Self-reported determinants for subjective financial distress: a qualitative interview study with German cancer patients.

Objectives: Patient-reported financial effects of a tumour disease in a universal healthcare setting are a multidimensional phenomenon. Actual and anticipated objective financial burden caused by direct medical and non-medical costs as well as indirect costs such as loss of income can lead to subjective financial distress. To better understand subjective financial distress, the presented study explores self-reported determinants for subjective financial distress in German patients with cancer, aiming to inform a new German-language patient-reported outcome measure for determining the financial effects of a tumour disease.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence and Wearable Inertial Measurement Units in Medicine: Systematic Review.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has already revolutionized the analysis of image, text, and tabular data, bringing significant advances across many medical sectors. Now, by combining with wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs), AI could transform health care again by opening new opportunities in patient care and medical research.

Objective: This systematic review aims to evaluate the integration of AI models with wearable IMUs in health care, identifying current applications, challenges, and future opportunities.

CRAmed: a conditional randomization test for high-dimensional mediation analysis in sparse microbiome data.

Motivation: Numerous microbiome studies have revealed significant associations between the microbiome and human health and disease. These findings have motivated researchers to explore the causal role of the microbiome in human complex traits and diseases. However, the complexities of microbiome data pose challenges for statistical analysis and interpretation of causal effects.

Optimising medium chain carboxylate production in xylan mixed-culture monofermentation.

This work investigates the optimization of medium-chain carboxylate (MCC) production through xylan mixed-culture monofermentation. The pH screening in batch assays showed that the hydrolysis stage and selectivity towards MCC precursors were optimised at pH 6. Subsequently, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) were operated at different Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT), revealing that the SBR at HRT 2 days yielded the highest caproic acid since lactic acid availability and chain elongation process were balanced.

Anaphylaxis definition, overview, and clinical support tool: 2024 consensus report.

Background: The 2006 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (NIAID/FAAN) anaphylaxis criteria are widely used in clinical care and research. In 2020, the World Allergy Organization (WAO) published modified criteria that have not been uniformly adopted. Different criteria contribute to inconsistent care and research outcomes.

Bridging the Gap: Phage Manufacturing Processes from Laboratory to Agri-Food Industry.

Interest in bacteriophages (phages) as sustainable biocontrol agents in the agri-food industry has increased because of growing worries about food safety and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The phage manufacturing process is examined in this review, with particular attention paid to the crucial upstream and downstream processes needed for large-scale production. Achieving large phage yields requires upstream procedures, including fermentation and phage amplification.

Prolonged mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients: six-month mortality, care pathways, and quality of life.

Background: There is limited knowledge about long-term mortality, care pathways and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) among intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV).

Research Question: What are the long-term mortality, care pathways, and HrQoL of patients receiving invasive PMV, stratified by weaning success?

Study Design: and methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of patients from the cluster-randomised controlled Enhanced Recovery after Intensive Care trial who were treated in two ICU clusters and received invasive PMV (≥21 days via endotracheal tube/tracheostomy or ≥four days via tracheostomy). Data on weaning success, mortality, care place transitions, readmissions, and HrQoL were collected for six months after ICU discharge.

Technical and clinical outcomes of 13 years of endovascular repair of infrarenal, atherosclerotic, penetrating aortic ulcers.

Objectives: To report the technical and clinical outcomes of endovascular repair of all infrarenal, penetrating aortic ulcers (PAU) that were treated at a single institution over a 13-year period.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective observational study. All patients consecutively treated for atherosclerotic, infrarenal PAU were included between 2010 and 2023.

Omniflow prosthesis for treatment prosthetic graft infection of the aorto-iliac and femoropopliteal level on the infrarenal aortic segment and lower extremity.

Objectives: To report outcomes after the use of the Omniflow II biosynthetic graft (LeMaitre Vascular, Il, USA) for vascular reconstruction in patients with prosthetic infection at the aorto-iliac and femoropopliteal level.

Methods: Within a six-year period, all consecutive patients with aorto-iliac and femoro-popliteal graft infection treated by resection of the infected graft material, extensive local debridement and reconstruction using Omniflow II biosynthetic graft were retrospectively analzyed. Patient characteristics, intraoperative details, postoperative outcomes, and infection details were assessed.

Goal-Framing Theory and Sustainable Food Choices: Leveraging Spillover to Activate Moral.

Transitioning to plant-dominant dishes in the growing meal kit delivery market could significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emission footprint of the sector. However, many consumers choose meat-based options without considering plant-based alternatives when ordering food online. This scenario-based survey experiment with 669 consumers tested whether an environmental message between lunch and dinner would increase stated plant-based dinner choices.

Fetal fibroblast heterogeneity defines dermal architecture during human embryonic skin development.

To investigate heterogeneity of fibroblasts in human fetal skin, we analysed published single-cell RNA sequencing data (8 and 16 post conception weeks (PCW)) and performed single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridisation to map their spatial distribution and predicted dynamic interactions. Clustering revealed 8 fibroblast populations with developmental stage-specific abundance changes. Proliferative cells (MKI67+) were present at all stages.

Pre-clinical Evaluation of New Generation Bridging Stent for Fenestrated Endovascular Aneurysm Repair using Realistic 3D Printed Aneurysm Models.

Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a comparative pre-clinical evaluation of a new fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair dedicated stent using perfused 3D printed patient anatomies.

Methods: The test setup included a pulsatile pump set to reproduce human haemodynamics, four 3D printed pararenal aneurysms connected to a bench test, and four corresponding fenestrated grafts (Zenith Fenestrated; Cook, Bloomington, IN, USA). Bridging stents were sized based on analysis of patients computed tomography scans and included either four standard covered stents (BeGraft [BG]; Bentley, Hechingen, Germany) or four similar covered stent grafts mounted on a modified balloon to allow stent implantation and flaring in one step (BeFlared [BF]; Bentley).

Intimate Partner Violence and Women's Dietary Diversity: A Population-Based Investigation in Eight Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses a significant threat to the well-being of women and girls and is a highly prevalent form of gender-based violence. Evidence regarding the nutritional implications of IPV has focused primarily on intergenerational relationships with child nutrition and growth. There remains a knowledge gap regarding the association with women's own dietary intake.

Cadmium-cardiolipin disruption of respirasome assembly and redox balance through mitochondrial membrane rigidification.

The environmental pollutant cadmium (Cd) poses a threat to human health through consumption of contaminated foodstuffs culminating in chronic nephrotoxicity. Mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) are key to Cd cellular toxicity. Cd-lipid interactions have been less considered.

Impact of riverbed renaturalization on the attenuation of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in wastewater effluent-dominated streams.

Mediterranean streams contain substantial proportions of wastewater treatment plant effluent, occasionally constituting the entire water flow. Here, we analysed the seasonal occurrence of 23 antibiotics (AB) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by tracking 3 marker genes and bacterial community dynamics in two wastewater effluent-dominated streams. One stream was renaturalized with meanders and vegetation, while the other was linear and had a low vegetation density.

Ciliopathy-associated missense mutations in IFT140 are tolerated by the inherent resilience of the IFT machinery.

Genotype-phenotype correlations of rare diseases are complicated by low patient number, high phenotype variability and compound heterozygosity. Mutations may cause instability of single proteins, and affect protein complex formation or overall robustness of a specific process in a given cell. Ciliopathies offer an interesting case for studying genotype-phenotype correlations as they have a spectrum of severity and include diverse phenotypes depending on different mutations in the same protein.

Proteomic diversity in bacteria: Insights and implications for bacterial identification.

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics has revolutionized bacterial identification and elucidated many molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial growth, community formation, and drug resistance. However, most research has been focused on a few model bacteria, overlooking bacterial diversity. In this study, we present the most extensive bacterial proteomic resource to date, covering 303 species, 119 genera, and five phyla with over 636,000 unique expressed proteins, confirming the existence of over 38,700 hypothetical proteins.

Zn-doped CaP coating equips Ti implants with corrosion resistance, biomineralization, antibacterial and immunotolerant activities.

Introduction: Chronic inflammation leading to implant failure present major challenges in orthopedics, dentistry, and reconstructive surgery. Titanium alloys, while widely used, often provoke inflammatory complications. Zinc-doped calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings offer potential to enhance implant integration by improving corrosion resistance, bioactivity, and immunocompatibility.

Hippocampal DNA methylation promotes contextual fear memory persistence by facilitating systems consolidation and cortical engram stabilization.

Background: Long-term fear memory storage involves gradual reorganization of supporting brain regions over time, a process termed systems consolidation. Memories initially rely on the hippocampus but gradually shift dependence to the neocortex. Although hippocampal activity drives this transfer, the molecular basis of systems consolidation is largely unknown.

Characterization of the N- and C-terminal domain interface of the three main apoE isoforms: A combined quantitative cross-linking mass spectrometry and molecular modeling study.

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism is associated with different pathologies such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of apoE and isoform-specific structural differences are prerequisites for the rational design of small molecule structure modulators that correct the detrimental effects of pathological isoforms. In this study, cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) targeting Asp, Glu and Lys residues was used to explore the intramolecular interactions in the E2, E3 and E4 isoforms of apoE.

The road forward with swarm systems.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are accelerating progress in swarm systems. Large and bulky autonomous systems are being replaced with many, smaller, cheaper, distributed, decentralized and collectively smarter systems. However, developing these swarm intelligence systems comes with multiple challenges, including technological challenges to engineer smaller and smarter machines, interaction challenges to design novel interfaces and modalities for communication and sociotechnical challenges related to trustworthiness, ethics and legalities.

Quantum computing for swarm robotics: a local-to-global approach.

Quantum computing is a branch of computer science derived from the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, such as state superposition, multi-value logic and destructive measure. An open challenge in itself is to re-think in quantum terms classic problems and solving techniques. Another nature-inspired field is the development of swarm-based robotic applications, where the challenge is catching the fundamental laws governing swarm dynamics, such as pattern formation and target reaching.