Induction Therapies Determine the Distribution of Perforin and Granzyme B Transcripts in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells contain secretory granules with Perforin and Granzyme B for defense against pathogens. The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of immunosuppressive induction therapies on Perforin and Granzyme B transcripts in kidney transplant recipients. Transcripts were determined in 408 incident kidney transplant recipients eight days posttransplant using quantitative real-time PCR.

"I couldn't carry on taking a drug like that": A qualitative study of patient perspectives on side effects from rheumatology drugs.

Objectives: There is growing interest in collecting outcome information directly from patients in clinical trials. This study evaluates what patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) consider important to know about symptomatic side effects they may experience from a new prescription drug.

Methods: Patients with inflammatory arthritis, who had one or more prescribed drugs for their disease for at least 12 months, participated in focus groups and individual interviews.

Fin whale song evolution in the North Atlantic.

Animal songs can change within and between populations as the result of different evolutionary processes. When these processes include cultural transmission, the social learning of information or behaviours from conspecifics, songs can undergo rapid evolutions because cultural novelties can emerge more frequently than genetic mutations. Understanding these song variations over large temporal and spatial scales can provide insights into the patterns, drivers and limits of song evolution that can ultimately inform on the species' capacity to adapt to rapidly changing acoustic environments.

Barriers for why pregnant women do not visit a dentist on a regular basis: using group concept mapping methodology.

Objectives: Periodontitis in pregnancy represents a significant, but often overlooked challenge due to its association to adverse pregnancy (preeclampsia and gestational diabetes) and birth related outcomes (preterm birth and low birth weight). The overall study aim was to identify, organize, and prioritize barriers influencing dental visits among Danish pregnant women not seeing a dentist on a regularly basis.

Materials And Methods: Participants were pregnant women screened at weeks 11-13 of gestation, and were recruited if they were not seeing a dentist regularly.

Underwater sound of three unoccupied aerial vehicles at varying altitudes and horizontal distances.

Unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs), or "drones," are increasingly used as a tool for cetacean research, but knowledge about how these tools contribute to underwater sound is lacking. In this study, underwater sound levels of three commonly used UAV models (Mavic Pro Platinum, Phantom 4 Pro v2.0, Inspire 1 Pro) were recorded.

Nrf2 Protein Serum Concentration in Human CKD Shows a Biphasic Behavior.

Oxidative stress contributes to the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and CKD-related mortality. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is essential in the regulation of cellular redox status, and Nrf2-activating therapies are under evaluation in several chronic diseases, including CKD. It is therefore inevitable to understand how Nrf2 behaves in advancing CKD.

Occurrence of long-finned pilot whales () and killer whales () in Icelandic coastal waters and their interspecific interactions.

Unlabelled: Long-finned pilot whales and killer whales are widely distributed across the North Atlantic, but few studies have reported their occurrence in Icelandic coastal waters. Here, we use sightings data from research platforms and whale watching tours in six regions of Iceland from 2007 to 2020 to show that the occurrence of long-finned pilot and killer whales varied with region and season. Killer whales were regularly encountered in the south of Iceland during summer and west of Iceland during winter/spring.

Acoustic differentiation and classification of wild belugas and narwhals using echolocation clicks.

Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are highly social Arctic toothed whales with large vocal repertoires and similar acoustic profiles. Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) that uses multiple hydrophones over large spatiotemporal scales has been a primary method to study their populations, particularly in response to rapid climate change and increasing underwater noise. This study marks the first acoustic comparison between wild belugas and narwhals from the same location and reveals that they can be acoustically differentiated and classified solely by echolocation clicks.

Biopsychosocial Rehabilitation for Inflammatory Arthritis and Osteoarthritis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials.

Objective: To assess the benefits and harms associated with biopsychosocial rehabilitation in patients with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data were collected through electronic searches of Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, and CINAHL databases up to March 2019.

Comparative genomics provides insights into the aquatic adaptations of mammals.

The ancestors of marine mammals once roamed the land and independently committed to an aquatic lifestyle. These macroevolutionary transitions have intrigued scientists for centuries. Here, we generated high-quality genome assemblies of 17 marine mammals (11 cetaceans and six pinnipeds), including eight assemblies at the chromosome level.

Vertical sonar beam width and scanning behavior of wild belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland.

Echolocation signals of wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) were recorded in 2013 using a vertical, linear 16-hydrophone array at two locations in the pack ice of Baffin Bay, West Greenland. Individual whales were localized for 4:42 minutes of 1:04 hours of recordings. Clicks centered on the recording equipment (i.

OMERACT consensus-based operational definition of contextual factors in rheumatology clinical trials: A mixed methods study.

Objectives: To develop an operational definition of contextual factors (CF) [1].

Methods: Based on previously conducted interviews, we presented three CF types in a Delphi survey; Effect Modifying -, Outcome Influencing - and Measurement Affecting CFs. Subsequently, a virtual Special Interest Group (SIG) session was held for in depth discussion of Effect Modifying CFs.

Evidence of unidirectional hybridization and second-generation adult hybrid between the two largest animals on Earth, the fin and blue whales.

Biodiversity in the oceans has dramatically declined since the beginning of the industrial era, with accelerated loss of marine biodiversity impairing the ocean's capacity to maintain vital ecosystem services. A few organisms epitomize the damaging and long-lasting effects of anthropogenic exploitation: Some whale species, for instance, were brought to the brink of extinction, with their population sizes reduced to such low levels that may have caused a significant disruption to their reproductive dynamics and facilitated hybridization events. The incidence of hybridization is nevertheless believed to be rare, and very little information exists on its directionality.

Are Icelandic harbor seals acoustically cryptic to avoid predation?

Male harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) produce stereotypic underwater roars during the mating season. It remains unclear to what extent roar structures vary due to predation levels. Here, seal roars from waters with many (Iceland) and few (Denmark and Sweden) predators were compared.

Fission-fusion dynamics of a pelagic delphinid in the arctic: the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris).

Delphinids exhibit great variability in their social structures. It is therefore important to document lesser known species, in extreme changing habitats, to compare and contrast mechanisms driving sociality. Here, we describe the first long-term assessment of social structure of white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) using a compiled version of SOCPROG 2.

Liraglutide after diet-induced weight loss for pain and weight control in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Weight loss is critical for preventing and managing obesity-related diseases. There is a notable lack of valid and reliable means to manage patients with overweight/obesity and knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of liraglutide in a 30 mg/d dosing in patients with overweight/obesity and KOA.

Prospective Study of Long Noncoding RNA, MGAT3-AS1, and Viremia of BK Polyomavirus and Cytomegalovirus in Living Donor Renal Transplant Recipients.

Introduction: Viremia after renal transplantation is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and treatment opportunities are limited. Tests to determine the increased risk for viremia would be preferable.

Methods: In a prospective, single-center study, we conducted follow-up of 163 renal transplant recipients after incident living donor renal transplantation.

The common murre (Uria aalge), an auk seabird, reacts to underwater sound.

Marine mammals have fine-tuned hearing abilities, which makes them vulnerable to human-induced sounds from shipping, sonars, pile drivers, and air guns. Many species of marine birds, such as penguins, auks, and cormorants, find their food underwater where light is often limited, suggesting sound detection may play a vital role. Yet, for most marine birds, it is unknown whether they are using, and can thereby be affected by, underwater sound.

A field study of auditory sensitivity of the Atlantic puffin, .

Hearing is vital for birds as they rely on acoustic communication with parents, mates, chicks and conspecifics. Amphibious seabirds face many ecological pressures, having to sense cues in air and underwater. Natural noise conditions have helped shape this sensory modality but anthropogenic noise is increasingly impacting seabirds.

Identifying values and preferences around the choice of analgesia for patients with acute trauma pain in emergency and prehospital settings: using group concept mapping methodology.

Objectives: The main study aim was to examine the applicability of a novel method to assess the criterion of values and preferences within the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation evidence to decision framework. The group concept mapping (GCM) approach was applied to identify, organise and prioritise values and preferences in the example of health professionals' choice of analgesia for patients with acute trauma pain.

Setting: Prehospital and emergency care centres in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

Endogenous intronic antisense long non-coding RNA, MGAT3-AS1, and kidney transplantation.

β-1,4-mannosylglycoprotein 4-β-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (MGAT3) is a key molecule for the innate immune system. We tested the hypothesis that intronic antisense long non-coding RNA, MGAT3-AS1, can predict delayed allograft function after kidney transplantation. We prospectively assessed kidney function and MGAT3-AS1 in 129 incident deceased donor kidney transplant recipients before and after transplantation.

Effect of liraglutide on body weight and pain in patients with overweight and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single-centre trial.

Introduction: With an increasing prevalence of citizens of older age and with overweight, the health issues related to knee osteoarthritis (OA) will intensify. Weight loss is considered a primary management strategy in patients with concomitant overweight and knee OA. However, there are no widely available and feasible methods to sustain weight loss in patients with overweight and knee OA.

The benefit of adding a physiotherapy or occupational therapy intervention programme to a standardized group-based interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic widespread pain: a randomized active-controlled non-blinded trial.

Objective: To evaluate the benefit of adding occupational therapy or physiotherapy interventions to a standard rehabilitation programme targeted for chronic widespread pain.

Design: Randomized active-controlled non-blinded trial.

Subjects: Women with chronic widespread pain recruited in a tertiary outpatient clinic.

Complete Inactivation of Sebum-Producing Genes Parallels the Loss of Sebaceous Glands in Cetacea.

Genomes are dynamic biological units, with processes of gene duplication and loss triggering evolutionary novelty. The mammalian skin provides a remarkable case study on the occurrence of adaptive morphological innovations. Skin sebaceous glands (SGs), for instance, emerged in the ancestor of mammals serving pivotal roles, such as lubrication, waterproofing, immunity, and thermoregulation, through the secretion of sebum, a complex mixture of various neutral lipids such as triacylglycerol, free fatty acids, wax esters, cholesterol, and squalene.