Intolerance of uncertainty causally affects indecisiveness.

Objectives: Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is characterized by a pervasive negative reaction to uncertainty. It is a transdiagnostic risk factor for various mental disorders. Since decisions often need to be made in the face of uncertainty, IU is associated with indecisiveness, a dispositional difficulty in making decisions.

Quantum Electrodynamics in High-Harmonic Generation: Multitrajectory Ehrenfest and Exact Quantum Analysis.

High-harmonic generation (HHG) is a nonlinear process in which a material sample is irradiated by intense laser pulses, causing the emission of high harmonics of incident light. HHG has historically been explained by theories employing a classical electromagnetic field, successfully capturing its spectral and temporal characteristics. However, recent research indicates that quantum-optical effects naturally exist or can be artificially induced in HHG, such as entanglement between emitted harmonics.

Comparative evaluation of outcomes amongst different radiosurgery management paradigms for patients with large brain metastasis.

Introduction: This study compares four management paradigms for large brain metastasis (LMB): fractionated SRS (FSRS), staged SRS (SSRS), resection and postoperative-FSRS (postop-FSRS) or preoperative-SRS (preop-SRS).

Methods: Patients with LBM (≥ 2 cm) between July 2017 and January 2022 at a single tertiary institution were evaluated. Primary endpoints were local failure (LF), radiation necrosis (RN), leptomeningeal disease (LMD), a composite of these variables, and distant intracranial failure (DIF).

[Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps-extension of dupilumab treatment intervals].

Background: In patients with severe, uncontrolled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), dupilumab 300 mg every 2 weeks can completely resolve nasal polys, sinus disease, and symptoms. In this case, patients ask for de-escalation. Although trials have demonstrated recurrence after stopping the biologic at 24 weeks, reducing the dose of dupilumab to once every 4 weeks did not result in deterioration of control.

Sex and Psychosocial Differences in Acute Stress Symptoms Prior to Open-Heart Surgery.

Background: Acute stress symptoms can occur while cardiac patients await open-heart surgery (OHS). The distress leads to poor outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association of sex and psychosocial factors (quality-of-life and character strengths).

[Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis : A retrospective analysis of therapeutic approaches in 463 patients].

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a multifactorial inflammatory disease, the treatment of which has undergone significant changes in recent years. In addition to surgical approaches, topical and systemic steroids, and adaptive acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) desensitization, three specific antibodies have complemented the therapeutic portfolio since 2019.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of all patients who presented as outpatients for the first time due to CRSwNP in 2007 and 2008 (collective A) and 2017 and 2018 (collective B) was performed, up to and including June 2023.

Prophylactic Radiotherapy Of MInimally Symptomatic Spinal Disease (PROMISSeD): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Early palliative/pre-emptive intervention improves clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with metastatic cancer. A previous signal-seeking randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated that early upfront radiotherapy to asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic high-risk osseous metastases led to reduction in skeletal-related events (SREs), a benefit driven primarily by subgroup of high-risk spine metastasis. The current RCT aims to determine whether early palliative/pre-emptive radiotherapy in patients with high-risk, asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic spine metastases will lead to fewer SREs within 1 year.

Systematic Search and Scoping Review of Physicians' Intolerance of Uncertainty and Medical Decision-Making Uncertainties During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Summary of the Literature and Directions for Future Research.

Pandemic-related uncertainties and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) could negatively affect physicians' well-being and functioning, being associated with experiences of distress and problematic decision-making processes. To summarize the available quantitative and qualitative evidence of physicians' IU and decisional uncertainty during COVID-19 and problems associated with it, a systematic search was conducted to identify all relevant articles describing physician uncertainty with regard to medical decision making and well-being in COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Medical, psychological, and preprint databases were searched.

Surgically targeted radiation therapy (STaRT) for recurrent brain metastases: Initial clinical experience.

Purpose: This study evaluates the outcomes of recurrent brain metastasis treated with resection and brachytherapy using a novel Cesium-131 carrier, termed surgically targeted radiation therapy (STaRT), and compares them to the first course of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent STaRT between August 2020 and June 2022 were included. All patients underwent maximal safe resection with pathologic confirmation of viable disease prior to STaRT to 60 Gy to a 5-mm depth from the surface of the resection cavity.

Time-resolved plasmon-assisted generation of optical-vortex pulses.

The microscopic mechanism of the light-matter interactions that induce orbital angular momentum (OAM) in electromagnetic fields is not thoroughly understood. In this work, we employ Archimedean spiral vortex generators in time-resolved numerical simulations using the Octopus code to observe the behind-the-scenes of OAM generation. We send a perfect circularly-polarized plane-wave light onto plasmonic optical vortex generators and observe the resulting twisted light formation with complete spatio-temporal information.

Plant protection and biotremology: fundamental and applied aspects.

There is overwhelming evidence that synthetic pesticides have a negative impact on the environment and human health, emphasizing the need for novel and sustainable methods for plant protection. A growing body of literature reports that plants interact through substrate-borne vibrations with arthropod pests and mutualistic arthropods that provide biological control and pollination services. Here, we propose a new theoretical framework that integrates insights from biological control, the ecology of fear, and plant-borne vibrations, to address plant-insect interactions and explore new, sustainable opportunities to improve plant health and productivity.

First-Principles Simulations of Tip Enhanced Raman Scattering Reveal Active Role of Substrate on High-Resolution Images.

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) has emerged as a powerful tool to obtain subnanometer spatial resolution fingerprints of atomic motion. Theoretical calculations that can simulate the Raman scattering process and provide an unambiguous interpretation of TERS images often rely on crude approximations of the local electric field. In this work, we present a novel and first-principles-based method to compute TERS images by combining Time Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) and Density Functional Perturbation Theory (DFPT) to calculate Raman cross sections with realistic local fields.

Molecular mechanisms controlling vertebrate retinal patterning, neurogenesis, and cell fate specification.

This review covers recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling neurogenesis and specification of the developing retina, with a focus on insights obtained from comparative single cell multiomic analysis. We discuss recent advances in understanding the mechanisms by which extrinsic factors trigger transcriptional changes that spatially pattern the optic cup (OC) and control the initiation and progression of retinal neurogenesis. We also discuss progress in unraveling the core evolutionarily conserved gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that specify early- and late-state retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) and neurogenic progenitors and that control the final steps in determining cell identity.

Inelastic Light Scattering in the Vicinity of a Single-Atom Quantum Point Contact in a Plasmonic Picocavity.

Electromagnetic fields can be confined in the presence of metal nanostructures. Recently, subnanometer scale confinement has been demonstrated to occur at atomic protrusions on plasmonic nanostructures. Such an extreme field may dominate atomic-scale light-matter interactions in "picocavities".

Plant ecoacoustics: a sensory ecology approach.

Many interactions of plants with the environment have an acoustic component, including the actions of herbivores and pollinators, wind and rain. Although plants have long been tested for their response to single tones or music, their response to naturally occurring sources of sound and vibration is barely explored. We argue that progress in understanding the ecology and evolution of plant acoustic sensing requires testing how plants respond to acoustic features of their natural environments, using methods that precisely measure and reproduce the stimulus experienced by the plant.

Effects of CFTR-modulator triple therapy on sinunasal symptoms in children and adults with cystic fibrosis.

Purpose: Sinunasal symptoms and chronic rhinusinutitis are common in patients with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) modulators have led to dramatic improvements of respiratory symptoms and quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis. This study aims to evaluate subjective and objective sinunasal symptoms after start of CFTR-modulator triple therapy.

Racial disparities in clinical presentation, surgical procedures, and hospital outcomes among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States (US), with substantial disparities observed in cancer incidence and survival among racial groups. This study provides analyses on race and ethnicity disparities for patients with HCC.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between 2011 and 2016, utilizing the STROBE guidelines.

Ectopic insert-dependent neuronal expression of GFAP promoter-driven AAV constructs in adult mouse retina.

Direct reprogramming of retinal Müller glia is a promising avenue for replacing photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells lost to retinal dystrophies. However, questions have recently been raised about the accuracy of studies claiming efficient glia-to-neuron reprogramming in retina that were conducted using GFAP mini promoter-driven adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. In this study, we have addressed these questions using GFAP mini promoter-driven AAV constructs to simultaneously overexpress the mCherry reporter and candidate transcription factors predicted to induce glia-to-neuron conversion, in combination with prospective genetic labeling of retinal Müller glia using inducible Cre-dependent GFP reporters.

Zero Setup Margin Mask versus Frame Immobilization during Gamma Knife Icon™ Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases.

We compared the clinical outcomes of BM treated with mask immobilization with zero-SM (i.e., zero-PTV) to standard zero-SM frame immobilization SRS.

Pulsed-Reduced Dose Rate (PRDR) Radiotherapy for Recurrent Primary Central Nervous System Malignancies: Dosimetric and Clinical Results.

Purpose: The objective was to describe PRDR outcomes and report EQD2 OAR toxicity thresholds.

Methods: Eighteen patients with recurrent primary CNS tumors treated with PRDR at a single institution between April 2017 and September 2021 were evaluated. The radiotherapy details, cumulative OAR doses, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities were collected.

Genetic loss of function of Ptbp1 does not induce glia-to-neuron conversion in retina.

Direct reprogramming of glia into neurons is a potentially promising approach for the replacement of neurons lost to injury or neurodegenerative disorders. Knockdown of the polypyrimidine tract-binding protein Ptbp1 has been recently reported to induce efficient conversion of retinal Mϋller glia into functional neurons. Here, we use a combination of genetic lineage tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and electroretinogram analysis to show that selective induction of either heterozygous or homozygous loss-of-function mutants of Ptbp1 in adult retinal Mϋller glia does not lead to any detectable level of neuronal conversion.