Machine Learning and digital Imaging for Spatiotemporal Monitoring of Stress Dynamics in the clonal plant Carpobrotus edulis: Uncovering a Functional Mosaic.

Background And Aims: Rapid, large-scale monitoring is critical to understanding spatiotemporal plant stress dynamics, but current physiological stress markers are costly, destructive, and time-consuming. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of machine learning to non-destructively predict leaf betalains-yellow to reddish pigments unique to Caryophyllales species-for the first time, and to explore betalains' intra-individual variation on a clonal species and its role to respond to stressful periods.

Methods: We characterized the betalainic profile of an invasive clonal plant for the first time, Carpobrotus edulis (L.

Contrasting roles of PSGL-1 and PD-1 in regulating T-cell exhaustion and function during chronic viral infection.

Immune checkpoints are critical regulators of T-cell exhaustion, impairing their ability to eliminate antigens present during chronic viral infections. Current immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) used in the clinic aim to reinvigorate exhausted T cells; yet, most patients fail to respond or develop resistance to these therapies, underscoring the need to better understand these immunosuppressive pathways. PSGL-1 (), a recently discovered immune checkpoint, negatively regulates T-cell function.

Flunarizine as a Candidate for Drug Repurposing Against Human Pathogenic Mammarenaviruses.

Lassa fever (LF), a viral hemorrhagic fever disease with a case fatality rate that can be over 20% among hospitalized LF patients, is endemic to many West African countries. Currently, no vaccines or therapies are specifically licensed to prevent or treat LF, hence the significance of developing therapeutics against the mammarenavirus Lassa virus (LASV), the causative agent of LF. We used in silico docking approaches to investigate the binding affinities of 2015 existing drugs to LASV proteins known to play critical roles in the formation and activity of the virus ribonucleoprotein complex (vRNP) responsible for directing replication and transcription of the viral genome.

Repurposing Drugs for Synergistic Combination Therapies to Counteract Monkeypox Virus Tecovirimat Resistance.

The ongoing monkeypox (mpox) disease outbreak has spread to multiple countries in Central Africa and evidence indicates it is driven by a more virulent clade I monkeypox virus (MPXV) strain than the clade II strain associated with the 2022 global mpox outbreak, which led the WHO to declare this mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The FDA-approved small molecule antiviral tecovirimat (TPOXX) is recommended to treat mpox cases with severe symptoms, but the limited efficacy of TPOXX and the emergence of TPOXX resistant MPXV variants has challenged this medical practice of care and highlighted the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies. In this study we have used vaccinia virus (VACV) as a surrogate of MPXV to assess the antiviral efficacy of combination therapy of TPOXX together with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), an FDA-approved immunosuppressive agent that we have shown to inhibit VACV and MPXV, or the N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) inhibitor IMP-1088.

Prion protein modulation of virus-specific T cell differentiation and function during acute viral infection.

The differentiation and functionality of virus-specific T cells during acute viral infections are crucial for establishing long-term protective immunity. While numerous molecular regulators impacting T cell responses have been uncovered, the role of cellular prion proteins (PrPc) remains underexplored. Here, we investigated the impact of PrPc deficiency on the differentiation and function of virus-specific T cells using the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) Armstrong acute infection model.

SMC motor proteins extrude DNA asymmetrically and can switch directions.

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes organize the genome via DNA loop extrusion. Although some SMCs were reported to do so symmetrically, reeling DNA from both sides into the extruded DNA loop simultaneously, others perform loop extrusion asymmetrically toward one direction only. The mechanism underlying this variability remains unclear.

Instagram Versus Reality: Who Are Actually Plastic Surgeons?

Background: Instagram has become one of the most powerful marketing tools available to plastic surgeons because patients have increasingly turned to online resources to find physicians. Within, we review the online presence of self-ascribed plastic surgeons in the United States to identify potential misinformation and dishonest advertising.

Methods: The Inflact database was queried for the search terms: "plastic surgeon/surgery," "plastic and reconstructive surgeon/surgery," "aesthetic surgeon/surgery," and "cosmetic surgeon/surgery.

Occupational Health and Safety Concerns for Hookah Divers in Small-Scale Fisheries in the Gulf of California, Mexico.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the working and health conditions faced by divers in small-scale fisheries in the Midriff Islands Region of the Gulf of California, Mexico.

Methods: The study was conducted in five fishing communities. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 113 fishers (~15% of the commercial divers in the region).

Psychological attributes and eating behaviors in 5- to 12-year-old children during periods of stress.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between psychological attributes and obesogenic behaviors in children during the period of COVID-19 pandemic-induced stress.

Methods: This observational study collected data from caregivers of 5- to 12-year-old children from three diverse groups assessing sociodemographic, economic, and perceived stress, along with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire, revised (FEAHQ-R), in October 2020 and June 2021. The outcome measures were SDQ and FEAHQ-R scores.

Loneliness and social isolation in people with HIV aged ≥50 years. The No One Alone (NOA)-GeSIDA study conducted by the GeSIDA 12021 study group.

Introduction: There is a growing number of people with HIV who are aged 50 years or older, and the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation remains unknown.

Methods: A multicentre study was conducted across 22 GeSIDA centres. A survey was carried out to assess loneliness [UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale-3 (UCLA-3)] and social isolation [Lubben Social Network Scale-Revised (LSNS-R)], along with sociodemographic aspects, HIV-related factors, comorbidities, tobacco, alcohol and drug consumption, quality of life, anxiety and depression, and stigma.

Incidence of Postoperative Complications among Patients with Active or Resolved COVID-19 Undergoing Elective Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.

Background: The incidence of postoperative complications among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positivity undergoing elective surgical operations is poorly understood. This study aimed to identify differences in postoperative complications after elective abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 compared with patients presenting prepandemic.

Methods: A single-institution, retrospective chart review was performed of patients undergoing AWR between January 2017 and September 2022.

Expert recommendations for Germany's integration of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

As clinical trials for psychedelics move into phase III in the USA, Europe must address its lag in integrating professional education around psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) and supporting psychedelic drug research. This paper evaluates the necessary frameworks for implementing PAT in Germany, emphasizing the nation's potential leadership role within the European Union. With Australia having already approved MDMA and psilocybin for mental health indications, the Ukrainian government exploring MDMA treatment for war-related PTSD, and initial clinical trials involving MDMA and LSD with patients in Switzerland which restarted the restricted medical use of these substances around 2014, the medical authorization of psychedelics in these countries establishes precedent showcasing both the promise and challenges of researching and implementing PAT in nations where the substances were formally scheduled as illicit substances.

Cellular N-Myristoyl Transferases Are Required for Mammarenavirus Multiplication.

The mammarenavirus matrix Z protein plays critical roles in virus assembly and cell egress. Meanwhile, heterotrimer complexes of a stable signal peptide (SSP) together with glycoprotein subunits GP1 and GP2, generated via co-and post-translational processing of the surface glycoprotein precursor GPC, form the spikes that decorate the virion surface and mediate virus cell entry via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The Z protein and the SSP undergo N-terminal myristoylation by host cell N-myristoyltransferases (NMT1 and NMT2), and G2A mutations that prevent myristoylation of Z or SSP have been shown to affect the Z-mediated virus budding and GP2-mediated fusion activity that is required to complete the virus cell entry process.

Chemical Characterization of Pruning Wood Extracts from Six Japanese Plum ( Lindl.) Cultivars and Their Antitumor Activity.

The Japanese plum tree ( Lindl.) is mainly cultivated in temperate areas of China and some European countries. Certain amounts of wood (from pruning works) are generated every year from this crop of worldwide commercial significance.

Life Fatigue: A Critical Analysis.

Introduction: In recent years, euthanasia has been decriminalized or legalized in several countries. The debate on whether to legalize such a practice is open in many places and is a topic that arouses great controversy. Euthanasia has been presented as a response to situations of advanced, incurable, or irreversible disease, or situations that cause intolerable suffering to the person.

Inhibition of SUMOylation Induces Adaptive Antitumor Immunity against Pancreatic Cancer through Multiple Effects on the Tumor Microenvironment.

Improvement of outcome in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) requires exploration of novel therapeutic targets. Thus far, most studies of PDAC therapies, including those inhibiting small ubiquitin-like modifications (SUMOylation), have focused on PDAC epithelial cell biology, yet SUMOylation occurs in a variety of cell types. The mechanisms by which SUMOylation impacts PDAC in the context of its tumor microenvironment are poorly understood.

UBE2D3 facilitates NHEJ by orchestrating ATM signalling through multi-level control of RNF168.

Maintenance of genome integrity requires tight control of DNA damage response (DDR) signalling and repair, with phosphorylation and ubiquitination representing key elements. How these events are coordinated to achieve productive DNA repair remains elusive. Here we identify the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBE2D3 as a regulator of ATM kinase-induced DDR that promotes non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) at telomeres.

Correction: Beyond words: From jaguar population trends to conservation and public policy in Mexico.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Individual Brain Charting dataset extension, third release for movie watching and retinotopy data.

The Individual Brain Charting (IBC) is a multi-task functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging dataset acquired at high spatial-resolution and dedicated to the cognitive mapping of the human brain. It consists in the deep phenotyping of twelve individuals, covering a broad range of psychological domains suitable for functional-atlasing applications. Here, we present the inclusion of task data from both naturalistic stimuli and trial-based designs, to uncover structures of brain activation.