Prototype of Self-Service Electronic Stethoscope to Be Used by Patients During Online Medical Consultations.

This article presents the authors' design of an electronic stethoscope intended for use during online medical consultations for patient auscultation. The goal of the project was to design an instrument that is durable, user-friendly, and affordable. Existing electronic components were used to create the device and a traditional single-sided chest piece.

Donor's age influences outcome in haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide - a single center experience.

Haploidentical stem cell transplantation (haplo-SCT) using post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (post-Cy) is considered a reasonable therapeutic option for patients who lack matched donor or who urgently need transplant procedure due to high risk disease. We analyzed the results of haplo-SCT performed in years 2018-2023. Eighty one patients (46 males) at median age of 52 years underwent haplo-SCT using peripheral blood as a stem cell source in most cases.

Real-Life Data on the Efficacy and Safety of Letermovir for Primary Prophylaxis of Cytomegalovirus in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Recipients: A Single-Center Analysis.

Objective: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation is a life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Introduction of letermovir (LMV) seems to improve post-transplant outcomes, but delayed-onset CMV reactivation still remains a challenge. In this study, we report on our first experience with LMV prophylaxis in 93 CMV-seropositive adult patients receiving HSCT in our center.

HIV-1-induced translocation of CPSF6 to biomolecular condensates.

Cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor subunit 6 (CPSF6, also known as CFIm68) is a 68 kDa component of the mammalian cleavage factor I (CFIm) complex that modulates mRNA alternative polyadenylation (APA) and determines 3' untranslated region (UTR) length, an important gene expression control mechanism. CPSF6 directly interacts with the HIV-1 core during infection, suggesting involvement in HIV-1 replication. Here, we review the contributions of CPSF6 to every stage of the HIV-1 replication cycle.

Mechanism for giant enhancement of transport induced by active fluctuations.

Understanding the role of active fluctuations in physics is a problem in statu nascendi appearing both as a hot topic and a major challenge. The reason for this is the fact that they are inherently nonequilibrium. This feature opens a landscape of phenomena yet to be explored that are absent in the presence of thermal fluctuations alone.

Periodic potential can enormously boost free-particle transport induced by active fluctuations.

Active fluctuations are detected in a growing number of systems due to self-propulsion mechanisms or collisions with an active environment. They drive the system far from equilibrium and can induce phenomena that are forbidden at equilibrium states by, e.g.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acquired severe aplastic anemia: a summary of a 20-year experience.

Introduction: Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a rare but potentially fatal disorder characterized by hypocellular bone marrow and resulting in pancytopenia. It can be cured with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‑HSCT), especially in young individuals.

Objectives: The main objective of the study was to assess the safety of the procedure and to identify the factors influencing long‑term post‑transplant outcome.

Profiles of interferon-gamma and interleukin-2 in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) may be related to the occurrence of complications, including graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and infections. The pathogenesis of acute GvHD is connected with T lymphocytes, which identify alloantigens on host's antigen-presenting cells, activate production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), and act on the immune effector cells and damage tissues and organs.

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate and distinguish serum concentration profiles of IFN-gamma and IL-2 within a 30-d period after allo-HSCT.

Electrochemical sensors based on metal nanoparticles with biocatalytic activity.

Biosensors have attracted a great deal of attention, as they allow for the translation of the standard laboratory-based methods into small, portable devices. The field of biosensors has been growing, introducing innovations into their design to improve their sensing characteristics and reduce sample volume and user intervention. Enzymes are commonly used for determination purposes providing a high selectivity and sensitivity; however, their poor shelf-life is a limiting factor.

Colossal Brownian yet non-Gaussian diffusion in a periodic potential: Impact of nonequilibrium noise amplitude statistics.

Last year, Białas et al. [Phys. Rev.

Lithium preserves peritoneal membrane integrity by suppressing mesothelial cell αB-crystallin.

Life-saving renal replacement therapy by peritoneal dialysis (PD) is limited in use and duration by progressive impairment of peritoneal membrane integrity and homeostasis. Preservation of peritoneal membrane integrity during chronic PD remains an urgent but long unmet medical need. PD therapy failure results from peritoneal fibrosis and angiogenesis caused by hypertonic PD fluid (PDF)-induced mesothelial cytotoxicity.

Proinflammatory cytokines as potential risk factors of acute graft-versus-host disease and infectious complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Objective: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is associated with a risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and infections. The pathogenesis of acute GvHD is related to T-lymphocytes, which identify alloantigens on host antigen-presenting cells, induce production of interferon (IFN) gamma and interleukin (IL)-2, recruit immune effector cells and destroy tissues and organs.

Material And Methods: The study involved 62 patients, 30 (48%) men and 32 (52%) women [median age 49.

Colossal Brownian yet non-Gaussian diffusion induced by nonequilibrium noise.

We report on Brownian, yet non-Gaussian diffusion, in which the mean square displacement of the particle grows linearly with time, and the probability density for the particle spreading is Gaussian like, but the probability density for its position increments possesses an exponentially decaying tail. In contrast to recent works in this area, this behavior is not a consequence of either a space- or time-dependent diffusivity, but is induced by external nonthermal noise acting on the particle dwelling in a periodic potential. The existence of the exponential tail in the increment statistics leads to colossal enhancement of diffusion, drastically surpassing the previously researched situation known as "giant" diffusion.

APOE genetic variants and apoE, miR-107 and miR-650 levels in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative dementia in adults. Pathogenesis of AD depends on various factors, including APOE genetic variants, apolipoprotein E (apoE) phenotype and oxidative stress, which may promote both DNA and RNA damage, including non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Among ncRNAs, microRNA (miRNA) is known to contribute to pathologic processes in AD.

Splenic irradiation before allogeneic stem cell transplantation for myelofibrosis.

Splenectomy before allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for patients with myelofibrosis (MF) remains a matter of debate, and conflicting results have been reported to date. The procedure seems to fasten post-transplant hematological recovery, but it does not have an impact on survival. The role of pre-transplant splenic irradiation (SI) is much more difficult to evaluate.

Biothiols and oxidative stress markers and polymorphisms of and genes in Alzheimer's disease patients.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive disease, with frequently observed improper biothiols turnover, homocysteine (Hcy) and glutathione (GSH). GSH protects cells from oxidative stress and may be determined by 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo2dG) level and its repair enzyme 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1). The presence of unfavorable alleles, in cluster, or is known to facilitate the dementia onset under oxidative stress.

Disrupted alternative splicing for genes implicated in splicing and ciliogenesis causes PRPF31 retinitis pigmentosa.

Mutations in pre-mRNA processing factors (PRPFs) cause autosomal-dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP), but it is unclear why mutations in ubiquitously expressed genes cause non-syndromic retinal disease. Here, we generate transcriptome profiles from RP11 (PRPF31-mutated) patient-derived retinal organoids and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), as well as Prpf31 mouse tissues, which revealed that disrupted alternative splicing occurred for specific splicing programmes. Mis-splicing of genes encoding pre-mRNA splicing proteins was limited to patient-specific retinal cells and Prpf31 mouse retinae and RPE.

A Comparative Study on Macro- and Microelement Bioaccumulation Properties of Leaves and Bark of Quercus petraea and Pinus sylvestris.

Trees are widely used for biomonitoring and filtering air in industrial, urban, and rural areas. This research was undertaken to examine accumulation capacities of macroelements (Ca, K, Mg, Na) and trace metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) in needles and bark of Pinus sylvestris and leaves and bark of Quercus petraea growing in the vicinity of the chlor-alkali plant PCC Rokita in Brzeg Dolny (Lower Silesia, SW Poland). Because Scots pine is well studied and considered a useful bioindicator, we have used this species as a base for comparison of the accumulation ability of sessile oak that shows some features of good bioindicator, but whose biogeochemistry was scarcely studied.

Preexisting antibodies can protect against congenital cytomegalovirus infection in monkeys.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common congenital infection and a known cause of microcephaly, sensorineural hearing loss, and cognitive impairment among newborns worldwide. Natural maternal HCMV immunity reduces the incidence of congenital infection, but does not prevent the disease altogether. We employed a nonhuman primate model of congenital CMV infection to investigate the ability of preexisting antibodies to protect against placental CMV transmission in the setting of primary maternal infection and subsequent viremia, which is required for placental virus exposure.

Plasmablast Response to Primary Rhesus Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection in a Monkey Model of Congenital CMV Transmission.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common congenital infection worldwide and the leading infectious cause of neurologic deficits and hearing loss in newborns. Development of a maternal HCMV vaccine to prevent vertical virus transmission is a high priority, yet protective maternal immune responses following acute infection are poorly understood. To characterize the maternal humoral immune response to primary CMV infection, we investigated the plasmablast and early antibody repertoire using a nonhuman primate model with two acutely rhesus CMV (RhCMV)-infected animals-a CD4 T cell-depleted dam that experienced fetal loss shortly after vertical RhCMV transmission and an immunocompetent dam that did not transmit RhCMV to her infant.

Maternal Antibody Responses and Nonprimary Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection of HIV-1-Exposed Infants.

Risk of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) transmission is highly dependent on the presence of preexisting maternal immunity, with the lowest rates observed in CMV-seroimmune populations. Among infants of CMV-seroimmune women, those who are exposed to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have an increased risk of acquiring cCMV infection as compared to HIV-unexposed infants. To better understand the risk factors of nonprimary cCMV transmission in HIV-infected women, we performed a case-control study in which CMV-specific plasma antibody responses from 19 CMV-transmitting and 57 CMV-nontransmitting women with chronic CMV/HIV coinfection were evaluated for the ability to predict the risk of cCMV infection.

Cross-omics comparison of stress responses in mesothelial cells exposed to heat- versus filter-sterilized peritoneal dialysis fluids.

Recent research suggests that cytoprotective responses, such as expression of heat-shock proteins, might be inadequately induced in mesothelial cells by heat-sterilized peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids. This study compares transcriptome data and multiple protein expression profiles for providing new insight into regulatory mechanisms. Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) based proteomics and topic defined gene expression microarray-based transcriptomics techniques were used to evaluate stress responses in human omental peritoneal mesothelial cells in response to heat- or filter-sterilized PD fluids.

Maternal CD4+ T cells protect against severe congenital cytomegalovirus disease in a novel nonhuman primate model of placental cytomegalovirus transmission.

Elucidation of maternal immune correlates of protection against congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) is necessary to inform future vaccine design. Here, we present a novel rhesus macaque model of placental rhesus CMV (rhCMV) transmission and use it to dissect determinants of protection against congenital transmission following primary maternal rhCMV infection. In this model, asymptomatic intrauterine infection was observed following i.

Safety and outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in myelofibrosis.

Objectives: We evaluated the safety and outcome of allo-HSCTs in myelofibrosis (MF).

Methods: A total of 27 patients with primary (n = 20) or secondary (n = 7) MF, aged 51 (21-63) yr, transplanted from HLA-matched related (59%) or unrelated (41%) donors were analyzed. Conditioning was reduced in 26 and myeloablative in one patient; and ATG was used in 25.