A Phase II Trial of Onapristone and Fulvestrant for Patients With ER+ and HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Background: The SMILE study is a multi-institutional phase II clinical trial to determine the efficacy and safety of an antiprogestin, onapristone, in combination with fulvestrant as second-line therapy for patients with ER+, PgR+/-, HER2- metastatic breast cancer. This study was terminated early and herein, we report patient characteristics, and outcomes.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included disease progression on ≥2 lines of prior therapy, ECOG performance status ≤ 2, measurable disease per RECIST 1.

4D flow cardiac magnetic resonance in pediatric congenital heart disease: Insights from over four years of clinical practice.

Background: Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are common birth defects. This work presents over four years of clinical experience of 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), highlighting its value for pediatric CHD.

Methods: Children with various CHD diagnoses (n = 298) were examined on a 1.

[Stress and other risk factors in central serous chorioretinopathy-A myth?].

Since the initial description of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) by von Graefe in 1866, various risk factors for this condition have been described and discussed. In addition to established factors, such as the use of corticosteroids, psychosomatic factors, particularly stress, have increasingly come into focus in the literature. Studies have shown that psychological stress and emotional stressors not only impair well-being but also trigger physiological responses that could increase the risk of CSC.

Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Professional Development Program for Primary School Teachers in the Czech Republic: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Research has shown that 20% of Czech teachers suffer with burnout symptoms and 65% are at risk of burning out, which suggests that it is essential to continue addressing the issue of stress in Czech teachers. The main objective of this study was to evaluate a self-compassion and mindfulness-based professional development program for primary school teachers in the Czech Republic.

Methods: Five schools were recruited, two as intervention schools ( of teachers = 47) and three as controls ( of teachers = 57).

Prognostic factors for transplant-free survival in patients with secondary sclerosing cholangitis associated with critical illness.

Objective: Secondary sclerosing cholangitis (SSC) represents a disease with a poor prognosis increasingly diagnosed in clinical settings. Notably, SSC in critically ill patients (SSC-CIP) is the most frequent cause. Variables associated with worse prognosis remain unclear.

The molecular bacterial load assay predicts treatment responses in patients with pre-XDR/XDR-tuberculosis more accurately than GeneXpert Ultra MTB/Rif.

Objectives: Early detection of treatment failure is essential to improve the management of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). We evaluated the molecular bacterial load assay (MBLA) in comparison to standard diagnostic tests for monitoring therapy of patients affected by drug-resistant TB.

Methods: The performance of MBLA in tracking treatment response in a prospective cohort of patients with pulmonary MDR/RR- and pre-XDR/XDR-TB was compared with mycobacterial culture, mycobacterial DNA detection using GeneXpert (Xpert) and microscopy detection of sputum acid-fast-bacilli.

Long-Term Self-Administered Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy in the Treatment of Tuberculosis.

Objectives: To investigate the safety profiles and clinical outcomes in a continuous cohort of tuberculosis (TB) patients from a clinical referral centre in Germany receiving self-administered outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (sOPAT).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of patients receiving sOPAT after discharge from the Research Center Borstel in Germany between January 2015 and December 2020. Data were extracted from medical records.

Impact of drug-resistant tuberculosis on socio-economic status, quality of life and psychological well-being of patients in Bucharest, Romania: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health challenge, with 1.3 million deaths in 2022. Ten countries in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) accounted for 88.

Acute kidney injury as a key predictor of cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease patients: the CKD-REIN study.

Background And Hypothesis: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been increasingly recognized as a potential exacerbating factor for cardiovascular events in these patients. The CKD-REIN study aims to explore the relationship between AKI and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in a cohort of CKD patients.

Tuberculosis in adult migrants in Europe: a TBnet consensus statement.

Introduction: Global migration has increased in recent decades due to war, conflict, persecutions, and natural disasters, but also secondary to increased opportunities related to work or study. Migrants' risk of tuberculosis (TB) differs by reasons for migration, socioeconomic status, mode of travel and TB risk in transit, TB incidence and healthcare provision in country of origin. Despite advances in TB care for migrants and new treatment strategies, decisions for the management of migrants at risk of TB often rely on expert opinions, rather than clinical evidence.

Advances in tuberculosis biomarkers: unravelling risk factors, active disease and treatment success.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global health threat and demands improved diagnostic and treatment monitoring methods. Conventional diagnostics, such as sputum smear microscopy and culture, are limited by slow results and low sensitivity, particularly in certain patient groups. Recent advances in biomarker research offer promising solutions in three key areas: risk of disease, diagnosis of active disease and monitoring of treatment response.

Artificial intelligence in tuberculosis: a new ally in disease control.

The challenges to effective tuberculosis (TB) disease control are considerable, and the current global targets for reductions in disease burden seem unattainable. The combination of complex pathophysiology and technical limitations results in difficulties in achieving consistent, reliable diagnoses, and long treatment regimens imply serious physiological and socioeconomic consequences for patients. Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare have significantly improved patient care regarding diagnostics, treatment and basic research.

Association of Patients' Knowledge on the Disease and Its Management with Indicators of Disease Severity and Individual Characteristics in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Results from COSYCONET 2.

Background: In patients with chronic diseases, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), knowledge on the disease and its self-management is considered as relevant for improving disease control and long-term outcome. We studied to which extent components of knowledge depended on potential predictors, such as participation in educational programs and disease severity. For example, the perception of exacerbations or GOLD grade might modulate the content and reliability of COPD understanding.

[A rare cause of multiple cavitary lung lesions].

We report on a 32-year-old woman with multiple, progressive cavitary lung lesions. Lung cavities may occur in the context of various diseases and, thus, represent a huge diagnostic challenge. The spectrum of diseases comprises infections, systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, and malignancies.

Evaluation and characterization of lytic phages and their recombinant endolysins for control of Staphylococcus aureus aiming to mitigate bovine mastitis.

As a natural alternative to conventional antimicrobials, bacteriophages are emerging as highly effective biocontrol agents against Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogenic bacteria. Due to the wide diversity of S. aureus types and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, the search for highly lytic and prevalent bacteriophages against S.

Clinical Phenotype of Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia Reversed by ECT: A Case Report.

Introduction: Diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) remains difficult even in the presence of core clinical and imaging features. Furthermore, disease-modifying treatments are lacking.

Case Presentation: Here, we report a case of a patient with clinical and imaging features of FTD.

Importance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a marker for microbiological specimens in critically ill patients after liver or lung transplantation.

Purpose: The correct and early diagnosis of an infection is pivotal for patients, especially if the patients are immunocompromised. Various infection markers are used in clinics with different advantages and disadvantages. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a cost effective parameter easily obtained without further investments.

Search for Soft Unclustered Energy Patterns in Proton-Proton Collisions at 13 TeV.

The first search for soft unclustered energy patterns (SUEPs) is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Such SUEPs are predicted by hidden valley models with a new, confining force with a large 't Hooft coupling. In events with boosted topologies, selected by high-threshold hadronic triggers, the multiplicity and sphericity of clustered tracks are used to reject the background from standard model quantum chromodynamics.

Performance of stool-based molecular tests and processing methods for paediatric tuberculosis diagnosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: There has been a global pursuit to improve the diagnosis of tuberculosis in young children by applying diagnostic methods on accessible biospecimens such as stool. We aimed to conduct a systematic review on the accuracy of stool-based molecular tests for tuberculosis diagnosis in children and to assess the impact of the available pre-processing methods and other design characteristics.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluated studies in children younger than 16 years with presumptive tuberculosis that were published in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese from Jan 1, 2000, to May 3, 2024, in MEDLINE, Embase, and Embase Classic, comparing the molecular detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in stool with microbiological tests on other samples or a clinical diagnosis.

The multifaceted role of vitreous hyalocytes: Orchestrating inflammation, angiomodulation and erythrophagocytosis in proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Despite great advances in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) therapy over the last decades, one third of treated patients continue to lose vision. While resident vitreous macrophages called hyalocytes have been implicated in the pathophysiology of vitreoretinal proliferative disease previously, little is known about their exact role in PDR. In this study, we address molecular and cellular alterations in the vitreous of PDR patients as a means towards assessing the potential contribution of hyalocytes to disease pathogenesis.