Breast cancer (BC) has particular characteristics in young women, with diagnosis at more advanced stages, a poorer prognosis and highly aggressive tumors. In NeoFit, we will use an activity tracker ...to identify and describe various digital profiles (heart rate, physical activity, and sleep patterns) in women below the age of 45 years on neoadjuvant chemotherapy for BC.
NeoFit is a prospective, national, multicenter, single-arm open-label study. It will include 300 women below the age of 45 years treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy for BC. Participants will be asked to wear a Withing Steel HR activity tracker round the clock for 12 months. The principal assessments will be performed at baseline, at the end of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and at 12 months. We will evaluate clinical parameters, such as toxicity and the efficacy of chemotherapy, together with quality of life, fatigue, and parameters relating to lifestyle and physical activity. The women will complete REDCap form questionnaires via a secure internet link.
In this study, the use of an activity tracker will enable us to visualize changes in the lifestyle of young women on neoadjuvant chemotherapy for BC, over the course of a one-year period. This exploratory study will provide crucial insight into the digital phenotypes of young BC patients on neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the relationship between these phenotypes and the toxicity and efficacy of treatment. This trial will pave the way for interventional studies involving sleep and physical activity interventions.
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT05011721 . Registration date: 18/08/2021.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a rare cancer, characterized by high metastatic potential and poor prognosis, and has limited treatment options. The current standard of care in nonmetastatic ...settings is neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), but treatment efficacy varies substantially across patients. This heterogeneity is still poorly understood, partly due to the paucity of curated TNBC data. Here we investigate the use of machine learning (ML) leveraging whole-slide images and clinical information to predict, at diagnosis, the histological response to NACT for early TNBC women patients. To overcome the biases of small-scale studies while respecting data privacy, we conducted a multicentric TNBC study using federated learning, in which patient data remain secured behind hospitals' firewalls. We show that local ML models relying on whole-slide images can predict response to NACT but that collaborative training of ML models further improves performance, on par with the best current approaches in which ML models are trained using time-consuming expert annotations. Our ML model is interpretable and is sensitive to specific histological patterns. This proof of concept study, in which federated learning is applied to real-world datasets, paves the way for future biomarker discovery using unprecedentedly large datasets.
The burden of tuberculosis is compounded by drug-resistant forms of the disease. This study aimed to analyse data on antituberculosis drug resistance gathered by the WHO and International Union ...Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Global Project on Anti-tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance.
Data on drug susceptibility testing for four antituberculosis drugs—isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and streptomycin—were gathered in the third round of the Global Project (1999–2002) from surveys or ongoing surveillance in 79 countries or geographical settings. These data were combined with those from the first two rounds of the project and analyses were done. Countries that participated followed a standardised set of guidelines to ensure comparability both between and within countries.
The median prevalence of resistance to any of the four antituberculosis drugs in new cases of tuberculosis identified in 76 countries or geographical settings was 10·2% (range 0·0–57·1). The median prevalence of multidrug resistance in new cases was 1·0% (range 0·0–14·2). Kazakhstan, Tomsk Oblast (Russia), Karakalpakstan (Uzbekistan), Estonia, Israel, the Chinese provinces Liaoning and Henan, Lithuania, and Latvia reported prevalence of multidrug resistance above 6·5%. Trend analysis showed a significant increase in the prevalence of multidrug resistance in new cases in Tomsk Oblast (p<0·0001). Hong Kong (p=0·01) and the USA (p=0·0002) reported significant decreasing trends in multidrug resistance in new cases of tuberculosis.
Multidrug resistance represents a serious challenge for tuberculosis control in countries of the former Soviet Union and in some provinces of China. Gaps in coverage of the Global Project are substantial, and baseline information is urgently required from several countries with high tuberculosis burden to develop appropriate control interventions.
The use of agrochemicals in vegetable production could influence the selection for insecticide resistance in malaria vectors. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of information on the potential ...contribution of agrochemicals to insecticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes breeding on vegetable farms in southern Benin. A Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices study was conducted with 75 vegetable farmers from Houeyiho and Seme to determine the main agrochemicals used in vegetable production, and the concentration and frequency of application, among other details. Mosquitoes and breeding water were sampled from the farms for analysis. Bioassays were conducted on mosquitoes, while breeding water was screened for heavy metal and pesticide residue contamination. Lambda-cyhalothrin was the main insecticide (97.5%) used by farmers, and Anopheles coluzzii was the main mosquito identified. This mosquito species was resistant (30-63% mortality rate) to λ-cyhalothrin. It was also observed that 16.7% of the examined breeding sites were contaminated with λ-cyhalothrin residues. Furthermore, copper contamination detected in mosquito breeding sites showed a positive correlation (r = 0.81; P = 0.0017) with mosquito resistance to λ-cyhalothrin. The presence of copper in λ-cyhalothrin-free breeding sites, where mosquitoes have developed resistance to λ-cyhalothrin, suggests the involvement of copper in the insecticide resistance of malaria vectors; this, however, needs further investigation.
Introduction. Resistance to common antimalarial drugs and persistence of the endemicity of malaria constitute a major public health problem in Cameroon. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in ...vitro antiplasmodial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Bridelia micrantha used by Cameroonian traditional healers for the treatment of malaria. Methods. Aqueous and ethanolic stem bark extracts were prepared according to standard procedures. The SYBR Green method was used for antiplasmodial activity on strains of Plasmodium falciparum sensitive to chloroquine (3D7) and resistant (Dd2). In vitro antioxidant activities of B. micrantha were determined using the scavenging activity of 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, nitric oxide, ferric reducing power, and hydrogen peroxide as well as their cytotoxicity on RAW 264.7 macrophage cells and red blood cells (RBC). Results. The aqueous and ethanol extracts of Bridelia micrantha showed antiplasmodial activity on the 3D7 strain with IC50 of 31.65±0.79 μg/ml and 19.41±2.93 μg/ml, respectively, as well as 37.64±0.77 μg/ml and 36.22±1.04 μg/ml for the Dd2 strain, respectively. The aqueous and ethanol extracts showed free radical scavenging properties. The IC50 aqueous and ethanol extract was approximately 0.0001737 μg/ml, 42.92 μg/ml, 1197 μg/ml, 63.78 μg/ml and 4.617 μg/ml, 429.9 μg/ml, 511 μg/ml, and 69.32 μg/ml for DPPH, NO, H2O2, and FRAP, respectively, which were compared to ascorbic acid (8.610e−005 μg/ml, 2901 μg/ml, 3237 μg/ml, and 18.57 μg/ml). The aqueous and ethanol extracts of B. micrantha were found to be nontoxic with CC50 values of 950±6.6 μg/ml and 308.3±45.4 μg/ml, respectively. Haemolysis test showed that the two extracts were not toxic. Conclusion. These results suggest that B. micrantha can serve as an antimalarial agent. However, further studies are needed to validate the use of B. micrantha as an antimalarial.
•Five species of cucurbit seeds were used to produce the flours.•The proximal composition, anti-nutritional factors and antioxidant power of flours were evaluated, the functional properties of the ...flours were also assessed.•The seed species significantly affects the physicochemical and functional properties of flours;.•C. moschata, C. maxima and L. siceraria flours are strongly correlated to polyphenols, tannins, total reducing power, chelating power, and DPPH radical scavenging.•C. mannii and c sativus flours are generally higher in foam capacity and Stability, oil absorption Capacity, emulsion activity and Stability, water solubility index and small concentration gelling.
There are several species of seeds in the cucurbit family. This study was carried out to determine the effects of species seeds on bioactive compounds and the physicochemical and functional properties of five cucurbit flours. In this vein, dry samples of cucurbit species seeds were dehulled and ground into flour. Their proximate composition, bioactive compounds, antioxidants, and physical properties were evaluated by using standard methods. The results revealed that the proximate composition changed significantly (p<0.05) with cucurbit species. Cucumeropsis manni (31.05%) and Cucumis sativus (30.12%) flours have the highest protein content, while Cucurbita maxima (58.68%) and Lagenaria siceraria (55.05%) flours are higher in fat content. Cucumis sativus has the lowest total phenolic (260.18 mg) and tannin content (182.61 mg), while Cucurbita moschata has the highest values. Cucurbita maxima and C. moschata flours have the highest total reducing power and DPPH radical scavenging due to their high phenolic content. C. mannii and C. sativus flours have generally higher oil absorption capacity, emulsion activity, stability, water solubility index, and small concentration gelling as compared to C. moschata, L. siceraria, and C. maxima. Water and oil absorption capacities, on the other hand, ranged from 169 to 253% and 91 to 115%, respectively. Swelling power ranged from 132 to 248%, emulsion activity ranged from 45.23 to 61.87%, and foam capacity ranged from 04.25 to 11.23%. In conclusion, the results indicate that the five species of cucurbit flour have interesting nutritional properties. However, C. maxima and C. moschata have strong antioxidant potential, while C. mannii and C. sativus have more interesting potential as functional agents in the food industry for food formulation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies snake bites as neglected public health problem affecting mostly tropical and subtropical countries. In Africa there are an estimated 1 million snake ...bites annually with about half needing a specific treatment. Women, children and farmers in poor rural communities in developing countries are the most affected. Case management of snake bites are not adequate in many health facilities in developing countries where personnel are not always abreast with the new developments in snake bite management and in addition, quite often the anti-venom serum is lacking. We report the case of a medical doctor bitten by a cobra in the rural area of Poli, Cameroon while asleep in his bedroom. Lack of facilities coupled with poor case management resulted in a fatal outcome.
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