Cutaneous manifestations of myelodysplastic syndrome: A systematic review.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) may present with specific skin lesions, such as leukaemia cutis, which is a well known poor prognostic marker of leukaemia with a high risk of acute leukaemic transformation. However, less is known regarding non-specific cutaneous manifestations of MDS including the prevalence, types and their prognostic and therapeutic significance, which we aimed to determine through this systematic review. We searched electronic databases (PubMed, Medline and EMBASE) from inception up to 26 January 2023 for studies reporting cutaneous manifestations of MDS. Eighty eight articles (case reports n = 67, case series n = 21), consisting of 134 patients were identified. We identified 6 common cutaneous manifestations: neutrophilic dermatoses (n = 64), vasculitis (n = 21), granulomatous (n = 8), connective tissue disease (CTD) (n = 7; composed of dermatomyositis (n = 5), cutaneous lupus erythematosus (n = 1), and systemic sclerosis (n = 1)), panniculitis (n = 4), immunobullous (n = 1), and other (n = 29). Cutaneous features either occurred at time of MDS diagnosis in 25.3%, preceding the diagnosis in 34.7% (range 0.5-216 months), or after diagnosis in 40.0% (range 1-132 months). Prognosis was poor (40.2% death) with 34.1% progressing to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). 50% of those with MDS who progressed to AML had neutrophilic dermatoses (p = 0.21). Myelodysplastic syndrome was fatal in 39.2% of neutrophilic dermatoses (median time from onset of cutaneous manifestation: 12 months), 50% of vasculitis (7.5 months), 62.5% of granulomatous (15.5 months) and 14.3% of CTD (7 months). Recognition of patterns of cutaneous features in MDS will improve early diagnosis and risk stratification according to subtype and associated prognosis

Formulation and Search of Assembly Sequence Design Spaces for Efficient Use of Assembly Plant Resources for New Products

Efficient procedures for generation of feasible assembly sequences and effective utilization of available assembly plant resources can greatly reduce the development time and cost of platforms for new product family members. This article presents a method to generate feasible assembly sequences and an approach to select an assembly process that reduces the existing plant modification cost. Assembly sequence design space is combinatorial in nature. Mathematical models to solve the effects of constraints on these spaces and algorithms to efficiently enumerate feasible spaces are explored in this research. Algorithms to search the feasible space to identify assembly process that can reduce the modification cost of the existing assembly plant can help increase utilization of existing resources. A software application that implements the method and algorithms has been developed. The algorithms use the concept of recursive partitioning of set of components to generate assembly sequence space. The assembly processes are then evaluated to determine the process that maximizes resource utilization for new platforms. The application of the proposed approach is demonstrated using automotive underbody front structure family.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

COVID-19 in Pregnant Women With Rheumatic Disease: Data From the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance

OBJECTIVE: To describe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and pregnancy outcomes in patients with rheumatic disease who were pregnant at the time of infection. METHODS: Since March 2020 the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) has collected cases of patients with rheumatic disease with COVID-19. We report details of pregnant women at the time of COVID-19 infection, including obstetric details separately ascertained from providers. RESULTS: We report on 39 patients, including 22 with obstetric detail available. The mean and median age was 33 years, range 24-45 years. Rheumatic disease diagnoses included: rheumatoid arthritis (n=9), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=9), psoriatic/other inflammatory arthritides (n=8) and anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (n=6). Most had a term birth (16/22), with 3 pre-term births, one termination, one miscarriage and one woman yet to deliver at time of report. A quarter (n=10/39) of pregnant women were hospitalised following COVID-19 diagnosis. Two of 39 (5%) required supplemental oxygen (both hospitalised); no patient died. The majority did not receive specific medication treatment for their COVID-19 (n=32/39, 82%), seven patients received some combination of anti-malarials, colchicine, anti-IL-1beta, azithromycin, glucocorticoids, and lopinavir/ritonavir. CONCLUSION: Women with rheumatic diseases who were pregnant at the time of COVID-19 had favourable outcomes. These data have limitations due to the small size and methodology, though they provide cautious optimism for pregnancy outcomes for women with rheumatic disease given the increased risk of poor outcomes that have been reported in other series of pregnant women with COVID-19

Identification of the risk for liver fibrosis on CHB patients using an artificial neural network based on routine and serum markers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Liver fibrosis progression is commonly found in patients with CHB. Liver biopsy is a gold standard for identifying the extent of liver fibrosis, but has many draw-backs. It is essential to construct a noninvasive model to predict the levels of risk for liver fibrosis. It would provide very useful information to help reduce the number of liver biopsies of CHB patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>339 chronic hepatitis B patients with HBsAg-positive were investigated retrospectively, and divided at random into 2 subsets with twice as many patients in the training set as in the validation set; 116 additional patients were consequently enrolled in the study as the testing set. A three-layer artificial neural network was developed using a Bayesian learning algorithm. Sensitivity and ROC analysis were performed to explain the importance of input variables and the performance of the neural network.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 329 patients without significant fibrosis and 126 with significant fibrosis in the study. All markers except gender, HB, ALP and TP were found to be statistically significant factors associated with significant fibrosis. The sensitivity analysis showed that the most important factors in the predictive model were age, AST, platelet, and GGT, and the influence on the output variable among coal miners were 22.3-24.6%. The AUROC in 3 sets was 0.883, 0.884, and 0.920. In the testing set, for a decision threshold of 0.33, sensitivity and negative predictive values were 100% and all CHB patients with significant fibrosis would be identified.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The artificial neural network model based on routine and serum markers would predict the risk for liver fibrosis with a high accuracy. 47.4% of CHB patients at a decision threshold of 0.33 would be free of liver biopsy and wouldn't be missed.</p

Heat and water stress induce unique transcriptional signatures of heat-shock proteins and transcription factors in grapevine

Grapevine is an extremely important crop worldwide. In southern Europe, post-flowering phases of the growth cycle can occur under high temperatures, excessive light, and drought conditions at soil and/or atmospheric level. In this study, we subjected greenhouse grown grapevine, variety Aragonez, to two individual abiotic stresses, water deficit stress (WDS), and heat stress (HS). The adaptation of plants to stress is a complex response triggered by cascades of molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the expression of specific stress-related genes and metabolites. Approaches such as array-based transcript profiling allow assessing the expression of thousands of genes in control and stress tissues. Using microarrays, we analyzed the leaf transcriptomic profile of the grapevine plants. Photosynthesis measurements verified that the plants were significantly affected by the stresses applied. Leaf gene expression was obtained using a high-throughput transcriptomic grapevine array, the 23K custom-made Affymetrix Vitis GeneChip. We identified 1,594 genes as differentially expressed between control and treatments and grouped them into ten major functional categories using MapMan software. The transcriptome of Aragonez was more significantly affected by HS when compared with WDS. The number of genes coding for heat-shock proteins and transcription factors expressed solely in response to HS suggesting their expression as unique signatures of HS. However, a cross-talk between the response pathways to both stresses was observed at the level of AP2/ERF transcription factors

Utilization of antenatal ultrasound scan and implications for caesarean section: a cross-sectional study in rural Eastern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antenatal ultrasound scan is a widely accepted component of antenatal care. Studies have looked at the relationship between ultrasound scanning and caesarean section (CS) in certain groups of women in China. However, there are limited data on the utilization of antenatal ultrasound scanning in the general population, including its association with CS. The purpose of this study is to describe the utilization of antenatal ultrasound screening in rural Eastern China and to explore the association between antenatal ultrasound scan and uptake of CS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Based on a cluster randomized sample, a total of 2326 women with childbirth participated in the study. A household survey was conducted to collect socio-economic information, obstetric history and utilization of maternal health services.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Coverage of antenatal care was 96.8% (2251/2326). During antenatal care, 96.1% (2164/2251) women received ultrasound screening and the reported average number was 2.55. 46.8% women received at least 3 ultrasound scans and the maximum number reached 11. The CS rate was found to be 54.8% (1275/2326). After adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical variables, it showed a statistically significant association between antenatal ultrasound scans and uptake of CS by multivariate logistic regression model. High husband education level, high maternal age, having previous adverse pregnant outcome and pregnancy complications during the index pregnancy were also found to be risk factors of choosing a CS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A high use of antenatal ultrasound scan in rural Eastern China is found and is influenced by socio-demographic and clinical factors. Evidence-based guidelines for antenatal ultrasound scans need to be developed and disseminated to clinicians including physicians, nurses and sonographers. Guidance about the appropriate use of ultrasound scans should also be shared with women in order to discourage unreasonable expectations and demands. It is important to monitor the use of antenatal ultrasound scan as well as the indications for caesarean section in rural China.</p

Crop Updates - 2003 Pulses

This session covers fifty one papers from different authors 2002 PULSE INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS CONTRIBUTORS BACKGROUND 2002 REGIONAL ROUNDUP 1.Northern Agricultural Region, M. Harries, Department of Agriculture 2.Central agricultural Region, R. French and I. Pritchard, Department of Agriculture 3.Great Southern and Lakes, R. Beermier, N. Poulish and S. White, Department of Agriculture 4.Esperance Mallee, M. Seymour, Department of Agriculture PULSE PRODUCTION ECONOMY AND GENETIC IMPROVEMENT 5.Faba Bean, P. White, Department of Agriculture 6.Germplasm evaluation, P. White, T. Pope, M. Harries and M. Seymour, Department of Agriculture 7.Row spacing and sowing rate, M. Seymour, Department of Agriculture 8.Tolerance to post emergent herbicides, M. Seymour, M. Harries, R. Beermier, M. Blyth and L. Young, Department of Agriculture 9.Investigation of environmental staining and storage discolouration, N. Abbas1,2, J. Plummer1, P. White3, D. Harris4 and K. Siddique1,2, 1Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, 2CLIMA, The University of Western Australia, 3Department of Agriculture, 4Chemistry Centre of Western Australia. Desi chickpea 10.Breeding highlights, T. Khan1,2 and K. Siddique2 1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 11. Variety evaluation, T. Khan and K. Regan, Department of Agriculture 12. Residual effect of chickpea row spacing and sowing rate on wheat yield, G. Riethmuller and B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture 13. Genotype x environmental interaction studies to help explain adaptation, J. Berger1, N. Turner1,2, K. Siddique1, 1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia, 2CSIRO Plant Industry 14. Genetic characterisation of wild relatives, F. Shan and H. Clarke, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 15. Tolerance to chilling at flowering, H. Clarke, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 16. Kabuli chickpea, K. Regan, Department of Agriculture 17. Premium quality varieties for the Ord River Irrigation Area, K. Siddique1, K. Regan2 and P. Smith2 1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture 18. Development of aschochyta resistant varieties for Australia, K. Siddique1, K. Regan2 and M. Baker2 1CLIMA, University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture Field pea 19. Breeding highlights, T. Khan and B. French, Department of Agriculture 20. Variety evaluation, T. Khan, Department of Agriculture 21. Specialty types for the high rainfall regions, P. White and T. Khan, Department of Agriculture 22. Are new varieties more sensitive to delayed sowing than Dundale? R. French, M. Seymour and R. Beermier, Department of Agriculture 23. Does the size of sown seed affect seed size and yield at harvest? R. Beermier and N. Poulish, Department of Agriculture 24. Tolerance to post emergent herbicides, H. Dhammu, T. Piper and D. Nicholson, Department of Agriculture 25. Lentil, K. Regan, Department of Agriculture 26. Variety evaluation, K. Regan and M. Harries, Department of Agriculture 27. Interstate evaluation of advanced breeding lines, K. Regan1 and M. Materne2 1Department of Agriculture, 2Victorian Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Agriculture Victoria 28. Timing of harvest for the best seed yield, M. Harries and M. Blyth, Department of Agriculture 29. Tolerance to post emergent herbicides, M. Harries and D. Nicholson, Department of Agriculture, H. Dhammu, T. Piper and L. Young, Department of Agriculture 30. Row spacing and stubble, G. Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture Pulse species 31. High value pulses for the high rainfall areas, N. Poulish1, P. White1,2 and K. Siddique1,2 , 1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 32. Alternative Rhizobium inoculant carrier technologies, J. Howieson and R. Yates, Centre for Rhizobium Studies (CRS), Murdoch University 33. Time of harvest to improve seed yield and quality of pulses, G. Riethmuller and R. French, Department of Agriculture 34. Phosphorus and zinc responses in pulses, S. Loss1, Z. Rengel2, B. Bowden3, M. Bolland3 and K. Siddique4 , 1Wesfarmers CSBP, 2Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, The University of Western Australia, 3Department of Agriculture, 4CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 35. Robust protocols for doubled haploid production in field pea and chickpea, J. Croser and K. Siddique, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia DEMONSTRATION OF PULSES IN THE FARMING SYSTEM 36. Field pea and lentil on clayed sandplain, M. Seymour, Department of Agriculture 37. Field pea variety demonstration, M. Harries and M. Blyth, Department of Agriculture 38. The benefit of field peas compared to lupins, R. Beermier, Department of Agriculture DISEASE AND PEST MANAGEMENT 39. Ascochyta blight of chickpea, B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture 40. Management of chickpeas with improved ascochyta resistance, B. Macleod, A. Harrod, M. Harries and M. Blyth, Department of Agriculture 41. Chlorothalonil provides the most effective control, B. Macleod, A. Harrod, M. Harries and M. Blyth, Department of Agriculture 42. Importance of early sprays and value of seed dressing (post emergence), B. Macleod and A. Harrod, Department of Agriculture 43. A windborne stage of ascochyta blight in WA, J. Galloway and B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture Ascochyta disease of pulses 44. Geographic location effects ascochyta spore maturation on pulse stubble, J. Galloway and B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture Blackspot of field pea 45. Rapid recurrent selection to improve resistance to black spot, C. Beeck1, J. Wroth1, W. Cowling1 and T. Khan2, 1Plant Science, The University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture 46. Survival of blackspot on old field pea stubble, J. Galloway and B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture 47. Blackspot spores mature earlier in the southern regions, M. Salam, J. Galloway, A. Diggle and B. MacLeod, Department of Agriculture Viruses in pulses 48. Early insecticide application suppresses spread of Beet Western Yellows virus in field pea, R. Jones, B. Coutts and L. Smith, Department of Agriculture, and CLIMA, The University of Western Australia Insect pests and nematodes 49. Incorporation of pea weevil resistance from Pisum fulvum into field pea, O. Byrne1 and D. Hardie2, 1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 2Department of Agriculture 50. Resistance to Helicoverpa in wild species of chickpea, J. Ridsdill-Smith1, H. Sharma2 and K. Mann1, 1CSIRO Entomology, Western Australia, 2 ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India 51. Relative hosting ability of field pea genotypes to root lesion nematode, S. Kelly, S. Sharma, H. Hunter and V. Vanstone, Department of Agriculture ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS APPENDIX I: Publications by Pulse Productivity Project Staff 2002 APPENDIX II: Summary of previous results APPENDIX III: List of common acronym