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ABSTRACT Purpose: to assess the reading ability of university students using tasks to measure Lexical Quality (LQ) and evaluate the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on both the reading performance and the components of Lexical Quality (LQ). Methods: 44 students from two federal universities took online linguistic tests, 19 from the Federal University of the Great ABC Region (UFABC) and 25 from the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil. Two-ranked Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon rank-sum test) and Pearson’s Correlation tests at p

In this work, we performed laser annealing of thin Sb2Te3 films to optimize crystallization time and their nonlinear optical properties. The annealed layers were studied by electron microscopy and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. Their nonlinear optical response was investigated by nonlinear transmission and Z-scan measurements. These studies were performed by a femtosecond laser system providing 400 fs laser pulses at 1030 nm. The results were compared with previous findings based on studies of oven-annealed thin films.

Abstract Background Geobacillus kaustophilus is a thermophilic Gram-positive bacterium. Methods for its transformation are still under development. Earlier studies have demonstrated that pLS20catΔoriT mobilized the resident mobile plasmids from Bacillus subtilis to G. kaustophilus and transferred long segments of chromosome from one cell to another between B. subtilis. Results In this study, we applied mobilization of the B. subtilis chromosome mediated by pLS20catΔoriT to transform G. kaustophilus. We constructed a gene cassette to be integrated into G. kaustophilus and designed it within the B. subtilis chromosome. The pLS20catΔoriT-mediated conjugation successfully transferred the gene cassette from the B. subtilis chromosome into the G. kaustophilus allowing for the desired genetic transformation. Conclusions This transformation approach described here will provide a new tool to facilitate the flexible genetic manipulation of G. kaustophilus.

Background/Objectives: Patients with treated solid tumors (TST) are a highly heterogeneous and difficult-to-treat population due to the risk of disease progression/recurrence or infection. Methods: We conducted an observational, retrospective, single-center study at the Dermatology Clinic of Turin with a focus on the special population of cancer patients with psoriasis treated with biologics. Results: As of July 2023, 52 psoriatic patients with a prior/concomitant history of malignancy had taken biologic drugs. The median age was 67 years, and the median age of cancer onset was 55 years. The most common tumors were gastrointestinal cancer and melanoma. After the tumor diagnosis, 61% received an anti-IL17 drug; 37 patients continued the initiated biologic therapy, while 12 switched drugs due to secondary inefficacy. The estimated biologic DS was 55.6% at 50 months. Evidence suggests that IL-17 is a key pathogenic factor involved in tumorigenesis, resulting in a lower risk of malignancies in subjects managed with IL-17 inhibitors. Similarly, IL-23 plays a role in suppressing innate immunity and promoting tumor and metastases development. This is a consistent real-life case series that support the use of biologic drugs in patients with TST. Conclusions: IL-23 and IL-17 inhibitors, being immunomodulators rather than immunosuppressants, may be a safe option for patients in an active oncological setting and for immune-correlated adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brodalumab is a monoclonal antibody and IL‐17 RA inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis. The present study aims to estimate the drug survival (DS), effectiveness, and safety of brodalumab over a period of 156 weeks. Methods: The primary objectives were: (i) to determine the treatment response rate at Weeks 16, 28, 52, 78, 104, and 156 as defined by PASI100, PASI90, and an absolute PASI ≤ 3 and (ii) long‐term DS. Secondary objectives included the evaluation of possible predictive factors associated with the achievement of response outcomes, and possible predictive factors associated with lower DS. Results: The treatment response was rapid, with 80.3% of patients achieving PASI ≤ 3, 66% PASI90, and 54.3% the complete clearance of disease at Week 16. The response improved at Week 28, when a plateau was achieved with mild loss of response at later time points, in particular for PASI100 and PASI90 in 55.2 and 65.5% of patients, respectively, at Week 156. After 156 weeks of treatment, 66.22% of patients were still on therapy, and the previous use of IL‐17 inhibitors appeared to be associated with an increased risk of treatment discontinuation (HR: 2.51, CI: 1.06–5.98, P = 0.037), and achievement of PASI ≤ 3 until Week 16 with less risk (HR: 0.27 CI: 0.14–0.51, P < 0.001). Bio‐naïve status was favorably associated with treatment response, while high BMI negatively affected the achievement of outcomes. Conclusion: Our study confirms the good effectiveness and favorable safety profile of brodalumab in a real‐world setting for up to 3 years of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: the selective IL-17 inhibitor secukinumab has demonstrated efficacy and safety in the treatment of moderate–severe psoriasis in recent years. Objective: evaluate effectiveness and drug survival (DS) of secukinumab in patients with psoriasis for up to 5 years. Methods: This is a retrospective study on a monocentric cohort of patients with psoriasis on secukinumab evaluating the achievement of PASI100, PASI90, and PASI ≤ 3 and DS analysis up to 260 weeks. DS multivariate analysis was carried out considering sex, age, age of onset of the disease, obesity, cardiovascular comorbidities, diabetes, involvement of difficult-to-treat sites, psoriatic arthritis, treatment-naïve status, and mean baseline PASI. Results: At baseline, we evaluated 255 patients on secukinumab. PASI100 was reached by 41.7% and 70.6% of patients at weeks 16 and 260, respectively. PASI90 showed a similar trend with 46.5% of patients achieving it at week 16 and 88.2% at week 260. Non-obese patients showed a faster response than patients with obesity in achieving PASI100, PASI90, and PASI ≤ 3, with significant differences at 28 weeks [55% vs. 40% (p = 0.033), 64% vs. 49% (p = 0.038), and 76% vs. 62% (p = 0.036), respectively]. The estimated DS for secukinumab was 84.3% at 12 and 48% at 60 months. Obesity and smoking habits were associated with a higher risk of discontinuation in multivariate models (HR 1.6 CI 1.05–2.45, p = 0.028; HR 1.48 CI 1.01–2.17, p = 0.043, respectively). Conclusions: Secukinumab showed effectiveness for up to 5 years of treatment, with a high DS and achievement of PASI100, PASI90, and PASI < 3 at these time points. Only obesity reduced the response and maintenance of DS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ixekizumab proved to be effective and safe for psoriasis treatment in several randomized clinical trials and real‐life studies. Nevertheless, long‐term real‐world experiences are still lacking, with little data up to 4 years of treatment. Objectives: To analyse survival, effectiveness and safety of ixekizumab in a real‐life cohort of patients affected by moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis up to 260 weeks (5 years). Methods: We included all patients treated with ixekizumab from December 2017 to March 2021. Drug survival (DS) was analysed in patients at risk for up to 5 years. Cox analysis was adopted to evaluate possible predictive factors of discontinuation. Psoriasis Area Severity Index (meanPASI and PASI100, 90, and ≤3) was used as outcomes of effectiveness on observed patients at 16, 52, 104, 156, 208 and 260 weeks. Logistic regression was performed to identify possible predictive factors of response. Results: DS was 65.5% at 260 weeks, with being a super‐responder patient (achievement of PASI100 at 16 weeks and maintained at 28 weeks) correlated with less risk of discontinuation. PASI100, 90 and ≤3 was achieved by 54.1%, 60.5% and 73% of observed patients, respectively, at 16 weeks, and by 59.1%, 81.8% and 95.5%, respectively, at 260 weeks. High mean BMI was the only factor strongly associated with less achievement of the outcomes at the earlier time points: PASI100 at 16 weeks (OR 0.93, CI 0.87–0.98, p = 0.014) and at 104 weeks (OR 0.91, CI 0.84–0.98, p = 0.019), PASI90 achievement at 16 weeks (OR 0.94, CI 0.88–0.99, p = 0.028) and 104 weeks (OR 0.91, CI 0.83–0.99, p = 0.027), and PASI ≤3 (OR 0.86, CI 0.76–0.97, p = 0.018) at 104 weeks. No severe adverse events were observed. Conclusions: Ixekizumab showed high effectiveness and safety for up to 5 years, with survival of 2/3 of treated patients. Rapid response to treatment is predictive of long‐term response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Summary: Background: Biologics targeting IL‐23 and IL‐17 show efficacy and safety in the treatment of moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis. Objective: To investigate drug survival in patients with psoriasis treated with biologics. Patients and methods: We performed a comparative evaluation of the achievement of PASI 90 and PASI ≤ 3 at 16, 28, and 52 weeks along with a DS (drug survival) analysis with IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors brodalumab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, risankizumab, tildrakizumab, and guselkumab on 1,057 patients. Results: IL‐17 inhibitors showed a faster achievement of PASI 90 and PASI ≤ 3 with significant superiority over IL‐23 inhibitors at week 16 (p < 0.001; 56% vs. 42% and 70% vs. 59%, respectively). A difference was shown in favor of IL‐23 inhibitors regarding DS (p < 0.001), which was 88% at 24 months vs. 75% for IL‐17 inhibitors. In multivariate analysis, IL‐23 inhibitors (HR 0.54 CI 0.37–0.78, p = 0.001), and male sex (HR 0.57 CI 0.42–0.76, p < 0.001) were all associated with a lower probability of drug interruption. Risankizumab (HR 0.42 CI 0.26‐0.69, p = 0.001), guselkumab (HR 0.49 CI 0.24–0.99, p = 0.046), and male sex (HR 0.57 CI 0.43–0.77, p < 0.001) were associated with a lower probability of drug interruption than secukinumab. Conclusions: IL‐23 inhibitors showed the best performance on DS. Overall, the most effective class was IL‐17 inhibitors considering the short‐term effectiveness, but long‐term effectiveness is in favor of anti‐IL‐23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus subtilis conjugative plasmid pLS20 uses a quorum-sensing mechanism to control expression levels of its conjugation genes, involving the repressor RcopLS20, the anti-repressor RappLS20, and the signaling peptide Phr*pLS20. In previous studies, artificial overexpression of rappLS20 in the donor cells was shown to enhance conjugation efficiency. However, we found that the overexpression of rappLS20 led to various phenotypic traits, including cell aggregation and death, which might have affected the correct determination of the conjugation efficiency when determined by colony formation assay. In the current study, conjugation efficiencies were determined under different conditions using a two-color fluorescence-activated flow cytometry method and measuring a single-round of pLS20-mediated transfer of a mobilizable plasmid. Under standard conditions, the conjugation efficiency obtained by fluorescence-activated flow cytometry was 23-fold higher than that obtained by colony formation. Furthermore, the efficiency difference increased to 45-fold when rappLS20 was overexpressed.

2 Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; BMI, body mass index; DLQI, dermatology life quality index; PASI, psoriasis area severity index; PASI, psoriasis area severity index; SD, standard deviation. PASI improvement of 90%, 100% and PASI <3 was registered for each on-treatment patient at 12, 24 and 48 weeks. Different mean PASI at baseline among the treatments limits the evidence on achievement of PASI <3 at earlier time points, and the analysis of observed cases reduces the strength of evidence. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Many national guidelines at the European level recommend first‐line therapy based on the anti‐TNF‐alpha adalimumab for treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, mainly for economic reasons. Consequently, patients being treated with newer IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors underwent previous unsuccessful first‐line adalimumab‐based therapy. Objectives: Evaluate the efficacy and safety of IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors after treatment with adalimumab compared to adalimumab‐naive psoriatic patients. Methods: We retrospectively analysed 1053 psoriatic patients treated with anti‐IL17 and anti‐IL23 agents, which included 68 and 24 adalimumab‐experienced and 399 and 260 bio‐naive patients. Efficacy was assessed with mean PASI, PASI90, PASI100, and <3. Results: Concerning the achieving of PASI100, PASI90 and PASI < 3 in patients treated with anti‐IL17 agents, no significant differences were observed between adalimumab‐experienced and bio‐naive patients. In patients treated with an anti‐IL‐23 agent, a faster response was observed in bio‐naive patients, with PASI < 3 significantly higher than ADA‐experienced patients at 16 weeks (77% vs. 58% p = 0.048). In a sub‐analysis that evaluated the performance of anti‐IL17 and anti‐IL23 agents in adalimumab‐experienced patients with a history of secondary failure, no significant differences were found. In multivariate analysis of PASI100, only anti‐IL‐17 therapy appeared to have a negative impact at 52 weeks (OR: 0.54 p = 0.04) independently of previous treatment. For PASI90, type of treatment and bio‐naïve status did not seem to have an impact at any time point. Conclusions: Anti‐IL 23 and anti‐IL 17 agents are not significantly different in terms of efficacy in bio‐naive patients or as second‐line therapy after failure with a biosimilar or originator adalimumab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]