Viability of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in human plasma under different storage conditions.

Background And Objectives: Malaria risk deferral policies are important for mitigating the risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria and apply to all transfusable components, including plasma. While donors of plasma components are deferred for malaria risk in the United States, the viability of intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum parasites present in human plasma components stored under different temperatures and durations has not been previously reported.

Materials And Methods: We spiked human plasma with a low level of ring-stage P.

Diabetic Macular Oedema - Patient Characteristics and the Reality of Treatment in a German University Hospital.

Background: Diabetic macular oedema (DME) is associated with significant loss of visual acuity. Intravitreal VEGF inhibitor injection is the gold standard in treating this disease; second-line treatment consists of intravitreal steroid injections. This treatment has already undergone extensive investigation in large randomised controlled trials.

A social information processing perspective on social connectedness.

Social connectedness (SC) is one of the most important predictors for physical and mental health. Consequently, SC is addressed in an increasing number of studies, providing evidence for the multidimensionality of the construct, and revealing several factors that contribute to individual differences in SC. However, a unified model that can address SC subcomponents is yet missing.

2-[18F]F-p-aminobenzoic acid specifically detects infective endocarditis in positron emission tomography.

Background: To the present day infective endocarditis (IE) represents a life-threatening disease with high mortality rate especially when caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), the most common causative pathogen in this disease. Diagnosis of IE is based on clinical manifestations, pathogen detection by blood cultures and echocardiographic or other imaging findings.

Real-world data on tolerability of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis based on patient-reported outcomes.

Objectives: To assess tolerability of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with RA and controls based on patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Methods: In total, 266 study participants were included at 6 ± 1 weeks after their second vaccination (BioNTech/Pfizer (72.2%), AstraZeneca (18.

Development and preclinical characterization of a novel radiotheranostic EphA2-targeting bicyclic peptide.

Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor A2 (EphA2), is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in cell-cell interactions. It is known to be overexpressed in various tumors and is associated with poor prognosis. EphA2 has been proposed as a target for theranostic applications.

Reserpine-induced rat model for depression: Behavioral, physiological and PET-based dopamine receptor availability validation.

Background: Reserpine (RES), a Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 (VMAT) inhibitor agent, has been used in preclinical research for many years to create animal models for depression and to test experimental antidepressant strategies. Nevertheless, evidence of the potential use and validity of RES as a chronic pharmacological model for depression is lacking, and there are no comprehensive studies of the behavioral effects in conjunction with molecular outcomes.

Methods: Experiment 1.

Development and Preclinical Evaluation of [At]PSAt-3-Ga: An Inhibitor for Targeted α-Therapy of Prostate Cancer.

The application of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted α-therapy is a promising alternative to β-particle-based treatments. At is among the potential α-emitters that are favorable for this concept. Herein, At-based PSMA radiopharmaceuticals were designed, developed, and evaluated.

Longitudinal assessment of liver stiffness using ARFI technique does not support increased risk of fibrosis in rheumatoid arthritis patients on methotrexate.

Aims: To assess the liver stiffness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate monotherapy using non-invasive, ultrasound-based elastography (acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging) in a longitudinal approach.

Methods: In total, 23 MTX-naive patients were longitudinally assessed using acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging. Baseline assessments were carried out between July 2018 and April 2019, and the follow-up evaluations took place after an average of 2.

CHOROIDAL OSTEOMA IN AN INFANT.

Purpose: To describe a case of choroidal osteoma with macular involvement in an infant that was treated with transpupillary thermotherapy.

Methods: A case report.

Results: An 11-month-old infant presented for retinopathy of prematurity follow up examination and was found to have a three disc-diameter round, orange, subretinal, slightly elevated lesion with well-defined margins in the superior macula of the left eye.

Unusual conjunctival melanocytic proliferations. Report of five cases and review of the literature.

Indeterminate melanocytic proliferations of the conjunctiva have both benign and malignant features that previously made these lesions nearly impossible to categorize in existing classification schemes. With the evolution of immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics, however, subclassifications have emerged that allow for a more tailored diagnosis and management. These conjunctival melanocytic proliferations include deep penetrating nevus, granular cell nevus, and nevoid melanoma.

Towards Improving the Efficacy of PSMA-Targeting Radionuclide Therapy for Late-Stage Prostate Cancer-Combination Strategies.

Purpose Of Review: [Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 is a radiopharmaceutical that emits beta-minus radiation and targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive prostate cancer. Despite its clinical success, there are still patients not showing sufficient response rates. This review compiles latest studies aiming at therapy improvement in [Lu]Lu-PSMA-617-naïve and -resistant patients by alternative or combination treatments.

A perceptual control theory of emotional action.

A theory is proposed that views emotional feelings as pivotal for action control. Feelings of emotions are valued interoceptive signals from the body that become multimodally integrated with perceptual contents from registered and mentally simulated events. During the simulation of a perceptual change from one event to the next, a conative feeling signal is created that codes for the wanting of a specific perceptual change.

An outbreak of anaphylactic transfusion reactions to group B plasma and platelets and its possible relationship to Alpha-Gal syndrome.

Background: Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a potentially life-threatening acquired meat allergy associated with tick bites. The allergen Galactose-α-1,3-Galactose is antigenically similar to the B blood group antigen. B blood group status offers some protection against development of the allergy.

Posttransfusion Sepsis Attributable to Bacterial Contamination in Platelet Collection Set Manufacturing Facility, United States.

During May 2018‒December 2022, we reviewed transfusion-transmitted sepsis cases in the United States attributable to polymicrobial contaminated apheresis platelet components, including Acinetobacter calcoaceticus‒baumannii complex or Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolated from patients and components. Transfused platelet components underwent bacterial risk control strategies (primary culture, pathogen reduction or primary culture, and secondary rapid test) before transfusion. Environmental samples were collected from a platelet collection set manufacturing facility.

TNF inhibitors significantly attenuate the humoral immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Several studies on the immunogenicity of vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases have evaluated the influence of DMARDs. The aim of the work presented here was to compare the humoral vaccine response after two vaccinations between patients with RA undergoing TNF inhibitor therapy and healthy controls.

Methods: We assessed the humoral immune response, as measured by titres of neutralizing antibodies against the S1 antigen of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in patients with RA and anti-TNF treatment .

Conflict experience and resolution underlying obedience to authority.

Definitions of obedience require the experience of conflict in response to an authority's demands. Nevertheless, we know little about this conflict and its resolution. Two experiments tested the suitability of the 'object-destruction paradigm' for the study of conflict in obedience.

Intraosseous hemangioma of the orbit: a case report involving pre-operative embolization with reconstruction using a custom porous polyethylene implant.

A 28-year-old female presented with a slowly enlarging, left cheek mass over two years. She underwent neuroimaging and was found to have a well-defined, low attenuating lesion with thickened vertical trabeculation of the left zygoma, consistent with intraosseous hemangioma. To minimize the risk of severe intraoperative hemorrhage, the patient underwent embolization of the mass by neuro-interventional radiology two days prior to resection.

Prognostic Value of Tumor Volume Assessment on PSMA PET After Lu-PSMA Radioligand Therapy Evaluated by PSMA PET/CT Consensus Statement and RECIP 1.0.

Quantitative evaluation of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting PET/CT remains challenging but is urgently needed for the use of standardized PET-based response criteria, such as the PSMA PET/CT consensus statement or Response Evaluation Criteria in PSMA PET/CT (RECIP 1.0). A recent study evaluated the prognostic value of whole-body tumor volume using a semiautomatic method relying on a 50% threshold of lesion SUV (PSMA).