Prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume on [F]FDG PET/CT in addition to the TNM classification system of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is commonly based on [F]FDG PET/CT, in particular to exclude distant metastases and guide local therapy approaches like resection and radiotherapy. Although it is hoped that PET/CT will increase the value of primary staging compared to conventional imaging, it is generally limited to the characterization of TNM. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the PET parameter metabolic tumor volume (MTV) above liver background uptake as a prognostic marker in lung cancer.

Decision-making about palliative sedation for patients with cancer: a qualitative study in five European countries linked to the Palliative sedation project.

Background: Palliative sedation refers to the proportional use of titrated medication which reduces consciousness with the aim of relieving refractory suffering related to physical and psychological symptoms and/or existential distress near the end of life. Palliative sedation is intended to be an end of life option that enables healthcare professionals to provide good patient care but there remains controversy on how it is used. Little is known about decision-making processes regarding this procedure.

Guselkumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in pediatric patients: results of the phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled PROTOSTAR study.

Background: No currently approved treatment for pediatric plaque psoriasis selectively targets interleukin (IL)-23. In adults, guselkumab (a selective IL-23 inhibitor targeting the p19 subunit) demonstrated substantial efficacy with a favorable safety profile in treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Objective: PROTOSTAR (NCT03451851) evaluated the efficacy and safety of guselkumab in pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Metastasis-directed stereotactic radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer: results of an international multicenter cohort study.

Metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) for oligometastatic breast cancer (≤ 5 metastases) has shown little effect in specific scenarios of randomized trials. Therefore, we aimed to assess outcomes after metastasis-directed stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) in various clinical scenarios. We conducted an international retrospective cohort study in thirteen centers including breast cancer patients receiving SRT to any metastatic site.

Human neural stem cells directly programmed from peripheral blood show functional integration into the adult mouse brain.

Transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural cells represents a promising strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases. However, reprogramming of somatic cells and their subsequent neural differentiation is complex and time-consuming, thereby impeding autologous applications. Recently, direct transcription factor-based conversion of blood cells into induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) has emerged as a potential alternative.

RNA-binding proteins hnRNPM and ELAVL1 promote type-I interferon induction downstream of the nucleic acid sensors cGAS and RIG-I.

The cytosolic nucleic acid sensors RIG-I and cGAS induce type-I interferon (IFN)-mediated immune responses to RNA and DNA viruses, respectively. So far no connection between the two cytosolic pathways upstream of IKK-like kinase activation has been investigated. Here, we identify heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein M (hnRNPM) as a positive regulator of IRF3 phosphorylation and type-I IFN induction downstream of both cGAS and RIG-I.

The New Tumour Biomarker miRNA-371-3p Influences Cisplatin Sensitivity of Testicular Germ Cell Tumour Cell Lines.

Cisplatin is used to treat a variety of malignancies, including testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs). Although cisplatin-based chemotherapy yields high response rates, a subset of patients develop cisplatin resistance, limiting treatment options and worsening prognosis. Therefore, there is a high clinical need for new therapeutic strategies targeting cisplatin-resistant TGCTs.

NIS-Seq enables cell-type-agnostic optical perturbation screening.

Optical pooled screening offers a broader-scale alternative to enrichment-based perturbation screening, using fluorescence microscopy to correlate phenotypes and perturbations across single cells. Previous methods work well in large, transcriptionally active cell lines, because they rely on cytosolic detection of endogenously expressed barcoded transcripts; however, they are limited by reliable cell segmentation, cytosol size, transcriptional activity and cell density. Nuclear In-Situ Sequencing (NIS-Seq) expands this technology by creating bright sequencing signals directly from nuclear genomic DNA to screen nucleated cells at high density and high library complexity.

Role of ZFHX4 in orofacial clefting based on human genetic data and zebrafish models.

Orofacial clefting (OFC) is a frequent congenital anomaly and can occur either in the context of underlying syndromes or in isolation (nonsyndromic). The two common OFC phenotypes are cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P) and cleft palate only (CPO). In this study, we searched for penetrant CL/P genes, by evaluating de novo copy number variants (CNV) from an exome sequencing dataset of 50 nonsyndromic patient-parent trios.

Reliability of high-quantity human brain organoids for modeling microcephaly, glioma invasion and drug screening.

Brain organoids offer unprecedented insights into brain development and disease modeling and hold promise for drug screening. Significant hindrances, however, are morphological and cellular heterogeneity, inter-organoid size differences, cellular stress, and poor reproducibility. Here, we describe a method that reproducibly generates thousands of organoids across multiple hiPSC lines.

Deep learning for opportunistic, end-to-end automated assessment of epicardial adipose tissue in pre-interventional, ECG-gated spiral computed tomography.

Objectives: Recently, epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) assessed by CT was identified as an independent mortality predictor in patients with various cardiac diseases. Our goal was to develop a deep learning pipeline for robust automatic EAT assessment in CT.

Methods: Contrast-enhanced ECG-gated cardiac and thoraco-abdominal spiral CT imaging from 1502 patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was included.

Modulation of Haemostatic Balance in Combined von Willebrand Disease and Antithrombin Deficiency: A Comprehensive Family Study.

Introduction: Maintaining the balance between procoagulant and anticoagulant factors is essential for effective haemostasis. Emerging evidence suggests a modulation of bleeding tendency by factors in the anticoagulant and fibrinolytic systems.

Aim: This study investigates the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a family with combined von Willebrand disease (VWD) and antithrombin (AT) deficiency.

Dynamic rasterstereography improves the detection of movement delays and dynamic asymmetries in the scapulothoracic kinematic of healthy subjects.

Purpose: Assessing scapulothoracic kinematics typically involves visually observing patients during movement, which has limited inter- and intraobserver reliability. Dynamic rasterstereography (DRS) records, measures and visualizes surface structures in real time, using a curvature map to colour-code convex, concave and saddle-shaped structures on the body surface. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of DRS-assisted observation in identifying dyskinetic scapulothoracic patterns.

Isolation, Purification, and Comprehensive Flow Cytometry Assessment of Lung Stromal Cells.

Stromal cells are non-hematopoietic cells that consist of endothelial cells and various mesenchymal cell populations. The composition of the stromal cell compartment is diverse in different organs. Numerous recent studies demonstrated that the lung environment contains heterogeneous mesenchymal stromal cell populations with distinctive genomic signatures and location preferences.

The serum biomarkers NSE and S100B predict intracranial complications and in-hospital survival in patients undergoing veno-venous ECMO.

Neurological complications in patients undergoing veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) are challenging, with new intracranial pathologies posing a grave risk. We aimed to evaluate the utility of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100B biomarkers for predicting outcomes in new-onset intracranial pathology during V-V ECMO. A retrospective analysis spanning 2013-2021 at a German university hospital was conducted.

ENPP1/CD203a-targeting heavy-chain antibody reveals cell-specific expression on human immune cells.

ENPP1/CD203a is a membrane-bound ectonucleotidase capable of hydrolyzing ATP, cGAMP and other substrates. Its enzymatic activity plays an important role in the balance of extracellular adenine nucleotides and the modulation of purinergic signaling, in soft tissue calcification, and in the regulation of the cGAS/STING pathway. However, a detailed analysis of ENPP1 surface expression on human immune cells has not been performed.

Amide proton transfer weighted MRI measurements yield consistent and repeatable results in patients with gliomas: a prospective test-retest study.

Objectives: Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging has emerged as a promising imaging biomarker, but its reliability for clinical practice remains uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the robustness of CEST parameters in healthy volunteers and patients with brain tumours.

Methods: A total of n = 52 healthy volunteers and n = 52 patients with histologically confirmed glioma underwent two consecutive 3-T MRI scans separated by a 1-min break.

Decay experiments and microbial community analysis of water lily leaf biofilms: Sediment effects on leaf preservation potential.

Understanding the intricate dynamics of sediment-mediated microbial interactions and their impact on plant tissue preservation is crucial for unraveling the complexities of leaf decay and preservation processes. To elucidate the earliest stages of leaf preservation, a series of decay experiments was carried out for three months on Nymphaea water lily leaves in aquariums with pond water and one of three distinctly different, sterilized, fine-grained substrates-commercially purchased kaolinite clay or fine sand, or natural pond mud. One aquarium contained only pond water as a control.

Pulmonary involvement in newly diagnosed and untreated rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis: a prospective longitudinal study.

Objectives: To longitudinally assesses pulmonary involvement in newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients over a 12-months follow-up. To identify biomarkers and establish a diagnostic algorithm for monitoring pulmonary changes.

Methods: Newly diagnosed RA and PsA patients were examined with clinical and laboratory assessments, pulmonary function tests (PFT), and chest radiography (CXR) at three-months intervals for one year.

Respiratory syncytial virus infection in patients with haematological diseases: a retrospective multicentre study.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in patients with haematological diseases. It seeks to analyse the relevance of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of RSV infections.

Methods: A multi-centre, retrospective study was conducted across University Hospitals in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, and the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf between Jan 2016 and Aug 2023.

Metastasis Detection Using True and Artificial T1-Weighted Postcontrast Images in Brain MRI.

Objectives: Small lesions are the limiting factor for reducing gadolinium-based contrast agents in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity and precision in metastasis detection on true contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1w) images and artificial images synthesized by a deep learning method using low-dose images.

Materials And Methods: In this prospective, multicenter study (5 centers, 12 scanners), 917 participants underwent brain MRI between October 2021 and March 2023 including T1w low-dose (0.

Implementation of the Oxygen Saturation Index as a Predictor of Outcome in Prenatally Diagnosed CDH Neonates in the First 24 Hours of Life.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the Oxygen Saturation Index (OSI) as a noninvasive measure for early postnatal management and outcome prediction in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Additionally, the study analyzed the correlation and predictive ability of OSI, Oxygenation Index (OI), Horovitz Index (HI), and partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO) regarding mortality and the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Methods: A retrospective, single-center study using data from 2013 to 2020.

Low income, being without employment, and living alone: how they are associated with cognitive functioning-Results from the German national cohort (NAKO).

Aim was to investigate to what extent cognitive functioning differs by three socioeconomic conditions: low income, being without employment, and living alone. A total of N = 158,144 participants of the population-based German National Cohort (NAKO) provided data on socioeconomic conditions and completed cognitive tests. Multivariable confounder-adjusted regression analyses indicated that cognitive functioning was lower in those with low income (b = -0.