The non-nutritive sweetener rebaudioside a enhances phage infectivity.

Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are widely employed in foodstuffs. However, it has become increasingly evident that their consumption is associated with bacterial dysbiosis, which, in turn, is linked to several health conditions, including a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer. Among the NNS, stevia, whose main component is rebaudioside A (rebA), is gaining popularity in the organic food market segment.

Effects of time-of-day on the noradrenaline, adrenaline, cortisol and blood lipidome response to an ice bath.

While the effect of time-of-day (morning versus evening) on hormones, lipids and lipolysis has been studied in relation to meals and exercise, there are no studies that have investigated the effects of time-of-day on ice bath induced hormone and lipidome responses. In this crossover-designed study, a group of six women and six men, 26 ± 5 years old, 176 ± 7 cm tall, weighing 75 ± 10 kg, and a BMI of 23 ± 2 kg/mhad an ice bath (8-12 °C for 5 min) both in the morning and evening on separate days. Absence from intense physical exercise, nutrient intake and meal order was standardized in the 24 h prior the ice baths to account for confounders such as diet or exercise.

The effect of mortality salience and early-life maternal care on neuroendocrine, autonomic, and psychological stress responses.

Adverse early-life experiences alter the regulation of major stress systems such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Low early-life maternal care (MC) has repeatedly been related to blunted cortisol stress responses. Likewise, an acutely increased awareness of mortality (mortality salience [MS]) also has been shown to blunt cortisol responses.

The role of worldviews, radicalization risk factors, and personality in harassment of scientists.

Anti-science movements brought more than public distrust in science. Perhaps even more worryingly, these movements are also associated with instances of harassment of-and violence against-scientists. However, virtually nothing is known about individuals likely to harass or harm scientists.

Biopsy location and tumor-associated macrophages in predicting malignant glioma recurrence using an in-silico model.

Predicting the biological behavior and time to recurrence (TTR) of high-grade diffuse gliomas (HGG) after maximum safe neurosurgical resection and combined radiation and chemotherapy plays a pivotal role in planning clinical follow-up, selecting potentially necessary second-line treatment and improving the quality of life for patients diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The current standard-of-care (SoC) for HGG includes follow-up neuroradiological imaging to detect recurrence as early as possible and relies on several clinical, neuropathological, and radiological prognostic factors, which have limited accuracy in predicting TTR. In this study, using an in-silico analysis, we aim to improve predictive power for TTR by considering the role of (i) prognostically relevant information available through diagnostics used in the current SoC, (ii) advanced image-based information not currently part of the standard diagnostic workup, such as tumor-normal tissue interface (edge) features and quantitative data specific to biopsy positions within the tumor, and (iii) information on tumor-associated macrophages.

The stability and modulation of if-then rules versus prospective planning in movement selection under dual-tasking conditions.

Two approaches to movement selection, if-then rules versus prospective planning, were investigated. Studies have shown that the rule-based approach leads to more efficient movement selection than the plan-based approach, though the resulting movements are the same. This dual-tasking study investigates two hypotheses explaining this discrepancy: The efficiency hypothesis states that the rule-based approach to movement selection is more efficient, and its advantage over the plan-based approach increases under any kind of enhanced task demands.

PTMNavigator: interactive visualization of differentially regulated post-translational modifications in cellular signaling pathways.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) play pivotal roles in regulating cellular signaling, fine-tuning protein function, and orchestrating complex biological processes. Despite their importance, the lack of comprehensive tools for studying PTMs from a pathway-centric perspective has limited our ability to understand how PTMs modulate cellular pathways on a molecular level. Here, we present PTMNavigator, a tool integrated into the ProteomicsDB platform that offers an interactive interface for researchers to overlay experimental PTM data with pathway diagrams.

Physical embodiment and anthropomorphism of AI tutors and their role in student enjoyment and performance.

Rising interest in artificial intelligence in education reinforces the demand for evidence-based implementation. This study investigates how tutor agents' physical embodiment and anthropomorphism (student-reported sociability, animacy, agency, and disturbance) relate to affective (on-task enjoyment) and cognitive (task performance) learning within an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). Data from 56 students (M = 17.

Hypoxia-induced conversion of sensory Schwann cells into repair cells is regulated by HDAC8.

After a peripheral nerve injury, Schwann cells (SCs), the myelinating glia of the peripheral nervous system, convert into repair cells that foster axonal regrowth, and then remyelinate or re-ensheath regenerated axons, thereby ensuring functional recovery. The efficiency of this mechanism depends however on the time needed for axons to regrow. Here, we show that ablation of histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) in SCs accelerates the regrowth of sensory axons and sensory function recovery.

Three-dimensional architecture and linearized mapping of vibrissa follicle afferents.

Understanding vibrissal transduction has advanced by serial sectioning and identified afferent recordings, but afferent mapping onto the complex, encapsulated follicle remains unclear. Here, we reveal male rat C2 vibrissa follicle innervation through synchrotron X-ray phase contrast tomograms. Morphological analysis identified 5% superficial, ~32 % unmyelinated and 63% myelinated deep vibrissal nerve axons.

Nymphal feeding suppresses oviposition-induced indirect plant defense in rice.

Feeding and oviposition by phytophagous insects are both known to trigger defenses in plants. Whether these two defenses functionally interact remains poorly studied, although these interactions are likely important for pests with overlapping generations. Here we investigated the differences and interaction between feeding- and oviposition-induced plant defenses triggered by the brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens), which gregariously feeds and oviposits on rice.

High-Throughput Effect-Directed Analysis of Androgenic Compounds in Hospital Wastewater: Identifying Effect Drivers through Non-Target Screening Supported by Toxicity Prediction.

The increasing number of contaminants released into the environment necessitates innovative strategies for their detection and identification, particularly in complex environmental matrices like hospital wastewater. Hospital effluents contain both natural and synthetic hormones that might significantly contribute to endocrine disruption in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, HT-EDA has been implemented to identify the main effect-drivers (testosterone, androsterone and norgestrel) from hospital effluent using microplate fractionation, the AR-CALUX bioassay and an efficient data processing workflow.

Predicting cell morphological responses to perturbations using generative modeling.

Advancements in high-throughput screenings enable the exploration of rich phenotypic readouts through high-content microscopy, expediting the development of phenotype-based drug discovery. However, analyzing large and complex high-content imaging screenings remains challenging due to incomplete sampling of perturbations and the presence of technical variations between experiments. To tackle these shortcomings, we present IMage Perturbation Autoencoder (IMPA), a generative style-transfer model predicting morphological changes of perturbations across genetic and chemical interventions.

Rapid High-Sensitivity Analysis of Methane Clumped Isotopes (ΔCHD and ΔCHD) Using Mid-Infrared Laser Spectroscopy.

Mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy enables rapid and nondestructive analysis of methane clumped isotopes. However, current analytical methods require a sample size of 20 mL STP (0.82 mmol) of pure CH gas, which significantly limits its application to natural samples.

Advanced remote focus control in multicore meta-fibers through 3D nanoprinted phase-only holograms.

In this study, we present an unexplored approach for remote focus manipulation using 3D nanoprinted holograms integrated on the end face of multi-core single-mode fibers. This innovative method enables precise focus control within a monolithic metafiber device by allowing light coupled into any of the 37 cores to be precisely focused at predefined locations. Our approach demonstrates significant advances over conventional lenses and offers unique functionalities through computationally designed holograms.

Employment Status and HIV Viral Load in Chilean Adult Population: A Propensity Score Analysis.

We set out to investigate the potential impact of unemployment on HIV viral load in individuals living with HIV at the biggest HIV-related healthcare centre in Chile. We analysed a cross-sectional dataset of 803 adults living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. The main exposure was employment status.

Cardiotoxicity as important differential diagnosis for reduced myocardial blood flow during Rubidium cardiac PET/CT : Cardiotoxicity in Rubidium PET/CT.

A 65-year-old woman with a history of ductal mammary carcinoma and recent autonomic dysfunction underwent a Rb-82 chloride (RbCl) cardiac PET/CT scan that showed no ischemia or scarring, but significantly reduced myocardial flow reserve (MFR) (global: 1.5) and a CAC-Score of 0. The patient's chemotherapy history (paclitaxel, carboplatin, epirubicin, pembrolizumab 2 years before) with elevated Troponin T and NT-pro-BNP levels at that time, and now reduced MFR with 0 CAC suggests cancer-therapy-related cardiotoxicity.

Genetic associations determine the effects of intergenerational and transgenerational stress memory for salinity exposure histories in barley.

Enhancing salt tolerance genetically through defining the genetic and physiological mechanisms intergenerational and transgenerational stress memory that contributes to sustainable agriculture by reducing the reliance on external inputs such as irrigation and improving the adaptability of barley to changing climate conditions. Salinity stress poses a substantial challenge to barley production worldwide, adversely affecting crop yield, quality, and agricultural sustainability. To address this, the present study utilized a genome-wide association san (GWAS) to identify genetic associations underlying intergenerational and transgenerational stress memory in response to salinity in a diverse panel of 138 barley accessions.

Overall survival and progression-free survival in pediatric meningiomas: a systematic review and individual patient-level meta-analysis.

Background: Pediatric meningiomas (PMs) are rare central nervous system tumors, accounting for 1-5% of all meningiomas, and differ from adult meningiomas in clinical, histopathological, and molecular features. Current guidelines primarily focus on adults, leaving a gap in evidence-based management for PMs. This study presents the largest meta-analysis of longitudinal individual patient data (IPD) to date, addressing progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in pediatric patients.

Fracture load of feldspar ceramic crowns: effects of surface treatments and aging.

Objectives: To compare the impact of intaglio surface treatments - airborne particle abrasion and hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching - of feldspar ceramic (FEL) crowns on the fracture load (FL) and to investigate the effects of abutment materials and artificial aging. The aim was to assess whether etching could be replaced by an alternative surface roughening method.

Materials And Methods: FEL crowns had their intaglio surfaces either abraded (25 µm AlO, 0.

GOLD grade-specific characterization of COPD in the COSYCONET multi-center trial: comparison of semiquantitative MRI and quantitative CT.

Objectives: We hypothesized that semiquantitative visual scoring of lung MRI is suitable for GOLD-grade specific characterization of parenchymal and airway disease in COPD and that MRI scores correlate with quantitative CT (QCT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters.

Methods: Five hundred ninety-eight subjects from the COSYCONET study (median age = 67 (60-72)) at risk for COPD or with GOLD1-4 underwent PFT, same-day paired inspiratory/expiratory CT, and structural and contrast-enhanced MRI. QCT assessed total lung volume (TLV), emphysema, and air trapping by parametric response mapping (PRM, PRM) and airway disease by wall percentage (WP).

Immunoregulatory programs in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis identified by single-cell multi-omics analysis.

Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) is a prevalent type of autoimmune encephalitis caused by antibodies targeting the NMDAR's GluN1 subunit. While significant progress has been made in elucidating the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases, the immunological mechanisms underlying anti-NMDARE remain elusive. This study aimed to characterize immune cell interactions and dysregulation in anti-NMDARE by leveraging single-cell multi-omics sequencing technologies.

New Strains of the Deep Branching Streptophyte Streptofilum: Phylogenetic Position, Cell Biological and Ecophysiological Traits, and Description of Streptofilum arcticum sp. nov.

Streptofilum capillatum was recently described and immediately caught scientific attention, because it forms a phylogenetically deep branch in the streptophytes and is characterised by a unique cell coverage composed of piliform scales. Its phylogenetic position and taxonomic rank are still controversial discussed. In the present study, we isolated further strains of Streptofilum from biocrusts in sand dunes and Arctic tundra soil.

Early life factors and later metabolic syndrome in European children and adolescents.

Background And Aims: Early life factors have been suggested to be associated with later cardiometabolic risk in children, adolescents and adults. Our study aimed to investigate the associations between early life factors and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children and adolescents.

Methods And Results: Our analysis sample comprised of 8852 children aged 2-9 years at baseline that participated in up to three examination waves of the pan-European IDEFICS/I.