Rilparencel (Renal Autologous Cell Therapy-REACT®) for Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: Phase 2 Trial Design Evaluating Bilateral Kidney Dosing and Redosing Triggers.

Introduction: Autologous cell-based therapies (CBT) to treat chronic kidney disease (CKD) with diabetes are novel and can potentially preserve renal function and decelerate disease progression. CBT dosing schedules are in early development and may benefit from individual bilateral organ dosing and kidney-dependent function to improve efficacy and durability. The objective of this open-label, phase 2 randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to evaluate participants' responses to rilparencel (Renal Autologous Cell Therapy-REACT®) following bilateral percutaneous kidney injections into the kidney cortex with a prescribed dosing schedule versus redosing based on biomarker triggers.

Bile Microbiome Signatures Associated with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Compared to Benign Disease: A UK Pilot Study.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a very poor survival. The intra-tumoural microbiome can influence pancreatic tumourigenesis and chemoresistance and, therefore, patient survival. The role played by bile microbiota in PDAC is unknown.

Deception in Anorexia Nervosa: An Aspect of The No-Entry System of Defense.

As Williams (1997) describes, patients with anorexia nervosa have been on the receiving end of intrusive maternal projections and consequently develop a no-entry system of defense. This paper explores how deception may function as an aspect of this system in two ways. First, deception may serve as a self-preservative effort to evade emotional contact with the maternal object, which is experienced as overflowing with projections, and to attenuate accompanying persecutory anxiety.

"How His Hair is Growing Thin!": On the Emotional Significance of Male Pattern Hair Loss.

Hair is a powerful symbol of individual and group identity: physical and therefore personal yet public rather than private. Despite the fact that male pattern hair loss causes men considerable emotional distress, its unconscious emotional significance is almost entirely unrepresented in the psychoanalytic literature, with a few notable exceptions. After a review of the sociological literature on male pattern hair loss and the relatively sparse psychoanalytic literature on hair and hair loss, four interlocking perspectives on hair loss in men are elaborated: (1) hair as the locus of maternal desire, (2) hair as evoking the helplessness of early infancy, (3) hair loss as a symbol of aging and death, and (4) hair loss as evoking paternal identifications and experiences with the paternal function.

Efficacy of Difelikefalin for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Pruritus in Hemodialysis Patients: Pooled Analysis of KALM-1 and KALM-2 Phase 3 Studies.

Rationale & Objective: Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) in patients treated by hemodialysis (HD) impairs quality of life (QoL). Difelikefalin, a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist, decreased the intensity of CKD-aP in patients undergoing HD. This pooled analysis evaluated difelikefalin's efficacy and the itch-related QoL overall and in subgroups defined by demographics or disease characteristics.