A European Survey to Identify Challenges in the Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.

Background And Aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its more severe subtype, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), are highly prevalent and strongly associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study sought to identify challenges to the diagnosis, treatment and management of people living with MASLD and MASH and understand the key barriers to adopting relevant clinical guidelines.

Methods: A real-world, cross-sectional study (BARRIERS-MASLD) consisting of a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews of physicians in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom was conducted from March to September 2023.

Aging in a weighted ensemble of excitable and self-oscillatory neurons: The role of pairwise and higher-order interactions.

We investigate the aging transition in networks of excitable and self-oscillatory units as the fraction of inherently excitable units increases. Two network topologies are considered: a scale-free network with weighted pairwise interactions and a two-dimensional simplicial complex with weighted scale-free pairwise and triadic interactions. Without triadic interactions, the aging transition from collective oscillations to oscillation death (inhomogeneous stationary states) can occur either suddenly or through an intermediate state of partial oscillation.

Wavebreakers in excitable systems and possible applications for corrosion mitigation.

Traveling waves of excitation arise from the spatial coupling of local nonlinear events by transport processes. In corrosion systems, these electro-dissolution waves relay local perturbations across large portions of the metal surface, significantly amplifying overall damage. For the example of the magnesium alloy AZ31B exposed to sodium chloride solution, we report experimental results suggesting the existence of a vulnerable zone in the wake of corrosion waves where local perturbations can induce a unidirectional wave pulse or segment.

Improving Social Media-Based Support Groups for the Rare Disease Community: Interview Study With Patients and Parents of Children with Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases.

Background: The rarity that is inherent in rare disease (RD) often means that patients and parents of children with RDs feel uniquely isolated and therefore are unprepared or unsupported in their care. To overcome this isolation, many within the RD community turn to the internet, and social media groups in particular, to gather useful information about their RDs. While previous research has shown that social media support groups are helpful for those affected by RDs, it is unclear what these groups are particularly useful or helpful for patients and parents of children with RDs.

Prognostic Implications of Cardiac Geometry in Cirrhosis: Findings From a Large Cohort.

Background And Aims: Cirrhosis is characterised by hyperdynamic circulation, which contributes to cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM). However, the expert consensus on CCM did not initially include cardiac structure because of scant evidence. Therefore, this study investigated the associations of cardiac chamber geometry with mortality and CCM.

Systems-level liquid biopsy in advanced prostate cancer.

Treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) primarily involves the suppression of androgen receptor (AR) activity using androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSIs). While ARSIs have extended patient survival, resistance inevitably develops. Mechanisms of resistance include genomic aberrations at the AR locus that reactivate AR signaling, or lineage plasticity that drives emergence of AR-independent phenotypes.

Benchmarking the speed-accuracy tradeoff in object recognition by humans and neural networks.

Active object recognition, fundamental to tasks like reading and driving, relies on the ability to make time-sensitive decisions. People exhibit a flexible tradeoff between speed and accuracy, a crucial human skill. However, current computational models struggle to incorporate time.

Social Risks and Nonadherence to Recommended Cancer Screening Among US Adults.

Importance: Research indicates that social drivers of health are associated with cancer screening adherence, although the exact magnitude of these associations remains unclear.

Objective: To investigate the associations between individual-level social risks and nonadherence to guideline-recommended cancer screenings.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 39 US states and Washington, DC.

Exposure to School Racial Segregation and Late-Life Cognitive Outcomes.

Importance: Disparities in cognition, including dementia occurrence, persist between non-Hispanic Black (hereinafter, Black) and non-Hispanic White (hereinafter, White) older adults, and are possibly influenced by early educational differences stemming from structural racism. However, the association between school racial segregation and later-life cognition remains underexplored.

Objective: To investigate the association between childhood contextual exposure to school racial segregation and cognitive outcomes in later life.

Factors in Initial Anticoagulation Choice in Hospitalized Patients With Pulmonary Embolism.

Importance: Despite guideline recommendations to use low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) or direct oral anticoagulants in the treatment of most patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), US-based studies have found increasing use of unfractionated heparin (UFH) in hospitalized patients.

Objective: To identify barriers and facilitators of guideline-concordant anticoagulation in patients hospitalized with acute PE.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This qualitative study conducted semistructured interviews from February 1 to June 3, 2024, that were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an iterative process using reflexive thematic analysis.

PSMA-PET/CT Findings in Patients With High-Risk Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer With No Metastatic Disease by Conventional Imaging.

Importance: The phase 3 randomized EMBARK trial evaluated enzalutamide with or without leuprolide in high-risk nonmetastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Eligibility relied on conventional imaging, which underdetects metastatic disease compared with prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET).

Objective: To describe the staging information obtained by PSMA-PET/computed tomography (PSMA-PET/CT) in a patient cohort eligible for the EMBARK trial.

Digital Health Technology Research Funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Importance: Digital health in biomedical research and its expanding list of potential clinical applications are rapidly evolving. A combination of new digital health technologies (DHTs), novel uses of existing DHTs through artificial intelligence- and machine learning-based algorithms, and improved integration and analysis of data from multiple sources has enabled broader use and delivery of these tools for research and health care purposes. The aim of this study was to assess the growth and overall trajectory of DHT funding through a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-wide grant portfolio analysis.

Terahertz Wave Desensitizes Ferroptosis by Inhibiting the Binding of Ferric Ions to the Transferrin.

Ferroptosis is a classic type of programmed cell death characterized by iron dependence, which is closely associated with many diseases such as cancer, intestinal ischemic diseases, and nervous system diseases. Transferrin (Tf) is responsible for ferric-ion delivery owing to its natural Fe binding ability and plays a crucial role in ferroptosis. However, Tf is not considered as a classic druggable target for ferroptosis-associated diseases since systemic perturbation of Tf would dramatically disrupt blood iron homeostasis.

Efficient Expression and Activity Optimization of Manganese Peroxidase for the Simultaneous Degradation of Aflatoxins AFB, AFB, AFG, and AFG.

Aflatoxins (AFs), notorious mycotoxins that pose significant risks to human and animal health, make biodegradation extremely crucial as they offer a promising approach to managing and reducing their harmful impacts. In this study, we identified a manganese peroxidase from (Mnp) through protein similarity analysis, which has the capability to degrade four AFs (AFB, AFB, AFG, and AFG) simultaneously. The gene encoding this enzyme was subject to codon optimization, followed by cold shock induction expression using the pColdII vector, leading to the soluble expression of manganese peroxidase (Mnp) in .

Inactivation Effects of Hypochlorous Acid, Chlorine Dioxide, and Ozone on Airborne SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A Virus.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza A virus are primarily transmitted through droplets or aerosols from patients. The inactivation effects of existing virus control techniques may vary depending on the environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to establish a suitable evaluation system for assessing virus control techniques against airborne viruses for further real-world implementation.

The Role of Radiotherapy in the Management of Melanoma Brain Metastases: An Overview.

Clinical management of melanoma brain metastases is complex and requires multidisciplinary approach. With close collaboration between neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, melanoma patients with brain are offered different treatment modalities: surgery, radiation therapy, systemic therapy or combined treatments. Radiation therapy (whole brain radiotherapy- WBRT and stereotactic radiosurgery- SRS) is an integral part of treating melanoma brain metastases.

Implementation Strategies and Ergonomic Factors in Robot-assisted Microsurgery.

Robot-assisted surgery represents a significant innovation in reconstructive microsurgery, providing enhanced precision and reduced surgeon fatigue. This study examines the integration of robotic assistance in a series of 85 consecutive robot-assisted microsurgical (RAMS) operations. It aims to evaluate changes in the integration of RAMS during the implementation phase in a single institution.