Association Between Stroke Severity and Serum Troponin in Acute Stroke.

Serum troponin is often elevated in patients with acute stroke and its mechanism is unknown. In a retrospective single-center cohort study, we evaluated the association between stroke severity and serum troponin in 187 patients with acute stroke using multivariable modified Poisson models. A one-point increase in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (measure of stroke severity) was associated with a marginally higher serum troponin level in adjusted models (aIRR 1.

Dyadic positive and negative religious coping among older Singaporean couples and marital satisfaction.

Difficulties faced in life can affect marital relationships and such troubles may be dealt with in a multitude of ways, including coping religiously. The present study examined how religious coping, either in a positive or negative manner, may have an impact on marital satisfaction. Importantly, this association was studied dyadically in a sample of religiously diverse (Buddhists, 32.

Development of a Head-Mounted Holographic Needle Guidance System for Enhanced Ultrasound-Guided Neuraxial Anesthesia: System Development and Observational Evaluation.

Background: Neuraxial anesthesia is conventionally performed using a landmark-based technique. Preprocedural ultrasound is often used in challenging clinical scenarios to identify an ideal needle path. The procedure is then carried out by the operator recreating the ultrasound needle path from memory.

Predictors of 1-year mortality after adult lung transplantation: Systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: Prognostic factors in lung transplantation are those variables that are associated with transplant outcomes. Knowledge of donor and recipient prognostic variables can aid in the optimal allocation of donor lungs to transplant recipients and can also inform post-operative discussions with patients about prognosis. Current research findings related to prognostic factors in lung transplantation are inconsistent and the relative importance of various factors is unclear.

Information trust and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy amongst middle-aged and older adults in Singapore: A latent class analysis Approach.

Rationale: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy presents significant challenges for public health.

Objective: Vaccine hesitancy among middle-aged and older adults has been a significant barrier in Singapore's battle against COVID-19. We hypothesize that the trust middle-aged and older adults place in various sources of information influences vaccine hesitancy, and that distinct typologies of trust can be identified to better inform targeted health communication efforts.

Comprehensive Laboratory Data Analysis to Predict the Clinical Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in 1,952 Patients in Daegu, Korea.

Background: Laboratory parameter abnormalities are commonly observed in COVID-19 patients; however, their clinical significance remains controversial. We assessed the prevalence, characteristics, and clinical impact of laboratory parameters in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Daegu, Korea.

Methods: We investigated the clinical and laboratory parameters of 1,952 COVID-19 patients on admission in nine hospitals in Daegu, Korea.

Improved Cell Selectivity of Pseudin-2 via Substitution in the Leucine-Zipper Motif: In Vitro and In Vivo Antifungal Activity.

Several antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been discovered, developed, and purified from natural sources and peptide engineering; however, the clinical applications of these AMPs are limited owing to their lack of abundance and side effects related to cytotoxicity, immunogenicity, and hemolytic activity. Accordingly, to improve cell selectivity for pseudin-2, an AMP from skin, in mammalian cells and pathogenic fungi, the sequence of pseudin-2 was modified by alanine or lysine at each position of two amino acids within the leucine-zipper motif. Alanine-substituted variants were highly selective toward fungi over HaCaT and erythrocytes and maintained their antifungal activities and mode of action (membranolysis).

Symmetry breaking in particle-forming diblock polymer/homopolymer blends.

Compositionally asymmetric diblock copolymers provide an attractive platform for understanding the emergence of tetragonally close-packed, Frank-Kasper phases in soft matter. Block-polymer phase behavior is governed by a straightforward competition between chain stretching and interfacial tension under the constraint of filling space at uniform density. Experiments have revealed that diblock copolymers with insufficient conformational asymmetry to form Frank-Kasper phases in the neat-melt state undergo an interconversion from body-centered cubic (bcc) close-packed micelles to a succession of Frank-Kasper phases (σ to C14 to C15) upon the addition of minority-block homopolymer in the dry-brush regime, accompanied by the expected transition from bcc to hexagonally packed cylinders in the wet-brush regime.

Open-source code for self-consistent field theory calculations of block polymer phase behavior on graphics processing units.

Self-consistent field theory (SCFT) is a powerful approach for computing the phase behavior of block polymers. We describe a fast version of the open-source Polymer Self-Consistent Field (PSCF) code that takes advantage of the massive parallelization provided by a graphical processing unit (GPU). Benchmarking double-precision calculations indicate up to 30× reduction in time to converge SCFT calculations of various diblock copolymer phases when compared to the Fortran CPU version of PSCF using the same algorithms, with the speed-up increasing with increasing unit cell size for the diblock polymer problems examined here.

Anti-Biofilm Effects of Synthetic Antimicrobial Peptides Against Drug-Resistant and Planktonic Cells and Biofilm.

Biofilm-associated infections are difficult to manage or treat as biofilms or biofilm-embedded bacteria are difficult to eradicate. Antimicrobial peptides have gained increasing attention as a possible alternative to conventional drugs to combat drug-resistant microorganisms because they inhibit the growth of planktonic bacteria by disrupting the cytoplasmic membrane. The current study investigated the effects of synthetic peptides (PS1-2, PS1-5, and PS1-6) and conventional antibiotics on the growth, biofilm formation, and biofilm reduction of drug-resistant and .

Functional Characterization of a Rice Thioredoxin Protein OsTrxm and Its Cysteine Mutant Variant with Antifungal Activity.

Although there are many antimicrobial proteins in plants, they are not well-explored. Understanding the mechanism of action of plant antifungal proteins (AFPs) may help combat fungal infections that impact crop yields. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by screening leaves to isolate novel AFPs.

Production of recombinant proteins through sequestration in chloroplasts: a strategy based on nuclear transformation and post-translational protein import.

Recently, plants have emerged as a lucrative alternative system for the production of recombinant proteins, as recombinant proteins produced in plants are safer and cheaper than those produced in bacteria and animal cell-based production systems. To obtain high yields in plants, recombinant proteins are produced in chloroplasts using different strategies. The first strategy is based on chloroplast transformation, followed by gene expression and translation in chloroplasts.

Hydrophilic Linear Peptide with Histidine and Lysine Residues as a Key Factor Affecting Antifungal Activity.

Increases in the numbers of immunocompromised patients and the emergence of drug-resistance fungal pathogens have led to the need for new, safe, efficacious antifungal agents. In this study, we designed a histidine-lysine-lysine (HKK) motif and synthesized six HKK peptides with repetitions of the motif. These peptides showed length-dependent antifungal activity against drug-susceptible and drug-resistant fungal pathogens via membranolytic or non-membranolytic action.

Cell-selectivity of tryptophan and tyrosine in amphiphilic α-helical antimicrobial peptides against drug-resistant bacteria.

The increasing emergence of drug-resistant bacteria creates a requirement for new antibiotics and various types of antibiotic materials such as proteins, peptides, polymers, and chemical compounds. Among these, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered to be promising antibiotic candidates for clinical treatments. In this study, we have designed a novel series of peptides with repeated sequences of minimum membrane-active motif, 'XWZX' basic sequence (X: lysine or arginine, Z: leucine, tyrosine, valine, or glycine), and an α-helical secondary structure.

Prevailing practices in airway management: a prospective single-centre observational study of endotracheal intubation.

Introduction: Airway management during anaesthesia has potential difficulties and risks. We aimed to investigate the utility of routine airway assessment for predicting difficult tracheal intubation, review the prevailing practice of videolaryngoscope use amongst anaesthetists in a teaching hospital and determine the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative airway-related complications.

Methods: A prospective observational study of 1,654 patients undergoing general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation over a seven-month period was performed.

Evidence for the extended de Gennes regime of a semiflexible polymer in slit confinement.

We use off-lattice, pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) simulations to compute the confinement free energy of a real wormlike chain of effective width and persistence length in a slit of height . For slit heights much larger than the persistence length of the polymer and much smaller than the thermal blob size, the excess free energy of the confined chain is consistent with a modified version of the scaling theory for the extended de Gennes regime in a channel that reflects the blob statistics in slit confinement. Explicitly, for channel sizes [Formula: see text], the difference between the confinement free energy of the real chain and that of an ideal chain scales like .

One-Parameter Scaling Theory for DNA Extension in a Nanochannel.

Experiments measuring DNA extension in nanochannels are at odds with even the most basic predictions of current scaling arguments for the conformations of confined semiflexible polymers such as DNA. We show that a theory based on a weakly self-avoiding, one-dimensional "telegraph" process collapses experimental data and simulation results onto a single master curve throughout the experimentally relevant region of parameter space and explains the mechanisms at play.

Wall depletion length of a channel-confined polymer.

Numerous experiments have taken advantage of DNA as a model system to test theories for a channel-confined polymer. A tacit assumption in analyzing these data is the existence of a well-defined depletion length characterizing DNA-wall interactions such that the experimental system (a polyelectrolyte in a channel with charged walls) can be mapped to the theoretical model (a neutral polymer with hard walls). We test this assumption using pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) simulations of a DNA-like semiflexible polymer confined in a tube.

Proteome profiling of heat, oxidative, and salt stress responses in Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1.

The thermophilic species, Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1, a model microorganism for studying hyperthermophiles, has adapted to optimal growth under conditions of high temperature and salinity. However, the environmental conditions for the strain are not always stable, and this strain might face different stresses. In the present study, we compared the proteome response of T.

A 1-Cys Peroxiredoxin from a Thermophilic Archaeon Moonlights as a Molecular Chaperone to Protect Protein and DNA against Stress-Induced Damage.

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) act against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), organic peroxides, and peroxynitrite. Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1, an anaerobic archaeon, contains many antioxidant proteins, including three Prxs (Tk0537, Tk0815, and Tk1055). Only Tk0537 has been found to be induced in response to heat, osmotic, and oxidative stress.

Chaperone-Like Activity of a Bacterioferritin Comigratory Protein from Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1.

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are ubiquitous and conserved proteins that can catalyze the reduction of inorganic and organic hydroperoxides to protect against damage by reactive oxygen species. In this study, a Prx subfamily member, and specifically a bacterioferritin comigratory protein from hyperthermophilic Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1 (TkBcp), was overexpressed, purified and characterized. Based on the conserved cysteine (Cys) residues in its amino acids sequence, TkBcp can be grouped into 1-Cys Prx family.

Potential energy surfaces for the HBr(+) + CO2 → Br + HOCO(+) reaction in the HBr(+) (2)Π3/2 and (2)Π1/2 spin-orbit states.

Quantum mechanical (QM) + molecular mechanics (MM) models are developed to represent potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the HBr(+) + CO2 → Br + HOCO(+) reaction with HBr(+) in the (2)Π3/2 and (2)Π1/2 spin-orbit states. The QM component is the spin-free PES and spin-orbit coupling for each state is represented by a MM-like analytic potential fit to spin-orbit electronic structure calculations. Coupled-cluster single double and perturbative triple excitation (CCSD(T)) calculations are performed to obtain "benchmark" reaction energies without spin-orbit coupling.

Condition assessment survey of onsite sewage disposal systems (OSDSs) in Hawaii.

Onsite sewage disposal systems (OSDSs) are the third leading cause of groundwater contamination in the USA. The existing condition of OSDSs in the State of Hawaii was investigated to determine whether a mandatory management program should be implemented. Based on observed conditions, OSDSs were differentiated into four categories: 'pass', 'sludge scum', 'potential failure' and 'fail'.

Architecture and characterization of a thermostable MoxR family AAA(+) ATPase from Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1.

AAA(+) ATPases are ubiquitous enzymes that can function as molecular chaperones, employing the energy obtained from ATP hydrolysis to remodel macromolecules. In this report, the MoxR enzyme from Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1 (TkMoxR) was shown to have two native forms: a two-stack hexameric ring and a hexameric structure, under physiological conditions and cold stress, respectively. TkMoxR was altered to a microtubule-like form in the presence of ATP and tightly interacted with dsDNA molecules of various lengths.

Multifunctional enzymes in archaea: promiscuity and moonlight.

Enzymes from many archaea colonizing extreme environments are of great interest because of their potential for various biotechnological processes and scientific value of evolution. Many enzymes from archaea have been reported to catalyze promiscuous reactions or moonlight in different functions. Here, we summarize known archaeal enzymes of both groups that include different kinds of proteins.