Scaling up morphological differentiation of pangolin scales: Serial, ontogenetic and evolutionary variation.

Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammals in the world, largely because of the high demand for their keratinous scales from the traditional Chinese medicine market. While seizures of pangolin material are largely composed of isolated scales, efficient approaches to reach species-level identification are missing. This mostly originates from the lack of comparative studies on the shape of pangolin scales, resulting in knowledge gaps on the imbricated effects of serial, ontogenetic, and evolutionary variations.

AI assistance in aesthetic medicine-A consensus on objective medical standards.

Background: Aesthetic medicine has traditionally relied on clinical scales for the objective assessment of baseline appearance and treatment outcomes. However, the scales focus on limited aesthetic areas mostly and subjective interpretation inherent in these scales can lead to variability, which undermines standardization efforts.

Objective: The consensus meeting aimed to establish guidelines for AI application in aesthetic medicine.

Management of incidental pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor: a case report with literature review.

Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are rare and accounting for less than 5% of all pancreatic neoplasms. Their management depends on dimension of the lesion, main pancreatic duct (MPD) caliber, tumor malignancy features and evolutive potential.

Case Report: Incidental finding of a lesion 1.

Fruit and Vegetable Intake of Females Before, During, and After Introduction of 3 Bundled Food System Interventions in Urban Vietnam and Nigeria.

Background: Low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in low- and middle-income countries, which is associated with noncommunicable diseases and micronutrient deficiencies, requires food system interventions addressing FV accessibility, affordability, and acceptability. Periodic FV intake monitoring during interventions informs progress toward achieving increased intakes and contributes to understanding the effectiveness of these interventions.

Objectives: This study evaluates the trend in FV intake before, during, and after implementation of a set of nutrition-sensitive food system interventions addressing accessibility, affordability, and acceptability to increase FV consumption over a 1-y period in Vietnamese and Nigerian low-income urban and periurban females.

Financial Outcomes of Managed Entry Agreements for Pharmaceuticals in Italy.

Importance: Most countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development apply managed entry agreements (MEAs), reimbursement arrangements between manufacturers and payers, to pharmaceuticals. Few data exist regarding their ability to lower expenditures.

Objective: To analyze the financial outcomes of MEAs for pharmaceuticals from 2019 to 2021 in Italy.

[The organization of pharmaceutical care in the territory has no effect on patient compliance: the case of direct or account distribution of antidiabetics].

Objectives: the objective of the study is to assess the effect of the delivery channel on adherence, persistence and potential wastage of new antidiabetic drugs.

Design: longitudinal descriptive observational study. New users were defined as subjects who received a first prescription of drugs belonging to the antidiabetic category in the period between 01.

Effects of digital chatbot on gender attitudes and exposure to intimate partner violence among young women in South Africa.

Background: South Africa has among the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) globally, with young women at heightened risk due to inequitable gender roles, limited relationship skills, and inadequate social support. Despite an urgent need for violence prevention in low- and middle-income settings, most efficacious approaches are time-intensive and costly to deliver. Digital, interactive chatbots may help young women navigate safer relationships and develop healthier gender beliefs and skills.

Pathways and drivers of canopy accession across primary temperate forests of Europe.

Canopy accession strategies reveal much about tree life histories and forest stand dynamics. However, the protracted nature of ascending to the canopy makes direct observation challenging. We use a reconstructive approach based on an extensive tree ring database to study the variability of canopy accession patterns of dominant tree species (Abies alba, Acer pseudoplatanus, Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies) in temperate mountain forests of Europe and elucidate how disturbance histories, climate, and topography affect canopy accession.

A proposal for ranking through selective computation of centrality measures.

In complex network analysis it is essential to investigate the alteration of network structures that results from the targeted removal of vertices or edges, ranked by centrality measures. Unfortunately, a sequential recalculation of centralities after each node elimination is often impractical for large networks, and computing rankings only at the beginning often does not accurately reflect the actual scenario. Here we propose a first result on the computational complexity of the sequential approach when nodes are removed from a network according to some centrality measures based on matrix functions.

Fertility specialists' views, behavior, and attitudes towards the use of endometrial scratching in Italy.

Background: Endometrial scratching (ES) or injury is intentional damage to the endometrium performed to improve reproductive outcomes for infertile women desiring pregnancy. Moreover, recent systematic reviews with meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials demonstrated that ES is not effective, data on the safety are limited, and it should not be recommended in clinical practice. The aim of the current study was to assess the view and behavior towards ES among fertility specialists throughout infertility centers in Italy, and the relationship between these views and the attitudes towards the use of ES as an add-on in their commercial setting.

Nonrestrictive diet does not increase infections during post-HSCT neutropenia: data from a multicenter randomized trial.

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality during neutropenia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The use of a low-microbial protective diet (PD) in the peritransplantation period is a standard of care, although its efficacy has never been tested prospectively. We conducted a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial, enrolling all consecutive adult patients undergoing high-dose induction chemotherapy or HSCT with the objective to compare nonrestrictive diet (NRD) vs PD.

The influence of psychological interventions on surgical outcomes: a systematic review.

Background: An amplified and/or prolonged surgical stress response might overcome the organs' functional reserve, thus leading to postoperative complications. The aim of this systematic literature review is to underline how specific psychological interventions may contribute to improve surgical outcomes through the positive modulation of the surgical stress response in surgical patients.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search in the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases.

Understanding why EmpaTeach did not reduce teachers' use of violence in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp: A quantitative process evaluation of a school-based violence prevention intervention.

EmpaTeach was the first intervention to address teacher violence to be tested in a humanitarian setting and the first to focus on reducing impulsive use of violence, but a cluster randomised trial found no evidence that the intervention was effective in reducing physical and emotional violence from teachers. We aimed to understand why. We conducted a quantitative process evaluation to describe the intervention implementation process (what was implemented and how); examine teachers' adoption of positive teaching practices (was the content of the intervention taken up by participants), and test mechanisms of impact underlying the program theory (how the intervention was supposed to produce change).

Incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinoma in consecutive patients undergoing thyroid surgery for benign disease. A single center experience.

Background: There has recently been an increase in the incidental histological diagnosis of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (I-PTMC), that varies from 3.5% in autopsies studies, to 5.2% in thyroid specimens from thyroid surgery, up to 9.

Shedding Light on Latent Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a distinct hemodynamic phenotype has been recently described, ie, latent pulmonary vascular disease (HFpEF-latentPVD), defined by exercise pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) >1.74 WU.

Objectives: This study aims to explore the pathophysiological significance of HFpEF-latentPVD.

Membrane and Soluble CD137 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Role as Biomarkers for Disease Activity.

Objective: The role of T cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has recently gained attention. Costimulatory molecules are membrane proteins strictly associated with T-cell receptor (TCR), acting by activating or inhibiting T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APC) through direct and reverse signaling, thus becoming responsible for the development of effector T cells or regulatory T cells. The primary objective of the present case-control study was to evaluate the cell membrane expression of CD137 on T cells and the serum concentration of CD137 (sCD137) in a SLE cohort.

A rare case of primary gastric Burkitt's lymphoma associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Background: Primary gastric Burkitt lymphoma (PG BL) and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) are rare and aggressive tumors with poor prognosis. HIV and EBV infection have a link in the aetiology of PG BL, while MPM is usually associated with asbestos exposure. Endoluminal bleeding from massive solid tumor, and dyspnea usually due to pleural effusion, are the typical clinical manifestations respectively of PG BL and MPM.