The fungal gut microbiota in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis.

Evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the majority of the studies have focused on gut bacterial communities; none have examined the fungal microbiota (mycobiota) in persons with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS). We examined the gut mycobiota in persons with and without POMS through a cross-sectional examination of the gut mycobiota from 46 participants' stool samples (three groups: 18 POMS, 13 acquired monophasic demyelinating syndromes [monoADS], and 15 unaffected controls).

Association of Vitamin D and Prostate Health Status in Men: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common form of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Vitamin D may be an effective way to treat BPH symptoms because it has anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory characteristics. Thus, adequate vitamin D levels are vital for overall health.

A comparative analysis of Marburg virus-infected bat and human models from public high-throughput sequencing data.

Marburg virus (MARV) disease (MVD) is an uncommon yet serious viral hemorrhagic fever that impacts humans and non-human primates. In humans, infection by the MARV is marked by rapid onset, high transmissibility, and elevated mortality rates, presenting considerable obstacles to the development of vaccines and treatments. Bats, particularly , are suspected to be natural hosts of MARV.

Bacterial abundance and diversity in 64-74 Ma subseafloor igneous basement from the Louisville Seamount Chain.

The aquifer in the subseafloor igneous basement is a massive, continuous microbial substrate, yet sparingly little is known about life in this habitat. The work to date has focused largely on describing microbial diversity in the young basement (<10 Ma), where the basaltic crust is still porous and fluid flow through it is active. Here, we test the hypothesis that microbial life exists in subseafloor basement >65 Ma using samples collected from the Louisville Seamount Chain via seafloor drilling.

Accuracy of warm ischemia time measurement using a surgical intelligence software in partial nephrectomies: A validation study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to compare the accuracy of warm ischemia times (WITs) derived by a surgical artificial intelligence (AI) software to those documented in surgeon operative reports during partial nephrectomy procedures and to assess the potential of this technology in evaluating postoperative renal function.

Patients And Methods: A surgical AI software (Theator Inc., Palo Alto, CA) was used to capture and analyse videos of partial nephrectomies performed between October 2023 and April 2024.

Streamlining Global Germplasm Exchange: Integrating Scientific Rigor and Common Sense to Exclude Phantom Agents from Regulation.

This collaborative work by over 180 researchers from 40+ countries addresses the challenges posed by "phantom agents"-putative pathogenic agents named in literature without supporting data on their existence. Those agents remain on regulatory lists, creating barriers in trade and plant certification. Historically identified based solely on symptoms, these agents lack isolates or sequence data, making reliable detection or risk assessment impossible.

Wide field of view large aperture meta-doublet eyepiece.

Wide field of view and light weight optics are critical for advanced eyewear, with applications in augmented/virtual reality and night vision. Conventional refractive lenses are often stacked to correct aberrations at a wide field of view, leading to limited performance and increased size and weight. In particular, simultaneously achieving a wide field of view and large aperture for light collection is desirable but challenging to realize in a compact form-factor.

Magnetospheric origin of a fast radio burst constrained using scintillation.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are microsecond-to-millisecond-duration radio transients that originate mostly from extragalactic distances. The FRB emission mechanism remains debated, with two main competing classes of models: physical processes that occur within close proximity to a central engine; and relativistic shocks that propagate out to large radial distances. The expected emission-region sizes are notably different between these two types of models.

A pulsar-like polarization angle swing from a nearby fast radio burst.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) last for milliseconds and arrive at Earth from cosmological distances. Although their origins and emission mechanisms are unknown, their signals bear similarities with the much less luminous radio emission generated by pulsars within our Miky Way Galaxy, with properties suggesting neutron star origins. However, unlike pulsars, FRBs typically show minimal variability in their linear polarization position angle (PA) curves.

Alginate-gelatin composite hydrogels loading zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles on gauze for burn wound healing: In vitro and in vivo studies.

This study addresses the limitations of traditional antibiotic treatments for burn wound dressings, which often lead to microbial resistance. It explores the development of innovative burn wound dressings by incorporating Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8) into alginate-gelatin (Al-Gl) hydrogels on gauze. Al-Gl patches with 0 %, 1 %, and 4 % ZIF-8 were fabricated and characterized using XRD, FTIR, FESEM, and EDX.

A smart probe for detection of sugar markers for applications in gastrointestinal barrier dysfunction.

Gastrointestinal (GI) barrier dysfunction is an early pathogenic event in many complex diseases. Despite the routine applications of invasive tests, saccharide molecules are used noninvasively for assessing GI tract mucosal barrier function. However, currently available methods for quantification of saccharides molecules are costly and laborious.

Capillary Isoelectric Focusing of Proteins and Peptides Using an In-Line cIEF-ESI Interface with Improved MS Characteristics.

Intact protein analysis using mass spectrometry (MS) is an important technique to characterize and provide a comprehensive overview of protein complexity. It is also the basis of "top-down" approaches in proteomics to describe the proteoforms of single protein's post-translational modifications (PTMs). MS-based analysis of intact proteins benefits from high-resolution separations prior to electrospray ionization.

The Role of Robotics in Cardiac Surgery: Innovations, Outcomes, and Future Prospects.

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the use of robotic technology in medical surgery, especially in heart surgery. Many advancements in surgery have been made possible by the development of these robotic devices, such as the da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California, United States). These advancements include improved ergonomics, three-dimensional (3D) imaging, and increased dexterity.

Professor Dr. Shuying Liu (1943.1-2023.11): A Devoted Mass Spectrometrist and Esteemed Mentor.

A year has gone by, and it is still hard to believe that Dr. Shuying Liu had left us on November 22, 2023. Most her colleagues and friends remember vividly her passionate images captured in the talk she filmed for the Chinese Mass Spectrometry Conference 2020-2023 in June 2023.

High altitudes, deeper insights: multicenter cardiovascular magnetic resonance study on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: Altitude is a known factor in cardiovascular disease, but its impact on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether living at high altitudes affects the extent of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and left ventricular (LV) strain in HCM patients.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted across four hospitals located at different altitudes in China.

Enhanced sensitivity via non-Hermitian topology.

Sensors are indispensable tools of modern life that are ubiquitously used in diverse settings ranging from smartphones and autonomous vehicles to the healthcare industry and space technology. By interfacing multiple sensors that collectively interact with the signal to be measured, one can go beyond the signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) attainable by the individual constituting elements. Such techniques have also been implemented in the quantum regime, where a linear increase in the SNR has been achieved via using entangled states.

Diagnosis of Schizophrenia and Its Subtypes Using MRI and Machine Learning.

Purpose: The neurobiological heterogeneity present in schizophrenia remains poorly understood. This likely contributes to the limited success of existing treatments and the observed variability in treatment responses. Our objective was to employ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to improve the classification of schizophrenia and its subtypes.

Subtypes of brain change in aging and their associations with cognition and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.

Structural brain changes underlie cognitive changes and interindividual variability in cognition in older age. By using structural MRI data-driven clustering, we aimed to identify subgroups of cognitively unimpaired older adults based on brain change patterns and assess how changes in cortical thickness, surface area, and subcortical volume relate to cognitive change. We tested (1) which brain structural changes predict cognitive change (2) whether these are associated with core cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, and (3) the degree of overlap between clusters derived from different structural modalities in 1899 cognitively healthy older adults followed up to 16 years.

Associations of prenatal urinary melamine, melamine analogues, and aromatic amines with gestational duration and fetal growth in the ECHO Cohort.

Melamine, its analogues, and aromatic amines (AAs) were commonly detected in a previous study of pregnant women in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort. While these chemicals have identified toxicities, little is known about their influences on fetal development. We measured these chemicals in gestational urine samples in 3 ECHO cohort sites to assess associations with birth outcomes (n = 1,231).

MRI free water mediates the association between diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space and executive function in four independent middle to aged cohorts.

Introduction: Diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index was proposed for assessing glymphatic clearance function. This study evaluated DTI-ALPS as a biomarker for cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) related vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID).

Methods: Four independent cohorts were examined.

Knowledge regarding human monkeypox among a sample of undergraduate and post-graduate students from selected tertiary institutions in Bangladesh: An online-based cross-sectional study.

Background: The recent human monkeypox (mpox) outbreak in 2022 has become a serious concern due to its rapid expansion to various non-endemic countries. There is limited information about the knowledge regarding mpox among the Bangladeshi population. Therefore, this study's objectives were to: (i) determine the level of knowledge regarding mpox among undergraduate and post-graduate students in Bangladesh, and (ii) assess the determinants of knowledge regarding mpox among the study sample.

Carbon gain in upper but loss in deeper cropland soils across China over the last four decades.

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural systems is a primary nature-based option for mitigating climate change, improving soil fertility, and ensuring food security. However, the consequences of global warming and increases in carbon inputs on cropland SOC stocks over the last few decades remain largely unknown, particularly in deeper soil layers. Here, by using repeated measurements, we reassess variations in SOC stocks across a 0 to 100 cm soil profile at the same locations in China's upland croplands in 1980 and 2023.

Exploring heavy metal dynamics and risks from dust and soil in urban cities of Jharkhand, India.

Jharkhand is a minerally prosperous state with geogenic and industrial origins of metals. This study assesses the seasonal variation of pseudo-total metal contents (Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe, Mg, Al) and related contamination and risks in indoor dust, street dust, and soils of four major cities of Jharkhand. Across cities and seasons, Zn, Cu, and Pb were the most common pollutants.

Metabolomics of mothers of children with autism, idiopathic developmental delay, and Down syndrome.

Developmental delays have been associated with metabolic disturbances in children. Previous research in the childhood autism risk from genetics and the environment (CHARGE) case-control study identified neurodevelopment-related plasma metabolites in children, suggesting disturbances in the energy-related tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and 1-carbon metabolism (1CM). Here, we investigated associations between children's neurodevelopmental outcomes and their mothers' plasma metabolite profiles in a subset of mother-child dyads from CHARGE, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 209), Down syndrome (DS, n = 76), idiopathic developmental delay (iDD, n = 64), and typically developed (TD, n = 185) controls.