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This article explores medical diplomacy as a means of navigating distinct but related nation-building and internationalist projects during the Cold War. It examines how medical professionals from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) utilized their expertise to bolster foreign relations and assert national independence. This article focuses on how three tuberculosis (TB) specialists - Đặng Đức Trạch, Phạm Ngọc Thạch and Phạm Khắc Quảng - adopted, adapted and circulated techniques of TB control, including a modified version of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. Amidst these endeavours, these medical-doctors-cum-diplomats navigated various forms of internationalism while soliciting medical assistance. Their roles within the DRV's state apparatus were prominently showcased from the 1950s to the 1970s, particularly at international gatherings such as the conferences of Ministers of Health of the Socialist Countries (MOHOSC). Because of the political complexities inherent in socialist internationalism, these conferences provided a crucial platform for dialogue among socialist nations when other avenues were limited. Consequently, the DRV's medical experts cultivated goodwill and garnered political support, despite encountering mixed results in their TB control initiatives.

Objective: Polyether ether ketone (PEEK), a biocompatible polymer, is being explored as an alternative to metallic alloys for dental implants due to its aesthetic and mechanical properties. This study aimed to enhance the surface biofunctionality through evaluating human MG-63 osteoblastic cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization., Method: Following the sandblasting and plasma treatment of the 3D-printed PEEK discs, a layer of hyaluronic acid (Hya) was coated onto the PEEK surface. Osteoblast cells were seeded onto the discs. The groups consisted of Hya-coated PEEK, uncoated PEEK, and a control group. Cell viability, proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization potential were examined after seven and twenty-one days of cell seeding using the MTT test, DAPI staining technique, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), and alizarin red staining., Results: Hya-coated PEEK increased cell viability (1.48 ± 0.13, 1.49 ± 0.09) compared to the uncoated group (1.19 ± 0.06, 1.26 ± 0.07) and control group (0.98 ± 0.04, 1.00 ± 0.07) after 7 and 21 days. Proliferation rates of coated group (60.50 ± 3.08) were greater than the uncoated (50.33 ± 2.58) and control group (38.33 ± 4.88) at 21 days, respectively. Additionally, the ALP activity on Hya-coated PEEK disks (5.55 ± 0.65, 7.54 ± 0.64) was notably higher than that of the uncoated group (1.08 ± 0.49, 2.59 ± 0.68), and control group (0.16 ± 0.09, 0.34 ± 0.18) at both time periods. Alizarin red staining in the Hya-coated PEEK group (1.81 ± 0.23, 1.97 ± 0.20) was significantly greater in comparison with uncoated group (1.12 ± 0.17, 1.14 ± 0.19) and control group (0.99 ± 0.10, 0.98 ± 0.05) at both time intervals., Conclusion: Hya's surface coating has enhanced the biofunctional properties of PEEK implant material, as demonstrated by improved cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization potential., 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., (© 2024 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.)

Objectives: Ageing may cause a progressive pro-inflammatory environment and alter functionality of different immune-cell populations. The aim of the present study is to examine the influence of certain serum immunological parameters on hospitalization stay and complications in patients who have suffered a hip fracture., Patients and Methods: A prospective study was carried out with 87 patients (63 women) presenting with either trochanteric femoral fracture or Garden IV displaced subcapital fracture. The average age was 84.43 ± 9, ranging from 65 to 104 years old. Data regarding different comorbidities were recorded at the time of arrival. The morning after patient's admission peripheral blood samples were obtained and a series of immunological parameters were determined: leukocyte formula, platelets count, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), IL-6 and IL-10 levels, T-lymphocytes count, number of cells/mm3 and percentages of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD3-/CD16/56+ (NK cells), and CD 3 -/CD19+ (B cells)., Results: IL-6 serum levels presented a positive and significant correlation with higher levels of CRP (p < 0.001), IL-10 (p = 0.002), and higher percentages of NK CD56+ cells (p = 0.046). IL-6 serum levels at hospitalization presented a positive and significant correlation with a longer hospitalization stay (p = 0.037). Hospitalization increased by 0.231 days for every 1 pg/mL above the IL-6 mean value (40.43 pg/mL). Lower serum IL-10 levels on admission were associated with the appearance of symptomatic urinary tract infection during hospitalization (p = 0.032). Higher number of CD19+ cells/mm 3 presented a significant relationship with pneumonia (p = 0.018) and symptomatic urinary tract infection (p = 0.0019)., Conclusions: IL-6 serum levels on admission showed a positive and significant correlation with a longer hospitalization stay in elderly patients presenting with hip fracture. Lower levels of IL-10 in peripheral blood on admission were associated with symptomatic urinary tract infections. A higher number of CD19+ cells/mm³ was significantly associated with pneumonia and symptomatic urinary tract infection. These immunological variables on admission may serve as risk indicators of complications during hospitalization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare there is no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

We designed 6-dimethylamino 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one as an environment-sensitive fluorophore, examining its applications for protein labeling. Synthesized 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one exhibits solvatochromic fluorescence ( λ emmax ; 472 nm in 2-PrOH, 512 nm in H 2 O). A positive linear dependence between λ emmax and solvent dielectric constant (DC), as well as between Stokes shift and DC, and a negative correlation between fluorescence quantum yield and DC are observed in protic solvents. These properties are similar to those of the oxygen isosteric fluorophore, 4-dimethylaminophthalimide, a slovatochromic fluorophore utilized for labeling oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) and peptides. Notably, fluorescence intensity of 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one is higher than the phthalimide in protic solvents used in this study. The 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one demonstrated the higher stability in pH 8 solution than in pH 6 solution in contrast to the stability profile of the phthalimide, which was stable at pH 6 but was hydrolyzed at pH 8. We also synthesized an o -keto benzaldehyde derivative that converts a primary amine to 6-dimethylamino 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one under biocompatible conditions and introduced it into ODNs for turn-on fluorescent protein labeling. The synthesized ODN with a protein-binding sequence of Escherichia coli DnaA was employed to modify the DNA-binding domain of DnaA, and the fluorescent properties of the modified protein were investigated.

Background: Forced migration results in exposure to trauma, interrupted access to healthcare, and loss of social support and may increase dementia risk. Literature on refugees' knowledge of dementia and its risk factors is scant. This study investigates refugee perspectives on dementia and their access to cognitive healthcare in the United States (US)., Methods: We conducted 6 focus groups and 30 individual in-depth interviews (total of 69 participants) with Arab, African, and Afghan refugees resettled in San Diego, California. Data was coded using inductive thematic analysis., Results: Organized by the socioecological model of health, the following themes emerged: (1) mental trauma due to migration was linked to dementia (individual); (2) fear of dementia and burdening caregivers due to limited support systems (interpersonal); (3) reliance on virtual communities for dementia information and the stress of local community loss increasing dementia risk (community); (4) healthcare providers, both in the US and in refugee camps, didn't address cognitive health concerns (institutions); and (5) discriminatory immigration and healthcare policies as barriers to healthy aging (policy)., Discussion: Despite being a heterogeneous group, refugees share specific experiences, knowledge gaps, and barriers to healthy aging. Tailored interventions and policies are needed to address this population's cognitive health needs. This includes addressing their mental health and social support concerns as well as training clinicians to screen for/discuss dementia with aging refugee patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

We have synthesized 10 analogs of oxylipins, which are nitrogen signaling factors (NSFs) that mediate cell-to-cell communication in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and evaluated their structure-activity relationships with the aim of developing molecular probes for NSFs. We found that the OH or OAc group at C10 could be replaced with a compact amide (17) or carbamate (19). Introducing an alkyne as a detection tag at C10 led to decreased, though still sufficient, activity. Introducing an alkyne at the C18 position showed a similar trend, suggesting tolerance is relatively low even for compact functional groups such as alkynes. Although introduction of a diazirine moiety as a photoreactive group at the C5 position decreased the activity, we found that introducing diazirine at the C13 position was acceptable, and compound 38 exhibited potent NSF activity. These findings will be helpful in the development of molecular probes for NSFs., 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.)

Background: Selecting pembrolizumab monotherapy (MONO) or pembrolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy (COMB) for patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is an important issue in clinical practice. We previously conducted a retrospective multicenter observational study of patients with NSCLC and high PD-L1 expression who received MONO or COMB as a first-line treatment. Here, we report updated data and evaluate the long-term outcomes., Methods: We performed a retrospective multicenter study of 298 patients with NSCLC and high PD-L1 expression who received MONO or COMB as first-line treatment between December 2018 and January 2020. We reviewed the medical records and assessed the clinical efficacy and toxicity using a prolonged data cutoff., Results: In total, 164 (median age: 74 years) and 134 (median age: 68 years) patients received MONO and COMB, respectively; patients who received COMB were younger and had better performance statuses (0-1). At the prolonged data cutoff, the median follow-up was 20.2 (range: 0.1-41.4) months. The median progression-free survivals were 7.5 and 13.1 months, and overall survivals (OSs) were 17.2 and 33.7 months for MONO and COMB, respectively. Treatment discontinuation rates were 21.9% and 20.1% for the MONO and COMB, respectively. With prolonged follow-up, although COMB demonstrated an OS benefit and higher objective response rate than MONO, in the propensity score matching analysis COMB didn't demonstrate a significant benefit compared to the MONO., Conclusions: COMB may be effective as a first-line treatment for NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression in a selected subset of patients., (© 2024 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Durvalumab has been administered to patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, it remains unclear whether durvalumab benefits these patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study of patients with EGFR mutation who received chemoradiotherapy (CRT) between June 2018 and March 2021. We assessed patient characteristics, efficacy of durvalumab, and durvalumab safety before and after targeted therapy. We collected data on a total of 673 patients, of whom 401 (59.6%) underwent EGFR mutation testing. Fifty-one patients were EGFR positive and 311 were EGFR negative. In the EGFR-positive group, there were higher proportions of females, never-smokers, and patients with adenocarcinoma histology. Of the 51 patients in the positive group and 311 in the negative group who received CRT, 45 (88.2%) and 247 (79.4%) received durvalumab, with median progression-free survival of 23.0 and 24.2 months in the positive and negative groups, respectively (hazard ratio 1.03; 95% confidence interval: 0.64-1.67). The main adverse event was pneumonitis (positive group: 62.2%; 4.4% grade 3; negative group: 62.3%; 6.9% grade 3). No treatment-related deaths were observed. Of the 45 patients in the positive group who received durvalumab, 14 (31.1%) received targeted therapy after durvalumab at the data cutoff. One patient discontinued targeted therapy after developing pneumonitis. In patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC with EGFR mutation, durvalumab after CRT is potentially safe and effective. This may be a suitable treatment sequence for these patients., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.)

Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

A 75-year-old man with severe bilateral pleural thickening and dense soft tissue masses surrounding the abdominal aorta on computed tomography was diagnosed with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) as a complication of lung cancer. He was started on nivolumab as second-line therapy along with low-dose prednisolone. Nivolumab was administered for 15 months until disease progression, during which time IgG4-RD did not relapse, and no problematic immune-related adverse events occurred. These results suggest that anti-programmed cell death protein-1 antibody may be used safely in lung cancer associated with IgG4-RD concomitantly with low-dose steroids.