Development of a prediction nomogram model of recurrent febrile seizures in pediatric children.

The purpose of this study is to develop a prediction nomogram of recurrent febrile seizures in pediatric children based on the identified predictors for developing recurrent febrile seizures. This is a retrospective observational study. The medical records of 320 febrile seizure-afflicted children admitted to Zhoushan Women and Children Hospital from March 2019 to January 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. Children were divided into the recurrent febrile seizures group and the non-recurrent febrile seizures group. The predictors of recurrent febrile seizures were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses. A prediction nomogram model was developed via R software. The performance of the nomogram was internally validated to assess the model's discrimination and consistency, and decision curve analysis was employed to assess clinical utility. There were 41 out of 320 cases that had recurrent febrile seizures during the observation period, with a 12.81% prevalence rate of recurrent febrile seizures. The predictors of recurrent febrile seizures were young age at the first febrile seizures, a family history of febrile seizures in a first-degree relative, diurnal variation of initial febrile seizures occurrence, gender, and a low level of C-reactive protein. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the nomogram is 0.795 (95% confidence interval: 0.720-0.871). Calibration plots and the result of the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (P = 0.472) reveal satisfactory consistency. Decision curve analysis showed a significant net benefit of the nomogram. CONCLUSIONS: The prediction nomogram model demonstrates good performance and clinical utility, which would be a convenient tool for the detection of children in pediatrics with high-risk recurrent febrile seizures. It is useful for pediatric medical staff to provide early medical interventions and family counseling. WHAT IS KNOWN: • A proportion of children experience recurrences of febrile seizures. • Recognition of risk factors for recurrent FS in pediatrics would be useful for the prediction of risk probabilities and help provide tailored counseling and follow-up. WHAT IS NEW: • A nomogram model is developed for risk prediction of recurrent febrile seizures in this study, which would be a convenient risk prediction tool in pediatrics. • The predictor of diurnal variation of recurrent febrile seizures is with new ideas.

Systemic immune dysregulation in severe tuberculosis patients revealed by a single-cell transcriptome atlas.

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, is currently the deadliest infectious disease in human that can evolve to severe forms. A comprehensive immune landscape for Mtb infection is critical for achieving TB cure, especially for severe TB patients. We performed single-cell RNA transcriptome and T-cell/B-cell receptor (TCR/BCR) sequencing of 213,358 cells from 27 samples, including 6 healthy donors and 21 active TB patients with varying severity (6 mild, 6 moderate and 9 severe cases). Two published profiles of latent TB infection were integrated for the analysis. We observed an obviously elevated proportion of inflammatory immune cells (e.g., monocytes), as well as a markedly decreased abundance of various lymphocytes (e.g., NK and γδT cells) in severe patients, revealing that lymphopenia might be a prominent feature of severe disease. Further analyses indicated that significant activation of cell apoptosis pathways, including perforin/granzyme-, TNF-, FAS- and XAF1-induced apoptosis, as well as cell migration pathways might confer this reduction. The immune landscape in severe patients was characterized by widespread immune exhaustion in Th1, CD8+T and NK cells as well as high cytotoxic state in CD8+T and NK cells. We also discovered that myeloid cells in severe TB patients may involve in the immune paralysis. Systemic upregulation of S100A12 and TNFSF13B, mainly by monocytes in the peripheral blood, may contribute to the inflammatory cytokine storms in severe patients. Our data offered a rich resource for understanding of TB immunopathogenesis and designing effective therapeutic strategies for TB, especially for severe patients.

The development of a nomogram model for the individualized prediction of diaper dermatitis risk in pediatric hospitalized children aged 1-36 months.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To develop a nomogram model for individualized prediction of diaper dermatitis in pediatric hospitalized infants and toddlers aged 1-36 months. BACKGROUND: Diaper dermatitis is a common skin health problem in pediatrics, which brings pain and discomfort to the child. However, there is a scarcity of risk prediction tools for diaper dermatitis in infants and toddlers hospitalized in pediatrics. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: 210 cases each for caregivers and hospitalized children aged 1-36 months were selected as the research objects. A prediction nomogram model was established based on the risk factors according to the results of univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The predictive performance of the nomogram model was evaluated by discrimination and calibration. The clinical utility of the model was evaluated by decision curve analysis. This study was reported using the TRIPOD checklist. RESULTS: 41 hospitalized children with diaper dermatitis with a prevalence of 19.52%. The risk factors included: age in months, diarrhea, history of diaper dermatitis, without prophylactic application of buttock protection products, frequency of diaper change per day ≤6.6 times, and the level of caregivers' knowledge of infantile diaper dermatitis. The results showed that the C-index of the nomogram model was 0.891(95% CI: 0.832, 0.950), the calibration curve manifested a satisfactory consistency, and the net benefit was satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram has a good predictive ability and satisfactory clinical utility, which is useful for pediatric medical staff screening high-risk patients with diaper dermatitis. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The prediction nomogram model can help pediatric medical staff to calculate the risk probability of diaper dermatitis in pediatrics, formulate interventions timely, and optimize pediatric DD standardized care protocols. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: the children's caregivers enrolled in this study only for the data collection.

Correlation of periodontal diseases with intracranial aneurysm formation: novel predictive indicators.

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether periodontal diseases, specifically, periodontitis and gingivitis, could be risk factors of the incidence of intracranial aneurysms (IAs). METHODS: We performed a case-control study to compare the differences in the periodontal disease parameters of 281 cases that were divided into the IAs group and non-IAs group. All cases underwent complete radiographic examination for IAs and examination for periodontal health. RESULTS: Comparing with those in the non-IAs group, the cases in the IAs group were older (53.95 ± 8.56 vs 47.79 ± 12.33, p < 0.001) and had a higher incidence of hypertension (76 vs 34, p = 0.006). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age (> 50 years) and hypertension were predictive risk factors of aneurysm formation (odds ratio [OR] 1.047, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.022-1.073, p < 0.001 and OR 2.047, 95% CI 1.232-3.401, p = 0.006). In addition, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the parameters of periodontal diseases, including gingival index, plaque index, clinical attachment loss, and alveolar bone loss, were significantly associated with the occurrence of IAs (all p < 0.05). For further statistical investigation, the parameters of periodontal diseases were divided into four layers based on the quartered data. Poorer periodontal health condition (especially gingival index > 1.1 and plaque index > 1.5) had the correlation with IAs formation (p = 0.007 and p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Severe gingivitis or periodontitis, combining with hypertension, is significantly associated with the incidence of IAs.

Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of the GeneXpert Ultra and cell-free nucleic acid assay for tuberculous meningitis: A multicentre prospective study.

DESIGN: A prospective multicentre study was conducted to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert Ultra) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) assay for tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in China. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted among individuals with symptoms suggestive of TBM registered in three TB specialised hospitals in China between June 2018 and January 2019. RESULTS: Overall, 84 patients suggestive of TBM were included in this analysis between June 2018 and January 2019. Using microbiological evidence as reference, the sensitivity/specificity for the diagnostic tests were Xpert Ultra 93.3%/100%, cfDNA 93.3%/92.6% and mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) culture 13.3%/100%. In addition, the sensitivity of culture was 6.7% when using clinical diagnosis criteria as the gold standard. Xpert Ultra correctly identified 28 cases as TBM, indicating a sensitivity of 46.7%. Notably, four additional TBM cases were detected by cfDNA compared with Xpert Ultra, yielding an overall sensitivity of 53.3%. Statistical analysis revealed that the sensitivity of Xpert Ultra and cfDNA was significantly higher than that of culture. CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate that Xpert Ultra and cfDNA assay showed optimal sensitivity compared with MGIT culture. In addition, there was no significant correlation between bacterial load and TBM severity in the participants.

Synthesis and structure of an extremely air-stable binuclear hafnocene perfluorooctanesulfonate complex and its use in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions.

Stable complexes: An extremely air-stable mu(2)-hydroxy-bridged binuclear hafonocene perfluorooctanesulfoante complex shows high catalytic efficiency in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, such as esterification, Friedel-Crafts acylation, the Mukaiyama aldol reation, and the allylation of aldehyde (see scheme).An extremely air-stable mu(2)-hydroxy-bridged binuclear hafonocene perfluorooctanesulfoante complex was successfully synthesized. This complex showed high catalytic efficiency in the esterification of alcohols, phenol, thiol, and amines, in the Friedel-Crafts acylation of alylaryl ethers, in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction, and in the allylation of aldehydes and could be reused.

Synthesis and structure of air-stable Lewis acidic binuclear complex of zirconocene pentafluorophenylsulfonate and its catalytic application in the allylation of carbonyl compounds with tetraallyltin.

Air-stable Lewis acidic micro2-hydroxy bridged binuclear complex of zirconocene pentafluorophenylsulfonate was successfully synthesized and found to show high catalytic efficiency in chemoselective allylation of carbonyl compounds with tetraallyltin in aqueous methanol media.