Pattern of Failure in Patients with Biochemical Recurrence After PSMA Radioguided Surgery.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioguided surgery (RGS) is evolving as a new treatment modality for patients with early biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer and disease limited to locoregional lymph nodes on PSMA-ligand PET/CT. Nevertheless, the pattern of failure (locoregional vs. systemic) after PSMA RGS remains unknown.

"I've been really happy since I got that letter!": Longitudinal patient perspectives on lung cancer screening communication.

Objective: Experts recommend structured shared decision making when discussing lung cancer screening (LCS) and reporting low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) results. We examined patients' reactions to pre- and post-LDCT results communication processes at three medical centers in the US with established LCS programs.

Methods: Multicenter, qualitative, longitudinal study of patients considering and receiving LCS using data from semi-structured interviews guided by a patient-centered communication model using conventional content analysis.

Longitudinal Assessment of Communication With Patient-Reported Outcomes During Lung Cancer Screening.

Background: Many organizations recommend clinicians use structured communication processes, referred to as shared decision-making, to improve patient-reported outcomes for patients considering lung cancer screening (LCS).

Research Question: Which components of high-quality patient-centered communication are associated with decision regret and distress?

Study Design And Methods: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, repeated measures cohort study among patients undergoing LCS in three different health care systems. We surveyed participants using validated measures of decision regret, decision satisfaction, distress, and patient-clinician communication domains up to 1 year after the low-dose CT (LDCT) imaging for LCS.

Hierarchical Surface Pattern on Ni-Free Ti-Based Bulk Metallic Glass to Control Cell Interactions.

Ni-free Ti-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are exciting materials for biomedical applications because of their outstanding biocompatibility and advantageous mechanical properties. The glassy nature of BMGs allows them to be shaped and patterned via thermoplastic forming (TPF). This work demonstrates the versatility of the TPF technique to create micro- and nano-patterns and hierarchical structures on TiZrCuPdSn BMG.

Development and external validation of a multivariable [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET-based prediction model for lymph node involvement in men with intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer.

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a lymph node invasion (LNI) prediction model for men staged with [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET.

Methods: A consecutive sample of intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) patients undergoing [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET, extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND), and radical prostatectomy (RP) at two tertiary referral centers were retrospectively identified. The training cohort comprised 173 patients (treated between 2013 and 2017), the validation cohort 90 patients (treated between 2016 and 2019).

Periodontal disease and its association to endothelial dysfunction and clinical changes in limited systemic sclerosis: A case-control study.

Objectives: Periodontal disease occurs frequently in patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) while data about underlying pathways contributing to periodontal changes are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate periodontal disease and to investigate its association with endothelial dysfunction and clinical changes in patients with lcSSc.

Methods: In 38 lcSSc patients and 38 controls, periodontal status was evaluated by disease-specific questionnaire, dental examination including bleeding on probing (BOP), pocket depth, and plaque index, and dental panoramic radiograph.

Standard Balloon Angioplasty Versus Serranator Serration Balloon Angioplasty for the Treatment of Below-the-Knee Artery Occlusive Disease: A Single-Center Subanalysis From the PRELUDE-BTK Prospective Study.

Background: Endovascular interventions in infrapopliteal occlusive artery disease are becoming more complex, and this frequently tests the standard method of treatment, plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA). The potential that serration angioplasty could produce a more acceptable tibial artery lumen was assessed in this study.

Aim: The aim of this single-center subgroup analysis was to compare acute angiographic results after endovascular treatment using the Serranator serration balloon catheter in patients participating in the PRELUDE-BTK trial with POBA of the infrapopliteal arteries.

Mutations Increasing Cofactor Affinity, Improve Stability and Activity of a Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase.

The typically low thermodynamic and kinetic stability of enzymes is a bottleneck for their application in industrial synthesis. Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases, which oxidize ketones to lactones using aerial oxygen, among other activities, suffer particularly from these instabilities. Previous efforts in protein engineering have increased thermodynamic stability but at the price of decreased activity.

"It's a decision I have to make": Patient perspectives on smoking and cessation after lung cancer screening decisions.

Few studies exist showing that involvement in lung cancer screening (LCS) leads to a change in rates of cigarette smoking. We investigated LCS longitudinally to determine whether teachable moments for smoking cessation occur downstream from the initial provider-patient LCS shared decision-making discussion and self-reported effects on smoking behaviors. We performed up to two successive semi-structured interviews to assess the experiences of 39 individuals who formerly or currently smoked cigarettes who underwent LCS decision-making discussions performed during routine care from three established US medical center LCS programs.

Association of Patient-Centered Elements of Care and Palliative Care Among Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer.

Context: Palliative care (PC) is associated with improved quality of life, survival, and decreased healthcare use at the end of life among lung cancer patients. However, the specific elements of palliative care that may contribute to these benefits are unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate the associations of PC and its setting of delivery with prescriptions of symptom management medications, advance care planning (ACP), hospice enrollment, and home health care (HHC) receipt.

Association of immunological parameters with aortic dilatation in giant cell arteritis: a cross-sectional study.

Aortic dilatation (AD) occurs in up to 30% of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). Reliable biomarkers for AD development, however, are still absent. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate whether immunological parameters are associated with the occurrence of AD in GCA.

Tracked 3D ultrasound and deep neural network-based thyroid segmentation reduce interobserver variability in thyroid volumetry.

Thyroid volumetry is crucial in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of thyroid diseases. However, conventional thyroid volumetry with 2D ultrasound is highly operator-dependent. This study compares 2D and tracked 3D ultrasound with an automatic thyroid segmentation based on a deep neural network regarding inter- and intraobserver variability, time, and accuracy.

HPV16 Induces Formation of Virus-p62-PML Hybrid Bodies to Enable Infection.

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) inflict a significant burden on the human population. The clinical manifestations caused by high-risk HPV types are cancers at anogenital sites, including cervical cancer, as well as head and neck cancers. Host cell defense mechanisms such as autophagy are initiated upon HPV entry.

Ionic Conductivity of Nanocrystalline and Amorphous LiGePS: The Detrimental Impact of Local Disorder on Ion Transport.

Solids with extraordinarily high Li dynamics are key for high performance all-solid-state batteries. The thiophosphate LiGePS (LGPS) belongs to the best Li-ion conductors with an ionic conductivity exceeding 10 mS cm at ambient temperature. Recent molecular dynamics simulations performed by Dawson and Islam predict that the ionic conductivity of LGPS can be further enhanced by a factor of 3 if local disorder is introduced.

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Author Sex and Manuscript Acceptance Rates among Pulmonary and Critical Care Journals.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively affected women more than men and may influence the publication of non-COVID-19 research. To evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with changes in manuscript acceptance rates among pulmonary/critical care journals and sex-based disparities in these rates. We analyzed first, senior, and corresponding author sex (female vs.

Validation of F-rhPSMA-7 and F-rhPSMA-7.3 PET Imaging Results with Histopathology from Salvage Surgery in Patients with Biochemical Recurrence of Prostate Cancer.

F-rhPSMA-7, and its single diastereoisomer form, F-rhPSMA-7.3, are prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting radiopharmaceuticals. Here, we investigated their accuracy for the assessment of lymph node (LN) metastases validated by histopathology.

Lower Lean Mass Is Associated with Greater Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Lower Extremity Artery Disease.

Background: Arterial stiffness is independently associated with lower extremity artery disease (LEAD). Although obesity is already known as an independent cardiovascular risk factor, it was found that, paradoxically, in patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, an increase in body mass index (BMI) was associated with a decrease in mortality. However, the underlying mechanism of this paradoxical association remain uncertain.

Metabolic alterations in a rat model of takotsubo syndrome.

Aims: Cardiac energetic impairment is a major finding in takotsubo patients. We investigate specific metabolic adaptations to direct future therapies.

Methods And Results: An isoprenaline-injection female rat model (vs.

Preclinical Evaluation of [F]LCATD as a PET Tracer to Study Drug-Drug Interactions Caused by Inhibition of Hepatic Transporters.

The bile acid analogue (LithoCholic Acid Triazole Derivative) is transported in vitro by hepatic uptake transporters such as OATP1B1 and NTCP and efflux transporter BSEP. In this in vivo "proof of principle" study, we tested if may be used to evaluate drug-drug interactions (DDIs) caused by inhibition of liver transporters. Hepatic clearance of in rats was significantly modified upon coadministration of rifamycin SV or sodium fusidate, which are known to inhibit clinically relevant uptake transporters (OATP1B1, NTCP) and canalicular hepatic transporters (BSEP) in humans.

Design, synthesis, in vitro characterization and preliminary imaging studies on fluorinated bile acid derivatives as PET tracers to study hepatic transporters.

With the aim of identifying a fluorinated bile acid derivative that could be used as [F]-labeled Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer for imaging the in vivo functioning of liver transporter proteins, and particularly of OATP1B1, three fluorinated bile acid triazole derivatives of cholic, deoxycholic and lithocholic acid (CATD, DCATD and LCATD 4a-c, respectively) were synthesized and labeled with tritium. In vitro transport properties were studied with cell-based assays to identify the best substrate for OATP1B1. In addition, the lead compound, LCATD (4c), was tested as a substrate of other liver uptake transporters OATP1B3, NTCP and efflux transporter BSEP to evaluate its specificity of liver transport.

Last-Step Enzymatic [(18) F]-Fluorination of Cysteine-Tethered RGD Peptides Using Modified Barbas Linkers.

We report a last-step fluorinase-catalyzed [(18) F]-fluorination of a cysteine-containing RGD peptide. The peptide was attached through sulfur to a modified and more hydrophilic variant of the recently disclosed Barbas linker which was itself linked to a chloroadenosine moiety via a PEGylated chain. The fluorinase was able to use this construct as a substrate for a transhalogenation reaction to generate [(18) F]-radiolabeled RGD peptides, which retained high affinity to cancer-cell relevant αv β3 integrins.