HLA I immunopeptidome of synthetic long peptide pulsed human dendritic cells for therapeutic vaccine design.

Synthetic long peptides (SLPs) are a promising vaccine modality that exploit dendritic cells (DC) to treat chronic infections or cancer. Currently, the design of SLPs relies on in silico prediction and multifactorial T cells assays to determine which SLPs are best cross-presented on DC human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I). Furthermore, it is unknown how TLR ligand-based adjuvants affect DC cross-presentation.

The first geospatial dataset of irrigated fields (2020-2024) in Vojvodina (Serbia).

Irrigation is a cornerstone of global food security, enabling sustainable agricultural production and helping to ensure that food is available for people around the world, now and in the future. Mapping irrigated fields provides valuable information for sustainable water management, agricultural development, and environmental conservation efforts. However, the collection of high-quality training data, which is necessary for accurate irrigation mapping remains costly and labour-intensive.

Bioinoculant-induced plant resistance is modulated by interactions with resident soil microbes.

Background: Entomopathogenic fungi are increasingly used as bio-inoculants to enhance crop growth and resistance. When applied to rhizosphere soil, they interact with resident soil microbes, which can affect their ability to colonize and induce resistance in plants as well as modify the structure of the resident soil microbiome, either directly through interactions in the rhizosphere or indirectly, mediated by the plant. The extent to which such direct versus indirect interactions between bio-inoculants and soil microbes impact microbe-induced resistance in crops remains unclear.

Implementation of multidisciplinary team decisions on the management of complex bone and joint infections: an observational study.

Background: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) management of prosthetic joint infections (PJI) and other bone and joint infections (BJI) is increasingly put into practice. However, studies evaluating the performance of MDTs in this field are scarce. We aimed to assess our MDT for complex BJI by determining the implementation rate of team decisions, analyzing factors associated with non-implementation and evaluating the clinical outcome of patients in whom MDT decisions were not implemented.

Nursing postgraduates' innovative behaviour, influencing factors and educational requirements: a national cross-sectional study.

Background: Innovative behaviours are important for nursing postgraduates who are a significant reserve for future nursing career, thinking critically, utilizing technologies and solving complex problems. In nursing undergraduates' education, innovative behaviour is closely linked with the development of professional identity. However, there are limited studies exploring innovative behaviours, influencing factors and educational requirements of nursing postgraduates.

An exploration of governance in teaching hospitals in the Netherlands focused on educational objectives.

Background: Many countries are improving medical education in teaching hospitals through more focus on internal quality assurance, for example by creating new stakeholders like hospital-wide education committees. Adequate oversight is thought essential to ensure the quality of medical education. How teaching hospitals distribute roles and responsibilities for quality control across educational stakeholders to organize this oversight is rarely investigated.

Profiles of testosterone and pre-androgens and sexual function in premenopausal women.

Background: There is inconsistent evidence as to the role of testosterone and pre-androgens in premenopausal female sexual function, and reported associations between blood concentrations of these hormones and female sexual function vary in strength.

Aim: To examine the patterns of testosterone and pre-androgen concentrations and variations in sexual function in premenopausal eumenorrheic women.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a sample of 588 premenopausal eumenorrheic women from the Grollo-Ruzzene Foundation Young Women's Health Study.

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling to Refine Dosing of Posaconazole in Young Children.

Purpose: Posaconazole is a broad-spectrum antifungal for treating and preventing invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in immunocompromised individuals, including children as young as 2 years. Available in delayed-release (DR) oral suspension, intravenous formulation, and older immediate-release (IR) formulation (off-label in younger children), dosing harmonization across age groups and formulations remains inconsistent. This inconsistency arises from the unique physiology of young children and posaconazole's pH-dependent absorption.

Comparative risks and clinical outcomes of midazolam versus other intravenous sedatives in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Objectives: This systematic review synthesized literature evidence and compared midazolam's risks and clinical outcomes with other sedatives in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients.

Methods: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL without language restrictions. We used relative risk (RR) for binary outcomes and standardized mean difference (SMD) for continuous outcomes, with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).

Ethics and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary surgery: a snapshot of insights from the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA) survey.

Background: Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) surgery is a complex specialty and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications have the potential to improve pre- intra- and postoperative outcomes of HPB surgery. While ethics guidelines have been developed for the use of AI in clinical surgery, the ethical implications and reliability of AI in HPB surgery remain specifically unexplored.

Methods: An online survey was developed by the Innovation Committee of the E-AHPBA to investigate the current perspectives on the ethical principles and trustworthiness of AI in HPB Surgery among E-AHPBA membership.

Emerging approaches to enhance human brain organoid physiology.

Brain organoids are important 3D models for studying human brain development, disease, and evolution. To overcome some of the existing limitations that affect organoid quality, reproducibility, characteristics, and in vivo resemblance, current efforts are directed to improve their physiological relevance by exploring different, yet interconnected, routes. In this review, these approaches and their latest developments are discussed, including stem cell optimization, refining morphogen administration strategies, altering the extracellular matrix (ECM) niche, and manipulating tissue architecture to mimic in vivo brain morphogenesis.

An agar medium-based method for screening somatic incompatibility in Agaricus bisporus.

To visualize the nonself recognition reaction in the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus, we developed a method using the azo dye Evans blue. The use of Evans blue highlights dead mycelial sections, which are produced following nonself recognition in the interaction zone between two individuals. This method can differentiate between distinct heterokaryons, as well as between closely related heterokaryons constructed from siblings.

Site-Specific Competitive Kinase Inhibitor Target Profiling Using Phosphonate Affinity Tags.

Protein kinases are prime targets for drug development due to their involvement in various cancers. However, selective inhibition of kinases, while avoiding off-target effects remains a significant challenge for the development of protein kinase inhibitors. Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), in combination with pan-kinase activity-based probes (ABPs) and mass spectrometry-based proteomics, enables the identification of kinase drug targets.

A Randomised, Single Blind, Controlled Trial Comparing Flush Endovenous Laser Ablation with Standard Endovenous Laser Ablation of the Great Saphenous Vein.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare anterior accessory saphenous vein (AASV) reflux after standard endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) vs. flush EVLA (fEVLA) of the great saphenous vein (GSV).

Methods: This was as randomised, single blind, controlled trial (Dutch Trial Register, NL5283).

A call for standardization: evaluating different methodologies to induce in vitro foreign body giant cell formation for biomaterials research and design.

Foreign body giant cells (FBGCs) are crucial in the foreign body reaction at the biomaterial-tissue interface, forming through the fusion of cells from the monocyte/macrophage lineage and performing functions such as material degradation and fibrous encapsulation. Yet, their presence and role in biomaterials research is only slowly unveiled. This review analyzed existing FBGC literature identified through a search string and sources from FBGC articles to evaluate the most commonly used methods and highlight the challenges in establishing a standardized protocol.

Sex-specific anatomical variation of circle of Willis arteries.

Background: Anatomical variations in the circle of Willis (CoW) arteries are common and can affect hemodynamic stress, thereby influencing the risk of cerebrovascular pathology. Previous studies have suggested sex differences in CoW anatomy, but findings vary due to limited study population size and different measurement methods. This study aims to investigate sex differences in artery diameters, anatomical variants and bifurcation angles of the CoW using a large population cohort and semi-automatic measurements.

Oxygen Consumption, Effort, and Weaning in the Mechanically Ventilated Patient in the Intensive Care Unit: The Extubate Study: A Protocol for an Observational Study.

Purpose: The spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) is often performed to determine whether the patient can be extubated with a minimal risk of failure. The rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) is an important parameter used in an SBT. However, weaning failure rates are between 15-20%.

Exposure-response relationships between road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise and annoyangel.dzhambov@mu-plovdiv.bgance in Bulgarian cities.

This study aimed to develop exposure-response relationships (ERRs) between road, rail, and air traffic noise and high noise annoyance (HNA) and to assess the HNA disease burden. In 2023, 4 640 adults were cross-sectionally sampled from the five largest cities in Bulgaria. Participants' road, rail/tram, and air traffic HNA was defined as the top two categories (60% cut-off point) of a 5-point scale.

Peak Frequency Analysis and Functional Substrate Mapping to Predict Critical Isthmus of Atypical Atrial Tachycardia; Findings from a Novel Automated Annotation Algorithm to Detect Near Field Signals.

Background: Atypical atrial tachycardia (AT) is a commonly encountered rhythm disorder especially in patients with underlying atrial scar. Peak frequency (PF) annotation of bipolar electrograms is a novel method, which mainly aims to discriminate near-field and far-field signals.

Objective: To evaluate the association between PF annotation of low-voltage zones (LVZ) and deceleration zones (DZ) during sinus / paced rhythm and their role to predict the critical isthmus (CI) and termination sites of atypical ATs.

Clinical significance of a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in patients with vascular disease.

Background: The Cardiovascular Outcomes for People Using Anticoagulation Strategies (COMPASS) trial enrolled patients with vascular disease, but excluded patients requiring oral anticoagulation.

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) during follow-up.

Methods: New AF was identified from hospitalization, study drug discontinuation and adverse event reports.

Vitamins as excipients in pharmaceutical products.

Excipients are ingredients in pharmaceutical products other than the active ingredient, added to facilitate manufacturing, enhance stability or modulate release and bioavailability. Vitamins are diverse molecules essential for human nutrition that also can fulfil excipient functions. This review focuses on vitamins used as excipients and provides an overview of the functions of vitamins in various pharmaceutical formulations.

The role of F-FDG PET/CT in detecting synchronous regional and distant metastatic disease in patients with an in-breast tumour recurrence.

Background: In line with the trend towards minimally invasive, patient-tailored treatment, a selected group of patients with an in-breast tumour recurrence (IBTR) is treated by repeat breast-conserving treatment (BCT). To select eligible patients for repeat BCT, a reliable pre-operative work-up is essential. This study reports on the role of F-FDG PET/CT in detecting synchronous regional and distant metastases in patients with IBTR.

Increased fish abundance, biodiversity, and body size near a North Sea oil and gas platform.

In the North Sea, offshore oil and gas (O&G) platforms must be totally removed through decommissioning at the end of their productive life. However, the role of O&G platforms in marine ecosystems, especially for fish assemblages, is not well enough defined yet. Here, we document the association between an O&G platform in the North Sea and the fish assemblages along a distance gradient of 1-600 m from the platform.