Publications by authors named "Albers S"

Neuroblastoma is a malignant tumor derived from the neural crest cells that often involves the adrenal glands and rarely metastasizes to the skin. Here, we present a case of a nine-month-old male infant who presented with multiple noncompressible blue-purple subcutaneous nodules, initially suggestive of atypical deep hemangiomas. The ultrasound revealed a lack of increased vascularity of the masses and an adrenal mass, leading to a biopsy and diagnosis of a neuroblastoma involving the adrenal gland, liver, and skin.

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Archaea produce various protein filaments with specialised functions. While some archaea produce only one type of filament, the archaeal model species Sulfolobus acidocaldarius generates four. These include rotary swimming propellers analogous to bacterial flagella (archaella), pili for twitching motility (Aap), adhesive fibres (threads), and filaments facilitating homologous recombination upon UV stress (UV pili).

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In bacteria and archaea, proteins of the ParA/MinD family of ATPases regulate the spatiotemporal organization of various cellular cargoes, including cell division proteins, motility structures, chemotaxis systems, and chromosomes. In bacteria, such as , MinD proteins are crucial for the correct placement of the Z-ring at mid-cell during cell division. However, previous studies have shown that none of the 4 MinD homologs present in the archaeon have a role in cell division, suggesting that these proteins regulate different cellular processes in haloarchaea.

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Microbial communities are shaped by cell-cell interactions. Although archaea are often found in associations with other microorganisms, the mechanisms structuring these communities are poorly understood. Here, we report on the structure and function of haloarchaeal contractile injection systems (CISs).

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Unlabelled: Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are important for stress adaptation in prokaryotes, including persistence, antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, and biofilm formation. Toxins can cause cell death, reversible growth stasis, and direct inhibition of crucial cellular processes through various mechanisms, while antitoxins neutralize the effects of toxins. In bacteria, these systems have been studied in detail, whereas their function in archaea remains elusive.

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Dermatology remains highly competitive, with strong USMLE Step 1 scores traditionally crucial for securing residency positions. The 2023-2024 cycle introduced significant changes, including pass/fail USMLE Step 1 score reports and an expanded program signaling system. This study explores dermatology residency applicant profiles within this new context.

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The healthcare sector is ubiquitously plagued by workforce shortages in economies around the globe. The fragility of this structural shortage becomes apparent when external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbate the lack of workers in clinical practice. In this article, we summarize current trends in healthcare workforce development across the globe, review theoretical concepts of workforce shortages, and discuss policies to address them.

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Background: The last few years have been characterized by increasing numbers of reverse shoulder arthroplasties. In addition to the classic indication of cuff tear arthropathy, the use for complex proximal humeral fractures (PHFs) and rotator cuff tear (RCT) in very old patients have been established. The objective of this study is to clarify and substantiate the above statements specifically for Germany (based on official data from 2010 to 2022).

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Objective: This study analyzes the development, benefits, trial evidence, and price of new breast cancer drugs with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

Methods: We identified 26 drugs with 42 FDA-approved indications for early and metastatic breast cancer (2000-2023). Data were collected from FDA labels, clinicaltrials.

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Introduction: Among hyperthermophilic organisms, protein localization is challenging due to the high growth temperatures that can disrupt proper folding and function of mostly mesophilic-derived fluorescent proteins. While protein localization in the thermophilic model archaeon has been achieved using antibodies with fluorescent probes in fixed cells, the use of thermostable fluorescent proteins for live imaging in thermophilic archaea has so far been unsuccessful. Given the significance of live protein localization in the field of archaeal cell biology, we aimed to identify fluorescent proteins for use in .

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Article Synopsis
  • Ischemic strokes from isolated posterior cerebral artery (PCA) occlusions, though representing only 5% of strokes, lead to severe quality of life issues due to vision problems and thalamic involvement, highlighting the need for better management guidelines.
  • A study analyzed 32 patients with isolated PCA occlusions to assess the relationship between perfusion imaging parameters and clinical outcomes, using the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at discharge as the primary measure.
  • Results indicated significant correlations between NIHSS scores and perfusion parameters, particularly time-to-maximum (Tmax) and cerebral blood volume (CBV), suggesting that advanced imaging may enhance PCA stroke management, necessitating further validated research in this area.
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Isotretinoin is widely used for treatment of severe cystic acne; however, its use is accompanied by mucocutaneous adverse effects. The established protocol for conducting cutaneous procedures on patients undergoing current or recent treatment with isotretinoin recommends a cessation period of at least 6 months to mitigate risks for delayed wound healing and hypertrophic scarring due to medication-induced skin fragility. We present a unique case of isotretinoin-induced skin fragility resulting in blistering and erosions on the palms of a 25-year-old competitive aerial trapeze artist.

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In bacteria and archaea, proteins of the ParA/MinD family of ATPases regulate the spatiotemporal organization of various cellular cargoes, including cell division proteins, motility structures, chemotaxis systems, and chromosomes. In bacteria, such as , MinD proteins are crucial for the correct placement of the Z-ring at mid-cell during cell division. However, previous studies have shown that none of the 4 MinD homologs present in the archaeon have a role in cell division, suggesting that these proteins regulate different cellular processes in haloarchaea.

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Background: Insufficient patient enrollment per month (=accrual) is the leading cause of cancer trial termination.

Objective: To identify and quantify factors associated with patient accrual in trials leading to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of new cancer drugs.

Data: All anti-cancer drugs with FDA approval were identified in the Drugs@FDA database (2000-2022).

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A zirconocene dichloride-catalyzed alkene hydrosilylation is reported that can be applied to non-activated and conjugated terminal and internal alkenes. It involves a catalytic Zr-walk process and leads to a selective conversion to the linear product. Lithium methoxide serves as mild catalyst activating agent, which significantly increases the applicability and operational simplicity in comparison to earlier zirconium(II)-based protocols.

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Amongst the major types of archaeal filaments, several have been shown to closely resemble bacterial homologues of the Type IV pili (T4P). Within Sulfolobales, member species encode for three types of T4P, namely the archaellum, the UV-inducible pilus system (Ups) and the archaeal adhesive pilus (Aap). Whereas the archaellum functions primarily in swimming motility, and the Ups in UV-induced cell aggregation and DNA-exchange, the Aap plays an important role in adhesion and twitching motility.

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Type IV pili are filamentous appendages found in most bacteria and archaea, where they can support functions such as surface adhesion, DNA uptake, aggregation, and motility. In most bacteria, PilT-family ATPases disassemble adhesion pili, causing them to rapidly retract and produce twitching motility, important for surface colonization. As archaea do not possess PilT homologs, it was thought that archaeal pili cannot retract and that archaea do not exhibit twitching motility.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated how a smartphone app designed to show the effects of UV exposure on skin can encourage young people to adopt better sun safety habits.
  • - Participants, mostly around 14 years old, reported their sun exposure behaviors before and after using the app, with the majority acknowledging that the app increased their motivation to practice sun safety.
  • - Overall, the results indicate that using a photoaging application could be an effective way to promote sun protection among youth, potentially reducing their risk of skin cancer later in life.
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Objectives: This study aims to analyse the association between clinical trial design and treatment effects for cancer drugs with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

Design: Cross-sectional study and meta-analysis.

Setting: Data from Drugs@FDA, FDA labels, ClincialTrials.

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DPANN archaea are a diverse group of microorganisms that are thought to rely on an ectosymbiotic lifestyle; however, the cell biology of these cell-cell interactions remains largely unknown. We applied live-cell imaging and cryo-electron tomography to the DPANN archaeon Nanobdella aerobiophila and its host, revealing two distinct life cycle stages. Free cells possess archaella and are motile.

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Extremophiles and their products have been a major focus of research interest for over 40 years. Through this period, studies of these organisms have contributed hugely to many aspects of the fundamental and applied sciences, and to wider and more philosophical issues such as the origins of life and astrobiology. Our understanding of the cellular adaptations to extreme conditions (such as acid, temperature, pressure and more), of the mechanisms underpinning the stability of macromolecules, and of the subtleties, complexities and limits of fundamental biochemical processes has been informed by research on extremophiles.

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N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) has been considered the 'gold standard' for insect repellent use since the 1950s and constitutes most insect repellents on the market. However, conflicting data in the scientific literature and confusing information in the media are at the core of debates about the safety of DEET insect repellents for the protection of children against arthropod bites. The few fatal occurrences involving DEET insect repellents and complications of their use in the pediatric population are typically the result of accidental overdoses or misuse of insect repellents that disregard warnings on product labels.

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Nonsense mutations - the underlying cause of approximately 11% of all genetic diseases - prematurely terminate protein synthesis by mutating a sense codon to a premature stop or termination codon (PTC). An emerging therapeutic strategy to suppress nonsense defects is to engineer sense-codon decoding tRNAs to readthrough and restore translation at PTCs. However, the readthrough efficiency of the engineered suppressor tRNAs (sup-tRNAs) largely varies in a tissue- and sequence context-dependent manner and has not yet yielded optimal clinical efficacy for many nonsense mutations.

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