The Lifelines Cohort Study: Prevalence of Tinnitus Associated Suffering and Behavioral Outcomes in Children and Adolescents.

Objectives: Tinnitus in children and adolescents is relatively unexplored territory. The available literature is limited and the reported prevalence of tinnitus suffering varies widely due to the absence of a definition for pediatric tinnitus. The impact on daily life seems to be lower than in the adult population.

Safety considerations in the treatment with anti-CGRP(R) monoclonal antibodies in patients with migraine.

Background: Anti-CGRP-(receptor-)monoclonal antibodies (anti-CGRP(R)-mAbs) represent a novel class of drugs for migraine treatment, but their long-term cerebrovascular and cardiovascular (CV) safety warrants further examination.

Methods: In this observational cohort study we assessed the CV safety for erenumab and fremanezumab in a real-world setting during a follow-up period of at least 1 year. Patients with hypertension or CV history were excluded.

Production and sensory analysis of grape flavoured beer by co-fermentation of an industrial and a genetically modified laboratory yeast strain.

Unlabelled: The so-called "craft beer revolution" has increased the demand for new styles of beers, often with new ingredients like flavour extracts. In recent years, synthetic biology has realized the production of a plethora of plant secondary metabolites in microbial hosts, which could provide an alternative source for these compounds. In this study, we selected a in situ flavour production approach for grape flavour addition.

Automatic Segmentation and Mechanical Characterisation of the Intraluminal Thrombus and Arterial Wall of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Using Time Resolved 3D Ultrasound Images.

Objective: This study proposed a method for semi-automatic segmentation of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and their intraluminal thrombus (ILT), based on time resolved 3D ultrasound (US), and validated results with computed tomography (CT). Mechanical properties of both wall and ILT were determined, and possible correlations with ILT size and blood pressure were investigated.

Methods: A semi-automatic segmentation algorithm was developed combining a star-Kalman approach with a 3D snake algorithm.

Disclosing quantitative RT-PCR raw data during manuscript submission: a call for action.

Accuracy and transparency of scientific data are becoming more and more relevant with the increasing concern regarding the evaluation of data reproducibility in many research areas. This concern is also true for quantifying coding and noncoding RNAs, with the remarkable increase in publications reporting RNA profiling and sequencing studies. To address the problem, we propose the following recommendations: (a) accurate documentation of experimental procedures in Materials and methods (and not only in the supplementary information, as many journals have a strict mandate for making Materials and methods as visible as possible in the main text); (b) submission of RT-qPCR raw data for all experiments reported; and (c) adoption of a unified, simple format for submitted RT-qPCR raw data.

Effector Regulated Catalytic Cyclization of Alkynoic Acids Using Pt L Cages.

Metabolic pathways are highly regulated by effector molecules that influences the rate of enzymatic reactions. Inspired by the catalytic regulation found in living cells, we report a Pt L cage of which the activity can be controlled by effectors that bind inside the cage. The cage shows catalytic activity in the lactonization of alkynoic acids, with the reaction rates dependent on the effector guest bound in the cage.

Unsupervised domain adaptation method for segmenting cross-sectional CCA images.

Background And Objectives: Automatic vessel segmentation in ultrasound is challenging due to the quality of the ultrasound images, which is affected by attenuation, high level of speckle noise and acoustic shadowing. Recently, deep convolutional neural networks are increasing in popularity due to their great performance on image segmentation problems, including vessel segmentation. Traditionally, large labeled datasets are required to train a network that achieves high performance, and is able to generalize well to different orientations, transducers and ultrasound scanners.

PHB production from cellobiose with Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Replacement of petrochemical-based materials with microbially produced biodegradable alternatives calls for industrially attractive fermentation processes. Lignocellulosic materials offer non-edible alternatives for cultivated sugars, but require often use of expensive sugar releasing enzymes, such as β-glucosidases. These cellulose treatment costs could be reduced if microbial production hosts could use short cellodextrins such as cellobiose directly as their substrates.

Effects of crystalloid and colloid priming strategies for cardiopulmonary bypass on colloid oncotic pressure and haemostasis: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: Colloid oncotic pressure (COP) is an important factor in cardiac surgery, owing to its role in haemodilution. The effect of cardiopulmonary bypass prime fluids on the COP is unknown. In this study, the effect of crystalloid and colloid prime fluids, with or without retrograde autologous priming (RAP), on the COP during elective cardiac surgery was evaluated.

Reducing soft-tissue shrinkage artefacts caused by staining with Lugol's solution.

Diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT) is progressively used in clinical and morphological research to study developmental anatomy. Lugol's solution (Lugol) has gained interest as an effective contrast agent; however, usage is limited due to extensive soft-tissue shrinkage. The mechanism of Lugol-induced shrinkage and how to prevent it is largely unknown, hampering applications of Lugol in clinical or forensic cases where tissue shrinkage can lead to erroneous diagnostic conclusions.

Long-term safety and clinical outcomes of intrathecal heparan-N-sulfatase in patients with Sanfilippo syndrome type A.

Introduction: Currently, there is no effective therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA (MPS IIIA). Intravenously-administered enzyme replacement therapies, while effective in other forms of MPS without neurological involvement, have not been successful in patients with MPS IIIA, as they are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier to improve neurological symptoms. We evaluated the long-term safety, tolerability, and clinical outcomes of recombinant human heparan-N-sulfatase (rhHNS) administered intrathecally (IT) in children with MPS IIIA in a phase 1/2 extension study.

Web-based LinRegPCR: application for the visualization and analysis of (RT)-qPCR amplification and melting data.

Background: The analyses of amplification and melting curves have been shown to provide valuable information on the quality of the individual reactions in quantitative PCR (qPCR) experiments and to result in more reliable and reproducible quantitative results.

Implementation: The main steps in the amplification curve analysis are (1) a unique baseline subtraction, not using the ground phase cycles, (2) PCR efficiency determination from the exponential phase of the individual reactions, (3) setting a common quantification threshold and (4) calculation of the efficiency-corrected target quantity with the common threshold, efficiency per assay and C per reaction. The melting curve analysis encompasses smoothing of the observed fluorescence data, normalization to remove product-independent fluorescence loss, peak calling and assessment of the correct peak by comparing its melting temperature with the known melting temperature of the intended amplification product.

A Generalized Approach for Automatic 3-D Geometry Assessment of Blood Vessels in Transverse Ultrasound Images Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Accurate 3-D geometries of arteries and veins are important clinical data for diagnosis of arterial disease and intervention planning. Automatic segmentation of vessels in the transverse view suffers from the low lateral resolution and contrast. Convolutional neural networks are a promising tool for automatic segmentation of medical images, outperforming the traditional segmentation methods with high robustness.

Use and Misuse of C in qPCR Data Analysis and Reporting.

In the analysis of quantitative PCR (qPCR) data, the quantification cycle (C) indicates the position of the amplification curve with respect to the cycle axis. Because C is directly related to the starting concentration of the target, and the difference in C values is related to the starting concentration ratio, the only results of qPCR analysis reported are often C, ΔC or ΔΔC values. However, reporting of C values ignores the fact that C values may differ between runs and machines, and, therefore, cannot be compared between laboratories.

Efficiency Correction Is Required for Accurate Quantitative PCR Analysis and Reporting.

Background: Quantitative PCR (qPCR) aims to measure the DNA or RNA concentration in diagnostic and biological samples based on the quantification cycle (Cq) value observed in the amplification curves. Results of qPCR experiments are regularly calculated as if all assays are 100% efficient or reported as just Cq, ΔCq, or ΔΔCq values.

Contents: When the reaction shows specific amplification, it should be deemed to be positive, regardless of the observed Cq.

Synthesis and Self-Assembly of Cellulose II Nanofibrils Catalyzed by the Reverse Reaction of Cellodextrin Phosphorylase.

In nature, various organisms produce cellulose as microfibrils, which are processed into their nano- and microfibrillar and/or crystalline components by humans in order to obtain desired material properties. Interestingly, the natural synthesis machinery can be circumvented by enzymatically synthesizing cellulose from precursor molecules . This approach is appealing for producing tailor-made cellulosic particles and materials because it enables optimization of the reaction conditions for cellulose synthesis in order to generate particles with a desired morphology in their pure form.

The Lipomyces starkeyi gene Ls120451 encodes a cellobiose transporter that enables cellobiose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Processed lignocellulosic biomass is a source of mixed sugars that can be used for microbial fermentation into fuels or higher value products, like chemicals. Previously, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered to utilize its cellodextrins through the heterologous expression of sugar transporters together with an intracellular expressed β-glucosidase. In this study, we screened a selection of eight (putative) cellodextrin transporters from different yeast and fungal hosts in order to extend the catalogue of available cellobiose transporters for cellobiose fermentation in S.

Performance of TDDFT Vertical Excitation Energies of Core-Substituted Naphthalene Diimides.

We have evaluated the performance of various density functionals, covering generalized gradient approximation (GGA), global hybrid (GH) and range-separated hybrid (RSH), using time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) for computing vertical excitation energies against experimental absorption maximum (λ ) for a set of 10 different core-substituted naphthalene diimides (cNDI) recorded in dichloromethane. The computed excitation in case of GH PBE0 is most accurate while the trend is most systematic with RSH LCY-BLYP compared to λ . We highlight the importance of including solvent effects for optimal agreement with the λ .

Automated 3D geometry segmentation of the healthy and diseased carotid artery in free-hand, probe tracked ultrasound images.

Purpose: Rupture of an arterosclerotic plaque in the carotid artery is a major cause of stroke. Biomechanical analysis of plaques is under development aiming to aid the clinician in the assessment of plaque vulnerability. Patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) geometry assessment of the carotid artery, including the bifurcation, is required as input for these biomechanical models.

Removal of artifact bias from qPCR results using DNA melting curve analysis.

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) allows the precise measurement of DNA concentrations and is generally considered to be straightforward and trouble free. However, analyses using validated Sybr Green I-based assays regularly amplify both the correct product and an artifact. Amplification of more than 1 product can be recognized when melting curve analysis is performed after the qPCR.

Colourimetric analysis of thermally altered human bone samples.

At this moment, no method is available to objectively estimate the temperature to which skeletal remains have been exposed during a fire. Estimating this temperature can provide crucial information in a legal investigation. Exposure of bone to heat results in observable and measurable changes, including a change in colour.

Considerations for Measurement of Embryonic Organ Growth.

Organogenesis is a complex coordinated process of cell proliferation, growth, migration, and apoptosis. Differential growth rates, particularly during cardiogenesis, play a role in establishing morphology. Studies using stereological and cell sorting methods derive averages of morphogenetic parameters for an organ.