Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy with laromestrocel in mild Alzheimer's disease: a randomized controlled phase 2a trial.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, severe brain atrophy and neuroinflammation. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group phase 2a clinical trial that tested the safety and efficacy of laromestrocel, a bone-marrow-derived, allogeneic mesenchymal stem-cell therapy, in slowing AD clinical progression, atrophy and neuroinflammation. Participants across ten centers in the United States were randomly assigned 1:1:1:1 to four infusion groups: group 1 (placebo; four monthly infusions, n = 12); group 2 (25 million cells, one infusion followed by three monthly infusions of placebo, n = 13); group 3 (25 million cells; four monthly doses, n = 13); and group 4 (100 million cells; four monthly doses, n = 11).

Selective focusing through target identification and experimental acoustic signature extraction: Through-aberration experiments.

In the first part of this work (Rodriguez et al. 2016), the selective focusing through identification and experimental acoustic signature extraction (SelF-EASE) method was presented, and its potential for accurate ultrasound focusing was assessed via numerical experiments. In the second part of this work, the inversion procedure and focusing signal extraction are improved in terms of reliability and computation time, and experimental results are presented.

A Physiologically Relevant In Vitro Model of Nonreplicating Persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Caseum.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide. Persistent bacterial populations in specific microenvironments within the host hamper efficient TB chemotherapy. Caseum in the necrotic core of closed granulomas and cavities of pulmonary TB patients can harbor high burdens of drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacilli, making them particularly difficult to sterilize.

Monitoring of Lung Ultrasound Acquisition using Infrared Sensors and Artificial Intelligence.

Lung diseases contribute significantly to global mortality rates. The conventional diagnostic techniques based on medical imaging used for lung disease diagnosis normally require specialized personnel and complex infrastructure, posing challenges in rural areas. In response to these challenges, Volume Sweep Imaging in the lung (VSI-L) is an ultrasound-based acquisition protocol designed to empower non-specialized healthcare providers by following the movement of the transducer when performing a set of ultrasound scans along the chest.