Exploring near-infrared spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging as novel characterization methods for anaerobic gut fungi.

Neocallimastigomycota are a phylum of anaerobic gut fungi (AGF) that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of herbivores and play a pivotal role in plant matter degradation. Their identification and characterization with marker gene regions has long been hampered due to the high inter- and intraspecies length variability in the commonly used fungal marker gene region internal transcribed spacer (ITS). While recent research has improved methodology (i.

Nonreducing Sugar Scaffold Enables the Development of Immunomodulatory TLR4-specific LPS Mimetics with Picomolar Potency.

Innate immune defense mechanisms against infection and cancer encompass the modulation of pattern recognition receptor (PRR)-mediated inflammation, including upregulation of various transcription factors and the activation of pro-inflammatory pathways important for immune surveillance. Dysfunction of PRRs-mediated signaling has been implicated in cancer and autoimmune diseases, while the overactivation of PRRs-driven responses during infection can lead to devastating consequences such as acute lung injury or sepsis. We used crystal structure-based design to develop immunomodulatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mimetics targeting one of the ubiquitous PRRs, Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4).

Facing the complex challenges of people with epidermolysis bullosa in Austria: a mixed methods study on burdens and helpful practices.

Background: With approximately 500 people affected in Austria, epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic skin disease reducing the quality of life of those affected and their relatives. The intensive efforts of the patient organisation DEBRA Austria during the last decades have led to a unique situation of those affected and their relatives, with increased support and broader knowledge about the disease in the general population. The aim of the study is to evaluate the current situation of patients and their relatives living in Austria, with a focus on burdens and helpful practices.

Translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the German Quality of Life in Epidermolysis Bullosa (QOLEB) questionnaire.

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare disease characterised by skin fragility and a wide variety of symptoms. The Quality of Life in Epidermolysis Bullosa (QOLEB) score is an English 17-item EB-specific validated measurement tool with two dimensions: functioning and emotions. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to develop and validate a culturally adapted German QOLEB.

Epidemiology of thymomas and thymic carcinomas in the United States and Germany, 1999-2019.

Introduction: Mediastinal tumors, particularly non-neuroendocrine thymic epithelial tumors (TET) are relatively uncommon, posing challenges for extensive epidemiological studies. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of these tumors in the United States (US) and Germany (GER) from 1999 to 2019.

Methods: Patients aged 0-19 (n=478) and ≥20 years (n=17,459) diagnosed with malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (SEER) and the Zentrum für Krebsregisterdaten (ZfKD) databases.

Trees with anisohydric behavior as main drivers of nocturnal evapotranspiration in a tropical mountain rainforest.

This study addresses transpiration in a tropical evergreen mountain forest in the Ecuadorian Andes from the leaf to the stand level, with emphasis on nocturnal plant-water relations. The stand level: Evapotranspiration (ET) measured over 12 months with the Eddy-Covariance (ECov) technique proved as the major share (79%) of water received from precipitation. Irrespective of the humid climate, the vegetation transpired day and night.

Global Capitalism as Blood Sacrifice: Mainstream American Comic Books and Depictions of Economic Inequality.

The past few decades have witnessed unprecedented global economic catastrophes that exacerbated pre-existing socioeconomic inequalities. Although many scholars have attributed the resulting social harms to the failures of neoliberal capitalism-and recognize it as criminogenic-the logics upholding the economic order continue to hold sway among the public. Given that these logics are commonly reinforced through media and popular culture narratives, in this paper we explore how economic inequalities are portrayed in American comic books.

Lipid A Mimetics Based on Unnatural Disaccharide Scaffold as Potent TLR4 Agonists for Prospective Immunotherapeutics and Adjuvants.

TLR4 is a key pattern recognition receptor that can sense pathogen- and danger- associated molecular patterns to activate the downstream signaling pathways which results in the upregulation of transcription factors and expression of interferons and cytokines to mediate protective pro-inflammatory responses involved in immune defense. Bacterial lipid A is the primary TLR4 ligand with very complex, species-specific, and barely predictable structure-activity relationships. Given that therapeutic targeting of TLR4 is an emerging tool for management of a variety of human diseases, the development of novel TLR4 activating biomolecules other than lipid A is of vast importance.

Organ manifestations of COVID-19: what have we learned so far (not only) from autopsies?

The use of autopsies in medicine has been declining. The COVID-19 pandemic has documented and rejuvenated the importance of autopsies as a tool of modern medicine. In this review, we discuss the various autopsy techniques, the applicability of modern analytical methods to understand the pathophysiology of COVID-19, the major pathological organ findings, limitations or current studies, and open questions.

[Masterplan Raw Materials 2030-A Raw Materials Strategy for Austria].

The sufficient and responsible supply of mineral resources at fair market conditions is an essential basis for Austria's economic development. Although the geological availability of raw materials is relatively high, disruptions due to geopolitical, economic, or circumstances such as pandemics or natural disasters can lead to a shortage of mineral resources. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic relentlessly shows the vulnerability in a globalised world with complex dependencies and widely ramified value chains.

Cyclin-Dependent Kinases (CDKs) and the Human Cytomegalovirus-Encoded CDK Ortholog pUL97 Represent Highly Attractive Targets for Synergistic Drug Combinations.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a pathogenic human herpesvirus associated with serious, potentially life-threatening symptoms in the immunocompromised or immunonaïve host. The limitations encountered by antiviral therapy options currently available include a narrow panel of accessible targets, the induction of viral drug resistance as well as severe drug dosage-mediated side-effects. Improved drug-targeting strategies to resolve these issues are the focus of our investigations.

[National and International Aspects of Austrian Mining].

The security of supply of mineral raw materials is an indispensable basis for a flourishing economy. In order to ensure this and to be able to react to current challenges, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism published its raw materials strategy called "Masterplan Mineral Resources 2030" at the end of 2021. The goals of the European Green Deal can be achieved with innovative key technologies that are directly linked with the input of raw materials.

Multimodal Deep Learning for Prognosis Prediction in Renal Cancer.

Background: Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is common and associated with substantial mortality. TNM stage and histopathological grading have been the sole determinants of a patient's prognosis for decades and there are few prognostic biomarkers used in clinical routine. Management of ccRCC involves multiple disciplines such as urology, radiology, oncology, and pathology and each of these specialties generates highly complex medical data.

Global health: an order struggling to keep up with globalization.

Do global health institutions keep up with globalization forces? We contend that they seriously lag behind. While medical knowledge becomes more and more refined in showing how diseases spread globally, the political order meant to address this problem is barely global. It is global in terms of the promises it makes in declarations and even legally binding instruments (institutional foreground).

Homogeneously Emitting, Mechanically Stable, and Efficient fs-Laser-Machined Fiber Diffusers for Medical Applications.

Background And Objectives: Light delivery is an essential part of therapy forms like photodynamic therapy (PDT), laser-induced thermotherapy, and endovenous laser therapy. While there are approaches to the light application for all three therapies, there is no diffuser that can be used for all three approaches. This diffuser must meet the following criteria: Homogeneous radiation profile over a length of 40 mm, efficient light extraction in the diffuser area, mechanical breakage resistance as well as thermal stability when applying high power.

[International publication activity during the COVID-19 pandemic].

Background: Pandemics lead to new challenges for healthcare systems and a subsequent shift of the scientific focus, which can partially be seen in alterations in scientific publication activity.

Objectives: Follow-up on the global publication activity within the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in a comparison of national contexts with regards to local infection rates and the involvement of the discipline of pathology.

Materials And Methods: Comparative analysis of the number of publications in the PubMed® database concerning COVID-19 with respect to publication type, date and place of publication, affiliation to an institute of pathology, and correlation with the number of SARS-CoV‑2 infections over the same timeframe.

Investigation of non-uniformly emitting optical fiber diffusers on the light distribution in tissue.

The influence of inhomogeneities in the emission characteristics of optical fiber diffusers on the light distribution within biological tissue was evaluated by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and by experiments on optical phantoms. Due to the strong scattering of light within biological tissue, inhomogeneities in the emission profile become blurred within a short light propagation distance, so that the light distribution within the tissue approaches that of a homogeneous diffuser. The degree of feature vanishing in the light distribution is mainly determined by the width of the inhomogeneities.