Longevity of antibody responses is associated with distinct antigen-specific B cell subsets early after infection.

Introduction: Upon infection, T cell-driven B cell responses in GC reactions induce memory B cells and antibody-secreting cells that secrete protective antibodies. How formation of specifically long-lived plasma cells is regulated via the interplay between specific B and CD4+ T cells is not well understood. Generally, antibody levels decline over time after clearance of the primary infection.

Clinical Performance Comparison of a Long Versus a Short Axial Field-of-View PET/CT Using EARL-Compliant Reconstructions.

Purpose: To ensure comparable PET/CT image quality between or within centres, clinical inter-system performance comparisons following European Association of Nuclear Medicine Research Ltd. (EARL) guidelines is required. In this work the performance of the long axial field-of-view Biograph Vision Quadra is compared to its predecessor, the short axial field-of-view Biograph Vision.

Automated tools for identifying the causes of anaemia in general practices are particularly advantageous for patients who do not fit the typical profile.

Background: The Dutch guideline algorithm for the analysis of anaemia in patients of general practitioners (GPs) was programmed in a Clinical Decision Support system (CDS-anaemia) to support the process of diagnosing the cause of anaemia in the laboratory. This research aims to assess the supplementary benefit provided by the automated algorithm in various demographic categories, including different sexes, age groups and severities of anaemia, in comparison to the manual diagnostic approach employed by GPs.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 5399 primary care patients where the cause of anaemia was diagnosed by GPs with or without the aid of CDS-anaemia within the age groups 18-44, 45-64, 65-79 and 80 and older.

Effect of unidirectional airflow ventilation on surgical site infection in cardiac surgery: environmental impact as a factor in the choice for turbulent mixed air flow.

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) in the form of postoperative deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after cardiac surgery is a rare, but potentially fatal, complication. In addressing this, the focus is on preventive measures, as most risk factors for SSI are not controllable. Therefore, operating rooms are equipped with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to prevent airborne contamination of the wound, either through turbulent mixed air flow (TMA) or unidirectional air flow (UDAF).

Inland Waters Increasingly Produce and Emit Nitrous Oxide.

Nitrous oxide (NO) is a long-lived greenhouse gas and currently contributes ∼10% to global greenhouse warming. Studies have suggested that inland waters are a large and growing global NO source, but whether, how, where, when, and why inland-water NO emissions changed in the Anthropocene remains unclear. Here, we quantify global NO formation, transport, and emission along the aquatic continuum and their changes using a spatially explicit, mechanistic, coupled biogeochemistry-hydrology model.

Communication of benefits and harms in shared decision making with patients with limited health literacy: A systematic review of risk communication strategies.

Objectives: Risk communication (RC), as part of shared decision making, is challenging with people with limited health literacy (LHL). We aim to provide an overview of strategies to communicate benefits and harms of diagnostic and treatment options to this group.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cinahl and PsycInfo.

Dispatch of Volunteer Responders to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests.

Background: Systems for dispatch of volunteer responders to collect automated external defibrillators and/or to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in cases of nearby out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are widely implemented.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether the activation of a volunteer responder system to OHCAs was associated with higher rates of bystander CPR, bystander defibrillation, and 30-day survival vs no system activation.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational analysis within the ESCAPE-NET (European Sudden Cardiac Arrest network: Towards Prevention, Education, New Effective Treatment) collaborative research network.

Optimisation of scan duration and image quality in oncological Zr immunoPET imaging using the Biograph Vision PET/CT.

Purpose: Monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based PET (immunoPET) imaging can characterise tumour lesions non-invasively. It may be a valuable tool to determine which patients may benefit from treatment with a specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) and evaluate treatment response. For Zr immunoPET imaging, higher sensitivity of state-of-the art PET/CT systems equipped with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-based detector elements may be beneficial as the low positron abundance of Zr causes a low signal-to-noise level.

Distinct dynamics of antigen-specific induction and differentiation of different CD11cTbet B-cell subsets.

Background: CD11cTbet B cells are enriched in autoimmunity and chronic infections and also expand on immune challenge in healthy individuals. CD11cTbet B cells remain an enigmatic B-cell population because of their intrinsic heterogeneity.

Objectives: We investigated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen-specific development and differentiation properties of 3 separate CD11c B-cell subsets-age-associated B cells (ABCs), double-negative 2 (DN2) B cells, and activated naive B cells-and compared them to their canonical CD11c counterparts.

Evaluating intra-action reviews at points of entry: ongoing learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Long-lasting crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require proper interim evaluation in order to optimize response. The World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Control have recently promoted the in(tra)-action review (IAR) method for this purpose. We systematically evaluated the added value of two IARs performed in the Dutch point of entry (PoE) setting.

Shared decision-making in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive neurological disorder impacting physical, cognitive, and psychosocial health. The disease course, severity, and presence of symptoms differ within and between persons over time and are unpredictable. Given the preference-sensitive nature of many key decisions to be made, and the increasing numbers of disease-modifying therapies, shared decision-making (SDM) with patients seems to be key in offering optimum care and outcomes for people suffering from MS.

Isocyanate-Free Polyurea Synthesis via Ru-Catalyzed Carbene Insertion into the N-H Bonds of Urea.

Polyureas have widespread applications due to their unique material properties. Because of the toxicity of isocyanates, sustainable isocyanate-free routes to prepare polyureas are a field of active research. Current routes to isocyanate-free polyureas focus on constructing the urea moiety in the final polymerizing step.

Appearing competent or moral? The role of organizational goals in the evaluation of candidates.

The Big Two theoretical framework suggests that two traits, namely morality and competence, govern social judgments of individuals and that morality shows a primacy effect over competence because it has more diagnostic value. In this study we tested the primacy effect of morality in the workplace by examining how instrumental or relational goals of organizations might influence the importance of morality or competence of candidates during the hiring process. We hypothesized that the primacy effect of morality might hold when organizational goals are relational, but it might get reversed when organizational goals are instrumental.

Multiscale Methods for Signal Selection in Single-Cell Data.

Analysis of single-cell transcriptomics often relies on clustering cells and then performing differential gene expression (DGE) to identify genes that vary between these clusters. These discrete analyses successfully determine cell types and markers; however, continuous variation within and between cell types may not be detected. We propose three topologically motivated mathematical methods for unsupervised feature selection that consider discrete and continuous transcriptional patterns on an equal footing across multiple scales simultaneously.

Testing the informal care model: intrapersonal change in care provision intensity during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Informal care, meaning taking health-related care of people in their own social network, is a topic that gets more and more attention in social science research because the pressure on people to provide informal care is rising due to ageing societies and policy changes. The developed by Broese van Groenou and de Boer (Eur J Ageing 13(3):271-279, 2016) provides a theoretical foundation to understand under what conditions a person provides informal care. We test this theoretical model by applying it to intrapersonal changes in informal care provision during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands in Spring 2020.

The Impact of Genes and Environment on Brain Ageing in Males Aged 51 to 72 Years.

Magnetic resonance imaging data are being used in statistical models to predicted brain ageing (PBA) and as biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. Despite their increasing application, the genetic and environmental etiology of global PBA indices is unknown. Likewise, the degree to which genetic influences in PBA are longitudinally stable and how PBA changes over time are also unknown.

Epigenetic Signatures Discriminate Patients With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Ulcerative Colitis From Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease affecting the intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts, and is strongly associated with ulcerative colitis (UC). In this study, we explored the peripheral blood DNA methylome and its immune cell composition in patients with PSC-UC, UC, and healthy controls (HC) with the aim to develop a predictive assay in distinguishing patients with PSC-UC from those with UC alone.

Methods: The peripheral blood DNA methylome of male patients with PSC and concomitant UC, UC and HCs was profiled using the Illumina HumanMethylation Infinium EPIC BeadChip (850K) array.

Long-Term Safety Data on S-1 Administered After Previous Intolerance to Capecitabine-Containing Systemic Treatment for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Introduction: The oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 has shown comparable efficacy to capecitabine in Asian and some Western studies on metastatic colorectal cancer. S-1 is associated with a lower incidence of hand-foot syndrome (HFS) and cardiac toxicity. We assessed the long-term tolerability of S-1 in patients who discontinued capecitabine for reasons of HFS or cardiac toxicity.

Action Intentions, Predictive Processing, and Mind Reading: Turning Goalkeepers Into Penalty Killers.

The key to action control is one's ability to adequately predict the consequences of one's actions. Predictive processing theories assume that forward models enable rapid "preplay" to assess the match between predicted and intended action effects. Here we propose the novel hypothesis that "reading" another's action intentions requires a rich forward model of that agent's action.

Exploring Spatially Explicit Changes in Carbon Budgets of Global River Basins during the 20th Century.

Rivers play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. However, it remains unknown how long-term river C fluxes change because of climate, land-use, and other environmental changes. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal variations in global freshwater C cycling in the 20th century using the mechanistic IMAGE-Dynamic Global Nutrient Model extended with the Dynamic In-Stream Chemistry Carbon module (DISC-CARBON) that couples river basin hydrology, environmental conditions, and C delivery with C flows from headwaters to mouths.

OralDisk: A Chair-Side Compatible Molecular Platform Using Whole Saliva for Monitoring Oral Health at the Dental Practice.

Periodontitis and dental caries are two major bacterially induced, non-communicable diseases that cause the deterioration of oral health, with implications in patients' general health. Early, precise diagnosis and personalized monitoring are essential for the efficient prevention and management of these diseases. Here, we present a disk-shaped microfluidic platform (OralDisk) compatible with chair-side use that enables analysis of non-invasively collected whole saliva samples and molecular-based detection of ten bacteria: seven periodontitis-associated (, , , , , , ) and three caries-associated (oral , , ).