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Light environment in the Arctic differs widely with the seasons. Studies of relationships between objectively measured circadian phase and amplitude of light exposure and melatonin in community-dwelling Arctic residents are lacking. This investigation combines cross-sectional (n = 24-62) and longitudinal (n = 13-27) data from week-long actigraphy (with light sensor), 24-h salivary melatonin profiles, and proxies of metabolic health. Data were collected within the same week bracketing spring equinox (SE), and winter/summer solstices (WS/SS). Drastic seasonal differences in blue light exposure (BLE) corresponded to seasonal changes in the 24-h pattern of melatonin, which was phase delayed and reduced in normalized amplitude (NA) during WS/SS compared to SE. The extent of individual melatonin's acrophase and Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) change from SE to WS correlated with that from SE to SS. Although similar in extent and direction, melatonin phase changes versus SE were linked to morning BLE deficit in WS, contrasting to evening BLE excess in SS. Seasonal changes in sleep characteristics were closely associated with changes in the phases of BLE and melatonin. Proxies of metabolic health included triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), TG/HDL ratio, and cortisol. Adverse seasonal changes in these proxies were associated with delayed acrophases of BLE and melatonin during WS and SS. TG and TG/HDL were higher in WS and SS than in SE, and cross-sectionally correlated with later melatonin and BLE acrophases, while lower HDL was associated with later BLE onset and later melatonin acrophase. Overall, this study shows that optimal 24-h patterns of light exposure during SE is associated with an earlier acrophase and a larger 24-h amplitude of melatonin, and that both features are linked to better metabolic health. Improving light hygiene, in particular correcting winter morning light deficit and summer evening light excess may help maintain metabolic health at high latitudes. Novel solutions for introducing proper circadian light hygiene such as human-centric light technologies should be investigated to address these issues in future studies., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

PreHevbrio® is a 3-antigen HBV vaccine (3-A-HBV) engineered to express the three HBV envelope proteins; the small 'S' hepatitis B surface antigen (SHBs or HBsAg), the middle pre-S2 + HBsAg (MHBs) and the large PreS1 + PreS2 + HBsAg (LHBs) antigens. 3-A-HBV has been shown to induce superior and more durable antibody responses relative to a 1-A-HBV despite containing half the 'S' antigen dose. To explain the mechanism(s) behind the high immunogenicity, the potential influence of mammalian glycosylation, HBs antigen conformation, anti-HBs epitope binding profiles and T-cell responses to the PreS antigens were investigated. In this paper, we demonstrate that glycosylation status does not play a role in the increased immunogenicity of the 3-A-HBV, but that the 3-A-HBV particles are able to induce T cell responses to PreS1 and PreS2 antigens. Epitope mapping demonstrated that the 3-A-HBV particles are inherently more antigenic than 1-A-HBV particles, leading to quantitative differences in the anti-HBs antibody response. Further, we demonstrate that the T cell responses significantly correlate with the higher observed anti-HBs titers and may contribute to the higher and more durable anti-HBs titers. This trial is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03393754) and EudraCT (2017-001819-36)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: David E Anderson reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. David E Anderson reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment and equity or stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Illia Petrov reports statistical analysis was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Illia Petrov reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Barthelemy Ontsouka reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Barthelemy Ontsouka reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Catalina Soare reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Catalina Soare reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Daniel Plaskin reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Daniel Plaskin reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Lanjian Yang reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Lanjian Yang reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Rachel Hammond reports a relationship with Clear B Therapeutics that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Tamara Berthoud reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Tamara Berthoud reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Tanvir Ahmed reports financial support was provided by VBI Vaccines Inc. Tanvir Ahmed reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines Inc. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma reports a relationship with VBI Vaccines, Inc. that includes: consulting services and equity stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Several randomized clinical trials have shown that the composite endpoint of death, stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) is equivalent between carotid artery stenting and carotid endarterectomy. However, the risk of minor stroke has been consistently higher with carotid artery stenting., Objectives: The authors sought to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a novel carotid stent system comprised of a stent, an adjustable integrated embolic filter and a postdilation balloon, in patients at elevated risk for adverse events from carotid endarterectomy., Methods: PERFORMANCE II (Protection against Emboli during caRotid artery stenting using a 3-in-1 delivery system comprised oF a pOst-dilation balloon, integRated eMbolic filter, and A Novel Carotid stEnt II) was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study. The primary endpoint was the composite of major adverse events defined as death, all stroke, and MI within 30 days of the procedure, plus ipsilateral stroke through 12 months., Results: 305 patients were enrolled at 32 centers in the United States and Europe. The mean age was 69.6 ± 7.5 years; 65.9% were male, and 20% were symptomatic. The mean lesion length was 19.1 ± 6.7 mm, and 34.5% of lesions were severely calcified. At 30 days, there were 4 minor strokes (1.3%), with no major strokes. There was 1 cardiac death on day 30, resulting in a stroke/death rate of 1.6% and a stroke/death/MI rate of 2.3%. The 12-month primary endpoint occurred in 2.8%; there were no major strokes, clinically driven target lesion revascularizations, stent thromboses, or neurological deaths. The 30-day all stroke plus ipsilateral stroke through 12 months rate was 1.8%., Conclusions: The rate of major adverse events was extremely low, demonstrating the study system is a safe, effective, and durable treatment option for high-risk patients. (Protection against Emboli during caRotid artery stenting using a 3-in-1 delivery system comprised oF a pOst-dilation balloon, integRated eMbolic filter, and A Novel Carotid stEnt II [PERFORMANCE II]; NCT04201132)., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The study was sponsored by Contego Medical, Inc. Dr Gray has served as a consultant for Contego Medical, Cordis, Boston Scientific, InspireMD, and Medtronic; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Dr Metzger has received symposia honoraria from Abbott Vascular, Endologix, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Penumbra and Shockwave; has received proctor fees from Abbott Vascular and Endologix; has received institutional research support from Contego Medical; has served as the national principal investigator (PI)/co-PI for the C-GUARDIANS, Confidence, SAPPHIRE WW, CANOPY, and PERFORMANCE 3 trials; is a VIVA board member; and holds stock options in InspireMD. Dr Zidar is a consultant for Cordis; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Dr Petrov has received grants from Amgen, Medtronic, Cardiatis, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Abbott; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Drs Kedev and Bacharach have received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Dr Soukas has received institutional research grant support from Boston Scientific, Contego Medical, Endologix, Inspire MD, NIH, Philips, Micromedical Solutions, Reva Medical, Shockwave Medical, SoundBite, and W.L. Gore. Dr Levy has shareholder/ownership interest in NeXtGen Biologics, RAPID Medical, Claret Medical, Cognition Medical, Imperative Care, StimMed, Three Rivers Medical, Q’Apel, Dendrite; Inspire MD, and IrraFlow; holds a patent for the Ultrasonic Surgical Blade; has served as the national PI for Penumbra THUNDER and Medtronic SHEILD; has served on steering committees for Medtronic for the SWIFT Prime and SWIFT Direct Trials; has served as site PI for the MicroVention (now Terumo Neuro) CONFIDENCE study and Medtronic STRATIS Study–Sub I; has received honoraria for training and lectures from Medtronic, Penumbra, MicroVention (now Terumo Neuro), and Integra; has been a consultant for Clarion, GLG Consulting, GuidePoint Global, Medtronic, StimMed, and Mosaic; has served as chief medical officer for Haniva Technology; has served on advisory boards for NeXtGen Biologics, Cognition Medical, Endostream Medical, and IRRAS AB; and has a leadership or fiduciary role for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Board of Neurological Surgery, and University at Buffalo Neurosurgery. Dr Bachinsky reports relationship with industry as Advisory Boards/Consultant/Trial Support: Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, BD Bard, and Overture Healthcare; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Prof Montorsi has served as a consultant for Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Terumo; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical. Dr Novack has served as a consultant for Contego Medical (CardioMed Device Consultants). Dr Lansky is on the advisory boards and has received honoraria from Cordis, Abiomed, Sinomed, Microport, and Boston Scientific; and has received institutional research support from Bard, Silk Road Medical, Abbott Vascular, Emboline, and Filterlex. Dr Langhoff has been a consultant for Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, B. Braun, Kardionet, and Medtronic; is a member of Terumo Speakers Bureau; and has received institutional research support from Contego Medical., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

X-ray multi-projection imaging (XMPI) is an emerging experimental technique for the acquisition of rotation-free, time-resolved, volumetric information on stochastic processes. The technique is developed for high-brilliance light-source facilities, aiming to address known limitations of state-of-the-art imaging methods in the acquisition of 4D sample information, linked to their need for sample rotation. XMPI relies on a beam-splitting scheme, that illuminates a sample from multiple, angularly spaced viewpoints, and employs fast, indirect, X-ray imaging detectors for the collection of the data. This approach enables studies of previously inaccessible phenomena of industrial and societal relevance such as fractures in solids, propagation of shock waves, laser-based 3D printing, or even fast processes in the biological domain. In this work, we discuss in detail the beam-splitting scheme of XMPI. More specifically, we explore the relevant properties of X-ray splitter optics for their use in XMPI schemes, both at synchrotron insertion devices and XFEL facilities. Furthermore, we describe two distinct XMPI schemes, designed to faciliate large samples and complex sample environments. Finally, we present experimental proof of the feasibility of MHz-rate XMPI at the European XFEL. This detailed overview aims to state the challenges and the potential of XMPI and act as a stepping stone for future development of the technique., (open access.)

Deep learning presents a generalizable solution for motion correction requiring no pulse sequence modifications or additional hardware, but previous networks have all been applied to coil-combined data. Multichannel MRI data provide a degree of spatial encoding that may be useful for motion correction. We hypothesize that incorporating deep learning for motion correction prior to coil combination will improve results. A conditional generative adversarial network was trained using simulated rigid motion artifacts in brain images acquired at multiple sites with multiple contrasts (not limited to healthy subjects). We compared the performance of deep-learning-based motion correction on individual channel images (single-channel model) with that performed after coil combination (channel-combined model). We also investigate simultaneous motion correction of all channel data from an image volume (multichannel model). The single-channel model significantly (p < 0.0001) improved mean absolute error, with an average 50.9% improvement compared with the uncorrected images. This was significantly (p < 0.0001) better than the 36.3% improvement achieved by the channel-combined model (conventional approach). The multichannel model provided no significant improvement in quantitative measures of image quality compared with the uncorrected images. Results were independent of the presence of pathology, and generalizable to a new center unseen during training. Performing motion correction on single-channel images prior to coil combination provided an improvement in performance compared with conventional deep-learning-based motion correction. Improved deep learning methods for retrospective correction of motion-affected MR images could reduce the need for repeat scans if applied in a clinical setting., (© 2024 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Internationally, few studies have been written on the prevalence of eating disorders among rowers, and there is no research on the subject in Hungary. This is particularly important in weight-related sports such as rowing. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of eating disorders among rowers. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in the summer of 2023. In a non-random convenience sampling, our target population consisted of certified competitive rowers ( n = 222). In addition to socio-demographic, performance-related questions, the anonymous, self-completed questionnaire used the validated The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). Results were considered significant when p < 0.05. A total of 57 lightweight (25.67%) and 165 openweight (74.33%) rowers participated in the study. On the perfectionism subscale and the interoceptive awareness subscale, rowers competing in the lightweight category scored significantly higher ( p = 0.03; p = 0.05). Scores on the EDI subscales, gender and BMI data did not show significant relationships. Overall, rowers in the openweight group scored higher on the bulimia subscale, but no rowers who met all criteria and could be identified as having eating disorders. Rowers who have only competed in national championships and not in international competitions were more likely to reduce stress levels by eating. The study showed that the prevalence of eating disorders among rowers is no higher than in the general population. However, continued assessment, further extensive research and education of rowers is essential in this area, as weight-related sports will always be a risk group for eating disorders.

Aortic coarctation surgery in pediatric patients requires the placement of two arterial cannulas to monitor pressure gradients and surgical correction adequacy. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring provides insight into regional blood flow. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between NIRS values and invasive arterial pressures, exploring NIRS monitoring as a potential substitute for arterial cannulation. In a cohort of 21 consecutive pediatric patients undergoing aortic coarctation surgery, recordings of NIRS and invasive arterial pressure values were evaluated at various time intervals. Pearson correlation evaluated the relationship between NIRS values and invasively measured arterial pressures. Moderate to strong correlations were observed between the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of the upper and lower arteries and cerebral (rSO 2 -C) and somatic (rSO 2 -S) NIRS values 5 min after cross-clamp placement (r = 0.621, p = 0.003; r = 0.757, p < 0.001). Strong correlations were found 15 min after cross-clamp placement (r = 0.828, p = 0.002; r = 0.783, p = 0.004). Before transfer to the ICU, a strong correlation existed between the upper artery MAP and rSO 2 -C (r = 0.730, p < 0.001), but there was no correlation between the lower artery MAP and rSO 2 -S. These findings are promising, but further studies are required to validate it as a reliable substitute for invasive pressure monitoring in this patient population.

Background/Objectives : Prediction of a difficult airway during pre-anesthetic evaluation is of great importance because it enables an adequate anesthetic approach and airway management. As there is a scarcity of prospective studies evaluating the role of anthropometric measures of the face and neck in predicting difficult airways in infants with an apparently normal airway, we aimed to identify the aforementioned predictors of difficult facemask ventilation and intubation in infants. Methods : A prospective, observational study that included 97 infants requiring general endotracheal anesthesia was conducted. Anthropometric and specific facial measurements were obtained before ventilation and intubation. Results : The incidence of difficult facemask ventilation was 15.5% and 38.1% for difficult intubation. SMD (sternomental distance), TMA (tragus-to-mouth angle distance), NL (neck length) and mouth opening were significantly lower in the difficult facemask ventilation group. HMDn (hyomental distance in neutral head position), HMDe (hyomental distance in neck extension), TMD (thyromental distance), SMD, mandibular development and mouth opening were significantly different in the intubation difficulty group compared to the non-difficult group. HMDn and HMDe showed significantly greater specificities for difficult intubation (83.8% and 76.7%, respectively), while higher sensitivities were observed in TMD, SMD and RHSMD (ratio of height to SMD) (89.2%, 75.7%, and 70.3%, respectively). Regarding difficult facemask ventilation, TMA showed greater sensitivity (86.7%) and SMD showed greater specificity (80%) compared to other anthropometric parameters. In a multivariate model, BMI (body mass index), COPUR (Colorado Pediatric Airway Score), BOV (best oropharyngeal view) and TMA were found to be independent predictors of difficult intubation, while BMI, ASA (The American Society Physical Status Classification System), CL (Cormack-Lehane Score), TMA and SMD predicted difficult facemask ventilation. Conclusions : Preoperative airway assessment is of great importance for ventilation and intubation. Patient's overall condition and facial measurements can be used as predictors of difficult intubation and ventilation.

Monitoring the processes inside crystalline materials under their operating conditions is of great interest in optoelectronics and scientific instrumentation. Early defect detection ensures the proper functioning of multiple crystal-based devices. In this study, a combination of acoustic emission (AE) sensing and cross-polarization imaging is proposed for the fast characterization of the crystal's structure. For the experiments, tellurium dioxide (TeO 2 ) crystal was chosen due to its wide use in acousto-optics. Studies were performed under uniaxial compression loading with a simultaneous acquisition of AE signals and four polarized optical images. An analysis of the temporal dependencies of the AE data and two-dimensional maps of the light depolarization features was carried out in order to establish quantitative criteria for irreversible damage initiation and crack-like defect formation. The obtained results reveal the polarization image patterns and the AE pulse duration alteration specific to these processes, and they open up new possibilities for non-destructively monitoring in real-time the structure of optically transparent crystals under their operating conditions.

The Materials Imaging and Dynamics (MID) instrument at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (EuXFEL) is equipped with a multipurpose diagnostic end-station (DES) at the end of the instrument. The imager unit in DES is a key tool for aligning the beam to a standard trajectory and for adjusting optical elements such as focusing lenses or the split-and-delay line. Furthermore, the DES features a bent-diamond-crystal spectrometer to disperse the spectrum of the direct beam to a line detector. This enables pulse-resolved characterization of the EuXFEL spectrum to provide X-ray energy calibration, and the spectrometer is particularly useful in commissioning special modes of the accelerator. Together with diamond-based intensity monitors, the imager and spectrometer form the DES unit which also contains a heavy-duty beamstop at the end of the MID instrument. Here, we describe the setup in detail and provide exemplary beam diagnostic results., (open access.)

We performed complex analysis of the association of polymorphic variants rs7903146 of the TCF7L2 gene and rs1801282 of the PPARG gene with metabolic parameters, insulin resistance, and β-cell function in a group of patients with early signs of carbohydrate metabolism disturbances in a sample of Tyumen citizens. The study group consisted of 64 people (39 women, 25 men) aged 40-70 years. The distribution of frequencies of alleles and genotypes of the polymorphic markers rs7903146 and rs1801282 was analyzed and associations of carriage of major homozygous polymorphisms with various phenotypic traits were identified. Genotyping for polymorphic variants of TCF7L2 and PPARG genes was performed using allele-specific PCR with primers provided by Synthol company. Carriers of homozygotes for allele C of the polymorphic marker rs7903146 significantly differed from other respondents by a higher level of C-peptide, as well as by the presence of associations with waist circumference, elevated level of glycated hemoglobin, and arterial hypertension. Carriers of homozygotes for the allele C of the rs1801282 polymorphism of the PPARG gene differed from the group of carriers of homozygotes for the allele G and the group of heterozygote carriers by higher levels of triglycerides, as well as the presence of associations with waist circumference and the level of glycated hemoglobin., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

X-ray multi-projection imaging (XMPI) has the potential to provide rotation-free 3D movies of optically opaque samples. The absence of rotation enables superior imaging speed and preserves fragile sample dynamics by avoiding the centrifugal forces introduced by conventional rotary tomography. Here, we present our XMPI observations at the ID19 beamline (ESRF, France) of 3D dynamics in melted aluminum with 1000 frames per second and 8 µm resolution per projection using the full dynamical range of our detectors. Since XMPI is a method under development, we also provide different tests for the instrumentation of up to 3000 frames per second. As the high-brilliance of 4th generation light-sources becomes more available, XMPI is a promising technique for current and future X-ray imaging instruments.

The morphofunctional features of the ovaries were evaluated in rats with functional ovarian cysts model treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist. Administration of the antagonist significantly (p=0.009) reduced the number of cysts and the growth of follicles in the ovaries. The obtained results attest to a possibility of successful treatment of functional ovarian cysts with gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

We studied the expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), androgen receptor (AR) and luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) in the ovaries under the conditions of the modeling and subsequent treatment of functional ovarian cysts with gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist (ant-GnRH). The intensity of IGF-1, LHR, and AR expression in the generative elements of rat ovaries changed under conditions of functional ovarian cysts simulation, as well as during treatment with ant-GnRH. In both experimental groups, the expression levels of the studied markers in preantral follicles and epithelial lining of cysts were found to be related to the number of growing follicles and cysts. A divergence of LHR and AR expression indices and a more pronounced decrease in the number of cystic cavities were observed in the group receiving ant-GnRH. These changes demonstrate a positive effect of ant-GnRH on intra-ovarian regulatory factors and a therapeutic effect in functional ovarian cysts., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Carotid stenting may produce significant bradycardia and/or hypotension. This may have negative short- and long-term effects for the elderly high-risk patients. Their cerebral hemodynamics is with exhausted adaptive capacity because of the multiple cardiovascular risk factors, advanced age, and significant stenosis., (This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This study explores the relationship between the light features of the Arctic spring equinox and circadian rhythms, sleep and metabolic health. Residents (N = 62) provided week-long actigraphy measures, including light exposure, which were related to body mass index (BMI), leptin and cortisol. Lower wrist temperature (wT) and higher evening blue light exposure (BLE), expressed as a novel index, the nocturnal excess index (NEI bl ), were the most sensitive actigraphy measures associated with BMI. A higher BMI was linked to nocturnal BLE within distinct time windows. These associations were present specifically in carriers of the MTNR1B rs10830963 G-allele. A larger wake-after-sleep onset (WASO), smaller 24 h amplitude and earlier phase of the activity rhythm were associated with higher leptin. Higher cortisol was associated with an earlier M10 onset of BLE and with our other novel index, the Daylight Deficit Index of blue light, DDI bl . We also found sex-, age- and population-dependent differences in the parametric and non-parametric indices of BLE, wT and physical activity, while there were no differences in any sleep characteristics. Overall, this study determined sensitive actigraphy markers of light exposure and wT predictive of metabolic health and showed that these markers are linked to melatonin receptor polymorphism.

Flexible electronics have sparked significant interest in the development of electrically conductive polymer-based composite materials. While efforts are being made to fabricate these composites through laser integration techniques, a versatile methodology applicable to a broad range of thermoplastic polymers remains elusive. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms driving the formation of such composites are not thoroughly understood. Addressing this knowledge gap, our research focuses on the core processes determining the integration of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with polymers to engineer coatings that are not only flexible and robust but also exhibit electrical conductivity. Notably, we have identified a particular range of laser power densities (between 0.8 and 1.83 kW/cm 2 ), which enables obtaining graphene polymer composite coatings for a large set of thermoplastic polymers. These laser parameters are primarily defined by the thermal properties of the polymers as confirmed by thermal analysis as well as numerical simulations. Scanning electron microscopy with elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that conductivity can be achieved by two mechanisms-rGO integration and polymer carbonization. Additionally, high-speed videos allowed us to capture the graphene oxide (GO) modification and melt pool formation during laser processing. The cross-sectional analysis of the laser-processed samples showed that the convective flows are present in the polymer substrate explaining the observed behavior. Moreover, the practical application of our research is exemplified through the successful assembly of a conductive wristband for wearable devices. Our study not only fills a critical knowledge gap but also offers a tangible illustration of the potential impact of laser-induced rGO-polymer integration in materials science and engineering applications.

Introduction: Carotid stenting is used with an expanding indications. The neurotrophins are a family of proteins that induce the survival, development, and function of neurons. Carotid stenting alters cerebral blood flow and can affect neurotrophins' levels., Material and Methods: We included 78 people: 39 with significant carotid stenoses (CS) referred for carotid stenting (mean age 67.79 ± 10.53 years) and relatively healthy control group of 39 people without carotid and vertebral artery disease (mean age 57.42 ± 15.77 years). Brain derived reurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neuronal growth factor (NGF) concentrations were evaluated with ELISA method from venous blood - once for the control group; and for the carotid stenting group: before (n33), 24 h after (n22) and at least 1 month after (n18) carotid stenting., Results: There was a difference between the mean neurotrophins' concentration of patients with significant carotid stenoses and the group without: BDNF p  = 0.001, CI (-5.11 to -1.44) (3.10 ± 3.10 ng/ml in CS vs. 6.37 ± 4.67 ng/ml in controls); NGF p  = 0.049, CI (0.64-347.75), 195.67 ± 495.34 pg/ml in CS vs. 21.48 ± 52.81 pg/ml in controls. BDNF levels before carotid stenting (3.10 ± 3.10 ng/ml) were significantly lower than the postprocedural (4.99 ± 2.57 ng/ml) - p  < 0.0001, CI (-2.86 to -0.99). For NGF there was a tendency for lower values after stenting: 195.67 ± 495.34 pg/ml before vs. 94.92 ± 120.06 pg/ml after, but the result did not reach statistical significance. The neurotrophins levels one month after carotid stenting and controls' were not significantly different p  < 0.01 (BDNF 5.03 ± 4.75 ng/ml vs. 6.37 ± 4.67 ng/min; NGF 47.89 ± 54.68 pg/ml vs. 21.48 pg/ml)., Discussion and Conclusion: Periprocedural and mid-term concentrations of neurotrophins after carotid stenting change in non-linear model. This may be due to changes in cerebral perfusion and also might be involved in neuronal recovery and reparation after reperfusion.KEY MESSAGESPeriprocedural and mid-term concentrations of neurotrophins after carotid stenting change in non-linear model.As the majority of them are not specific, their periprocedural change can be used as a clinical correlate to guide changes or even success in carotid stenting.Changes in neutrophins' concentrations may be due to changes in cerebral perfusion and also might be involved in neuronal recovery and reparation after reperfusion.This goes in analogy with cardiac high-sensitive troponin, used as procedural guidance in coronary interventions.

Smart implants are increasingly used to treat various diseases, track patient status, and restore tissue and organ function. These devices support internal organs, actively stimulate nerves, and monitor essential functions. With continuous monitoring or stimulation, patient observation quality and subsequent treatment can be improved. Additionally, using biodegradable and entirely excreted implant materials eliminates the need for surgical removal, providing a patient-friendly solution. In this review, we classify smart implants and discuss the latest prototypes, materials, and technologies employed in their creation. Our focus lies in exploring medical devices beyond replacing an organ or tissue and incorporating new functionality through sensors and electronic circuits. We also examine the advantages, opportunities, and challenges of creating implantable devices that preserve all critical functions. By presenting an in-depth overview of the current state-of-the-art smart implants, we shed light on persistent issues and limitations while discussing potential avenues for future advancements in materials used for these devices., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The concept of wearables is rapidly evolving from flexible polymer-based devices to textile electronics. The reason for this shift is the ability of textiles to ensure close contact with the skin, resulting in comfortable, lightweight, and compact "always with you" sensors. We are contributing to this polymer-textile transition by introducing a novel and simple way of laser intermixing of graphene with synthetic fabrics to create wearable sensing platforms. Our hybrid materials exhibit high electrical conductivity (87.6 ± 36.2 Ω/sq) due to the laser reduction of graphene oxide and simultaneous laser-induced graphene formation on the surface of textiles. Furthermore, the composite created between graphene and nylon ensures the durability of our materials against sonication and washing with detergents. Both of these factors are essential for real-life applications, but what is especially useful is that our free-form composites could be used as-fabricated without encapsulation, which is typically required for conventional laser-scribed materials. We demonstrate the exceptional versatility of our new hybrid textiles by successfully recording muscle activity, heartbeat, and voice. We also show a gesture sensor and an electrothermal heater embedded within a single commercial glove. Additionally, the use of these textiles could be extended to personal protection equipment and smart clothes. We achieve this by implementing self-sterilization with light and laser-induced functionalization with silver nanoparticles, which results in multifunctional antibacterial textiles. Moreover, incorporating silver into such fabrics enables their use as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensors, allowing for the direct analysis of drugs and sweat components on the clothing itself. Our research offers valuable insights into simple and scalable processes of textile-based electronics, opening up new possibilities for paradigms like the Internet of Medical Things.

Introduction: Today, endovascular treatment (EVT) is the therapy of choice for strokes due to acute large vessel occlusion, irrespective of prior thrombolysis. This necessitates fast, coordinated multi-specialty collaboration. Currently, in most countries, the number of physicians and centres with expertise in EVT is limited. Thus, only a small proportion of eligible patients receive this potentially life-saving therapy, often after significant delays. Hence, there is an unmet need to train a sufficient number of physicians and centres in acute stroke intervention in order to allow widespread and timely access to EVT., Aim: To provide multi-specialty training guidelines for competency, accreditation and certification of centres and physicians in EVT for acute large vessel occlusion strokes., Material and Methods: The World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment (WIST) consists of experts in the field of endovascular stroke treatment. This interdisciplinary working group developed competency - rather than time-based - guidelines for operator training, taking into consideration trainees' previous skillsets and experience. Existing training concepts from mostly single specialty organizations were analysed and incorporated., Results: The WIST establishes an individualized approach to acquiring clinical knowledge and procedural skills to meet the competency requirements for certification of interventionalists of various disciplines and stroke centres in EVT. WIST guidelines encourage acquisition of skills using innovative training methods such as structured supervised high-fidelity simulation and procedural performance on human perfused cadaveric models., Conclusions: WIST multispecialty guidelines outline competency and quality standards for physicians and centres to perform safe and effective EVT. The role of quality control and quality assurance is highlighted., Summary: The World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment (WIST) establishes an individualized approach to acquiring clinical knowledge and procedural skills to meet the competency requirements for certification of interventionalists of various disciplines and stroke centres in endovascular treatment (EVT). WIST guidelines encourage acquisition of skills using innovative training methods such as structured supervised high-fidelity simulation and procedural performance on human perfused cadaveric models. WIST multispecialty guidelines outline competency and quality standards for physicians and centers to perform safe and effective EVT. The role of quality control and quality assurance is highlighted., Simultaneous Publication: The WIST 2023 Guidelines are published simultaneously in Europe (Adv Interv Cardiol 2023)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest in relation to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Prevention of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by vaccination can potentially eliminate HBV-related diseases. PreHevbrio™/PreHevbri® is a 3-antigen (S, preS1, preS2) HBV vaccine (3A-HBV) recently licensed for adults in the US, EU and Canada. This study evaluated antibody persistence in a subset of fully vaccinated and seroprotected (anti-HBs ≥ 10 mIU/mL) Finnish participants from the phase 3 trial (PROTECT) of 3A-HBV versus single-antigen HBV vaccine (1A-HBV). 465/528 eligible subjects were enrolled (3A-HBV: 244; 1A-HBV: 221). Baseline characteristics were balanced. After 2.5 years, more 3A-HBV subjects remained seroprotected (88.1 % [95 %CI: 84.1,92.2]) versus 1A-HBV (72.4 % [95 %CI: 66.6,78.3)], p < 0.0001) and had higher mean anti-HBs [1382.9 mIU/mL (95 %CI: 1013.8,1751.9) versus 252.6 mIU/mL (95 %CI: 127.5,377.6), p < 0.0001]. In multiple variable logistic regression analysis including age, vaccine, initial vaccine response, sex and BMI, only higher post dose 3 (Day 196) antibody titers significantly reduced the odds of losing seroprotection., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Dr Vesikari reported being the majority shareholder of Nordic Research Network Oy and to receiving grants from VBI Vaccines during the conduct of the study. Dr Popovic reported receiving personal fees from VBI Vaccines during the conduct of the study and outside the submitted work. Dr Diaz-Mitoma reported receiving personal fees from VBI Vaccines during the conduct of the study; owning shares in VBI Vaccines outside the submitted work. I. Petrov is an employee of VBI Vaccines. J. Spaans was a VBI Vaccines employee during the conduct of the study., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Semi-aquatic European water frogs (Pelophylax spp.) harbour rich helminth infra-communities, whose effects on host population size in nature are poorly known. To study top-down and bottom-up effects, we conducted calling male water frog counts and parasitological investigations of helminths in waterbodies from different regions of Latvia, supplemented by descriptions of waterbody features and surrounding land use data. We performed a series of generalized linear model and zero-inflated negative binomial regressions to determine the best predictors for frog relative population size and helminth infra-communities. The highest-ranked (by Akaike information criterion correction, AICc) model explaining the water frog population size contained only waterbody variables, followed by the model containing only land use within 500 m, while the model containing helminth predictors had the lowest rank. Regarding helminth infection responses, the relative importance of the water frog population size varied from being non-significant (abundances of larval plagiorchiids and nematodes) to having a similar weight to waterbody features (abundances of larval diplostomids). In abundances of adult plagiorchiids and nematodes the best predictor was the host specimen size. Environmental factors had both direct effects from the habitat features (e.g., waterbody characteristics on frogs and diplostomids) and indirect effects through parasite-host interactions (impacts of anthropogenic habitats on frogs and helminths). Our study suggests the presence of synergy between top-down and bottom-up effects in the water frog-helminth system that creates a mutual dependence of frog and helminth population sizes and helps to balance helminth infections at a level that does not cause over-exploitation of the host resource., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Organic chemistry has seen colossal progress due to machine learning (ML). However, the translation of artificial intelligence (AI) into materials science is challenging, where biological behavior prediction becomes even more complicated. Nanotoxicity is a critical parameter that describes their interaction with the living organisms screened in every bio-related research. To prevent excessive experiments, such properties have to be pre-evaluated. Several existing ML models partially fulfill the gap by predicting whether a nanomaterial is toxic or not. Yet, this binary categorization neglects the concentration dependencies crucial for experimental scientists. Here, an ML-based approach is proposed to the quantitative prediction of inorganic nanomaterial cytotoxicity achieving the precision expressed by 10-fold cross-validation (CV) Q 2  = 0.86 with the root mean squared error (RMSE) of 12.2% obtained by the correlation-based feature selection and grid search-based model hyperparameters optimization. To provide further model flexibility, quantitative atom property-based nanomaterial descriptors are introduced allowing the model to extrapolate on unseen samples. Feature importance is calculated to find an interpretable model with optimal decision-making. These findings allow experimental scientists to perform primary in silico candidate screening and minimize the number of excessive, labor-intensive experiments enabling the rapid development of nanomaterials for medicinal purposes., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

We demonstrate that x-ray fluorescence emission, which cannot maintain a stationary interference pattern, can be used to obtain images of structures by recording photon-photon correlations in the manner of the stellar intensity interferometry of Hanbury Brown and Twiss. This is achieved utilizing femtosecond-duration pulses of a hard x-ray free-electron laser to generate the emission in exposures comparable to the coherence time of the fluorescence. Iterative phasing of the photon correlation map generated a model-free real-space image of the structure of the emitters. Since fluorescence can dominate coherent scattering, this may enable imaging uncrystallised macromolecules.

Background: We present an analysis that compares aortic morphological and clinical outcomes of 36 patients, all treated with endovascular uncovered stents implantation preceded or not by stent-graft implantation, or surgical treatment in the context of complex treatment of type A or type B aortic dissection., Methods: Between 2014 and 05/2018 our team treated 36 patients with acute aortic dissection and end-organ ischemia due to true lumen compression. All clinical and periprocedural data were obtained prospectively, followed by a retrospective analysis. The case series aim is to show induction of aortic remodeling by depressurization of the false lumen and increasing the size of the true lumen by non-covered stents implantation in the aorta and its affected side branches. Secondary endpoints were survival, branch patency, true lumen and false lumen size evolution., Results: Results from the diameter of both lumens measured by computed tomography angiography (CTA) before and at least 1 year after the treatment showed statistically significant differences, patent stents, as well as symptomatic improvement in all patients. Both aorta-related and general mortality in this complex group of patients was 0%., Conclusions: The concept of redirection of flow in aortic dissection with non-covered stents was safe, led to positive aorta remodeling and resulted in excellent survival rate., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)

Structural electronics, as well as flexible and wearable devices are applications that are possible by merging polymers with metal nanoparticles. However, using conventional technologies, it is challenging to fabricate plasmonic structures that remain flexible. We developed three-dimensional (3D) plasmonic nanostructures/polymer sensors via single-step laser processing and further functionalization with 4-nitrobenzenethiol (4-NBT) as a molecular probe. These sensors allow ultrasensitive detection with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We tracked the 4-NBT plasmonic enhancement and changes in its vibrational spectrum under the chemical environment perturbations. As a model system, we investigated the sensor's performance when exposed to prostate cancer cells' media over 7 days showing the possibility of identifying the cell death reflected in the environment through the effects on the 4-NBT probe. Thus, the fabricated sensor could have an impact on the monitoring of the cancer treatment process. Moreover, the laser-driven nanoparticles/polymer intermixing resulted in a free-form electrically conductive composite that withstands over 1000 bending cycles without losing electrical properties. Our results bridge the gap between plasmonic sensing with SERS and flexible electronics in a scalable, energy-efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly way.

Introduction: Today, endovascular treatment (EVT) is the therapy of choice for strokes due to acute large vessel occlusion, irrespective of prior thrombolysis. This necessitates fast, coordinated multi-specialty collaboration. Currently, in most countries, the number of physicians and centres with expertise in EVT is limited. Thus, only a small proportion of eligible patients receive this potentially life-saving therapy, often after significant delays. Hence, there is an unmet need to train a sufficient number of physicians and centres in acute stroke intervention in order to allow widespread and timely access to EVT., Aim: To provide multi-specialty training guidelines for competency, accreditation and certification of centres and physicians in EVT for acute large vessel occlusion strokes., Material and Methods: The World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment (WIST) consists of experts in the field of endovascular stroke treatment. This interdisciplinary working group developed competency - rather than time-based - guidelines for operator training, taking into consideration trainees' previous skillsets and experience. Existing training concepts from mostly single specialty organizations were analysed and incorporated., Results: The WIST establishes an individualized approach to acquiring clinical knowledge and procedural skills to meet the competency requirements for certification of interventionalists of various disciplines and stroke centres in EVT. WIST guidelines encourage acquisition of skills using innovative training methods such as structured supervised high-fidelity simulation and procedural performance on human perfused cadaveric models., Conclusions: WIST multispecialty guidelines outline competency and quality standards for physicians and centres to perform safe and effective EVT. The role of quality control and quality assurance is highlighted., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Termedia Sp. z o. o.)

Background: Optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of a bifurcation stenosis is still debated. We evaluated the impact of DAPT duration on clinical outcomes in all-comers patients undergoing bifurcation PCI included in the European Bifurcation Club (EBC) registry., Methods: We enrolled 2284 consecutive patients who completed at least 18 months follow-up. The cumulative occurrence of major adverse cardiac and cardiovascular events (MACCE), defined as a composite of overall-death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR) and stroke were evaluated. Bleedings classified as Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) ≥3 were evaluated too., Results: Patients were divided into 3 groups: short DAPT (<6-months, N.=375); standard DAPT (≥6-months but ≤12-months, N.=636); prolonged DAPT (>12-months, N.=1273). At 24 months follow-up MACCE-free survival was significantly lower in short DAPT patients (Log-Rank: 45.23, P for trend <0.001). MACCE occurred less frequently in the prolonged DAPT group (148 [11.6%]) as compared with both the short (83 [22.1%] HR: 0.48 [0.37-0.63], P<0.001) and standard DAPT groups (137 [21.5%] HR:0.51 [0.41-0.65], P<0.001). These differences remain after propensity score adjustment (respectively, HR: 0.27 [0.20-0.36] and HR: 0.44 [0.34-0.57]). Such finding was consistent in patients presenting with both acute and chronic coronary syndromes. BARC≥3 bleedings were 0.3% in the standard DAPT, 1.6% in short and 1.9% in prolonged DAPT groups., Conclusions: In the "real-world" EBC registry of patients undergoing PCI of coronary artery bifurcation stenosis, a prolonged DAPT duration was associated with a significantly lower risk of MACCE and a potential increased risk of major bleedings.

Purpose: We examined clinical characteristics and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering in patients initiating evolocumab in real-world practice in a Central and Eastern European (CEE) cohort from the pan-European HEYMANS study. Methods: Patients from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia were enrolled at initiation of evolocumab (baseline) as per local reimbursement criteria. Demographic/clinical characteristics, lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) and lipid values were collected from medical records for ≤6 months before baseline and ≤30 months after evolocumab initiation. Results: Overall, 333 patients were followed over a mean (SD) duration of 25.1 (7.5) months. At initiation of evolocumab, LDL-C levels were markedly elevated in all three countries, with a median (Q1, Q3) LDL-C of 5.2 (4.0, 6.6) mmol/L in Bulgaria, 4.5 (3.8, 5.8) mmol/L in the Czech Republic, and 4.7 (4.0, 5.6) mmol/L in Slovakia. Within the first three months of evolocumab treatment, LDL-C levels were reduced by a median of 61% in Bulgaria, 64% in the Czech Republic, and 53% in Slovakia. LDL-C levels remained low throughout the remaining period of observation. The 2019 ESC/EAS guideline-recommended risk-based LDL-C goals were attained by 46% of patients in Bulgaria, 59% in the Czech Republic, and 43% of patients in Slovakia. LDL-C goal attainment was higher in patients receiving a statin ± ezetimibe-based background therapy (Bulgaria: 55%, Czech Republic: 71%, Slovakia: 51%) compared to those receiving evolocumab alone (Bulgaria: 19%, Czech Republic: 49%, Slovakia: 34%). Conclusion: In the HEYMANS CEE cohort, patients initiated on evolocumab had baseline LDL-C levels approximately three-fold higher than guideline-recommended thresholds for PCSK9i initiation. Risk-based LDL-C goal attainment was highest in patients receiving high-intensity combination therapy. Lowering the LDL-C reimbursement threshold for PCSK9i initiation would allow more patients to receive combination therapy, thus improving LDL-C goal attainment. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02770131; registration date: 27 April 2016).

Aims: THEMIS is a double-blind, randomized trial of 19,220 patients with diabetes mellitus and stable coronary artery disease (CAD) comparing ticagrelor to placebo, in addition to aspirin. The present study aimed to describe the proportion of patients eligible and reasons for ineligibility for THEMIS within a population of patients with diabetes and CAD included in the Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry., Methods and Results: The THEMIS eligibility criteria were applied to REACH patients. THEMIS included patients ≥50 years with type 2 diabetes and stable CAD as determined by either a history of previous percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, or documentation of angiographic stenosis of ≥50% of at least one coronary artery. Patients with prior myocardial infarction or stroke were excluded. In REACH, 10,156 patients had stable CAD and diabetes. Of these, 6515 (64.1%) patients had at least one exclusion criteria. From the remaining population, 784 patients did not meet inclusion criteria (7.7%) mainly due to absence of aspirin treatment (7.2%), yielding a 'THEMIS-eligible population' of 2857 patients (28.1% of patients with diabetes and stable CAD). The main reasons for exclusion were a history of myocardial infarction (53.1%), use of oral anticoagulation (14.5%), or history of stroke (12.9%). Among the 4208 patients with diabetes and a previous PCI, 1196 patients (28.4%) were eligible for inclusion in the THEMIS-PCI substudy., Conclusions: In a population of patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease, a sizeable proportion appear to be 'THEMIS eligible.', Clinical Trial Registration: http://www., Clinicaltrials: gov identifier: NCT01991795., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is well established for oligometastatic disease, and it is increasingly used to treat adrenal metastases., Material and Methods: In this retrospective study we performed an analysis of 75 metastatic adrenal lesions in 64 patients with oligometastatic disease. According to the fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) of adrenal metastases, patients were categorized into three groups: low, intermediate, and high SUVmax., Results: For all clinicopathological characteristics we found significant relationships for levels of SUV max and objective response rate (Kendall Tau-c = 0.290; p = 0.017). Patients who responded to SBRT had a significantly lower SUV max value than those who did not respond (7.6 ±2.4 vs. 9.7 ±3.8; p = 0.015). At the appropriate SUV max cut-off values, the biomarker distinguished between patients with and without a response significantly and moderately (area under the curve = 0.670, 95% confidence intervals: 0.540-0.790; p = 0.015)., Conclusions: Lower SUVmax is associated with a better response to SBRT in patients whose disease progressed mainly in the adrenal glands., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Termedia.)

We develop a new approach for asymmetric LDPC-based information reconciliation in order to adapt to the current channel state and achieve better performance and scalability in practical resource-constrained QKD systems. The new scheme combines the advantages of LDPC codes, a priori error rate estimation, rate-adaptive and blind information reconciliation techniques. We compare the performance of several asymmetric and symmetric error correction schemes using a real industrial QKD setup. The proposed asymmetric algorithm achieves significantly higher throughput, providing a secret key rate that is close to the symmetric one in a wide range of error rates. Thus, our approach is found to be particularly efficient for applications with high key rates, limited classical channel capacity and asymmetric computational resource allocation.

In the past, different bacterial species have been tested for cancer therapy in preclinical and clinical studies. The success of bacterial cancer therapy is mainly dependent on the ability of the utilized bacteria to overcome the host immune defense system to colonize the tumors and to initiate tumor-specific immunity. In recent years, several groups have demonstrated that the gut microbiome plays an important role of modulation of the host immune response and has an impact on therapeutic responses in murine models and in cohorts of human cancer patients. Here we analyzed the impact of the gut microbiome on tumor colonization and tumor therapy by the Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) strain. This EcN strain is a promising cancer therapy candidate with probiotic properties. In our study, we observed significantly better tumor colonization by EcN after antibiotic-induced temporal depletion of the gut microbiome and after two intranasal applications of the EcN derivate (EcN/pMUT-gfp Kn r ) in 4T1 tumor-bearing syngeneic BALB/c mice. In addition, we demonstrated significant reduction in tumor growth and extended survival of the EcN-treated mice in contrast to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated tumor-bearing control animals. Multispectral imaging of immune cells revealed that depletion of the gut microbiome led to significantly lower infiltration of cytotoxic and helper T cells (CD4 and CD8 cells) in PBS tumors of mice pretreated with antibiotics in comparison with antibiotic untreated PBS-or EcN treated mice. These findings may help in the future advancement of cancer treatment strategies using E. coli Nissle 1917.

Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Objectives: The PERFORMANCE I study was designed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the Neuroguard IEP® System, a novel carotid stent system with an integrated embolic filter and post-dilatation balloon, to treat clinically significant carotid artery stenosis., Background: The risk of major adverse events during carotid artery stenting is comparable to carotid endarterectomy, however, the risk of minor stroke remains higher with stenting., Methods: In total, 67 patients undergoing carotid artery stenting were enrolled at nine centers in Europe. Follow-up assessments included neurological exams, duplex ultrasound, 12-lead electrocardiogram, and cardiac enzyme analysis. The primary endpoint was the 30-day composite rate of stroke, death, and myocardial infarctions versus a prespecified performance goal. Secondary endpoints included procedure success, device success, and target lesion revascularization., Results: The study population was predominantly male (74.6%) with a mean age of 69.3 ± 8.9 years and 67% of subjects met at least one criterion placing them at an elevated risk for adverse events following carotid endarterectomy. All patients were treated successfully with the study device. There were no deaths or strokes within 30 days of the index procedure. One subject (1.5%) experienced a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction at day 17. The primary endpoint was met with a 30-day major adverse events rate of 1.5% (1/67). Through 12-month follow-up, there were no strokes, neurological deaths, target lesion revascularizations, or instances of in-stent-restenosis., Conclusions: Results from this study demonstrate the Neuroguard IEP system is safe and feasible with a stroke/death rate of 0% at 30 days. A large pivotal study is currently underway., (© 2022 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Glass electronics inspire the emergence of smart functional surfaces. To evolve this concept to the next level, developing new strategies for scalable, inexpensive, and electrically conductive glass-based robust nanocomposites is crucial. Graphene is an attractive material as a conductive filler; however, integrating it firmly into a glass with no energy-intensive sintering, melting, or harsh chemicals has not been possible until now. Moreover, these methods have very limited capability for fabricating robust patterns for electronic circuits. In this work, a conductive (160 OΩ sq -1 ) and resilient nanocomposite between glass and graphene is achieved via single-step laser-induced backward transfer (LIBT). Beyond conventional LIBT involving mass transfer, this approach simultaneously drives chemical transformations in glass including silicon compound formation and graphene oxide (GO) reduction. These processes take place together with the generation and transfer of the highest-quality laser-reduced GO (rGO) reported to date (Raman intensity ratio I D /I G  = 0.31) and its integration into the glass. The rGO-LIBT nanocomposite is further functionalized with silver to achieve a highly sensitive (10 -9  m) dual-channel plasmonic optical and electrochemical sensor. Besides the electrical circuit demonstration, an electrothermal heater is fabricated that reaches temperatures above 300 °C and continuously operates for over 48 h., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: In the TALENT study, the sirolimus-eluting ultrathin strut Supraflex stent was non-inferior to the XIENCE stent for a device-oriented composite endpoint (DoCE: defined as cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction [TV-MI], or clinically indicated target lesion revascularisation [CI-TLR]) at 12 months., Aims: This study investigated the 3-year outcomes of the TALENT trial and long-term impact of ultrathin drug-eluting stents (DES), compared to the XIENCE everolimus-eluting thin stent., Methods: The TALENT trial is a prospective, multicentre, randomised all-comers trial comparing the Supraflex sirolimus-eluting stent with the XIENCE everolimus-eluting stent, with planned follow-up for 3 years., Results: The TALENT trial enrolled 1,435 patients (Supraflex n=720, XIENCE n=715) with 3-year follow-up data available in 97.8% in the Supraflex group, and in 98.9% in the XIENCE group. At 3 years, DoCE occurred in 57 patients (8.1%) in the Supraflex group, and in 66 patients (9.4%) in the XIENCE group (p=0.406). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of cardiac death, TV-MI or CI-TLR. The rates of definite or probable stent thrombosis were low and similar between groups (1.1% vs 1.4%; p=0.640). In a meta-analysis of long-term follow-up (3-5 years), ultrathin strut DES tended to reduce DoCE (relative risk 0.89 [0.79-1.01]; p=0.068), compared to thicker strut DES. The risks for cardiac death and definite or probable stent thrombosis were similar between ultrathin strut DES and thicker strut DES., Conclusions: At 3-year follow-up, the use of the Supraflex stent was at least as safe and efficacious as the XIENCE stent in an all-comers population., Clinicaltrials: gov: NCT02870140.

Experimental biologists are often left alone with the task to download, process, and analyze big datasets in order to perform correlation or other simpler analyses. To address these issues, we introduce EviCor, a handy toolbox for exploration of data from large public resources such as The Cancer Genome Atlas and The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, complemented with follow-up information on same samples, which couples omics datasets with drug response profiles (https://www.evicor.org/). The data was processed for easy retrieval from the server-side database and includes pre-computed drug-feature correlation tables. Using information from multiple independent sources, the task-oriented web interface presents relations between phenotype, single-molecule, and pathway variables with graphical, statistical, and network analysis tools. Building custom multivariate models is enabled via user-friendly web interface and programmatic access via RESTinterface. Project code is available at https://github.com/aveviort/HyperSet., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Resolute Onyx polymer-based zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) were noninferior in safety and effectiveness to BioFreedom polymer-free biolimus A9-coated stents (DCS) in high-bleeding-risk (HBR) patients treated with 1-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) followed by single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) at 1 year., Objectives: This study reports the final 2-year results of the randomized Onyx ONE trial., Methods: The Onyx ONE (A Randomized Controlled Trial With Resolute Onyx in One Month Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) for High-Bleeding Risk Patients) trial randomly assigned HBR patients to treatment with ZES or DCS. Following 1-month DAPT, event-free patients received SAPT (either aspirin or a P2Y 12 inhibitor at physician discretion). The primary safety endpoint, a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or stent thrombosis at 1 year, was determined at 1 year. Rates of primary and secondary endpoints were calculated after final follow-up at 2 years., Results: A total of 1,003 patients were randomly allocated to ZES and 993 patients to DCS. Follow-up was complete in 980 (97.7%) ZES patients and 962 (96.9%) DCS patients at 2 years. The primary safety endpoint occurred in 208 (21.2%) patients in the ZES group and 199 (20.7%) patients in the DCS group (risk difference: 0.5%; 95% CI: -3.1% to 4.2%; P = 0.78) at 2 years without significant differences in individual components of the composite endpoint. The secondary effectiveness endpoint occurred in 217 (22.1%) patients in the ZES group and 202 (21.0%) patients in the DCS group (risk difference: 1.1%; 95% CI: -2.5% to 4.8%; P = 0.54)., Conclusions: Among patients at HBR treated with 1-month DAPT followed by SAPT, the Resolute Onyx polymer-based ZES had similar 2-year outcomes for the primary safety and secondary effectiveness endpoint compared with the BioFreedom polymer-free DCS. (A Randomized Controlled Trial With Resolute Onyx in One Month Dual Antiplatelet Therapy [DAPT] for High-Bleeding Risk Patients [Onyx ONE]; NCT03344653)., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The Onyx ONE trial was sponsored by Medtronic. Dr Windecker has received research and educational grants to the institution from Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Bayer, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Cardinal Health, CardioValve, CSL Behring, Daiichi-Sankyo, Edwards Lifesciences, Guerbet, InfraRedx, Johnson & Johnson, Medicure, Medtronic, Novartis, Polares, OrPha Suisse, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Sinomed, Terumo, and V-Wave; served as an unpaid advisory board member and/or unpaid member of the steering/executive group of trials funded by Abbott, Abiomed, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, CardioValve, Edwards Lifesciences, MedAlliance, Medtronic, Novartis, Polares, Sinomed, V-Wave, and Xeltis but has not received personal payments by pharmaceutical companies or device manufacturers; and has served as a member of the steering/executive committee group of several investigator-initiated trials that receive funding by industry without impact on his personal remuneration. Dr Latib has received consulting fees from Medtronic, Abbott Vascular, and Boston Scientific. Dr Kedhi has received speaker honoraria and institutional grants from Medtronic and Abbott Vascular. Dr Kirtane has received institutional funding to Columbia University and/or the Cardiovascular Research Foundation from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott Vascular, Abiomed, CSI, CathWorks, Siemens, Philips, ReCor Medical, and Neurotronic (in addition to research grants, institutional funding includes fees paid to Columbia University and/or the Cardiovascular Research Foundation for consulting and/or speaking engagements in which Dr Kirtane controlled the content); has served as a consultant for IMDS; and has received travel expenses/meals from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott Vascular, Abiomed, CSI, CathWorks, Siemens, Philips, ReCor Medical, Chiesi, OpSens, Zoll, and Regeneron. Dr Kandzari has received institutional research or grant support from Abbott Vascular, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Cardiovascular Systems, Orbus Neich, Medtronic, and Ablative Solutions; and has received personal consulting honoraria from Cardiovascular Systems, Magenta Medical, and Medtronic. Dr Mehran has received institutional research grants from Abbott Laboratories, Abiomed, Applied Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Beth Israel Deaconess, Bristol Myers Squibb, CERC, Chiesi, Concept Medical, CSL Behring, DSI, Medtronic, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and OrbusNeich; has received consulting fees from Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific, CardiaWave, Chiesi, Cine-Med Research, Janssen Scientific Affairs, Medscape/WebMD, Medtelligence (Janssen Scientific Affairs), Roivant Sciences, Sanofi, and Siemens Medical Solutions; has received consultant fees paid to the institution from Abbott Laboratories and Bristol Myers Squibb; has served on the advisory board, with funding paid to the institution, for Spectranetics/Philips/Volcano Corp; has a spouse who has served as a consultant for Abiomed, The Medicines Company, Merck; Equity <1% from Claret Medical, Elixir Medical, Applied Therapeutics, and STEL; has received Data Safety and Monitoring Board Membership fees paid to the institution from Watermark Research Partners; has served as a consultant (no fee) for Idorsia Pharmaceuticals and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; and has served as an Associate Editor for the American College of Cardiology and the American Medical Association. Dr Price has received consulting fees and speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca, Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic; and has received consulting fees from Acutus, Baylis Medical, and W.L. Gore. Dr Simon has received honoraria for serving as a course director (<$10,000) from Medtronic. Dr Worthley has received institutional grant or research support from Abbott and Biotronik. Dr Zaman has received consulting fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Meril, SMT, and Terumo. Dr Petrov has received consulting, proctor, or speaker fees from Medtronic, Edwards, Philips, Cardiatis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Servier, and Pfizer. Dr Mylotte has received consulting fees from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and MicroPort. Dr Moreno has received lecture or consulting fees from Medtronic, Biosensors, Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Terumo, and Braun. Dr Pasupati has received consulting, proctor, or speaker fees from Medtronic, Edwards, Boston Scientific, JenaValve, BioExcel, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Pfizer. Dr Kim has received research grants through Seoul National University Hospital from Abbott, Medtronic, Biotronik, B. Braun, and Daiichi-Sankyo; and has received lecture and consulting fees from Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Novartis, Pfizer, Daiichi-Sankyo, AmGen, AstraZeneca, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Tie has received speaker fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, outside the submitted work. Dr Hur has received research grants from Boston Scientific and Terumo. Dr Marx has received an honorarium for Clinical Events Committee membership from the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. Dr Ali has received institutional grant support from Abiomed, Acist Medical, Abbott, Boston Scientific, Cardiovascular Systems, Philips, and Opsens Medical; has received consulting or advisory fees from Amgen and Boston Scientific; has received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca; and owns equity in Shockwave Medical. Ms. Parke and Dr Lung are employees of Medtronic. Dr Stone has received speaker honoraria from Cook, Infraredx, Valfix, TherOx, Robocath, HeartFlow, Ablative Solutions, Vectorious, Miracor, Neovasc, Abiomed, Ancora, Elucid Bio, Occlutech, CorFlow, Apollo Therapeutics, Impulse Dynamics, Reva, Vascular Dynamics, Shockwave, V-Wave, Cardiomech, and Gore; and owns equity or options in Ancora, Cagent, Applied Therapeutics, the Biostar family of funds, SpectraWave, Orchestra Biomed, Aria, Cardiac Success, Valfix, and the MedFocus family of funds. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Obesity, ethanol, and contaminants are known risk factors of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (CMD). However, their interplay on clinical profiles of these diseases remains unclear, and thus were investigated in this study. Male lean or obese JCR rats were given water or 10% ethanol and orally treated with or without a contaminant mixture (CM) dissolved in corn oil and loaded on two cookies at 0, 1.6, or 16 mg/kg BW/day dose levels for 4 weeks. The CM consisted 22 environmental contaminants found in human blood or serum of Northern populations. Over 60 parameters related to CMD were examined. The results revealed that obesity in JCR rats resembles the clinical profiles of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in humans. Obesity was also associated with increased serum and organ retention of mercury, one of the chemical components of CM. Exposure to ethanol lightened hyperlipidemia, increased liver retention of mercury, and increased risk for hypertension in the obese rats. CM lessened hyperlipidemia and hyperenzymemia, worsened systemic inflammation and increased the risk for hypertension in the obese rats. CM markedly increased serum ethanol levels with or without ethanol exposure. Tissue total mercury contents significantly correlated with clinical parameters with altered profiles by both ethanol and obesity. These results suggest that obese individuals may be more prone to contaminant accumulation. Ethanol and CM exposure can alter clinical profiles associated with obesity, which may lead to misdiagnosis of CMD associated with obesity. CM can alter endogenous production and/or metabolism of ethanol, further complicating disease progression, diagnosis, and treatment., (© 2022. Crown.)

Late advances in genome sequencing expanded the space of known cancer driver genes several-fold. However, most of this surge was based on computational analysis of somatic mutation frequencies and/or their impact on the protein function. On the contrary, experimental research necessarily accounted for functional context of mutations interacting with other genes and conferring cancer phenotypes. Eventually, just such results become 'hard currency' of cancer biology. The new method, NEAdriver employs knowledge accumulated thus far in the form of global interaction network and functionally annotated pathways in order to recover known and predict novel driver genes. The driver discovery was individualized by accounting for mutations' co-occurrence in each tumour genome - as an alternative to summarizing information over the whole cancer patient cohorts. For each somatic genome change, probabilistic estimates from two lanes of network analysis were combined into joint likelihoods of being a driver. Thus, ability to detect previously unnoticed candidate driver events emerged from combining individual genomic context with network perspective. The procedure was applied to 10 largest cancer cohorts followed by evaluating error rates against previous cancer gene sets. The discovered driver combinations were shown to be informative on cancer outcome. This revealed driver genes with individually sparse mutation patterns that would not be detectable by other computational methods and related to cancer biology domains poorly covered by previous analyses. In particular, recurrent mutations of collagen, laminin, and integrin genes were observed in the adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma cancers. Considering constellation patterns of candidate drivers in individual cancer genomes opens a novel avenue for personalized cancer medicine., Competing Interests: IP, AA No competing interests declared, (© 2022, Petrov and Alexeyenko.)

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a multifaceted syndrome associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased inflammation. Despite the existing controversies regarding the appropriate training modality, it is widely accepted that supervised cardiac rehabilitation (CR) interventions lead to proinflammatory biomarkers reduction and cellular adhesion molecules in patients with CHF., Aim: The aim of the study was to quantify the effects of 12-week group-based high-intensity aerobic interval training (HIAIT)/modified group-based HIAIT intervention (m-Ullevaal) vs. moderate continuous training (MICT) on serum levels of proinflammatory biomarkers., Design: Single-blind, two-arm, prospective randomized controlled trial conducted on CHF outpatients performing group-based CR interventions throughout a 12-week period., Setting: The setting of the study was the Medical Center of Outpatient Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Plovdiv, Bulgaria., Population: The population included a total of 120 outpatients of both genders, mean age of 63.73±6.68 years, with stable CHF (NYHA classes II to IIIB, were randomly assigned to HIAIT/ m-Ullevaal (N.=60) or to MICT (N.=60) group., Methods: Functional exercise capacity (FEC) of the eligible subjects was evaluated through 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and peak oxygen uptake. Blood samples were drawn at baseline, after 12 weeks follow-up for analyses of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and cellular adhesion molecules (CAM)., Results: Significant decreases in the serum levels of CRP (P=0.029), TNF-α (P=0.036), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) (P=0.040), were observed after 48 training sessions in the group-based HIAIT/m-Ullevaal intervention, except for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), which was higher in the MICT (P=0.034). FEC was significantly inversely related to CRP (r=-0.72, P<0.05), and the levels of VCAM-1 (r=-0.68, P<0.05)., Conclusions: Both group-based CR interventions (HIAIT/m-Ullevaal and MICT) significantly reduced the serum levels of CRP, TNF- α, ICAM-1 and VCAM in patients with CHF. However, selected proinflammatory biomarkers changes and CAMs favorably decreased in the group-based HIAIT/m-Ullevaal intervention. The responses on serum levels of proinflammatory biomarkers and CAMs are dependent upon the type, intensity, and CR intervention duration., Clinical Rehabilitation Impact: The group-based high-intensity aerobic interval training reduces significantly the proinflammatory biomarkers and cellular adhesion molecules in patients with chronic heart failure.

Due to the high intensity and MHz repetition rate of photon pulses generated by the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser, the heat load on silicon crystal monochromators can become large and prevent ideal transmission in Bragg diffraction geometry due to crystal deformation. Here, we present experimental data illustrating how heat load affects the performance of a cryogenically cooled monochromator under such conditions. The measurements are in good agreement with a depth-uniform model of X-ray dynamical diffraction taking beam absorption and heat deformation of the crystals into account.

The quest for lowering energy consumption during thin film growth, as by magnetron sputtering, becomes of particular importance in view of sustainable development goals. A recently proposed solution combining high power impulse and direct current magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS/DCMS) relies on the use of heavy metal-ion irradiation, instead of conventionally employed resistive heating, to provide sufficient adatom mobility, in order to obtain high-quality dense films. The major fraction of process energy is used at the sputtering sources rather than for heating the entire vacuum vessel. The present study aims to investigate the W + densification effects as a function of increasing Al content in (Ti 1-y Al y ) 1-x W x N films covering the entire range up to the practical solubility limits (y ~ 0.67). Layers with high Al content are attractive to industrial applications as the high temperature oxidation resistance increases with increasing Al concentration. The challenge is, however, to avoid precipitation of the hexagonal wurtzite AlN phase, which is softer. We report here that (Ti 1-y Al y ) 1-x W x N layers with y = 0.66 and x = 0.05 grown by a combination of W-HiPIMS and TiAl-DCMS with the substrate bias V s synchronized to the W + -rich fluxes (to provide mobility in the absence of substrate heating) possess single-phase NaCl-structure, as confirmed by XRD and SAED patterns. The evidence provided by XTEM images and the residual oxygen content obtained from ERDA analyses reveals that the alloy films are dense without discernable porosity. The nanoindentation hardness is comparable to that of TiAlN films grown at 400-500 °C, while the residual stresses are very low. We established that the adatom mobility due to the heavy ion W + irradiation (in place of resistive heating) enables the growth of high-quality coatings at substrate temperatures not exceeding 130 °C provided that the W + momentum transfer per deposited metal atom is sufficiently high. The benefit of this novel film growth approach is not only the reduction of the process energy consumption by 83%, but also the possibility to coat temperature-sensitive substrates., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The rapid spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 globally will challenge the accessibility and the delivery of physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) services. Many health care systems throughout the world performed effective reforms such as the transition to telerehabilitation (TR). In Bulgaria, TR is still not regulated by law, and terms such as teleconsultation and tele-education have not yet been introduced. The adoption of TR in the Bulgarian health care system will undoubtedly increase the accessibility to rehabilitation treatment for a larger group of Bulgarian patients with various neurological, cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and oncological conditions and will significantly contribute to the PRM services modernization in Bulgaria.