Cell-Selective siRNA Delivery Using Glycosylated Dynamic Covalent Polymers Self-Assembled In Situ by RNA Templating.

Dynamic covalent libraries enable exploring complex chemical systems from which bioactive assemblies can adaptively emerge through template effects. In this work, we studied dynamic covalent libraries made of complementary bifunctional cationic peptides, yielding a diversity of species from macrocycles to polymers. Although polymers are typically expressed only at high concentration, we found that siRNA acts as a template in the formation of dynamic covalent polymers at low concentration in a process guided by electrostatic binding.

Invasive Bacterial Infections in Afebrile Infants Diagnosed With Acute Otitis Media.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) and adverse events in afebrile infants with acute otitis media (AOM).

Methods: We conducted a 33-site cross-sectional study of afebrile infants ≤90 days of age with AOM seen in emergency departments from 2007 to 2017. Eligible infants were identified using emergency department diagnosis codes and confirmed by chart review.

Intracerebral endotheliitis and microbleeds are neuropathological features of COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a rapidly evolving pandemic caused by the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2. Clinically manifest central nervous system symptoms have been described in COVID-19 patients and could be the consequence of commonly associated vascular pathology, but the detailed neuropathological sequelae remain largely unknown. A total of six cases, all positive for Sars-CoV-2, showed evidence of cerebral petechial hemorrhages and microthrombi at autopsy.

Standardized exercise training is feasible, safe, and effective in pulmonary arterial and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: results from a large European multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Aims: This prospective, randomized, controlled, multicentre study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of exercise training in patients with pulmonary arterial (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Methods And Results: For the first time a specialized PAH/CTEPH rehabilitation programme was implemented in 11 centres across 10 European countries. Out of 129 enrolled patients, 116 patients (58 vs.

Fgf10 Signaling-Based Evidence for the Existence of an Embryonic Stage Distinct From the Pseudoglandular Stage During Mouse Lung Development.

The existence during mouse lung development of an embryonic stage temporally and functionally distinct from the subsequent pseudoglandular stage has been proposed but never demonstrated; while studies in human embryonic lung tissue fail to recapitulate the molecular control of branching found in mice. Lung development in mice starts officially at embryonic day (E) 9.5 when on the ventral side of the primary foregut tube, both the trachea and the two primary lung buds emerge and elongate to form a completely separate structure from the foregut by E10.

Right Atrial Pressure During Exercise Predicts Survival in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background We investigated changes in right atrial pressure (RAP) during exercise and their prognostic significance in patients assessed for pulmonary hypertension (PH). Methods and Results Consecutive right heart catheterization data, including RAP recorded during supine, stepwise cycle exercise in 270 patients evaluated for PH, were analyzed retrospectively and compared among groups of patients with PH (mean pulmonary artery pressure [mPAP] ≥25 mm Hg), exercise-induced PH (exPH; resting mPAP <25 mm Hg, exercise mPAP >30 mm Hg, and mPAP/cardiac output >3 Wood Units (WU)), and without PH (noPH). We investigated RAP changes during exercise and survival over a median (quartiles) observation period of 3.

[Disseminated protothecosis with ulcerative granulomatous colitis in a Rhodesian Ridgeback from Germany].

A 10-month-old male Rhodesian Ridgeback was presented to the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, LMU, Germany, with a 6-month history of chronic diarrhea and hematochezia. The dog lived in Germany and had never traveled abroad. Complete blood count and serum biochemistry performed by the referring veterinarian revealed neutrophilia, hyperkalemia, and hyponatremia, with a basal cortisol of 4.

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension phenotypes determined by cluster analysis from the COMPERA registry.

The term idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is used to categorize patients with pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension of unknown origin. There is considerable variability in the clinical presentation of these patients. Using data from the Comparative, Prospective Registry of Newly Initiated Therapies for Pulmonary Hypertension, we performed a cluster analysis of 841 patients with IPAH based on age, sex, diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO; <45% vs ≥45% predicted), smoking status, and presence of comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus).

Rationale and feasibility of transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation in small conduits with the Edwards Sapien valves.

Background: Conduit dilatation above 110% and TPVI in conduits <16 mm is not recommended. However, if we want to reach normal values for RVOT diameters and diminish reintervention rates, pushing these boundaries is essential.

Methods: Analysis of subsequent patients who underwent TPVI with Edwards Sapien valves in conduits ≤16 mm between 2010 and 2020.

Cationic dynamic covalent polymers for gene transfection.

Dynamic covalent polymers are materials formed by reversible covalent bonds and non-covalent interactions through an adaptive constitutional dynamic chemistry. The implementation of dynamic covalent polymers in gene delivery has recently emerged due to their responsive and adaptive features. Indeed, such an approach offers the alluring promise of discovering optimal delivery vectors self-fitted to their nucleic acid cargos and responsive to environmental changes (e.

Differentiation of S. chartarum (Ehrenb.) S. Hughes Chemotypes A and S via FT-IR Spectroscopy.

Stachybotrys (S.) chartarum is a cellulolytic mould with the ability to produce highly cytotoxic macrocyclic trichothecenes. Two chemotypes are defined according to their ability to produce either atranones or satratoxins.

ECG changes at rest and during exercise in lowlanders with COPD travelling to 3100 m.

Background: The incidence and magnitude of cardiac ischemia and arrhythmias in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during exposure to hypobaric hypoxia is insufficiently studied. We investigated electrocardiogram (ECG) markers of ischemia at rest and during incremental exercise testing (IET) in COPD-patients travelling to 3100 m.

Study Design And Methods: Lowlanders (residence <800 m) with COPD (forced volume in the first second of expiration (FEV) 40-80% predicted, oxygen saturation (SpO) ≥92%, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO) <6 kPa at 760 m) aged 18 to 75 years, without history of cardiovascular disease underwent 12‑lead ECG recordings at rest and during cycle IET to exhaustion at 760 m and after acute exposure of 3 h to 3100 m.

Altitude Travel in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension: Randomized Pilot-Trial Evaluating Nocturnal Oxygen Therapy.

Stable patients with pulmonary arterial or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (PH) wish to undergo altitude sojourns or air travel but fear disease worsening. This pilot study investigates health effects of altitude sojourns and potential benefits of nocturnal oxygen therapy (NOT) in PH patients. Nine stable PH patients, age 65 (47; 71) years, 5 women, in NYHA class II, on optimized medication, were investigated at 490 m and during two sojourns of 2 days/nights at 2,048 m, once using NOT, once placebo (ambient air), 3 L/min per nasal cannula, according to a randomized crossover design with 2 weeks washout at <800 m.

Effect of Normobaric Hypoxia on Exercise Performance in Pulmonary Hypertension: Randomized Trial.

Background: Many patients with pulmonary arterial or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (PH) wish to travel to altitude or by airplane, but their risk of hypoxia-related adverse health effects is insufficiently explored.

Research Question: How does hypoxia, compared with normoxia, affect constant work-rate exercise test (CWRET) time in patients with PH, and which physiologic mechanisms are involved?

Study Design And Methods: Stable patients with PH with resting Pao ≥ 7.3 kPa underwent symptom-limited cycling CWRET (60% of maximal workload) while breathing normobaric hypoxic air (hypoxia; Fio, 15%) and ambient air (normoxia; Fio, 21%) in a randomized cross-over design.

Toxin Production by Genotype S on Different Culture Media.

(.) had been linked to severe health problems in humans and animals, which occur after exposure to the toxic secondary metabolites of this mold. had been isolated from different environmental sources, ranging from culinary herbs and improperly stored fodder to damp building materials.

Asthma rehabilitation at high vs. low altitude and its impact on exhaled nitric oxide and sensitization patterns: Randomized parallel-group trial.

Background: Allergens and pollution are reduced at high altitude. We investigated the effect of asthma rehabilitation at high altitude (HA, 3100 m) compared to low altitude (LA, 760 m) on exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and on specific IgE levels for house dust mites (HDM,d1) and common pollen (sx1).

Methods: For this randomized controlled trial adult asthmatics living <1000 m were randomly assigned to a 3-week in-hospital-rehabilitation (education, physical- and breathing-exercises) at either LA or HA.

The course of COVID-19 in a 55-year-old patient diagnosed with severe idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.

We describe a 55-year-old woman with severe idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure 71 mmHg, pulmonary vascular resistance 30 WU at diagnosis five months ago), who was diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and experienced a relatively mild course with symptoms resembling a common cold. To date, information about the clinical course of COVID-19 in pre-existing pulmonary arterial hypertension is lacking, and it is thus unknown whether pulmonary arterial hypertension belongs to the risk factors of severe COVID-19 disease.

Altered cardiac repolarisation in highlanders with high-altitude pulmonary hypertension during wakefulness and sleep.

High-altitude pulmonary hypertension (HAPH) is an altitude-related illness associated with hypoxaemia that may promote sympathetic excitation and prolongation of the QT interval. The present case-control study tests whether QT intervals, markers of malignant cardiac arrhythmias, are prolonged in highlanders with HAPH (HAPH+) compared to healthy highlanders (HH) and healthy lowlanders (LL). The mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was measured by echocardiography in 18 HAPH+ (mPAP, 34 mmHg) and 18 HH (mPAP, 23 mmHg) at 3,250 m, and 18 LL (mPAP, 18 mmHg) at 760 m, Kyrgyzstan (p < .

Experimental determination and ray-tracing simulation of bending losses in melt-spun polymer optical fibres.

The damping properties and specifically the bend losses of polymer optical fibres (POFs) have so far only been documented by experimental work, investigating bending parameters such as bending radius, length, and distance of the bends. Even though damping mechanisms and causes are well-known, no simple, generally valid formula exists. Here, a simulation technique is shown that allows producing an optical model for any bending geometries of melt-spun polymer optical fibres.

Effect of Nocturnal Oxygen Therapy on Nocturnal Hypoxemia and Sleep Apnea Among Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Traveling to 2048 Meters: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: There are no established measures to prevent nocturnal breathing disturbances and other altitude-related adverse health effects (ARAHEs) among lowlanders with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) traveling to high altitude.

Objective: To evaluate whether nocturnal oxygen therapy (NOT) prevents nocturnal hypoxemia and breathing disturbances during the first night of a stay at 2048 m and reduces the incidence of ARAHEs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial was performed from January to October 2014 with 32 patients with COPD living below 800 m with forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration (FEV1) between 30% and 80% predicted, pulse oximetry of at least 92%, not requiring oxygen therapy, and without history of sleep apnea.

Risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence in early childhood: Findings in a representative cross-sectional sample in Germany.

Background: The KiD 0-3 national main study is a cross-sectional study on adversity in early childhood and parental access to support services, conducted as part of a long-term policy program for early intervention services in Germany.

Objective: To identify risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigate if parental use of early intervention programs or contact to child welfare services was associated with reported child maltreatment.

Participants And Setting: 8063 families with infants and toddlers participated in the survey.

Cardiac function and pulmonary hypertension in Central Asian highlanders at 3250 m.

The Question Addressed By The Study: Chronic exposure to hypoxia increases pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in highlanders, but the criteria for diagnosis of high-altitude pulmonary hypertension (HAPH) are debated. We assessed cardiac function and PAP in highlanders at 3250 m and explored HAPH prevalence using different definitions.

Patients And Methods: Central Asian highlanders free of overt cardiorespiratory disease, permanently living at 2500-3500 m compared to age-matched lowlanders living <800 m.

A Novel Rapid Sample Preparation Method for MALDI-TOF MS Permits Sensu Lato Species and Isolate Differentiation.

The genus comprises vector-borne bacterial pathogens that can severely affect human and animal health. Members of the sensu lato species complex can cause Lyme borreliosis, one of the most common vector-borne diseases in the Northern hemisphere. Besides, members of the relapsing fever group of spirochetes can cause tick-borne relapsing fever in humans and various febrile illnesses in animals in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions.

Comparison of MRI and VQ-SPECT as a Screening Test for Patients With Suspected CTEPH: CHANGE-MRI Study Design and Rationale.

The diagnostic strategy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is composed of two components required for a diagnosis of CTEPH: the presence of chronic pulmonary embolism and an elevated pulmonary artery pressure. The current guidelines require that ventilation-perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (VQ-SPECT) is used for the first step diagnosis of chronic pulmonary embolism. However, VQ-SPECT exposes patients to ionizing radiation in a radiation sensitive population.