Investigation of carbon dioxide for scale control in reverse osmosis systems.

The operation of a reverse osmosis (RO) system is often severely hindered by the deposition of inorganic scales such as calcium carbonate on the membrane surface. Mitigation of this scaling phenomenon requires suitable pH control strategies, with the use of strong mineral acids (e.g.

Safety and Phosphate-Binding Capacity of Oxylanthanum Carbonate in Healthy Volunteers.

Despite the widespread use of currently available serum phosphate management options, elevated serum phosphate is common in patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis. Characteristics of currently available phosphate binders that lead to poor patient experiences such as large drug volume size of required daily medication (e.g.

A Pharmacokinetic/Toxicodynamic Model of Cisplatin Nephrotoxicity Using the Kidney Injury Molecule-1 Biomarker.

Cisplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapeutic that causes acute kidney injury in over 30% of patients. The aim of this study was to develop a population pharmacokinetic/toxicodynamic (PKTD) model of cisplatin-induced kidney injury that incorporated plasma total platinum and urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) concentrations. Cancer patients receiving their first or second round of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy (n=39) were prospectively randomized to a 5-HT antagonist (5-HTA) antiemetic (ondansetron, granisetron, or palonosetron) and had blood and urine collected over 10 days.

Population Pharmacokinetic Model of Platinum Disposition in Cancer Patients Receiving Cisplatin and Randomized to 5-HT Antagonist Antiemetic Drugs.

Cisplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapeutic drug used to treat many types of cancer. The aim of this study was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model that incorporates plasma unbound and bound platinum levels. Cancer patients undergoing their first or second cycle of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy (n = 33) were prospectively randomized to receive a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) antagonist (5-HTA) antiemetic (ondansetron, granisetron, or palonosetron) followed by blood collection over 10 days.

Developing a digital phenotype to subdivide adult immunosuppressed COVID-19 outcomes within the English Primary Care Sentinel Network.

Background: Adults classified as immunosuppressed have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to the immunocompetent, certain patients are at increased risk of suboptimal vaccine response and adverse health outcomes if infected. However, there has been insufficient work to pinpoint where these risks concentrate within the immunosuppressed spectrum; surveillance efforts typically treat the immunosuppressed as a single entity, leading to wide confidence intervals.

Improved Catalyst Performance for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction under a Chiral Bias.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains an important bottleneck for widespread implementation of a hydrogen economy. While improvements in the OER can be realized by spin polarizing the reaction intermediates, these methods often rely on applying external magnetic fields to ferromagnetic catalysts or by adsorbing chiral molecules onto the catalyst. Here, we show that the addition of chiral additives to the conductive binder supporting the catalysts enhances the selectivity for O formation and results in exceedingly high mass activities.

Prediction of mortality in sepsis patients using stacked ensemble machine learning algorithm.

Introduction: Machine learning (ML) has been tried in predicting outcomes following sepsis. This study aims to identify the utility of stacked ensemble algorithm in predicting mortality.

Methods: The study was a cohort of adults admitted to a medical unit of a tertiary care hospital with sepsis.

Tracing sources-oriented ecological risks of metal(loid)s in sediments of anthropogenically-affected coastal ecosystem from northeast bay of Bengal.

The current study focused on thirty-nine locations in the four islands (i.e., St.

Updated resources for exploring experimentally-determined PDB structures and Computed Structure Models at the RCSB Protein Data Bank.

The Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB, RCSB.org), the US Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB, wwPDB.org) data center for the global PDB archive, provides access to the PDB data via its RCSB.

Clinical Informatics Foundations of 57 Years Sentinel and Genomic Surveillance: Data Quality, Linkage and Access.

Sentinel surveillance networks are sophisticated health information systems that warn about outbreaks and spread of infectious diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential, the effectiveness of countermeasures and pressures on health systems. They are underpinned by their ability to turn data into information and knowledge in a timely way. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) is one of Europe's oldest.

Differences in the pathological, transcriptomic, and prognostic implications of lymphoid structures between primary and metastatic cutaneous melanomas.

Background: While the prognostic role of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) has been well studied in solid cancers, the prevalence and impact of immature precursor lymphoid structures known as lymphoid aggregates (LA) remain unresolved in relation to the disease process. In this study, we examined characteristics and the prognostic utility of LA and TLS status in histological samples from patients with melanoma.

Methods: We assessed The Cancer Genomic Atlas-skin cutaneous melanoma digital slides and melanoma specimens from the University of Pittsburgh for the presence of LA and TLS using H&E staining, multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) and transcriptomic analyses.

Facile One-Pot Conversion of (poly)phenols to Diverse (hetero)aryl Compounds by Suzuki Coupling Reaction: A Modified Approach for the Synthesis of Coumarin- and Equol-Based Compounds as Potential Antioxidants.

A series of 16 (hetero)aryl compounds based on coumarin and equol has been efficiently synthesized by exploring the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions. Polyphenol based on coumarin (4-methyl-7-hydroxy coumarin) was initially converted to corresponding coumarin imidazylate and then subjected to Suzuki coupling reaction with 4-methoxyphenylboronic acid to obtain the coupled product. This modified approach was later developed into a one-pot methodology by directly reacting the polyphenol with 1,1-sulfonyldiimidazole (SDI) and boronic acid in situ to obtain the Suzuki coupled product in one step.

Machine-guided design of cell-type-targeting cis-regulatory elements.

Cis-regulatory elements (CREs) control gene expression, orchestrating tissue identity, developmental timing and stimulus responses, which collectively define the thousands of unique cell types in the body. While there is great potential for strategically incorporating CREs in therapeutic or biotechnology applications that require tissue specificity, there is no guarantee that an optimal CRE for these intended purposes has arisen naturally. Here we present a platform to engineer and validate synthetic CREs capable of driving gene expression with programmed cell-type specificity.

Gather "Round": An Integrated Care Model for the Emergency Department Multi-Visit Patient.

Purpose: Emergency departments (EDs) are a vital component of the United States healthcare system and care for over 130 million patient visits annually. Nonurgent ED visits can contribute to crowding, delays in care, and adverse effects. Many high-utilizing ED patients may present with complex medical, behavioral, and social needs that are not necessarily emergent or urgent in nature.

Higher prevalence of poor prognostic markers at a younger age in adult patients with myelodysplastic syndrome - evaluation of a large cohort in India.

Background: The karyotype is a major determinant of prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Details of the cytogenetic profile of MDS in South Asia are limited because cytogenetic services are not widely available.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the cytogenetic and clinicopathologic profile of adult primary MDS seen consecutively at a tertiary-care centre in South India between 2003 and 2017.

Understanding Cisplatin Pharmacokinetics and Toxicodynamics to Predict and Prevent Kidney Injury.

Cisplatin is a common platinum-based chemotherapeutic that induces acute kidney injury (AKI) in about 30% of patients. Pharmacokinetic/toxicodynamic (PKTD) models of cisplatin-induced AKI have been used to understand risk factors and evaluate potential mitigation strategies. While both traditional clinical biomarkers of kidney function [e.

Synthesis and Characterization of Highly Fluorinated Hydrophobic Rare-Earth Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).

Tuning a material's hydrophobicity is desirable in several industrial applications, such as hydrocarbon storage, separation, selective CO capture, oil spill cleanup, and water purification. The introduction of fluorine into rare-earth (RE) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can make them hydrophobic. In this work, the linker bis(trifluoromethyl)terephthalic acid (TTA) was used to make highly fluorinated MOFs.

Tracking KP.2 SARS-CoV-2 Variant in India and the Clinical Profile of KP.2 Cases in Maharashtra, India.

Background:  Following the emergence of the JN.1 SARS-CoV-2 variant, variants with key mutations in the spike protein, such as L455F, F456L, and R346T, were identified. In early January 2024, the KP.

Older Adults in Administrative Quagmire: A Scoping Review of Policy and Program Coordination Across Six Marginalized Older Adult Populations.

Background And Objectives: Coordination of governmental action is crowded with policies and programs that are highly interdependent, sometimes operating in silos if not contradicting each other. These dilemmas, or administrative quagmires, are heightened for older adults in general, but they are particularly problematic for marginalized older adults because these groups often require public assistance and support. This scoping review studies the coordination of governmental action on aging published in social science journals, focusing on 6 groups of marginalized older adults: those with histories of immigration, individuals with severe mental health problems, those who have had experiences of homelessness, formerly incarcerated individuals, members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, and individuals living in a rural area.

Metabolic profiling of pea (Pisum sativum) cultivars in changing environments: Implications for nutritional quality in animal feed.

Field pea seeds have long been recognized as valuable feed ingredients for animal diets, due to their high-quality protein and starch digestibility. However, the chemical composition of pea cultivars can vary across different growing locations, consequently impacting their nutrient profiles. This study employs untargeted metabolomics in conjunction with the quantification of fatty acids and amino acids to explore the influence of three different growing locations in Spain (namely Andalusia, Aragon and Asturias), on the nutritional characteristics of seeds of various pea cultivars.

mDia2 is an important mediator of MRTF-A-dependent regulation of breast cancer cell migration.

Dysregulated actin cytoskeleton gives rise to aberrant cell motility and metastatic spread of tumor cells. This study evaluates the effect of overexpression of wild-type versus functional mutants of MRTF-A on migration and invasion of breast cancer (BC) cells. Our studies indicate that SRF's interaction is critical for MRTF-A-induced promotion of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional cell migration, while the SAP-domain function is important selectively for three-dimensional cell migration.

Creating a Modified Version of the Cambridge Multimorbidity Score to Predict Mortality in People Older Than 16 Years: Model Development and Validation.

Background: No single multimorbidity measure is validated for use in NHS (National Health Service) England's General Practice Extraction Service Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR), the nationwide primary care data set created for COVID-19 pandemic research. The Cambridge Multimorbidity Score (CMMS) is a validated tool for predicting mortality risk, with 37 conditions defined by Read Codes. The GDPPR uses the more internationally used Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine clinical terms (SNOMED CT).

Activity-dependent transcriptional programs in memory regulate motor recovery after stroke.

Stroke causes death of brain tissue leading to long-term deficits. Behavioral evidence from neurorehabilitative therapies suggest learning-induced neuroplasticity can lead to beneficial outcomes. However, molecular and cellular mechanisms that link learning and stroke recovery are unknown.