Zwitterionic Copolymers for Anti-Scaling Applications in Simulated Spaceflight Wastewater Scenarios.

Water reclamation in spaceflight applications, such as those encountered on the International Space Station (ISS), requires complex engineering solutions to ensure maximum water recovery. Current vapor compression distillation (VCD) technologies are effective but produce highly concentrated brines and often cause scaling within a separation system. This work evaluates initial steps toward integrating pervaporation, a membrane separation process, as a brine management strategy for ISS wastewaters. Pervaporation performs separations driven by a chemical potential difference across the membrane created by either a sweep gas or a vacuum pull. Pervaporation membranes, as with most membrane processes, can be subject to scaling. Therefore, this work studies the anti-scaling properties of zwitterions (polymeric molecules with covalently tethered positive and negative ions) coated onto sulfonated pentablock terpolymer block polymer (Nexar) pervaporation membrane surfaces. We report a method for applying zwitterions to the surface of pervaporation membranes and the effect on performance parameters such as flux and scaling resistance. Membranes with zwitterions had up to 53% reduction in permeance but reduced scaling. The highest amount of scaling occurred in the samples exposed to calcium chloride, and uncoated membranes had weight percent increases as high as 1617 ± 241%, whereas zwitterion-coated membranes experienced only about 317 ± 87% weight increase in the presence of the same scalant.

Genome-edited, donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells in paediatric and adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: results of two phase 1 studies.

BACKGROUND: Genome-edited donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells offer a novel form of CAR-T-cell product that is available for immediate clinical use, thereby broadening access and applicability. UCART19 is one such product investigated in children and adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Two multicentre phase 1 studies aimed to investigate the feasibility, safety, and antileukaemic activity of UCART19 in children and adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. METHODS: We enrolled paediatric or adult patients in two ongoing, multicentre, phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and antileukaemic activity of UCART19. All patients underwent lymphodepletion with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide with or without alemtuzumab, then children received UCART19 at 1·1-2·3 × 106 cells per kg and adults received UCART19 doses of 6 × 106 cells, 6-8 × 107 cells, or 1·8-2·4 × 108 cells in a dose-escalation study. The primary outcome measure was adverse events in the period between first infusion and data cutoff. These studies were registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02808442 and NCT02746952. FINDINGS: Between June 3, 2016, and Oct 23, 2018, seven children and 14 adults were enrolled in the two studies and received UCART19. Cytokine release syndrome was the most common adverse event and was observed in 19 patients (91%); three (14%) had grade 3-4 cytokine release syndrome. Other adverse events were grade 1 or 2 neurotoxicity in eight patients (38%), grade 1 acute skin graft-versus-host disease in two patients (10%), and grade 4 prolonged cytopenia in six patients (32%). Two treatment-related deaths occurred; one caused by neutropenic sepsis in a patient with concurrent cytokine release syndrome and one from pulmonary haemorrhage in a patient with persistent cytopenia. 14 (67%) of 21 patients had a complete response or complete response with incomplete haematological recovery 28 days after infusion. Patients not receiving alemtuzumab (n=4) showed no UCART19 expansion or antileukaemic activity. The median duration of response was 4·1 months with ten (71%) of 14 responders proceeding to a subsequent allogeneic stem-cell transplant. Progression-free survival at 6 months was 27%, and overall survival was 55%. INTERPRETATION: These two studies show, for the first time, the feasibility of using allogeneic, genome-edited CAR T cells to treat patients with aggressive leukaemia. UCART19 exhibited in-vivo expansion and antileukaemic activity with a manageable safety profile in heavily pretreated paediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The results this study are an encouraging step forward for the field of allogeneic CAR T cells, and UCART19 offers the opportunity to treat patients with rapidly progressive disease and where autologous CAR-T-cell therapy is unavailable. FUNDING: Servier.

Translation, Adaptation, and Preliminary Validation of Dacakis and Davies' "Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (Male to Female)" in French.

Transgender MtF people (trans women) consult otorhinolaryngologists and vocologists with the aim of feminizing their voice and being consistently perceived as women. Treatment of these trans women always begins with a vocal assessment that is relatively unspecific as it was originally constructed for individuals with dysphonia. OBJECTIVES: This study examines the subjective portion of the assessment and specifically the self-assessment questionnaire. There is no French-language questionnaire designed to identify the issues facing people who want voice feminization and quantify the impact of their voice disorder on their daily lives. We present a translation and adaption into French of the questionnaire developed by Dacakis et al [6]. METHODS: This work follows the World Health Organization recommendations [12] regarding translation. Thirty-six Belgian and French trans women took part in this study. RESULTS: The results show excellent repeatability and reliability, while the construct validity measures show that the items correlate with six areas of concern for trans women identified by Davies and Johnson [7] in a previous study. The domains are the following: effect of voice on ease of social interaction, effect of voice on emotions, relationship between voice and gender identity, effort and concentration required to produce voice, physical aspects of voice production, and pitch. Concurrent validity could not be measured owing to lack of sufficiently detailed stories. CONCLUSION: The psychometric properties of the French version of the questionnaire are acceptable. The questionnaire can be used as is in daily clinical practice.

Effects of Dance Movement Therapy on Adult Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study examines the effects of dance movement therapy (DMT) on empathy for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). DMT based on the embodiment approach offers body-centered interventions, such as mirroring techniques, to address the needs of ASD patients. Accordingly, findings of a feasibility study suggest that DMT may be an effective approach for clients on the ASD spectrum. The present study is a randomized controlled trial that was conducted as a multicenter study within the framework of the EU-funded research project TESIS (Toward an Embodied Science of Intersubjectivity), and employed a two-factorial between-subject design. The treatment group (n = 35) participated in a 10-week manualized DMT intervention, whereas the control group (n = 22) received treatment only after a waiting period. Empathy, measured with the Cognitive and Emotional Empathy Questionnaire (CEEQ), was the main variable of interest, analyzed by a repeated measures analysis of variance. In order to also include incomplete data cases, we used the expectation-maximization algorithm for missing data estimation. Results suggest no significant changes in overall empathy between groups. We discuss the results and limitations, as well as future research options.

Factors Influencing the Use of Intermittent Bladder Catheterization by Individuals With Spina Bifida in Brazil and Germany.

PURPOSE: Intermittent catheterization (IC) often is essential for individuals with spina bifida/myelomeningocele (SBM) and neurogenic bladder. This study aimed to identify and analyze the factors that influence the use of IC. DESIGN AND METHODS: Descriptive study with convenience sampling. Data were collected using printed (Brazil) and online (Germany) questionnaires, and analyzed using multivariate logistical regression and analysis of variance. The study included 100 Brazilian and 100 German patients, aged 0-55 years, with SBM who utilized IC. FINDINGS: Intermittent catheterization was used by 188 of the 200 patients. Three variables were important for predicting who did or did not use IC: no discontinuation of IC, absence of technical difficulty, and daily frequency of IC. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Findings suggest that difficulties with IC use experienced by spina bifida patients and their family members that predicted full discontinuation tended to be personal variables, rather than demographic or medical characteristics.

[Inferior polar nephrectomy for multi-recurrent inferior caliceal cystine lithiasis]. / Néphrectomie polaire inférieure pour lithiase cystinique calicielle inférieure multirécidivante.

The authors report a case of left inferior caliceal cystine stones, which recurred despite well conducted medical treatment, 12 extracorporeal lithotripsy sessions, and percutaneous nephrolithotomy. A left lower pole nephrectomy was finally performed. No recurrence on the left side was observed with a follow-up of 3 years. However, the patient developed two recurrences of the right side.

The genetic absence epilepsy rat from Strasbourg (GAERS), a rat model of absence epilepsy: computer modeling and differential gene expression.

PURPOSE: We present results obtained by computer modeling of the thalamic network and differential gene expression analysis in a rat strain with absence epilepsy, the genetic absence epilepsy rat from Strasbourg (GAERS). METHODS: (a) Computer modeling used equations from the Hodgking-Huxley model with a circuit of 13 reticular thalamic (nRt) and 39 thalamocortical (TC) neurons; (b) gene-expression analysis using differential mRNA display (DD), in situ hybridization, Northern blotting, and competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: (a) Computer modeling showed an increased network synchrony in the thalamic circuit as the value of conductance of low-voltage activated calcium channel (LVACC) is increased. (b) Using differential mRNA display, a 40% upregulation of the H-ferritin mRNA in the hippocampus was demonstrated. Looking for some candidate genes of the VACC family, no difference was found in the alpha1G mRNA expression between GAERS and control animals, whereas a decreased expression of the alpha1E subunit was observed in the cerebellum and the brainstem of the GAERS. This phenomenon was not observed in young animals when the epileptic phenotype is not expressed. CONCLUSIONS: The use of computer modeling appeared to be an efficient way to evaluate the impacts of electrophysiologic findings in vivo from single cells on an entire circuit. No clear single gene defect was revealed so far in GAERS. More information could arise from linkage analysis. However, some brain structures like hippocampus or cerebellum classically not known to be involved in the production of absence spike-and-wave discharges could in fact participate in the development of this phenotype.