Compensating elastic faults in a torque-assisted knee exoskeleton: functional evaluation and user perception study.

Wearable robots are often powered by elastic actuators, which can mimic the intrinsic compliance observed in human joints, contributing to safe and seamless interaction. However, due to their increased complexity, when compared to direct drives, elastic actuators are susceptible to faults, which pose significant challenges, potentially compromising user experience and safety during interaction. In this article, we developed a fault-tolerant control strategy for torque assistance in a knee exoskeleton and investigated user experience during a walking task while emulating faults.

The Fallacy of Categorization in Urology: A Call for Continuous Thinking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

Categorization of patients according to their characteristics may simplify decision-making, but it fails to account for the continuous nature of risk and individual variability. Artificial intelligence has the ability to handle more complex continuous data for more precise, individualized recommendations, but several challenges must be overcome to unlock this potential.

Linking structural and functional changes during healthy aging and semantic dementia using multilayer brain network analysis.

Healthy aging is characterized by frontal and diffuse brain changes, while certain age-related pathologies such as semantic dementia will be associated with more focal brain lesions, particularly in the temporo-parietal regions. These changes in structural integrity could influence functional brain networks. Here we use multilayer brain network analysis on structural (DWI) and functional (fMRI) data in younger and older healthy individuals and patients with semantic dementia.

Longitudinal synaptic loss versus tau Braak staging in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction: The longitudinal progression of synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and how it is affected by tau pathology remains poorly understood.

Methods: Thirty patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 26 healthy controls underwent cognitive evaluations and tau, synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A), and amyloid positron emission tomography. Twenty-one aMCI underwent 2-year follow-up (FU) investigations.

Quality of care at childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium: a cross-sectional study based on WHO standards.

Objectives: To examine quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) around childbirth in facilities in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic and trends over time.

Design: A cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Data of the Improving MAternal Newborn carE in the EURO region study in Belgium.

Clinical Spectrum and Prognosis of Atypical Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Caused by Monoallelic Pathogenic Variants of IFT140.

Rationale & Objective: Monoallelic predicted Loss-of-Function (pLoF) variants in IFT140 have recently been associated with an autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)-like phenotype. This study sought to enhance the characterization of this phenotype.

Study Design: Case series.

Pulmonary and systemic effects of inhaled crystalline silica in the HOCl-induced mouse model of systemic sclerosis: An experimental model of Erasmus syndrome.

Occupational exposure to crystalline silica is etiologically linked to an increased incidence of systemic sclerosis (SSc), also called Erasmus syndrome. The underlying mechanisms of silica-related SSc are still poorly understood. We demonstrated that early and repeated silica exposure contribute to the severity of SSc symptoms in the hypochloric acid (HOCl)-induced SSc mouse model.

Silent circulation of plasmid-borne tet(X6) and bla genes in a community-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii strain.

To characterize the genomic features of a community-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii strain, co-carrying tet(X6) and bla genes, but was susceptible to tigecycline and carbapenems. The tet(X6) and bla genes were found on a 149,518 bp non-conjugative plasmid. The bla gene was silent, due to the presence of an intact ISAba3-like element upstream, which rendered the strain susceptible to carbapenems.

M13 bacteriophage based fluorescence immunoassay against food allergens of Ara h 3 and Mac i 1.

Food allergy is increasingly prevalent and poses notable health risks, which underscores the urgent need to develop reliable and sensitive detection methods for effective identification of food allergens. This study aims to address the limitations of existing methods by developing an immunoassay utilizing bacteriophage/carbon dots (CDs)@silica core-shell nanospheres. Two CDs with different emission wavelengths (513 nm for Green CDs, 645 nm for Red CDs) were synthesized for signal development and amplification.

Effect of different custom-made foot orthotics on foot joint stiffness in individuals with structural hallux limitus: A quasi-experimental study.

Background: Normal dorsiflexion of the first metatarsophalangeal joint during dynamic activities is critical for effective propulsion. Therapeutic foot orthotics may address the pathomechanical loading and joint kinematics issues faced by this population. This study aims to evaluate the effect of two different types of Custom-made foot orthosis compared to shod condition on the stiffness of the rearfoot, midfoot, and 1st metatarsophalangeal joint during walking in patients with Structural Hallux Limitus.

Electronic and paper delivery of parent proxy and children's report of two scar-specific patient-reported outcome measures (Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile and Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale): An equivalence study.

Introduction: The Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile (BBSIP) and the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) are used in burn scar assessment to quantify patient health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). These questionnaires were developed using pen-and-paper delivery methods; however, there is a push towards electronic delivery of these questionnaires in both clinical practice and research. Equivalence testing is required to ensure that validity of these paper questionnaires is maintained electronically.

Mixed mathematics and metaphysical physics: Descartes and the mechanics of the flow of water.

Descartes' systematic physics had little to do with his quantitative accounts of natural phenomena. The former was metaphysical and was concerned with uncovering the causes operating in nature, while the latter dealt with establishing mathematical relations between various natural quantities. I reconstruct a dominant interpretation in recent literature which argues that the two practices are autonomous, and that quantitative problem-solving is normatively subordinated to metaphysical physics.

Hospitalization cost estimates of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza infections in adults in Spain, 2016-2019.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is increasingly a recognized cause of severe respiratory infection among adults. This retrospective observational study compared the costs of RSV and influenza hospitalizations in adults aged ≥18 years admitted to the Spanish National Healthcare System between 2016 and 2019. Mean costs per hospitalization episode were compared using a multivariable log-gamma generalized linear model adjusted by age, risk group and calendar year.

Are three zebras more than three frogs: examining conceptual and physical congruency in numerosity judgements of familiar objects.

Researchers in numerical cognition have extensively studied the number sense-the innate human ability to extract numerical information from the environment quickly and effortlessly. Much of this research, however, uses abstract stimuli (e.g.

Therapy response monitoring in blood plasma from esophageal adenocarcinoma patients using cell-free DNA methylation profiling.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is an aggressive cancer characterized by a high risk of relapse post-surgery. Current follow-up methods (serum carcinoembryonic antigen detection and PET-CT) lack sensitivity and reliability, necessitating a novel approach. Analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from blood plasma emerges as a promising avenue.

A Belgian single centre outcome study of radioiodine treatment in adolescents with Graves' disease.

Up to 80% of children/adolescents with Graves' disease (GD) may require second-line treatment with either surgery or radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy after treatment with antithyroid drugs. These interventions aim to induce permanent hypothyroidism, but are not always successful. We aimed to evaluate the initial success rate (within the first year) of RAI treatment and its determining factors as second-line treatment in teenagers with GD.

Magnetoacoustic wave propagation in the solar corona and filament dynamics.

The formation of a S-shaped filament was investigated to determine if and how magnetoacoustic waves in the solar corona can trigger filament excitation. The study investigated how magnetoacoustic waves interact with two magnetic null points in the solar corona. Since the solar corona has a complex magnetic field structure, it is expected that magnetic structures are predominantly responsible for the occurrence of coronal events.

Identifying the main drivers of transmission in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.

In this study, we employed a modeling approach to describe how changes in age-specific epidemiological characteristics, such as behaviour, i.e. contact patterns, susceptibility and infectivity, influence the basic reproduction number , while accounting for heterogeneity in transmission.

Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoQ radiosensitizes tumors by decreasing mitochondrial oxygen consumption.

Hypoxic tumors are radioresistant stemming from the fact that oxygen promotes reactive oxygen species (ROS) propagation after water radiolysis and stabilizes irradiation-induced DNA damage. Therefore, an attractive strategy to radiosensitize solid tumors is to increase tumor oxygenation at the time of irradiation, ideally above a partial pressure of 10 mm-Hg at which full radiosensitization can be reached. Historically, the many attempts to increase vascular O delivery have had limited efficacy, but mathematical models predicted that inhibiting cancer cell respiration would be more effective.

The endoplasmic reticulum as a cradle for virus and extracellular vesicle secretion.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membranous carriers of protein, lipid, and nucleic acid cargoes and play a key role in intercellular communication. Recent work has revealed the previously under-recognized participation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated proteins (ERAPs) during EV secretion, using pathways reminiscent of viral replication and secretion. Here, we present highlights of the literature involving ER/ERAPs in EV biogenesis and propose mechanistic parallels with ERAPs exploited during viral infections.

Right ventricular reserve in cardiopulmonary disease: a simultaneous hemodynamic and three-dimensional echocardiographic study.

Background: RV reserve has been linked to exercise capacity and prognosis in cardiopulmonary diseases. However, evidence in this setting is limited, due to the complex shape and load dependency of the RV. We sought to study right ventricular (RV) adaptation to exercise by simultaneous three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) and right heart catheterization (RHC).

Development of a New Score Based on Image Defined Risk Factors to Standardize Surgical Risk in Neuroblastoma Resection - A SIOPEN Collaborative Study.

Background And Aims: Image Defined Risk Factors (IDRFs) assess surgical risk in neuroblastoma (NB) and guide neoadjuvant therapy. Despite chemotherapy IDRFs may persist in 70 % of cases. Several studies have suggested that not all IDRFs hold equal significance and that the presence of an IDRF does not inherently signify unresectability.