Multimodal integration of blood RNA and ctDNA reflects response to immunotherapy in metastatic urothelial cancer.

Background: Previously, we demonstrated that changes in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are promising biomarkers for early response prediction (ERP) to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). In this study, we investigated the value of whole blood immunotranscriptomics for ERP-ICI and integrated both biomarkers into a multimodal model to boost accuracy.

Methods: Blood samples of 93 patients were collected at baseline and after 2-6 weeks of ICI for ctDNA (N=88) and immunotranscriptome (N=79) analyses.

Adjuvant Atezolizumab for Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: The ALEXANDRA/IMpassion030 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive subtype with a high incidence in young patients, a high incidence in non-Hispanic Black women, and a high risk of progression to metastatic cancer, a devastating sequela with a 12- to 18-month life expectancy. Until recently, one strategy for treating early-stage triple-negative breast cancer was chemotherapy after surgery. However, it was not known whether the addition of immune therapy to postsurgery chemotherapy would be beneficial.

Cross-cultural validity of the Five-Factor Personality Inventory for ICD-11 across nine countries and validation of a French translation.

This study aimed to assess measurement invariance for the Five-Factor Inventory for (Oltmanns & Widiger, 2020) across nine national samples from four continents ( = 6,342), and to validate a French translation in seven French-speaking national samples. All were convenience samples of adults. Exploratory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure in the French-speaking Western samples (Belgium, Canada, France, and Switzerland) while a three-factor structure was preferred in the French-speaking African samples (Burkina Faso and Togo), and no adequate structure was found in the Indian sample.

Experiences of Disclosure, Resilience and Viral Suppression among People Living with HIV in Ghana.

Support for people living with HIV (PLHIV) as they disclose their HIV status can impact continuity of HIV treatment and adherence to antiretrovirals. In the presence of multi-level adversities, resilience among PLHIV can promote health-seeking behaviors and better health outcomes. However, few studies have examined how disclosure experience and resilience work together to impact HIV treatment outcomes among PLHIV.

Correlation between parathyroid adenoma volume and perioperative outcomes in primary hyperparathyroidism: Does the size matter?

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) due to a parathyroid adenoma stands as one of the most prevalent endocrinological disorders, with focused parathyroidectomy being the established therapeutic strategy.

Aim: This study aims to investigate whether the volume of the pathological gland influences perioperative outcomes and postoperative morbidity.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 141 patients who underwent focused parathyroidectomy for PHPT at the University Hospital of Basel between 2007 and 2022.

Comparison of the 2023 ISCVID and ESC Duke clinical criteria for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis among patients with positive blood cultures for new typical microorganisms.

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of the Duke clinical criteria of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC; 2015 and 2023 versions) and the 2023 International Society for Cardiovascular Infectious Diseases (ISCVID) in diagnosing infective endocarditis (IE) among patients with bacteraemia/candidaemia by pathogens introduced for the first time as typical microorganisms by ISCVID.

Methods: Retrospective study.

Setting: This study included adult patients with bacteraemia/candidaemia by such pathogens (coagulase negative staphylococci, Abiotrophia spp.

Incidence and resistance rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infections in Switzerland: a nationwide surveillance study (2010-2022).

Purpose: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important microorganism in BSIs. The aim of this study was to analyze recent trends in the incidence and resistance rates of P.

Problematic online dating app use and its association with mental and sexual health outcomes in a sample of Men-having-Sex-with-Men.

Background And Aims: Online dating applications (ODAs) are gaining popularity, raising concerns about their potential addictive effects on users' health. The main objective of this study was to investigate the association between problematic ODA use and mental health, substance use, and sexual behavior outcomes in men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). To achieve this, we first validated a German version of the Problematic ODA Use Scale (PODAUS), which assesses problematic ODA usage patterns.

Deep Learning-Powered CT-Less Multitracer Organ Segmentation From PET Images: A Solution for Unreliable CT Segmentation in PET/CT Imaging.

Purpose: The common approach for organ segmentation in hybrid imaging relies on coregistered CT (CTAC) images. This method, however, presents several limitations in real clinical workflows where mismatch between PET and CT images are very common. Moreover, low-dose CTAC images have poor quality, thus challenging the segmentation task.

Validation of a Pretransplant Risk Prediction Model for Early Allograft Dysfunction After Living-donor Liver Transplantation.

Background: Early allograft dysfunction (EAD) affects outcomes in liver transplantation (LT). Existing risk models developed for deceased-donor LT depend on posttransplant factors and fall short in living-donor LT (LDLT), where pretransplant evaluations are crucial for preventing EAD and justifying the donor's risks.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from 2944 adult patients who underwent LDLT at 17 centers between 2016 and 2020.

High-Throughput Quantification and Characterization of Dual Payload mRNA/LNP Cargo via Deformulating Size Exclusion and Ion Pairing Reversed Phase Assays.

Therapeutic drugs and multivalent vaccines based on the delivery of mRNA via lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technologies are expected to dominate the biopharmaceutical industry landscape in the coming years. Many of these innovative therapies include several nucleic acid components (e.g.

Differences in Biomarkers of Potential Harm After 2+ Years of Tobacco Heating System Use Compared to Cigarette Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Growing evidence indicates that noncombustible products could be a tobacco harm reduction tool for smokers who do not quit. The Tobacco Heating System (THS) emits substantially lower levels of harmful cigarette smoke constituents, and previous randomized clinical studies showed improved levels of biomarkers of potential harm (BoPH) linked to smoking-related disease.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study of healthy participants (n = 982) who (i) smoked cigarettes, (ii) had voluntarily switched from smoking to THS use, or (iii) formerly smoked, blood and urine samples were assayed for nine BoPH.

Ventral Rectopexy: An International Expert Panel Consensus and Review of Contemporary Literature.

Background: Ventral rectopexy has become increasingly utilized in the surgical management of rectal prolapse. There is a need for a contemporary evaluation of the role of the procedure and description of its use in clinical practice.

Objective: To create an international consensus on ventral rectopexy.

Real-world observational data on olfactory dysfunction of the Smell & Taste Clinic of UZ Leuven (Belgium) from 2021-2024.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in olfactory dysfunction (OD), increasing the need for specialized care. Thi study explores the prevalence, characteristics, and clinical implications of OD in a specialized Smell & Taste Clinic established at the ENT-HNS department of the University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven) in 2021.

Methodology: We included consecutive patients with OD in the observational longitudinal ProspeRo'Scent registry at UZ Leuven between September 2021 and April 2024.

Cost-Effective Quality of Life Improvement While Reducing Health Care Professional Burnout With an AI-Driven Intervention for Personalized Medicine.

Background And Aims: Burnout affects >50% of physicians and nurses. Spotlight-AQ is a personalized digital health platform designed to improve routine diabetes visits. We assessed cost-effectiveness, visit length, and association with health care professional (HCP) burnout.

Characterizing Antisense Oligonucleotide-Induced Histopathology Findings in Spinal Cord of Mauritius Cynomolgus Monkeys by Molecular Localization Investigation.

The safety of a 2'--methoxyethyl antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) was investigated in Mauritius cynomolgus monkeys in a 41-week Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) toxicity study after multiple intrathecal (IT) administrations. Histopathological examination revealed ectopic formation of lymphoid follicles in the spinal cord (SC) at the injection site at all doses and the presence of granular material in neurons of the SC in high-dose animals. The granular material was seen in all the segments of the SC, but mainly in the lumbar segment and persisted at the end of the 26-week recovery period, while the lymphoid follicles showed a reversibility trend.

Augmenting motion artifacts to enhance auto-contouring of complex structures in cone-beam computed tomography imaging.

. To develop an augmentation method that simulates cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) related motion artifacts, which can be used to generate training-data to increase the performance of artificial intelligence models dedicated to auto-contouring tasks.The augmentation technique generates data that simulates artifacts typically present in CBCT imaging.

Emergent Carotid Stenting During Thrombectomy in Tandem Occlusions Secondary to Dissection: A STOP-CAD Secondary Study.

The optimal endovascular management of cervical carotid dissection causing tandem occlusion remains uncertain. We investigated the impact of emergent carotid stenting during endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in patients with tandem occlusion secondary to cervical carotid artery dissection. This was a secondary analysis of patients treated with EVT for AIS due to occlusive carotid artery dissection and tandem occlusion included in the retrospective international Antithrombotic Treatment for Stroke Prevention in Cervical Artery Dissection (STOP-CAD) study.

Thrombolysis for Ischemic Stroke Beyond the 4.5-Hour Window: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

Background: A minority of patients with stroke qualify for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) within 4.5-hour window. The safety and efficacy of IVT beyond this period have not been well studied.

Potential Infectious Complications in Pig Xenograft Donors and Recipients.

Preclinical and clinical xenotransplantation trials have shown that successful outcomes depend on a number of factors including the prevention of xenozoonoses. Preclinical trials involving pig kidneys and hearts transplanted into various non-human primates have revealed the potential impact of pig pathogens being present in the transplanted organ/tissue, mainly viruses. The concept of "designated pathogen-free donor animals" was developed to ensure elimination of pathogens during the breeding of donor animals to mitigate this occurrence.

Low temperature thermal RAFT depolymerization: the effect of Z-group substituents on molecular weight control and yield.

The labile end-groups inherent to many controlled radical polymerization methodologies, including atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization, can trigger the efficient chemical recycling of polymethacrylates yielding high percentages of pristine monomer. Yet, current thermal solution ATRP and RAFT depolymerization strategies require relatively high temperatures ( 120-170 °C) to proceed, with slower depolymerization rates, and moderate yields often reported under milder reaction conditions ( lower temperatures). In this work, we seek to promote the low temperature RAFT depolymerization of polymethacrylates regulating the Z-group substitution of dithiobenzoate.

A scoping review and expert consensus on digital determinants of health.

Objective: To map how social, commercial, political and digital determinants of health have changed or emerged during the recent digital transformation of society and to identify priority areas for policy action.

Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science on 24 September 2023, to identify eligible reviews published in 2018 and later. To ensure we included the most recent literature, we supplemented our review with non-systematic searches in PubMed® and Google Scholar, along with records identified by subject matter experts.

Artificial intelligence, recessionary pressures and population health.

Economic and labour policies have a considerable influence on health and well-being through direct financial impacts, and by shaping social and physical environments. Strong economies are important for public health investment and employment, yet the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape economies, presenting challenges beyond mere temporary market disruption. Generative AI can perform non-routine cognitive tasks, previously unattainable though traditional automation, creating new efficiencies.

Optimizing woodcutting with zirconia-toughened alumina: Processing, performance, and industrial insights.

Since the 1950s, the woodcutting industry has relied heavily on tungsten carbide (WC) cutting tools to overcome the challenges posed by the complex structure of wood, including hard knots and abrasive elements such as sand and tannic acids. These demands require cutting tools with superior thermal conductivity and mechanical properties. However, the rising cost of WC materials has prompted the search for alternative solutions.