A Naturalistic, European Multi-Center Clinical Study of Electrodermal Reactivity and Suicide Risk Among Patients With Depression

Background: Electrodermal hyporeactivity has been proposed as a marker of suicidal risk. The EUDOR-A study investigated the prevalence of electrodermal hyporeactivity among patients with depression and its association with attempted and completed suicide.Methods: Between August 2014 and March 2016, 1,573 in- and outpatients with a primary diagnosis of depression (active or remission phase) were recruited at 15 European psychiatric centers. Each patient was followed-up for 1 year. Electrodermal activity was assessed at baseline with the ElectroDermal Orienting Reactivity Test. Data on the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical diagnoses, and treatment of the subjects were also collected. The severity of the depressive symptoms was assessed through the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Information regarding number, time, and method of suicide attempts was gathered at baseline and at the end of the 1-year follow-up. The same data were collected in case of completed suicide.Results: Hyporeactive patients were shown to be significantly more at risk of suicide attempt compared to reactive patients, both at baseline and follow-up. A sensitivity of 29.86% and a positive predictive value (PPV) of 46.77% were found for attempted suicide at baseline, while a sensitivity of 35.36% and a PPV of 8.92% were found for attempted suicide at follow-up. The sensitivity and PPV for completed suicide were 25.00 and 0.61%, respectively. However, when controlled for suicide attempt at baseline, the association between hyporeactivity and follow-up suicide attempt was no longer significant. The low number of completed suicides did not allow any analysis.

Biocompatibility evaluation for the developed hydrogel wound dressing – ISO-10993-11 standards – InVitro and InVivo study

Assessment of biocompatibility for the developed wound dressing plays a significant role in translational studies. In the present research work, a wound dressing has been developed using gelatin, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate using EDC as crosslinker in a specific manner. The characterized hydrogel wound dressing was evaluated for its biocompatibility studies by means of ISO-10993-11 medical device rules and standards. Various parameters like skin sensitization test, acute systemic toxic test, implantation study, intracutaneous reactivity test, in vitro cytotoxicity test and bacterial reverse mutation test, were evaluated and the results demonstrated its safety for the pre-clinical investigation.

Evaluation of an easy-to-use protocol for assessing behaviors of dogs retiring from commercial breeding kennels

Objective, reliable behavioral tests are needed to refine on-site welfare assessments of dogs housed at commercial breeding (CB) kennels and provide a basis to inform predictions of their behavior when retired from such kennels. This study tested the reliability, construct validity, and applicability of a protocol for the behavioral assessment of dogs from CB kennels that might be useful in comprehensive welfare assessments of this population. A sample of 447 dogs from 26 CB kennels in the Midwestern US were assessed in their pens. Responses to an approach test (performed on three consecutive days) and a behavioral reactivity test (e.g., traffic cone, toys, umbrella) were recorded. Results showed moderate to perfect (Kw = 0.51–1.00) inter-rater reliability between three independent observers. Approach test-retest analysis showed high correlation of approach test scores on days 1, 2 and 3 (r = 0.85, p<0.0001). Exploratory factor analysis extracted four main factors: Food Motivation (F1), Sociability (F2), Boldness (F3) (e.g., response to novel objects), and Responsiveness (F4) (e.g., response to an umbrella opening) confirming the ability of the test to measure behaviors of interest. All factors showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.81–0.93) further supporting the robustness of the test construct. The demonstrated reliability of this protocol suggests that it may be usefully applied to assessing the behavior of dogs as a component of their welfare assessment in CB kennels. Doing so using even larger sample sizes may yield insights on the effects of housing and management practices on dog welfare while at the kennels, which may also help inform approaches that improve rehoming outcomes for retiring breeding dogs. Practical applications and limitations are outlined.

PENGARUH PEMBERIAN EKSTRAK ETANOL BUNGA KECOMBRANG (Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Sm.) TERHADAP KADAR MALONDIALDEHID (MDA) MENCIT PUTIH JANTAN HIPERLIPIDEMIA

Hiperlipidemia merupakan suatu keadaan patologis yang disebabkan oleh kelainan lipid darah sehingga meningkatkan kadar kolesterol darah. Kadar kolesterol yang meningkat dalam darah akan mengakibatkan meningkatnya produksi radikal bebas sehingga terjadi stress oksidatif dan menyebabkan kadar malondialdehid meningkat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh pemberian ekstrak etanol bunga kecombrang (Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Sm.) terhadap kadar malondialdehid (MDA) mencit putih jantan hiperlipidemia. Pengukuran kadar malondialdehid dilakukan dengan uji TBA (Thio Barbituric Acid) reactivity test. Pada penelitian ini hewan percobaan dibagi menjadi 5 kelompok yaitu kelompok kontrol negatif, kelompok kontrol positif, kelompok dosis ekstrak 100 mg/kgBB, kelompok dosis ekstrak 200 mg/kgBB dan kelompok dosis ekstrak 400 mg/kgBB. Nilai rata-rata kadar MDA dari kelompok negatif : 2,40 nmol/ml, kelompok positif : 4,19 nmol/ml, kelompok dosis 100 mg/kgBB : 3,67 nmol/ml, kelompok dosis 200 mg/kgBB : 2,59 nmol/ml dan kelompok dosis 400 mg/kgBB : 2,47 nmol/ml. Nilai rata-rata kadar MDA kelompok dosis 200 mg/kgBB dan 400 mg/kgBB secara signifikan (p<0,05) mendekati nilai rata-rata MDA kelompok kontrol negatif. Jadi dapat disimpulkan bahwa pemberian ekstrak etanol bunga kecombrang dapat menurunkan kadar MDA mencit putih jantan hiperlipidemia.

Cardiac autonomic neuropathy in fibromyalgia: Revisited

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with widespread autonomic dysfunction where sympathetic predominance explains associated complaints such as widespread pain, sleep disorders and anxiety. Recent studies indicate a possible neurovascular autonomic interaction in the pathogenesis of FM. OBJECTIVE: Our study paradigm included a modified Ewing’s battery of autonomic function tests to find the cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) in FM patients. The battery comprises some tests such as the Valsalva maneuver, which are effort-dependent, so we also aimed to identify a potential simplified test out of the whole battery as an index marker of CAN in FM patients. METHODS: Forty-two female patients with FM were included in this study and were administered sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity tests to explore the presence of CAN. We compared the results from each sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity test against CAN. RESULTS: Delta heart rate in the deep breathing test was significantly different in patients with and without CAN. Delta heart rate also exhibited best diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.769, 95% CI: 0.619–0.920, p< 0.001), with 88% sensitivity, 64% specificity, and 89% negative predictive value (NPV). The 30: 15 ratio during the lying to standing test also emerged as a suitable index; however it did not show any difference between CAN and non-CAN patients. CONCLUSION: The delta heart rate has the best diagnostic accuracy, primarily in CAN’s exclusion by its very high sensitivity and NPV.

Evaluation of 18 commercial serological assays for the detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in paired serum samples

A variety of serological tests have been developed to detect the presence of antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the performance of 18 commercially available SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays. Early (6–8 days after the start of symptoms) and late sera (>14 days) from ICU patients (n=10 andn=16, respectively) and healthcare workers (n=5 andn=9, respectively) were included. Additionally, 22 sera were included to detect potential cross-reactivity. Test characteristics were determined for the 18 assays. In >14 days samples, the Vircell IgG and Wantai Ig ELISAs had superior sensitivity compared to the other ELISAs (96%). Furthermore, the Roche Ig, the Epitope Diagnostics IgM, Wantai IgM, Euroimmun IgG, and IgA all showed a specificity of 100%. The POCTs of Boson Biotech and ACRO Biotech showed the highest sensitivities: 100% and 96% (83.5–99.8), respectively. The POCT of Orient Gene Biotech, VOMED Diagnostics, and Coris-Bioconcept showed highest specificities (100%). For the IgM and IgA assays, the Euroimmun IgA test showed the highest sensitivity in early samples: 46.7% (23.5–70.9) to 53.3% (29.1–76.5). In general, all tests performed better in patients with severe symptoms (ICU patients). We conclude that the Wantai Ig and Vircell IgG ELISAs may be suitable for diagnostic purposes. The IgM/IgA tests performed poorer than their IgG/Ig counterparts but may have a role in diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 in a population in which the background seroprevalence of IgG high, and IgM and/or IgA may distinguish between acute or past infection.

Detection of Coronaviruses Using RNA Toehold Switch Sensors

A rapid, sensitive and simple point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid diagnostic test is needed to prevent spread of infectious diseases. Paper-based toehold reaction, a recently emerged colorimetric POC nucleic acid diagnostic test, has been widely used for pathogen detection and microbiome profiling. Here, we introduce an amplification method called reverse transcription loop-mediated amplification (RT-LAMP) prior to the toehold reaction and modify it to enable more sensitive and faster colorimetric detection of RNA viruses. We show that incorporating the modified RT-LAMP to the toehold reaction detects as few as 120 copies of coronavirus RNA in 70 min. Cross-reactivity test against other coronaviruses indicates this toehold reaction with the modified RT-LAMP is highly specific to the target RNA. Overall, the paper-based toehold switch sensors with the modified RT-LAMP allow fast, sensitive, specific and colorimetric coronavirus detection.