Aspergillus-specific IgG antibodies for diagnosing chronic pulmonary aspergillosis compared to the reference standard.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the performance of Aspergillus-specific IgG antibodies for diagnosing chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) by using a cohort of patients with histologically proven CPA as a reference standard. METHODS: We collected Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody titres from patients with histologically proven CPA in collaboration with CPAnet study sites in Denmark, Germany, Belgium, India, Moldova, and Pakistan (N = 47). Additionally, sera from diseased and healthy controls were prospectively collected at the Medical Clinic of the Research Center, Borstel, Germany (n = 303). Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody titres were measured by the ImmunoCAP® assay (Phadia 100, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Uppsala, Sweden). An Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody titre ≥50 mgA/L was considered positive. RESULTS: Using patients with histologically proven CPA as the reference standard, the ImmunoCAP® Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody test had a sensitivity and specificity of 85.1% (95% CI: 71.7-93.8%) and 83.6% (95% CI: 78.0-88.3%), respectively. Patients with histologically proven CPA had significantly higher Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody titre with a median of 83.45 mgA/L (interquartile range 38.9-115.5) than all other cohorts (p < 0.001). False-positive test results occurred in one-third of 79 healthy controls. DISCUSSION: Our study results confirm a high sensitivity of the Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody test for the diagnosis of CPA when using patients with histologically proven CPA as a reference standard. However, positive test results should always match radiological findings as false-positive test results limit the interpretation of the test.

Biological Control Potential of Endophytic Fungi with Amelioration of Systemic Resistance in Sunflower and GC-MS Metabolic Profiling of Talaromyces assiutensis.

Endophytic fungi live inside plant tissues but do not cause any disease. Several reports have now revealed that they have great influence on host. In this study, the beneficial role of endophytic fungi is highlighted and explored. Endophytic fungi isolated from healthy plants were identified as Aspergillus terreus, Curvularia lunata, C. hawaiiensis, Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium solani, Talaromyces assiutensis, and T. trachyspermus using 18S rRNA gene sequencing. In vitro, fungi evaluated for antimicrobial activity, showed significant activity. These fungi were tested in field application by exploring their broad spectrum. Talaromyces assiutensis and T. trachyspermus were applied in pots and field plot experiments using sunflower as test plants, along with endophytic Cephalosporium sp., and Chaetomium sp. Endophytic fungi showed significant activity against root rot pathogens affecting sunflower and improved plant biomass. They also improved production of plant defense biochemical markers (polyphenolic content and salicylic acid) with improvement in antioxidant potential. These fungi are used as biological control agents, so their culture filtrates are used to check the presence of metabolites by GC-MS. Several new compounds were isolated from T. assiutensis. The major bioactive compounds are Coumarin, 3,4-dihydro-6-methoxy-4,4-dimethyl, 1-Monolinoleoylglycerol trimethylsilyl ether, 1,2-Propanediol, 3-(octadecyloxy), Ethyl iso-allocholate, and 1H-Pyrazole, which possess antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial, anticancer, and antimicrobial properties. These findings will lead to further in-depth research toward the potential use of these endophytic fungi for their possible use in agriculture and drug formation.

Efficacy and safety of rituximab in patients with multiple sclerosis: An observational study at a tertiary center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of rituximab for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment in terms of reduction in clinical relapses, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score and adverse events. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at King Abdullah Medical City, from January 2017 to August 2021, involving patients with MS given rituximab, with 1-year follow-up. Clinical parameters were noted pre- and post-treatment to determine efficacy; adverse events were noted to analyze safety. A paired samples t-test was used to compare responses pre- and post-treatment. A p-value<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Among 31 patients, 6 (19.4%) had progressive MS, and 25 (80.6%) had relapsing-remitting MS (mean disease duration=8.12±5.65 years). The annual relapse rate reduced from 1.67±0.97 to 0.06±0.25 (p<0.001), the EDSS score from 3.16±2.14 to 2.80±2.28 (p=0.141) and the MRI activity score from 1.84±1.03 to 1.03±0.18 (p<0.001). Only one patient had enhancing lesion activity post-treatment. The commonest side effect was urinary tract infection (25.8%). Only 2 patients discontinued the drug. CONCLUSION: Rituximab is an efficient drug in reducing the annual relapse rate and MRI activity of patients with MS, with few tolerable side effects not leading to drug discontinuation or any lethal outcome.

Wireless E-Nose Sensors to Detect Volatile Organic Gases through Multivariate Analysis.

Gas sensors are critical components when adhering to health safety and environmental policies in various manufacturing industries, such as the petroleum and oil industry; scent and makeup production; food and beverage manufacturing; chemical engineering; pollution monitoring. In recent times, gas sensors have been introduced to medical diagnostics, bioprocesses, and plant disease diagnosis processes. There could be an adverse impact on human health due to the mixture of various gases (e.g., acetone (A), ethanol (E), propane (P)) that vent out from industrial areas. Therefore, it is important to accurately detect and differentiate such gases. Towards this goal, this paper presents a novel electronic nose (e-nose) detection method to classify various explosive gases. To detect explosive gases, metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors are used as reliable tools to detect such volatile gases. The data received from MOS sensors are processed through a multivariate analysis technique to classify different categories of gases. Multivariate analysis was done using three variants-differential, relative, and fractional analyses-in principal components analysis (PCA). The MOS sensors also have three different designs: loading design, notch design, and Bi design. The proposed MOS sensor-based e-nose accurately detects and classifies three different gases, which indicates the reliability and practicality of the developed system. The developed system enables discrimination of these gases from the mixture. Based on the results from the proposed system, authorities can take preventive measures to deal with these gases to avoid their potential adverse impacts on employee health.

Mental Health Service Provision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

This article discusses the provision of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a view to understanding the cultural dynamics-how the challenges they pose can be addressed and the opportunities harnessed in specific cultural contexts. The article highlights the need for prioritisation of mental health services by incorporating local population and cultural needs. This can be achieved only through political will and strengthened legislation, improved resource allocation and strategic organisation, integrated packages of care underpinned by professional communication and training, and involvement of patients, informal carers, and the wider community in a therapeutic capacity.

An investigation of wall effects in microwave-assisted ring-closing metathesis and cyclotrimerization reactions.

Challenging Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis transformations leading to eight-membered-ring systems and Ni- or Co-catalyzed [2+2+2] cyclotrimerizations were evaluated at elevated temperatures applying microwave dielectric heating or conventional thermal heating in order to investigate the role of wall effects. All reactions were conducted in a dedicated reactor setup that allowed accurate internal reaction temperature measurements using fiber-optic probes for both types of heating modes. For ring-closing metathesis best results were achieved using an open vessel-gas sparging protocol in 1,2-dichloroethane at reflux temperature (83 degrees C), while cyclotrimerizations were performed under sealed vessel conditions in toluene between 80 and 160 degrees C. For all studied transformations the results achieved in a single-mode microwave reactor could be reproduced by conventional heating in an oil bath by carefully matching the temperature profiles as close as possible during the entire heating and cooling cycle. In contrast to previous literature reports, no evidence that direct in-core microwave heating can increase catalyst lifetime by minimization or elimination of wall effects was obtained. At the same time, no indication for the involvement of nonthermal microwave effects in these homogeneous transition metal-catalyzed transformations was seen.

Microwave-assisted cross-coupling and hydrogenation chemistry by using heterogeneous transition-metal catalysts: an evaluation of the role of selective catalyst heating.

The concept of specific microwave effects in solid/liquid catalytic processes resulting from the selective heating of a microwave-absorbing heterogeneous transition-metal catalyst by using 2.45 GHz microwave irradiation was evaluated. As model transformations Ni/C-, Cu/C-, Pd/C-, and Pd/Al2O3-catalyzed carbon-carbon/carbon-heteroatom cross-couplings and hydrogenation reactions were investigated. To probe the existence of specific microwave effects by means of selective catalyst heating in these transformations, control experiments comparing microwave dielectric heating and conventional thermal heating at the same reaction temperature were performed. Although the supported metal catalysts were experimentally found to be strongly microwave absorbing, for all chemistry examples investigated herein no differences in reaction rate or selectivity between microwave and conventional heating experiments under carefully controlled conditions were observed. This was true also for reactions that use low-absorbing or microwave transparent solvents, and was independent of the microwave absorbtivity of the catalyst support material. In the case of hydrogenation reactions, the stirring speed was found to be a critical factor on the mass transfer between gas and liquid phase, influencing the rate of the hydrogenation in both microwave and conventionally heated experiments.