Added Value of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Analysis for Differential Diagnosis of Small (≤20 mm) Solid Pancreatic Lesions.

Objective: To evaluate the added value of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) analysis in pre-operative differential diagnosis of small (≤20 mm) solid pancreatic lesions (SPLs).

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with biopsy or surgerical resection and histopathologically confirmed small (≤20 mm) SPLs were included. One wk before biopsy/surgery, pre-operative B-mode ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound were performed.

Machine learning based prediction model for bile leak following hepatectomy for liver cancer.

Objective: We sought to develop a machine learning (ML) preoperative model to predict bile leak following hepatectomy for primary and secondary liver cancer.

Methods: An eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model was developed to predict post-hepatectomy bile leak using data from the ACS-NSQIP database. The model was externally validated using data from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) multi-institutional databases.

Cognitive impairments in chronic pain: a brain aging framework.

Chronic pain (CP) not only causes physical discomfort but also significantly affects cognition. This review first summarizes emerging findings that reveal complex associations between CP and cognitive impairments, and then presents neuroimaging evidence showing aging-related brain alterations in CP and proposes a framework where accelerated brain aging links CP to cognitive impairments. This framework explains how CP-related multi-level factors, which either contribute to the onset of CP or arise as a result of CP, influence brain aging in linear and nonlinear ways, leading to cognitive impairments and increased dementia risk.

Early noninvasive ventilation in general wards for acute respiratory failure: an international, multicentre, open-label, randomised trial.

Background: The impact of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) managed outside the intensive care unit in patients with early acute respiratory failure remains unclear. We aimed to determine whether adding early NIV prevents the progression to severe respiratory failure.

Methods: In this multinational, randomised, open-label controlled trial, adults with mild acute respiratory failure (arterial oxygen partial pressure/fraction of inspiratory oxygen [Pao/FiO] ratio ≥200) were enrolled across 11 hospitals in Italy, Greece, and Kazakhstan.

Modulating Charge Transfer Kinetics along Poly Adenine: Chemical Modifications, Temperature, and Conformational Effects.

The charge transfer (CT) reactions in nucleic acids are crucial for genome damage and repair and nanoelectronics using DNA as a molecular conductor. Previous experimental and theoretical works underlined the significance of nucleic acid structural dynamics on CT kinetics, requiring models that incorporate the dynamics of the nucleic acid, solvents, and counterions. Here, we investigated hole transfer kinetics in poly adenine single and double strands at various temperatures and the rate enhancement due to adenine-to-7-deazaadenine mutation by means of a QM/MM approach.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

This is the first in a series of five papers that detail the role and substantial impact that external quality assessment (EQA) and their providers' services play in ensuring diagnostic (IVD) performance quality. The aim is to give readers and users of EQA services an insight into the processes in EQA, explain to them what happens before EQA samples are delivered and after examination results are submitted to the provider, how they are assessed, what benefits participants can expect, but also who are stakeholders other than participants and what significance do EQA data and assessment results have for them. This first paper presents the history of EQA, insights into legal, financing and ethical matters, information technology used in EQA, structure and lifecycle of EQA programs, frequency and intensity of challenges, and unique requirements of extra-examination and educational EQA programs.

Preretinal abnormal tissue before and after pars plana vitrectomy in macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a multimodal imaging study.

Purpose: To quantitatively explore preretinal abnormal tissue (PAT) in macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) before and after surgery.

Methods: In this case-series study, PAT was detected by en-face optical coherence tomography images with custom slabs in eyes that underwent pars plana vitrectomy and SF6 for macula-on RRD.Main outcome measures were PAT area at baseline, 3-month and 6-month follow-up, and its relative change.

Reliability of the OMERACT Giant cell arteritis Ultrasonography Score (OGUS): results of a patient-based exercise involving experts and non-experts in vascular ultrasonography.

Objective: To test the reliability of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Giant cell arteritis (GCA) Ultrasonography Score (OGUS) and other composite scores in a patient-based exercise involving experts and non-experts in vascular ultrasonography.

Methods: Six GCA patients were scanned twice (two rounds separated ≥3 hours) by 12 experts and 12 non-experts. Non-experts received 90 min of theoretical and 240 min of practical training between rounds 1 and 2.

EDENT1FI Master Protocol for screening of presymptomatic early-stage type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents.

Introduction: The identification of type 1 diabetes at an early presymptomatic stage has clinical benefits. These include a reduced risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at the clinical manifestation of the disease and a significant reduction in clinical symptoms. The European action for the Diagnosis of Early Non-clinical Type 1 diabetes For disease Interception (EDENT1FI) represents a pioneering effort to advance early detection of type 1 diabetes through public health screening.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

External quality assessment (EQA) cycles are the smallest complete units within EQA programs that laboratories can use to obtain external assessments of their performance. In each cycle, several samples are distributed to the laboratories registered for participation, and ideally, EQA programs not only cover the examination procedures but also the pre- and post-examination procedures. The properties and concentration range of measurands in individual samples are selected with regard to the intended challenge for the participants so that each sample fulfils its purpose.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

External quality assessment (EQA) enhances patient safety through the evaluation of the quality of laboratory-based and point of care testing. Regulatory agencies and accreditation organizations utilize the results and the laboratory's response to them as part of assessing the laboratory's fitness to practice. In addition, where EQA samples are commutable and the assigned value has been determined using reference measurement procedures (RMPs), EQA data contributes to the verification of metrological traceability of assays as part of the post-market surveillance of diagnostic (IVD) medical devices (IVD-MDs).

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

Providers of external quality assessment (EQA) programs evaluate data or information obtained and reported by participant laboratories using their routine procedures to examine properties or measurands in samples provided for this purpose. EQA samples must offer participants an equal chance to obtain accurate results, while being designed to provide results in clinically relevant ranges. It is the responsibility of the EQA provider to meet the necessary requirements for homogeneity, stability and some other properties of the EQA items in order to offer participants a fair, reliable and technically interesting EQA experience.

Complex gene-dependent and-independent mechanisms control daily rhythms of hematopoietic cells.

The abundance and behaviour of all hematopoietic components display daily oscillations, supporting the involvement of circadian clock mechanisms. The daily variations of immune cell functions, such as trafficking between blood and tissues, differentiation, proliferation, and effector capabilities are regulated by complex intrinsic (cell-based) and extrinsic (neuro-hormonal, organism-based) mechanisms. While the role of the transcriptional/translational molecular machinery, driven by a set of well-conserved genes (Clock genes), in nucleated immune cells is increasingly recognized and understood, the presence of non-transcriptional mechanisms remains almost entirely unexplored.

Dapagliflozin ameliorates Lafora disease phenotype in a zebrafish model.

Lafora disease (LD) is an ultra-rare and still incurable neurodegenerative condition. Although several therapeutic strategies are being explored, including gene therapy, there are currently no treatments that can alleviate the course of the disease and slow its progression. Recently, gliflozins, a series of SGLT2 transporter inhibitors approved for use in type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, have been proposed as possible repositioning drugs for the treatment of LD.

Scrotal wall necrosis after hipec using mitomycin-c: Case report and review of the literature.

Introduction: Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a current treatment option for peritoneal carcinosis (PC) after cytoreductive surgery (CRS). Genital skin alterations are rare complications reported variously after HIPEC using Mitomycin-C.

Presentation Of Case: A 42-year-old man with a diagnosis of stage IV colorectal cancer underwent CRS and HIPEC using mitomycin-C.

ATC-to-RxNorm mappings - A comparison between OHDSI Standardized Vocabularies and UMLS Metathesaurus.

Introduction: The World Health Organization global standard for representing drug data is the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification. However, it does not represent ingredients and other drug properties required by clinical decision support systems. A mapping to a terminology system that contains this information, like RxNorm, may help fill this gap.

Evaluation of serum and fecal parameters in cats with low-grade intestinal T-cell lymphoma (LGITCL).

Lymphoma is the most common neoplasia in the intestine of cats. According to ACVIM consensus statement, low-grade intestinal T-cell lymphoma (LGITCL) represents a monomorphic infiltration of the lamina propria or epithelium or both of cats with small, mature, neoplastic (clonal) T lymphocytes. Despite the importance as contributing factors of inheritance and environment in the pathogenesis of LGITCL, the chronic inflammatory status plays a fundamental role.

Tryptophan and/or canthaxanthin in quail diets: effects on performance, carcass traits, hematology, blood chemistry and hepatic antioxidant capacity.

To enhance the health and performance of poultry, novel approaches have to be created. Using appropriate nutritional interventions to enhance body physiology and thus enhance productivity is one of these approaches. The purpose of the present investigation intended to examine how growing quail physiology and growth is affected by supplementing diets with tryptophan (Trp) and/or canthaxanthin (CX).

Experimental medicine study with stabilised native-like HIV-1 Env immunogens drives long-term antibody responses, but lacks neutralising breadth.

Background: We report findings from an experimental medicine study of rationally designed prefusion stabilised native-like HIV envelope glycoprotein (Env) immunogens, representative of global circulating strains, delivered by sequential intramuscular injection.

Methods: Healthy adult volunteers were enrolled into one of five groups (A to E) each receiving a different schedule of one of two consensus Env immunogens (ConM SOSIP, ConS UFO, either unmodified or stabilised by chemical cross-linking, followed by a boost with two mosaic Env immunogens (Mos3.1 and Mos3.

Automate the process of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks storage in the pathology laboratory: A proof of concept study.

Pathology laboratories are currently facing remarkable issues in the management of their archives due to the ongoing increase in the production of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks, which is often coupled with inadequate spatial and environmental storing conditions. The manual process of storage and retrieving further increases the likelihood of human-based mistakes, wastes professionals' working time, and, ultimately, widens reports signing turn-around times. In the present work, we outline the strategies underlying the development of an automated archive at the pathology services of the University of Modena.

Patterns of neuronal synchrony in higher-order networks.

Synchrony in neuronal networks is crucial for cognitive functions, motor coordination, and various neurological disorders. While traditional research has focused on pairwise interactions between neurons, recent studies highlight the importance of higher-order interactions involving multiple neurons. Both types of interactions lead to complex synchronous spatiotemporal patterns, including the fascinating phenomenon of chimera states, where synchronized and desynchronized neuronal activity coexist.