Acidic hydrothermal processing of wheat using citrate buffer largely enhances iron and zinc bioaccessibility and bioavailability to Caco-2 cells.

Phytate chelates iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in wheat. A multifactorial experiment showed that hydrothermal processing (45-60 °C, pH 4.0-6.

A framework for neural organoids, assembloids and transplantation studies.

As the field of neural organoids and assembloids rapidly expands, there is an emergent need for guidance and advice on designing, conducting and reporting experiments to increase the reproducibility and utility of these models. Here, our consortium- representing specialized laboratories from around the world- presents a framework for the experimental process that ranges from ensuring the quality and integrity of human pluripotent stem cells to characterizing and manipulating neural cells in vitro, and from transplantation techniques to considerations for modeling human development, evolution, and disease. As with all scientific endeavors, we advocate for rigorous experimental designs tailored to explicit scientific questions, and transparent methodologies and data sharing, to provide useful knowledge for both current research practices and for developing regulatory standards.

An integrated transcriptomic cell atlas of human neural organoids.

Human neural organoids, generated from pluripotent stem cells in vitro, are useful tools to study human brain development, evolution and disease. However, it is unclear which parts of the human brain are covered by existing protocols, and it has been difficult to quantitatively assess organoid variation and fidelity. Here we integrate 36 single-cell transcriptomic datasets spanning 26 protocols into one integrated human neural organoid cell atlas totalling more than 1.

Too big to bag? - Technique for bagging very large adnexal masses via vNOTES.

The technique to perform adnexectomy for adnexal masses has shifted over the last decades, from open surgery towards minimally invasive approaches. At the same time caution is warranted to prevent perioperative intra-abdominal spilling of cyst content which can be a challenge especially for very large masses. vNOTES (vaginal Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery) combines a vaginal approach with endoscopic overview in performing gynaecological surgery without abdominal scarring.

In Which Patients Do the 2023 Duke-ISCVID Criteria for Infective Endocarditis Increase the Diagnosis of "Definite Endocarditis"?-A Preliminary Analysis in the Prospectively Evaluated DERIVE Cohort.

Recently, an update of the Duke criteria for the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis has been published: the 2023 Duke-ISCVID criteria. To gain an insight into which proportion of patients are affected by the new criteria, and which criteria might be the most relevant for the expected increase in sensitivity, we analysed data from a registry of cardiovascular infections. The 2023 Duke-ISCVID criteria were applied to patients who were diagnosed with and treated for endocarditis after having been classified as "possible" endocarditis according to the 2015 ESC Modified Duke criteria.

The Effect of Prebedtime Behaviors on Sleep Duration and Quality in Children: Protocol for a Randomized Crossover Trial.

Background: It is recommended that children should avoid eating dinner, being physically active, or using screens in the hour before bed to ensure good sleep health. However, the evidence base behind these guidelines is weak and limited to cross-sectional studies using questionnaires.

Objective: The aim of this randomized crossover trial was to use objective measures to experimentally determine whether recommendations to improve sleep by banning electronic media, physical activity, or food intake in the hour before bed, impact sleep quantity and quality in the youth.

Human organoids with an autologous tissue-resident immune compartment.

The intimate relationship between the epithelium and immune system is crucial for maintaining tissue homeostasis, with perturbations therein linked to autoimmune disease and cancer. Whereas stem cell-derived organoids are powerful models of epithelial function, they lack tissue-resident immune cells that are essential for capturing organ-level processes. We describe human intestinal immuno-organoids (IIOs), formed through self-organization of epithelial organoids and autologous tissue-resident memory T (T) cells, a portion of which integrate within the epithelium and continuously survey the barrier.

The measurement of young children's nocturnal sleep health and the development of the Perception of Infant and Toddler Sleep Scale (PoITSS) in Aotearoa New Zealand whānau (families).

Objectives: To modify an existing questionnaire Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire - Revised (BISQ-R) to ensure that it is suitable to measure nocturnal sleep health in a diverse sample of young children from Aotearoa New Zealand whānau (families), and to develop a "Perception of Infant and Toddler Sleep Scale" (PoITSS) to use as a primary outcome measurement in an upcoming trial.

Methods: Items from the BISQ-R were adapted for use among ethnically diverse whānau, and tested online with caregivers of 0-2 year old children. A PoITSS score was generated by scaling the responses from three of the questionnaire items to create a value between 0 (very poor) and 10 (very good).

The positive reinforcing effects of cocaine and opposite-sex social contact: roles of biological sex and estrus.

Rationale: Preclinical studies report that drug use and social contact mutually influence the reinforcing effects of one another. Most of these studies have used same-sex dyads exclusively, and the role of factors related to biological sex and hormonal fluctuations are not well understood.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the reinforcing effects of cocaine and social contact with an opposite-sex partner in male and female rats, and how these effects are modulated by ovarian hormones.

Cell atlas of the regenerating human liver after portal vein embolization.

The liver has the remarkable capacity to regenerate. In the clinic, regeneration is induced by portal vein embolization, which redirects portal blood flow, resulting in liver hypertrophy in locations with increased blood supply, and atrophy of embolized segments. Here, we apply single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptomics on healthy, hypertrophied, and atrophied patient-derived liver samples to explore cell states in the regenerating liver.

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB.1.5 and JN.1 variants after COVID-19 booster-vaccination and infection.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages continue to emerge and evolve into new sublineages, causing infection waves throughout 2022 and 2023, which has been attributed to immune escape. We examined neutralizing antibody responses to the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 variant in comparison to ancestral D614G and Omicron BA.

Experiences and Acceptability of a Weight Loss Intervention for Diabetes (Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial-DiRECT) in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Qualitative Study within a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial.

The Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) demonstrated that substantial weight loss and remission from type 2 diabetes can be achieved with low-energy total diet replacement and behavioural support. However, the acceptability of the DiRECT intervention in diverse populations with strong cultural emphases on food and shared eating remains unclear. We conducted a qualitative study nested within a pilot randomised controlled trial of DiRECT in one Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand) primary care provider in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Single-cell epigenomic reconstruction of developmental trajectories from pluripotency in human neural organoid systems.

Cell fate progression of pluripotent progenitors is strictly regulated, resulting in high human cell diversity. Epigenetic modifications also orchestrate cell fate restriction. Unveiling the epigenetic mechanisms underlying human cell diversity has been difficult.

Bioengineered human colon organoids with in vivo-like cellular complexity and function.

Organoids and organs-on-a-chip have emerged as powerful tools for modeling human gut physiology and disease in vitro. Although physiologically relevant, these systems often lack the environmental milieu, spatial organization, cell type diversity, and maturity necessary for mimicking human intestinal mucosa. To instead generate models closely resembling in vivo tissue, we herein integrated organoid and organ-on-a-chip technology to develop an advanced human organoid model, called "mini-colons.

Temporal gene expression during asexual development of the apicomplexan .

Unlabelled: Asexual replication in the apicomplexan involves two main developmental stages: the motile extracellular merozoite and the sessile intracellular schizont. Merozoites invade host cells and transform into schizonts that undergo replication via endopolygeny to form multiple (64) daughter merozoites that are invasive to new host cells. Given that the capabilities of the merozoite vary significantly from the schizont, the patterns of transcript levels throughout the asexual lifecycle were determined and compared in this study.

Treatment with dextroamphetamine decreases the reacquisition of cocaine self-administration: Consistency across social contexts.

Rationale: A return to cocaine use following abstinence frequently occurs in a social context, and the presence of other individuals using cocaine may contribute to the likelihood of use. Previous studies have reported that chronic d-amphetamine treatment decreases cocaine self-administration in laboratory animals and reduces a return to cocaine use following abstinence in humans.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chronic d-amphetamine treatment on the reacquisition of cocaine use in rats self-administering cocaine in different social contexts.

MR Imaging Features of Critical Spinal Demyelinating Lesions Associated with Progressive Motor Impairment.

Background And Purpose: Progressive MS is typically heralded by a myelopathic pattern of asymmetric progressive motor weakness. Focal individual "critical" demyelinating spinal cord lesions anatomically associated with progressive motor impairment may be a compelling explanation for this clinical presentation as described in progressive solitary sclerosis (single CNS demyelinating lesion), progressive demyelination with highly restricted MR imaging lesion burden (2-5 total CNS demyelinating lesions; progressive paucisclerotic MS), and progressive, exclusively unilateral hemi- or monoparetic MS (>5 CNS demyelinating progressive unilateral hemi- or monoparetic MS [PUHMS] lesions). Critical demyelinating lesions appear strikingly similar across these cohorts, and we describe their specific spinal cord MR imaging characteristics.

External quality assessments for SARS-CoV-2 genome detection in Austria : A comparison of the first postpandemic round with results from the pandemic era.

Background: External quality assessment (EQA) schemes provide objective feedback to participating laboratories about the performance of their analytical systems and information about overall regional analytical performance. The EQAs are particularly important during pandemics as they also assess the reliability of individual test results and show opportunities to improve test strategies. With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the testing frequency significantly decreased in Austria.

Health care utilisation of asylum seekers and refugees in the South-West of Germany.

Background: Limited evidence on utilisation of health care by recently arrived asylum seekers and refugees in high-income countries is available. This study aims to describe the implementation of an integrated care facility (ICF) in an initial reception centre and measure the utilisation of care and the influence of operational parameters.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort study design, using medical records, we followed inhabitants of a reception centre in Germany between 11.

Virus sequencing performance during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a retrospective analysis of data from multiple rounds of external quality assessment in Austria.

A notable feature of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was the widespread use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to monitor severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. Countries around the world relied on sequencing and other forms of variant detection to perform contact tracing and monitor changes in the virus genome, in the hopes that epidemic waves caused by variants would be detected and managed earlier. As sequencing was encouraged and rewarded by the government in Austria, but represented a new technicque for many laboratories, we designed an external quality assessment (EQA) scheme to monitor the accuracy of WGS and assist laboratories in validating their methods.

Practical and scalable enantioselective synthesis of (+)-majoranolide from Cyrene.

A two-step enantioselective gram scale synthesis of the derived γ-lactones (+)-majoranolide and (+)-majoranolide B has been achieved. The sequence uses the amine promoted crossed condensation of the biorenewable synthon Cyrene with aliphatic aldehydes followed by a Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. Comparison of optical rotation data with the natural products established the absolute configuration of the natural product series, and this work represents the first synthesis of these alkylidene natural products.

Direction Estimation in 3D Outdoor Air-Air Wireless Channels through Machine Learning.

UAVs need to communicate along three dimensions (3D) with other aerial vehicles, ranging from above to below, and often need to connect to ground stations. However, wireless transmission in 3D space significantly dissipates power, often hindering the range required for these types of links. Directional transmission is one way to efficiently use available wireless channels to achieve the desired range.