Detection of Prions in Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) from Areas with Reported Chronic Wasting Disease Cases, United States.

Using a prion amplification assay, we identified prions in tissues from wild pigs (Sus scrofa) living in areas of the United States with variable chronic wasting disease (CWD) epidemiology. Our findings indicate that scavenging swine could play a role in disseminating CWD and could therefore influence its epidemiology, geographic distribution, and interspecies spread.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of BK Hemorrhagic Cystitis in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation From HLA-Matched and Haploidentical Donors With Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide.

BK hemorrhagic cystitis (BK-HC) is a common complication following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), particularly when posttransplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) is used as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. However, comparative studies of BK-HC incidence in matched sibling donors (MSD) and unrelated donors (MUD) often include small haploidentical (HAPLO) donor cohorts and usually lack detailed information on disease evolution, coinfections, management and impact on outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing HSCT from MSD, MUD, HAPLO donors using PTCy as GVHD prophylaxis.

Gastric Bleeding in Stem Cell Transplantation: A Focus on Gastric Vascular Ectasia Under Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide, Sirolimus, and Mycophenolate Mofetil Prophylaxis.

Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a serious complication following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), with limited data on its incidence and characteristics, particularly for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) of gastric origin. We aimed to evaluate the incidence, clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic features, and outcomes of UGIB, with a focus on gastric vascular ectasias (GVEs) in patients undergoing HSCT with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis using post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCY), sirolimus or calcineurin inhibitors, and mycophenolate mofetil. This retrospective, single-center study included all adult patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT at a single institution between January 2017 and December 2023.

Racial Disparities in Cancer Stage at Diagnosis and Survival for Adolescents and Young Adults.

Importance: There are limited studies assessing stage at diagnosis and risk of death among all 5 federally defined races in the US among adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer.

Objective: To identify racial disparities in stage at diagnosis and survival among AYA patients with cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study used data from a US national hospital-based oncology database on AYA patients, aged 15 to 39 years, with the 10 deadliest cancers among AYA patients who received a diagnosis from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2017, with 6 months or more of follow-up.

Incidence, risk factors and therapy response of acute graft-versus-host disease after myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with posttransplant cyclophosphamide.

Posttransplant cyclophosphamide, sirolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (PTCy/siro/MMF) constitutes an innovative and well-tolerated acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) prophylaxis after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), but risk factors for aGVHD incidence and therapy failure in this setting are scarce. This study prospectively registered all consecutive adult patients with hematologic malignancies who received a myeloablative allo-HSCT using PTCy/siro/MMF prophylaxis at our institution between 2017 and 2023. A total of 385 patients were included, of whom 44%, 34% and 22% were transplanted from matched sibiling, matched unrelated and haploidentical donors, respectively.

Adaptation of the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique for the screening of anti-prion compounds.

Prion diseases result from the misfolding of the physiological prion protein (PrP) to a pathogenic conformation (PrP). Compelling evidence indicates that prevention and/or reduction of PrP replication are promising therapeutic strategies against prion diseases. However, the existence of different PrP conformations (or strains) associated with disease represents a major problem when identifying anti-prion compounds.

Examining nonmilitary and nongovernmental humanitarian surgical capacity and response in armed conflicts: A scoping review of the recent literature.

Background: Armed conflicts pose a burden on health care services. We sought to assess the surgical capacity and responses of nonmilitary and nongovernmental humanitarian responders in armed conflicts through proxy indicators to identify strategies to address surgical needs.

Methods: We searched 6 databases for articles/studies from January 1, 2013, to March 10, 2023.

Race and Ethnicity Representation in Phase 2/3 Oncology Clinical Trial Publications: A Systematic Review.

Importance: The five 1997 Office of Management and Budget races in the US include American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White, with Hispanic ethnicity. Despite the Affordable Care Act mandating Office of Management and Budget-based collecting and reporting standards, race and ethnicity publishing in medical journals is inconsistent, despite being necessary to achieve health equity.

Objective: To quantify race and ethnicity reporting rates and calculate representation quotients (RQs) in published oncology clinical trials.

Chronic Wasting Disease: State of the Science.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation of this "wicked" disease will require input from many different stakeholders including hunters, landowners, research biologists, wildlife managers, and others, working together.

Nasal bots carry relevant titers of CWD prions in naturally infected white-tailed deer.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting farmed and free-ranging cervids. CWD is rapidly expanding across North America and its mechanisms of transmission are not completely understood. Considering that cervids are commonly afflicted by nasal bot flies, we tested the potential of these parasites to transmit CWD.

PMCA screening of retropharyngeal lymph nodes in white-tailed deer and comparisons with ELISA and IHC.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervids. CWD diagnosis is conducted through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Unfortunately, these techniques have limited sensitivity against the biomarker (CWD-prions).

Dynamics of CWD prion detection in feces and blood from naturally infected white-tailed deer.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervids. Confirmatory testing of CWD is currently performed postmortem in obex and lymphoid tissues. Extensive evidence demonstrates the presence of infectious prions in feces of CWD-infected deer using in vitro prion-amplification techniques and bioassays.

Identification of chronic wasting disease prions in decaying tongue tissues from exhumed white-tailed deer.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions cause fatal neuropathies in farmed and free-ranging cervids. The deposition of prions in natural and humanmade environmental components has been implicated as a major mechanism mediating CWD spread in wild and captive populations. Prions can be deposited in the environment through excreta, tissues, and carcasses from pre-clinical and clinical animals.

Cancer Disparities among Pacific Islanders: A Review of Sociocultural Determinants of Health in the Micronesian Region.

It is well appreciated that the social determinants of health are intimately related with health outcomes. However, there is a paucity of literature that explores these themes comprehensively for the indigenous people within Micronesia. Certain Micronesia-specific factors, such as transitions from traditional diets, the consumption of betel nut, and exposure to radiation from the nuclear bomb testing in the Marshall Islands, have predisposed certain Micronesian populations to an increased risk of developing a variety of malignancies.

B-value variations in the Central Chile seismic gap assessed by a Bayesian transdimensional approach.

The b-value can be used to characterize the seismic activity for a given earthquake catalog and provide information on the stress level accumulated at active faults. Here we develop an algorithm to objectively estimate variations of b-value along one arbitrary dimension. To this end, we employ a Bayesian transdimensional approach where the seismic domains will be self-defined according to information in the seismic catalog.

Microseismicity Appears to Outline Highly Coupled Regions on the Central Chile Megathrust.

We compiled a novel microseismicity catalog for the Central Chile megathrust (29°-35°S), comprising 8,750 earthquakes between April 2014 and December 2018. These events describe a pattern of three trenchward open half-ellipses, consisting of a continuous, coast-parallel seismicity band at 30-45 km depth, and narrow elongated seismicity clusters that protrude to the shallow megathrust and separate largely aseismic regions along strike. To test whether these shapes could outline highly coupled regions ("asperities") on the megathrust, we invert GPS displacement data for interplate locking.

Influence of Thermal Annealing Temperatures on Powder Mould Effectiveness to Avoid Deformations in ABS and PLA 3D-Printed Parts.

Fused deposition modelling (FDM)-printed parts can be treated with various post-processes to improve their mechanical properties, dimensional accuracy and surface finish. Samples of polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts are treated with annealing to study a ceramic powder mould's effectiveness in order to avoid dimensional part deformation. The variables chosen are annealing temperatures and the usage of a ceramic powder mould to avoid part deformations.

[Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the Philadelphia negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in Chile].

Background: Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph-MPN) are chronic hematological disorders characterized by the overproduction of one or more mature myeloid blood cell lineages. Classical Ph-MPN are polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocytopenia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF).

Aim: To assess the epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic characteristics of Ph-MPN in Chile.