Patient Preferences with Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Treatment for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema: A Multinational Discrete Choice Experiment Study.

Introduction: New anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatments are emerging for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME)/neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). This study aimed to explore the treatment attributes patients find important when deciding on treatment options.

Methods: This noninterventional survey study assessed treatment preferences through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) among patients with DME/nAMD in the USA, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK.

Biological Target Screening and Colloidal Aggregation of Minor Cannabinoids.

There is limited information on interactions between cannabinoids and many pharmacologically and toxicologically relevant targets in humans (e.g., receptors, ion channels, enzymes, and transporters).

Nosema ceranae infection reduces the fat body lipid reserves in the honeybee Apis mellifera.

Nosema ceranae is an intestinal parasite frequently found in Apis mellifera colonies. This parasite belongs to Microsporidia, a group of obligate intracellular parasites known to be strongly dependent on their host for energy and resources. Previous studies have shown that N.

Identifying Artifacts from Large Library Docking.

While large library docking has discovered potent ligands for multiple targets, as the libraries have grown the hit lists can become dominated by rare artifacts that cheat our scoring functions. Here, we investigate rescoring top-ranked docked molecules with orthogonal methods to identify these artifacts, exploring implicit solvent models and absolute binding free energy perturbation as cross-filters. In retrospective studies, this approach deprioritized high-ranking nonbinders for nine targets while leaving true ligands relatively unaffected.

Retinal Pigment Epithelium and Outer Retinal Atrophy (RORA) in Retinitis Pigmentosa: Functional, Structural, and Genetic Evaluation.

Purpose: To examine whether the extension of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal atrophy (RORA) and various other morphofunctional parameters correlate with the genetic assessment and severity of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Methods: Thirty-eight patients (76 eyes) with RP were prospectively enrolled and underwent full ophthalmic examination, including visual field testing, full-field electroretinography (ERG), and optical coherence tomography angiography. The severity of the disease was calculated using the RP stage scoring system, and the area of RORA was assessed using the automatically calculated area of sub-RPE illumination.

Evaluating barriers to reaching women with public health information in remote communities in Mali.

Telecommunications offers an alternative or supplement to community-based interventions as a means of extending healthcare services and improving health outcomes in remote settings but can fail to reach target communities and achieve the desired impact if barriers to access are not overcome. We conducted seven focus group discussions and 26 interviews with community health workers, community leaders, and female members of the public who declared that they had or had not previously accessed free audio health messages provided via a mobile platform in two rural communities of Mali, Koulikoro and Bougouni. A content analysis showed that participants accessed and trusted health information from a range of sources, including radio, telephone and television, as well as town criers, local relays and community health centres.

Identifying Artifacts from Large Library Docking.

While large library docking has discovered potent ligands for multiple targets, as the libraries have grown, the very top of the hit-lists can become populated with artifacts that cheat our scoring functions. Though these cheating molecules are rare, they become ever-more dominant with library growth. Here, we investigate rescoring top-ranked molecules from docking screens with orthogonal methods to identify these artifacts, exploring implicit solvent models and absolute binding free energy perturbation (AB-FEP) as cross-filters.

A review of Musca sorbens (Diptera: Muscidae) and Musca domestica behavior and responses to chemical and visual cues.

Musca flies (Diptera: Muscidae) have been found culpable in the mechanical transmission of several infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, protozoans, and helminths, particularly in low-income settings in tropical regions. In large numbers, these flies can negatively impact the health of communities and their livestock through the transmission of pathogens. In some parts of the world, Musca sorbens is of particular importance because it has been linked with the transmission of trachoma, a leading cause of preventable and irreversible blindness or visual impairment caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, but the contribution these flies make to trachoma transmission has not been quantified and even less is known for other pathogens.

[Why is health literacy an essential component of health of individuals with chronic kidney disease].

Health literacy (HL) is the ability of individuals to access, understand and use health information to improve their health. It is a multidimensional and contextual concept, whose definition has been enriched over time. Considered both as a health risk factor and a skill to be developed by individuals, HL also depends on the healthcare system in which patients have to navigate, and on healthcare professionals’ awareness of this concept.

Teaching the Arts in testing times: A Western Australian perspective on COVID impacts.

Expert secondary Arts teachers are highly trained specialists well versed in face-to-face individual and group teaching pedagogies. Given the highly personalised nature of Arts teaching practice, the shift to online teaching resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns presented many with challenges for which they had little or no formal training. Many teachers felt stressed, isolated and unsure about where to turn for help.

Comparative performance of ISAGA IgM and ELISA assays for the diagnosis of maternal and congenital Toxoplasma infections: which technique could replace ISAGA IgM?

The ISAGA immunocapture test for the detection of anti-Toxoplasma immunoglobulin M is a manual technique known for its excellent sensitivity and specificity. The purpose of this retrospective, multicenter study was to compare the performances and agreement between ISAGA and other IgM detection techniques before cessation of ISAGA production. The analytic performance of the different tests was evaluated using 1,341 serum samples from adults with positive IgM and negative IgG to Toxoplasma gondii, and 1,206 sera from neonates born to mothers with seroconversion.

Efficacy and Safety of Faricimab for Macular Edema due to Retinal Vein Occlusion: 24-Week Results from the BALATON and COMINO Trials.

Purpose: To evaluate the 24-week efficacy and safety of the dual angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A inhibitor faricimab versus aflibercept in patients with vein occlusion.

Design: Phase 3, global, randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled trials: BALATON/COMINO (ClincalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT04740905/NCT04740931; sites: 149/192).

Ocular Toxocariasis in Adult Caucasian Patients: Clinical Presentations and Treatment Outcomes.

Purpose: To report the clinical features and treatment outcomes in adult Caucasians with ocular toxocariasis (OT) and investigate their prognosis depending on their serological status.

Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study (2016-2021) including consecutive adults with uveitis and positive western blot (WB) in the aqueous humor or vitreous. The presence of serum antibodies was not necessary for inclusion, allowing to compare the outcomes depending on the serological status.

Predictors of unsustained measurable residual disease negativity in patients with multiple myeloma.

The prognostic impact of achieving and in particular maintaining measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity in multiple myeloma is now established; therefore, identifying among MRD-negative patients the ones at higher risk of losing MRD negativity is of importance. We analyzed predictors of unsustained MRD negativity in patients enrolled in the FORTE trial (NCT02203643). MRD was performed by multiparameter flow cytometry (sensitivity of 10-5) at premaintenance and every 6 months thereafter.

Chronic schistosomiasis imported in France: A retrospective multicentre analysis of 532 patients, calling for international recommendations.

Background: Schistosomiasis is a major public health issue for migrants. This study aims to describe the clinical presentation and management of imported schistosomiasis in France.

Methods: We included all new cases of schistosomiasis in patients aged ≥18 years, defined by a positive specific Western blot and/or a positive parasitological analysis of urine, stool or biopsy, between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, in 4 laboratories in Paris and Western France.

BALATON and COMINO: Phase III Randomized Clinical Trials of Faricimab for Retinal Vein Occlusion: Study Design and Rationale.

Purpose: Dual inhibition of angiopoietin-2 and VEGF-A with faricimab (Vabysmo) offers excellent visual acuity gains with strong durability in patients with diabetic macular edema (ME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The phase III BALATON/COMINO (NCT04740905/NCT04740931) trials will investigate the efficacy, safety, and durability of faricimab in patients with ME due to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Design: Two identically designed global, randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled studies.

Contribution of serology in congenital toxoplasmosis diagnosis: results from a 10-year French retrospective study.

This study aimed to evaluate different serological strategies for the postnatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) and establish a biological algorithm for CT diagnosis. The study analyzed serological data of immunoglobulins M, A, and G (IgM, IgA, IgG) performed by immunoenzymatic and compared immunological profile (CIP) assays in 668 newborns with CT diagnosis across four testing periods: P1 (D0- D10), P2 (D11-D35), P3 (D36-D45), and P4 (>D45). Forty-nine percent of the 668 CT cases were diagnosed during P1 and 34%, 4%, and 12% during P2, P3, and P4, respectively.

Prospective evaluation of minimal residual disease in the phase II FORTE trial: a head-to-head comparison between multiparameter flow cytometry and next-generation sequencing.

Background: Limited data are available on the concordance between multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in a large trial for multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

Methods: MRD was explored in the FORTE trial for transplant-eligible MM patients randomised to three carfilzomib-based induction-intensification-consolidation treatments and carfilzomib-lenalidomide (KR) R maintenance. MRD was assessed by 8-colour 2nd-generation flow cytometry in patients with ≥very good partial response before maintenance.

Effect of subtherapeutic and therapeutic sulfamethazine concentrations on transcribed genes and translated proteins involved in Microbacterium sp. C448 resistance and degradation.

Microbacterium sp. C448, isolated from a soil regularly exposed to sulfamethazine (SMZ), can use various sulphonamide antibiotics as the sole carbon source for growth. The basis for the regulation of genes encoding the sulphonamide metabolism pathway, the dihydropteroate synthase sulphonamide target (folP), and the sulphonamide resistance (sul1) genes is unknown in this organism.

IgM triplet in neonatal diagnosis by immunoblotting and its potential use as a diagnostic marker for congenital toxoplasmosis.

Primary infection during pregnancy by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii can be worrisome because transmission to the fetus may lead to congenital toxoplasmosis (CT). Neonatal diagnosis is usually performed by serological profile comparison of the mother and newborn. As previously reported in 2012 by C.

Assessment of Occupational Carcinogenic Risk by Comparing Data from the Italian Register of Occupational Exposures to Carcinogens (SIREP) with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Evidence.

In Italy, the National Register on Occupational Exposure to Carcinogens (SIREP) is established pursuant to article 243 of Legislative Decree 81/2008 and is aimed to collect information on the exposure of workers to carcinogens transmitted by employers. The aim of this study is to assess its level of implementation comparing prevailing carcinogens reported in SIREP with the monitoring of risks in the workplace evidenced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The data reported in the SIREP have been integrated with IARC and the database on carcinogenic risk in the workplace named MATline in order to build a matrix containing the carcinogens classified according to the IARC (Group 1 and 2A agents) and to a semi-quantitative indicator of risk level (High or Low) calculated upon the number of exposures reported in SIREP.