Universal Hydrogel Carrier Enhances Bone Graft Success: Preclinical and Clinical Evaluation.

Orthopedic, maxillofacial, and complex dentoalveolar bone grafting procedures that require donor-site bone harvesting can be associated with post-surgical complications. There has been widespread adoption of exogenously sourced particulate bone graft materials (BGM) for bone regenerative procedures; however, the particulate nature of these materials may lead to compromised healing outcomes, mainly attributed to structural collapse of the BGM, prolonged tissue healing. In this study, a fully synthetic thermoresponsive hydrogel-based universal carrier matrix (TX) that forms flowable and shapable putties with different BGMs while spatially preserving the particles in a 3D scaffold at the implantation site is introduced.

Gut Microbiota Metabolites Sensed by Host GPR41/43 Protect Against Hypertension.

Background: Fermentation of dietary fiber by the gut microbiota leads to the production of metabolites called short-chain fatty acids, which lower blood pressure and exert cardioprotective effects. Short-chain fatty acids activate host signaling responses via the functionally redundant receptors GPR41 and GPR43, which are highly expressed by immune cells. Whether and how these receptors protect against hypertension or mediate the cardioprotective effects of dietary fiber remains unknown.

Aprocitentan for Blood Pressure Reduction in Black Patients.

Background: Black individuals frequently present with resistant hypertension and disproportionately increased cardiovascular risk. We investigated the blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect of the dual endothelin receptor antagonist aprocitentan in Black individuals enrolled in the PRECISION study (Parallel-Group, Phase 3 Study with Aprocitentan in Subjects with Resistant Hypertension).

Methods: Patients with confirmed resistant hypertension were randomized to aprocitentan 12.

Evidence-Based Application of Natriuretic Peptides in the Evaluation of Chronic Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in the Ambulatory Outpatient Setting.

Background: Plasma NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) is commonly used to diagnose heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but its diagnostic performance in the ambulatory/outpatient setting is unknown because previous studies lacked objective reference standards.

Methods: Among patients with chronic dyspnea, diagnosis of HFpEF or noncardiac dyspnea was determined conclusively by exercise catheterization in a derivation cohort (n=414), multicenter validation cohort 1 (n=560), validation cohort 2 (n=207), and a nonobese Japanese validation cohort 3 (n=77). Optimal NT-proBNP cut points for HFpEF rule out (optimizing sensitivity) and rule in (optimizing specificity) were derived and tested, stratified by obesity and atrial fibrillation.

Recent advances in synthesis and application of Magnéli phase titanium oxides for energy storage and environmental remediation.

High-temperature reduction of TiO causes the gradual formation of structural defects, leading to oxygen vacancy planar defects and giving rise to Magnéli phases, which are substoichiometric titanium oxides that follow the formula Ti O, with 4 ≤ ≤ 9. A high concentration of defects provides several possible configurations for Ti and Ti within the crystal, with the variation in charge ordered states changing the electronic structure of the material. The changes in crystal and electronic structures of Magnéli phases introduce unique properties absent in TiO, facilitating their diverse applications.

Photodegradation reveals that singlet energy transfer impedes energy-gradient-driven singlet fission in polyacene blends.

Singlet fission (SF) is a process that is potentially beneficial for photovoltaics by producing two triplet excitons from a single photon, but its application is often hindered by the inability to effectively separate the resultant triplet excitons. It has been proposed that an energy gradient can assist in separating triplet excitons through triplet energy transfer between chromophores of different triplet energies, but this approach has only been studied in solution and the efficacy of this strategy in the solid state is under explored. Here, we investigate energy-gradient-driven SF in a disordered solid state, in the form of suspensions of 5,12-bis(triisopropylsilylethnyl)tetracene:6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethnyl)pentance (TIPS-Tn:TIPS-Pn) blend nanoparticles (NPs).

Competing pathways to aromaticity governed by amine dehydrogenation and metal-organic complexation in on-surface synthesis.

We investigated the reactivity of a -dichlorovinyl-carbazole precursor in the on-surface synthesis approach. Our findings reveal that, on the Au(111) surface, the thermally-induced dehalogenation reaction led to the formation of cumulene dimers. Contrastingly, the more reactive Cu(111) surface promoted the formation of a polyheterocyclic compound exhibiting extended aromaticity.

ASA Class Is a Stronger Predictor of Early Revision Risk Following Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty than BMI.

Background: Although there is a known correlation between obesity and revision risk following total knee arthroplasty (TKA), there is an ongoing debate regarding the appropriateness of denying TKA solely based on the body mass index (BMI) of a patient. Our aim was to determine whether a patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class predicts their risks of early all-cause revision and revision for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following primary TKA, independent of their BMI.

Methods: Data from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry (AOANJRR) were obtained regarding all patients who underwent primary TKA for osteoarthritis in Australia from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022.

Laboratory performance assessment of low-cost water level sensor for field monitoring in the tropics.

As Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is a key strategy in integrated urban water management worldwide, there is a need for robust monitoring of WSUD systems. Being economical and flexible for operation and communication, low-cost sensor systems show great potential to mainstream digital water management. Yet, such systems are insufficiently tested, casting doubt on the reliability of their measurements.

Pandemic one health clones of and producing CTX-M-14, CTX-M-27, CTX-M-55 and CTX-M-65 ESβLs among companion animals in northern Ecuador.

From a One Health perspective, dogs and cats have begun to be recognized as important reservoirs for clinically significant multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and genomic features of ESβL producing Enterobacterales isolated from dogs, in the province of Imbabura, Ecuador. We identified four isolates expressing ESβLs from healthy and diseased animals.

Clinical phenotype and trio whole exome sequencing data from a patient with glycogen storage disease IV in Indonesia.

Glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV) is a rare disease caused by a defect in glycogen branching enzyme 1 (GBE1), which played a crucial role in glycogen branching. GSD IV occurs once in approximately 1 in every 760,000 to 960,000 live births and is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. Early diagnosis of GSD IV is challenging due to non-specific symptoms, such as liver and spleen enlargement, which can overlap with other hematologic and hepatobiliary disorders.

Endoscopic View of the Aorta Through the Oesophagus: An Unusual Complication Post Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

We present a case of an 80-year-old female who presented with chest pain, vomiting and night sweats a few weeks post thoracic endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (TEVAR). A computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a type 1B endoleak for which she underwent a repeat TEVAR. Postoperatively, she developed fever, dysphagia, haematemesis and melaena.

Multi-Institutional Comparison of Quality of Life Between Open Versus Endoscopic Skull Base Approaches.

Objectives: The primary objective of this prospective review was to compare quality of life between patients undergoing endoscopic and open skull base approaches.

Study Type And Design: Prospective Review.

Methods: Five centers recruited consecutive patients treated surgically for skull base neoplasms between 2012 to 2018.

A multi-patch-based deep learning model with VGG19 for breast cancer classifications in the pathology images.

Purpose: Breast cancer encompasses various subtypes with distinct prognoses, necessitating accurate stratification methods. Current techniques rely on quantifying gene expression in limited subsets. Given the complexity of breast tissues, effective detection and classification of breast cancer is crucial in medical imaging.

Enhance health evidence quality in classification tasks: A triangulation approach utilizing case-based reasoning and process features.

Objective: Machine learning (ML) has enabled healthcare discoveries by facilitating efficient modeling, such as for cancer screening. Unlike clinical trials, real-world data used in ML are often gathered for multiple purposes, leading to bias and missing information for a specific classification task. This challenge is especially pronounced in healthcare because of stringent ethical considerations and resource constraints.

Cultivating mathematical mindset via online video interventions: a mixed-methods investigation in Chinese higher education.

Freshmen often encounter significant challenges in adapting to the complexity of university-level mathematics and independent learning. These challenges necessitate the development of strong self-regulated learning (SRL) skills to successfully navigate the demands of higher education. Building on mindset theory, this study explores how mathematical mindset-oriented interventions can support freshmen's mathematics learning during their transition to higher education mathematics, particularly in an online setting.

Toxic shock syndrome secondary to Group A infection: A case report.

Toxic shock syndrome secondary to Group A infection is a rare but serious cause of women's morbidity and mortality which can easily be misdiagnosed. A 37-year-old woman presented to the emergency department in a state of shock after a two-day history of abdominal pain, fever, diarrhoea and green vaginal discharge. Following extensive investigations, she was proved to have septic shock secondary to Group A Despite receiving intravenous antibiotics, she required explorative laparotomy, which proceeded to subtotal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy.

Biting off more than you can chew: a rare case of hyperparathyroidism jaw tumour syndrome.

Hyperparathyroidism Jaw Tumour Syndrome (HPT-JT) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder within the familial hyperparathyroidism group. Individuals with the disorder carry a gene mutation that predisposes them to early-onset primary hyperparathyroidism, ossifying jaw tumours, renal cystic disease, uterine tumours and parathyroid carcinomas. We present a case of a 41-year-old man referred to nephrology clinic with haemoproteinuria who was noted to have the constellation of renal cystic disease, personal and family history of hyperparathyroidism and recent jaw tumour excision.

Subjective Assessment of Rdoc-Related Constructs in Addiction and Compulsive Disorders: A Scoping Review.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) and disorders due to addictive behavior (DABs) are prevalent conditions that share common neurobiological and behavioral characteristics. This scoping review aims to identify and map the range of subjective assessment tools (e.g.

Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers.

Introduction: Physical exercise has repeatedly been reported to have advantageous effects on brain functions, including learning and memory formation. However, objective tools to measure such effects are often lacking. Eyeblink conditioning is a well-characterized method for studying the neural basis of associative learning.

Association between sperm DNA fragmentation index and recurrent pregnancy loss: results from 1485 participants undergoing fertility evaluation.

Objective: Several male factors have been reported to play a role in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between semen parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and RPL.

Method: A total of 1485 participants were recruited from a university hospital between April 2020 and August 2022.

Family planning and preimplantation testing: family experiences in congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Introduction: Pre-implantation testing (PGT) is often suggested by healthcare professionals (HCP) to parents of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) considering subsequent children. Despite this, some families choose to conceive naturally without genetic testing and intervention. The aims of this study were to explore fertility choices of couples with a child with CAH and the decision making process and perceptions behind these choices, and to explore the families' lived experiences with CAH and the couples' subsequent fertility journey.

Hallmarks of aging: middle-aging hypovascularity, tissue perfusion and nitric oxide perspective on healthspan.

Aging is a complex process marked by various changes at both cellular and systemic levels, impacting the functioning and lifespan of organisms. Over time, researchers have pinpointed several significant hallmarks of aging that lead to the gradual deterioration of tissue function, regulation, and homeostasis associated with aging in humans. Despite this, the intricate interactions and cumulative effects of these hallmarks are still mostly uncharted territory.