Folate and Vitamin B12 Levels in Chilean Women with PCOS and Their Association with Metabolic Outcomes.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder that affects women of reproductive age. Many women with PCOS have been found to have an unbalanced diet and deficiencies in essential nutrients. This study aimed to assess the levels of folate and vitamin B12 (B12) and their relationship with metabolic factors in women with PCOS. Anthropometric, clinical, and genetic analyses were conducted to evaluate markers related to one-carbon metabolism in women with PCOS and in a control group. The PCOS group had a higher BMI and HOMA-IR (1.7 vs. 3.1; p < 0.0001). HDL cholesterol levels were 23% lower and triglyceride levels were 74% higher in women with PCOS. Although there were no significant differences in folate and B12 levels between the PCOS and control groups, over 60% of women with PCOS had low B12 levels (<300 pg/mL) and high homocysteine levels. In addition, the MTHFR A1298C and C677T polymorphisms were not associated with PCOS. Moreover, erythrocyte folate levels were positively correlated with fasting glucose, triglycerides, and free androgen index, and negatively correlated with SHBG and LH levels. These results suggest that B vitamins may be associated with the metabolic phenotype in PCOS. This study emphasizes the potential link between folate, vitamin B12, and metabolic and hormonal outcomes in women with PCOS.

Online Intervention Targeting Postnatal Depression and Anxiety in Chilean First-Time Mothers: Feasibility Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Internet-based interventions may positively impact maternal symptoms of postnatal depression and anxiety. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, perceived usefulness, and preliminary effectiveness of an m-Health version of "What Were We Thinking?" (m-WWWT). METHODS: A mixed-methods with a 2-arm randomized parallel design was used. From a total of 477 women, 157 met the inclusion criteria. 128 first-time mothers of full-term infants, aged 4-10 weeks, who received health care at primary public health centers in Chile, were randomly assigned to the experimental (EG, n = 65) or control (CG, n = 63) groups; data of 104 of them (53 and 51, respectively) was analyzed. We used percentages and rates to measure feasibility outcomes and mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) and latent class analyses (LCA) to assess preliminary effectiveness. Participants completed questionnaires on mental health, social support, and maternal self-efficacy upon recruitment and 3 months after completing the intervention. For the qualitative component, 12 women from the EG were interviewed. RESULTS: Quantitative results show good feasibility outcomes, such as high recruitment (82%), low attrition (EG = 12% and CG = 17%), and high follow-up (EG = 97% and CG = 91%) rates. Qualitative results indicate high acceptability and perceived usefulness of m-WWWT. Mixed ANOVA did not show significant differences between the groups (all p >.05). However, multinomial regression analysis in LCA showed that women with low baseline symptoms of depression and anxiety benefit from the intervention (B = 0.43, 95% confidence interval 1.09-2.16). CONCLUSION: m-WWWT is feasible to be implemented in Chile; future studies are needed to assess the intervention's effectiveness.

Survival of osseointegrated implants in head and neck cancer patients submitted to multimodal treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the survival rate in implants placement in irradiated and non-irradiated bone in patients undergoing head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. We focused on the consequences of the main complications, such as osteoradionecrosis and peri-implantitis. METHODS: An electronic search conducted by PRISMA protocol was performed. Full texts were carefully assessed, and data were assimilated into a tabular form for discussion and consensus among the expert panel. The quality assessment and the risk of bias are verified by Joanna Briggs Institute checklist (JBI) and The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) assessment tool. RESULTS: A total of 452 records were identified in the based on our PICOs strategy and after screening, 19 articles were included in the descriptive analysis of the review. Totaling 473 implants placed in irradiated and non-irradiated bone, and 31.6% of the patients were over 60 years of age. 57.9%) performed implant placement in a period of 12 months or more after the ending of radiotherapy. Only 5 studies had a follow-up period longer than 5 years after implant placement, of which three were used for the meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis of 5-year survival rate, analysis of implants in irradiated bone was assessed; a random effect model was used and a weighted proportion (PP) of 93.13% (95% CI: 87.20-99.06; p < 0.001), and in the 5-year survival rate, analysis of implants in non-irradiated bone was analysed; a fixed effect model was used and a weighted proportion (PP) of 98.52% survival (95% CI: 97.56-99.48, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Survival rates of implants placed in irradiated bone are clinically satisfactory after a follow-up of 5 years, with a fewer percentage than in implants placed in non-irradiated bone after metanalyses performed.

Telomerase RNA-based aptamers restore defective myelopoiesis in congenital neutropenic syndromes.

Telomerase RNA (TERC) has a noncanonical function in myelopoiesis binding to a consensus DNA binding sequence and attracting RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II), thus facilitating myeloid gene expression. The CR4/CR5 domain of TERC is known to play this role, since a mutation of this domain found in dyskeratosis congenita (DC) patients decreases its affinity for RNA Pol II, impairing its myelopoietic activity as a result. In this study, we report that two aptamers, short single-stranded oligonucleotides, based on the CR4/CR5 domain were able to increase myelopoiesis without affecting erythropoiesis in zebrafish. Mechanistically, the aptamers functioned as full terc; that is, they increased the expression of master myeloid genes, independently of endogenous terc, by interacting with RNA Pol II and with the terc-binding sequences of the regulatory regions of such genes, enforcing their transcription. Importantly, aptamers harboring the CR4/CR5 mutation that was found in DC patients failed to perform all these functions. The therapeutic potential of the aptamers for treating neutropenia was demonstrated in several preclinical models. The findings of this study have identified two potential therapeutic agents for DC and other neutropenic patients.

Listening efficiency in adult cochlear-implant users compared with normally-hearing controls at ecologically relevant signal-to-noise ratios.

Introduction: Due to having to work with an impoverished auditory signal, cochlear-implant (CI) users may experience reduced speech intelligibility and/or increased listening effort in real-world listening situations, compared to their normally-hearing (NH) peers. These two challenges to perception may be usefully integrated in a measure of listening efficiency: conceptually, the amount of accuracy achieved for a certain amount of effort expended. Methods: We describe a novel approach to quantifying listening efficiency based on the rate of evidence accumulation toward a correct response in a linear ballistic accumulator (LBA) model of choice decision-making. Estimation of this objective measure within a hierarchical Bayesian framework confers further benefits, including full quantification of uncertainty in parameter estimates. We applied this approach to examine the speech-in-noise performance of a group of 24 CI users (M age: 60.3, range: 20-84 years) and a group of 25 approximately age-matched NH controls (M age: 55.8, range: 20-79 years). In a laboratory experiment, participants listened to reverberant target sentences in cafeteria noise at ecologically relevant signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of +20, +10, and +4 dB SNR. Individual differences in cognition and self-reported listening experiences were also characterised by means of cognitive tests and hearing questionnaires. Results: At the group level, the CI group showed much lower listening efficiency than the NH group, even in favourable acoustic conditions. At the individual level, within the CI group (but not the NH group), higher listening efficiency was associated with better cognition (i.e., working-memory and linguistic-closure) and with more positive self-reported listening experiences, both in the laboratory and in daily life. Discussion: We argue that listening efficiency, measured using the approach described here, is: (i) conceptually well-motivated, in that it is theoretically impervious to differences in how individuals approach the speed-accuracy trade-off that is inherent to all perceptual decision making; and (ii) of practical utility, in that it is sensitive to differences in task demand, and to differences between groups, even when speech intelligibility remains at or near ceiling level. Further research is needed to explore the sensitivity and practical utility of this metric across diverse listening situations.

Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota and Epigenetic Markers in Obesity Development: Relationship between Ruminococcus, BMI, and MACROD2/SEL1L2 Methylation.

Changes in gut microbiota composition and in epigenetic mechanisms have been proposed to play important roles in energy homeostasis, and the onset and development of obesity. However, the crosstalk between epigenetic markers and the gut microbiome in obesity remains unclear. The main objective of this study was to establish a link between the gut microbiota and DNA methylation patterns in subjects with obesity by identifying differentially methylated DNA regions (DMRs) that could be potentially regulated by the gut microbiota. DNA methylation and bacterial DNA sequencing analysis were performed on 342 subjects with a BMI between 18 and 40 kg/m2. DNA methylation analyses identified a total of 2648 DMRs associated with BMI, while ten bacterial genera were associated with BMI. Interestingly, only the abundance of Ruminococcus was associated with one BMI-related DMR, which is located between the MACROD2/SEL1L2 genes. The Ruminococcus abundance negatively correlated with BMI, while the hypermethylated DMR was associated with reduced MACROD2 protein levels in serum. Additionally, the mediation test showed that 19% of the effect of Ruminococcus abundance on BMI is mediated by the methylation of the MACROD2/SEL1L2 DMR. These findings support the hypothesis that a crosstalk between gut microbiota and epigenetic markers may be contributing to obesity development.

Evolution of LPS recognition and signaling: The bony fish perspective.

Fish are the most diverse and successful group of vertebrate animals, with about 30,000 species. The study of fish immunity is of great importance for understanding the evolution of vertebrate immunity, as they are the first animals to show both innate and adaptive immune responses. Although fish immunity is similar to that of mammals, there are obvious differences, such as their dependence of ambient temperature, their poor antibody response, and lack of antibody switching and lymph nodes. In addition, several important differences have also been found between the innate immune responses of fish and mammals. Among these, we will discuss in this review the high resistance of fish to the toxic effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which can be explained by the absence of a Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4) ortholog in most fish species or by the inability of the Tlr4/Md2 (Myeloid differentiation 2) complex to recognize LPS, together with the presence of a negative regulator of the LPS signaling complex formed by the TLR-like molecule Rp105 (Radioprotective 105) and Md1. Taken together, these data support the idea that, although TLR4 and RP105 arose from a common ancestor to fish and tetrapods, the TLR4/MD2 receptor complex for LPS recognition arose after their divergence about 450 million years ago.

Association between maternal obesity, essential fatty acids and biomarkers of fetal liver function.

Maternal obesity and the imbalance in linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6, LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3, ALA) levels are related with hepatic disturbances in the offspring. However, whether these alterations are present during fetal life is not well understood. Obese and normal weight pregnant women were recruited to determine fatty acids (FAs) consumption, FAs profile (in maternal erythrocytes, placenta and neonatal very low-density lipoproteins VLDL) and biomarkers of fetal liver function, such as gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin, in umbilical cord blood. Stearic acid (C18:0, ST) was lower, and total n-3 FAs tended to be lower in umbilical cord VLDLs of obese women compared to controls. Independently of maternal obesity, GGT levels in umbilical cord blood was positively correlated with the LA content and negatively correlated with the ALA content in maternal erythrocytes. We conclude that maternal obesity and its imbalance of LA and ALA are associated with changes in biomarkers of fetal liver function.

Virtual screening and zebrafish models in tandem, for drug discovery and development.

INTRODUCTION: The combination of Virtual Screening (VS) techniques with in vivo screening in the zebrafish model is currently being used in tandem for drug development in a faster and more efficient way. AREAS COVERED: We review the different virtual screening techniques, the use of zebrafish as a vertebrate model for drug discovery and the synergy that exists between them. EXPERT OPINION: We highlight the advantages of combining virtual and zebrafish larvae screening for drug discovery. On the one hand, VS is a faster and cheaper tool for searching active compounds and possible candidates for therapy than in vivo screening when processing large compound libraries. On the other hand, zebrafish larvae form a vertebrate model that allows in vivo screening of large amounts of the compounds. Importantly, physiology and chemical response are mostly conserved between zebrafish and mammals. The availability of the transgenic and mutant zebrafish lines allows an analysis of a specific phenotype upon treatment, along with toxicity, off-target effect, side effects, and dosage. The advantages of VS, in vivo whole animal approach screening, and the screening combinations are also reviewed.

Zebrafish models of COVID-19.

Although COVID-19 has only recently appeared, research studies have already developed and implemented many animal models for deciphering the secrets of the disease and provided insights into the biology of SARS-CoV-2. However, there are several major factors that complicate the study of this virus in model organisms, such as the poor infectivity of clinical isolates of SARS-CoV-2 in some model species, and the absence of persistent infection, immunopathology, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and, in general, all the systemic complications which characterize COVID-19 clinically. Another important limitation is that SARS-CoV-2 mainly causes severe COVID-19 in older people with comorbidities, which represents a serious problem when attempting to use young and immunologically naïve laboratory animals in COVID-19 testing. We review here the main animal models developed so far to study COVID-19 and the unique advantages of the zebrafish model that may help to contribute to understand this disease, in particular to the identification and repurposing of drugs to treat COVID-19, to reveal the mechanism of action and side-effects of Spike-based vaccines, and to decipher the high susceptibility of aged people to COVID-19.

Relación de IMC con marcadores de inflamación y hemoglobina glicosilada en niños y jóvenes con diabetes mellitus 1 / Relationship of BMI with markers of inflammation and glycosylated hemoglobin in children and young adults with diabetes mellitus 1

La diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1) es una enfermedad autoinmune que genera dependencia exógena de insulina de forma permanente, presenta inflamación subclínica crónica lo que conlleva a una elevación de marcadores de inflamación como factor de necrosis tumoral alfa (TNF-α), proteína C reactiva (PCR) e interleuquina 6 (IL-6). OBJETIVO: determinar la relación entre el IMC sobre los marcadores de inflamación y el control metabólico en niños y jóvenes con DM1 entre 5 a 15 años de edad. METODOLOGÍA: Se realizó un estudio clínico, observacional, exploratorio. A partir de La recolección de datos de fichas clínicas y muestras de sangre en el Instituto de Investigaciones Materno Infantil (IDIMI) del Hospital San Borja Arriarán de la Universidad de Chile. Clasificación del estado nutricional utilizando datos registrados en ficha clínica. Marcadores de inflamación por medio de ELISA, hemoglobina glicosilada mediante métodos estándares. El análisis estadístico incluyó correlaciones mediante test de Spearman y diferencia de medias mediante test de Kruskal-Wallis seguido de post hoc Dunns. RESULTADOS: Un 30% de los pacientes con DM1 presentaron malnutrición por exceso. Al analizar la relación entre los niveles de marcadores inflamatorios y Hb glicosilada se observó la existencia de asociacion positiva entre usPCR y HbA1c (r= 0,30; p=0,0352) y entre IL-6 y HbA1c (r= - 0,038; p=0,0352). CONCLUSIONES: este estudio describe una posible asociación entre parámetros clásicos de inflamación con la hemoglobina glicosilada en las categorias de sobrepeso y obesidad en pacientes con DM1.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that generates permanent exogenous insulin dependence, accompanied by chronic subclinical inflammation that leads to an elevation of inflammation markers such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between BMI on markers of inflammation and metabolic control in children and young people with T1D between 5 and 15 years of age. METHODOLOGY: A clinical, observational and exploratory study was carried out, based on the collection of data from clinical records and blood samples of children and adolescents with DM1 at the Instituto de Investigaciones Materno Infantil (IDIMI) of the Hospital San Borja Arriarán of the Universidad de Chile. Nutritional status, levels of inflammation markers and glycosylated hemoglobin were determined by standardized methods. Statistical analysis included correlations by Spearman test and mean difference by Kruskal-Wallis test followed by post hoc Dunns test. RESULTS: A total of 56 patients with T1D were analyzed, 30% of whom presented excess malnutrition. Those children or adolescents with obesity presented significantly higher usPCR levels compared to underweight patients or patients at risk of malnutrition (p=0.039). In addition, HbA1c levels were determined which were negatively associated with usPCR (r= 0.30; p=0.0352) and IL-6 (r= - 0.038; p=0.0352) levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study points out that nutritional status is associated with usPCR levels, in agreement with what is described in the literature and shows a possible association between classical parameters of inflammation with glycosylated hemoglobin in children and adolescents with nutritional diagnosis of overweight or obesity.

Diagnóstico nutricional y neurológico según antigüedad, nivel neurológico y tipo de lesión en paciente raquimedular

Introducción: La lesión medular (LM) es un problema médico contemporáneo caracterizado por datos insuficientes sobre prevalencia y debilidad de modelización en metodología. Objetivo: Establecer las interrelaciones del estado nutricional y la condición neurológica-funcional con signos clínicos: tiempo y tipo de lesión, nivel de lesión y severidad del trauma raquimedular dorso lumbar. Material y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal de 102 pacientes con trauma raquimedular al ingreso, 85 hombres y 17 mujeres (febrero 2016 - enero de 2020, CIREN) La Habana, Cuba. Se realizó evaluación nutricional, neurológica (nivel, grado y severidad de lesión) mediante escalas ASIA, Independencia SCIM-III e índice de Barthel. Se obtienen medias, desviación estándar, error estándar y análisis de varianza para distribuciones normales. Se utilizó SPSS versión 26. Resultados: La edad promedio fue 29,7 ± 8,1 años. La antigüedad del trauma fue 3,1 ± 1,4 años. La lesión raquimedular ocurrió en 50,6 % del segmento T7- L3 en pacientes con lesión completa. Hubo deficiencia energética crónica (4,9 %), según Índice de Masa Corporal; el 50,6 % fueron ≥ 22 kg/m2, según criterio de riesgo de Nash. El 73,5 % clasificaban en escala A de ASIA. La correlación entre Catz y Barthel demostró asociación significativa (p< 0,01). La disminución de masa muscular, área muscular del brazo, reflectividad y sensibilidad es significativa según antigüedad, tipo, nivel y severidad de lesiones (p< 0,05). Se discute debilidad metodológica de estimaciones para masa muscular esquelética. Conclusiones: Se caracterizan antigüedad de lesión, tono muscular y nivel neurológico de lesión medular como condicionantes interactivos del diagnóstico.

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a contemporary medical problem characterized by insufficient data on prevalence and weak modelling methodology. Objective: To establish nutritional status and neurological-functional condition interrelationships with clinical signs: time and type of injury, level of injury and severity of dorsal lumbar spinal cord injury. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 102 patients with spinal cord trauma on admission (85 men and 17 women) was conducted from February 2016 to January 2020, in CIREN, Havana, Cuba. Nutritional and neurological assessment (level, degree and severity of injury) was performed using ASIA scales, SCIM-III Independence, and Barthel index. Means, standard deviation, standard error and analysis of variance for normal distributions were obtained. SPSS version 26 was used. Results: The mean age was 29.7 ± 8.1 years. The age of trauma was 3.1 ± 1.4 years. Spinal cord injury occurred in 50.6 % of the T7- L3 segment in patients with complete injury. There was chronic energy deficiency (4.9 %), according to Body Mass Index; 50.6 % were ≥22 kg/m2, according to Nash risk criteria. In addition, 73.5 % were classified on the ASIA A scale. The correlation between Catz and Barthel showed a significant association (p< 0.01). The decrease in muscle mass, arm muscle area, reflectivity and sensitivity were significant according to age, type, level and severity of injury (p< 0.05). Methodological weakness of estimates for skeletal muscle mass is discussed. Conclusions: Time of injury, muscle tone and neurological level of spinal cord injury are characterized as interactive determinants of the diagnosis.

Validación de contenido y fiabilidad del instrumento "Conocimiento, actitud y comportamiento sobre hidratación y reposición de líquidos", en deportistas chilenos

Introducción: Existen estrategias direccionadas a mejorar el rendimiento de los deportistas, algunas estableciendo recomendaciones respecto a la hidratación y reposición de líquidos, con el propósito de asegurar un balance hídrico adecuado en todas las etapas de la práctica deportiva. Sin embargo, existe una carencia de instrumentos adecuados y confiables que permitan explorar esta temática. Objetivo: La presente investigación tiene como objetivo validar por contenido y evaluar la fiabilidad del instrumento "Conocimiento, actitud y comportamiento respecto a la hidratación y reposición de líquidos" en deportistas adolescentes y adultos jóvenes en Chile. Métodos: La adaptación cultural se realizó a través del método Delphi con un panel de expertos en el área, para la evaluación de la fiabilidad se aplicó el cuestionario de manera online a una muestra de 384 deportistas de diferentes disciplinas en dos oportunidades para determinar la estabilidad temporal. Resultados: Todos los ítems lograron porcentajes de acuerdo superior al 80% según el estadístico V de Aiken, en relación con la fiabilidad se obtuvo un Alfa de Cronbach de 0,78 lo que evidencia una consistencia interna aceptable, adicionalmente se obtuvo un Coeficiente de Correlación intraclase de 0,64 entre las dos aplicaciones del cuestionario presentando una fiabilidad regular a buena. Conclusión: Este cuestionario puede ser empleado como una herramienta confiable para ser utilizada en futuras investigaciones en el área de la nutrición deportiva, además como un instrumento que aporta al quehacer de distintos profesionales para apoyar a planificar y evaluar estrategias que propendan al mejoramiento del rendimiento deportivo.

Introduction: There are strategies aimed at improving the performance of athletes, some of which establish recommendations regarding hydration and fluid replacement, with the purpose of ensuring an adequate water balance at all stages of sports practice. However, there is a lack of adequate and reliable instruments to explore this issue. Objective: The present research aims to validate the content and evaluate the reliability of the instrument "Knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding hydration and fluid replacement" among adolescent and young adult athletes in Chile. Methods: The cultural adaptation was carried out through the Delphi method with a panel of experts in the area. For the evaluation of reliability, the questionnaire was applied online to a sample of 384 athletes from different disciplines on two occasions to determine temporal stability. Results: All items achieved percentages of agreement higher than 80% according to Aiken's V statistic, in relation to reliability a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.78 was obtained, which shows an acceptable internal consistency, additionally an intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.64 was obtained between the two applications of the questionnaire presenting a regular to good reliability. Conclusion: This questionnaire can be used as a reliable tool for future research around sports nutrition, as well as an instrument that contributes to the work of different professionals to support the planning and evaluation of strategies aimed at improving sports performance.

Online intervention to prevent postnatal depression and anxiety in Chilean new mothers: Protocol for a feasibility trial.

Symptoms of postpartum depression and anxiety in new mothers are prevalent and negatively impact maternal emotional wellbeing and infant development. Barriers to accessing treatment prevent women from receiving mental health care, a situation that has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. mHealth interventions hold the potential to support women during the transition to parenthood despite these barriers and to promote the use of preventive interventions. This study uses a mixed methods design to assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a psychoeducational, guided mHealth intervention to prevent postpartum mental health difficulties in women who receive care in primary health centers in Chile. The study will contribute to evidence-based research on the effectiveness of mHealth interventions for new mothers from an understudied cultural background. The findings will also enable the development of a larger randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, which, if effective, could significantly contribute to the emotional wellbeing of women and their families.

Senescence-Independent Anti-Inflammatory Activity of the Senolytic Drugs Dasatinib, Navitoclax, and Venetoclax in Zebrafish Models of Chronic Inflammation.

Telomere shortening is the main molecular mechanism of aging, but not the only one. The adaptive immune system also ages, and older organisms tend to develop a chronic pro-inflammatory status with low-grade inflammation characterized by chronic activation of the innate immune system, called inflammaging. One of the main stimuli that fuels inflammaging is a high nutrient intake, triggering a metabolic inflammation process called metainflammation. In this study, we report the anti-inflammatory activity of several senolytic drugs in the context of chronic inflammation, by using two different zebrafish models: (i) a chronic skin inflammation model with a hypomorphic mutation in spint1a, the gene encoding the serine protease inhibitor, kunitz-type, 1a (also known as hai1a) and (ii) a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH) model with inflammation induced by a high-fat diet. Our results show that, although these models do not manifest premature aging, the senolytic drugs dasatinib, navitoclax, and venetoclax have an anti-inflammatory effect that results in the amelioration of chronic inflammation.

A comparison of Covid-19 early detection between convolutional neural networks and radiologists.

BACKGROUND: The role of chest radiography in COVID-19 disease has changed since the beginning of the pandemic from a diagnostic tool when microbiological resources were scarce to a different one focused on detecting and monitoring COVID-19 lung involvement. Using chest radiographs, early detection of the disease is still helpful in resource-poor environments. However, the sensitivity of a chest radiograph for diagnosing COVID-19 is modest, even for expert radiologists. In this paper, the performance of a deep learning algorithm on the first clinical encounter is evaluated and compared with a group of radiologists with different years of experience. METHODS: The algorithm uses an ensemble of four deep convolutional networks, Ensemble4Covid, trained to detect COVID-19 on frontal chest radiographs. The algorithm was tested using images from the first clinical encounter of positive and negative cases. Its performance was compared with five radiologists on a smaller test subset of patients. The algorithm's performance was also validated using the public dataset COVIDx. RESULTS: Compared to the consensus of five radiologists, the Ensemble4Covid model achieved an AUC of 0.85, whereas the radiologists achieved an AUC of 0.71. Compared with other state-of-the-art models, the performance of a single model of our ensemble achieved nonsignificant differences in the public dataset COVIDx. CONCLUSION: The results show that the use of images from the first clinical encounter significantly drops the detection performance of COVID-19. The performance of our Ensemble4Covid under these challenging conditions is considerably higher compared to a consensus of five radiologists. Artificial intelligence can be used for the fast diagnosis of COVID-19.

Rodent models in placental research. Implications for fetal origins of adult disease.

Rodent models in rats, mice, and guinea pigs have been extremely helpful to gain insight into pregnancy physiology and pathologies-related. Moreover, they have allowed understanding the mechanism that links an adverse intrauterine environment with the origin of adult disease. In this regard, the effects of diverse maternal conditions, such as undernutrition, obesity, hypoxia, and hyperandrogenism on placental function and its long-term consequences for the offspring, have been widely analyzed through rodents models involving dietary manipulations, modifications in environmental oxygen, surgical and pharmacological procedures that reduce uteroplacental blood flow and administrations of exogenous testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) mimicking maternal androgen excess. Both in human and in rodent models, these interventions induce modifications of placental morphology, transport of glucose, amino acid, and fatty acids, steroid synthesis, and signaling pathways control placental function. These changes are associated with the increase of pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. For its part, offspring exhibit alterations in organs involved in metabolic control such as the hypothalamus, adipose tissue, liver, skeletal muscle, and pancreas altering the intake and preferences for certain foods, the metabolism of glucose and lipid, and hormonal function leading to fat accumulation, insulin resistance, fatty liver, dyslipidemia, and elevated glucose levels. Therefore, the present review discusses the evidence emerging from rodent models that relate maternal nutrition, hypoxia, and androgen exposure to the maternal mechanisms that lead to fetal programming and their metabolic consequences in postnatal life.

Perceived Listening Difficulties of Adult Cochlear-Implant Users Under Measures Introduced to Combat the Spread of COVID-19.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, public-health measures introduced to stem the spread of the disease caused profound changes to patterns of daily-life communication. This paper presents the results of an online survey conducted to document adult cochlear-implant (CI) users' perceived listening difficulties under four communication scenarios commonly experienced during the pandemic, specifically when talking: with someone wearing a facemask, under social/physical distancing guidelines, via telephone, and via video call. Results from ninety-four respondents indicated that people considered their in-person listening experiences in some common everyday scenarios to have been significantly worsened by the introduction of mask-wearing and physical distancing. Participants reported experiencing an array of listening difficulties, including reduced speech intelligibility and increased listening effort, which resulted in many people actively avoiding certain communication scenarios at least some of the time. Participants also found listening effortful during remote communication, which became rapidly more prevalent following the outbreak of the pandemic. Potential solutions identified by participants to ease the burden of everyday listening with a CI may have applicability beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the results emphasized the importance of visual cues, including lipreading and live speech-to-text transcriptions, to improve in-person and remote communication for people with a CI.

Post-Traumatic Surgical Emphysema and Sialocele with Fistula Following Knife Wounds to the Head and Neck of a 30-Year-Old Woman.

BACKGROUND Trauma to the left submandibular gland is an infrequent entity, with only a few cases reported in the literature. Recommended management consists of excision of the gland if trauma is suspected; if trauma is not clearly identified during the surgical exploration and the gland is not removed, post-traumatic complications such as fistula or sialocele may occur. In such cases, conservative measures including aspiration, pressure bandages, and anti-sialogogues are the first step of treatment and surgical excision is reserved for unsuccessful cases. CASE REPORT This report describes a case of post-traumatic surgical emphysema and sialocele with fistula following knife wounds to the head and neck of a 30-year-old woman. The patient had an incised wound to the left submandibular gland. Subsequently, a painful slow-growing mass developed and the diagnosis of sialocele was considered. Confirmation of this diagnosis was achieved by performing a fine-needle aspiration, which revealed a high amylase level within the collection. Afterwards, pressure bandages were applied and no recurrence of the sialocele was observed in imaging follow-up. CONCLUSIONS This report shows that although submandibular gland trauma is rare, it can lead to salivary fistula or sialocele. The diagnosis of sialocele can be confirmed by imaging combined with fine-needle aspiration and measurement of amylase levels in the aspirate. Identification of traumatic sialocele and fistula at an early stage will lead to the most appropriate management.