Evidence of Reduced Virulence and Increased Colonization Among Pneumococcal Isolates of Serotype 3 Clade II Lineage in Mice.

Recent phylogenetic profiling of pneumococcal serotype 3 (Pn3) isolates revealed a dynamic interplay among major lineages with the emergence and global spread of a variant termed clade II. The cause of Pn3 clade II dissemination along with epidemiological and clinical ramifications are currently unknown. Here, we sought to explore biological characteristics of dominant Pn3 clades in a mouse model of pneumococcal invasive disease and carriage.

Botensilimab plus balstilimab in relapsed/refractory microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer: a phase 1 trial.

Microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS mCRC; mismatch repair proficient) has previously responded poorly to immune checkpoint blockade. Botensilimab (BOT) is an Fc-enhanced multifunctional anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) antibody designed to expand therapy to cold/poorly immunogenic solid tumors, such as MSS mCRC. BOT with or without balstilimab (BAL; anti-PD-1 antibody) is being evaluated in an ongoing expanded phase 1 study.

The biological and clinical impact of deletions before and after large chromosomal gains in multiple myeloma.

Acquisition of a hyperdiploid (HY) karyotype or immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) translocations are considered key initiating events in multiple myeloma (MM). To explore if other genomic events can precede these events, we analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 1173 MM samples. By integrating molecular time and structural variants within early chromosomal duplications, we indeed identified pregain deletions in 9.

Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation of Cardiac Tumors: Updated 2021 WHO Tumor Classification.

Cardiac tumors, although rare, carry high morbidity and mortality rates. They are commonly first identified either at echocardiography or incidentally at thoracoabdominal CT performed for noncardiac indications. Multimodality imaging often helps to determine the cause of these masses.

Noncontrast CT Selected Thrombectomy vs Medical Management for Late-Window Anterior Large Vessel Occlusion.

Background And Objectives: There is uncertainty whether patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) presenting in the late 6-hour to 24-hour time window can be selected for endovascular therapy (EVT) by noncontrast CT (NCCT) and CT angiography (CTA) for LVO detection. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of patients selected for EVT by NCCT compared with those medically managed in the extended time window.

Methods: This multinational cohort study was conducted at 66 sites across 10 countries.

Motive and opportunity: MYC rearrangements in high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements (an LLMPP study).

Rearrangements that place the oncogenes MYC, BCL2, or BCL6 adjacent to superenhancers are common in mature B-cell lymphomas. Lymphomas with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or high-grade morphology with both MYC and BCL2 rearrangements are classified as high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements ("double hit"; HGBCL-DH-BCL2) and are associated with aggressive disease and poor outcomes. Although it is established that MYC rearrangements involving immunoglobulin (IG) loci are associated with inferior outcomes relative to those involving other non-IG superenhancers, the frequency of and mechanisms driving IG vs non-IG MYC rearrangements have not been elucidated.

Long-term outcomes after recurrent acute thoracic aortic dissection: Insights from the International Registry of Aortic Dissection.

Objective: With an aging population and advancements in imaging, recurrence of thoracic aortic dissection is becoming more common.

Methods: All patients enrolled in the International Registry of Aortic Dissection from 1996 to 2023 with type A and type B acute aortic dissection were identified. Among them, initial dissection and recurrent dissection were discerned.

Measuring algorithmic bias to analyze the reliability of AI tools that predict depression risk using smartphone sensed-behavioral data.

AI tools intend to transform mental healthcare by providing remote estimates of depression risk using behavioral data collected by sensors embedded in smartphones. While these tools accurately predict elevated depression symptoms in small, homogenous populations, recent studies show that these tools are less accurate in larger, more diverse populations. In this work, we show that accuracy is reduced because sensed-behaviors are unreliable predictors of depression across individuals: sensed-behaviors that predict depression risk are inconsistent across demographic and socioeconomic subgroups.

Final phase 1 substudy results of ivosidenib for patients with mutant IDH1 relapsed/refractory myelodysplastic syndrome.

Ivosidenib is a first-in-class mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (mIDH1) inhibitor with efficacy and tolerability in patients with advanced mIDH1 hematologic malignancies, leading to approval in frontline and relapsed/refractory (R/R) mIDH1 acute myeloid leukemia. We report final data from a phase 1 single-arm substudy of once-daily ivosidenib in patients with R/R mIDH1 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) after failure of standard-of-care therapies. Primary objectives were to determine safety, tolerability, and clinical activity.

Acute Onset of Mania and Psychosis in the Context of Long-COVID: A Case Study.

Acute phase COVID-19 has been associated with an increased risk for several mental health conditions, but less is known about the interaction of long COVID and mental illness. Prior reports have linked long COVID to PTSD, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and insomnia. This case report describes a novel presentation of mania arising in the context of long COVID symptoms with attention given to possible interacting etiological pathways.

Na1.7 targeted fluorescence imaging agents for nerve identification during intraoperative procedures.

Surgeries and trauma result in traumatic and iatrogenic nerve damage that can result in a debilitating condition that approximately affects 189 million individuals worldwide. The risk of nerve injury during oncologic surgery is increased due to tumors displacing normal nerve location, blood turbidity, and past surgical procedures, which complicate even an experienced surgeon's ability to precisely locate vital nerves. Unfortunately, there is a glaring absence of contrast agents to assist surgeons in safeguarding vital nerves.

The Challenge of Examining Social Determinants of Health in People Living With Tourette Syndrome.

Background: To examine the association between race, ethnicity, and parental educational attainment on tic-related outcomes among Tourette Syndrome (TS) participants in the Tourette Association of America International Consortium for Genetics (TAAICG) database.

Methods: 723 participants in the TAAICG dataset aged ≤21 years were included. The relationships between tic-related outcomes and race and ethnicity were examined using linear and logistic regressions.

New Vaccine Platforms-Novel Dimensions of Economic and Societal Value and Their Measurement.

The COVID-19 pandemic's dramatic impact has been a vivid reminder that vaccines-especially in the context of infectious respiratory viruses-provide enormous societal value, well beyond the healthcare system perspective which anchors most Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) evaluation frameworks. Furthermore, the development of modified ribonucleic acid-based (mRNA-based) and nanoparticle vaccine technologies has brought into focus several new value drivers previously absent from the discourse on vaccines as public health interventions such as increased vaccine adaptation capabilities, the improved ability to develop combination vaccines, and more efficient vaccine manufacturing and production processes. We review these novel value dimensions and discuss how they might be measured and incorporated within existing value frameworks using existing methods.

Hip Arthroscopy Simulator Training With Immersive Virtual Reality Has Similar Effectiveness to Nonimmersive Virtual Reality.

Purpose: To (1) compare the efficacy of immersive virtual reality (iVR) to nonimmersive virtual reality (non-iVR) training in hip arthroscopy on procedural and knowledge-based skills acquisition and (2) evaluate the relative cost of each platform.

Methods: Fourteen orthopaedic surgery residents were randomized to simulation training utilizing an iVR Hip Arthroscopy Simulator (n = 7; PrecisionOS) or non-iVR simulator (n = 7; ArthroS Hip VR; VirtaMed). After training, performance was assessed on a cadaver by 4 expert hip arthroscopists through arthroscopic video review of a diagnostic hip arthroscopy.

Incidence of Blepharoptosis Following Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections.

Purpose: To determine the incidence of blepharoptosis after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections and compare the rates of blepharoptosis between patients injected with an eyelid speculum and those injected without a speculum.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), codes were used to identify patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and those who developed ptosis after intravitreal injections.

Acute pulmonary injury in hematology patients supported with pathogen-reduced and conventional platelet components.

Patients treated with antineoplastic therapy often develop thrombocytopenia requiring platelet transfusion, which has potential to exacerbate pulmonary injury. This study tested the hypothesis that amotosalen-UVA pathogen-reduced platelet components (PRPCs) do not potentiate pulmonary dysfunction compared with conventional platelet components (CPCs). A prospective, multicenter, open-label, sequential cohort study evaluated the incidence of treatment-emergent assisted mechanical ventilation initiated for pulmonary dysfunction (TEAMV-PD).

Racial Differences in Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA and Mitochondrial DNA After Heart Transplantation, on Behalf of the GRAfT Investigators.

Background: Black heart transplant patients are at higher risk of acute rejection (AR) and death than White patients. We hypothesized that this risk may be associated with higher levels of donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) and cell-free mitochondrial DNA.

Methods: The Genomic Research Alliance for Transplantation is a multicenter, prospective, longitudinal cohort study.

The Image Biomarker Standardization Initiative: Standardized Convolutional Filters for Reproducible Radiomics and Enhanced Clinical Insights.

Filters are commonly used to enhance specific structures and patterns in images, such as vessels or peritumoral regions, to enable clinical insights beyond the visible image using radiomics. However, their lack of standardization restricts reproducibility and clinical translation of radiomics decision support tools. In this special report, teams of researchers who developed radiomics software participated in a three-phase study (September 2020 to December 2022) to establish a standardized set of filters.

Association Between Hematoma Volume and Risk of Subsequent Ischemic Stroke: A MISTIE III and ATACH-2 Analysis.

Background: Nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is independently associated with a long-term increased risk of major arterial ischemic events. While the relationship between ICH location and ischemic risk has been studied, whether hematoma volume influences this risk is poorly understood.

Methods: We pooled individual patient data from the MISTIE III (Minimally Invasive Surgery Plus Alteplase for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation Phase 3) and the ATACH-2 (Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage-2) trials.