Blood-Based Immune Profiling Combined with Machine Learning Discriminates Psoriatic Arthritis from Psoriasis Patients

Psoriasis (Pso) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, and up to 30% of Pso patients develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which can lead to irreversible joint damage. Early detection of PsA in Pso patients is crucial for timely treatment but difficult for dermatologists to implement. We, therefore, aimed to find disease-specific immune profiles, discriminating Pso from PsA patients, possibly facilitating the correct identification of Pso patients in need of referral to a rheumatology clinic. The phenotypes of peripheral blood immune cells of consecutive Pso and PsA patients were analyzed, and disease-specific immune profiles were identified via a machine learning approach. This approach resulted in a random forest classification model capable of distinguishing PsA from Pso (mean AUC = 0.95). Key PsA-classifying cell subsets selected included increased proportions of differentiated CD4+CD196+CD183-CD194+ and CD4+CD196-CD183-CD194+ T-cells and reduced proportions of CD196+ and CD197+ monocytes, memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets and CD4+ regulatory T-cells. Within PsA, joint scores showed an association with memory CD8+CD45RA-CD197- effector T-cells and CD197+ monocytes. To conclude, through the integration of in-depth flow cytometry and machine learning, we identified an immune cell profile discriminating PsA from Pso. This immune profile may aid in timely diagnosing PsA in Pso.     

Sparse registration for three-dimensional stress echocardiography

Three-dimensional (3-D) stress echocardiography is a novel technique for diagnosing cardiac dysfunction. It involves evaluating wall motion of the left ventricle, by visually analyzing ultrasound images obtained in rest and in different stages of stress. Since the acquisitions are performed minutes apart, variabilities may exist in the visualized cross-sections. To improve anatomical correspondence between rest and stress, aligning the images is essential. We developed a new intensity-based, sparse registration method to retrieve standard anatomical views from 3-D stress images that were equivalent to the manually selected views in the rest images. Using sparse image planes, the influence of common image artifacts could be reduced. We investigated different similarity measures and different levels of sparsity. The registration was tested using data of 20 patients and quantitatively evaluated based on manually defined anatomical landmarks. Alignment was best using sparse registration with two long-axis and two short-axis views; registration errors were reduced significantly, to the range of interobserver variabilities. In 91% of the cases, the registration result was qualitatively assessed as better than or equal to the manual alignment. In conclusion, sparse registration improves the alignment of rest and stress images, with a performance similar to manual alignment. This is an important step towards objective quantification in 3-D stress echocardiography.      

A note on heat transfer to MHD oscillatory flow in an asymmetric wavy channel

This note deals with the MHD oscillatory flow of an optically thin fluid in an asymmetric wavy channel filled with porous medium. Based on some simplifying assumptions, the governing momentum and energy equations are solved and analytical solutions for fluid velocity, temperature distribution, Nusselt number and skin friction are constructed. The effects of radiation parameter, Peclet number, Hartmann number, porous medium shape factor and geometric parameters on flow and heat transfer characteristics have been examined in detail.     

The representation of nationalities on the editorial boards of international journals and the promotion of the scientific output of the same countries

This paper analyses the nationalities of the editorial board members of the top 20 journals (according to their impact factor in the ISI Journal Citation Report, Science Edition 2005) serving 15 scientific disciplines. A total of 281 journals were analysed (some journals crossed disciplinary boundaries) and 10,055 of their editorial board members were identified. Some 53% of board members were from the United States. Europe provided 32%, with the United Kingdom making the greatest contribution (9.8%). The analysis of scientific output by nationality in these journals showed a significant correlation, in all disciplines, with the representation of the corresponding nations on the editorial boards. The composition of editorial boards may therefore provide a useful indicator for measuring a country’s international scientific visibility. The present results should be taken into account in the design of national policies with the aim of enhancing the presence of a country’s most prestigious scientists on the editorial boards of the main international journals.     

Predicting outcome in computerized cognitive behavioral therapy for depression in primary care: A randomized trial.

Objective: To explore pretreatment and short-term improvement variables as potential moderators and predictors of 12-month follow-up outcome of unsupported online computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT), usual care, and CCBT combined with usual care for depression. Method: Three hundred and three depressed patients were randomly allocated to (a) unsupported online CCBT, (b) treatment as usual (TAU), or (c) CCBT and TAU combined (CCBT&TAU). Potential predictors and moderators were demographic, clinical, cognitive, and short-term improvement variables. Outcomes were the Beck Depression Inventory–II score at 12 months of follow-up and reliable change. Results: Those with higher levels of extreme (positive) responding had a better outcome in CCBT compared with TAU, whereas those having a parental psychiatric history or a major depressive disorder diagnosis had a better outcome in CCBT&TAU compared with TAU. Predictors regardless of treatment type included current employment, low pretreatment illness severity, and short-term improvement on clinical variables. Conclusions: Optimistic patients, holding approach-oriented coping strategies, might benefit most from CCBT, whereas CCBT&TAU might be the most suitable option for those with more severe vulnerability characteristics. Those with the least impairment improve the most, regardless of treatment type. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From water to energy: The virtual water content and water footprint of biofuel consumption in Spain

Energy diversification and the use of renewable energy sources are key points in the European energy strategy. Biofuels are the most popular renewable resource option for the transport sector, and the European Union has established objectives that the Member States must adopt and implement. However, biofuel production at such a scale requires a considerable amount of water resources, and this water–energy nexus is rarely taken into account. This paper shows the strong nexus between water and energy in biofuel production and estimates the virtual water (VW) content and the water footprint (WF) from the raw material production that will be needed to reach the Spanish targets for biofuel consumption by 2010. The results show how the impact of such targets on the global and local water situation could be reduced through virtual water imports and, at the same time, how these imports could increase Spain’s water and energy dependence. Hence, in order to manage water from an integral perspective of the territory, the inclusion of biofuel consumption objectives should go hand in hand with measures to reduce the demand of energy in the transport sector.     

Analyzing Diurnal and Age-Related Pheromone Emission of the Olive Fruit Fly, Bactrocera oleae by Sequential SPME-GCMS Analysis

The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae), uses 1,7-dioxaspiro[5.5]undecane ("olean"), produced primarily by females, as a sex pheromone. We used sequential solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME-GCMS) analysis to show that female olive flies release about 1000?ng of pheromone at the onset of scotophase for several weeks, while males release about 1/100 as much during the first week after eclosion. The present research demonstrates details of employing SPME-GCMS with the partially known pheromone system of the olive fruit fly as a model for pheromone identification and diurnal release patterns in insects, especially fruit flies. The sequential SPME-GCMS method will readily allow detection and semi-quantification of semiochemicals released by insects in minute amounts throughout the diurnal cycle.     

Influence of nutritional status on the effectiveness of a dietary supplement of live lactobacillus to prevent and cure diarrhoea in children

The influence of undernutrition on the effectiveness of a dietary supplement of live lactobacillus regarding prevention and treatment of infantile diarrhoea was studied on 200 children 6 to 24m old. Children, undernourished (D) or controls (C), received for 90 days, in a blind experiment, a fermented milk providing L. Acidofilus y L. Casei (10(7)-10(8)/ml) (LB) or an equivalent amount of fluid milk (L). diarrhoea episodes were recorded and classified according duration: 1-4, 5-14 days, and protracted diarrhea (DP) those lasting beyond 14 days. Study requirements were fulfilled by 119 children: D-L: n=25; D-LB: n=32; C-L: n=27 y C-LB: n=35. Preventive aspects were evaluated through number of episodes and through their lasting the therapeutic ones. Episodes recorded were 134: 29 in D-L; 48 in D-LB; 37 in C-L and 20 in C-LB. In the D-LB group over 90% episodes were very short (1-4 days), percentage far higher to that observed in D-L and similar to C-LB. There were 12 episodes of DP, 9 D and 3 in C, all in the L groups. In conclusion, although the fermented milk prevent half episode in the controls but not in the undernourished, it was able to shorter episodes duration and prevent protracted diarrhoea irrespectively of nutritional status. Therefore, undernutrition impaired the ability of the lactobacillus supplement to prevent children diarrhoea, which implicates immune system, but not curative effects which are the result of local actions.     

A comparison of the effect of medium- vs. long-chain triglycerides on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> solubilization of cholesterol and/or phytosterol into mixed micelles

Despite clinical evidence of the cholesterol-lowering effects of phytosterols, the exact mechanisms involved are still unclear. Displacement of cholesterol by phytosterols from mixed micelles, which is due to their greater hydrophobicity, is one of the hypotheses for the lumenal effects contributing to the reduction of intestinal cholesterol absorption. In this study a dynamic in vitro lipolysis method was used to examine the solubilization behavior of cholesterol and/or phytosterols during lipolysis to probe the efficacy of cholesterol displacement from mixed micelles by phytosterols. The effects of lipid chain length on sterol solubilization were studied by using microcrystalline suspensions containing 17% phytosterol or cholesterol, formulated in long-chain TG (LCT) and medium-chain TG (MCT). When digesting cholesterol suspended in LCT, the entire cholesterol dose was incorporated into the micellar phase. For the cholesterol formulation suspended in MCT, 50.3% of the initial dose was recovered in the micelles. Under the respective conditions, we observed lower solubilization of phytosterols than of cholesterol (roughly fourfold). Only 25% of the initial phytosterol dose was solubilized from suspensions formulated with LCT, and 13% was solubilized from MCT formulations. Co-administration of phytosterol and cholesterol suspensions showed a significant reduction of cholesterol solubilization, particularly when dosed in MCT, with ≈25% of the cholesterol dose solubilized. Insignificant amounts of cholesterol were displaced by phytosterols when cholesterol was presolubilized in the mixed micelles. The results show that, compared with LCT, mixed micelles containing MCT lipolysis products have a reduced solubilizing capacity for cholesterol, which adds to the effectiveness of the phytosterols in displacing cholesterol. This suggests potential benefits of using medium chain length lipids in cholesterol-lowering phytosterol products.