Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors.

Background: Participatory research or patient and public involvement refer to the process of actively involving people with lived experience into the research process to improve its relevance, quality, and impact. In the PART project we aim to establish a sustainable structure to include underrepresented patient groups with neurodegenerative diseases into a patient advisory board for research. As one of our milestones, we conducted a systematic literature review with the aim of examining the impact of participatory research on people involved, such as those with cognitive impairment, caregivers, and researchers.

Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors.

Background: Approximately 1.8 million individuals in Germany live with dementia, imposing a substantial burden on family caregivers who provide most care and often experience health issues, social isolation, and diminished quality of life. Recognizing and addressing the diverse needs of these caregivers is vital for their well-being and the stability of care arrangements.

YAP-driven malignant reprogramming of oral epithelial stem cells at single cell resolution.

Tumor initiation represents the first step in tumorigenesis during which normal progenitor cells undergo cell fate transition to cancer. Capturing this process as it occurs in vivo, however, remains elusive. Here we employ spatiotemporally controlled oncogene activation and tumor suppressor inhibition together with multiomics to unveil the processes underlying oral epithelial progenitor cell reprogramming into tumor initiating cells at single cell resolution.

Synthetic organizer cells guide development via spatial and biochemical instructions.

In vitro development relies primarily on treating progenitor cells with media-borne morphogens and thus lacks native-like spatial information. Here, we engineer morphogen-secreting organizer cells programmed to self-assemble, via cell adhesion, around mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells in defined architectures. By inducing the morphogen WNT3A and its antagonist DKK1 from organizer cells, we generated diverse morphogen gradients, varying in range and steepness.

Effect of Dihydroquercetin During Long-Last Growth of Yeast: Anti-Aging Potential and Hormetic Properties.

Polyphenols are powerful natural antioxidants with numerous biological activities. They change cell membrane permeability, interact with receptors, intracellular enzymes, and cell membrane transporters, and quench reactive oxygen species (ROS). yeast, being similar to mammalian cells, can be used as a model to study their survival ability upon long-lasting cultivation, assaying the effect of dihydroquercetin polyphenol (DHQ).

Syndrome-informed phenotyping identifies a polygenic background for achondroplasia-like facial variation in the general population.

Human craniofacial shape is highly variable yet highly heritable with numerous genetic variants interacting through multiple layers of development. Here, we hypothesize that Mendelian phenotypes represent the extremes of a phenotypic spectrum and, using achondroplasia as an example, we introduce a syndrome-informed phenotyping approach to identify genomic loci associated with achondroplasia-like facial variation in the general population. We compare three-dimensional facial scans from 43 individuals with achondroplasia and 8246 controls to calculate achondroplasia-like facial scores.

Mapping genes for human face shape: Exploration of univariate phenotyping strategies.

Human facial shape, while strongly heritable, involves both genetic and structural complexity, necessitating precise phenotyping for accurate assessment. Common phenotyping strategies include simplifying 3D facial features into univariate traits such as anthropometric measurements (e.g.

Co-culture of postnatal mouse spinal cord and skeletal muscle explants as an experimental model of neuromuscular interactions.

The intercommunication between nerves and muscles plays an important role in the functioning of our body, and its failure leads to severe neuromuscular disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying nerve-muscle interactions and mediating their mutual influence is an integral part of strategies aimed at curing neuromuscular diseases. Here, we propose a novel ex vivo experimental model for the spinal cord (SC) and skeletal muscle interactions which for the first time utilizes only fully formed (but not yet quite functional) postnatal tissues.

The Snails: A Simple Technique for Reduction of Frontal Bossing in Children With Scaphocephaly.

Objective: Scaphocephaly represents the most frequent single-suture craniosynostosis, with a male prevalence. In many cases, prominent frontal bossing (sphenocephaly) is the major aesthetic concern, typically in school-aged children. This aspect is also usually found in patients with late presentation (after 1 year of age).

The Key Enzymes of Carbon Metabolism and the Glutathione Antioxidant System Protect Yeast Against pH-Induced Stress.

In this study, we first thoroughly assayed the response of the key enzymes of energy metabolism and the antioxidant system in yeast at extreme pH. The activity of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes, namely NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase, aconitate hydratase, NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase, and fumarate hydratase, NADPH-producing enzymes of glucose-6-P dehydrogenase and NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase, and the enzymes of the glutathione system was assessed. All the enzymes that were tested showed a significant induction contrary to some decrease in the aconitate hydratase activity with acidic and alkaline stress.

Utilization of Vestibular Information for Balance Control in Children with Chiari I Malformation.

(1) Background: Surgery for Chiari I malformation (CMI) is indicated when typical clinic-radiological features (syringomyelia, exertional headaches, sleep apnea syndrome, and tetraparesis) are present. Sometimes, patients have atypical complaints suggestive of otolaryngological (ENT) involvement, and it is sometimes difficult for the neurosurgeon to determine if these complaints are related to the CMI. Our aim was to describe postural control patterns in children with CMI using computerized dynamic posturography.

Effect of particles from wind turbine blades erosion on blue mussels Mytilus edulis.

Offshore wind farms (OWFs) pose new anthropogenic pressures on the marine environment as the erosion of turbine blades release organic and inorganic substances with potential consequences for marine life. In the present study, possible effects of the released particles and their chemical constituents on the metabolic profile of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, were investigated, utilizing H NMR spectroscopy. In the lab, mussels were exposed for 7 and 14 days to different concentrations (10 and 40 mg L) of microplastic (MP) particles which were derived from cryo-milled rotor blade coatings and core materials (glass fiber polymer, GFP).

Bank vole genomics links determinate and indeterminate growth of teeth.

Background: Continuously growing teeth are an important innovation in mammalian evolution, yet genetic regulation of continuous growth by stem cells remains incompletely understood. Dental stem cells responsible for tooth crown growth are lost at the onset of tooth root formation. Genetic signaling that initiates this loss is difficult to study with the ever-growing incisor and rooted molars of mice, the most common mammalian dental model species, because signals for root formation overlap with signals that pattern tooth size and shape (i.

Evaluation of X-ray fluorescence for analysing critical elements in three electronic waste matrices: A comprehensive comparison of analytical techniques.

As the drive towards recycling electronic waste increases, demand for rapid and reliable analytical methodology to analyse the metal content of the waste is increasing, e.g. to assess the value of the waste and to decide the correct recycling routes.

Conspiracy Beliefs and the Perception of Intergroup Inequalities.

Conspiracy beliefs are prevalent among members of disadvantaged groups. Adopting a social identity perspective, we hypothesized that these beliefs would reduce the endorsement of internal attributions for inequalities that could negatively affect the image of disadvantaged ingroups. In Study 1 ( = 1,104), conspiracy mentality was negatively associated with meritocracy beliefs, which attribute success and failure to internal factors.

Screening the release of chemicals and microplastic particles from diverse plastic consumer products into water under accelerated UV weathering conditions.

Photodegradation of plastic consumer products is known to accelerate weathering and facilitate the release of chemicals and plastic particles into the aquatic environment. However, these processes are complex. In our presented pilot study, eight plastic consumer products were leached in distilled water under strong ultraviolet (UV) light simulating eight months of Central European climate and compared to their respective dark controls (DCs).

Effect of rabbit ATG PK on outcomes after TCR-αβ/CD19-depleted pediatric haploidentical HCT for hematologic malignancy.

We hypothesized that the inferior disease-free survival (DFS) seen in older patients who underwent αβ-T-cell/CD19-depleted (AB-TCD) haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematologic malignancies is caused by excessive exposure to rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG; Thymoglobulin). Between 2015 and 2023, 163 patients with a median age of 13 years (range, 0.4-27.

Radiomolecular Theranostics With Fibroblast-Activation-Protein Inhibitors and Peptides.

The advancement of theranostics, which combines therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities in oncology, has significantly impacted cancer management. This review explores fibroblast activation protein (FAP) expression in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its association with various malignancies, highlighting its potential as a theranostic marker for PET/CT imaging using FAP-targeted tracers and for FAP-targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy. We examine the development and clinical applications of FAP inhibitors (FAPIs) and peptides, providing insights into their diagnostic accuracy, initial therapeutic efficacy, and clinical impact across diverse cancer types, as well as the synthesis of novel FAP-targeted ligands.

Distinctive protein expression in elderly livers in a Sprague-Dawley rat model of normothermic ex vivo liver machine perfusion.

Background: Liver grafts are frequently declined due to high donor age or age mismatch with the recipient. To improve the outcome of marginal grafts, we aimed to characterize the performance of elderly vs. young liver grafts in a standardized rat model of normothermic ex vivo liver machine perfusion (NMP).

Activation of fetal-like molecular programs during regeneration in the intestine and beyond.

Tissue regeneration after damage is generally thought to involve the mobilization of adult stem cells that divide and differentiate into progressively specialized progeny. However, recent studies indicate that tissue regeneration can be accompanied by reversion to a fetal-like state. During this process, cells at the injury site reactivate programs that operate during fetal development but are typically absent in adult homeostasis.

Myosin II mediates Shh signals to shape dental epithelia via control of cell adhesion and movement.

The development of ectodermal organs begins with the formation of a stratified epithelial placode that progressively invaginates into the underlying mesenchyme as the organ takes its shape. Signaling by secreted molecules is critical for epithelial morphogenesis, but how that information leads to cell rearrangement and tissue shape changes remains an open question. Using the mouse dentition as a model, we first establish that non-muscle myosin II is essential for dental epithelial invagination and show that it functions by promoting cell-cell adhesion and persistent convergent cell movements in the suprabasal layer.

Integration policies shape ethnic-racial majorities' threat reactions to increasing diversity.

Increasing ethnic and racial diversity often fuels feelings of threat among ethnic-racial majorities (e.g., self-identified white Americans and European nationals).