Sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic modalities in pouchitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) is the most common surgical procedure to restore gastrointestinal continuity after surgical resection of the colon and rectum. Pouchitis is a common complication with several different modalities that can be used to aid diagnosis. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at exploring the sensitivity and specificity these diagnostic modalities. The medical literature was searched using MEDLINE, EMBASE and EMBASE classic and PubMed from 1978 to June 2022. We calculated descriptive statistics using sensitivity, specificity, and false-positive rate of the primary studies and also their positive and negative likelihood ratios, and their diagnostic odds ratios. The screen found 5477 records with 13 studies being included. Faecal lactoferrin was found to have the highest pooled sensitivity and specificity of 98% and 88% respectively with imaging modalities coming in second and faecal calprotectin third with pooled sensitivities and specificities of 87% and 79% and 74% and 81% respectively. Faecal biomarkers particularly lactoferrin and imaging modalities may have an important role to play in diagnosing pouchitis. Importantly due to delays in availability of pouchoscopy, our data supports early ordering of these tests to help delineate from other causes. Further studies are required with larger cohort sizes to further validate these tests.

Spectroscopic study of terrestrial analogues to support rover missions to Mars - A Raman-centred review.

The 2020s could be called, with little doubt, the "Mars decade". No other period in space exploration history has experienced such interest in placing orbiters, rovers and landers on the Red Planet. In 2021 alone, the Emirates' first Mars Mission (the Hope orbiter), the Chinese Tianwen-1 mission (orbiter, lander and rover), and NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover reached Mars. The ExoMars mission Rosalind Franklin rover is scheduled for launch in 2022. Beyond that, several other missions are proposed or under development. Among these, MMX to Phobos and the very important Mars Sample Return can be cited. One of the key mission objectives of the Mars 2020 and ExoMars 2022 missions is the detection of traces of potential past or present life. This detection relies to a great extent on the analytical results provided by complementary spectroscopic techniques. The development of these novel instruments has been carried out in step with the analytical study of terrestrial analogue sites and materials, which serve to test the scientific capabilities of spectroscopic prototypes while providing crucial information to better understand the geological processes that could have occurred on Mars. Being directly involved in the development of three of the first Raman spectrometers to be validated for space exploration missions (Mars 2020/SuperCam, ExoMars/RLS and RAX/MMX), the present review summarizes some of the most relevant spectroscopy-based analyses of terrestrial analogues carried out over the past two decades. Therefore, the present work describes the analytical results gathered from the study of some of the most distinctive terrestrial analogues of Martian geological contexts, as well as the lessons learned mainly from ExoMars mission simulations conducted at representative analogue sites. Learning from the experience gained in the described studies, a general overview of the scientific outcome expected from the spectroscopic system developed for current and forthcoming planetary missions is provided.

Self-isospectrality, special supersymmetry, and their effect on the band structure.

We study a planar model of a nonrelativistic electron in periodic magnetic and electric fields that produce a 1D crystal for two spin components separated by a half-period spacing. We fit the fields to create a self-isospectral pair of finite-gap associated Lamé equations shifted for a half-period, and show that the system obtained is characterized by a new type of supersymmetry. It is a special nonlinear supersymmetry generated by three commuting integrals of motion, related to the parity-odd operator of the associated Lax pair, that coherently reflects the band structure and all its peculiarities. In the infinite-period limit it provides an unusual picture of supersymmetry breaking.