Tag: pubmed

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1007/s00405-026-10449-9. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) represent summation of action potentials generated by neurons of the auditory nerve in response to electrical stimulation. The slope of the ECAP amplitude growth function (AGF) reflects responsiveness or survival of neurons proximal to the stimulating electrode. Goals of the present study were to characterize the magnitude of the AGF slope by electrode site and over time in a cohort of pediatric CI users and measure the degree of correlation of slopes with auditory assessment results.

METHODS: 23 CI users participated in the study, ranging in age from 3 to 12 years. All implanted with 31.5 mm electrode array, full insertion. ECAP AGF slopes measured with all active electrodes intra-operatively, device switch-on, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months post switch-on. Auditory assessments administered at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months post-implantation. Analysis performed by electrode as well as intracochlear electrode site (basal, middle, and apical).

RESULTS: AGF slopes significantly increased according to a basal-to-apical gradient. Slopes were more than twice as large at the apical-most electrode compared to the basal-most (43.1 vs. 20.3 µV/nC). AGF slopes stimulated from basal electrodes significantly increased over time, while those stimulated from apical electrodes significantly decreased over time. No statistically significant correlations were observed between AGF slopes and the test results of any auditory assessment at any timepoint.

CONCLUSION: Observations demonstrate AGF slopes vary substantially, both across the array and over time. No significant associations were observed between AGF slopes and auditory perception skills in this cohort. Due to our relatively small sample size and the heterogeneity of the data, no definitive conclusions regarding these associations can be made here.

PMID:42472922 | DOI:10.1007/s00405-026-10449-9

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1007/s00405-026-10415-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Accurate sound localization is essential for children’s communication, safety, and learning. While noise stimuli are commonly used in directional hearing tests in clinical settings, speech stimuli may offer more child-friendly assessments.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare sound localization performance using noise and word stimuli across several groups of children with different types of hearing.

METHODS: A total of 108 children participated in the study: 31 normal-hearing children aged 6-10 (Ref_6-10), 32 children aged 6-10 with hearing aids (HA_6-10), and 45 children aged 11-17 with hearing aids (HA_11-17). Participants completed a sound localization task using five speakers placed at horizontal angles (± 90°, ± 45°, 0°). They localized broadband noise bursts or one of four German words, presented randomly at different sound levels. Localization accuracy was measured using root mean square error (RMSE). Linear mixed-effects models analysis was conducted with Stimulus and Angle as within-subject factors and Group as a between-subject factor.

RESULTS: No significant differences have been found in the comparison between stimuli regarding the RMSE between the groups. A weakly significant difference between stimulus types was found only in the HA_6-10 group at 0°, where noise stimuli were localized more accurately than words (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Both noise and word stimuli are suitable for assessing directional hearing in children. However, noise stimuli are more economical, as they require fewer presentations. In contrast, word stimuli are more time and resource-demanding due to the need for multiple presentations of each word to obtain statistically reliable results.

PMID:42472921 | DOI:10.1007/s00405-026-10415-5

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1007/s11356-026-38061-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

While plant bioassays are widely used for acute genotoxicity, transgenerational effects are predominantly studied in animal models. A comprehensive literature review revealed a critical gap in plant-based transgenerational cytogenotoxicity studies. To bridge this gap, I propose the TAGT-v1 (Transgenerational Assessment of Genotoxicity in Plants, version 1) protocol as the first proposed standardized transgenerational plant bioassay framework. TAGT-v1 evaluates intergenerational genotoxic effects via seed-to-seed transfer (F0 → F1 → F2 → F3) following a single-point exposure in the F0 generation. The protocol employs short-life-cycle species (Hordeum vulgare, Rapid-cycling Brassica rapa, Brachypodium distachyon, and Arabidopsis thaliana) and excludes clonally reproducing models. Offering an ethical, cost-effective, and ecologically relevant alternative to animal testing, TAGT-v1 assesses both acute F0 effects and heritable genomic damage in the F3 generation-operationally defined as the first fully independent generation after F0 seed exposure, provided that chemical carry-over is excluded by LC-MS/MS. By overcoming the limitations of single-generation approaches, TAGT-v1 enables a more realistic evaluation of the long-term, population-level impacts of environmental pollutants. Future research will focus on the experimental validation of this protocol.

PMID:42472909 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-026-38061-8

Clin Oral Investig. 2026 Jul 20;30(8):349. doi: 10.1007/s00784-026-07032-1.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate asprosin, adropin, and irisin levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) across different periodontal conditions and to analyze their relationship with clinical periodontal parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 122 systemically healthy participants (25-60 years) were divided into four groups: healthy periodontium (n = 30), gingivitis (n = 30), Stage I-II periodontitis (n = 32), and Stage III-IV periodontitis (n = 30). Clinical parameters recorded included probing depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), plaque index (PI), and gingival index (GI). GCF samples were collected, and asprosin, adropin, and irisin levels were measured by ELISA. Statistical analyses included ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis with post hoc tests, Pearson correlations, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTS: Asprosin levels were significantly higher in Stage III-IV periodontitis compared with other groups (p < 0.05). Adropin and irisin levels were higher in the healthy group, although not statistically significant. Asprosin correlated positively with PI, PD, CAL, and BOP, while irisin correlated negatively with PI. ROC analysis indicated that asprosin had diagnostic potential for distinguishing between advanced periodontitis and other conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Elevated GCF asprosin levels were found to be associated with periodontitis severity, whereas adropin and irisin were related to periodontal health. More research is needed to understand the role of irisin, asprosin, and adropin in periodontal pathogenesis.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study provides novel insights into the potential role of asprosin, adropin, and irisin as biomarkers of periodontal status. Elevated GCF asprosin levels were associated with advanced periodontitis, reflecting the inflammatory burden of the disease. Conversely, higher levels of adropin and irisin were associated with better periodontal health, suggesting protective or homeostatic functions. These findings indicate that GCF asprosin, adropin, and irisin levels may serve as promising adjunctive diagnostic indicators for distinguishing between periodontal health and disease. Future longitudinal studies are needed to validate their prognostic value and to clarify their mechanistic involvement in periodontal pathogenesis.

PMID:42472908 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-026-07032-1

Sci Rep. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-62885-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Soil fertility variability is a major constraint to agricultural productivity in Ethiopian highlands, yet uniform nutrient management persists due to inadequate characterization of spatial heterogeneity. This study addressed the need for site-specific nutrient management zones (MZs) in Aroressa district, Sidama region. One hundred fifty-four soil samples (77 disturbed, 77 undisturbed) were collected from 0 to 20 cm depth. Analysis included pH, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (av.P), exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and bulk density (BD). Geostatistical analysis with semi-variogram modeling and ordinary kriging mapped spatial distribution. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced dimensionality, and Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering delineated MZs, validated by ANOVA. Soils were strongly to moderately acidic (mean pH 5.19), with critically low TN (0.19%), moderate OC (2.40%), and highly heterogeneous K (CV 62.2%) and av.P (CV 32.8%). Semi-variogram models showed moderate to strong spatial dependence for most nutrients (range: 19.7-317 m). PCA retained three components explaining 71.73% variance. Five optimal MZs were delineated, significantly differentiating all soil properties (p < 0.01). MZ delineation reduced within-zone variability substantially: K (74.2%), CEC (51.0%), OC (49.3%), BD (54.7%), and av.P (40.2%). The PCA-FCM approach effectively captured soil fertility gradients, with Zone 5 showing highest fertility (CEC 35.3 cmol(+)/kg, K 1.33 cmol(+)/kg) and Zone 4 the most acidic (pH 4.66). Results support transitioning from uniform to site-specific nutrient management, with variable-rate K and P fertilization, targeted liming, and zone-specific organic matter restoration strategies.

PMID:42472905 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-62885-6

Sci Rep. 2026 Jul 19. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-59791-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA) have an increased risk of kidney involvement. The aim of the study was to assess early kidney injury markers (EKIMs) in SpA patients without clinically recognized kidney disease compared with control group (CG), and to analyze associations with SpA subtypes and therapy. In this cross-sectional study, 125 SpA patients (ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, non-radiographic axial SpA) and 53 GC were included. Serum and urinary NGAL, KIM-1, RBP4, FGF23, NAG, and IL-18 were measured. Our findings indicate subclinical kidney involvement in SpA. Serum and urinary KIM-1 levels were elevated in SpA patients compared to CG (serum: p = 0.039; urine: p = 0.024). Urinary RBP4 was higher in SpA patients (p = 0.005), while serum RBP4 was lower (p < 0.001) compared to CG. Urinary FGF23 concentrations were higher in SpA patients than in CG (p < 0.001). Serum NAG levels differed between SpA and CG (p = 0.018). While no overall differences were observed for urinary NGAL or IL-18 between the SpA group and CG, subgroup analyses revealed specific differences. Psoriatic arthritis patients showed distinct profiles, including lower serum FGF23 (p = 0.028 vs. nr-axSpA and CG), lower serum NAG (p = 0.013 vs. CG), and higher urinary IL-18 (p = 0.012 vs. CG) compared to CG. Levels of most EKIMs did not significantly differ between patients on first-line versus second-line therapies, except for serum FGF23, which was lower in patients receiving bDMARDs/tsDMARDs (p = 0.018). SpA patients without overt kidney disease demonstrate subclinical tubular injury and altered biomarker profiles, supporting the potential role of EKIMs in early renal assessment.

PMID:42472898 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-59791-2

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2026 Jul 18;182:107557. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2026.107557. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the fracture load (FL) of 3- and 4-unit zirconia fixed dental prostheses (FDP)s fabricated from two strength- and translucency-gradient multilayer zirconia materials before and after thermomechanical aging, and to compare the findings with finite element modeling (FEM).

METHODS: A total of 80 FDPs were milled from two zirconia materials: 5Y-PSZ/3Y-TZP (IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime) and 5Y-PSZ/4Y-PSZ (IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime Esthetic) (n = 40/material). Connector cross-sections were adapted to the material and FDP design: 17.0 and 14.1 mm² (3-unit) and 30.3, 33.1, and 39.2 mm² (4-unit) for 5Y-PSZ/3Y-TZP FDPs; 26.5 and 31.4 mm² (3-unit) and 27.5, 38, and 44.6 mm² (4-unit) for 5Y-PSZ/4Y-PSZ. All FDPs were cemented onto CoCrMo abutments. Half of the specimens were tested on fracture load (FL) under initial conditions, whereas the other half underwent thermomechanical aging in a chewing simulator (2.4 million cycles, 50 N, 1.5 Hz, 12,000 thermal cycles between 5°C and 55°C; 60 s dwell time). Data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, univariate analysis with partial eta squared, Mann-Whitney-U-test, Weibull statistics, and the Ciby Geigy method (α = 0.05). In addition, FEM simulations were performed to predict FL and failure location.

RESULTS: For 3-unit FDPs, no difference in initial FL was found between the two materials. After thermomechanical aging, 5Y-PSZ/4Y-PSZ showed higher FL than 5Y-PSZ/3Y-TZP. For 4-unit FDPs, FL was not affected by zirconia material or aging condition. In general, FDP span and thermomechanical aging had no influence on FL. The lowest Weibull modulus was observed for aged 4-unit 5Y-PSZ/4Y-PSZ FDPs, whereas the highest was found for initial 3-unit 5Y- PSZ/3Y-TZP FDPs. All 3-unit FDPs fractured at the connector between abutment and pontic, whereas 4-unit FDPs predominantly fractured in the pontic region between teeth 35 and 36. The FEM-predicted fracture loads were 3080 N and 2181 N for the 3-unit and 4-unit 5Y-PSZ/4Y-PSZ, and 2560 N and 2600 N for the corresponding 5Y-PSZ/3Y-TZP FDPs.

SIGNIFICANCE: Both strength and translucency gradient multilayer zirconia materials exhibited clinically sufficient and largely comparable FL behavior when connector geometry were appropriately designed. Thermomechanical aging did not impair load-bearing capacity under the tested conditions. FEM predictions showed good agreement with the results in terms of both FL magnitude and failure location.

PMID:42472511 | DOI:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2026.107557

Ultrasonics. 2026 Jul 16;168:108227. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2026.108227. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Wavenumber-domain beamforming offers substantial computational advantage over conventional time-domain algorithms in ultrasound image formation. However, these methods are found to introduce distortions at large angles and greater depths, making it nontrivial to replace conventional processing pipelines with wavenumber-domain approaches. This paper presents a wavenumber-domain framework that produces images consistent with conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming, while retaining the computational efficiency of Fourier-domain processing. Building on recent work on DAS-consistent imaging for multistatic acquisition data, the key utility of this novel algorithm is its applicability in plane-wave, focused-transmit, and diverging-wave imaging. The approach compensates for the implicit spatial-frequency filtering of earlier wavenumber-domain formulations through a modified Fourier-domain weighting and an axial scaling to the reconstructed image. Using data from simulations, phantom experiments, and in-vivo liver imaging, we demonstrate that the proposed method preserves DAS-equivalent amplitude, speckle statistics, resolution, and contrast. Quantitative image comparison confirms a close agreement between DAS and the proposed method with Structural Similarity (SSIM) values exceeding 0.99, whereas SSIM between earlier wavenumber-domain beamformers and DAS is lower, ranging from 0.67 to 0.92 depending on the transmit scheme. The proposed method yields approximately one order-of-magnitude reduction in computational cost compared to conventional DAS, making it well-suited for real-time and resource-constrained ultrasound systems.

PMID:42472506 | DOI:10.1016/j.ultras.2026.108227

Vaccine. 2026 Jul 18;88:128953. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128953. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination in pregnancy protects newborns against pertussis, but the influence of gestational age (GA) at vaccination on maternal and neonatal immune profiles remains incompletely understood. This study aimed to characterize the effect of GA at Tdap vaccination on several antibody features during pregnancy and at birth, and to assess transplacental antibody transfer.

METHODS: 96 pregnant women received Tdap at different GAs between week 16 and 32 within a Belgian, prospective non-randomized controlled trial. Maternal blood was collected pre-vaccination, at multiple timepoints post-vaccination, and at delivery, alongside cord blood at birth. Tdap-specific total IgG and IgG subclasses were evaluated alongside Fc-mediated effector functions. Multivariate analyses were applied to define composite immune patterns.

RESULTS: Post-vaccination, robust immune responses were observed across cohorts. At delivery, maternal total IgG and IgG1 against PRN, DT, and TT were higher with later vaccination, whereas other subclasses and functional responses were largely comparable. Cord blood profiles partially paralleled maternal patterns without reaching significance, and no significant effect of vaccination-to-delivery interval was detected. IgG transfer ratios generally declined with advancing GA; functional antibody transfer was largely unaffected. Multivariate analyses highlighted higher maternal antibody response profiles at delivery with later vaccination, while cord blood profiles were generally unaffected.

CONCLUSION: Maternal Tdap antibody response profiles at delivery are influenced by vaccination timing, while neonatal antibody profiles at birth appear largely comparable within the limits of the study. These findings support current recommendations for Tdap administration between 16 and 32 weeks of gestation and underscore the flexibility of this window for routine antenatal care.

PMID:42472495 | DOI:10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128953

Psychol Health Med. 2026 Jul 19:1-30. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2026.2691409. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Maternal mental health is a major global concern affecting both pregnant women and fetal development. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown benefits in improving maternal mental health. This study assessed the effects of digital and conventional face-to-face MBIs on psychological distress among pregnant women. Two independent reviewers conducted the literature search and study selection. PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect were searched for studies published between 2014 and 2025; 27 studies were included, involving 1,793 participants in the digital MBI group and 2,406 in the face-to-face MBI group. Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% CI was calculated for psychological distress (depression, stress, and anxiety) outcomes. Heterogeneity was assessed using Chi-square and I² statistics. Due to substantial heterogeneity, a random-effects model and subgroup analyses were applied. MBIs during pregnancy were found to be effective, with overall SMDs of -0.77 for anxiety, -0.57 for depression and -0.64 for stress. In the subgroup analysis, digital MBI studies also showed significant reductions in anxiety (SMD = -0.56, 95% CI: -0.92 to -0.20; p = 0.006), depression (SMD = -0.43, 95% CI: -0.69 to -0.17; p = 0.001), and stress (SMD = -0.70, 95% CI: -1.12 to -0.27; p = 0.001) compared with standard care. MBIs were effective in reducing psychological distress among pregnant women. Both digital and face-to-face MBIs improved maternal psychological well-being, with digital MBIs showing comparable benefits in some studies. However, substantial heterogeneity across studies indicates the need for further high-quality research to confirm these findings.

PMID:42472479 | DOI:10.1080/13548506.2026.2691409