Apparent Diffusion Coefficient as an Early Predictive Factor of Local and Overall Response to Treatment with Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Radiotherapy in Patients with Prostate Cancer.

: To analyze the predictive value of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) treated with radiotherapy (RT) and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). : Retrospective study of patients with high-risk, very high-risk, or unfavorable intermediate-risk PCa who received RT and ADT between 2008 and 2019 and underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging mpMRI) at 6 months post-RT. Differences in ADC values were compared between patients with and without progression and/or local recurrence.

Quality of Life After Locoregional Treatment in Women with De Novo Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Primary site locoregional treatment (LRT) of metastatic breast cancer has been performed and evaluated with the aim to improve survival, prevent complications, and alleviate local symptoms. As some studies fail to show a survival benefit, the quality of life is important to consider when deciding on LRT. The aim of this study was to evaluate and quantify the impact of LRT on the quality of life of patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer (dnMBC) through a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis.

Capillariid diversity in archaeological material from the New and the Old World: clustering and artificial intelligence approaches.

Background: Capillariid nematode eggs have been reported in archaeological material in both the New and the Old World, mainly in Europe and South America. They have been found in various types of samples, as coprolites, sediments from latrines, pits, or burial. Modern parasitological records show that around 300 species of capillariids have been described in all vertebrate taxa, including humans, making it a very diversified group.

Role of circulating tumor DNA in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15% of all breast cancers and carries a worse prognosis relative to other breast cancer subtypes. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in early-stage TNBC.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using Ovid Medline, Elsevier EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science Databases for publications up to 11/16/2023.

The Possibility Space Concept in Neuroscience: Possibilities, Constraints, and Explanations.

Although the brain is often characterized as a complex system, theoretical and philosophical frameworks often struggle to capture this. For example, mainstream mechanistic accounts model neural systems as fixed and static in ways that fail to capture their dynamic nature and large set of possible behaviors. In this paper, we provide a framework for capturing a common type of complex system in neuroscience, which involves two main aspects: (i) constraints on the system and (ii) the system's possibility space of available outcomes.

Advancements in imaging techniques for monitoring the respiratory muscles.

This review highlights the latest advancements in imaging techniques for monitoring respiratory muscles in critically ill patients. At the bedside, conventional ultrasound has been widely adopted to measure diaphragm thickness, thickening and excursion. It has also been used to assess extradiaphragmatic respiratory muscles, including parasternal intercostal and abdominal muscles.

Scientific highlights of the 8th world one health Congress, Cape Town, South Africa 2024.

The 8th World One Health Congress took place in Cape Town, South Africa on 20-23 September 2024 to address all cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary aspects of the One Health paradigm, integrating human, animal, and environmental health. It brought together more than 1400 participants from 87 countries, and 400 speakers across 70 sessions. We summarize here the fourteen keynote lectures, which emphasized the need for a One Health approach to better integrate plant and agricultural health against food insecurity; the continuing challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious threats; a paradigm shift towards health risk prevention; and approaches to further strengthen and expand the impact of the One Health movement.

Delayed viral clearance and altered inflammatory responses affect severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in aged mice.

Epidemiological investigations consistently demonstrate an overrepresentation of the elderly in COVID-19 hospitalizations and fatalities, making the advanced age as a major predictor of disease severity. Despite this, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms explaining how old age represents a major risk factor remain elusive. To investigate this, we compared SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes in young adults (2 months) and geriatric (15-22 months) mice.

The calcium pump PMCA4b promotes epithelial cell polarization and lumen formation.

Loss of epithelial cell polarity and tissue disorganization are hallmarks of carcinogenesis, in which Ca signaling plays a significant role. Here we demonstrate that the plasma membrane Ca pump PMCA4 (ATP2B4) is downregulated in luminal breast cancer, and this is associated with shorter relapse-free survival in patients with luminal A and B1 subtype tumors. Using the MCF-7 breast cancer cell model we show that PMCA4 silencing results in the loss of cell polarity while a forced increase in PMCA4b expression induces cell polarization and promotes lumen formation.

An operating system for executing applications on quantum network nodes.

The goal of future quantum networks is to enable new internet applications that are impossible to achieve using only classical communication. Up to now, demonstrations of quantum network applications and functionalities on quantum processors have been performed in ad hoc software that was specific to the experimental setup, programmed to perform one single task (the application experiment) directly into low-level control devices using expertise in experimental physics. Here we report on the design and implementation of an architecture capable of executing quantum network applications on quantum processors in platform-independent high-level software.

Magnetically and optically active edges in phosphorene nanoribbons.

Nanoribbons, nanometre-wide strips of a two-dimensional material, are a unique system in condensed matter. They combine the exotic electronic structures of low-dimensional materials with an enhanced number of exposed edges, where phenomena including ultralong spin coherence times, quantum confinement and topologically protected states can emerge. An exciting prospect for this material concept is the potential for both a tunable semiconducting electronic structure and magnetism along the nanoribbon edge, a key property for spin-based electronics such as (low-energy) non-volatile transistors.

A continuous approach to explain insomnia and subjective-objective sleep discrepancy.

Understanding insomnia is crucial for improving its diagnosis and treatment. However, many subjective complaints about insomnia do not align with objective measures of sleep quality, as is the case in subjective-objective sleep discrepancy (SOSD). We address this discrepancy by measuring sleep intrusions and instability in polysomnographic recordings from a large clinical database.

Unraveling carbonate fault dynamics, from friction to decarbonation, through the 1959 Mw 7.2 earthquake in Montana.

Seismic rupture in carbonate rocks influences fault friction behavior through thermal evolution and mineral reactions. Focusing on the 1959 Mw 7.2 Hebgen Lake event in western Yellowstone, Montana, the largest earthquake on a normal fault in the United States, we analyze fault rock microstructures and mineralogical changes to constrain frictional heating on the fault plane.

TBK1 is involved in programmed cell death and ALS-related pathways in novel zebrafish models.

Pathogenic mutations within the TBK1 gene leading to haploinsufficiency are causative of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This gene is linked to autophagy and inflammation, two cellular mechanisms reported to be dysregulated in ALS patients, although its functional role in the pathogenesis could involve other players. We targeted the TBK1 ortholog in zebrafish, an optimal vertebrate model for investigating genetic defects in neurological disorders.

Subcutaneous mast cell tumor with nodal metastasis in a serotine bat.

A subcutaneous tumor was identified in the lateral neck of a wild adult serotine bat (). Histologic examination revealed a non-encapsulated, poorly demarcated, densely cellular and infiltrative round-cell neoplasm, with cytonuclear atypia and a high mitotic count. Neoplastic cells had numerous Giemsa-positive metachromatic intracytoplasmic granules leading to a diagnosis of subcutaneous mast cell tumor (MCT).

Mapping variants in thyroid hormone transporter MCT8 to disease severity by genomic, phenotypic, functional, structural and deep learning integration.

Predicting and quantifying phenotypic consequences of genetic variants in rare disorders is a major challenge, particularly pertinent for 'actionable' genes such as thyroid hormone transporter MCT8 (encoded by the X-linked SLC16A2 gene), where loss-of-function (LoF) variants cause a rare neurodevelopmental and (treatable) metabolic disorder in males. The combination of deep phenotyping data with functional and computational tests and with outcomes in population cohorts, enabled us to: (i) identify the genetic aetiology of divergent clinical phenotypes of MCT8 deficiency with genotype-phenotype relationships present across survival and 24 out of 32 disease features; (ii) demonstrate a mild phenocopy in ~400,000 individuals with common genetic variants in MCT8; (iii) assess therapeutic effectiveness, which did not differ among LoF-categories; (iv) advance structural insights in normal and mutated MCT8 by delineating seven critical functional domains; (v) create a pathogenicity-severity MCT8 variant classifier that accurately predicted pathogenicity (AUC:0.91) and severity (AUC:0.

Using Mixed Methods to Evaluate Risk Minimisation Programs in Europe and the USA: An Innovative Blueprint.

Background: Significant methodological shortcomings have been documented to date in risk minimisation program evaluations for medicinal products, including overreliance on survey methods alone. Recently updated guidances from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommend the use of frameworks and mixed methods designs to improve the rigor of these assessments.

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to exemplify how a mixed methods approach, guided by an implementation science framework, can be used to design the evaluation of a risk minimisation program.

New recommendations for reversal of high-dose methotrexate cytotoxicity with folinic acid.

Purpose: Folinic acid (FA) rescue protocols to counter the adverse effects of high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) vary widely, and the risk of over-rescue and potential adverse effects of excessive FA (e.g., hypercalcemia) are under-recognized issues when providing augmented rescue in cases of delayed methotrexate elimination (DME).

Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Subclinical Angioid Streaks in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Progression of the Disease at 2-Year Follow-Up.

Introduction: The purpose of the study is to characterize the rate of progression of geographic atrophy (GA) areas in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with subclinical angioid streaks (AS), compared to patients with AMD without subclinical AS.

Methods: This is a retrospective, longitudinal, case-control study. Among a cohort of patients with AMD, we selected patients with GA with subclinical AS and followed them for a 2-year follow-up.

A project to define standards for radiology staffing, education and training across the European Union.

The European Union Radiation, Education, Staffing & Training (EU-REST) study was a European Commission-funded, 24-month project that analysed workforce availability, education and training needs to ensure quality and safety aspects of medical applications involving ionising radiation in the EU and developed staffing and education/training guidelines for key professional groups involved in ensuring radiation safety and quality of medical radiation applications in the EU Member States. This article outlines the origin, development, goals and overall structure of the project. CRITICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This article provides a concise overview of the EU-REST project, which analysed the workforce availability of health professionals involved in the use of ionising radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and the corresponding education and training in radiation protection.

Infectious diseases, cardio-cerebrovascular health and vaccines: pathways to prevention.

Cardiovascular and infectious diseases both feature among the leading causes of death among men and women in the world. The pathophysiological pathways of infection and cardiovascular disease intersect, and there is a bidirectional relationship between the two. Vaccines are available for the most common infectious diseases affecting older adults, such as influenza, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster, COVID and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Identification of early genes in the pathophysiology of fibrotic interstitial lung disease in a new model of pulmonary fibrosis.

Some interstitial lung diseases involve pulmonary fibrosis, which is a process that is characterized by the excessive and abnormal accumulation of extracellular matrix in the pulmonary interalveolar space. Although the current anti-fibrotic therapy aims at slowing down the progression of pulmonary fibrosis, it does not reverse it, and many of the drugs that were identified in basic-research studies failed in clinical phases, mainly because of the lack of a model that can recapitulate the pathophysiological mechanisms of human pulmonary fibrosis. We developed a novel experimental model of pulmonary fibrosis induced by a cocktail of molecules on an air/liquid interface culture of mouse embryonic lung explants.

Early Alterations of Motor Learning and Corticostriatal Network Activity in a Huntington's Disease Mouse Model.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms as it progresses. Prior to motor symptoms onset, alterations, and dysfunctions in the corticostriatal projections have been described along with cognitive deficits, but the sequence of early alterations of brain circuits is largely unknown. There is thus a crucial need to identify early alterations that precede symptoms and that could be used as potential early disease markers.

Adaptive locomotion of active solids.

Active systems composed of energy-generating microscopic constituents are a promising platform to create autonomous functional materials that can, for example, locomote through complex and unpredictable environments. Yet coaxing these energy sources into useful mechanical work has proved challenging. Here we engineer active solids based on centimetre-scale building blocks that perform adaptive locomotion.