In Vitro Evaluation of Oxoplatin: An Oral Platinum(IV) Anticancer Agent

Platinum(IV) compounds like oxoplatin (cis, cis, trans-diammine-dichlorido-dihydroxido-platinum(IV)) show increased stability and therefore can be applied orally. In a panel of 38 human cancer cell lines this drug induced S-phase arrest and cell death with IC50 values 2.5-fold higher than cisplatin. Oxoplatin may be converted to cisplatin by intracellular reducing agents, however, exposure to 0.1 M HCl mimicking gastric acid yielded cis-diammine-tetrachlorido-platinum(IV) exhibiting twofold increased activity. Similar results were obtained for another platinum(IV) compound, JM 149 (ammine-dichlorido-(cyclohexylamine)-dihydroxido-platinum(IV)), but not for its parent drug JM 216/satraplatin. Genome-wide expression profiling of H526 small cell lung cancer cells treated with these platinum species revealed clear differences in the expression pattern of affected genes between oxoplatin and cisplatin. In conclusion, oxoplatin constitutes a potent oral agent that is either reduced or converted to distinct active compounds, for example, by gastric acid or acidic areas prevailing in solid tumors, in dependence of the respective pharmaceutical formulation

Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination : More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study

Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case– control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk

Laugh When You’re Winning

Developing virtual characters with naturalistic game playing capabilities is an increasingly researched topic in Human-Computer Interaction. Possible roles for such characters include virtual teachers, personal care assistants, and companions for children. Laughter is an under-investigated emotional expression both in Human-Human and Human-Computer Interaction. The EU Project ILHAIRE, aims to study this phenomena and endow machines with laughter detection and synthesis capabilities. The Laugh when you're winning project, developed during the eNTERFACE 2013 Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, aimed to set up and test a game scenario involving two human participants and one such virtual character. The game chosen, the yes/no game, induces natural verbal and non-verbal interaction between participants, including frequent hilarious events, e.g., one of the participants saying "yes" or "no" and so losing the game. The setup includes software platforms, developed by the ILHAIRE partners, allowing automatic analysis and fusion of human participants' multimodal data (voice, facial expression, body movements, respiration) in real-time to detect laughter. Further, virtual characters endowed with multimodal skills were synthesised in order to interact with the participants by producing laughter in a natural way

Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination: More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study

Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case– control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA- 1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk

Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination: More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study

Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case–control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA-1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk