Joint estimation of activity, attenuation and motion in respiratory-self-gated time-of-flight PET.

Whole-body Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is often hindered by respiratory motion during acquisition, causing significant degradation in the quality of reconstructed activity images. An additional challenge in PET/CT imaging arises from the respiratory phase mismatch between CT-based attenuation correction and PET acquisition, leading to attenuation artifacts. To address these issues, we propose two new, purely data-driven methods for the joint estimation of activity, attenuation, and motion in respiratory self-gated time-of-flight (TOF) PET.

Beyond the Frame: A Photo-Elicitation Study of Sibling Experiences on the Stay of Their Sibling With a Moderate to Profound Intellectual Disability in Group Homes.

Background: Parents' decisions to use out-of-home support for children with intellectual disabilities significantly impact all family members, including siblings. However, siblings' perspectives on this transition to group homes remain underexplored. This study examines siblings' emotional experiences and changes in their personal and family lives due to their brother or sister's move to a group home.

Cumulative live birth rates of 31 478 untested embryos from 11 463 women challenge traditional recurrent implantation failure definitions.

Study Question: Is there evidence of a plateau in the cumulative live birth rate (cLBR) after a certain number of consecutive transfers of untested embryos?

Summary Answer: In our cohort of 11 463 women, the cLBR continues to increase with each additional transfer of an untested embryo, reaching 68.3% after six blastocyst transfers and 78.0% after 10 blastocyst transfers.

Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: Synopsis of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline.

Description: The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) organization updated its existing clinical practice guideline in 2024 to provide guidance on the evaluation, management, and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults and children who are not receiving kidney replacement therapy.

Methods: The KDIGO CKD Guideline Work Group defined the scope of the guideline and determined topics for systematic review. An independent Evidence Review Team systematically reviewed the evidence and graded the certainty of evidence for each of the review topics.

Testing and Iterative Improvement of the CEN ISO/TS 82304-2 Health App Quality Assessment: Pilot Interrater Reliability Study.

Background: With the increasing use of health apps and ongoing concerns regarding their safety, effectiveness, and data privacy, numerous health app quality assessment frameworks have emerged. However, assessment initiatives experience difficulties scaling, and there is currently no comprehensive, consistent, internationally recognized assessment framework. Therefore, health apps often need to undergo several quality evaluations to enter different markets, leading to duplication of work.

Cancer nursing research priorities: findings from a cancer nurses' consultation in Europe.

Background: Nurses are well positioned to identify the most critical issues in patient care and to determine priorities for investigation. Involving nurses in developing research priorities may increase their engagement in research and enhance the development high-quality nursing practice.

Aim: This study aimed to scope the potential topics for future cancer nursing research in Europe from the perspective of cancer nurses.

Combining covariate adjustment with group sequential, information-adaptive designs to improve randomized trial efficiency.

Group sequential designs (GSDs), which involve preplanned interim analyses that allow for early stopping for efficacy or futility, are commonly used for ethical and efficiency reasons. Covariate adjustment, which involves appropriately adjusting for prespecified prognostic baseline variables, can improve precision and is generally recommended by regulators. Combining these, that is, using adjusted estimators at interim and final analyses of a GSD, has potential for dual benefits.

Unlocking germination: the role of mycorrhizal strain and seed provenance in driving seed germination of a widespread terrestrial orchid.

Orchids represent an important component of biodiversity in many ecosystems worldwide, notwithstanding their seed germination and distribution may to a large extent be determined and influenced by mycorrhizal fungi. While it is commonly assumed that widespread orchids are mycorrhizal generalists, the degree to which mycorrhizal diversity supports seed germination remains relatively underexplored. In this study, we investigated the role of a variety of Ceratobasidium fungi in supporting seed germination of the widespread terrestrial orchid Gymnadenia conopsea across China.

Patient preferences toward herpes zoster vaccination among individuals aged 50 years or older in South Korea: Findings from a discrete choice experiment.

In South Korea, the increasing incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) and aging population warrant consideration of HZ vaccination for older adults. There is a need to understand the HZ vaccine-related preferences of adults aged ≥50 years and adult children (working or financially independent adults contributing to healthcare decision-making for their parents aged ≥50 years). A discrete choice experiment was conducted to elicit HZ vaccine preferences of the HZ-naïve general public aged ≥50 years ( = 500), current/former HZ patients aged ≥50 years ( = 150), and adult children ( = 150).

Evaluation of an interferon-gamma release assay for early detection of lumpy skin disease virus infection and vaccination in cattle.

Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) causes a nodular dermatitis in cattle and has high economic consequences in affected areas. Detection of LSDV exposure mostly relies on the humoral immune response, while the cell-mediated immune (CMI) response, an important hallmark of the immune reaction to LSDV, is neglected. We collected samples during 3 weeks post-vaccination of cattle with a Neethling-based live attenuated vaccine (LAV) and during 4 weeks post-LSDV infection under experimental conditions to i) investigate the development of the CMI response, ii) optimize an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) by comparing two matrices (whole blood and PBMCs) and different stimuli, and iii) evaluate the usefulness of an IGRA for detection of infection and vaccination.

Spondylodiscitis.

Diagnosis of spondylodiscitis remains a challenge for clinicians. It results from various causative agents and conditions that can be challenging to identify. Prompt and appropriate treatment are necessary to prevent long-term irreversible complications and sequelae.

Role of FDG PET/CT in bacteremia and fever of unknown origin: a pictorial overview of finding the culprit.

F fluorodeoxyglucose ([F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has established itself as a critical diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with bacteremia and fever of unknown origin (FUO), particularly following futile conventional investigations. These conditions are often challenging due to diverse underlying etiologies, including infections, inflammatory conditions and malignancies. PET/CT has the advantage of being a whole-body imaging technique with high sensitivity for detecting areas of increased metabolism often associated with infection or inflammation.

Proceedings of the 29th Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society.

The 2024 Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) was from May 1-4th in Houston, Texas, USA, under the theme "Liver Disease and Transplantation: Breaking Barriers and Exploring New Frontiers". In addition to a robust scientific program, the congress also hosted a hands-on cadaveric robotic liver surgery course, a machine perfusion workshop, and a transesophageal echocardiography course. In this report, the ILTS Vanguard and Basic Sciences Committees present a summary of the congress proceedings.

Astrocyte alterations during Osmotic Demyelination Syndrome: intermediate filaments, aggresomes, proteasomes, and glycogen storages.

Introduction: A murine model mimicking the human osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) revealed with histology demyelinated alterations in the relay posterolateral (VPL) and ventral posteromedial (VPM) thalamic nuclei 12 h and 48 h after chronic hyponatremia due to a fast reinstatement of osmolality. Abnormal expression astrocyte markers ALDHL1 and GFAP with immunohistochemistry in these ODS altered zones, prompted aims to verify in both protoplasmic and fibrillar astrocytes with ultrastructure those changes and other associated subcellular modifications.

Method: This ODS investigation included four groups of mice: Sham (NN;  = 13), hyponatremic (HN;  = 11), those sacrificed 12 h after a fast restoration of normal natremia (ODS12h;  = 6), and mice sacrificed 48 h afterward, or ODS48 h ( = 9).

A Scanning Electron Microscopy Method to Visualise the Copulatory Organ Morphology of Microturbellarian Flatworms: Trigonostomum Schmidt, 1852 as a Case Study.

Traditional methods for studying the morphology of microturbellarian flatworms rely on light microscopy, which often lacks the resolution necessary to capture fine structural details. Therefore, we present a protocol to improve the visualisation of structural morphological details in microturbellarians by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We demonstrate this method by imaging the sclerotised copulatory organs of three species of Trigonostomum (Rhabdocoela, Trigonostomidae): T.

Sealing and Chromatographic Performance of Microgroove Columns.

In a recent paper, we introduced the concept of structured microgroove columns as a potential solution to obtain perfectly ordered particle beds for nano- and micro-LC. In this concept, spherical particles are either individually positioned (single layer column) or stacked (multilayer column) in a series of interconnected micromachined pockets. After introducing a suitable method to fill the columns efficiently in a one-particle-per-pocket mode, the present contribution addresses the issue of sealing the filled columns and reports on the first flow tests conducted in a microgroove column device.

Optimized phenotyping of complex morphological traits: enhancing discovery of common and rare genetic variants.

Genotype-phenotype (G-P) analyses for complex morphological traits typically utilize simple, predetermined anatomical measures or features derived via unsupervised dimension reduction techniques (e.g. principal component analysis (PCA) or eigen-shapes).

Carboxytherapy in Dermatologic Surgery and Aesthetic Medicine: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives-A Systematic Review.

Background And Objective: Carboxytherapy (CXT) is a minimally invasive procedure based on percutaneous or subcutaneous microinjections of carbon dioxide. Due to the Bohr effect, it influences the hemoglobin dissociation curve, improving tissue oxygenation, angiogenesis, facilitating vascular perfusion, and lymphatic drainage. Recent evidence suggests unconventional applications in dermatologic surgery and aesthetic medicine; these are focused with the present review.

Defective Incisor Development in Smad Interacting Protein 1 (Sip1) Null Mice.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to histologically and morphologically describe the dental and craniofacial manifestations of a novel mouse model involving a conditional mutation in the Smad Interacting Protein 1 (Sip1) gene.

Materials And Methods: Since targeted inactivation of Sip1 results in early embryonic lethality, tissue-specific inactivation of Sip1 was carried out by using Prx1-Cre mice. Embryos at 14.

Determinants of complexity in clinical practice guidelines: a Delphi study including perspectives from guideline developers and implementers.

Abstract: The Medical Research Council proposed a framework to develop and implement complex interventions in practice. How to adopt these interventions is described in recommendations of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Many factors may influence the complexity of a guideline.

Outcomes following extended postoperative recovery unit admission in noncardiac surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Surgery carries inherent risks, with the postoperative phase being as critical as the intraoperative period. Enhanced perioperative care units, positioned between general wards and intensive care units, aim to provide adequate postoperative management and resource allocation. Despite their widespread implementation, evidence on outcomes remains limited.

A Year in Review on Tuberculosis and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria Disease: A 2025 Update for Clinicians and Scientists.

Background: In the field of tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease we are looking back on an exciting year 2024 with more than 10,000 publications listed in PubMed.

Methods: Our aim, to review the scientific literature of the year 2024, is challenged by the enormous number of publications. Therefore, if your article is not included or your favorite field of mycobacteriology not covered, please forgive us.