Cannabis (THC) Aggravates the Deleterious Effects of Alcohol (EtOH) on Skeletal Muscles' Mitochondrial Respiration: Modulation by Age and Metabolic Phenotypes.

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of cannabis might be useful to treat muscle diseases, including those linked or not to alcohol. Nevertheless, delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and ethanol (EtOH), often used concomitantly, can have deleterious effects on cardiac mitochondria. We therefore determined whether EtOH, alone and associated with THC, impairs skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration.

Distinguishing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children from Typhus Using Artificial Intelligence: MIS-C vs. Endemic Typhus (AI-MET).

Background: The pandemic emergent disease multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following coronavirus disease-19 infection can mimic endemic typhus. We aimed to use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a clinical decision support system that accurately distinguishes MIS-C versus Endemic Typhus (MET).

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and laboratory features rapidly available following presentation were extracted for 133 patients with MIS-C and 87 patients hospitalized due to typhus.

Altered Purinergic Signaling and CD8+ T Cell Dysregulation in STAT3 GOF Syndrome.

Signal transduction downstream of activating stimuli controls CD8+ T cell biology, however these external inputs can become uncoupled from transcriptional regulation in Primary Immune Regulatory Disorders (PIRDs). Gain-of-function (GOF) variants in STAT3 amplify cytokine signaling and cause a severe PIRD characterized by early onset autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, recurrent infections, and immune dysregulation. In both primary human and mouse models of STAT3 GOF, CD8+ T cells have been implicated as pathogenic drivers of autoimmunity.

TSS-Captur: a user-friendly pipeline for characterizing unclassified RNA transcripts.

RNA-seq and its 5'-enrichment methods for prokaryotes have enabled the precise identification of transcription start sites (TSSs), improving gene expression analysis. Computational methods are applied to these data to identify TSSs and classify them based on proximal annotated genes. While some TSSs cannot be classified at all (orphan TSSs), other TSSs are found on the reverse strand of known genes (antisense TSSs) but are not associated with the direct transcription of any known gene.

Early detection efforts for colorectal and prostate cancer from the patient's perspective over the course of 12 years: results of the KABOT survey study.

Aim: This study investigates the level of knowledge and utilization of colorectal cancer (CRC) and prostate cancer (PCa) early detection measures (EDMs) over a period of 12 years in general practice from the patient's perspective.

Background: The role of general practitioners (GPs) in EDMs for CRC and PCa in Germany is not well-documented with comprehensive data.

Methods: We conducted a patient-centric survey in the German federal state of Berlin-Brandenburg at a 12-year interval to examine the role of GPs in EDMs for CRC and PCa.

The prognostic utility of IGF-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) poses a significant challenge for patients ineligible for surgical resection or liver transplantation. Local therapies like Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) are crucial for those with liver-limited disease. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a potential biomarker for liver function.

Microstructured large-area photoconductive terahertz emitters driven at high average power.

Emitters based on photoconductive materials excited by ultrafast lasers are well-established and popular devices for THz generation. However, so far, these emitters - both photoconductive antennas and large area emitters - were mostly explored using driving lasers with moderate average powers (either fiber lasers with up to hundreds of milliwatts or Ti:Sapphire systems up to few watts). In this paper, we explore the use of high-power, MHz repetition rate Ytterbium (Yb) based oscillator for THz emission using a microstructured large-area photoconductive emitter, consist of semi-insulating GaAs with a 10 × 10 mm active area.

Enhanced antifungal activity of siRNA-loaded anionic liposomes against the human pathogenic fungus .

We developed siRNA-loaded anionic liposomes, co-encapsulating low-dose amphotericin B, to enhance siRNA penetration through the fungal cell wall of . Targeting mRNAs of three key genes, these liposomes visibly inhibited fungal growth, demonstrating for the first time the antifungal potential of siRNA against human fungal pathogens.

Hyperspectral imaging of human liver allografts for prediction of initial graft function.

Purpose: Ischemia reperfusion injury represents a significant yet difficult to assess risk factor for short- and long-term graft impairment in human liver transplantation (LT). As a non-invasive, non-ionizing tool, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is capable of correlating optical properties with organ microperfusion. Hence, we here performed a study of human liver allografts assessed by HSI for microperfusion and prediction of initial graft function.

Older adults are relatively more susceptible to impulsive social influence than young adults.

People differ in their levels of impulsivity and patience, and these preferences are heavily influenced by others. Previous research suggests that susceptibility to social influence may vary with age, but the mechanisms and whether people are more influenced by patience or impulsivity remain unknown. Here, using a delegated inter-temporal choice task and Bayesian computational models, we tested susceptibility to social influence in young (aged 18-36, N = 76) and older (aged 60-80, N = 78) adults.

Case Report: p40 deficiency underlying pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a multi-faceted autoimmune disorder of complex etiology. Pre-pubertal onset of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE) is uncommon and should raise suspicion for a genetic driver of disease. Autosomal recessive p40 deficiency is a rare immunologic disorder characterized by defective but not abolished NADPH oxidase activity with residual production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by phagocytic cells.

The interplay of multiple unconditioned stimuli in evaluative conditioning: A weighted averaging framework for attitude formation via stimulus co-occurrences.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a key effect in attitude formation, leading to changes in the liking of neutral attitude objects due to their pairing with positive or negative stimuli. Despite EC's significance, current theories and most empirical findings are limited to stimulus pairings with a single affective stimulus at a time. In contrast, social environments often involve more complex combinations of affective stimuli.

Retrograde open mesenteric stenting and outcomes for acute mesenteric ischemia.

Objectives: Data regarding retrograde open mesenteric stenting (ROMS) for urgent mesenteric ischemia is limited to small single center and case series, with variable utilization across patient populations and ill-defined outcomes. We aimed to evaluate characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute mesenteric ischemia requiring urgent surgical intervention.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients with mesenteric ischemia requiring urgent surgical intervention from 2018 to 2020 was queried from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database.

Intraluminal crossing of infrainguinal SFA chronic total occlusions may offer patency superiority compared to subintimal crossing.

Objectives: Patency for chronic total occlusions (CTO) of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) after endovascular interventions traditionally demonstrate a low 1-year patency ranging from 40%-60%. The optical coherence tomography (OCT) catheter (Avinger Inc., Redwood City, CA) uses light-based technology imaging to cross Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus D (TASC D) lesions intraluminally with direct intra-arterial visualization.

Single-cycle, 643 mW average power terahertz source based on tilted pulse front in lithium niobate.

We present the highest, to the best of our knowledge, average power from a laser-driven single-cycle THz source demonstrated so far, using optical rectification in the tilted pulse front geometry in cryogenically cooled lithium niobate, pumped by a commercially available 500 W ultrafast thin-disk ytterbium (Yb) amplifier. We study repetition rate-dependent effects in our setup at 100 and 40 kHz at this high average power, revealing different optimal fluence conditions for efficient conversion. The demonstrated sources with multi-100 mW average power at these high repetition rates combine high THz pulse energies and high repetition rate and are thus ideally suited for nonlinear THz spectroscopy experiments with significantly reduced measurement times.

Microbial life in preferential flow paths in subsurface clayey till revealed by metataxonomy and metagenomics.

Background: Subsurface microorganisms contribute to important ecosystem services, yet little is known about how the composition of these communities is affected by small scale heterogeneity such as in preferential flow paths including biopores and fractures. This study aimed to provide a more complete characterization of microbial communities from preferential flow paths and matrix sediments of a clayey till to a depth of 400 cm by using 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS2 amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA. Moreover, shotgun metagenomics was applied to samples from fractures located 150 cm below ground surface (bgs) to investigate the bacterial genomic adaptations resulting from fluctuating exposure to nutrients, oxygen and water.

Impact of psychosocial stress on facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia and controls: an experimental study in a forensic sample.

Introduction: Psychotic disorders have been associated with dysregulated stress reactions and adaptation. Little is known about the neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress in justice-involved individuals with schizophrenia.

Methods: Using an experimental research design, the present study aims to examine differences in the subjective and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress and its impact on facial emotion recognition (FER) and performance on an arithmetic task in chronically ill justice-involved individuals with schizophrenia (PAT) and a healthy control group.

[Machine perfusion in transplantation surgery].

The use of machine perfusion in solid organ transplantation has developed tremendously worldwide in recent years. Although the number of randomized controlled trials in the field of organ preservation is still limited, machine perfusion has been shown to be superior to static cold storage of donor organs. Various devices for clinical use with hypothermia or normothermia are already available for most organs.

Control of a chemical chaperone by a universally conserved ATPase.

The universally conserved YchF/Ola1 ATPases regulate stress response pathways in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Deletion of YchF/Ola1 leads to increased resistance against environmental stressors, such as reactive oxygen species, while their upregulation is associated with tumorigenesis in humans. The current study shows that in , the absence of YchF stimulates the synthesis of the alternative sigma factor RpoS by a transcription-independent mechanism.