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Caffeine is an alkaloid with a purine structure and has been well known for centuries due to its presence in popular drinks-tea and coffee. However, the structural and spectroscopic parameters of this compound, as well as its chemical and biological activities, are still not fully known. In this study, for the first time, we report on the measured oxygen-17 NMR spectra of this stimulant. To support the assignment of our experimental NMR data, extensive quantum chemical calculations of NMR parameters, including nuclear magnetic shielding constants and indirect spin-spin coupling constants, were performed. In a theoretical study, using nine efficient density functionals (B3LYP, BLYP, BP86, CAM-B3LYP, LC-BLYP, M06, PBE0, TPSSh, wB97x), and in combination with a large and flexible correlation-consistent aug-cc-pVTZ basis set, the structure and NMR parameters were predicted for a free molecule of caffeine and in chloroform, DMSO and water. A polarized continuum model (PCM) was used to include a solvent effect. As a result, an optimal methodology was developed for predicting reliable NMR data, suitable for studies of known, as well as newly discovered, purines and similar alkaloids. The results of the current work could be used in future basic and applied studies, including NMR identification and intermolecular interactions of caffeine in various raw materials, like plants and food, as well as in the structural and spectroscopic characterization of new compounds with similar structures.

Patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) are not only concerned about their own health but also about that of their children, grandchildren, and other relatives. Therefore, they have specific needs for information and support. During genetic counseling guidance is provided to HBOC patients and other individuals who may be at risk for familial cancer. The purpose of the study was to identify the needs of HBOC patients during the genetic counseling process that could be addressed by digital solutions. Nine semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. Overall, the patients appreciated the personal contact with human geneticists as an especially positive factor in the genetic counseling process. However, patients noted the following needs (1) support in the time following genetic counseling, (2) support before genetic counseling by collecting own and familial medical information, (3) Need for contact options to support services, (4) Need for patient-friendly medical information, (5) Wish for administration-related components in a support app. The results will inform the development of a patient-centered mobile support app., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Data analysis for athletic performance optimization and injury prevention is of tremendous interest to sports teams and the scientific community. However, sports data are often sparse and hard to obtain due to legal restrictions, unwillingness to share, and lack of personnel resources to be assigned to the tedious process of data curation. These constraints make it difficult to develop automated systems for analysis, which require large datasets for learning. We therefore present SoccerMon, the largest soccer athlete dataset available today containing both subjective and objective metrics, collected from two different elite women's soccer teams over two years. Our dataset contains 33,849 subjective reports and 10,075 objective reports, the latter including over six billion GPS position measurements. SoccerMon can not only play a valuable role in developing better analysis and prediction systems for soccer, but also inspire similar data collection activities in other domains which can benefit from subjective athlete reports, GPS position information, and/or time-series data in general., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Anthropogenic ecological ecosystems create favourable conditions for the growth of the nitrophilous medicinal species Chelidonium majus in six urban parks in Southern Poland. This study focuses on the concentrations of trace elements in the soils, leaves, stems, and rhizomes of greater celandine. The soil samples were taken only in the humus horizon (A), which averaged approximately 15 cm in thickness under the clumps of Ch. majus . Regarding the reaction, the soil samples tested can be described as slightly acidic (5.6-6.8 in KCl) to alkaline (7.1-7.4 in H 2 O). Organic carbon content at all sites is high, ranging from 3.2% to 13.6%, while the highest total nitrogen (Nt) content is 0.664%. The average total phosphorus (Pt) content in all samples is 548.8 mg/kg (and its range is 298-940 mg/kg), such values indicating its anthropogenic origin. In terms of heavy metals, Zn has the highest content in the analysed soil samples compared to the other elements, and its range is from 394.50 mg/kg to 1363.80 mg/kg in soil. In rhizomes, Zn also has the highest values (178.7-408.3 mg/kg), whereas, in stems and leaves, it varies (from 80.6 to 227.5 and from 57.8 to 297.4 mg/kg, respectively). Spearman's rank correlation showed high correlations between the content of Pb, Zn, Cd, and As in the soil and rhizomes of Ch. majus . Despite soil contamination with Pb, Cd, and Zn, Ch. majus does not accumulate them in its tissues. However, the translocation of Hg and Cr from rhizomes to leaves was observed. The different concentrations of metals in each park result from the degree of diversity of the parent rocks on which the soil was formed.

The quality of theoretical NMR shieldings calculated at the quantum-chemical level depends on various theoretical aspects, of which the basis set type and size are among the most important factors. Nevertheless, not much information is available on the basis set effect on theoretical shieldings of the NMR-active nuclei of the third row. Here, we report on the importance of proper basis set selection to obtain accurate and reliable NMR shielding parameters for nuclei from the third row of the periodic table. All calculations were performed on a set of eleven compounds containing the elements Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, or Cl. NMR shielding tensors were calculated using the SCF-HF, DFT-B3LYP, and CCSD(T) methods, combined with the Dunning valence aug-cc-pV X Z, core-valence aug-cc-pCV X Z, Jensen polarized-convergent aug-pcSseg- n and Karlsruhe x2c-Def2 basis set families. We also estimated the complete basis set limit (CBS) values of the NMR parameters. Widely scattered nuclear shieldings were observed for the Dunning polarized-valence basis set, which provides irregular convergence. We show that the use of Dunning core-valence or Jensen basis sets effectively reduces the scatter of theoretical NMR results and leads to their exponential-like convergence to CBS. We also assessed the effect of vibrational, temperature, and relativistic corrections on the predicted shieldings. For systems with single bonds, all corrections are relatively small, amounting to less than 4% of the CCSD(T)/CBS value. Vibrational and temperature corrections were less reliable for H 3 PO and HSiCH due to the high anharmonicity of the molecules. An abnormally high relativistic correction was observed for phosphorus in PN, reaching ~20% of the CCSD(T)/CBS value, while the correction was less than 7% for other tested molecules., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Glass-forming ability is one of the most desired properties of organic compounds dedicated to optoelectronic applications. Therefore, finding general structure-property relationships and other rules governing vitrification and related near-glass-transition phenomena is a burning issue for numerous compound families, such as Schiff bases. Hence, we employ differential scanning calorimetry, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and quantum density functional theory calculations to investigate near-glass-transition phenomena, as well as ambient- and high-pressure molecular dynamics for two structurally related Schiff bases belonging to the family of glycine imino esters. Firstly, the surprising great stability of the supercooled liquid phase is shown for these compounds, also under high-pressure conditions. Secondly, atypical self-organization via bifurcated hydrogen bonds into lasting centrosymmetric dimers is proven. Finally, by comparing the obtained results with the previous report, some general rules that govern ambient- and high-pressure molecular dynamics and near-glass transition phenomena are derived for the family of glycine imino esters. Particularly, we derive a mathematical formula to predict and tune their glass transition temperature ( T g ) and its pressure coefficient (d T g /d p ). We also show that, surprisingly, despite the presence of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, van der Waals and dipole-dipole interactions are the main forces governing molecular dynamics and dielectric properties of glycine imino esters.

In this work, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and IR spectroscopic markers of the complexation between 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) in solid state and in aqueous solution are investigated. In the attenuated total reflectance(ATR) spectra of 5-FU/β-CD products obtained by physical mixing, kneading and co-precipitation, we have identified the two most promising marker bands that could be used to detect complex formations: the C=O and C-F stretching bands of 5-FU that experience a blue shift by ca. 8 and 2 cm -1 upon complexation. The aqueous solutions were studied by NMR spectroscopy. As routine NMR spectra did not show any signs of complexation, we have analyzed the diffusion attenuation of spin-echo signals and the dependence of the population factor of slowly diffusing components on the diffusion time (diffusion NMR of pulsed-field gradient (PFG) NMR). The analysis has revealed that, at each moment, ~60% of 5-FU molecules form a complex with β-CD and its lifetime is ca. 13.5 ms. It is likely to be an inclusion complex, judging from the independence of the diffusion coefficient of β-CD on complexation. The obtained results could be important for future attempts of finding better methods of targeted anticancer drug delivery.

We report on the density functional theory (DFT) modelling of structural, energetic and NMR parameters of uracil and its derivatives (5-halogenouracil (5XU), X = F, Cl, Br and I) in vacuum and in water using the polarizable continuum model (PCM) and the solvent model density (SMD) approach. On the basis of the obtained results, we conclude that the intramolecular electrostatic interactions are the main factors governing the stability of the six tautomeric forms of uracil and 5XU. Two indices of aromaticity, the harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA), satisfying the geometric criterion, and the nuclear independent chemical shift (NICS), were applied to evaluate the aromaticity of uracil and its derivatives in the gas phase and water. The values of these parameters showed that the most stable tautomer is the least aromatic. A good performance of newly designed xOPBE density functional in combination with both large aug-cc-pVQZ and small STO(1M)-3G basis sets for predicting chemical shifts of uracil and 5-fluorouracil in vacuum and water was observed. As a practical alternative for calculating the chemical shifts of challenging heterocyclic compounds, we also propose B3LYP calculations with small STO(1M)-3G basis set. The indirect spin-spin coupling constants predicted by B3LYP/aug-cc-pVQZ(mixed) method reproduce the experimental data for uracil and 5-fluorouracil well.

The most commonly used method of fetal monitoring is based on heart activity analysis. Computer-aided fetal monitoring system enables extraction of clinically important information hidden for visual interpretation-the instantaneous fetal heart rate (FHR) variability. Today's fetal monitors are based on monitoring of mechanical activity of the fetal heart by means of Doppler ultrasound technique. The FHR is determined using autocorrelation methods, and thus it has a form of evenly spaced-every 250 ms-instantaneous measurements, where some of which are incorrect or duplicate. The parameters describing a beat-to-beat FHR variability calculated from such a signal show significant errors. The aim of our research was to develop new analysis methods that will both improve an accuracy of the FHR determination and provide FHR representation as time series of events. The study was carried out on simultaneously recorded (during labor) Doppler ultrasound signal and the reference direct fetal electrocardiogram Two subranges of Doppler bandwidths were separated to describe heart wall movements and valve motions. After reduction of signal complexity by determining the Doppler ultrasound envelope, the signal was analyzed to determine the FHR. The autocorrelation method supported by a trapezoidal prediction function was used. In the final stage, two different methods were developed to provide signal representation as time series of events: the first using correction of duplicate measurements and the second based on segmentation of instantaneous periodicity measurements. Thus, it ensured the mean heart interval measurement error of only 1.35 ms. In a case of beat-to-beat variability assessment the errors ranged from -1.9% to -10.1%. Comparing the obtained values to other published results clearly confirms that the new methods provides a higher accuracy of an interval measurement and a better reliability of the FHR variability estimation.

Monitoring fetal heart rate (FHR) variability plays a fundamental role in fetal state assessment. Reliable FHR signal can be obtained from an invasive direct fetal electrocardiogram (FECG), but this is limited to labour. Alternative abdominal (indirect) FECG signals can be recorded during pregnancy and labour. Quality, however, is much lower and the maternal heart and uterine contractions provide sources of interference. Here, we present ten twenty-minute pregnancy signals and 12 five-minute labour signals. Abdominal FECG and reference direct FECG were recorded simultaneously during labour. Reference pregnancy signal data came from an automated detector and were corrected by clinical experts. The resulting dataset exhibits a large variety of interferences and clinically significant FHR patterns. We thus provide the scientific community with access to bioelectrical fetal heart activity signals that may enable the development of new methods for FECG signals analysis, and may ultimately advance the use and accuracy of abdominal electrocardiography methods.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a serious heart arrhythmia leading to a significant increase of the risk for occurrence of ischemic stroke. Clinically, the AF episode is recognized in an electrocardiogram. However, detection of asymptomatic AF, which requires a long-term monitoring, is more efficient when based on irregularity of beat-to-beat intervals estimated by the heart rate (HR) features. Automated classification of heartbeats into AF and non-AF by means of the Lagrangian Support Vector Machine has been proposed. The classifier input vector consisted of sixteen features, including four coefficients very sensitive to beat-to-beat heart changes, taken from the fetal heart rate analysis in perinatal medicine. Effectiveness of the proposed classifier has been verified on the MIT-BIH Atrial Fibrillation Database. Designing of the LSVM classifier using very large number of feature vectors requires extreme computational efforts. Therefore, an original approach has been proposed to determine a training set of the smallest possible size that still would guarantee a high quality of AF detection. It enables to obtain satisfactory results using only 1.39% of all heartbeats as the training data. Post-processing stage based on aggregation of classified heartbeats into AF episodes has been applied to provide more reliable information on patient risk. Results obtained during the testing phase showed the sensitivity of 98.94%, positive predictive value of 98.39%, and classification accuracy of 98.86%., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Static electric properties, from the dipole moment to the second-hyperpolarizability tensor γ, of the 3-membered, isoelectronic ring molecules, fluorene (FL), carbazole (CR), and dibenzofuran (DBF), have been calculated at various levels of approximation. The electron correlation effects have been included at the coupled-cluster (CC) level, using CCSD and CC2 versions of the method. DFT calculations with the CAM-B3LYP functional have also been performed, and the results are compared to the CC values. The electric property-tailored Pol basis set and its more compact Z3Pol version have been employed in all static calculations. Differences between dipole polarizability values computed at the Pol and Z3Pol bases have been found to be almost negligible. Therefore, all components of the frequency-dependent dipole polarizability tensor α(-ω;ω) have been determined at the CAM-B3LYP/Z3Pol level. Divergence occurring at electronic resonances has been eliminated using the complex polarization propagator (CPP) formalism, explicitly introducing an imaginary i Γ parameter to account approximately for the finite lifetime of the excited state. The imaginary part of the dipole polarizability Im α(-ω;ω) has been calculated for a wide range of external radiation energies up to 10 eV, and its maxima have been compared to the calculated vertical electronic excitation energies.

Detailed study of Jensen's polarization-consistent vs. Dunning's correlation-consistent basis set families performance on the extrapolation of raw and counterpoise-corrected interaction energies of water dimer using coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative correction for connected triple excitations (CCSD(T)) in the complete basis set (CBS) limit are reported. Both 3-parameter exponential and 2-parameter inverse-power fits vs. the cardinal number of basis set, as well as the number of basis functions were analyzed and compared with one of the most extensive CCSD(T) results reported recently. The obtained results for both Jensen- and Dunning-type basis sets underestimate raw interaction energy by less than 0.136 kcal/mol with respect to the reference value of - 4.98065 kcal/mol. The use of counterpoise correction further improves (closer to the reference value) interaction energy. Asymptotic convergence of 3-parameter fitted interaction energy with respect to both cardinal number of basis set and the number of basis functions are closer to the reference value at the CBS limit than other fitting approaches considered here. Separate fits of Hartree-Fock and correlation interaction energy with 3-parameter formula additionally improved the results, and the smallest CBS deviation from the reference value is about 0.001 kcal/mol (underestimated) for CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVXZ calculations. However, Jensen's basis set underestimates such value to 0.012 kcal/mol. No improvement was observed for using the number of basis functions instead of cardinal number for fitting. Graphical Abstract.

Background and Objectives: Crohn's disease is a multifactorial inflammatory disease affecting mainly the gastrointestinal tract. The genetic factors that are involved in the disease include mainly three mutations of the gene NOD2/CARD15 (R702W, G908R, 3020insC). The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the presence of these variants and disease phenotype., Material and Methods: 70 patients with Crohn's disease were examined for the presence of the above-mentioned mutations. The researchers used the medical records to retrospectively obtain clinical data and together with the information obtained prospectively according to the protocol they analysed the connection between gene mutations and disease phenotype., Results: At least one mutation was found in 22 patients with Crohn's disease (32%), four patients were found to have two different mutations (composed heterozygotes - 6%) and six patients (9%) were homozygotes for the 3020insC gene. No significant differences were found between the groups with wild-type form and the mutated form of the NOD2 / CARD15 gene with respect to age at the time of diagnosis, form of the disease or localization according to the Montreal classification., Conclusion: Mutations of the NOD2 / CARD15 gene did not significantly affect the frequency of reoperations, homozygotes with 3020insC gene mutations, however, represented a high risk group. The phenotype was not related significantly to the presence of the examined mutations.

Purpose: Teeth caries is one of predominant civilization diseases. Dental fillings with antimicrobial addition might allow prevention of secondary caries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate hardness and tensile strength of cetylpyridinium chloride modified water activated glass-ionomer cement., Methods: Samples with diameter of 6 mm and height of 3 mm made of water-activated glass-ionomer cement were control group (0.0%). Test groups were series of samples of the same dimensions, with addition of cetylpyridinium chloride antimicrobial in concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%. Two subgroups were prepared in each group to determine Vickers Hardness and Diametral Tensile Strength after 1 and 24 hours of sample storage in distilled water., Results: During hardness studies, no strong effect of antimicrobial concentration on hardness of samples was observed. Higher hardness values after 24 hours were demonstrated for all groups, compared to the samples tested after 1 hour. The exception was the group with the addition of 1% cetylpyridinium chloride, in which no statistically significant differences were observed. Diametral Tensile Strength values for samples tested after 1 hour decreased with increasing antibacterial concentration. A similar relationship was noticed for samples tested after 24 hours. No statistically signifi- cant differences were found between test samples after 1 or 24 hours., Conclusions: There was no significant effect of cetylpyridinium chloride concentration on the hardness of the samples that significantly increased during the study. With the increase in antimicrobial concentration a decrease in diametral tensile strength value was observed, but these values did not change over time.

Great expectations are connected with application of indirect fetal electrocardiography (FECG), especially for home telemonitoring of pregnancy. Evaluation of fetal heart rate (FHR) variability, when determined from FECG, uses the same criteria as for FHR signal acquired classically-through ultrasound Doppler method (US). Therefore, the equivalence of those two methods has to be confirmed, both in terms of recognizing classical FHR patterns: baseline, accelerations/decelerations (A/D), long-term variability (LTV), as well as evaluating the FHR variability with beat-to-beat accuracy-short-term variability (STV). The research material consisted of recordings collected from 60 patients in physiological and complicated pregnancy. The FHR signals of at least 30 min duration were acquired dually, using two systems for fetal and maternal monitoring, based on US and FECG methods. Recordings were retrospectively divided into normal (41) and abnormal (19) fetal outcome. The complex process of data synchronization and validation was performed. Obtained low level of the signal loss (4.5% for US and 1.8% for FECG method) enabled to perform both direct comparison of FHR signals, as well as indirect one-by using clinically relevant parameters. Direct comparison showed that there is no measurement bias between the acquisition methods, whereas the mean absolute difference, important for both visual and computer-aided signal analysis, was equal to 1.2 bpm. Such low differences do not affect the visual assessment of the FHR signal. However, in the indirect comparison the inconsistencies of several percent were noted. This mainly affects the acceleration (7.8%) and particularly deceleration (54%) patterns. In the signals acquired using the electrocardiography the obtained STV and LTV indices have shown significant overestimation by 10 and 50% respectively. It also turned out, that ability of clinical parameters to distinguish between normal and abnormal groups do not depend on the acquisition method. The obtained results prove that the abdominal FECG, considered as an alternative to the ultrasound approach, does not change the interpretation of the FHR signal, which was confirmed during both visual assessment and automated analysis.

(13)C NMR chemical shifts of selected finite-size models of pristine zigzag single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with a diameter of ∼0.4-0.8nm and length up to 2.2nm were studied theoretically. Results for finite SWCNTs models containing 1, 4 and 10 adjacent bamboo-type units were compared with data obtained for infinite tubes in order to estimate the reliability of small finite models in predicting magnetic properties of real-size nanotubes and to assess their tube-length dependence. SWCNTs were fully optimized using unrestricted density functional theory (DFT-UB3LYP/6-31G*). Cyclacenes, as the shortest models of open-ended zigzag SWCNTs, with systematically varying diameter were calculated as well. GIAO NMR calculations on the SWCNT and cyclacene models were performed using the BHandH density functional combined with relatively small STO-3Gmag basis set, developed by Leszczyński and coworkers for accurate description of magnetic properties. Regular changes of carbon (13)C chemical shifts along the tube axis of real size (6, 0) and (9, 0) zigzag carbon nanotubes were shown. The (13)C NMR shifts according to increasing diameter calculated for zigzag (n, 0, n=5-10) cyclacenes followed the trends observed for zigzag (n, 0) SWCNTs. The results for 4-units long SWCNTs match reasonably well with the data obtained for infinite zigzag (n, 0) SWCNTs, especially to those with bigger diameter (n=8-15). The presence of rim hydrogens obviously affects theoretical (13)C chemical shieldings and shifts in cyclacenes and thus cyclacenes can provide only approximate estimation of (13)C NMR parameters of real-size SWCNTs. The NMR properties predicted for the longest 10-units long models of SWCNTs reliably correspond to results obtained for infinite nanotubes. They were thus able to accurately predict also recently reported experimental chemical shift of chiral (6, 5) SWCNT., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Detailed density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the structure and harmonic frequencies of model all-trans and all-cis polyenes were undertaken. For the first time, we report on the convergence of selected B3LYP/6-311++G** and BLYP/6-311++G** calculated structural parameters resulting from a systematic increase in polyene size (chains containing 2 to 14 C = C units). The limiting values of the structural parameters for very long chains were estimated using simple three-parameter empirical formulae. BLYP/6-311++G** calculated ν(C = C) and ν(C-C) frequencies for all-trans and all-cis polyenes containing up to 14 carbon-carbon double bonds were used to estimate these values for very long chains. Correction of raw, unscaled vibrational data was performed by comparing theoretical and experimental wavenumbers for polyenes chains containing 3 to 12 conjugated C = C units with both ends substituted by tert-butyl groups. The corrected ν(C = C) and ν(C-C) wavenumbers for all-trans molecules were used to estimate the presence of 9 - 12 C = C units in all-trans polyene pigment in red coral.

In this work, regular convergence patterns of the structural, harmonic, and VPT2-calculated anharmonic vibrational parameters of ethylene towards the Kohn-Sham complete basis set (KS CBS) limit are demonstrated for the first time. The performance of the VPT2 scheme implemented using density functional theory (DFT-BLYP and DFT-B3LYP) in combination with two Pople basis sets (6-311++G** and 6-311++G(3df,2pd)), the polarization-consistent basis sets pc-n, aug-pc-n, and pcseg-n (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4), and the correlation-consistent basis sets cc-pVXZ and aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D, T, Q, 5, 6) was tested.The BLYP-calculated harmonic frequencies were found to be markedly closer than the B3LYP-calculated harmonic frequencies to the experimentally derived values, while the calculated anharmonic frequencies consistently underestimated the observed wavenumbers. The different basis set families gave very similar estimated values for the CBS parameters. The anharmonic frequencies calculated with B3LYP/aug-pc-3 were consistently significantly higher than those obtained with the pc-3 basis set; applying the aug-pcseg-n basis set family alleviated this problem. Utilization of B3LYP/aug-pcseg-n basis sets instead of B3LYP/aug-cc-pVXZ, which is computationally less expensive, is suggested for medium-sized molecules. Harmonic BLYP/pc-2 calculations produced fairly accurate ethylene frequencies. Graphical Abstract In this study, the performance of the VPT2 scheme implemented using density functional theory (DFT-BLYP and DFT-B3LYP) in combination with the polarization-consistent basis sets pc-n, aug-pc-n, and pcseg-n (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4), and the correlation-consistent basis sets cc-pVXZ and aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D, T, Q, 5, and 6) was tested. For the first time, we demonstrated regular convergence patterns of the structural, harmonic, and VPT2-calculated anharmonic vibrational parameters of ethylene towards the Kohn-Sham complete basis set (KS CBS) limit.

Introduction: Intragastric balloons (IGBs) have been successfully used to treat obesity for the last 18 years. These balloons are made of different materials and filled with either air or saline. It seems that balloons filled with saline result in more effective weight loss, but are associated with worse tolerance after implantation. In contrast, balloons filled with air are associated with excellent tolerance, but result in less effective weight loss., Aim: To report the early safety and effectiveness results of the End-Ball ® balloon and to encourage discussions on how to best use this new-generation IGB for endoscopic weight loss management., Material and Methods: Twenty obese patients (mean age: 40.5 years; mean body mass index: 34.8 kg/m 2 ) were included in a 6-month study. Balloons were inflated with 300 ml of saline containing 5 ml of methylene blue and 300 cm 3 of air., Results: No serious adverse events occurred during treatment. Patients experienced varying degrees of nausea, vomiting (mean: 3.7 times the first day), and abdominal pain after implantation. Six months (23-29 weeks) after End-Ball ® balloon insertion, we observed a significant decrease in body weight (13.9 ±5.1 kg) and percent excess weight loss (37.9 ±12.9%). We also found a significant decrease in the levels of glycated hemoglobin (p < 0.001), C-peptide (p < 0.002), and triacylglycerols (p < 0.001) and an increase in the concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.025)., Conclusions: The End-Ball ® IGB is a safe and effective treatment for morbid obesity, with positive effects on weight loss and saccharide metabolism., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.