Earth's most needed uncultivated aquatic prokaryotes.

Aquatic ecosystems house a significant fraction of Earth's biosphere, yet most prokaryotes inhabiting these environments remain uncultivated. While recently developed genome-resolved metagenomics and single-cell genomics techniques have underscored the immense genetic breadth and metabolic potential residing in uncultivated Bacteria and Archaea, cultivation of these microorganisms is required to study their physiology via genetic systems, confirm predicted biochemical pathways, exploit biotechnological potential, and accurately appraise nutrient turnover. Over the past two decades, the limitations of culture-independent investigations highlighted the importance of cultivation in bridging this vast knowledge gap.

How a Dysphonia App Can Promote the Motivation of Speech Therapists and Patients in the Long Term-A Qualitative Study in the LAOLA Project.

Objective: The care of patients with dysphonia will change due to the growing shortage of specialists, demographic change, and digitalization. To counteract the associated problems in patient care, the LAOLA app demonstrator is to be developed. In the future, patients will receive exercise videos for their training from their treating speech and language pathologist (SLP) via LAOLA.

A unified deep-learning framework for enhanced patient-specific quality assurance of intensity-modulated radiation therapy plans.

Background: Modern radiation therapy techniques, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT), use complex fluence modulation strategies to achieve optimal patient dose distribution. Ensuring their accuracy necessitates rigorous patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA), traditionally done through pretreatment measurements with detector arrays. While effective, these methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming.

Functional characterization of the second feedback loop in the circadian clock of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba.

Background: The Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. This crustacean has an ancestral clock whose main components have been identified and characterized in the past few years. However, the second feedback loop, modulating clock gene expression through two transcription factors, VRI and PDP1, has yet to be described.

The role of lysophosphatidic acid and its receptors in corneal nerve regeneration.

The integrity of corneal nerves is critical for ocular surface health, and damages can lead to Neurotrophic Keratopathy (NK). Despite the regenerative abilities of the peripheral nerve system (PNS), corneal nerve regeneration is often incomplete, and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This study aims to identify potential factors that can enhance corneal nerve regeneration for NK treatment, with a focus on Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA).

A 'good death' needs good cooperation with health care professionals - a qualitative focus group study with seniors, physicians and nurses in Germany.

Background: Studies investigating notions of a 'good death' tend to focus on specific medical conditions and specific groups of people. Therefore, their results are often poorly comparable, making it difficult to anticipate potential points of conflict in practice. Consequently, the study explores how to achieve a good death from the perspective and experience of physicians, nursing staff, and seniors.

Effects of timely case conferencing between general practitioners and specialist palliative care services on symptom burden in patients with advanced chronic disease: results of the cluster-randomised controlled KOPAL trial.

Background: Patients with advanced chronic non-malignant conditions often experience significant symptom burden. Therefore, overcoming barriers to interprofessional collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialist palliative home care (SPHC) teams is essential to facilitate the timely integration of palliative care elements. The KOPAL trial aimed to examine the impact of case conferences between GPs and SPHC teams on symptom burden and pain in patients with advanced chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dementia.

Synthesis and exploration of a 1-germol-1-ide/pyridine bidentate ligand.

The synthesis of an anionic [Ge,N]-bidentate ligand based on the combination of an amidopyridinato group with an anionic germolide ring is reported. The potential of the germolide part of this ligand to switch between η-( Ge) and η-( CGe) coordination modes makes this ligand an interesting synthetic target. Salt metathesis reactions of the potassium salt of this ligand with GeCl dioxane and SnCl allow the synthesis of bis-germolyl-substituted germylenes and stannylenes with the tetrel atoms in a distorted square pyramidal coordination environment.

Maintenance therapy with trofosfamide, idarubicin and etoposide in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma and other high-risk soft tissue sarcomas (CWS-2007-HR): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled phase 3 trial.

Background: Rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas (STS) with high-risk features are still associated with an unsatisfactory outcome. We evaluated the efficacy of oral maintenance therapy added at the end of standard therapy in patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma and STS.

Methods: CWS-2007-HR was a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled, phase 3 trial done at 87 centers in 5 countries.

Enhanced Positioning Strategies to Reduce Pneumothorax in CT-Guided Lung Biopsies.

Background/objectives: This study aimed to investigate pneumothorax risk, focusing on the gravitational effect of pleural pressure caused by specific patient positioning.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 144 percutaneous CT-guided lung biopsies performed between January 2019 and December 2023. Patients were grouped into those with or without pneumothorax.

Yellow nail syndrome linked to a mediastinal lipoma: a case report.

Background: Yellow nail syndrome is characterized by a yellow discoloration of the nails, respiratory symptoms, and lymphedema. It was first described in 1964 and has an estimated prevalence of less than 1:1.000.

JWST sighting of decameter main-belt asteroids and view on meteorite sources.

Asteroid discoveries are essential for planetary-defense efforts aiming to prevent impacts with Earth, including the more frequent megaton explosions from decameter impactors. While large asteroids (≥100 km) have remained in the main belt since their formation, small asteroids are commonly transported to the near-Earth object (NEO) population. However, due to the lack of direct observational constraints, their size-frequency distribution -which informs our understanding of the NEOs and the delivery of meteorite samples to Earth-varies significantly among models.

Impact of Aerogel Modification for Fe-N-C Activity and Stability towards Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Phosphoric Acid Electrolyte.

Resorcinol-formaldehyde based carbon aerogel (CA) has been tailored to meet the requirements as a Fe-N-C carbon support, aiming to provide sufficient, inexpensive cathode catalysts for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Therefore, different treatments of the aerogel are explored for optimal pore structure and incorporation of surface functionalities, which are crucial for Fe-N-C synthesis and electrochemical performance. Fe-N-Cs of differently modified aerogel are investigated in phosphoric acid electrolyte.

Mercury bioaccumulation and assimilation in marine plankton in meltwater influenced fjords and shelf waters along the east coast of Greenland.

The rapid melting of the Arctic cryosphere due to climate change will result in significant freshwater input into Arctic marine ecosystems. This might also cause the release of legacy mercury (Hg) stored in the cryosphere, increasing Hg concentration and its subsequent effects on the marine biota. However, there is scarce knowledge on the concentration of Hg in the lower trophic level organisms at the base of the Arctic pelagic food web.

Comparison of robustness, resilience and intrinsic capacity including prediction of long-term adverse health outcomes: The KORA-Age study.

Background: Frailty, resilience and intrinsic capacity (IC) are concepts to evaluate older person`s health status, but no comparison of their associations with adverse health outcomes exists. We therefore aimed to assess which concept is most useful for determining long-term health of older adults.

Methods: Analyses were based on the KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg)-Age study (n = 940, 65-93 years).

Use and application of geographical restrictions in systematic reviews with the aim of including studies about Germany: An update of a methodological review.

Background: In systematic reviews (SRs), geographical limitations in literature searches can aid in focussing research efforts. A methodological review published in 2016 examined the approaches SR authors use to identify studies about Germany, analysing 36 SRs.

Objective: The aim of this study was to update the original review.

Impact of nuclear fragmentation on the stopping power ratio ofC ion beams.

: Nuclear fragmentation generates a diverse dosimetric environment in the path ofC ion beams. Concise parametrization of the beam's composition is paramount for determining key correction factors in clinical dosimetry. This study sets out to provide such a parametrization based on detailed Monte Carlo simulations of clinically relevantC beams.

Maintenance of a central high frequency synapse in the absence of synaptic activity.

Activity has long been considered essential for circuit formation and maintenance. This view has recently been challenged by proper synaptogenesis and only mildly affected synapse maintenance in the absence of synaptic activity in forebrain neurons. Here, we investigated whether synaptic activity is necessary for the development and maintenance of the calyx of Held synapse.

The value of information in predicting harmful algal blooms.

Environmental decision-making is inherently subject to uncertainty. However, decisions are often urgent, and whether to take direct action or invest in collecting additional data beforehand is pervasive. To make this trade-off explicit, the value of information (VoI) theory offers a powerful decision analytic tool to quantify the expected benefit of resolving uncertainty in a decision context.

Investigation of Possible Sources of Electrodermal Activity in Surgical Personnel to Assess Workplace Stress Levels.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate alternative measurement points to assess stress levels during surgery, given that taking electrodermal activity (EDA) measurements from the palms, a commonly used standard, is impractical in surgical contexts.

Methods: A combination of mentally challenging tasks on a laparoscopy trainer (LapSim) and physically challenging sports exercises were performed by a group of participants. During these tasks, EDA was measured at three different locations: the fingers, toes, and shoulder/neck area.

Long-living transients in ecological models: Recent progress, new challenges, and open questions.

Traditionally, mathematical models in ecology placed an emphasis on asymptotic, long-term dynamics. However, a large number of recent studies highlighted the importance of transient dynamics in ecological and eco-evolutionary systems, in particular 'long transients' that can last for hundreds of generations or even longer. Many models as well as empirical studies indicated that a system can function for a long time in a certain state or regime (a 'metastable regime') but later exhibits an abrupt transition to another regime not preceded by any parameter change (or following the change that occurred long before the transition).

Identification and functional characterization of multiple haemadins and an oligomeric decorsin in the Asian land leech Haemadipsa interrupta.

Haematophagous leeches rely on a broad variety of bioactive compounds to secure a sufficient blood meal from their vertebrate prey. Both the primary (platelet aggregation) and secondary (blood coagulation) haemostasis are the main targets of action. The platelet aggregation inhibitor decorsin was first described in the North American leech, Macrobdella decora Say, 1824, whereas the bivalent thrombin inhibitor hirudin was originally identified in the European medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758.

1-Year Outcomes of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Using a Self-Expanding vs Balloon-Expandable Transcatheter Aortic Valve.

Background: Mid-term comparative data for the self-expanding ACURATE neo2 transcatheter heart valve and the balloon-expandable SAPIEN 3 Ultra are lacking.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare 1-year outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement of these 2 valves.

Methods: A total of 2,106 patients from 3 centers (neo2, n = 1,166; Ultra, n = 940) undergoing transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement were analyzed retrospectively.