Computational advances in discovering cryptic pockets for drug discovery.

A number of promising therapeutic target proteins have been considered "undruggable" due to the lack of well-defined ligandable pockets. Substantial research in protein dynamics has elucidated the existence of "cryptic" pockets that only exist transiently and become favorable for binding in the presence of a ligand. These pockets provide an avenue to target challenging proteins, inspiring the development of multiple computational methods.

Influence of lens thickness on the accommodative range in healthy eyes.

Background: The maximum accommodative range is a useful indication of visual function. It decreases with age, but the exact cause of this decrease is not fully understood. It is associated with the increasing rigidity of the lens and changes to the lens shape, as well as the geometry of the zonular attachments.

The impacts of alien species on river bioassessment.

The extent of alien taxa impacts on river ecosystem health is unclear, but their frequency continues to rise. We investigated 1) the prevalence of including alien taxa in common bioindicators used in river bioassessment, 2) the effect of alien taxa on the richness and abundance of natives, and 3) whether including alien taxa in bioassessment tools increased their sensitivity to river degradation. In the 17 countries analyzed fish represented the greatest number of alien species (1726), followed by macrophytes (925), macroinvertebrates (556), and diatoms (7).

Training and validating a treatment recommender with partial verification evidence.

Background: Current clinical decision support systems (DSS) are trained and validated on observational data from the clinic in which the DSS is going to be applied. This is problematic for treatments that have already been validated in a randomized clinical trial (RCT), but have not yet been introduced in any clinic. In this work, we report on a method for training and validating the DSS core before introduction to a clinic, using the RCT data themselves.

The trustworthiness of registered randomised control trials on hysteroscopy.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the publication status of RCTs studying hysteroscopy registered on clinical trial registries, and the trustworthiness of these studies.

Material And Methods: We systematically searched 23 clinical trial registries and MEDLine for studies on hysteroscopy registered between March 2012 and 25 March 2022. Published RCTs were assessed for trustworthiness using the Trustworthiness in RAndomised Controlled Trials (TRACT) checklist.

A Nationwide Exploration of Social Inequalities in Cancer Mortality Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic in Belgium.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global health systems, impacting cancer care and potentially increasing cancer mortality, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. We aimed to assess changes in cancer mortality from March 1 to December 31, 2020 relative to the same period in 2019, and to examine potential shifts in cancer mortality's social disparities during the same time frame.

Methods: We used nationwide individually linked cancer mortality data from the Belgian National Register, the Census 2011, and the tax register.

Effects of acetazolamide on intracranial pressure and brain tissue oxygenation on patients with acute brain injury: A pilot physiological study.

The effect of acetazolamide on regional brain tissue oxygenation in patients with acute brain injury (ABI) is unknown. We studied adult patients with ABI who received acetazolamide as per the treating physician's decision and had ICP and brain oxygen pressure (PbtO) monitoring. Baseline measurements of ICP, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and PbtO were taken before administering acetazolamide; subsequent measurements were recorded every 5 min for a total of 20 min.

Inflammation in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Transient Focal Neurological Episodes.

Transient focal neurological episodes (TFNE), often associated with convexity subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH), are common in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), but their pathophysiology remains incompletely understood. In six patients with unremitting TFNE, using high-resolution post-contrast magnetic resonance imaging and vessel wall imaging (VWI), we found various combinations of transient leptomeningeal, parenchymal and vessel wall enhancement; in 5 of 6 the enhancement included regions corresponding anatomically to symptoms. Three patients had resolution of TFNE and enhancement (2 with corticosteroid treatment, 1 without).

Large Peritoneal Macrophages Play No Role in the Pathogenesis of Postoperative Ileus Induced by Intestinal Manipulation.

Introduction: Postoperative ileus (POI) is an iatrogenic disorder marked by temporary impaired gastrointestinal (GI) motility post-abdominal surgery. Surgical handling of the intestine activates resident macrophages (Mfs), leading to inflammatory cytokine release and leukocyte recruitment into the muscularis, which compromises intestinal contractility. The mechanisms behind this activation are unclear.

The effect of the type of anaesthesia on long-term outcomes after cancer resection surgery: a narrative review.

Background: The peri-operative period may create a biological environment conducive to cancer cell survival and dissemination. Microscopic residual tumours (micrometastases) can be dislodged even with excellent surgical technique. At the same time, the stress response from surgery can temporarily impair immune function and activate inflammatory processes, increasing the risk of tumour proliferation.

NeuroCarto: A Toolkit for Building Custom Read-out Channel Maps for High Electrode-count Neural Probes.

Neuropixels probes contain thousands of electrodes across one or more shanks and are sufficiently small to allow chronic recording of neural activity in freely behaving small animals. However, the joint increase in the number of electrodes and miniaturization of the probe package has led to a compromise in which groups of electrodes share a single read-out channel and only a fraction of the electrodes can be read out at any given time. Experimenters then face the challenge of selecting a subset of electrodes (i.

Prognosis Associated with Complete Pathological Response Following Neoadjuvant Treatment for PancreaTic AdenOcarciNOma in the FOFLIRINOX Era: the Multicenter TONO Study.

Background: The use of multiagent FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma in a neoadjuvant setting has been associated with an increased rate of complete pathological response (CPR) after surgery. This study investigated the long-term outcomes of patients with CPR in a multicenter setting to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined biopsy-proven pancreatic adenocarcinomas with CPR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and surgery, between January 2006 and December 2023 across 22 French and  2 Belgian centers.

A qualitative descriptive study examining the impact of child-raising experience on Japanese family doctors.

Background: The Patient-Centered Clinical Method (PCCM) plays an important role in family doctors' ability to communicate effectively with patients. Although the parenting experiences of healthcare providers can be utilized to communicate with patients, it is unclear how they contribute to family doctors' practice.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study focusing on the parenting experiences of Japanese family doctors and their perceptions of how these experiences interfaced with their clinical practice of the PCCM was conducted.

An Adverse Outcome Pathway for food nanomaterial-induced intestinal barrier disruption.

Introduction: The ingestion of nanomaterials (NMs) may impair the intestinal barrier, but the underlying mechanisms remain evasive, and evidence has not been systematically gathered or produced. A mechanistic-based approach would be instrumental in assessing whether relevant NMs disrupt the intestinal barrier, thereby supporting the NM risk assessment in the food sector.

Methods: In this study, we developed an adverse outcome pathway (AOP) based on biological plausibility and by leveraging information from an existing NM-relevant AOP that leads to hepatic outcomes.

Syntheses, structures and anti-cancer activities of Cu and Zn complexes containing 1,1'-[(3-fluoro-phen-yl)methyl-ene]bis-[3-(3-fluoro-phen-yl)imidazo[1,5-]pyridine].

Two novel complexes, [Cu()Cl] and [Zn()Cl], were synthesized from 1,1'-[(3-fluoro-phen-yl)methyl-ene]bis-[3-(3-fluoro-phen-yl)imidazo[1,5-]pyridine] (), and copper(II) and zinc(II) chloride, respectively. The structures of these complexes were confirmed using ESI-MS, IR and H NMR spectra. The results reveal mononuclear structures in which the central metal atoms are coordinated by two N atoms from the imidazole rings and two Cl ligands.

Benchmarking the clinical outcomes of Healthentia SaMD in chronic disease management: a systematic literature review comparison.

Background: Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and mobile health (mHealth) applications have revolutionized the healthcare landscape in the areas of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and digital therapeutics (DTx). These technological advancements offer a range of benefits, from improved patient engagement and real-time monitoring, to evidence-based personalized treatment plans, risk prediction, and enhanced clinical outcomes.

Objective: The systematic literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the status of SaMD and mHealth apps, highlight the promising results, and discuss what is the potential of these technologies for improving health outcomes.

Reliability and validity of four cognitive interpretation bias measures in the context of social anxiety.

People with social anxiety disorder tend to interpret ambiguous social information in a negative rather than positive manner. Such interpretation biases may cause and maintain anxiety symptoms. However, there is considerable variability in the observed effects across studies, with some not finding a relationship between interpretation biases and social anxiety.

Physical Activity, Sleep and Eating in Young People With Borderline Personality Disorder.

Previous research suggests a connection between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and somatic comorbidities, underscoring the importance of lifestyle and health-related behaviour (LHRB) in the emergence of BPD. We investigated LHRBs-physical activity, sleeping and overeating-among young people at different BPD stages compared to a matched community sample. Furthermore, we explored whether problematic LHRBs intensify in later BPD stages.

Highlighting antibiotic-free aquaculture by using marine microbes as a sustainable method to suppress Vibrio and enhance the performance of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana).

Brine shrimp nauplii are widely used as live food in fish and shellfish aquaculture but they may transmit pathogenic Vibrio to the target species causing significant economic loss. Heavy usage of antibiotics is expensive and environmentally damaging. Use of natural microbes as probiotics for disease management is a more sustainable strategy.

Delineating the genetic landscape of Charcot-Marie-tooth disease in Türkiye: Distinct distribution, rare phenotypes, and novel variants.

Background: Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common inherited neuropathy. In this study, we aimed to analyze the genetic spectrum and describe phenotypic features in a large cohort from Türkiye.

Methods: Demographic and clinical findings were recorded.

Data Analysis Methods in Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy: A Tutorial Review.

Fluorescence spectroscopy and related techniques benefit from exceptional sensitivity and have become engrained in a variety of fields from biosciences to materials sciences. Measuring time-domain fluorescence decays is nowadays a routine task in many laboratories across these different fields. Perhaps surprisingly, a correct data analysis of these fluorescence decay curves presents a formidable challenge and requires extensive insight in the problems associated with fitting this type of data.

First Step on the Way to Identify Dermatophytes Using Odour Fingerprints.

The clinical diagnosis of dermatophytosis and identification of dermatophytes face challenges due to reliance on culture-based methods. Rapid, cost-effective detection techniques for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been developed for other microorganisms, but their application to dermatophytes is limited. This study explores using VOCs as diagnostic markers for dermatophytes.