Aromatherapy is regularly used in the University Hospital Krems’s palliative care unit. In a retrospective analysis, we investigated whether there were improvements in nausea and vomiting in patients with advanced cancers over a time span of 24 months. Data collection used the medical records of patients who were institutionally approved to receive routine aroma applications for alleviating nausea and vomiting. The efficacy of using lemon oil pads was tested with one-dimensional chi-squared tests. Sixty-six patients received 222 applications of lemon oil on cotton pads; no data were available for 17 applications. The adequate relief of nausea and vomiting was reported for 149 (73%) applications, whereas no symptom control was seen for 56 (27%) applications. For the 56 applications without symptom control, first- and second-line rescue medications were successful in 53 and 3 cases, respectively. The use of aromatherapy with lemon oil pads against nausea and vomiting was feasible for 73% of all applications. All patients who did not benefit from aromatherapy had effective symptom control with a rescue medication. Large randomized prospective trials are necessary to evaluate the benefit of the use of lemon oil pads against nausea and vomiting in patients with advanced cancer.

Background: Methods: Results: Conclusion:

To explore the effects of short- and long-term cigarette smoke extract (CSE) stimulation on the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and inflammatory cytokines in an in vitro model for studying Reinke's edema using human vocal fold fibroblasts (hVFF). Experimental pilot study using intervention with CSE in vitro. Immortalized hVFF were pretreated with 5% CSE or control medium over a period of 2 or 8 weeks, followed by a final 3-day incubation time. We evaluated cell proliferation and examined gene and protein expression of control- and CSE-treated cells using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western Blot and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Cell numbers of CSE-treated hVFF strongly decreased after 8 weeks and limited the overall duration of the experiment. We observed significant upregulations in gene expression and protein levels of inflammatory markers (cyclooxygenase COX1, COX2) and ECM components (decorin, matrix metalloproteinase 1, transglutaminase 2, gremlin 2) induced by CSE after 2 and 8 weeks. Interleukin 1 receptor 1, prostaglandin I2 synthase, collagen- and hyaluronan-related gene expression showed minor upregulations. The majority of the observed genes were similarly regulated at both time points. However, the CSE-induced mRNA level of COX1 was ablated after 8 weeks. Long-term treatment did not yield results significantly different from the short-term protocol. Therefore, we propose that prolonged CSE exposure is not superior to short-term settings, which save both time and materials.

(1) Background: Pregnancy presents a challenge to maternal glucose homeostasis; suboptimal adaptations can lead to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) circulate in maternal blood in pregnancy and are altered with GDM, suggesting influence of glucose homeostasis on HMOs. We thus assessed the HMO response to glucose load during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and investigated HMO associations with glucose tolerance/insulin sensitivity in healthy pregnant women. (2) Methods: Serum of 99 women, collected at 0 h, 1 h and 2 h during a 75 g OGTT at 24–28 gestational weeks was analyzed for HMOs (2′FL, 3′SLN, LDFT, 3′SL) by HPLC; plasma glucose, insulin and C-peptide were analyzed by standard biochemistry methods. (3) Results: Serum 3′SL concentrations significantly increased from fasting to 1 h after glucose load, while concentrations of the other HMOs were unaltered. Higher 3′SL at all OGTT time points was associated with a generally more diabetogenic profile, with higher hepatic insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), lower insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index) and higher insulin secretion (C-peptide index 1). (4) Conclusions: Rapid increase in serum 3′SL post-oral glucose load (fasted-fed transition) indicates utilization of plasma glucose, potentially for sialylation of lactose. Associations of sialylated HMOs with a more diabetogenic profile suggest sustained adaptations to impaired glucose homeostasis in pregnancy. Underlying mechanisms or potential consequences of observed HMO changes remain to be elucidated.

Background and Purpose: The calcium ion (Ca²⁺) is a versatile cellular messenger regulating a variety of biological processes. Compounds modulating subcellular Ca²⁺ signals hold substantial pharmacological potential. Advances in fluorescent biosensors have revolutionised Ca²⁺ imaging. However, co‐expression of targeted biosensors for simultaneous measurement of Ca²⁺ signals in multiple cellular compartments is still complicated by heterogeneous expression levels of the various sensors.Experimental Approach: We developed the ribosomal skipping‐based quad‐cistronic fluorescent biosensor system CARMEN, enabling high‐content Ca²⁺ imaging across three compartments. CARMEN allows proportional co‐expression of spectrally distinct Ca²⁺ biosensors: the near‐infrared Ca²⁺ biosensor for the cytosol (NIR‐GECO2G‐NES), the green Ca²⁺ biosensor for mitochondria (CEPIA3mt) and the red Ca²⁺ biosensor for the endoplasmic reticulum (R‐CEPIA1er), along with a Ca²⁺‐insensitive blue fluorescent protein targeted to the nucleus (NLS‐mTagBFP2), serving as a normalisation reference.Key Results: CARMEN allows spatiotemporal correlation of Ca²⁺ signals across the cytosol, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, revealing distinct dynamics. We noted delayed mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake compared to the other compartments. We validated CARMEN across three cell types and tested two recently identified mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter inhibitors (MCUis), MCUi4 and MCUi11, showcasing the potential of CARMEN for its application in pharmacological research. Our results show that while both MCUi4 and MCUi11 inhibited mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake in HeLa S3 cells, MCUi4 reduced cytosolic Ca²⁺ signals and oscillations, whereas MCUi11 had opposing effects.Conclusions and Implications: CARMEN is a powerful tool for real‐time, multiplexed analysis of compartment‐specific Ca²⁺ signals, with the potential for automation in high‐content drug screening.

Semantic annotation of study metadata elements with concept codes from medical terminologies is essential in order to make biomedical data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and to enable cross-border data exchange as envisioned within the forthcoming European Health Data Space (EHDS). Existing annotation tools are often detached from everyday data-capture workflows, limiting their practical uptake by researchers and data managers. REDCap Ontology annotations Made Easy (ROME) addresses this gap by embedding ontology-based annotation directly into REDCap’s Online Designer. REDCap is a widely utilized electronic data collection framework in clinical and epidemiological research. As an external REDCap module, ROME allows users to import minimal datasets, search large ontologies such as SNOMED CT, map answer options, and harmonize projects through reusable semantic mappings. Metadata and annotations are stored in structured JSON to ensure machine-readability and interoperability. Future developments include dedicated interfaces for major ontologies, best-practice frameworks for managing minimal datasets, and community-driven harmonization efforts. ROME thus represents a concrete step towards bridging routine data capture and FAIR, EHDS-aligned semantic data stewardship by embedding ontology annotation directly into the design workflow.