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The INSIDE collaboration aims to build an on-line hadrontherapy monitoring system, based on a dual-head in-beam PET scanner and a secondary charged particles profiler. In this work preliminary experimental results are presented. The validation of the FLUKA-based Monte Carlo simulation tool is shown together with the expected scanner performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI) has significantly improved the clinical course of people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF) and eligible CFTR variants. In this study, we prospectively evaluated liver elastography, liver fibrosis indices and liver tests in children with CF aged 6-12 years started on ETI therapy., Methods: Body mass index, sweat test, percent predicted forced expiratory volume in one second, serum markers of liver injury or portal hypertension, liver fibrosis indices, controlled attenuation parameter and liver stiffness were assessed before starting ETI and three and twelve months post-ETI, according to new international guidelines., Results: 27 children with CF were enrolled, 14 with liver involvement and 13 without liver involvement at baseline. A significant improvement in sweat chloride after ETI was observed in all subjects. In those with liver involvement, liver stiffness significantly decreased at 12 months of ETI, with all individuals achieving normalization or near-normalization of liver stiffness. The majority of individuals with abnormal AST, ALT, GGT, or liver fibrosis indices at baseline experienced normalization by 12 months of ETI (AST: 67%, ALT: 100%, GGT: 50%, APRI: 100%, GPR: 100%). In the no liver involvement group, the only significant change in liver health metrics at 12 months was a significant reduction in platelets (P<0.05) that remained within the normal range., Conclusions: ETI is associated with improvement in liver stiffness, liver function tests and fibrosis indices in pwCF and liver involvement. ETI may reduce the development of advanced CF liver disease, but longer observations with larger cohorts are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest the authors have no conflicts of interest and no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose., (Copyright © 2025 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT), particularly the triple combination elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI), significantly improved clinical outcomes and quality of life in people with Cystic Fibrosis (pwCF). This review analyzes current knowledge on the impact of HEMTs on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and features in pwCF. A descriptive review of English literature until February 29, 2024, was conducted using medical databases. Observational studies and clinical trials addressing GI reflux disease (GERD), lower GI symptoms and pancreatic disease were considered. Studies report positive effects of HEMTs on pH levels and bicarbonate secretion as well as improvement on intestinal inflammation. HEMTs also demonstrated positive effects on GERD and lower GI symptoms or conditions CF related such as dysbiosis. Taking ETI during pregnancy could also allow resolution of meconium ileus in fetuses with CF. The best benefits were observed in pancreatic function, potentially delaying CF-related diabetes and recovering pancreatic function in some children on ETI. Larger trials, particularly in pediatric populations, need to confirm these findings and explore long-term effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest 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., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs), particularly second-generation compounds (SGARs), are extensively used in pest management, impacting non-target wildlife. The California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae), an invasive species in Gran Canaria, is under a control plan involving capture and euthanasia. This research aimed to detect 10 different ARs in these snakes, explore geographical and biometrical factors influencing AR exposure, and assess their potential as sentinel species for raptors, sharing similar foraging habits. Liver samples from 360 snakes, euthanized between 2021 and 2022, were analysed for ARs using LC-MS/MS. Results showed all detected rodenticides were SGARs, except for one instance of diphacinone. Remarkably, 90 % of the snakes tested positive for ARs, with over half exposed to multiple compounds. Brodifacoum was predominant, found in over 90 % of AR-positive snakes, while bromadiolone and difenacoum were also frequently detected but at lower levels. The study revealed that larger snakes and those in certain geographic areas had higher AR concentrations. Snakes in less central or more peripheral areas showed lower levels of these compounds. This suggests a correlation between the snakes' size and distribution with the concentration of ARs in their bodies. The findings indicate that the types and prevalence of ARs in California kingsnakes on Gran Canaria mirror those in the island's raptors. This similarity suggests that the kingsnake could serve as a potential sentinel species for monitoring ARs in the ecosystem. However, further research is necessary to confirm their effectiveness in this role., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In December 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared SARS-CoV2 a global pandemic. Home confinement, low social contacts, and fear of virus transmission played a major role as risk factors for suicides during the following period. Suicide pacts, in particular, showed a different pattern. A rare case of a triple suicide pact among members of the same family nucleus is presented. The victims were an elderly, severely ill woman and her adult children (a son and daughter), linked by a morbid relationship. The last time the family was seen alive was 40 days before the discovery. All corpses presented decompositional changes. After a full autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be a lethal intake of morphine for the mother and acute blood loss due to self-stabbing at the neck for the siblings. The younger woman was under the effects of a large amount of heparin. Toxicological analysis was positive for opioids and alcohol in both siblings. Suicide pacts have rarely been described during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the few cases reported, the victims were more often relatives than people in a romantic relationship. The involvement of three people is unusual, as is the use of different suicide methods among the victims. In the presented case, the elderly mother's imminent death from terminal cancer, her concern over dying in a nondomestic environment, and the siblings' fear of being alone likely led to the conception of the suicide pact. Social isolation and economic difficulties also played a contributing role., (© 2023 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

Background: The attitudes and empathy levels of healthcare providers towards persons with a disability have been highlighted as important factors contributing to the quality of healthcare provided to this patient population., Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether changes in medical students' attitudes and empathy towards persons with a disability following an educational intervention were maintained when measured again one year post intervention. This study provided a one year longitudinal follow up to a previous study investigating the efficacy of an educational intervention to cultivate positive change in empathy levels and attitudes towards disability., Method: An online survey was distributed to medical students who had completed a disability module one year previously during their second year of medical training. The survey comprised measures of attitude, empathy and level of social contact with persons with a disability., Results: Though there was a statistically significant increase in both attitude and empathy measures immediately post intervention, these gains were not sustained when measured one year later. In the case of empathy, levels measured one year later had decreased significantly from baseline measures at pretest. No significant relationship was observed between level of social contact and measures of attitudes and empathy., Conclusions: While previous research suggests that the educational intervention has been successful in ameliorating both attitudes and empathy levels in the short term, this study highlights the difficulty in sustaining such improvements. Changes to the design and delivery of educational interventions may be necessary for the benefits to persist into the long term., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Predation by domestic cats Felis catus can be a threat to biodiversity conservation, 1-3 but its mitigation is controversial. 4 Confinement and collar-mounted devices can impede cat hunting success and reduce numbers of animals killed, 5 but some owners do not wish to inhibit what they see as natural behavior, perceive safety risks associated with collars, or are concerned about device loss and ineffectiveness. 6 , 7 In a controlled and replicated trial, we tested novel, non-invasive interventions that aim to make positive contributions to cat husbandry, alongside existing devices that impede hunting. Households where a high meat protein, grain-free food was provided, and households where 5-10 min of daily object play was introduced, recorded decreases of 36% and 25%, respectively, in numbers of animals captured and brought home by cats, relative to controls and the pre-treatment period. Introduction of puzzle feeders increased numbers by 33%. Fitting Birdsbesafe collar covers reduced the numbers of birds captured and brought home by 42% but had no discernible effect on mammals. Cat bells had no discernible effect. Reductions in predation can be made by non-invasive, positive contributions to cat nutrition and behavior that reduce their tendency to hunt, rather than impede their hunting. These measures are likely to find support among cat owners who are concerned about the welfare implications of other interventions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The food provided to cats was purchased by the project from the manufacturer (Lily’s Kitchen) at a wholesale price, and was shipped at the company’s expense to the study households. Lily’s Kitchen provided a box of cat food and treats for a prize draw among the participants of our control group. We purchased Birdsbesafe collars directly from Birdsbesafe LLC with a 35% discount., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cats share a long history with humans but are remarkable among domesticated species in largely retaining behavioural and reproductive independence from people. In many societies, the cat maintains liminal status as both a domestic and a wild animal. An adaptive push-and-pull between wild and domestic traits corresponds with dual roles as companions and pest controllers, and with conflicted treatment in husbandry, management, law, and public discourse. To move forward, we must proceed by understanding that cats are not exclusively pets or pests, but both a central component of human societies and an important, often adverse, influence on ecosystems. Developing a collaborative 'companion animal ecology', in which human-animal domestic relations link to ecological processes, will enable sustainable management of this wild companionship., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Positron range is one of the main physical effects limiting the spatial resolution of positron emission tomography (PET) images. If positrons travel inside a magnetic field, for instance inside a nuclear magnetic resonance (MR) tomograph, the mean range will be smaller but still significant. In this investigation we examined a method to correct for the positron range effect in iterative image reconstruction by including tissue-specific kernels in the forward projection operation. The correction method was implemented within STIR library (Software for Tomographic Image Reconstruction). In order to obtain the positron annihilation distribution of various radioactive isotopes in water and lung tissue, simulations were performed with the Monte Carlo package GATE [Jan et al. 2004 [1]] simulating different magnetic field intensities (0 T, 3 T, 9.5 T and 11 T) along the axial scanner direction. The positron range kernels were obtained for (68)Ga in water and lung tissue for 0 T and 3 T magnetic field voxellizing the annihilation coordinates into a three-dimensional matrix. The proposed method was evaluated using simulations of material-variant and material-invariant positron range corrections for the HYPERImage preclinical PET-MR scanner. The use of the correction resulted in sharper active region boundary definition, albeit with noise enhancement, and in the recovery of the true activity mean value of the hot regions. Moreover, in the case where a magnetic field is present, the correction accounts for the non-isotropy of the positron range effect, resulting in the recovery of resolution along the axial plane., (Copyright © 2016 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)