Self-Assessment of Having COVID-19 With the Corona Check mHealth App.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a lack of knowledge about the novel virus and a lack of widely available tests, getting first feedback about being infected was not easy. To support all citizens in this respect, we developed the mobile health app Corona Check. Based on a self-reported questionnaire about symptoms and contact history, users get first feedback about a possible corona infection and advice on what to do.

Corona Health-A Study- and Sensor-Based Mobile App Platform Exploring Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Physical and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic is typically assessed via surveys, which might make it difficult to conduct longitudinal studies and might lead to data suffering from recall bias. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) driven smartphone apps can help alleviate such issues, allowing for in situ recordings. Implementing such an app is not trivial, necessitates strict regulatory and legal requirements, and requires short development cycles to appropriately react to abrupt changes in the pandemic.

Learnability of a Configurator Empowering End Users to Create Mobile Data Collection Instruments: Usability Study.

Background: Many research domains still heavily rely on paper-based data collection procedures, despite numerous associated drawbacks. The QuestionSys framework is intended to empower researchers as well as clinicians without programming skills to develop their own smart mobile apps in order to collect data for their specific scenarios.

Objective: In order to validate the feasibility of this model-driven, end-user programming approach, we conducted a study with 80 participants.

PD-1 blockade by CT-011, anti-PD-1 antibody, enhances ex vivo T-cell responses to autologous dendritic cell/myeloma fusion vaccine.

We have developed a cancer vaccine in which autologous tumor is fused with dendritic cells (DCs) resulting in the presentation of tumor antigens in the context of DC-mediated costimulation. In clinical trials, immunologic responses have been observed, however responses may be muted by inhibitory pathways. The PD1/PDL1 pathway is an important element contributing to tumor-mediated immune suppression.

Developmental changes in skin collagen biosynthesis pathway in posthatch male and female chickens.

The developmental changes in skin collagen biosynthesis pathway in male and female chickens were evaluated. Concentration of collagen, levels of mRNA for collagen type I subunits and for lysyl hydroxylase, and the level of three lysyl oxidase-derived cross-links: dehydro-dihydroxylysinonorleucine (DHLNL), dehydro-hydroxylysinonorleucine (HLNL), and dehydro-histidinohydroxymerodesmosine (HHMD) were determined during 4 wk posthatching. Skin collagen content increased with age and was higher in males than in females.

Synthesis and phosphorylation of osteopontin by avian epiphyseal growth-plate chondrocytes as affected by differentiation.

The regulation of synthesis and phosphorylation of osteopontin in relation to avian epiphyseal growth-plate chondrocyte differentiation was studied in situ and in culture. Osteopontin gene expression was evaluated in the tibia growth-plate of 3-week-old chickens by in situ hybridization. The gene was expressed mainly at the lower hypertrophic zone where cartilage matrix is calcified and endochondral bone formation is initiated.

Cell damage by excess CuZnSOD and Down's syndrome.

Down's Syndrome (DS), the phenotypic expression of human trisomy 21, is presumed to result from overexpression of certain genes residing on chromosome 21 at the segment 21q22-the Down locus. The "housekeeping" enzyme CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) is encoded by a gene from that region and its activity is elevated in DS patients. Moreover, the recent discovery that familial ALS is associated with mutations in the gene encoding CuZnSOD, focused attention on the entanglement of oxygen-free radicals in cell death and neuronal disorders.

cis-acting DNA elements involved in oocyte-specific expression of mouse sperm receptor gene mZP3 are located close to the gene's transcription start site.

We report that cis-acting DNA elements involved in oocyte-specific expression of the mouse sperm receptor gene (mZP3) are located close to the gene's transcription start site. Mice bearing a transgene that consists of only 153 nt of mZP3 5'-flanking region fused to the firefly luciferase gene (153-ZP3/LUC) expressed the reporter gene in ovary not in a wide variety of tissues; although two of three lines carrying 153-ZP3/LUC also expressed the transgene in forebrain and hypothalamus. Within the ovaries of transgenic mice, luciferase activity was restricted to growing oocytes.

Growth hormone receptors in avian epiphyseal growth-plate chondrocytes.

Growth hormone receptor (GH-R) gene expression was evaluated in avian growth-plate cartilage by Northern blot and hybridization using the avian GH-R probe. A single transcript of approximately 5.2 kb was demonstrated in cultured growth-plate chondrocytes as well as in growth-plate extracts.

A mouse oocyte-specific protein that binds to a region of mZP3 promoter responsible for oocyte-specific mZP3 gene expression.

The gene encoding mZP3, the mouse sperm receptor, is expressed exclusively in growing oocytes during oogenesis. To investigate the molecular basis of oocyte-specific mZP3 gene expression, we generated several lines of mice harboring a transgene that contains 470 bp of mZP3 gene 5'-flanking sequence (nucleotides -470 to +10) fused to the firefly luciferase gene coding region. Three of four expressing transgenic lines exhibited luciferase activity only in growing oocytes, suggesting that the 470-bp fragment is sufficient to direct Iocyte-specific expression of the luciferase gene.

Down syndrome clinical symptoms are manifested in transfected cells and transgenic mice overexpressing the human Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase gene.

Down syndrome (DS), the phenotypic expression of human trisomy 21, is presumed to result from overexpression of certain genes residing on chromosome 21 at the segment 21q22-the Down locus. The "housekeeping" enzyme CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) is encoded by a gene from that region and its activity is elevated in DS patients. To investigate the possible involvement of CuZnSOD gene dosage in the etiology of the syndrome we have developed both cellular and animal models which enabled us to investigate the physiological consequences resulting from overexpression of the CuZnSOD gene.

Diminished serotonin uptake in platelets of transgenic mice with increased Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase activity.

Reduced levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in blood platelets is a clinical symptom characteristic of individuals with Down's syndrome. To investigate the possible involvement of the Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) gene, which resides at the Down locus on chromosome no. 21, in the etiology of that symptom, we examined blood platelets of transgenic mice harboring the human CuZnSOD gene.

Premature aging changes in neuromuscular junctions of transgenic mice with an extra human CuZnSOD gene: a model for tongue pathology in Down's syndrome.

We examined the tongue muscles in several strains of transgenic mice carrying the human Zn-Cu superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) gene. The presence of the extra gene was confirmed in mated progeny and the gene product activity was measured in the tongue and found to be much higher than in normal littermate controls. Using electron microscopic morphometry, the neuromuscular junctions of the transgenic mice showed significant changes resembling excessive aging, with atrophy, degeneration, withdrawal, and sometimes destruction of the terminal axons, as well as the development of multiple small terminals.

Down's syndrome: abnormal neuromuscular junction in tongue of transgenic mice with elevated levels of human Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase.

To investigate the possible involvement of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) gene dosage in the neuropathological symptoms of Down's syndrome, we analyzed the tongue muscle of transgenic mice that express elevated levels of human CuZnSOD. The tongue neuromuscular junctions (NMJ) in the transgenic animals exhibited significant pathological changes, namely, withdrawal and destruction of some terminal axons and the development of multiple small terminals. The ratio of terminal axon area to postsynaptic membrane decreased, and secondary folds were often complex and hyperplastic.

The immune system during the pre-cancer and the early cancer period. IL-2 production by PBL from post-menopausal women with and without endometrial carcinoma.

We report on alterations in IL-2 production and cell proliferation following PHA stimulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from stage-I endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients, and on mechanisms involved in these alterations. Our study includes 3 groups: EC patients, post-menopausal women at high risk of developing EC, and age-matched healthy women. IL-2 production was markedly lower in most EC patients than in healthy controls.