Improved Hydrolysis of Granular Starches by a Psychrophilic α-Amylase Starch Binding Domain-Fusion.

Degradation of starch granules by a psychrophilic α-amylase, AHA, from the Antarctic bacterium TAB23 was facilitated by C-terminal fusion to a starch-binding domain (SBD) from either glucoamylase (SBD) or glucan, water dikinase 3 (SBD) via a decapeptide linker. Depending on the waxy, normal or high-amylose starch type and the botanical source, the AHA-SBD fusion enzymes showed up to 3 times higher activity than AHA wild-type. The SBD-fusion thus increased the density of enzyme attack-sites and binding-sites on the starch granules by up to 5- and 7-fold, respectively, as measured using an interfacial catalysis approach that combined conventional Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with the substrate in excess, and inverse kinetics, having enzyme in excess, with enzyme-starch granule adsorption isotherms.

Albumin administration in septic shock-Protocol for post-hoc analyses of data from a multicentre RCT.

Background: Intravenous (IV) albumin is suggested for patients with septic shock who have received large amounts of IV crystalloids; a conditional recommendation based on moderate certainty of evidence. Clinical variation in the administration of IV albumin in septic shock may exist according to patient characteristics and location.

Methods: This is a protocol and statistical analysis plan for a post-hoc secondary study of the Conservative versus Liberal Approach to Fluid Therapy of Septic Shock in Intensive Care (CLASSIC) RCT of 1554 adult ICU patients with septic shock.

Exploration of the Transglycosylation Activity of Barley Limit Dextrinase for Production of Novel Glycoconjugates.

A few α-glucan debranching enzymes (DBEs) of the large glycoside hydrolase family 13 (GH13), also known as the α-amylase family, have been shown to catalyze transglycosylation as well as hydrolysis. However, little is known about their acceptor and donor preferences. Here, a DBE from barley, limit dextrinase (LD), is used as a case study.

Structure Activity Relationships for Reversible O Chemisorption by the Solid Phases of Co(salen) and Co(3F-salen).

The potential of solid-state materials comprising Co(salen) units for concentrating dioxygen from air was recognized over 80 years ago. While the chemisorptive mechanism at the molecular level is largely understood, the bulk crystalline phase plays important, yet unidentified roles. We have reverse crystal-engineered these materials and can for the first time describe the nanostructuring requisite for achieving reversible O chemisorption by Co(3R-salen) R = H or F, the simplest and most effective of the many known derivatives of Co(salen).

Topographical influence of electrospun basement membrane mimics on formation of cellular monolayer.

Functional unit of many organs like lung, kidney, intestine, and eye have their endothelial and epithelial monolayers physically separated by a specialized extracellular matrix called the basement membrane. The intricate and complex topography of this matrix influences cell function, behavior and overall homeostasis. In vitro barrier function replication of such organs requires mimicking of these native features on an artificial scaffold system.

Vision impairment is common in non-hospitalised patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Clinical Relevance: Vision-related problems can be part of longstanding sequelae after COVID-19 and hamper the return to work and daily activities. Knowledge about symptoms, visual, and oculomotor dysfunctions is however scarce, particularly for non-hospitalised patients. Clinically applicable tools are needed as support in the assessment and determination of intervention needs.

A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa.

Despite broad agreement that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, considerable uncertainty surrounds specific models of divergence and migration across the continent. Progress is hampered by a shortage of fossil and genomic data, as well as variability in previous estimates of divergence times. Here we seek to discriminate among such models by considering linkage disequilibrium and diversity-based statistics, optimized for rapid, complex demographic inference.

Interfacial Catalysis during Amylolytic Degradation of Starch Granules: Current Understanding and Kinetic Approaches.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of starch granules forms the fundamental basis of how nature degrades starch in plant cells, how starch is utilized as an energy resource in foods, and develops efficient, low-cost saccharification of starch, such as bioethanol and sweeteners. However, most investigations on starch hydrolysis have focused on its rates of degradation, either in its gelatinized or soluble state. These systems are inherently more well-defined, and kinetic parameters can be readily derived for different hydrolytic enzymes and starch molecular structures.

Surface Plasmon Resonance Analysis for Quantifying Protein-Carbohydrate Interactions.

During the past two decades, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis has emerged as an important tool for studying protein-carbohydrate interactions, with several commercial instruments available. Binding affinities in the nM to mM range can be determined; however, there are pitfalls that require careful experimental design to avoid. Here we give an overview of each step in the SPR analysis from immobilization to data analysis, providing key points of consideration that will allow practitioners to achieve reliable and reproducible results.

Lower vs Higher Fluid Volumes in Adult Patients With Sepsis: An Updated Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.

Background: IV fluids are recommended for adults with sepsis. However, the optimal strategy for IV fluid management in sepsis is unknown, and clinical equipoise exists.

Research Question: Do lower vs higher fluid volumes improve patient-important outcomes in adult patients with sepsis?

Study Design And Methods: We updated a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized clinical trials assessing lower vs higher IV fluid volumes in adult patients with sepsis.

A high quality, high molecular weight DNA extraction method for PacBio HiFi genome sequencing of recalcitrant plants.

Background: PacBio HiFi sequencing provides highly accurate long-read sequencing datasets which are of great advantage for whole genome sequencing projects. One limitation of the method is the requirement for high quality, high molecular weight input DNA. This can be particularly challenging for plants that frequently contain common and species-specific secondary metabolites, which often interfere with downstream processes.

The Nordic perioperative and intensive care registries-Collaboration and research possibilities.

Background: The Nordic perioperative and intensive care registries have been built up during the last 25 years to improve quality in intensive and perioperative care. We aimed to describe the Nordic perioperative and intensive care registries and to highlight possibilities and challenges in future research collaboration between these registries.

Material And Method: We present an overview of the following Nordic registries: Swedish Perioperative Registry (SPOR), the Danish Anesthesia Database (DAD), the Finnish Perioperative Database (FIN-AN), the Icelandic Anesthesia Database (IS-AN), the Danish Intensive Care Database (DID), the Swedish Intensive Care Registry (SIR), the Finnish Intensive Care Consortium, the Norwegian Intensive Care and Pandemic Registry (NIPaR), and the Icelandic Intensive Care Registry (IS-ICU).

Causal Bayesian machine learning to assess treatment effect heterogeneity by dexamethasone dose for patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxemia.

The currently recommended dose of dexamethasone for patients with severe or critical COVID-19 is 6 mg per day (mg/d) regardless of patient features and variation. However, patients with severe or critical COVID-19 are heterogenous in many ways (e.g.

Non-response for health-related quality of life outcomes in ICU patients: A systematic review of the reporting in randomised trials.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is frequently assessed in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) in the intensive care unit (ICU), but data are limited regarding the proportions of patients without responses or not surviving to HRQoL follow-up and the handling of this. We aimed to describe the extent and pattern of missing HRQoL data in intensive care trials and describe how these data and deaths were handled statistically.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis following a published protocol.

Abnormal serum levels of magnesium, phosphate, and zinc in ICU patients-Characteristics, management, and outcomes: The WhyTrace cohort study.

Background: Abnormal serum levels of magnesium, phosphate, and zinc appear common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, but the epidemiology, management, and associations with outcomes are less well described. We described these factors and estimated associations with outcomes in a large dataset of Danish ICU patients.

Methods: We included adults who were acutely admitted to 10 general ICUs in Denmark between October 2011 and January 2018.

Structural and functional characterization of a multi-domain GH92 α-1,2-mannosidase from Neobacillus novalis.

Many secreted eukaryotic proteins are N-glycosylated with oligosaccharides composed of a high-mannose N-glycan core and, in the specific case of yeast cell-wall proteins, an extended α-1,6-mannan backbone carrying a number of α-1,2- and α-1,3-mannose substituents of varying lengths. α-Mannosidases from CAZy family GH92 release terminal mannose residues from these N-glycans, providing access for the α-endomannanases, which then degrade the α-mannan backbone. Most characterized GH92 α-mannosidases consist of a single catalytic domain, while a few have extra domains including putative carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs).

Emergence of common concepts, symmetries and conformity in agent groups-an information-theoretic model.

The paper studies principles behind structured, especially symmetric, representations through enforced inter-agent conformity. For this, we consider agents in a simple environment who extract individual representations of this environment through an information maximization principle. The representations obtained by different agents differ in general to some extent from each other.

The influence of event segmentation by context on stimulus-response binding.

A core characteristic of auditory stimuli is that they develop over time. Referring to the event segmentation theory, we assume that the on- and offset of a contextual sound indicates the start and end of an event. As a consequence, stimuli and responses appearing within a common auditory context may be integrated more likely/strongly, forming so-called event files, than those appearing in different auditory contexts.

Engineering a membrane-binding protein to trimerize and induce high membrane curvature.

The annexins are a family of Ca-dependent peripheral membrane proteins. Several annexins are implicated in plasma membrane repair and are overexpressed in cancer cells. Annexin A4 (ANXA4) and annexin A5 (ANXA5) form trimers that induce high curvature on a membrane surface, a phenomenon deemed to accelerate membrane repair.

Variation in gene expression along an elevation gradient of var. assessed in a comparative transcriptomic analysis.

Selection along environmental gradients may play a vital role in driving adaptive evolution. Nevertheless, genomic variation and genetic adaptation along environmental clines remains largely unknown in plants in alpine ecosystems. To close this knowledge gap, we assayed transcriptomic profiles of late flower bud and early leaf bud of var.

Quantification of myocardial blood flow using dynamic myocardial CT perfusion compared with Rb PET.

Purpose: Absolute measures of myocardial blood flow (MBF) obtained with dynamic myocardial CT perfusion (DM-CTP) are underestimated when compared with reference standards. This is to some extent explained by incomplete extraction of iodinated contrast agent (iCA) to the myocardial tissue. We aimed to establish an extraction function for iCA, use the function to calculate MBF and to compare this with MBF measured with Rb positron emission tomography (PET).

Psychometric evaluation of the WHODAS 2.0 and prevalence of disability in a Swedish general population.

Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) is a generic questionnaire that captures health and disability-related functioning information corresponding to six major life domains: Cognition, Mobility, Self-care, Getting along, Life activities, and Participation. The WHODAS 2.

Technical guidance on biodegradation testing of difficult substances and mixtures in surface water.

The aim of this article is to address critical challenges in the OECD 309 "Aerobic mineralization in surface water - simulation biodegradation test" for volatile chemicals, highly hydrophobic chemicals, mixtures or UVCBs (unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products or biological materials). Several modifications are presented to address technical challenges (minimize and account for losses), make testing more environmentally relevant (lower concentrations) and generate data for multiple substances (more and better aligned data):• Aqueous solutions are handled using gas tight syringes, tests are conducted in gas tight vials, and automated analysis is performed directly on unopened test vials. Abiotic losses are accounted for via concentration ratios between test systems and abiotic controls that are incubated and measured in parallel.

Cognitive and mental fatigue in chronic pain: cognitive functions, emotional aspects, biomarkers and neuronal correlates-protocol for a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Chronic pain (CP) is one of the most frequently presenting conditions in health care and many patients with CP report mental fatigue and a decline in cognitive functioning. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown.

Methods And Analysis: This study protocol describes a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the presence of self-rated mental fatigue, objectively measured cognitive fatigability and executive functions and their relation to other cognitive functions, inflammatory biomarkers and brain connectivity in patients with CP.

Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis and Risk for Myocardial Infarction in a Danish Cohort : A Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Coronary atherosclerosis may develop at an early age and remain latent for many years.

Objective: To define characteristics of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis associated with the development of myocardial infarction.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study.