Serum potassium levels as an independent predictor of unplanned enteral nutrition discontinuation in older adults with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Background & Aims: Enteral nutrition in older adults is often associated with intolerance, a phenomenon not well-understood in the context of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This observational study aimed to evaluate serum potassium levels as an independent prognostic factor for unplanned enteral nutrition discontinuation in older adults with GERD.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 213 consecutive patients with GERD who received enteral nutrition at our institution from April 2018 to March 2023.

Observational Study of Words Used by Emergency Callers and Their Impact on the Recognition of an Out-Of-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Arrest by the Medical Dispatcher.

Background: Survival of victims of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (CA) is related to the time and quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).1 Considering that most CAs occur outside the hospital setting, it is evident that the early recognition of this condition is the cornerstone of the chain of survival. Current literature on the theme is still scarce.

Mechanistic Insights into Oxygen-Independent DNA Photodegradation by Pheophorbide a: Implications for Future Photodynamic Therapy Applications.

This study explores the unique properties of Pheophorbide a (Phed a) in the photodegradation of G-quadruplex DNA under anoxic conditions, emphasizing its potential for photodynamic therapy (PDT) in hypoxic tumor environments. We used electron spin resonance (ESR), circular dichroism (CD), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies to assess the radical generation and DNA interaction capabilities of Phed a compared to Pyropheophorbide a (Pyro a) under both oxygenated and anoxic conditions. Our results reveal that Phed a effectively degrades G-quadruplex DNA in the absence of oxygen, whereas Pyro a does not.

Building Resilience in New Graduate RNs: Lessons Learned.

Background: Transitioning into oncology practice can be challenging for new graduate RNs. High patient acuity, a steep learning curve, psychosocial challenges, and frequent patient deaths can be overwhelming.

Objectives: The purpose of this program was to provide resilience training for new graduate oncology nurses as part of an existing nurse residency program.

Synergy between Laminin-Derived Elastin-like Polypeptides (LELPs) Optimizes Cell Spreading.

A major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM), laminins, modulates cells via diverse receptors. Their fragments have emerging utility as components of "ECM-mimetics" optimized to promote cell-based therapies. Recently, we reported that a bioactive laminin peptide known as A99 enhanced cell binding and spreading via fusion to an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP).

Molecular dynamics simulation analysis of structural dynamic cross correlation induced by odorant hydrogen-bonding in mouse eugenol ol- factory receptor.

Structural fluctuations and dynamic cross-correlations in the mouse eugenol olfactory receptor (Olfr73) were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to characterize the dynamic response of the protein upon ligand binding. The initial structure was generated by the artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold2 due to the current lack of experimental data. We focused on the hydrogen (H) bond of the odorant eugenol to Ser113, Asn207, and Tyr260 of the receptor protein, the importance of which has been suggested by previous experimental studies.

Relative B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Deficiency May Exist in Diastolic Dysfunction in Subclinical Population.

Heart failure patients are deficient in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) but the significance of subclinical BNP deficiency is unclear. A total of 1,398 subjects without cardiovascular disease, with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% and BNP level <100 pg/mL, were selected from a 2005-2008 health checkup in Arita-cho, Japan, and divided into 2 groups: with and without LV diastolic dysfunction (DD+ or DD-). We performed propensity score matching on non-cardiac factors affecting BNP levels and analyzed 470 subjects in each group (372/940 men; median age, 66 years).

A stress sensor, IRE1α, is required for bacterial-exotoxin-induced interleukin-1β production in tissue-resident macrophages.

Cholera toxin (CT), a bacterial exotoxin composed of one A subunit (CTA) and five B subunits (CTB), functions as an immune adjuvant. CTB can induce production of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), a proinflammatory cytokine, in synergy with a lipopolysaccharide (LPS), from resident peritoneal macrophages (RPMs) through the pyrin and NLRP3 inflammasomes. However, how CTB or CT activates these inflammasomes in the macrophages has been unclear.

Role of the complement system in kidney cell death induced by Loxosceles venom Sphingomyelinases D.

Envenomation by Loxosceles spiders can result in local and systemic pathologies. Systemic loxoscelism, which can lead to death, is characterized by intravascular hemolysis, platelet aggregation, and acute kidney injury. Sphingomyelinase D (SMase D) in Loxosceles spider venom is responsible for both local and systemic pathologies, and has been shown to induce metalloprotease activity.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain: Synopsis of the 2021 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline.

Low back pain is a significant issue in the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense populations as well as the general US population at large. This type of pain can be distressing to those who experience its effects, leading patients to seek relief of their symptoms. In 2022, leadership within the US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense approved a joint clinical practice guideline for the management of low back pain.

Ears Wide Shut: A Complete Failure to Recognize Relevant Acoustic Stimuli.

The filtering out of apparently extraneous and redundant stimuli is critical for the effective processing of novel and relevant sensory information. But brain mechanisms that evolved to perform this function are necessarily less than perfect, in some cases failing to filter out irrelevant stimuli and in others filtering out important information. We report here on a stimulus from everyday life-the sound made by an arriving elevator, which contains information indicating the car's direction of movement-that not one of over 1,100 study participants was aware of, despite encountering this information repeatedly throughout their lives.

Photosensitized Generation of Singlet Oxygen (O) from Pyropheophorbide Specifically Bound to All Parallel-Stranded G-Quadruplex DNAs.

Pyropheophorbide (Pyro-), a chlorophyll metabolite, is a potential photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT), but little is known about its interaction with the target molecules for PDT, e.g., nucleic acids.

Restoration of Cardiac Myosin Light Chain Kinase Ameliorates Systolic Dysfunction by Reducing Superrelaxed Myosin.

Background: Cardiac-specific myosin light chain kinase (cMLCK), encoded by , regulates cardiac contractility through phosphorylation of ventricular myosin regulatory light chain. However, the pathophysiological and therapeutic implications of cMLCK in human heart failure remain unclear. We aimed to investigate whether cMLCK dysregulation causes cardiac dysfunction and whether the restoration of cMLCK could be a novel myotropic therapy for systolic heart failure.

The miRNA Landscape of Lacrimal Glands in a Murine Model of Autoimmune Dacryoadenitis.

Purpose: To analyze the changes in the lacrimal gland (LG) miRNAome from male nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with autoimmune dacryoadenitis compared with LG from healthy male BALB/c and dacryoadenitis-free female NOD mice.

Methods: LG from these mice were collected for small RNA sequencing to identify dysregulated miRNAs; hits were validated by RT-qPCR in male NOD and BALB/c LG. Dysregulation of validated species within immune cell-enriched cell fractions and epithelial-enriched cell fractions from LG was probed by RT-qPCR.

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu.

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe to Fe and dehydration developed.

Soluble organic molecules in samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to contain organic molecules, which record processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We analyzed organic molecules extracted from the Ryugu surface samples.

Macromolecular organic matter in samples of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu.

Samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu were collected and brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We investigated the macromolecular organic matter in Ryugu samples and found that it contains aromatic and aliphatic carbon, ketone, and carboxyl functional groups. The spectroscopic features of the organic matter are consistent with those in chemically primitive carbonaceous chondrite meteorites that experienced parent-body aqueous alteration (reactions with liquid water).

Noble gases and nitrogen in samples of asteroid Ryugu record its volatile sources and recent surface evolution.

The near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu is expected to contain volatile chemical species that could provide information on the origin of Earth's volatiles. Samples of Ryugu were retrieved by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We measured noble gas and nitrogen isotopes in Ryugu samples and found that they are dominated by presolar and primordial components, incorporated during Solar System formation.

Candidate Screening for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction Clinic by Fib-4 Index From Subclinical Subjects.

Background And Aims: Recognition of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) at an early stage in mass screening is desirable, but difficult to achieve. We examined whether the fibrosis (Fib)-4 index, a simple index of liver stiffness/fibrosis, could be used as a screening tool to select candidates requiring expert diagnostics.

Methods: Individuals who participated in annual health checks between 2006 and 2007 in Arita-cho, Saga, Japan, with no history of cardiovascular disease and EF ≥ 50% were enrolled (total 710; 258 men; median age, 59 years).

Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis syndrome in children: a brief literature review.

Objective: To describe clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of the periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome.

Data Source: Literature review in the PubMed database by using specific descriptors to identify all articles published in the English language in the last three years; 38 articles were found. After performing selection of titles and abstract analysis, 13 out of the 38 articles were fully read.

On the origin and evolution of the asteroid Ryugu: A comprehensive geochemical perspective.

Presented here are the observations and interpretations from a comprehensive analysis of 16 representative particles returned from the C-type asteroid Ryugu by the Hayabusa2 mission. On average Ryugu particles consist of 50% phyllosilicate matrix, 41% porosity and 9% minor phases, including organic matter. The abundances of 70 elements from the particles are in close agreement with those of CI chondrites.

Samples returned from the asteroid Ryugu are similar to Ivuna-type carbonaceous meteorites.

Carbonaceous meteorites are thought to be fragments of C-type (carbonaceous) asteroids. Samples of the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu were retrieved by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We measured the mineralogy and bulk chemical and isotopic compositions of Ryugu samples.

Tear miRNAs Identified in a Murine Model of Sjögren's Syndrome as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers and Indicators of Disease Mechanism.

Objective: The tear miRNAome of the male NOD mouse, a model of ocular symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome (SS), was analyzed to identify unique miRNAs.

Methods: Male NOD mice, aged 12-14 weeks, were used to identify tear miRNAs associated with development of autoimmune dacryoadenitis. Age- and sex-matched male BALB/c mice served as healthy controls while age-matched female NOD mice that do not develop the autoimmune dacryoadenitis characteristic of SS were used as additional controls.