Spontaneous formation of different forms of alpha-synuclein fibrils from a recombinant protein.

Alpha-synuclein is a protein, the conformational changes of which lead to the development of such socially significant diseases as Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The methods for differential diagnostics of these diseases based on the use of alpha-synuclein in a non-native conformation obtained from patients as a seed for inducing fibrillogenesis and studying the morphology of the resulting amyloid-like fibrils were described in a number of studies. The authors associate such properties of the seed with the presence of post-translational modifications in the protein obtained from patients.

[Pancreaticoduodenectomy combined with multivisceral resections].

Locally advanced tumors of the stomach, colon and hepatopancreatobiliary zone comprise more than 20% of all cancers. Treatment of these patients is difficult, since tumors have complications in more than 70% of cases. Appropriate treatment poses difficulties due to functional state of these patients.

Digital Twin of the Female Pelvic Floor.

Digital twin technology, originally developed for intricate physical systems, holds great potential in women's healthcare, particularly in the management of pelvic floor disorders. This paper delves into the development of a digital twin specifically for the female pelvic floor, which can amalgamate various data sources such as imaging, biomechanical assessments, and patient-reported outcomes to offer personalized diagnostic and therapeutic insights. Through the utilization of 3D modeling and machine learning, the digital twin may facilitate precise visualization, prediction, and individualized treatment planning.

Pancreatectomy with En Bloc Superior Mesenteric Vein and All Its Tributaries Resection without PV/SMV Reconstruction for "Low" Locally Advanced Pancreatic Head Cancer.

The "vein definition" for locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (LA PDAC) assumes portal-to-superior mesenteric vein (PV/SMV) unreconstructability due to tumor involvement or occlusion. Radical pancreatectomies with SMV resection without PV/SMV reconstruction are scarcely discussed in the literature. Retrospective analysis of 19 radical pancreatectomies for "low" LA PDAC with SMV and all its tributaries resection without PV/SMV reconstruction has shown zero mortality; overall morbidity-56%; Dindo-Clavien-3-10.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Cervical Tactile Ultrasound Technique as a Predictive Tool for Spontaneous Preterm Birth.

Background: Premature cervical softening and shortening may be considered an early mechanical failure that predispose to preterm birth.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the applicability of an innovative cervical tactile ultrasound approach for predicting spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB).

Materials And Methods: Eligible participants were women with low-risk singleton pregnancies in their second trimester, enrolled in this prospective observational study.

Biomechanical Integrity Score of the Female Pelvic Floor for Stress Urinary Incontinence.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This study is aimed at developing and validating a new integral parameter, the Biomechanical Integrity score (BI-score) of the female pelvic floor for stress urinary incontinence conditions.

Methods: A total of 130 subjects were included in the observational cohort study; 70 subjects had normal pelvic floor conditions, and 60 subjects had stress urinary incontinence (SUI). A Vaginal Tactile Imager (VTI) was used to acquire and automatically calculate 52 biomechanical parameters for eight VTI test procedures (probe insertion, elevation, rotation, Valsalva maneuver, voluntary muscle contractions in two planes, relaxation, and reflex contraction).

Cell-Free Tumor DNA Detection-Based Liquid Biopsy of Plasma and Bile in Patients with Various Pancreatic Neoplasms.

The key challenge of cell-free tumor DNA (cftDNA) analysis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is overcoming its low detection rate, which is mainly explained by the overall scarcity of this biomarker in plasma. Obstructive jaundice is a frequent event in PDAC, which enables bile collection as a part of routine treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of -mutated cftDNA detection-based liquid biopsy of plasma and bile in patients with pancreatic neoplasms using digital droplet PCR.

Maternal Influenza and Offspring Neurodevelopment.

This review examines the complex interactions between maternal influenza infection, the immune system, and the neurodevelopment of the offspring. It highlights the importance of high-quality studies to clarify the association between maternal exposure to the virus and neuropsychiatric disorders in the offspring. Additionally, it emphasizes that the development of accurate animal models is vital for studying the impact of infectious diseases during pregnancy and identifying potential therapeutic targets.

How the immune mousetrap works: Structural evidence for the immunomodulatory action of a peptide from influenza NS1 protein.

One of the critical stages of the T-cell immune response is the dimerization of the intramembrane domains of T-cell receptors (TCR). Structural similarities between the immunosuppressive domains of viral proteins and the transmembrane domains of TCR have led several authors to hypothesize the mechanism of immune response suppression by highly pathogenic viruses: viral proteins embed themselves in the membrane and act on the intramembrane domain of the TCRalpha subunit, hindering its functional oligomerization. It has also been suggested that this mechanism is used by influenza A virus in NS1-mediated immunosuppression.

Variability of internal standard method calibration factors estimated with a multifactorial Taguchi experiment in the analysis of alcoholic products by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection.

This study compares the variability of relative response factors (RRFs) using Taguchi's multifactorial analysis for two internal standard (IS) methods in gas chromatography (GC) for quality control of alcoholic products. Methods where either ethanol or pentan-1-ol was used as an IS were compared. For ten volatile substances prescribed by legislation, the RRFs of both methods were compared under 27 different experimental conditions.

Characteristics of an Ising-like Model with Ferromagnetic and Antiferromagnetic Interactions.

In the framework of mean field approximation, we consider a spin system consisting of two interacting sub-ensembles. The intra-ensemble interactions are ferromagnetic, while the inter-ensemble interactions are antiferromagnetic. We define the effective number of the nearest neighbors and show that if the two sub-ensembles have the same effective number of the nearest neighbors, the classical form of critical exponents (α=0, β=1/2, γ=γ'=1, δ=3) gives way to the non-classical form (α=0, β=3/2, γ=γ'=0, δ=1), and the scaling function changes simultaneously.

A New Approach to Estimating the Parameters of Structural Formations in HDPE Reactor Powder.

The morphology of virgin reactor powder (RP) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with M = 160,000 g/mol was investigated using DSC, SEM, SAXS, and WAXS methods. The morphological SEM analysis showed that the main morphological units of RP are macro- and micro-shish-kebab structures with significantly different geometric dimensions, as well as individual lamellae of folded chain crystals. A quantitative analysis of an asymmetric SAXS reflection made it possible to reveal the presence of several periodic morphoses in the RP with long periods ranging from 20 nm to 60 nm, and to correlate them with the observed powder morphology.

H-Selective Electrodes Based on Amine-Type Ionophores: Generalized Theory and A Priori Quantification of Lower and Upper Detection Limits.

A critical analysis of the known theories of functioning of H-selective electrodes (H-SEs) based on neutral amine-type carriers is given. A model of specific ion association is proposed, according to which, in membranes plasticized with 2-nitrophenyloctyl ether, the protonated ionophore and cation-exchanger form much stronger ion pairs with inorganic ions extracted from the sample solution than with each other, and simple equations that describe the lower and upper limit detection (pH and pH) are obtained. A feasible and reliable method for quantifying the p values of ionophores in the membrane phase from potentiometric data is substantiated.

[Optical coherence tomography angiography in diagnosis of changes in macular capillary blood flow in chronic ischemic retinopathy].

Purpose: Assessment of the indices of macular capillary blood flow and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) using optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with retinal manifestations of ocular ischemic syndrome (RMOIS) associated with atherosclerotic internal carotid artery stenosis.

Material And Methods: The study included 34 patients (68 eyes): 21 men, 13 women with RMOIS in one eye. All patients were divided into 2 groups depending on the severity of atherosclerotic internal carotid artery stenosis and ophthalmoscopic picture of the fundus.

Vaginal tactile imaging: A review.

Vaginal Tactile Imaging is a novel technology that creates a visual map of the female pelvic floor based on its biomechanical properties. The vaginal tactile imager is a medical device built on this technology to assist clinicians in diagnosis and prognosis of pelvic floor conditions and treatment from detailed characterization of vaginal tissue elasticity, pelvic support and function. This information is presented in the form of tactile images, a format in which pressure mapping is combined with spatial dimensions.

[Pleiomorphism of the cytokine profile in nasal polyp tissue depending on the phenotype of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps].

Unlabelled: Clinical phenotypes of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) are characterized with different inflammation patterns of mRNA expression of cytokines and depend on presence of allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic bronchial asthma (aBA) or nonatopic bronchial asthma (nBA).

Objective: To compare inflammation response in patients with different phenotypes of CRSwNP according to level secretion of the key cytokines in nasal polyp tissue.

Material And Methods: 292 patients with CRSwNP were divided into four phenotypes: group 1 - CRSwNP without respiratory allergy (RA) and without BA; group 2a - CRSwNP+ AR with aBA; group 2b - CRSwNP+AR without aBA; group 3 - CRSwNP+nBA.

Matrix is everywhere: extracellular DNA is a link between biofilm and mineralization in Bacillus cereus planktonic lifestyle.

To date, the mechanisms of biomineralization induced by bacterial cells in the context of biofilm formation remain the subject of intensive studies. In this study, we analyzed the influence of the medium components on the induction of CaCO precipitation by the Bacillus cereus cells and composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) formed in the submerged culture. While the accumulation of extracellular polysaccharides and amyloids appeared to be independent of the presence of calcium and urea during the growth, the accumulation of extracellular DNA (eDNA), as well as precipitation of calcium carbonate, required the presence of both ingredients in the medium.

A feasible, fast and reliable method for estimating ion-site association constants in plasticized PVC ion-selective electrode membranes.

A feasible, fast and reliable method for estimating ion association constants in PVC plasticized membranes of ion-selective electrodes from potentiometric data has been theoretically and experimentally substantiated. The method is based on the established fact of complete dissociation of salts of quaternary ammonium cations RN  An (except for those containing methyl substituents at the nitrogen atom) in a membrane plasticized with o-nitrophenyl octyl ether (o-NPOE). Therefore, the boundary potential at the interface of the membrane with an aqueous solution of RN depends only upon the concentrations of the corresponding solution and the ion exchanger in the membrane and is independent of the presence of a lipophilic ionic additive (LIA), which makes it possible to use such ions as reference ones in the internal filling solution.

Inside and outside of virus-like particles HBc and HBc/4M2e: A comprehensive study of the structure.

Hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBc) with the insertion of four external domains of the influenza A M2 protein (HBc/4M2e) form virus-like particles whose structure was studied using a combination of molecular modeling and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). It was also shown that self-assembling of the particles occurs inside bacterial cells, but despite the big inner volume of the core shell particle, purified HBc/4M2e contain an insignificant amount of bacterial proteins. It was shown that a fragment of the M2e corresponding to 4M2e insertion is prone to formation of amyloid-like fibrils.

Peptide from NSP7 is able to form amyloid-like fibrils: Artifact or challenge to drug design?

• We found potential amyloidogenic fragment in NSP7 SARS-CoV2 protein • NSP7 (52–62) fragment is able to form amyloid-like fibrils. • The possibility of using such a peptide as the basis for an antiviral drug is discussed.

Fundamental Structural and Kinetic Principals of High Strength UHMWPE Fibers Production by Gel-Technology.

One of the main research work in the field of polymeric materials was, is and always will be the improvement of their mechanical properties. Comprehensive structural studies of UHMWPE reactor powder, the features of its dissolution and the formation of a gel-state, as well as UHMWPE films oriented up to various draw ratios, were carried out using scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. For comparison, decalin and vaseline oil were chosen as solvents.

Determination of Single-Ion Partition Coefficients between Water and Plasticized PVC Membrane Using Equilibrium-Based Techniques.

An experimentally simple method for the direct determination of single-ion partition coefficients between water and a PVC membrane plasticized with o-NPOE is suggested. The method uses the traditional assumption of equal single-ion partition coefficients for some reference cation and anion, in this case tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP) and tetraphenylborate (TPB). The method is based on an integrated approach, including direct study of some salts' distribution between water and membrane phases, estimation of ion association constants, and measurements of unbiased selectivity coefficients for ions of interest, including the reference ones.

Erratum: First Search for Bosonic Superweakly Interacting Massive Particles with Masses up to 1 MeV/c^{2} with GERDA [Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 011801 (2020)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.

Caught red handed: modeling and confirmation of the myeloperoxidase ceruloplasmin alpha-thrombin complex.

The work is devoted to the study of the structural characteristics of the myeloperoxidase-ceruloplasmin-thrombin complex using small-angle neutron scattering methods in combination with computer modeling, as well as surface plasmon resonance and solid-phase enzyme assay. We have previously shown that the functioning of active myeloperoxidase during inflammation, despite the presence in the blood of an excess of ceruloplasmin which inhibits its activity, is possible due to the partial proteolysis of ceruloplasmin by thrombin. In this study, the myeloperoxidase-ceruloplasmin-thrombin heterohexamer was obtained in vitro.