CARD domains mediate anti-phage defence in bacterial gasdermin systems.

Caspase recruitment domains (CARDs) and pyrin domains are important facilitators of inflammasome activity and pyroptosis. Following pathogen recognition by nucleotide binding-domain, leucine-rich, repeat-containing (NLR) proteins, CARDs recruit and activate caspases, which, in turn, activate gasdermin pore-forming proteins to induce pyroptotic cell death. Here we show that CARD domains are present in defence systems that protect bacteria against phage.

Bat genomes illuminate adaptations to viral tolerance and disease resistance.

Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Bats have been suggested to harbour more zoonotic viruses than any other mammalian order. Infections in bats are largely asymptomatic, indicating limited tissue-damaging inflammation and immunopathology.

A guidance to intelligent metamaterials and metamaterials intelligence.

The bidirectional interactions between metamaterials and artificial intelligence have recently attracted immense interest to motivate scientists to revisit respective communities, giving rise to the proliferation of intelligent metamaterials and metamaterials intelligence. Owning to the strong nonlinear fitting and generalization ability, artificial intelligence is poised to serve as a materials-savvy surrogate electromagnetic simulator and a high-speed computing nucleus that drives numerous self-driving metamaterial applications, such as invisibility cloak, imaging, detection, and wireless communication. In turn, metamaterials create a versatile electromagnetic manipulator for wave-based analogue computing to be complementary with conventional electronic computing.

The compositional behavior of the human T cell receptor repertoire in ovarian cancer compared to healthy donors.

The distinctive characteristics of an individual's T cell receptor repertoire are crucial in recognizing and responding to a diverse array of antigens, contributing to immune specificity and adaptability. The repertoire, famously vast due to a series of cellular mechanisms, can be quantified using repertoire sequencing. In this study, we sampled the repertoire of 85 women: ovarian cancer patients (OC) and healthy donors (HD), generating a dataset of T cell clones and their abundance.

Currently Available Radiology-Specific Reporting Guidelines.

The aim of this paper is to contextualize and review reporting guidelines available at the EQUATOR Network that are most relevant to radiology-specific investigations. Eight EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines for the clinical area of radiology, not including the subspecialized areas of imaging of the cardiovascular, neurologic, and oncologic diseases are reviewed and discussed. The reporting guidelines are for diagnostic and therapeutic clinical research.

Time persistence of the fMRI resting-state functional brain networks.

Time persistence is a fundamental property of many complex physical and biological systems; thus understanding the phenomenon in the brain is of high importance. Time persistence has been explored at the level of stand-alone neural time-series, but since the brain functions as an interconnected network, it is essential to examine time persistence at the network level. Changes in resting-state networks have been previously investigated using both dynamic (i.

Antithrombotic resumption after middle meningeal artery embolization or surgery for chronic subdural hematoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The periprocedural management of antithrombotic medications in patients with chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) after middle meningeal artery embolization (MMAE) or surgical evacuation is uncertain.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted across Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. We pooled proportions and risk ratios (RRs) for the meta-analysis with the corresponding 95% CIs.

Development and validation of a novel risk-predicted model for early sepsis-associated acute kidney injury in critically ill patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a prediction model for the detection of early sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI), which is defined as AKI diagnosed within 48 hours of a sepsis diagnosis.

Design: A retrospective study design was employed. It is not linked to a clinical trial.

The developmental and genetic basis of male genitalia evolution in Drosophilids.

Reproductive organs are among the most variable and rapidly evolving structures in the animal kingdom, probably due to sexual selection. In insects, the diverse morphology of male genitalia is often one of the few visible characteristics that can reliably distinguish closely related species, making it crucial for taxonomic classification. Consistent with this, males of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster and its closely related species display remarkable variations in genital morphology.

Clinical perspective on pluripotent stem cells derived cell therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Self-renewal capacity and potential to differentiate into almost any cell type of the human body makes pluripotent stem cells a valuable starting material for manufacturing of clinical grade cell therapies. Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by gradual loss of structure or function of neurons, often leading to neuronal death. This results in gradual decline of cognitive, motor, and physiological functions due to the degeneration of the central nervous systems.

Mitral Valve Prolapse Caused by TLL1 Gain-of-Function Mutation.

Background: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common cardiac valvular anomaly that can be caused by mutations in genes of various biological pathways. Individuals of three generations of a kindred presented with apparently dominant heredity of isolated MVP.

Methods: Clinical evaluation and echocardiography for all complying family members (n=13).

The role of fear and dopamine-striatal pathways in grooming.

Fear is a fundamental emotion that triggers rapid and automatic behavioral response. Fear is known to suppress reward-seeking behaviors, interrupt previous activities to prioritize defensive responses and lead to rapid switch to defensive reactions. Dopamine (DA) plays a complicated role in the choice and performance of actions and it has a potential interaction of innate actions with the presence of fear.

Outlier removal in cryo-EM via radial profiles.

The process of particle picking, a crucial step in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) image analysis, often encounters challenges due to outliers, leading to inaccuracies in downstream processing. In response to this challenge, this research introduces an additional automated step to reduce the number of outliers identified by the particle picker. The proposed method enhances both the accuracy and efficiency of particle picking, thereby reducing the overall running time and the necessity for expert intervention in the process.

A conserved chaperone protein is required for the formation of a non-canonical type VI secretion system spike tip complex.

Type VI secretion systems (T6SS) are dynamic protein nanomachines found in Gram-negative bacteria that deliver toxic effector proteins into target cells in a contact-dependent manner. Prior to secretion, many T6SS effector proteins require chaperones and/or accessory proteins for proper loading onto the structural components of the T6SS apparatus. However, despite their established importance, the precise molecular function of several T6SS accessory protein families remains unclear.

Swarms can be rational.

The emergence of collective order in swarms from local, myopic interactions of their individual members is of interest to biology, sociology, psychology, computer science, robotics, physics and economics. , whose members unknowingly work towards a common goal, are particularly perplexing: members sometimes take individual actions that maximize collective utility, at the expense of their own. This seems to contradict expectations of individual rationality.

Neurocognitive performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder before and after treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy.

Background: Cross-sectional studies have reported neurocognitive performance deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly on tasks assessing response inhibition and proactive control over stimulus-driven behaviors (task control). However, it is not clear whether these deficits represent trait-like markers of OCD or are state-dependent.

Methods: This study examined performance on two neurocognitive tasks in OCD patients (N = 26) before and after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and matched healthy controls (HCs, N = 19).

Mitigation of ischemia/reperfusion injury via selenium nanoparticles: Suppression of STAT1 to inhibit cardiomyocyte oxidative stress and inflammation.

Ischemia/reperfusion injury (I/RI) following myocardial infarction, a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, is characterized by detrimental oxidative stress and inflammation. In response, we proposed an I/RI alleviation strategy using the intravenous injection of spherical selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) synthesized by a template method. Single-cell sequencing revealed these proposed SeNPs exhibited exceptional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, disrupting the STAT1-ROS cycle, therefore preserving mitochondrial respiration and inhibiting caspase-mediated cardiomyocyte apoptosis.

Longitudinal study on the impact of childhood sexual abuse on sexual assertiveness: The mediating role of sexual fantasy.

Background: One of the devastating long-term outcomes of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is its effect on sexual assertiveness, manifested by the limited ability to initiate desired sexual interactions, express one's sexuality, and refuse unwanted sexual activities.

Objective: This study examined a model in which the relation between CSA and sexual assertiveness was mediated by survivors' subjective experience of their sexuality, as reflected by their subjective experience of sexual fantasy.

Participants And Setting: Three-hundred-and-sixty-three adults participated in this longitudinal study.

Testing the Feasibility, Acceptability, and Potential Efficacy of an Innovative Digital Mental Health Care Delivery Model Designed to Increase Access to Care: Open Trial of the Digital Clinic.

Background: Mental health concerns have become increasingly prevalent; however, care remains inaccessible to many. While digital mental health interventions offer a promising solution, self-help and even coached apps have not fully addressed the challenge. There is now a growing interest in hybrid, or blended, care approaches that use apps as tools to augment, rather than to entirely guide, care.

Evaluation of the Recent Dynamics for Funding Medicinal Chemistry Projects in Academia. Results of a Survey Conducted by IUPAC Division VII (Chemistry and Human Health).

Data collected from scholars across twenty-three countries over the past decade (2010-2019) reveals a 40% decrease in financial support for medicinal chemistry projects. The decline is especially notable among projects focused on small organic molecules. This drop in grants indicates a troubling trend that could jeopardize future drug development by undermining research in this crucial field.

The "Immigrant Medical Services" Organization from the End of the British Mandate Through the First Years of Israel (1944-1953).

The aftermath of the Second World War and the Holocaust triggered mass migration of Jewish refugees to British Mandatory Palestine and, after 1948, the nascent State of Israel. Responding to this crisis, Jews in the Diaspora increased their commitment to facilitate immigration to Israel, particularly by supporting medical services to the Yishuv (pre-state Jewish Settlement). This paper explores the critical role played by Hadassah and other organizations in establishing direct medical services for Jewish immigrants during two key periods of Israel's history: the end of British Mandatory Palestine (1944-1948) and the early years of the State of Israel (1948-1953).

US Medical Schools' 2024 Commencements and Antisemitism: Addressing Unprofessional Behavior.

Introduction: Antisemitism and antisemitic incidents have been increasing in United States medical institutions since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Such incidents include anecdotal reports of antisemitic displays at medical school commencements. This study examined unprofessional behavior observed at the commencement ceremonies of the 25 US medical schools top-ranked for research excellence.

The Southern Brazilian Registry of Atrial Fibrillation (SBR-AF Registry): Predictors of Atrial Arrhythmia Recurrence after First-Time Catheter Ablation.

Background: Treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) with catheter ablation (CA) has evolved significantly. However, real-world data on long-term outcomes are limited, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective: This multicenter prospective cohort of consecutive patients aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of first-time CA for AF in Southern Brazil from 2009 to 2024.

Epstein-Barr virus-driven cardiolipin synthesis sustains metabolic remodeling during B cell transformation.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects nearly 90% of adults globally and is linked to over 200,000 annual cancer cases. Immunocompromised individuals from conditions such as primary immune disorders, HIV, or posttransplant immunosuppressive therapies are particularly vulnerable because of EBV's transformative capability. EBV remodels B cell metabolism to support energy, biosynthetic precursors, and redox equivalents necessary for transformation.