Airway clearance techniques for people with acute exacerbation of COPD: a scoping review.

Introduction: Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) often involve mucus hypersecretion. Thus, management of sputum retention is critical. However, the use of airway clearance techniques (ACTs) in people with AECOPD across different healthcare settings and factors influencing their selection remain unclear.

Prognostic significance of diagnosis-to-surgery interval in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: A nationwide study.

Background: The question as to whether prolonged diagnosis-to-surgery intervals (DSIs) may compromise survival outcomes in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) remains unanswered. This nationwide study was designed to address this issue.

Methods: We analyzed data from 26,214 patients with first primary OCSCC identified in the Taiwanese Cancer Registry Database between 2011 and 2021.

Endoscopic evaluation of the feline tympanic bulla is feasible for detection of epithelial remnants following ventral bulla osteotomy in a cadaveric model.

Objective: To evaluate endoscopy for detection of epithelial remnants within the feline tympanic bulla following ventral bulla osteotomy (VBO) and to report the most likely locations within the bulla for epithelial remnants to occur.

Methods: This was a single-center experimental cadaveric study. 10 VBO procedures were performed by 5 board-certified surgeons in 5 feline cadavers.

Targeted and untargeted urinary metabolomics of alkaptonuria patients using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Alkaptonuria (AKU) is a rare autosomal-recessive disease which is characterized through black urine and ochronosis. It is caused by deficiency of the enzyme Homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase in the Phenylalanine/Tyrosine degradation pathway which leads to the accumulation of Homogentisic acid (HGA). Urine was provided by AKU patients and healthy controls.

The deubiquitinase USP5 prevents accumulation of protein aggregates in cardiomyocytes.

Protein homeostasis is crucial for maintaining cardiomyocyte (CM) function. Disruption of proteostasis results in accumulation of protein aggregates causing cardiac pathologies such as hypertrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and heart failure. Here, we identify ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5 (USP5) as a critical determinant of protein quality control (PQC) in CM.

Interpretation of Viscoelastic Hemostatic Assays in Cardiac Surgery Patients: Importance of Clinical Context.

Background: Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is widely used for point-of-care coagulation testing to reduce blood transfusions. Accurate interpretation of ROTEM data is crucial and requires substantial training. This study investigates the inter- and intrarater reliability of ROTEM interpretation among experts and compares their interpretations with a ROTEM-guided algorithm.

One-year incidence of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in oxaliplatin- or taxane-based chemotherapy: a multicenter, prospective registry study (MiroCIP study).

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and its associated pain negatively affect patient outcomes and quality of life (QoL). The two-part MiroCIP study included interventional and prospective observational studies. Here, we report the latter, describing CIPN incidence, risk factors, and outcomes.

Clinical study on low-energy semiconductor laser treatment in the promotion of wound healing after maxillofacial fracture surgery.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the clinical effect of low-energy semiconductor laser treatment on the promotion of wound healing after maxillofacial fracture surgery.

Methods: A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted. Patients with maxillofacial fractures who were hospitalized in the Department of Trauma and Plastic Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, from August 2021 to June 2023 were selected as the study subjects and randomly divided into experimental and control groups.

The importance of preclinical models for cholangiocarcinoma drug discovery.

Introduction: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) comprises a clinically diverse and genetically heterogeneous group of tumors along the intra- and extrahepatic biliary system (intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma) and gallbladder cancer with the common feature of a poor prognosis, despite increasing molecular knowledge of associated genetic aberrations and possible targeted therapies. Therefore, the search for even more precise and individualized therapies is ongoing and preclinical tumor models are central to the development of such new approaches.

Areas Covered: The models described in the current review include simple and advanced in vitro and in vivo models, including cell lines, 2D monolayer, spheroid and organoid cultures, 3D bioprinting, patient-derived xenografts, and more recently, machine-perfusion platform-based models of resected liver specimens.

Detection of clinically relevant variants in the gene below 10% allelic frequency: A multicenter study by ERIC, the European Research Initiative on CLL.

In chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the reliability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect variants ≤10% allelic frequency (low-VAF) is debated. We tested the ability to detect 23 such variants in 41 different laboratories using their NGS method of choice. The sensitivity was 85.

Current practices in prevention, screening, and treatment of diabetes in kidney transplant recipients: European survey highlights from the ERA DESCARTES Working Group.

Background: Although post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a common complication after kidney transplantation, there are few data on prevention, optimal screening, and treatment strategies.

Methods: The European Renal Association's DESCARTES working group distributed a web-based survey to European transplant centres to gather information on risk assessment, screening procedures, and management practices for preventing and treating PTDM in kidney transplant recipients.

Results: Answers were obtained from 121/241 transplant centres (50%) across 15 European countries.

Medullary thyroid cancer in MEN2 pediatric/adolescent carriers of RET mutation: genotype/phenotype correlation and outcome in a retrospective series of 23 patients.

Background: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 syndrome (MEN2) is a hereditary disease resulting from mutations of the rearranged during transfection (RET) protooncogene subclassified into MEN2A [medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), pheochromocytoma, and primary hyperparathyroidism] and MEN2B (MTC, pheochromocytoma, Marfanoid habitus, mucous neuromas, and intestinal ganglioneuromatosis). Prophylactic thyroidectomy is recommended in RET-mutated patients. The age at which it should be performed depends on the type and aggressiveness of the mutation.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of in vivo Reflectance Confocal Microscopy for Melanoma Diagnosis in a Real-World Clinical Setting.

Background: In a recent prospective, multicenter, two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT), we demonstrated that adjunctive reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) in routine clinical practice provides clinical benefits, including safe melanoma detection and a 43.3% reduction in the number needed to excise (NNE).

Methods: A cost-benefit analysis was conducted based on NNEs for standard care (5.

Influences of the second motion probing gradient -value and T2 relaxation time on magnetic resonance diffusion-derived 'vessel density' (DDVD) calculation: the examples of liver, spleen, and liver simple cyst.

Background: Magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-derived 'vessel density' (DDVD) is calculated according to: DDVD = Sb0/ROI - S/ROI, where S and S refer to the tissue signal when -value is 0 or 2 s/mm. S and ROI can also be approximated by other low -values diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). This study investigates the influence of the second motion probing gradient -value and T2 on DDVD calculations of the liver, spleen, and liver simple cyst.

Meeting report - Alpine desmosome disease meeting 2024: advances and emerging topics in desmosomes and related diseases.

Desmosomes are adhesive cell contacts abundant in tissues exposed to mechanical strain, such as the stratified and simple epithelia of the epidermis and mucous membranes, as well as the myocardium. Besides their role in mechanical cell cohesion, desmosomes also modulate pathways important for tissue differentiation, wound healing and immune responses. Dysfunctional desmosomes, resulting from pathogenic variants in genes encoding desmosomal components, autoantibodies targeting desmosomal adhesion molecules or inflammation, cause the life-threatening diseases arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and pemphigus and contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Safety and efficacy of a modified suprachoroidal silicone tube shunt implant in primary open angle and pseudo-exfoliative glaucoma.

Purpose: To assess the safety and efficacy of a modified suprachoroidal silicone tube (SST) shunt in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and pseudo-exfoliative glaucoma (PXG) in this experimental study.

Methods: In this single-center, retrospective longitudinal data analysis 66 eyes of 59 patients having POAG and PXG were included and treated with modified SST shunt in combination with cataract or as a stand-alone procedure. Pre- and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), C/D ratio and ocular adverse events (AEs) were assessed in all participants.

3D synergistic tumor-liver analysis further improves the efficacy prediction in hepatocellular carcinoma: a multi-center study.

Background: Besides tumorous information, synergistic liver parenchyma assessments may provide additional insights into the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate whether 3D synergistic tumor-liver analysis could improve the prediction accuracy for HCC prognosis.

Methods: A total of 422 HCC patients from six centers were included.

Pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in high-risk, early-stage, ER/HER2 breast cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial.

Addition of pembrolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab improved outcomes in patients with high-risk, early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer. However, whether the addition of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab to chemotherapy would improve outcomes in high-risk, early-stage, estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (ER/HER2) breast cancer remains unclear. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study (KEYNOTE-756) in which patients with previously untreated ER/HER2 grade 3 high-risk invasive breast cancer (T1c-2 (≥2 cm), cN1-2 or T3-4, cN0-2) were randomly assigned (1:1) to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab 200 mg or placebo Q3W given with paclitaxel QW for 12 weeks, followed by four cycles of doxorubicin or epirubicin plus cyclophosphamide Q2W or Q3W.

Modeling of magnetic vestibular stimulation experienced during high-field clinical MRI.

Background: High-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful diagnostic tool but can induce unintended physiological effects, such as nystagmus and dizziness, potentially compromising the comfort and safety of individuals undergoing imaging. These effects likely result from the Lorentz force, which arises from the interaction between the MRI's static magnetic field and electrical currents in the inner ear. Yet, the Lorentz force hypothesis fails to explain observed eye movement patterns in healthy adults fully.

Coexistence of cardiac sarcoidosis and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy-associated genetic variants: a multicentre case-control study.

Background: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by non-caseating granulomas, while arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a genetic condition mainly affecting desmosomal proteins. The coexistence of CS and genetic variants associated with ACM is not well understood, creating challenges in diagnosis and management. This study aimed to describe the clinical, imaging and genetic features of patients with both conditions.

Comparison of ultrasound to MR and histological methods for liver fat quantification.

Purpose: This prospective pilot study aims to evaluate the capabilities of novel quantitative ultrasound (QUS) methods based on attenuation (Att.PLUS) and sound speed (SSp.PLUS) for detecting liver fat.

Glutamine, Serine and Glycine at Increasing Concentrations Regulate Cisplatin Sensitivity in Gastric Cancer by Posttranslational Modifications of KDM4A.

Gastric cancer is a common digestive system tumor with a high resistance rate that reduces the sensitivity to chemotherapy. Nutrition therapy is an important adjuvant approach to favor the prognosis of gastric cancer. Dietary amino acids contribute greatly to gastric cancer progression by mediating tumor gene expressions, epigenetics, signal transduction, and metabolic remodeling.

Deciphering Immunometabolic Landscape in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Integrative Multiomics, Explainable Machine Learning and Experimental Validation.

Purpose: Immunometabolism is pivotal in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis, yet the intricacies of its pathological regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study explores the complex immunometabolic landscape of RA to identify potential therapeutic targets.

Patients And Methods: We integrated genome-wide association study (GWAS) data involving 1,400 plasma metabolites, 731 immune cell traits, and RA outcomes from over 58,000 participants.

Therapeutic effects of platelet-derived extracellular vesicles on viral myocarditis correlate with biomolecular content.

Introduction: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can potently inhibit inflammation yet there is a lack of understanding about the impact of donor characteristics on the efficacy of EVs. The goal of this study was to determine whether the sex and age of donor platelet-derived EVs (PEV) affected their ability to inhibit viral myocarditis.

Methods: PEV, isolated from men and women of all ages, was compared to PEV obtained from women under 50 years of age, which we termed premenopausal PEV (pmPEV).