Validity of one-time phantomless patient-specific quality assurance in proton therapy with regard to the reproducibility of beam delivery.

Background: Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) is a crucial yet resource-intensive task in proton therapy, requiring special equipment, expertise and additional beam time. Machine delivery log files contain information about energy, position and monitor units (MU) of all delivered spots, allowing a reconstruction of the applied dose. This raises the prospect of phantomless, log file-based QA (LFQA) as an automated replacement of current phantom-based solutions, provided that such an approach guarantees a comparable level of safety.

A Short Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Assessment Scale for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

Background: Patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) suffer from several neuropsychological impairments. These mainly affect the frontal lobe and subcortical brain structures. However, a scale for the assessment of cognitive and neuropsychiatric disability in PSP is still missing.

Overview of basic design recommendations for user-centered explanation interfaces for AI-based clinical decision support systems: A scoping review.

Objective: The application of artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in the healthcare domain is still limited. End-users' difficulty understanding how the outputs of opaque black AI models are generated contributes to this. It is still unknown which explanations are best presented to end users and how to design the interfaces they are presented in (explanation user interface, XUI).

Arginine metabolism in myeloid cells in health and disease.

Metabolic flexibility is key for the function of myeloid cells. Arginine metabolism is integral to the regulation of myeloid cell responses. Nitric oxide (NO) production from arginine is vital for the antimicrobial and pro-inflammatory responses.

Extracellular vesicles from pancreatic cancer and its tumour microenvironment promote increased Schwann cell migration.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) exhibits a high frequency of neural invasion (NI). Schwann cells (SCs) have been shown to be reprogrammed to facilitate cancer cell migration and invasion into nerves. Since extracellular vesicles (EVs) affect the tumour microenvironment and promote metastasis, the present study analysed the involvement of EVs from pancreatic cancer cells and their microenvironment in altering SC phenotype as part of the early events in the process of NI.

Comparison of ZnS(Ag) Scintillator and Proportional Counter Tube for Alpha Detection in Thin-Layer Chromatography.

(1) : Targeted alpha therapy is an emerging field in nuclear medicine driven by two advantages: overcoming resistance in cancer-suffering patients to beta therapies and the practical application of lower activities of Pb- and Ac-labelled peptides to achieve the same doses compared to beta therapy due to the highly cytotoxic nature of alpha particles. However, quality control of the Pb/Ac-radiopharmaceuticals remains a challenge due to the low activity levels used for therapy (100 kBq/kg) and the formation of several free daughter nuclides immediately after the formulation of patient doses; (2) : The routine alpha detection on thin-layer chromatograms (TLC) of Pb- and Ac-labelled peptides using a MiniScanPRO+ scanner combined with an alpha detector head was compared with detection using an AR-2000 scanner equipped with an open proportional counter tube. Measurement time, resolution and validity were compared for both scanners; (3) : For Ac, the quality control values of the radiochemical purity (RCP) were within the acceptance criteria 2 h after TLC development, regardless of when the TLC probe was taken.

Comparison of Radio- and Phototoxicity in Association with an Enhancing Effect of the Photosensitizers Psoralen, Trioxsalen and Ortho-Iodo-Hoechst33258 on FaDu, PC-3, 4T1 and B16-F10 Cells.

Energy delivered at different wavelengths causes different types of damage to DNA. PC-3, FaDu, 4T1 and B16-F10 cells were irradiated with different wavelengths of ultraviolet light (UVA/UVC) and ionizing radiation (X-ray). Furthermore, different photosensitizers (ortho-iodo-Hoechst33258/psoralen/trioxsalen) were tested for their amplifying effect.

Bosworth fracture: Pathoanatomy, Complications, and Medium-term Results of Treatment.

Background: Bosworth fractures (BFs) with entrapment of a fibular fragment behind the posterior malleolus (PM) are rare but potentially serious injuries to the ankle. Despite an increased awareness through a more regular use of computed tomography (CT) scanning, there is still a scarcity of clinical outcome studies.

Methods: Over a course of 25 years, data on 23 patients treated for BF at our institutions (mean age 44 years) were collected prospectively.

Long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in a population-based pediatric cohort.

During the omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and with SARS-CoV-2 vaccines becoming available, seroprevalence rates rose in children and adolescents. This study investigated the impact of both SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccinations on the incidence of acute and prolonged symptoms in real-world conditions during the transition from the pandemic to the endemic phase. Participants from a pediatric population based seroprevalence study (CorKID study) were followed up at least two and for almost four years by survey of health status features and symptoms suggestive of post-COVID syndrome (PCS).

Development and maintenance of consensus recommendations on pediatric outpatient antibiotic therapy in Germany: a framework for rational use.

Unlabelled: In pediatric outpatient care, overuse and misuse of antibiotics is linked to a high risk of adverse events and increased antibiotic resistance. In 2019, building upon the work of the Antibiotic Therapy in Bielefeld (AnTiB) project (founded in 2016), a collaboration among the AnTiB, the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI), and the Professional Association of Outpatient Pediatricians and Adolescent Physicians (BVKJ) was established to develop consensus recommendations for antibiotic therapy in pediatric outpatient settings in Germany. This working group became the Antibiotic Stewardship in Outpatient Pediatrics (ABSaP).

Genomics yields biological and phenotypic insights into bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease. Despite high heritability (60-80%), the majority of the underlying genetic determinants remain unknown. We analysed data from participants of European, East Asian, African American and Latino ancestries (n = 158,036 cases with bipolar disorder, 2.

Perioperative Chemotherapy or Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal Cancer.

Background: The best multimodal approach for resectable locally advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma is unclear. An important question is whether perioperative chemotherapy is preferable to preoperative chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: In this phase 3, multicenter, randomized trial, we assigned in a 1:1 ratio patients with resectable esophageal adenocarcinoma to receive perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) plus surgery or preoperative chemoradiotherapy (radiotherapy at a dose of 41.

FXa-Responsive Hydrogels to Craft Corneal Endothelial Lamellae.

Cell-instructive polymer hydrogels are instrumental in tissue engineering for regenerative therapies. Implementing defined and selective responsiveness to external stimuli is a persisting challenge that critically restricts their functionality. Addressing this challenge, this study introduces a versatile, modular hydrogel system composed of four-arm poly(ethylene glycol)(starPEG)-peptide and glycosaminoglycan(GAG)-maleimide conjugates.

The Co-IMPACT Consortium: Integrating Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography and Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer Care.

The Co-IMPACT consortium addresses knowledge gaps in prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography-guided radiotherapy for prostate cancer by establishing a global database (46 centres from 16 countries) to standardise and analyse data across four distinguished clinical scenarios. A collaborative model with the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference aligns urgent clinical needs with actionable research insights.

Olfactory Dysfunction in Children and Adolescents-A Diagnostic Pathway.

Olfactory disorders have so far played a subordinate role in pediatric care, although children can also be affected. Due to a lack of awareness, the diagnosis can often only be made after numerous visits to the doctor, although it can significantly impact the quality of life. Olfactory disorders in adults are usually acquired, while congenital causes dominate in children.

How does an intervention work?-English Version : Development of an effect model for a complex intervention to prevent recurring or persistent pain using the example of PAIN 2.0.

In addition to the usual evaluation approach (usually a clinical randomized trial in the sense of the question: does an intervention work), complex interventions require further systematic investigations to prove their effectiveness. The role of the context in which the intervention is delivered is essential here, as is consideration of the question of why an intervention works (or does not work). Detailed recommendations exist for the planning and implementation of effectiveness studies on complex interventions, to which interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy undoubtedly belongs.

Recursive seed amplification detects distinct α-synuclein strains in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with a wide range of clinical phenotypes. Pathologically, it is characterized by neuronal inclusions containing misfolded, fibrillar alpha-synuclein (aSyn). Prion-like properties of aSyn contribute to the spread of aSyn pathology throughout the nervous system as the disease progresses.

Deep Learning for Biomarker Discovery in Cancer Genomes.

Background: Genomic data is essential for clinical decision-making in precision oncology. Bioinformatic algorithms are widely used to analyze next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, but they face two major challenges. First, these pipelines are highly complex, involving multiple steps and the integration of various tools.

Local erythropoiesis directs oxygen availability in bone fracture repair.

Bone fracture ruptures blood vessels and disrupts the bone marrow, the site of new red blood cell production (erythropoiesis). Current dogma holds that bone fracture causes severe hypoxia at the fracture site, due to vascular rupture, and that this hypoxia must be overcome for regeneration. Here, we show that the early fracture site is not hypoxic, but instead exhibits high oxygen tension (> 55 mmHg, or 8%), similar to the red blood cell reservoir, the spleen.

Prediction of tissue and clinical thrombectomy outcome in acute ischaemic stroke using deep learning.

The advent of endovascular thrombectomy has significantly improved outcomes for stroke patients with intracranial large vessel occlusion, yet individual benefits can vary widely. As demand for thrombectomy rises and geographic disparities in stroke care access persist, there is a growing need for predictive models that quantify individual benefits. However, current imaging methods for estimating outcomes may not fully capture the dynamic nature of cerebral ischemia and lack a patient-specific assessment of thrombectomy benefits.

Association of chronic stress during studies with depressive symptoms 10 years later.

The long-tern implications of stress during university for individuals' mental health are not well understood so far. Hence, we aimed to examine the potential effect of stress while studying at university on depression in later life. We analysed data from two waves of the longitudinal Study on Occupational Allergy Risks.

Genomic reanalysis of a pan-European rare-disease resource yields new diagnoses.

Genetic diagnosis of rare diseases requires accurate identification and interpretation of genomic variants. Clinical and molecular scientists from 37 expert centers across Europe created the Solve-Rare Diseases Consortium (Solve-RD) resource, encompassing clinical, pedigree and genomic rare-disease data (94.5% exomes, 5.