Very High-Power Short-Duration Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease.

Introduction: Data regarding safety and long-term outcome of very high-power-short duration (vHPSD) ablation in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients with paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) are lacking.

Methods: Retrospective observational single-center study. The data of 66 consecutive ACHD patients (mean age 60 ± 12.

Self-healing behavior of metallopolymers in complex.

This current study focusses on the investigation of the self-healing abilities of metallopolymers containing different kinds of metal complexes, which were processed by direct digital light processing (DLP) based three-dimensional (3D) printing. For this purpose, 2‑phenoxyethyl acrylate is mixed with ligand-containing monomers either based on triphenylmethyl(trt)-histidine or terpyridine, respectively. Either zinc(II) or nickel(II) salts are successfully applied for a complexation of the ligand monomers in solution and, subsequently, photopolymerization is performed.

The clockwork of insect activity: Advancing ecological understanding through automation.

Understanding insect behaviour and its underlying drivers is vital for interpreting changes in local biodiversity and predicting future trends. Conventional insect traps are typically limited to assess the composition of local insect communities over longer time periods and provide only limited insights into the effects of abiotic factors, such as light on species activity. Achieving finer temporal resolution is labour-intensive or only possible under laboratory conditions.

A randomized sequential cross-over trial evaluating five purportedly ICP-lowering drugs in idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

Objective: To gain initial insight into the efficacy to lower intracranial pressure (ICP), side effects, and effects on cognition of five drugs commonly used to treat idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).

Background: Limited clinical data exist for the treatment for IIH. Impaired cognition is recognized in IIH and can be exacerbated by medications.

How the Consideration of Spiritual Types Could Help in Coping With Moral Distress in Intensive Care: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Moral distress is highly prevalent among health care workers in intensive care in which spirituality has been identified both as a risk factor for moral distress and as a resource to mitigate it.

Objectives: Considering these contradictory findings, this study examined why moral distress is perceived in different ways and to what extent spirituality influences the ability to cope with moral distress.

Methods: In a qualitative study in German-speaking countries, semistructured interviews were evaluated using thematic analysis and typology construction according to Stapley et al.

International Validation of a Novel PEACE Scale to Improve the Quality of Upper Gastrointestinal Mucosal Inspection During Endoscopy.

Introduction: The performance of a high quality esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is dependent on the mucosal cleanliness. Recently, the Polprep: Effective Assessment of Cleanliness in EGD (PEACE) scale was created to assess the degree of mucosal cleanliness during EGD. The aim of this study was to validate this scoring system in a cohort of international endoscopists.

Non-targeted metabolomics-based molecular networking enables the chemical characterization of Rumex sanguineus, a wild edible plant.

Introduction And Objective: Rumex sanguineus, a traditional medicinal plant of the Polygonaceae family, is gaining popularity as an edible resource. However, despite its historical and nutritional significance, its chemical composition remains poorly understood. To deepen the understanding of the of Rumex sanguineus composition, an in-depth analysis using non-targeted, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics was performed.

Confined growth by self-combustion of a Cu-based nanophase into mesostructured acid supports for DME production from CO2.

This work deals with the design of nanocomposite hydrogenation-dehydration bifunctional catalysts for the one-pot conversion of CO2 to dimethyl ether (DME), focusing on obtaining a high and homogeneous dispersion of a Cu-based CO2 hydrogenation phase into the pores of mesostructured supports. Particularly, three aluminosilicate mesostructured acid catalysts with catalytic activity towards methanol dehydration and featuring different porous structures (Al-MCM-41, Al-SBA-15, Al-SBA-16) were synthesized and used as supports to host a CuO/ZnO/ZrO2 (CZZ) CO2 hydrogenation catalyst for methanol synthesis. The use of a mesostructured support allows to maximize the exposed surface of the CO2 reduction function by nanostructuring it through its confinement within the mesochannels, thus obtaining nanocomposite bifunctional catalysts with an ultra-small hydrogenation nanophase.

Epigenomics-guided precision oncology: Chromatin variants in prostate tumor evolution.

Prostate cancer is a common malignancy that in 5%-30% leads to treatment-resistant and highly aggressive disease. Metastasis-potential and treatment-resistance is thought to rely on increased plasticity of the cancer cells-a mechanism whereby cancer cells alter their identity to adapt to changing environments or therapeutic pressures to create cellular heterogeneity. To understand the molecular basis of this plasticity, genomic studies have uncovered genetic variants to capture clonal heterogeneity of primary tumors and metastases.

Proximal remote sensing: an essential tool for bridging the gap between high-resolution ecosystem monitoring and global ecology.

A new proliferation of optical instruments that can be attached to towers over or within ecosystems, or 'proximal' remote sensing, enables a comprehensive characterization of terrestrial ecosystem structure, function, and fluxes of energy, water, and carbon. Proximal remote sensing can bridge the gap between individual plants, site-level eddy-covariance fluxes, and airborne and spaceborne remote sensing by providing continuous data at a high-spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we review recent advances in proximal remote sensing for improving our mechanistic understanding of plant and ecosystem processes, model development, and validation of current and upcoming satellite missions.

Empirical vitalism: observing an organism's formative power within an active and co-constitutive relation between subject and object.

This article proposes an empirical approach to understanding the life of an organism that overcomes reductionist and dualist conceptions. The approach is based on Immanuel Kant's analysis of the cognitive conditions required for the recognition of an organism: the concept of teleology and the assumption of a formative power of self-generation. It is analyzed how these two criteria are applied in the cognition of a developing organism.

Acute lipid droplet accumulation induced by the inhibition of the phospholipase DDHD2 does not affect the level, solubility, or phosphoserine-129 status of α-synuclein.

α-Synuclein (αS) is a 140 amino-acid neuronal protein highly enriched in presynaptic nerve terminals. Its progressive accumulation in Lewy bodies and neurites is the hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). A growing number of studies highlights a critical interplay between lipid metabolism and αS biology.

First Detection and Molecular Characterization of Colpodella in Goats, Foxes, and Birds.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Colpodella sp. in domestic and wild animals in Cyprus. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to report the detection of Colpodella sp.

Efficient stochastic simulation of piecewise-deterministic Markov processes and its application to the Morris-Lecar model of neural dynamics.

Piecewise-deterministic Markov processes combine continuous in time dynamics with jump events, the rates of which generally depend on the continuous variables and thus are not constants. This leads to a problem in a Monte-Carlo simulation of such a system, where, at each step, one must find the time instant of the next event. The latter is determined by an integral equation and usually is rather slow in numerical implementation.

Stress resilience in plants: the complex interplay between heat stress memory and resetting.

Heat stress (HS) poses a major challenge to plants and agriculture, especially during climate change-induced heatwaves. Plants have evolved mechanisms to combat HS and remember past stress. This memory involves lasting changes in specific stress responses, enabling plants to better anticipate and react to future heat events.

Pollen-Derived Fatty Acids and Amino Acids Mediate Variance in Pollinator Visitation.

Pollinators help maintain functional landscapes and are sensitive to floral nutritional quality. Both proteins and lipids influence pollinator foraging, but the role of individual biochemical components in pollen remains unclear. We conducted an experiment comprising common garden plots of six plant species (Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Onagraceae, Boraginaceae, and Plantaginaceae).

ATM Expression and Activation in Ataxia Telangiectasia Patients with and without Class Switch Recombination Defects.

Background: Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase plays a critical role in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) patients exhibit abnormalities in immunoglobulin isotype expression and class switch recombination (CSR). This study investigates the role of residual ATM kinase expression and activity in the severity of A-T disease.

Anodized Ti6Al4V-ELI, electroplated with copper is bactericidal against Staphylococcus aureus and enhances macrophage phagocytosis.

Implants aim to restore skeletal dysfunction associated with ageing and trauma, yet infection and ineffective immune responses can lead to failure. This project characterized the microbiological and host cell responses to titanium alloy with or without electroplated metallic copper. Bacterial viability counting and scanning electron microscopy quantified and visualized the direct and indirect bactericidal effects of the Cu-electroplated titanium (Cu-Ep-Ti) against two different Staphylococcus aureus strains.

Predictors of prolonged hospital stay of pelvic ring and acetabular fractures - a retrospective analysis in a 10-year period of a level 1 trauma center.

Background: Pelvic ring and acetabular fractures are among the most complicated and severe injury patterns in orthopaedic trauma surgery. Inpatient treatment is not only costly but also very time-consuming. The aim of this study is to identify predictors leading to a prolonged length of hospital stay.

Effects of osteosynthesis of the bony thorax in the context of polytrauma compared to conservative treatment: a systematic review.

Purpose: Osteosynthesis seems to have effects regarding clinical outcomes in trauma patients. However, current knowledge on chest wall osteosynthesis in polytrauma patients is insufficient, leaving its potential unanswered. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review is to assess the safety and effects of chest wall osteosynthesis compared to conservative treatment on clinical outcomes in adult polytrauma patients.

Scanner-based real-time three-dimensional brain + body slice-to-volume reconstruction for T2-weighted 0.55-T low-field fetal magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Motion correction methods based on slice-to-volume registration (SVR) for fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow reconstruction of three-dimensional (3-D) isotropic images of the fetal brain and body. However, all existing SVR methods are confined to research settings, which limits clinical integration. Furthermore, there have been no reported SVR solutions for low-field 0.

Role of Heterogeneous Reactions in the Atmospheric Oxidizing Capacity in Island Environments.

The source of nitrous acid (HONO) and its importance in island or marine environments are poorly understood. Herein, based on comprehensive field measurements at a hilltop on Corsica Island, we find an inverse diel variation of HONO with higher concentrations during daytime. Night-time HONO budget analysis indicates significant HONO formation during air mass transport along the hillside.

Neural mechanisms of behavioral addiction: An ALE meta-analysis and MACM analysis.

Background And Aims: Behavioral addictions (BAs) represent complex and multifaceted disorders often associated with maladaptive neural alteration. To deepen our understanding of the essence of BAs, this study focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying its three stages: reward seeking, self-control, and decision-making. The aim of the current meta-analysis is to investigate the brain regions and neural networks involved in BAs.

RNase T2 deficiency promotes TLR13-dependent replenishment of tissue-protective Kupffer cells.

Lysosomal stress due to the accumulation of nucleic acids (NAs) activates endosomal TLRs in macrophages. Here, we show that lysosomal RNA stress, caused by the lack of RNase T2, induces macrophage accumulation in multiple organs such as the spleen and liver through TLR13 activation by microbiota-derived ribosomal RNAs. TLR13 triggered emergency myelopoiesis, increasing the number of myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow and spleen.