Impact of repeat human leukocyte antigen mismatches on kidney graft survival: A contemporary Collaborative Transplant Study analysis.

Repeat human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatches (RMM) have been historically associated with an increased risk of graft loss after repeat kidney transplantation, in particular HLA-DR RMM in sensitized recipients. As routine use of sensitive assays can at present prevent the transplantation of RMM in hosts with donor-specific antibodies, we hypothesized that RMM would no longer be associated with graft loss. We performed a registry analysis of the Collaborative Transplant Study database including 6711 patients who received a second kidney transplant (KT) between 2010 and 2021, with at least 1 HLA-A, HLA-B, or HLA-DR mismatch.

Revisiting hydrogen peroxide as radiosensitizer for solid tumor cells.

Background And Purpose: Tumor hypoxia is the principal cause of clinical radioresistance. Despite its established role as radiosensitizer, hydrogen peroxide (HO) encounters clinical limitations due to stability and toxicity concerns. Recent advancements in drug delivery combine HO with sodium hyaluronate (SH), enabling intratumoral administration of HO.

Novel flame retardants (NFRs) in e-waste: Environmental burdens, health implications, and recommendations for safety assessment and sustainable management.

Novel flame retardants (NFRs) have emerged as chemicals of environmental health concern due to their widespread use as an alternative to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in electrical and electronic devices. Humans and ecosystems are under threat because of e-waste recycling procedures that may emit NFRs and other anthropogenic chemicals into the e-waste workplace and the surrounding environment. The individual toxicity of NFRs including novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), their combined effects and the underlying mechanisms of toxicity have remained poorly understood.

Water, Solute, and Ion Transport in De Novo-Designed Membrane Protein Channels.

Biological organisms engineer peptide sequences to fold into membrane pore proteins capable of performing a wide variety of transport functions. Synthetic de novo-designed membrane pores can mimic this approach to achieve a potentially even larger set of functions. Here we explore water, solute, and ion transport in three de novo designed β-barrel membrane channels in the 5-10 Å pore size range.

Towards a novel framework for identifying commonalities and differences in older people's end-of-life trajectories: aims and interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach of the ERC-funded TRAJECT project.

Background: Older people who die from serious chronic disease typically experience long periods (months or years) of illness and complex fluctuations in their physical health and in their social, psychological and existential well-being. Our understanding of these end-of-life trajectories is very limited, focuses predominantly on physical function and clinical predictors and neglects inter-individual differences. A better understanding of end-of-life trajectories, including what is shared among people and what is individually specific, is needed for an optimal provision of palliative care and health services planning.

Psychological Distress and Relational Intimacy following Sexual Violence: A Longitudinal Study.

Increasing evidence shows how distress following sexual violence might spill over to victims' romantic relationship functioning. However, studies investigating the reverse spillover between relationship functioning and psychological distress following sexual violence are lacking. The current study therefore aimed to investigate the bidirectional association between victims' psychological distress (posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety and stress) and emotional and sexual intimacy using a three-wave yearly survey study of a community sample of sexual violence victims ( = 274, 89% women, 3% men and 8% trans persons, = 32 years, = 10.

The cerebellum is involved in implicit motor sequence learning.

Background: Implicit motor sequence learning (IMSL) is a cognitive function that allows us to execute multiple movements in a specific sequential order and plays a crucial role in our daily functional activities. Although the role of the basal ganglia network in IMSL is well-established, the exact involvement of the cerebellar network is less clear.

Aim: Here, we aimed to address this issue by investigating the effects of cerebellar transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) on IMSL.

Operationalizing the New Global Definition of ARDS: A Retrospective Cohort Study From South Africa.

Background: A proposed new global definition of ARDS seeks to update the Berlin definition and account for nonintubated ARDS and ARDS diagnoses in resource-variable settings.

Research Question: How do ARDS epidemiologic characteristics change with operationalizing the new global definition of ARDS in a resource-limited setting?

Study Design And Methods: We performed a real-use retrospective cohort study among adult patients meeting criteria for the Berlin definition of ARDS or the global definition of ARDS at ICU admission in two public hospitals in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, South Africa, from January 2017 through June 2022.

Results: Among 5,760 adults (aged ≥ 18 years) admitted to the ICU, 2,027 patients (35.

Combining evolution and protein language models for an interpretable cancer driver mutation prediction with D2Deep.

The mutations driving cancer are being increasingly exposed through tumor-specific genomic data. However, differentiating between cancer-causing driver mutations and random passenger mutations remains challenging. State-of-the-art homology-based predictors contain built-in biases and are often ill-suited to the intricacies of cancer biology.

Comparison of whole genome sequencing typing tools for the typing of Belgian Legionella pneumophila outbreaks isolates.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) marks a turning point for outbreak investigations for microorganisms related to public health matters, like Legionella pneumophila (Lp). Here, we evaluated the available Lp WGS typing tools for isolates of previously documented Belgian outbreaks, as well as small groups of related and non-related isolates. One reference strain and 77 clinical and environmental isolates were evaluated.

Broth microdilution protocol for determining antimicrobial susceptibility of Legionella pneumophila to clinically relevant antimicrobials.

Currently there is no detailed, internationally agreed protocol defined to evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) for Legionella pneumophila (required to establish epidemiological cut-off value or "ECOFF" boundaries); therefore, antimicrobial resistance in these isolates cannot be defined. AST methods utilising media containing activated charcoal as an ingredient, to enable Legionella growth, are unreliable as noted in an internationally authored opinion paper and a new gold standard is required. Here we define a detailed protocol for broth microdilution (BMD) using defined cell culture collection-deposited control reference strains (Philadelphia-1 and Knoxville-1) as well as two accessible reference strains with moderately (lpeAB-carrying) and markedly (23S rRNA mutation-carrying) elevated azithromycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).

Assembling Ancestors: the manipulation of Neolithic and Gallo-Roman skeletal remains from Pommerœul, Belgium.

The ancient cemetery of Pommerœul, Belgium, was classified as Gallo-Roman in the 1970s', yielding 76 cremation graves and one inhumation. However, subsequent radiocarbon analyses dated the inhumation to the Late Neolithic (4-3 millennium calBC). We report osteoarchaeological analysis indicating that the inhumation was composed of bones from multiple individuals, afterwards buried as "one".

A qualitative study of bereaved parents and healthcare professionals on perinatal loss.

Introduction: Perinatal loss, encompassing stillbirth and neonatal death, can have profound physical and psychological consequences for parents. Effective communication by healthcare professionals during this sensitive period is critical. This study aimed to explore how bereaved parents and professionals experienced verbal and non-verbal communication during perinatal loss.

A family of NADPH/NADP biosensors reveals in vivo dynamics of central redox metabolism across eukaryotes.

The NADPH/NADP redox couple is central to metabolism and redox signalling. NADP redox state is differentially regulated by distinct enzymatic machineries at the subcellular compartment level. Nonetheless, a detailed understanding of subcellular NADP redox dynamics is limited by the availability of appropriate tools.

An advanced light scattering apparatus for investigating soft matter onboard the International Space Station.

Colloidal solids (COLIS) is a state-of-the-art light scattering setup developed for experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS). COLIS allows for probing the structure and dynamics of soft matter systems on a wide range of length scales, from a few nm to tens of microns, and on time scales from 100 ns to tens of hours. In addition to conventional static and dynamic light scattering, COLIS includes depolarized dynamic light scattering, a small-angle camera, photon correlation imaging, and optical manipulation of thermosensitive samples through an auxiliary near-infrared laser beam, thereby providing a unique platform for probing soft matter systems.

Toward nanofabrication of SERS substrates with two-photon polymerization.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has shown its ability to characterize biological substances down to a single-molecule level without a specific biorecognition mechanism. Various nanofabrication technologies enable SERS substrate prototyping and mass manufacturing. This study reports a complete cycle of design, fabrication, prototyping, and metrology of SERS substrates based on two-photon polymerization (2PP).

How Do People With Schizophrenia Manage Their Daily Life? A Qualitative Study.

Due to the rising number of long-term mental health conditions, there has been a shift in therapeutic focus from curing these conditions, to living a meaningful life with them. Self-management is described as the ability to live with the emotional, life role and medical consequences of long-term conditions such as schizophrenia. However, the perspective of people with schizophrenia on self-management in current literature is missing.

Development and evaluation of a single domain antibody targeting folate receptor alpha for radioligand therapy.

Background: Folate receptor alpha (FRα) overexpression is seen in many cancers. Radioligand therapy (RLT) has emerged as a promising tool to target FRα and has been investigated previously, but further progression was limited due to high kidney retention and, subsequently, toxicity. To circumvent this, we present here the development of a [I]I-GMIB-conjugated anti-human FRα (hFRα) single-domain antibody (sdAb), with intrinsically fast renal clearance and concomitant low kidney retention.

Bortezomib-releasing silica-collagen xerogels for local treatment of osteolytic bone- and minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma.

Background: Accumulation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow causes lytic bone lesions in 80% of multiple myeloma patients. Frequently fracturing, they are challenging to treat surgically. Myeloma cells surviving treatment in the presumably protective environment of bone lesions impede their healing by continued impact on bone turnover and can explain regular progression of patients without detectable minimal residual disease (MRD).

Implementing primary care concepts in higher education: a mixed method study in Flanders (Belgium).

Background: The policy shift towards person-centred integrated primary care systems drives interest in primary care across higher education programs. In Flanders, the Primary Care Academy (PCA) is established to support this policy shift. The PCA focusses on the concepts of goal-oriented care, self-management, and interprofessional collaboration to support the shift towards integrated care and to integrate them in curricula in order to strengthen and develop a futureproof health system.

Pentaspline catheter or cryoballoon for pulmonary vein plus posterior wall isolation in persistent atrial fibrillation: 1-Year outcomes.

Background: Left atrial posterior wall isolation (LAPWI) plus pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) can be performed with radiofrequency ablation, cryoballoon ablation (CB-A), or, recently, pulsed field ablation (PFA).

Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate efficacy and safety of the pentaspline PFA catheter for PVI + LAPWI in patients with persistent AF undergoing an index ablation procedure and to compare 1-year outcomes of PVI + LAPWI with PFA vs CB-A.

Methods: All consecutive patients undergoing an index ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) at Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Belgium, between 2021 and 2023 were retrospectively screened.

A novel focal lattice-tip catheter toggling between pulsed field energy and radiofrequency for atrial arrhythmia ablation: Results from a real-world, multicenter registry.

Background: A novel focal lattice-tip catheter allowing the delivery of either pulsed field (PF) or radiofrequency (RF) energy has recently received regulatory approval. The technology features a proprietary 3-dimensional electroanatomic mapping system.

Objective: We describe the first real-world and multicenter experience.

Report of the First ONTOX Hackathon: Hack to Save Lives and Avoid Animal Suffering. The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Toxicology - A Potential Driver for Reducing/Replacing Laboratory Animals in the Future.

The first ONTOX Hackathon of the EU Horizon 2020-funded ONTOX project was held on 21-23 April 2024 in Utrecht, The Netherlands (https://ontox-project.eu/hackathon/). This participatory event aimed to collectively advance innovation for human safety through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and hence significantly reduce reliance on animal-based testing.