Stereotactic body radiotherapy for non-spine bone metastases: A meta-analysis and international stereotactic radiosurgery society (ISRS) clinical practice guidelines.

Background: While SBRT to NSBM has become common, particularly in the oligometastatic population, the approach to treating non-spine bone metastases (NSBM) with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) varies widely across institutions and clinical trial protocols. We present a comprehensive systematic review of the literatures to inform practice recommendations on behalf of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS).

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Dosimetric comparison of CyberKnife and conventional linac prostate SBRT plans: analysis of the PACE-B Study.

Purpose: In the PACE-B study, a non-randomised comparison of toxicity outcomes between stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) platforms revealed fewer urinary side-effects with CyberKnife (CK) compared to conventional linac (CL) SBRT. This analysis compares baseline characteristics and planning dosimetry between the CK-SBRT and CL-SBRT cohorts in PACE-B, aiming to provide insight into possible reasons for differing toxicity outcomes between the platforms.

Methods: Dosimetric parameters for the surrogate urethra (SU), contoured urethra, bladder, bladder trigone (BT), and rectum were extracted from available CT planning scans of PACE-B SBRT patients.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by FUS mutations: advances with broad implications.

Autosomal dominant mutations in the gene encoding the DNA and RNA binding protein FUS are a cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and about 0·3-0·9% of patients with ALS are FUS mutation carriers. FUS-mutation-associated ALS (FUS-ALS) is characterised by early onset and rapid progression, compared with other forms of ALS. However, different pathogenic mutations in FUS can result in markedly different age at symptom onset and rate of disease progression.

Unique considerations in the assessment and management of traumatic brain injury in older adults.

The age-specific incidence of traumatic brain injury in older adults is rising in high-income countries, mainly due to an increase in the incidence of falls. The severity of traumatic brain injury in older adults can be underestimated because of a delay in the development of mass effect and symptoms of intracranial haemorrhage. Management and rehabilitation in older adults must consider comorbidities and frailty, the treatment of pre-existing disorders, the reduced potential for recovery, the likelihood of cognitive decline, and the avoidance of future falls.

Apixaban versus aspirin for stroke prevention in people with subclinical atrial fibrillation and a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack: subgroup analysis of the ARTESiA randomised controlled trial.

Background: People with subclinical atrial fibrillation are at increased risk of stroke, albeit to a lesser extent than those with clinical atrial fibrillation, leading to an ongoing debate regarding the benefit of anticoagulation in these individuals. In the ARTESiA trial, the direct-acting oral anticoagulant apixaban reduced stroke or systemic embolism compared with aspirin in people with subclinical atrial fibrillation, but the risk of major bleeding was increased with apixaban. In a prespecified subgroup analysis of ARTESiA, we tested the hypothesis that people with subclinical atrial fibrillation and a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack, who are known to have an increased risk of recurrent stroke, would show a greater benefit from oral anticoagulation for secondary stroke prevention compared with those without a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack.

Safety and efficacy of satralizumab in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (LUMINESCE): a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.

Background: Evidence from preclinical studies suggests that IL-6 signalling has the potential to modulate immunopathogenic mechanisms upstream of autoantibody effector mechanisms in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of satralizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody targeting the IL-6 receptor, in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis.

Methods: LUMINESCE was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, phase 3 study at 105 sites, including hospitals and clinics, globally.

Tuberculosis and people who use drugs: why focus on this overlooked population is important and why adapted interventions are necessary.

People who use drugs show a higher incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis than people who do not use drugs in areas where Mycobacterium tuberculosis is endemic. However, this population is largely neglected in national tuberculosis programmes. Strategies for active case finding, screening, and linkage to care designed for the general population are not adapted to the needs of people who use drugs, who are stigmatised and difficult to reach.

Crossing the blood-brain barrier: emerging therapeutic strategies for neurological disease.

The blood-brain barrier is a physiological barrier that can prevent both small and complex drugs from reaching the brain to exert a pharmacological effect. For treatment of neurological diseases, drug concentrations at the target site are a fundamental parameter for therapeutic effect; thus, the blood-brain barrier is a major obstacle to overcome. Novel strategies have been developed to circumvent the blood-brain barrier, including CSF delivery, intracranial delivery, ultrasound-based methods, membrane transporters, receptor-mediated transcytosis, and nanotherapeutics.

SynPull: An advanced method for studying neurodegeneration-related aggregates in synaptosomes using super-resolution microscopy.

Synaptic dysfunction is a primary hallmark of both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, leading to cognitive and behavioral decline. While alpha-synuclein, beta-amyloid, and tau are involved in the physiological functioning of synapses, their pathological aggregation has been linked to synaptopathology. The methodology for studying the small-soluble protein aggregates formed by these proteins is limited.

Spatially restricted and ontogenically distinct hepatic macrophages are required for tissue repair.

Our understanding of the functional heterogeneity of resident versus recruited macrophages in the diseased liver is limited. A population of recruited lipid-associated macrophages (LAMs) has been reported to populate the diseased liver alongside resident Kupffer cells (KCs). However, the precise roles of these distinct macrophage subsets remain elusive.

A forward genetic screen identifies potassium channel essentiality in SHH medulloblastoma maintenance.

Distinguishing tumor maintenance genes from initiation, progression, and passenger genes is critical for developing effective therapies. We employed a functional genomic approach using the Lazy Piggy transposon to identify tumor maintenance genes in vivo and applied this to sonic hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma (MB). Combining Lazy Piggy screening in mice and transcriptomic profiling of human MB, we identified the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNB2 as a candidate maintenance driver.

Small forest patches and landscape-scale fragmentation exacerbate forest fire prevalence in Amazonia.

Over recent decades, forest fire prevalence has increased throughout the tropics, necessitating improved understanding of the landscape-scale drivers of fire occurrence. Here, we use MapBiomas land-cover and fire scar data to evaluate relationships between forest fragmentation, land-use, and forest fire prevalence in a typically consolidated Amazonian agricultural frontier: Portal da Amazonia, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Using zero-/zero-one-inflated Beta regressions, we investigate effects of forest patch (area, shape, surrounding forest cover) and landscape-scale variables (forest edge length, land-cover composition) on forest fire occurrence and density between 1985 and 2021.

Removal of antibiotics and their impact on growth, nutrient uptake, and biomass productivity in semi-continuous cultivation of Auxenochlorella protothecoides.

The prevalence of antibiotics in wastewater poses risks to human and animal health, contributing to antimicrobial resistance. Although various antibiotic removal methods exist, microalgae-based technology presents a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative; however, limited research on its long-term integration in semi-continuous wastewater treatment trials hinders our understanding of its potential effectiveness. This investigation explored the antibiotic removal capabilities of the microalga Auxenochlorella protothecoides in photobioreactors with synthetic wastewater under semi-continuous conditions over one month.

Characterisation and anaerobic digestion of fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste from wastewater treatment plants.

The materials removed in the oil separation units of wastewater treatment plants can be referred to as fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste. FOG waste accumulation in treatment plants can cause clogging of pipes, production of excessive scums and foams, and negatively affect air/liquid oxygen transfer. While conventional disposal routes of this material can be limited by its water and organic content, FOG can represent a source of bio-energy other than bio-diesel production.

Grandparental childcare and subjective well-being: The role of activities and reasons for care.

Despite extensive research on the impact of grandchild care on grandparents' well-being, no studies have examined the frequency of activities that grandparents engage in with their grandchildren or the reasons for care using nationally representative data. We address this gap using waves 8 (2016/2017) and 9 (2018/19) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a nationally representative study of English older adults. We employ hybrid regression models to distinguish between within- and between-individual effects on grandparents' subjective wellbeing, as captured by quality of life and depressive symptoms.

Challenges and compromises: Predicting unbound antibody structures with deep learning.

Therapeutic antibodies are manufactured, stored and administered in the free state; this makes understanding the unbound form key to designing and improving development pipelines. Prediction of unbound antibodies is challenging, specifically modelling of the CDRH3 loop, where inaccuracies are potentially worse due to a bias in structural data towards antibody-antigen complexes. This class imbalance provides a challenge for deep learning models trained on this data, potentially limiting generalisation to unbound forms.

The impact of lunate type on scapho-trapezio-trapezoid arthritis in trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis patients.

Background: Type II lunate has an extra facet with the hamate. This difference alters the biomechanics of the midcarpal joint, influencing the development of scapho-trapezio-trapezoid (STT) arthritis. We aimed to investigate whether, in patients with trapeziometacarpal (TMC) osteoarthritis (OA), involvement of the STT joint is associated with the lunate type.

Flies as carriers of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in Nigerian hospitals: A workflow for surveillance of AMR bacteria carried by arthropod pests in hospital settings.

The dissemination of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria by flies in hospitals is concerning as nosocomial AMR infections pose a significant threat to public health. This threat is compounded in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by several factors, including limited resources for sufficient infection prevention and control (IPC) practices and high numbers of flies in tropical climates. In this pilot study, 1,396 flies were collected between August and September 2022 from eight tertiary care hospitals in six cities (Abuja, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos and Sokoto) in Nigeria.

Timing of adverse childhood experiences and depressive, anxiety, comorbid symptoms among Chinese female nurses: A life course perspective.

Background: Nurses demonstrate a greater vulnerability to developing depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to the general population. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are known risk factors for mental health issues, but impact of timing of these experiences remains unclear.

Objective: To investigate associations between timing of ACEs and depressive, anxiety, comorbid symptoms.

Inequality in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of COVID vaccine acceptance and uptake in 13 countries.

Background COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was a key barrier to ending the pandemic via mass immunisation. Objectives Assess magnitudes and differences in socioeconomic inequality in stated COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (hesitancy) and uptake. Methods Online surveys were conducted in 13 countries, collecting data from 15,337 and 18,189 respondents respectively.

Reducing bias in source-free unsupervised domain adaptation for regression.

Due to data privacy and storage concerns, Source-Free Unsupervised Domain Adaptation (SFUDA) focuses on improving an unlabelled target domain by leveraging a pre-trained source model without access to source data. While existing studies attempt to train target models by mitigating biases induced by noisy pseudo labels, they often lack theoretical guarantees for fully reducing biases and have predominantly addressed classification tasks rather than regression ones. To address these gaps, our analysis delves into the generalisation error bound of the target model, aiming to understand the intrinsic limitations of pseudo-label-based SFUDA methods.

How do neuromuscular characteristics of the peroneal muscles differ in adults with and without chronic ankle instability? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has been associated with neuromuscular control dysfunction, particularly of the peroneal musculature.

Research Question: How do neuromuscular characteristics of the peroneal muscles, including corticospinal excitability, strength, proprioception (force sense) and electromyographic measures differ in individuals with CAI compared to healthy control counterparts aged 18-45?

Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted by retrieving relevant articles from electronic databases including EBSCOhost (CINAHL Complete, AMED, SPORTDiscus), Ovid (MEDLINE, Embase), Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library as well as Grey literature sources. The eligibility and methodological quality of the included case-control and cross-sectional studies were assessed by two reviewers.

Associations between domestic hard water exposure and incident psoriasis in adults: Insights from the UK Biobank cohort study.

Although exposure to hard water is associated with various inflammatory skin conditions, the specific relationship between hard water and psoriasis has not been clearly defined. We analyzed data from 486,414 participants in the UK Biobank cohort to explore the association between domestic hard water exposure and the incidence of psoriasis. Domestic water hardness, measured in calcium carbonate concentration, was obtained in 2005 from local water providers in Wales, Scotland, and England.