LED Light Applied to the Feeder: Impact on Growth Performances of Chickens under Productive Conditions

This study assessed the use of feeders equipped with light‐emitting diodes and their effects on the productivity of broiler chickens under productive conditions. A total of 87,200 ROSS 308 chickens, 1‐day old, were housed in two poultry houses (CONTROL, F‐LED). In CONTROL, 20,000 females (mean body weight 41.12 ± 3 g) and 25,000 males (mean body weight 41.56 ± 3 g) were housed, while 19,200 females and 23,000 males of the same genetic make‐up and mean body weight were housed in F‐LED under the same environmental conditions. In F‐LED, to encourage chickens to feed and to redistribute more feed down the feeding line, a feeder equipped with a LED light has been installed at the end of each line. In CONTROL, no light was located on the feeders. At the end of the cycle, the average body weight never showed significant differences both for females (1345 g in CONTROL; 1359 g in F‐LED) and for males (2771 g in CONTROL; 2793 g in FLED). Uniformity improved in F‐LED, at 75.2% in females and 54.1% in males, compared to CONTROL, at 65.7% and 48.5%, respectively, for females and males. The feed conversion ratio followed the same trend, being more favorable in chickens reared in F‐LED (1.567) compared to those raised in CONTROL (1.608). The application of a single F‐LED at the end of each feeding line demonstrated its utility in improving size uniformity and feed conversion

improving the efficiency of copper dye sensitized solar cells by manipulating the electrolyte solution

The crucial role of tert-butylpyridine and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide in the performance of sustainable "full-copper" DSSCs

A chiral bis(salicylaldiminato)zinc(ii) complex with second-order nonlinear optical and luminescent properties in solution

Whereas there is an increasing amount of reports on the second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) and luminescence properties of tetradentate [N2O2] Schiff base-zinc complexes, the study of zinc complexes having two bidentate [NO] Schiff-base ligands is relatively unexplored from an NLO point of view. This work puts in evidence that the known chiral bis(2-[(R)-(+)-1-phenylethyliminomethyl]phenolato-N, O)zinc(II) complex is a fascinating multifunctional molecular inorganic-organic hybrid material characterized by interesting second-order NLO and luminescent properties in solution. The emissive properties of the organic 2-(R)-(+)-1-phenylethyliminomethyl]phenol proligand are greatly enhanced upon coordination to the inorganic Zn(II) center

GREASE II. A phase II randomized, 12-month, parallel-group, superiority study to evaluate the efficacy of a Modified Atkins Diet in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease patients

Introduction Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a condition that causes progressive renal function decline. Preclinical data suggest the presence of a profound metabolic derangement in ADPKD. Cystic cells shift their energy metabolism from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis, show inhibition of fatty acid oxidation and become glutamine and arginine dependent. Recent preclinical experiences have suggested beneficial effect in terms of reduction of cystic size, interstitial fibrosis and disease progression, targeting these deregulated metabolic pathways by ketosis induction. The dietetic approach to ADPKD, because of low cost and absence of toxicity, represents an interesting therapeutic strategy. Methods and analysis The protocol describes a phase II clinical trial that will evaluate the effect on Total Kidney Volume, safety and tolerability of a ketogenic diet in a selected ADPKD population. The trial will have, as secondary objective, the evaluation of the ability of the ketogenic diet to slow down the renal function decline. This will be a 12-month randomized, parallel group, two arm, superiority trial with 1:1 allocation to evaluate the efficacy of a Modified Atkins Diet protocol compared to a balanced normocaloric diet on 90 ADPKD patients. Dissemination The study results will be released to the patients and the medical community

A cost-effectiveness analysis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy sudden cardiac death risk algorithms for implantable cardioverter defibrillator decision-making

AIMS: To conduct a contemporary cost-effectiveness analysis examining the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) for primary prevention in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). METHODS: A discrete-time Markov model was used to determine the cost-effectiveness of different ICD decision-making rules for implantation. Several scenarios were investigated including the reference scenario of implantation rates according to observed real world practice. A 12-year time horizon with an annual cycle length was used. Transition probabilities used in the model were obtained using Bayesian analysis. The study has been reported according to the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist. RESULTS: Using a 5-year SCD risk threshold of 6% was cheaper than current practice and has marginally better total quality adjusted life years (QALYs). This is the most cost-effective of the options considered, with an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £834 per QALY. Sensitivity analyses highlighted that this decision is largely driven by what health related quality of life (HRQL) is attributed to ICD patients and time horizon. CONCLUSION: We present a timely new perspective on HCM ICD cost-effectiveness, using methods reflecting real-world practice. While we have shown that a 6% 5-year SCD risk cut-off provides the best cohort stratification to aid ICD decision-making, this will also be influenced by the particular values of costs and HRQL for subgroups or at a local level. The process of explicitly demonstrating the main factors which drive conclusions from such an analysis will help to inform shared decision-making in this complex area for all stakeholders concerned

CT radiomics-based machine learning classification of atypical cartilaginous tumours and appendicular chondrosarcomas

Background Clinical management ranges from surveillance or curettage to wide resection for atypical to higher-grade cartilaginous tumours, respectively. Our aim was to investigate the performance of computed tomography (CT) radiomics-based machine learning for classification of atypical cartilaginous tumours and higher-grade chondrosarcomas of long bones. Methods One-hundred-twenty patients with histology-proven lesions were retrospectively included. The training cohort consisted of 84 CT scans from centre 1 (n=55 G1 or atypical cartilaginous tumours; n=29 G2-G4 chondrosarcomas). The external test cohort consisted of the CT component of 36 positron emission tomography-CT scans from centre 2 (n=16 G1 or atypical cartilaginous tumours; n=20 G2-G4 chondrosarcomas). Bidimensional segmentation was performed on preoperative CT. Radiomic features were extracted. After dimensionality reduction and class balancing in centre 1, the performance of a machine-learning classifier (LogitBoost) was assessed on the training cohort using 10-fold cross-validation and on the external test cohort. In centre 2, its performance was compared with preoperative biopsy and an experienced radiologist using McNemar's test. Findings The classifier had 81% (AUC=0.89) and 75% (AUC=0.78) accuracy in identifying the lesions in the training and external test cohorts, respectively. Specifically, its accuracy in classifying atypical cartilaginous tumours and higher-grade chondrosarcomas was 84% and 78% in the training cohort, and 81% and 70% in the external test cohort, respectively. Preoperative biopsy had 64% (AUC=0.66) accuracy (p=0.29). The radiologist had 81% accuracy (p=0.75). Interpretation Machine learning showed good accuracy in classifying atypical and higher-grade cartilaginous tumours of long bones based on preoperative CT radiomic features

Hsa-miR155-5p up-regulation in Breast Cancer and its relevance for treatment with Poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP-1) inhibitors

miR-155-5p is a well-known oncogenic microRNA, showing frequent overexpression in human malignancies, including breast cancer. Here, we show that high miR-155-5p levels are associated with unfavorable prognostic factors in two independent breast cancer cohorts (CSS cohort, n = 283; and TCGA-BRCA dataset, n = 1,095). Consistently, miR-155-5p results as differentially expressed in the breast cancer subgroups identified by the surrogate molecular classification in the CSS cohort and the PAM50 classifier in TCGA-BRCA dataset, with the TNBC and HER2-amplified tumors carrying the highest levels. Since the analysis of TCGA-BC dataset also demonstrated a significant association between miR-155-5p levels and the presence of mutations in homologous recombination (HR) genes, we hypothesized that miR-155-5p might affect cell response to the PARP-1 inhibitor Olaparib. As expected, miR-155-5p ectopic overexpression followed by Olaparib administration resulted in a greater reduction of cell viability as compared to Olaparib administration alone, suggesting that miR-155-5p might induce a synthetic lethal effect in cancer cells when coupled with PARP-1-inhibition. Overall, our data point to a role of miR-155-5p in homologous recombination deficiency and suggest miR-155-5p might be useful in predicting response to PARP1 inhibitors in the clinical setting

3D vs. 2D MRI radiomics in skeletal Ewing sarcoma: Feature reproducibility and preliminary machine learning analysis on neoadjuvant chemotherapy response prediction

ObjectiveThe extent of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy predicts survival in Ewing sarcoma. This study focuses on MRI radiomics of skeletal Ewing sarcoma and aims to investigate feature reproducibility and machine learning prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and methodsThis retrospective study included thirty patients with biopsy-proven skeletal Ewing sarcoma, who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery at two tertiary sarcoma centres. 7 patients were poor responders and 23 were good responders based on pathological assessment of the surgical specimen. On pre-treatment T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI, 2D and 3D tumour segmentations were manually performed. Features were extracted from original and wavelet-transformed images. Feature reproducibility was assessed through small geometrical transformations of the regions of interest mimicking multiple manual delineations, and intraclass correlation coefficient >0.75 defined feature reproducibility. Feature selection also consisted of collinearity and significance analysis. After class balancing in the training cohort, three machine learning classifiers were trained and tested on unseen data using hold-out cross-validation. Results1303 (77%) 3D and 620 (65%) 2D radiomic features were reproducible. 4 3D and 4 2D features passed feature selection. Logistic regression built upon 3D features achieved the best performance with 85% accuracy (AUC=0.9) in predicting response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. ConclusionCompared to 2D approach, 3D MRI radiomics of Ewing sarcoma had superior reproducibility and higher accuracy in predicting response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, particularly when using logistic regression classifier

Acute heart failure in patients with acute aortic syndrome: Pathophysiology and clinical-prognostic implications

Aims Although acute heart failure (AHF) is a potential complication of acute aortic syndromes (AAS), its clinical details and management implications have been scarcely evaluated. This study aimed to assess prevalence, pathophysiological mechanisms, impact on treatment, and in-hospital mortality of AHF in AAS. Methods and results Data were collected from a prospective AAS registry (398 patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2013). Patients with AHF were identified by the presence of dyspnoea as the presentation symptom or radiological signs of pulmonary congestion or cardiogenic shock, including patients with cardiac tamponade (CT). AHF frequency was 28% (Stanford type A 32% vs. type B 20%, P = 0.01). Four mechanisms leading to AHF were identified, alone or in combination: CT (26%), aortic regurgitation (25%), myocardial ischaemia (17%), and hypertensive crisis (10%). In type A patients, aortic regurgitation and CT were the most frequent mechanisms, whereas myocardial ischaemia and hypertensive crisis were the most frequent in type B patients. Although no difference was noted for diagnostic times, AHF at presentation led to a longer surgical delay in type A AAS. In-hospital mortality was higher in patients with AHF compared with those without (34% vs. 17%, P < 0.001). After multivariable analysis, AHF was associated with increased risk of in-hospital death (adjusted odds ratio 1.97, 95% confidence interval 1.14-3.36, P = 0.014). Conclusion AHF occurs in more than a quarter of patients with AAS of both type A and type B, is due to a variety of pathophysiological mechanisms, and is associated with increased surgical delay and in-hospital mortality. © 2015 The Authors European Journal of Heart Failure © 2015 European Society of Cardiology