Donor Type Does Not Impact Late Graft Failure Following Reduced Intensity Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation with Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide Based Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis.

Background: Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) is a commonly used graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, particularly in the setting of haploidentical (haplo) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The rate of graft failure has been reported to be as high as 12-20% in haplo-HCT recipients using PTCy. The objective of this study was to determine if donor type influenced the risk of late graft failure following RIC HCT using PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis.

Venous Thromboembolism Incidence and Risk Factors in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Malignancy is a well-known risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE), and the Khorana risk score is effective for screening patients with solid tumors. However, there is a lack of validated screening tools and established risk factors for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). Current literature reports a 2.

Number of Facial Hair Corresponds to Frequency of Spontaneous Face-Touch in Humans.

People all over the world, independent of their culture or background, touch their faces up to 800 times per day. No other part of the body is touched as often as the face. Forehead, nose, and chin-the so-called T-zone of the face-are touched particularly frequently during spontaneous facial self-touches (sFST).

Biologically Randomized Comparison of Haploidentical Versus Human Leukocyte Antigen-Matched Related Donor Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Using haploidentical donors for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) broadens transplant accessibility to a growing number of patients with hematologic disorders. Moreover, haploidentical HCT with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has become widespread practice due to accumulating evidence demonstrating favorable rates of survival and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Most studies comparing outcomes by donor sources have been confounded by variability in conditioning regimens, graft type (peripheral blood [PB] or bone marrow), and post-transplant GvHD prophylaxis (PTCy or non-PTCy), making it difficult to define the effect of donor source on outcomes.

Intraindividual Correlation and Comparison of Maximal Aerobic Capacity and Maximum Power in Hand-Crank and Bicycle Spiroergometry.

Background: Spiroergometry is important for modern performance diagnostics, and reference values have been evaluated for bicycle and treadmill ergometers. The aim of this study is to assess the comparability of bicycle and hand-crank spiroergometry and its associated parameters, as hand-crank spiroergometry can be used during rehabilitation in patients with definitive or temporally impairment of the lower extremity.

Methods: Thirty-seven healthy volunteers completed 2 exhausting performance diagnostics on hand-crank and bicycle spiroergometry.

Orientational transitions of discotic columnar liquid crystals in cylindrical pores.

Confined in a cylindrical pore with homeotropic anchoring condition, the hexagonal columnar phase of discotic liquid crystals can form a "log-pile" configuration, in which the columns are perpendicular to the long axis of the pore. However, the {100} planes of the hexagonal lattice can orient either parallel (termed (100) orientation) or perpendicular ((100)) to pore axis. Here we experimentally show that the (100) orientation is found in narrower cylindrical pores, and the (100)-(100) transition can be controlled by engineering the structure of the molecules.

Refraining from spontaneous face touch is linked to personality traits, reduced memory performance and EEG changes.

Spontaneous touches of one's face (sFST) were suggested to serve cognitive-emotional regulation processes. During the pandemic, refraining from face-touching was recommended, yet, accompanying effects and the influence of personal attributes remain unclear. Ninety participants (45 female, 45 male) filled out a questionnaire concerning personality, anxiety screening and ADHD screening.

Analytical and clinical validation of a novel, laboratory-developed, modular multiplex-PCR panel for fully automated high-throughput detection of 16 respiratory viruses.

Background: Viral respiratory Infections pose a health risk, especially to vulnerable patient populations. Effective testing programs can detect and differentiate these infections at an early stage, which is particularly important for high-risk clinical departments. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a multiplex PCR-panel for 16 different respiratory viruses on a fully-automated high-throughput platform.

Self-Assembly of Ionic Superdiscs in Nanopores.

Discotic ionic liquid crystals (DILCs) consist of self-assembled superdiscs of cations and anions that spontaneously stack in linear columns with high one-dimensional ionic and electronic charge mobility, making them prominent model systems for functional soft matter. Compared to classical nonionic discotic liquid crystals, many liquid crystalline structures with a combination of electronic and ionic conductivity have been reported, which are of interest for separation membranes, artificial ion/proton conducting membranes, and optoelectronics. Unfortunately, a homogeneous alignment of the DILCs on the macroscale is often not achievable, which significantly limits the applicability of DILCs.

Hematocrit control and thrombotic risk in patients with polycythemia vera treated with ruxolitinib in clinical practice.

Polycythemia vera (PV) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by unregulated red blood cell production resulting in elevated hemoglobin and/or hematocrit levels. Patients often have symptoms such as fatigue, pruritus, and painful splenomegaly, but are also at risk of thrombosis, both venous and arterial. Ruxolitinib, a selective Janus kinase inhibitor, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as second-line cytoreductive treatment after intolerance or inadequate response to hydroxyurea.

Analytical and clinical validation of a multiplex PCR assay for detection of and including simultaneous LGV serotyping on an automated high-throughput PCR system.

For effective infection control measures for () and (), a reliable tool for screening and diagnosis is essential. Here, we aimed to establish and validate a multiplex PCR assay on an automated system using a dual-target approach for the detection of and differentiation between lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) and non-LGV from genital and extra-genital specimens. Published primer/probe sets (: pmpH, cryptic plasmid; : porA, opa) were modified for the cobas 5800/6800/8800.

Association between elevated white blood cell counts and thrombotic events in polycythemia vera: analysis from REVEAL.

Polycythemia vera (PV) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by clonal proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells and is associated with an increased risk of thrombotic events (TEs). Established risk factors for TEs in patients with PV include advanced age, TE history, and elevated hematocrit. Although an association of TE with elevated white blood cell (WBC) counts has been suggested by retrospective studies, this relationship needs further validation.

Pharmacogenetic and clinical predictors of voriconazole concentration in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving CYP2C19-guided dosing.

CYP2C19-guided voriconazole dosing reduces pharmacokinetic variability, but many patients remain subtherapeutic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of candidate genes and a novel CYP2C haplotype on voriconazole trough concentrations in patients receiving CYP2C19-guided dosing. This is a retrospective candidate gene study in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients receiving CYP2C19-guided voriconazole dosing.

Evaluation of pentamidine tolerability and efficacy between phenotypes.

Intravenous pentamidine is used for prophylaxis against pneumonia, an infection seen in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Pentamidine is partially metabolized by , which is vulnerable to pharmacogenetic variation. This retrospective study evaluated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients who received intravenous pentamidine as pneumonia prophylaxis.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: a CIBMTR analysis.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematological malignancy with a poor prognosis and considered incurable with conventional chemotherapy. Small observational studies reported allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) offers durable remissions in patients with BPDCN. We report an analysis of patients with BPDCN who received an allo-HCT, using data reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

Top advances of the year: Myeloproliferative neoplasms.

The rapid pace of drug development in hematology has led to multiple approvals for myelofibrosis (MF) and polycythemia vera (PV) in recent years. Moreover, there are many innovative agents and combinations being explored for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). In the past year, there have been several advances in MF, PV, and essential thrombocythemia.

Does thermotropic liquid crystalline self-assembly control biological activity in amphiphilic amino acids? - tyrosine ILCs as a case study.

Amphiphilic amino acids represent promising scaffolds for biologically active soft matter. In order to understand the bulk self-assembly of amphiphilic amino acids into thermotropic liquid crystalline phases and their biological properties a series of tyrosine ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) was synthesized, carrying a benzoate unit with 0-3 alkoxy chains at the tyrosine unit and a cationic guanidinium head group. Investigation of the mesomorphic properties by polarizing optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (WAXS, SAXS) revealed smectic A bilayers (SmA) for ILCs with 4-alkoxy- and 3,4-dialkoxybenzoates, whereas ILCs with 3,4,5-trisalkoxybenzoates showed hexagonal columnar mesophases (Col), while different counterions had only a minor influence.