Ultrasound-Guided vs Non-Ultrasound-Guided Angio-Seal Vascular Hemosasis After Endovascular Treatment for Peripheral Artery Disease: An Observational Study.

Ultrasound visualization of vascular closure devices during endovascular access closure leads to a significant decrease in overall and major post interventional access site complications. This non-invasive and often readily available imaging technique could therefore lead to an important decrease in morbidity and subsequent overall health care costs when added to the standard intervention protocol. With the increasing use of endovascular techniques to treat peripheral artery disease, the addition of ultrasound-techniques in closure of endovascular access sites could potentially have a large clinical impact, both on patient outcomes as well as financial outcomes.

Techno-economic assessment of different small-scale electrochemical NH production plants.

Electrochemical ammonia synthesis the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) has been poised as one of the promising technologies for the sustainable production of green ammonia. In this work, we developed extensive process models of fully integrated electrochemical NH production plants at small scale (91 tonnes per day), including their techno-economic assessments, for (Li-)mediated, direct and indirect NRR pathways at ambient and elevated temperatures, which were compared with electrified and steam-methane reforming (SMR) Haber-Bosch processes. The levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of aqueous NRR at ambient conditions only becomes comparable with SMR Haber-Bosch at very optimistic electrolyzer performance parameters (FE > 80% at ≥ 0.

Equivariant Neural Networks Utilizing Molecular Clusters for Accurate Molecular Crystal Lattice Energy Predictions.

Equivariant neural networks have emerged as prominent models in advancing the construction of interatomic potentials due to their remarkable data efficiency and generalization capabilities for out-of-distribution data. Here, we expand the utility of these networks to the prediction of crystal structures consisting of organic molecules. Traditional methods for computing crystal structure properties, such as plane-wave quantum chemical methods based on density functional theory (DFT), are prohibitively resource-intensive, often necessitating compromises in accuracy and the choice of exchange-correlation functional.

Effect of Halide Anions on Electrochemical CO Reduction in Non-Aqueous Choline Solutions using Ag and Au Electrodes.

In this study, the effect of halide anions on the selectivity of the CO reduction reaction to CO was investigated in choline-based ethylene glycol solutions containing different halides (ChCl : EG, ChBr : EG, ChI : EG). The CORR was studied using silver (Ag) and gold (Au) electrodes in a compact H-cell. Our findings reveal that chloride effectively suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction and enhances the selectivity of carbon monoxide production on both Ag and Au electrodes, with relatively high selectivity values of 84 % and 62 %, respectively.

4f-Orbital mixing increases the magnetic susceptibility of Cp'Eu.

Traditional models of lanthanide electronic structure suggest that bonding is predominantly ionic, and that covalent orbital mixing is not an important factor in determining magnetic properties. Here, 4f orbital mixing and its impact on the magnetic susceptibility of Cp'Eu (Cp' = CHSiMe) was analyzed experimentally using magnetometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) methods at the C K-, Eu M-, and L-edges. Pre-edge features in the experimental and TDDFT-calculated C K-edge XAS spectra provided unequivocal evidence of C 2p and Eu 4f orbital mixing in the π-antibonding orbital of a' symmetry.

Using non-randomized trials to assess the clinical benefit of systemic anti-cancer treatments: Viable or not?

Background: The Dutch Committee for the Evaluation of Oncological Agents (cieBOM) assesses the clinical benefit of systemic anti-cancer treatments (SACTs). For SACTs tested in non-randomized trials (NRTs), cieBOM primarily utilizes response-related thresholds as assessment criteria. As sufficiency of NRT-based evidence for benefit assessments is questionable, this study investigated whether and how NRTs can be used to assess the clinical benefit of new SACTs initially appraised by cieBOM based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Inverse Design of Photonic Surfaces via High throughput Femtosecond Laser Processing and Tandem Neural Networks.

This work demonstrates a method to design photonic surfaces by combining femtosecond laser processing with the inverse design capabilities of tandem neural networks that directly link laser fabrication parameters to their resulting textured substrate optical properties. High throughput fabrication and characterization platforms are developed that generate a dataset comprising 35280 unique microtextured surfaces on stainless steel with corresponding measured spectral emissivities. The trained model utilizes the nonlinear one-to-many mapping between spectral emissivity and laser parameters.

Designing a circular cities declaration for Japan building on the European Union's case study.

Japan is progressing towards its circular economy (CE) goals as many of its cities have adopted circular city (CC) policies and programs, although further progress is constrained as a result of the lack of a common framework. A novel framework was proposed with the "European circular cities declaration" (ECCD) (2020), consisting of a list of 10 principles committing to integrate circularity into the city's design, development, and management. As a foremost finding, and building on the authors' previous studies of Japan's CE and CC, this work shaped a circular cities declaration (CCD) for Japan following a triple-axis methodology; It (1) evaluates the ECCD as a baseline, (2) adapts it to Japan's unique socio-economic landscape, and (3) considers the three pillars of sustainable development, offering practical guidance for governments facing similar challenges.

Genotype-by-environment interactions and local adaptation shape selection in the US National Chip Processing Trial.

We find evidence of selection for local adaptation and extensive genotype-by-environment interaction in the potato National Chip Processing Trial (NCPT). We present a novel method for dissecting the interplay between selection, local adaptation and environmental response in plant breeding schemes. Balancing local adaptation and the desire for widely adapted cultivars is challenging for plant breeders and makes genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) an important target of selection.

Tailored anticoagulant treatment after a first venous thromboembolism: protocol of the Leiden Thrombosis Recurrence Risk Prevention (L-TRRiP) study - cohort-based randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Patients with a first venous thromboembolism (VTE) are at risk of recurrence. Recurrent VTE (rVTE) can be prevented by extended anticoagulant therapy, but this comes at the cost of an increased risk of bleeding. It is still uncertain whether patients with an intermediate recurrence risk or with a high recurrence and high bleeding risk will benefit from extended anticoagulant treatment, and whether a strategy where anticoagulant duration is tailored on the predicted risks of rVTE and bleeding can improve outcomes.

Intranasal delivery of OMVs decorated with antigens induces specific local and systemic immune responses.

is an obligate intracellular pathogen responsible for the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted disease globally. The high prevalence of chlamydial infections underscores the urgent need for licensed and effective vaccines to prevent transmission in populations. Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) have emerged as promising mucosal vaccine carriers due to their inherent adjuvant properties and the ability to display heterologous antigens.

Relatives' Unmet Needs in the Last Year of Life of Patients With Advanced Cancer: Results of a Dutch Prospective, Longitudinal Study (eQuiPe).

Unmet needs of relatives of patients with advanced cancer not only reduce their own health-related quality of life, but may also negatively affect patients' health outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess changes in relatives' unmet needs of patients with advanced cancer in the last year of life and to identify differences in unmet needs by gender and type of relationship. Relatives of patients with advanced cancer in the Netherlands were included in a prospective, longitudinal, observational study.

Assessing the clinical benefit of systemic anti-cancer treatments in the Netherlands: The impact of different thresholds for effectiveness.

Background: In the Netherlands, the clinical benefit of systemic anti-cancer treatments (SACTs) is assessed by the Committee for the Evaluation of Oncological Agents (cieBOM). For non-curative SACTs, the assessment is based on the hazard ratio (HR) for progression-free survival and/or overall survival (OS), and the difference in median survival. We evaluated the impact of different thresholds for effectiveness by reassessing the clinical benefit of SACTs.

Open communication between patients and relatives about illness & death in advanced cancer-results of the eQuiPe Study.

Objective: To assess the degree of openness of communication about illness and death between patients with advanced cancer and their relatives during the last three months of the patient's life, and its association with relatives' characteristics and bereavement distress.

Methods: We used data from bereaved relatives of patients with advanced cancer from the prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational eQuipe study. Univariate and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between the degree of openness of communication (measured using the validated Caregivers' Communication with patients about Illness and Death scale), the a priori defined characteristics of the relatives, and the degree of bereavement distress (measured using the Impact of Event Scale).

Aetiology of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea in a Dutch retrospective cohort from two tertiary referral centres.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea has different aetiologies, with spontaneous leaks related to female gender and obesity. Limited data is available on patient characteristics and surgical outcomes across different aetiologies of CSF leaks in relatively non-obese populations.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study from two tertiary referral centres including adult patients that underwent surgical closure of a CSF leak, divided into four aetiologies: traumatic, iatrogenic, secondary to structural intracranial pathology (SIP), and spontaneous.

Opinion of the Scientific Committee on health, environmental and emerging risks on the safety of titanium dioxide in toys.

The Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks advises the European Commission on whether the uses of titanium dioxide in toys and toy materials can be considered to be safe in light of the identified exposure, and the classification of titanium dioxide as carcinogenic category 2 after inhalation. Four toy products including casting kits, chalk, powder paints and white colour pencils containing various amounts of TiO as colouring agent were evaluated for inhalation risks. For the oral route, childrens' lip gloss/lipstick, finger paint and white colour pencils were evaluated.

Trajectories of emotional functioning and experienced care of relatives in the last year of life of patients with advanced cancer: A longitudinal analysis of the eQuiPe study.

Objective: Advanced cancer has a major impact on both patients and their relatives. To allow for personalized support, it is important to recognize which relatives will experience a decline in emotional functioning during the patient's last year of life, when this decline will occur, and what factors are associated with it. This study aimed to examine the trajectory of emotional functioning of relatives during that time and the characteristics associated with changes in this trajectory.

Effects of fir-wood biochar on CH oxidation rates and methanotrophs in landfill cover soils packed at three different proctor compaction levels.

Application of biochar to landfill cover soils can purportedly improve methane (CH) oxidation rates, but understanding the combined effects of soil texture, compaction, and biochar on the activity and composition of the methanotrophs is limited. The amendment of wood biochar on two differently textured landfill cover soils at three compaction levels of the Proctor density was explored by analyzing changes in soil physical properties relevant to methane oxidation, the effects on CH oxidation rates, and the composition of the methanotrophic community. Loose soils with and without biochar were pre-incubated to equally elevate the CH oxidation rates.

Trajectories of health-related quality of life and symptom burden in patients with advanced cancer towards the end of life: Longitudinal results from the eQuiPe study.

Background: Support for health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an essential part of cancer care in the final stages of life, yet empirical guidance regarding HRQOL and symptom trajectories is lacking.

Aim: To assess the change in HRQOL and symptom burden in the last year of life in patients with advanced cancer and its association with health care-related factors, cancer-specific treatment, and comorbidity.

Methods: A prospective, multicenter, observational study in patients with advanced cancer (eQuiPe).

Low-noise φ-OTDR employing nonlinear optical preamplification for distributed acoustic sensing.

A phase sensitive optical time domain reflectometry sensing scheme employing a two-stage nonlinear optical preamplification system is proposed to reduce the blind spot effect in Rayleigh scattering by improving the optical power distribution and to enhance the resolution at locations of low-backscatter intensity measurements, providing a higher signal-to-noise ratio for distributed acoustic measurements; the developed system has been tested in-laboratory and on in-field monitoring of a survey well in Cottessen, The Netherlands. The characterization shows strain noise levels below 1 nɛ for a 10 kHz sampling rate.

BLINK enables ultrafast tandem mass spectrometry cosine similarity scoring.

Metabolomics has a long history of using cosine similarity to match experimental tandem mass spectra to databases for compound identification. Here we introduce the Blur-and-Link (BLINK) approach for scoring cosine similarity. By bypassing fragment alignment and simultaneously scoring all pairs of spectra using sparse matrix operations, BLINK is over 3000 times faster than MatchMS, a widely used loop-based alignment and scoring implementation.