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Rationale: Acquisition of a procalcific phenotype by resident or circulating cells is important for calcification of atherosclerotic plaques, which is common in diabetes.Objective: We aim to identify and characterize circulating calcifying cells, and to delineate a pathophysiological role for these cells in type 2 diabetes. Methods and Results:

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Background: Iodine supplementation during pregnancy in areas with mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency is still debated. Methods: A single-center, randomized, single-blind and placebo-controlled (3:2) trial was conducted. We enrolled 90 women before 12 weeks of gestation. From enrollment up until 8 weeks after delivery, 52 women were given an iodine supplement (225 ug/day, potassium iodide tablets) and 38 were given placebo. At recruitment (T0), in the second (T1) and third trimesters (T2), and 8 weeks after delivery (T3), we measured participants’ urinary iodine-to-creatinine ratio (UI/Creat), thyroid function parameters (thyroglobulin (Tg), TSH, FT3, and FT4), and thyroid volume (TV). The newborns’ urinary iodine concentrations were evaluated in 16 cases. Results: Median UI/Creat at recruitment was 53.3 ug/g. UI/Creat was significantly higher in supplemented women at T1 and T2. Tg levels were lower at T1 and T2 in women with UI/Creat ≥ 150 ug/g, and in the Iodine group at T2 (p = 0.02). There was a negative correlation between Tg and UI/Creat throughout the study (p = 0.03, r = −0.1268). A lower TSH level was found in the Iodine group at T3 (p = 0.001). TV increased by +Δ7.43% in the Iodine group, and by +Δ11.17% in the Placebo group. No differences were found between the newborns’ TSH levels on screening the two groups. Conclusion: Tg proved a good parameter for measuring iodine intake in our placebo-controlled series. Iodine supplementation did not prove harmful to pregnancy in areas of mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency, with no appreciable harmful effect on thyroid function.

Long time series of reliable individual growth estimates are crucial for understanding the status of a fish stock and deciding upon appropriate management. Tagging data provide valuable information about fish growth, and are especially useful when age‐based growth estimates and stock assessments are compromised by age‐determination uncertainties. However, in the literature there is a lack of studies assessing possible changes in growth over time using tagging data. Here, data from tagging experiments performed in the Baltic Sea between 1971 and 2019 were added to those previously analysed for 1955–1970 to build the most extensive tagging dataset available for Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua, Gadidae), a threatened stock with severe age‐determination problems. Two length‐based methods, the GROTAG model (based on the von Bertalanffy growth function) and a Generalized Additive Model, were used to assess for the first time the potential long‐term changes in cod growth using age‐independent data. Both methods showed strong changes in growth with an increase until the end of the 1980s (8.6–10.6 cm/year for a 40 cm cod depending on the model) followed by a sharp decline. This study also revealed that the current growth of cod is the lowest observed in the past 7 decades (4.3–5.1 cm/year for a 40 cm cod depending on the model), indicating very low productivity. This study provides the first example of the use of tagging data to estimate multidecadal changes in growth rates in wild fish. This methodology can also be applied to other species, especially in those cases where severe age‐determination problems exist.

Accurate age data is essential for reliable fish stock assessment. Yet many stocks suffer from inconsistencies in age interpretation. A new approach to obtain age makes use of the chemical composition of otoliths. This study validates the periodicity of recurrent patterns in 25Mg, 31P, 34K, 55Mn, 63Cu, 64Zn, 66Zn, 85Rb, 88Sr, 138Ba, and 208Pb in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) otoliths from tag-recapture and known-age samples. Otolith P concentrations showed the highest consistency in seasonality over the years, with minima co-occurring with otolith winter zones in the known-age otoliths and in late winter/early spring when water temperatures are coldest in tagged cod . The timing of minima differs between stocks, occurring around February in western Baltic cod and one month later in eastern Baltic cod; seasonal maxima are also stock-specific, occurring in August and October, respectively. The amplitude in P is larger in faster-growing western compared to eastern Baltic cod. Seasonal patterns with minima in winter/late spring were also evident in Mg and Mn, but less consistent over time and fish size than P. Chronological patterns in P, and to a lesser extent Mg and Mn, may have the potential to supplement traditional age estimation or to guide the visual identification of translucent and opaque otolith patterns used in traditional age estimation

ObjectivesSerum biomarkers have suboptimal accuracy for the early diagnosis of bacterial infection (BI) in cirrhosis.AimTo evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of presepsin (PSP) in a cohort of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis.MethodsAll adult cirrhotics admitted between 03.2016 and 06.2019 were consecutively evaluated. PSP was measured using chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay, and its accuracy was compared with that of common biomarkers.ResultsA total of 278 cirrhotic patients for a total of 448 hospitalizations were prospectively collected. Prevalence of BI at admission was 28.3%. Median (range) Log10PSP in the whole cohort was 2.83 (2.48–3.19) ng/L, significantly higher in patients with BI than in patients without (p<0.001). For a cutoff value of 2.87 ng/L, Log10PSP showed sensitivity, specificity and AUC-ROC of 0.66 (95% CI 0.57–0.74), 0.63 (95% CI 0.57–0.68) and 0.69 (95% CI 0.63–0.73), lower than that of C-reactive protein (p=0.002), but similar to procalcitonin (p=0.18) Patients with BI at hospitalization had higher probability of 28-day mortality (sub-hazard ratio [sHR] 2.65;95% CI 1.49–4.70; p=0.001). At multivariate Cox’s regression analysis, Log10PSP (sHR 2.4; 95% CI 1.22–4.82; p=0.01) together with age and severity of liver disease, was an independent predictor of short-term mortality.ConclusionsPSP shows low diagnostic accuracy for BI in cirrhosis, but it is an independent predictor of short-term mortality. PSP may be a biomarker of systemic inflammation, commonly seen in end-stage liver disease.

Despite the reported increase in SARS-CoV-2-infected pets, the description of the clinical features from natural infection and the medical follow up in symptomatic pets is still not sufficiently documented. This study reports the case of an indoor cat that displayed respiratory signs and a gastrointestinal syndrome, following the COVID-19 diagnosis of his owners. Thoracic radiographies were suggestive of bronchial pneumonia, while blood tests were indicative of a mild inflammatory process. Nasal and oropharyngeal swabs tested positive through RT-qPCR assays targeting SARS-CoV-2 genes 14 days after his owners tested positive for the virus. Nasal swabs persisted to be RT-qPCR positive after 31 days. Serology confirmed the presence of antibodies through ELISA, electrochemiluminescence analysis and plaque reduction neutralization test, recording a high antibody titre after 31 days. The cat improved after medical treatment and clinically recovered. This study suggests that exposure to SARS-CoV-2 could lead to a natural infection with bronchial pneumonia in cats along with a possible prolonged persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the upper airways, albeit at a low level. The cat developed neutralizing antibodies, reaching a high titre after 31 days. Further descriptions of SARS-CoV-2 naturally infected pets, their medical management and diagnostic findings would be useful to enhance knowledge about COVID-19 in susceptible animals.