Botulinum neurotoxins exploit host digestive proteases to boost their oral toxicity via activating OrfXs/P47.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) rank among the most potent toxins and many of them are produced by bacteria carrying the orfX gene cluster that also encodes four nontoxic proteins (OrfX1, OrfX2, OrfX3 and P47). The orfX gene cluster is also found in the genomes of many non-BoNT-producing bacteria, often alongside genes encoding oral insecticidal toxins. However, the functions of these OrfXs and P47 remain elusive.

Differences between the normal and perceived appropriate portion sizes of discretionary foods.

Background: There are limited data on the amount of discretionary foods that people normally consume and consider as appropriate at one eating occasion. This study aimed to provide an overview of the range and assess differences of the 'normal portion size' and 'perceived appropriate portion size' of energy-dense nutrient-poor discretionary foods among consumers aged 18-65 years.

Methods: To measure normal and perceived appropriate portion sizes, a validated online image-series questionnaire consisting of eight successive portion size options for 15 discretionary foods was completed at two timepoints.

A computational tool to infer enzyme activity using post-translational modification profiling data.

Enzymes play a pivotal role in orchestrating complex cellular responses to external stimuli and environmental changes through signal transduction pathways. Despite their crucial roles, measuring enzyme activities is typically indirect and performed on a smaller scale, unlike protein abundance measured by high-throughput proteomics. Moreover, it is challenging to derive the activity of enzymes from proteome-wide post-translational modification (PTM) profiling data.

Measuring the visual environment of children and young people at risk of myopia: a scoping review.

Purpose: Myopia (short-sightedness) is an emerging WHO priority eye disease. Rise in prevalence and severity are driven by changes in lifestyle and environment of children and young people (CYP), including less time spent in bright daylight and more time spent on near-vision activities. We aimed to systematically map the literature describing direct, objective measurements of the visual environment of CYP.

Investigating the validity of mCIM and sCIM phenotypic methods in screening Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates producing IMP, VIM, and NDM metallo-beta-lactamases isolated from burn wounds.

Metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a major pathogen in burn wounds, often exhibiting high levels of antibiotic resistance, which complicates treatment strategies. This study deals with the validity of the modified Carbapenem Inactivation Method (mCIM) and the simplified Carbapenem Inactivation Method (sCIM) phenotypic tests for screening metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) production by P.

The effect of consuming bread contaminated with heavy metals on cardiovascular disease and calculating its risk assessment.

Heavy metals (HMs) may cause the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which results in oxidative stress and eventually leads to an increase in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The Hoveyzeh Cohort Study Center provided clinical data for cardiovascular cases. The collection of samples was done randomly.

Altered expression profile of plasma exosomal microRNAs in exclusive electronic cigarette adult users.

Little is known about how exclusive e-cigarette use affects exosomal microRNA (miRNA) expression, which is crucial in inflammation and disease processes like cancer. We compared exosomal miRNA profiles between exclusive e-cigarette users and non-users. We used plasma samples from 15 exclusive e-cigarette users and 15 non-users from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Wave 1 study (2013-2014) and sequenced miRNAs with Illumina NextSeq 500/550.

OGG1 and MUTYH repair activities promote telomeric 8-oxoguanine induced senescence in human fibroblasts.

Telomeres are hypersensitive to the formation of the common oxidative lesion 8-oxoguanine (8oxoG), which impacts telomere stability and function. OGG1 and MUTYH glycosylases initiate base excision repair (BER) to remove 8oxoG or prevent mutation. Here, we show OGG1 loss or inhibition, or MUTYH loss, partially rescues telomeric 8oxoG-induced premature senescence and associated proinflammatory responses, while loss of both glycosylases causes a near complete rescue in human fibroblasts.

Tuning Ion Current Rectifying Nanopipettes for Sensitive Detection of Methicillin-Resistant .

Infectious diseases pose a growing challenge in healthcare, with the increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance limiting therapeutic options available for treatment. Rapid detection of infections at the earliest opportunity can significantly improve patient outcomes. In this report, ion current rectifying quartz nanopipettes with ca.

The Co-IMPACT Consortium: Integrating Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography and Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer Care.

The Co-IMPACT consortium addresses knowledge gaps in prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography-guided radiotherapy for prostate cancer by establishing a global database (46 centres from 16 countries) to standardise and analyse data across four distinguished clinical scenarios. A collaborative model with the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference aligns urgent clinical needs with actionable research insights.

Prenatal, birth, and postnatal mediators of maternal education level and childhood obesity at five years.

Objective: To establish which prenatal, birth, and postnatal characteristics mediate the association between maternal educational level and having a child with obesity at five years.

Study Design: This is a sub analysis of a longitudinal study nested in the BMInForma (Bambini Molto In Forma) program. BMInForma is an ongoing public health multilevel intervention started in 2013 to prevent childhood obesity.

Reduced neural responses to natural foreground versus background sounds in auditory cortex.

In everyday hearing, listeners face the challenge of understanding behaviorally relevant foreground stimuli (speech, vocalizations) in complex backgrounds (environmental, mechanical noise). Prior studies have shown that high-order areas of human auditory cortex (AC) pre-attentively form an enhanced representation of foreground stimuli in the presence of background noise. This enhancement requires identifying and grouping the features that comprise the background so they can be removed from the foreground representation.

Australian guidelines for equine internal parasite management.

Over the past few decades, the emergence of resistance amongst intestinal parasites of horses to all available anthelmintic classes has emphasised the need for a paradigm shift in parasite control approaches within the Australian equine industry. Findings of a recent Australia-wide research project have provided new insights into intestinal parasites (i.e.

High Normocapnia and Better Functional Outcome in Patients Undergoing Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Background: The optimal target for partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO₂) remains uncertain in patients undergoing veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Research Question: Are PaCO₂ levels associated with functional outcomes in patients receiving VA-ECMO after OHCA?

Study Design: and Methods: This multicenter, registry-based observational study, conducted from 2014 to 2020, included non-traumatic adult OHCA patients on VA-ECMO with PaCO₂ levels measured within six hours of initiation (initial PaCO₂ set) and at 18-30 hours post-initiation (24-hour PaCO₂ set). PaCO₂ levels were categorized into five groups: hypocapnia (<30 mmHg), low normocapnia (30-<40 mmHg), high normocapnia (40-<50 mmHg), mild hypercapnia (50-<60 mmHg), and moderate to severe hypercapnia (≥60 mmHg).

Nudging Strategies to Promote Plant-Based and Sustainable Food Consumption in Canteens.

Transitioning towards a more plant-based diet can promote sustainable food consumption while simultaneously addressing environmental and health-related issues. Integrated nudging strategies are effective in promoting healthy eating behaviours. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of an integrated nudging intervention to promote plant-based meals and determine its effect on promoting sustainable food consumption behaviour.

Synthesis, Anti-proliferation, Apoptosis Induction in Breast Cancer Cells, and Aromatase Inhibition of Coumarin-Triazole Hybrids: In Vitro and In Silico Studies.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers found in women worldwide. Besides the availability of clinical drugs, drug resistance and considerable side effects are concerning issues driven the needs for the discovery of novel anticancer agents. Aromatase inhibition is one of the effective strategies for management of hormone-dependent breast cancer.

A Mixed Method Evaluation of Practitioners' Perspectives on Implementation Strategies for Healthy Eating and Active Living Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes.

Context: The National Cooperative Extension System is a leader in delivering healthy eating and active living (HEAL) policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes; however, these interventions are challenging, and technical assistance efforts often misalign with implementation science concepts.

Objective: The study objective was to understand the importance of implementation strategies and tailoring needs to support Louisiana Nutrition and Community Health (NCH) practitioners' delivery of rural HEAL PSE changes.

Design: An explanatory sequential mixed method study design was used, including a survey to rank the importance of implementation strategies for HEAL PSE changes and a follow-up interview.

Development of BACE2-IN-1/tranylcypromine-based compounds to induce steroidogenesis-dependent neuroprotection.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes a significant burden on global healthcare systems, especially affecting younger populations, where it is a leading cause of disability and mortality. Current treatments for TBI mainly focus on preventing further brain damage and controlling symptoms. However, despite these approaches, several clinical needs remain unmet.

Prenatal ambient temperature exposure and cord blood and placental mitochondrial DNA content: Insights from the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort study.

Background: Mitochondrial DNA content (mtDNAc) at birth is a sensitive biomarker to environmental exposures that may play an important role in later life health. We investigated sensitive time windows for the association between prenatal ambient temperature exposure and newborn mtDNAc.

Methods: In the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort (Belgium), we measured cord blood and placental mtDNAc in 911 participants using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Cuprous oxide-functionalized activated porous carbon-modified screen-printed carbon electrode integrated with a smartphone for portable electrochemical nitrate detection.

Nitrate (NO) is a widespread contaminant in drinking water. An electrochemical NO sensor was developed based on a first-time application of materials. Activated porous carbon (APC) was synthesized by carbonizing orange peel (OP) activated with KOH.

In-depth screening of pesticide exposure in children from urban and agricultural settings in Poland.

The widespread occurrence of pesticides requires thorough evaluations of human population exposure to these chemicals, particularly children, because of the potential long-term effects of some of these neurotoxicants. The present study describes an in-depth screening of 15 pesticides including organophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates, triazoles, neonicotinoids and their main metabolites. Internal exposure of 7-9-year-old children from urban and agricultural locations in Poland (n = 399) has been studied.

Dietary inflammation and childhood adiposity: Analysis of individual participant data from six birth cohorts.

Background & Aims: Childhood adiposity and inflammation impact long-term health. However, associations between dietary inflammation and childhood adiposity are unclear. We investigated if more pro-inflammatory diets are associated with greater adiposity in early-, mid-, and late-childhood.

Plant-based dietary patterns, nutrient intake, growth, and body composition in childhood: Results from a prospective population-based study.

Background & Aims: Transitioning to more plant-based diets promotes environmental sustainability and has health benefits for adults. However, associations with nutrient intake adequacy and growth in children remain unknown. This study aimed to examine associations of plant-based diets with nutrient intake levels among children, and with longitudinal growth and body composition up to adolescence.

Biochar reduces plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance gene transfer in earthworm ecological filters for rural sewage treatment.

The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in rural wastewater threatens both ecological environment and human health. Earthworm ecological filters (EEFs) represent a green technology for rural sewage treatment. However, their effectiveness in removing ARGs remains a significant challenge.

Toxicity of rare earth elements europium and samarium on zebrafish development and locomotor performance.

Rare earth elements are integral to modern technology, but their increasing environmental distribution due to anthropogenic activities poses potential health risks to humans. This study utilized zebrafish as a model to assess developmental and locomotor performance effects of europium and samarium. Exposure to Eu or Sm induced a reduction in heart rate, growth inhibition, and morphological deformities.