Use and acceptance of video consultation among adults insured by statutory health insurance provider in Germany: A nationwide online survey.

Introduction: The increasing digitalization of the healthcare system makes it possible to provide medical services using digital technologies without direct patient-provider contact. This study aimed to investigate 1) the use and acceptance of video consultation and 2) factors associated with the use of video consultation.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in February 2023.

Green Nuclear Medicine and Radiotheranostics.

There is a significantly growing interest in diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, and it is foreseeable that an unprecedented number of patients will need to be treated with new nuclear medicine therapies. This predicted increase will have potentially significant environmental impacts. In this discussion, we show different areas of impact, as well as possible measures to reduce such impact.

KDIGO 2025 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation, management, and treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD): executive summary.

The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2025 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation, Management, and Treatment of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) represents the first KDIGO guideline on this subject. Its scope includes nomenclature, diagnosis, prognosis, and prevalence; kidney manifestations; chronic kidney disease (CKD) management and progression, kidney failure, and kidney replacement therapy; therapies to delay progression of kidney disease; polycystic liver disease; intracranial aneurysms and other extrarenal manifestations; lifestyle and psychosocial aspects; pregnancy and reproductive issues; pediatric issues; and approaches to the management of people with ADPKD. The guideline has been developed with patient partners, clinicians, and researchers around the world, with the goal to generate a useful resource for healthcare providers and patients by providing actionable recommendations.

Comparative effectiveness of antipsychotic treatment strategies for relapse prevention in first-episode schizophrenia in Finland: a population-based cohort study.

Background: The best pharmacological treatment practices for relapse prevention in patients with first-episode schizophrenia are unclear. We aimed to assess different treatment strategies used before and after the first relapse, and their associations with subsequent relapse risk.

Methods: In this population-based cohort study, we enrolled individuals (aged ≤45 years) with first-episode schizophrenia who were hospitalised and subsequently relapsed between 1996 and 2014 from the nationwide Finnish Hospital Discharge Register.

Shorter and inflexible intrinsic neural timescales of the self in schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia is hypothesized to involve a disturbance in the temporal dynamics of self-processing, specifically within the interoceptive, exteroceptive, and cognitive layers of the self. This study aimed to investigate the intrinsic neural timescales (INTs) within these self-processing layers among people with schizophrenia.

Methods: We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to investigate INTs, as measured by the autocorrelation window, among people with schizophrenia and healthy controls during both resting-state and task (memory encoding and retrieval) conditions.

Free Energy, Rates, and Mechanism of Transmembrane Dimerization in Lipid Bilayers from Dynamically Unbiased Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

The assembly of proteins in membranes plays a key role in many crucial cellular pathways. Despite their importance, characterizing transmembrane assembly remains challenging for experiments and simulations. Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations do not cover the time scales required to sample the typical transmembrane assembly.

Microneedle patch-involved local therapy synergized with immune checkpoint inhibitor for pre- and post-operative cancer treatment.

The metastasis and recurrence of cancer post-surgery remain the major reasons for treatment failures. Herein, a photo-immune nanoparticle decorating with M1 macrophage membrane (BD@LM) is designed based on the inflammatory environment after surgical resection. By loading photosensitizer black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) and chemotherapeutics doxorubicin (DOX) in BD@LM nanoparticles, an effective chemophototherapy-mediated immunogenic cell death of tumor cells is triggered, subsequently leading to the maturation of dendritic cells for further immune cascade.

Phase II Randomized Trial of BI 730357, a Novel Oral RORγt Inhibitor, for Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis.

Trial Design: This two-part, double-blinded trial assessed the truncated retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γ (RORγt) inhibitor BI 730357 in plaque psoriasis.

Methods: Part 1: patients were randomized 2:2:2:2:1 to BI 730357 25, 50, 100, 200 mg, or placebo once daily (qd; fasting conditions); non-responders switched to higher doses. Part 2: a separate patient set was randomized 4:4:1 to BI 730357 400 mg qd, 200 mg twice daily, or placebo (fed conditions).

Philanthropic drug development: understanding its importance, mechanisms, and future prospects.

Philanthropic drug development (PDD) addresses gaps in traditional pharmaceutical innovation, particularly for rare and underserved diseases. Cost and timeline challenges discourage new investments, especially in niche therapeutic areas. Patient organizations (POs) are uniquely positioned to help to reduce development challenges by providing expertise, supporting early research, fostering collaborations, and driving patient-centered clinical trials.

Towards a common terminology of ventilation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Manual and mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation are critical yet poorly understood components of resuscitation care. In recent years, intra-arrest ventilation has been the subject of a growing number of laboratory and clinical investigations. Essential components to accurately interpret or reproduce original investigations are the exact measurement and transparent reporting of key ventilation parameters, such as volumes and airway pressures obtained during ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

A health economic evaluation of the multinational, randomized controlled CONVINCE trial - cost-utility of high-dose online hemodiafiltration compared to high-flux hemodialysis.

High-flux hemodialysis (HD) and high-dose hemodiafiltration (HDF) are established treatments for patients with kidney failure. Since HDF has been associated with improved survival rates compared to HD, we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of HDF compared to HD. Cost-utility analyses were performed from a societal perspective alongside the multinational randomized controlled CONVINCE trial.

Design of pH-responsive and amphiphilic pullulan-based biological macromolecule for gene delivery.

Nanomedicine, particularly gene delivery, holds immense potential and offers promising therapeutic options. Non-viral systems gained attention due to their binding capacity, stability and scalability. Among these, natural polysaccharides, such as pullulan, are advantageous in terms of sustainability, biocompatibility and potential degradability.

Survival Among Patients Treated with Total Mesorectal Excision or Selective Watch-and-Wait After Total Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Pooled Analysis of the CAO/ARO/AIO-12 and OPRA Randomized Phase II Trials.

Background: Prospective data comparing watch-and-wait (WW) to mandatory total mesorectal excision (TME) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) remains limited, as randomized control trials assessing these two treatment approaches are considered impractical. This pooled analysis of the CAO/ARO/AIO-12 and OPRA trials analyzes survival outcomes among LARC patients managed with either a selective WW or mandatory TME strategy following total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT).

Patients And Methods: The CAO/ARO/AIO-12 and OPRA trials were multicenter, phase II trials that randomized patients with stage II/III rectal cancer to receive either induction or consolidation chemotherapy as part of TNT.

Textbook Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing CRS+HIPEC for Peritoneal Surface Malignancies in an Eastern European Population.

Background: The preferred treatment option for patients with limited peritoneal metastasis (PM) is cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS+HIPEC).While the textbook outcome (TO) concept has been applied to other complex surgeries, its prevalence, determinants, and impact in patients with PM remain unclear. This study sought to identify factors influencing TO among individuals with PM undergoing CRS+HIPEC in an Eastern European population.

In vitro culture of the parasitic stage larvae of hematophagous parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus.

Current research on common parasitic nematodes is limited because their infective stages cannot be propagated in vitro. Here, we report a culture system for developing L4s of Haemonchus contortus, a blood-feeding nematode of ruminants. Our results demonstrated that a proportionate mixture of NCTC-109 to Luria-Bertini (1:2) media promoted the formation of early L4s and then into late L4s upon inclusion of 12.

Characterization of lipophilicity and blood partitioning of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides in vitro and in silico for toxicokinetic modeling.

Lipophilicity and blood partitioning are important determinants for predicting toxicokinetics using physiologically-based toxicokinetic (PBTK) modeling. In this study, the logarithm of the -octanol:water partition coefficient (log) and the blood-to-plasma concentration ratio ( ) were for the first time experimentally determined for the pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) intermedine, lasiocarpine, monocrotaline, retrorsine and their -oxides (PANOs). Validated assays for log (miniaturized shake-flask method) and (LC-MS/MS-based depletion assay) determination were compared to an ensemble of models.