Gut-brain axis and neuroplasticity in health and disease: a systematic review.

The gut microbiota emerged as a potential modulator of brain connectivity in health and disease. This systematic review details current evidence on the gut-brain axis and its influence on brain connectivity. The initial set of studies included 532 papers, updated to January 2024.

Allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation for children with refractory systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and associated lung disease: outcomes from an international, retrospective cohort study.

Background: Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis-related lung disease (sJIA-LD) is a severe complication in patients with treatment-refractory systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in a cohort of children with sJIA-LD.

Methods: This international, retrospective cohort study was performed in nine hospitals across the USA and Europe in children with sJIA-LD who had received allogeneic HSCT.

Feasibility of quantitative relaxometry for prostate target localization and response assessment in magnetic resonance-guided online adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Purpose: Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is known to provide predictors for malignancy and treatment outcome. The inclusion of these datasets in workflows for online adaptive planning remains under investigation. We demonstrate the feasibility of longitudinal relaxometry in online MR-guided adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to the prostate and dominant intra-prostatic lesion (DIL).

Treatment initiation and completion among head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients in Tanzania.

Objective: Few studies characterizing clinical outcomes of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients in sub-Saharan Africa report the proportion of patients who initiate and complete treatment, information integral to contextualizing survival outcomes. This retrospective cohort study describes HNC patients who presented to Muhimbili National Hospital and Ocean Road Cancer Institute in 2018, the highest-volume oncology tertiary referral centers in Tanzania. Logistic regression was applied to assess predictors of treatment initiation and completion.

Leucine zipper-based immunomagnetic purification of CAR T cells displaying multiple receptors.

Resistance to chimaeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy develops through multiple mechanisms, most notably antigen loss and tumour-induced immune suppression. It has been suggested that T cells expressing multiple CARs may overcome the resistance of tumours and that T cells expressing receptors that switch inhibitory immune-checkpoint signals into costimulatory signals may enhance the activity of the T cells in the tumour microenvironment. However, engineering multiple features into a single T cell product is difficult because of the transgene-packaging constraints of current gene-delivery vectors.

ADME, Toxicity, Molecular Docking, Molecular Dynamics, Glucokinase activation, DPP-IV, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase Inhibition Assays of Mangiferin and Friedelin for Antidiabetic Potential.

The study investigates the inhibitory properties of Mangiferin and Friedelin against glucokinase, DPP-IV, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase using computational methods, in vitro enzyme assays, and in-depth ADMET analysis. The study utilized a computer-aided drug design approach to assess the potential therapeutic properties of Mangiferin and Friedelin as T2DM therapeutic agents. Molecular docking studies' outcomes encouraged the evaluation of both compounds in in vitro enzymatic assays.

Perivascular Macrophages Convert Physical Wound Signals Into Rapid Vascular Responses.

Leukocytes detect distant wounds within seconds to minutes, which is essential for effective pathogen defense, tissue healing, and regeneration. Blood vessels must detect distant wounds just as rapidly to initiate local leukocyte extravasation, but the mechanism behind this immediate vascular response remains unclear. Using high-speed imaging of live zebrafish larvae, we investigated how blood vessels achieve rapid wound detection.

Data-driven synapse classification reveals a logic of glutamate receptor composition.

The rich diversity of synapses facilitates the capacity of neural circuits to transmit, process and store information. Here, we used multiplex super-resolution proteometric imaging through array tomography to define features of single synapses in the adult mouse neocortex. We find that glutamatergic synapses cluster into subclasses that parallel the distinct biochemical and functional categories of receptor subunits: GluA1/4, GluA2/3 and GluN1/GluN2B.

Thighplasty for Transfemoral Amputations and Osseointegration: Lower Rate of Complications Than Thighplasty for Body Contouring.

Background: Modern techniques in lower extremity amputation have made significant advances to improve prosthetic control and soft-tissue envelopes through various techniques, including medial thighplasties. These advances are necessary to enhance the fit and functionality of the prosthesis in transfemoral amputations.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all thighplasties performed at our institution in patients with ipsilateral transfemoral amputation from November 2017 to December 2021.

Effect of Transforming Growth Factor-β Inhibition on Ureteral and Renal Scarring in a Rat Model of Upper Urinary Tract Ablation with Irreversible Electroporation.

Objective: To determine whether adjuvant transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) inhibition with pirfenidone (PFD) can mitigate ureteral wall scarring and related complications in a rat model of upper urinary tract ablation with irreversible electroporation (IRE).

Methods: Transmural ablation of the ureter was performed with IRE in 24 rats. Post-IRE, animals were randomly assigned to receive PFD or no drug, followed by euthanasia at 2-, 5-, or 10-days.

Nonoperative management of rectal cancer.

The management of locally advanced rectal cancer has changed drastically in the last few decades due to improved surgical techniques, development of multimodal treatment approaches and the introduction of a watch and wait (WW) strategy. For patients with a complete response to neoadjuvant treatment, WW offers an opportunity to avoid the morbidity associated with total mesorectal excision in favor of organ preservation. Despite growing interest in WW, prospective data on the safety and efficacy of nonoperative management are limited.

Structure guided functional analysis of the S. cerevisiae Mre11 complex.

The Mre11 complex comprises Mre11, Rad50 and Nbs1 (Xrs2 in ). The core components, Mre11 and Rad50 are highly conserved, with readily identifiable orthologs in all clades of life, whereas Nbs1/Xrs2 are present only in eukaryotes. In eukaryotes, the complex is integral to the DNA damage response, acting in DNA double strand break (DSB) detection and repair, and the activation of DNA damage signaling.

Improving survival models in healthcare: a novel matching approach.

We present, to our knowledge, the first methodological study aimed at enhancing the prognostic power of Cox regression models, widely used in survival analysis, through optimized data selection. Our approach employs a novel two-stage mechanism: by framing the prognostic stratum matching problem intuitively, we select prognostically representative patient observations to create a more balanced training set. This enables the model to assign equal attention to distinct prognostic subgroups.

Buffering of nuclear membrane tension and mechanotransduction by the endoplasmic reticulum revealed by quantitative ALPIN imaging.

Nuclear deformation by osmotic shock or necrosis activates the cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPla) nuclear shape sensing pathway, a key regulator of tissue inflammation and repair. Ca and inner nuclear membrane (INM) tension (T) are believed to mediate nucleoplasmic cPla activation. The concept implies that T persists long enough to stimulate cPla-INM adsorption.

Risk Stratification of Uterine Smooth Muscle Tumors: The Role of Morphology, Immunohistochemistry, and Molecular Testing.

Uterine smooth muscle neoplasms are a biologically and clinically heterogeneous group of tumors. Morphology is the cornerstone of pathologic diagnosis of these tumors, and most are readily classified as benign or malignant on the basis of routine histologic examination. However, rare subsets-including intravenous leiomyomatosis, benign metastasizing leiomyoma, and disseminated peritoneal leiomyomatosis-have a capacity for extrauterine spread despite benign cytomorphology.

Population Pharmacokinetic Model of Platinum Disposition in Cancer Patients Receiving Cisplatin and Randomized to 5-HT Antagonist Antiemetic Drugs.

Cisplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapeutic drug used to treat many types of cancer. The aim of this study was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model that incorporates plasma unbound and bound platinum levels. Cancer patients undergoing their first or second cycle of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy (n = 33) were prospectively randomized to receive a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) antagonist (5-HTA) antiemetic (ondansetron, granisetron, or palonosetron) followed by blood collection over 10 days.

Enhancing Patient Decision-Making in Breast Reconstruction: A Systematic Review of Decision Aid Efficacy.

Background: Patients often struggle to select a breast reconstruction option that aligns with their personal values. Decision aids have become popular tools to assist patients in navigating these choices. This systematic review assesses the effectiveness of available breast reconstruction decision aids.

Combination of deep learning reconstruction and quantification for dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is an important imaging tool for evaluating tumor vascularity that can lead to improved characterization of tumor extent and heterogeneity, and for early assessment of treatment response. However, clinical adoption of quantitative DCE-MRI remains limited due to challenges in acquisition and quantification performance, and lack of automated tools. This study presents an end-to-end deep learning pipeline that exploits a novel deep reconstruction network called DCE-Movienet with a previously developed deep quantification network called DCE-Qnet for fast and quantitative DCE-MRI.