IGF-1 Assessment During Weekly Somatrogon Treatment in Pediatric Patients With GH Deficiency.

Context: In patients with GH deficiency (GHD) receiving GH treatment, IGF-1 concentrations are used by physicians to monitor treatment safety and efficacy and guide dosing decisions. Somatrogon is a long-acting GH approved as a once-weekly treatment for pediatric GHD. Somatrogon administration results in characteristic changes in the IGF-1 profile, with values measured at 96 hours postdose representing mean IGF-1 concentrations that best reflect overall somatrogon exposure.

Long-lived cytokinetic bridges coordinate sister-cell elimination in mouse embryos.

Apoptosis is a key feature of preimplantation development, but whether it occurs in a cell-autonomous or coordinated manner was unknown. Here, we report that plasma membrane abscission, the final step of cell division, is profoundly delayed in early mouse embryos such that a cytokinetic bridge is maintained for the vast majority of the following interphase. Early embryos thus consist of many pairs of sister cells connected by stable cytokinetic bridges that allow them to share diffusible molecules.

Microfluidic Integration of Magnetically Functionalized Microwires for Flow Cytometry Protein Quantification.

A novel approach to protein quantification utilizing a microfluidic platform activated by a magnetic assembly of functionalized magnetic beads around soft magnetic capture centers is presented. Functionalized magnetic beads, known for their high surface area and facile manipulation under external magnetic fields, are injected inside microfluidic channels and immobilized magnetically on the surface of glass-coated soft magnetic microwires placed along the symmetry axis of these channels. A fluorescent (Cy5) immunomagnetic sandwich ELISA is then performed by sequentially flowing the sample and all necessary reagents in the microfluidic channels.

Targeted Transition Readiness Workshops for Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effects.

Pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) are at risk for late effects related to their diagnosis and treatment. Long-term medical follow-ups are deemed essential, implying a transition from pediatric to adult healthcare settings. This pilot study aims to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a targeted transition readiness intervention for PBTS.

The Multifaceted Roles of MicroRNA-181 in Stem Cell Differentiation and Cancer Stem Cell Plasticity.

Stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells with an extraordinary ability to self-renew and differentiate into various cell types during growth and development. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a critical developmental process, enhances stem cell-like properties in cells, and is associated with both normal stem cell function and the formation of cancer stem cells. Cell stemness and the EMT often coexist and are interconnected in various contexts.

Synthesis and characterization of photo-cross-linkable quince seed-based hydrogels for soft tissue engineering applications.

The convenience, versatility, and biocompatibility of photocrosslinkable hydrogel precursors make them promising candidates for developing tissue engineering scaffolds. However, the current library of photosensitive materials is limited. This study reports, for the first time, the modification of quince seed mucilage (QS) with glycidyl methacrylate (GM), resulting in the synthesis of methacrylated QS (QSGM).

Impact of Early Nutritional Intervention During Cancer Treatment on Dietary Intakes and Cardiometabolic Health in Children and Adolescents.

Background/objectives: Pediatric cancer survivors are at greater risk of cardiometabolic complications than their peers. This study evaluates the preliminary impact of the VIE (Valorization, Implication, Education) intervention, which integrates nutrition, physical activity, and psychological support, on dietary intake and cardiometabolic health among children and adolescents during cancer treatment.

Methods: This comparative study includes pediatric cancer patients recruited to either the VIE intervention group or a control group receiving standard care.

The Impact of HIV on B Cell Compartment and Its Implications for COVID-19 Vaccinations in People with HIV.

HIV causes intense polyclonal activation of B cells, resulting in increased numbers of spontaneously antibody-secreting cells in the circulation and hypergammaglobulinemia. It is accompanied by significant perturbations in various B cell subsets, such as increased frequencies of immature/transitional B cells, activated memory B cells, atypical memory B cells, short-lived plasmablasts and regulatory B cells, as well as by decreased frequencies of resting memory and resting naïve B cells. Furthermore, both memory and antigen-inexperienced naïve B cells show exhausted and immune-senescent phenotypes.

Influence of Sudden Changes in Foot Strikes on Loading Rate Variability in Runners.

Foot strike patterns influence vertical loading rates during running. Running retraining interventions often include switching to a new foot strike pattern. Sudden changes in the foot strike pattern may be uncomfortable and may lead to higher step-to-step variability.

Bivalent SMAC mimetic APG-1387 reduces HIV reservoirs and limits viral rebound in humanized mice.

Latent viral reservoirs (VRs) represent a main barrier to HIV cure. Thus, developing new approaches that can purge and eliminate VRs paves the path toward achieving an HIV-1 cure. APG-1387, a bivalent SMAC mimetic (SM), efficiently reactivates latent HIV expression in T cell line models and enhances active caspase 3 expression, a condition that typically leads to apoptosis.

Multifunctional Carbon Dots In Situ Confined Hydrogel for Optical Communication, Drug Delivery, pH Sensing, Nanozymatic Activity, and UV Shielding Applications.

Inspired by the emerging potential of photoluminescent hydrogels, this work unlocks new avenues for advanced biosensing, bioimaging, and drug delivery applications. Carbon quantum dots (CDs) are deemed particularly promising among various optical dyes, for enhancing polymeric networks with superior physical and chemical properties. This study presents the synthesis of CDs derived from Prunella vulgaris, a natural plant resource, through a single-step hydrothermal process, followed by their uniform integration into hydrogel matrices via an in situ free radical graft polymerization.

Stimuli-responsive carrageenan-based biomaterials for biomedical applications.

Carrageenan-based biomaterials have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their unique biological properties, including their biodegradability, compatibility, and lack of adverse effects. These biomaterials exhibit a variety of beneficial properties, such as antiviral, antitumor, and immunomodulatory effects, which set them apart from other polysaccharides. Stimuli-responsive carrageenan-based biomaterials have attracted particular attention due to their unique properties, such as reducing systemic toxicity and controlling drug release.

Corticosteroids reduce pathological angiogenesis yet compromise reparative vascular remodeling in a model of retinopathy.

Tissue inflammation is often broadly associated with cellular damage, yet sterile inflammation also plays critical roles in beneficial tissue remodeling. In the central nervous system, this is observed through a predominantly innate immune response in retinal vascular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity. Here, we set out to elucidate the dynamics of the immune response during progression and regression of pathological neovascularization in retinopathy.

Understanding Early Risk Factors of Preschool Disruptive Behaviors in a Population-Based Birth Cohort: Why Does Comorbidity Matter?

Background/objectives: Research on early risk factors for disruptive behaviors (DBs: hyperactivity-impulsivity/HI, non-compliance/NC, or physical aggression/PA) has predominantly focused on individual DBs in silos (i.e., HI, NC, PA) or the broader category of externalizing, reporting mostly common risk factors among them.

Machine and Deep Learning Models for Hypoxemia Severity Triage in CBRNE Emergencies.

Background/objectives: This study develops machine learning (ML) models to predict hypoxemia severity during emergency triage, particularly in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) scenarios, using physiological data from medical-grade sensors.

Methods: Tree-based models (TBMs) such as XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost, Random Forests (RFs), Voting Classifier ensembles, and sequential models (LSTM, GRU) were trained on the MIMIC-III and IV datasets. A preprocessing pipeline addressed missing data, class imbalances, and synthetic data flagged with masks.

Drug shortages in Canada, 2019-2023: A descriptive study.

Context: Drug shortages impact patients from all countries. According to the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union, most Europe countries reported a worsening of shortages in 2023.

Objective: To describe drug shortage episodes in Canada over a recent 4-year period.

flt1 inactivation promotes zebrafish cardiac regeneration by enhancing endothelial activity and limiting the fibrotic response.

VEGFA administration has been explored as a pro-angiogenic therapy for cardiovascular diseases including heart failure for several years, but with little success. Here, we investigate a different approach to augment VEGFA bioavailability: by deleting the VEGFA decoy receptor VEGFR1 (also known as FLT1), one can achieve more physiological VEGFA concentrations. We find that after cryoinjury, zebrafish flt1 mutant hearts display enhanced coronary revascularization and endocardial expansion, increased cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation and proliferation, and decreased scarring.

Association Between Circulating Vitamin K Levels, Gut Microbiome, and Type 1 Diabetes: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Background/objectives: Nutritional deficiencies have been proposed as possible etiological causes for autoimmune diseases, among which type 1 diabetes (T1D). Vitamin K (VK) has potentially positive effects on type 2 diabetes, but its role on T1D in humans remains largely unknown. We aimed to examine the presence of a causal association between VK and T1D using a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.

The Role of Probiotics in Modulating Myocardial Infarction and Depression-like Symptoms: A Study on Sex-Specific Responses.

Background/objectives: This study explores the effects of two probiotics, R0052 and R0175, on myocardial infarction (MI) and associated depression-like behaviours, with a focus on sex differences.

Methods: MI was induced in adult male and female rats by occluding the left anterior coronary artery for 30 min, followed by 24 h of reperfusion. Probiotics were administered via drinking water for at least two weeks before ischemia.

Evolutionary divergent clusters of transcribed extinct truncated retroposons drive low mRNA expression and developmental regulation in the protozoan Leishmania.

Background: The Leishmania genome harbors formerly active short interspersed degenerated retroposons (SIDERs) representing the largest family of repetitive elements among trypanosomatids. Their substantial expansion in Leishmania is a strong predictor of important biological functions. In this study, we combined multilevel bioinformatic predictions with high-throughput genomic and transcriptomic analyses to gain novel insights into the diversified roles retroposons of the SIDER2 subfamily play in Leishmania genome evolution and expression.