Longitudinal Analysis of Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Older Adults Participating in a Park-Based Fitness Program.

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, particularly among older adults. We examined changes in cardiovascular risk factors among older adults in a community-based fitness program in Miami-Dade County, FL. We used repeated measures linear mixed models to examine participants' cardiovascular risk factor changes over 28 months.

Effect of plasma levels of factor VIII according to procoagulant phospholipids on the risk of future venous thromboembolism.

Background: A high level of plasma coagulation factor (F)VIII is an established and likely causal risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Procoagulant phospholipids (PPLs) facilitate FVIII activity in coagulation.

Objectives: To assess the association between plasma levels of FVIII and risk of future VTE according to PPL clotting time (PPL), an inverse surrogate measure of plasma PPL activity.

Oral amoxicillin treatment disrupts the gut microbiome and metabolome without interfering with luminal redox potential in the intestine of Wistar Han rats.

Oral antibiotic treatment is well known to be one of the main factors affecting gut microbiota composition by altering bacterial diversity. It decreases the abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria such as Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae, while increasing abundance of Enterobacteriaceae. The recovery time of commensal bacteria post-antibiotic treatment varies among individuals, and often, complete recovery is not achieved.

Promotion of beta cell proliferation through DYRK kinase inhibition using the marine natural product breitfussin C.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines, like interleukin-1 beta and interferon gamma, are known to activate signalling pathways causing pancreatic beta cell death and dysfunction, contributing to the onset of diabetes. Targeting cytokine signalling pathways offers a potential strategy to slow or even halt disease progression, reducing reliance on exogenous insulin and improving glucose regulation. This study explores the protective and proliferative effects of breitfussin C (BfC), a natural compound isolated from the Arctic marine hydrozoan Thuiaria breitfussi, on pancreatic beta cells exposed to pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Search for Fractionally Charged Particles with CUORE.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a detector array comprised by 988 5  cm×5  cm×5  cm TeO_{2} crystals held below 20 mK, primarily searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in ^{130}Te. Unprecedented in size among cryogenic calorimetric experiments, CUORE provides a promising setting for the study of exotic throughgoing particles. Using the first tonne year of CUORE's exposure, we perform a search for hypothesized fractionally charged particles (FCPs), which are well-motivated by various standard model extensions and would have suppressed interactions with matter.

Characterization of focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier disruption effect on inflammation as a function of treatment parameters.

The technology of focused ultrasound-mediated disruption of the blood-brain barrier (FUS-BBB opening) has now been used in over 20 Phase 1 clinical trials to validate the safety and feasibility of BBB opening for drug delivery in patients with brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. The primary treatment parameters, FUS intensity and microbubble dose, are chosen to balance sufficient BBB disruption to achieve drug delivery against potential acute vessel damage leading to microhemorrhage. However, other safety considerations due to second order effects caused by BBB disruption, such as inflammation and alteration of neurovascular function, are only beginning to be understood.

Quantification of alcohol intake in patients with steatotic liver disease and excessive alcohol intake.

Background & Aims: Quantifying alcohol intake is crucial for subclassifying participants with steatotic liver disease (SLD) and interpreting clinical trials of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and metabolic and alcohol-related liver disease (MetALD). However, the accuracy of self-reported alcohol intake is considered imprecise. We compared the diagnostic and prognostic utility of self-reported alcohol intake with blood-based biomarkers of alcohol intake: phosphatidylethanol (PEth) and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT).

Multinuclear MRI Can Depict Metabolic and Energetic Changes in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are frequent in the European population. The pathophysiological changes after TBI include metabolic changes, but these are not observable using current clinical tools. We aimed to evaluate multinuclear MRI as a mean of assessing these changes.

Discovery of thiazostatin D/E using UPLC-HR-MS2-based metabolomics and σ-factor engineering of sp. SE50/110.

As the natural producer of acarbose, sp. SE50/110 has high industrial relevance. Like most Actinobacteria, the strain carries several more putative biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) to produce further natural products, which are to be discovered.

Time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging of vibrational wave packets in alkali dimers on helium nanodroplets.

Vibrational wave packets are created in the lowest triplet state 13Σu+ of K2 and Rb2 residing on the surface of helium nanodroplets, through non-resonant stimulated impulsive Raman scattering induced by a moderately intense near-infrared laser pulse. A delayed, intense 50-fs laser pulse doubly ionizes the alkali dimers via multiphoton absorption and thereby causes them to Coulomb explode into a pair of alkali ions Ak+. From the kinetic energy distribution P(Ekin) of the Ak+ fragment ions, measured at a large number of delays, we determine the time-dependent internuclear distribution P(R, t), which represents the modulus square of the wave packet within the accuracy of the experiment.

Raman-Enabled Predictions of Protein Content and Metabolites in Biopharmaceutical Fermentations.

Raman spectroscopy, a robust and non-invasive analytical method, has demonstrated significant potential for monitoring biopharmaceutical production processes. Its ability to provide detailed information about molecular vibrations makes it ideal for the detection and quantification of therapeutic proteins and critical control parameters in complex biopharmaceutical mixtures. However, its application in fermentations has been hindered by the inherent strong fluorescence background from the cells.

Replacing dietary carbohydrate with protein and fat improves lipoprotein subclass profile and liver fat in type 2 diabetes independent of body weight: evidence from 2 randomized controlled trials.

Background: Dyslipidemia with elevated concentrations of triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins (TRLs), small-dense LDL, and reduced HDL is linked to hepatic steatosis and promotes atherogenesis in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Objectives: We aimed to analyze whether moderate carbohydrate restriction reduces liver fat in T2D independent of changes in body weight and whether this is accompanied by parallel improvements in plasma lipoprotein subclasses.

Methods: We determined the density profile of circulating lipoproteins in patients with T2D from 2 previous randomized controlled trials.

Isolation and characterization of Salmonella enterica- and Escherichia coli-specific bacteriophages of the genus Epseptimavirus from wastewater in Minnesota.

Five lytic bacteriophages specific for Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli were isolated from wastewater in Minnesota. These phages, designated vB_Sal_EH1, vB_Sal_EH2, vB_Sal_EH3, vB_Sal_EH4, and vB_Sal_EH7, were characterized, and their genomes were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis showed that they grouped within the genus Epseptimavirus, with genome sizes ranging from 108,554 to 115,218 bp.

Multimodal representation learning for medical analytics - a systematic literature review.

Machine learning-based analytics over uni-modal medical data has shown considerable promise and is now routinely deployed in diagnostic procedures. However, patient data consists of diverse types of data. By exploiting such data, multimodal approaches promise to revolutionize our ability to provide personalized care.

Mothers' and fathers' experiences of breastfeeding and returning to paid work after birth: A mixed-method study.

This mixed-method study explored the experiences of mothers and fathers combining breastfeeding with returning to paid employment after childbirth. Tasmanian State Service employees participated in an online survey and phone interviews. A total of 130 parents completed the survey, and 42 participated in 60-min phone interviews.

Automated oxygen administration versus manual control in acute cardiovascular care: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Oxygen therapy is commonly administered to patients with acute cardiovascular conditions during hospitalisation. Both hypoxaemia and hyperoxia can cause harm, making it essential to maintain oxygen saturation (SpO) within a target range. Traditionally, oxygen administration is manually controlled by nursing staff, guided by intermittent pulse oximetry readings.

Variability in spruce beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) adult diapause and evidence for oocyte development prior to winter in a Colorado population.

Diapause regulates seasonal insect life cycles and may be highly variable within and among populations due to genetic and environmental variability. Both types of variation may influence how populations respond plastically or evolutionarily to changing climates. We assessed diapause variability in spruce beetle Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), a major forest pest whose life cycle timing is regulated by both prepupal and adult diapauses.

Characterisation of the tumour microenvironment in primary and recurrent glioblastomas.

Aims: Glioblastoma patients have a dismal prognosis, due to inevitable tumour recurrence and respond poorly to immunotherapy. Tumour-associated microglia/macrophages (TAMs) dominate the glioblastoma tumour microenvironment and have been implicated in tumour progression and immune evasion. Early recurrent glioblastomas contain focal reactive regions with occasional fibrosis, chronic inflammation, TAMs and tumour cells.

Isolation of Single Donors in ZnO.

The shallow donor in zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising semiconductor spin qubit with optical access. Single indium donors are isolated in a commercial ZnO substrate using plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) milling. Quantum emitters are identified optically by spatial and frequency filtering.

3D quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging with hyperpolarized HP001(bis-1,1-(hydroxymethyl)-[1-C]cyclopropane-d8): Application of gradient echo and balanced SSFP sequences.

Purpose: This study aims to show the viability of conducting three-dimensional (3D) myocardial perfusion quantification covering the entire heart using both GRE and bSSFP sequences with hyperpolarized HP001.

Methods: A GRE sequence and a bSSFP sequence, both with a stack-of-spirals readout, were designed and applied to three pigs. The images were reconstructed using C coil sensitivity maps measured in a phantom experiment.