Illusory traits: Wrong but sometimes useful.

Psychological measures frequently show trait-like properties, and the ontological status of stable psychological traits has been discussed for decades. We argue that these properties can emerge from causal dynamics of time-varying processes, which are from the analysis model, potentially leading to the estimation of traits that are, at least in part, illusory. Theories positing the importance of a large set of dynamic psychological causes across development are consistent with the existence of illusory traits.

Symptom Burden and Quality of Life in Long-Term Survivors with Head and Neck Cancer.

In this study, long-term survivors of head and neck cancer (HNC) were evaluated regarding their symptom burden and quality of life (QoL). This prospective study was performed during the regular follow-up consultations at one of Germany's largest tertiary referral centers for HNC. The assessment included demographic, clinical, and oncological data, as well as the MIDOS(2) and the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire (UW QoL) questionnaires.

Efficacy of radiotherapy combined with atezolizumab or docetaxel in patients with previously treated NSCLC.

Radiotherapy showed synergy with immunotherapy, yet the comparative effectiveness of combining immunotherapy (iRT) or chemotherapy (CRT) after platinum therapy failure in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unexplored. We analyzed 163 patients (iRT:  = 120 vs. CRT:  = 43) eligible for combination radiotherapy.

Novick Meets Bayes: Improving the Assessment of Individual Students in Educational Practice and Research by Capitalizing on Assessors' Prior Beliefs.

The assessment of individual students is not only crucial in the school setting but also at the core of educational research. Although classical test theory focuses on maximizing insights from student responses, the Bayesian perspective incorporates the assessor's prior belief, thereby enriching assessment with knowledge gained from previous interactions with the student or with similar students. We propose and illustrate a formal Bayesian approach that not only allows to form a stronger belief about a student's competency but also offers a more accurate assessment than classical test theory.

Network Analysis of Pathogenesis Markers in Murine Chagas Disease Under Antimicrobial Treatment.

Chagas disease (CD), a disease affecting millions globally, remains shrouded in scientific uncertainty, particularly regarding the role of the intestinal microbiota in disease progression. This study investigates the effects of antibiotic-induced microbiota depletion on parasite burden, immune responses, and clinical outcomes in BALB/c mice infected with either the Colombiana or CL Brener strains. Mice were treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail before infection, and parasite burden was quantified via qPCR at 30 and 100 days post-infection (dpi).

Findings from the Mighty Girls Efficacy Trial: Changes in Acceptance of Dating Violence.

Background/objectives: Test efficacy of the social emotional learning (SEL)-based Mighty Girls program, a program culturally tailored for English-speaking Hispanic/Latino girls in seventh grade comprised of classroom sessions and a virtual reality computer game. We hypothesized that the curriculum would decrease risky sexual behaviors in a program that can be used as part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum or as a stand-alone program.

Methods: A randomized group trial was conducted in which 22 low-income, predominately Hispanic schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School System were randomly assigned to intervention (consented = 335) and control (consented = 217) conditions.

[Highlights of the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting: radiotherapy of head and neck cancer].

At the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), several important studies on radiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) were presented. There were two Chinese phase III trials on treatment escalation for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: adjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition with camrelizumab after induction chemotherapy and cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy (RCT) in the DIPPER trial reached the primary endpoint of improved event-free survival (EFS) but did not improve overall survival (OS). Simultaneous and adjuvant administration of the angiogenesis inhibitor endostar in addition to cisplatin-based RCT for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma led to a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and OS.

Full bladder, empty rectum? Revisiting a paradigm in the era of adaptive radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Many patients find it challenging to comply with instructions regarding rectum and bladder filling during pelvic radiotherapy. With the implementation of online adaptive radiotherapy, the reproducibility of organ volumes is no longer a prerequisite. This study aims to analyze the sparing of the bladder and the posterior rectum wall (PRW) in conditions of full versus empty bladder and rectum.

An evaluation of the performance of stopping rules in AI-aided screening for psychological meta-analytical research.

Several AI-aided screening tools have emerged to tackle the ever-expanding body of literature. These tools employ active learning, where algorithms sort abstracts based on human feedback. However, researchers using these tools face a crucial dilemma: When should they stop screening without knowing the proportion of relevant studies? Although numerous stopping rules have been proposed to guide users in this decision, they have yet to undergo comprehensive evaluation.

Postoperative pain after parotid surgery-comparison between superficial/total parotidectomy and extracapsular dissection: a prospective observational study.

Purpose: To evaluate postoperative pain and discomfort after parotid surgery with regard to different surgical approaches.

Methods: This clinical study was carried out at a single tertiary referral center (2021-2022) and included 2 groups of adult patients (mean age 56.6 ± 12.

Defining intra-tumoral and systemic immune biomarkers for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer - detailed protocol of a prospective, observatory multicenter trial (ImmunBioKHT) and first results of the immunophenotyping of the patients' peripheral blood.

The approval and effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) highlights the role of the immune system in this tumor entity. HNSCCs not only interacts with the immune system in the tumor tissue, but also induce systemic effects that may be additionally influenced by further factors such as the microbiome. Nonetheless, reliable immunological biomarkers that predict treatment response and outcome in HNSCC patients are lacking.

Tumor-Associated Neutrophils Are a Negative Prognostic Factor in Early Luminal Breast Cancers Lacking Immunosuppressive Macrophage Recruitment.

Background: Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) are important modulators of the tumor microenvironment with opposing functions that can promote and inhibit tumor progression. The prognostic role of TANs in early luminal breast cancer is unclear.

Methods: A total of 144 patients were treated for early-stage hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer as part of an Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) phase II trial.

Impact of mediastinal tumor burden and lymphatic spread in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: A secondary analysis of the multicenter randomized PET-Plan trial.

Purpose: The aim of this secondary analysis of the prospective randomized phase 2 PET-Plan trial (ARO-2009-09; NCT00697333) was to evaluate the impact of mediastinal tumor burden and lymphatic spread in patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: All patients treated per protocol (n = 172) were included. Patients received isotoxically dose-escalated chemoradiotherapy up to a total dose of 60-74 Gy in 30-37 fractions, aiming as high as possible while adhering to normal tissue constraints.

Effects of Online Naloxone Training for Laypersons: An Extended-Baseline Assessment.

 While laypersons can play a crucial role in administering naloxone in opioid overdoses, they must be recruited and trained to effectively manage overdose events as good Samaritans. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a technology-based intervention that recruited and trained laypersons to administer naloxone.  Opioid Rapid Response System (ORRS) was an online recruitment and training intervention which capitalized on social cognitive theory and a digital media engagement model to mobilize laypersons to administer intranasal naloxone.

Studies on Human Cultured Fibroblasts and Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinomas Suggest That Overexpression of Histone Variant H2A.J Promotes Radioresistance and Oncogenic Transformation.

Cellular senescence in response to ionizing radiation (IR) limits the replication of damaged cells by causing permanent cell cycle arrest. However, IR can induce pro-survival signaling pathways that reduce the extent of radiation-induced cytotoxicity and promote the development of radioresistance. The differential incorporation of histone variant H2A.

The Ecology of Human Sleep (EcoSleep) Cohort Study: Protocol for a longitudinal repeated measurement burst design study to assess the relationship between sleep determinants and outcomes under real-world conditions across time of year.

The interplay of daily life factors, including mood, physical activity, or light exposure, influences sleep architecture and quality. Laboratory-based studies often isolate these determinants to establish causality, thereby sacrificing ecological validity. Furthermore, little is known about time-of-year changes in sleep and circadian-related variables at high resolution, including the magnitude of individual change across time of year under real-world conditions.

Effect of different optimization parameters in single isocenter multiple brain metastases radiosurgery.

Purpose: Automated treatment planning for multiple brain metastases differs from traditional planning approaches. It is therefore helpful to understand which parameters for optimization are available and how they affect the plan quality. This study aims to provide a reference for designing multi-metastases treatment plans and to define quality endpoints for benchmarking the technique from a scientific perspective.

Highly acidic -triflylphosphoramides as chiral Brønsted acid catalysts: the effect of weak hydrogen bonds and multiple acceptors on complex structures and aggregation.

-Triflylphosphoramides (NTPAs) represent an important catalyst class in asymmetric catalysis due to their multiple hydrogen bond acceptor sites and acidity, which is increased by several orders of magnitude compared to conventional chiral phosphoric acids (CPAs). Thus, NTPAs allow for several challenging transformations, which are not accessible with CPAs. However, detailed evidence on their hydrogen bonding situation, complex structures and aggregation is still lacking.

DNMT3B splicing dysregulation mediated by SMCHD1 loss contributes to DUX4 overexpression and FSHD pathogenesis.

Structural maintenance of chromosomes flexible hinge domain-containing 1 (SMCHD1) is a noncanonical SMC protein and an epigenetic regulator. Mutations in SMCHD1 cause facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), by overexpressing DUX4 in muscle cells. Here, we demonstrate that SMCHD1 is a key regulator of alternative splicing in various cell types.

Reducing Loneliness through the Power of Practicing Together: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Online Dyadic Socio-Emotional vs. Mindfulness-Based Training.

Loneliness has become a pressing topic, especially among young adults and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a randomized controlled trial with 253 healthy adults, we evaluated the differential efficacy of two 10-week app-delivered mental training programs: one based on classic mindfulness and one on an innovative partner-based socio-emotional practice (Affect Dyad). We show that the partner-based training resulted in greater reductions in loneliness than the mindfulness-based training.

The concerted action of SEPT9 and EPLIN modulates the adhesion and migration of human fibroblasts.

Septins are cytoskeletal proteins that participate in cell adhesion, migration, and polarity establishment. The septin subunit SEPT9 directly interacts with the single LIM domain of epithelial protein lost in neoplasm (EPLIN), an actin-bundling protein. Using a human SEPT9 KO fibroblast cell line, we show that cell adhesion and migration are regulated by the interplay between both proteins.

Selection of a promiscuous minimalist cAMP phosphodiesterase from a library of de novo designed proteins.

The ability of unevolved amino acid sequences to become biological catalysts was key to the emergence of life on Earth. However, billions of years of evolution separate complex modern enzymes from their simpler early ancestors. To probe how unevolved sequences can develop new functions, we use ultrahigh-throughput droplet microfluidics to screen for phosphoesterase activity amidst a library of more than one million sequences based on a de novo designed 4-helix bundle.

Coping as a resource to allow for psychosocial adjustment in fatal disease: results from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disorder, which imposes a severe emotional burden on patients. Appropriate coping mechanisms may alleviate this burden and facilitate wellbeing, with social support known to be a successful coping strategy. This observational study aimed to determine the interplay of general coping traits of hope for success and fear of failure, coping behavior of social activity, and patients' wellbeing.