Virtual reality-assisted assessment of paranoid ideation in forensic psychiatric inpatients: A mixed-methods pilot study.

Background: Reliable and valid assessment of paranoia is important in forensic psychiatry for providing adequate care. VR technology may add to current assessment procedures, as it enables observation within realistic (social) situations resembling the complexity of everyday life. VR constitutes a promising tool within forensics, due to the restricted nature of forensic psychiatric hospitals and ethical challenges arising from observing potentially dangerous behaviors in real life.

Hirudotherapy for limb ischemia in the pediatric intensive care unit: A retrospective observational cohort.

Background: Acute limb ischemia due to microvascular malperfusion may be refractory to initial therapies. Medicinal leech therapy (hirudotherapy) has been attempted in plastic and reconstructive surgery to improve venous congestion in ischemic flaps; however, there are minimal reports related to ischemia secondary to arterial malperfusion. We evaluated a pediatric cohort from an academic intensive care unit with refractory limb ischemia in whom hirudotherapy was attempted to elucidate its use and outcomes.

Clinical trial in healthy malaria-naïve adults to evaluate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and efficacy of MuStDO5, a five-gene, sporozoite/hepatic stage Plasmodium falciparum DNA vaccine combined with escalating dose human GM-CSF DNA.

When introduced in the 1990s, immunization with DNA plasmids was considered potentially revolutionary for vaccine development, particularly for vaccines intended to induce protective CD8 T cell responses against multiple antigens. We conducted, in 1997-1998, the first clinical trial in healthy humans of a DNA vaccine, a single plasmid encoding Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP), as an initial step toward developing a multi-antigen malaria vaccine targeting the liver stages of the parasite. As the next step, we conducted in 2000-2001 a clinical trial of a five-plasmid mixture called MuStDO5 encoding pre-erythrocytic antigens PfCSP, PfSSP2/TRAP, PfEXP1, PfLSA1 and PfLSA3.

Effect on antibody and T-cell responses of mixing five GMP-produced DNA plasmids and administration with plasmid expressing GM-CSF.

One potential benefit of DNA vaccines is the capacity to elicit antibody and T-cell responses against multiple antigens at the same time by mixing plasmids expressing different proteins. A possible negative effect of such mixing is interference among plasmids regarding immunogenicity. In preparation for a clinical trial, we assessed the immunogenicity of GMP-produced plasmids encoding five Plasmodium falciparum proteins, PfCSP, PfSSP2, PfEXP1, PfLSA1, and PfLSA3, given as a mixture, or alone.

Safety, tolerability, and lack of antibody responses after administration of a PfCSP DNA malaria vaccine via needle or needle-free jet injection, and comparison of intramuscular and combination intramuscular/intradermal routes.

Introduction of a new vaccine requires choosing a delivery system that provides safe administration and the desired level of immunogenicity. The safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of three monthly 2.5-mg doses of a PfCSP DNA vaccine were evaluated in healthy volunteers as administered intramuscularly (IM) by needle, IM by jet injection (Biojector or IM/intradermally (ID) by jet injection.