Wastewater monitoring - passive sampling for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater.

As a lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology was recognised and used as an important method for surveillance and early detection of SARS-CoV-2. As a result, consideration of wastewater as a source of public health information has gained new prominence, and there is consensus that similar approaches can be used to detect the spread of other viral pathogens or antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in populations. However, the implementation of wastewater monitoring poses challenges in terms of obtaining representative and meaningful samples.

Venous Endothelial Cell Transcriptomic Profiling Implicates METAP1 in Preeclampsia.

Background: Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy characterized by systemic endothelial dysfunction. The pathophysiology of preeclampsia remains incompletely understood. This study used human venous endothelial cell (EC) transcriptional profiling to investigate potential novel mechanisms underlying EC dysfunction in preeclampsia.

Expansion microscopy reveals neural circuit organization in genetic animal models.

Expansion microscopy is a super-resolution technique in which physically enlarging the samples in an isotropic manner increases inter-molecular distances such that nano-scale structures can be resolved using light microscopy. This is particularly useful in neuroscience as many important structures are smaller than the diffraction limit. Since its invention in 2015, a variety of expansion microscopy protocols have been generated and applied to advance knowledge in many prominent organisms in neuroscience, including zebrafish, mice, , and .

Restoring Mitochondrial Quantity and Quality to Reverse Warburg Effect and Drive Tumor Differentiation.

Reduced mitochondrial quality and quantity in tumors is associated with dedifferentiation and increased malignancy. However, it remains unclear how to restore mitochondrial quantity and quality in tumors, and whether mitochondrial restoration can drive tumor differentiation. Our study shows that restoring mitochondrial function using retinoic acid (RA) to boost mitochondrial biogenesis and a mitochondrial uncoupler to enhance respiration synergistically drives neuroblastoma differentiation and inhibits proliferation.

A Modified Delphi Process to Achieve Consensus on Social/Administrative Science Topics in Pharmacy Curricula.

Objective: To identify a consensus among pharmacy educators regarding relevant social/administrative science (SAS) topic areas and their priorities within pharmacy curricula.

Methods: A modified Delphi process was conducted with members of selected American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) affinity groups as the expert panel. Eighty-three potential topic areas across 12 domains were gathered via an informal literature review.

Gut microbiome and obesity in late adolescence: a case-control study in "Children of 1997" birth cohort.

Purpose: Although the gut microbiome is important in human health, its relation to adolescent obesity remains unclear. Here we assessed the associations of the gut microbiome with adolescent obesity in a case-control study.

Methods: In the "Children of 1997" birth cohort, participants with and without obesity at ~17.

Increased Infectious Risk Donor Status and Equity-Relevant Predictors of Organ Donation Organization Approach and Caregiver Consent for Deceased Organ Donation in a Canadian Province (2015-2021).

Background: Current donor risk assessments to identify risk of infectious transmission through transplantation have been criticized as unnecessarily discriminatory for sexual and gender minorities. Little is known about how increased infectious risk donor (IIRD) patients transition through the deceased donation system. We sought to evaluate how IIRD status and other equity-relevant identities impacted the likelihood of a caregiver of a deceased donor being approached for organ donation and the likelihood of caregiver consent.

Scope+: An open source generalizable architecture for single-cell RNA-seq atlases at sample and cell levels.

Summary: With the recent advancement in single-cell RNA-sequencing technologies and the increased availability of integrative tools, challenges arise in easy and fast access to large collections of cell atlas. Existing cell atlas portals rarely are open sourced and adaptable, and do not support meta-analysis at cell level. Here, we present an open source, highly optimised and scalable architecture, named Scope+, to allow quick access, meta-analysis and cell-level selection of the atlas data.

Fatty Alcohol Membrane Model for Quantifying and Predicting Amphiphilicity.

Amphiphilicity is an important property for drug development and self-assembly. This paper introduces a general approach based on a simple fatty alcohol (dodecanol) membrane model that can be used to quantify the amphiphilicity of small molecules that are in good agreement with experimental surface tension data. By applying the model to a systematic series of compounds, it was possible to elucidate the effect of different motifs on amphiphilicity.

Pharmacological blocking of spinal GABA receptors in monkeys reduces sensory transmission to the spinal cord, thalamus, and cortex.

A century of research established that GABA inhibits proprioceptive inputs presynaptically to sculpt spinal neural inputs into skilled motor output. Recent results in mice challenged this theory by showing that GABA can also facilitate action potential conduction in proprioceptive afferents. Here, we tackle this controversy in monkeys, the most human-relevant animal model, and show that GABA receptors (GABARs) indeed facilitate sensory inputs to spinal motoneurons and interneurons and that this mechanism also influences sensory transmission to supraspinal centers.

Supportive care in transplantation: A patient-centered care model to better support kidney transplant candidates and recipients.

Kidney transplantation (KT), although the best treatment option for eligible patients, entails maintaining and adhering to a life-long treatment regimen of medications, lifestyle changes, self-care, and appointments. Many patients experience uncertain outcome trajectories increasing their vulnerability and symptom burden and generating complex care needs. Even when transplants are successful, for some patients the adjustment to life post-transplant can be challenging and psychological difficulties, economic challenges and social isolation have been reported.

Flow-diverting stents for the treatment of unruptured distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysms: analysis of the CRETA Registry.

Background: Data about the safety and the efficacy of flow diversion for distal anterior cerebral artery (DACA) aneurysms are limited. We present the largest multicenter analysis evaluating the outcomes of flow diversion in unruptured DACA aneurysm treatment.

Methods: Databases from 39 centers were retrospectively reviewed for unruptured DACA aneurysms treated with flow-diverting stents.

Tracheoesophageal Puncture Outcomes at a Safety Net Hospital.

Tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) is the gold standard for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomy (TL). Retrospective analysis was performed of TEP outcomes in patients between 2013 and 2020 at a single tertiary hospital. TEP was performed primarily in 79%, secondarily in 6%, and not placed in 15% of 226 patients.

Composition-Tunable Bandgap Engineering of Horizontally Guided CdSSe Nanowalls for High-Performance Photodetectors.

Composition-adjustable semiconductor nanomaterials have garnered significant attention due to their controllable bandgaps and electronic structures, providing alternative opportunities to regulate photoelectric properties and develop the corresponding multifunction optoelectronic devices. Nevertheless, the large-scale integration of semiconductor nanomaterials into practical devices remains challenging. Here, we report a synthesis strategy for the well-aligned horizontal CdSSe ( = 0-1) nanowall arrays, which are guided grown on an annealed M-plane sapphire using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) approaches.

mRNA vaccines encoding membrane-anchored RBDs of SARS-CoV-2 mutants induce strong humoral responses and can overcome immune imprinting.

We investigated mRNA vaccines encoding a membrane-anchored receptor-binding domain (RBD), each a fusion of a variant RBD, the transmembrane (TM) and cytoplasmic tail fragments of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. In naive mice, RBD-TM mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants induced strong humoral responses against the target RBD. Multiplex surrogate viral neutralization (sVNT) assays revealed broad neutralizing activity against a range of variant RBDs.

The Tumour Microenvironment and Epigenetic Regulation in Pathogenic Variant-Associated Breast Cancers.

: pathogenic variant (PV)-associated breast cancers are most commonly seen in hereditary genetic conditions such as the autosomal-dominant Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome, and rarely in sporadic breast cancer. Such breast cancers tend to exhibit greater aggressiveness and poorer prognoses due to the influence of pathogenic variants (PVs) on the tumour microenvironment. Additionally, while the genetic basis of PV breast cancer is well-studied, the role of epigenetic mediators in the tumourigenesis of these hereditary breast cancers is also worth exploring.

Fast, Highly Stable, and Low-Bandgap 2D Halide Perovskite Photodetectors Based on Short-Chained Fluorinated Piperidinium as a Spacer.

Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskite (HP), with attractive structural and optoelectronic properties, has shown great potential in optoelectrical devices. However, the relatively wide bandgap () and stability, which cause inferior efficiency, prevent its feasibility from further applications. To tackle these issues, for the first time, a novel fluorine-containing piperidinium spacer, (3-HCFCFCHOCH-PPH), abbreviated as (4FH-PPH), has been designed for the stable and efficient = 1 2D HPs.

Prospective Randomized Study on Switching Triple Inhaler Therapy in COPD from Multiple Inhaler Devices to a Single Inhaler Device in a Chinese Population.

Background: Triple therapy with inhaled corticosteroids and dual bronchodilator was recommended in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who had exacerbations and eosinophilia. It can be administered by single inhaler (SITT) or multiple inhaler (MITT). There was lack of evidence of the benefits of SITT over MITT in Chinese population, especially on switching from existing MITT to SITT.

An MRI-Derived Formula for Estimating the Native Joint Line Position in the Presence of Distal Femoral Bone Loss.

Background  In the presence of distal femoral condyle bone loss, estimation and restoration of the joint line (JL) position can be guided by extraarticular bony landmarks with the aid of mathematical formulas that rely on the innate correlations between periarticular measurements. To prevent JL elevation, the formula should incorporate the thickness of distal femoral articular cartilage. The aim of this study was to derive a formula to estimate native JL position.

Relation between general vocabulary knowledge and early numeracy competence: The mediating role of mathematical language.

Early language skills are considered important precursors of early mathematical development. Prior research extensively explored the association between vocabulary and early numeracy. However, few studies have delved into the specific impact of mathematical language on this association.

Bi-cruciate stabilized total knee arthroplasty restores the native knee alignments better than conventional posterior stabilized total knee arthroplasty.

Introduction: This study aimed to compare the differences in the radiological, clinical, and functional outcomes and the estimated restoration rate of native knee alignment between total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with bi-cruciate stabilized (BCS) and posterior stabilized (PS) design.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive patients between 2020 and 2021 who underwent TKA. The patients were divided into two groups (group I, Journey II BCS TKA [106 knees]; group II, Persona PS TKA [106 knees]) after 1:1 propensity score matching.

Intraoperative Surgical Guidance for DIEP Flap Harvest using Augmented Reality.

Augmented reality (AR) systems for surgical navigation provides the capability to project preoperative CT scans and segmented anatomical structures directly into the surgeon's field of view, along with virtual displays akin to traditional monitors. Utilizing the Meta Quest 3 consumer AR headset, we found that it can achieve clinically acceptable accuracy in surgical navigation for deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) surgeries. Notably, the Quest 3 can operate independently thanks to a novel registration technique employing hand tracking, suitable for use in sterile environments.

Associations of plasma extracellular microRNAs with new-onset breast cancer in the Framingham heart study.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be associated with breast cancer progression or metastasis. The purpose of the current study was to identify plasma extracellular miRNAs associated with incident breast cancer.