[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.

How do red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) explore their environment? Characteristics of movement patterns in time and space.

Background: Many animals must adapt their movements to different conditions encountered during different life phases, such as when exploring extraterritorial areas for dispersal, foraging or breeding. To better understand how animals move in different movement phases, we asked whether movement patterns differ between one way directed movements, such as during the transient phase of dispersal or two way exploratory-like movements such as during extraterritorial excursions or stationary movements.

Methods: We GPS collared red foxes in a rural area in southern Germany between 2020 and 2023.

Empowering personalized oncology: evolution of digital support and visualization tools for molecular tumor boards.

Background: Molecular tumor boards (MTBs) play a pivotal role in personalized oncology, leveraging complex data sets to tailor therapy for cancer patients. The integration of digital support and visualization tools is essential in this rapidly evolving field facing fast-growing data and changing clinical processes. This study addresses the gap in understanding the evolution of software and visualization needs within MTBs and evaluates the current state of digital support.

Drought in a warmer, CO-rich climate restricts grassland water use and soil water mixing.

Soil water sustains terrestrial life, yet its fate is uncertain under a changing climate. We conducted a deuterium labeling experiment to determine whether elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO), warming, and drought impact soil water storage and transport in a temperate grassland. Elevated CO created a wetter rootzone compared with ambient conditions, whereas warming decreased soil moisture.

Postoperative pancreatic fistula risk assessment using digital pathology based analyses at the parenchymal resection margin of the pancreas - Results from the randomized multicenter RECOPANC trial.

Background: In pancreatic surgery Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) represents the most dreaded complication, for which pancreatic texture is acknowledged as one of the strongest predictors. No consensual objective reference has been defined to evaluate the pancreas composition. The presented study aimed to mine histology data of the pancreatic tissue composition with AI assist and correlate it with clinic-pathological parameters derived from the RECOPANC study.

Impact of lifetime antiepileptic drug history on cenobamate efficacy in adults with focal epilepsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of cenobamate (CNB) in adults with focal epilepsy based on the number of previous lifetime antiseizure medications (ASMs).

Methods: Twenty patients receiving add-on treatment with CNB with <6 lifetime ASMs were retrospectively compared to 20 Patients with >10 ASMs and approximately the same age. Efficacy was assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months following CNB initiation.

Reduced Theta Inter-Trial Phase Coherence in Error Processing: A Marker of Neural Dysfunction in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Cognitive control deficits and increased intra-subject variability have been well established as core characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and there is a growing interest in their expression at the neural level. We aimed to study neural variability in ADHD, as reflected in theta inter-trial phase coherence (ITC) during error processing, a process that involves cognitive control. We examined both traditional event-related potential (ERP) measures of error processing (i.

Resolving tissue complexity by multimodal spatial omics modeling with MISO.

Spatial molecular profiling has provided biomedical researchers valuable opportunities to better understand the relationship between cellular localization and tissue function. Effectively modeling multimodal spatial omics data is crucial for understanding tissue complexity and underlying biology. Furthermore, improvements in spatial resolution have led to the advent of technologies that can generate spatial molecular data with subcellular resolution, requiring the development of computationally efficient methods that can handle the resulting large-scale datasets.

Herpesviruses mimic zygotic genome activation to promote viral replication.

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) is crucial for maternal to zygotic transition at the 2-8-cell stage in order to overcome silencing of genes and enable transcription from the zygotic genome. In humans, ZGA is induced by DUX4, a pioneer factor that drives expression of downstream germline-specific genes and retroelements. Here we show that herpesviruses from all subfamilies, papillomaviruses and Merkel cell polyomavirus actively induce DUX4 expression to promote viral transcription and replication.

Teaching in the Digital Age-Developing a Support Program for Nursing Education Providers: Design-Based Research.

Background: Health care systems and the nursing profession worldwide are being transformed by technology and digitalization. Nurses acquire digital competence through their own experience in daily practice, but also from education and training; nursing education providers thus play an important role. While nursing education providers have some level of digital competence, there is a need for ongoing training and support for them to develop more advanced skills and effectively integrate technology into their teaching.

Lateralizing value of interictal epileptiform discharges and other parameters in hypothalamic hamartoma.

Objective: Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are associated with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation (SRT) shows promise as a disconnecting intervention. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is typically used to determine the attachment and intervention side, it presents challenges in cases of bilaterally attached HH, where the epileptogenic side is unclear.

Keyhole Fenestration for Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks in the Thoracic Spine: Quantification of Bone Removal and Microsurgical Anatomy.

Background And Objective: A safe working trajectory is mandatory for spinal pathologies, especially in the midline, anterior to the spinal cord. For thoracic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks, we developed a minimally invasive keyhole fenestration. This study investigates the necessary bone removal for sufficient exposure of different leak types particularly regarding weight-bearing structures.

Effective community engagement in one health research in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

Background: The one health (OH) approach, linking human, animal, and environmental health, relies on effective community engagement (CE), education, stewardship, and effective regional and global partnerships. For real impact, communities should be at the centre of research agenda setting and program implementation. This review aimed at synthesizing empirical evidence on how communities are involved in one health research.

Methodological challenges using routine clinical care data for real-world evidence: a rapid review utilizing a systematic literature search and focus group discussion.

Background: The integration of real-world evidence (RWE) from real-world data (RWD) in clinical research is crucial for bridging the gap between clinical trial results and real-world outcomes. Analyzing routinely collected data to generate clinical evidence faces methodological concerns like confounding and bias, similar to prospectively documented observational studies. This study focuses on additional limitations frequently reported in the literature, providing an overview of the challenges and biases inherent to analyzing routine clinical care data, including health claims data (hereafter: routine data).

Beekeepers' perceptions toward a new omics tool for monitoring bee health in Europe.

Pressures on honey bee health have substantially increased both colony mortality and beekeepers' costs for hive management across Europe. Although technological advances could offer cost-effective solutions to these challenges, there is little research into the incentives and barriers to technological adoption by beekeepers in Europe. Our study is the first to investigate beekeepers' willingness to adopt the Bee Health Card, a molecular diagnostic tool developed within the PoshBee EU project which can rapidly assess bee health by monitoring molecular changes in bees.

Survival of Eurasian lynx in the human-dominated landscape of Europe.

Survival and cause-specific mortality rates are vital for evidence-based population forecasting and conservation, particularly for large carnivores, whose populations are often vulnerable to human-caused mortalities. It is therefore important to know the relationship between anthropogenic and natural mortality causes to evaluate whether they are additive or compensatory. Further, the relation between survival and environmental covariates could reveal whether specific landscape characteristics influence demographic performance.

Shape-matching-based fracture reduction aid concept exemplified on the proximal humerus-a pilot study.

Purpose: Optimizing fracture reduction quality is key to achieve successful osteosynthesis, especially for epimetaphyseal regions such as the proximal humerus (PH), but can be challenging, partly due to the lack of a clear endpoint. We aimed to develop the prototype for a novel intraoperative C-arm-based aid to facilitate true anatomical reduction of fractures of the PH.

Methods: The proposed method designates the reduced endpoint position of fragments by superimposing the outer boundary of the premorbid bone shape on intraoperative C-arm images, taking the mirrored intact contralateral PH from the preoperative CT scan as a surrogate.

The effect of gesture expressivity on emotional resonance in storytelling interaction.

The key function of storytelling is a meeting of hearts: a resonance in the recipient(s) of the story narrator's emotion toward the story events. This paper focuses on the role of gestures in engendering emotional resonance in conversational storytelling. The paper asks three questions: Does story narrators' gesture expressivity increase from story onset to climax offset (RQ #1)? Does gesture expressivity predict specific EDA responses in story participants (RQ #2)? How important is the contribution of gesture expressivity to emotional resonance compared to the contribution of other predictors of resonance (RQ #3)? 53 conversational stories were annotated for a large number of variables including Protagonist, Recency, Group composition, Group size, Sentiment, and co-occurrence with quotation.

Evaluation of a context-aware chatbot using retrieval-augmented generation for answering clinical questions on medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw.

The potential of large language models (LLMs) in medical applications is significant, and Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) can address the weaknesses of these models in terms of data transparency and scientific accuracy by incorporating current scientific knowledge into responses. In this study, RAG and GPT-4 by OpenAI were applied to develop GuideGPT, a context aware chatbot integrated with a knowledge database from 449 scientific publications designed to provide answers on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). A comparison was made with a generic LLM ("PureGPT") across 30 MRONJ-related questions.

Feasibility, trueness and precision of intraoral scanners in digitizing maxillectomy defects with exposed zygomatic implants in situ: An in vitro 3D comparative study.

Objectives: To in-vitro evaluate the feasibility and accuracy (trueness and precision) of various intraoral scanners (IOS) to digitize maxillectomy defect models with exposed zygomatic implants in situ.

Material And Methods: Six partially edentulous and edentulous maxillectomy defect models with 2 zygomatic implants each were obtained. References scans were obatined by using a laboratory scanner (inEos X5; Dentsply Sirona).

A Novel In Vitro Model of the Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Identifies CD44 and Focal Adhesion Kinase as Therapeutic Targets to Reverse Cell Adhesion-Mediated Drug Resistance.

Background/objectives: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive neoplasm. Although most patients respond to induction therapy, they commonly relapse due to recurrent disease in the bone marrow microenvironment (BMME). So, the disruption of the BMME, releasing tumor cells into the peripheral circulation, has therapeutic potential.

Integrated Analysis of Cell-Free DNA and Novel Protein Biomarkers for Stratification and Therapy Monitoring in Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer: A Preliminary Study.

Given the poor prognosis of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDAC), closer disease monitoring through liquid biopsy, most frequently based on serial measurements of cell-free mutated ( cfDNA), has become a highly active research focus, aimed at improving patients' long-term outcomes. However, most of the available data show only a limited predictive and prognostic value of single-parameter-based methods. We hypothesized that a combined longitudinal analysis of cfDNA and novel protein biomarkers could improve risk stratification and molecular monitoring of patients with mPDAC.

BenchAMRking: a Galaxy-based platform for illustrating the major issues associated with current antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene prediction workflows.

Background: The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) networks 'Seq4AMR' and 'B2B2B AMR Dx' were established to promote collaboration between microbial whole genome sequencing (WGS) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) stakeholders. A key topic discussed was the frequent variability in results obtained between different microbial WGS-related AMR gene prediction workflows. Further, comparative benchmarking studies are difficult to perform due to differences in AMR gene prediction accuracy and a lack of agreement in the naming of AMR genes (semantic conformity) for the results obtained.