Why Are Gly31, Gly33, and Gly35 Highly Conserved in All Fluorescent Proteins?

Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like fluorescent proteins have been found in more than 120 species. Although the proteins have little sequence identity, Gly31, 33, and 35 are 87, 100, and 95% conserved across all species, respectively. All GFP-like proteins have a β-barrel structure composed of 11 β-sheets, and the 3 conserved glycines are located in the second β-sheet.

Open-Label Placebo Treatment for Acute Postoperative Pain (OLP-POP Study): Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Open-label placebos have been proposed as way of using long recognized analgesic placebo effects in an ethical manner. Recent evidence shows efficacy of open-label placebos for clinical conditions, but there is need for more research on open-label placebos in acute pain. In the treatment of acute postoperative pain, minimization of opioid related side effects remains one of the key challenges.

THCz: Small molecules with antimicrobial activity that block cell wall lipid intermediates.

Emerging antibiotic resistance demands identification of novel antibacterial compound classes. A bacterial whole-cell screen based on pneumococcal autolysin-mediated lysis induction was developed to identify potential bacterial cell wall synthesis inhibitors. A hit class comprising a 1-amino substituted tetrahydrocarbazole (THCz) scaffold, containing two essential amine groups, displayed bactericidal activity against a broad range of gram-positive and selected gram-negative pathogens in the low micromolar range.

Profiling cellular diversity in sponges informs animal cell type and nervous system evolution.

The evolutionary origin of metazoan cell types such as neurons and muscles is not known. Using whole-body single-cell RNA sequencing in a sponge, an animal without nervous system and musculature, we identified 18 distinct cell types. These include nitric oxide–sensitive contractile pinacocytes, amoeboid phagocytes, and secretory neuroid cells that reside in close contact with digestive choanocytes that express scaffolding and receptor proteins.

Untimely TGFβ responses in COVID-19 limit antiviral functions of NK cells.

SARS-CoV-2 is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes COVID-19. Given its acute and often self-limiting course, it is likely that components of the innate immune system play a central part in controlling virus replication and determining clinical outcome. Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes with notable activity against a broad range of viruses, including RNA viruses.

Transfusion Medicine Informatics: A Review of Current Practice and a Glimpse into the Future.

Clinical informatics has been described as the "relentless pursuit of assisting people" by using data and information technology to improve health care. A core principle is that a person supported by information technology is superior to either a person or machine alone. Striving toward this harmonization, the transfusion medicine field has had a significant number of accomplishments.

Host Defense Peptides: Dual Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Action.

The rapid rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has once again caused bacterial infections to become a global health concern. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also known as host defense peptides (HDPs), offer a viable solution to these pathogens due to their diverse mechanisms of actions, which include direct killing as well as immunomodulatory properties (e.g.

Structural and functional consequences of NEDD8 phosphorylation.

Ubiquitin (Ub) and Ub-like proteins (Ubls) such as NEDD8 are best known for their function as covalent modifiers of other proteins but they are also themselves subject to post-translational modifications including phosphorylation. While functions of phosphorylated Ub (pUb) have been characterized, the consequences of Ubl phosphorylation remain unclear. Here we report that NEDD8 can be phosphorylated at S65 - the same site as Ub - and that S65 phosphorylation affects the structural dynamics of NEDD8 and Ub in a similar manner.

Multipath lens for eye-safe optical wireless communications.

This article considers the design and use of multipath lenses (MPLs) for optical wireless communications (OWC). The MPL increases the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) for eye safety and allows for an increase of transmission power of small-sized emitters like laser diodes (LDs). A prototype of a freeform MPL has been fabricated and characterized.

Socializing Sensorimotor Contingencies.

The aim of this review is to highlight the idea of grounding social cognition in sensorimotor interactions shared across agents. We discuss an action-oriented account that emerges from a broader interpretation of the concept of sensorimotor contingencies. We suggest that dynamic informational and sensorimotor coupling across agents can mediate the deployment of action-effect contingencies in social contexts.

Generalized low-rank nonrigid motion-corrected reconstruction for MR fingerprinting.

Purpose: Develop a novel low-rank motion-corrected (LRMC) reconstruction for nonrigid motion-corrected MR fingerprinting (MRF).

Methods: Generalized motion-corrected (MC) reconstructions have been developed for steady-state imaging. Here we extend this framework to enable nonrigid MC for transient imaging applications with varying contrast, such as MRF.

A Fay-Herriot Model for Estimating Subjective Cognitive Decline among Military Veterans.

Background: Although studies have examined the geographic distribution of dementia among the general population in order to develop geographically targeted interventions, no studies have examined the geographic distribution of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) among military veterans specifically.

Objectives: To map the geographic distribution of subjective cognitive decline from 2011-2019 in the United States among military veterans.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Transient regulatory T-cell targeting triggers immune control of multiple myeloma and prevents disease progression.

Multiple myeloma remains a largely incurable disease of clonally expanding malignant plasma cells. The bone marrow microenvironment harbors treatment-resistant myeloma cells, which eventually lead to disease relapse in patients. In the bone marrow, CD4FoxP3 regulatory T cells (Tregs) are highly abundant amongst CD4 T cells providing an immune protective niche for different long-living cell populations, e.

CT Angiography Clot Burden Score from Data Mining of Structured Reports for Pulmonary Embolism.

Background Many studies emphasize the role of structured reports (SRs) because they are readily accessible for further automated analyses. However, using SR data obtained in clinical routine for research purposes is not yet well represented in literature. Purpose To compare the performance of the Qanadli scoring system with a clot burden score mined from structured pulmonary embolism (PE) reports from CT angiography.

Conceptual Design of a Novel Nozzle Combined with a Clinical Proton Linac for Magnetically Focussed Minibeams.

(1) Background: Proton minibeam radiation therapy (pMBRT) is a novel therapeutic approach with the potential to significantly increase normal tissue sparing while providing tumour control equivalent or superior to standard proton therapy. For reasons of efficiency, flexibility and minibeam quality, the optimal implementation of pMBRT should use magnetically focussed minibeams which, however, could not yet be generated in a clinical environment. In this study, we evaluated our recently proposed minibeam nozzle together with a new clinical proton linac as a potential implementation.

Spatial organization of protein aggregates on red blood cells as physical biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Quantifying physical differences of protein aggregates implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in blood, could provide crucial information on disease stages. Here, red blood cells (RBCs) from 50 patients with neurocognitive complaints and 16 healthy individuals were profiled using an atomic force microscope (AFM). AFM measurements revealed patient age– and stage of neurocognitive disorder–dependent differences in size, shape, morphology, assembly, and prevalence of protein aggregates on RBCs, referred to as physical biomarkers.

Comparative Phylogenomic Analysis Reveals Evolutionary Genomic Changes and Novel Toxin Families in Endophytic Pathogens.

pathogens are the causative agents of several severe crop diseases worldwide, including citrus Huanglongbing and potato zebra chip. These bacteria are endophytic and nonculturable, which makes experimental approaches challenging and highlights the need for bioinformatic analysis in advancing our understanding about pathogenesis. Here, we performed an in-depth comparative phylogenomic analysis of the pathogens and their free-living, nonpathogenic, ancestral species, aiming to identify major genomic changes and determinants associated with their evolutionary transitions in living habitats and pathogenicity.

Stress enhances emotional memory-related theta oscillations in the medial temporal lobe.

Stressful events impact memory formation, in particular for emotionally arousing stimuli. Although these stress effects on emotional memory formation have potentially far-reaching implications, the underlying neural mechanisms are not fully understood. Specifically, the temporal processing dimension of the mechanisms involved in emotional memory formation under stress remains elusive.

[Long-time progression-free survival in relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma with the oral ixazomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone regime].

Unlabelled: Összefoglaló. Bevezetés: A myeloma multiplex mindmáig alapvetően gyógyíthatatlan betegség, ezért nagy klinikai jelentőségük van az eredményes mentő kezeléseknek. A szájon át adható első proteaszómagátlóval, az ixazomibbal kiegészített lenalidomid-dexametazon terápia jól tolerálható, csak orális szerekből álló kombináció, mely hazánkban 2015 áprilisától kezdődően a "Named Patient Program" keretén belül vált elérhetővé relabált, refrakter myeloma multiplexes betegek kezelésére.

Dispositional mindfulness predicting psychological adjustment among college students: the role of rumination and gender.

Objective: This study examined rumination as a mediator of the relationship between dispositional mindfulness (DM) and depression, loneliness, and anxiety, while considering gender as a moderator of these mediation models.

Participants: Three hundred and nineteen undergraduate students (49.5% female;  = 18.

Treatment of disseminated nocardiosis: a host-pathogen approach with adjuvant interferon gamma.

Disseminated nocardiosis is a rare, life-threatening disease. Particularly at risk are immunocompromised patients, highlighting the crucial role of host factors. Conventional intensive antibiotic treatment has improved survival rates, but the overall prognosis of patients with disseminated nocardiosis remains unsatisfactory.

Human small intestinal infection by SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by a mucosal infiltration with activated CD8 T cells.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has so far claimed over three and a half million lives worldwide. Though the SARS-CoV-2 mediated disease COVID-19 has first been characterized by an infection of the upper airways and the lung, recent evidence suggests a complex disease including gastrointestinal symptoms. Even if a direct viral tropism of intestinal cells has recently been demonstrated, it remains unclear, whether gastrointestinal symptoms are caused by direct infection of the gastrointestinal tract by SARS-CoV-2 or whether they are a consequence of a systemic immune activation and subsequent modulation of the mucosal immune system.

Human brain organoids assemble functionally integrated bilateral optic vesicles.

During embryogenesis, optic vesicles develop from the diencephalon via a multistep process of organogenesis. Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human brain organoids, we attempted to simplify the complexities and demonstrate formation of forebrain-associated bilateral optic vesicles, cellular diversity, and functionality. Around day 30, brain organoids attempt to assemble optic vesicles, which develop progressively as visible structures within 60 days.

Multicenter Evaluation of a Fully Automated High-Throughput SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Immunoassay.

Introduction: Molecular testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to suffer from delays and shortages. Antigen tests have recently emerged as a viable alternative to detect patients with high viral loads, associated with elevated risk of transmission. While rapid lateral flow tests greatly improved accessibility of SARS-CoV-2 detection in critical areas, their manual nature limits scalability and suitability for large-scale testing schemes.