Is Toxoplasma gondii infection a concern in individuals with rheumatic diseases? Evidence from a case-control study based on serological diagnosis.

Toxoplasma gondii infection in clinical cases of rheumatic diseases is increasing, whereas, the relationship between T. gondii infection and rheumatic diseases is still ambiguous and contradictory. Thus, the present case-control study based on serological diagnosis was carried out to identify the underlying relationship between T. gondii infection and rheumatic diseases in China. Serological results showed that rheumatic patients (17.25%, 79/458) had a significantly higher T. gondii seroprevalence than control subjects (10.70%, 49/458) (p = 0.004). However, the difference in T. gondii seroprevalence among clinical rheumatic disease forms was insignificant. Moreover, disease duration not effect the T. gondii seroprevalence in the included clinical rheumatic patients. Three risk factors (presence of cats at home, blood transfusion history, and consumption of raw shellfish) were identified through multivariate analysis to affect the T. gondii seroprevalence in the included clinical rheumatic patients. In conclusion, these results indicate that the latent T. gondii infection in clinical rheumatic patients should cause alarm and attention in the course of future scientific research or clinical treatment.

Evaluation of chiral triticonazole in three kinds of fruits: enantioseparation, degradation, and dietary risk assessment.

The enantioselective behaviors of chiral pesticides would affect the accuracy of risk assessment. This study evaluated the enantioselectivity of chiral triticonazole (a widely used fungicide) in three kinds of fruits. Firstly, the enantioseparation of triticonazole enantiomers was carried out within 1.2 min utilizing CHIRALPAK OJ-3 column with a mixture of CO2 and methanol (93:7, v/v) using SFC-MS/MS. Secondly, field trials were conducted to clarify the enantioselective degradation and residue of S-( +)-triticonazole and R-(-)-triticonazole in fruits. The initial concentrations of rac-triticonazole were 25.1-93.1 ng/g, and enantioselective degradation was observed in pear, peach, and jujube after 2 h, 10 days, and 3 days, respectively. The degradation of S-( +)-triticonazole was fastest in pear (T1/2, 2.01 days), while the T1/2 of R-(-)-triticonazole was 5.02 days. The residue concentrations of rac-triticonazole were less than the MRL set by EU (10 ng/g) on the 3rd and 21st day in pear and peach, respectively, which were lower than 10 ng/g in jujube on the 30th day (no MRL). Finally, we found that the dietary intake risks of rac-triticonazole in fruits were low for 2-7 age, 20-50 age/female, and 20-50 age/male. The current study could provide complimentary references for the rational usage, MRL formulation, and risk assessment of chiral triticonazole.

Incorporating clinical parameters to improve the accuracy of angiography-derived computed fractional flow reserve.

Aims: Angiography-derived fractional flow reserve (angio-FFR) permits physiological lesion assessment without the need for an invasive pressure wire or induction of hyperaemia. However, accuracy is limited by assumptions made when defining the distal boundary, namely coronary microvascular resistance (CMVR). We sought to determine whether machine learning (ML) techniques could provide a patient-specific estimate of CMVR and therefore improve the accuracy of angio-FFR. Methods and results: Patients with chronic coronary syndromes underwent coronary angiography with FFR assessment. Vessel-specific CMVR was computed using a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation with invasively measured proximal and distal pressures applied as boundary conditions. Predictive models were created using non-linear autoregressive moving average with exogenous input (NARMAX) modelling with computed CMVR as the dependent variable. Angio-FFR (VIRTUheart™) was computed using previously described methods. Three simulations were run: using a generic CMVR value (Model A); using ML-predicted CMVR based upon simple clinical data (Model B); and using ML-predicted CMVR also incorporating echocardiographic data (Model C). The diagnostic (FFR ≤ or >0.80) and absolute accuracies of these models were compared. Eighty-four patients underwent coronary angiography with FFR assessment in 157 vessels. The mean measured FFR was 0.79 (±0.15). The diagnostic and absolute accuracies of each personalized model were: (A) 73% and ±0.10; (B) 81% and ±0.07; and (C) 89% and ±0.05, P < 0.001. Conclusion: The accuracy of angio-FFR was dependent in part upon CMVR estimation. Personalization of CMVR from standard clinical data resulted in a significant reduction in angio-FFR error.

Enantioselective Dissipation, Residue, and Risk Assessment of Diniconazole Enantiomers in Four Kinds of Fruits.

Chiral diniconazole is a widely used triazole fungicide, while its enantioselective behaviors in fruits have not been reported. In this article, the absolute configuration was confirmed. A fast supercritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SFC-MS/MS) method was developed for the chiral separation and enantioselective study of diniconazole in four kinds of fruits. The residual concentrations gradually decreased with time in four kinds of fruits after applying diniconazole. The dissipation half-lives of R-diniconazole and S-diniconazole were in the range of 5.3-7.9 and 2.5-7.1 days respectively, and S-diniconazole was degraded preferentially. The residue concentrations were lower than the EU's MRL (0.01 mg/kg) on the 40th (harvest time), 30th, and 10th day in pear, jujube, and apple, respectively. But, in peach, residue concentrations were still higher than the MRL after 60 days and the ratio of R/S was 2.2. These results could be helpful for the reasonable use and risk assessment of chiral diniconazole.

Nonlinear Modeling of Cortical Responses to Mechanical Wrist Perturbations Using the NARMAX Method.

OBJECTIVE: Nonlinear modeling of cortical responses (EEG) to wrist perturbations allows for the quantification of cortical sensorimotor function in healthy and neurologically impaired individuals. A common model structure reflecting key characteristics shared across healthy individuals may provide a reference for future clinical studies investigating abnormal cortical responses associated with sensorimotor impairments. Thus, the goal of our study is to identify this common model structure and therefore to build a nonlinear dynamic model of cortical responses, using nonlinear autoregressive-moving-average model with exogenous inputs (NARMAX). METHODS: EEG was recorded from ten participants when receiving continuous wrist perturbations. A common model structure detection method was developed for identifying a common NARMAX model structure across all participants, with individualized parameter values. The results were compared to conventional subject-specific models. RESULTS: The proposed method achieved 93.91% variance accounted for (VAF) when implementing a one-step-ahead prediction and around 50% VAF for a k-step ahead prediction (k = 3), without a substantial drop of VAF as compare to subject-specific models. The estimated common structure suggests that the measured cortical response is a mixed outcome of the nonlinear transformation of external inputs and local neuronal interactions or inherent neuronal dynamics at the cortex. CONCLUSION: The proposed method well determined the common characteristics across subjects in the cortical responses to wrist perturbations. SIGNIFICANCE: It provides new insights into the human sensorimotor nervous system in response to somatosensory inputs and paves the way for future translational studies on assessments of sensorimotor impairments using our modeling approach.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in arthritis patients in eastern China.

BACKGROUND: There is accumulating evidence for an increased susceptibility to infection in patients with arthritis. We sought to understand the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in arthritis patients in eastern China, given the paucity of data on the magnitude of T. gondii infection in these patients. METHODS: Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a crude antigen of the parasite in 820 arthritic patients, and an equal number of healthy controls, from Qingdao and Weihai cities, eastern China. Sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle information on the study participants were also obtained. RESULTS: The prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG was significantly higher in arthritic patients (18.8%) compared with 12% in healthy controls (P < 0.001). Twelve patients with arthritis had anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies - comparable with 10 control patients (1.5% vs 1.2%). Demographic factors did not significantly influence these seroprevalence frequencies. The highest T. gondii infection seropositivity rate was detected in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (24.8%), followed by reactive arthritis (23.8%), osteoarthritis (19%), infectious arthritis (18.4%) and gouty arthritis (14.8%). Seroprevalence rates of rheumatoid arthritis and reactive arthritis were significantly higher when compared with controls (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). A significant association was detected between T. gondii infection and cats being present in the home in arthritic patients (odds ratio [OR], 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24 - 2.28; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with and extend previous results, providing further evidence to support a link between contact with cats and an increased risk of T. gondii infection. Our study is also the first to confirm an association between T. gondii infection and arthritis patients in China. Implications for better prevention and control of T. gondii infection in arthritis patients are discussed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This is an epidemiological survey, therefore trial registration was not required.