The blood transcriptional response in patients developing intensive care unit-acquired pneumonia.

Introduction: Immune response dysregulation has been implicated in the development of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired pneumonia. We aimed to determine differences in the longitudinal blood transcriptional response between patients who develop ICU-acquired pneumonia (cases) and those who do not (controls).

Methods: We performed a case-cohort study in mechanically ventilated trauma and surgery patients with ICU stays >2 days, enrolled in 30 hospitals across Europe.

Therapeutic quality of exercise interventions for chronic low back pain: a meta-research study using i-CONTENT tool.

Objective: To assess the therapeutic quality of exercise interventions delivered in chronic low back pain (cLBP) trials using the international Consensus on Therapeutic Exercise aNd Training (i-CONTENT) tool and its inter-rater agreement.

Methods: We performed a meta-research study, starting from the trials' arms included in the published Cochrane review (2021) 'Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain'. Two pairs of independent reviewers applied the i-CONTENT tool, a standardised tool designed to ensure the quality of exercise therapy intervention, in a random sample of 100 different exercise arms.

The lncRNA DSCR9 is modulated in pulmonary arterial hypertension endothelial cell models and is associated with alterations in the nitric oxide pathway.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) may be involved in dysfunction of pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) and, thus, in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) pathobiology. We screened the RNA expression profile of commercial human PAEC (hPAEC) exposed to increased hydrostatic pressure, and found that the lncRNA Down syndrome critical region 9 (DSCR9) was the most regulated transcript (log2FC 1.89 vs control).

Intravascular lithotripsy in calcified left main coronary artery: Procedural success and 1-year clinical outcomes.

Background: Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has an excellent efficacy and safety profile in the treatment of calcified coronary lesions during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, data regarding its use on left main (LM) lesions are still limited.

Objective: We aimed to analyze the technical success and 1-year clinical outcomes in calcified LM lesions treated with IVL.

A health economic evaluation of the multinational, randomized controlled CONVINCE trial - cost-utility of high-dose online hemodiafiltration compared to high-flux hemodialysis.

High-flux hemodialysis (HD) and high-dose hemodiafiltration (HDF) are established treatments for patients with kidney failure. Since HDF has been associated with improved survival rates compared to HD, we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of HDF compared to HD. Cost-utility analyses were performed from a societal perspective alongside the multinational randomized controlled CONVINCE trial.

Thermal ablation versus surgical resection of small-size colorectal liver metastases (COLLISION): an international, randomised, controlled, phase 3 non-inferiority trial.

Background: For patients with small-size colorectal liver metastases, growing evidence suggests thermal ablation to be associated with fewer adverse events and faster recovery than resection while also challenging resection in terms of local control and overall survival. This study assessed the potential non-inferiority of thermal ablation compared with surgical resection in patients with small-size resectable colorectal liver metastases.

Methods: Adult patients (aged ≥18 years) from 14 centres in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy with ten or fewer small-size (≤3 cm) colorectal liver metastases, no extrahepatic metastases, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-2, were stratified per centre, and according to their disease burden, into low, intermediate, and high disease burden subgroups and randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either thermal ablation (experimental group) or surgical resection (control group) of all target colorectal liver metastases using the web-based module Castor electronic data capture with variable block sizes of 4, 6, and 8.

Semaglutide in obesity-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and type 2 diabetes across baseline HbA levels (STEP-HFpEF DM): a prespecified analysis of heart failure and metabolic outcomes from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: About half of patients with heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have type 2 diabetes. In the STEP-HFpEF DM trial of adults with obesity-related HFpEF and type 2 diabetes, subcutaneous once weekly semaglutide 2·4 mg conferred improvements in heart failure-related symptoms and physical limitations, bodyweight, and other heart failure outcomes. We aimed to determine whether these effects of semaglutide differ according to baseline HbA.

Incidence and survival of European adolescents and young adults diagnosed with sarcomas: EUROCARE-6 results.

Background: Epidemiological data for sarcoma in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and across age groups are limited. We aim to: 1) update sarcoma incidence, survival, and changes over time in European AYAs; 2) provide an updated comparison of sarcoma survival in AYAs versus children and mature adults.

Methods: We calculated crude incidence rates (IR) per 100,000 European population per year from 2006 to 2013.

Loneliness is positively associated with populist radical right support.

Objectives: The mental and physical health consequences of loneliness are well documented. However, loneliness's socio-political ramifications have been largely unexplored. We theorize that loneliness, due to its physiologically dysregulating impact on the nervous system, facilitates greater susceptibility towards populist radical right parties.

Supporting parents to reduce children's anxiety: A meta-analysis of interventions and their theoretical components.

Parent-focused interventions hold promise for reducing child anxiety, but their content varies greatly, and little is known on the intervention content. We estimated the effects of parent-focused interventions on child anxiety and the most effective combinations of theoretical components. We searched PsycINFO, Medline, and Web of Science in October 2022 for randomized trials on parent-focused interventions to reduce children's anxiety.

Exploring chitin metabolite profiles and sensitivity differences in Collembola species exposed to teflubenzuron.

Effective environmental risk assessments of chemical plant protection products, such as benzoylurea pesticides, are crucial for safeguarding ecosystems. These pesticides, including teflubenzuron, target chitin synthesis in arthropods but also pose risks to non-target soil fauna like Collembola, which play essential roles in decomposition and nutrient cycling. This study combines traditional toxicity tests with a metabolomic approach to examine the interspecies specific sensitivity of three Collembola species - Sinella curviseta, Ceratophysella denticulata, and Folsomia candida - to teflubenzuron.

Usability and Usefulness of a Symptom Management Coaching System for Patients With Cancer Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Comparative Mixed Methods Study.

Background: The prognosis for patients with several types of cancer has substantially improved following the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a novel type of immunotherapy. However, patients may experience symptoms both from the cancer itself and from the medication. A prototype of the eHealth tool Cancer Patients Better Life Experience (CAPABLE) was developed to facilitate symptom management, aimed at patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma treated with immunotherapy.

Conventional MRI-Based Structural Disconnection and Morphometric Similarity Networks and Their Clinical Correlates in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Although multiple sclerosis (MS) can be conceptualized as a network disorder, brain network analyses typically require advanced MRI sequences not commonly acquired in clinical practice. Using conventional MRI, we assessed cross-sectional and longitudinal structural disconnection and morphometric similarity networks in people with MS (pwMS), along with their relationship with clinical disability.

Methods: In this longitudinal monocentric study, 3T structural MRI of pwMS and healthy controls (HC) was retrospectively analyzed.

Systematic identification of Y-chromosome gene functions in mouse spermatogenesis.

The mammalian Y chromosome is essential for male fertility, but which Y genes regulate spermatogenesis is unresolved. We addressed this by generating 13 Y-deletant mouse models. In , , and deletants, spermatogenesis was impaired.

Physiology-informed regularisation enables training of universal differential equation systems for biological applications.

Systems biology tackles the challenge of understanding the high complexity in the internal regulation of homeostasis in the human body through mathematical modelling. These models can aid in the discovery of disease mechanisms and potential drug targets. However, on one hand the development and validation of knowledge-based mechanistic models is time-consuming and does not scale well with increasing features in medical data.

Leptospirosis, melioidosis, and rickettsioses in the vicious circle of neglect.

The global priorities in the field of infectious diseases are constantly changing. While emerging viral infections have regularly dominated public health attention, which has only intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous bacterial diseases have previously caused, and continue to cause, significant morbidity and mortality-deserving equal attention. Three potentially life-threatening endemic bacterial diseases (leptospirosis, melioidosis, and rickettsioses) are a huge public health concern especially in low- and middle-income countries.

The Impact of Advanced Medical Therapies on Time to Resection and Colorectal Cancer Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis Patients Undergoing Colectomy.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of advanced medical therapies (biologicals and small molecules) on time to colectomy and oncological outcomes in UC.

Methods: This cohort study included UC patients who underwent colectomy between 2003 and 2022 at two referral centres in Belgium and the Netherlands. Exposure was use of advanced medical therapies.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy After Resection of Localized Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Following Preoperative FOLFIRINOX.

Importance: The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma after preoperative (m)FOLFIRINOX (combination leucovorin calcium [folinic acid], fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, and oxaliplatin in full or modified dosing) chemotherapy on overall survival (OS) is unclear because current studies do not account for the number of cycles of preoperative chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy regimen.

Objective: To investigate the association of adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma after preoperative (m)FOLFIRINOX with OS, taking into account the number of cycles of preoperative chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy regimen.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients with localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with 2 to 11 cycles of preoperative (m)FOLFIRINOX followed by resection across 48 centers in 20 countries from 2010 to 2018.

Pharmacist-led deprescribing of cardiovascular and diabetes medication within a clinical medication review: the LeMON study (Less Medicines in Older Patients in the Netherlands), a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Deprescribing inappropriate cardiovascular and antidiabetic medication has been shown to be feasible and safe. Healthcare providers often perceive the deprescribing of cardiovascular and antidiabetic medication as a challenge and therefore it is still not widely implemented in daily practice.

Aim: The aim was to assess whether training focused on conducting a deprescribing-oriented clinical medication review (CMR) results in a reduction of the inappropriate use of cardiovascular and antidiabetic medicines.

Fasting plasma methylglyoxal concentrations are associated with higher numbers of circulating intermediate and non-classical monocytes but with lower activation of intermediate monocytes: the Maastricht Study.

Purpose: Elevated methylglyoxal (MGO) levels and altered immune cell responses are observed in diabetes. MGO is thought to modulate immune cell activation. The current study investigated whether fasting or post-glucose-load plasma MGO concentrations are associated with circulating immune cell counts and activation in a large cohort study.

Challenges when Combining Expertise to Provide Integrated Care for Youth At-Risk and Their Family: A Qualitative Study.

The needs of youth at-risk and their families, facing multiple problems and serious mental health issues, exceed the expertise and possibilities of a single stakeholder (professional, organization, municipality). These youngsters require care in which the expertise of different professionals and organizations is integrated. However, combining various types of expertise to provide integrated care to youth at-risk is challenging.