Effect of plasma exchange with albumin replacement on albumin functionality and organ dysfunction in acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Background & Aims: Effective treatments for acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) are a major unmet need. This proof-of-concept pilot study was aimed at evaluating the effects of plasma exchange (PE) with albumin 5% (PE-A5%) on albumin functional capacity and organ dysfunction in patients with ACLF.

Methods: Ten adult patients were enrolled in a single-center phase II, prospective, open-label, non-controlled study.

Roadmap to DILI research in Europe. A proposal from COST action ProEuroDILINet.

In the current article the aims for a constructive way forward in Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) are to highlight the most important priorities in research and clinical science, therefore supporting a more informed, focused, and better funded future for European DILI research. This Roadmap aims to identify key challenges, define a shared vision across all stakeholders for the opportunities to overcome these challenges and propose a high-quality research program to achieve progress on the prediction, prevention, diagnosis and management of this condition and impact on healthcare practice in the field of DILI. This will involve 1.

Bronchiectasis in Europe: data on disease characteristics from the European Bronchiectasis registry (EMBARC).

Background: Bronchiectasis is a heterogeneous, neglected disease with few multicentre studies exploring the causes, severity, microbiology, and treatment of the disease across Europe. This aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of bronchiectasis and compare between different European countries.

Methods: EMBARC is an international clinical research network for bronchiectasis.

Centralisation of surgery for complex cancer diseases: A scoping review of the evidence base on pancreatic cancer.

Background: Centralisation of cancer surgery is a commonly applied healthcare strategy worldwide. This study aimed to detail the design of centralisation policies, to shed light on the implications of such policies in real practice and to describe the different perspectives taken to deal with difficulties that emerged, taking pancreatic cancer as an example of a complex cancer disease requiring surgery.

Methodology: A scoping review was conducted using the MEDLINE database.

Spontaneous chiralization of polar active particles.

Polar active particles constitute a wide class of active matter that is able to propel along a preferential direction, given by their polar axis. Here, we demonstrate a generic active mechanism that leads to their spontaneous chiralization through a symmetry-breaking instability. We find that the transition of an active particle from a polar to a chiral symmetry is characterized by the emergence of active rotation and of circular trajectories.

Brignoli, 1978 (Araneae: Agelenidae) from Turkey: first description of male and annotations on terminology of copulatory organs.

Background: The agelenid spider species Brignoli, 1978 was described, based on female specimens from Turkey.

New Information: The unknown male is here described, based on specimens from the type locality: Bolu, Abant Mountains, Turkey. The variation of the female copulatory organs is illustrated.

Hidden in plain sight: a new frog species of the genus from the oceanic island of Mayotte, Comoros archipelago.

The amphibian fauna of the western Indian ocean volcanic island of Mayotte is currently constituted by two species belonging to two genera of the anuran family Mantellidae: and . These were recently described after intense fieldwork on the herpetofauna of the island. We here describe a third new species of frog from Mayotte, based on morphological and molecular data, that occurs in sympatry with the others and was utterly unnoticed until now.

Generation, establishment and characterization of a pluripotent stem cell line (CVTTHi001-A) from primary fibroblasts isolated from a patient with activated PI3 kinase delta syndrome (APDS2).

APDS2 is caused by mutations in PIK3R1 gene resulting in constitutive PI3Kδ activation. PI3Kδ is predominantly expressed in leukocytes and plays critical roles in regulating immune responses. Here we first derived fibroblast primary cells from a skin biopsy of a patient carrying a heterozygous single T deletion in intron 11 of the PIK3R1 gene.

A new Geoffroy (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Diplolepidini) species from China: a rare example of a rose gall-inducer of economic significance.

A new species of the genus Geoffroy, Pujade-Villar & Wang is described on host plant Rolfe × Thunb. from China with an integrative approach based on molecular and morphological data. Diagnosis, distribution and biology of the new species are included and illustrated.

Economic analysis of ceftaroline fosamil for treating community-acquired pneumonia in Spain.

Adults admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) impose significant burden upon limited hospital resources. To achieve early response and possibly early discharge, thus reducing hospital expenditure, the choice of initial antibiotic therapy is pivotal. A cost-consequences model was developed to evaluate ceftaroline fosamil (CFT) as an alternative to other antibiotic therapies (ceftriaxone, co-amoxiclav, moxifloxacin, levofloxacin) for the empiric treatment of hospitalized adults with moderate/severe CAP (PORT score III-IV) from the perspective of the Spanish National Health System (NHS).

Species conservation profiles of a random sample of world spiders IV: Scytodidae to Zoropsidae.

Background: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most widely used information source on the extinction risk of species. One of the uses of the Red List is to evaluate and monitor the state of biodiversity and a possible approach for this purpose is the Red List Index (RLI). For many taxa, mainly hyperdiverse groups, it is not possible within available resources to assess all known species.

Species conservation profiles of a random sample of world spiders III: Oecobiidae to Salticidae.

Background: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most widely used information source on the extinction risk of species. One of the uses of the Red List is to evaluate and monitor the state of biodiversity and a possible approach for this purpose is the Red List Index (RLI). For many taxa, mainly hyperdiverse groups, it is not possible within available resources to assess all known species.

Collective cell durotaxis emerges from long-range intercellular force transmission.

The ability of cells to follow gradients of extracellular matrix stiffness-durotaxis-has been implicated in development, fibrosis, and cancer. Here, we found multicellular clusters that exhibited durotaxis even if isolated constituent cells did not. This emergent mode of directed collective cell migration applied to a variety of epithelial cell types, required the action of myosin motors, and originated from supracellular transmission of contractile physical forces.

Tracheal tube biofilm removal through a novel closed-suctioning system: an experimental study.

Background: Tracheal tube biofilm develops during mechanical ventilation. We compared a novel closed-suctioning system vs standard closed-suctioning system in the prevention of tracheal tube biofilm.

Methods: Eighteen pigs, on mechanical ventilation for 76 h, with P.

Validation of whole slide imaging in the primary diagnosis of gynaecological pathology in a University Hospital.

Aims: Experience in the use of whole slide imaging (WSI) for primary diagnosis in pathology is very limited. We aimed to determine the accuracy of interpretation of WSI compared with conventional light microscopy (CLM) in the diagnosis of routine gynaecological biopsies.

Methods: All gynaecological specimens (n=452) received over a 2-month period at the Department of Pathology of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona were analysed blindly by two gynaecological pathologists, one using CLM and the other WSI.

Assessing functional relations in single-case designs: quantitative proposals in the context of the evidence-based movement.

In the context of the evidence-based practices movement, the emphasis on computing effect sizes and combining them via meta-analysis does not preclude the demonstration of functional relations. For the latter aim, we propose to augment the visual analysis to add consistency to the decisions made on the existence of a functional relation without losing sight of the need for a methodological evaluation of what stimuli and reinforcement or punishment are used to control the behavior. Four options for quantification are reviewed, illustrated, and tested with simulated data.

Effect of meropenem administration in extended infusion on the clinical outcome of febrile neutropenia: a retrospective observational study.

Objectives: Information on the efficacy of extended meropenem administration in neutropenic patients is scarce. Our objective was to determine whether the administration of meropenem in a 4 h extended infusion (EI) leads to a better clinical outcome in patients with febrile neutropenia than the conventional short infusion (SI).

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study.

Clinical Role of Subtraction Ictal SPECT Coregistered to MR Imaging and (18)F-FDG PET in Pediatric Epilepsy.

Unlabelled: A precise assessment of the drug-resistant epileptic pediatric population for surgical candidacy is often challenging, and to date there are no evidence-based guidelines for presurgical identification of the epileptogenic zone. To evaluate the usefulness of radionuclide imaging techniques for presurgical evaluation of epileptic pediatric patients, we compared the results of video-electroencephalography (EEG), brain MR imaging, interictal SPECT, ictal SPECT, subtraction ictal SPECT coregistered to MR imaging (SISCOM), and interictal PET with (18)F-FDG.

Methods: Fifty-four children with drug-resistant epilepsy who had undergone video-EEG monitoring, brain MR imaging, interictal and ictal brain perfusion SPECT, SISCOM, and (18)F-FDG PET were included in this study.