Immunological clues to sex differences in parasitic diseases.

The effect of sex on the prevalence and severity of parasitic diseases is an emerging area of research. Several factors underlie sex-based differences, including sociocultural influences that affect exposure to parasites, and physiological disparities linked to biological sex. Hence, human studies must be interpreted cautiously; however, studies conducted under controlled laboratory conditions are important to validate findings in humans.

A new phenotype of patients with post-COVID-19 condition is characterised by a pattern of complex ventilatory dysfunction, neuromuscular disturbance and fatigue symptoms.

Background: Patients with post-COVID-19 condition frequently suffer from chronic dyspnoea. The causes and mechanism for dyspnoea in these patients without evidence of structural lung disease are unclear.

Methods: Patients treated for COVID-19 at Charité University Hospital in Berlin received pulmonary function testing including respiratory muscle strength tests and completed health-related quality-of-life questionnaires during follow-up.

Haplotype-resolved and near-T2T genome assembly of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus).

Airbreathing catfish are stenohaline freshwater fish capable of withstanding various environmental conditions and farming practices, including breathing atmospheric oxygen. This unique ability has enabled them to thrive in semi-terrestrial habitats. However, the genomic mechanisms underlying their adaptation to adverse ecological environments remain largely unexplored, primarily due to the limited availability of high-quality genomic resources.

Safety and efficacy of praziquantel in pregnant women infected with Schistosoma haematobium in Lambaréné, Gabon - Clinical results from the randomized, single-blinded, controlled freeBILy-Gabon trial.

Objectives: Despite evidence of praziquantel's (PZQ) safety for treating schistosomiasis in pregnancy, many countries withhold treatment. Only two randomized controlled trials have investigated PZQ in pregnancy, none involving Schistosoma haematobium.

Methods: Pregnant women during the second trimester in Lambaréné (Gabon) were screened for S.

Influenza in travelers from Germany returning from abroad: a retrospective case-control study.

Background: Influenza is the most common vaccine-preventable infection among travelers, affecting approximately one percent of those travelling to subtropical and tropical destinations.

Methods: We analysed demographic, travel-related and clinical information from travelers diagnosed with influenza at our travel clinic between January 2015 and March 2020 and influenza-negative controls.

Results: We included 68 travelers diagnosed with influenza and 207 controls.

Addressing the Intracellular Vestibule of the Plasmodial Lactate Transporter PfFNT by p-Substituted Inhibitors Amplifies In Vitro Activity.

Inhibition of the lactate transporter PfFNT is a valid novel mode of action against malaria parasites. Current pyridine-substituted pentafluoro-3-hydroxy-pent-2-en-1-ones act as substrate analogs with submicromolar EC in vitro, and >99.7% activity in mice.

Public preferences regarding slow codes in critical care.

The term slow code refers to an intentional reduction in the pace or intensity of resuscitative efforts during a medical emergency. This can be understood as an intermediate level between full code (full resuscitation efforts) and no code (no resuscitation efforts) and serves as a symbolic gesture when intervention is considered medically futile. While some previous research acknowledges the slow code as an integral part of clinical practice, many ethicists have condemned the practice as dishonest and causing unnecessary pain for the patient.

Structural basis of thiamine transport and drug recognition by SLC19A3.

Thiamine (vitamin B) functions as an essential coenzyme in cells. Humans and other mammals cannot synthesise this vitamin de novo and thus have to take it up from their diet. Eventually, every cell needs to import thiamine across its plasma membrane, which is mainly mediated by the two specific thiamine transporters SLC19A2 and SLC19A3.

The fuzzy system ensembles entomological, epidemiological, demographic and environmental data to unravel the dengue transmission risk in an endemic city.

Background: The effectiveness of dengue control interventions depends on an effective integrated surveillance system that involves analysis of multiple variables associated with the natural history and transmission dynamics of this arbovirus. Entomological indicators associated with other biotic and abiotic parameters can assertively characterize the spatiotemporal trends related to dengue transmission risk. However, the unpredictability of the non-linear nature of the data, as well as the uncertainty and subjectivity inherent in biological data are often neglected in conventional models.

Postencephalitic Parkinsonism: Unique Pathological and Clinical Features-Preliminary Data.

Postencephalitic parkinsonism (PEP) is suggested to show a virus-induced pathology, which is different from classical idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) as there is no α-synuclein/Lewy body pathology. However, PEP shows a typical clinical representation of motor disturbances. In addition, compared to PD, there is no iron-induced pathology.

Ebola Virus Infection of Flt3-Dependent, Conventional Dendritic Cells and Antigen Cross-presentation Leads to High Levels of T-Cell Activation.

Background: Previous studies have described that Ebola virus (EBOV) infection of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) inhibits dendritic cell (DC) maturation, resulting in poor T-cell activation. However, it is unknown how other DC subsets distinct from moDCs respond to EBOV infection.

Methods: To better understand how DCs initiate T-cell activation during EBOV infection, we assessed the response of conventional mouse DCs (cDCs) to EBOV infection utilizing a recombinant EBOV expressing the model antigen ovalbumin.

The more the merrier? Two online experiments on how decoys can increase vaccine uptake.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals in some countries had the option to choose from different vaccines, some of which were perceived as less favorable than others. Research on the decoy effect suggests that the preference for an option (target) increases when an inferior option (decoy) is added to the choice set. However, it is unknown whether the decoy effect occurs in vaccination decision making.