Optical Bionanosensors for Sepsis Diagnostics.

Sepsis is a global health challenge, characterized by a dysregulated immune response, leading to organ dysfunction and death. Despite advances in medical care, sepsis continues to claim a significant toll on human lives, with mortality rates from 10-25% for sepsis and 30-50% for septic shock, making it a leading cause of death worldwide. Current diagnostic methods rely on clinical signs, laboratory parameters, or microbial cultures and suffer from delays and inaccuracies.

Linear ubiquitination at damaged lysosomes induces local NFKB activation and controls cell survival.

Lysosomes are the major cellular organelles responsible for nutrient recycling and degradation of cellular material. Maintenance of lysosomal integrity is essential for cellular homeostasis and lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) sensitizes toward cell death. Damaged lysosomes are repaired or degraded via lysophagy, during which glycans, exposed on ruptured lysosomal membranes, are recognized by galectins leading to K48- and K63-linked poly-ubiquitination (poly-Ub) of lysosomal proteins followed by recruitment of the macroautophagic/autophagic machinery and degradation.

Aspartate signalling drives lung metastasis via alternative translation.

Lung metastases occur in up to 54% of patients with metastatic tumours. Contributing factors to this high frequency include the physical properties of the pulmonary system and a less oxidative environment that may favour the survival of cancer cells. Moreover, secreted factors from primary tumours alter immune cells and the extracellular matrix of the lung, creating a permissive pre-metastatic environment primed for the arriving cancer cells.

[Integration of physician assistants into primary care: Acceptance and concerns among general practitioners].

Background: Strategies to counteract the impending and in some places already existing shortage of general practitioners (GPs) are being discussed in Germany. One approach could be to establish interprofessional teams in GP practices by integrating physician assistants (PAs).

Question: Can GPs imagine employing a PA in their practice and if so, under what conditions?

Methods: In March/April 2023, about 5,000 GPs in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), who work in a region with a care level of < 100 %, and about 1,000 GPs from Saxony-Anhalt were asked to take part in an online-based survey.

Incidence and Survival of Patients With Prostate Cancer in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.

Introduction: There is no organized prostate cancer screening in Germany. The aim of this study was to investigate the development of incidence and survival in patients with primary malignant tumors of the prostate in relation to changing recommendations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in guidelines.

Methods: Age-standardized incidence rates and 5-year relative survival (RS) (period approach) were calculated using data from the cancer registry North Rhine-Westphalia with the subset of the administrative district Münster respectively for the years 1992-2019.

Perineuronal nets on CA2 pyramidal cells and parvalbumin-expressing cells differentially regulate hippocampal dependent memory.

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are a specialized extracellular matrix that surround certain populations of neurons, including (inhibitory) parvalbumin (PV) expressing-interneurons throughout the brain and (excitatory) CA2 pyramidal neurons in hippocampus. PNNs are thought to regulate synaptic plasticity by stabilizing synapses and as such, could regulate learning and memory. Most often, PNN functions are queried using enzymatic degradation with chondroitinase, but that approach does not differentiate PNNs on CA2 neurons from those on adjacent PV cells.

Topological confinement by a membrane anchor suppresses phase separation into protein aggregates: Implications for prion diseases.

Protein misfolding and aggregation are a hallmark of various neurodegenerative disorders. However, the underlying mechanisms driving protein misfolding in the cellular context are incompletely understood. Here, we show that the two-dimensional confinement imposed by a membrane anchor stabilizes the native protein conformation and suppresses liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and protein aggregation.

Transcranial direct current stimulation improves time perception in children with ADHD.

Individuals with ADHD struggle with time perception. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) are two distinct cortical areas that are involved in the psychopathology of ADHD, including time perception. In the present study, we aimed to explore if modulation of the excitability of these areas with non-invasive brain stimulation alters time perception in ADHD.

Exploratory testing of functional blood oxygenation level dependent-MRI to image the renoprotective effect of Remote Ischaemic PreConditioning during partial nephrectomy.

Urinary biomarker studies in cardiothoracic and kidney-sparing surgery have demonstrated renal protection by Remote Ischaemic PreConditioning (RIPC). RIPC intervention generates cycles of ischaemia and reperfusion of the limbs before the actual ischaemia of the target organ (e.g.

Identifying and understanding the nonlinear behavior of memristive devices.

Nonlinearity is a crucial characteristic for implementing hardware security primitives or neuromorphic computing systems. The main feature of all memristive devices is this nonlinear behavior observed in their current-voltage characteristics. To comprehend the nonlinear behavior, we have to understand the coexistence of resistive, capacitive, and inertia (virtual inductive) effects in these devices.

Training needs of German healthcare professionals regarding sexual health and sex workers: results of a nationwide, cross-sectional survey.

Background: Sexual health is an important aspect of human well-being. In terms of sexual health and healthcare, sex workers might need more specialized care than others, given their higher risk for both discrimination and various sexually transmitted diseases. However, little is known about the quality of healthcare professionals' training regarding sexual health and healthcare of sex workers in Germany.

Giving children a voice: Concept development and foundation of the first Children's council "mental health" in Germany.

Background: As summarized by the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (McGorry et al., 2024), the statistics on mental disorders in children are alarming and highlight the need to expand and optimize research on childhood mental health. Although patient and public involvement (PPI) of those affected has the potential to boost both the acceptance and outcomes of research studies, the active involvement of young children, that is, primary school children, in mental health research has been neglected.

Treating anxiety comorbidity: Lessons from exposure generalization studies.

Comorbidity is a characteristic hallmark of anxiety disorders. Presence of comorbid anxiety and depression is challenging to the diagnosis and treatment. Conventional and transdiagnostic treatment options for anxiety disorders strongly depend on the use of exposure.

- a large-scale dataset of 3D medical shapes for computer vision.

Objectives: The shape is commonly used to describe the objects. State-of-the-art algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from the growing popularity of ShapeNet (51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models).

Spongy-looking microfabrics in the earliest named stromatolite represent deep burial alteration and incipient metamorphism.

The earliest named stromatolite Cryptozoon Hall, 1884 (Late Cambrian, ca. 490 Ma, eastern New York State), was recently re-interpreted as an interlayered microbial mat and non-spiculate (keratosan) sponge deposit. This "classic stromatolite" is prominent in a fundamental debate concerning the significance or even existence of non-spiculate sponges in carbonate rocks from the Neoproterozoic (Tonian) onwards.

Hazardous effects of heavy metal pollution on Nile tilapia in the aquatic ecosystem of the Eastern Delta in Egypt.

Introduction: Heavy metal pollution threatens the biodiversity and ecological equilibrium of the Nile River. This study investigates the impact of heavy metal pollution on aquatic animals such as Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in the Damietta branch of the River Nile and El-Rayah El-Tawfeeky canal in Benha City in Egypt.

Methods: Fish and water samples were collected from the Damietta branch and El-Rayah El-Tawfeeky during the fall of 2022.

Exposure therapy consortium: Outcomes of the proof-of-principle study.

Background: This paper reports on the outcomes of a proof-of-principle study for the Exposure Therapy Consortium, a global network of researchers and clinicians who work to improve the effectiveness and uptake of exposure therapy. The study aimed to test the feasibility of the consortium's big-team science approach and test the hypothesis that adding post-exposure processing focused on enhancing threat reappraisal would enhance the efficacy of a one-session large-group interoceptive exposure therapy protocol for reducing anxiety sensitivity.

Methods: The study involved a multi-site cluster-randomized controlled trial comparing exposure with post-processing (ENHANCED), exposure without post-processing (STANDARD), and a stress management intervention (CONTROL) in students with elevated anxiety sensitivity.

The relationship between callous-unemotional traits and internalizing psychopathology in adolescent psychiatric inpatients: a network analysis.

Background: Numerous studies have investigated the relevance of callous-unemotional traits in relation to externalizing psychopathology among children and adolescents. However, less research has examined the connections between callous-unemotional traits and internalizing psychopathology and findings were inconsistent. Consequently, the present study aimed to elucidate the role of callous-unemotional traits in the context of depression and anxiety while controlling for conduct problems, age, and gender.

Real-world multicentre cohort study on choices and effectiveness of immunotherapies in NMOSD and MOGAD.

Background: Recurrent attacks in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) can lead to severe disability. We aimed to analyse the real-world use of immunotherapies in patients with NMOSD and MOGAD, focusing on changes in treatment strategies, effects on attack rates (ARR) and risk factors for attacks.

Methods: This longitudinal registry-based cohort study included 493 patients (320 with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG) seropositive NMOSD (65%), 44 with AQP4-IgG seronegative NMOSD (9%) and 129 MOGAD (26%)) with 1247 treatments from 19 German and one Austrian centre from the registry of the neuromyelitis optica study group (NEMOS).

A stratified treatment algorithm in psychiatry: a program on stratified pharmacogenomics in severe mental illness (Psych-STRATA): concept, objectives and methodologies of a multidisciplinary project funded by Horizon Europe.

Schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar (BD) and major depression disorder (MDD) are severe psychiatric disorders that are challenging to treat, often leading to treatment resistance (TR). It is crucial to develop effective methods to identify and treat patients at risk of TR at an early stage in a personalized manner, considering their biological basis, their clinical and psychosocial characteristics. Effective translation of theoretical knowledge into clinical practice is essential for achieving this goal.

Sex differences in the reactivity of gastric myoelectrical activity and heart rate variability as putative psychophysiological markers in human pain research.

Background: This study explored the potential of electrogastrography (EGG) and heart rate variability (HRV) as psychophysiological markers in experimental pain research related to the gut-brain axis. We investigated responses to the experience of pain from the visceral (rectal distension) and somatic (cutaneous heat) pain modalities, with a focus on elucidating sex differences in EGG and HRV responses.

Methods: In a sample of healthy volunteers (29 males, 43 females), EGG and ECG data were collected during a baseline and a pain phase.

Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Sputum Eosinophils Are Complementary Tools for Diagnosing Occupational Asthma.

Background: Exposure-related changes in exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and sputum eosinophils have not been thoroughly compared in the investigation of occupational asthma.

Objective: This study aimed at comparing the accuracies of the changes in FeNO concentrations and sputum eosinophil counts in identifying asthmatic reactions induced by occupational agents during specific inhalation challenges (SICs).

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included 321 subjects who completed an assessment of FeNO and sputum eosinophils before and 24 h after SICs with various occupational agents, of whom 156 showed a positive result.