Resilience in Rectal Cancer Treatment: Lessons from the COVID-19 Era in Czech Republic.

Introduction: The management of patients with COVID-19 infection has placed great pressure on the healthcare systems around the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment outcomes of patients with rectal cancer by comparing them to those of patients with the same diagnosis in the pre-pandemic period.

Methods: Retrospective data analysis of patients undergoing multimodal treatment for rectal cancer at the four university hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) and the 2-year pre-pandemic period (2018-2019).

Challenges in moving towards fog's contribution to spatial patterns of atmospheric deposition fluxes on a national scale.

Fog is an important environmental phenomenon affecting, among other things, geochemical cycles via atmospheric deposition pathways. It is generally accepted that fog contributes substantially to atmospheric deposition fluxes especially in mountain forests. Nevertheless, due to intrinsic constraints, fog pathway has thus far been neglected in the quantification of atmospheric deposition and fog pathway has not been accounted for in nation-wide spatial patterns of atmospheric deposition of air pollutants.

ABIN1 is a negative regulator of effector functions in cytotoxic T cells.

T cells are pivotal in the adaptive immune defense, necessitating a delicate balance between robust response against infections and self-tolerance. Their activation involves intricate cross-talk among signaling pathways triggered by the T-cell antigen receptors (TCR) and co-stimulatory or inhibitory receptors. The molecular regulation of these complex signaling networks is still incompletely understood.

Assessment of active translation in cumulus-enclosed and denuded oocytes during standard in vitro maturation and early embryo development.

Study Question: Which actively translated maternal transcripts are differentially regulated between clinically relevant in vitro and in vivo maturation (IVM) conditions in mouse oocytes and zygotes?

Summary Answer: Our findings uncovered significant differences in the global transcriptome as well as alterations in the translation of specific transcripts encoding components of energy production, cell cycle regulation, and protein synthesis in oocytes and RNA metabolism in zygotes.

What Is Known Already: Properly regulated translation of stored maternal transcripts is a crucial factor for successful development of oocytes and early embryos, particularly due to the transcriptionally silent phase of meiosis.

Study Design, Size, Duration: This is a basic science study utilizing an ICR mouse model, best suited for studying in vivo maturation.

Apollon: a deoxyribozyme that generates a yellow product.

Colorimetric assays in which the color of a solution changes in the presence of an input provide a simple and inexpensive way to monitor experimental readouts. In this study we used in vitro selection to identify a self-phosphorylating kinase deoxyribozyme that produces a colorimetric signal by converting the colorless substrate pNPP into the yellow product pNP. The minimized catalytic core, sequence requirements, secondary structure, and buffer requirements of this deoxyribozyme, which we named Apollon, were characterized using a variety of techniques including reselection experiments, high-throughput sequencing, comparative analysis, biochemical activity assays, and NMR.

Comparison of toric intraocular lens tilt and decentration measurement using dynamic Purkinje-meter and anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Aims: To present a new method of dynamic Purkinje-metry and to verify it by comparison with a commercially available anterior segment optical coherence tomography CASIA2.

Patients And Methods: A dynamic Purkinje-meter with a movable fixation target was assembled. A coaxial circular pattern formed by infrared LEDs was projected onto the eye and evoked Purkinje images (1st, 3rd, 4th = P1, P3, P4).

Ploidy as a leaky reproductive barrier: mechanisms, rates and evolutionary significance of interploidy gene flow.

Background: Whole-genome duplication (polyploidization) is a dominant force in sympatric speciation, particularly in plants. Genome doubling instantly poses a barrier to gene flow owing to the strong crossing incompatibilities between individuals differing in ploidy. The strength of the barrier, however, varies from species to species and recent genetic investigations revealed cases of rampant interploidy introgression in multiple ploidy-variable species.

Aurora: a fluorescent deoxyribozyme for high-throughput screening.

Fluorescence facilitates the detection, visualization, and tracking of molecules with high sensitivity and specificity. A functional DNA molecule that generates a robust fluorescent signal would offer significant advantages for many applications compared to intrinsically fluorescent proteins, which are expensive and labor intensive to synthesize, and fluorescent RNA aptamers, which are unstable under most conditions. Here, we describe a novel deoxyriboyzme that rapidly and efficiently generates a stable fluorescent product using a readily available coumarin substrate.

Coulomb Branch Amplitudes from a Deformed Amplituhedron Geometry.

The amplituhedron provides, via geometric means, the all-loop integrand of scattering amplitudes in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Unfortunately, dimensional regularization, used conventionally for integration, breaks the beautiful geometric picture. This motivates us to propose a "deformed" amplituhedron.

p.L1795F LRRK2 variant is a common cause of Parkinson's disease in Central Europe.

Pathogenic variants in are one of the most common genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease (PD). Recently, the lesser-known p.L1795F variant was proposed as a strong genetic risk factor for PD, however, further families are currently lacking in literature.

The expanding clinical and genetic spectrum of DYNC1H1-related disorders.

Intracellular trafficking involves an intricate machinery of motor complexes including the dynein complex to shuttle cargo for autophagolysosomal degradation. Deficiency in dynein axonemal chains as well as cytoplasmic light and intermediate chains have been linked with ciliary dyskinesia and skeletal dysplasia. The cytoplasmic dynein 1 heavy chain protein (DYNC1H1) serves as a core complex for retrograde trafficking in neuronal axons.

The Role of Momentary Dissociation in the Sensory Cortex: A Neurophysiological Review and its Implications for Maladaptive Daydreaming.

Daydreaming, a form of spontaneous and self-generated mental process, may lead to the disintegration of attention from the immediate external environment. In extreme cases, patients may develop maladaptive daydreaming comorbid with dissociation. The examination of dissociative alterations frequently occurs within the framework of complex cognitive processes.

Contact lenses as a potential vehicle of Candida transmission.

Purpose: Contact lenses can be contaminated with various microorganisms, including pathogenic yeasts of the genus Candida, which are known for their ability to adhere to abiotic surfaces, including plastic materials used for various medical purposes. Microbial contamination of the lenses can lead to infection of the wearer's eyes. The purpose of this study was to simulate the contamination of contact lenses with C.

Pro-cognitive effects of dual tacrine derivatives acting as cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists.

Therapeutic options for Alzheimer's disease are limited. Dual compounds targeting two pathways concurrently may enable enhanced effect. The study focuses on tacrine derivatives inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and simultaneously N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors.

A stylet use may be beneficial for elective and rescue intubation of prematurely born infants < 30 weeks.

Background: Recent studies have reported that using a stylet does not provide any advantages during intubation within a diverse infant population. Our research focuses on the issue, specifically in premature infants who undergo elective or rescue intubation (EI or RI) in the delivery room (DR).

Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study comparing the number of intubation attempts, the duration of intubation procedure until successful, and the rate of associated desaturations exceeding 20%.

Simulation to become a better neurosurgeon. An international prospective controlled trial: The Passion study.

Introduction: Surgical training traditionally adheres to the apprenticeship paradigm, potentially exposing trainees to an increased risk of complications stemming from their limited experience. To mitigate this risk, augmented and virtual reality have been considered, though their effectiveness is difficult to assess.

Research Question: The PASSION study seeks to investigate the improvement of manual dexterity following intensive training with neurosurgical simulators and to discern how surgeons' psychometric characteristics may influence their learning process and surgical performance.

Resolution of 9,10-Diketo[7]helicene and Its Use in One-Step Preparation of Helicene-Based D-A-D Push-Pull Systems.

Racemic 9,10-diketo[7]helicene was successfully separated into enantiomers using a reversible and stereoselective reaction with 2,2'-diamino-1,1'-binaphthalene with moderate yields but with remarkable purity (>99% de). The enantiomerically pure diketone was used as a convenient starting material for the preparation of helicene-based push-pull molecules, which incorporated aza-aryl acceptors and diarylaminophenylene donor groups in a single step. A series of six push-pull systems, along with three reference molecules without donors, were prepared and studied using UV/vis and fluorescence measurements, circular dichroism, and DFT calculations.

Foldamers controlled by functional triamino acids: structural investigation of α/γ-hybrid oligopeptides.

Peptide-like foldamers controlled by normal amide backbone hydrogen bonding have been extensively studied, and their folding patterns largely rely on configurational and conformational constraints induced by the steric properties of backbone substituents at appropriate positions. In contrast, opportunities to influence peptide secondary structure by functional groups forming individual hydrogen bond networks have not received much attention. Here, peptide-like foldamers consisting of alternating α,β,γ-triamino acids 3-amino-4-(aminomethyl)-2-methylpyrrolidine-3-carboxylate (AAMP) and natural amino acids glycine and alanine are reported, which were obtained by solution phase peptide synthesis.