Spns1-dependent endocardial lysosomal function drives valve morphogenesis through Notch1-signaling.

Autophagy-lysosomal degradation is a conserved homeostatic process considered to be crucial for cardiac morphogenesis. However, both its cell specificity and functional role during heart development remain unclear. Here, we introduced zebrafish models to visualize autophagic vesicles and track their temporal and cellular localization in the larval heart.

Cerebral Venous Air Embolism: A Rare Clinical Challenge and Management Insights.

Cerebral air embolism (CAE) is a rare but life-threatening condition often associated with trauma, such as chest and skull injuries, which allow air to enter the venous system, as well as medical procedures and surgical interventions. It can occur during the insertion of peripheral cannulas or central midline catheters, following lung biopsy procedures, or during vascular surgeries, particularly those involving the head and neck region. CAE can also develop during the removal of central venous cannulas, as air may enter the bloodstream in the process.

Sown Without Care: Dutch Eugenicists and their Call for Optimising Developmental Conditions, 1919-1939.

This paper explains the coexistence of concerns about hereditary degeneration and opposition to reproductive intervention such as sterilisation in Dutch eugenic discourse during the interwar years. Based on an analysis of textbooks, periodical publications and printed lectures, I will show how eugenicists positioned themselves within the domain of public health by framing their domain of inquiry as a pivotal addition to curative medicine and sanitary reform. Dutch eugenicists rendered this symbiotic relationship conceptually plausible by combining criticism of genetic determinism and Lamarckian viewpoints on heredity.

Diversity of heart failure phenotypes in transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. More than just heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Introduction: Current guidelines recommend suspecting transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) in patients over 65 years of age with unexplained left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in a non-dilated LV, heart failure (HF) and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or severe aortic stenosis. However, there is evidence indicating a high prevalence of ATTR-CM in other HF phenotypes. As such, this study aimed to characterize the diversity of HF phenotypes of ATTR-CM by examining the LV ejection fraction and LV dilatation using echocardiography.

The gut microbiota as an early predictor of COVID-19 severity.

Several studies reported alterations of the human gut microbiota (GM) during COVID-19. To evaluate the potential role of the GM as an early predictor of COVID-19 at disease onset, we analyzed gut microbial samples of 315 COVID-19 patients that differed in disease severity. We observed significant variations in microbial diversity and composition associated with increasing disease severity, as the reduction of short-chain fatty acid producers such as and , and the growth of pathobionts as and .

Genetic findings in people with schwannomas who do not meet clinical diagnostic criteria for -related schwannomatosis.

Background: Most schwannomas are isolated tumours occurring in otherwise healthy people. However, bilateral vestibular schwannomas (BVS) or multiple non-vestibular schwannomas indicate an underlying genetic predisposition. This is most commonly -related schwannomatosis (SWN), but when BVS are absent, this can also indicate -related or -related SWN.

A long-term study of stable isotope ratios of fingernail keratin and amino acids in a mother-infant dyad.

Objective: To evaluate the potential of compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AA) for investigating infant feeding practices, we conducted a long-term study that compared infant and maternal amino acid (AA) nitrogen isotope ratios.

Materials And Methods: Fingernail samples were collected from a single mother-infant dyad over 19 months postpartum. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in the bulk keratin of the fingernail samples.

Healthcare consumption of patients with left ventricular assist device: real-world data.

Background: A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a life-saving but intensive therapy for patients with end-stage heart failure. We evaluated the healthcare consumption in a cohort of LVAD patients in our centre over 6 years.

Methods: All patients with a primary LVAD implantation at the University Medical Centre Utrecht in Utrecht, the Netherlands from 2016 through 2021 were included in this analysis.

Age-associated clonal B cells drive B cell lymphoma in mice.

Although cancer is an age-related disease, how the processes of aging contribute to cancer progression is not well understood. In this study, we uncovered how mouse B cell lymphoma develops as a consequence of a naturally aged system. We show here that this malignancy is associated with an age-associated clonal B cell (ACBC) population that likely originates from age-associated B cells.

Paradoxical replay can protect contextual task representations from destructive interference when experience is unbalanced.

Experience replay is a powerful mechanism to learn efficiently from limited experience. Despite several decades of compelling experimental results, the factors that determine which experiences are selected for replay remain unclear. A particular challenge for current theories is that on tasks that feature unbalanced experience, rats paradoxically replay the less-experienced trajectory.

ECPELLA as a bridge-to-decision in refractory cardiogenic shock: a single-centre experience.

Background: In refractory cardiogenic shock, temporary mechanical support (tMCS) may be crucial for maintaining tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery. tMCS can serve as a bridge-to-decision to assess eligibility for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation or heart transplantation, or as a bridge-to-recovery. ECPELLA is a novel tMCS configuration combining venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with Impella.

Cox7a1 controls skeletal muscle physiology and heart regeneration through complex IV dimerization.

The oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system is intricately organized, with respiratory complexes forming super-assembled quaternary structures whose assembly mechanisms and physiological roles remain under investigation. Cox7a2l, also known as Scaf1, facilitates complex III and complex IV (CIII-CIV) super-assembly, enhancing energetic efficiency in various species. We examined the role of Cox7a1, another Cox7a family member, in supercomplex assembly and muscle physiology.

Biodegradation of polyethylene by the marine fungus Parengyodontium album.

Plastic pollution in the marine realm is a severe environmental problem. Nevertheless, plastic may also serve as a potential carbon and energy source for microbes, yet the contribution of marine microbes, especially marine fungi to plastic degradation is not well constrained. We isolated the fungus Parengyodontium album from floating plastic debris in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and measured fungal-mediated mineralization rates (conversion to CO) of polyethylene (PE) by applying stable isotope probing assays with C-PE over 9 days of incubation.

Age-Invariant Genes: Multi-Tissue Identification and Characterization of Murine Reference Genes.

Studies of the aging transcriptome focus on genes that change with age. But what can we learn from age-invariant genes-those that remain unchanged throughout the aging process? These genes also have a practical application: they serve as reference genes (often called housekeeping genes) in expression studies. Reference genes have mostly been identified and validated in young organisms, and no systematic investigation has been done across the lifespan.

Development and validation of a lifetime prediction model for incident type 2 diabetes in patients with established cardiovascular disease: the CVD2DM model.

Aims: Identifying patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) may allow for early interventions, reducing the development of T2D and associated morbidity. The aim of this study was to develop and externally validate the CVD2DM model to estimate the 10-year and lifetime risks of T2D in patients with established CVD.

Methods And Results: Sex-specific, competing risk-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were derived in 19 281 participants with established CVD and without diabetes at baseline from the UK Biobank.