Evolution and Impact of Hepatitis A Epidemiology in Europe-Systematic Literature Review of the Last 20 Years.

While globally hepatitis A (hepA) infections occur in 150 million people annually, European high-income countries now have a low endemicity. However, this results in a more susceptible adult population which is prone to severe illness. To determine current epidemiological characteristics, we performed a systematic literature review to assess the severity of hepA disease in the past two decades in 11 European countries (i.

Research Note: Proteases effect on soybean meal: enzyme product and area of production differences on standardized ileal amino acids digestibility of broiler chickens.

This study evaluated the effects of two protease products added to feeds having two soybean meal (SBM) sources (South and North of Brazil). A total of five hundred and sixty, 21 d male broiler chickens were allocated into 7 dietary treatments: a nitrogen-free diet (NFD) and other six diets prepared with a 40% replacement of the NFD with each SBM source. Two commercial protease products (RONOZYME® ProAct and ProAct 360) were added at 15,000 PROT and 30,000 NFP per kg feed, respectively.

ADRIATIC: When face value is enough.

The ADRIATIC study marks a major advancement in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC), showing that consolidation therapy with durvalumab after chemoradiation significantly improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). This establishes durvalumab as the new standard of care for LS-SCLC.

Adjuvant Use of Pembrolizumab for Stage III Melanoma in a Real-World Setting in Europe.

Background: Although data on patients treated with pembrolizumab are available from clinical trials and single-country real-world reports, to our knowledge no multi-country real-world studies have investigated the use of pembrolizumab as an adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma.

Methods: We used the European Melanoma Registry (EUMelaReg), a disease entity-based registry specific for melanoma, to examine treatment and outcomes for adult patients with stage III melanoma with lymph node involvement who had complete resection and received adjuvant treatment with pembrolizumab. The primary objectives were to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of the included patients as well as time on adjuvant pembrolizumab treatment (TOT), real-world recurrence-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) from adjuvant pembrolizumab initiation.

QCD challenges from pp to AA collisions: 4th edition.

This paper is a write-up of the ideas that were presented, developed and discussed at the fourth International Workshop on QCD Challenges from pp to AA, which took place in February 2023 in Padua, Italy. The goal of the workshop was to focus on some of the open questions in the field of high-energy heavy-ion physics and to stimulate the formulation of concrete suggestions for making progresses on both the experimental and theoretical sides. The paper gives a brief introduction to each topic and then summarizes the primary results.

Embedding patient engagement in the R&D process of a life sciences company through co-creation with a patient expert R&D board: a case study.

Patient involvement is crucial in healthcare, a factor increasingly recognised by life sciences companies and research institutes. This article presents a case study on Servier, a life sciences company that founded a patient expert board, ahead of launching a new research and development (R&D) institute. The aim was to foster a patient-centric culture within the company.

The impact of side-chain fluorination on proton-bound phenylalanine dimers: a cryogenic infrared spectroscopic study.

The incorporation of fluorine into amino acids is an important strategy to produce tailored building blocks with unique properties for peptide-based materials. Phenylalanine is frequently modified due to its role in cation-π interactions and the formation of amyloid fibres. Previous studies have utilized gas-phase vibrational spectroscopy to study interactions between canonical amino acids.

Disentangling Neurodegeneration From Aging in Multiple Sclerosis Using Deep Learning: The Brain-Predicted Disease Duration Gap.

Background And Objectives: Disentangling brain aging from disease-related neurodegeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) is increasingly topical. The brain-age paradigm offers a window into this problem but may miss disease-specific effects. In this study, we investigated whether a disease-specific model might complement the brain-age gap (BAG) by capturing aspects unique to MS.

A new subtype of serovar 6, K6b:O3, of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae based on genotypic analysis.

We have analyzed the capsule (CPS) and the lipopolysaccharide O-Antigen (O-Ag) biosynthesis loci of fifteen field isolates of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, including eleven North American and four Japanese ones, reactive to antisera against serovars 3, 6, 8 and/or 15. Ten North American isolates amplified a serovar 6-indicative fragment derived from the capsular loci, whereas one North American isolate and all four Japanese isolates amplified the serovar 6-indicative fragment as well as the serovar 3-indicative fragment. The five isolates producing a 3/6 banding pattern contain a type I CPS locus, named K6b, similar to serovar 6, but with differences in the cpxABCD and cpsABC gene sequences and the length of intergenic regions (modF-cpxA, and cpsC-cpsD).

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: past, present, and future of AI in biology.

The work by Hassabis and Jumper on protein structure prediction together with Baker’s supremacy in de novo protein design set the stage for a future where AI not only deciphers biology at the atomic level but also designs new molecules for biotechnology, medicine, and beyond. I provide an overview of the recent past, the present, and the future of AI in structural biology, from how it all started with the Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP) experiments and a protein engineering lab, to how the field could further evolve with AI models that eventually “understand” biology holistically.

Mixed pesticide sources identified by using wastewater tracers in rivers of South African agricultural catchments.

The agriculturally dominated region of the Western Cape, South Africa is vulnerable to pesticide pollution. A 2017-2019 pesticide monitoring campaign in the agricultural catchments of Grabouw, Piketberg and Hex River Valley identified year-round detections despite few agricultural applications, making pesticide pollution sources unclear. To better trace pesticide sources in these catchments, our study measured 19 pharmaceutical compounds and one industrial chemical as an indicator for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent - in addition to 44 pesticides.

Clinical Pharmacology of Asciminib: A Review.

Asciminib is a first-in-class allosteric inhibitor of the kinase activity of BCR::ABL1, specifically targeting the ABL myristoyl pocket (STAMP). This review focuses on the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic data of asciminib, which is approved at a total daily dose of 80 mg for the treatment of adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase who are either resistant or intolerant to ≥ 2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors or those harboring the T315I mutation (at a dose of 200 mg twice daily). Asciminib is predicted to be almost completely absorbed from the gut, with an absolute bioavailability (F) of approximately 73%.

Twelve-Month Real-World Use of an Advanced Hybrid Closed-Loop System Versus Previous Therapy in a Dutch Center For Specialized Type 1 Diabetes Care.

Background: Complexity of glucose regulation in persons with type 1 diabetes (PWDs) necessitates increased automation of insulin delivery (AID). This study aimed to analyze real-world data over 12 months from PWDs who started using the MiniMed 780G (MM780G) advanced hybrid closed-loop (aHCL) AID system at the Diabeter clinic, focusing on glucometrics and clinical outcomes.

Methods: Persons with type 1 diabetes switching to the MM780G system were included.

Woven EndoBridge device apposition and compression using Sim&Size virtual simulation correlate with aneurysm occlusion status: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Virtual simulation is increasingly used for aneurysm treatment. This study aimed to explore whether mechanical behavior biomarkers of the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device as computed by Sim&Size simulation software were associated with aneurysmal occlusion status at follow-up.

Methods: Consecutive patients with aneurysms treated with WEB were retrospectively enrolled (January 2014 to December 2021).

Insights into Osteogenesis Induced by Crude Seeds Extracts: A Role for Glucosinolates.

: Crude extracts from the genus have recently emerged as promising phytochemicals for preventing bone loss. While the most documented evidence suggests that their general biological activity is due to glucosinolates' (GLSs') hydrolysis products, the direct activity of GLSs is beginning to be uncovered. However, the contribution of GLSs to the bone-sparing activity of crude extracts has seldom been addressed.

Microvascular Inflammation of Kidney Allografts and Clinical Outcomes.

Background: The heterogeneous clinical presentation of graft microvascular inflammation poses a major challenge to successful kidney transplantation. The effect of microvascular inflammation on allograft outcomes is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study that included kidney-transplant recipients from more than 30 transplantation centers in Europe and North America who had undergone allograft biopsy between 2004 and 2023.

A Poly(2,7-anthrylene) with peri-Fused Porphyrin Edges.

Anthracene has served as an important building block of conjugated polymers with the connecting positions playing a crucial role for the electronic structures. Herein, anthracene units have been coupled through their 2,7-carbons to develop an unprecedented, conjugated polymer, namely, poly(2,7-anthrylene) featuring additional peri-fused porphyrin edges. The synthesis starts from a 2,7-dibromo-9-nickel(II) porphyrinyl-anthracene as the pivotal precursor.

Modulation of ABCG2 Transporter Activity by Ko143 Derivatives.

ABCG2 is a multidrug transporter that protects tissues from xenobiotics, affects drug pharmacokinetics, and contributes to multidrug resistance of cancer cells. Here, we present tetracyclic fumitremorgin C analog Ko143 derivatives, evaluate their modulation of purified ABCG2, and report four high-resolution cryo-EM structures and computational analyses to elucidate their interactions with ABCG2. We found that Ko143 derivatives that are based on a ring-opened scaffold no longer inhibit ABCG2-mediated transport activity.