Search

Castleman disease is a heterogeneous group of disorders of lymphoid tissue. It can often mimic other autoimmune diseases or malignancies, presenting a diagnostic dilemma to attending clinicians. Systemic lupus erythematosus and Castleman disease share many clinical and biochemical features rendering a special diagnostic challenge. Herein, we report a case of a young female who initially presented with features of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease, subsequently developed antinuclear antibody positivity, and fulfilled the criteria for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Following the commencement of treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus, she had a marked response with resolution of altered clinical and biochemical profile.

Research participants report interest in receiving genetic research results. How best to return results remains unclear. In this randomized pilot study, we sought to assess the feasibility of returning actionable research results through a two-step process including a patient-centered digital intervention as compared with a genetic counselor (GC) in the Penn Medicine biobank. In Step 1, participants with an actionable result and procedural controls (no actionable result) were invited to digital pre-disclosure education and provided options for opting out of results. In Step 2, those with actionable results who had not opted out were randomized to receive results via a digital disclosure intervention or with a GC. Five participants (2%) opted out of results after Step 1. After both steps, 52 of 113 (46.0%) eligible cases received results, 5 (4.4%) actively declined results, 34 (30.1%) passively declined, and 22 (19.5%) could not be reached. Receiving results was associated with younger age (p < 0.001), completing pre-disclosure education (p < 0.001), and being in the GC arm (p = 0.06). Being older, female, and of Black race were associated with being unable to reach. Older age and Black race were associated with passively declining. Forty-seven percent of those who received results did not have personal or family history to suggest the mutation, and 55.1% completed clinical confirmation testing. The use of digital tools may be acceptable to participants and could reduce costs of returning results. Low uptake, disparities in uptake, and barriers to confirmation testing will be important to address to realize the benefit of returning actionable research results., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests A.R.B. receives partial research funding from AstraZeneca and Merck for other studies., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Germline cancer genetic testing has become a standard evidence-based practice, with established risk reduction and screening guidelines for genetic carriers. Access to genetic services is limited in many places, which leaves many genetic carriers unidentified and at risk for late diagnosis of cancers and poor outcomes. This poses a problem for childhood cancer survivors, as this is a population with an increased risk for subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMN) due to cancer therapy or inherited cancer predisposition. The ENGaging and Activating cancer survivors in Genetic services (ENGAGE) study evaluates the effectiveness of an in-home, collaborative PCP model of remote telegenetic services to increase uptake of cancer genetic testing in childhood cancer survivors compared to usual care options for genetic testing., Methods: The ENGAGE study is a 3-arm randomized hybrid type 1 effectiveness and implementation study within the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study population which tests a clinical intervention while gathering information on its delivery during the effectiveness trial and its potential for future implementation among 360 participants. Participants are randomized into three arms. Those randomized to Arm A receive genetic services via videoconferencing, those in Arm B receive these services by phone, and those randomized to Arm C will receive usual care services., Discussion: With many barriers to accessing genetic services, innovative delivery models are needed to address this gap and increase uptake of genetic services. The ENGAGE study evaluates the effectiveness of an adapted model of remote delivery of genetic services to increase the uptake of recommended genetic testing in childhood cancer survivors. This study assesses the uptake in remote genetic services and identify barriers to uptake to inform future recommendations and a theoretically-informed process evaluation which can inform modifications to enhance dissemination beyond this study population and to realize the benefits of precision medicine., Trial Registration: This protocol was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04455698) on July 2, 2020., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Photocatalysis utilizing semiconductors offer a cost-effective and promising solution for the removal of pollutants. MXene and perovskites, which possess desirable properties such as a suitable bandgap, stability, and affordability, have emerged as a highly promising material for photocatalytic activity. However, the efficiency of MXene and perovskites is limited by their fast recombination rates and inadequate light harvesting abilities. Nonetheless, several additional modifications have been shown to enhance their performance, thereby warranting further exploration. This study delves into the fundamental principles of reactive species for MXene-perovskites. Various methods of modification of MXene-perovskite-based photocatalysts, including Schottky junction, Z-scheme and S-scheme are analyzed with regard to their operation, differences, identification techniques and reusability. The assemblance of heterojunctions is demonstrated to enhance photocatalytic activity while also suppressing charge carrier recombination. Furthermore, the separation of photocatalysts through magnetic-based methods is also investigated. Consequently, MXene-perovskite-based photocatalysts are seen as an exciting emerging technology that necessitates further research and development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Biogas consisting of carbon dioxide/methane (CO 2 /CH 4 ) gas mixtures has emerged as an alternative renewable fuel to natural gas. The presence of CO 2 can decrease the calorific value and generate greenhouse gas. Hence, separating CO 2 from CH 4 is a vital step in enhancing the use of biogas. Zeolite and zeolite-based mixed matrix membrane (MMM) is considered an auspicious candidate for CO 2 /CH 4 separation due to thermal and chemical stability. This review initially addresses the development of zeolite and zeolite-based MMM for the CO 2 /CH 4 separation. The highest performance in terms of CO 2 permeance and CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity was achieved using zeolite and zeolite-based MMM, which exhibited CO 2 permeance in the range of 2.0 × 10 - 7 -7.0 × 10 - 6  mol m - 2  s - 1  Pa - 1 with CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity ranging from 3 to 300. Current trends directed toward improving CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity via modification methods including post-treatment, ion-exchanged, amino silane-grafted, and ionic liquid encapsulated of zeolite-based MMM. Those modification methods improved the defect-free and interfacial adhesions between zeolite particulates and polymer matrices and subsequently enhanced the CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity. The modifications via ionic liquid and silane methods more influenced the CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity with 90 and 660, respectively. This review also focuses on the possible applications of zeolite-based MMM, which include the purification and treatment of water as well as biomedical applications. Lastly, future advances and opportunities for gas separation applications are also briefly discussed. This review aims to share knowledge regarding zeolite-based MMM and inspire new industrial applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Heterogeneous advanced oxidation processes are a promising approach for cost-efficient removal of pollutants using semiconductors. Zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) is an auspicious material for photocatalytic activity owning to its suitable bandgap, stability, and low cost. However, ZrO 2 suffers from fast recombination rate, and poor light harvesting ability. Nonetheless, extra modification has also shown improvements and therefore is worth investigating. The endeavour of this paper initially discusses the fundamentals with respect to reactive species, classification, and synthesis methods for ZrO 2 . Furthermore, with particular consideration to stability and reusability, several additional modification approaches for ZrO 2 -based photocatalysts such as doping and noble metals loading. Furthermore, the formation of heterojunctions has also been shown to boost photocatalytic activity while inhibiting charge carrier recombination. Finally, photocatalyst separation via magnetic-based photocatalysts are elucidated. As a result, ZrO 2 -based photocatalysts are regarded as a promising emerging technology that warrants further development and research., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)