Growing practices and the use of potentially harmful chemical additives from a web survey of mainly small-scale cannabis growers in 18 countries.

Background: There is emerging recognition of the risks of harmful chemical pesticides, fertilizers and 'nutrients' by cannabis growers. One group of chemicals, Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs), many of which have been banned from food crops for decades, have been found unlisted in a number of fertilizers and supplements marketed at cannabis growers.

Methods: This paper predominately uses data from a 2020-21 convenience web survey of mainly small-scale, recent (last 5yrs) cannabis growers from 18 countries (n = 11,479).

Exploring the effect of displacement rate on the mechanical properties of denticulate ligaments through uniaxial tensile testing.

Denticulate ligaments play a key role in stabilizing the spinal cord (SC). Accurate representation of these structures in finite element modelling, whether in quasi-static or dynamic conditions, is essential for providing biofidelic responses. Therefore, understanding, characterizing and comparing the tensile mechanical properties of denticulate ligaments at different loading velocities is crucial.

Patients' psychosocial attributes and aggressiveness of cancer treatments near the end of life.

Background: While the use of chemotherapy near the end of life (EOL) has been identified as a relevant criterion for assessing quality of cancer care and has been estimated as non-beneficial, a trend of aggressiveness in cancer care during the last period of life remains. Both patients' sociodemographic characteristics and physicians' practice setting are associated with this use. The role of patients' psychosocial characteristics has however been understudied.

Tailoring glioblastoma treatment based on longitudinal analysis of post-surgical tumor microenvironment.

Glioblastoma (GBM), an incurable primary brain tumor, typically requires surgical intervention followed by chemoradiation; however, recurrences remain fatal. Our previous work demonstrated that a nanomedicine hydrogel (GemC-LNC) delays recurrence when administered post-surgery. However, tumor debulking also triggers time-dependent immune reactions that promote recurrence at the resection cavity borders.

Efficacy and safety of recombinant activated factor VII in Glanzmann thrombasthenia: A systematic literature review.

Background: Platelet transfusion is considered the standard treatment for preventing or controlling severe haemorrhage in Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT). However, platelet transfusion can have detrimental effects, including the production of anti-GPIIb/IIIa isoantibodies or anti-HLA antibodies (Ab) and platelet transfusion refractoriness. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) has been proposed as an alternative treatment to platelet transfusion.

The Hox protein Antennapedia orchestrates adult flight muscle development.

Muscle development and diversity require a large number of spatially and temporally regulated events controlled by transcription factors (TFs). has long stood as a model to study myogenesis due to the highly conserved key TFs involved at all stages of muscle development. While many studies focused on the diversification of larval musculature, how distinct adult muscle types are generated is much less characterized.

Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine Combination in the Treatment of Uncomplicated Malaria: Update on Clinical Failures in Africa and Tools for Surveillance.

Dihydroartemisinin (or artenimol)-piperaquine is one of the six artemisinin-based combination therapies recommended in uncomplicated malaria treatment. However, artemisinin partial resistance has been reported in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, India, and, recently, in Africa. Polymorphisms in the gene have been described as molecular markers of artemisinin resistance and the amplification of the plasmepsine II/III (/) gene has been associated with piperaquine resistance.

Different sustained and induced alpha oscillations emerge in the human auditory cortex during sound processing.

Alpha oscillations in the auditory cortex have been associated with attention and the suppression of irrelevant information. However, their anatomical organization and interaction with other neural processes remain unclear. Do alpha oscillations function as a local mechanism within most neural sources to regulate their internal excitation/inhibition balance, or do they belong to separated inhibitory sources gating information across the auditory network? To address this question, we acquired intracerebral electrophysiological recordings from epilepsy patients during rest and tones listening.

Exploring neurofeedback as a therapeutic intervention for subjective cognitive decline.

Impact Statement: This study addresses the pressing issue of subjective cognitive decline in aging populations by investigating neurofeedback (NFB) as a potential early therapeutic intervention. By evaluating the efficacy of individualised NFB training compared to standard protocols, tailored to each participant's EEG profile, it provides novel insights into personalised treatment approaches. The incorporation of innovative elements and rigorous analytical techniques contributes to advancing our understanding of NFB's modulatory effects on EEG frequencies and cognitive function in aging individuals.

Fluorescent labelling as a tool for identifying and quantifying nanoplastics.

Advancements in microplastic research are progressing rapidly, yet detecting and identifying nanoplastics remain challenging, especially in natural samples. In this study, we addressed these challenges by employing fluorescent labeling on nanoparticles of six prevalent plastic types (PP, LDPE, HDPE, PS, PET, and PVC) to enable their specific detection the analysis of 3D fluorescence spectra post-staining. Four fluorescent molecules were tested: cyanine-3 phosphoramidite, rhodamine-6G, fluorescein sodium salt, and Vat Red 15.

Treatment of male anterior urethra strictures: Meatus, navicular fossa and penile urethra.

Introduction: Distal anterior urethral strictures (DAUS) affect the meatus, navicular fossa (NF) and penile urethra (PU). The main causes are inflammatory (lichen sclerosous [LS]), traumatic iatrogenic, or idiopathic. Post-hypospadias stenosis is common and constitutes a separate entity, dealt with in a separate article.

Chlorine 36 dry deposition on lettuce and maize crops.

Chlorine is a mineral nutrient which, in a certain amount in the form of chloride, is essential for plant development. However, the atmosphere-plant transfer of its radioactive isotope, chlorine-36, is still poorly understood. In this study, dry deposition of Cl on lettuce and maize was determined experimentally.

Gastruloids are competent to specify both cardiac and skeletal muscle lineages.

Cardiopharyngeal mesoderm contributes to the formation of the heart and head muscles. However, the mechanisms governing cardiopharyngeal mesoderm specification remain unclear. Here, we reproduce cardiopharyngeal mesoderm specification towards cardiac and skeletal muscle lineages with gastruloids from mouse embryonic stem cells.

In situ oil contamination in young mangroves: Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and effects on the microbial and benthic communities, an experimental study in French Guiana.

An in-situ experiment was conducted in a young mangrove with no history of oil contamination (French Guiana). Control and oil-contaminated sediments were sampled one month after exposure and analyzed to a depth of 18 cm to assess natural oil depletion and changes in benthic communities. High biodegradation percentages (89-99 %) of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured.

New insights into mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. Patients with CKD display an increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Zimmermann et al.

EANO guideline on molecular testing of meningiomas for targeted therapy selection.

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors of adults. For meningiomas that progress or recur despite surgical resection and radiotherapy, additional treatment options are limited due to lack of proven efficacy. Meningiomas show recurring molecular aberrations, which may serve as predictive markers for systemic pharmacotherapies with targeted drugs or immunotherapy, radiotherapy or radioligand therapy.

Development and Validation of a Sexual Quality of Life Score for Youths with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Aims: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are known to impact patients 'sexual lives. The aim of this study is to create and validate a sexual QoL designed for youth with IBD.

Methods: This study was conducted in two phases: development of the score and validation of the items.

Angle-of-approach and reversal-movement effects in lateral manual interception.

The present study sought to replicate two non-intuitive effects reported in the literature on lateral manual interception of uniformly moving targets, the angle-of-approach (AoA) effect and the reversal-movement (RM) effect. Both entail an influence of the target trajectory's incidence angle on the observed interceptive hand movements along the interception axis; they differ in the interception location considered. The AoA effect concerns all trajectory conditions requiring hand movement to allow successful interception, while the RM effect concerns the particular condition where the target will in fact arrive at the hand's initial position and no hand movement is therefore required but nevertheless regularly produced.

A defining member of the new cysteine-cradle family is an aECM protein signalling skin damage in .

Apical extracellular matrices (aECMs) act as crucial barriers, and communicate with the epidermis to trigger protective responses following injury or infection. In , the skin aECM, the cuticle, is produced by the epidermis and is decorated with periodic circumferential furrows. We previously showed that mutants lacking cuticle furrows exhibit persistent immune activation (PIA).