The long-term effects of consecutive COVID-19 waves on mental health.

Background: Although several studies have documented the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, the long-term effects remain unclear.

Aims: To examine longitudinal changes in mental health before and during the consecutive COVID-19 waves in a well-established probability sample.

Method: An online survey was completed by the participants of the COVID-19 add-on study at four time points: pre-COVID-19 period (2014-2015, = 1823), first COVID-19 wave (April to May 2020, = 788), second COVID-19 wave (August to October 2020, = 532) and third COVID-19 wave (March to April 2021, = 383).

Pre-mandibular pharyngeal pouches in early non-teleost fish embryos.

The vertebrate pharynx is a key embryonic structure with crucial importance for the metameric organization of the head and face. The pharynx is primarily built upon progressive formation of paired pharyngeal pouches that typically develop in post-oral (mandibular, hyoid and branchial) domains. However, in the early embryos of non-teleost fishes, we have previously identified pharyngeal pouch-like outpocketings also in the pre-oral domain of the cranial endoderm.

Non-Invasive Diagnostics of Male Spermatogenesis from Seminal Plasma: Seminal Proteins.

The compounds of seminal plasma have great potential as biomarkers of male fertility and can be used as a diagnostic tool for types of azoospermia. Azoospermia occurs in approximately 1% of the male population, and for an effective therapy of this form of male infertility, it is important to distinguish between obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia. Proteins in seminal plasma can serve as biomarkers for diagnosing azoospermia.

Associations between Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Cardiometabolic Biomarkers in Adults of Czechia: The Kardiovize Study.

Even though there is evidence of decreasing trends of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Czechia, there are still major sources of PFAS pollution. Regarding the still-inconsistent results of the relationship between cardiometabolic health and PFAS, the present study sought to determine the association between PFAS levels and the presence of cardiometabolic biomarkers, including blood pressure and dysglycemia drivers in the Czech population. A cross-sectional study with 479 subjects (56.

Efficient CRISPR Mutagenesis in Sturgeon Demonstrates Its Utility in Large, Slow-Maturing Vertebrates.

In the last decade, the CRISPR/Cas9 bacterial virus defense system has been adapted as a user-friendly, efficient, and precise method for targeted mutagenesis in eukaryotes. Though CRISPR/Cas9 has proven effective in a diverse range of organisms, it is still most often used to create mutant lines in lab-reared genetic model systems. However, one major advantage of CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis over previous gene targeting approaches is that its high efficiency allows the immediate generation of near-null mosaic mutants.

The remarkable dynamics in the establishment, rearrangement, and loss of dentition during the ontogeny of the sterlet sturgeon.

Background: Sturgeons belong to an early-branching lineage often used as a proxy of ancestor-like traits of ray-finned fishes. However, many features of this lineage, such as the transitory presence and the eventual loss of dentition, exemplify specializations that, in fact, provide important information on lineage-specific evolutionary dynamics.

Results: Here, we introduce a detailed overview of the dentition during the development of the sterlet sturgeon.

Oral and Palatal Dentition of Axolotl Arises From a Common Tooth-Competent Zone Along the Ecto-Endodermal Boundary.

Vertebrate dentitions arise at various places within the oropharyngeal cavity including the jaws, the palate, or the pharynx. These dentitions develop in a highly organized way, where new tooth germs are progressively added adjacent to the initiator center, the first tooth. At the same time, the places where dentitions develop house the contact zones between the outer ectoderm and the inner endoderm, and this colocalization has instigated various suggestions on the roles of germ layers for tooth initiation and development.

Risk Factors Underlying COVID-19 Lockdown-Induced Mental Distress.

Recent reports suggest that the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in changes in mental health, however, potential age-related changes and risk factors remain unknown. We measured COVID-19 lockdown-induced stress levels and the severity of depressive symptoms prior to and during the COVID-19 lockdown in different age groups and then searched for potential risk factors in a well-characterized general population-based sample. A total of 715 participants were tested for mental distress and related risk factors at two time-points, baseline testing prior to COVID-19 and follow-up testing during COVID-19, using a battery of validated psychological tests including the Perceived Stress Scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire.

How Different Are the Molecular Mechanisms of Nodal and Distant Metastasis in Luminal A Breast Cancer?

Lymph node status is one of the best prognostic factors in breast cancer, however, its association with distant metastasis is not straightforward. Here we compare molecular mechanisms of nodal and distant metastasis in molecular subtypes of breast cancer, with major focus on luminal A patients. We analyze a new cohort of 706 patients (MMCI_706) as well as an independent cohort of 836 primary tumors with full gene expression information (SUPERTAM_HGU133A).

Migratory patterns and evolutionary plasticity of cranial neural crest cells in ray-finned fishes.

The cranial neural crest (CNC) arises within the developing central nervous system, but then migrates away from the neural tube in three consecutive streams termed mandibular, hyoid and branchial, respectively, according to the order along the anteroposterior axis. While the process of neural crest emigration generally follows a conserved anterior to posterior sequence across vertebrates, we find that ray-finned fishes (bichir, sterlet, gar, and pike) exhibit several heterochronies in the timing and order of CNC emergence that influences their subsequent migratory patterns. First, emigration of the cranial neural crest in these fishes occurs prematurely compared to other vertebrates, already initiating during early neurulation and well before neural tube closure.

SWATH-MS Analysis of FFPE Tissues Identifies Stathmin as a Potential Marker of Endometrial Cancer in Patients Exposed to Tamoxifen.

A specific form of endometrial cancer (EC) can develop in breast cancer patients previously treated with tamoxifen (ET), an antagonist of estrogen receptor (ER) that inhibits proliferation of ER positive breast cancer. ET tumors have a different phenotype than endometrial tumors, which typically develop without previous exposure to tamoxifen (EN). Here we aimed to identify specific protein markers that could serve as specific molecular targets in either phenotype.

Ontogeny and homology of cranial bones associated with lateral-line canals of the Senegal Bichir, Polypterus senegalus (Actinopterygii: Cladistii: Polypteriformes), with a discussion on the formation of lateral-line canal bones in fishes.

The association between lateral-line canals and skull bones in fishes has been the subject of several studies and raised a series of controversies, particularly with regard to the hypothesized role of lateral-line organs (i.e. neuromasts) in osteogenesis and the consequences for hypotheses of homology of the bones associated with lateral-line canals.

Embryonic and larval development of the northern pike: An emerging fish model system for evo-devo research.

The northern pike, Esox lucius, is one of the largest temperate freshwater apex predators with a characteristic morphology: an elongated body with pelvic, dorsal, and anal fins located at the rear as a functional feature to sprint predation. However, the typical pike character is its head, which is characterized by a long, flattened snout, a well-armed mouth with numerous teeth, and large eyes characteristic of shallow water visual predators. Although the northern pike is becoming increasingly popular as a model system for ecology and evolutionary research, a detailed staging table has not yet been reported.

Bichir external gills arise via heterochronic shift that accelerates hyoid arch development.

In most vertebrates, pharyngeal arches form in a stereotypic anterior-to-posterior progression. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes in pharyngeal arch development, here we investigate embryos and larvae of bichirs. Bichirs represent the earliest diverged living group of ray-finned fishes, and possess intriguing traits otherwise typical for lobe-finned fishes such as ventral paired lungs and larval external gills.