Transcatheter Valve Repair for Tricuspid Regurgitation: 1-Year Results from a Large European Real-World Registry.

Background: Tricuspid valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair has emerged as a valuable treatment option for patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR).

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the safety and effectiveness of the PASCAL transcatheter valve repair system in treating severe TR in a real-world patient population.

Methods: The PASTE (PASCAL for Tricuspid Regurgitation-a European registry) study is an investigator-initiated, multicenter, retrospective, and prospective observational cohort analysis conducted across 16 European heart valve centers including consecutive patients treated with the PASCAL transcatheter valve repair system from February 2019 to November 2023.

A novel screening instrument for the assessment of autism in German language: validation of the German version of the RAADS-R, the RADS-R.

The Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R) demonstrated excellent results in its original study, with a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 100% (Ritvo et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 41:1076-1089, 2011). As a result, it was included in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines (Recommendations | Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE, 2022).

Adaptations in hepatic glucose metabolism after chronic social defeat stress in mice.

Chronic stress has been shown to induce hyperglycemia in both peripheral blood and the brain, yet the detailed mechanisms of glucose metabolism under stress remain unclear. Utilizing C-labeled glucose to trace metabolic pathways, our study investigated the impact of stress by chronic social defeat (CSD) on glucose metabolites in the liver and brain one week post-stress. We observed a reduction in C-enrichment of glucose metabolites in the liver, contrasting with unchanged levels in the brain.

Different risk and protective factors predict change of planning ability in middle versus older age.

Age-related cognitive decline has become an increasingly relevant public health issue. However, risk and protective factors of cognitive decline have yet to be investigated prospectively taking into account genetic, lifestyle, physical and mental health factors. Population-based data from middle-aged (40 to 59 years; N = 2,764) and older individuals (60 to 80 years; N = 1,254) were drawn from a prospective community cohort study using the Tower of London (TOL) planning task.

Pulp Vitality Diagnosis by Means of an Optical Pulp Scanning Device.

This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of an Optical Pulp Scanning (OPS) device. A total of 421 teeth from 107 emergency patients were investigated. Pulp vitality was assessed using conventional diagnostic methods (ConvDia), cold pulp testing (CPT), and a final diagnosis (FinDia) based on the pulp chamber contents (PCCs) of teeth requiring endodontic treatment (EmeTe).

Cortisol dynamics and GR-dependent feedback regulation in zebrafish larvae exposed to repeated stress.

Zebrafish larvae show a rapid increase in cortisol in response to acute stressors, followed by a decline. While these responses are documented, both the duration of the refractory period to repeated stressors and the role of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in specific phases of the glucocorticoid negative feedback are still being clarified. We explored these questions using water vortices as stressors, combined with GR blockage and measurements of whole-body cortisol in zebrafish larvae subjected to single and repeated stress protocols.

Unraveling the glycosphingolipid metabolism by leveraging transcriptome-weighted network analysis on neuroblastic tumors.

Background: Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are membrane lipids composed of a ceramide backbone linked to a glycan moiety. Ganglioside biosynthesis is a part of the GSL metabolism, which involves sequential reactions catalyzed by specific enzymes that in part have a poor substrate specificity. GSLs are deregulated in cancer, thus playing a role as potential biomarkers for personalized therapy or subtype classification.

Subclassification of obesity for precision prediction of cardiometabolic diseases.

Obesity and cardiometabolic disease often, but not always, coincide. Distinguishing subpopulations within which cardiometabolic risk diverges from the risk expected for a given body mass index (BMI) may facilitate precision prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. Accordingly, we performed unsupervised clustering in four European population-based cohorts (N ≈ 173,000).

The development of an augmented reality application for exercise prescription within paediatric oncology: App design and protocol of a pilot study.

Children and young people with cancer face barriers when engaging with exercise, such as treatment-related side effects, psychosocial burdens and lack of individualised provisions. Digital health tools, such as smartphone applications, have emerged as a promising driver to support healthcare provisions in exercise prescription among patients. It is vital to explore how such technologies can be developed more effectively in order to strengthen the evidence supporting their use and for more appropriate implementation within healthcare.

Hinotori™ robotic esophagectomy: a feasibility cadaver study.

This preclinical feasibility study investigates the potential of utilizing the hinotori™ robot system for esophagectomy. In three human cadaver models, the esophagus was successfully mobilized and resected using the hinotori™ system, with a mean thoracic procedure time of 57 minutes. The system allowed for precise dissection and radical lymphadenectomy without arm collision, attributed to its versatile design and docking-free trocars.

The influence of light on Interleukin-10: A preliminary study.

Light influences circadian rhythms, including that of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol, in turn, has been observed to promote expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. It is thus of interest whether the cytokine IL-10 is also influenced by light, perhaps in accord with the diurnal variations in cortisol.

Towards international collaboration of clinical research networks for EMDR: the EMDR Pain Network Germany.

Background: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based treatment, primarily established for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While it is increasingly being applied to chronic pain, its efficacy in this area is not yet supported by the same level of evidence as that which exists for PTSD. Studies in this area often show heterogeneous results with small case numbers, and the potential side effects of EMDR in the treatment of chronic pain are not well understood.

Suppressed ORAI1-STIM1-dependent Ca entry by protein kinase C isoforms regulating platelet procoagulant activity.

Agonist-induced rises in cytosolic Ca control most platelet responses in thrombosis and hemostasis. In human platelets, we earlier demonstrated that the ORAI1-STIM1 pathway is a major component of extracellular Ca entry, in particular when induced via the ITAM-linked collagen receptor, glycoprotein VI (GPVI). In the present article, using functionally defective platelets from patients with a loss-of-function mutation in ORAI1 or STIM1, we show that Ca entry induced by the endoplasmic reticulum ATPase inhibitor, thapsigargin, fully relies on this pathway.

Standardized diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumors: an update regarding the situation in Germany.

To evaluate the current status of the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumors in Germany by means of a survey of the oncological imaging working group of the German Radiological Society (DRG) with a focus on the CT protocols being used.Radiologists working in outpatient or inpatient care in Germany were invited. The survey was conducted between 10/2022 and 06/2023 using the SurveyMonkey web tool.

Insights Into Modern Undergraduate Ultrasound Education: Prospective Comparison of Digital and Analog Teaching Resources in a Flipped Classroom Concept - The DIvAN Study.

  Sonography training has become an important part of university medicine courses. This study explores the impact of digital and analog teaching resources on learning outcomes, knowledge retention, and student preferences and motivation in a flipped classroom setting.   This prospective controlled study involving two groups of third-year medical students included a voluntary three-day compact ultrasound course given in a flipped classroom, comprising 26 teaching units of 45 minutes each.

Does gaming keep subjects awake?: Subjective and objective sleep parameters following gaming in comparison to a passive control.

Objectives: Gaming is a global phenomenon often associated with impaired health and sleep patterns. Although the research activities are growing, the evidence to date is rare due to the various gaming titles and inconsistent study designs. Thus, this study aimed to examine the impact of excessive gaming in the evening on subjective as well as objective sleep parameters by focusing on specific game titles and assessing several evenings/nights using a mixed-methods approach.