcer is treated non-operatively with naso-gastric suction and intravenous medication. Gastrointestinal involvement in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and therapeutic considerations in a high risk patient are discussed. CONCLUSION: Non-surgical treatment for perforated gastro-duodenal peptic ulcer should be considered in high risk patients, as is the case in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Patients must be carefully observed and operated on if non-operative treatment is unsuccessful

Vaccination programs for older adults in an era of demographic change

Objectives Populations are aging worldwide. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities due to the increasing burden of infectious diseases in an aging population. Results Older adults typically suffer elevated morbidity from infectious disease, leading to increased demand for healthcare resources and higher healthcare costs. Preventive medicine, including vaccination can potentially play a major role in preserving the health and independence of older adults. However, this potential of widespread vaccination is rarely realized. Here, we give a brief overview of the problem, discuss concrete obstacles and the potential for expanded vaccination programs to promote healthy aging. Conclusion The increasing healthcare burden of infectious diseases expected in aging populations could, to a large extent, be reduced by achieving higher vaccination coverage among older adults. Vaccination can thus contribute to healthy aging, alongside healthy diet and physical exercise. The available evidence indicates that dedicated programs can achieve substantial improvements in vaccination coverage among older adults, but more research is required to assess the generalizability of the results achieved by specific interventions (see Additional file 1)

A meta-analysis of pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index and placental DNA methylation identifies 27 CpG sites with implications for mother-child health

Higher maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (ppBMI) is associated with increased neonatal morbidity, as well as with pregnancy complications and metabolic outcomes in offspring later in life. The placenta is a key organ in fetal development and has been proposed to act as a mediator between the mother and different health outcomes in children. The overall aim of the present work is to investigate the association of ppBMI with epigenome-wide placental DNA methylation (DNAm) in 10 studies from the PACE consortium, amounting to 2631 mother-child pairs. We identify 27 CpG sites at which we observe placental DNAm variations of up to 2.0% per 10 ppBMI-unit. The CpGs that are differentially methylated in placenta do not overlap with CpGs identified in previous studies in cord blood DNAm related to ppBMI. Many of the identified CpGs are located in open sea regions, are often close to obesity-related genes such as GPX1 and LGR4 and altogether, are enriched in cancer and oxidative stress pathways. Our findings suggest that placental DNAm could be one of the mechanisms by which maternal obesity is associated with metabolic health outcomes in newborns and children, although further studies will be needed in order to corroborate these findings.We would like to thank the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium, as well as all the families that participated in these studies for their generous contribution. This work was partially funded by GVSAN2018111086 from the Basque Department of Health and PI18/01142 from ISCIII - Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - cofounded by the ERDF “A way to make Europe” to JRB and LSM, respectively; and by the Joint Programming Initiative – A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL) (NutriPROGRAM). ACP was supported by grant GVSAN2019111085 from the Basque Department of Health to NFJ. Detailed acknowledgements and funding for each participating cohort are described in Supplementary Note 1

Handling 1 MW losses with the LHC collimation system

The LHC superconducting magnets in the dispersion suppressor of IR7 are the most exposed to beam losses leaking from the betatron collimation system and represent the main limitation for the halo cleaning. In 2013, quench tests were performed at 4 TeV to improve the quench limit estimates, which determine the maximum allowed beam loss rate for a given collimation cleaning. The main goal of the collimation quench test was to try to quench the magnets by increasing losses at the collimators. Losses of up to 1 MW over a few seconds were generated by blowing up the beam, achieving total losses of about 5.8 MJ. These controlled losses exceeded by a factor 2 the collimation design value, and the magnets did not quench.peer-reviewe

First field test of FiDeL the magnetic field description for the LHC

The start-up of the LHC has provided the first field test for the concept, functionality and accuracy of FiDeL, the Field Description for the LHC. FiDeL provides a parametric model of the transfer function of the main field integrals generated by the series of magnets in the LHC powering circuits, comprising superconducting and normal-conducting main optical elements and high-order harmonic correctors. The same framework is used to predict harmonic errors of both static and dynamic nature, and forecast appropriate corrections. In this paper we make use of beam-based measurements taken on the first LHC beams to assess the first-shot accuracy in the prediction of the current setting for the main arc magnets.peer-reviewe