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Among the different indicators that quantify the spread of an epidemic such as the on-going COVID-19, stands first the reproduction number which measures how many people can be contaminated by an infected person. In order to permit the monitoring of the evolution of this number, a new estimation procedure is proposed here, assuming a well-accepted model for current incidence data, based on past observations. The novelty of the proposed approach is twofold: 1) the estimation of the reproduction number is achieved by convex optimization within a proximal-based inverse problem formulation, with constraints aimed at promoting piecewise smoothness; 2) the approach is developed in a multivariate setting, allowing for the simultaneous handling of multiple time series attached to different geographical regions, together with a spatial (graph-based) regularization of their evolutions in time. The effectiveness of the approach is first supported by simulations, and two main applications to real COVID-19 data are then discussed. The first one refers to the comparative evolution of the reproduction number for a number of countries, while the second one focuses on French departments and their joint analysis, leading to dynamic maps revealing the temporal co-evolution of their reproduction numbers.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7444593 | PMC |
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237901 | PLOS |
Eur Radiol Exp
September 2025
Center for MR-Research, University Children's Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Background: Fetal MRI is increasingly used to investigate fetal lung pathologies, and super-resolution (SR) algorithms could be a powerful clinical tool for this assessment. Our goal was to investigate whether SR reconstructions result in an improved agreement in lung volume measurements determined by different raters, also known as inter-rater reliability.
Materials And Methods: In this single-center retrospective study, fetal lung volumes calculated from both SR reconstructions and the original images were analyzed.
J Assist Reprod Genet
September 2025
Bahçeci Fulya IVF Center, Infertility Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey.
Purpose: To assess the intra-individual variability of serum progesterone (P) levels on embryo transfer (ET) day, when the same dose of intramuscular progesterone (IM-P) was used in two consecutive hormone replacement therapy (HRT) frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles.
Methods: A total of 75 patients undergoing two consecutive HRT-FET cycles in one year performed at Bahceci Ankara IVF Center between November 2019 and February 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Serum P levels were measured at the 117th-119th hours of support by a single laboratory.
BMJ
September 2025
Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Objective: To determine the effect of a prepregnancy lifestyle intervention on glucose tolerance in people at higher risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.
Design: Single centre randomised controlled trial (BEFORE THE BEGINNING).
Setting: University hospital in Trondheim, Norway.
Hum Reprod
September 2025
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique, Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail, Université de Rennes-UMR_S1085, Rennes, France.
Study Question: What is the direct effect of mumps virus (MuV) replication within the human testis on the tissue innate immune responses and testicular cell functions?
Summary Answer: MuV induces an early pro-inflammatory response in the human testis ex vivo and infects both Leydig cells and Sertoli cells, which drastically alters testosterone and inhibin B production.
What Is Known Already: Despite widespread vaccination efforts, orchitis remains a significant complication of MuV infection, especially in young men, which potentially results in infertility in up to 87% of patients with bilateral orchitis. Our understanding of MuV pathogenesis in the human testis has been limited by the lack of relevant animal models, impairing the development of effective treatments.
J R Soc Interface
September 2025
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Severe fever with thrombocytopaenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) was identified by the World Health Organization as a priority pathogen due to its high case-fatality rate in humans and rapid spread. It is maintained in nature through three transmission pathways: systemic, non-systemic and transovarial. Understanding the relative contributions of these transmission pathways is crucial for developing evidence-informed public health interventions to reduce its spillover risks to humans.
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