In addition to the conventional symptoms reported for COVID-19, it is becoming increasingly clear that patients with long COVID are exhibiting new symptoms due to the emergence of autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors, among which human muscarinic cholinergic receptors (CHRMs) have been prominently reported. With a chronic condition such as long COVID, additional symptoms caused by anti-CHRM autoantibodies (AAbs) have proven to be an added burden on these patients. The origins of these AAbs, their interactions with, and effects on the function of neural and non-neural cells within the nervous system have remained unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain tumours are a leading cause of death and disability, impacting individuals across all ages, genders, and ethnicities. They are primarily diagnosed using MRI but a precise diagnosis is dependent on the molecular biology of the tumour studied on the pathological specimen. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are forging new paths through diagnostic obstacles, offering the intriguing benefits of non-invasive diagnosis, pattern recognition, and outcome prediction from imaging data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvolving participants in the design of clinical trials should improve the overall success of a study. For this to occur, streamlined mechanisms are needed to connect the populations potentially impacted by a given study or health topic with research teams in order to inform trial design in a meaningful and timely manner. To address this need, we developed an innovative mechanism called the "ResearchMatch Expert Advice Tool" that quickly obtains volunteer perspectives from populations with specific health conditions or lived experiences using the national recruitment registry, ResearchMatch.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaternal stress during pregnancy, or prenatal stress, is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In ASD, dorsal striatum displays abnormalities correlating with symptom severity, but there is a gap in knowledge about dorsal striatal cellular and molecular mechanisms that may contribute. Using a mouse model, we investigated how prenatal stress impacted striatal-dependent behavior in adult offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Civilian healthcare workers (HCW) and medical facilities are directly and indirectly impacted by armed conflict. In the Russia-Ukraine war, acute trauma care needs grew, the workforce was destabilised by HCW migrating or shifting roles to meet conflict needs, and facilities faced surge events. Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) exposure risks created unique preparedness needs.
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