NEW INFORMATION: We describe a new species, Leptobrachellahuynhi sp. nov., from Sin Ho District, Lai Chau Province. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by genetic divergences ranging from 3.62 to 18.51% (16S rRNA gene) and morphological differences: size medium (SVL 37.8-40.2 mm in adult females); head longer than wide; tympanum distinct; skin on entire dorsum shagreened; toes without webbing and with narrow lateral fringes; supratympanic ridge slightly rough with few nodules; dorsum grey-brown with indistinct dark brown markings; an interorbital region with a stacking double Y-shaped marking; centre of belly creamy-white, outer edges of belly brown with small whitish spots; iris copper. The new species is the 35th species of the genus Leptobrachella known from Vietnam.
METHODS: An online survey was conducted among surgeons and urologists identified through the St. Jude Global Online Community Asia Pacific Pediatric Surgical Collaborations Group and participants of the St. Jude-VIVA Pediatric Surgical Oncology Symposium 2024.
RESULTS: Ninety-six of 99 respondents provided replies, together representing 11 countries and 51 institutions. The majority (n = 90, 93.8%) were pediatric surgeons, with 26.7% having had subspecialty training in urology or oncology; 60% had experience managing Wilms tumors for more than 5 years, though 64% performed less than three nephrectomies per year. A chemotherapy-first approach was specified by 31% of institutions, but employed by 40% of respondents in actual practice. Of those who practiced a chemotherapy-first approach, 44.8% did so without an initial biopsy. Notably, 38% of respondents and 55% of institutions did not adhere to a consistent protocol. Lymph node biopsy practices varied widely, with only 40.6% sampling routinely and 56.3% had ever experienced a tumor rupture during nephrectomy. Most (90%) perceived that Wilms tumors comprised 90% of all renal tumors in Asian children-contrary to known demographic data.
CONCLUSION: There is substantial variation in the upfront surgical management of renal tumors in Asia Pacific LMICs. Considering the unique epidemiology of renal tumors in Asians and limited surgical capabilities, there is a great need for regional collaboration to better standardize the initial surgical management approach.
METHOD: 75 HCs, 75 medication-naïve, and 45 medicated patients took part in this study. fNIRS signals during a verbal fluency task (VFT) were acquired using a 52-channel system and relative oxy-hemoglobin changes in the prefrontal cortex were quantified.
RESULTS: Prefrontal cortex hemodynamic response was lower in patients than HCs (p ≤ ≤.001). Medication-naïve and medicated patients did not differ in hemodynamic response or symptom severity (p > .05). fNIRS measurements were not associated with any clinical variables (p > .05). 75.8% patients and 76% HCs were correctly classified using hemodynamic response.
CONCLUSION: fNIRS may be a potential diagnostic tool for adult ADHD. These findings need to be replicated in larger validation studies.
Methods: From June 15, 2017 to May 14, 2018, we collected nasopharyngeal swabs from 600 patients of all ages older than 1 month hospitalized with pneumonia at Sibu and Kapit Hospitals. Specimens were examined at our collaborating institutions with a panel of molecular assays for viral pathogens including influenza A (IAV), IBV, ICV, and IDV, human adenovirus (AdV), human enterovirus (EV), human coronavirus (CoV), respiratory syncytial virus subtype A (RSV-A) or RSV-B, and parainfluenza virus (PIV) types 1-4.
Results: Of 599 samples examined, 288 (48%) had molecular evidence of 1 or more respiratory viruses. Overall, the most prevalent virus detected was RSV-A (14.2%) followed by AdV (10.4%) and IAV (10.4%), then RSV-B (6.2%), EV (4.2%), IBV (2.2%), PIV-3 (1.7%), CoV (1.0%), PIV-1 (1.0%), PIV-4 (0.7%), and PIV-2 (0.2%). No specimens were confirmed positive for ICV or IDV.
Conclusions: The high prevalence of viruses detected in this study suggest that respiratory viruses may be responsible for considerable morbidity in equatorial regions such as Sarawak. Access to viral diagnostics are very necessary for medical staff to determine appropriate pneumonia treatments.
Methods: Specimens were studied for evidence of adenovirus (AdV), enterovirus (EV) and coronavirus (CoV) with panspecies gel-based nested PCR/RT-PCR assays. Gene sequences of specimens positive by panspecies assays were sequenced and studied with the NCBI Basic Local Alignment Search Tool software.
Results: There was considerable discordance between real-time and conventional molecular methods. The real-time AdV assay found a positivity of 10.4%; however, the AdV panspecies assay detected a positivity of 12.4% and the conventional AdV-Hexon assay detected a positivity of 19.6%. The CoV and EV panspecies assays similarly detected more positive specimens than the real-time assays, with a positivity of 7.8% by the CoV panspecies assay versus 4.2% by rRT-PCR, and 8.0% by the EV panspecies assay versus 1.0% by rRT-PCR. We were not able to ascertain virus viability in this setting. While most discordance was likely due to assay sensitivity for previously described human viruses, two novel, possible zoonotic AdV were detected.
Conclusions: The observed differences in the two modes of amplification suggest that where a problem with sensitivity is suspected, real-time assay results might be supplemented with panspecies conventional PCR/RT-PCR assays.