A novel device to study altered gravity and light interactions in seedling tropisms.

Long-duration space missions will need to rely on the use of plants in bio-regenerative life support systems (BLSSs) because these systems can produce fresh food and oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide levels, recycle metabolic waste, and purify water. In this scenario, the need for new experiments on the effects of altered gravity conditions on plant biological processes is increasing, and significant efforts should be devoted to new ideas aimed at increasing the scientific output and lowering the experimental costs. Here, we report the design of an easy-to-produce and inexpensive device conceived to analyze the effect of interaction between gravity and light on root tropisms.

Alcohol-attributable burden of cancer in Argentina.

Introduction: Alcohol consumption is a risk factor for several types of cancer. Alcohol consumption levels in Argentina are among the highest in the world, and malignant neoplasms are the second cause of death in the country. Public health strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption could possibly lead to a decrease in cancer burden.

Ultrasound biomicroscopy of the anterior segment in patients with primary congenital glaucoma: a review of the literature.

Purpose: Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) is a form of childhood glaucoma caused by maldevelopment of the anterior chamber. Disease severity differs greatly amongst patients. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is a non-invasive technique that can visualize the anterior segment in infants in vivo.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab induces major pathological responses in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Surgery for locoregionally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) results in 30‒50% five-year overall survival. In IMCISION (NCT03003637), a non-randomized phase Ib/IIa trial, 32 HNSCC patients are treated with 2 doses (in weeks 1 and 3) of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) using nivolumab (NIVO MONO, n = 6, phase Ib arm A) or nivolumab plus a single dose of ipilimumab (COMBO, n = 26, 6 in phase Ib arm B, and 20 in phase IIa) prior to surgery. Primary endpoints are feasibility to resect no later than week 6 (phase Ib) and primary tumor pathological response (phase IIa).

Aftercare Needs Following Gender-Affirming Surgeries: Findings From the ENIGI Multicenter European Follow-Up Study.

Background: While much emphasis has been put on the evaluation of gender-affirming surgery (GAS) approaches and their effectiveness, little is known about the health care needs after completion of these interventions.

Aim: To assess post-GAS aftercare needs using a mixed-method approach and relate these to participant characteristics.

Methods: As part of the ENIGI follow-up study, data was collected 5 years after first contact for gender-affirming treatments in 3 large European clinics.

Early Cost Effectiveness of Whole-Genome Sequencing as a Clinical Diagnostic Test for Patients with Inoperable Stage IIIB,C/IV Non-squamous Non-small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbours many genetic aberrations that can be targeted with systemic treatments. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) can simultaneously detect these (and possibly new) molecular targets. However, the exact added clinical value of WGS is unknown.

Serum Magnesium Is Inversely Associated With Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrillation, and Microvascular Complications in Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: We investigated whether serum magnesium (Mg) was prospectively associated with macro- or microvascular complications and mediated by glycemic control (hemoglobin A [HbA]), in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: We analyzed in 4,348 participants the association of serum Mg with macrovascular disease and mortality (acute myocardial infarction [AMI], coronary heart disease [CHD], heart failure [HF], cerebrovascular accident [CVA], and peripheral arterial disease [PAD]), atrial fibrillation (AF), and microvascular complications (chronic kidney disease [CKD], diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic foot) using Cox regression, adjusted for confounders. Mediation analysis was performed to assess whether HbA mediated these associations.

Clinical judgement versus self-rating of demoralization in outpatients with a substance-use disorder: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To investigate the ability of case managers, working in ambulatory treatment settings specialized in addiction care, to clinically judge demoralization in substance-dependent patients.

Design And Methods: In a cross-sectional study, clinical judgments of case managers were compared with the patients' scores on the Demoralization Scale, by calculating the sensitivity and specificity scores.

Findings: Case managers identified demoralization in 85% of the cases (sensitivity), the specificity of 62% suggests that demoralization was overestimated by case managers.

The effect of hypergravity in intestinal permeability of nanoformulations and molecules.

The oral administration of drugs remains a challenge due to rapid enzymatic degradation and minimal absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Mechanical forces, namely hypergravity, can interfere with cellular integrity and drug absorption, and there is no study describing its influence in the intestinal permeability. In this work, it was studied the effect of hypergravity on intestinal Caco-2 cells and its influence in the intestinal permeability of different nanoformulations and molecules.

Exposure to hypergravity during zebrafish development alters cartilage material properties and strain distribution.

Aims: Vertebrates have adapted to life on Earth and its constant gravitational field, which exerts load on the body and influences the structure and function of tissues. While the effects of microgravity on muscle and bone homeostasis are well described, with sarcopenia and osteoporosis observed in astronauts returning from space, the effects of shorter exposures to increased gravitational fields are less well characterized. We aimed to test how hypergravity affects early cartilage and skeletal development in a zebrafish model.

Uterine bathing with sonography gel prior to IVF/ICSI-treatment in patients with endometriosis, a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Study Question: What is the effect of uterine bathing with sonography gel prior to IVF/ICSI-treatment on live birth rates after fresh embryo transfer in patients with endometriosis?

Summary Answer: After formal interim analysis and premature ending of the trial, no significant difference between uterine bathing using a pharmacologically neutral sonography gel compared to a sham procedure on live birth rate after fresh embryo transfer in endometriosis patients (26.7% vs. 15.

Prognosis after surgery for multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-related pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: Functionality matters.

Background: Metastasized pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are the leading cause of death in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Aside from tumor size, prognostic factors of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are largely unknown. The present study aimed to assess whether the prognosis of patients with resected multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-related nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors differs from those with resected multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-related insulinomas and assessed factors associated with prognosis.

Clinical presentation and long-term follow-up of dopamine beta hydroxylase deficiency.

Dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) deficiency is an extremely rare autosomal recessive disorder with severe orthostatic hypotension, that can be treated with L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine (L-DOPS). We aimed to summarize clinical, biochemical, and genetic data of all world-wide reported patients with DBH-deficiency, and to present detailed new data on long-term follow-up of a relatively large Dutch cohort. We retrospectively describe 10 patients from a Dutch cohort and 15 additional patients from the literature.

Molecular impact of launch related dynamic vibrations and static hypergravity in planarians.

Although many examples of simulated and real microgravity demonstrating their profound effect on biological systems are described in literature, few reports deal with hypergravity and vibration effects, the levels of which are severely increased during the launch preceding the desired microgravity period. Here, we used planarians, flatworms that can regenerate any body part in a few days. Planarians are an ideal model to study the impact of launch-related hypergravity and vibration during a regenerative process in a "whole animal" context.

Essential aspects of the follow-up after acute pulmonary embolism: An illustrated review.

Care for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) involves more than determination of the duration of anticoagulant therapy. After choosing the optimal initial management strategy based on modern risk stratification schemes, patients require focused attention aimed at prevention of major bleeding, identification of underlying (malignant) disease, prevention of cardiovascular disease, and monitoring for long-term complications. The most frequent complication of PE is the so-called "post-PE syndrome," a phenomenon of permanent functional limitations after PE occurring in up to 50% of patients.

Post-tetanic potentiation lowers the energy barrier for synaptic vesicle fusion independently of Synaptotagmin-1.

Previously, we showed that modulation of the energy barrier for synaptic vesicle fusion boosts release rates supralinearly (Schotten, 2015). Here we show that mouse hippocampal synapses employ this principle to trigger Ca-dependent vesicle release and post-tetanic potentiation (PTP). We assess energy barrier changes by fitting release kinetics in response to hypertonic sucrose.

Ovine congenital progressive muscular dystrophy (OCPMD) is a model of TNNT1 congenital myopathy.

Ovine congenital progressive muscular dystrophy (OCPMD) was first described in Merino sheep flocks in Queensland and Western Australia in the 1960s and 1970s. The most prominent feature of the disease is a distinctive gait with stiffness of the hind limbs that can be seen as early as 3 weeks after birth. The disease is progressive.

Cone-Beam CT Compared to Multi-Slice CT for the Diagnostic Analysis of Conductive Hearing Loss: A Feasibility Study.

Objectives: Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) is commonly used as a diagnostic tool for patients with a conductive hearing loss. Recent studies indicate that cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) may be used as a low-radiation dose alternative for temporal bone imaging. This study compares image quality and radiation dose between CBCT and MSCT when assessing anatomical landmarks related to conductive hearing loss.

Reliability and Agreement of Radiological and Pathological Tumor Size in Patients with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1-Related Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Results from a Population-Based Cohort.

Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) have a high prevalence in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) and are the leading cause of death. Tumor size is still regarded as the main prognostic factor and therefore used for surgical decision-making. We assessed reliability and agreement of radiological and pathological tumor size in a population-based cohort of patients with MEN1-related pNETs.

ESTRO ACROP guidelines for target volume definition in the thoracic radiation treatment of small cell lung cancer.

Radiotherapy (RT) plays a major role in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Therefore, the ACROP committee was asked by ESTRO to provide recommendations on target volume delineation for standard clinical scenarios in definitive (chemo)-radiotherapy (CRT), adjuvant RT for stages I-III SCLC and consolidation thoracic RT for stage IV disease. The aim of these guidelines is to standardise and optimise the process of RT treatment planning for clinical practice and prospective studies.

First, do no harm: bilateral radial artery occlusion in a COVID-19 patient.

Objective: Objective of this case report is to draw attention to a less known thrombotic complication associated with COVID-19, i.e., thrombosis of both radial arteries, with possible (long-term) consequences.

The Keloid Disorder: Heterogeneity, Histopathology, Mechanisms and Models.

Keloids constitute an abnormal fibroproliferative wound healing response in which raised scar tissue grows excessively and invasively beyond the original wound borders. This review provides a comprehensive overview of several important themes in keloid research: namely keloid histopathology, heterogeneity, pathogenesis, and model systems. Although keloidal collagen versus nodules and α-SMA-immunoreactivity have been considered pathognomonic for keloids versus hypertrophic scars, conflicting results have been reported which will be discussed together with other histopathological keloid characteristics.