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Background: One of the main challenge for controlling the morbidity and mortality related to malaria is the absence of reliable treatment and precise diagnostic tools in malaria-prone regions. Despite the number of diagnostic techniques used, and inconsistent results were found from previous studies. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of 18S nested PCR(Polymerase Chain Reaction),microscopy, and CarestartTMpf/pan RDT(Rapid Diagnostic Tests) as malaria diagnostic methods using Microscopy and 18S nested PCR as reference techniques. Methods: A facilities and community based cross-sectional study was conducted in the villages of Batodegama kebele and Adama malaria control center from December 2016 to February 2017. A fingerprick blood sample was collected from each participant for the CarestartTM pf/pan RDT test, microscopy, and dry blood spot (DBS) analysis and 18S nested PCR assay. Data were analyzed using STATA11 to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy. Results: Among the 128 asymptomatic patients, 26 (20.3%) were positive for malaria nested 18S PCR, 5 (3.9%) through RDT, and 8 (6.3%) through microscopy. From 202 symptomatic Patients, 55 (27.23%), 26 (12.87%), and 28 (13.86%) individuals were positive for 18S nested PCR, RDT, and microscopy, respectively. Comparative analysis of 18S nested PCR, microscopy, and CarestartTMpf/pan RDT have similar sensitivities of 50% and specificities of 100%.for diagnosing symptomatic malaria infections. Furthermore, species level analysis showed that 18S nested PCR has a higher detection rate of 26 (20.31%) than microscopy 8 (6.25%) and CareStartTM pf/pan RDT 5 (4.1%). The CarestartTMpf/pan RDT had a sensitivity of 15.4% and specificity of 98% in detecting asymptomatic malaria infections. However, the two methods have comparable sensitivities. Conclusions: The 18S nested PCR assay showed superior performance in all circumstances. On the other hand, the overall performance of CareStart TM pf/pan RDTs was found to be comparable to that of microscopy. This finding highlights the value of parallel application of CareStart TM pf/pan RDTs and microscopy in a resource-limited setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles well known for facilitating cell-to-cell communication by distributing essential macromolecules like proteins, DNA, mRNA, lipids, and miRNA. These vesicles are abundant in fluids distributed throughout the body, including urine, blood, saliva, and even bile. They are important diagnostic tools for breast, lung, gastrointestinal cancers, etc. However, their application as cancer biomarkers has not yet been implemented in most parts of the world. In this review, we discuss how OMICs profiling of exosomes can be practiced by substituting traditional imaging or biopsy methods for cancer detection. Previous methods like extensive imaging and biopsy used for screening were expensive, mostly invasive, and could not easily provide early detection for various types of cancer. Exosomal biomarkers can be utilized for routine screening by simply collecting body fluids from the individual. We anticipate that the use of exosomes will be brought to light by the success of clinical trials investigating their potential to enhance cancer detection and treatment in the upcoming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trigonocephaly occurs due to the premature fusion of the metopic suture, leading to a triangular forehead and hypotelorism. This condition often requires surgical correction for morphological and functional indications. Metopic ridges also originate from premature metopic closure but are only associated with mid-frontal bulging; their surgical correction is rarely required. Differential diagnosis between these two conditions can be challenging, especially in minor trigonocephaly. Methods: Two hundred seven scans of patients with trigonocephaly (90), metopic rigdes (27), and controls (90) were collected. Geometric morphometrics were used to quantify skull and orbital morphology as well as the interfrontal angle and the cephalic index. An innovative method was developed to automatically compute the frontal curvature along the metopic suture. Different machine-learning algorithms were tested to assess the predictive power of morphological data in terms of classification. Results: We showed that control patients, trigonocephaly and metopic rigdes have distinctive skull and orbital shapes. The 3D frontal curvature enabled a clear discrimination between groups (sensitivity and specificity > 92%). Furthermore, we reached an accuracy of 100% in group discrimination when combining 6 univariate measures. Conclusion: Two diagnostic tools were proposed and demonstrated to be successful in assisting differential diagnosis for patients with trigonocephaly or metopic ridges. Further clinical assessments are required to validate the practical clinical relevance of these tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to develop a simplified diagnostic tool for assessing sarcopenia and myosteatosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients, focusing on the creatinine to cystatin C ratio (CCR) as an evaluation marker. Methods: 955 patients were split into training (n = 671) and validation (n = 284) cohorts. Using logistic regression, risk factors for sarcopenia and myosteatosis were identified. The predictive capacity of the developed model was examined. The association between CCR and muscle imaging parameters, along with its impact on clinical outcomes, was analyzed. Results: No significant differences were observed in baseline traits between cohorts. CCR emerged as a significant risk factor for both sarcopenia and myosteatosis. Nomograms for diagnosing these conditions demonstrated strong predictive ability, with AUC values indicating high accuracy (sarcopenia AUC: 0.865–0.872; myosteatosis AUC: 0.848–0.849). The clinical utility of the nomograms was confirmed through decision curve analysis. CCR showed significant association with muscle imaging parameters and was a reliable indicator for assessing the risk of sarcopenia, myosteatosis, and cachexia. Moreover, CCR was able to differentiate between patient survival and disease progression rates. Conclusion: A diagnostic tool for sarcopenia and myosteatosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients was developed, with CCR being a pivotal biomarker for disease diagnosis and prognosis prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neonatal sepsis is one of the leading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries like Ethiopia. The investigation of neonatal sepsis needs the application of inclusive diagnostic tools. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the role of CBC parameters in diagnosing neonatal sepsis.Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to November 2021 at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. A total of 250 neonates were included using a convenient sampling technique. A structured questionnaire and a data collection sheet were used to obtain the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants. A venous blood sample was collected for CBC and blood culture tests. Epi-Info Version 7 and SPSS Version 25 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. The data distribution was checked by the Shapiro-Wilk test. Then, an independent t-test was conducted to compare CBC parameters, and the significant parameters were recruited for the ROC curves analysis. The Younden index test was used to determine the cutoff point for the sensitivity and specificity. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Out of 250 study participants, 144 (57.6%) were males, with a median age of 6 days (IQR = 4 days). Early-onset and late-onset sepsis were developed in about 29.6% (37/250) and 70.4% (88/250) of the neonates, respectively. The TLC and ANC parameters were significantly lower in cases than in control groups. The TLC, Hgb, lymphocyte count, and ANC parameters have a sensitivity of 64.8, 68, 33.6, and 49.6%, respectively. Their specificity in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was 64.8, 53.6, 83.2, and 90.4%, respectively.Conclusion: Total leucocyte count, ANC, and platelet count all showed significant associations with neonatal sepsis. Besides, the TLC, ANC, and platelet counts had good sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing neonatal sepsis. Therefore, these parameters can be used as a diagnostic tool for neonatal sepsis in resource-limited areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Low- to high-energy impact trauma may cause from small fissures up to extended bone losses, which can be classified as closed or opened injuries (when they are visible at a naked eye).Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of clinical diagnosis of bone trauma through medical infrared thermography, in a hospital emergency room.Methods: Forty-five patients with suspected diagnosis of bone fracture were evaluated by means of medical infrared images, and the data correlated with the gold standard radiographic images, in the anteroposterior, lateral, and oblique views, at the orthopedic emergency department. The control group consisted of thermal images of the contralateral reference limb of the volunteers themselves. Data were acquired with a medical grade infrared camera in the regions of interest (ROIs) of leg, hand, forearm, clavicle, foot, and ankle.Results: In all patients evaluated with a diagnosis of bone fracture, the mean temperature of the affected limb showed a positive difference greater than 0.9 °C (towards the contralateral), indicating the exact location of the bone trauma according, while the areas diagnosed with reduced blood supply, showed a mean temperature with a negative variation.Conclusion: Clinical evaluation using infrared imaging indicates a high applicability potential as a tool to support quick diagnosis of bone fractures in patients with acute orthopedic trauma in an emergency medical setting. The thermal results showed important physiological data related to vascularization of the bone fracture and areas adjacent to the trauma well correlated to radiographic examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) first appeared in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China. Since its emergence, the COVID-19-causing virus, SARS-CoV-2, has been rapidly transmitted around the globe, overwhelming the medical care systems in many countries and leading to more than 3.3 million deaths. Identification of immunological epitopes on the virus would be highly useful for the development of diagnostic tools and vaccines that will be critical to limiting further spread of COVID-19. Methods: To find disease-specific B-cell epitopes that correspond to or mimic natural epitopes, we used phage display technology to determine the targets of specific antibodies present in the sera of immune-responsive COVID-19 patients. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were further applied to assess competitive antibody binding and serological detection. VaxiJen, BepiPred-2.0 and DiscoTope 2.0 were utilized for B-cell epitope prediction. PyMOL was used for protein structural analysis. Results: 36 enriched peptides were identified by biopanning with antibodies from two COVID-19 patients; the peptides 4 motifs with consensus residues corresponding to two potential B-cell epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins. The putative epitopes and hit peptides were then synthesized for validation by competitive antibody binding and serological detection. Conclusions: The identified B-cell epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 may aid investigations into COVID-19 pathogenesis and facilitate the development of epitope-based serological diagnostics and vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Radiomics methods are used to analyze various medical images, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance, and positron emission tomography to provide information regarding the diagnosis, patient outcome, tumor phenotype, and the gene-protein signatures of various diseases. In low-risk group, complete surgical resection is typically sufficient, whereas in high-risk thymoma, adjuvant therapy is usually required. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between both. This study evaluated the CT radiomics features of thymomas to discriminate between low- and high-risk thymoma groups. Materials and methods: In total, 83 patients with thymoma were included in this study between 2004 and 2019. We used the Radcloud platform (Huiying Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) to manage the imaging and clinical data and perform the radiomics statistical analysis. The training and validation datasets were separated by a random method with a ratio of 2:8 and 502 random seeds. The histopathological diagnosis was noted from the pathology report. Results: Four machine-learning radiomics features were identified to differentiate a low-risk thymoma group from a high-risk thymoma group. The radiomics feature names were Energy, Zone Entropy, Long Run Low Gray Level Emphasis, and Large Dependence Low Gray Level Emphasis. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that a machine-learning model and a multilayer perceptron classifier analysis can be used on CT images to predict low- and high-risk thymomas. This combination could be a useful preoperative method to determine the surgical approach for thymoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The detection of pathogens in clinical and environmental samples using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) is often hampered by large amounts of background information, which is especially true for viruses with small genomes. Enormous sequencing depth can be necessary to compile sufficient information for identification of a certain pathogen. Generic HTS combining with in-solution capture enrichment can markedly increase the sensitivity for virus detection in complex diagnostic samples. Methods: A virus panel based on the principle of biotinylated RNA baits was developed for specific capture enrichment of epizootic and zoonotic viruses (VirBaits). The VirBaits set was supplemented by a SARS-CoV-2 predesigned bait set for testing recent SARS-CoV-2-positive samples. Libraries generated from complex samples were sequenced via generic HTS (without enrichment) and afterwards enriched with the VirBaits set. For validation, an internal proficiency test for emerging epizootic and zoonotic viruses (African swine fever virus, Ebolavirus, Marburgvirus, Nipah henipavirus, Rift Valley fever virus) was conducted. Results: The VirBaits set consists of 177,471 RNA baits (80-mer) based on about 18,800 complete viral genomes targeting 35 epizootic and zoonotic viruses. In all tested samples, viruses with both DNA and RNA genomes were clearly enriched ranging from about 10-fold to 10,000-fold for viruses including distantly related viruses with at least 72% overall identity to viruses represented in the bait set. Viruses showing a lower overall identity (38% and 46%) to them were not enriched but could nonetheless be detected based on capturing conserved genome regions. The internal proficiency test supports the improved virus detection using the combination of HTS plus targeted enrichment but also points to the risk of cross-contamination between samples. Conclusions: The VirBaits approach showed a high diagnostic performance, also for distantly related viruses. The bait set is modular and expandable according to the favored diagnostics, health sector, or research question. The risk of cross-contamination needs to be taken into consideration. The application of the RNA-baits principle turned out to be user friendly, and even non-experts can easily use the VirBaits workflow. The rapid extension of the established VirBaits set adapted to actual outbreak events is possible as shown for SARS-CoV-2. 6LZ7h-uA_P4fT4PgoREid- Video abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Published diagnostic questionnaires for gambling disorder in German are either based on DSM-III criteria or focus on aspects other than life time prevalence. This study was designed to assess the usability of the DSM-IV criteria based Berlin Inventory of Gambling Behavior Screening tool in a clinical sample and adapt it to DSM-5 criteria. Methods: In a sample of 432 patients presenting for behavioral addiction assessment at the University Medical Center Mainz, we checked the screening tool's results against clinical diagnosis and compared a subsample of n=300 clinically diagnosed gambling disorder patients with a comparison group of n=132. Results: The BIG-S produced a sensitivity of 99.7% and a specificity of 96.2%. The instrument's unidimensionality and the diagnostic improvements of DSM-5 criteria were verified by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis as well as receiver operating characteristic analysis. Conclusions: The BIG-S is a reliable and valid screening tool for gambling disorder and demonstrated its concise and comprehensible operationalization of current DSM-5 criteria in a clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current available malaria diagnostic methods each have some limitations to meet the need for real-time and large-scale screening of asymptomatic and low density malaria infection at community level. It was proposed that malaria parasite-specific low molecular-weight metabolites could be used as biomarkers for the development of a malaria diagnostic tool aimed to address this diagnostic challenge. In this study, high resolution metabolomics (HRM) was employed to identify malaria parasite-specific metabolites in Plasmodium falciparum in vitro culture samples. Methods: Supernatants were collected at 12 hours interval from 3% haematocrit in vitro 48-hour time-course asynchronized culture system of P. falciparum. Liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry was applied to discover potential parasite-specific metabolites in the cell culture supernatant. A metabolome-wide association study was performed to extract metabolites using Manhattan plot with false discovery rate (FDR) and hierarchical cluster analysis. The significant metabolites based on FDR cutoff were annotated using Metlin database. Standard curves were created using corresponding chemical compounds to accurately quantify potential Plasmodium-specific metabolites in culture supernatants. Results: The number of significant metabolite features was 1025 in the supernatant of the Plasmodium infected culture based on Manhattan plot with FDR q=0.05. A two way hierarchical cluster analysis showed a clear segregation of the metabolic profile of parasite infected supernatant from non-infected supernatant at four time points during the 48 hour culture. Among the 1025 annotated metabolites, the intensities of four molecules were significantly increased with culture time suggesting a positive association between the quantity of these molecules and level of parasitaemia: i) 3-methylindole, a mosquito attractant, ii) succinylacetone, a haem biosynthesis inhibitor, iii) S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, and iv) O-arachidonoyl glycidol, a fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor, The highest concentrations of 3-methylindole and succinylacetone were 178 ± 18.7 pmoles at 36 hours and 157±30.5 pmoles at 48 hours respectively in parasite infected supernatant. Conclusion: HRM with bioinformatics identified four potential parasite-specific metabolite biomarkers using in vitro culture supernatants. Further study in malaria infected human is needed to determine presence of the molecules and its relationship with parasite densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]