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The International Law Commission’s Seventy-Sixth (2025) Session: The Negative Impact of the United Nations’ Fiscal Crisis on The Codification and Progressive Development of International Law
Get PDFAdaptive screen printing of conductive materials enabled by 3D-printed screens
No full textConventional screen printing is a versatile material deposition technique widely applied across fields ranging from textiles to biosensors and solar cells. However, the fixed mesh geometry in traditional screens often leads to inaccuracies when printing submillimeter features or non-rectangular patterns. Furthermore, conventional methods are constrained to flat substrates, limiting their broader applicability. To overcome these challenges, this study introduces adaptive screen printing, a novel approach in which screens are fabricated directly through 3D printing. Unlike traditional screen printing, where a separate stencil is placed on top of a mesh to define material deposition, adaptive screen printing integrates the stencil and mesh into a single 3D-printed component. This integration expands design flexibility and allows for fully customizable mesh geometries including triangular or spider-web patterns. These customizable mesh geometries showed improved resolution and fidelity when printing non-prismatic features. In addition, adaptive screen printing demonstrates successful deposition on curved substrates, such as cylindrical and dome-shaped surfaces, addressing a long-standing limitation of the conventional method. With enhanced design freedom and substrate compatibility, adaptive screen printing is expected to open new application opportunities and further extend the versatility of screen-printing technology.</p
SARS-CoV-2 wastewater genomic surveillance: approaches, challenges, and opportunities
No full textWastewater-based genomic surveillance (WWGS) has proven effective for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses within communities. It enables rapid detection of known and emerging mutations and provides insights into circulating lineages. Despite its advantages, WWGS faces challenges in sample processing and computational analysis, particularly in distinguishing similar lineages and identifying novel ones. Recent methods for wastewater sequencing (WWS) analysis remain largely untested amid declining clinical surveillance and ongoing viral evolution. This review examines opportunities and limitations of WWGS, focusing on sample preparation, sequencing technologies, and bioinformatics approaches, and highlights its potential to strengthen public health monitoring systems
Oncolytic Virotherapy for Solid Tumors
No full textOncolytic viruses (OVs) are naturally occurring or genetically engineered viruses that selectively replicate in and destroy tumor cells while sparing normal tissues. This review provides an overview of the biological basis of OV therapy, including mechanisms of tumor oncolysis and immune modulation. We further discuss current clinical applications, emerging combination therapies, and the development of next-generation viral platforms. Finally, we examine the major barriers to OV clinical translation and outline emerging strategies to overcome them. The increasing momentum in oncolytic virotherapy, driven by advances in synthetic biology and immuno-oncology, underscores its potential to become a cornerstone of next-generation cancer treatments
Optimizing rural community health to increase interdisciplinary detection and care: the ORCHID study
No full textEarly detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is needed in rural areas, which experience increased cognitive risks. Rural multiculturally diverse residents, providers, educators and students participated in ORCHID, a quasi-experimental, dementia-focused study. Only 36% of patients in the provider intervention group were diagnosed/treated in-house, while 19% in the control group were referred out despite increases in pre-post provider confidence of 9.4 +/- 3.1 and 13.0 +/- 2.2 in both groups. The ORCHID clinical trial revealed limitations, which were informed by considering Yeh's model of participatory budgeting and Gan et al.'s Dementia Care and Prevention in Community framework.</p
Vasoactive regimens and outcomes in patients with septic shock: an observational cohort study
No full textSharks at night, exposed to city light: Melatonin concentrations in two shark species differ in response to artificial light at night
No full textArtificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive pollutant which can extend into coastal waters. Previous studies have revealed that ALAN can suppress melatonin levels in teleost fishes. However, the effects of ALAN on elasmobranch physiology have yet to be investigated. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the relationship between ALAN exposure and blood melatonin levels in wild nurse (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus) sharks sampled off Miami, Florida (USA). We hypothesized that sharks sampled at night in metropolitan areas exposed to high ALAN, would exhibit lower blood melatonin concentrations, compared to conspecifics sampled in adjacent more pristine areas with low ALAN. As shark level of mobility would likely influence exposure to ALAN, we further hypothesized species-specific differences in our results as nurse sharks are relatively sedentary, whereas blacktips are highly mobile. We also tested for the potential influence of other biological and environmental factors, along with exposure to ALAN, on species-specific melatonin levels. Consistent with our hypothesis, nurse sharks exposed to higher ALAN exhibited significantly lower melatonin concentrations compared to individuals sampled in areas with lower ALAN. Melatonin concentrations measured in blacktips did not differ between individuals sampled in high versus low areas of ALAN. These results suggest that exposure to ALAN can suppress melatonin levels in wild sharks, and that these effects may be influenced by species-specific mobility; specifically, species that are highly resident to areas of high ALAN may be more prone to this anthropogenic pollutant compared to highly mobile species that readily move between areas of high and low ALAN. The melatonin levels found here for nurse (24.6 to 425.2 pg/mL) and blacktip sharks (27.4 to 628.7 pg/mL) also represent the first assessment of blood melatonin levels reported in sharks, providing baseline information for future monitoring and inter- and intra-species comparisons
Abstract WP366: Dose-Response Evaluation of Intra-Arterial Neural Stem Cell Therapy in Acute Ischemic Stroke Model
No full textIntroduction: Preclinical studies in the past two decades have shown promise in cell therapies for stroke. Intra-arterial (IA) delivery of stem cells is minimally invasive and uses similar techniques to endovascular thrombectomy making it attractive for clinical translation. Recent studies from our lab have shown the safety and efficacy of IA-Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) treatment in rodent and canine ischemic stroke models primarily through anti-inflammatory mechanisms. However, there are sparse studies of IA neural stem cells (NSCs), which may have direct impact on neuronal survival and regeneration.
Methods: In this study we tested three different doses (1 x 105, 5 x 105, 1 x 106) of IA NSCs and compared their efficacy with PBS control and intra-arterial MSC groups in a rat model of reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion (rMCAO). Stem cell therapy was administered 24 hours after reperfusion. Behavioral and functional improvements, as well as postmortem histology were performed to evaluate the efficacy of different doses.
Results: Our findings showed significant improvements in stroke volume, surviving neurons, neurological deficit scoring, and other functional behavioral tests for the 5 x 105 NSC group at 7 days after stroke. Additionally, neurological deficit scoring showed significant improvements at the higher dose of 1 x 106 NSC as well. Significantly elevated expression of NeuN, Sox2, and Nestin markers were also detected in the ipsilateral dentate gyrus at 7 days after stroke in the 5 x 105 NSCs dose group.
Conclusions: These novel findings help us evaluate safe and optimally effective dose for IA-NSC in ischemic stroke post-reperfusion. They form the basis for developing future pre-clinical studies and designing a successful clinical translation of this novel approach
Cervical spine chordomas: surgical outcome assessment in a multicenter cohort from the Primary Tumor Research and Outcomes Network
No full textChordomas are rare, locally aggressive primary neoplasms. Resection with negative margins is the primary recommended therapeutic approach, while adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy can also play a role in their treatment in certain situations, including lesions with positive margins or those that are poorly differentiated or dedifferentiated. Cervical spine chordomas pose significant surgical challenges given their proximity to critical anatomical structures and the mechanical constraints of the cervical spine. In the current case series, authors aimed to explore the clinical and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of the surgical treatment of cervical chordomas in a large multicenter cohort.
This multicenter case series analysis utilized data from the prospectively collected Primary Tumor Research and Outcomes Network (PTRON) registry, from its inception (May 16, 2016) to data extraction (February 29, 2024). The study population was restricted to patients with histologically confirmed cervical chordomas involving levels C0-7, who underwent surgical treatment at one of the participating centers, and for whom both the initially planned and postoperatively pathologically confirmed surgical margins were documented. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical and adjuvant treatments, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), overall survival (OS), and perioperative adverse events were retrieved. PROs included the Spine Oncology Study Group Outcomes Questionnaire version 2.0 (SOSGOQ2.0), EQ-5D, and SF-36 version 2.0 (SF-36v2).
Thirty-eight patients were identified, 12 of whom underwent true en bloc resection (EBR), 18 of whom underwent deliberate intralesional resection, and 8 of whom underwent EBR after intralesional surgery or in whom EBR failed. True EBR led to better LRFS (92% vs 83% vs 63%, respectively) and OS (83% vs 39% vs 50%, respectively). Surgical adverse events within 1 year were more frequent with true EBR (100% vs 39% vs 75%, respectively). EQ-5D, SOSGOQ2.0, and SF-36v2 showed improvement with true EBR, whereas the trends for PROs from the other groups were more variable.
This multicenter case series analysis provides critical insights into the clinical outcomes and PROs in the largest cohort of surgically treated cervical spine chordomas described to date. It underscores the importance and challenges of wide resection for oncological control. It establishes the associated morbidity and provides an overview of PROs following surgery. These findings contribute valuable evidence to inform shared decision-making and optimize patient care
Abstract A102: Factors Associated With the Provision of Diabetes Discharge Education Among Adults Living With Acute Stroke and Diabetes
No full textBackground: Diabetes discharge education is essential for post-stroke care in patients with comorbid diabetes, as it supports self-management and may reduce complications and readmissions. However, its delivery remains inconsistent, and the factors influencing its provision are not well understood. We investigated the frequency and associated factors of diabetes discharge education among diabetic adults hospitalized with stroke in the Florida Stroke Registry (FSR).
Methods: We analyzed data from 34,361 adults hospitalized with ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage in FSR-participating hospitals (2019-2024), discharged to home or inpatient rehabilitation, with either a prior or newly diagnosed diabetes diagnosis. Diabetes discharge education encompasses provider-led instructions regarding medication use, lifestyle guidance, and glucose management. Mixed-effects multinomial logistic regression was used to assess mutually adjusted associations between patient-level characteristics and provision of diabetes discharge education (categorized as yes, no, or not documented), accounting for hospital-level clustering.
Results: The mean age was 68 years; 56% were male; 94% had ischemic stroke. Only 4% were newly diagnosed with diabetes at admission. Overall, 54% received diabetes discharge education. Among the 76% of patients with documented hyper- or hypoglycemia at admission in the sample, 57% received education, 20% did not, and 23% lacked documentation. Patients with a prior diabetes diagnosis were significantly less likely to receive discharge education compared to those newly diagnosed (aOR 0.49; 95% CI 0.41-0.60). Compared to privately insured patients, those with Medicare (aOR 0.92; 95% CI 0.84-1.00) and Medicaid (aOR 0.81; 95% CI 0.71-0.93) were also less likely to receive education.
Conclusion: Nearly half of stroke patients with diabetes either did not receive or lacked documentation of diabetes discharge education. Those with a prior diabetes diagnosis and those insured through Medicare or Medicaid were significantly less likely to receive education, highlighting critical gaps in care. These populations may benefit from targeted strategies to strengthen discharge education and self-management support. Future work should investigate institutional and provider-level barriers and evaluate the impact of education on reducing readmissions and improving post-stroke outcomes