Housing different animal groups in close-by facilities is common in wildlife centers. However, the impact on animal welfare is insufficiently studied in the literature. In this study, we analyzed the behavior of two adjacently housed chimpanzee groups to investigate how intergroup interactions may affect their behavior and, thus, their welfare. We recorded occurrences of abnormal and self-directed behaviors, two well-known indicators of stress in chimpanzees. Furthermore, we explored the social responses to said intergroup interactions by recording all inter- and intragroup affiliative and agonistic behaviors. Finally, we measured the number of vigilance occurrences that individuals directed towards other chimpanzees as an indicator of interest. Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were used to assess whether and how social interactions between neighboring groups might influence their behaviors, taking gender, age, group, and intergroup participation into account. Our results suggest that intergroup interactions promoted the occurrence of affiliative behaviors between group members. However, intergroup interactions caused the chimpanzees to exhibit a higher number of abnormal and self-directed behaviors and increased vigilance towards their group members when agonistic intergroup interactions occurred. Thus, adjacent housing does impact the chimpanzees’ behavior and welfare and should be continuously monitored and assessed to promote and maximize welfare. Full article

This study aimed to assess the relationship between the length of the dry period (DL) and the risks of dystocia and stillbirths in Holstein cows. A total of 1072 healthy cows in lactations 1 and ≥2 were categorized based on the DL (mean: 58.07 ± 0.33 days) into three groups: short DL (<40 days; 13.0% of cows), medium DL (40–70 days; 60.1%), and long DL (>70 days; 26.9%). Dystocia occurred in 12.4% of cows, while stillbirths accounted for 4.1% of calves. The medium DL group had the highest number of unassisted calvings. The dystocia rates were 11.4% for cows with gestation (GA) ≤ 274 days; 6.0% for cows with GA = 275–282 days; and 19.9% for cows with GA ≥ 283 days (p < 0.001). In season 1 (November–April), dystocia occurred in 15.0% of cases compared to 8.8% in season 2 (May–October) (p < 0.001). The stillbirth rates ranged from 3.6% to 4.0% for cows with medium and long DLs; while those with a short DL had 5.8% (p < 0.05). The stillbirth rates were 5.2% for cows with GA ≤ 274 days; 3.2% for cows with GA = 275–282 days; and 5.1% for cows with GA ≥ 283 days (p < 0.001). Season 1 had a stillbirth rate of 4.8%, while season 2 had a stillbirth rate of 3.3% (p < 0.001). This research provides insights that could assist the dairy industry in making informed decisions to reduce the incidence rates of dystocia and stillbirths in cows. Full article

The reciprocating plate column is a kind of column with the plates driven by a geared motor, and it has advantages in regard to efficiency compared to traditional columns in the extraction process, however, it comes with an increase in energy consumption. A new type of reciprocating plate column driven by electro-permanent magnet technology (EPM) is proposed in this paper to obtain a better performance with lower energy consumption. The feasibility and performance of the proposed column is studied by numerical simulation and experiments with a kerosene–water system. The electro-permanent magnet chuck could provide a maximum amplitude of 12 mm in this study. Kerosene was used as the dispersed phase, and deionized water was used as the continuous phase, in a laboratory-scale 35 mm diameter reciprocating plate column driven by EPM. Hydrodynamic performance experiments were carried out with different flowrates of both phases and reciprocating frequencies. The experimental results show that the electro-permanent magnet chuck, which serves as the driving device of the reciprocating plate column, plays the role of adding energy and increasing the droplet breakage. In addition, the energy consumption of the reciprocating plate column with traditional geared motor and electro-permanent magnet chuck is calculated respectively. Compared with the traditional geared motor, the energy saving of the electro-permanent magnet chuck is as high as 98.55%. Full article

The tailored thermal heat-treatment process for Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by laser–arc hybrid additive manufacturing can achieve desired microstructures and excellent mechanical properties for components. The effects of different heat treatment regimens on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by laser–arc hybrid additive manufacturing are investigated in this study. Utilizing optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, we analyze the variations in microstructure with changes in heat-treatment parameters and explore the reasons for the changes in mechanical properties under different solutions’ treatment temperatures and cooling rates. The microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated via laser–arc hybrid additive manufacturing was primarily composed of Widmanstätten α plate structures and a small amount of acicular martensite α′ within columnar β grains that grew outward from the substrate along the deposition direction. Following solution treatment and aging heat treatment, the microstructure transitioned to a typical high-performance net basket structure with significantly reduced α plate thickness, leading to noticeable enhancements in sample ductility and toughness. Specifically, when the solution treatment and aging treatment regimen was set at 950 °C for 1 h, followed by air cooling, and then aging at 540 °C for 6 h with subsequent air cooling, the average grain size decreased by a factor of two compared to the as-deposited samples, while the impact toughness increased by 66.7%. Full article

Background: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a type II transmembrane glycoprotein overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells in most of the patients affected by prostate adenocarcinoma (PCa). However, PSMA expression has also been demonstrated in the endothelial cells of newly formed vessels of various solid tumors, suggesting a role for PSMA in neoangiogenesis. In this scenario, gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) or fluoro-18 (¹⁸F)-labeled PSMA positron emission tomography (PET) may play a role in tumors other than PCa, generally evaluated employing other radiopharmaceuticals targeting different pathways. This review aims to investigate the detection rate of PSMA-PET compared to other radiopharmaceuticals (especially [¹⁸F]FDG) in non-prostate tumors to identify patients who may benefit from the use of such a theragnostic agent. Methods: We performed a bibliographic search on three different databases until February 2024 using the following terms: “positron emission tomography”, “PET”, “PET/CT”, “Prostate-specific membrane antigen”, “PSMA”, “non-prostate”, “not prostate cancer”, “solid tumor”, “FDG”, “Fluorodeoxyglucose”, “FAPi”, “FET”, “MET”, “DOPA”, “choline”, “FCH”, “FES”, “DOTATOC”, “DOTANOC”, and “DOTATATE”. Only original articles edited in English with at least 10 patients were included. Results: Out of a total of 120 articles, only 25 original articles comparing PSMA with other radiotracers were included in this study. The main evidence was demonstrated in renal cell carcinoma, where PSMA showed a higher detection rate compared to [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT, with implications for patient management. PSMA PET may also improve the assessment of other entities, such as gliomas, in defining regions of early neoangiogenesis. Further data are needed to evaluate the potential role of PSMA-PET in triple-negative breast cancer as a novel therapeutic vascular target. Finally, unclear applications of PSMA-PET include thyroid and gastrointestinal tumors. Conclusions: The present review shows the potential use of PSMA-labeled PET/CT in solid tumors beyond PCa, underlining its value over other radiopharmaceuticals (mainly [¹⁸F]FDG). Prospective clinical trials with larger sample sizes are crucial to further investigate these possible clinical applications. Full article

This study evaluated the environmental impact and overall benefits of incorporating humus composites in the anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste and residual sludge. The life cycle assessment method was used to quantitatively analyze the environmental impact of the entire anaerobic co-digestion treatment process of waste, including garbage collection, transportation, and final product utilization. Moreover, the comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact, energy-saving and emission-reduction abilities, and economic cost of using humus composites in the anaerobic co-digestion treatment process was conducted using a benefit analysis method. The results showed that the anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste and residual sludge significantly contributed to the mitigation of global warming potential (GWP), reaching −19.76 kgCO₂-eq, but had the least impact on the mitigation of acidification potential (AP), reaching −0.10 kgSO₂-eq. In addition, the addition of humus composites significantly increased the production of biogas. At a concentration of 5 g/L, the biogas yield of the anaerobic co-digestion process was 70.76 m³, which increased by 50.62% compared with the blank group. This amount of biogas replaces ~50.52 kg of standard coal, reducing CO₂ emissions by 13.74 kg compared with burning the same amount of standard coal. Therefore, the anaerobic co-digestion treatment of kitchen waste and residual sludge brings considerable environmental benefits. Full article

Single-phase input rectifier brushless DC motor drives with a small film capacitor have many advantages, such as high power density and high reliability. However, when the motor system operates in regenerative braking mode, the dc-link capacitor with reduced capacitance may suffer from overvoltage without adding additional hardware circuits. At the same time, the braking torque control of the motor will be affected by speed variations. In order to ensure smooth and reliable operation of the motor system, an anti-overvoltage braking torque control method is proposed in this article. The relationship among the dc-link capacitance, the dc-link capacitor voltage, and the speed during regenerative braking is analyzed quantitatively, and the speed at which the regenerative braking is switched to the plug braking is obtained, which in turn consumes the capacitor energy to avoid dc-link overvoltage. Additionally, based on the relationship between the controllability of the braking torque and the speed, a reference value of the braking current that matches the speed is designed. The proposed method makes use of the capacitor’s energy storage during regenerative braking. Meanwhile, it mitigates the impact of motor speed on braking torque. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on a motor platform equipped with the dc-link film capacitor. Full article

A keloid is a benign fibroproliferative hypertrophy of scar tissue that extends outside the original wound and invades adjacent healthy skin. Keloid formation is thought to be a complex process including overactivity of the interleukin-6 signaling pathway and genetic susceptibility. The aim of the study was to investigate possible associations between rs1800797, rs1800796, and rs1800795 polymorphisms in the promoter of the IL6 gene encoding interleukin-6 and the rs2228145 polymorphism in the IL6R gene encoding the interleukin-6 receptor subunit alpha with the predisposition to keloids in Polish patients. The genetic polymorphisms were identified either using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) or sequencing of samples of genomic DNA extracted from blood leukocytes of 86 adult patients with keloids and 100 newborns comprising a control group. No significant differences in the distributions of IL6 or IL6R alleles or genotypes were found between keloid patients and newborn controls. There were also no significant differences between both groups in the distribution of IL6 haplotypes. The IL6 rs1800797, rs1800796 and rs1800795 and IL6R rs2228145 polymorphisms were not found to predispose individuals in the study group to keloids. IL6 promoter haplotypes were not found to be associated with a higher risk of keloids in the studied group. Full article

It is commonly known that the present systems and techniques used in education are outdated. In 1983, UNESCO had already called attention to this, calling present techniques archaic and inefficient. Though a lot of new developments have been achieved and a lot of commendable work has been carried out to remedy particular shortfalls in present systems, no literature was found that develops a concise and complete model for an education approach that maps the use of emergent technologies and techniques to improve on shortfalls in present teaching and learning paradigms. This paper reviews emergent technologies and techniques and their impacts and successes, to propose a combined model for online education to improve the effectiveness, accessibility and impact of teaching and learning activities. This paper concludes by presenting the possible future scope of education and employment structures by examining the possible impacts of the proposed model. Full article

Organoids present immense promise for studying organ systems and their functionality. Recently, they have become the subject of exploration outside of purely biomedical uses in multiple directions. We will explore the rapidly evolving landscape of organoid research over the 21st century, discussing significant advancements in organoid research and highlighting breakthroughs, methodologies, and their transformative impact on our understanding of physiology and modeling. In addition, we will explore their potential use for biocomputing and harnessing organoid intelligence, investigate how these miniaturized organ-like structures promise to create novel computational models and processing platforms allowing for innovative approaches in drug discovery, personalized medicine, and disease prediction. Lastly, we will address the ethical dilemmas surrounding organoid research by dissecting the intricate ethical considerations related to the creation, use, and potential implications of these in vitro models. Through this work, the goal of this paper is to provide introductory perspectives and bridges that will connect organoids to cybersecurity applications and the imperative ethical discourse accompanying its advancements with commentary on future uses. Full article

Negative effects of salt stress may be counteracted by adequate management of sulfated nutrition. Herein, we applied 3.50, 4.25, and 5.00 mM SO₄²⁻ in a nutrient solution to counteract salt stress induced by 75 and 150 mM NaCl in cabbage cv. Royal. The increase in NaCl concentration from 75 to 150 mM reduced the contents of macronutrients and micronutrients in the shoot. When increasing from 3.50 to 4.25 mM SO₄²⁻, the contents of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S) in shoots were enhanced, at both concentrations of NaCl. Increasing from 3.50 to 4.25 mM SO₄²⁻ enhanced iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and sodium (Na) concentrations with 75 mM NaCl. With 150 mM NaCl, the increase from 3.50 to 4.25 mM SO₄²⁻ enhanced the contents of Cu and Mn, but also those of Na. Chlorophylls a, b, and total decreased as the concentration of SO₄²⁻ increased in plants treated with 150 mM NaCl. With 75 mM NaCl, carotenoid concentration had a positive relationship with SO₄²⁻. Hence, the 4.25 mM SO₄²⁻ concentration increased the contents of macronutrients and micronutrients in the presence of 75 mM NaCl, while, with 150 mM NaCl, it improved the contents of macronutrients except K. The chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b ratio remained close to 3 when the plants were treated with 5.00 mM SO₄²⁻, regardless of NaCl. Similarly, this level of SO₄²⁻ increased the concentration of carotenoids, which translated into reductions in the total chlorophyll/carotenoid ratios, indicating a protective effect of the photosynthetic apparatus. It is concluded that higher doses of sulfur favor the accumulation of nutrients and increase the concentration of carotenoids under salt stress. Full article

The European Commission’s “Farm to Folk” (F2F) strategy recommends reducing fertilizers by at least 20% by 2030. In this aspect, the main goal of our study was to verify whether a 20 and even 40% reduction in nitrogen (N) fertilization rate would be sufficient to maintain soil fertility (expressed as dehydrogenase activity—DHA, humic acid substances—HA substances, E4/E6 ratio), and yields of wheat and rapeseed cultivated in strip-till technology. Two fields (10 ha each) were established for wheat and rapeseed cultivation, and soils (0–20 cm) were sampled before sowing and after harvesting. It was found that a 20% fertilization reduction does not adversely affect the biological activity expressed by DHA. Nevertheless, the reduction in nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates led to a slight decrease in the E4/E6 ratio, which could serve as a potential indicator of fertilization reduction. DHA, E4/E6 ratio and content of HA substances were also dependent on the crop. Following harvesting, both rapeseed and wheat exhibited a positive correlation between the E4/E6 ratio and the degree of fertilization rate (FR), as well as yield. Full article

The T-2 toxin (T-2) is a type A trichothecene found in cereals. The formation of metabolites is a frequent cause of mycotoxin-induced toxicity. In this work, the conversion of T-2 during biotransformation reactions in HepG2 cells was evaluated. For this, HepG2 cells were exposed to 30 (IC₅₀/2) and 60 (IC₅₀) nM of T-2 for 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 24 h, and the concentrations of T-2 and its metabolites HT-2, T2-triol, T2-tetraol and neosolaniol were determined in both the cell fraction and culture medium through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry–time of flight (LC-Q-TOF MS). Results showed a fast metabolization of T-2 (>90%) during the first 2 h, with HT-2 as its main (>95%) biotransformation product. The cell fraction showed higher levels (p < 0.05) of HT-2 (39.9 ± 2.1 nM) compared to the culture medium (12.53 ± 2.4 nM). This trend was also observed for the identified metabolites. T2-triol reached its maximum concentration (1.7 ± 0.4 nM) at 2 h, and at later times a time-dependent increase in the T2-tetraol and neosolaniol concentrations was observed. The identification of T-2 metabolites shows the need to continue combined toxicity studies of mycotoxins for a correct risk characterization of these natural contaminants. Full article

The objective of the present paper is to put a milestone on the roadmap toward a global economic system of professional sport, at least as regards its financial dimension, i.e., its model of finance, its ownership, and some new trends in global sport finance. Professional sport went through a radical change during the 1990s when switching from gate receipts to TV rights revenues as its major source of finance and from local/domestic to internationalised/globalised sources of revenue. This change was more marked in European soccer (football) before spreading throughout other professional sport disciplines. In fact, the whole distribution of sport financing was restructured as shown in this paper. Starting from this evidence of the first stage of sport finance globalisation, it appears that new transformations have been at work in sport finance more recently. In particular, soccer moved from globalisation of flows (revenues, finance) to asset globalisation in terms of club ownership. At last, this paper discusses the emergence of new trends in global sport finance such as treating professional (soccer) players as financial assets and crypto-assets penetrating the sports business. Full article

Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Copilot have led to their integration into various educational domains, including software development education. Regular use of LLMs in the learning process is still not well-researched; thus, this paper intends to fill this gap. The paper explores the nuanced impact of informal LLM usage on undergraduate students’ learning outcomes in software development education, focusing on React applications. We carefully designed an experiment involving thirty-two participants over ten weeks where we examined unrestricted but not specifically encouraged LLM use and their correlation with student performance. Our results reveal a significant negative correlation between increased LLM reliance for critical thinking-intensive tasks such as code generation and debugging and lower final grades. Furthermore, a downward trend in final grades is observed with increased average LLM use across all tasks. However, the correlation between the use of LLMs for seeking additional explanations and final grades was not as strong, indicating that LLMs may serve better as a supplementary learning tool. These findings highlight the importance of balancing LLM integration with the cultivation of independent problem-solving skills in programming education. Full article

Based on the assumption that the process of understanding is partly narrative, this study explores the potential benefits and limitations of using narrative writing in biology education. We investigate what contribution a student-centered narrative intervention can make to the conceptual understanding of protein biosynthesis in the context of viral infections and virus replication. After a teaching sequence on this topic, 68 secondary school students (M = 15.7 years, SD = 0.57 years) explained virus replication in a written text. One subsample (n = 46) was instructed to write a narrative text, while the other one (n = 22) was asked to write an expository (non-fictional) text. Our data analysis encompassed an analysis of the structural narrativity in the student texts, as well as a concept-related rating of the level of scientific correctness in three categories. A post-test questionnaire (35 items) was used to depict the learners’ viewpoints on their respective text production and the learning process that they experienced. Our findings indicate that most learners actually produced the text type they were supposed to, with exceptions in both sub-samples. As to the level of concept-related scientific correctness, we found no major differences between the two interventions. However, for two concepts, compartmentalization and levels of organization, the data indicate the significant advantage of the narrative intervention. We conclude from our results that to some extent, the effective learning properties of narrative texts, derived from the theoretical foundations, could indeed successfully be demonstrated in the field of virus replication. However, narrative text production is not equally beneficial for all aspects of the biological topic, and it also poses specific problems for some learners. Full article

Influenza vaccines, which are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), are the most effective preventive measure against influenza virus infection. Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell culture is an emerging technology used to produce influenza vaccines. One challenge when purifying influenza vaccines using this cell culture system is to efficiently remove impurities, especially host cell double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and host cell proteins (HCPs), for safety assurance. In this study, we optimized ion-exchange chromatography methods to harvest influenza viruses from an MDCK cell culture broth, the first step in influenza vaccine purification. Bind/elute was chosen as the mode of operation for simplicity. The anion-exchange Q chromatography method was able to efficiently remove dsDNA and HCPs, but the recovery rate for influenza viruses was low. However, the cation-exchange SP process was able to simultaneously achieve high dsDNA and HCP removal and high influenza virus recovery. For the SP process to work, the clarified cell culture broth needed to be diluted to reduce its ionic strength, and the optimal dilution rate was determined to be 1:2 with purified water. The SP process yielded a virus recovery rate exceeding 90%, as measured using a hemagglutination units (HAUs) assay, with removal efficiencies over 97% for HCPs and over 99% for dsDNA. Furthermore, the general applicability of the SP chromatography method was demonstrated with seven strains of influenza viruses recommended for seasonal influenza vaccine production, including H1N1, H3N2, B (Victoria), and B (Yamagata) strains, indicating that the SP process could be utilized as a platform process. The SP process developed in this study showed four advantages: (1) simple operation, (2) a high recovery rate for influenza viruses, (3) a high removal rate for major impurities, and (4) general applicability. Full article

The interactions with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) of three Schiff bases formed by the condensation of hesperetin with benzohydrazide (HHSB or L¹H₃), isoniazid (HIN or L²H₃), or thiosemicarbazide (HTSC or L³H₃) and their Cu^II complexes (CuHHSB, CuHIN, and CuHTSC with the general formula [CuLⁿH₂(AcO)]) were evaluated in aqueous solution both experimentally and theoretically. UV–Vis studies indicate that the ligands and complexes exhibit hypochromism, which suggests helical ordering in the DNA helix. The intrinsic binding constants (K_b) of the Cu compounds with CT-DNA, in the range (2.3–9.2) × 10⁶, from CuHTSC to CuHHSB, were higher than other copper-based potential drugs, suggesting that π–π stacking interaction due to the presence of the aromatic rings favors the binding. Thiazole orange (TO) assays confirmed that ligands and Cu complexes displace TO from the DNA binding site, quenching the fluorescence emission. DFT calculations allow for an assessment of the equilibrium between [Cu(LⁿH₂)(AcO)] and [Cu(LⁿH₂)(H₂O)]⁺, the tautomer that binds Cu^II, amido (am) and not imido (im), and the coordination mode of HTSC (O⁻, N, S), instead of (O⁻, N, NH₂). The docking studies indicate that the intercalative is preferred over the minor groove binding to CT-DNA with the order [Cu(L¹H₂^am)(AcO)] > [Cu(L²H₂^am)(AcO)] ≈ TO ≈ L¹H₃ > [Cu(L³H₂^am)(AcO)], in line with the experimental K_b constants, obtained from the UV–Vis spectroscopy. Moreover, dockings predict that the binding strength of [Cu(L¹H₂^am)(AcO)] is larger than [Cu(L¹H₂^am)(H₂O)]⁺. Overall, the results suggest that when different enantiomers, tautomers, and donor sets are possible for a metal complex, a computational approach should be recommended to predict the type and strength of binding to DNA and, in general, to macromolecules. Full article

This paper describes an integrated monitoring system designed for individualized environmental risk assessment and management in the workplace. The system incorporates monitoring devices that measure dust, noise, ultraviolet radiation, illuminance, temperature, humidity, and flammable gases. Comprising monitoring devices, a server-based web application for employers, and a mobile application for workers, the system integrates the registration of workers’ health histories, such as common diseases and symptoms related to the monitored agents, and a web-based recommendation system. The recommendation system application uses classifiers to decide the risk/no risk per sensor and crosses this information with fixed rules to define recommendations. The system generates actionable alerts for companies to improve decision-making regarding professional activities and long-term safety planning by analyzing health information through fixed rules and exposure data through machine learning algorithms. As the system must handle sensitive data, data privacy is addressed in communication and data storage. The study provides test results that evaluate the performance of different machine learning models in building an effective recommendation system. Since it was not possible to find public datasets with all the sensor data needed to train artificial intelligence models, it was necessary to build a data generator for this work. By proposing an approach that focuses on individualized environmental risk assessment and management, considering workers’ health histories, this work is expected to contribute to enhancing occupational safety through computational technologies in the Industry 5.0 approach. Full article

Complete surgical resection in the context of a multimodal approach has been associated with excellent long-term survival in children diagnosed with pancreatoblastoma (PB). Traditionally, curative intent surgery for PB implies standard pancreatic resections such as pancreaticoduodenectomies and distal pancreatectomies with splenectomies, surgical procedures that may lead to significant long-term pancreatic functional deficiencies. Postoperative pancreatic functional deficiencies are particularly interesting to children because they may interfere with their development, considering their long life expectancy and the significant role of pancreatic functions in their nutritional status and growth. Thus, organ-sparing pancreatectomies, such as spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomies and central pancreatectomies, are emerging in specific tumoral pathologies in children. However, data about organ-sparing pancreatectomies’ potential role in curative-intent PB surgery in children are scarce. Based on the literature data, the current review aims to present the early and late outcomes of pancreatectomies in children (including long-term deficiencies and their potential impact on the development and quality of life), particularly for PB, and further explore the potential role of organ-sparing pancreatectomies for PB. Organ-sparing pancreatectomies are associated with better long-term pancreatic functional outcomes, particularly central pancreatectomies, and have a reduced impact on children’s development and quality of life without jeopardizing their oncological safety. The long-term preservation of pancreatic functions should not be disregarded when performing pancreatectomies for PB in children. A subset of patients with PB might benefit from organ-sparing pancreatectomies, particularly from central pancreatectomies, with the same oncological results as standard pancreatectomies but with significantly less impact on long-term functional outcomes. Full article

The development of cell-based biomaterial alternatives holds significant promise in tissue engineering applications, but it requires accurate mechanical assessment. Herein, we present the development of a novel 3D-printed confined compression apparatus, fabricated using clear resin, designed to cater to the unique demands of biomaterial developers. Our objective was to enhance the precision of force measurements and improve sample visibility during compression testing. We compared the performance of our innovative 3D-printed confined compression setup to a conventional setup by performing stress relaxation testing on hydrogels with variable degrees of crosslinking. We assessed equilibrium force, aggregate modulus, and peak force. This study demonstrates that our revised setup can capture a larger range of force values while simultaneously improving accuracy. We were able to detect significant differences in force and aggregate modulus measurements of hydrogels with variable degrees of crosslinking using our revised setup, whereas these were indistinguishable with the convectional apparatus. Further, by incorporating a clear resin in the fabrication of the compression chamber, we improved sample visibility, thus enabling real-time monitoring and informed assessment of biomaterial behavior under compressive testing. Full article