Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Children With Lower Respiratory Tract Infection Requiring Invasive Mechanical Ventilation: Post Hoc Analysis of the 2019-2020 Bronchiolitis and Codetection Cohort.

Objectives: Bronchiolitis and other lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are the most common causes of pediatric respiratory failure. There is insufficient evidence characterizing pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) in young children with LRTI to inform clinical management. We aimed to describe the prevalence and clinical characteristics of children intubated for LRTI and meeting PARDS criteria.

Bladder EpiCheck clinical utility to predict BCG response in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of Bladder Epicheck® (BE; Nucleix Ltd., Rehovot, Israel) in predicting tumour recurrence and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) failure during the first year after induction treatment.

Patients And Methods: Prospective study including 65 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with BCG between 2018 and 2021.

cfDNA fragmentation patterns correlate with tumor burden measured via PSMA PET/CT volumetric parameters in patients with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Background: Prostate cancer recurrence following primary treatment poses a significant clinical challenge, particularly when detected through biochemical recurrence at low PSA levels. Conventional imaging modalities often fail to localize the disease at this early stage. PSMA PET has demonstrated superior sensitivity in detecting recurrent lesions, even in patients with low PSA.

Definition of Progressive Keratoconus: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To identify the definitions used for progressive keratoconus in the literature.

Methods: A systematic literature review aimed to identify the definitions used for "progressive keratoconus" in the published articles. A comprehensive search from January 2018 to May 2023 was conducted across Cochrane Library, PubMed, Taylor & Francis, Web of Science, and other bibliographic databases at Oftalmosalud, Lima, Peru.

Enhancing corneal ectasia susceptibility detection: analysis of a new algorithm (BAD-D v4).

Accurate detection of post-refractive ectasia susceptibility is essential during preoperative evaluation for laser vision correction (LVC) due to the risk of progressive corneal ectasia and vision decline post-surgery. Despite improved screening and a reduced incidence from 0.66 to 0.

Role of Liquid Biopsy in Progressive PSA Patients after Radical Prostatectomy.

Currently, the prediction of disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP) in localized prostate cancer (PCa) relies on clinicopathological parameters, which lack accuracy in predicting clinical outcomes. This study focused on evaluating the utility of cfDNA levels and fragmentation patterns as prognostic biomarkers in progressive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) patients, including those with persistent PSA and biochemical recurrence (BR), after primary treatment in localized PCa patients. Twenty-nine high-risk localized PCa patients were enrolled in the study between February 2022 and May 2023.

Intravenous indocyanine green to evaluate distal ureteral vascularity during robot-assisted radical cystectomy with intracorporeal urinary diversion.

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to assess the role of indocyanine green (ICG) to evaluate distal ureteral vascularity during robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) with intracorporeal urinary diversion and its impact on the incidence of benign ureteroenteric strictures (UES).

Methods: The study included patients who underwent RARC for bladder cancer between 2018 and 2023. All patients included underwent intracorporeal urinary diversion with ileal conduit or neobladder.

Inter-individual and inter-regional variability of breast milk antibody reactivity to bacterial lipopolysaccharides.

Breast milk is a vital source of nutrients, prebiotics, probiotics, and protective factors, including antibodies, immune cells and antimicrobial proteins. Using bacterial lipopolysaccharide arrays, we investigated the reactivity and specificity of breast milk antibodies towards microbial antigens, comparing samples from rural Kenya and urban Switzerland. Results showed considerable variability in antibody reactivity both within and between these locations.

N-acetylglucosamine supplementation fails to bypass the critical acetylation of glucosamine-6-phosphate required for Toxoplasma gondii replication and invasion.

The cell surface of Toxoplasma gondii is rich in glycoconjugates which hold diverse and vital functions in the lytic cycle of this obligate intracellular parasite. Additionally, the cyst wall of bradyzoites, that shields the persistent form responsible for chronic infection from the immune system, is heavily glycosylated. Formation of glycoconjugates relies on activated sugar nucleotides, such as uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc).

Malaria and other infections induce polyreactive antibodies that impact SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity estimations in endemic settings.

Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence is used to estimate the proportion of individuals within a population previously infected, to track viral transmission, and to monitor naturally and vaccine-induced immune protection. However, in sub-Saharan African settings, antibodies induced by higher exposure to pathogens may increase unspecific seroreactivity to SARS-CoV-2 antigens, resulting in false positive responses. To investigate the level and type of unspecific seroreactivitiy to SARS-CoV-2 in Africa, we measured immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM to a broad panel of antigens from different pathogens by Luminex in 602 plasma samples from African and European subjects differing in coronavirus disease 2019, malaria, and other exposures.

Morphological Features Among Gaussian, Sagittal, and Tangential Curvature Maps in Normal and Keratoconus Eyes Using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: To investigate and compare the morphological features and differences among Gaussian, Sagittal, and Tangential anterior corneal curvature maps obtained with an anterior segment optical coherence tomographer combined with a Placido disc MS-39 device in keratoconus (KC) and normal eyes.

Methods: Prospective, cross-sectional study including 37 KC and 51 healthy eyes. The pattern of astigmatism and maximum keratometry (Kmax), keratometry at the thinnest point (Ktp) and 2 mm diameter (K 2mm ), and inferior-superior dioptric asymmetry values were obtained and calculated from Gaussian, Tangential, and Sagittal curvature maps using the MS-39 (CSO).

Prognostic Value of Liquid-Biopsy-Based Biomarkers in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma.

Currently, there are no reliable prognostic factors to determine which upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients will progress after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). We aim to evaluate whether liquid-biopsy-based biomarkers (circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)) were able to predict clinical outcomes in localized UTUC patients undergoing RNU. Twenty patients were prospectively enrolled between 2021 and 2023.

Correlates of protection and determinants of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections 1 year after third dose vaccination.

Background: The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and the waning of immunity raise concerns about vaccine effectiveness and protection against COVID-19. While antibody response has been shown to correlate with the risk of infection with the original variant and earlier variants of concern, the effectiveness of antibody-mediated protection against Omicron and the factors associated with protection remain uncertain.

Methods: We evaluated antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) antigens from Wuhan and variants of concern by Luminex and their role in preventing breakthrough infections 1 year after a third dose of mRNA vaccination, in a cohort of health care workers followed since the pandemic onset in Spain (N = 393).

Biometric and corneal characteristics in marfan syndrome with ectopia lentis.

Purpose: To describe the biometric and corneal characteristics of patients with Marfan Syndrome (MFS) and ectopia lentis.

Study Design: Observational, descriptive, prospective study. Subjects Individuals with MFS with ectopia lentis (EL).

Beyond the MEP Pathway: A novel kinase required for prenol utilization by malaria parasites.

A proposed treatment for malaria is a combination of fosmidomycin and clindamycin. Both compounds inhibit the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, the parasitic source of farnesyl and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (FPP and GGPP, respectively). Both FPP and GGPP are crucial for the biosynthesis of several essential metabolites such as ubiquinone and dolichol, as well as for protein prenylation.

Assessment of aggressive bladder cancer mutations in plasma cell-free DNA.

Background And Aims: The spatial and temporal genetic heterogeneity of bladder cancer (BC) makes challenging to find specific drivers of metastatic disease, thus preventing to determine those BC patients at high risk of tumor progression. Our aim was to identify DNA mutations providing aggressive behavior to bladder tumors and analyze them in patients' cell-free DNA (cfDNA) during their follow-up after radical cystectomy (RC) in order to monitor tumor evolution.

Methods: Six BC patients who underwent RC and presented disease progression during their follow-up were included.

Tumor-Agnostic Circulating Tumor DNA Testing for Monitoring Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has recently emerged as a real-time prognostic and predictive biomarker for monitoring cancer patients. Here, we aimed to ascertain whether tumor-agnostic ctDNA testing would be a feasible strategy to monitor disease progression and therapeutic response in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients after radical cystectomy (RC). Forty-two MIBC patients who underwent RC were prospectively included.

RTS,S/AS02A Malaria Vaccine-Induced IgG Responses Equally Recognize Native-Like Fucosylated and Nonfucosylated Plasmodium falciparum Circumsporozoite Proteins.

The RTS,S/AS02A malaria vaccine is based on the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP), which is O-fucosylated on the sporozoite surface. We determined whether RTS,S/AS02A-induced immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies recognize vaccine-like nonfucosylated PfCSP better than native-like fucosylated PfCSP. Similar to previous vaccine trials, RTS,S/AS02A vaccination induced high anti-PfCSP IgG levels associated with malaria protection.

Urban landscape organization is associated with species-specific traits in European birds.

Urbanization is one of the main current drivers of the global biodiversity loss. Cities are usually developed in a gradient between land-sharing (low density housing with small and fragmented green areas) and land-sparing areas (high density housing with large and non-fragmented green patches) depending on the spatial organization of urban attributes. Previous studies have indicated differences in biodiversity between these two urban development types, but mechanisms underlying these differences are inadequately understood.

Associations between prenatal malaria exposure, maternal antibodies at birth, and malaria susceptibility during the first year of life in Burkina Faso.

In this study, we investigated how different categories of prenatal malaria exposure (PME) influence levels of maternal antibodies in cord blood samples and the subsequent risk of malaria in early childhood in a birth cohort study ( = 661) nested within the COSMIC clinical trial (NCT01941264) in Burkina Faso. infections during pregnancy and infants' clinical malaria episodes detected during the first year of life were recorded. The levels of maternal IgG and IgG to 15 .

Long Term Corneal Flattening After Corneal Crosslinking in Patients with Progressive Keratoconus.

Purpose: We evaluate the long-term visual, refractive, and keratometric outcomes after corneal crosslinking (CXL) in patients with progressive keratoconus (KC) and the incidence of an extreme corneal flattening effect.

Settings: Oftalmosalud Institute of Eyes, Lima, Perú.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.