Immunogenicity and Safety According to Immunosuppressive Drugs and Different COVID-19 Vaccine Platforms in Immune-Mediated Disease: Data from SAFER Cohort.

Background/objectives: The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) depends on the underlying disease, immunosuppression degree and the vaccine regimens. We evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of different COVID-19 vaccine schedules.

Methods: The SAFER study: "Safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 Vaccine in Rheumatic Disease", is a Brazilian multicentric prospective observational phase IV study in the real-life.

Hospitalization due to pneumococcal disease in the Unified Health System in Brazil: A retrospective analysis of administrative data.

Introduction: Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) caused by pneumococcus and Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD) pose a substantial economic burden on health systems. The objective of the present study is to explore hospitalization costs of pneumococcal disease in the public health system in Brazil, the Unified Health System.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of administrative data on hospitalized cases of pneumococcal disease from January 2019 to July 2023.

Predictors of Hospitalization in Breakthrough COVID-19 among Fully Vaccinated Individuals with Immune-Mediated Rheumatic Diseases: Data from SAFER-Study.

Breakthrough COVID-19 (occurring in fully vaccinated people) has been described. Data on its characteristics among immune-mediated rheumatic disease (IMRD) patients are scarce. This study describes breakthrough COVID-19 occurring in IMRD patients participating in the SAFER-study, a Brazilian multicentric cohort evaluating the safety, effectiveness, and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in patients with autoimmune diseases.

Safety of CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: data from the Brazilian multicentric study safer.

Background: Patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRDs) have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination to mitigate the infection severity risks. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at a high risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, especially those under immunosuppression or with associated comorbidities. However, few studies have assessed the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with RA.

A somatic genetic clock for clonal species.

Age and longevity are key parameters for demography and life-history evolution of organisms. In clonal species, a widespread life history among animals, plants, macroalgae and fungi, the sexually produced offspring (genet) grows indeterminately by producing iterative modules, or ramets, and so obscure their age. Here we present a novel molecular clock based on the accumulation of fixed somatic genetic variation that segregates among ramets.

Somatic epigenetic drift during shoot branching: a cell lineage-based model.

Plant architecture is shaped by the production of new organs, most of which emerge postembryonically. This process includes the formation of new lateral branches along existing shoots. Current evidence supports a detached-meristem model as the cellular basis of lateral shoot initiation.

Biodiversity-production feedback effects lead to intensification traps in agricultural landscapes.

Intensive agriculture with high reliance on pesticides and fertilizers constitutes a major strategy for 'feeding the world'. However, such conventional intensification is linked to diminishing returns and can result in 'intensification traps'-production declines triggered by the negative feedback of biodiversity loss at high input levels. Here we developed a novel framework that accounts for biodiversity feedback on crop yields to evaluate the risk and magnitude of intensification traps.

A diffusible small-RNA-based Turing system dynamically coordinates organ polarity.

The formation of a flat and thin leaf presents a developmentally challenging problem, requiring intricate regulation of adaxial-abaxial (top-bottom) polarity. The patterning principles controlling the spatial arrangement of these domains during organ growth have remained unclear. Here we show that this regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana is achieved by an organ-autonomous Turing reaction-diffusion system centred on mobile small RNAs.

Surface-Constrained Metropolis Monte Carlo: Simulation of Reactions on Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces.

Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) inspired by nature serve as a foundation for developing novel nanomaterials, such as templated silicas, graphene sponges, and schwarzites, with customizable optical, poroelastic, adsorptive, catalytic, and other properties. Computer simulations of reactions on TPMS using reactive intermolecular potentials hold great promise for constructing and screening potential TPMS with the desired properties. Here, we developed an off-lattice, surface-constrained Metropolis Monte Carlo (SC-MMC) algorithm that utilized a temperature quench process.

[Introduction of fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and increase of the range of indications in our department].

Dysphagia is a disease resulting from preparatory or transport disorder of the swallowing process and it is divided into oropharyngeal and esophageal phases according to the site of the lesion. The ear, nose and throat assessment focuses on the oropharyngeal phase, but differential diagnosis, investigation, and treatment of the cause of dysphagia is often a complex task requiring multidisciplinary approach and collaboration. The method of fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) has been introduced at the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat and Head-Neck Surgery, University of Szeged, enabling the examination of otorhinolaryngological and neurological disorders of swallowing as well as objective analysis of patients' swallowing quality.

Drivers of microbial food-web structure along productivity gradients.

Ratios between viruses, heterotrophic prokaryotes and chlorophyll are key indicators of microbial food structure and both virus-prokaryote and prokaryote-chlorophyll ratios have been proposed to decrease with system productivity. However, the mechanisms underlying these responses are still insufficiently resolved and their consistency across aquatic ecosystem types requires critical evaluation. We assessed microbial community ratios in highly productive African soda-lakes and used our data from naturally hypereutrophic systems which are largely underrepresented in literature, to complement earlier across-system meta-analyses.

'Phototaxis' in the absence of light? Locomotory patterns in unionid mussels.

Locomotion in benthic invertebrates can strongly affect habitat selection and ecosystem nutrient cycling. In the case of freshwater mussels, the drivers of locomotion are largely unresolved. Our aim was to assess the influence of light presence and intensity on the locomotory behaviour of freshwater mussels in controlled laboratory experiments.

Timeline kinetics of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 upon primary vaccination and humoral response to variants after booster dose.

New variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have emerged, imposing the need for periodic booster doses. However, whether booster doses should be applied to the entire population or groups, and the booster doses interval, remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated humoral reactivity kinetics from before the first dose to 180 days after the third booster dose in different schedules in a well-controlled health worker cohort.

Merging two eDNA metabarcoding approaches and citizen-science-based sampling to facilitate fish community monitoring along vast Sub-Saharan coastlines.

The coastline of Sub-Saharan Africa hosts highly diverse fish communities of great conservation value, which are also key resources for local livelihoods. However, many costal ecosystems are threatened by overexploitation and their conservation state is frequently unknown due to their vast spatial extent and limited monitoring budgets. Here, we evaluated the potential of citizen science-based eDNA surveys to alleviate such chronic data deficiencies and assessed fish communities in Mozambique using two 12S metabarcoding primer sets.

Comparison of Short and Long-Term Results after Injection Laryngoplasty with Radiesse® Voice and Thyroplasty Type I in Unilateral Vocal Fold Palsy.

Objectives: Unilateral vocal fold palsy independently of etiology results in glottic insufficiency leading to unfavorable short or long-term impact on voice quality. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of injection laryngoplasty using Radiesse® Voice and thyroplasty type I on glottic closure, voice quality and aerodynamics by comparing preoperative, short- and long-term results.

Materials And Methods: Data of 32 consent patients were reviewed between 2012 and 2023.

Subtotal Petrosectomy and Cochlear Implantation in Children With Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media: A Single Institutional Experience.

Background And Objectives: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with or without cholesteatoma is a frequent chronic inflammatory condition in children, which may lead to severe hearing loss that affects speech development. Treatment of recurrent CSOM associated with unserviceable hearing requires a specialized approach with regard to disease eradication and hearing rehabilitation. In this study, we investigated the advantages of subtotal petrosectomy (SP) combined with cochlear implantation (CI) in children with CSOM associated with unserviceable hearing and describe our experience with regard to the efficacy of this method, together with a literature review.

Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Promising Analgesics.

Introduction: An analysis of the literature on the painkillers long used in traditional medicine, which are isolated from plant materials, has shown that many of them are alkylamides of various carboxylic acids. This fact served as the basis for the study of a large group of N-alkyl-4- methyl-2,2-dioxo-1H-2λ,1-benzothiazine-3-carboxamides as potential new analgesics. The objects of the study were synthesized in the traditional way involving the initial conversion of 4-methyl- 2,2-dioxo-1H-2λ,1- benzothiazine-3-carboxylic acid to imidazolide, in which imidazolide was used as an acylating agent.

Plant Biomechanics-A Natural Transition from Molecular to Organ Scale.

Plants are multicellular organisms of a unique structure because their tissues consist of two interwoven networks: a network of interconnected protoplasts that is embedded in a network of tightly joined cell walls [...

Atomistic origin of nano-silver paracrystalline structure: molecular dynamics and x-ray diffraction studies.

Classical molecular dynamics (MD) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to establish the origin of the paracrystalline structure of silver nanoparticles at the atomic scale. Models based on the face-centred cubic structure have been computer generated and their atomic arrangements have been optimized by the MD with the embedded-atom model (EAM) potential and its modified version (MEAM). The simulation results are compared with the experimental XRD data in reciprocal and real spaces, i.

Internal Standard Triggered-Parallel Reaction Monitoring Mass Spectrometry Enables Multiplexed Quantification of Candidate Biomarkers in Plasma.

Despite advances in proteomic technologies, clinical translation of plasma biomarkers remains low, partly due to a major bottleneck between the discovery of candidate biomarkers and costly clinical validation studies. Due to a dearth of multiplexable assays, generally only a few candidate biomarkers are tested, and the validation success rate is accordingly low. Previously, mass spectrometry-based approaches have been used to fill this gap but feature poor quantitative performance and were generally limited to hundreds of proteins.

Previous biological therapy and impairment of the IFN-γ/IL-10 axis are associated with low immune response to 17DD-YF vaccination in patients with spondyloarthritis.

Yellow fever (YF) vaccination is known to induce a suboptimal response in patients with autoimmune diseases (AIDs). To date, few studies have focused on the performance of 17DD-YF vaccination in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA). In general, patients with SpA are young and have less comorbidities than other patients with AIDs, and frequently receive biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) that may impact their response to vaccines.

Supramolecular Structure of Phenyl Derivatives of Butanol Isomers.

Wide-angle X-ray scattering patterns were recorded for a series of aliphatic butanol isomers (-, -, -, -butanol) and their phenyl derivatives (4-phenyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-3-phenyl-1-propanol, 4-phenyl-2-butanol, and 2-methyl-1-phenyl-2-propanol, respectively) to determine their atomic-scale structure with particular emphasis on the formation of supramolecular clusters. In addition, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out and yielded good agreement with experimental data. The combination of experimental and theoretical results allowed clarification of the origin of the pre-peak appearing at low scattering angles for the aliphatic butanols and its absence for their phenyl counterparts.

Specification of leaf dorsiventrality via a prepatterned binary readout of a uniform auxin input.

Developmental boundaries play an important role in coordinating the growth and patterning of lateral organs. In plants, specification of dorsiventrality is critical to leaf morphogenesis. Despite its central importance, the mechanism by which leaf primordia acquire adaxial versus abaxial cell fates to establish dorsiventrality remains a topic of much debate.

The glass-like structure of iron-nickel nanochains produced by the magnetic-field-induced reduction reaction with sodium borohydride.

Preparation and detailed structural characterization of iron-nickel wire-like nanochains with FeNi, FeNi, and FeNi compositions are reported. The investigated nanomaterials were produced by the novel template-free magnetic-field-induced reduction reaction with NaBH as the reducing agent. It is demonstrated that this method leads to the formation of Fe-Ni nanochains composed of spherical nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50-70 nm and with a very high degree of atomic disorder manifested as the lack of clearly developed bcc and fcc phases, which are usually observed for nano- and polycrystalline Fe-Ni species.