Discovery, Replicability, and Generalizability of a Left Anterior Hippocampus' Morphological Network Linked to Self-Regulation.

The human hippocampus is a key region in cognitive and emotional processing, but also a vulnerable and plastic region. Accordingly, there is a great interest in understanding how variability in the hippocampus' structure relates to variability in behavior in healthy and clinical populations. In this study, we aimed to link interindividual variability in subregional hippocampal networks (i.

Reliability of high-quantity human brain organoids for modeling microcephaly, glioma invasion and drug screening.

Brain organoids offer unprecedented insights into brain development and disease modeling and hold promise for drug screening. Significant hindrances, however, are morphological and cellular heterogeneity, inter-organoid size differences, cellular stress, and poor reproducibility. Here, we describe a method that reproducibly generates thousands of organoids across multiple hiPSC lines.

Outcome of Single Versus Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Complex Endovascular Aortic Repair.

Introduction: Despite the widespread use of branched (bEVAR) and fenestrated endovascular aortic repair (fEVAR) for complex aortic pathologies, there are no reliable recommendations regarding postsurgery antiplatelet therapy. We therefore evaluated the outcome of single (SAPT) and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following fEVAR and bEVAR.

Methods: A total of 63 patients from two German centers treated for complex aortic pathologies were included in this retrospective study.

Stress, psychosocial resources and possible interventions: a qualitative study among dental students.

Background: Prior studies found that dental students are affected by various stressors during their studies. Those stressors can exert adverse effects on their (mental) health. Our study addresses the lack of qualitative data on students' perspectives by exploring perceived stressors and resources among dental students and interventions suggested by them.

Choroid plexus morphology in schizophrenia and early-stage psychosis: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The choroid plexus is an important structure within the ventricular system. Schizophrenia has been associated with morphological changes to the choroid plexus but the presence and extent of alterations at different illness stages is unclear.

Methods: We examined choroid plexus volumes in participants at clinical high-risk for psychosis (N = 110), participants with first-episode psychosis (N = 37), participants with schizophrenia (N = 28), clinical (N = 38) and non-clinical controls (N = 75).

Primary cutaneous rhabdomyosarcoma with EWSR1/FUS::TFCP2 fusion: four new cases with distinctive morphology, immunophenotypic, and genetic profile.

EWSR1/FUS::TFCP2-rearranged rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare tumor with an aggressive clinical course, a predilection for craniofacial bones, spindled and/or epithelioid histomorphology, and positive immunohistochemistry (IHC) for epithelial and myogenic markers, along with variable ALK expression. Herein, we present four additional cases of primary cutaneous TFCP2-rearranged RMS. Notably, one tumor (case 1) displayed a varied pathological spectrum, initially presenting as a low-grade spindle cell neoplasm, but progressed into a high-grade spindle/epithelioid tumor.

Motivators and barriers for smoking cessation in people with multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study to inform the design of a tailored intervention.

Background: Tobacco smoking is a relevant determinant of multiple sclerosis (MS) onset, and smokers have increased risk for faster progression of MS compared to non-smokers. While the smoking prevalence is high in Germany, no smoking cessation programs have been developed specifically in MS populations to date, and only little is known about the motivators and barriers influencing smoking cessation in people with MS (pwMS) in Germany. This study aims to identify these factors to inform the design of a tailored smoking cessation intervention.

Hemorrhage in Pelvic Ring Fractures After Low-Energy Trauma: A Systematic Review.

: The aim was to investigate diagnostic, treatment and preventive options to establish an overview of the existing evidence on hemorrhage in pelvic fractures in older adults. : A systematic review was conducted. Due to the rarity of this complication, only case reports and series with individuals older than 55 years with a pelvic ring fracture that is caused by a low-energy trauma or no apparent trauma, along with hemorrhage, were eligible.

Exposure of Primary Human Skin Fibroblasts to Carbon Dioxide-Containing Solution Significantly Reduces TGF-β-Induced Myofibroblast Differentiation In Vitro.

Wound healing as a result of a skin injury involves a series of dynamic physiological processes, leading to wound closure, re-epithelialization, and the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The primary scar formed by the new ECM never fully regains the original tissue's strength or flexibility. Moreover, in some cases, due to dysregulated fibroblast activity, proliferation, and differentiation, the normal scarring can be replaced by pathological fibrotic tissue, leading to hypertrophic scars or keloids.

Survival of Partial Coverage Restorations on Posterior Teeth-A Scoping Review.

Objective: To investigate the nature and availability of evidence on the clinical performance of posterior partial coverage restorations (PCR) fabricated from different ceramic materials, outcome definitions, measurement methods, study drop-outs and follow ups.

Overview: A systematic literature search (inception-February 2024) was performed through MEDLINE, Scopus, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to identify clinical studies with a focus on posterior PCRs (onlays, occlusal veneers and partial crowns) with a minimum follow-up of 1 year.

Perceived and endocrine acute and chronic stress indicators in fibromyalgia syndrome.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and tenderness and closely associated with high levels of stress. FMS is therefore often considered a stress-related disease. A comparative study was conducted with 99 individuals diagnosed with FMS and a control group of 50 pain-free individuals.

Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN): cross-sectional data on phenotypes, genotypes, and proteomic signature from a German cohort.

Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting the peripheral and central nervous system and is caused by bi-allelic variants in the GAN gene, leading to loss of functional gigaxonin protein. A treatment does not exist, but a first clinical trial using a gene therapy approach has recently been completed. Here, we conducted the first systematic study of GAN patients treated by German-speaking child neurologists.

Leveraging Stacked Classifiers for Multi-task Executive Function in Schizophrenia Yields Diagnostic and Prognostic Insights.

Cognitive impairment is a central characteristic of schizophrenia. Executive functioning (EF) impairments are often seen in mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia, where they relate to adverse outcomes. As a heterogeneous construct, how specifically each dimension of EF to characterize the diagnostic and prognostic aspects of schizophrenia remains opaque.

Depression in patients with anorectal fistulas and anal fissures: a propensity score-matched cohort study.

Purpose: Anal fissures and anorectal fistulas are diseases often associated with significant pain and prolonged discomfort, resulting in a significantly reduced quality of life (QoL). They are not only a surgical problem but also have a profound psychosocial impact and influence on QoL. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of depression in patients with these pathologies and to highlight the need to address the psychosocial aspects of these diseases.

Immunological effects of CD19.CAR-T cell therapy in systemic sclerosis: an extended case study.

Objective: The high potential of CD19.CAR-T cells to treat autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) supposedly relies on the disappearance of autoantibodies. Here we investigated effects of CAR-T cells on the innate immune system which is an important contributor to pathology in SSc.

Artificial intelligence in the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has shown potential for various applications in the medical field, particularly for diagnosing and managing chronic diseases among children and adolescents. This systematic review aims to comprehensively analyze and synthesize research on the use of AI for monitoring, guiding, and assisting pediatric patients with chronic diseases. Five major electronic databases were searched (Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, ACM, Web of Science), along with manual searches of gray literature, personal archives, and reference lists of relevant papers.

High quality genome assembly and annotation (v1) of the eukaryotic freshwater microalga Coccomyxa elongata SAG 216-3b.

Unicellular green algae of the genus Coccomyxa are recognized for their worldwide distribution and ecological versatility. Coccomyxa elongata is a freshwater species of the Coccomyxa simplex clade, which also includes lichen symbionts. To facilitate future molecular and phylogenomic studies of this versatile clade of algae, we generated a high-quality genome assembly for Coccomyxa elongata Chodat & Jaag SAG 216-3b within the framework of the Biodiversity Genomics Center Cologne (BioC2) initiative.

Implementation of the new DGRh S2e guideline on diagnostics and treatment of adult-onset Still's disease in Germany : Implications for clinical practice in rheumatology.

Background: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare autoinflammatory disease. Since it can lead to variable organ involvement, including life-threatening complications, and due to newly available therapeutic approaches, the German Society for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie und klinische Immunologie; DGRh) issued a newly developed S2e guideline in December 2022.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the influence of the new guideline on the diagnosis, management, and outcomes of AOSD.

How measurement noise limits the accuracy of brain-behaviour predictions.

Major efforts in human neuroimaging strive to understand individual differences and find biomarkers for clinical applications by predicting behavioural phenotypes from brain imaging data. To identify generalisable and replicable brain-behaviour prediction models, sufficient measurement reliability is essential. However, the selection of prediction targets is predominantly guided by scientific interest or data availability rather than psychometric considerations.

The potential of precision diabetology for type 2 diabetes treatment-evidence from a meta-regression for all-cause mortality from large cardiovascular outcome trials.

Aims: Two prerequisites must be met for the precision treatment approach to be beneficial for treated individuals. First, there must be treatment heterogeneity; second, in case of treatment heterogeneity, clinical predictors to identify people who would benefit from one treatment more than from others must be available. There is an established meta-regression approach to assess these two prerequisites that relies on measuring the variability of a clinical outcome after treatment in placebo-controlled randomised trials.

RENEWED: A follow-up study of the opicinumab phase 2 RENEW study in participants with acute optic neuritis.

Background: The randomized, phase 2 RENEW trial (NCT01721161) evaluated efficacy/safety of opicinumab (anti-LINGO-1) versus placebo in patients with first-episode unilateral acute optic neuritis (AON). Although no significant differences in the latency recovery of visual evoked potential (VEP) were observed between opicinumab and placebo groups in the intention to treat (ITT) population, the prespecified per-protocol (PP) population showed better recovery with opicinumab than with placebo. RENEWED (NCT02657915) was a one-visit, follow-up study 2 years after the last RENEW study visit (Week 32) designed to assess the long-term electrophysiological and clinical outcomes for participants previously enrolled and having received study treatment in RENEW.