Suboptimal Concentrations of Ceftazidime/Avibactam (CAZ-AVI) May Select for CAZ-AVI Resistance in Extensively Drug-Resistant : In Vivo and In Vitro Evidence.

This study correlates in vivo findings in a patient with an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) infection who developed resistance to ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) with in vitro results of a 7-day hollow-fiber infection model (HFIM) testing the same bacterial strain. The patient was critically ill with ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by XDR ST175 with CAZ-AVI MIC of 6 mg/L and was treated with CAZ-AVI in continuous infusion at doses adjusted for renal function. Plasma concentrations of CAZ-AVI were analyzed on days 3, 7, and 10.

Unilateral Focal Retinitis as an Initial Manifestation of Cat-Scratch Disease.

We report on a case of focal retinitis as the initial manifestation of cat-scratch disease. A 56-year-old Hispanic woman presented for a routine follow-up examination. A fundus examination of the right eye revealed a white retinal lesion along the inferotemporal artery; this lesion was noted to have progressed after one week of observation.

Radiosurgery fractionation and post-treatment hemorrhage development for intact melanoma brain metastases.

Purpose: To assess, for intact melanoma brain metastases (MBM), whether single-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) versus fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (fSRT) is associated with a differential risk of post-treatment lesion hemorrhage (HA) development.

Methods: A single institution retrospective database review identified consecutive patients with previously unresected MBM treated with robotic SRS/fSRT between 2013 and 2021. The presence of lesion HA was determined by multi-disciplinary imaging review.

Bilateral Granulomatous Iridocyclitis Associated with Early-Onset Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report on a case of bilateral granulomatous iridocyclitis in a patient with early-onset juvenile psoriatic arthritis (JPsA).

Methods: The method used is an observational case report. .

Evaluating the use of synthetic T1-w images in new T2 lesion detection in multiple sclerosis.

The assessment of disease activity using serial brain MRI scans is one of the most valuable strategies for monitoring treatment response in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) receiving disease-modifying treatments. Recently, several deep learning approaches have been proposed to improve this analysis, obtaining a good trade-off between sensitivity and specificity, especially when using T1-w and T2-FLAIR images as inputs. However, the need to acquire two different types of images is time-consuming, costly and not always available in clinical practice.

Synthesis of an Isostructural Series of 12-Coordinate Lanthanide Nitrate Hybrid Double Perovskites with Cubic Symmetry.

In efforts to study the periodic chemical properties of the rare earth elements and their structural chemistry, a hybrid double perovskite phase AB'BX with the formula ((CH)N)KLn(NO) (Ln = La-Lu, Y ex. Pm) was synthesized that crystallizes in the cubic space group, 3̅. This series was obtained via evaporative crystallization from a mixture of Ln(NO), KNO, and (CH)N·NO in a 1:1:2 ratio from either HO or 4.

Induction of spatial anxiety in a virtual navigation environment.

Spatial anxiety (i.e., feelings of apprehension and fear about navigating everyday environments) can adversely impact people's ability to reach desired locations and explore unfamiliar places.

Role of Enzymatic Activity in the Biological Cost Associated with the Production of AmpC β-Lactamases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

In the current scenario of growing antibiotic resistance, understanding the interplay between resistance mechanisms and biological costs is crucial for designing therapeutic strategies. In this regard, intrinsic AmpC β-lactamase hyperproduction is probably the most important resistance mechanism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, proven to entail important biological burdens that attenuate virulence mostly under peptidoglycan recycling alterations. P.

Method Effects Associated to Item Valence: Evidence From the 10-Item Big-Five Inventory in Older Adults.

The objective of this study is to analyze the factor structure of the BFI-10 considering item valence effects when applied to measure older adults. Likewise, this study aims to estimate the factorial structure, internal consistency of the scale, to assess the nomological validity, and the association of the Big Five traits with age. 75,078 participants with mean age of 68.

Assessment of PABPN1 nuclear inclusions on a large cohort of patients and in a human xenograft model of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a rare muscle disease characterized by an onset of weakness in the pharyngeal and eyelid muscles. The disease is caused by the extension of a polyalanine tract in the Poly(A) Binding Protein Nuclear 1 (PABPN1) protein leading to the formation of intranuclear inclusions or aggregates in the muscle of OPMD patients. Despite numerous studies stressing the deleterious role of nuclear inclusions in cellular and animal OPMD models, their exact contribution to human disease is still unclear.

Retinitis Pigmentosa in the Puerto Rican Population: A Geographic Distribution.

Background: Previous studies have reported on retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in Puerto Rico. Information on the geographic distribution of RP mutations in Puerto Rico may lead to higher rates of diagnosis and co-management. We aimed to evaluate whether there are areas with increased incidence of genes leading to RP in the Island.

Navigator-assisted hypofractionation (NAVAH) to address radiation therapy access disparities facing African-Americans with breast cancer.

Background: African-Americans have the highest overall cancer death rate and shortest survival time of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. The most common cancer studied in African-American radiation therapy (RT) access disparities research is breast cancer. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of patient navigation on RT access for African-American breast cancer patients.

Spanish Antibiogram Committee (COESANT) recommendations for cumulative antibiogram reports.

The Spanish Antibiogram Committee (Comité Español del Antibiograma, COESANT) presents in this document a series of recommendations intending to unify how cumulative antibiogram reports must be made in Clinical Microbiology Spanish laboratories. This article is based on the information included in the Clinical Microbiology Procedure No. 51, «Preparation of cumulative reports on antimicrobial susceptibility» of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), published in 2014.

SARS-CoV-2 and HIV: Impact on Pulmonary Epithelial Cells.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic provides a natural opportunity for the collision of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) with chronic infections, which place numerous individuals at high risk of severe COVID-19. Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a global epidemic, remains a major public health concern. Whether prior HIV+ status exacerbates COVID-19 warrants investigation.

Carbapenem Combinations for Infections Caused by Carbapenemase-Producing : Experimental In Vitro and In Vivo Analysis.

In the context of difficult-to-treat carbapenem-resistant infections, we evaluated imipenem, meropenem, and doripenem combinations against eleven carbapenemase-producing isolates. According to the widespread global distribution of high-risk clones and carbapenemases, four representative isolates were selected: ST175 (OXA-2/VIM-20), ST175 (VIM-2), ST235 (GES-5), and ST111 (IMP-33), for efficacy studies using a sepsis murine model. Minimum inhibitory concentration (mg/L) ranges were 64-256 for imipenem and 16-128 for meropenem and doripenem.

The Marsden Morbidity Index: the derivation and validation of a simple risk index scoring system using cardiopulmonary exercise testing variables to predict morbidity in high-risk patients having major cancer surgery.

Background: Morbidity and mortality risk prediction tools are increasingly being used as part of preoperative assessment of patients presenting for major abdominal surgery. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) can predict which patients undergoing major abdominal surgery are at risk of complications. The primary objective of this study was to identify preoperative variables including those derived from CPET, which were associated with inpatient morbidity in high-risk patients following major abdominal cancer surgery.

The range and suitability of outcome measures used in the assessment of palliative treatment for inoperable malignant bowel obstruction: A systematic review.

Background: Malignant bowel obstruction, a complication of certain advanced cancers, causes severe symptoms which profoundly affect quality of life. Clinical management remains complex, and outcome assessment is inconsistent.

Aim: To identify outcomes evaluating palliative treatment for inoperable malignant bowel obstruction, as part of a four-phase study developing a core outcome set.

Threat biases associate with anxiety and depression in physically-abused young people with a history of child labour.

Background And Objectives: Young people who have experienced early-life maltreatment preferentially attend to threat and draw more threatening interpretations. In turn, these threat biases may explain elevated risk for lifelong anxiety and/or depression. We investigated whether adolescent labourers with a history of physical abuse showed threat biases relative to non-abused labourers, and whether these threat biases associated with anxiety and depression.

In vitro activity of imipenem/relebactam against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates recovered from ICU patients in Spain and Portugal (SUPERIOR and STEP studies).

Objectives: To study the in vitro activity of imipenem/relebactam and comparators and the imipenem/relebactam resistance mechanisms in a Pseudomonas aeruginosa collection from Portugal (STEP, 2017-18) and Spain (SUPERIOR, 2016-17) surveillance studies.

Methods: P. aeruginosa isolates (n = 474) were prospectively recovered from complicated urinary tract (cUTI), complicated intra-abdominal (cIAI) and lower respiratory tract (LRTI) infections in 11 Portuguese and 8 Spanish ICUs.

Imipenem-Relebactam Susceptibility in Isolates Recovered from ICU Patients from Spain and Portugal (SUPERIOR and STEP Studies).

Imipenem-relebactam is a novel β-lactam-β-lactamase inhibitor combination. We evaluated the activity of imipenem-relebactam and comparators against clinical isolates recovered in 8 Spanish and 11 Portuguese intensive care units (ICUs) (SUPERIOR, 2016-2017; STEP, 2017-2018). Overall, 747 isolates (378 Escherichia coli, 252 Klebsiella spp.

Driving Third-Order Optical Nonlinearities in Photoluminescent Si Nanoparticles by Nitrogen Co-Implantation in a Silica Matrix.

The photoluminescence and third-order nonlinear optical effects of co-implanted silicon nanoparticles and nitrogen ions in a silica matrix were studied. Experimental evidence shows the potential of nitrogen ions for changing optical properties exhibited by silicon nanoparticles implanted in an integrated system. The modification of the optical bandgap and photoluminescent intensity in the studied nanomaterials by the incorporation of nitrogen was analyzed.

A Genotype-Phenotype Analysis of Usher Syndrome in Puerto Rico: A Case Series.

Introduction Patients with Usher syndrome (USH) have retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and hearing loss inherited as an autosomal recessive (ar) trait. Mutations in the gene are the most common cause of Usher syndrome. We report the genotype-phenotype correlation in 10 patients with Usher syndrome from Puerto Rico (PR).

Hemithioindigo-Based Visible Light-Activated Molecular Machines Kill Bacteria by Oxidative Damage.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing health threat. There is an urgent and critical need to develop new antimicrobial modalities and therapies. Here, a set of hemithioindigo (HTI)-based molecular machines capable of specifically killing Gram-positive bacteria within minutes of activation with visible light (455 nm at 65 mW cm ) that are safe for mammalian cells is described.