Isolation of anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic secondary metabolites from Valeriana phu and evaluation of their mechanisms of action.

As a result of anti-inflammatory activity-guided fractionation, 16 secondary metabolites from the underground parts of Valeriana phu L. were obtained, including five new ones belonging to iridoid (1, 2, and 5), phenylpropanoid (6) and neolignan (7) chemical classes. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR analyses as well as HRESIMS.

Precursors of exhausted T cells are preemptively formed in acute infection.

T cell exhaustion limits effector T cell function in chronic infection and tumors. The development of these hypofunctional T cells and of their precursors was considered to require stimulatory conditions met only upon persisting exposure to antigen and inflammation. In sharp contrast, we found similar T cell populations in the early phase of acute infections.

Prognostic value of CD163 macrophages in solid tumor malignancies: A scoping review.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play crucial roles in development and progression of malignant diseases. Notably, CD163 TAMs likely perform specific pro-tumorigenic functions, suggesting that this subset may serve as both prognostic biomarkers and targets for future anti-cancer therapy. We conducted a scoping review to map the current knowledge on the prognostic role of CD163 TAMs in the five most lethal cancers worldwide: Lung, colorectal, gastric, liver, and breast cancer.

[Anaesthesia Technical Assistants (ATA) in the Recovery Room].

For two years now, anaesthesia technical assistance has been a state-recognized profession in Germany and entitles graduates to work in all fields of anaesthesiology, with the exception of the intensive care unit. The job profile is comparable to the nurse anesthetist in Great Britain (Operation Department Practitioner) or in the Netherlands (Anesthesiemedewerker). In an initial empirical research project in 2023, the professional field was described and the question of whether graduates are adequately prepared for the fields of anaesthesiology was discussed with the focus particularly on the recovery room.

[Platelet Concentrates - Indication, Informed Consent, Transfusion and Adverse Events].

Transfusion of platelet concentrates (PC) can be a life-saving measure in case of severe thrombocytopenia or thrombocytopathy, particularly in bleeding patients. Although acaryote, platelets are involved in several important functions including immunomodulation, but their most important function is in primary and secondary haemostasis. In this German review, apheresis and whole blood derived PC are compared and indications as well as transfusion triggers and dosage of PC are discussed.

Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761® ameliorates cognitive impairment and alleviates TNFα response in 5xFAD Alzheimer's disease model mice.

Background: Ginkgo biloba leaf extract EGb 761® has shown clinical efficacy in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. However, the pharmacological action of EGb 761® in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear and molecular mechanisms targeted in the brain are not completely understood.

Hypothesis/purpose: We aimed to investigate 1) the potential sex-dependent effects of oral administration of EGb 761® in 5xFAD mice, an AD mouse model, and 2) the underlying microglial subtype responsible for the observed anti-inflammatory effects in the brain.

Insulin amyloid morphology is encoded in H-bonds and electrostatics interactions ruling protein phase separation.

Ion-protein interactions regulate biological processes and are the basis of key strategies of modulating protein phase diagrams and stability in drug development. Here, we report the mechanisms by which H-bonds and electrostatic interactions in ion-protein systems determine phase separation and amyloid formation. Using microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, circular dichroism and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we found that anions specifically interacting with insulin induced phase separation by neutralising the protein charge and forming H-bond bridges between insulin molecules.

Monitoring and modelling landscape structure, land use intensity and landscape change as drivers of water quality using remote sensing.

The interactions between landscape structure, land use intensity (LUI), climate change, and ecological processes significantly impact hydrological processes, affecting water quality. Monitoring these factors is crucial for understanding their influence on water quality. Remote sensing (RS) provides a continuous, standardized approach to capture landscape structures, LUI, and landscape changes over long-term time series.

Attention modulates subjective time perception across eye movements.

Prior research has established that actions, such as eye movements, influence time perception. However, the relationship between pre-saccadic attention, which is often associated with eye movement, and subjective time perception is not explored. Our study examines the impact of pre-saccadic attention on the subjective experience of time during eye movements, particularly focusing on its influence on subjective time perception at the saccade target.

Outdoor exposure of a heavy metal doped concrete -Measuring and modelling of substance release.

Many construction products are in contact with, e.g., rain and seepage water during their service life.

Training and validating a treatment recommender with partial verification evidence.

Background: Current clinical decision support systems (DSS) are trained and validated on observational data from the clinic in which the DSS is going to be applied. This is problematic for treatments that have already been validated in a randomized clinical trial (RCT), but have not yet been introduced in any clinic. In this work, we report on a method for training and validating the DSS core before introduction to a clinic, using the RCT data themselves.

Characterisation of the HollandPTC R&D proton beamline for physics and radiobiology studies.

HollandPTC is an independent outpatient center for proton therapy, scientific research, and education. Patients with different types of cancer are treated with Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT). Additionally, the HollandPTC R&D consortium conducts scientific research into the added value and improvements of proton therapy.

Photodegradation of steroid hormone micropollutants with palladium-porphyrin coated porous PTFE of varied morphological and optical properties.

In flow-through reactors, the photodegradation rate can be improved by enhancing contact and increasing the photocatalyst loading. Both can be attained with a higher surface-to-volume ratio. While previous studies focused on thin membranes (30 - 130 µm) with small pore sizes of 20 - 650 nm, this work employed poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) supports, of which pore sizes are in the order of 10 µm, while the porosities and thicknesses are variable (22.

Model of drop infiltration into a thin amphiphilic porous medium.

Hypothesis: Water drop infiltration into a thin amphiphilic porous medium is influenced by wettability. Due to the reorganization of amphiphilic matter in contact with water, polar interaction changes the wettability in the bulk porous medium and at the liquid/porous substrate interface. To model out of equilibrium water transfer, we propose a thermodynamics approach derived from Onsager's principle.

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection in the Czech Republic.

Introduction: Lyme borreliosis (LB), an infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl), is the most common tick-borne disease in Europe. To further characterize the LB burden in the Czech Republic, we conducted a seroprevalence study and estimated the incidence of symptomatic Bbsl infections.

Methods: Anti-Bbsl IgM and IgG antibodies were detected in sera collected from the adult population in 2011 -2012 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot tests at the National Reference Laboratory.

Multilabel segmentation and analysis of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue in routine abdominal CT scans.

Purpose: This paper presents a deep learning-based multi-label segmentation network that extracts a total of three separate adipose tissues and five different muscle tissues in CT slices of the third lumbar vertebra and additionally improves the segmentation of the intermuscular fat.

Method: Based on a self-created data set of 130 patients, an extended Unet structure was trained and evaluated with the help of Dice score, IoU and Pixel Accuracy. In addition, the interobserver variability for the decision between ground truth and post-processed segmentation was calculated to illustrate the relevance in everyday clinical practice.

Effective Hamiltonians from Spin-Adapted Configuration Interaction.

A generalized extraction procedure for magnetic interactions using effective Hamiltonians is presented that is applicable to systems with more than two sites featuring local spins ≥ 1. To this end, closed, nonrecursive expressions pertaining to chains of arbitrary equal spins are derived with the graphical method of angular momentum. The method is illustrated by extracting magnetic couplings from ab initio calculations on a [CaMnO] cubane.

Topologies of Nanoscale Droplets upon Head-On Collision from Large Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

The binary collision of nanoscale droplets is studied with molecular dynamics simulation for droplets consisting of up to 2 × 10 molecules interacting via a truncated and shifted form of the Lennard-Jones potential. Considering head-on collisions of droplets with a temperature near the triple point that occur in a saturated vapor of the same fluid, this work explores a range of collision topologies. Four droplet sizes, with a radius ranging from 30 to 120 molecule diameters, are simulated with a varying initial relative collision velocity, covering 36 cases in total.

UNEXPECTED EFFECT OF EXCITATION WAVELENGTH IN SINGLE-MOLECULE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF TERRYLENE.

The reaction of terrylene in p-terphenyl with molecular oxygen is reinvestigated by TIRF-microscopy with λexc = 488 nm or λexc = 561 nm and 488 nm. A similar range of fluorescent products is obtained under both experimental conditions with a reaction quantum yield Φr > 10-7 for those molecules which undergo the photoreaction. The majority of these oxygen-susceptible molecules reacts via an electronically relaxed, dark intermediate, presumably an endoperoxide, with a lifetime of ~ 20 s.

Unraveling Spatial Heterogeneity in Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data with GraphMSI.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) provides valuable insights into metabolic heterogeneity by capturing in situ molecular profiles within organisms. One challenge of MSI heterogeneity analysis is performing an objective segmentation to differentiate the biological tissue into distinct regions with unique characteristics. However, current methods struggle due to the insufficient incorporation of biological context and high computational demand.

Isolation and Structure Elucidation of the Heterocumulene Anions [NCC-L]- (L = CO, CS, N2).

Cumulenes are molecules characterized by a series of consecutive double bonds. They serve as important reagents and intermediates in the synthesis of polymers and a wide variety of functionalized compounds, including various heterocycles. Understanding the properties of cumulenes and developing synthetic routes to these often highly reactive species is essential for unlocking new applications.

Modular Photoswitchable Molecular Glues for Chemo-optogenetic Control of Protein Function in Living Cells.

Optogenetic systems using photosensitive proteins and chemically induced dimerization/proximity (CID/CIP) approaches enabled by chemical dimerizers (also termed molecular glues), are powerful tools to elucidate the dynamics of biological systems and to dissect complex biological regulatory networks. Here, we report a versatile chemo-optogenetic system using modular, photoswitchable molecular glues (sMGs) that can undergo repeated cycles of optical control to switch protein function on and off. We use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to rationally design the sMGs and further expand their scope by incorporating different photoswitches, resulting in sMGs with customizable properties.