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We report on recent developments in positronium work in the frame of antihydrogen production through charge exchange in the AEgIS collaboration [1]. In particular, we present a new technique based on spatially imaging a cloud of positronium by collecting the positrons emitted by photoionization. This background free diagnostic proves to be highly efficient and opens up new opportunities for spectroscopy on antimatter, control and laser manipulation of positronium clouds as well as Doppler velocimetry.

Aims: Fracture-related infections (FRIs) are a devastating complication of fracture management. However, the impact of FRIs on mental health remains understudied. The aim of this study was a longitudinal evaluation of patients’ psychological state, and expectations for recovery comparing patients with recurrent FRI to those with primary FRI. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted at a level 1 trauma centre from January 2020 to December 2022. In total, 56 patients treated for FRI were enrolled. The ICD-10 symptom rating (ISR) and an expectation questionnaire were assessed at five timepoints: preoperatively, one month postoperatively, and at three, six, and 12 months. Results: Recurrent FRI cases consistently exceeded the symptom burden threshold (0.60) in ISR scores at all assessment points. The difference between preoperative-assessed total ISR scores and the 12-month follow-up was not significant in either group, with 0.04 for primary FRI (p = 0.807) and 0.01 for recurrent FRI (p = 0.768). While primary FRI patients showed decreased depression scores post surgery, recurrent FRI cases experienced an increase, reaching a peak at 12 months (1.92 vs 0.94; p < 0.001). Anxiety scores rose for both groups after surgery, notably higher in recurrent FRI cases (1.39 vs 1.02; p < 0.001). Moreover, patients with primary FRI reported lower expectations of returning to normal health at three (1.99 vs 1.11; p < 0.001) and 12 months (2.01 vs 1.33; p = 0.006). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the significant psychological burden experienced by individuals undergoing treatment for FRI, which is more severe in recurrent FRI. Understanding the psychological dimensions of recurrent FRIs is crucial for comprehensive patient care, and underscores the importance of integrating psychological support into the treatment paradigm for such cases. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2024;5(7):621–627.

Introduction: Invasive pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infectious diseases. Selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results might lead to a tailored antibiotic therapy and could therefore be an important antibiotic stewardship program intervention. The aim of this study was to analyse whether a switch to selective reporting of antibiotic test results leads to a more focused antibiotic therapy in patients with a bloodstream infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Methods: This study was performed as a retrospective cohort study at the University Hospital Regensburg, Germany. All blood cultures positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae between 2006 and 2021 were analysed. In 2014, a switch to selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results omitting sensitivity results for agents not recommended was introduced. Results: Twenty-four hours after final antibiotic susceptibility test results were available, 20.9% before (BI) versus 15.4% after implementation (AI) of selective reporting of antibiotic test results received a narrow-spectrum penicillin, while only 2.3% BI versus 5.8% AI received a narrow-spectrum penicillin from the beginning. Conclusion: Selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results without further antimicrobial stewardship interventions did not lead to a higher use of a narrow-spectrum penicillin in this study.

The validity of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) as predicted by General Relativity has been tested up to astounding precision using ordinary matter. The lack hitherto of a stable source of a probe being at the same time electrically neutral, cold and stable enough to be measured has prevented highaccuracy testing of the WEP on anti-matter. The AEg̅IS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) experiment located at CERN's AD (Antiproton Decelerator) facility aims at producing such a probe in the form of a pulsed beam of cold anti-hydrogen, and at measuring by means of a moiré deflectometer the gravitational force that Earth's mass exerts on it. Low temperature and abundance of the H̅ are paramount to attain a high precision measurement. A technique employing a charge-exchange reaction between antiprotons coming from the AD and excited positronium atoms is being developed at AEg̅IS and will be presented hereafter, alongside an overview of the experimental apparatus and the current status of the experiment

The AEgIS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) is a CERN based experiment with the central aim to measure directly the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen. Antihydrogen atoms will be produced via charge exchange reactions which will consist of Rydberg-excited positronium atoms sent to cooled antiprotons within an electromagnetic trap. The resulting Rydberg antihydrogen atoms will then be horizontally accelerated by an electric field gradient (Stark effect), they will then pass through a moiré deflectometer. The vertical deflection caused by the Earth's gravitational field will test for the first time the Weak Equivalence Principle for antimatter. Detection will be undertaken via a position sensitive detector. Around 103 antihydrogen atoms are needed for the gravitational measurement to be completed. The present status, current achievements and results will be presented, with special attention toward the laser excitation of positronium (Ps) to the n=3 state and the production of Ps atoms in the transmission geometry.

Abstract Background Histopathology is the reference standard for diagnosing liver metastases of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Somatostatin receptor-positron emission tomography / computed tomography (SSR-PET/CT) has emerged as a promising non-invasive imaging modality for staging NETs. We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of SSR-PET/CT in the identification of liver metastases in patients with proven NETs compared to histopathology. Methods Histopathologic reports of 139 resected or biopsied liver lesions of patients with known NET were correlated with matching SSR-PET/CTs and the positive/negative predictive value (PPV/NPV), sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of SSR-PET/CT were evaluated. PET/CT reading was performed by one expert reader blinded to histopathology and clinical data. Results 133 of 139 (95.7%) liver lesions showed malignant SSR-uptake in PET/CT while initial histopathology reported on ‘liver metastases of NET´ in 127 (91.4%) cases, giving a PPV of 91.0%. Re-biopsy of the initially histopathologically negative lesions (reference standard) nevertheless diagnosed ‘liver metastases of NET’ in 6 cases, improving the PPV of PET/CT to 95.5%. Reasons for initial false-negative histopathology were inadequate sampling in the sense of non-target biopsies. The 6 (4.3%) SSR-negative lesions were all G2 NETs with a Ki-67 between 2–15%. Conclusion SSR-PET/CT is a highly accurate imaging modality for the diagnosis of liver metastases in patients with proven NETs. However, we found that due to the well-known tumor heterogeneity of NETs, specifically in G2 NETs approximately 4–5% are SSR-negative and may require additional imaging with [18F]FDG PET/CT.

Der EuGH hat sich in einer lange erwarteten Entscheidung mit der Frage auseinandergesetzt, ob die DSGVO auf parlamentarische Untersuchungsausschüsse anwendbar ist. In der Rs C-33/22 (Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde) hat der EuGH am 16. Jänner 2024 in einem österreichischen Fall entschieden, dass die DSGVO auf parlamentarische Untersuchungsausschüsse grundsätzlich anwendbar ist. Dadurch haben Untersuchungsausschüsse in Ausübung ihrer parlamentarischen Kontrollrechte auch das Recht auf Datenschutz von Auskunftspersonen zu achten. Dies betrifft essenzielle verfassungsrechtliche Fragen zum Umgang mit diesem zentralen demokratischen Kontrollinstrument bzw Kontrollrechten allgemein und dem Verhältnis zum Datenschutz und geht weit über den Ausgangssachverhalt hinaus. Die österreichische Judikatur und Praxis, wonach die Gesetzgebung von der Anwendbarkeit der Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) ausgenommen ist, wird nach diesem EuGH-Urteil nicht aufrechterhalten werden können.

Background Peritoneal carcinomatosis is an advanced stage of cancer in which the disease has spread to the peritoneal cavity. In order to restore antitumor immunity subverted by tumor cells in this location, we evaluated intraperitoneal administrations of modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) engineered to express single-chain interleukin 12 (scIL-12) to increase antitumor immune responses.Methods MVA encoding scIL-12 (MVA.scIL-12) was evaluated against peritoneal carcinomatosis models based on intraperitoneal engraftment of tumor cells. CD8-mediated immune responses, elucidated antitumor efficacy, and safety were evaluated following intravenous, intratumoral, or intraperitoneal administration of the viral vector. The immune response was measured by ELISpot (enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot), RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, intravital microscopy, and depletion of lymphocyte subsets with monoclonal antibodies. Safety was assessed by body-weight follow-up and blood testing. Tissue tropism on intravenous or intraperitoneal administration was assessed by bioluminescence analysis using a reporter MVA encoding luciferase.Results Intraperitoneal or locoregional administration, but not other routes of administration, resulted in a potent immune response characterized by increased levels of tumor-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes with the ability to produce both interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α. The antitumor immune response was detectable not only in the peritoneal cavity but also systemically. As a result of intraperitoneal treatment, a single administration of MVA.scIL-12 encoding scIL-12 completely eradicated MC38 tumors implanted in the peritoneal cavity and also protected cured mice from subsequent subcutaneous rechallenges. Bioluminescence imaging using an MVA encoding luciferase revealed that intraperitoneal administration targets transgene to the omentum. The omentum is considered a key tissue in immune protection of the peritoneal cavity. The safety profile of intraperitoneal administration was also better than that following intravenous administration since no weight loss or hematological toxicity was observed when the vector was locally delivered into the peritoneal cavity.Conclusion Intraperitoneal administration of MVA vectors encoding scIL-12 targets the omentum, which is the tissue where peritoneal carcinomatosis usually begins. MVA.scIL-12 induces a potent tumor-specific immune response that often leads to the eradication of experimental tumors disseminated to the peritoneal cavity.

Abstract The induction of antiviral innate immunity by systemic immunization with live virus can be employed to positively impact the response to therapeutic vaccination. We previously demonstrated that systemic immunization with a non-replicating MVA encoding CD40 ligand (CD40L) enhances innate immune cell activation and function, and triggers potent antitumor CD8+ T cell responses in different murine tumor models. Antitumor efficacy was increased when combined with tumor targeting antibodies. Here we report the development of TAEK-VAC-HerBy (TVH), a first-in-class human tumor antibody enhanced killing (TAEK) vaccine based on the non-replicating MVA-BN viral vector. It encodes the membrane bound form of human CD40L, HER2 and the transcription factor Brachyury. TVH is designed for therapeutic use in HER2- or Brachyury-expressing cancer patients in combination with tumor targeting antibodies. To preclude possible oncogenic activities in infected cells and to prevent binding of vaccine-encoded HER2 by monoclonal antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab, genetic modifications of HER2 were introduced in the vaccine. Brachyury was genetically modified to prevent nuclear localization of the protein thereby inhibiting its transcriptional activity. CD40L encoded in TVH enhanced human leukocyte activation and cytokine secretion in vitro. Lastly, TVH intravenous administration to non-human primates was proven immunogenic and safe in a repeat-dose toxicity study. Nonclinical data presented here highlight TVH as a first-in-class immunotherapeutic vaccine platform currently under clinical investigation.

Abstract Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease associated with pain, loss of function and reduced quality of life. Concomitant psychological disorders can significantly influence treatment outcomes. Therefore, we aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) How has the incidence of primary coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis developed over the last decade? (2) How high is the prevalence of osteoarthritis patients with concomitant psychological diagnoses? (3) Which psychological comorbidities are most prevalent in coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis patients, respectively? For this cross-sectional study, a dataset provided by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) consisting of annual, Germany-wide ICD-10 diagnosis codes from 2009 to 2019 was analysed. Incidences of the codes “M16.1” and “M17.1”, unilateral primary coxarthrosis and unilateral primary gonarthrosis, were quantified. Prevalence rates of secondary diagnoses of the chapter F of the ICD-10 were determined. Incidences were 230.7/100,000 inhabitants for coxarthrosis and 224.2/100,000 inhabitants for gonarthrosis. Patients with psychological comorbidities constituted 9.0% of coxarthrosis cases and 8.9% of gonarthrosis cases, respectively. Between 2009 through 2019, the proportion of patients with a concomitant “F” diagnoses of the ICD-10 increased by + 37.8% for coxarthrosis and by 17.9% for gonarthrosis. The most prevalent secondary diagnoses were affective disorders (F3), whereby numbers increased over the years. Increasing psychological comorbidities advocate for the implementation of screening tools, prevention strategies, interdisciplinary approaches and psychological support in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

This study presents a low-cost Arduino-based gas chromatography system that is suitable for teaching analytical chemistry in an undergraduate laboratory. The gas chromatography system is built with commonly available materials with a total cost less than $100. A Python code is also provided as a user interface that will record data and display the results in real-time. The functionalities of the gas chromatography system are demonstrated with the detection of in-house natural gas, product gases from a CO2 reduction, and a noble gas. Step-by-step instructions for building the gas chromatography system and detailed explanation of the Python code are provided in the Supporting Information for this paper. The goal of this project is to provide a low-cost and versatile GC platform where undergraduate students can modify each individual component of a GC and study the underlying principle of separation science in analytical chemistry.