Low-dimensional controllability of brain networks.

Identifying the driver nodes of a network has crucial implications in biological systems from unveiling causal interactions to informing effective intervention strategies. Despite recent advances in network control theory, results remain inaccurate as the number of drivers becomes too small compared to the network size, thus limiting the concrete usability in many real-life applications. To overcome this issue, we introduced a framework that integrates principles from spectral graph theory and output controllability to project the network state into a smaller topological space formed by the Laplacian network structure.

A Comparative Analysis of Mitogenomes in Species of the Complex and Other Species of the Genus (Formicidae, Dolichoderinae).

Using next-generation sequencing data, the complete mitogenomes of six species from the genus were assembled. This study explores the mitochondrial genomes of species, among them the five species from the complex, comparing them with each other and with other species from Dolichoderinae subfamily to understand their evolutionary relationships and evolution. mitochondrial genomes contain the typical set of 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and the A + T-rich control region.

A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Tapinoma Mayr 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Tapinoma Emery 1861 is provided. Due to the extreme rarity of discernable characters, the female castes of 64% of the species are not separable by primary visual perception of an expert and are thus truly cryptic. The main working rationale of the revision is Numeric Morphology-Based Alpha-Taxonomy (NUMOBAT) with formation of species hypotheses largely based on exploratory data analyses and checking these hypotheses by discriminant analysis.

Incretin-responsive human pancreatic adipose tissue organoids: A functional model for fatty pancreas research.

Objective: Infiltration of adipocytes into the pancreatic parenchyma has been linked to impaired insulin secretion in individuals with increased genetic risk of T2D and prediabetic conditions. However, the study of this ectopic fat depot has been limited by the lack of suitable in vitro models.

Methods: Here, we developed a novel 3D model of functionally mature human pancreatic adipose tissue organoids by aggregating human pancreatic adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells into organoids and differentiating them over 19 days.

Vertical neglect towards the lower space after bilateral parietal strokes - A case study.

While considerable knowledge has been acquired concerning the involvement of the parietal cortex in horizontal visuo-spatial attention, the understanding of its specific contribution to the vertical dimension remains limited. Here we present the exceptional case of a patient, who suffered from two consecutive ischemic strokes at the same location within the left and right Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) territory, involving the superior parietal lobule, the supramarginal gyrus, and the angular gyrus. While the first left-hemispheric stroke led to a right-sided neglect, the consecutive stroke in the right hemisphere led to a left-sided neglect.

A Novel Machine Learning-based Predictive Model of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer and Online Risk Calculator.

Objective: To create a machine-learning predictive model combining prostate imaging-reporting and data system (PI-RADS) score, PSA density, and clinical variables to predict clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa).

Methods: We evaluated a cohort of patients who underwent prostate biopsy for suspected prostate cancer (PCa) in New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland. We collected data on age, body mass index (BMI), PSA level, prostate volume, PSA density (PSAD), PI-RADS scores, previous biopsy, and corresponding histology results.

Undetectable pre-radical cystectomy circulating tumour DNA status predicts improved oncological outcomes.

Objective: To assess recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with undetectable tumour-informed circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) before radical cystectomy (RC) and evaluate if those who converted from detectable to undetectable ctDNA status after RC have similar RFS outcomes as those with persistently undetectable ctDNA status.

Patients And Methods: Patients who underwent RC had prospectively and longitudinally collected tumour-informed ctDNA analyses during 2021-2023. ctDNA status was informed from the pre-RC specimen.

mSLAb - An open-source masked stereolithography (mSLA) bioprinter.

3D bioprinting is a tissue engineering approach using additive manufacturing to fabricate tissue equivalents for regenerative medicine or medical drug testing. For this purpose, biomaterials that provide the essential microenvironment to support the viability of cells integrated directly or seeded after printing are processed into three-dimensional (3D) structures. Compared to extrusion-based 3D printing, which is most commonly used in bioprinting, stereolithography (SLA) offers a higher printing resolution and faster processing speeds with a wide range of cell-friendly materials such as gelatin- or collagen-based hydrogels and SLA is, therefore, well suited to generate 3D tissue constructs.

Diagnosis of acute aortic syndromes with ultrasound and d-dimer: the PROFUNDUS study.

Background: In patients complaining common symptoms such as chest/abdominal/back pain or syncope, acute aortic syndromes (AAS) are rare underlying causes. AAS diagnosis requires urgent advanced aortic imaging (AAI), mostly computed tomography angiography. However, patient selection for AAI poses conflicting risks of misdiagnosis and overtesting.

Liver Resection in Synchronous Bilobar versus Unilobar Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Retrospective Analysis of Oncological Outcomes and Patient Survival.

Introduction: Resection of colorectal liver metastasis has emerged as the standard treatment. Our study compares oncological outcomes of patients with resected synchronous bilobar versus unilobar colorectal liver metastasis.

Methods: This retrospective study presents long-term follow-up data of 105 consecutive patients with primary colorectal cancer and synchronous liver metastasis.

Severity-Dependent Interhemispheric White Matter Connectivity Predicts Poststroke Neglect Recovery.

Left-sided spatial neglect is a very common and challenging issue after right-hemispheric stroke, which strongly and negatively affects daily living behavior and recovery of stroke survivors. The mechanisms underlying recovery of spatial neglect remain controversial, particularly regarding the involvement of the intact, contralesional hemisphere, with potential contributions ranging from maladaptive to compensatory. In the present prospective, observational study, we assessed neglect severity in 54 right-hemispheric stroke patients (32 male; 22 female) at admission to and discharge from inpatient neurorehabilitation.

Interassay Variability and Clinical Implications of Five Different Prostate-specific Antigen Assays.

Background And Objective: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) remains a critical marker for prostate cancer (PCa) detection and monitoring. Recognising historical variability in PSA assays and the evolution of assay technology and calibration, this study aims to reassess interassay variability using the latest generation of five assays in a contemporary cohort of men undergoing prostate biopsy.

Methods: Five different commercially available PSA assays were tested in a blood sample of 76 men before undergoing a prostate biopsy.

Intracortical recordings reveal vision-to-action cortical gradients driving human exogenous attention.

Exogenous attention, the process that makes external salient stimuli pop-out of a visual scene, is essential for survival. How attention-capturing events modulate human brain processing remains unclear. Here we show how the psychological construct of exogenous attention gradually emerges over large-scale gradients in the human cortex, by analyzing activity from 1,403 intracortical contacts implanted in 28 individuals, while they performed an exogenous attention task.

Longitudinal Tumor-informed Circulating Tumor DNA Status Predicts Disease Upstaging and Poor Prognosis for Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy.

Background And Objective: Decision-making on the use of neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment for patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) currently depends on assessment of clinical and pathological features, which lack sensitivity. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a possible novel prognostic biomarker in the field. Our aim was to assess whether ctDNA status before RC is predictive of pathological and oncological outcomes.

The phenomenology of pareidolia in healthy subjects and patients with left- or right-hemispheric stroke.

Pareidolia are perceptions of recognizable images or meaningful patterns where none exist. In recent years, this phenomenon has been increasingly studied in healthy subjects and patients with neurological or psychiatric diseases. The current study examined pareidolia production in a group of 53 stroke patients and 82 neurologically healthy controls who performed a natural images task.

BioPrev-C - development and validation of a contemporary prostate cancer risk calculator.

Objectives: To develop a novel biopsy prostate cancer (PCa) prevention calculator (BioPrev-C) using data from a prospective cohort all undergoing mpMRI targeted and transperineal template saturation biopsy.

Materials And Methods: Data of all men who underwent prostate biopsy in our academic tertiary care center between 11/2016 and 10/2019 was prospectively collected. We developed a clinical prediction model for the detection of high-grade PCa (Gleason score ≥7) based on a multivariable logistic regression model incorporating age, PSA, prostate volume, digital rectal examination, family history, previous negative biopsy, 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor use and MRI PI-RADS score.

Evaluation of Proclarix in the diagnostic work-up of prostate cancer.

Objectives: The use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) has been widely adopted in the diagnostic work-up for suspicious prostate cancer (PCa) and is recommended in most current guidelines. However, mpMRI lesions are often indeterminate and/or turn out to be false-positive on prostate biopsy. The aim of this work was to evaluate Proclarix, a biomarker test for the detection of relevant PCa, regarding its diagnostic value in all men before biopsy and in men with indeterminate lesions on mpMRI (PI-RADS 3) during work-up for PCa.

Liver Fibrosis Is Associated with Poorer Overall Survival and Higher Recurrence Rate in Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma.

Introduction: Cholangiocarcinoma is the second most common primary liver tumour worldwide with an increasing incidence in recent decades. While the effects of fibrosis on hepatocellular carcinoma have been widely demonstrated, the impact on cholangiocarcinoma remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of liver fibrosis on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients who have undergone liver resection for cholangiocarcinoma.

Validation of a Zero-shot Learning Natural Language Processing Tool to Facilitate Data Abstraction for Urologic Research.

Background: Urologic research often requires data abstraction from unstructured text contained within the electronic health record. A number of natural language processing (NLP) tools have been developed to aid with this time-consuming task; however, the generalizability of these tools is typically limited by the need for task-specific training.

Objective: To describe the development and validation of a zero-shot learning NLP tool to facilitate data abstraction from unstructured text for use in downstream urologic research.