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Alexander Pinhas,1,2 Jorge S Andrade Romo,1 Giselle Lynch,1,3 Davis B Zhou,1,3 Maria V Castanos Toral,1 Phillip A Tenzel,1 Oscar Otero-Marquez,1 Shoshana Yakubova,1,4 Alexander Barash,1 David Della Rocca,1 Robert Della Rocca,1 Toco YP Chui,1 Richard B Rosen,1 Harsha S Reddy1 1Department of Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; 4Department of Biology, Macaulay Honors College at City University of New York Queens College, Flushing, NY, USACorrespondence: Harsha S Reddy, Department of Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, 310 E 14th St, New York, NY, 10003, USA, Tel +1 212-979-4284, Fax +1 212-966-6295, Email hreddy@nyee.eduPurpose: Hemodynamic changes surrounding the optic nerve head are known to occur in thyroid-related orbitopathy (TRO). This pilot study explores the capillary and non-capillary peripapillary perfusion changes of the retina in TRO eyes without dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).Methods: Non-capillary and capillary peripapillary perfusion densities were calculated using single 4.5 × 4.5mm en face “RPC layer” OCT-A scans of 8 TRO patients without DON (8 eyes, mean age 40.6 years, range 23– 69 years). Results were compared to a previously published dataset of 133 healthy controls (133 eyes, mean 41.5 years, range 11– 83 years). The strength of association was measured between OCT-A perfusion densities and clinical measures of TRO.Results: Non-capillary peripapillary perfusion density in TRO eyes was found to be significantly decreased compared to healthy controls (TRO group 15.4 ± 2.9% vs controls 21.5 ± 3.1%; p < 0.0001). Capillary peripapillary perfusion densities showed no significant difference (TRO group 42.5 ± 1.8% vs controls 42.5 ± 1.5%; p = 1.0). Clinical measures of disease did not correlate well with OCT-A perfusion densities (p> 0.05).Conclusion: These findings may represent decreased blood flow and subclinical ischemia to the optic nerve. We discuss possible pathogenic mechanisms of thyroid-related vasculopathy, including vessel wall thickening due to immunologically-induced media enlargement.Keywords: thyroid-related orbitopathy, optical coherence tomography angiography, peripapillary microvasculature, thyroid-related vasculopathy

Purpose: to estimate the influence of eye prosthetics on quality of life of patients with anophthalmos and eye subatrophy. Material and methods: 128 patients, 75 men and 53 women, participated in the research. The average age of patients was 59 [48; 70] years. For the assessment of quality of life of patients after eye prosthetics the SF-36 questionnaire, adapted by the International Center for Quality of Life Research was used (St. Petersburg). Results: The research of the quality of life in patients after eye prosthetics and otherwise healthy individuals revealed low quality of life in patients after eye prosthetics both by the integrated indicators of mental (MH) and physical health (PH), and by their constituent scales: physical functioning – PF (U=1620, р=0.04), role-functioning caused by physical condition – RP (U=1552, р=0.02), general health – GH (U=1250, р

Abstract Background and Objective Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a common blood cancer marked by heterogeneity in disease and diverse genetic abnormalities. Additional therapies are needed as the 5-year survival remains below 30%. Trametinib is a mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK) inhibitor that is widely used in solid tumors and also in tumors with activating RAS mutations. A subset of patients with AML carry activating RAS mutations; however, a small-scale clinical trial with trametinib showed little efficacy. Here, we sought to identify transcriptomic determinants of trametinib sensitivity in AML. Methods We tested the activity of trametinib against a panel of tumor cells from patients with AML ex vivo and compared this with RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data from untreated blasts from the same patient samples. We then used a correlation analysis between gene expression and trametinib sensitivity to identify potential biomarkers predictive of drug response. Results We found that a subset of AML tumor cells were sensitive to trametinib ex vivo, only a fraction of which (3/10) carried RAS mutations. On the basis of our RNA-Seq analysis we found that markers of trametinib sensitivity are associated with a myeloid differentiation profile that includes high expression of CD14 and CLEC7A (Dectin-1), similar to the gene expression profile of monocytes. Further characterization confirmed that trametinib-sensitive samples display features of monocytic differentiation with high CD14 surface expression and were enriched for the M4 subtypes of the FAB classification. Conclusions Our study identifies additional molecular markers that can be used with molecular features including RAS status to identify patients with AML that may benefit from trametinib treatment.

Continuous probabilistic genotyping (PG) provides a means to estimate the probative value of DNA mixtures tendered as evidence in court and subject to alternative propositions about the contributors to the mixtures. The weight of that evidence, however, may be valued differently, depending on which forensic laboratory undertook the DNA analysis. There is a need, therefore, to have a means for the comparison of likelihood ratios (LRs) generated by continuous PG amongst different laboratories for the same initial DNA sample. Such a comparison would enable the courts and the public to make judgements about the reliability of this type of evidence. There are particular mixtures and methods for which such a comparison is meaningful, and this study explores them for the short tandem repeat (STR) electropherograms of two-person mixtures obtained from the PROVEDIt Database. We demonstrate a common maximum attainable LR for a given set of common STR loci and a given DNA mixture that is consistent across three different STR profiling assays and two different capillary electrophoresis instruments.

BackgroundEmpathy, a fundamental aspect of human interaction, is characterized as the ability to experience another being’s emotions within oneself. In health care, empathy is a fundamental for health care professionals and patients’ interaction. It is a unique quality to humans that large language models (LLMs) are believed to lack. ObjectiveWe aimed to review the literature on the capacity of LLMs in demonstrating empathy. MethodsWe conducted a literature search on MEDLINE, Google Scholar, PsyArXiv, medRxiv, and arXiv between December 2022 and February 2024. We included English-language full-length publications that evaluated empathy in LLMs’ outputs. We excluded papers evaluating other topics related to emotional intelligence that were not specifically empathy. The included studies’ results, including the LLMs used, performance in empathy tasks, and limitations of the models, along with studies’ metadata were summarized. ResultsA total of 12 studies published in 2023 met the inclusion criteria. ChatGPT-3.5 (OpenAI) was evaluated in all studies, with 6 studies comparing it with other LLMs such GPT-4, LLaMA (Meta), and fine-tuned chatbots. Seven studies focused on empathy within a medical context. The studies reported LLMs to exhibit elements of empathy, including emotions recognition and emotional support in diverse contexts. Evaluation metric included automatic metrics such as Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation and Bilingual Evaluation Understudy, and human subjective evaluation. Some studies compared performance on empathy with humans, while others compared between different models. In some cases, LLMs were observed to outperform humans in empathy-related tasks. For example, ChatGPT-3.5 was evaluated for its responses to patients’ questions from social media, where ChatGPT’s responses were preferred over those of humans in 78.6% of cases. Other studies used subjective readers’ assigned scores. One study reported a mean empathy score of 1.84-1.9 (scale 0-2) for their fine-tuned LLM, while a different study evaluating ChatGPT-based chatbots reported a mean human rating of 3.43 out of 4 for empathetic responses. Other evaluations were based on the level of the emotional awareness scale, which was reported to be higher for ChatGPT-3.5 than for humans. Another study evaluated ChatGPT and GPT-4 on soft-skills questions in the United States Medical Licensing Examination, where GPT-4 answered 90% of questions correctly. Limitations were noted, including repetitive use of empathic phrases, difficulty following initial instructions, overly lengthy responses, sensitivity to prompts, and overall subjective evaluation metrics influenced by the evaluator’s background. ConclusionsLLMs exhibit elements of cognitive empathy, recognizing emotions and providing emotionally supportive responses in various contexts. Since social skills are an integral part of intelligence, these advancements bring LLMs closer to human-like interactions and expand their potential use in applications requiring emotional intelligence. However, there remains room for improvement in both the performance of these models and the evaluation strategies used for assessing soft skills.

Previously, we showed that the germ cell-specific nuclear protein RBMXL2 represses cryptic splicing patterns during meiosis and is required for male fertility (Ehrmann et al., 2019). Here, we show that in somatic cells the similar yet ubiquitously expressed RBMX protein has similar functions. RBMX regulates a distinct class of exons that exceed the median human exon size. RBMX protein-RNA interactions are enriched within ultra-long exons, particularly within genes involved in genome stability, and repress the selection of cryptic splice sites that would compromise gene function. The RBMX gene is silenced during male meiosis due to sex chromosome inactivation. To test whether RBMXL2 might replace the function of RBMX during meiosis we induced expression of RBMXL2 and the more distantly related RBMY protein in somatic cells, finding each could rescue aberrant patterns of RNA processing caused by RBMX depletion. The C-terminal disordered domain of RBMXL2 is sufficient to rescue proper splicing control after RBMX depletion. Our data indicate that RBMX and RBMXL2 have parallel roles in somatic tissues and the germline that must have been conserved for at least 200 million years of mammalian evolution. We propose RBMX family proteins are particularly important for the splicing inclusion of some ultra-long exons with increased intrinsic susceptibility to cryptic splice site selection.

Based on the results of focus groups with students of four Russian universities, the authors describe the psycho-emotional state and social position of the student youth, the range of problems that concern them, plans for the future, priority strategies for interaction with peers and the attitude towards such ideological traits as free-thinking and originality of thinking, tolerance to the uniqueness of others and following one’s own views, motivation and determination. The study showed that under the influence of the current media agenda (primarily on the Internet), emotions of anxiety, defenselessness and uncertainty dominate among students, while the traditional media are virtually of no interest for the focus group participants, and most informants do not watch TV, including for ideological reasons. The psychological state of young people is largely determined by the media content, which they do not trust and repeatedly double-check. For students graduating from university and having a large amount of academic work, the main source of anxiety is fear of an unknown future, uncertainty in choosing a career and life goals, including in the current geopolitical situation. Russian students consider the unique features of their generation to be internal freedom and open-mindedness, constant self-development and the desire for self-realization, a combination of individualism and empathy, and constant involvement in communication with friends through social media. Among the negative traits of the youth, informants named some immaturity and unwillingness to make responsible decisions. Among the most disturbing and painful social problems in the Russian society for the youth, students emphasized social inequality caused by differences in property and income, while they calmly perceive the diversity of opinions and life strategies.

Abstract Introduction Deutetrabenazine is a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor used to treat tardive dyskinesia (TD) and chorea associated with Huntington disease (HD). To enhance detection of safety signals across individual trials, integrated safety analyses of deutetrabenazine in TD and HD chorea were conducted. Methods For TD, safety data were integrated from two 12-week pivotal studies (ARM-TD and AIM-TD) and through week 15 of the open-label extension (OLE) study (RIM-TD). Data were analyzed by deutetrabenazine treatment group and placebo. For HD, safety data were integrated from the 12-week pivotal study (First-HD) and through week 15 of the OLE study (ARC-HD) for patients previously receiving placebo. Integrated deutetrabenazine data were compared with placebo from the pivotal study. Results For TD, deutetrabenazine (n = 384) was generally well tolerated compared with placebo (n = 130). Adverse event (AE) incidence was numerically higher in the response-driven deutetrabenazine vs the fixed-dose deutetrabenazine and placebo groups, respectively (any AE, 59.5% vs 44.4–50.0% and 53.8%; treatment-related AE, 38.1% vs 18.1–25.0% and 30.8%). Serious AEs were reported for 2.8–8.3% of patients in the deutetrabenazine groups and 6.9% in the placebo group. Common AEs (≥ 4%) included headache, somnolence, nausea, anxiety, fatigue, dry mouth, and diarrhea. AE incidence was higher during the titration vs maintenance periods. For HD, AE incidence was numerically higher with deutetrabenazine (n = 84) vs placebo (n = 45; any AE, 64.3% vs 60.0%; treatment-related AE, 38.1% vs 26.7%); serious AEs were reported for similar proportions for the deutetrabenazine and placebo groups, 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Common AEs (≥ 4%) included irritability, fall, depression, dry mouth, and fatigue. Conclusions Data from an integrated analysis of studies in TD and an integrated analysis of studies of chorea in HD showed that deutetrabenazine has a favorable safety profile and is well tolerated across indications. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers, NCT02291861, NCT02195700, NCT01795859, NCT02198794, NCT01897896.

This paper presents the novel task of bluespotted ribbontail (BR) ray (Taeniura lymma) recognition using deep learning based computer vision methods to enable the identification of specific individuals of this species. Mapping the specific individuals in relation to location and time will allow marine researchers to understand their movement patterns, habitat choice, life span, size of the population and more – data which could allow monitoring and establishing a tailor-made conservation plan for this species.Our work is pioneer on this recognition problem. We give a detailed description of the three basic steps of detection, feature extraction and recognition in this vision problem and perform experiments to explore the system configuration and what improves the performance. A feature extraction enhancement as well as a crucial effect of a split into different main poses are demonstrated. Though the precision results achieved in this paper are still moderate and should be further improved, they are nevertheless promising and reasonable for practical use if the six best matches are chosen. For this scenario, almost 85% precision for upper-pose model, and almost 80% precision for left- and right-pose models, are achieved demonstrating the feasibility of the pipeline suggested as well as opportunities for improvement.

Abstract Intervention by medical clowns was proven to have a positive effect in reducing stress and anxiety, increasing cooperation and improving the child's experience prior to a medical procedure and during the various stages of hospitalization. Sleep has long been known to be essential for recovery from injury and sickness, improving immune functions, and there is an emerging understanding of the restorative role quality sleep has on health and diseases. Hospitalized children are more exposed to sleep disorders and sleep deprivation due to the hospitalized environment, anxiety, and illness. Different behavioral interventions to promote sleep were previously studied in hospitalized children, some showing potential benefits. In this study, we sought to examine the ability of medical clowns to positively impact the child's sleep during hospitalization. The study is an observational matching (case–control) interventional study which took place at the department of pediatrics in Carmel Medical Center. Forty-two hospitalized children ages 2–17 were included in two equal groups of intervention or control. Children in the control group were recruited based on a method of matching the chief complaint plus the medical diagnosis and age of the children in the intervention group in a 1:1 matching. The children's sleep parameters were objectively evaluated for two consecutive nights using an Actigraph device and subjectively by parent's questionnaire. Additional factors such as hospital length of stay and demographics were also monitored. The study group had an encounter with a medical clown (15–30 min) before bedtime on either the first or the second night, and the control group was not exposed to a medical clown at all. We then compared the data from both groups using unpaired t-tests. Hospitalized children exposed to a medical clown prior to bedtime (n = 21) and children not exposed to a medical clown (n = 21) were comparable in age and clinical characteristics. The study group had a significantly delayed wake-up time compared to the control group (06:59 ± 46 min vs. 07:26 ± 42 min, p

The blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus has suffered severe declines and regional extirpation throughout its known distributions. While this species and its relative, the common guitarfish Rhinobatos rhinobatos, have been described in the Mediterranean Sea with co-occurring habitat ranges, no research has recorded the existence or extent of these two separate populations along the Israeli coastal waters. Along a particular coast in Israel, Ma’agan Michael, fishermen have reported annual observations of juvenile guitarfish between June to November for the last forty years. Based on these citizen-based observations the main research objective is to establish whether Ma’agan Michael fulfils all three criteria from the literature by Dr Michelle Heupel, allowing it to be acknowledged as a nursery ground for G. cemiculus. The methodology built for this objective integrates biological characteristics data with the identification of a recurrent seasonal distribution. Visual surveys exhibited a significantly higher abundance in Ma’agan Michael when compared to an adjacent area (Caesarea), with 2,096 recorded observations overall. Additionally, using a species-specific modified Catch and Release protocol, a total of 492 juveniles were captured with a beach seine net. During these capturing events, individuals were morphometrically measured and sampled for future genetic analyses. Out of these, 327 specimens were also fitted for PIT tags to track recaptures in subsequent captures. The highest abundance of neonates was caught from August to September each year (2017–2019), and all individuals captured during this study were identified in the field as G. cemiculus, ranging from 20–35 cm in length (85% of captures). Many specimens had an umbilical cord scar (n = 88), with a large percentage possessing visual remains of the yolk sac. For the first time, this study provides an inter-year description of the species Glaucostegus cemiculus present along the Israeli shoreline.

Objectives: The InVITE study, starting in August 2021, was designed to examine the immunogenicity of different vaccine regimens in several countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, and Mali. Prevaccination baseline samples were used to obtain estimates of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in the study population. Methods: Adult participants were enrolled upon receipt of their initial COVID-19 vaccine from August 2021 to June 2022. Demographic and comorbidity data were collected at the time of baseline sample collection. SARS-CoV-2 serum anti-Spike and anti-Nucleocapsid antibody levels were measured. Results: Samples tested included 1016, 375, 663, and 776, from DRC, Guinea, Liberia, and Mali, respectively. Only 0.8% of participants reported a prior positive SARS-CoV-2 test, while 83% and 68% had anti-Spike and anti-Nucleocapsid antibodies, respectively. Conclusions: Overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was 86% over the accrual period, suggesting a high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Low rates of prior positive test results may be explained by asymptomatic infections, limited access to SARS-CoV-2 test kits and health care, and inadequate surveillance. These seroprevalence rates are from a convenience sample and may not be representative of the population in general, underscoring the need for timely, well-conducted surveillance as part of global pandemic preparedness.

Abstract Deciphering the origins of phenotypic variations in natural animal populations is a challenging topic for evolutionary and conservation biologists. Atypical morphologies in mammals are usually attributed to interspecific hybridisation or de-novo mutations. Here we report the case of four golden jackals (Canis aureus), that were observed during a camera-trapping wildlife survey in Northern Israel, displaying anomalous morphological traits, such as white patches, an upturned tail, and long thick fur which resemble features of domesticated mammals. Another individual was culled under permit and was genetically and morphologically examined. Paternal and nuclear genetic profiles, as well as geometric morphometric data, identified this individual as a golden jackal rather than a recent dog/wolf-jackal hybrid. Its maternal haplotype suggested past introgression of African wolf (Canis lupaster) mitochondrial DNA, as previously documented in other jackals from Israel. When viewed in the context of the jackal as an overabundant species in Israel, the rural nature of the surveyed area, the abundance of anthropogenic waste, and molecular and morphological findings, the possibility of an individual presenting incipient stages of domestication should also be considered.

Abstract Background Building health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries is essential to achieving universal access to safe, high-quality healthcare. It can enable healthcare workers to conduct locally relevant research and apply findings to strengthen their health delivery systems. However, lack of funding, experience, know-how, and weak research infrastructures hinders their ability. Understanding research capacity, engagement, and contextual factors that either promote or obstruct research efforts by healthcare workers can inform national strategies aimed at building research capacity. Methods We used a convergent mixed-methods study design to understand research capacity and research engagement of healthcare workers in Tanzania’s public health system, including the barriers, motivators, and facilitators to conducting research. Our sample included 462 randomly selected healthcare workers from 45 facilities. We conducted surveys and interviews to capture data in five categories: (1) healthcare workers research capacity; (2) research engagement; (3) barriers, motivators, and facilitators; (4) interest in conducting research; and (5) institutional research capacity. We assessed quantitative and qualitative data using frequency and thematic analysis, respectively; we merged the data to identify recurring and unifying concepts. Results Respondents reported low experience and confidence in quantitative (34% and 28.7%, respectively) and qualitative research methods (34.5% and 19.6%, respectively). Less than half (44%) of healthcare workers engaged in research. Engagement in research was positively associated with: working at a District Hospital or above (p = 0.006), having a university degree or more (p = 0.007), and previous research experience (p = 0.001); it was negatively associated with female sex (p = 0.033). Barriers to conducting research included lack of research funding, time, skills, opportunities to practice, and research infrastructure. Motivators and facilitators included a desire to address health problems, professional development, and local and international collaborations. Almost all healthcare workers (92%) indicated interest in building their research capacity. Conclusion Individual and institutional research capacity and engagement among healthcare workers in Tanzania is low, despite high interest for capacity building. We propose a fourfold pathway for building research capacity in Tanzania through (1) high-quality research training and mentorship; (2) strengthening research infrastructure, funding, and coordination; (3) implementing policies and strategies that stimulate engagement; and (4) strengthening local and international collaborations.

The article is devoted to determining the structure of the forensic characteristics of crimes under Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Illegal actions with the documents for transfer, payment cards and other means of access to bank accounts, electronic money, equipment for their production”. The theoretical foundations of developing forensic characteristics of a particular type of crime have been analysed and the grounds for forming its structure have been highlighted. These grounds include criminal law elements of a crime, a list of circumstances to be proved in criminal proceedings, and elements of the mechanism of committing illegal actions with payment instruments. Significant elements for the forensic methodology of the criminal law characteristics of the crime under investigation are its subject matter, method of commission and subjective features. Among the elements of the subject matter of proof, the most important are also the object, method and identity of the offender, as well as the time, place and other circumstances of the crime. In turn, the mechanism of illegal actions with payment instruments determines the need to study these elements in their broadest sense, i.e., taking into account all stages of criminal activity (preparation, direct commission and concealment), means and conditions of its implementation. Based on the analysis of the above theoretical foundations for the formation of a forensic characteristic of this type of crime, the author identifies the following elements which should be included in its structure: the subject matter of the crime; the method of the crime and its links with other criminal offences; typical traces (trace pattern); the setting (conditions) of the crime; and the identity of the perpetrator. This structure is the most optimal one, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the typical features of the crime mechanism and building its qualitative information model as the basis for further development of the relevant separate forensic methodology.

Abstract Heparanase 2 (Hpa2, HPSE2) is a close homolog of heparanase. Hpa2, however, lacks intrinsic heparan sulfate (HS)-degrading activity, the hallmark of heparanase enzymatic activity. Mutations of HPSE2 were identified in patients diagnosed with urofacial syndrome (UFS), a rare genetic disorder that exhibits abnormal facial expression and bladder voiding dysfunction, leading to renal damage and eventually renal failure. In order to reveal the role of HPSE2 in tissue homeostasis, we established a conditional Hpa2-KO mouse. Interestingly, the lack of Hpa2 was associated with a marked decrease in the expression of key pancreatic transcription factors such as PTF1, GATA6, and Mist1. This was associated with a two-fold decrease in pancreas weight, increased pancreatic inflammation, and profound morphological alterations of the pancreas. These include massive accumulation of fat cells, possibly a result of acinar-to-adipocyte transdifferentiation (AAT), as well as acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM), both considered to be pro-tumorigenic. Furthermore, exposing Hpa2-KO but not wild-type mice to a carcinogen (AOM) and pancreatic inflammation (cerulein) resulted in the formation of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), lesions that are considered to be precursors of invasive ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (PDAC). These results strongly support the notion that Hpa2 functions as a tumor suppressor. Moreover, Hpa2 is shown here for the first time to play a critical role in the exocrine aspect of the pancreas.

IntroductionThe field of vestibular science, encompassing the study of the vestibular system and associated disorders, has experienced notable growth and evolving trends over the past five decades. Here, we explore the changing landscape in vestibular science, focusing on epidemiology, peripheral pathologies, diagnosis methods, treatment, and technological advancements.MethodsPublication data was obtained from the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) PubMed database. The analysis included epidemiological, etiological, diagnostic, and treatment-focused studies on peripheral vestibular disorders, with a particular emphasis on changes in topics and trends of publications over time.ResultsOur dataset of 39,238 publications revealed a rising trend in research across all age groups. Etiologically, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and Meniere’s disease were the most researched conditions, but the prevalence of studies on vestibular migraine showed a marked increase in recent years. Electronystagmography (ENG)/ Videonystagmography (VNG) and Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP) were the most commonly discussed diagnostic tools, while physiotherapy stood out as the primary treatment modality.ConclusionOur study presents a unique opportunity and point of view, exploring the evolving landscape of vestibular science publications over the past five decades. The analysis underscored the dynamic nature of the field, highlighting shifts in focus and emerging publication trends in diagnosis and treatment over time.

This study's aim is to describe the imaging findings in pregnant patients undergoing emergent MRI for suspected acute appendicitis, and the various alternative diagnoses seen on those MRI scans. This is a single center retrospective analysis in which we assessed the imaging, clinical and pathological data for all consecutive pregnant patients who underwent emergent MRI for suspected acute appendicitis between April 2013 and June 2021. Out of 167 patients, 35 patients (20.9%) were diagnosed with acute appendicitis on MRI. Thirty patients (18%) were diagnosed with an alternative diagnosis on MRI: 17/30 (56.7%) patients had a gynecological source of abdominal pain (e.g. ectopic pregnancy, red degeneration of a leiomyoma); 8 patients (26.7%) had urological findings such as pyelonephritis; and 6 patients (20%) had gastrointestinal diagnoses (e.g. abdominal wall hernia or inflammatory bowel disease). Our conclusions are that MRI is a good diagnostic tool in the pregnant patient, not only in diagnosing acute appendicitis, but also in providing information on alternative diagnoses to acute abdominal pain. Our findings show the various differential diagnoses on emergent MRI in pregnant patients with suspected acute appendicitis, which may assist clinicians and radiologists is patient assessment and imaging utilization.