The future of clinical trials of gut microbiome therapeutics in cirrhosis.

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion of microbiome research, including in hepatology, with studies demonstrating altered microbial composition in liver disease. More recently, efforts have been made to understand the association of microbiome features with clinical outcomes and to develop therapeutics targeting the microbiome. While microbiome therapeutics hold much promise, their unique features pose certain challenges for the design and conduct of clinical trials.

Successful surgical management of uveitic glaucoma in a sarcoidosis patient with cutaneous manifestations.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease with variable ocular involvement. The most common ocular manifestation is uveitis, which can have potentially sight threatening complications such as glaucoma. We present the case of a man in his 30s with sarcoidosis and recurrent anterior uveitis, necessitating surgical intervention to control intraocular pressure and prevent further glaucomatous optic neuropathy progression.

The Misdiagnosis and Underdiagnosis of Hepatic Encephalopathy.

Patients with cirrhosis are at risk of developing hepatic encephalopathy, which can present with a wide range of symptoms, including confusion, lethargy, inappropriate behavior, and altered sleep patterns. In addition to hepatic encephalopathy, patients with cirrhosis are at risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and delirium, which have features closely resembling hepatic encephalopathy. Given the similar presentation of these conditions, misdiagnosis can and does occur.

Developmental changes in the perceived moral standing of robots.

Emerging evidence suggests that children may think of robots-and artificial intelligence, more generally-as having moral standing. In this paper, we trace the developmental trajectory of this belief. Over three developmental studies (combined N = 415) and one adult study (N = 156), we compared participants' judgments (Experiments 1-3) and donation choices (Experiment 4) towards a human boy, a humanoid robot, and control targets.