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.

The calcitron: A simple neuron model that implements many learning rules via the calcium control hypothesis.

Theoretical neuroscientists and machine learning researchers have proposed a variety of learning rules to enable artificial neural networks to effectively perform both supervised and unsupervised learning tasks. It is not always clear, however, how these theoretically-derived rules relate to biological mechanisms of plasticity in the brain, or how these different rules might be mechanistically implemented in different contexts and brain regions. This study shows that the calcium control hypothesis, which relates synaptic plasticity in the brain to the calcium concentration ([Ca2+]) in dendritic spines, can produce a diverse array of learning rules.

Development and implementation of an electronic health record system for use in humanitarian emergencies, disaster response, and conflict zones.

Humanitarian medical response to natural and human-made disasters can be complicated by high clinician, staff, and patient turnover. While electronic medical records are being scaled up globally, their use remains limited in humanitarian response settings. The Fast Electronic Medical Record (fEMR) system is an open-source electronic health record system specifically designed for use in resource-limited settings and humanitarian crises.

Familial Steep Corneas in Posterior Polymorphous Corneal Dystrophy 3 Due to a Novel ZEB1 Gene Mutation.

Purpose: To present 4 family members with posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy (PPCD), nonkeratoconic steep corneas, and myopia caused by a previously unknown genetic alteration in the ZEB1 gene.

Methods: Ophthalmic examinations and corneal curvature analyses were performed for all patients. Whole-exome targeted gene panel sequencing was performed for 1 patient.

Preparing the 2025 revision of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes.

The editorial Board of the (ICNP) - the Prokaryotic Code - has compiled already ratified proposed emendations of the ICNP, together with additional editorial changes and clarifications. These were implemented in a draft 2025 revision of the . To comply with Articles 13(b)(4) and 4(d) of the statutes of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP), a public discussion of the document will start on 1 January (or later if required) 2025, to last for 6 months.

Quantifying the Chirality of Vibrational Modes in Helical Molecular Chains.

Chiral phonons have been proposed to be involved in various physical phenomena, yet the chirality of molecular normal modes has not been well defined mathematically. Here we examine two approaches for assigning and quantifying the chirality of molecular normal modes in double-helical molecular wires with various levels of twist. First, associating with each normal mode a structure obtained by imposing the corresponding motion on a common origin, we apply the continuous chirality measure (CCM) to quantitatively assess the relationship between the chirality-weighted normal mode spectrum and the chirality of the underlying molecular structure.

Nonunitary Gates Using Measurements Only.

Measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) is a universal platform to realize unitary gates, only using measurements that act on a preprepared entangled resource state. By deforming the measurement bases, as well as the geometry of the resource state, we show that MBQC circuits always transmit and act on the input state but generally realize nonunitary logical gates. In contrast to the stabilizer formalism that is often used for unitary gates, we find that ZX-calculus is an ideal computation method for these nonunitary gates.

Second Law of Thermodynamics without Einstein Relation.

Materials that are constantly driven out of thermodynamic equilibrium, such as active and living systems, typically violate the Einstein relation. This may arise from active contributions to particle fluctuations which are unrelated to the dissipative resistance of the surrounding medium. We show that in these cases the widely used relation between informatic entropy production and heat dissipation does not hold.

Time-Domain Bound States in the Continuum.

We present the concept of time-domain bound states in continuum. We show that a rapid judiciously designed temporal modulation of the refractive index in a spatially homogenous medium gives rise to a bound state in time, embedded in a continuum of wave numbers. Mathematically, these bound states in the continuum are closed form solutions of the Maxwell equations in time and one-dimensional space.

Simultaneous Unbinned Differential Cross-Section Measurement of Twenty-Four Z+jets Kinematic Observables with the ATLAS Detector.

Z boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of Z boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins.

A comparative analysis of risk stratification tools in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: a EUSTAR analysis.

Objectives: The 2022 European Society of Cardiology and European Respiratory Society (ESC/ERS) Guidelines for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) recommend risk stratification to optimize management. However, the performance of generic PAH risk stratification tools in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated PAH remains unclear. Our objective was to identify the most accurate approach for risk stratification at SSc-PAH diagnosis.

The correlation between blastocyst morphological parameters and chromosomal euploidy, aneuploidy and other chromosomal abnormalities following pre-implantation genetic testing-a single center retrospective study.

Purpose: To examine the association between blastocyst morphology and chromosomal status utilizing pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A).

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study including 169 in-vitro fertilization cycles that underwent PGT-A using Next Generation Sequencing (2017-2022). Blastocysts were morphologically scored based on Gardner and Schoolcraft's criteria.