Clinical remission in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma treated with mepolizumab: A analysis of RELIght study.

Remission of asthma can occur as part of the natural history of the disease; however, the use of biologics can result in disease remission in some patients. In this post hoc analysis of the RELIght study, we aimed to evaluate clinical remission in real life among patients treated with mepolizumab, to detect possible differences between "remitters" and "nonremitters," and to evaluate possible predictors of remission. Clinical remission was defined as the absence of asthma exacerbations, discontinuation of oral corticosteroids (OCS), achievement of asthma control (Asthma Control Test [ACT] ≥ 20), and stable or improved lung function.

Improving small-scale cultivation of Spodoptera frugiperda 9 cells by silanizing glassware.

Cultivating insect cells in glass vessels can be challenging. Due to uncontrolled cell adhesion and associated cell loss as well as clumping, the replication of experiments is put at risk. A cost-effective solution to improve and stabilize cultivation may be to silanize glass vessels, making them more hydrophobic and chemically inert.

Schistosoma sex-biased microRNAs regulate ovarian development and egg production by targeting Wnt signaling pathway.

Adult Schistosoma produces a large number of eggs that play essential roles in host pathology and disease dissemination. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms of sexual maturation and egg production may open a new avenue for controlling schistosomiasis. Here, we describe that Bantam miRNA and miR-1989 regulate Wnt signaling pathway by targeting Frizzled-5/7/9, which is involved in ovarian development and oviposition.

Motivations for obtaining advance provision of medication abortion in the United States: a qualitative study.

Background: Advance provision of medication abortion, or the prescription of mifepristone and misoprostol before pregnancy occurs, is an unexplored care model aimed at expanding abortion access. We examine motivations for obtaining advance provision from the online telemedicine service, Aid Access, which supports people in the United States.

Methods: Between May and November 2023, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 39 people who obtained advance provision between January 2022 and April 2023.

Prevention of Stroke in Intracerebral Haemorrhage Survivors with Atrial Fibrillation: Rationale and Design for PRESTIGE-AF Trial.

Adequate secondary prevention in survivors of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who also have atrial fibrillation (AF) is a long-standing clinical dilemma because these patients are at increased risk of recurrent ICH as well as of ischemic stroke. The efficacy and safety of oral anticoagulation, the standard preventive medication for ischemic stroke patients with AF, in ICH patients with AF are uncertain. PRESTIGE-AF is an international, phase 3b, multi-center, randomized, open, blinded end-point assessment (PROBE) clinical trial that compared the efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) with no DOAC (either no antithrombotic treatment or any antiplatelet drug).

Disease modifies the dependency of percentiles of the phase angle distribution on age, sex, height and weight in hospitalized patients.

Background & Aims: Phase angle (PhA) is viewed as a holistic indicator of quantity and quality of cellularity and hydration status and has emerged as a significant predictor of patient outcome in clinical medicine. We sought to analyze the impact of hospitalization as a surrogate for disease on the distribution of PhA and its dependency on influence variables age, sex, height and weight without any assumption as to the form of PhA-distribution.

Methods: First PhA measurements obtained from 2418 women (median age 75 IQR[63; 82]) and 2541 men (median age 70 IQR[60; 79]) hospitalized in a Community General Hospital were analyzed.

More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Disrupted Core Periphery of Multiplex Brain Networks in Multiple Sclerosis.

Disruptions to brain networks, measured using structural (sMRI), diffusion (dMRI), or functional (fMRI) MRI, have been shown in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), highlighting the relevance of regions in the core of the connectome but yielding mixed results depending on the studied connectivity domain. Using a multilayer network approach, we integrated these three modalities to portray an enriched representation of the brain's core-periphery organization and explore its alterations in PwMS. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we selected PwMS and healthy controls with complete multimodal brain MRI acquisitions from 13 European centers within the MAGNIMS network.

A flat posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction restores native knee kinematics, comparable to a double-bundle reconstruction-A biomechanical robotic investigation.

Purpose: To biomechanically evaluate a flat posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction utilizing rectangular femoral bone tunnels.

Methods: Eight fresh-frozen human knee specimens were tested in a six-degrees-of-freedom robotic test setup. In each testing step, a force-controlled test protocol was performed, including 89 N posterior tibial translation (PTT) in neutral, internal and external rotation, from 0 to 90° of flexion.

An Imaged Capillary Isoelectric Focusing Separation of the Linear and Cyclic Variants of a Mimotope of the Cancer-Related CD20 Antigen-Validation and Statistical Evaluation.

Imaged capillary isoelectric focusing was successfully applied for separating an in-house synthesized closely related peptide pair, that is, a linear 12-mer (Rp5-L) and its cyclic 15-mer variant (Rp5-C). Rp5-L represents a mimotope, that is, an epitope mimicking peptide, of the CD20 antigen, which is over-expressed in B-cell-related tumors. Peptide identity-including the successful disulfide bond formation in Rp5-C-was confirmed with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry.

The use of an imageless robotic system in revision of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.

Purpose: The application of robotics in revision arthroplasty particularly from unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) to total knee arthroplasty (TKA), is underexplored. The purpose of this study is to describe the surgical technique of an imageless robotic system used in the revision of UKA to TKA and to evaluate short- to mid-term outcomes.

Methods: This prospective study includes 35 patients treated from May 2020 to July 2023.

Investigation of the Urinary Peptidome to Unravel Collagen Degradation in Health and Kidney Disease.

Naturally occurring fragments of collagen type I alpha 1 chain (COL1A1) have been previously associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with some fragments showing positive and others negative associations. Using urinary peptidome data from healthy individuals (n = 1131) and CKD patients (n = 5585) this aspect was investigated in detail. Based on the hypothesis that many collagen peptides are derived not from the full, mature collagen molecule, but from (larger) collagen degradation products, relationships between COL1A1 peptides containing identical sequences were investigated, with the smaller (offspring) peptide being a possible degradation product of the larger (parent) one.

Life expectancy in rare histological prostate cancer subtypes.

Survival differences in rare histological prostate cancer (PCa) subtypes relative to age-matched population-based controls are unknown. Within Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004-2020), newly diagnosed (2004-2015) PCa patients were identified. Relying on the Social Security Administration Life Tables (2004-2020) with 5 years of follow-up, age-matched population-based controls (Monte Carlo simulation) were simulated for each patient.

The relationship between channel interaction, electrode placement, and speech perception in adult cochlear implant users.

This study (1) characterized the effects of channel interaction using spectral blurring, (2) evaluated an image-guided electrode selection (IGES) method aiming to reduce channel interaction, and (3) investigated the impact of electrode placement factors on the change in performance by condition. Twelve adult MED-EL (Innsbruck, Austria) cochlear implant recipients participated. Performance was compared across six conditions: baseline (no blurring), all blurred, apical blurred, middle blurred, basal blurred, and IGES.

Evidence-based policy-making in sports funding using a data-driven optimization approach.

Regular physical activity is essential for the healthy development of children, and sports clubs are one of the main drivers of regular exercise. Previous studies have demonstrated that public subsidies can increase participation rates in sports clubs. The effectiveness of funding in increasing participation rates depends on multiple factors, such as geographic location, the size of the sports club, and the socio-economic conditions of the population.

CDK5 interacts with MST2 and modulates the Hippo signalling pathway.

MST2 (STK3) is a major upstream kinase in the Hippo signalling pathway, an evolutionary conserved pathway in regulation of organ size, self-renewal and tissue homeostasis. Its downstream effectors are the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ. This pathway is regulated by a variety of factors, such as substrate stiffness or cell-cell contacts.

Development of a Cochlear Implantation Program in Malawi: Audiometric and Speech Perception Results From a Series of Implantees.

Background: Malawi performed its first cochlear implantation in 2014. Since then, the number of users has grown. This larger cohort facilitates a more rigorous analysis of the hearing outcomes that have been achieved by the Malawi cochlear implant (CI) program.

Systematic literature review and meta-analysis informing the EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with inflammatory arthritis and a history of cancer.

Background: Targeted therapies have been associated with potential risk of malignancy, which is a common concern in daily rheumatology practice in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a history of cancer.

Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review to inform a Task Force formulating EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with IA and a history of cancer.

Methods: Specific research questions were defined within the Task Force before formulating the exact research queries with a librarian.

2024 EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with inflammatory arthritis and a history of cancer.

Background: Potential associations between targeted therapies and a new cancer in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a previous malignancy are a frequent concern in daily rheumatology practice.

Objectives: To develop points to consider (PTC) to assist rheumatologists when initiating a targeted therapy in the context of a previous malignancy.

Methods: Following EULAR standardised operating procedures, a task force met to define the research questions for a systematic literature review and to formulate the overarching principles (OPs) and the PTC.

Integrative Modeling in the Age of Machine Learning: A Summary of HADDOCK Strategies in CAPRI Rounds 47-55.

The HADDOCK team participated in CAPRI rounds 47-55 as server, manual predictor, and scorers. Throughout these CAPRI rounds, we used a plethora of computational strategies to predict the structure of protein complexes. Of the 10 targets comprising 24 interfaces, we achieved acceptable or better models for 3 targets in the human category and 1 in the server category.

Real-World Outcomes After Switch From Aflibercept to Faricimab in Eyes With Diabetic Macular Edema.

Purpose: To assess the anatomic and functional outcomes in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME) switched from intravitreal aflibercept to faricimab in a real-world setting.

Methods: Retrospective, interventional consecutive case series. Patients with DME were switched from aflibercept to faricimab and categorized based on central subfield thickness (CST) 4 weeks after last aflibercept injection into responding DME (rDME, CST reduction >20% or CST ≤ 250 µm) and nonresponding DME (nrDME, CST unchanged or increased).

Perinatal and infant mental health care in Austria : Mapping of existing prevention, screening, and care services.

Purpose: Perinatal mental illness (PMI) is one of the major health problems during pregnancy and one year after birth (the perinatal period), with robust evidence of its potentially detrimental effects on the parent's and child's health. Many countries have prioritised perinatal and infant mental health care (PIMHC). In Austria, it is currently unknown how many services are available in which region.

The Use of Cannabis-Based Medicine in Selected Neurological Disorders.

Cannabis-based medicine (CBM) is used in a wide variety of different neurological disorders. While the use of CBM in the treatment of pain, AIDS wasting, loss of appetite, and spasticity is well established, CBM application in movement disorders and neurodegenerative disorders is still an emerging topic. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize current evidence behind the use of CBM in selected neurological diseases, mainly movement and neurodegenerative disorders.