Multifunctional Scaffold Biosensor and Drug Delivery System for Bacterial Infection Prevention During Skin Wound Healing.

This study investigates a multifunctional hydrogel system integrating carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in a 3D-printed limonene (LIM) scaffold coated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The system allows to enhance wound healing, prevent infections, and monitor the healing progress. CMC is crosslinked with citric acid (CA) to form the hydrogel matrix (CMC-CA), while the 3D-printed limonene (LIM) scaffold is embedded within the hydrogel to provide mechanical support.

Characterization of S-glycosylated glycocins containing three disulfides.

Glycocins are a growing family of ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) that are O- and/or S-glycosylated. Using a sequence similarity network of putative glycosyltransferases, the thg biosynthetic gene cluster was identified in the genome of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum. Heterologous expression in Escherichia coli showed that the glycosyltransferase (ThgS) encoded in the biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) adds N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) to Ser and Cys residues of ThgA.

Prevalence and Depiction of Gender-Based Violence in Spanish-Language Television Series.

Latin American women, girls, and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) individuals experience high rates of violence, making Latin America one of the world's most affected regions for gender-based violence. Television, a powerful socialization tool, shapes attitudes and influences behavior. This study analyzes 50 episodes from nine Spanish-language TV series set in Latin America, finding that 90% of episodes depict gender-based violence.

200 years of KIT/TH Karlsruhe, 125 Years of Polymer Science in Karlsruhe: The Place Where Staudinger's Polymer Research Started.

Within this special issue we would like to celebrate 200 years of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the former Technical University Karlsruhe/Germany. The Technical University Karlsruhe served, according to the first president of MIT, William Barton Rogers, as the role model for the planned MIT in Boston/USA after he visited Karlsruhe. All authors of this special issue of Macromolecular Rapid Communications have been or are still active in Karlsruhe.

Decentralized Clinical Trials in the Era of Real-World Evidence: A Critical Assessment of Recent Experiences.

Since the first decentralized clinical trial (DCT) was conducted in 2011, there has been an increased usage of DCT due to its benefits of patient-centricity and generalizability of findings. This trend was further expedited by the global COVID-19 pandemic. We identified 23 case studies across various therapeutic areas and grouped them into different categories according to their purposes-by necessity, for operational benefits, to address unique research questions, to validate innovative digital endpoints, or to validate decentralization as a clinical research platform.

The Safety Profile of Belzutifan in Renal Tumors: Real-World Data from a Tertiary Academic Center.

Background: Belzutifan is a HIF-2ɑ inhibitor approved for the treatment of tumors in von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome and sporadic metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (spRCC) in the refractory setting. The efficacy and side effects of belzutifan are well-documented from clinical trials, however, real-world data examining the incidence and management of adverse events (AEs) are lacking. Our study aims to describe the AE profiles of belzutifan in spRCC and VHL populations.

A novel information theoretic approach reveals loss of effective biomolecular communication in aging muscle cells.

Maintenance of organismal function requires tightly regulated biomolecular communication. However, with aging, communication deteriorates, thereby disrupting effective information flow. Using information theory applied to skeletal muscle single cell RNA-seq data from young, middle-aged, and aged animals, we quantified the loss of communication efficiency over time.

Effects of apigenin on the function of human α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed in oocytes.

The effects of apigenin, a plant flavonoid, were investigated using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique on the function of the cloned α7 subunit of the human nicotinic acetylcholine (α7-nACh) receptor expressed in oocytes. Currents induced by ACh (100 μM) were reversibly potentiated by apigenin with an EC value of 5.4 µM in a voltage-independent manner.

Disparities in patient experience with video and audio-only virtual care.

IntroductionThe rapid expansion of virtual ambulatory care has included both video and audio-only modalities. The impact of visit modality on patient experience is poorly understood, particularly in the interplay with social health determinants and technical aspects of virtual care. We sought to characterize differences in the patient-reported experience of virtual care between video and audio-only modalities, and to understand drivers of these differences.

Microbial cell-free DNA for diagnosis of bacterial and fungal infection in the immunocompromised host - what do we know?

Purpose Of Review: Plasma metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) enables detection of microbial cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (mcfDNA) in blood without the need for culture or organism-specific primers. Here, we review clinical performance, methodological variability, and real-world application of plasma mNGS for infectious disease diagnosis in immunocompromised hosts (ICHs).

Recent Findings: Plasma mNGS has rapidly gained attention as a novel diagnostic tool for infections in ICHs, offering broad-range pathogen detection from a noninvasive blood sample.

Targeting CD20 for B-cell Depletion in Autoimmune Kidney Disease: Next Generation.

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies are gaining clinical relevance in the nephrology community due to their demonstrated efficacy and favorable safety profiles across short-, medium-, and long-term use. Initially developed for hematologic malignancies and multiple sclerosis, B-cell depletion therapies are now being investigated across a broader spectrum of autoimmune diseases, including glomerulopathies, both with and without associated podocytopathy. Recent advances have led to the development of novel anti-CD20 agents that are being used not only as potential alternatives to corticosteroids but also as adjunctive therapies in complex clinical settings.

Effectiveness of Medical Nutrition Therapy in the Management of Patients with Obesity and Endometriosis: from the Mediterranean Diet To the Ketogenic Diet, Through Supplementation. The Role of the Nutritionist in Clinical Management.

Purpose Of The Review: This review aimed to summarize current evidence on the effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) in the management of obesity and endometriosis, with a focus on dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean and Ketogenic diets, as well as nutritional supplementation. Additionally, it highlights the central role of the clinical nutritionist in implementing individualized, evidence-based interventions within multidisciplinary care.

Recent Findings: Although the literature reports the existence of an inverse relationship between risk of endometriosis and body mass index, clinical evidence jointly reports that a condition of obesity is associated with greater disease severity.

Design of Two Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 3 Trials of Deucravacitinib, an Oral, Selective, Allosteric TYK2 Inhibitor, in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Background And Objectives: Deucravacitinib, a first-in-class, oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, demonstrated efficacy across the primary endpoint and all key secondary endpoints in the phase 2 PAISLEY SLE trial in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here, we describe 2 phase 3 trials [POETYK SLE-1 (NCT05617677), POETYK SLE-2 (NCT05620407)] which will assess the efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib in patients with active SLE. These phase 3 trials have been designed to replicate the successful elements of the phase 2 trial, including its glucocorticoid-tapering strategy and disease activity adjudication.

Switching Patients with Schizophrenia from Intramuscular Paliperidone Palmitate Once Monthly to TV-46000, a Long-Acting Subcutaneous Antipsychotic: Population Pharmacokinetic-Based Strategies.

Introduction: Pharmacokinetic differences between long-acting injectable antipsychotic (LAI) formulations, combined with a lack of clinical switch studies, contribute to clinician uncertainty when transitioning between LAIs. This analysis employed a population pharmacokinetic (popPK) modeling approach to characterize dosing conversions and switching strategies from intramuscular paliperidone palmitate once monthly (PP1m) to TV-46000, a long-acting subcutaneous formulation of risperidone, once monthly (q1m), with a secondary analysis of PP1m to TV-46000 every 2 months (q2m).

Methods: For PP1m and TV-46000, concentration-time profiles for paliperidone and TV-46000 total active moiety (TAM; risperidone + paliperidone) were simulated on the basis of published popPK models with virtual populations of 5000 patients.

An Indirect Treatment Comparison of Avalglucosidase Alfa versus Cipaglucosidase Alfa Plus Miglustat in Patients with Late-Onset Pompe Disease.

Introduction: No head-to-head studies comparing the efficacy of avalglucosidase alfa (AVA) with cipaglucosidase alfa + miglustat (Cipa+mig) have been conducted in patients with late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD). Two indirect treatment comparisons (ITCs) were conducted to estimate the effects of AVA versus Cipa+mig.

Methods: ITCs were conducted using simulated treatment comparisons (STCs), adjusting for differences in prognostic factors and treatment effect modifiers.

Validating the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-Short Version (RCADS-25) in Chinese Preadolescents.

Youth anxiety and depression are rising rapidly worldwide, highlighting the need for efficient school-based assessment tools across sociocultural contexts. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is one of the most widely used screening measures, with demonstrated cross-cultural applicability. However, its psychometric properties have rarely been evaluated in Chinese populations.

Relationship between Weight Bias Internalization, Diabetes Stigma, and Perceptions of Healthcare Interactions among People with Type 2 Diabetes.

Introduction: Weight and diabetes stigma among healthcare professionals (HCPs) may negatively impact treatment decisions, patient outcomes, and physician-patient interactions. We assessed the relationship between weight stigma, diabetes stigma, perceptions of healthcare quality, and avoidance of healthcare among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: This observational, online survey-based study included 857 US adults with T2D.

Clinical Efficacy of Stem Cell Therapy in Neurotraumatic and Neurodegenerative Conditions: A Comparative Review.

Background: Neurotraumatic conditions, such as spinal cord injury, brain injury, and neurodegenerative conditions, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, pose a challenge to the field of rehabilitation for its complexity and nuances in management. For decades, the use of cell therapy in treatment of neurorehabilitation conditions have been explored to complement the current, mainstay treatment options; however, a consensus for standardization of the cell therapy and its efficacy has not been reached in the medical community. This study aims to provide a comparative review on the very topic of cell therapy use in neurorehabilitation conditions in an attempt to bridge the gap in knowledge.

The Role of Worry and Affectivity on Physiological Responses To an Acute Stressor.

The explanation for how acutely stressful experiences could result in proximal health outcomes has been lacking in occupational health research. Although scholars have argued that individual personality and affect could worsen health behaviors, we believe that these qualities also could intensify the experience of acute stressors, potentially explaining why acutely stress encounters result in poor health outcomes for some people, but not others. Our study examines three individual differences - worry, negative affect, and positive affect - that are relevant to differential stress anticipation, reactivity, and recovery.

Myoepithelial Carcinoma Ex-Pleomorphic Adenoma Exposing a RET Germline Mutation: A Rare Genetic Event.

Myoepithelial carcinoma (MECA) is a malignant neoplasm composed exclusively of myoepithelial cells and accounts for less than 1% of all salivary gland tumors. Its diagnosis is often challenging due to histologic overlaps with benign lesions and its variable morphologic presentation. Although molecular profiling has emerged as a valuable tool in salivary gland tumor classification, the genetic landscape of MECA remains incompletely defined.

Increased serologic reactivity with automated CMIA testing and its implications for deceased donor eligibility determination in the United States.

In the United States, the use of Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-licensed, approved, or cleared tests is required for infectious disease screening and determining the eligibility of deceased donors for all Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps). With the discontinuation of two manual enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) tests, automated Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassay (CMIA) technology was introduced as the primary alternative. This study compares serologic reactivity rates between manual EIA and automated CMIA methods.