Quick Screening Research Articles

In vitro selection of drought-tolerant white poplar clones based on antioxidant activities and osmoprotectant content.

In light of upcoming climate change, there is an urgent requirement for tree improvement regarding adaptability to drought-caused stress and the development of quick and reliable screening methodologies for genotypes' drought tolerance. White poplar is, despite its high adaptability, considered to be an endangered tree species in Serbia, which gives it special importance in the preservation and improvement of biodiversity of riparian ecosystems. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the tolerance of five white poplar clones to the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000 molecular weight 6000) (different concentrations (e.g. 0 g/L, 1 g/L, 10 g/L, 20 g/L, and 50 g/L) in Aspen Culture Medium (ACM). The tolerance of the clones was evaluated by using morphological parameters (shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight), photosynthetic pigments (contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and chlorophyll a+b), and biochemical parameters (total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, ferric reducing antioxidant power, antioxidant activities (DPPH activity and ABTS assay), free proline content and glycine betaine content. The values of morphological and photosynthetic pigments declined with an increase in the concentration of PEG 6000. At a concentration of 50 g/L, the content of shoot fresh mass decreased by 41%, the content of Chl a by 68%, Chl b by 65%, and Car by 76% compared to the control. Also, at the same medium, there was an increase in the content of total phenols, accumulation of proline, the content of glycine betaine as well as in antioxidant activity. Based on the obtained results, it can be assumed that more drought-tolerant clones are characterized by high values for biomass, high content of photosynthetic pigments, and high content of proline and glycine betaine in conditions similar to drought in vitro. Clone L-80 showed better results in most of the tested parameters, especially compared to the reference clone Villafranca.

Automated quantification of lipid contents of Lipomyces starkeyi using deep-learning-based image segmentation

Intracellular lipid droplets (LDs), subcellular organelles playing a role in long-term carbon storage, have immense potential in biofuel and dietary lipid production. Monitoring the state of LDs in living cells is of utmost importance for quick biomass harvest and screening promising isolates. Here, a deep-learning-based segmentation model was developed for automatic detection and segmentation of LDs using the model yeast species Lipomyces starkeyi, leading to fast and accurate quantification of lipid contents in liquid cultures. The trained model detected the yeast's cell and LDs in light microscopic images with an accuracy of 98% and 92%, respectively. Lipid content prediction using pixel numbers counted in segmented LDs showed high similarity to lipid quantification results obtained with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This automated quantification can highly reduce cost and time in real-time monitoring of lipid production, thereby providing an efficient tool in bio-fermentation.

Advances in optical and electrochemical sensing of bisphenol a (BPA) utilizing microfluidic Technology: A mini perspective

Continuous exposure to toxic pollutants highlights the need for sensitive detection technologies that can be rapidly applied in the current world for quick screening of real samples. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most common environmental contaminants, and it has the potential to harm both the environment and human health, notably causing reproductive disorders, cancer, heart disease, infertility, mental disorders, etc. Thus, significant attention has been paid to the detection of BPA and microplastics to promote food safety, environmental health, and human health on a sustainable earth. Among the current technologies, microfluidic based systems have garnered a lot of interest as future diagnostic tools for healthcare applications. Microfluidic devices can be deployed for quick screening and real-time monitoring, with inherent advantages like portability, miniaturisation, highly sensing tool and ease of integration with various detection systems. Optical and electrochemical sensors are two major analytical tools found in almost all microfluidic-based devices for ultrasensitive BPA and microplastics determination. In this review, we have evaluated and discussed microfluidic-based detection methods for BPA and microplastics.

The value of GLI1 and p16 immunohistochemistry in the premolecular screening for GLI1-altered mesenchymal neoplasms.

Mesenchymal neoplasms with GLI1 alterations have recently been reported in several anatomic locations. Their morphology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) are nonspecific, making their recognition a true challenge. To assess the diagnostic value of GLI1 and p16 IHC for identifying GLI1-altered neoplasms, we evaluated 12 such neoplasms (6 GLI1-amplified and 6 with GLI1-fusions) using the GLI1 IHC. Additionally, we evaluated some of their morphological and molecular mimickers, including glomangiomas, Ewing sarcomas (ES), myxoid liposarcomas, and MDM2/CDK4-amplified sarcomas (well-differentiated liposarcoma/WDLPS, dedifferentiated liposarcoma/DDLPS, and intimal sarcoma). All successfully tested GLI1-altered tumors (11/11) demonstrated at least moderate/strong nuclear and/or cytoplasmic GLI1 IHC positivity. GLI1-amplified tumors exhibited a moderate/strong predominantly nuclear staining, compared to a moderate, patchy, and predominantly cytoplasmic GLI1 positivity in GLI1-fusion tumors. Among their mimics, GLI1 immunoreactivity, either cytoplasmic or nuclear, was observed in intimal sarcoma (3/3) and WDLPS/DDLPS (22/25). GLI1 IHC demonstrated 92% sensitivity and 90.8% specificity in diagnosing GLI1-altered neoplasms. Strong/moderate nuclear/cytoplasmic p16 immunoexpression was noted in all GLI1-amplified tumors compared to none of fused cases. Overall, the GLI1/p16 combination demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 93% for GLI1-amplified tumors. In conclusion, we confirm that GLI1 IHC represents a good, quick, and cheap helpful screening tool. The inclusion of p16 may aid in pre-screening for potential GLI1-amplified neoplasms and provide insights on which tumors warrant further molecular testing.

Machine learning assisted screening of doped metals phosphides electrocatalyst towards efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Transition metals (TM) doped metal phosphides usually exhibits promising reactivity towards acidic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the experimental screening of highly active TM-doped metal phosphides catalyst is time-consuming and challenging. In this study, a density functional theory combined machine learning (DFT-ML) framework is proposed to accelerate the screening and predicting TM-doped metal phosphides-based HER electrocatalysts. In this framework, the ML database is constructed using critical catalyst features and DFT-calculated adsorption energy of HER intermediates. Also, local average electronegativity of the adsorption site and the surrounding atoms as catalyst feature is proposed to describe the reaction sites in this ML model. Using the HER energetics on the state-of-art highly active Pt (111) as benchmark catalyst model, a set of 10 potential active HER catalysts is predicted. By performing the H* adsorption Gibbs free energy change analysis on these ML-predicted catalysts, six promising TM-doped metal phosphides HER catalysts are determined in the sample space. This study provides a facile and effective approach for the quick screening of high-performance HER electrocatalysts.

43 Application of the Moroccan Arabic Bedside Western Aphasia battery-Revised in Acute Stroke Care

Objective:Despite the prevalence of aphasia in Morocco, standardized quick assessment tools are not available for use with patients in acute stroke care. The present study set out to (1) describe the processes of linguistic adaptation of a Moroccan Arabic (MA) version of the Bedside Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R), (2) examine the test’s sensitivity to the detection of aphasia in an acute clinical setting, and (3) measure the instrument’s ability to detect improvement in language ability in the acute period.Participants and Methods:To achieve the first objective, the English Bedside WAB-R was adapted to Moroccan Arabic by a group of linguists. The instrument’s psychometric properties were established by (1) ascertaining the test’s sensitivity to the presence of aphasia, and (2) verifying the tool’s validity and reliability. Participants included a group of age- and education-matched non-brain-damaged individuals (N = 106), a group of right hemisphere brain-lesioned patients (N = 20), and a group of left hemisphere aphasic patients (N = 52). To accomplish the second and third objectives, the Bedside MA-WAB-R was administered to a group of aphasic participants in the acute period (less than three months post-stroke), and a group of age- and education-matched participants (N = 20). Aphasic patients in the acute stage were tested twice on a seven-day interval (3 days and 10 days post-onset). All data were collected from the Neurology department at the University Medical Hospital Hassan II, and the study received approval from the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah.Results:Regarding the first objective, the results indicated that the MA-WAB-R is sensitive to the presence of aphasia, as revealed by the significantly worse performance of the aphasic group on all subtests relative to matched normal and right-hemisphere participants (p = .000). Analyses revealed excellent content and construct validity (correlations between subtests and AQ ranging from .5 to .8) as well as high inter-rater reliability, intra-rater reliability and test-retest reliability (ICC (2,1) > .9). For the second and third objectives, the results supported the test’s sensitivity to the detection of aphasia in the acute phase, as confirmed by the significantly worse performance of aphasic patients relative to matched normal controls (p = .000). The instrument also proved as a reliable measure of language improvement in the acute period, as supported by better scores on the second testing point relative to the first across all subtests.Conclusions:The MA-WAB-R is the first standardized assessment tool that can be used for a quick but reliable screening of aphasia in both chronic and acute clinical settings. The test can inform the initial diagnosis of aphasia, and guide a more comprehensive assessment of patients’ spared and impaired linguistic abilities within a context receiving little attention in the aphasia literature.

Self-Reported Sleepiness, Fatigue and Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using the STOP BANG Components: Women’s Perspective

Introduction: About 2-4% of adults have obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a frequent chronic condition. The disorder is characterised by recurrent bouts of whole or partial collapse of the upper airway, primarily the oropharyngeal tract, while sleeping, which results in a decrease or stoppage of airflow. The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between the self-reported sleepiness, fatigue and the risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea among the midlife women aged 40 to 65 years Methodology: This was a cross sectional study conducted in the field practice area of rural and urban health and training centre of a tertiary care teaching hospital, Chengalpattu district, Tamilnadu among 380 women aged 40 to 65 years. Results: Mean age of the study population was 49.69 (± 11.2). On risk categorization by STOP-BANG Questionnaire, it was found that 72.9% (277), 26.1% (99) and 1.1% (4) had low, intermediate and high risk for sleep apnea. 16.9% of the study participants had excessive daytime sleepiness. Fatigue severity scale of more than or equal to 36 was seen among 34.5% of the study participants. Conclusion: The STOP-Bang questionnaire has been shown in studies to be a quick, efficient, and accurate OSA screening tool. It can make it easier to allocate resources effectively for detecting and treating OSA that had not yet been recognised.

Screening Instrument for Dysphagia in People with an Intellectual Disability (SD-ID): Quick and Reliable Screening by Caregivers

Background and AimTimely diagnosis of dysphagia is important for people with an intellectual disability. Periodic screening of each individual by speech-language therapists is barely feasible with respect to limited resources. Therefore, preselection of individuals with an increased dysphagia risk through screening by caregivers is crucial.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop the novel Screening instrument for Dysphagia for people with an Intellectual Disability (SD-ID).MethodsThe SD-ID was developed, validated and optimised in two rounds. Version 3, consisting of nine risk factors and 20 items concerning eating/drinking behaviour, was thoroughly studied for feasibility, concurrent validity and reliability, and then optimised.Outcomes and ResultsThe SD-ID (version 3) was filled out in an average of four minutes (feasibility). A strong positive association was found between scores on SD-ID and Dysphagia Disorder Survey (concurrent validity). Test-retest and interrater reliability were very good. Two additional risk factors were added and two items removed to yield the final version 4. The most optimal cut-off score appeared to be either 4 or 5.Conclusions and ImplicationsThe SD-ID is a reliable instrument to screen for an increased risk of dysphagia in people with an intellectual disability. Ideally it is part of a cyclic work process: Screening with SD-ID (step 1), diagnostic work-up if necessary (step 2), recommendations (step 3), and evaluation (step 4).

A quick and intelligent screening method for large-scale retired batteries based on cloud-edge collaborative architecture

Rapid and accurate sorting consistent cells is indispensable for the cascade utilization of retired batteries. However, the conventional full charge-discharge capacity testing methods are time-consuming and low efficient, which cannot be employed to screen large-scale retired batteries. Moreover, most existing artificial intelligence techniques sort retired batteries at cloud servers, which leads to tremendous burdens of transmission. Therefore, a fast and intelligent screening approach based on a Light Gradient Boosting Machine is proposed, which only utilizes partial charge/discharge curves, significantly reducing the test time. Meanwhile, a cloud-edge collaborative framework for separating large-scale retired batteries is developed. Specifically, the model is trained in the cloud and screens retired batteries in the edge plane. The experimental results show that the data transmission time of the cloud-edge collaborative framework is reduced by about 3 orders of magnitude than the cloud computing plane. Besides, the method achieves a 97 % classification accuracy rate. More importantly, the screening efficiency of the proposed approach is approximately 6 times higher than that of the conventional full charge-discharge testing methods. Additionally, the voltage consistency of the new module regrouped is significantly improved compared with the original module. The mean of the standard deviation is reduced by approximately 3 times.

The first quick olfactory test specific for Alzheimer's disease and French culture.

Olfactory identification disorder is considered a promising early biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The QUICK TODA2 can be used as a short olfactory screening tool specific for French AD patients. The selection of AD specific odorants and the design of this screening were the main objectives of this twofold study. In study 1, the TODA2 olfactory test was administered to 43 mild-AD patients and 45 healthy controls (HC) in five memory centres in France. The selection of AD specific odorants was based on the differences in the proportion of correct answers and in the threshold means between AD and HC groups. In study 2, another set of 19 mild-AD patient were included at the memory centre of Nice Hospital. All participants completed the olfactory assessment pipeline including the QUICK TODA2, TODA2 and Sniffin' Sticks Identification sub-Test (SST-i). The individual scores of the three tests were correlated. In study 1, ten TODA2 odorants could significantly differentiate AD participants from controls. We selected the six most AD-sensitive items to design the QUICK TODA2. In study 2, we reported strong significant correlations between QUICK TODA2 and TODA2 (ρ(17) = 0.68, p = 0.001**), SST-i and QUICK TODA2 (ρ(17) = 0.65, p = 0.002**), SST-i and TODA2 (ρ(17) = 0.57, p = 0.01*). QUICK TODA2 is a 5-min non-invasive olfactory AD screening tool dedicated to French culture. Its results converge with those of longer, validated olfactory tests. It could be used as a quick screening tool in the general daily practice before an extensive assessment in memory centres.

The impact of cognitive impairment in urologic implants: a narrative review.

With the general population aging and thus more patients developing bothersome erectile dysfunction, stress urinary incontinence and overactive bladder, there will likely be a higher demand for three common interactive implants in urology, the penile prosthesis, artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) and sacral neuromodulation (SNM). Further, the prevalence of mild and major neurocognitive disorders (also known as mild cognitive impairment and dementia, respectively) is expected to increase. While the aforementioned urologic implants have excellent short and long term outcomes, there are also known device issues such as malfunction or misuse that may require surgical removal and/or revision. The objective of this narrative review is to describe the association of cognitive impairment and urologic implants. We performed a search on PubMed between the years 1975-2023 for English language articles that reported on any type or severity of cognitive impairment and its association with penile prosthesis, AUS and/or SNM. While peer-reviewed published manuscripts were prioritized, abstracts that fit our search criteria were also included. Data assessing outcomes of patients with cognitive impairment who undergo placement of a urologic implant are limited. There is an association between AUS failure or misuse with cognitive impairment. SNM is efficacious in this population in the short term. In patients who develop dementia, an inflatable penile prosthesis can be deflated via in-office needle puncture and an AUS can be deactivated. The Memory Alteration Test, Quick Screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment and the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination are relatively quick screening tests with good sensitivity and specificity for mild cognitive impairment. While data on the association between urologic implants and cognitive impairment are sparse, there are tools that urologists can use to screen patients for cognitive impairment. With screening, urologists can provide appropriate preoperative counseling (including recommending against implantation) and can provide closer postoperative monitoring. Further study is required to assess which patients should be excluded from device implantation and how to properly assess for cognitive impairment in a manner that is both beneficial for the patient and convenient and efficient for a urologist.

The use of aromatic aldehydes for the test determination of cefotaxime

Indicator papers based on immobilized reagents with their subsequent digital image processing are widely used for the quick and cheap screening study of drugs when assessing the content of the main substance in drugs for the presence of counterfeits. Indicator papers based on reagents immobilized on a cellulose matrix 4-dimethylaminocinnamic aldehyde (DMACA), 4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DMAB), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (vanillin) were proposed for the determination of β-lactam antibiotic cefotaxime. To specify optimal conditions for the immobilization of reagents on a solid matrix, the intensities (changes in intensities) of color parameters were recorded at a different concentration of reagents, type of surfactants, and paper porosity. The detection limits of visual-colorimetric determination of cefotaxime were 1.0 mg/ml (DMACA), 0.12 mg/ml (DMAB), and 0.30 mg/ml (vanillin). Colorimetric processing of images of the test agents was carried out in the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) 2.10 program by averaging the images of indicator papers using the blur-sharp function, determining the intensity of color parameters. The photos were taken using a 48-megapixel camera of a POCO X3 pro smartphone in a specialized box measuring 22 × 23 × 24 cm with two LED lighting strips (5 V, 1 A). Linear dependences of the intensities of color parameters of the RGB, HSV, and CMYK models on the cefotaxime concentration (log c) were obtained: y = –15x + 45 (r2 = 0. 99, color parameter H for DMACA), y = –51x + 130 (r2 = = 0.99, parameter B for DMAB), y = 36x + 30 (r2 = 0. 99, S parameter for vanillin). Linear dependences of the areas and perimeters of the petal diagrams of indicator papers on the cefotaxime concentration have been plotted for the studied systems of cefotaxime — immobilized reagent. The correctness of the determination results was assessed using the analysis of spiked samples, the relative error did not exceed 25%. The developed test tools based on immobilized aromatic aldehydes are recommended for the semi-quantitative determination of cefotaxime.

A novel prosthesis presentation test to screen for cognitive and functional decline.

To validate a novel screening test for cognitive and functional decline in older patients rehabilitated with complete removable dental prostheses (CRDPs). Edentate old in-patients rehabilitated with CRDPs were included in this study. Participants were requested to remove their prostheses before their intraoral examinations. The prostheses were then presented in an inverted orientation. Participants had to correct the orientation of the prostheses and insert them in the appropriate jaws. The test was repeated after the intraoral exam. Appropriate statistical models were used (⍺ = .05) to associate the test results with the participants' mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score, functional independence measure (FIM), age and sex. Among the 86 participants (mean-age: 85.4 ± 6.4 years; mean MMSE: 19.8 ± 5.5; mean FIM: 77.9 ± 20.8), 21 (24.4%) failed to correctly insert the prosthesis. The prosthesis presentation test (PPT) was associated with the FIM but not the MMSE. Regression models further confirmed an association with age (P = .043), but not sex. Additional analyses revealed the PPT test is associated with the FIM's cognitive sub-sets of memory, problem solving and social interaction. The PPT is a novel, simple and quick screening tool that can help detect functional difficulties in older people. It can easily be performed during an oral examination. Future studies are needed to determine whether the PPT can be used to detect deficits in executive function, as a complement to the MMSE and also as a first assessment of a patient's ability to manage dentures independently.

Trends in Self-Reported Fentanyl and Other Illicit Substance Use in South Carolina Emergency Department Patients, 2020-2022

BackgroundOpioid-involved deaths are continuing to increase across the United States, exceeding 100,000 for the first time in 2021. Contamination with, and intentional use of, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are a major driver of this increase. Utilizing self-report substance use data of patients being treated in the emergency department (ED) can be useful to determine which substances patients are intentionally seeking. Objectives1) Examine changes in self-reported illicit substance use (including fentanyl) over time; 2) Examine changes in the co-occurrence of self-reported fentanyl with other illicit substance use over time. MethodsAll patients presenting to the study EDs that answered anything other than “never” on the National Institute on Drug Abuse Quick Screen and were seen by a peer recovery specialist in the ED between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022 were included for analysis. The substance of use as reported by each patient was recorded by the peer recovery specialist. Differences in substance use by type over time were examined using chi-squared tests of proportions. ResultsThere were 7568 patients that met inclusion criteria. Self-reported fentanyl (1760%; p < 0.0001) and cocaine (82%; p = 0.034) use increased, whereas heroin use (16%; p < 0.0001) decreased. ConclusionsSelf-reported fentanyl and cocaine use has increased significantly in South Carolina ED patients between 2020 and 2022. Given the high morbidity and mortality associated with fentanyl and fentanyl analog use, further measures to identify these patients and provide harm reduction and treatment from the ED setting are warranted.

Ascending Aorta 4D Time to Peak Distention Sexual Dimorphism and Association with Coronary Plaque Burden Severity in Women.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) risk and plaque scores are often subjective and biased, particularly in mid-age asymptomatic women, whose CAD risk assessment has been historically underestimated. In this study, a new automatic ascending aorta time-to-peak-distention (TPD) analysis was developed for fast screening and as an independent surrogate for subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic women. CCTA was obtained in 50 asymptomatic adults. Plaque burden segment involvement score (SIS) and automatic TPD were obtained from all subjects. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between CAD risk scores and TPD with severe coronary plaque burden (SIS>5). TPD, individually, was found to be a significant predictor of SIS>5. Additionally, sex was a significant effect modifier of TPD, with a stronger statistically significant association with women. Four-dimensional aortic time-to-peak distention could supplement conventional CCTA analysis and offer a quick objective screening tool for plaque burden severity and CAD risk stratification, especially in women.

Spatial attention-based residual network for human burn identification and classification

Diagnosing burns in humans has become critical, as early identification can save lives. The manual process of burn diagnosis is time-consuming and complex, even for experienced doctors. Machine learning (ML) and deep convolutional neural network (CNN) models have emerged as the standard for medical image diagnosis. The ML-based approach typically requires handcrafted features for training, which may result in suboptimal performance. Conversely, DL-based methods automatically extract features, but designing a robust model is challenging. Additionally, shallow DL methods lack long-range feature dependency, decreasing efficiency in various applications. We implemented several deep CNN models, ResNeXt, VGG16, and AlexNet, for human burn diagnosis. The results obtained from these models were found to be less reliable since shallow deep CNN models need improved attention modules to preserve the feature dependencies. Therefore, in the proposed study, the feature map is divided into several categories, and the channel dependencies between any two channel mappings within a given class are highlighted. A spatial attention map is built by considering the links between features and their locations. Our attention-based model BuRnGANeXt50 kernel and convolutional layers are also optimized for human burn diagnosis. The earlier study classified the burn based on depth of graft and non-graft. We first classified the burn based on the degree. Subsequently, it is classified into graft and non-graft. Furthermore, the proposed model performance is evaluated on Burns_BIP_US_database. The sensitivity of the BuRnGANeXt50 is 97.22% and 99.14%, respectively, for classifying burns based on degree and depth. This model may be used for quick screening of burn patients and can be executed in the cloud or on a local machine. The code of the proposed method can be accessed at https://github.com/dhirujis02/Journal.git for the sake of reproducibility.

A Field Deployable Real-Time Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Targeting Five Copy nrdB Gene for the Detection of 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' in Citrus.

Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most destructive diseases in citrus, which imperils the sustainability of citriculture worldwide. The presumed causal agent of HLB, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (CLas) is a non-culturable phloem-limited α-proteobacterium transmitted by Asian citrus psyllids (ACP, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama). A widely adopted method for HLB diagnosis is based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Although HLB diagnostic qPCR provides high sensitivity and good reproducibility, it is limited by time-consuming DNA preparation from plant tissue or ACP and the requirement of proper lab instruments including a thermal cycler to conduct qPCR. In an attempt to develop a quick assay that can be deployed in the field for CLas detection, we developed a real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (rt-LAMP) assay by targeting the CLas five copy nrdB gene. The rt-LAMP assay using various plant sample types and psyllids successfully detected the nrdB target as low as ~2.6 Log10 copies. Although the rt-LAMP assay was less sensitive than laboratory-based qPCR (detection limit ~10 copies), the data obtained with citrus leaf and bark and ACP showed that the rt-LAMP assay has &gt;96% CLas detection rate, compared to that of laboratory-based qPCR. However, the CLas detection rate in fibrous roots was significantly decreased compared to qPCR due to low CLas titer in some root DNA sample. We also demonstrated that the rt-LAMP assay can be used with a crude leaf DNA extract which is fully deployable in the field for quick and reliable HLB screening.

Validity and reliability measures of the Swedish Karolinska version of the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (SK-ECAS)

Objective Cognitive and behavioral impairment is observed in up to 50% of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) is a 5-domain screening tool customized for quick cognitive screening in patients with ALS. Although the ECAS is available in Swedish at the Karolinska University Hospital (SK-ECAS), it has not yet been validated in Sweden stressing the need to assess validity and reliability of the SK-ECAS Version A. Methods The study included 176 patients with ALS or other motor neuron disease diagnosed between September 2017 and October 2021 at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Center in Stockholm, Sweden, and 35 age-matched healthy control subjects. SK-ECAS was validated against the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and optimal cutoffs, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated. Results We identified an optimal cutoff of 108 for the SK-ECAS total score and 82 for the SK-ECAS ALS-specific score to detect cognitive impairment. The SK-ECAS showed good performance in indicating abnormal cognition with an AUC of 0.73 for SK-ECAS ALS-specific score and 0.77 for SK-ECAS total score. There was good internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.79. Conclusions This study demonstrates good validity and reliability indices for SK-ECAS Version A for the detection of cognitive impairment in newly diagnosed ALS patients.

Food Risk Analysis: Towards a Better Understanding of "Hazard" and "Risk" in EU Food Legislation.

For risk communication, it is important to understand the difference between "hazard" and "risk". Definitions can be found in Codex Alimentarius and the European Union (EU) General Food Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002. The use of these terms as synonyms or their interchange is a recurrent issue in the area of food safety, despite awareness-raising messages sent by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and other interested entities. A quick screening of the EU's food regulations revealed several inconsistencies. Hence, it was considered necessary to further investigate if regulations could act as a source for this problem. A software tool was developed to support the detection and listing of inconsistent translations of "hazard" and "risk" in certain EU food regulations. Subsequently, native-speaking experts working in food safety from each EU country were asked to provide their individual scientific opinion on the prepared list. All data were statistically analysed after applying numerical scores (1-5) describing different levels of consistency. Results showed that the most common problem was the interchange of "hazard" with "risk" and vice versa. This lack of consistency can create confusion that can further translate into misjudgments at food risk assessment and communication levels.

Design of Graphdiyne and Holey Graphyne‐Based Single Atom Catalysts for CO2 Reduction With Interpretable Machine Learning

AbstractUsing electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to synthesize value‐added hydrocarbons provides a useful solution for environmental issues and energy crisis. However, this process is impeded by the low activity and selectivity of electrocatalysts toward targeted products. Employing density functional theory computations, the graphdiyne and holey graphyne supported single‐atom catalysts (SACs, M/GDY and M/HGY) are demonstrated to be the promising candidates for the CO2RR. By taking full elemental diversity of metal sites across the periodic table, 25 catalysts are found to effectively activate CO2 and inhibit competitive hydrogen evolution, and 8 of them show higher activity for CH4 production than Cu(211). Remarkably, changing supports are found to greatly affect limiting potentials and reaction pathways, even leading to an “inert‐active” transition for some metal centers. The resulting SACs, including Mn/GDY, Co/HGY, Ru/GDY, and Os/GDY, can achieve high activity with low limiting potentials of ≈ −0.22 to −0.58 V. Machine learning enables to identify the critical role of the polarized charge and magnetic moment of metal atoms in affecting the activity. The built machine learning model also shows an interpretable capability to predict the activity of the other types of SACs, offering a great promise to quick screening of high‐performance SACs.