A Practical Quality Assurance Procedure for Data Acquisitions in Preclinical Simultaneous PET/MR Systems.

The availability of preclinical simultaneous PET/MR imaging systems has been increasing in recent years. Therefore, this technique is progressively moving from the hands of pure physicists towards those of scientists more involved in pharmacology and biology. Unfortunately, these combined scanners can be prone to artefacts and deviation of their characteristics under the influence of external factors or mutual interference between subsystems.

Acoustic sorting of microfluidic droplets at kHz rates using optical absorbance.

Droplet microfluidics allows one to address the ever-increasing demand to screen large libraries of biological samples. Absorbance spectroscopy complements the golden standard of fluorescence detection by label free target identification and providing more quantifiable data. However, this is limited by speed and sensitivity.

Nutrient deprivation and hypoxia alter T cell immune checkpoint expression: potential impact for immunotherapy.

Aim: Use of immune checkpoint blockade to enhance T cell-mediated immunity within the hostile tumour microenvironment (TME) is an attractive approach in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC). This study explored the effects of the hostile TME, including nutrient deprivation and hypoxia, on immune checkpoint (IC) expression and T cell phenotypes, and the potential use of nivolumab to enhance T cell function under such conditions.

Methods And Results: ICs were upregulated on stromal immune cells within the tumour including PD-L2, CTLA-4 and TIGIT.

ABE8e adenine base editor precisely and efficiently corrects a recurrent COL7A1 nonsense mutation.

Base editing introduces precise single-nucleotide edits in genomic DNA and has the potential to treat genetic diseases such as the blistering skin disease recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), which is characterized by mutations in the COL7A1 gene and type VII collagen (C7) deficiency. Adenine base editors (ABEs) convert A-T base pairs to G-C base pairs without requiring double-stranded DNA breaks or donor DNA templates. Here, we use ABE8e, a recently evolved ABE, to correct primary RDEB patient fibroblasts harboring the recurrent RDEB nonsense mutation c.

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers following an identified nosocomial COVID-19 exposure during waves 1-3 of the pandemic in Ireland.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) have increased exposure and subsequent risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This case-control study was conducted to investigate the contemporaneous risks associated with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst HCWs following in-work exposure to a confirmed coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) case. We assessed the influence of demographic (age, sex, nationality, high risk co-morbidities and vaccination status) and work-related factors (job role, exposure location, contact type, personal protective equipment (PPE) use) on infection risk following nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 exposure.

Current issues and future considerations for the wider implementation of robotic-assisted surgery: a qualitative study.

Objectives: The effective implementation of a fast-changing healthcare delivery innovation, such as robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), into a healthcare system, can be affected (both positively and negatively) by external contextual factors. As part of a wider project investigating ways to optimise the implementation of RAS, this qualitative study aimed to uncover current issues of RAS and predictions about the future of robotic surgery. We refer to 'current issues' as the topical and salient challenges and opportunities related to the introduction of RAS in the UK healthcare system, from the perspectives of key stakeholders involved in the delivery and implementation of RAS.

Photodynamic versus white-light-guided resection of first-diagnosis non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: PHOTO RCT.

Background: Around 7500 people are diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer in the UK annually. Recurrence following transurethral resection of bladder tumour is common, and the intensive monitoring schedule required after initial treatment has associated costs for patients and the NHS. In photodynamic diagnosis, before transurethral resection of bladder tumour, a photosensitiser that is preferentially absorbed by tumour cells is instilled intravesically.

Identification of Penicillin Binding Protein 4 (PBP4) Inhibitors.

Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) is a global healthcare concern. Such resistance has historically been attributed to the acquisition of (or ), which encodes an alternative penicillin binding protein, PBP2a, with low β-lactam affinity. However, recent studies have indicated that penicillin binding protein 4 (PBP4) is also a critical determinant of methicillin resistance, particularly among community-acquired MRSA strains.

Detection of human adenovirus F41 in wastewater and its relationship to clinical cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

As of 8 July 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) have reported 1010 probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children worldwide, including approximately 250 cases in the United Kingdom (UK). Clinical presentations have often been severe, with liver transplantation a frequent clinical outcome. Human adenovirus F41 (HAdV-F41) has been detected in most children with acute hepatitis, but its role in the pathogenesis of this infection has yet to be established.

Ultra-Tight Host-Guest Binding with Exceptionally Strong Positive Cooperativity.

Cooperativity plays a critical role in self-assembly and molecular recognition. A rigid aromatic oligoamide macrocycle with a cyclodirectional backbone binds with DABCO-based cationic guests in a 2 : 1 ratio in high affinities (K ≈10  M ) in the highly polar DMF. The host-guest binding also exhibits exceptionally strong positive cooperativity quantified by interaction factors α that are among the largest for synthetic host-guest systems.

Hill-type, bioinspired actuation delivers energy economy in DC motors.

Electromagnetic motors convert stored energy to mechanical work through a linear force-velocity (FV) relationship. In biological systems, however, muscle actuation is characterized by the hyperbolic FV mechanisms of the Hill muscle-in which a parametercharacterizes the degree of nonlinearity. Previous work has shown that bioinspiration in human-engineered systems can contribute favorable mechanical attributes-such as energy efficiency, self-stability, and flexibility, among others.

A contiguous de novo genome assembly of sugar beet EL10 (Beta vulgaris L.).

A contiguous assembly of the inbred 'EL10' sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) genome was constructed using PacBio long-read sequencing, BioNano optical mapping, Hi-C scaffolding, and Illumina short-read error correction. The EL10.

The contribution of general medical conditions to the non-fatal burden of mental disorders: register-based cohort study in Denmark.

Background: General medical conditions (GMCs) often co-occur with mental and substance use disorders (MSDs).

Aims: To explore the contribution of GMCs to the burden of disease in people with MSDs, and investigate how this varied by age.

Method: A population-based cohort of 6 988 507 persons living in Denmark during 2000-2015 followed for up to 16 years.

A Randomized Trial of PHOTOdynamic Surgery in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Recurrence of non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is common after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) provides better diagnostic accuracy and more complete tumor resection and may reduce recurrence. However, there is limited evidence on the longer-term clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PDD-guided resection.

Multicenter evaluation of neoadjuvant and induction gemcitabine-carboplatin versus gemcitabine-cisplatin followed by radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Purpose: Cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy (RC) is recommended in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, up to 50% of patients are cisplatin ineligible. The aim of this study was to compare clinical outcomes after ≥ 3 cycles of preoperative gemcitabine-carboplatin (gem-carbo) versus gemcitabine-cisplatin (gem-cis).

The Anti-Obesity Effect of Porous Silica Is Dependent on Pore Nanostructure, Particle Size, and Surface Chemistry in an In Vitro Digestion Model.

The potential for porous silica to serve as an effective anti-obesity agent has received growing attention in recent years. However, neither the exact pharmacological mechanism nor the fundamental physicochemical properties of porous silica that drive its weight-lowering effect are well understood. Subsequently, in this study, an advanced in vitro digestion model capable of monitoring lipid and carbohydrate digestion was employed to elucidate the effect of porous silica supplementation on digestive enzyme activities.

Exposure methodologies for dissolved individual hydrocarbons, dissolved oil, water oil dispersions, water accommodated fraction and chemically enhanced water accommodated fraction of fresh and weathered oil.

Characterizing the nature and effects of oil released into the marine environment is very challenging. It is generally recognized that "environmentally relevant" conditions for exposure involve a range of temporal and spatial conditions, a range of exposure pathways (e.g.

Gene expression analysis reveals a 5-gene signature for progression-free survival in prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common male cancer worldwide, but effective biomarkers for the presence or progression risk of disease are currently elusive. In a series of nine matched histologically confirmed PCa and benign samples, we carried out an integrated transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis, including differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), which identified a set of potential gene markers highly associated with tumour status (malignant . benign).

Total shoulder arthroplasty vs. hemiarthroplasty in patients with primary glenohumeral arthritis with intact rotator cuff: meta-analysis using the ratio of means.

Background: Glenohumeral arthritis is a degenerative disease of the shoulder joint. There is limited evidence in the literature in superiority of outcomes between total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and hemiarthroplasty (HA) for patients when the rotator cuff is intact. The purpose of this systematic review was to compare patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and rate of complication between these 2 interventions in patients with primary glenohumeral arthritis and an intact rotator cuff.