Longer and better lives for patients with atrial fibrillation: the 9th AFNET/EHRA consensus conference.

Aims: Recent trial data demonstrate beneficial effects of active rhythm management in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and support the concept that a low arrhythmia burden is associated with a low risk of AF-related complications. The aim of this document is to summarize the key outcomes of the 9th AFNET/EHRA Consensus Conference of the Atrial Fibrillation NETwork (AFNET) and the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA).

Methods And Results: Eighty-three international experts met in Münster for 2 days in September 2023.

Atmospheric pressure field desorption-trapped ion mobility-mass spectrometry coupling.

While field ionization (FI) and field desorption (FD) are established soft vacuum ionization methods in mass spectrometry (MS), the technique of atmospheric pressure field desorption (APFD) has only recently been added to the repertoire. Similar to FI and FD, APFD can yield both positive even-electron ions of highly polar or ionic compounds and positive molecular ions, M, e.g.

Scientific Advances in Understanding the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Prevention of Urinary Tract Infection in the Past 10 Years.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a very common disease that is accompanied by various complications in the affected person. UTI triggers diverse inflammatory reactions locally in the infected urinary bladder and kidney, causing tissue destruction and organ failure. Moreover, systemic responses in the entire body carry the risk of urosepsis with far-reaching consequences.

Caries Etiology and Preventive Measures.

Caries is a widespread disease in both children and adults. Caries is caused by the conversion of fermentable carbohydrates by plaque bacteria into acids on the tooth surface. Thus, it is important to focus on sugar reduction and plaque control.

3D Screen Printing Offers Unprecedented Anticounterfeiting Strategies for Oral Solid Dosage Forms Feasible for Large Scale Production.

A threat to human health in developed and, in particular, in developing countries, counterfeit medicines represent the largest identified fraud market worldwide. 3D screen printing (3DSP), an additive manufacturing technology that enables large-scale production, offers unique opportunities to combat counterfeit drugs. One such possibility is the generation of oral dosage forms with a distinct colored inner structure that becomes visible upon breakage and cannot be copied with conventional manufacturing methods.

Leucine Supplementation Prevents the Development of Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction in a Rat Model of HFpEF.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is associated with exercise intolerance due to alterations in the skeletal muscle (SKM). Leucine supplementation is known to alter the anabolic/catabolic balance and to improve mitochondrial function. Thus, we investigated the effect of leucine supplementation in both a primary and a secondary prevention approach on SKM function and factors modulating muscle function in an established HFpEF rat model.

Prevention of Dental Caries: A Review on the Improvements of Toothpaste Formulations from 1900 to 2023.

Modern toothpastes are complex formulations with various ingredients. The aim of this study was to analyze the improvement of toothpaste formulations from 1900 to 2023 focusing on active ingredients with remineralizing, antibacterial, or plaque-removing effects, and to discuss their influence on caries prevention. For this, worldwide patent applications were searched using the international database Espacenet from the European Patent Office.

Deep Learning to Differentiate Benign and Malignant Vertebral Fractures at Multidetector CT.

Background Differentiating between benign and malignant vertebral fractures poses diagnostic challenges. Purpose To investigate the reliability of CT-based deep learning models to differentiate between benign and malignant vertebral fractures. Materials and Methods CT scans acquired in patients with benign or malignant vertebral fractures from June 2005 to December 2022 at two university hospitals were retrospectively identified based on a composite reference standard that included histopathologic and radiologic information.

Prediction uncertainty estimates elucidate the limitation of current NSCLC subtype classification in representing mutational heterogeneity.

The heterogeneous pathogenesis and treatment response of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led clinical treatment decisions to be guided by NSCLC subtypes, with lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma being the most common subtypes. While histology-based subtyping remains challenging, NSCLC subtypes were found to be distinct at the transcriptomic level. However, unlike genomic alterations, gene expression is generally not assessed in clinical routine.

Grand challenges in entomology: Priorities for action in the coming decades.

Entomology is key to understanding terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems at a time of unprecedented anthropogenic environmental change and offers substantial untapped potential to benefit humanity in a variety of ways, from improving agricultural practices to managing vector-borne diseases and inspiring technological advances.We identified high priority challenges for entomology using an inclusive, open, and democratic four-stage prioritisation approach, conducted among the membership and affiliates (hereafter 'members') of the UK-based Royal Entomological Society (RES).A list of 710 challenges was gathered from 189 RES members.

Filamentous fungus-produced human monoclonal antibody provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 in hamster and non-human primate models.

Monoclonal antibodies are an increasingly important tool for prophylaxis and treatment of acute virus infections like SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, their use is often restricted due to the time required for development, variable yields and high production costs, as well as the need for adaptation to newly emerging virus variants. Here we use the genetically modified filamentous fungus expression system Thermothelomyces heterothallica (C1), which has a naturally high biosynthesis capacity for secretory enzymes and other proteins, to produce a human monoclonal IgG1 antibody (HuMab 87G7) that neutralises the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron.

Stroke in the Time of Circadian Medicine.

Time-of-day significantly influences the severity and incidence of stroke. Evidence has emerged not only for circadian governance over stroke risk factors, but also for important determinants of clinical outcome. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the interplay between chronobiology and cerebrovascular disease.

Circadian Biology and the Neurovascular Unit.

Mammalian physiology and cellular function are subject to significant oscillations over the course of every 24-hour day. It is likely that these daily rhythms will affect function as well as mechanisms of disease in the central nervous system. In this review, we attempt to survey and synthesize emerging studies that investigate how circadian biology may influence the neurovascular unit.

A Critical Discussion of Alert Evaluations in the Context of Continuous Glucose Monitoring System Performance.

Many continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems provide functionality which alerts users of potentially unwanted glycemic conditions. These alerts can include glucose threshold alerts to call the user's attention to hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, predictive alerts warning about impeding hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, and rate-of-change alerts. A recent review identified 129 articles about CGM performance studies, of which approximately 25% contained alert evaluations.

An overview of growth hormone therapy in pediatric cases documented in the Kabi International Growth Study (Pfizer International Growth Database).

The Kabi International Growth Study (KIGS) was first established in 1987 and is the largest pharmaco-epidemiological study of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). KIGS is aimed at evaluating long-term safety and treatment outcomes in pediatric subjects who received Genotropin rhGH therapy (Pfizer, New York, NY, USA) as prescribed by physicians in real-world clinical practice settings. KIGS data have been used to answer multiple research questions related to growth, growth prediction, and growth hormone treatment, leading to the publication of 129 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 24 biannual reports, outcomes from 10 expert meetings, and 3 books.

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020.

Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60).

Coronary Artery Calcium Score Predicts Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Stable Chest Pain.

Background Coronary artery calcium (CAC) has prognostic value for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in asymptomatic individuals, whereas its role in symptomatic patients is less clear. Purpose To assess the prognostic value of CAC scoring for MACE in participants with stable chest pain initially referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Materials and Methods This prespecified subgroup analysis from the Diagnostic Imaging Strategies for Patients With Stable Chest Pain and Intermediate Risk of Coronary Artery Disease (DISCHARGE) trial, conducted between October 2015 and April 2019 across 26 centers in 16 countries, focused on adult patients with stable chest pain referred for ICA.

A New Intervention for Implementation of Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry: A Description of the PSY-PGx Clinical Study.

Pharmacological treatment for psychiatric disorders has shown to only be effective in about one-third of patients, as it is associated with frequent treatment failure, often because of side effects, and a long process of trial-and-error pharmacotherapy until an effective and tolerable treatment is found. This notion emphasizes the urgency for a personalized medicine approach in psychiatry. This prospective patient- and rater-blinded, randomized, controlled study will investigate the effect of dose-adjustment of antidepressants and or antipsychotics and according to the latest state-of-the-art international dosing recommendations for and metabolizer status in patients with mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.