d to AMR and management (e.g. unnecessary psychological morbidity from infections that do not need treatment). There is a need to identify scalable tuberculosis screening strategies among high burden populations. The WHO has identified a non-sputum-based triage test as a development priority. We performed a diagnostic case-control study of point-of-care C-reactive protein (CRP) and Prototype-Xpert-MTB-Host-Response (Xpert-MTB-HR) assays in the context of a mass screening program for tuberculosis in two prisons in Brazil. All incarcerated individuals irrespective of symptoms were screened by sputum Xpert MTB/RIF and sputum culture. Among consecutive, Xpert MTB/RIF or culture-confirmed cases and Xpert MTB/RIF and culture-negative controls, CRP was quantified in serum by a point-of-care assay (iChroma-II) and a 3-gene expression score was quantified from whole blood using the Xpert-MTB-HR cartridge. We evaluated receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (AUC) and assessed specificity at 90% sensitivity and sensitivity at 70% specificity, consistent with WHO target product profile (TPP) benchmarks. Two c and Technological Development (CNPq-404182/2019-4). National Institutes of Health (R01 AI130058 and R01 AI149620) and Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq-404182/2019-4). Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. A noninvasive test that can detect underlying cardiovascular disease has the potential to identify patients at risk prior to the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events. We sought to determine whether an easily observed imaging finding indicative of retinal ischemia, which we term ' (RIPLs), could serve as a biomarker for cardiovascular disease. We reviewed optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans of individuals, with no underlying retinal pathology, obtained at UC San Diego Health from July 2014 to July 2019. We identified 84 patients with documented cardiovascular disease and 76 healthy controls. OCT scans were assessed for evidence of RIPLs. In addition, the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk calculator was used to risk-stratify the subjects into four different categories. Patients with documented cardiovascular disease had higher number of RIPLs compared to healthy controls (2.8vs 0.8, <0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, smoking history, systolic blood pressure and triglycerides, cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C levels, each RIPL was associated with an odds ratio of having cardiovascular disease of 1·60 (1.09-2>37). The number of RIPLs in individuals with intermediate and high 10-year ASCVD risk scores was higher than in those with low ASCVD risk scores (1.7vs 0.64, =0.02 and 2.9vs 0.64, p 0.002, respectively). The presence of RIPLs, which are anatomical markers of prior retinal ischemic infarcts, is suggestive of coexisting cardiovascular disease. RIPLs detection, obtained from routine retinal scans, may thus provide an additional biomarker to identify patients at risk of developing adverse cardiovascular events. None. None. Premature babies suffer higher mortality and life-long disabilities. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is postulated to induce preterm labor. Routine antenatal screening for ASB using urine culture is not feasible in most developing countries due to long turn-around time, user-unfriendliness, and lack of resources. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/SGX-523.html The current parallel-group superiority pragmatic randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of screening and evidence-based treatment of ASB using an optical-sensor-based point-of-care rapid-test on the incidence of preterm birth and low birthweight (LBW). 240 consenting asymptomatic pregnant women visiting an Indian tertiary public hospital for first antenatal check-up, irrespective of trimester/gravida, who had not consumed antibiotics in the preceding week, were enrolled from February-May 2017. Computer-generated concealed simple randomization allocation sequence was used to assign participants to intervention (120) and control arm (120). Usual hospital-care was provided in the control arm. In the intervention arm, urine samples were additionally screened for ASB using the rapid-test and the positive women were prescribed susceptible antibiotics. Blinded outcome assessors followed up with women post-delivery. The study was registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2016/09/007240). 213 participants were analyzed (intervention 103, control 110). 21 women were found positive for ASB and prescribed pathogen-specific antibiotics. The incidence of preterm birth/LBW in intervention arm ( =27) was lower than control arm ( =45) by 14·7% (95% CI 2·2-27·2); RR 0.64, (95% CI 0·43-0·95); =0·023, X =5·13. Rapid-test-guided treatment for ASB reduced the incidence of preterm birth/LBW in a pragmatic setting without any adverse event. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Low sodium intake stimulates the production and activity of renin. The aim is to analyse the association between a large range of sodium intake and the plasma renin activity (PRA). We performed electronic searches for articles published between January 1st 1946 and March 18th 2020 and updated on January 21st 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) allocating participants to different sodium diets were included. Data were extracted from published reports. Meta-regression analyses of mean PRA versus mean sodium intake estimated by 24-hour urinary sodium excretion were performed. PROSPERO Registration number is CRD42020150355. 93 RCTs (102 interventions) were identified. In populations with usual/high sodium intake PRA was not associated with sodium intake. In populations with low sodium intake this association was mean -2·91ng/ml/h per 100mmol sodium (95% CI -5·41- -0·42) in 60 studies of normotensive populations ( =1769) and -1·91ng/ml/h per 100mmol sodium (-3·24 - -0·58) in 42 studies of hypertensive populations ( =1267). The association of the change in PRA with the change in sodium intake was 1·32ng/ml/h per 100mmol sodium (0·47-2·18) in normotensive populations and 0·82ng/ml/h per 100 mmol sodium (0·39-1·24) in hypertensive populations. Contrasting over-all bias assessments and potential effect modifiers had no independent impact on the sodium-PRA relationship. The variability between studies was considerable (I > 90%). The accelerating effect of sodium reduction on PRA towards a sodium intake of zero mmol/24h probably explains the interstudy variability. Further studies are needed to test whether this stimulating effect on PRA reflects a physiological disadvantage potentially associated with increased mortality. None. None.