Nanostructural and nanomechanical alterations of photosensitized lipid membranes due to light induced formation of reactive oxygen species.

Photosensitization has a wide range of applications in vastly distant fields. Three key components must be present at the same time to trigger the related photodynamic effect: light, the photosensitizer (PS) and oxygen. Irradiating the sensitizer leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Conquering diabetes by overcoming psychological barriers and embracing health.

Living with chronic conditions like diabetes mellitus (DM) or insulin resistance (IR) requires significant self-management, adding to daily life stressors. This stress, known as diabetes distress, along with health empowerment from proper diet and lifestyle, and motivation to eat healthily, greatly impacts quality of life and disease outcomes. Different patient subgroups (type 1 diabetic (T1DM), type 2 diabetic (T2DM), and insulin resistant (IR) individuals) face these challenges differently.

Gender-Specific Differences in Recurrence and Progression following Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Instillation for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Introduction: To assess gender-specific differences in recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) among patients with intermediate or high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) receiving BCG was the primary aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: In July 2023, we performed a literature search using MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. This study was prospectively registered at PROSPERO (CRD 2023443269).

The role of preoperative immunonutrition on morbidity and immune response after cystectomy: protocol of a multicenter randomized controlled trial (INCyst Trial).

Introduction: Cancer, malnutrition, and surgery negatively impact patient's immune system. Despite standardized surgical technique and the development of new perioperative care protocols, morbidity after cystectomy remains a serious challenge for urologists. Most common postoperative complications, such as infections and ileus, often lead to longer length of stay and worse survival.

The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on in-hospital cardiac arrest: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: There is an emerging concern regarding the indirect effect the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the care provided to patients. New resuscitation guidance including the donning of Personal Protective Equipment before commencing resuscitation efforts, the avoidance of bag-mask ventilation, limiting the number of responders and stopping resuscitation efforts earlier could have led to worse outcomes following in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) when compared to the non-pandemic period. The primary objective was to understand the impact of the pandemic on patient outcomes following IHCA by comparing the pandemic and non-pandemic periods.

The High-Affinity Chymotrypsin Inhibitor Eglin C Poorly Inhibits Human Chymotrypsin-Like Protease: Gln192 and Lys218 Are Key Determinants.

Eglin C, a small protein from the medicinal leech, has been long considered a general high-affinity inhibitor of chymotrypsins and elastases. Here, we demonstrate that eglin C inhibits human chymotrypsin-like protease (CTRL) weaker by several orders of magnitude than other chymotrypsins. In order to identify the underlying structural aspects of this unique deviation, we performed comparative molecular dynamics simulations on experimental and AlphaFold model structures of bovine CTRA and human CTRL.

Factors predicting mortality in the cardiac ICU during the early phase of targeted temperature management in the treatment of post-cardiac arrest syndrome - The RAPID score.

Introduction: Survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remain low, and early prognostication is challenging. While numerous intensive care unit scoring systems exist, their utility in the early hours following hospital admission, specifically in the targeted temperature management (TTM) population, is questionable. Our aim was to create a score system that may accurately estimate outcome within the first 12 h after admission in patients receiving TTM.

Antibiotic Residues and Resistance in Three Wastewater Treatment Plants in Romania.

This study evaluates antibiotic residues and bacterial loads in influent and effluent samples from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Romania, across four seasons from 2021 to 2022. Analytical methods included solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quantify antibiotic concentrations, while microbiological assays estimated bacterial loads and assessed antibiotic resistance patterns. Statistical analyses explored the impact of environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall on antibiotic levels.

Dominant suppressor genes of p53-induced apoptosis in Drosophila melanogaster.

One of the major functions of programmed cell death (apoptosis) is the removal of cells that suffered oncogenic mutations, thereby preventing cancerous transformation. By making use of a Double-Headed-EP (DEP) transposon, a P element derivative made in our laboratory, we made an insertional mutagenesis screen in Drosophila melanogaster to identify genes that, when overexpressed, suppress the p53-activated apoptosis. The DEP element has Gal4-activatable, outward-directed UAS promoters at both ends, which can be deleted separately in vivo.

TMPyP binding evokes a complex, tunable nanomechanical response in DNA.

TMPyP is a porphyrin capable of DNA binding and used in photodynamic therapy and G-quadruplex stabilization. Despite its broad applications, TMPyP's effect on DNA nanomechanics is unknown. Here we investigated, by manipulating λ-phage DNA with optical tweezers combined with microfluidics in equilibrium and perturbation kinetic experiments, how TMPyP influences DNA nanomechanics across wide ranges of TMPyP concentration (5-5120 nM), mechanical force (0-100 pN), NaCl concentration (0.

Same same, but different: exploring the enigmatic role of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in invertebrate physiology.

Evidence has been accumulating that elements of the vertebrate pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) system are missing in non-chordate genomes, which is at odds with the partial sequence-, immunohistochemical-, and physiological data in the literature. Multilevel experiments were performed on the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) to explore the role of PACAP in invertebrates. Screening of neuronal transcriptome and genome data did not reveal homologs to the elements of vertebrate PACAP system.

Systematic comparison of commercial devices for temporal characterization of few-cycle laser pulses in the 500-1000 nm spectral range.

We compare multiple temporal pulse characterization techniques in three different pulse duration regimes from 15 fs to sub-5 fs, as there are no available standards yet for measuring such ultrashort pulses. To accomplish this, a versatile post-compression platform was developed, where the 100 fs near infrared pulses were post-compressed to the sub-two-cycle regime in a hybrid, three-stage configuration. After each stage, the duration of the compressed pulse was measured with the d-scan, TIPTOE and SRSI techniques and the retrieved temporal intensity profiles, spectrum and spectral phases were compared.

Minimization of metabolic cost of transport predicts changes in gait mechanics over a range of ankle-foot orthosis stiffnesses in individuals with bilateral plantar flexor weakness.

Neuromuscular disorders often lead to ankle plantar flexor muscle weakness, which impairs ankle push-off power and forward propulsion during gait. To improve walking speed and reduce metabolic cost of transport (mCoT), patients with plantar flexor weakness are provided dorsal-leaf spring ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs). It is widely believed that mCoT during gait depends on the AFO stiffness and an optimal AFO stiffness that minimizes mCoT exists.

Swimming and water safety delivery for newly arrived Australians.

In Victoria, Australia, culturally and linguistically diverse communities are more than twice as likely to drown than their Australian-born counterparts. One explanation is the lack of feasible, community-led approaches to water safety and swimming education. A community engagement framework was used to develop and implement a 5-day pool program to teach swimming and water safety to newly arrived migrant children attending an English language school in Victoria.

The mediating role of ICT learning confidence and technostress between executive functions and digital skills.

Having good digital skills is essential today, yet little is known about the cognitive factors that influence the development of these skills. Given the importance of executive functions (EFs) in adapting to environmental changes and acquiring skills, EFs might contribute to acquiring digital skills too. EFs might also influence people's approach toward ICTs and affect digital skills through emotional variables.

Effect of hypercholesterolemia on circulating and cardiomyocyte-derived extracellular vesicles.

Hypercholesterolemia (HC) induces, propagates and exacerbates cardiovascular diseases via various mechanisms that are yet not properly understood. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in the pathomechanism of these diseases. To understand how circulating or cardiac-derived EVs could affect myocardial functions, we analyzed the metabolomic profile of circulating EVs, and we performed an in-depth analysis of cardiomyocyte (CM)-derived EVs in HC.

Hyperthermic Intravesical Chemotherapy (HIVEC) Using Epirubicin in an Optimized Setting in Patients with NMIBC Recurrence after Failed BCG Therapy.

To evaluate hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy (HIVEC) using conductive heating and epirubicin in an optimized setting as an alternative to radical cystectomy in patients with recurrent non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who have failed bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy. We retrospectively analyzed our prospectively recorded database of patients who underwent HIVEC between 11/2017 and 11/2022 at two Swiss University Centers. Cox regression analysis was used for univariate/multivariate analysis, and the Kaplan-Meier method for survival analysis.

PRESERFLO™ Microshunt: 1-Year Results of a 25-Gauge vs. 27-Gauge Needle Tract.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the PreserFlo™ microshunt (PMS) using a 25-Gauge vs. 27-Gauge needle tract. : This is a prospective postoperative examination of 60 glaucoma eyes that received a PMS.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Hungarian Adaptation of the Diabetes Distress Scale in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes-specific distress (DD) is a crucial predictor of patients' self-care, necessitating reliable screening tools. The Diabetes Distress Scale captures typical sources of patients' distress effectively. The Hungarian Diabetes Distress Scale (HDDS) was employed in two studies with 450 type 2 diabetes patients.

The optimal number of induction chemotherapy cycles in clinically lymph node-positive bladder cancer.

Objective: To investigate the optimal number of induction chemotherapy cycles needed to achieve a pathological response in patients with clinically lymph node-positive (cN+) bladder cancer (BCa) who received three or four cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by consolidative radical cystectomy (RC) with pelvic lymph node dissection.

Patients And Methods: We included 388 patients who received three or four cycles of cisplatin/gemcitabine or (dose-dense) methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC), followed by consolidative RC for cTanyN1-3M0 BCa. We compared pathological complete (pCR = ypT0N0) and objective response (pOR = yp ≤T1N0) between treatment groups.

Safety and quality of cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection after neoadjuvant durvalumab and cisplatin/gemcitabine.

Objective: To report on the surgical safety and quality of pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) in patients treated with radical cystectomy (RC) and PLND for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) after neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy.

Patients And Methods: The Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) 06/17 was an open-label single-arm phase II trial including 61 cisplatin-fit patients with clinical stage (c)T2-T4a cN0-1 operable urothelial MIBC or upper urinary tract cancer. Patients received neoadjuvant cisplatin/gemcitabine and durvalumab followed by surgery.

No evidence of attentional prioritization for threatening targets in visual search.

Throughout human evolutionary history, snakes have been associated with danger and threat. Research has shown that snakes are prioritized by our attentional system, despite many of us rarely encountering them in our daily lives. We conducted two high-powered, pre-registered experiments (total N = 224) manipulating target prevalence to understand this heightened prioritization of threatening targets.

Prospective evaluation of sexual health following radical cystectomy due to bladder cancer.

Background: There is a lack of data concerning sexual health following open radical cystectomy (RC), especially in elderly patients and women.

Aim: To describe sexual health and its impact on general health as well as survival in patients undergoing standard open RC for the treatment of bladder cancer (BC). Due to limited data, subgroup analysis for elderly patients and women was performed.

The investigation of the efficiency of basic life support education among high school students: Protocol, design and implementation of an interventional, prospective longitudinal, individually randomised, parallel 1:1 grouped trial.

Background: Basic life support (BLS) skills are crucial not only for healthcare workers but for all lay people as well. Timely recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and the initiation of BLS by bystanders before the arrival of healthcare personnel may improve survival. There are several methods of spreading BLS skills and improve BLS skill retention among lay people.