Neoadjuvant or concurrent atezolizumab with chemoradiation for locally advanced cervical cancer: a randomized phase I trial.

Combined immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and chemoradiation (CRT) is approved in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) but optimal sequencing of CRT and ICB is unknown. NRG-GY017 (NCT03738228) was a randomized phase I trial of atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) neoadjuvant and concurrent with CRT (Arm A) vs. concurrent with CRT (Arm B) in patients with high-risk node-positive LACC.

Predictors of Postprandial Hyperglycemia in Non-Diabetic Adult Hospital Visitors: A Cross-Sectional Study Across Religious Groups in Northern Israel.

Ethnocultural differences between Jewish and Arab communities in Northern Israel may contribute to disparities in type 2 diabetes prevalence. Widespread screening strategies, including hospital-based initiatives, are crucial for early detection of hyperglycemia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of postprandial hyperglycemia and identify its associated factors in a diverse population of non-diabetic adults visiting the Galilee Medical Center, a tertiary care hospital in Northern Israel.

Length of hospital stay not affected by empirical treatment with ceftriaxone versus cefuroxime for bacteraemia.

Aim: The preferred antibiotic treatment for bacteraemia in infants continues to be debated. We examined the duration of hospital stays as a surrogate for the effectiveness of initial treatment with ceftriaxone versus cefuroxime.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of the medical records of all infants aged 3-36 months, admitted with suspected occult bacteraemia to the paediatric department at Laniado Hospital, Israel, between 2016 and 2022.

Vestibular Migraine Patient Assessment Tool and Handicap Inventory (VM-PATHI) : A narrative review.

Background: Vestibular migraine (VM) has a wide range of clinical presentations that can have a significant negative impact on quality of life. Currently, there is no objective test available to confirm the diagnosis or measure the severity of VM. The only available tools for assessing disease severity are patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), such as the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI).

Rare case of cochlear implant damaged by nearby use of monopolar electrosurgery.

Objectives: To present a rare case of a cochlear implant (CI) damaged by nearby use of monopolar electrosurgery.

Patient: A 38-year-old man with a right-sided CI reported that his implant had stopped producing sound immediately after his meningioma resection.

Interventions: Right pterional craniotomy with use of monopolar electrosurgery.

De-Escalating Surgery in Merkel Cell Carcinoma With Clinical Nodal Disease.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a radiosensitive aggressive skin cancer that spreads via the lymphatics. There is uncertainty regarding the optimal management of the nodal basin for patients with MCC with clinically positive nodes. We study the efficacy of single node excision (SNE) as an alternative to a therapeutic lymph node dissection (TLND) in patients with limited nodal disease.

Application and Expectations for Immune Checkpoint Blockade of LAG3 and TIGIT.

Immune checkpoint blockade targeting the novel targets of the lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG3) and the T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif domains (TIGIT) has marked a significant advancement in oncology, offering new therapeutic opportunities to fight diverse malignancies. This review covers the biological basis and clinical application of LAG3 and TIGIT inhibitors, highlighting pivotal trials and therapeutic outcomes. We underscore the use of dual therapy immune checkpoint blockade in enhancing antitumor immunity, particularly in settings where monotherapy has shown limited efficacy.

Trends in Management of Malignant Bowel Obstructions: A Longitudinal Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample.

Introduction: Malignant bowel obstructions (MBO) are complex, heterogeneous disease processes which can be managed with surgical or endoscopic interventions. Patients with MBO often have advanced metastatic disease and poor functional status, which makes it difficult for providers to determine the best treatment strategy.

Methods: Patients with urgent or emergent admissions and a primary or secondary ICD-9/ICD-10 diagnosis of bowel obstruction with an additional diagnosis of disseminated cancer were identified from the National Inpatient Sample (2000-2017).

Ivermectin 1% Combined With Intense Pulsed Light Treatment for Dry Eye Disease Secondary to Demodex Blepharitis.

Purpose: To examine the safety and efficacy of combined treatment with topical ivermectin 1% and intense pulsed light (IPL) for dry eye disease (DED) secondary to demodex blepharitis.

Methods: A retrospective review of medical files of patients treated at a private clinic specializing in DED between November 2022 and February 2024 was performed. Sixty-one patients aged 18 years or older with DED because of demodex blepharitis, who received the IPL and ivermectin 1% combination therapy, were included.

Tripartite interactions of PKA catalytic subunit and C-terminal domains of cardiac Ca channel may modulate its β-adrenergic regulation.

Background: The β-adrenergic augmentation of cardiac contraction, by increasing the conductivity of L-type voltage-gated Ca1.2 channels, is of great physiological and pathophysiological importance. Stimulation of β-adrenergic receptors (βAR) activates protein kinase A (PKA) through separation of regulatory (PKAR) from catalytic (PKAC) subunits.

Fecal microbiome composition in neonates with or without urinary tract infection.

Background: Most infants with febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) do not have an underlying anatomical risk factor. Thus, other non-anatomical risk factors should be considered. Since the most common pathogens arise from the fecal microbiota, our aim was to investigate whether the gut microbiota composition differs between febrile infants younger than 2 months with or without UTI.

A Leaky Deep Intronic Splice Variant in Is Associated with Non-Syndromic Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Background: Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are clinically complex and genetically heterogeneous visual impairment disorders with varying penetrance and severity. Disease-causing variants in at least 289 nuclear and mitochondrial genes have been implicated in their pathogenesis.

Methods: Whole exome sequencing results were analyzed using established pipelines and the results were further confirmed by Sanger sequencing and minigene splicing assay.

Plasma Concentration as a Proxy for Perilymph Drug Levels: Preclinical and Clinical Dexamethasone Measures with a Long-Acting Formulation for Precise Delivery to the Round Window Membrane.

Objective: To use animal pharmacokinetic data and FluidSIM modeling to estimate human dexamethasone perilymph concentrations from plasma concentration measurements over time following a single intratympanic administration of SPT-2101.

Study Design: Perilymph and plasma dexamethasone concentrations were measured in guinea pigs and African green monkeys over 3 to 6 weeks post-intratympanic administration of SPT-2101. Plasma concentrations of dexamethasone were measured in Ménière's disease patients post-intratympanic administration of SPT-2101.

Phase II trial of dual anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 blockade in rare tumors SWOG/NCI experience: invasive mucinous or non-mucinous lepidic adenocarcinoma of the lung (formerly bronchioloalveolar carcinoma).

Background: Anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1)/cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 antibodies are efficacious in various malignancies.

Objectives: This study presents the first results of ipilimumab-nivolumab in invasive mucinous or non-mucinous lepidic adenocarcinoma (invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) or invasive non-mucinous lepidic adenocarcinomas (INLA), respectively) of the lung.

Design: Dual anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 blockade in rare tumors (DART) is a prospective, open-label, multicenter (1016 US sites), multi-cohort phase II trial of ipilimumab (1 mg/kg intravenously (IV) every 6 weeks) plus nivolumab (240 mg IV every 2 weeks).

A phase II open label, randomized clinical trial of atezolizumab with or without human recombinant IL-7 (CYT107) in advanced urothelial cancer.

Purpose: Advanced urothelial cancer generally has high mortality despite modern anti-PD-1/L1 antibody-based combinations. Augmenting checkpoint inhibitor-mediated immune responses with lymphocyte growth factors may improve outcomes. We conducted a randomized phase II study (CITN-14) in 47 patients to explore whether human recombinant IL-7 (CYT107) could be safely combined with PD-L1 inhibition to enhance responses.

Enhancing Efficiency, Stability, and Cycle Life of Lithium Metal Electrodeposition in Dry Solid-State Polymer Electrolytes.

Dry solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), particularly those based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), hold significant potential for advancing solid-state Li-metal battery (LMB) technology. Despite extensive research over the years, a comprehensive evaluation of Coulombic efficiency (CE), deposit stability, and cycle life for reversible Li metal electrodeposition in SPE-based cells is still lacking. In this study, we systematically assess the effect of cycling conditions on the CE of Li|SPE|Cu half cells and provide a thorough examination of different electrolyte chemistries, highlighting and explaining their performance across various parameters.

MicroRNAs as Biomarkers for Uveitis in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Purpose: Uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA-U) is a clinically silent vision-impairing disease. Early detection and aggressive treatment are crucial for optimal visual outcome. Alterations in levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) are characteristic of autoimmune diseases.

A single NLR gene confers resistance to leaf and stripe rust in wheat.

Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) disease resistance genes typically confer resistance against races of a single pathogen. Here, we report that Yr87/Lr85, an NLR gene from Aegilops sharonensis and Aegilops longissima, confers resistance against both P. striiformis tritici (Pst) and Puccinia triticina (Pt) that cause stripe and leaf rust, respectively.

Obstetric Violence (OV) Consequences and Coping Strategies: Insights Through the Voices of Arab and Jewish Women in Israel.

This qualitative research amplifies the voices of Jewish and Arab women in Israel, illuminating their experiences with obstetric violence, its consequences, and coping strategies. The premise of this study is the feminist approach that aims to eradicate phenomena related to gender and patriarchal structures affecting women, their bodies, and their health. The research was based on the qualitative-constructivist methodology, by means of thematic analysis of 20 in-depth semistructured interviews.

Association of Adult Atopic Dermatitis with Impaired Oral Health and Oral Dysbiosis: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Systemic alterations in the oral cavity can be reflected in skin disorders like psoriasis. However, data about oral health factors that are affected and controlled mainly by oral microbiota in atopic dermatitis (AD) are sparse. This study compared the oral status and oral microbiota of AD patients and healthy controls.

Higher risk and earlier onset glaucoma in Cushing's syndrome.

Purpose: Glaucoma incidence in patients with endogenous Cushing's syndrome (CS) has never been established. We aim to assess the risk for glaucoma among CS patients compared to controls and determine the age of disease onset.

Methods: A nationwide retrospective matched-cohort study of patients with endogenous CS diagnosed between 2000 and 2023.

Where Technology Leads, the Problems Follow. Technosolutionism and the Dutch Contact Tracing App.

In April 2020, in the midst of its first pandemic lockdown, the Dutch government announced plans to develop a contact tracing app to help contain the spread of the coronavirus - the Originally intended to address the problem of the overburdening of manual contract tracers, by the time the app was released six months later, the problem it sought to solve had drastically changed, without the solution undergoing any modification, making it a prime example of technosolutionism. While numerous critics have mobilised the concept of technosolutionism, the questions of how technosolutionism works in practice and which specific harms it can provoke have been understudied. In this paper we advance a thick conception of technosolutionism which, drawing on Evgeny Morozov, distinguishes it from the notion of technological fix, and, drawing on constructivism, emphasizes its constructivist dimension.

Minimal Clinically Important Difference of Vestibular Migraine Patient Assessment Tool and Handicap Inventory (VM-PATHI).

Objective: To calculate the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Vestibular Migraine Patient Assessment Tool and Handicap Inventory (VM-PATHI).

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: A single tertiary care balance and falls center.