Dynamic supramolecular snub cubes.

Mimicking the superstructures and properties of spherical biological encapsulants such as viral capsids and ferritin offers viable pathways to understand their chiral assemblies and functional roles in living systems. However, stereospecific assembly of artificial polyhedra with mechanical properties and guest-binding attributes akin to biological encapsulants remains a formidable challenge. Here we report the stereospecific assembly of dynamic supramolecular snub cubes from 12 helical macrocycles, which are held together by 144 weak C-H hydrogen bonds.

Gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks stratify colorectal cancer patients for effective targeted therapy.

Background: Gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks offer potential for tailoring clinical care in cancer treatment by identifying predictive and prognostic biomarkers. This study aimed to uncover such signatures in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients to aid treatment decisions.

Methods: We constructed transcriptomic-causal networks and integrated gene interconnectivity into overall survival (OS) analysis to control for confounding genes.

Pangenome graphs and their applications in biodiversity genomics.

Complete datasets of genetic variants are key to biodiversity genomic studies. Long-read sequencing technologies allow the routine assembly of highly contiguous, haplotype-resolved reference genomes. However, even when complete, reference genomes from a single individual may bias downstream analyses and fail to adequately represent genetic diversity within a population or species.

Multiple magma recharges over prolonged period ultimately trigger eruptions at Vulcano, Aeolian Islands.

The compositional heterogeneity of clinopyroxene in products of the 1888-90 eruption at La Fossa of Vulcano has been used to constrain times of the plumbing system reactivation before the eruption. We have also investigated the temporal trend of the SO flux at La Fossa crater since 1978 to gather information about the origin, depths and quantity of magma involved in the recent degassing crises. Petrological data emphasizes migration of deep-seated magmas and their emplacement in the shallow system, clearly supporting the involvement of three distinct phases of mafic replenishments occurred respectively 85-140, 16-35 and 2-7 years before the 1888-90 eruption.

One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction.

Freshwater ecosystems are highly biodiverse and important for livelihoods and economic development, but are under substantial stress. To date, comprehensive global assessments of extinction risk have not included any speciose groups primarily living in freshwaters. Consequently, data from predominantly terrestrial tetrapods are used to guide environmental policy and conservation prioritization, whereas recent proposals for target setting in freshwaters use abiotic factors.

Sleep and circadian disturbances in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Sleep is essential for brain development and overall health, particularly in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Sleep disruptions can considerably impact brain structure and function, leading to dysfunction of neurotransmitter systems, metabolism, hormonal balance and inflammatory processes, potentially contributing to the pathophysiology of NDDs. This Review examines the prevalence, types and mechanisms of sleep disturbances in children with NDDs, including autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and various genetic syndromes.

Artificial intelligence empowered voice generation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that can result in a progressive loss of speech due to bulbar dysfunction, which can have significant negative impact on the patient's mental well-being. Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) strategies based on synthetic voices have been shown to assist patients in maintaining communication and improving their Quality of Life (QoL). However, such synthetic voices are often perceived as impersonal and fail to capture the unique voice and identity of the patient.

Multimodal fuzzy logic-based gait evaluation system for assessing children with cerebral palsy.

Gait analysis is crucial for identifying functional deviations from the normal gait cycle and is essential for the individualized treatment of motor disorders such as cerebral palsy (CP). The primary contribution of this study is the introduction of a multimodal fuzzy logic system-based gait index (FLS-GIS), designed to provide numerical scores for gait patterns in both healthy children and those with CP, before and after surgery. This study examines and evaluates the surgical outcomes in children with CP who have undergone Achilles tendon lengthening.

The q-RASPR approach for predicting the property and fate of persistent organic pollutants.

This study presents a quantitative read-across structure-property relationship (q-RASPR) approach that integrates the chemical similarity information used in read-across with traditional quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models. This novel framework is applied to predict the physicochemical properties and environmental behaviors of persistent organic pollutants, specifically polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). By utilizing a curated dataset and incorporating similarity-based descriptors, the q-RASPR approach improves the accuracy of predictions, particularly for compounds with limited experimental data.

Influence of ESBL colonization status on gut microbiota composition during allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

After allogeneic HSCT (allo-HSCT), the diversity of the intestinal microbiota significantly decreases. The changes can be rapid and are thought to be caused by chemotherapy, antibiotics, or intestinal inflammation. Most patients are exposed to prophylactic and therapeutic antibiotics during neutropenia and several patients are colonized by ESBL bacteria.

Impact of trace metal supplementation on anaerobic biological methanation under hydrogen and carbon dioxide starvation.

Biomethanation is a crucial process occurring in natural and engineered systems which can reduce carbon dioxide to methane impacting the global carbon cycle. However, little is known about the effect of on-and-off gaseous provision and micronutrients on bioconversion. Here, anaerobic microbiomes underwent intermittent feeding with incremental starvations and selective metal supplementation to assess the impact of hydrogen and carbon dioxide availability on microbial physiology.

Cracking arbitrariness: A data-driven study of auditory iconicity in spoken English.

Auditory iconic words display a phonological profile that imitates their referents' sounds. Traditionally, those words are thought to constitute a minor portion of the auditory lexicon. In this article, we challenge this assumption by assessing the pervasiveness of onomatopoeia in the English auditory vocabulary through a novel data-driven procedure.

When conventional approach in toxicity assays falls short for nanomedicines: a case study with nanoemulsions.

The aim of this study was to assess the critical quality attributes of parenteral nanoemulsion formulations by measuring several physicochemical parameters and linking them to their in vitro performance, illustrating how simplistic and routinely used approaches are insufficient for understanding a potential nanomedicine. Physicochemical characterization should encompass size and size distribution through at least two orthogonal techniques, such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) and electron microscopy, with added value from analytical ultracentrifugation. In vitro toxicity assessment was performed using three different assays to determine mitochondrial activity (WST-1), membrane integrity (lactate dehydrogenase release (LDH) assay), and cell viability (propidium iodide (PI) staining).

Quantifying sighting dominance using on-display projections of monocular and binocular views.

Sighting dominance is an important behavioral property which has been difficult to measure quantitatively with high precision. We developed a measurement method that is grounded in a two-camera model that satisfies these aims. Using a simple alignment task, this method quantifies sighting ocular dominance during binocular viewing, identifying each eye's relative contribution to binocular vision.

Blood neurofilament light chain and S100B as biomarkers of neurological involvement and functional prognosis in COVID-19: a multicenter study.

Background And Aim: COVID-19 is associated with neurological complications, termed neuro-COVID, affecting patient outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the association between serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) and S100B biomarkers with the presence of neurological manifestations and functional prognosis in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted in three hospitals in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, from March 2020 to April 2022.

Real World Data from an Italian Outpatient Clinical Setting and from Home Care Assistance of Treatment-Experienced PWH Switching to CAB + RPV Regimen: A Prospective Observational Study.

The new Cabotegravir + Rilpivirine long acting (CAB + RPV) is the injectable regimen for treatment-experienced people with HIV (PWH). Little data from real-world settings are available, particularly in more complex PWH. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CAB + RPV in our real-life cohort of experienced PWH.

The Clinical Role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) Inhibition in Renal Cancer: A Focus on Belzutifan.

Systemic therapy for metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma (mRCC) has dramatical-ly improved in the last years because of the use of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibi-tor combinations with or without targeted therapies against the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptors (VEGFR). As a result, patients with mRCC have prolonged sur-vival time, but they ultimately develop resistance and the disease progresses, which high-lights the critical need for novel treatment options. The Hypoxia-inducible Factor (HIF) pathway is central to the pathophysiology of ccRCC and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease.

GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra in Pediatric Tuberculosis: How Disease Characteristics Modify Test Performances.

Introduction: The diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis (TB) is challenging, due to the lower sensitivity of microbiological tests, such as culture and microscopy, compared to their performance in adult cases. Guidelines have introduced molecular tests, including GeneXpert MTB/ RIF and GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra. These tests use a real-time polymerase chain reaction method and provide information on M.

Pen direct writing of multiplex-LFIA for detection of thiamphenicol and tylosin in milk.

Therapeutic and misuse of veterinary drugs, such as antibiotics, can increase the potential risk of residue contamination in animal-derived food products. For milk, these residual antibiotics can have an impact on efficiency in dairy processing factories, as well as economic loss, and can also cause side effects on consumer health. Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are gaining popularity for their ease of use, low cost and their fulfilment to the REASSURED (real-time connection/monitoring, easy sampling, affordable, specific, user-friendly, rapid/robust, equipment free, deliverable to end user) criteria.

Minimally invasive management of cervical spondylodiscitis. A multicenter experience.

The urgent etiological diagnosis represents the main management objective of cervical spondylodiscitis (CSD) to start as soon as possible antibiotic treatment to prevent neurological deterioration. The present study aimed to evaluate a multicenter experience implementing a minimally invasive surgical approach (MISA) to manage CSD such pathology vs the most complex and aggressive surgical strategies currently used.This retrospective multicenter study used a database of 70 patients from five European neurosurgical centers.

Early life factors and later metabolic syndrome in European children and adolescents.

Background And Aims: Early life factors have been suggested to be associated with later cardiometabolic risk in children, adolescents and adults. Our study aimed to investigate the associations between early life factors and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children and adolescents.

Methods And Results: Our analysis sample comprised of 8852 children aged 2-9 years at baseline that participated in up to three examination waves of the pan-European IDEFICS/I.

Videolaryngoscopy in paediatrics: in search of the clinical evidence.

Despite the numerous recent trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have not conclusively shown superiority of videolaryngoscopy over other techniques for tracheal intubation of children. Clinical trials have shown significant differences using various outcome measures, but the overall clinical evidence remains weak. An international group of experts is currently working on developing good clinical research practice guidelines for paediatric airway management research, with the ultimate aim of identifying a core set of outcomes to be applied to develop future robust and comparable trials.