Association of Low-Attenuation Plaque with Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in plaque composition and burden between normal glycemic status (NGS) and dysglycemia expressed as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: Clinically indicated coronary computed tomography angiography was used to evaluate patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). An oral glucose tolerance test was performed to assess glycemic status.

Shrimp White Spot Viral Infections Are Attenuated by Organic Acids by Regulating the Expression of HO-1 Oxygenase and β-1,3-Glucan-Binding Protein.

The absence of efficient on-farm interventions against white spot syndrome viral (WSSV) infections can cause significant economic losses to shrimp farmers. With this exploratory study we aimed to test, both in vitro and in vivo, the efficacy of an organic acid mixture (Aq) against WSSV infections in shrimp. In vitro, using shrimp gut primary cells (SGP), 2% Aq significantly reduced WSSV infection and the amounts of HO released but had no impact on CAT and SOD expression.

Enlightening Nursing Care: A Protocol for a Multicenter Observational Study Measuring Nursing Work in Hospital Settings.

: Rising costs and demands for improved quality of care present complex challenges for existing healthcare systems. The strain on healthcare resources is exacerbated by the increasing complexity of patient conditions. The Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) system classifies inpatients according to clinical and treatment criteria, controls healthcare expenditures, and ensures the sustainability of procedures.

The Moderating Role of Social Capital Between Parenting Stress and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Working Mothers in China.

Unlabelled: Rapid economic growth has transformed social and family structure globally, including in China, over the past few decades. With women's engagement in the workforce, the dual demand of paid and domestic work has become a major source of stress, particularly among mothers. Working mothers face unique challenges of family obligations blended with contemporary values of women's career aspirations.

Potentials of Presepsin as a Novel Sepsis Biomarker in Critically Ill Adults: Correlation Analysis with the Current Diagnostic Markers.

Sepsis is a major cause of patient death in intensive care units (ICUs). Rapid diagnosis of sepsis assists in optimizing treatments and improves outcomes. Several biomarkers are employed to aid in the diagnosis, prognostication, severity grading, and sub-type discrimination of severe septic infections (SSIs), including current diagnostic parameters, hemostatic measures, and specific organ dysfunction markers.

Advances in Cardiovascular Multimodality Imaging in Patients with Marfan Syndrome.

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a genetic disorder affecting connective tissue, often leading to cardiovascular complications such as aortic aneurysms and mitral valve prolapse. Cardiovascular multimodality imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, monitoring, and management of MFS patients. This review explores the advancements in echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), cardiac computed tomography (CCT), and nuclear medicine techniques in MFS.

Infective Complications of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and Clinical Biomarkers: A Concise Review.

EBUS-TBNA is the most common interventional pulmonology procedure performed globally and remains the cornerstone of the diagnosis and staging not only of lung cancer but also for other neoplastic, inflammatory, and infective pathologies of the mediastinum. Infective complications of EBUS-TBNA are underreported in the literature, but the constantly rising incidence of lung cancer is leading to an increasing number of EBUS-TBNA procedures and, therefore, to a significant number of infective complications, even 4 weeks following the procedure. In this review we attempt to summarize the risk factors related to these infective complications, along with useful biomarkers that can be used to identify patients that might develop infective complications, to facilitate the prediction or even prompt treatment of these.

, and as Potential Functional Food Ingredients for the Management of Metabolic Syndrome.

Hypertension, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and obesity raise an individual's risk of suffering from diseases associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). In humans, enzymes that play a role in the prevention and development of MS include angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE-1) associated with hypertension, α-amylase associated with T2D, and lipase linked to the development of obesity. Seaweeds are a rich source of bioactives consisting of proteins/peptides, polysaccharides, and lipids.

Unravelling the Digestibility and Structure-Function Relationship of Lentil Protein Through Germination and Molecular Weight Fractionation.

This study explores for the first time the impact of a 6-day germination process on the structure (FTIR), antioxidant activity, nutritional/safety attributes (ACE-I inhibitory activity, digestibility, and cytotoxicity), and functional properties of fractions of variable molecular weight (W > 5 kDa; 3 kDa < MW < 5 kDa; and MW < 3 kDa) isolated from proteins extracted from lentils. FTIR results indicated a substantial increase in β-sheet contents during germination. The digestibility of proteins increased from day 0 (16.

Formulation and Characterization of Sodium Caseinate/Phloretin Complexes as Antioxidant Stabilizers in Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

Emulsifiers with antioxidant properties, such as protein/polyphenol complexes, adsorb at the oil-water interface and improve the physical and oxidative stability of emulsions. Here, 2% (/) sodium caseinate and varying concentrations of phloretin (0-10 mM) were used to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. Control emulsions with protein alone showed poor stability with increased droplet sizes from 0.

Moisture Loss from Cheese During Baking: Influence of Cheese Type, Cheese Mass, and Temperature.

This study examined how temperature, cheese mass and moisture content impact moisture loss rate in various cheeses during baking. Understanding these factors is essential for determining the browning properties of cheese during baking. Eight cheese types, differing in moisture content, were baked at 100-200 °C in a halogen moisture analyzer, and moisture loss over time was recorded.

Binding and cleavage of pro-urokinase by a tegument extract of Fasciola hepatica newly excysted juveniles activate the host fibrinolytic system.

Plasmin, the final product of fibrinolysis, is a broad-spectrum serine protease that degrades extracellular matrix (ECM) components, a function exploited by multiple pathogens for dissemination purposes. The trematode Fasciola hepatica is the leading cause of fasciolosis, a major disease of livestock and an emerging zoonosis in humans. Infection success depends on the ability of F.

Development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative clinical trial operations training program for Africa (ClinOps).

Background: Africa's involvement in clinical trials remains very low. Although the crucial role of training initiatives in building clinical trial capacity in Africa has been documented, current efforts fall short as they lack alignment with local contexts. This study aimed to design, develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative clinical trial operations training program for Africa.

"You're not taught to think about the words you use and then it just perpetuates"- a qualitative examination of medical students' perspectives of stigmatising language in healthcare.

Background: Stigmatising language is used commonly in healthcare, affecting healthcare providers' perceptions of patients and care delivery. Using person-first language is best practice, however, it does not reflect reality.

Method: This study examined medical students' perspectives on stigmatising language in healthcare.

Transcriptional time-course analysis during ash dieback infection revealed different responses in tolerant and susceptible Fraxinus excelsior genotypes.

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of Ash Dieback (ADB), has been introduced to eastern Europe in the 1990s from where it spread causing decline in European ash populations. However, the genetic basis of the molecular response in tolerant and susceptible ash trees to this disease is still largely unknown. We performed RNA-sequencing to study the transcriptomic response to the disease in four ash genotypes (ADB-tolerant FAR3 and FS36, and ADB-susceptible UW1 and UW2), during a time-course of 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-inoculation, including mock-inoculated trees as control samples for each sampling time point.

Design, Synthesis and in Silico Molecular Docking Studies of Adamantanyl hydrazinylthiazoles as Potential Anti-diabetic Agents.

Diabetes mellitus is a widespread disease that poses a major threat to millions of people. To address this issue, we have synthesized seventeen new 4-(adamantan-1-yl)-(2-(arylidene)hydrazinyl)thiazoles via Hantzsch synthetic approach. The molecular structures of all the compounds were confirmed using spectroscopic techniques.

Structural model of a bacterial focal adhesion complex.

Cell movement on surfaces relies on focal adhesion complexes (FAs), which connect cytoskeletal motors to the extracellular matrix to produce traction forces. The soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus uses a bacterial FA (bFA), for surface movement and predation. The bFA system, known as Agl-Glt, is a complex network of at least 17 proteins spanning the cell envelope.

Giant pit craters on the modern seafloor above magma-induced hydrothermal vent complexes of Scotia Sea, offshore Antarctica.

Massive injection of C depleted carbon to the ocean and atmosphere coincided with major environmental upheaval multiple times in the geological record. For several events, the source of carbon has been attributed to explosive venting of gas produced when magmatic sills intruded organic-rich sediment. The concept mostly derives from studies of a few ancient sedimentary basins with numerous hydrothermal vent complexes (HTVCs) where craters appear to have formed across large areas of the seafloor at the same time, but good examples remain rare in strata younger than the Early Eocene.

Segmental analysis of human hair reveals intra-annual variation in 25(OH)D concentrations in modern and archaeological individuals.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy skeletal growth and is increasingly recognised for its role in chronic disease development, inflammation and immunity. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations are an indicator of vitamin D status and are normally analysed in plasma or serum samples in clinical settings, while archaeological studies rely on the identification of skeletal markers of vitamin D deficiency, such as rickets. Here, we determined 25(OH)D concentrations in hair specimens ('locks') that had been sampled close to the root, aligned by cut end, and sliced into sequential segments from participants (n = 16), from Aberdeen, Scotland, using a modified protocol designed to minimise sample size.

COFcap2, a recyclable tandem catalysis reactor for nitrogen fixation and conversion to chiral amines.

Two or more catalysts conducting multistep reactions in the same reactor, concurrent tandem catalysis, could enable (bio)pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacturing to become much more sustainable. Herein we report that co-immobilization of metal nanoparticles and a biocatalytic system within a synthetic covalent organic framework capsule, COFcap-2, functions like an artificial cell in that, whereas the catalysts are trapped within 300-400 nm cavities, substrates/products can ingress/egress through ca. 2 nm windows.

Robust formation control of multiple aerial robotic vehicles using near neighbor cyclic deviation with time-varying disturbances.

Cooperative formation flight of multiple aerial robotic vehicles (ARVs) is extensively adopted in emergency rescue and collaborative transport. But the time-varying complex disturbances are inevitable in the cooperative formation flight of multiple ARVs, which can affect the formation stability of multi-ARV systems. This paper investigates the robust formation control problems for multiple ARVs with time-varying disturbances.

Establishing a Pan-European, multi-disciplinary taphonomic research Infrastructure: The 'UK-Netherlands decomposition experimental research (UNDER) Group'.

This study unveils the establishment of the United Kingdom-Netherlands Decomposition Experimental Research (UNDER) working group, marking a pioneering initiative in practical Forensic Taphonomy within the UK. Our primary objective was to craft a cohesive multidisciplinary framework, designed to ethically orchestrate, execute, and assess human decomposition. Concurrently, we aimed to amass data through human burials, fostering collaboration among diverse forensic experts across Europe.

Admission to acute medical wards for mental health concerns among children and young people in England from 2012 to 2022: a cohort study.

Background: There are challenges in providing high quality care for children and young people who are admitted to acute medical wards for mental health concerns. Although there is concern that these admissions are increasing, national data describing these patterns are scarce. We aimed to describe trends in these admissions in England over a 10-year period, and to identify factors associated with repeat admission and length of stay.