The chlamydial deubiquitinase Cdu1 of the obligate intracellular human pathogenic bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis plays important roles in the maintenance of chlamydial infection. Despite the structural similarities shared with its homologue Cdu2, both DUBs display remarkable differences in their enzymatic activity towards poly-UB chain substrates. Whereas Cdu1 is highly active towards K48- and K63- poly-UB chains, Cdu2 activity is restricted mostly to mono-UB substrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal circadian clocks play a crucial role in regulating behavioral adaptations to daily environmental changes. The fruit fly exhibits 2 prominent peaks of activity in the morning and evening, known as morning (M) and evening (E) peaks. These peaks are controlled by 2 distinct circadian oscillators located in separate groups of clock neurons in the brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntarctic krill (Euphausia superba, hereafter krill) is a pelagic living crustacean and a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Krill builds up a huge biomass and its synchronized behavioral patterns, such as diel vertical migration (DVM), substantially impact ecosystem structure and carbon sequestration. However, the mechanistic basis of krill DVM is unknown and previous studies of krill behavior in the laboratory were challenged by complex behavior and large variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCircadian clocks play an essential role in adapting locomotor activity as well as physiological, and metabolic rhythms of organisms to the day-night cycles on Earth during the four seasons. In addition, they can serve as a time reference for measuring day length and adapt organisms in advance to annual changes in the environment, which can be particularly pronounced at higher latitudes. The physiological responses of organisms to day length are also known as photoperiodism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Biomarker-based therapies are increasingly used in cancer patients outside clinical trials. Systematic assessment of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) is warranted to take patients' perspectives during biomarker-based therapies into consideration. We assessed the feasibility of an electronic PRO assessment via a smartphone application.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Little is known about the growth dynamics of untreated glioblastoma and its possible influence on postoperative survival. Our aim was to analyze a possible association of preoperative growth dynamics with postoperative survival.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all adult patients surgically treated for newly diagnosed glioblastoma at our center between 2010 and 2020.
Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol
April 2024
Dynamic risk scales have largely been evaluated using singular assessment scores, including those obtained at the start of supervision. While this approach includes assessment of dynamic factors, it ignores changes with reassessment, failing to examine whether an instrument is truly dynamic in nature. This is problematic, as proximal risk assessments have consistently outperformed baseline assessments in the prediction of recidivism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe small ventrolateral neurons (sLNvs) are key components of the central clock in the Drosophila brain. They signal via the neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) to align the molecular clockwork of different central clock neurons and to modulate downstream circuits. The dorsal terminals of the sLNvs undergo daily morphological changes that affect presynaptic sites organised by the active zone protein Bruchpilot (BRP), a homolog of mammalian ELKS proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the direct, indirect, and total prospective effects of serum concentrations of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25[OH]D) on depressive symptoms in older adults.
Methods: Data from the second (2013-2015) and third (2017-2019) waves of the EpiFloripa Aging Cohort Study (= 60 years) were analyzed. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale.
Hydroxylamine-derived reagents have enabled versatile nitrene transfer reactions for introducing nitrogen-containing functionalities in small-molecule catalysis, as well as biocatalysis. These reagents, however, result in a poor atom economy and stoichiometric organic waste. Activating hydroxylamine (NHOH) for nitrene transfer offers a low-cost and sustainable route to amine synthesis, since water is the sole byproduct.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
May 2023
The juçara palm tree produces a small spherical and black-purple fruit similar to açaí. It is rich in phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins. A clinical trial evaluated the absorption and excretion of the main bioactive compounds in urine and the antioxidant capacity in serum and erythrocytes of 10 healthy subjects after juçara juice intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondria are essential organelles of eukaryotic cells and are characterized by their unique and complex membrane system. They are confined from the cytosol by an envelope consisting of two membranes. Signals, metabolites, proteins and lipids have to be transferred across these membranes via proteinaceous contact sites to keep mitochondria functional.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The clinical utility of molecular profiling and targeted therapies for neuro-oncology patients outside of clinical trials is not established. We aimed at investigating feasibility and clinical utility of molecular profiling and targeted therapy in adult patients with advanced tumors in the nervous system within a prospective observational study.
Methods: molecular tumor board (MTB)@ZPM (NCT03503149) is a prospective observational precision medicine study for patients with advanced tumors.
Background: The association between obesity and depressive symptoms has been described in the literature, but there is a scarcity of longitudinal data. This study aimed to verify the association between body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and the incidence of depressive symptoms over a 10-year follow-up in a cohort of older adults.
Methods: Data from the first (2009-2010), second (2013-2014), and third (2017-2019) waves of the EpiFloripa Aging Cohort Study were used.
From fear of contracting the virus, isolation from physical distancing, to navigating lifework balance, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to leave long-lasting psychosocial impacts on many. Shared trauma refers to similar psychological reactions to an extraordinary community event when experienced by both the clinicians and clients. We examined the experiences mong mental health clinicians in Canada and the United States (n = 196) in this online survey study during the second phase of the pandemic (Spring 2021).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMesoscopic Josephson junctions, consisting of overlapping superconducting electrodes separated by a nanometre-thin oxide layer, provide a precious source of nonlinearity for superconducting quantum circuits. Here we show that in a fluxonium qubit, the role of the Josephson junction can also be played by a lithographically defined, self-structured granular aluminium nanojunction: a superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson junction obtained in a single-layer, zero-angle evaporation. The measured spectrum of the resulting qubit, which we nickname gralmonium, is indistinguishable from that of a standard fluxonium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany species synchronize their physiology and behavior to specific hours. It is commonly assumed that sunlight acts as the main entrainment signal for ∼24-h clocks. However, the moon provides similarly regular time information.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF's dorsal clock neurons (DNs) consist of four clusters (DNs, DNs, DNs, and DNs) that largely differ in size. While the DNs and the DNs encompass only two neurons, the DNs consist of ∼15 neurons, and the DNs comprise ∼40 neurons per brain hemisphere. In comparison to the well-characterized lateral clock neurons (LNs), the neuroanatomy and function of the DNs are still not clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies have found that physical activity (PA) could be a protective factor and adiposity a risk factor for low serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D) concentration. This cross-sectional study hypothesized that PA could have a direct effect on 25(OH)D, and adiposity could be a mediating factor. Data from the second wave of the EpiFloripa Aging longitudinal study, collected during 2013 and 2014 (n = 1197) in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, was used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite stereotypes of video games as isolating technologies, video gaming can be a highly social activity that contributes to well-being. Advances in computing technology and greater social acceptance of video gaming have led to overall increases in gameplay in social scenarios. Our review focuses on three areas of research relevant to understanding social gaming and well-being: social play in video games (both past and present social play, and forms of tandem play), social gaming and psychological recovery (both short-term recovery and long-term resilience), and the use of emerging technologies to connect via gaming (such as game streaming and augmented/virtual reality).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDepression is a mental disorder triggered by the interaction of social, psychological and biological factors that have an important impact on an individual's life. Despite being a well-studied disease with several established forms of treatment, its prevalence is increasing, especially among older adults. New forms of treatment and prevention are encouraged, and some researchers have been discussing the effects of vitamin D (VitD) on depression; however, the exact mechanism by which VitD exerts its effects is not yet conclusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrosophila's lateral posterior neurons (LPNs) belong to a small group of circadian clock neurons that is so far not characterized in detail. Thanks to a new highly specific split-Gal4 line, here we describe LPNs' morphology in fine detail, their synaptic connections, daily bimodal expression of neuropeptides, and propose a putative role of this cluster in controlling daily activity and sleep patterns. We found that the three LPNs are heterogeneous.
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