Developing and sustaining a secure application for transfer of previous radiation therapy treatment details.

Data availability remains a major challenge for radiation therapy dose accumulation for patients' re-treatment and re-irradiation. When a patient moves between radiation therapy providers it is particularly challenging. To address this challenge, a solution was developed for departments in Victoria, Australia, with the ability to request and receive files of any size and type from other providers, supported by a workflow system, an independent security model and a highly secure platform.

SputOMICs identifies common and distinct markers in cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are muco-obstructive lung diseases. Knowledge of molecular processes has much improved therapeutic options in CF, whereas much less is known for COPD, a disease affecting an increasing number of patients. Here, we report a multilayer workflow integrating microbiome, inflammation and proteome profiling with clinical data to identify disease specific characteristics in sputum.

Macular Atrophic versus Subretinal Proliferative Changes in Myopic and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The 2-Continent Eye Study.

Objective: To assess the prevalences of subfoveal retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) loss versus subfoveal tissue proliferation as causes of vision loss in patients with late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or myopic macular atrophy.

Design: Population-based studies conducted in Russia, China, and India and histological examination of enucleated human globes.

Participants: The Russian Ural Eye and Medical Study ( = 5899 participants; age: ≥40 years), Ural Very Old Study ( = 1526; age: 85+ years), Beijing Eye Study ( = 3468; age: ≥40 years), and Central India Eye and Medical Study ( = 4711) were conducted in rural and urban regions in Bashkortostan/Russia, Beijing/China, and Nagpur/India, respectively.

The effect of acute stress on high-frequency electrical stimulation-induced pain and pinprick hypersensitivity in healthy women.

Transcutaneous high-frequency electrical stimulation (HFS) elicits pain and produces prolonged mechanical pinprick hypersensitivity. This study investigated whether acute stress, induced by the Mannheim Multicomponent Stress Test (MMST), elevates HFS-related pain and pinprick hypersensitivity in healthy women. Two between-subject experiments were conducted.

HLA-B*15:01-positive severe COVID-19 patients lack CD8 T cell pools with highly expanded public clonotypes.

Understanding host factors driving asymptomatic versus severe disease outcomes is of key importance if we are to control emerging and re-emerging viral infections. HLA-B*15:01 has been associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in nonhospitalized individuals of European ancestry, with protective immunity attributed to preexisting cross-reactive CD8 T-cells directed against HLA-B*15:01-restricted Spike-derived S peptide (B15/SCD8 T-cells). However, fundamental questions remained on the abundance and clonotypic nature of CD8 T-cell responses in HLA-B*15:01-positive patients who succumbed to life-threatening COVID-19.

The interplay between Wnt and mTOR signaling modulates ciliogenesis in human retinal epithelial cells.

The primary cilium is a microtubule-based organelle essential for various cellular functions, particularly signal transduction. While the role of cilia in regulating signaling pathways has been extensively studied, the impact of signaling pathways on cilia formation remains less well understood. Wnt signals are critical modulators of cell fate.

Effects of mentoring on self-reflection and competence in Final year medical students' internal medicine rotation.

Background: Final year medical students (FYMS) in Germany transfer theoretical knowledge to clinical practice. However, there is a deficiency in structured guidance and feedback and self-reflective practices are often neglected. This study aims to investigate the impact of three mentoring strategies on cultivating self-reflection and introspection in FYMS and to assess competence during routine activities.

Synergistic Ferroptosis-Immunotherapy Nanoplatforms: Multidimensional Engineering for Tumor Microenvironment Remodeling and Therapeutic Optimization.

Emerging ferroptosis-immunotherapy strategies, integrating functionalized nanoplatforms with ferroptosis-inducing agents and immunomodulatory therapeutics, demonstrate significant potential in managing primary, recurrent, and metastatic malignancies. Mechanistically, ferroptosis induction not only directly eliminates tumor cells but also promotes immunogenic cell death (ICD), eliciting damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) release to activate partial antitumor immunity. However, standalone ferroptosis therapy fails to initiate robust systemic antitumor immune responses due to inherent limitations: low tumor immunogenicity, immunosuppressive microenvironment constraints, and tumor microenvironment (TME)-associated physiological barriers (e.

Post-surgical outcomes in transgender women: a prospective analysis of sexual function and health-related quality of life.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate patient and clinician reported outcomes of sexual function and health-related quality of life (QOL) of transgender women preoperatively (t0), 6 months (t1), and 12 months (t2) after gender-affirming surgery (GAS) with penile inversion vaginoplasty.

Methods: Transgender women undergoing two-stage GAS at our tertiary care center were included (04/2019-01/2023). Patients received a composed questionnaire including a validated questionnaire (SF-12).

Diagnostic value of MRI for posttreatment surveillance of early-stage (I-II) glottic larynx cancer.

Purpose: There is no uniformity across various guidelines in defining the modality and frequency of the follow-up, particularly regarding radiological imaging. The objective is to assess the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based posttreatment surveillance for early-stage (I-II) glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx.

Methods: The follow-up of patients diagnosed with glottic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, treated with radiotherapy or surgery in curative intent, was analyzed over a period of 2 years posttreatment.

Synthetic trap-peptides identify a TOM complex phosphatase - PP2A dephosphorylates Tom6.

The identification of phosphatases that dephosphorylate specific sites in proteins remains a major challenge, particularly for the major class of serine/threonine-specific phosphatases, which function as holoenzymes. Here, we report the development of synthetic trap-peptides to identify phosphatases that bind to Tom6, a subunit of the mitochondrial translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) complex. The TOM complex is regulated by reversible phosphorylation, and although responsible kinases have been identified, the corresponding phosphatases so far remain unknown.

The Impact of Access to Clinical Guidelines on LLM-Based Treatment Recommendations for Chronic Hepatitis B.

Background And Aims: Large language models (LLMs) can potentially support clinicians in their daily routine by providing easy access to information. Yet, they are plagued by stating incorrect facts and hallucinating when queried. Increasing the context by providing external databases while prompting LLMs may decrease the risk of misinformation.

Fluoranthene-Containing Distorted Nanographenes Exhibiting Two-Photon Absorption Response.

Two distorted nanographenes combining helicenes and a fluoranthene unit within their polycyclic scaffolds were synthesized. Their structural and electronic properties were elucidated by various spectroscopic methods, and the experimental data were corroborated computationally. The optical and electrochemical properties of the nanographenes were evaluated.

Functional phenotyping of genomic variants using joint multiomic single-cell DNA-RNA sequencing.

Genetic variants (both coding and noncoding) can impact gene function and expression, driving disease mechanisms such as cancer progression. The systematic study of endogenous genetic variants is hindered by inefficient precision editing tools, combined with technical limitations in confidently linking genotypes to gene expression at single-cell resolution. We developed single-cell DNA-RNA sequencing (SDR-seq) to simultaneously profile up to 480 genomic DNA loci and genes in thousands of single cells, enabling accurate determination of coding and noncoding variant zygosity alongside associated gene expression changes.

ATF6 activation alters colonic lipid metabolism causing tumour-associated microbial adaptation.

Endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein responses contribute to cancer development, with activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) involved in microbiota-dependent tumorigenesis. Here we show the clinical relevance of ATF6 in individuals with early-onset and late colorectal cancer, and link ATF6 signalling to changes in lipid metabolism and intestinal microbiota. Transcriptional analysis in intestinal epithelial cells of ATF6 transgenic mice (nATF6) identifies bacteria-specific changes in cellular metabolism enriched for fatty acid biosynthesis.

A practical guide to identifying associations between tandem repeats and complex human traits using consensus genotypes from multiple tools.

Tandem repeats (TRs) are highly variable loci in the human genome that are linked to various human phenotypes. Accurate and reliable genotyping of TRs is important in understanding population TR variation dynamics and their effects in TR-trait association studies. In this protocol, we describe how to generate high-quality consensus TR genotypes for population genomics studies.

Basal IFN-λ2/3 expression mediates tight junction formation in human epithelial cells.

Type-III interferons (or IFNλs) play important roles in antiviral defense and intestinal epithelial barrier integrity. While interferon expression has been primarily studied in response to pathogens, basal interferon expression also occurs in pathogen-free environments. However, the mechanisms regulating basal IFN-λ expression and their functions have not yet been elucidated.

Widening socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence and related potential to reduce cancer between 2008 and 2019 in Germany.

Background Cancer is one of the main causes of a high burden of disease and one of the strongest contributors to earlier mortality among lower socioeconomic groups in Germany. Therefore, studying socio-economic inequalities in cancer incidence is of high relevance from a public-health and health-equity lens. The aim of this study was to examine in more depth time trends in socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence and the related potential for reducing the incidence of specific cancers across Germany.

Real-world experience with the pentaspline pulsed field ablation system: one-year outcomes of the FARADISE registry.

Aims: Clinical studies with protocol-mandated workflow and monitoring have analysed performance of pulsed field ablation (PFA) for treating atrial fibrillation (AF). The FARADISE registry captures global use of the pentaspline PFA catheter in real-world clinical practice with a follow-up of 3 years.

Methods And Results: FARADISE is a prospective, non-randomized, multi-national registry (NCT05501873) that enrolled subjects clinically indicated for ablation using the pentaspline PFA catheter per medical judgement and hospital standard-of-care.

Association of temporalis muscle thickness and frailty in an Australian memory clinic cohort.

Background: Sarcopenia and frailty are associated with cognitive impairment, and both are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Current assessments of sarcopenia are not routinely performed in memory clinics. Temporalis muscle thickness (TMT), which can be measured on routine memory clinic brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been proposed as a surrogate biomarker of sarcopenia.