Investigating the effects of citric acid concentrations on acidification, rheological, and microbial properties of fermented soy protein isolate yogurts.

As consumer awareness grows regarding the environmental and health impacts of animal-based products, plant-based alternatives are gaining popularity in developed countries. Plant-based proteins, like soy protein isolate (SPI), are valued for their sustainability and ability to complement animal proteins. SPI is commonly used in plant-based yogurts due to its high-quality protein, strong gelling capacity, and support for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) growth.

Endometriosis and autoimmunity.

Endometriosis is a female-specific chronic condition that affects 1 in 10 women and other individuals with a uterus worldwide with common symptoms that include pelvic pain and infertility. Reliable and effective non-invasive biomarkers for endometriosis do not exist, and therefore currently a diagnosis of endometriosis requires direct visualization of lesions at surgery. Similarly, few safe and effective management strategies exist for endometriosis, with hormonal interventions and surgery only providing temporary symptom control.

ExerGeneDB: A physical exercise-regulated differential gene expression database.

Background: Exercise induces molecular changes that involve multiple organs and tissues. Moreover, these changes are modulated by various exercise parameters-such as intensity, frequency, mode, and duration-as well as by clinical features like gender, age, and body mass index (BMI), each eliciting distinct biological effects. To assist exercise researchers in understanding these changes from a comprehensive perspective that includes multiple organs, diverse exercise regimens, and a range of clinical features, we developed Exercise Regulated Genes Database (ExerGeneDB), a database of exercise-regulated differential genes.

« Augmented radiotherapy » in the management of high-risk prostate cancer (PCa): a systematic review.

Background: In patients with high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PCa) treated with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), intensification with androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) improves overall survival (OS), at the cost of significant side-effects. We hypothesized that "augmented RT" schedules (defined as either dose-escalation on the prostate gland over 78Gy and/or addition of whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT)), combined with long-term ADT can reach excellent prostate cancer specific survival (PCSS) in this population with little detrimental impact on quality of life.

Methods: We searched Pubmed database until February 8, 2024.

Skeletal muscle adiposity, coronary microvascular dysfunction, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Background And Aims: Skeletal muscle (SM) fat infiltration, or intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT), reflects muscle quality and is associated with inflammation, a key determinant in cardiometabolic disease. Coronary flow reserve (CFR), a marker of coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), is independently associated with body mass index (BMI), inflammation and risk of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and death. The relationship between SM quality, CMD, and cardiovascular outcomes is not known.

Resource-Rational Virtual Bargaining for Moral Judgment: Toward a Probabilistic Cognitive Model.

Recent theoretical work has argued that moral psychology can be understood through the lens of "resource rational contractualism." The view posits that the best way of making a decision that affects other people is to get everyone together to negotiate under idealized conditions. The outcome of that negotiation is an arrangement (or "contract") that would lead to mutual benefit.

Biology-inspired dynamic microphysiological system approaches to revolutionize basic research, healthcare and animal welfare.

The regular workshops held by the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) on biology-inspired microphysiological systems (MPS) taking place every four years, have become a reliable measure to assess fundamental scientific, industrial and regulatory trends for translational science in the MPS-field from a bird's eye view. The 2023 workshop participants at that time concluded that the technology as used within academia has matured significantly, underlined by the broad use of MPS and the steadily increasing number of high quality research publications - yet, broad industry adoption of MPS has been slow, despite strong interest. Academic research using MPS primarily aims to accurately recapitulate human biology in MPS-based organ models in areas where traditional models have been lacking key elements of human physiology, thereby enabling breakthrough discoveries for life sciences.

Preventing unrestricted and unmonitored AI experimentation in healthcare through transparency and accountability.

The integration of large language models (LLMs) into electronic health records offers potential benefits but raises significant ethical, legal, and operational concerns, including unconsented data use, lack of governance, and AI-related malpractice accountability. Sycophancy, feedback loop bias, and data reuse risk amplifying errors without proper oversight. To safeguard patients, especially the vulnerable, clinicians must advocate for patient-centered education, ethical practices, and robust oversight to prevent harm.

Integrated Phase I Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Epinephrine Administered via Sublingual Film, Autoinjector, or Manual Injection.

Background: Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis and is administered via intramuscular (IM) or subcutaneous (SC) injection. AQST-109, a sublingual film containing a prodrug of epinephrine, is in development as an alternative delivery method for the treatment of severe allergic reactions including anaphylaxis.

Objective: To compare the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of epinephrine following administration of AQST-109 to epinephrine delivered by manual IM injection and epinephrine autoinjectors (EAIs).

Neurotransmitter and metabolic effects of interferon-alpha in association with decreased striatal dopamine in a Non-Human primate model of Cytokine-Induced depression.

Inflammatory stimuli administered to humans and laboratory animals affect mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways in association with impaired motivation and motor activity. Alterations in dopaminergic corticostriatal reward and motor circuits have also been observed in depressed patients with increased peripheral inflammatory markers. The effects of peripheral inflammation on dopaminergic pathways and associated neurobiologic mechanisms and consequences have been difficult to measure in patients.

Consistent direction despite wavering policy: reductions in resident physician extended duration shifts over 20 years.

We examined data from 17,498 physicians-in-training who reported on 92,662 months of work over a 20 year study interval that included three major revisions to work hour limits. Extended duration shifts (≥24 hours; EDS) are much less common than they used to be. On average, first-year resident physicians (PGY1s) currently work a total of 4 EDS per year and 3 EDS per month during months in which any EDS are worked.

Unifying community whole-brain imaging datasets enables robust neuron identification and reveals determinants of neuron position in C. elegans.

We develop a data harmonization approach for C. elegans volumetric microscopy data, consisting of a standardized format, pre-processing techniques, and human-in-the-loop machine-learning-based analysis tools. Using this approach, we unify a diverse collection of 118 whole-brain neural activity imaging datasets from five labs, storing these and accompanying tools in an online repository WormID (wormid.

Veterans' Motivation, Preference, and Feedback After Completing a Novel Physical Therapy Treatment.

Objectives: This study evaluated Veterans' motivation and perception of different components of a novel physical therapy (PT) treatment aimed at increasing mobility, motivation, and exercise adoption.

Methods: Patient-satisfaction surveys were administered to middle-aged to older Veterans (≥50 years old) with slow walking speed who completed the 8-week PT treatment. Mixed methods were employed to assess rating-based responses and examine themes derived from open-ended responses.

Accuracy of Established Prognostic Staging Systems for Cardiac Transthyretin Amyloidosis in the Tafamidis Era.

Background: Biomarker-based prognostic staging systems, including the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) and the Mayo staging systems, are widely-used but have only been validated for treatment-naive patients with cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CA).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of the NAC and Mayo staging systems in patients with ATTR-CA treated with tafamidis.

Methods: A retrospective observational study following patients with ATTR-CA from initiation of tafamidis (baseline) to time of all-cause death was conducted.

Neonatal cost savings in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: Economic evaluation of the sFlt-1/PlGF test with real world implementation of biomarkers.

Background: Preeclampsia is a key cause of prematurity in the U.S. and incurs significant healthcare costs.

A Targeted Feedback Framework to Move the Needle on Operative Feedback.

Objective: Actionable and impactful feedback remains a perpetual challenge in medical education despite extensive efforts to improve the feedback process. A feedback framework was adapted from a validated model and tailored to a single residency program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the new feedback framework on the quantity and quality of perioperative feedback amongst surgical residents.

Surgical treatment for severe endodontic-periodontal lesion: A case report with 2-year follow-up.

Background: Various surgical techniques have recently been developed for periodontal tissue regeneration, especially those do not involve any incisions in the interdental papillae at the regeneration site. These techniques have significant advantages for obtaining clinical attachment gain with least amount of gingival recession, however, may also have disadvantages such as limited field of surgical view, difficulty in debridement, and limited access only from the buccal side. This case report addresses a 2-year follow-up with a novel surgical approach to achieve periodontal regeneration that overcomes these limitations: the flexible tunnel technique (FTT).

Diabetes visits in paediatric versus adult clinics for young adults (YA) with T1D: Pre-pandemic and pandemic care.

Background: Young adults (YA) with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) are at high risk of worsening glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with fewer follow-up visits. We examined the association of demographic and diabetes characteristics with care utilization, including in-person and telehealth visits, pre- (1 April 2019 to 15 March 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (30 March 2020 to 15 March 2021) for YA (ages: 18-30) with T1D, comparing those seen in paediatric versus adult diabetes clinics at a single diabetes centre.

Methods: Data were obtained from the electronic health record for YA with a pre-pandemic HbA1c.