Bone quality relies on hyaluronan synthesis - Insights from mice with complete knockout of hyaluronan synthase expression.

Bone consists of a complex mineralised matrix that is maintained by a controlled equilibrium of synthesis and resorption by different cell types. Hyaluronan (HA) is an important glycosaminoglycan in many tissues including bone. Previously, the importance of HA synthesis for bone development during embryogenesis has been shown.

Learning to Match 2D Keypoints Across Preoperative MR and Intraoperative Ultrasound.

We propose in this paper a texture-invariant 2D keypoints descriptor specifically designed for matching preoperative Magnetic Resonance (MR) images with intraoperative Ultrasound (US) images. We introduce a strategy, where intraoperative US images are synthesized from MR images accounting for multiple MR modalities and intraoperative US variability. We build our training set by enforcing keypoints localization over all images then train a patient-specific descriptor network that learns texture-invariant discriminant features in a supervised contrastive manner, leading to robust keypoints descriptors.

Clinical characteristics and serological profiles of Lyme disease in children: a 15-year retrospective cohort study in Switzerland.

Background: Lyme disease (LD) is caused by and is the most common tickborne disease in the northern hemisphere. Although classical characteristics of LD are well-known, the diagnosis and treatment are often delayed. Laboratory diagnosis by serological testing is recommended for most LD manifestations.

Quantitative ultrasound imaging reveals distinct fracture-associated differences in tibial intracortical pore morphology and viscoelastic properties in aged individuals with and without diabetes mellitus - an exploratory study.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder that increases fragility fracture risk. Conventional DXA-based areal bone mineral density (aBMD) assessments often underestimate this risk. Cortical Backscatter (CortBS) ultrasound, a radiation-free technique, non-invasively analyzes cortical bone's viscoelastic and microstructural properties.

Tracing active members in microbial communities by BONCAT and click chemistry-based enrichment of newly synthesized proteins.

A comprehensive understanding of microbial community dynamics is fundamental to the advancement of environmental microbiology, human health, and biotechnology. Metaproteomics, defined as the analysis of all proteins present within a microbial community, provides insights into these complex systems. Microbial adaptation and activity depend to an important extent on newly synthesized proteins (nP), however, the distinction between nP and bulk proteins is challenging.

Ecology of endolithic bryozoans: colony development, growth rates and interactions of species in the genus Immergentia.

Boring bryozoans dissolve calcium carbonate substrates, leaving unique borehole traces. Depending on the shell type, borehole apertures and colony morphology can be diagnostic for distinguishing taxa, but to discriminate among species their combination with zooidal morphology is essential. All boring (endolithic) bryozoans are ctenostomes that, along with other boring taxa, are common in benthic communities.

Blood-based biomarkers and plasma Aβ assays in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia.

Introduction: The differentiation between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can be complicated in the initial phase by shared symptoms and pathophysiological traits. Nevertheless, advancements in understanding AD's diverse pathobiology suggest the potential for establishing blood-based methods for differential diagnosis.

Methods: We devised a novel assay combining immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry (IP-MS) to quantify Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides in plasma.

Elucidation of intragenomic variation of ribosomal DNA sequences in the enigmatic fungal genus Ceraceosorus, including a newly described species Ceraceosorus americanus.

Multicopy nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) genes have been used as markers for fungal identification for three decades. The rDNA sequences in a genome are thought to be homogeneous due to concerted evolution. However, intragenomic variation of rDNA sequences has recently been observed in many fungi, which may make fungal identification and species abundance estimation based on these loci problematic.

Oral health risks in adults who use electronic nicotine delivery systems and oral nicotine pouches: a critical review of the literature and qualitative synthesis of the available evidence.

Background: Use of combustible cigarettes (CCs) and smokeless oral tobacco products are well documented risk factors for a variety of oral diseases. However, the potential oral health risks of using recently introduced (since about 2000) non-combustible tobacco/nicotine products (NCPs: electronic cigarettes (ECs), heated tobacco products (HTPs) and oral nicotine pouches (ONPs), remain poorly established.

Methods: This review evaluates published human studies on detrimental oral health effects in people who use NCPs compared to those smoking cigarettes and those not using any tobacco/nicotine product (NU).

Distinct regulation of Tau Monomer and aggregate uptake and intracellular accumulation in human neurons.

Background: The prion-like spreading of Tau pathology is the leading cause of disease progression in various tauopathies. A critical step in propagating pathologic Tau in the brain is the transport from the extracellular environment and accumulation inside naïve neurons. Current research indicates that human neurons internalize both the physiological extracellular Tau (eTau) monomers and the pathological eTau aggregates.

Newborn morbidities and care procedures at the special newborn care units of Gandaki Province, Nepal: a retrospective study.

Background: Despite recent improvements in the overall health status of Nepal's population, newborn morbidities and mortalities have remained a challenge. This study explores the situation and care strategies for newborn health problems in the Gandaki Province of Nepal.

Methods: This is a retrospective hospital records analysis.

Focus group-supported development and psychometric exploration of an instrument to assess perceived physical exertion in nursing students.

Background: The physical demands of nurses during their work and education are high. In addition, shortage in nursing staff increases the individual workload. However, an appropriate tool to measure perceived physical exertion in nursing students is missing.

Training needs of German healthcare professionals regarding sexual health and sex workers: results of a nationwide, cross-sectional survey.

Background: Sexual health is an important aspect of human well-being. In terms of sexual health and healthcare, sex workers might need more specialized care than others, given their higher risk for both discrimination and various sexually transmitted diseases. However, little is known about the quality of healthcare professionals' training regarding sexual health and healthcare of sex workers in Germany.

Treatment and counselling preferences of postpartum women with and without symptoms of (childbirth-related) PTSD: findings of the cross-sectional study INVITE.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the postpartum period is a prevalent yet under-researched mental health condition. To date, many women who suffer from postpartum PTSD remain unrecognized and untreated. To enhance the accessibility of help for these women, it is crucial to offer tailored treatment and counselling services that align with their needs.

Differentiating low- and high-proliferative soft tissue sarcomas using conventional imaging features and radiomics on MRI.

Background: Soft-tissue sarcomas are rare tumors of the soft tissue. Recent diagnostic studies mainly dealt with conventional image analysis and included only a few cases. This study investigated whether low- and high-proliferative soft tissue sarcomas can be differentiated using conventional imaging and radiomics features on MRI.

Predictive modeling to evaluate long-term treatment effectiveness of darvadstrocel in patients with complex perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease.

Background: Current therapies for complex Crohn's perianal fistulas (CPF) have a limited ability to achieve long-term healing. Darvadstrocel (DVS) is an expanded allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy that has demonstrated efficacy in treating complex CPF in clinical trials. There are, however, limited long-term comparative data with standard of care (SoC).

Internal validation of self-reported case numbers in hospital quality reports: preparing secondary data for health services research.

Background: Health services research often relies on secondary data, necessitating quality checks for completeness, validity, and potential errors before use. Various methods address implausible data, including data elimination, statistical estimation, or value substitution from the same or another dataset. This study presents an internal validation process of a secondary dataset used to investigate hospital compliance with minimum caseload requirements (MCR) in Germany.

GPs' perspectives on care models integrating medical and non-medical services in primary care-a representative survey in Germany.

Background: Health-related social problems are common in primary care. Different care models integrating medical and non-medical services in primary care have been tested and established nationally and internationally, such as social prescribing, social work in primary care, health kiosks and integrated primary care centres. The aim of our study was to explore the perspective of general practitioners (GPs) working in Germany on these four care models regarding their meaningfulness and if they would like to use them.

Everyday life and boredom of people living with dementia in residential long-term care: a merged methods study.

Background: Everyday life in residential long-term care is widely portrayed as boring. However, empirical evidence on this topic remains limited, particularly for the vulnerable group of people living with dementia. A better understanding of everyday life and the associated experiences of boredom could facilitate the development of practical strategies to reduce boredom in this target group.

Risk factors for dysphagia after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury: A retrospective study.

Objective: The pathophysiological mechanisms of dysphagia in individuals with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) are not well understood yet. Several risk factors for developing dysphagia after SCI were postulated including mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, age, female sex, anterior surgical approach, SCI severity, and multi-level spinal fusion. This study aimed to identify risk factors for dysphagia in individuals who sustained traumatic cervical SCI.