Persistent functional and taxonomic groups dominate an 8,000-year sedimentary sequence from Lake Cadagno, Switzerland.

Most of our knowledge of deep sedimentary life comes from marine environments; however, despite their relatively small volume, lacustrine sediments constitute one of the largest global carbon sinks and their deep sediments are largely unexplored. Here, we reconstruct the microbial functional and taxonomic composition of an 8,000-year Holocene sedimentary succession from meromictic Lake Cadagno (Switzerland) using shotgun metagenomics and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. While younger sediments (<1,000 years) are dominated by typical anaerobic surface sedimentary bacterial taxa (, and , older layers with lower organic matter concentrations and reduced terminal electron acceptor availability are dominated by taxa previously identified as "persistent populations" within deep anoxic marine sediments ( Bathyarchaeia, , and ).

Drivers of methane-cycling archaeal abundances, community structure, and catabolic pathways in continental margin sediments.

Marine sediments contain Earth's largest reservoir of methane, with most of this methane being produced and consumed by methane-cycling archaea. While numerous studies have investigated communities of methane-cycling archaea in hydrocarbon seeps and sulfate-methane transition zones, less is known about how these archaea change from the seafloor downward throughout diffusion-dominated marine sediments. Focusing on four continental margin sites of the North Sea-Baltic Sea transition, we here investigate the drivers of methane-cycling archaeal community structure and metabolism based on geochemical and stable carbon-isotopic gradients, functional gene (A) copy numbers and phylogenetic compositions, and thermodynamic calculations.

What leadership qualities are required for Associate Psychological Practitioners in primary care networks?

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify leadership skills required for Associate Psychological Practitioners (APPs) working within primary care networks (PCNs).

Design/methodology/approach: An online questionnaire about current leadership opportunities and skill set was sent to APPs and leadership staff (clinical leads, PCN managers and clinical supervisors). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with APPs and leadership staff and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Metagenomic and -transcriptomic analyses of microbial nitrogen transformation potential, and gene expression in Swiss lake sediments.

The global nitrogen (N) cycle has been strongly altered by anthropogenic activities, including increased input of bioavailable N into aquatic ecosystems. Freshwater sediments are hotspots with regards to the turnover and elimination of fixed N, yet the environmental controls on the microbial pathways involved in benthic N removal are not fully understood. Here, we analyze the abundance and expression of microbial genes involved in N transformations using metagenomics and -transcriptomics across sediments of 12 Swiss lakes that differ in sedimentation rates and trophic regimes.

Prognostic value of clinical and radiomic parameters in patients with liver metastases from uveal melanoma.

Approximately every second patient with uveal melanoma develops distant metastases, with the liver as the predominant target organ. While the median survival after diagnosis of distant metastases is limited to a year, yet-to-be-defined subgroups of patients experience a more favorable outcome. Therefore, prognostic biomarkers could help identify distinct risk groups to guide patient counseling, therapeutic decision-making, and stratification of study populations.

Hydrogen-independent CO reduction dominates methanogenesis in five temperate lakes that differ in trophic states.

Emissions of microbially produced methane (CH) from lake sediments are a major source of this potent greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. The rates of CH production and emission are believed to be influenced by electron acceptor distributions and organic carbon contents, which in turn are affected by anthropogenic inputs of nutrients leading to eutrophication. Here, we investigate how eutrophication influences the abundance and community structure of CH producing and methanogenesis pathways across time-resolved sedimentary records of five Swiss lakes with well-characterized trophic histories.

Preoperative Detection of Local Tumor Extent in Patients with Advanced Retinoblastoma: Predictive Value of MRI and Clinical Findings.

Objective: Before planned enucleation, local tumor extension in advanced retinoblastoma is routinely assessed preoperatively using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of our study was to analyse the predictive value of MRI and clinical characteristics for predicting tumor extent, as confirmed by histopathology postoperatively.

Patients And Methods: All consecutive patients were included who underwent primary enucleation for advanced retinoblastoma after high-resolution MRI examination in our hospital between January 2011 and December 2021.

Ancient DNA is preserved in fish fossils from tropical lake sediments.

Tropical freshwater lakes are well known for their high biodiversity, and particularly the East African Great Lakes are renowned for their adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes. While comparative phylogenetic analyses of extant species flocks have revealed patterns and processes of their diversification, little is known about evolutionary trajectories within lineages, the impacts of environmental drivers, or the scope and nature of now-extinct diversity. Time-structured palaeodata from geologically young fossil records, such as fossil counts and particularly ancient DNA (aDNA) data, would help fill this large knowledge gap.

Stage specific glaucomatous changes of the macula recorded using spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Background: This study aimed to compare the thickness of different macular retinal layers in glaucomatous eyes and healthy controls, and evaluate the diagnostic performance of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) parameters.

Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study, 48 glaucomatous eyes and 44 healthy controls were included. The thickness of the total retina and all retinal layers were obtained using the Early Treatment Diagnostic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid.

Tumour Necrosis Factor-α, Chemokines, and Leukocyte Infiltrate Are Biomarkers for Pathology in the Brains of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEEV)-Infected Mice.

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a disease typically confined to South and Central America, whereby human disease is characterised by a transient systemic infection and occasionally severe encephalitis, which is associated with lethality. Using an established mouse model of VEEV infection, the encephalitic aspects of the disease were analysed to identify biomarkers associated with inflammation. Sequential sampling of lethally challenged mice (infected subcutaneously) confirmed a rapid onset systemic infection with subsequent spread to the brain within 24 h of the challenge.

Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench.

The production and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) by microorganisms is widespread in organic-rich deep subseafloor sediments. Yet, the organisms that carry out these processes remain largely unknown. Here we identify members of the methane-cycling microbial community in deep subsurface, hydrate-containing sediments of the Peru Trench by targeting functional genes of the alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase ().

[Survey and reduction of waste production from eye surgery].

Background: The health sector is facing new challenges due to the impact of climate change on health. At the same time, it significantly contributes to our society's climate footprint. Hospitals producing considerable amounts of waste are an important aspect of this burden.

Long-term preservation of biomolecules in lake sediments: potential importance of physical shielding by recalcitrant cell walls.

Even though lake sediments are globally important organic carbon (OC) sinks, the controls on long-term OC storage in these sediments are unclear. Using a multiproxy approach, we investigate changes in diatom, green algae, and vascular plant biomolecules in sedimentary records from the past centuries across five temperate lakes with different trophic histories. Despite past increases in the input and burial of OC in sediments of eutrophic lakes, biomolecule quantities in sediments of all lakes are primarily controlled by postburial microbial degradation over the time scales studied.

Deposit-feeding worms control subsurface ecosystem functioning in intertidal sediment with strong physical forcing.

Intertidal sands are global hotspots of terrestrial and marine carbon cycling with strong hydrodynamic forcing by waves and tides and high macrofaunal activity. Yet, the relative importance of hydrodynamics and macrofauna in controlling these ecosystems remains unclear. Here, we compare geochemical gradients and bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic gene sequences in intertidal sands dominated by subsurface deposit-feeding worms () to adjacent worm-free areas.

Chromium Cycling in Redox-Stratified Basins Challenges δCr Paleoredox Proxy Applications.

Chromium stable isotope composition (δCr) is a promising tracer for redox conditions throughout Earth's history; however, the geochemical controls of δCr have not been assessed in modern redox-stratified basins. We present new chromium (Cr) concentration and δCr data in dissolved, sinking particulate, and sediment samples from the redox-stratified Lake Cadagno (Switzerland), a modern Proterozoic ocean analog. These data demonstrate isotope fractionation during incomplete (non-quantitative) reduction and removal of Cr above the chemocline, driving isotopically light Cr accumulation in euxinic deep waters.

First step towards a consensus strategy for multi-locus diagnostic testing of imprinting disorders.

Background: Imprinting disorders, which affect growth, development, metabolism and neoplasia risk, are caused by genetic or epigenetic changes to genes that are expressed from only one parental allele. Disease may result from changes in coding sequences, copy number changes, uniparental disomy or imprinting defects. Some imprinting disorders are clinically heterogeneous, some are associated with more than one imprinted locus, and some patients have alterations affecting multiple loci.

Aerosol Survival, Disinfection and Formalin Inactivation of Nipah Virus.

Nipah virus is a relatively newly discovered emerging virus on the WHO list of priority pathogens which has the potential to cause outbreaks with high fatality rates. Whilst progress is being made in the development of animal models for evaluating vaccines and therapies, some of the more fundamental data on Nipah virus are lacking. We performed studies to generate novel information on the aerosol survival of Nipah virus and to look at the efficacy of two common disinfectants.

Methane Production by Facultative Anaerobic Wood-Rot Fungi via a New Halomethane-Dependent Pathway.

The greenhouse gas methane (CH) is of pivotal importance for Earth's climate system and as a human energy source. A significant fraction of this CH is produced by anaerobic . Here, we describe the first CH production by facultative anaerobic wood-rot fungi during growth on hydroxylated/carboxylated aromatic compounds, including lignin and lignite.

Early Isolates of SARS-CoV-2 Result in Different Pathogenesis in the Transduced Mouse Model of COVID-19.

A transduced mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection was established using Balb/c mice. This was achieved through the adenovirus-vectored delivery of the hACE2 gene, to render the mice transiently susceptible to the virus. The model was characterised in terms of the dissemination of hACE2 receptor expression, the dissemination of three SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in vivo up to 10 days following challenge, the resulting histopathology and the clinical signs induced in the mice.

Comparative study of the analysis of seized samples by GC-MS, H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy within a Night-Time Economy (NTE) setting.

Rapid analysis of surrendered or seized drug samples provides important intelligence for health (e.g. treatment or harm reduction), and custodial services.

Comparison of Aerosol Stability of Different Variants of Ebola Virus and Marburg Virus and Virulence of Aerosolised Ebola Virus in an Immune-Deficient Mouse.

During outbreaks of virus diseases, many variants may appear, some of which may be of concern. Stability in an aerosol of several Ebola virus and Marburg virus variants was investigated. Studies were performed measuring aerosol survival using the Goldberg drum but no significant difference in biological decay rates between variants was observed.

Microvascular and Morphologic Changes of the Macula over Lifetime.

In ocular, neurologic, and cardiovascular diseases, macular segmentation data from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) provide morphologic, and OCT-angiography (OCTA) results give microvascular information about the macula. Age was shown to influence both methods' measurements. To further characterize this association, macular SD-OCT and OCTA changes were investigated in a population of juvenile, adult, and older individuals.

A patient with multilocus imprinting disturbance involving hypomethylation at 11p15 and 14q32, and phenotypic features of Beckwith-Wiedemann and Temple syndromes.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) and Temple syndrome (TS) are classical imprinting disorders (IDs) with nonconfluent clinical features. We report here on a patient with clinical features of both syndromes, in whom epimutations were found at the BWS and TS imprinted regions, consistent with multilocus imprinting disturbance (MLID). This is the first case report of a patient with clinical features of both conditions who was found to have loss of methylation (LOM) of KCNQ1OT1: TSS-DMR (ICR2) in the 11p15 imprinted region associated with BWS and LOM of MEG3: TSS-DMR in the 14q32 imprinted region associated with TS.