High-Resolution OCT Reveals Age-Associated Variation in the Region Posterior to the External Limiting Membrane.

Purpose: To evaluate visibility of a sub-band posterior to the external limiting membrane (ELM) and assess its age-associated variation.

Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study, normal eyes were imaged using a high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) prototype (2.7-µm axial resolution).

From Lesions to Lessons: Two Decades of Filamentous Plant Pathogen Genomics.

Filamentous plant pathogens pose a severe threat to food security. Current estimates suggest up to 23% yield losses to pre- and post-harvest diseases and these losses are projected to increase due to climate change (Singh et al. 2023; Chaloner et al.

Observing Changes in Motoneuron Characteristics Following Distorted Sensorimotor Input via Blood Flow Restriction.

Disruption of the blood supply to a limb in conjunction with active movement boosts muscle growth, aids in rehabilitation, and allows controlled exploration of the sensorimotor system. Yet, the underlying neuromechanical changes have not been observed in great detail. This study aims to report the acute neuromuscular effects of temporary blood flow restriction (BFR) through behavioral changes at the level of motor units (MUs) using high-density surface electromyography on the abductor digiti minimi muscle during 20 trapezoidal and sinusoidal isometric force tracking tasks (5 pre-BFR, 5 during BFR, and 10 post-BFR).

Bio- and Chemoinformatic Approaches for Metabolomics Data Analysis.

Metabolomics data analysis includes, next to the preprocessing, several additional repetitive tasks that can however be heavily dataset dependent or experiment setup specific due to the vast heterogeneity in instrumentation, protocols, or also compounds/samples that are being measured. To address this, various toolboxes and software packages in Python or R have been and are being developed providing researchers and analysts with bioinformatic/chemoinformatic tools to create their own workflows tailored toward their specific needs. This chapter presents tools and example workflows for common tasks focusing on the functionality provided by R packages developed as part of the RforMassSpectrometry initiative.

Quality Assurance in Metabolomics and Metabolic Profiling.

Metabolic profiling (untargeted metabolomics) aims for a global unbiased analysis of metabolites in a cell or biological system. It remains a highly useful research tool used across various analytical platforms. Incremental improvements across multiple steps in the analytical process may have large consequences for the end quality of the data.

Differences in technical and clinical perspectives on AI validation in cancer imaging: mind the gap!

Good practices in artificial intelligence (AI) model validation are key for achieving trustworthy AI. Within the cancer imaging domain, attracting the attention of clinical and technical AI enthusiasts, this work discusses current gaps in AI validation strategies, examining existing practices that are common or variable across technical groups (TGs) and clinical groups (CGs). The work is based on a set of structured questions encompassing several AI validation topics, addressed to professionals working in AI for medical imaging.

Systematic evaluation of adhesives for implant fixation in multimodal functional brain MRI.

Objective: Invasive multimodal fMRI in rodents is often compromised by susceptibility artifacts from adhesives used to secure cranial implants. We hypothesized that adhesive type, shape, and field strength significantly affect susceptibility artifacts, and systematically evaluated various adhesives.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-one adhesives were applied in constrained/unconstrained geometries and imaged with T2*-weighted EPI at 7.

Attention-guided erasing for enhanced transfer learning in breast abnormality classification.

Purpose: Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent cancers globally, necessitating effective early screening and diagnosis. This study investigates the effectiveness and generalizability of our recently proposed data augmentation technique, attention-guided erasing (AGE), across various transfer learning classification tasks for breast abnormality classification in mammography.

Methods: AGE utilizes attention head visualizations from DINO self-supervised pretraining to weakly localize regions of interest (ROI) in images.

Time course of hospitalizations in patients with heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease around sleep-disordered-breathing diagnosis.

Purpose: In heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) populations, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with impaired health outcomes. We evaluated whether in patients with HF, concomitant HF and COPD or COPD, the number of hospitalizations would be reduced in the year after testing for SDB with and without treatment initiation compared to the year before.

Methods: We performed a multicentre retrospective study of 390 consecutive sleep-clinic patients who had a primary diagnosis of chronic HF, HF and COPD or COPD and a secondary diagnosis of SDB.

Physiological fingerprinting of audiovisual warnings in assisted driving conditions: an investigation of fMRI and peripheral physiological indicators.

Physiological responses derived from audiovisual perception during assisted driving are associated with the regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), especially in emergencies. However, the interaction of event-related brain activity and the ANS regulating peripheral physiological indicators (i.e.

Scapho-metacarpal dual mobility prosthesis for TMC-1 joint salvage: technical insights.

Introduction: Rhizarthrosis, or osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint, predominantly affects women over 50, with up to 30% experiencing some degree of arthritis in this joint. Traditional surgical approaches, such as trapeziectomy with ligament reconstruction, can result in some patients in persistent pain or limited functionality. TMC ball-in-socket arthroplasty, with a cup placed in the distal scaphoid, offers a promising alternative to traditional arthrodesis or resection-suspension arthroplasty.

Endothelial dysfunction in acute ischemic stroke: a review.

Background And Purpose: Endothelial dysfunction is considered an emerging therapeutic target to prevent complications during acute stroke and to prevent recurrent stroke. This review aims to provide an overview of the current knowledge on endothelial dysfunction, outline the diagnostic methods used to measure it and highlight the drugs currently being investigated for the treatment of endothelial dysfunction in acute ischemic stroke.

Methods:  The PubMed® and ClinicalTrials.

Biomarkers in Ataxia-Telangiectasia: a Systematic Review.

Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T) is a very rare multisystem disease of DNA repair, associated with progressive disabling neurological symptoms, respiratory failure, immunodeficiency and cancer predisposition, leading to premature death. There are no curative treatments available for A-T but clinical trials have begun. A major limiting factor in effectively evaluating therapies for A-T is the lack of suitable outcome measures and biomarkers.

Reduced antioxidant high-density lipoprotein function in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome affecting a growing global population. Due to the high incidence of cardiovascular risk factors, a large proportion of the Western population is at risk for heart failure. Oxidative stress and inflammation play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Clinical consequence of the 4-week X-ray control after ESIN osteosynthesis of forearm fractures in children.

Purpose: The absence of evidence based general guidelines for radiographic follow-ups of pediatric diaphyseal forearm fractures treated with ESIN results in an arbitrary array of X-ray examinations. In most pediatric traumatology departments, an X-ray check is carried out 4 weeks after ESIN osteosynthesis of forearm shaft fractures to detect incipient consolidation of the fracture. However, the elevated sensitivity to ionizing radiation requires special precautions in the pediatric populations.

Long-term cultivation of retinal pigment epithelium cells on nanofiber scaffolds.

Purpose: The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other retinal degenerative diseases. The introduction of healthy RPE cell cultures into the subretinal space offers a potential treatment strategy. The aim of this study was the long-term culture and characterisation of RPE cells on nanofiber scaffolds.

Outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy for medium vessel occlusion in acute ischemic stroke patients with ASPECTS 4-5 vs. 6-7: a retrospective, multicenter, and multinational study.

Introduction: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) efficacy in medium vessel occlusion (MeVO) stroke, particularly in patients with low Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS), remains less explored.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from 443 AIS patients treated with MT for MeVO and low ASPECTS (4-7) at 37 centers across North America, Asia, and Europe, from September 2017 to July 2021. Patients were categorized into ASPECTS of 4-5 and 6-7.

Age-specific effects of a sustained cognitive activity on perceived cognitive fatigue as well as single- and dual-task treadmill walking performance.

During their daily lives humans are often confronted with sustained cognitive activities (SCA) leading to state fatigue, a psychobiological state characterized by a decrease in cognitive and/or motor performance and/or an increase in perception of fatigue. It was recently shown that performing SCA can impair overground dual-task gait performance in older adults, but it is currently unknown whether there is a task- and/or age-specific modulation in gait performance during treadmill walking. Therefore, the effect of a SCA on single- and dual-task treadmill walking performance was investigated in young and old adults.

Green Synthesis of Eosin-Y Coated Silver Nanoparticles for Sensitive and Selective Fluorometric Detection of L-Dopa.

This study is to produce biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by utilizing aqueous extracts derived from Turnera Sublata (TS) leaves under visible light. Subsequently, these nanoparticles are coated with eosin-yellow (EY) to enhance sensitivity and selectivity in L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) detection. This method encompasses the deposition of metal onto the Ag NPs, resulting in the formation of EY-AgNPs.

Randomised, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial to Assess Efficacy and Safety of ELOM-080 in Outpatients with COVID-19.

Introduction: Incidences of infections with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are still high and treatment guidelines lack specific recommendations for outpatients with Coronavirus-induced disease 2019 (COVID-19). Phytomedicine ELOM-080, an enhancer of mucociliary clearance (MCC), showed benefits as add-on therapy in hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

Methods: This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled proof-of-concept study investigated whether outpatients with mild to moderate acute symptomatic COVID-19 would benefit from a 14-day treatment with ELOM-080 with regard to potential early treatment effects on cough and further typical COVID-19 symptoms.

Evaluating the value of 3D-printed bone models with fracture fragments connected by flexible rods for training and preoperative planning.

Background: The emergence of 3D printing has revolutionized medical training and preoperative planning. However, existing models have limitations, prompting the development of newly designed flexible 3D-printed bone fracture models.

Methods: The designed flexible 3D-printed bone fracture models were evaluated by 133 trauma surgeons with different levels of experience for perceived value as educational tool or as preoperative planning tool.

Content Validity of the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale in Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Introduction: The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale-Activities of Daily Living (FARS-ADL) is a validated and highly utilized measure for evaluating patients with Friedreich Ataxia. While construct validity of FARS-ADL has been shown for spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), content validity has not been established.

Methods: Individuals with SCA1 or SCA3 (n = 7) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) with SCA expertise (n = 8) participated in qualitative interviews evaluating the relevance, clarity, and clinical meaningfulness of FARS-ADL for assessment of individuals with SCA.

BDNF levels in serum and CSF are associated with clinicoradiological characteristics of aggressive disease in MS patients.

Background: BDNF has increasingly gained attention as a key molecule controlling remyelination with a prominent role in neuroplasticity and neuroprotection. Still, it remains unclear how BDNF relates to clinicoradiological characteristics particularly at the early stage of the disease where precise prognosis for the further MS course is crucial.

Methods: BDNF, NfL and GFAP concentrations in serum and CSF were assessed in 106 treatment naïve patients with MS (pwMS) as well as 73 patients with other inflammatory/non-inflammatory neurological or somatoform disorders using a single molecule array HD-1 analyser.

Load-bearing capacity of an experimental dental implant made of Nb-1Zr.

Although implants have undergone a remarkable development over the past decades, modern implants still show complications that make the improvement of materials necessary. The presented study investigates the load-bearing capacity of an experimental dental implant made of a niobium alloy (Nb1Zr) compared to identical implants made of Ti6Al4V using chewing simulation for artificial aging. Eight implants each with an experimental design were manufactured from Nb1Zr and Ti6Al4V.