Plos One
-
The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by pulmonary epithelial and endothelial barrier dysfunction and injury. In severe forms of ARDS, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is often the last option for life support. Endothelial progenitor (EPC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can regenerate damaged endothelium and thereby improve pulmonary endothelial dysfunction. However, we still lack sufficient knowledge about how ECMO might affect EPC- and MSC-mediated regenerative pathways in ARDS. Therefore, we investigated if ECMO impacts EPC and MSC numbers in ARDS patients. ⋯ ECMO support in ARDS is specifically associated with an increased number of circulating MSC, most likely due to enhanced mobilization, but not with a higher numbers of EPC or serum concentrations of VEGF and Ang2.
-
To reconstruct the transmission trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 and analyze the effects of control measures in China. ⋯ A series of control measures in China have effectively prevented the spread of COVID-19, and the epidemic should be under control in early April with very few new cases occasionally reported.
-
Muscle depletion and sarcopenic obesity are related to a higher morbimortality risk in chronic kidney disease (CKD). We evaluated bed-side measures/indexes associated with low muscle mass, sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity in CKD and proposed cutoffs for each parameter. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People revised consensus applying dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and hand grip strength (HGS), and obesity according to the International Society for Clinical Densitometry. ⋯ The cutoffs (sensibility and specificity, respectively) for women were AFFM≤15.87 (90%; 96%), CC≤35.5 (76%; 94%), FMI>12.58 (100%; 93%), and WC/H>0.66 (91%; 84%); and for men, AFFM≤21.43 (98%; 84%), CC≤37 (88%; 69%), FMI>8.82 (93%; 88%), and WC/H>0.60 (95%; 80%). Sensibility and specificity for sarcopenia diagnosis were for AFFM+HGS in women 85% and 99% and in men, 100% and 99%; for CC+HGS in women 85% and 99% and in men, 100% and 100%; and for sarcopenic obesity were for FMI+AFFM in women 75% and 97% and in men, 75% and 95%. The tested bed-side measures/indexes presented excellent performance.
-
Traditionally, machine learning algorithms relied on reliable labels from experts to build predictions. More recently however, algorithms have been receiving data from the general population in the form of labeling, annotations, etc. The result is that algorithms are subject to bias that is born from ingesting unchecked information, such as biased samples and biased labels. ⋯ We also found that iterated filter bias, which is prominent in personalized user interfaces, can lead to more inequality in estimated relevance and to a limited human ability to discover relevant data. Our findings indicate that the relevance blind spot (items from the testing set whose predicted relevance probability is less than 0.5 and who thus risk being hidden from humans) amounted to 4% of all relevant items when using a content-based filter that predicts relevant items. A similar simulation using a real-life rating data set found that the same filter resulted in a blind spot size of 75% of the relevant testing set.
-
Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitalized patients and beyond the hospital stay and these long-term sequelae are due in part to unresolved inflammation. Metabolic shift from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis links metabolism to inflammation and such a shift is commonly observed in sepsis under normoxic conditions. By shifting the metabolic state from aerobic glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation, we hypothesized it would reverse unresolved inflammation and subsequently improve outcome. ⋯ We followed lifespan, measured gene expression of Toll, defensin, cecropin A, and drosomycin, and levels of lactate, pyruvate, acetyl-CoA as well as TCA metabolites. In our model, metabolic effects of sepsis are modified by DCA with normalized lactate, TCA metabolites, and was associated with improved lifespan of sepsis survivors, yet had no lifespan effects on unmanipulated and sham flies. While Drosomycin and cecropin A expression increased in sepsis survivors, DCA treatment decreased both and selectively increased defensin.