Biological Switches: Past and Future Milestones of Transcription Factor-Based Biosensors.

Since the description of the operon in 1961 by Jacob and Monod, transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes has been studied extensively and has led to the development of transcription factor-based biosensors. Due to the broad variety of detectable small molecules and their various applications across biotechnology, biosensor research and development have increased exponentially over the past decades. Throughout this period, key milestones in fundamental knowledge, synthetic biology, analytical tools, and computational learning have led to an immense expansion of the biosensor repertoire and its application portfolio.

An interdisciplinary e-learning intervention for professionals working with breast cancer survivors and chronic pain: a realist evaluation.

Purpose: Chronic pain is prevalent among breast cancer survivors. Bio-psychosocial factors interplay in its exacerbation and maintenance. Therefore, prevention and treatment require an interdisciplinary response and the integration of various approaches.

Introducing a global database of entomopathogenic fungi and their host associations.

Pathogens significantly influence natural and agricultural ecosystems, playing a crucial role in the regulation of species populations and maintaining biodiversity. Entomopathogenic fungi (EF), particularly within the Hypocreales order, exemplify understudied pathogens that infect insects and other arthropods globally. Despite their ecological importance, comprehensive data on EF host specificity and geographical distribution are lacking.

A human-like glutaminase-free asparaginase is highly efficacious in ASNS leukemia and solid cancer mouse xenograft models.

L-asparaginase (L-ASNase) is crucial in treating pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but its use is hampered by side effects from the immunogenicity and L-glutaminase (L-GLNase) co-activity of FDA-approved bacterial L-ASNases, often leading to treatment discontinuation and poor outcomes. The toxicity of these L-ASNases makes them especially challenging to use in adult cancer patients. To overcome these issues, we developed EBD-200, a humanized guinea pig L-ASNase with low Km and no L-GLNase activity, eliminating glutamine-related toxicity.

Capilliposide A alleviates DSS-induced colitis by regulating the intestinal flora and its metabolites of origin.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory disease that impacts the mucous membrane of the colon. Lately, the incidence and prevalence of UC has been increasing globally. However, there are significant side effects of existing drugs for UC intervention.

The Relationship Between Cognitive and Emotional Abilities and Ideological Attitudes Among Adolescents.

Objective: A large number of studies-usually based on samples of adults-have revealed a negative relationship between cognitive abilities and right-wing ideological attitudes. Recently, this relationship has been claimed to be weaker among adolescents.

Method: We administered data in a sample of adolescents (N = 531) who completed a full cognitive abilities test, as well as a number of abridged, performance-based emotional abilities tests.

Insights into general practitioners' self-care across 38 countries during the pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The adoption of healthy self-care practices has proven necessary for professional life, as they often serve as a shield against stressors in the workplace. The COVID-19 pandemic created a high strain on general practitioners (GPs), contributing to increased workload, burnout, and anxiety. The present study aimed to identify self-care practices adopted by GPs amid the COVID-19 pandemic; and to explore the relationships between self-care practices and risk of distress.

Benchmarks for low back pain in general practice in Flanders: electronic audit of INTEGO.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most frequent reasons for encounter in general practice. Yet results from literature show adherence to clinical practice guidelines is low. Audit & feedback is a well-known strategy to improve adherence to guidelines.

An analysis of women's authorship in five leading anesthesiology journals.

Purpose: Over the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in gender equity. The present study explored the gender gap in five leading anesthesiology journals worldwide, covering the period from 1980 to 2020.

Methods: We included all articles published in Anaesthesia, the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesia, and the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia in the years 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, analyzing trends in women's authorship.

Exploring protein conformations with limited proteolysis coupled to mass spectrometry.

Limited proteolysis coupled to mass spectrometry (LiP-MS) has emerged as a powerful proteomic tool for studying protein conformations. Since its introduction in 2014, LiP-MS has expanded its scope to explore complex biological systems and shed light on disease mechanisms, and has been used for protein drug research. This review discusses the evolution of the technique, recent technical advances, including enhanced protocols and integration of machine learning, and diverse applications across various experimental models.

Uncomplicated Type B Aortic Dissection - A European Multicentre Cross-Sectional Evaluation.

Objectives: A multicentre European randomized control trial - European Uncomplicated Type B Aortic Repair (EU-TBAR) is being developed to compare pre-emptive TEVAR with custom-made devices vs conventional OMT. The pre-trial set-up is confluent on different pillars, including evaluation of 1) European activity, trends, and governance, 2) outcome reporting, and 3) cost evaluation. This article aimed to demonstrate the observational cross-sectional survey results from participating centres and highlight the risk assessment, activity, practices, and governance of uncomplicated type B aortic dissection (uTBAD).

A minor role for hemispheric specialization in determining pseudoneglect: A pre-registered replication-extension study.

Neurologically intact individuals display a mild asymmetry in spatial attention that can be measured during experimental spatial tasks such as line bisection. Although this phenomenon, known as pseudoneglect, is traditionally explained as the consequence of right hemisphere dominance for visuospatial attention, surmounting evidence suggests this is not its sole or even its most important determinant. For instance, a recent fMRI study in left-handers revealed that rare individuals with a reversed, left hemispheric dominance (LHDS, N = 23) also demonstrated left-sided pseudoneglect, although their spatial bias was less marked compared to typically lateralized controls (N = 40).

A quality improvement program to reduce surgical site infections after cardiac surgery: A 10-year cohort study.

Objectives: To assess trends in surgical site infection (SSI) incidence in cardiosurgery following a quality improvement initiative in infection prevention and control (IP&C).

Methods: This is a historical cohort study encompassing a 10-year surveillance period (2014-2023) in a cardiosurgical department in a multi-organ transplant center. The study encompassed three periods: a baseline period (Phase_1: January 2014-December 2018); an implementation phase covering quality improvement initiatives targeting various aspects of IP&C including organizational factors, pre-operative, intra-operative, post-operative measures, and post-hospitalization care (Phase_2: January 2019-June 2021); a post-implementation phase (Phase_3: July 2021-September 2023).

Development and validation of animal variant classification guidelines to objectively evaluate genetic variant pathogenicity in domestic animals.

Assessing the pathogenicity of a disease-associated genetic variant in animals accurately is vital, both on a population and individual scale. At the population level, breeding decisions based on invalid DNA tests can lead to the incorrect inclusion or exclusion of animals and compromise the long-term health of a population, and at the level of the individual animal, lead to incorrect treatment and even life-ending decisions. Criteria to determine pathogenicity are not standardized, i.

Measurement properties of shear wave elastography for evaluating rotator cuff muscle stiffness: a systematic review.

Background: Literature assessing elasticity in rotator cuff (RC) muscles with shear wave elastography (SWE) is growing but little is known about the overall measurement properties. However, this information is crucial before implementation in research or practice. The objective of this review was first, to systematically investigate the evidence regarding reliability and validity of rotator cuff (RC) muscles shear wave elastography (SWE).

Associations of early childhood exposure to severe acute malnutrition and recovery with cardiometabolic risk markers in later childhood: 5-year prospective matched cohort study in Ethiopia.

Background: Impaired fetal and accelerated postnatal growth are associated with cardiometabolic disease. Few studies investigated how recovery from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is associated with childhood cardiometabolic risk.

Objective: We evaluated cardiometabolic risk in SAM children treated through community-based management, relative to controls, 5-year post-recovery.

Tremors in cats: 105 cases (2004-2023).

Although tremors are common neurological presentations, there is little known about their clinical features and underlying etiologies in cats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features, and underlying diagnoses in cats with tremors. We hypothesized that the results of this study would provide clinically useful information for clinicians when evaluating cats with tremors.

European consensus-based interdisciplinary guideline for melanoma. Part 1: Diagnostics - Update 2024.

This guideline was developed in close collaboration with multidisciplinary experts from the European Association of Dermato-Oncology (EADO), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma were developed on the basis of systematic literature research and consensus conferences. Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is the most dangerous form of skin tumor and accounts for 90 % of skin cancer mortality.

The maize aquaporin ZmPIP1;6 enhances stomatal opening and CO2- and ABA-induced stomatal closure.

The plasma membrane aquaporin ZmPIP1;6 is expressed in maize stomatal complexes, with higher expression during the day than at night. To elucidate the role of ZmPIP1;6 in gas exchange and stomatal movement, it was expressed in maize (inbred line B104) under the control of p35S promoter (OE) or its native promoter fused with mYFP cDNA (mYFP-ZmPIP1;6). In stomatal complexes of the leaf mature zone, mYFP-ZmPIP1;6 showed higher expression in subsidiary cells than in guard cells, with light and dark treatments influencing its subcellular localization.

The Clinical Relevance of Prior Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease in a Nationwide Belgian Liver Transplant Population.

Background And Aims: Patients with a history of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) are susceptible to developing alcohol use disorder. Outcome after transplantation for alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) has not been studied in-depth.

Methods: We included adult patients who underwent a liver transplantation (LT) in Belgium between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2022 for ALD.

Early detection of OXA-48 producing Klebsiella pneumoniae with the use of rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing.

Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing of positive blood cultures can enhance antimicrobial stewardship and patient outcomes. We present a case where OXA-48-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae with low-level carbapenem resistance was suspected 6 h after blood-culture positivity, based on ASTar system (Q-Linea, Sweden) results. OXA-48 carbapenemase presence was confirmed by the OXA-48 K-SeT lateral flow assay (Coris, Belgium) on a short-term subculture.

Lectin-carbohydrate analysis by molecular dynamics: Parkia lectins case study.

Understanding lectin-carbohydrate interactions at the structural and molecular levels is crucial to the field of lectins, as the diverse roles and biological activities exhibited by these proteins are fundamentally linked to their specific binding to target glycoconjugates. This study aimed to apply molecular dynamics to analyze the structure and binding properties of Parkia lectins. 3D structures of Parkia platycephala and P.