Long-term posttransplant-related bone volumetric changes in eight face transplant recipients - A single-center retrospective case series.

Background: The long-term stability of allograft or native bone in facial vascularized composite allograft (fVCA) recipients is unclear. This study quantified long-term bone volume changes in facial transplants.

Methods: Computed tomography scans of eight fVCA recipients (2011-2023) were analyzed with Materialise Mimics.

Loneliness is positively associated with populist radical right support.

Objectives: The mental and physical health consequences of loneliness are well documented. However, loneliness's socio-political ramifications have been largely unexplored. We theorize that loneliness, due to its physiologically dysregulating impact on the nervous system, facilitates greater susceptibility towards populist radical right parties.

Trajectories of health-related quality of life across age cohorts: A longitudinal analysis of the German population over 16 years.

Background: Understanding the trajectories of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across different age cohorts and sociodemographic factors is crucial for promoting healthy aging. This study aims to examine the course of physical and mental HRQoL over a 16-year period in a nationwide sample of the German population.

Methods: Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel spanning from 2002 to 2018 (N = 4111; female = 52.

Synthetic cells in tissue engineering.

Tissue functions rely on complex structural, biochemical, and biomechanical cues that guide cellular behavior and organization. Synthetic cells, a promising new class of biomaterials, hold significant potential for mimicking these tissue properties using simplified, nonliving building blocks. Advanced synthetic cell models have already shown utility in biotechnology and immunology, including applications in cancer targeting and antigen presentation.

Guided reconstruction with conditioned diffusion models for unsupervised anomaly detection in brain MRIs.

The application of supervised models to clinical screening tasks is challenging due to the need for annotated data for each considered pathology. Unsupervised Anomaly Detection (UAD) is an alternative approach that aims to identify any anomaly as an outlier from a healthy training distribution. A prevalent strategy for UAD in brain MRI involves using generative models to learn the reconstruction of healthy brain anatomy for a given input image.

Investigation of the threonine metabolism of Echinococcus multilocularis: The threonine dehydrogenase as a potential drug target in alveolar echinococcosis.

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by the metacestode stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. We recently showed that E. multilocularis metacestode vesicles scavenge large amounts of L-threonine from the culture medium.

Intense FAP Expression of Ovarian Metastatic Breast Cancer Detected by [68Ga]RTX-1363 PET/CT.

PET/CT targeting fibroblast activation protein α (FAP) in cancer-associated fibroblasts shows promise in theranostics. Here, we report the case of a 31-year-old woman with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer who presented with rising CA15-3 for further diagnostic workup. Whereas [18F]FDG PET/CT was unremarkable, novel [68Ga]RTX-1363 PET/CT revealed intense tracer accumulation in thoracoabdominal lymph nodes and both ovaries.

Effect of siponimod on retinal thickness, a marker of neurodegeneration, in participants with SPMS: Findings from the EXPAND OCT substudy.

Background: People with MS show abnormal thinning of the retinal layers, which is associated with clinical disability and brain atrophy, and is a potential surrogate marker of neurodegeneration and treatment effects.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of retinal thickness as a surrogate marker of neurodegeneration and treatment effect in participants with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) from the optical coherence tomography (OCT) substudy of the EXPAND Phase 3 clinical trial (siponimod versus placebo).

Methods: In the OCT substudy population (n = 159), treatment effects on change in the average thickness of the retinal layer, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), and combined macular ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers (GCIPL) were analyzed by high-definition spectral domain OCT at months 3, 12, and 24.

Additional Cladribine tablets treatment courses in multiple sclerosis patients. A retrospective observational study in Latin American countries.

The use of additional cladribine tablets treatment courses is becoming an option in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) showing disease activity after treatment initiation. Despite the availability over the past year of several expert opinion guidance on the subject, there is a need for real-world assessment of the efficacy and safety of cladribine tablets in these patients. Thus, the aim of the present retrospective observational study is to describe the characteristics of patients that received additional treatment courses within the cohort of cladribine tablets-treated MS patients enrolled in the patient support program (PSP) Adveva® in Latin America countries.

The Effect of Ga-Ion Irradiation on Sub-Micron-Wavelength Spin Waves in Yttrium-Iron-Garnet Films.

We investigate the effect of focused-ion-beam (FIB) irradiation on spin waves with sub-micron wavelengths in Yttrium-Iron-Garnet (YIG) films. Time-resolved scanning transmission X-ray (TR-STXM) microscopy was used to image the spin waves in irradiated regions and deduce corresponding changes in the magnetic parameters of the film. We find that the changes of Gairradiation can be understood by assuming a few percent change in the effective magnetizationof the film due to a trade-off between changes in anisotropy and effective film thickness.

Evaluating the Acceptance and Usability of an Independent, Noncommercial Search Engine for Medical Information: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study and User Behavior Tracking Analysis.

Background: The internet is a key source of health information, but the quality of content from popular search engines varies, posing challenges for users-especially those with low health or digital health literacy. To address this, the "tala-med" search engine was developed in 2020 to provide access to high-quality, evidence-based content. It prioritizes German health websites based on trustworthiness, recency, user-friendliness, and comprehensibility, offering category-based filters while ensuring privacy by avoiding data collection and advertisements.

Insights into stem Batomorphii: A new holomorphic ray (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the upper Jurassic of Germany.

The Late Jurassic fossil deposits of southern Germany, collectively known as the 'Solnhofen Archipelago', are one of the world's most important sources of Mesozoic vertebrates. Complete skeletons of cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes), whose skeletal remains are rare in the fossil record and therefore all the more valuable, are represented, among others, by exceptionally well-preserved rays (superorder Batomorphii). Despite their potential for research in several areas, including taxonomy, morphology, ecology, and phylogeny, the number of studies on these chondrichthyans is still very limited.

Gadopiclenol Enables Reduced Gadolinium Dose While Maintaining Quality of Pulmonary Arterial Enhancement for Pulmonary MRA: An Opportunity for Improved Safety and Sustainability.

Rationale And Objectives: Pulmonary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is an imaging method with proven utility for the exclusion of pulmonary embolism and avoids the need for ionizing radiation and iodinated contrast agents. High-relaxivity gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), such as gadopiclenol, can be used to reduce the required gadolinium dose for pulmonary MRA. The aim of this study was to compare the contrast enhancement performance of gadopiclenol with an established gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced pulmonary MRA protocol.

Free-Breathing Respiratory Triggered High-Pitch Lung CT: Insights From Phantom and Patient Scans.

Objective: Respiratory motion can affect image quality and thus affect the diagnostic accuracy of CT images by masking or mimicking relevant lung pathologies. CT examinations are often performed during deep inspiration and breath-hold to achieve optimal image quality. However, this can be challenging for certain patient groups, such as children, the elderly, or sedated patients.

Informing Planetary Protection Policies for the Future Exploration of Ceres: State of Understanding after the Dawn Mission.

We review the current state of understanding of Ceres as it relates to planetary protection policy for future landed missions, including for sample return, to the dwarf planet. The Dawn mission found Ceres to be an intriguing target for a mission, with evidence for the presence of regional, possibly extensive liquid at depth, and local expressions of recent and potentially ongoing activity. The Dawn mission also found a high abundance of carbon in the regolith, interpreted as a mix of carbonates and amorphous carbon, as well as locally high concentrations of organic matter.

Dipnictogen Radical Chemistry: A Dithorium-Supported Distibene Radical Trianion.

Although two examples of σ-bonded -bent [RSbSbR] (R = bulky organo- or Ga-groups) that formally contain the Sb radical trianion moiety are known in p-block chemistry, d- or f-element Sb radical trianion complexes, with or without R-substituents, have remained elusive. Here, we report that reduction of a 77:23 mix of [{Th(Tren)}(μ-η:η-Sb)] (, Tren = {N(CHCHNSiPr)}):[{Th(Tren)}(μ-SbH)] () with 1.5 equiv of KC in the presence of 1.

Isoelectric Point of Metal Oxide Films Formed by Anodization.

The surface charge of metal oxides is an important property that significantly contributes to a wide range of phenomena, including adsorption, catalysis, and material science. The surface charge can be predicted by determining the isoelectric point (IEP) of a material and the pH of a solution. Although there have been several studies of the IEP of metal oxide (nano)particles, only a few have reported the IEP of metal oxide films.

Chirality à la carte.

Light drives a fast switching between achiral and chiral states in a crystal.

Decoding lysosome communication.

Lysosome interaction with other organelles may be linked to pulmonary hypertension.

Ductilization of 2.6-GPa alloys via short-range ordered interfaces and supranano precipitates.

Higher strength and higher ductility are desirable for structural materials. However, ultrastrong alloys inevitably show decreased strain-hardening capacity, limiting their uniform elongation. We present a supranano (<10 nanometers) and short-range ordering design for grain interiors and grain boundary regions, respectively, in fine-grained alloys based on vanadium, cobalt, and nickel, with additions of tungsten, copper, aluminum, and boron.

Photo-induced chirality in a nonchiral crystal.

Chirality, a pervasive form of symmetry, is intimately connected to the physical properties of solids, as well as the chemical and biological activity of molecular systems. However, inducing chirality in a nonchiral material is challenging because this requires that all mirrors and all roto-inversions be simultaneously broken. Here, we show that chirality of either handedness can be induced in the nonchiral piezoelectric material boron phosphate (BPO) by irradiation with terahertz pulses.