[Prospective noninterventional BLUE SKY study evaluating the efficacy of brolucizumab in treatment-naïve and previously treated patients with neovascular AMD]. / Prospektive nichtinterventionelle BLUE SKY-Studie zur Beurteilung der Wirksamkeit von Brolucizumab bei unbehandelten und vorbehandelten Patienten mit neovaskulärer AMD.

Intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the standard treatment for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). In addition to the approved substances ranibizumab (Lucentis®, Novartis) and aflibercept (Eylea®, Bayer), bevacizumab (Avastin®, Roche) is also available. Furthermore, brolucizumab (Beovu®, Novartis) has been approved and has been available in Germany since April 2020. The multicenter, noninterventional prospective BLUE SKY study investigates brolucizumab treatment with different schemes in 600 treatment-naive and pretreated nAMD patients in routine clinical practice over a 24-month period. Besides general patient data, visual acuity and treatment data will be documented. Fluorescein angiography, fundus photography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography and swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography will be performed and analyzed by reading centers. The focus of the analysis will be on the intraretinal and subretinal fluid distribution as well as morphological MNV changes and injection frequency. Also, safety and adverse drug effects of brolucizumab, with a specific focus on inflammatory complications, particularly retinal (occlusive) vasculitis will be evaluated.

High resolution 1H NMR spectroscopic studies of the composition of the haemolymph of crowd- and solitary-reared nymphs of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria.

High resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy provided a rapid and non-invasive means of establishing a multicomponent profile of the low molecular weight organic metabolites present in the haemolymph of crowd-reared and solitary-reared desert locusts. Assignments of the 1H NMR resonances detected in the one-dimensional (1D) spectra were supported by the comparison of chemical shifts with those of commonly found metabolites, the application of 2D NMR spectroscopy, and spiking of authentic standards into the sample. The haemolymph metabolite profile was found to comprise trehalose, a series of amino acids, organic acids, lipids, ethanol and the polyamine putrescine. In total, it was possible to detect simultaneously and potentially quantify over 20 endogenous compounds. An interesting difference between the phases was the higher putrescine concentrations present in solitary-reared nymphs, which may indicate a role of this compound in phase determination. In addition, differences in the concentrations of trehalose, lipids, acetate and ethanol were also observed between solitary-reared and gregarious-reared nymphs enabling the ready differentiation of the two phases based on the NMR spectra of the haemolymph.

Gregarious behavior in desert locusts is evoked by touching their back legs.

Desert locusts in the solitarious phase were repeatedly touched on various body regions to identify the site of mechanosensory input that elicits the transition to gregarious phase behavior. The phase state of individual insects was measured after a 4-h period of localized mechanical stimulation, by using a behavioral assay based on multiple logistic regression analysis. A significant switch from solitarious to gregarious behavior occurred when the outer face of a hind femur had been stimulated, but mechanical stimulation of 10 other body regions did not result in significant behavioral change. We conclude that a primary cause of the switch in behavior that seeds the formation of locust swarms is individuals regularly touching others on the hind legs within populations that have become concentrated by the environment.