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The effect of graphene oxide (GO) on the mechanical strengths and durability of cement composites was researched by preparing GO-modified cement mortars. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and nuclear magnetic resonance ( 29 Si MAS-NMR) were performed on the cement paste to evaluate the influence of GO on the hydration process and chain structure of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gels. TGA revealed that the high GO dosage increased the content of C-S-H by 5.46% compared with the control at 28 days. Similarly, 29 Si-NMR improved the hydration degree and main chain length (MCL) in GO-modified samples at 28 days. The GO led to increases of 2.54% and 7.01% in the hydration degree and MCL, respectively, compared with the control at 28 days. These findings underscore the multifaceted role of GO in improving the mechanical properties and durability of cement composites. Mechanical strength tests, such as compressive and flexural tests, were conducted on cement mortars. The optimal dosage of GO increased the compressive strength by 9.02% after 28 days. Furthermore, the flexural strength of cement mortars with the combination of GO and superplasticizer (SP) after 28 days increased by 21.86%, compared with reference mortar. The impact of GO proved to be more pronounced and beneficial in the durability tests, suggesting that GO can enhance the microstructure through hydration products to create a dense and interconnected microstructure.

Totipotency is the ability of a cell to generate a whole organism, a property that characterizes the first embryonic cells, such as the zygote and the blastomeres. This review provides a retrospective on the progress made in the last decade in the study of totipotency, especially with the discovery of mouse ES cells expressing markers of the 2-cell stage (2C-like cells). This model has greatly contributed to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in totipotency (pioneer factors, epigenetic regulation, splicing, nuclear maturation). 2C-like cells have also paved the way for the development of new cellular models of human totipotency., (© 2024 médecine/sciences – Inserm.)

Varroosis induced by Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman represents the most pathogenic and destructive disease affecting the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. In this study, we investigated the acaricidal activity against the Varroa mite using essential oils (EOs) from the aerial parts of four autochthonous Algerian herbal species, namely Artemisia herba alba, Artemisia campestris, Artemisia judaica and Ruta montana. EOs were obtained by means of hydrodistillation and their composition was characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The toxicity of the selected EOs toward V. destructor and A. mellifera adult honey bees was evaluated using the complete exposure method. The results indicate the predominance of davanone (66.9%) in A. herba alba, β-pinene (19.5%) in A. campestris, piperitone (68.7%) in A. judaica and 2-undecanone (70.1%) in R. montana EOs. Interestingly, the LC 50 values coupled to bee mortality rates revealed that all tested oils exhibited significant acaricidal efficiency with selectivity ratio (SR) values of 10.77, 8.78, 5.62 and 3.73 for A. campestris, A. judaica, A. herba alba, and R. montana, respectively. These values were better than that of thymol (SR = 3.65), the positive control. These findings suggest that these EOs could be used as plant-derived veterinary acaricides to control varroosis in field conditions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of left atrioventricular coupling index (LACI) assessed by cardiac computed tomography (CT), to predict cardiovascular death in consecutive patients referred for cardiac CT with coronary analysis., Materials and Methods: Between 2010 and 2020, we conducted a single-centre study with all consecutive patients without known cardiovascular disease referred for cardiac CT. LACI was defined as the ratio of left atrial to left ventricle end-diastolic volumes. The primary outcome was cardiovascular death. Cox regressions were used to evaluate the association between LACI and primary outcome after adjustment for traditional risk factors and cardiac CT angiography findings., Results: In 1,444 patients (mean age, 70 ± 12 [standard deviation] years; 43% men), 67 (4.3%) patients experienced cardiovascular death after a median follow-up of 6.8 (Q1, Q3: 5.9, 9.1) years. After adjustment, LACI was positively associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular death (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.07 [95% CI: 1.05-1.09] per 1% increment; P < 0.001), and all-cause death (adjusted HR, 1.05 [95% CI: 1.03-1.07] per 1% increment; P <0.001). After adjustment, a LACI ≥ 25% showed the best improvement in model discrimination and reclassification for predicting cardiovascular death above traditional risk factors and cardiac CT findings (C-statistic improvement: 0.27; Nnet reclassification improvement = 0.826; Integrative discrimination index =0.209, all P < 0.001; likelihood-ratio-test, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: LACI measured by cardiac CT is independently associated with cardiovascular death and all-cause death in patients without known cardiovascular disease referred for cardiac CT, with an incremental prognostic value over traditional risk factors and cardiac CT findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Solenn Toupin is employee of Siemens Healthcare. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Serosurvey results for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus antibodies in dromedary camels in Algeria indicate that the pathogen is circulating endemically in desertic areas, despite the hostile environment. Thus, dromedaries are suitable sentinels for detecting human risk for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in desertic areas.

Epigenetic mechanisms are essential to establish and safeguard cellular identities in mammals. They dynamically regulate the expression of genes, transposable elements and higher-order chromatin structures. Consequently, these chromatin marks are indispensable for mammalian development and alterations often lead to disease, such as cancer. Bivalent promoters are especially important during differentiation and development. Here we used a genetic screen to identify new regulators of a bivalent repressed gene. We identify BEND3 as a regulator of hundreds of bivalent promoters, some of which it represses, and some of which it activates. We show that BEND3 is recruited to a CpG-containg consensus site that is present in multiple copies in many bivalent promoters. Besides having direct effect on the promoters it binds, the loss of BEND3 leads to genome-wide gains of DNA methylation, which are especially marked at regions normally protected by the TET enzymes. DNA hydroxymethylation is reduced in Bend3 mutant cells, possibly as consequence of altered gene expression leading to diminished alpha-ketoglutarate production, thus lowering TET activity. Our results clarify the direct and indirect roles of an important chromatin regulator, BEND3, and, more broadly, they shed light on the regulation of bivalent promoters., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

Rationale and Objectives: Interpreting radiographs in emergency settings is stressful and a burden for radiologists. The main objective was to assess the performance of three commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for detecting acute peripheral fractures on radiographs in daily emergency practice., Materials and Methods: Radiographs were collected from consecutive patients admitted for skeletal trauma at our emergency department over a period of 2 months. Three AI algorithms-SmartUrgence, Rayvolve, and BoneView-were used to analyze 13 body regions. Four musculoskeletal radiologists determined the ground truth from radiographs. The diagnostic performance of the three AI algorithms was calculated at the level of the radiography set. Accuracies, sensitivities, and specificities for each algorithm and two-by-two comparisons between algorithms were obtained. Analyses were performed for the whole population and for subgroups of interest (sex, age, body region)., Results: A total of 1210 patients were included (mean age 41.3 ± 18.5 years; 742 [61.3%] men), corresponding to 1500 radiography sets. The fracture prevalence among the radiography sets was 23.7% (356/1500). Accuracy was 90.1%, 71.0%, and 88.8% for SmartUrgence, Rayvolve, and BoneView, respectively; sensitivity 90.2%, 92.6%, and 91.3%, with specificity 92.5%, 70.4%, and 90.5%. Accuracy and specificity were significantly higher for SmartUrgence and BoneView than Rayvolve for the whole population (P < .0001) and for subgroups. The three algorithms did not differ in sensitivity (P = .27). For SmartUrgence, subgroups did not significantly differ in accuracy, specificity, or sensitivity. For Rayvolve, accuracy and specificity were significantly higher with age 27-36 than ≥53 years (P = .0029 and P = .0019). Specificity was higher for the subgroup knee than foot (P = .0149). For BoneView, accuracy was significantly higher for the subgroups knee than foot (P = .0006) and knee than wrist/hand (P = .0228). Specificity was significantly higher for the subgroups knee than foot (P = .0003) and ankle than foot (P = .0195)., Conclusion: The performance of AI detection of acute peripheral fractures in daily radiological practice in an emergency department was good to high and was related to the AI algorithm, patient age, and body region examined., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Valérie Bousson is a paid consultant for Milvue starting July 1, 2022. Grégoire Attané was paid by Gleamer between March and August 2019 to label radiographs. The remaining authors declare none. The three companies, Milvue, AZmed, and Gleamer, provided the AI algorithms to our radiology department for free. None of the three companies had access to the study methodology or data during the course of the study., (Copyright © 2023 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In mammals, only the zygote and blastomeres of the early embryo are totipotent. This totipotency is mirrored in vitro by mouse '2-cell-like cells' (2CLCs), which appear at low frequency in cultures of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Because totipotency is not completely understood, we carried out a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen in mouse ESCs, searching for mutants that reactivate the expression of Dazl, a gene expressed in 2CLCs. Here we report the identification of four mutants that reactivate Dazl and a broader 2-cell-like signature: the E3 ubiquitin ligase adaptor SPOP, the Zinc-Finger transcription factor ZBTB14, MCM3AP, a component of the RNA processing complex TREX-2, and the lysine demethylase KDM5C. All four factors function upstream of DPPA2 and DUX, but not via p53. In addition, SPOP binds DPPA2, and KDM5C interacts with ncPRC1.6 and inhibits 2CLC gene expression in a catalytic-independent manner. These results extend our knowledge of totipotency, a key phase of organismal life., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Aging contributes to the progressive loss of cellular biological functions and increases the risk of age-related diseases. Cardiovascular diseases, some neurological disorders and cancers are generally classified as age-related diseases that affect the lifespan of individuals. These diseases result from the accumulation of cellular damage and reduced activity of protective stress response pathways, which can lead to inflammation and oxidative stress, which play a key role in the aging process. There is now increasing interest in the therapeutic effects of edible plants for the prevention of various diseases, including those associated with aging. It has become clear that the beneficial effects of these foods are due, at least in part, to the high concentration of bioactive phenolic compounds with low side effects. Antioxidants are the most abundant, and their high consumption in the Mediterranean diet has been associated with slower ageing in humans. Extensive human dietary intervention studies strongly suggest that polyphenol supplementation protects against the development of degenerative diseases, especially in the elderly. In this review, we present data on the biological effects of plant polyphenols in the context of their relevance to human health, ageing and the prevention of age-related diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Anne VEJUX reports financial support was provided by University of Burgundy., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main cause of mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although several studies have demonstrated the consistently high prognostic value of stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), its prognostic value in patients with CKD is not well established. We aimed to assess the safety and the incremental prognostic value of vasodilator stress perfusion CMR in consecutive symptomatic patients with known CKD., Methods: Between 2008 and 2021, we conducted a retrospective dual center study with all consecutive symptomatic patients with known stage 3 CKD, defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 30 and 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 , referred for vasodilator stress CMR. All patients with eGFR < 30 ml/min/1.73 m 2 (n = 62) were excluded due the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. All patients were followed for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as cardiac death or recurrent nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). Cox regression analysis was used to determine the prognostic value of stress CMR parameters., Results: Of 825 patients with known CKD (71.4 ± 8.8 years, 70% men), 769 (93%) completed the CMR protocol. Follow-up was available in 702 (91%) (median follow-up 6.4 (4.0-8.2) years). Stress CMR was well tolerated without occurrence of death or severe adverse event related to the injection of gadolinium or cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. The presence of inducible ischemia was associated with the occurrence of MACE (hazard ratio [HR] 12.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.50-20.8; p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, ischemia and late gadolinium enhancement were independent predictors of MACE (HR 15.5; 95% CI 7.72 to 30.9; and HR 4.67 [95% CI 2.83-7.68]; respectively, both p < 0.001). After adjustment, stress CMR findings showed the best improvement in model discrimination and reclassification above traditional risk factors (C-statistic improvement: 0.13; NRI = 0.477; IDI = 0.049)., Conclusions: In patients with known stage 3 CKD, stress CMR is safe and its findings have an incremental prognostic value to predict MACE over traditional risk factors., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Autonomous vehicles require efficient self-localisation mechanisms and cameras are the most common sensors due to their low cost and rich input. However, the computational intensity of visual localisation varies depending on the environment and requires real-time processing and energy-efficient decision-making. FPGAs provide a solution for prototyping and estimating such energy savings. We propose a distributed solution for implementing a large bio-inspired visual localisation model. The workflow includes (1) an image processing IP that provides pixel information for each visual landmark detected in each captured image, (2) an implementation of N-LOC, a bio-inspired neural architecture, on an FPGA board and (3) a distributed version of N-LOC with evaluation on a single FPGA and a design for use on a multi-FPGA platform. Comparisons with a pure software solution demonstrate that our hardware-based IP implementation yields up to 9× lower latency and 7× higher throughput (frames/second) while maintaining energy efficiency. Our system has a power footprint as low as 2.741 W for the whole system, which is up to 5.5-6× less than what Nvidia Jetson TX2 consumes on average. Our proposed solution offers a promising approach for implementing energy-efficient visual localisation models on FPGA platforms.

This article presents a novel artificial skin technology based on the Electric Impedance Tomography (EIT) that employs multi-frequency currents for detecting the material and the temperature of objects in contact with piezoresistive sheets. To date, few artificial skins in the literature are capable of detecting an object's material, e.g., wood, skin, leather, or plastic. EIT-based artificial skins have been employed mostly to detect the position of the contact but not its characteristics. Thanks to multi-frequency currents, our EIT-based artificial skin is capable of characterising the spectral profile of objects in contact and identifying an object's material at ambient temperature. Moreover, our model is capable of detecting several levels of temperature (from -10 up to 60 °C) and can also maintain a certain accuracy for material identification. In addition to the known capabilities of EIT-based artificial skins concerning detecting pressure and location of objects, as well as being low cost, these two novel modalities demonstrate the potential of EIT-based artificial skins to achieve global tactile sensing.

Background: In patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease, traditional prognostic risk assessment is based on a limited selection of clinical and imaging findings. Machine learning (ML) methods can take into account a greater number and complexity of variables., Objectives: This study sought to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of ML using stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and clinical data to predict 10-year all-cause mortality in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease, and compared its performance with existing clinical or CMR scores., Methods: Between 2008 and 2018, a retrospective cohort study with a median follow-up of 6.0 (IQR: 5.0-8.0) years included all consecutive patients referred for stress CMR. Twenty-three clinical and 11 stress CMR parameters were evaluated. ML involved automated feature selection by random survival forest, model building with a multiple fractional polynomial algorithm, and 5 repetitions of 10-fold stratified cross-validation. The primary outcome was all-cause death based on the electronic National Death Registry. The external validation cohort of the ML score was performed in another center., Results: Of 31,752 consecutive patients (mean age: 63.7 ± 12.1 years, and 65.7% male), 2,679 (8.4%) died with 206,453 patient-years of follow-up. The ML score (ranging from 0 to 10 points) exhibited a higher area under the curve compared with Clinical and Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance score, European Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation score, QRISK3 score, Framingham Risk Score, and stress CMR data alone for prediction of 10-year all-cause mortality (ML score: 0.76 vs Clinical and Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance score: 0.68, European Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation score: 0.66, QRISK3 score: 0.64, Framingham Risk Score: 0.63, extent of inducible ischemia: 0.66, extent of late gadolinium enhancement: 0.65; all P < 0.001). The ML score also exhibited a good area under the curve in the external cohort (0.75)., Conclusions: The ML score including clinical and stress CMR data exhibited a higher prognostic value to predict 10-year death compared with all traditional clinical or CMR scores., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Toupin is an employee of Siemens Healthcare. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Various neurological complications have been described in COVID-19 patients, especially Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). The underlying mechanisms on the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and GBS remain unclear, but several hypotheses have been proposed. It seems that post-SARS-CoV-2 GBS shares many characteristics with classic post-infectious GBS; however, it may occur in sedated and intubated patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit for SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory distress syndrome, which presents challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of GBS. In this study, we describe three cases of post-SARS-CoV-2 GBS that were hospitalized in the intensive care unit., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Five percent of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 require advanced respiratory support. The high-flow nasal cannula oxygenotherapy (HFNCO) appears to be effective and safe to reduce the need for mechanical ventilation. However, the factors associated with HFNCO failure as well as the outcomes of patients receiving this noninvasive respiratory strategy remain unclear. Thus, we performed this study to determine factors leading to intubation of SARS-CoV-2 patients treated with HFNCO and patients' outcomes. We retrospectively analyzed the medical charts of patients admitted in our ICU center for acute respiratory failure due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and who initially benefited from HFNCO, between September 1, 2020, and March 1, 2021. We included all adults patients who received HFNCO and compared two groups: those treated with HFNCO alone and those who failed HFNCO. Patients treated with HFNCO and secondarily limited to the use of mechanical ventilation were excluded from the analysis. Sixty-nine patients were included, 33 were treated with HFNCO alone and 36 failed HFNCO. We found more patients with shock in the HFNCO failure group (p = 0.001). The mean IGSII score was higher in the HFNCO failure group (p < 0.001). The minimum PaO 2 /FiO 2 was lower in the HFNCO failure group (p = 0.024). The length of stay in ICU was higher in the HFNCO failure group (p < 0.001). The mean duration of HFNCO before intubation was 1.77 days. Six-week mortality was higher in the HFNCO failure group (p = 0.034). Ten patients had a complication during intubation. The HFNCO leads to reduce the intubation rate, the length of stay in ICU, and the mortality. Determining the factors associated with HFNCO failure is important to avoid complications following late intubation., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder is a rare form of bladder tumor, accounting for less than 5% of bladder cancers. Sex ratio is balanced and the black population is more affected by this disease. It manifests with non-specific clinical symptoms and it is dominated by haematuria. Diagnosis is based on endoscopic resection of the bladder with anatomopathological examination. Treatment remains controversial because of the rarity of cases reported in the literature. However, radical cystectomy with extensive lymph node dissection is the treatment of choice. We here report a series of 10 cases of squamous cell carcinoma treated and followed up in our department. Our study highlights the epidemiological, clinical, anatomopathological, therapeutic and evolutionary features of squamous cell carcinoma as well as its prognostic factors., Competing Interests: Les auteurs ne déclarent aucun conflit d´intérêts., (Copyright: Youssef Kadouri et al.)

Background: Under the name of uncommon bladder cancers are gathered rare histological entities which represent less than 5% of bladder tumors. There is not a clear and consensual therapeutic management for these entities., Purpose: To review a single-institution 10-year experience with rare form of bladder cancers detailing the diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcome., Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 27 medical records of rare bladder cancer form treated at our center between February 2006 and February 2015. The clinicopathologic features are reported with emphasis on treatment and survival., Results: Mean patient age was 65.5 ± 20 yr and 70% of patients were males. Smoking background was found in 16 cases, chronic bladder irritation factors were found in 12 cases, and past urinary tract infection was found in 11 cases. The main symptom was total hematuria (93%) causing an anemia in 16 cases. The two mean histological forms were epidermoid carcinoma (37%) and adenocarcinoma (22%). 26% of patients were found to have extended invasive tumors (T4) at diagnosis. Metastatic disease was confirmed in 8 cases. Our patients were managed by a wide range of therapeutic modalities as total cystectomy with bilateral lymph node dissection (63%), palliative chemotherapy (30%), or concomitant radiochemotherapy (7%). 55.6% of patients were alive one year after diagnosis. Epidermoid carcinoma has the best prognosis followed by leiomyosarcoma and sarcomatoid carcinoma. Neuroendocrine carcinoma has the worst outcome. The overall 5-year survival rate is 33.3%., Conclusion: The rarity and small size of these tumors justify the absence of clear and consensual therapeutic management. No role of total cystectomy concerning the conclusions could be drawn but elements suggest this may be the treatment of choice. The highly aggressive nature of those lesions justifies an aggressive and fast therapy when feasible which gives the best outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Youssef Kadouri et al.)

Sarcomatoid carcinomas of the bladder represent a tiny part of bladder tumors and are characterized by a high potential for malignancy. Very aggressive and affecting mainly men, these tumors present both a urothelial and sarcomatoid contingent. The treatment of these tumors is not well codified given the rarity of cases reported in the literature, however, it seems that the treatment is essentially based on radical cystectomy with extensive pelvic lymph node dissection. We report the experience of our departement in the management of this type of tumor in a series of five cases collected over a period of 8 years., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: Youssef Kadouri et al.)

Utilization of non-AUG alternative translation start sites is most common in bacteria and viruses, but it has been also reported in other organisms. This phenomenon increases proteome complexity by allowing expression of multiple protein isoforms from a single gene. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a few described cases concern proteins that are translated from upstream near-cognate start codons as N-terminally extended variants that localize to mitochondria. Using bioinformatics tools, we provide compelling evidence that in yeast the potential for producing alternative protein isoforms by non-AUG translation initiation is much more prevalent than previously anticipated and may apply to as many as a few thousand proteins. Several hundreds of candidates are predicted to gain a mitochondrial targeting signal (MTS), generating an unrecognized pool of mitochondrial proteins. We confirmed mitochondrial localization of a subset of proteins previously not identified as mitochondrial, whose standard forms do not carry an MTS. Our data highlight the potential of non-canonical translation initiation in expanding the capacity of the mitochondrial proteome and possibly also other cellular features., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)