Historical Drugs in Transylvania: Disclosing the Composition of Ointments from the "History of Pharmacy Collection" in Cluj-Napoca Through a Multi-Analytical Approach.

The National Museum of Transylvanian History in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, features a History of Pharmacy Collection that documents the evolution of pharmacies in the region since the 16th century. Within the "Pharmatrans" project (2021-2023), we investigated the chemical composition of ointments from fourteen historical pharmaceutical containers dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Most samples were from an aristocratic traveling medicine chest, a key artifact in the collection.

Association of neighborhood social vulnerability with ovarian cancer survival.

Objective: Social determinants of health (SDOH) impact cancer outcomes. The CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) integrates scores for four neighborhood-based SDOH domains (socioeconomic status, household characteristics, minority status, and housing type/transportation) to assess neighborhood social vulnerability (NSV). While NSV has been associated with overall cancer mortality and lung, breast, colon, and endometrial cancer-specific mortality, the relationship between NSV as defined by the SVI and ovarian cancer outcomes remains unknown.

Immunological and molecular features of the tumor microenvironment of long-term survivors of ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUNDDespite an overall poor prognosis, about 15% of patients with advanced-stage tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) survive 10 or more years after standard treatment.METHODSWe evaluated the tumor microenvironment of this exceptional, understudied group using a large international cohort enriched for long-term survivors (LTS; 10+ years; n = 374) compared with mid-term (MTS; 5-7.99 years; n = 433) and short-term survivors (STS; 2-4.

Abiotic degradation and accelerated ageing of microplastics from biodegradable and recycled materials in artificial seawater.

Microplastics (MPs) are considered one of the most widespread pollutants in all ecosystems worldwide. In the environment, MPs can undergo hydrolysis and/or oxidation, resulting in the release of low-molecular weight degradation products, along with additives, and adsorbed organic pollutants. In this study, the morphological, chemical, and thermal changes of microplastics obtained from two biodegradable plastics, polylactic acid and Mater-Bi®, and a recycled plastic, recycled-polyethylene terephthalate, were examined after accelerated ageing under photo-oxidative conditions in synthetic seawater in a Solarbox system, and after thermal treatment in the dark.

Characterization of latently infected EBV+ antibody-secreting B cells isolated from ovarian tumors and malignant ascites.

Introduction: Intra-tumoral B cells mediate a plethora of immune effector mechanisms with key roles in anti-tumor immunity and serve as positive prognostic indicators in a variety of solid tumor types, including epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Several aspects of intra-tumoral B cells remain unclear, such as their state of activation, antigenic repertoires, and capacity to mature into plasma cells.

Methods: B lymphocytes were isolated from primary EOC tissue and malignant ascites and were maintained in cell culture medium.