Effects of Age and Sex on Systemic Inflammation and Cardiometabolic Function in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Systemic inflammation, aging, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) lead to varying degrees of cardiovascular dysfunction and impaired aerobic exercise capacity. This study evaluates the impact of inflammation and sex differences on coronary and peripheral vascular function and exercise capacity in older individuals with and without T2D.

Methods: Older individuals (aged≥65 years) underwent biochemical and tissue inflammatory phenotyping, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, and vascular reactivity testing.

Nephronectin Is Required for Vascularization in Zebrafish and Sufficient to Promote Mammalian Vessel-Like Structures in Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering.

Background: Organs and tissues need to be vascularized during development. Similarly, vascularization is required to engineer thick tissues. How vessels are formed during organogenesis is not fully understood, and vascularization of engineered tissues remains a significant challenge.

Ultrahigh Specific Strength by Bayesian Optimization of Carbon Nanolattices.

Nanoarchitected materials are at the frontier of metamaterial design and have set the benchmark for mechanical performance in several contemporary applications. However, traditional nanoarchitected designs with conventional topologies exhibit poor stress distributions and induce premature nodal failure. Here, using multi-objective Bayesian optimization and two-photon polymerization, optimized carbon nanolattices with an exceptional specific strength of 2.

Effect of sugar beet variety resistance on the disease epidemiology of Cercospora beticola.

Background: Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), caused by Cercospora beticola, is the most destructive foliar disease in sugar beet. CLS is conventionally controlled with fungicide, but the emergence of fungicide-resistant populations reinforces the importance of developing and cultivating resistant varieties. Understanding the dynamics of CLS in different varieties is hence essential for sustainable CLS management.

Citrullinated Autoantigen-Specific T and B Lymphocytes in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Focus on Follicular T Helper Cells and Expansion by Coculture.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by circulating anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) autoantibodies (ACPAs), resulting in inflammation of the joints and other organs. We have established novel assays to assess immune cell subpopulations, including citrullinated antigen-specific (CAS) autoreactive B and T lymphocytes, in patients with RA.

Methods And Results: We found that activated CD25 T cells were markedly increased in patients with RA compared to healthy controls.

DECIPHERING AND COUNTERING FORMIC ACID PERMEABILITY IN ZERO-GAP ELECTROLYZERS.

In recent years, formic acid (FA) has garnered attention as a compelling molecule for various chemical and everyday applications Additionally, with recent studies demonstrating direct FA generation through CO2 electrolysis, it can serve as a stable liquid hydrogen carrier. Nevertheless, FA-permeability via semi-permeable ion‑exchange membranes (FA-crossover) still constitutes a major issue in scalable polymer-electrolyte separated zero-gap electrolyzers, limiting the breakthrough of the technology to the larger-scale. Herein we present a holistic route towards understanding the mechanism of FA-crossover in zero-gap cells.

Structural Insights into Broad-Range Polyphosphate Kinase 2‑II Enzymes Applicable for Pyrimidine Nucleoside Diphosphate Synthesis.

Polyphosphate kinases (PPK) play crucial roles in various biological processes, including energy storage and stress responses, through their interaction with inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) and the intracellular nucleotide pool. Members of the PPK family 2 (PPK2s) catalyse polyP‑consuming phosphorylation of nucleotides. In this study, we characterised two PPK2 enzymes from Bacillus cereus (BcPPK2) and Lysinibacillus fusiformis (LfPPK2) to investigate their substrate specificity and potential for selective nucleotide synthesis.

Stay Connected to Be Diverse!

Plankton biodiversity is crucial for the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, influencing nutrient cycling, food web dynamics, and carbon storage. Global change and habitat destruction disrupt these ecosystems, reducing species diversity and ecosystem resilience. Connectivity between aquatic habitats supports biodiversity by enabling species migration, genetic diversity, and recovery from disturbances.

Lateral Atrial Expression Patterns Provide Insights into Local Transcription Disequilibrium Contributing to Disease Susceptibility.

Background: Transcriptional dysregulation, possibly affected by genetic variation, contributes to disease development. Due to dissimilarities in development, function, and remodeling during disease progression, transcriptional differences between the left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) may provide insight into diseases such as atrial fibrillation.

Methods: Lateral differences in atrial transcription were evaluated in CATCH ME (Characterizing Atrial fibrillation by Translating its Causes into Health Modifiers in the Elderly) using a 2-stage discovery and replication design.

Structural and Functional Characterization of the Aorta in Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Changes in the phenotype and genotype in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are thought to involve the myocardium as well as extracardiac tissues. Here, we describe the structural and functional changes in the ascending aorta of obstructive patients with HCM.

Methods: Changes in the aortic wall were studied in a cohort of 101 consecutive patients with HCM undergoing myectomy and 9 normal controls.

Endothelium Modulates the Prothrombotic Phenotype of Factor V Leiden: Evidence From an Ex Vivo Model.

Background: Clinical expressivity of the thrombophilic factor V Leiden (FVL) mutation is highly variable. Recently, we demonstrated an increased APC (activated protein C) response in asymptomatic FVL carriers compared with FVL carriers with a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after in vivo coagulation activation. Here, we further explored this association using a recently developed ex vivo model based on patient-specific endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs).

Stage 2 Registered Report: Propositional Thought Is Sufficient for Imaginal Extinction as Shown by Contrasting Participants With Aphantasia, Simulated Aphantasia, and Controls.

Imaginal exposure is a standard procedure of cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. It is often used when in vivo exposure is not possible, too stressful for patients, or would be too expensive. The Bio-Informational Theory implies that imaginal exposure is effective because of the perceptual proximity of mental imagery to real events, whereas empirical findings suggest that propositional thought of fear stimuli (i.

Combining Ionic Groups with Methallyl Dichloride Coupling delivers New Pathways to Ionic/Non-ionic Hybrid Detergents.

Strategies for combining ionic and non-ionic functional groups are important for altering detergent properties and exploring new chemical spaces within the detergentome. Previous synthesis protocols for ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents require asymmetric detergent precursors with independently addressable hydroxyl groups that can be decorated with charged groups. However, preparation of ionic/non-ionic headgroups can be tedious in terms of required synthesis steps and resource consumption.

Rapid prospective motion correction using free induction decay and stationary field probe navigators at 7T.

Purpose: MR-based FID navigators (FIDnavs) do not require gradient pulses and are attractive for prospective motion correction (PMC) due to short acquisition times and high sampling rates. However, accuracy and precision are limited and depend on a separate calibration measurement. Besides FIDnavs, stationary NMR field probes are also capable of measuring local, motion-induced field changes.

MicroRNA Expression in High-Grade B-Cell Lymphoma With 11q Aberration.

Mature aggressive B-cell lymphomas, such as Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), show variations in microRNA (miRNA) expression. The entity of High-grade B-cell lymphoma with 11q aberration (HGBCL-11q) shares several biological features with both BL and DLBCL but data on its miRNA expression profile are yet scarce. Hence, this study aims to analyze the potential differences in miRNA expression of HGBCL-11q compared to BL and DLBCL.

Anonymize or synthesize? Privacy-preserving methods for heart failure score analytics.

Aims: Data availability remains a critical challenge in modern, data-driven medical research. Due to the sensitive nature of patient health records, they are rightfully subject to stringent privacy protection measures. One way to overcome these restrictions is to preserve patient privacy by using anonymization and synthetization strategies.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst - Diagnostic accuracy of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program - Risk model for patients undergoing abdominoplasty after massive weight loss - Results from a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: This study aimed to validate the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) risk calculator for predicting outcomes in patients undergoing abdominoplasty after massive weight loss.

Methods: Patients' characteristics, pre-existing comorbidities and adverse outcomes in our department from 2013 to 2023 were collected retrospectively. Adverse events were defined according to ACS-NSQIP standards and predicted risks were calculated manually using the ACS-NSQIP risk calculator.

Circular economy from scratch: A novel project-based learning method to increase motivation in metal recycling among industrial design students.

Project-based learning, with its emphasis on 'learning by doing', is the dominant teaching method in industrial design. Learners are supposed to be motivated to tackle complex problems such as those in the dynamic field of sustainability. However, it is still unclear how the process of increasing motivation within projects can be systematically targeted for specific sustainability challenges and directed towards potential later pro-environmental behavior.

Electronic dynamics created at conical intersections and its dephasing in aqueous solution.

A dynamical rearrangement in the electronic structure of a molecule can be driven by different phenomena, including nuclear motion, electronic coherence or electron correlation. Recording such electronic dynamics and identifying its fate in an aqueous solution has remained a challenge. Here, we reveal the electronic dynamics induced by electronic relaxation through conical intersections in both isolated and solvated pyrazine molecules using X-ray spectroscopy.

Hypercholesterolemia triggers innate immune imbalance and transforms brain infarcts after ischemic stroke.

Post-stroke early activation of neutrophils contributes to intensive neuroinflammation and worsens disease outcomes. Other pre-existing patient conditions can modify the extent of their activation during disease, especially hypercholesterolemia. However, whether and how increased circulating cholesterol amounts can change neutrophil activation responses very early after stroke has not been studied.

Is the freezing index a valid outcome to assess freezing of gait during turning in Parkinson's disease?

Introduction: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling symptom for people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). Turning on the spot for one minute in alternating directions (360 turn) while performing a cognitive dual-task (DT) is a fast and sensitive way to provoke FOG. The FOG-index is a widely used wearable sensor-based algorithm to quantify FOG severity during turning.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB infections boost cross-variant neutralizing antibodies, potentially explaining the observed delay of the JN.1 wave in some Brazilian regions.

Unlabelled: The SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 lineage emerged in late 2023 and quickly replaced the XBB lineages, becoming the predominant Omicron variant worldwide in 2024. We estimate the epidemiologic impact of this SARS-CoV-2 lineage replacement in Brazil and we further assessed the cross-reactive neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses in a cohort of convalescent Brazilian patients infected during 2023.

City classification and health burden: Evidence from U5 malaria in the rapidly growing city of Akure, Nigeria.

Objectives: Little is known about the complex interplay between urban structure and health in rapidly urbanizing cities in Nigeria.

Methods: The study broadly used very high-resolution satellite imagery and gathered primary data. With the aid of the very high-resolution imagery and identified neighborhoods, two neighborhoods each were sampled based on their classified urban structure characteristics.

Does the habitual dietary intake of adults in Bavaria, Germany, match dietary intake recommendations? Results of the 3rd Bavarian Food Consumption Survey.

Objective: Monitoring dietary habits is crucial for identifying shortcomings and delineating countermeasures. About 20 years after the last population-based surveys in Bavaria and Germany, dietary habits were assessed to describe the intake distributions and compare these with recommendations at food and nutrient level.

Methods: The 3rd Bavarian Food Consumption Survey (BVS III) was designed as a diet survey representative of adults in Bavaria; from 2021 to 2023, repeated 24-h diet recalls were collected by telephone using the software GloboDiet©.