Optimization data for an ARTIC-/Illumina-based whole-genome sequencing protocol and pipeline for SARS-CoV-2 analysis.

In January 2021, Germany commenced surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants under the Corona Surveillance Act, which ceased in July 2023. The objective was to bolster pandemic control, as specific alterations in amino acids, particularly within the spike protein, were linked to heightened transmission and decreased vaccine effectiveness. Consequently, our team conducted whole genome sequencing using the commercially accessible ARTIC protocol on Illumina's NextSeq500 platform and MiSeq for SARS-CoV-2 positive samples obtained from patients at Heidelberg University Hospital, affiliated hospitals, and the public health office in the Rhine-Neckar/Heidelberg region.

Meeting statement: Call to action for step-change in health behaviours.

Background: Enabling, supporting and promoting positive health-related behaviours is critical in addressing the major public health challenges of our time, and the multifaceted nature of behaviours requires an evidence-based approach. This statement seeks to suggest how a much-needed enhanced use of behavioural and cultural science and insights for health could be advanced.

Study Design And Methods: and methods: Public health authorities of Europe and Central Asia and international partner organizations in September 2023 met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss the way forward.

[Safety of patient care on an interprofessional training ward in visceral surgery].

Background: Interprofessional training wards (ITW) are increasingly being integrated into teaching and training concepts in visceral surgery clinics.

Objective: How safe is patient care on an ITW in visceral surgery?

Material And Methods: Data collection took place from November 2021 to December 2022. In this nonrandomized prospective evaluation study the frequency and severity of adverse events (AE) in 3 groups of 100 patients each in a tertiary referral center hospital for visceral surgery were investigated.

Association between Neuron-Specific Enolase, Memory Function, and Postoperative Delirium after Transfemoral Aortic Valve Replacement.

Introduction: Although transfemoral aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a safe treatment for elderly patients with severe aortic valve stenosis, postoperative microembolism has been described. In this secondary endpoint analysis of the POST-TAVR trial, we aimed to investigate whether changes in neuron-specific enolase (NSE)-a biomarker of neuronal damage-are associated with changes in memory function or postoperative delirium (POD).

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective single-center study enrolling patients undergoing elective TAVR.

NT-proBNP/urine hepcidin-25 ratio and cardiorenal syndrome type 1 in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.

This study aimed to determine whether novel and conventional cardiorenal biomarkers in patients before transcatheter aortic valve implantation may be associated with cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) type 1. Serum NT-proBNP and urine biomarkers (hepcidin-25, NGAL, IL-6) were measured before and 24 h after transcatheter aortic valve implantation. 16/95 patients had CRS type 1.

Weight a minute: The smaller and more immature, the more predictable the autonomic regulation?

Aim: To investigate the relation between autonomic regulation, measured using heart rate variability (HRV), body weight and degree of prematurity in infants. Further to assess utility to include body weight in a machine learning-based sepsis prediction algorithm.

Methods: Longitudinal cohort study including 378 infants hospitalised in two neonatal intensive care units.

Vital sign-based detection of sepsis in neonates using machine learning.

Aim: Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Early diagnosis is key but difficult due to non-specific signs. We investigate the predictive value of machine learning-assisted analysis of non-invasive, high frequency monitoring data and demographic factors to detect neonatal sepsis.

The cerebrospinal fluid proteome of preterm infants predicts neurodevelopmental outcome.

Background: Survival rate increases for preterm infants, but long-term neurodevelopmental outcome predictors are lacking. Our primary aim was to determine whether a specific proteomic profile in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of preterm infants differs from that of term infants and to identify novel biomarkers of neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants.

Methods: Twenty-seven preterm infants with median gestational age 27 w + 4 d and ten full-term infants were enrolled prospectively.

Electrophysiological correlates of proportion congruency manipulation in a temporal flanker task.

Response conflict evoked by a distractor stimulus object in interference tasks is associated with longer reaction times and a pronounced ERP component referred to as the fronto-central N2. Increasing the proportion congruency (PC, i.e.

Tolerability of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in patients with postural tachycardia syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a form of autonomic dysregulation. There is increasing evidence that the etiology may be immune-mediated in a subgroup of patients. Patients with POTS often experience an exacerbation of their symptoms associated with (viral) infections and often fear the same symptom aggravation after vaccination.

Leg pain in neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome is associated with altered muscle membrane properties.

Purpose: In neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome, peripheral sympathetic dysfunction leads to excessive venous blood pooling during orthostasis. Up to 84% of patients report leg pain and weakness in the upright position. To explore possible pathophysiological processes underlying these symptoms, the present study examined muscle excitability depending on body position in patients with neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome and healthy subjects.

Multichannel esophageal signals to monitor respiratory rate in preterm infants.

Background: Apnea of prematurity cannot be reliably measured with current monitoring techniques. Instead, indirect parameters such as oxygen desaturation or bradycardia are captured. We propose a Kalman filter-based detection of respiration activity and hence apnea using multichannel esophageal signals in neonatal intensive care unit patients.

Neonatal sepsis prediction through clinical decision support algorithms: A systematic review.

Aim: To systematically summarise the current evidence of employing clinical decision support algorithms (CDSAs) using non-invasive parameters for sepsis prediction in neonates.

Methods: A comprehensive search in PubMed, CENTRAL and EMBASE was conducted. Screening, data extraction and risk of bias were performed by two authors.

The rhythm of a preterm neonate's life: ultradian oscillations of heart rate, body temperature and sleep cycles.

The objectives are to characterize oscillations of physiological functions such as heart rate and body temperature, as well as the sleep cycle from behavioral states in generally stable preterm neonates during the first 5 days of life. Heart rate, body temperature as well as behavioral states were collected during a daily 3-h observation interval in 65 preterm neonates within the first 5 days of life. Participants were born before 32 weeks of gestational age or had a birth weight below 1500 g; neonates with asphyxia, proven sepsis or malformation were excluded.

Multichannel Esophageal Heart Rate Monitoring of Preterm Infants.

Objective: Autonomic dysregulation in preterm infants requires continuous monitoring of vital signs such as heart rate over days to months. Unfortunately, common surface electrodes are prone to electrocardiography (ECG) signal artifacts and cause serious skin irritations during long-term use. In contrast, esophageal ECG is known to be very sensitive due to the proximity of electrodes and heart and insensitive to external influences.

3D Immuno-DNA Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) for Detection of HIV-1 and Cellular Genes in Primary CD4 T Cells.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a powerful, broadly used microscopy-based technique that leverages fluorescently labeled nucleic acid probes to detect parts of the genome inside metaphase or interphase cell nuclei. In recent years, different methodologies developed to visualize genome topology and spatial relationships between genes have gained much attention as instruments to decode the relationship between chromatin structure and function. In addition to chromosome conformation capture-based techniques, highly multiplexed forms of FISH combined with high-throughput and super-resolution microscopy are used to map and spatially define contact frequencies between different genomic regions.

Caffeine preserves quiet sleep in preterm neonates.

Caffeine is widely used in preterm neonates suffering from apnea of prematurity (AOP), and it has become one of the most frequently prescribed medications in neonatal intensive care units. Goal of this study is to investigate how caffeine citrate treatment affects sleep-wake behavior in preterm neonates. The observational study consists of 64 preterm neonates during their first 5 days of life with gestational age (GA) <32 weeks or very low birthweight of < 1500 g.

Processive DNA synthesis is associated with localized decompaction of constitutive heterochromatin at the sites of DNA replication and repair.

Constitutive heterochromatin is considered as a functionally inert genome compartment, important for its architecture and stability. How such stable structure is maintained is not well understood. Here, we apply four different visualization schemes to label it and investigate its dynamics during DNA replication and repair.

Prospective evaluation of oral cannabis extracts in children with epilepsy.

Purpose: Interest in the use of artisanal cannabinoids in pediatric epilepsy has increased but safety and utility data are lacking. Our aim was to prospectively characterize the use of oral cannabis extracts (OCE) in a refractory pediatric epilepsy population.

Methods: Families considering the use of an OCE were enrolled in a prospective observational study.

Heart rate fluctuation after birth predicts subsequent cardiorespiratory stability in preterm infants.

Background: Cardiorespiratory stability of preterm infants is a prerequisite for discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) but very difficult to predict. We aimed to assess whether characterizing heart rate fluctuation (HRF) within the first days of life has prognostic utility.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study in 90 preterm infants using a previously validated surface diaphragmatic electromyography (sEMG) method to derive interbeat intervals.

The time course of distractor-based response activation with predictable and unpredictable target onset.

Electrophysiological recording in a temporal flanker task (i.e., distractors preceding the targets) has demonstrated that distractor processing is adjusted to the overall utility of the distractors.

HIV-1 nuclear import in macrophages is regulated by CPSF6-capsid interactions at the nuclear pore complex.

Nuclear entry of HIV-1 replication complexes through intact nuclear pore complexes is critical for successful infection. The host protein cleavage-and-polyadenylation-specificity-factor-6 (CPSF6) has been implicated in different stages of early HIV-1 replication. Applying quantitative microscopy of HIV-1 reverse-transcription and pre-integration-complexes (RTC/PIC), we show that CPSF6 is strongly recruited to nuclear replication complexes but absent from cytoplasmic RTC/PIC in primary human macrophages.

Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants.

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vision-threatening disease of preterm neonates. The use of beta-adrenergic blocking agents (beta-blockers), which modulate the vasoproliferative retinal process, may reduce the progression of ROP or even reverse established ROP.

Objectives: To determine the effect of beta-blockers on short-term structural outcomes, long-term functional outcomes, and the need for additional treatment, when used either as prophylaxis in preterm infants without ROP, stage 1 ROP (zone I), or stage 2 ROP (zone II) without plus disease or as treatment in preterm infants with at least prethreshold ROP.