Interventional Treatment of Acute Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Infectious Endocarditis: A Bridge to Surgical or Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Replacement.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) poses significant risks following percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) or surgical replacement (PVR).

Aims: This study evaluates the effectiveness of emergency percutaneous treatment in stabilizing patients with severe right ventricular dysfunction or obstructive cardiac shock, allowing for delayed surgical or percutaneous valve replacement.

Methods: This retrospective study examines 16 patients (age 19.

Decision tree model development and in silico validation for avoidable hospital readmissions at 30 days in a pediatric population.

Background and objective: identifying patients at high risk of avoidable readmission remains a challenge for healthcare professionals. Despite the recent interest in Machine Learning in this topic, studies are scarce and commonly using only black box algorithms. The aim of our study was to develop and validate in silico an interpretable predictive model using a decision tree inference to identify pediatric patients at risk of 30-day potentially avoidable readmissions.

NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Melanoma: Cutaneous, Version 2.2024.

The NCCN Guidelines for Cutaneous Melanoma (termed Melanoma: Cutaneous) provide multidisciplinary recommendations for diagnostic workup, staging, and treatment of patients. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on the update to neoadjuvant systemic therapy options and summarize the new clinical data evaluated by the NCCN panel for the recommended therapies in Version 2.2024 of the NCCN Guidelines for Cutaneous Melanoma.

Administration of intratumoral GD2-directed interleukin-2 immunocytokine and local radiation therapy to activate immune rejection of spontaneous canine melanoma.

Canine malignant melanoma provides a clinically relevant, large animal parallel patient population to study the GD2-reactive hu14.18-IL-2 immunocytokine as it is similar to human melanoma and expresses GD2. The objectives of this study were to evaluate safety, radiation fractionation, and identify informative biomarkers of an in-situ tumor vaccine involving local radiation therapy plus intratumoral-immunocytokine in melanoma tumor-bearing dogs.

External Validation of a Risk Score Model for Predicting Major Clinical Events in Adults After Atrial Switch.

Background: A risk model has been proposed to provide a patient individualized estimation of risk for major clinical events (heart failure events, ventricular arrhythmia, all-cause mortality) in patients with transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch surgery. We aimed to externally validate the model.

Methods And Results: A retrospective, multicentric, longitudinal cohort of 417 patients with transposition of the great arteries (median age, 24 years at baseline [interquartile range, 18-30]; 63% men) independent of the model development and internal validation cohort was studied.

Influence of Narrow Titanium Dental Implant Diameter on Fatigue Behavior: A Comparison between Unitary and Splinted Implants.

Scientific literature lacks strong support for using narrow diameter implants (NDI) in high masticatory force areas, especially in molars. Implant splinting in cases of multiple missing teeth reduces lateral forces, improves force distribution, and minimizes stress on implants. However, no studies have evaluated the fatigue load resistance of unitary or splinted implants.

Development of a next-generation sequencing protocol for the canine T cell receptor beta chain repertoire.

Profiling the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire using next-generation sequencing has become common in both human and translational research. Companion dogs with spontaneous tumors, including canine melanoma, share several features, e.g.

Machine learning for hospital readmission prediction in pediatric population.

Background And Objective: Pediatric readmissions are a burden on patients, families, and the healthcare system. In order to identify patients at higher readmission risk, more accurate techniques, as machine learning (ML), could be a good strategy to expand the knowledge in this area. The aim of this study was to develop predictive models capable of identifying children and adolescents at high risk of potentially avoidable 30-day readmission using ML.

NK cells propagate T cell immunity following in situ tumor vaccination.

We report an in situ vaccination, adaptable to nearly any type of cancer, that combines radiotherapy targeting one tumor and intratumoral injection of this site with tumor-specific antibody and interleukin-2 (IL-2; 3xTx). In a phase I clinical trial, administration of 3xTx (with an immunocytokine fusion of tumor-specific antibody and IL-2, hu14.18-IL2) to subjects with metastatic melanoma increases peripheral CD8 T cell effector polyfunctionality.

Neutrophil-to-eosinophil ratio as a biomarker for clinical outcomes in advanced stage melanoma patients treated with anti-PD-1 therapy.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (NLR) and eosinophil counts are associated with improved survival in melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, but no study has investigated neutrophil-to-eosinophil ratios (NER) as a predictive indicator in this population. In this retrospective study evaluating anti-PD-1 treated patients with advanced melanoma, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rates (ORR), and risk of high-grade (grade ≥3) immune-related adverse events (irAEs) were compared between groups defined by median pretreatment NLR and NER as well as median NLR and NER at 1-month post-treatment. Lower baseline NLR and NER were associated with improved OS [HR: 0.

Becoming Sandwiched in Later Life: Consequences for Individuals' Well-Being and Variation Across Welfare Regimes.

Objectives: The experience of being sandwiched between support obligations towards both aging parents and adult offspring is likely to become more common and more relevant. We aim at assessing the effect of demographic and social sandwiching on the psychological health and subjective well-being of individuals experiencing these transitions, and to what extent, these effects vary across welfare regimes.

Methods: Data are from 63,585 individuals aged 50-75 participating in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

MiR-126 and miR-146a as Melatonin-Responsive Biomarkers for Neonatal Brain Ischemia.

Despite advances in obstetric and neonatal care, challenges remain in early identification of neonates with encephalopathy due to hypoxia-ischemia who are undergoing therapeutic hypothermia. Therefore, there is a deep search for biomarkers that can identify brain injury. The aims of this study were to investigate the serum and brain expressions of two potential biomarkers, miR-126/miR-146a, in a preclinical model of hypoxia-ischemia (HI)-induced brain injury, and to explore their modulation during melatonin treatment.

Inflammation and Behavior Changes in Dogs and Cats.

Sickness is a normal response to infections or stress triggered by proinflammatory cytokines that drive local and systemic inflammatory responses. Proinflammatory cytokines act on the brain causing the so called "sickness behavior,"which is thought to improve recovery but can become maladaptive in the long term. Chronic inflammation characterizes many diseases and there is some evidence that dogs and cats experience age-associated increases in inflammation, a condition named "inflammaging.

Sarcopenic Obesity Phenotypes in Patients With HIV: Implications for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.

Background: We aimed to describe prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for sarcopenic obesity (SO) phenotypes in people living with HIV (PWH) and their association with subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: Observational, longitudinal study of PWH. A minimum of 1 criterion was necessary to diagnose sarcopenia: weak hand grip (HG), low appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI), short physical performance battery (SPPB < 11).

SURROGATE SELECTION OVERSAMPLES EXPANDED T CELL CLONOTYPES.

Inference from immunological data on cells in the adaptive immune system may benefit from modeling specifications that describe variation in the sizes of various clonal sub-populations. We develop one such specification in order to quantify the effects of surrogate selection assays, which we confirm may lead to an enrichment for amplified, potentially disease-relevant cell clones. Our specification couples within-clonotype birth-death processes with an exchangeable model across clonotypes.

The Relationship between Signs of Medical Conditions and Cognitive Decline in Senior Dogs.

Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS) is a progressive age-related neurodegenerative disorder in dogs. Minimal research has been performed to investigate how clinical signs may be impacted by other medical conditions. A cross-sectional study was performed using the Canine Cognitive Assessment Scale (CCAS) to evaluate cognitive impairment as reported by owners.

Nrf2-Mediated Pathway Activated by L. (Rosaceae) Fruit Extract: Bioinformatics Analyses and Experimental Validation.

In our previous studies, fruit (PSF) ethanol extract was showed to exert antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities. In the present study, an integrated bioinformatics analysis combined with experimental validation was carried out to investigate the biological mechanism(s) that are responsible for the reported PSF beneficial effects as an antioxidant during a pro-inflammatory TLR4 insult. Bioinformatics analysis using miRNet 2.

Mill. Pulp Callus Inhibits Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Injured Cells.

The pharmacological activity of a callus extract from the pulp of Mill., also known as quince, was investigated in murine macrophage (RAW 264.7) and human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cell lines.

A Data-Mining Approach to Identify NF-kB-Responsive microRNAs in Tissues Involved in Inflammatory Processes: Potential Relevance in Age-Related Diseases.

The nuclear factor NF-kB is the master transcription factor in the inflammatory process by modulating the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. However, an additional level of complexity is the ability to promote the transcriptional activation of post-transcriptional modulators of gene expression as non-coding RNA (i.e.

Melatonin in Newborn Infants Undergoing Surgery: A Pilot Study on Its Effects on Postoperative Oxidative Stress.

Surgery is frequently associated with excessive oxidative stress. Melatonin acts as an antioxidant and transient melatonin deficiency has been described in neonatal surgical patients. This randomized, blinded, prospective pilot study tested the hypothesis that oral melatonin supplementation in newborn infants undergoing surgery is effective in reducing perioperative oxidative stress.

Sniffer dogs performance is stable over time in detecting COVID-19 positive samples and agrees with the rapid antigen test in the field.

Rapid antigen diagnostic (RAD) tests have been developed for the identification of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, they require nasopharyngeal or nasal swab, which is invasive, uncomfortable, and aerosolising. The use of saliva test was also proposed but has not yet been validated.

Validation of the HOSPITAL score as predictor of 30-day potentially avoidable readmissions in pediatric hospitalized population: retrospective cohort study.

Potentially avoidable pediatric readmissions are a burden to patients and their families. Identifying patients with higher risk of readmission could help minimize hospital costs and facilitate the targeting of care interventions. HOSPITAL score is a tool developed and widely used to predict adult patient's readmissions; however its predictive capacity for pediatric readmissions has not yet been evaluated.

Sustainable development goal 13 and switching priorities: addressing climate change in the context of pandemic recovery efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many deep social and economic impacts that go beyond health issues. One consequence is that the pandemic has made it even harder to mobilize the financial resources needed to pursue SDG 13 (Climate Action) as a whole and to fund climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in particular. This is especially acute in respect of the efforts to achieve the targets set by the Paris Agreement and by the recent decisions in Glasgow.