Current Patient Management for Bacterial Meningitis Simultaneously Affected by Stroke.

Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a critical central nervous system infection characterized by increased risks of complications and potentially fatal outcomes. The chances of full recovery are significantly reduced in the presence of concomitant neurovascular complications such as ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, intracerebral hemorrhage, and cerebral sinus thrombosis. Effective treatment of BM requires a targeted approach that simultaneously addresses the causative pathogen and manages the neurologically related complications.

Severe Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease in an Adult Cystic Fibrosis Patient.

Bicuspid aortic valve is the most common congenital heart disease. Bicuspid aortic valves are prone to accelerated degenerative changes and aortopathies. These changes often manifest in adulthood as severe aortic stenosis or mixed aortic valve disease.

A Systematic Comparison between the Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platforms for Attribute-Based Access Control in Smart Home IoT Environments.

Despite the lack of blockchain systems being utilized in modern IoT environments, the prevalence of blockchain technology is increasing, due to its high level of security and accountability. The integration of blockchain technology and access control in a decentralized system for smart home networks is a promising solution to this issue. This paper compares the implementation of attribute-based access control (ABAC) with two popular blockchain platforms, Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric, for a smart home internet of things (IoT) environment.

Perceived threat and coping responses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prospective associations with vaccine hesitancy.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the importance of identifying factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Disease threat and coping responses are central to health behavior engagement and present potential alterable targets for intervention.

Purpose: To examine the roles of perceived threat of COVID-19 and coping in vaccine hesitancy, we examined how coping strategies involving approach and avoidance interact with perceived threat of COVID-19 to predict vaccine hesitancy.

Multivalent interactions between molecular components involved in fast endophilin mediated endocytosis drive protein phase separation.

A specific group of transmembrane receptors, including the β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR), is internalized through a non-clathrin pathway known as Fast Endophilin Mediated Endocytosis (FEME). A key question is: how does the endocytic machinery assemble and how is it modulated by activated receptors during FEME. Here we show that endophilin, a major regulator of FEME, undergoes a phase transition into liquid-like condensates, which facilitates the formation of multi-protein assemblies by enabling the phase partitioning of endophilin binding proteins.

Pandemic stressors and depressive symptoms: Examining within- and between-person effects of neuroticism.

Experiencing stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic such as health-related concern, social isolation, occupational disruption, financial insecurity, and resource scarcity can adversely impact mental health; however, the extent of the impact varies greatly between individuals. In this study, we examined the role of neuroticism as an individual-level risk factor that exacerbates the association between pandemic stressors and depressive symptoms. With repeated assessments of pandemic stressors and depressive symptoms collected from 3181 participants over the course of the pandemic, we used multilevel modeling to test if neuroticism moderated the association between pandemic stressors and depressive symptoms at both between- and within-person levels.

Adherence to Recommended Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Empathy and Perceived Health Threat.

Background: Coping via empathic responding may play a role in preventive behavior engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic, and unlike trait empathy, is a potentially alterable target for changing health behavior.

Purpose: Our goal was to examine the role of empathic responding in preventive behavior engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic, independent of trait empathy and perceived threat of COVID-19.

Methods: Participants (N = 2,841) completed a baseline survey early in the pandemic, and a follow-up survey approximately 2 weeks later (M = 13.

Psychological distress in North America during COVID-19: The role of pandemic-related stressors.

Rationale: The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on lives around the globe. In addition to the primary threat of infection, widespread secondary stressors associated with the pandemic have included social isolation, financial insecurity, resource scarcity, and occupational difficulties.

Objective: The current study examined the impact of these disruptions on psychological distress during the initial adjustment phase to the pandemic in North America.

Crystals of Benzamide, the First Polymorphous Molecular Compound, Are Helicoidal.

The growth of spontaneously twisted crystals is a common but poorly understood phenomenon. An analysis of the formation of twisted crystals of a metastable benzamide polymorph (form II) crystallizing from highly supersaturated aqueous and ethanol solutions is given here. Benzamide, the first polymorphic molecular crystal reported (1832), would have been the first helicoidal crystal observed had the original authors undertaken an analysis by light microscopy.

The susceptibility of cochlear outer hair cells to cyclodextrin is not related to their electromotile activity.

Niemann-Pick Type C1 (NPC1) disease is a fatal neurovisceral disorder caused by dysfunction of NPC1 protein, which plays a role in intracellular cholesterol trafficking. The cholesterol-chelating agent, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD), is currently undergoing clinical trials for treatment of this disease. Though promising in alleviating neurological symptoms, HPβCD causes irreversible hearing loss in NPC1 patients and outer hair cell (OHC) death in animal models.