Fully automated deep learning models with smartphone applicability for prediction of pain using the Feline Grimace Scale

This study used deep neural networks and machine learning models to predict facial landmark positions and pain scores using the Feline Grimace Scale© (FGS). A total of 3447 face images of cats were annotated with 37 landmarks. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) were trained and selected according to size, prediction time, predictive performance (normalized root mean squared error, NRMSE) and suitability for smartphone technology. Geometric descriptors (n = 35) were computed. XGBoost models were trained and selected according to predictive performance (accuracy; mean square error, MSE). For prediction of facial landmarks, the best CNN model had NRMSE of 16.76% (ShuffleNetV2). For prediction of FGS scores, the best XGBoost model had accuracy of 95.5% and MSE of 0.0096. Models showed excellent predictive performance and accuracy to discriminate painful and non-painful cats. This technology can now be used for the development of an automated, smartphone application for acute pain assessment in cats.

Multimodal Biomarkers That Predict the Presence of Gleason Pattern 4: Potential Impact for Active Surveillance

PURPOSE

Latent grade group ≥2 prostate cancer can impact the performance of active surveillance protocols. To date, molecular biomarkers for active surveillance have relied solely on RNA or protein. We trained and independently validated multimodal (mRNA abundance, DNA methylation, and/or DNA copy number) biomarkers that more accurately separate grade group 1 from grade group ≥2 cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients were assigned to training (n=333) and validation (n=202) cohorts. We profiled the abundance of 342 mRNAs, 100 DNA copy number alteration loci, and 14 hypermethylation sites at 2 locations per tumor. Using the training cohort with cross-validation, we evaluated methods for training classifiers of pathological grade group ≥2 in centrally reviewed radical prostatectomies. We trained 2 distinct classifiers, PRONTO-e and PRONTO-m, and validated them in an independent radical prostatectomy cohort.

RESULTS

PRONTO-e comprises 353 mRNA and copy number alteration features. PRONTO-m includes 94 clinical, mRNAs, copy number alterations, and methylation features at 14 and 12 loci, respectively. In independent validation, PRONTO-e and PRONTO-m predicted grade group ≥2 with respective true-positive rates of 0.81 and 0.76, and false-positive rates of 0.43 and 0.26. Both classifiers were resistant to sampling error and identified more upgrading cases than a well-validated presurgical risk calculator, CAPRA (Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Two grade group classifiers with superior accuracy were developed by incorporating RNA and DNA features and validated in an independent cohort. Upon further validation in biopsy samples, classifiers with these performance characteristics could refine selection of men for active surveillance, extending their treatment-free survival and intervals between surveillance.

A MALDI-TOF MS database for fast identification of Vibrio spp. potentially pathogenic to marine mollusks

In mollusk aquaculture, a large number of Vibrio species are considered major pathogens. Conventional methods based on DNA amplification and sequencing used to accurately identify Vibrio species are unsuitable for monitoring programs because they are time-consuming and expensive. The aim of this study was, therefore, to develop the MALDI-TOF MS method in order to establish a rapid identification technique for a large panel of Vibrio species. We created the EnviBase containing 120 main spectra projections (MSP) of the Vibrio species that are potentially responsible for mollusk diseases, comprising 25 species: V. aestuarianus, V. cortegadensis, V. tapetis and species belonging to the Coralliilyticus, Harveyi, Mediterranei, and Orientalis clades. Each MSP was constructed by the merger of raw spectra obtained from three different media and generated by three collaborating laboratories to increase the diversity of the conditions and thus obtain a good technique robustness. Perfect discrimination was obtained with all of the MSP created for the Vibrio species and even for very closely related species as V. europaeus and V. bivalvicida. The new EnviBase library was validated through a blind test on 100 Vibrio strains performed by our three collaborators who used the direct transfer and protein extraction methods. The majority of the Vibrio strains were successfully identified with the newly created EnviBase by the three laboratories for both protocol methods. This study documents the first development of a freely accessible database exclusively devoted to Vibrio found in marine environments, taking into account the high diversity of this genus. KEY POINTS: • Development of a MALDI-TOF MS database to quickly affiliate Vibrio species. • Increase of the reactivity when faced with Vibrio associated with mollusk diseases. • Validation of MALDI-TOF MS as routine diagnostic tool.

P1838Thrombocytopenia under ECMO and Shear-induced shedding of platelet receptor Glycoprotein-(GP)Ialpha

Background

Several mechanisms are suspected to thrombocytopenia under Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) such as platelet-consumption or sepsis. Shedding of glycoprotein-(GP)Ibα is a recently identified mechanism of platelet clearance. ECMO generates high shear stress forces that could impact GPIbα-shedding. We hypothesized that ECMO continuous-flow devices could directly induce thrombocytopenia through shear-induced GPIbα-shedding.

Aims

Determine if ECMO induce GpIb-shedding in vitro and in vivo and determinates the kinetic evolution of platelet-count and GpIb-shedding after patient's implantation.

Methods

Platelet GPIbα-shedding was first investigated in vitro using a high-shear pump loop model. Plasma with normal platelet count (plasma-NPC) was obtained by dilution of platelet-rich plasma obtained from healthy donors in fresh-frozen-plasma. Samples were collected before and after (5, 30, 60 and 180 min) perfusion at 37°C of plasma-NPC at intermediate and high speed (2.6 and 3.6 L min–1 respectively, n=4 each). Platelet count and GPIbα-shedding were next investigated in 20 ECMO patients before/after implantation (WITECMO trial) and in 20 healthy volunteers. The geometric mean-fluorescence-intensity (gMFI) of platelet GPIbα (PE-staining) and GPIX (FITC-staining) was measured with a Navios flow cytometer (Beckman Coulter, Miami, FL). Results are expressed as GPIbα/GPIX gMFI-ratio.

Results

A significant time-dependent loss of GPIbα/GPIX gMFI-ratio was already apparent after 30 min in vitro and was significantly more pronounced at high-speed compared to intermediate-speed (pANOVA<0.001 and p<0.01 at 180 min respectively). GPIbα/GPIX gMFI-ratio was significantly increased in ECMO patients compared to healthy subjects 1- and 24-hour after implantation (p<0.001). A significantly lower platelet count was observed 1 hour after ECMO implantation (−23% vs baseline, p<0.01) with a further significant decrease at 24-hours (−53% vs baseline, p<0.0001).

Figure 1. A. Significant time-dependent loss of platelet GPIbα/GPIX gMFI-ratio (pANOVA <0.001) assessed by flow-cytometry after 30 min of perfusion at 3.6 L/min with a high-shear continuous-flow device in vitro. B. Representative experiment showing the apparition of a platelet sub-population with loss of GPIbα expression after 30 min of perfusion at 3.6 L/minwith a high-shear continuous-flow device in vitro.

Anti-proliferative effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from multiple sources on ovarian cancer cell lines: an in-vitro experimental study

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have surfaced as ideal candidates for treatment of different therapeutically challenging diseases however their effect on cancer cells is not well determined. In this study, we investigated the effect of MSCs derived from human bone marrow (BM), adipose tissue (AT), and umbilical cord derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) on ovarian cancer.Measurements of ovarian tumor marker proteins were computed by ELISA. Proliferative, apoptosis and anti-inflammatory effects of the MSCs were measured by Flow cytometry (FCM). MMPs expression was measured by RT-PCR.The co-culture of cancer cell lines OVCAR3, CAOV3, IGROV3 and SKOV3 with the conditioned media of MSCs (CM-MSC) and MSCs showed an increase in cellular apoptosis, along with a reduction in the level of CA-125 and a decline of LDH and beta-hCG. A decrease in CD24 of the cancer cell lines in co-culture with the CM-MSCs showed a reduction of the cancer tumorigenicity. In addition, the invasion and aggressiveness of cancer cell lines was significantly decreased by CM-MSC; this was translated by a decrease in MMP-2, MMP-9, and CA-125 mRNA expression, and an increase in TIMP 1, 2, and 3 mRNA expression. An increase in IL-4 and IL-10 cytokines, and a decrease in GM-CSF, IL-6, and IL-9, were also noted.In conclusion, mesenchymal stem cells derived from different sources and their conditioned media appear to have a major role in inhibition of cancer aggressiveness and might be considered as a potential therapeutic tool in ovarian cancer.

Co-culture of the fungus Fusarium tricinctum with Streptomyces lividans induces production of cryptic naphthoquinone dimers

Co-cultivation of the endophytic fungus Fusarium tricinctum with Streptomyces lividans on solid rice medium led to the production of four new naphthoquinone dimers, fusatricinones A–D (1–4), and a new lateropyrone derivative, dihydrolateropyrone (5), that were not detected in axenic fungal controls. In addition, four known cryptic compounds, zearalenone (7), (−)-citreoisocoumarin (8), macrocarpon C (9) and 7-hydroxy-2-(2-hydroxypropyl)-5-methylchromone (10), that were likewise undetectable in extracts from fungal controls, were obtained from the co-culture extracts. The known antibiotically active compound lateropyrone (6), the depsipeptides enniatins B (11), B1 (12) and A1 (13), and the lipopeptide fusaristatin A (14), that were present in axenic fungal controls and in co-culture extracts, were upregulated in the latter. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectra as well as by HRESIMS data. The relative and absolute configuration of dihydrolateropyrone (5) was elucidated by TDDFT-ECD calculations.

Naphthoquinone dimers from co-culture of Fusarium tricinctum with Streptomyces lividans.

TiN x O y coatings facilitate the initial adhesion of osteoblasts to create a suitable environment for their proliferation and the recruitment of endothelial cells

Titanium-nitride-oxide coatings (TiN _x O _y ) improve osseointegration of endosseous implants. The exact mechanisms by which these effects are mediated are poorly understood except for an increase of osteoblast proliferation while a high degree of differentiation is maintained. One hypothesis holds that TiN _x O _y facilitates the initial spreading and adhesion of the osteoblasts. The aim of this work was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of osteoblast adhesion on TiN _x O _y as compared to microrough titanium SLA. A global view of the osseointegrative process, that is, taking into account other cell groups, especially endothelial cells, is also presented. To this aim, gene expression and focal adhesion analysis, cocultures and wound assays were performed early after seeding, from 6 h to 3 days. We demonstrated that TiN _x O _y coatings enhance osteoblast adhesion and spreading when compared to the standard microrough titanium. The integrin β1, either in association with α1 or with α2 plays a central role in these mechanisms. TiN _x O _y coatings optimize the process of osseointegration by acting at several levels, especially by upregulating osteoblast adhesion and proliferation, but also by supporting neovascularization and the development of a suitable inflammatory environment.

[Therapeutic and diagnostic difficulties of abdominal actinomycosis: about one case in a Tunisian female patient]

The Abdominal Actinomycosis (AA) is a rare and often unrecognised suppurative chronic illness. The diagnosis is difficult. It can have a variety of clinical manifestations and can mimic a malignancy. It's established by histology of surgical biopsy. We report a case of a 58 years old woman admitted to our institution for a pain of the right iliac fossa with a mass. The diagnosis was established after surgical intervention and histological examination. The treatment was surgical resection and antibiotherapy by amoxcillin during 6 months. The primary diagnosis of abdominal pelvic actinomycosis is difficult. All organs and anatomic structures of the abdomen can be involved. Even with extensive infection, combined operative and antibiotic therapy allows cure in most cases.

Remarkable electrokinetic features of charge-stratified soft nanoparticles: mobility reversal in monovalent aqueous electrolyte

The electrokinetic behavior of G6.5 carboxylate-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) starburst dendrimers (8 ± 1 nm diameter) is investigated over a broad range of pH values (3-9) and NaNO3 concentrations (c(∞ )= 2-200 mM). The dependence of nanodendrimer electrophoretic mobility μ on pH and c(∞) is marked by an unconventional decrease of the point of zero mobility (PZM) from 5.4 to 5.5 to 3.8 upon increase in salt concentration, with PZM defined as the pH value at which a reversal of the mobility sign is reached. The existence of a common intersection point is further evidenced for series of mobility versus pH curves measured at different NaNO3 concentrations. Using soft particle electrokinetic theory, this remarkable behavior is shown to originate from the zwitterionic functionality of the PAMAM-COOH particles. The dependence of PZM on c(∞) results from the coupling between electroosmotic flow and dendrimeric interphase defined by a nonuniform distribution of amine and carboxylic functional groups. In turn, μ reflects the sign and distribution of particle charges located within an electrokinetically active region, the dimension of which is determined by the Debye length, varied here in the range 0.7-6.8 nm. In agreement with theory, the electrokinetics of smaller G4.5 PAMAM-COOH nanoparticles (5 ± 0.5 nm diameter) further confirms that the PZM is shifted to higher pH with decreasing dendrimer size. Depending on pH, a mobility extremum is obtained under conditions where the Debye length and the particle radius are comparable. This results from changes in particle structure compactness following salt- and pH-mediated modulations of intraparticle Coulombic interactions. The findings solidly evidence the possible occurrence of particle mobility reversal in monovalent salt solution suggested by recent molecular dynamic simulations and anticipated from earlier mean-field electrokinetic theory.

Advantages of a P-element construct containing MtnA sequences for the identification of patterning and cell determination genes in Drosophila melanogaster

The P[MTW] transposon carries a functional MtnA (metallothionein) gene and a miniwhite reporter gene. When P[MTW] was transformed into Drosophila, many lines were found to show position-dependent expression patterns of the miniwhite or the MtnA transgene. Identification of several of the target genes indicated that this construct behaves as an enhancer or silencer trap. For instance, expression of at least one reporter transgene was shown to correlate with that of the endogenous gene in the case of insertions in Ultrabithorax, four-jointed, and the iroquois complex. The frequency of patterns recovered with P[MTW] is higher than that reported for P[LacW], suggesting that P[MTW] has unusual properties. The possibility of biased insertion of P[MTW] was assayed by screening a sample of 66 MTW lines for modifiers of the extra sex comb phenotype caused by a hypomorphic allele of polyhomeotic. Seven modifiers were recovered, which could be ranked in two classes: genes involved in leg morphogenesis (including four-jointed and spitz), and genes of the Polycomb- or trithorax-Group, including trithorax and batman, a new gene which encodes a product with a BTB/POZ domain. Taken together, these results indicate that P[MTW] allows the tagging of patterning and cell determination genes, and thus provides a useful tool for identifying new developmental functions.

3D prostate histology reconstruction: an evaluation of image-based and fiducial-based algorithms

PURPOSE

Evaluation of in vivo prostate imaging modalities for determining the spatial distribution and aggressiveness of prostate cancer ideally requires accurate registration of images to an accepted reference standard, such as histopathological examination of radical prostatectomy specimens. Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of prostate histology facilitates these registration-based evaluations by reintroducing 3D spatial information lost during histology processing. Because the reconstruction accuracy may constrain the clinical questions that can be answered with these data, it is important to assess the tradeoffs between minimally disruptive methods based on intrinsic image information and potentially more robust methods based on extrinsic fiducial markers.

METHODS

Ex vivo magnetic resonance (MR) images and digitized whole-mount histology images from 12 radical prostatectomy specimens were used to evaluate four 3D histology reconstruction algorithms. 3D reconstructions were computed by registering each histology image to the corresponding ex vivo MR image using one of two similarity metrics (mutual information or fiducial registration error) and one of two search domains (affine transformations or a constrained subset thereof). The algorithms were evaluated for accuracy using the mean target registration error (TRE) computed from homologous intrinsic point landmarks (3-16 per histology section; 232 total) identified on histology and MR images, and for the sensitivity of TRE to rotational, translational, and scaling initialization errors.

RESULTS

The algorithms using fiducial registration error and mutual information had mean ± standard deviation TREs of 0.7 ± 0.4 and 1.2 ± 0.7 mm, respectively, and one algorithm using fiducial registration error and affine transforms had negligible sensitivities to initialization errors. The postoptimization values of the mutual information-based metric showed evidence of errors due to both the optimizer and the similarity metric, and variation of parameters of the mutual information-based metric did not improve its performance.

CONCLUSIONS

The extrinsic fiducial-based algorithm had lower mean TRE and lower sensitivity to initialization than the intrinsic intensity-based algorithm using mutual information. A model relating statistical power to registration error for certain imaging validation study designs estimated that a reconstruction algorithm with a mean TRE of 0.7 mm would require 27% fewer subjects than the method used to initialize the algorithms (mean TRE 1.3 ± 0.7 mm), suggesting the choice of reconstruction technique can have a substantial impact on the design of imaging validation studies, and on their overall cost.

Hydatid cyst open in biliary tract: therapeutic approaches. Report of 22 cases

GOAL

Discuss the different therapeutic options based on results of a series of patients undergoing operation for hydatid cyst ruptured into the biliary tract.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective study of 22 patients operated on between 2001 and 2007 for hydatid cyst ruptured into the biliary tract.

RESULTS

The mean age of patients was 37 years old. There were 14 men and eight women. Cholangitis was present in 59% of patients and isolated pain in the right upper quadrant was found in 20% of patients. Procedures performed included internal fistula drainage through the sphincter of Oddi (37.3%), cystobiliary disconnection by percutaneous transhepatic cystocholedochostomy (27.3%), bipolar drainage (27.3%), direct suture closure of the fistula (9.1%). The postoperative course was uneventful in 15 patients. Specific morbidity concerned four patients. An external biliary fistula and suppuration of the residual cavity was observed in two patients each. One patient died. Median survival was 24 months. No recurrence or late complications were seen in this series.

CONCLUSION

The management of hydatid cyst ruptured into the biliary tract is not consensual. Radical treatment is best because it provides definitive treatment of both the fistula and the cyst at the same time. However, conservative treatment is the preferred treatment in endemic countries. The choice of the technique depends of the experience of the surgeon, as well as local and topographic conditions. The best treatment remains preventive by eradication of echinococcosis.

Comparison between familial and sporadic systemic lupus erythematosus in Kuwaiti patients

To validate the use of multiplex case families in studying the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we investigated the pattern of familial SLE in relation to sporadic SLE in the highly consanguineous Kuwaiti population. We sought to determine whether familial and sporadic SLEs have the same clinical and serological features. We compared 21 cases of familial SLE in 21 families with 42 non-familial SLE controls matched for age, sex and duration of disease. Twenty-one families, in which the diagnosis of SLE was verified in at least two relatives, were included in the study. The diagnosis was made according to the revised 1982 American College of Rheumatology criteria. There were no significant differences in clinical features or serological manifestations between familial SLE cases and their matched controls. However, our results showed that the frequency of La/SSB antibodies was higher in the sporadic group (P = 0.048), although this was not significant after application of Bonferroni's correction for the number of comparisons. Familial cases of SLE were more likely to present at younger age of 20 years and sporadic cases at 26 years (P = 0.006). The prevalence of familial SLE was 27.4%. We have found that familial and sporadic cases of SLE are broadly similar, and it is justified to include multiple case families in genetic studies.