Pharmacotherapy from Pre-COVID to Post-COVID: Longitudinal Trends and Predictive Indicators for Long COVID Symptoms.

Background/objectives: A significant number of COVID-19 cases experience persistent symptoms after the acute infection phase, a condition known as long COVID or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Approved prevention and treatment options for long COVID are currently lacking. Given the heterogeneous nature of long COVID, a personalized medicine approach is essential for effective disease management.

Brazilian Food Waste as a Substrate for Bioethanol Production.

Food waste (FW) is a common source of contamination, contaminating both soils and water bodies by releasing greenhouse gases. FW holds great potential for biofuel and bioproduct production, which can mitigate its environmental impact and become a valuable addition to the circular bioeconomy. Therefore, this work aimed to investigate the use of food waste as a substrate to produce fermentable sugars and bioethanol.

Application of the Chitooligosaccharides and Fluorescence Polarization Technique for the Assay of Active Lysozyme in Hen Egg White.

This study describes the applicability of the fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) based on the use of FITC-labeled oligosaccharide tracers of defined structure for the measurement of active lysozyme in hen egg white. Depending on the oligosaccharide chain length of the tracer, this method detects both the formation of the enzyme-to-tracer complex (because of lectin-like, i.e.

Comprehensive Non-invasive Versus Invasive Approach to Evaluate Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Heart Transplantation: The CCTA-HTx Study.

Background: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is emerging as a valuable tool for noninvasive surveillance of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in patients with heart transplant (HTx). We assessed the diagnostic performance of a comprehensive CCTA-based approach compared with the invasive reference, which includes invasive coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve, for detecting CAV.

Methods: This was a multicenter prospective study including 37 patients with HTx who underwent CCTA, invasive coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve.

Promoting Physical Activity in People With Parkinson's Disease Through a Smartphone App: A Pilot Study.

Background And Purpose: Physical activity has beneficial symptomatic effects for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but increasing-and sustaining-a physically active lifestyle remains challenging. We investigated the feasibility (ability to increase step counts) and usability of a behavioral intervention using a motivational smartphone application to remotely increase physical activity in PD.

Methods: We performed a 4-week, double-blind pilot trial.

Strain-Reduced Inversion Symmetry in Ultrathin SnPSe Crystals for Giant Bulk Piezophotovoltaic Generation.

With the potential to surpass the Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) limitation for solar energy conversion, the bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect, which is induced by the broken inversion symmetry of the lattice, presents prospects for future light-harvesting technologies. However, the development of BPV is largely limited by the low solar spectrum conversion efficiency of existing noncentrosymmetric materials with wide band gaps. This study reports that the strain-induced reduction of inversion symmetry can enhance the second-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ) of SnPSe crystals by an order of magnitude, which contributes to an extremely high value of 1.

Autogene cevumeran with or without atezolizumab in advanced solid tumors: a phase 1 trial.

Effective targeting of somatic cancer mutations to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy requires an individualized approach. Autogene cevumeran is a uridine messenger RNA lipoplex-based individualized neoantigen-specific immunotherapy designed from tumor-specific somatic mutation data obtained from tumor tissue of each individual patient to stimulate T cell responses against up to 20 neoantigens. This ongoing phase 1 study evaluated autogene cevumeran as monotherapy (n = 30) and in combination with atezolizumab (n = 183) in pretreated patients with advanced solid tumors.

The inability to predict futility in hemorrhaging trauma patients using 4-hour transfusion volumes and rates.

Background: Blood shortages and utilization stewardship have motivated the trauma community to evaluate futility cutoffs during massive transfusions (MTs). Recent single-center studies have confirmed meaningful survival in ultra-MT (≥20 U) and super-MT (≥50 U), while others advocate for earlier futility cut points. We sought to evaluate whether transfusion volume and intensity cut points could predict 100% mortality in a multicenter analysis.

Fixation Methods, Complications, and Outcomes After Primary Fixation of Isolated Chondral Fragments in the Knee: A Systematic Review.

Background: Knee injuries resulting in purely cartilaginous defects are rare, and controversy remains regarding the reliability of chondral-only fixation.

Purpose: To systematically review the literature for fixation methods and outcomes after primary fixation of chondral-only defects within the knee.

Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 5.

Cytoskeleton-functionalized synthetic cells with life-like mechanical features and regulated membrane dynamicity.

The cytoskeleton is a crucial determinant of mammalian cell structure and function, providing mechanical resilience, supporting the cell membrane and orchestrating essential processes such as cell division and motility. Because of its fundamental role in living cells, developing a reconstituted or artificial cytoskeleton is of major interest. Here we present an approach to construct an artificial cytoskeleton that imparts mechanical support and regulates membrane dynamics.

Personalized, autologous neoantigen-specific T cell therapy in metastatic melanoma: a phase 1 trial.

New treatment approaches are warranted for patients with advanced melanoma refractory to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) or BRAF-targeted therapy. We designed BNT221, a personalized, neoantigen-specific autologous T cell product derived from peripheral blood, and tested this in a 3 + 3 dose-finding study with two dose levels (DLs) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic melanoma, disease progression after ICB, measurable disease (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1) and, where appropriate, BRAF-targeted therapy.

Clinicogenomic landscape of pancreatic adenocarcinoma identifies KRAS mutant dosage as prognostic of overall survival.

Nearly all pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDAC) are genomically characterized by KRAS exon 2 mutations. Most patients with PDAC present with advanced disease and are treated with cytotoxic therapy. Genomic biomarkers prognostic of disease outcomes have been challenging to identify.

Dengue virus IgG and neutralizing antibody titers measured with standard and mature viruses are protective.

The standard dengue virus (DENV) neutralization assay inconsistently predicts dengue protection. We compare how IgG ELISA, envelope domain III (EDIII), or non-structural protein 1 (NS1) binding antibodies, and titers from plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNTs) using standard and mature viruses are associated with dengue. The ELISA measures IgG antibodies that bind to inactivated DENV1-4.

An evaluation framework for clinical use of large language models in patient interaction tasks.

The integration of large language models (LLMs) into clinical diagnostics has the potential to transform doctor-patient interactions. However, the readiness of these models for real-world clinical application remains inadequately tested. This paper introduces the Conversational Reasoning Assessment Framework for Testing in Medicine (CRAFT-MD) approach for evaluating clinical LLMs.

Synergistic design of CuO/CoFe₂O₄/MWCNTs ternary nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline under visible light.

This study involves a novel CuO/CoFe₂O₄/MWCNTs (CCT) nanocomposite, developed by integrating cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light. The photocatalyst was extensively characterized using XRD, HR-SEM, EDX, HR-TEM, UV-Vis, BET, and PL analysis. The synthesized CoFe₂O₄ and CuO nanoparticles exhibited crystallite sizes of 46.

Vibrational fiber photometry: label-free and reporter-free minimally invasive Raman spectroscopy deep in the mouse brain.

Optical approaches to monitor neural activity are transforming neuroscience, owing to a fast-evolving palette of genetically encoded molecular reporters. However, the field still requires robust and label-free technologies to monitor the multifaceted biomolecular changes accompanying brain development, aging or disease. Here, we have developed vibrational fiber photometry as a low-invasive method for label-free monitoring of the biomolecular content of arbitrarily deep regions of the mouse brain in vivo through spontaneous Raman spectroscopy.

A replication-incompetent adenoviral vector encoding for HSV-2 gD2 is immunogenic and protective against HSV-2 intravaginal challenge in mice.

Herpes Simplex virus (HSV) is the cause of genital herpes and no prophylactic treatment is currently available. Replication-incompetent adenoviral vectors are potent inducers of humoral and cellular immune responses in humans. We have designed an adenoviral vector type 35 (Ad35)-based vaccine encoding the HSV-2 major surface antigen gD2 (Ad35.

Exploring salinity induced adaptations in marine diatoms using advanced photonic techniques.

Photonic-based methods are crucial in biology and medicine due to their non-invasive nature, allowing remote measurements without affecting biological specimens. The study of diatoms using advanced photonic methods remains a relatively underexplored area, presenting significant opportunities for pioneering discoveries. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of marine diatoms, specifically Nitzschia sp.

Novel coronaviruses and mammarenaviruses of hedgehogs from Russia including the comparison of viral communities of hibernating and active specimens.

Introduction: Small mammals, especially rodents and bats, are known reservoirs of zoonotic viruses, but little is known about the viromes of insectivorous species including hedgehogs (order Eulipotyphla), which often live near human settlements and come into contact with humans.

Methods: We used high-throughput sequencing and metaviromic analysis to describe the viromes of 21 hedgehogs (Erinaceus sp.) sampled from summer 2022 to spring 2023.

Exploration of the Reasons for Poor Adherence Among Metabolic Syndrome Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India: A Mixed Method Study.

Background A major challenge in the treatment of MetS is the prevalence of low rates of adherence to the treatment regimen for individual components by the affected persons. This study aimed to estimate the medication adherence level among those with metabolic syndrome, determine the factors significantly associated with low adherence to medication, and explore the reasons for poor adherence to medication Materials and methods This sequential explanatory type of mixed method study was conducted among the metabolic syndrome patients attending the lifestyle clinic of a tertiary care hospital in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, India. For the quantitative component, 210 was the sample size and for the qualitative component, the sample size was six.

Safety and Efficacy of Ecopipam in Patients with Tourette Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background And Objectives: Ecopipam is a selective antagonist of the dopamine D1 receptor, and its efficacy and safety have recently been explored in several clinical trials involving patients with Tourette syndrome (TS). The objectives of this systematic review were to determine the pooled estimate for efficacy [in terms of reduction in tic Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) scores] and safety of oral ecopipam in subjects with TS.

Methods: All clinical trials that explored the efficacy and/or safety of ecopipam in patients with TS were included to determine the pooled estimate for change in YGTSS, Clinical Global Impression (CGI)-TS, and the severity of comorbid attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD), and depressive symptoms, as well as the nature and frequency of adverse effects.

Description of Encyonemataceae fam. nov. and Witkowskiaceae fam. nov. (Bacillariophyceae, Cymbellales) based on molecular and morphological analyses.

In this study, based on the results of molecular analysis of SSU rRNA and rbcL sequences, we propose the descriptions of two new families in the order Cymbellales. Molecular data demonstrates that diatoms of the genus Encyonema constitute an independent monophyletic clade, which represents a new family described herein - Encyonemataceae fam. nov.

Buckyballs to fight pandemic: Water-soluble fullerene derivatives with pendant carboxylic groups emerge as a new family of promising SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.

Herein, we present the first experimental study of individual water-soluble fullerene derivatives proving their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. The initial screening allowed us to identify a few new compounds that have demonstrated pronounced antiviral activity with IC values as low as 390 nM and selectivity indexes reaching 214. Time-of-addition analysis and molecular docking results suggested that the viral protease and/or the spike protein are the most probable targets inhibited by the fullerene derivatives.

Evaluating data sharing statements in leading emergency medicine journals: A mixed methods review.

Background: Emergency medicine remains as the front line of healthcare, providing acute care to a diverse population during urgent and critical moments. Our objective was to systematically quantify the prevalence of data sharing statements (DSS) in high-impact emergency medicine journals and assess their implementation by contacting corresponding authors who indicated data available upon request.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to identify the prevalence and content of data sharing statements in clinical studies published in high impact emergency medicine journals between 2018 and 2023, followed by a hierarchical logistic regression analysis to identify variables impacting the incorporation of data sharing statements into emergency medicine studies.

Cortical lesions impact cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis via volume loss of nonlesional cortex.

Objective: To assess the interrelationship between cortical lesions and cortical thinning and volume loss in people with multiple sclerosis within cortical networks, and how this relates to future cognition.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 230 people with multiple sclerosis and 60 healthy controls underwent 3 Tesla MRI at baseline and neuropsychological assessment at baseline and 5-year follow-up. Cortical regions (N = 212) were divided into seven functional networks.