Patient-reported outcomes and measures are under-utilised in advanced therapy medicinal products trials for orphan conditions.

Objectives: Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) are medicines based on genes, tissues, or cells and can include gene therapy, somatic-cell therapy, and tissue-engineered medicines. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are reports on health and well-being that come directly from the individual without external interpretation. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are questionnaires aimed at assessing the individual and subjective experience with health and other psychosocial aspects.

Does enhanced meaning after meaning-centered group psychotherapy mediate a reduction in depressive symptoms in cancer survivors? A mediation analysis in the context of a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: After meaning-centered group psychotherapy for cancer survivors (MCGP-CS), depressive symptoms tend to decrease. An enhanced sense of meaning may play a mediating role in this decrease. The aim of this study was to assess whether personal meaning mediates the relationship between MCGP-CS and depressive symptoms.

Investigating Nanoscale Interactions of Host-Guest Complexes Formed Between CB[7] and Atenolol by Quantum Chemistry and Ultrasensitive Vibrational Spectroscopy.

In addition to the course of over 20 years of cucurbit-7-uril (CB[7]) in the pharmaceutical industry, the present study brings together the most recent observations from the perspective of ultrasensitive Raman spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory (DFT) related to the interaction of this molecule with atenolol (Ate) enantiomers during the formation of these host-guest complexes. Quantum chemistry calculations based on DFT were first used to understand the interaction geometry between CB[7] and Ate. These results were further confirmed by ultrasensitive vibrational spectroscopy.

Astrocyte Dysfunction Reflected in Ischemia-Induced Astrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: A Pilot Study on Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by astrocytes (ADEVs) mediate numerous biological processes, providing insights into damage, repair, and protection following ischemic stroke (IS). This pilot study aimed to broaden the current knowledge on the astrocyte response to ischemia by dynamically assessing the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) as cargo proteins of these vesicles in eighteen acute IS patients and nine controls. EV proteins were detected by Western blotting and followed 24 h (D1), 7 days (D7), and one month (M1) after symptoms onset.

Advancing Precision Oncology with Digital and Virtual Twins: A Scoping Review.

Digital twins (DTHs) and virtual twins (VTHs) in healthcare represent emerging technologies towards precision medicine, providing opportunities for patient-centric healthcare. Our scoping review aimed to map the current DTH and VTH technologies in oncology, summarize their technical solutions, and assess their credibility. A systematic search was conducted in the main bibliographic databases, identifying 441 records, of which 30 were included.

Deep Learning in Endoscopic Ultrasound: A Breakthrough in Detecting Distal Cholangiocarcinoma.

Introduction: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly lethal malignancy originating in the bile ducts, often diagnosed late with poor prognosis. Differentiating benign from malignant biliary tumors remains challenging, necessitating advanced diagnostic techniques.

Objective: This study aims to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for distal cholangiocarcinoma (dCCA) using advanced convolutional neural networks (CCNs) for the classification and segmentation of EUS images, specifically targeting dCCAs, the pancreas, and the bile duct.

The Bleeding Edge: Managing Coagulation and Bleeding Risk in Patients with Cirrhosis Undergoing Interventional Procedures.

This review addresses the peri-procedural bleeding risks in patients with cirrhosis, emphasizing the need for careful coagulation assessment and targeted correction strategies. Liver disease presents a unique hemostatic challenge, where traditional coagulation tests may not accurately predict bleeding risk, complicating the management of procedures like paracentesis, endoscopic therapy, and various interventional procedures. As such, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of current data, guidelines, and practices for managing coagulation in cirrhotic patients, with a focus on minimizing bleeding risk while avoiding unnecessary correction with blood products.

Synthesis and Characterization of Microcapsules as Fillers for Self-Healing Dental Composites.

This article proposes the synthesis and characterization of (triethylene glycol dimethacrylate-N,N-dihydroxyethyl-p-toluidine) TEGDMA-DHEPT self-healing microcapsules for their inclusion in dental composite formulations. The obtaining method is the in situ emulsion polymerization of the (poly urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) coatings. The microcapsules were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques.

Generative 3D Cardiac Shape Modelling for in-silico Trials.

We propose a deep learning method to model and generate synthetic aortic shapes based on representing shapes as the zero-level set of a neural signed distance field, conditioned by a family of trainable embedding vectors with encode the geometric features of each shape. The network is trained on a dataset of aortic root meshes reconstructed from CT images by making the neural field vanish on sampled surface points and enforcing its spatial gradient to have unit norm. Empirical results show that our model can represent aortic shapes with high fidelity.

ALSATION Study Protocol: Romanian Translation of Three Health Literacy Surveys.

Access to the internet and online resources changes the concept of health and increases people's autonomy. In this context, Health Literacy (HL) is a critical determinant of health-related choices. At World Health Organization (WHO) level, M-POHL (Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy of WHO-Europe) created and validated on European population four questionnaires: digital HL (HLS19-DIGI), communication HL (with doctors from health care services - HLS19-COM-P-Q11 long version and HLS19-COM-P-Q6 short version), online navigation HL (HLS19-NAV), and vaccination HL (HLS19-VAC).

-Substituted AB-type phenothiazinyl porphyrins and their indium and zinc complexes photosensitising properties, cytotoxicity and phototoxicity on ovarian cancer cells.

New -substituted AB-type phenothiazinyl porphyrins and ferrocenylvinyl phenothiazinyl porphyrin were synthesised by Suzuki-Miyaura and Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reactions, respectively. The free porphyrins were further used in the synthesis of new indium(iii) or zinc(ii) porphyrin complexes. All porphyrins exhibit red fluorescence emission in solution, a property that remains unimpaired following internalisation in ovarian A2780 cancer cells, as evidenced by fluorescence microscopy images.

The gamma rhythm as a guardian of brain health.

Gamma oscillations in brain activity (30-150 Hz) have been studied for over 80 years. Although in the past three decades significant progress has been made to try to understand their functional role, a definitive answer regarding their causal implication in perception, cognition, and behavior still lies ahead of us. Here, we first review the basic neural mechanisms that give rise to gamma oscillations and then focus on two main pillars of exploration.

Development and in vitro evaluation of a lignin-PLGA nanocarrier for florfenicol delivery.

Florfenicol (FF) is a widely used antimicrobial in veterinary medicine because of its broad antimicrobial activity, although it has certain limitations and raises concerns about the development of antimicrobial resistance genes. These limitations highlight the need to explore novel drug with controlled release systems to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of FF, while minimizing the potential for resistance development. This study introduces an innovative approach for the design, synthesis, and evaluation of lignin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA)-FF nanoparticles.

Interactions of N- and C-terminal parts of Ana1 permitting centriole duplication but not elongation.

The conserved process of centriole duplication requires establishment of a Sas6-centred cartwheel initiated by Plk4's phosphorylation of Ana1/STIL. Subsequently the centriole undergoes conversion to a centrosome requiring its radial expansion and elongation, mediated by a network requiring interactions between Cep135, Ana1/Cep295, and Asterless/Cep152. Here we show that mutant alleles encoding overlapping N- and C-terminal parts of Ana1 are capable of intragenic complementation to rescue radial expansion.

The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells.

Stem cells are a hallmark of animal multicellularity. Sox and POU transcription factors are associated with stemness and were believed to be animal innovations, reported absent in their unicellular relatives. Here we describe unicellular Sox and POU factors.

Loneliness and emotion regulation: A meta-analytic review.

Chronic loneliness has been associated with increased risk for multiple mental disorders. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that problems with emotion regulation (ER) may underlie the course and costs of loneliness, but evidence on the associations between loneliness and ER has not been systematically analyzed until now. The present meta-analysis examined the relations between loneliness and multiple dimensions of ER including the habitual use of common strategies (i.

Predictors of study dropout in cognitive-behavioural therapy with a trauma focus for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

Background: Available empirical evidence on participant-level factors associated with dropout from psychotherapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is both limited and inconclusive. More comprehensive understanding of the various factors that contribute to study dropout from cognitive-behavioural therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) is crucial for enhancing treatment outcomes.

Objective: Using an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPD-MA) design, we examined participant-level predictors of study dropout from CBT-TF interventions for PTSD.

Rubbery organic frameworks (ROFs) toward ultrapermeable CO-selective membranes.

The capture of CO is of high interest in our society representing an essential tool to mitigate man-made climate warming. Membrane technology applied for CO capture offers several advantages in terms of energy savings, simple operation, and easy scale-up. Glassy membranes are associated with low gas permeability that negatively affect on their industrial implementation.

Numerical study on a facing electrode configuration dielectrophoresis microfluidic system for efficient biological cell separation.

Circulating tumor cell separation has been the focus of numerous studies owing to its importance in the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of cancer. This study reports a highly efficient microfluidic device that integrates a specialized dielectrophoresis configuration, namely the facing-electrode configuration dielectrophoresis (FEC-DEP) structure, to isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from various blood components, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The FEC-DEP design features a bottom-slanted electrode array positioned parallel to a basic rectangular top electrode.

DNA methylation classifier to diagnose pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma metastases from different anatomical sites.

Background: We have recently constructed a DNA methylation classifier that can discriminate between pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PAAD) liver metastasis and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) with high accuracy (PAAD-iCCA-Classifier). PAAD is one of the leading causes of cancer of unknown primary and diagnosis is based on exclusion of other malignancies. Therefore, our focus was to investigate whether the PAAD-iCCA-Classifier can be used to diagnose PAAD metastases from other sites.

Efficacy of app-based mobile health interventions for stress management: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-reported, physiological, and neuroendocrine stress-related outcomes.

Stress is a significant mental health concern for the general population, highlighting the need for effective and scalable solutions, such as mobile health (mHealth) app interventions. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of mHealth apps designed primarily to reduce stress and distress in non-clinical and subclinical populations. A comprehensive literature search was conducted up to August 2024, including studies that measured both self-reported and physiological stress outcomes.

Degradation study of δ-hexachlorocyclohexane by iron sulfide nanoparticles: Elucidation of reaction pathway using compound specific isotope analysis and pH variation.

pH influences the reactivity of iron (II) minerals towards halogenated pollutants like hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). To explore these incompletely understood interactions, we investigated the carbon isotope fractionation of the δ-HCH isomer during dehalogenation by iron sulfide at pHs spanning a pH range across slightly acidic to alkaline domains (5.8-9.