Joint analysis of germline genetic data from over 29,000 cases with suspected hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) as part of the NASGE initiative.

As multigene panel testing is becoming routine in clinical care, there are recommendations at national and international level, as to which genes should be analyzed in the context of a hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). However, the individual composition of gene panels offered by testing laboratories vary, resulting in a different variant diagnostic rate. Therefore, we performed a retrospective NGS dataset analysis of suspected HBOC patients who had been tested at different German diagnostic laboratories that are part of the NASGE network.

Clinical predictors in acute optic neuritis: Analysis based on clinical trial data.

Purpose: To identify baseline clinical predictors of visual outcomes six months after acute optic neuritis using data from our completed clinical neuroprotection trial (TONE study).

Design: Secondary analysis of data from the TONE study cohort (NCT01962571).

Subjects: Total of 103 patients presenting within 10 days of a first episode of acute unilateral optic neuritis as a clinically isolated syndrome with baseline high contrast visual acuity (HCVA) < 20/40 Snellen (logMAR 0.

Objective Visual Acuity Estimates in Amblyopia Are More Accurate With Optotype-Based P300 Than With VEP Measurements.

Purpose: Traditional visual acuity (VA) measurements depend on subjective responses, which can be unreliable, especially with uncooperative participants. Objective measurements with visual evoked potentials (VEP) address this issue but can overestimate VA in amblyopia. This study aims to establish the P300 component of the event-related potential as an objective VA test for amblyopia and compare its performance to subjective (psychophysical) and VEP-based VA estimates.

Combinatorial Synthesis toward the Discovery of Highly Cytotoxic Fe(III) Complexes.

Cancer remains one of the deadliest diseases worldwide, with some tumors proving difficult to treat and increasingly resistant to current therapies. Capitalizing on this, there is a need for new therapeutic agents with novel mechanisms of action. Among promising candidates, Fe(III) complexes have gained significant attention as potential chemotherapeutic agents.

Analysis of skin and corneal fiber electrodes for electroretinogram assessments in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Electroretinograms (ERG) are usually recorded with non-invasive corneal electrodes, requiring direct contact with the ocular surface. However, corneal electrode application is not tolerated by some individuals. The advent of handheld ERG devices has facilitated the use of skin electrodes for ERG measurements.

Utilisation of blood glucose test strips in insulin-requiring people with diabetes mellitus using continuous glucose monitoring in Saxony-Anhalt - Analysis of health insurance data.

Aims: Continuous glucose measurement (CGM) systems are increasingly utilised by people with diabetes mellitus (DM) and less is known about usage behaviour. Therefore, this study aims to analyse additionally utilisation of blood glucose measurement (BGM) for insurants who are using CGM.

Methods: The study used secondary data, health claims data from the AOK Saxony-Anhalt (Germany), from 2016 to 2021, analysing a sample of 52,296 individuals with insulin-requiring DM.

Extracellular Hsp70 and Circulating Endometriotic Cells as Novel Biomarkers for Endometriosis.

Stress-inducible heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), which functions as a molecular chaperone and is frequently overexpressed in different cancer cell types, is present on the cell surface of tumor cells and is actively released into the circulation in free and extracellular lipid vesicle-associated forms. Since the exact pathomechanism of endometriosis has not yet been elucidated (although it has been associated with the development of endometrial and ovarian cancer), we asked whether extracellular Hsp70 and circulating endometriotic cells (CECs) reflect the presence and development of endometriosis. Therefore, circulating levels of free and lipid microvesicle-associated Hsp70 were measured using the Hsp70-exo ELISA, and the presence of circulating CECs in the peripheral blood of patients with endometriosis was determined using membrane Hsp70 (mHsp70) and EpCAM monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based bead isolation approaches.

Monte Carlo modeling of a commercial machine and experimental setup for FLASH-minibeam irradiations with electrons.

Background: Ultra-high dose rate (UHDR/FLASH) irradiations, along with particle minibeam therapy (PMBT) are both emerging as promising alternatives to current radiotherapy techniques thanks to their improved healthy tissue sparing and similar tumor control.

Purpose: Monte Carlo (MC) modeling of a commercial machine delivering 5-7 MeV electrons at UHDR. This model was used afterward to compare measurements against simulations for an experimental setup combining both FLASH and PMBT modalities.

A multidisciplinary view of flash irradiation.

The delivery of ultra-high dose rates of radiation, called flash irradiation or flash-RT, has emerged as a new modality of radiotherapy shaking up the paradigm of proportionality of effect and dose whatever the method of delivery of the radiation. The hallmark of flash-RT is healthy tissue sparing from the side effects of radiation without decrease of the antitumor efficiency in animal models. In this review we will define its specificities, the molecular mechanisms underlying the flash effect and the ongoing developments to bring this new modality to patient treatment.

[Development Of Long-Term Care Dependency And Utilisation Of Long-Term Care Services From 2017 To 2022 In Germany, Saxony-Anhalt: Analysis Of Health Insurance Data].

Background: Saxony-Anhalt has the highest old-age dependency ratio among the German federal states. The proportion of long-term care-dependent people can be expected to increase in the future, given the aging of the population. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has influenced nursing care, reduced the utilisation of services and led to changes in care arrangements.

Human Electroretinography Shows Little Polarity Specificity Following Full-Field Ramp Adaptation.

Purpose: The ramp aftereffect, a visual phenomenon in which perception of light changes dynamically after exposure to sawtooth-modulated light, was first described in 1967. Despite decades of psychophysical research, location and mechanisms of its generation remain unknown. In this study, we investigated a potential retinal contribution to effect formation with specific emphasis on on-/off-pathway involvement.

Effect of nystagmus on VEP-based objective visual acuity estimates.

In order to determine the effect of nystagmus on objective visual acuity (VA) estimates, we compared subjective (VA) and objective (VEP, VA) VA estimates in participants with nystagmus. For this purpose, 20 participants with nystagmus (NY) caused by idiopathic infantile nystagmus, albinism, achiasma or acquired nystagmus were recruited in this study. Estimates of BCVA (best corrected visual acuity) were determined psychophysically (VA; FrACT, Freiburg visual acuity test) and electrophysiologically (VA; EP2000) according to ISCEV (International Society of Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision) guidelines.

Comparative transcriptomics reveal a novel tardigrade-specific DNA-binding protein induced in response to ionizing radiation.

Tardigrades are microscopic animals renowned for their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including high doses of ionizing radiation (IR). To better understand their radio-resistance, we first characterized induction and repair of DNA double- and single-strand breaks after exposure to IR in the model species . Importantly, we found that the rate of single-strand breaks induced was roughly equivalent to that in human cells, suggesting that DNA repair plays a predominant role in tardigrades' radio-resistance.

The FreiBurger: a new optotype for P300-based acuity estimation.

Purpose: Accurate objective assessment of visual acuity is crucial, particularly in cases of suspected malingering, or when the patient's inability to cooperate makes standard psychophysical acuity tests unreliable. The P300 component of the event-related potentials offers a potential solution and even allows for the use of standard optotypes like the Landolt C. However, low-vision patients with large eccentric visual field defects often struggle to locate the Landolt C gap quickly enough for a P300 to be reliably produced.

A brief history of technical developments in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Dedicated to the memory of J.M. Cummins.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is an assisted reproductive technology for treatment of severe male infertility introduced into clinical practice in 1992. This review provides a brief history of the development of ICSI by acknowledging major developments in the field. The review addresses key developments in pre-clinical and early studies, how ICSI compares with in vitro fertilisation, long-term consequences, how the mechanistic approach to ICSI has changed in both manual and semi-automated approaches, and how sperm selection procedures are integrated into ICSI.

Diagnostic Utility of Artificial Intelligence-assisted Transperineal Biopsy Planning in Prostate Cancer Suspected Men: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background And Objective: Accurate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reporting is essential for transperineal prostate biopsy (TPB) planning. Although approved computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tools may assist urologists in this task, evidence of improved clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) detection is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to document the diagnostic utility of using Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) and CAD for biopsy planning compared with PI-RADS alone.

Disease Course of Clinically Isolated Optic Neuritis.

Background And Objectives: Optic neuritis is the most common optic neuropathy in young adults and a frequent manifestation of multiple sclerosis. Its clinical course is pertinent to the design of visual pathway neuroprotection trials.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the TONE trial, which included 103 patients from 12 German academic tertiary centers with acute unilateral optic neuritis as a clinically isolated syndrome and baseline high-contrast visual acuity <0.

Stepwise implementation of an enhanced recovery pathway for elective total hip arthroplasty in a Swiss hospital: a cohort study.

Background: Enhanced recovery programs after total hip arthroplasty have been shown to reduce hospital length of stay without compromising results, but yet there is a lack of data for the Swiss population. Therefore, this retrospective cohort study evaluated whether similar positive effects on clinical outcomes are present in the context of the Swiss healthcare system.

Methods: Patients who underwent elective primary total hip arthroplasty were analysed.

Nurse-led physical activity interventions for people with dementia in nursing homes: A systematic review on intervention characteristics and implementation facilitators/barriers.

Background: Physical activities are important to maintain and promote physical functioning and activities of daily living in people with dementia. Nurses are in a key position to deliver physical activity interventions in nursing homes. However, synthesized strategies for sustainable implementation of physical activity interventions in nursing homes for people with dementia are lacking.