Publications by authors named "Damm M"

Planet Earth is threatened by the human population. Energy and resource use are far beyond the planet's carrying capacity. Planetary Health suggests an alternative idea of prosperity as the best possible human health for all within planetary boundaries.

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"True" cobras (genus ) are among the venomous snakes most frequently involved in snakebite accidents in Africa and Asia. The Cape cobra () is one of the African cobras of highest medical importance, but much remains to be learned about its venom. Here, we used a shotgun proteomics approach to better understand the qualitative composition of venom and tested its cytotoxicity and protease activity as well as its effect on intracellular Ca release and NO synthesis.

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Termination of pregnancy due to a fetal anomaly is a challenging and mentally stressful experience, associated with trauma-related stress, depression and symptoms of complicated grief. It differs from other types of pregnancy loss because of the role of active decision-making. Expectant parents depend on caring and experienced staff to guide them during a time full of ambiguity and contrasting emotions.

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Article Synopsis
  • Non-front-fanged snakes (NFFS) have been largely neglected in snake venom research, leading to unclear assessments of their medical significance for human bites.
  • The review focuses on European NFFS, highlighting that while most bites cause mild symptoms, the genus Malpolon can result in more severe local and systemic effects.
  • It emphasizes the importance of professional medical evaluation for any bite from these snakes to ensure safety and aid in understanding their potential risks.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines venom variation in two allopatric populations of the snake Vipera ammodytes, one on an island with a diet largely consisting of ectotherms and the other on the mainland with a more diverse diet.
  • Ten toxin families were identified, revealing that juvenile snakes have a different venom profile dominated by specific toxins, while adults have a more balanced venom composition.
  • Despite differences in prey availability, the venom composition between the two populations was similar, suggesting limited evolutionary pressure on island vipers due to geographic isolation, while significant differences were noted when compared to more distant populations, indicating ecological and evolutionary factors in venom variability.
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Snakebite primarily impacts rural communities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The sharp-nosed viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) is among the snakes of highest medical importance in Asia. Despite various studies on its venom using modern venomics techniques, a comprehensive understanding of composition and function of this species' venom remains lacking.

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The North African mountain viper (Vipera monticola) is a medically relevant venomous snake distributed in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Three subspecies of V. monticola, exhibiting differences in morphotypes and dietary regimes, are currently recognised: V.

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Snake venom variations are a crucial factor to understand the consequences of snakebite envenoming worldwide, and therefore it is important to know about toxin composition alterations between taxa. Palearctic vipers of the genera , , and have high medical impacts across the Old World. One hotspot for their occurrence and diversity is Türkiye, located on the border between continents, but many of their venoms remain still understudied.

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Ionic liquids (ILs) are an emerging materials' class with applications in areas such as energy storage, catalysis, and biomass dissolution and processing. Their physicochemical properties including surface tension, viscosity, density and their interplay between cation and anion chemistry are decisive in these applications. For many commercially available ILs, a full set of physicochemical data is not available.

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Barley produces several specialized metabolites, including five α-, β-, and γ-hydroxynitrile glucosides (HNGs). In malting barley, presence of the α-HNG epiheterodendrin gives rise to undesired formation of ethyl carbamate in the beverage production, especially after distilling. Metabolite-GWAS identified QTLs and underlying gene candidates possibly involved in the control of the relative and absolute content of HNGs, including an undescribed MATE transporter.

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Introduction: This study explores how chronic pancreatitis (CP) relates to subclinical cognitive impairment (SCI) and its prevalence, characteristics, risk factors, and effects on patients' quality of life (QoL) and physical performance.

Methods: Patients with fulfilled CP criteria in imaging were prospectively enrolled. Overt encephalopathy, neurodegenerative disorders, decompensated cirrhosis, and sepsis were exclusion criteria.

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Objective: Early disease prediction is challenging in acute pancreatitis (AP). Here, we prospectively investigate whether the microbiome predicts severity of AP (Pancreatitis-Microbiome As Predictor of Severity; P-MAPS) early at hospital admission.

Design: Buccal and rectal microbial swabs were collected from 424 patients with AP within 72 hours of hospital admission in 15 European centres.

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Background: Parameters to adapt individual treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are urgently needed. The present study aimed to evaluate body composition parameters as predictors of overall survival (OS) in PDAC patients.

Methods: Measurements of body composition parameters were performed on computed tomography scans at diagnosis.

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Background: Endoscopic approaches in the treatment of transmural esophageal defects, either after esophageal resection or due to perforation, have demonstrated convincing feasibility. Surgical options are limited and associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Currently, internal endoscopic drainage with pigtail stents, self-expanding metal stent (SEMS), or endoscopic vacuum therapy (EVT) are options for first-line treatment.

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Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease and a globally important driver of death and morbidity. Vipers of the genus (Viperidae: Viperinae) are among the snakes of higher medical importance in the Old World. Despite the medical relevance of venoms, the knowledge regarding them is heterogeneously distributed with virtually all works conducted so far focusing on subspecies of , while other species within the genus are largely overlooked.

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Using an airborne vector laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) to measure the air flow outside of the boundary layer of an airplane is a promising optical technique. Measurement of the primary flight data like true airspeed, the angle of attack, and the angle of sideslip can be directly derived from the measured wind vector. We developed an experimental system with interchangeable telescopes to study the change in the LDA sensitivity and signal rate, depending on the focusing of the measurement beam.

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When a child dies in utero death becomes an integrated part of the mothers living body and this complex experience places a heavy existential and bodily burden on a woman experiencing stillbirth. This study uses a phenomenological approach with focus groups and individual interviews and data is discussed within a theoretical existential framework. Interviews of six women who experienced stillbirth within a range of 5 years were performed in Denmark.

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European vipers (genus ) are medically important snakes displaying considerable venom variation, occurring at different levels in this group. The presence of intraspecific venom variation, however, remains understudied in several species. is a venomous snake endemic to the northern Iberian Peninsula and south-western France, presenting notable phenotypic variation and inhabiting several diverse habitats across its range.

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The fungal cyclodepsipeptides (CDPs) enniatin, beauvericin, bassianolide, and PF1022 consist of alternating N-methylated l-amino and d-hydroxy acids. They are synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). The amino acid and hydroxy acid substrates are activated by adenylation (A) domains.

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Among venomous animals, toxic secretions have evolved as biochemical weapons associated with various highly specialized delivery systems on many occasions. Despite extensive research, there is still limited knowledge of the functional biology of most animal toxins, including their venom production and storage, as well as the morphological structures within sophisticated venom producing tissues that might underpin venom modulation. Here, we report on the spatial exploration of a snake venom gland system by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), in combination with standard proteotranscriptomic approaches, to enable in situ toxin mapping in spatial intensity maps across a venom gland sourced from the Egyptian cobra ().

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Gangliosides are present and concentrated in axons and implicated in axon-myelin interactions, but how ganglioside composition changes during myelin formation is not known. Here, we present a direct infusion (shotgun) lipidomics method to analyze gangliosides in small amounts of tissue reproducibly and with high sensitivity. We resolve the mouse ganglioside lipidome during development and adulthood and determine the ganglioside content of mice lacking the and genes that synthesize most ganglioside species.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Limited research has focused on the evolution of toxins outside a few species, and recent technological advancements in genomics and venomics are enhancing our understanding of these processes and the role of venom in various life stages.
  • * The study of venoms not only aids in identifying and understanding toxin functions but also has significant implications for human applications in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostics.
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A pregnant woman needs adequate knowledge, motivation, and skills to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information to make decisions related to the health of herself and her unborn baby. These skills are defined as health literacy: an important factor in relation to the woman's ability to engage and navigate antenatal care services. Evidence shows variation in levels of health literacy among pregnant women, but more knowledge is needed about how to respond to different health literacy profiles in antenatal care.

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The assessment of cancer patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic has been mainly reported from a physician's perspective. Patients with rare tumor entities such as neuroendocrine tumors (NET), which require a complex and specialized care infrastructure, were highly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Using a structured questionnaire consisting of a general section on the disease and a special COVID-19 section to record medical care, vaccination behavior as well as social and psycho-emotional parameters were collected from NET patients.

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