Iron regulatory protein 1-deficient mice exhibit hypospermatogenesis.

Imbalances in testicular iron levels are linked to compromised sperm production and male infertility. Iron regulatory proteins (IRP) 1 and 2 play crucial roles in cellular iron regulation. We investigated the role of IRP1 on spermatogenesis using Irp1-deficient mice (Irp1).

Occupational anaphylaxis: A Position Paper of the German Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI).

Background: Anaphylaxis is a systemic allergic reaction that is potentially life-threatening. Occupational anaphylaxis is an anaphylaxis that occurs in an occupational context. In this position paper, we propose diagnostic criteria for occupational anaphylaxis and provide an overview of the current state of knowledge in terms of prevalence, triggers, prevention, and management.

SPARCL1 and NT-proBNP as biomarkers of right ventricular-to-pulmonary artery uncoupling in pulmonary hypertension.

Aims: SPARCL1 was recently identified as a biomarker of right ventricular (RV) maladaptation in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic protein (NT-proBNP) is an established biomarker of RV failure in PH. The present study investigated whether NT-proBNP and SPARCL1 concentrations are associated with load-independent parameters of RV function and RV-to-pulmonary artery (RV-PA) coupling as measured using invasive pressure-volume (PV) loops in the RV.

Methods: SPARCL1 and NT-proBNP were measured in the plasma of patients with idiopathic pulmonary artery hypertension (IPAH, n = 73).

Schistosomiasis transmission: A machine learning analysis reveals the importance of agrochemicals on snail abundance in Rwanda.

Background: Schistosomiasis is an important snail-borne parasitic disease whose transmission is exacerbated by water resource management activities. In Rwanda, meeting the growing population's demand for food has led to wetlands reclamation for cultivation and increased agrochemical enrichment for crop production. However, the ecological consequences of agrochemical enrichment on schistosomiasis transmission remain unexplored.

Association of Patients' Knowledge on the Disease and Its Management with Indicators of Disease Severity and Individual Characteristics in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Results from COSYCONET 2.

Background: In patients with chronic diseases, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), knowledge on the disease and its self-management is considered as relevant for improving disease control and long-term outcome. We studied to which extent components of knowledge depended on potential predictors, such as participation in educational programs and disease severity. For example, the perception of exacerbations or GOLD grade might modulate the content and reliability of COPD understanding.

Efficacy and safety of sotatercept across ranges of cardiac index in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: A pooled analysis of PULSAR and STELLAR.

Background: This analysis examined the effects of the activin signaling inhibitor, sotatercept, in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) subgroups stratified by baseline cardiac index (CI).

Methods: Pooled data from PULSAR (N = 106; NCT03496207) and STELLAR (N = 323; NCT04576988) were analyzed using 2 different CI thresholds, <2.0 and ≥2.

TransCatheter aortic valve implantation and fractional flow reserve-guided percutaneous coronary intervention versus conventional surgical aortic valve replacement and coronary bypass grafting for treatment of patients with aortic valve stenosis and complex or multivessel coronary disease (TCW): an international, multicentre, prospective, open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Patients with severe aortic stenosis present frequently (∼50%) with concomitant obstructive coronary artery disease. Current guidelines recommend combined surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) as the preferred treatment. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) represent a valid treatment alternative.

FIGO-GCH joint consensus statement on the current status and recommendations for the use of blind intrauterine procedures in the evaluation and management of women with suspected intrauterine pathologies.

Historically, blind intrauterine procedures such as dilation and curettage (D&C) and blind endometrial biopsies have been the primary approach for diagnosing and managing intrauterine pathologies. However, these techniques lack direct visualization, leading to diagnostic limitations, incomplete treatment, and increased complication rates. Despite substantial advances in hysteroscopic technology, including high-definition imaging and minimally invasive instruments, blind procedures remain widely used.

Re-identification of anonymised MRI head images with publicly available software: investigation of the current risk to patient privacy.

Background: Facial recognition software (FRS) has historically been perceived as lacking the capability to identify individuals from cross-sectional medical images. Utilising such data for identification purposes was considered infeasible due to the substantial computational power and specialised technical expertise it would require. However, recent advancements in accessible artificial intelligence-based (AI-based) software and open-source tools have made these applications widely available and easy to use, raising new privacy concerns.

Immediate dam-sourced colostrum provision reduces calf mortality - management practices and calf mortality in large dairy herds.

Background: Farm-specific management practices greatly impact calf mortality rates. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyse the association between calf mortality and management practices in large dairy farms. A total of 93 dairy farms were voluntarily included in the study.

The host genotype actively shapes its microbiome across generations in laboratory mice.

Background: The microbiome greatly affects health and wellbeing. Evolutionarily, it is doubtful that a host would rely on chance alone to pass on microbial colonization to its offspring. However, the literature currently offers only limited evidence regarding two alternative hypotheses: active microbial shaping by host genetic factors or transmission of a microbial maternal legacy.

Paratuberculosis in South American camelids: two independent cases in alpacas in Germany.

Background: Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), is a chronic granulomatous enteritis that affects domestic and wild ruminants and camelids. The disease has rarely been reported in alpacas in Germany. This publication describes epidemiologically independent cases of paratuberculosis in two alpacas in Germany.

Sufficiency health-wise: sustainable paths towards planetary and public health.

Planet Earth is threatened by the human population. Energy and resource use are far beyond the planet's carrying capacity. Planetary Health suggests an alternative idea of prosperity as the best possible human health for all within planetary boundaries.

Death-associated protein kinase 1 prevents hypoxia-induced metabolic shift and pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation in PAH.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a general term used to describe high blood pressure in the lungs from any cause. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive, and fatal disease that causes the walls of the pulmonary arteries to tighten and stiffen. One of the major characteristics of PAH is the hyperproliferation and resistance to apoptosis of vascular cells, which trigger excessive pulmonary vascular remodeling and vasoconstriction.

A global patent dataset of bioeconomy-related inventions.

Many governments worldwide have proposed transitioning from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy to address climate change, resource depletion, and other environmental concerns. The bioeconomy utilizes renewable biological resources across all sectors and is strongly founded on scientific advances and technological progress. Given that the bioeconomy spans multiple sectors, industries, and technological fields, tracking it is challenging, and both policymakers and researchers lack a comprehensive understanding of the bioeconomy transition's progress.

Vascular FLRT2 regulates venous-mediated angiogenic expansion and CNS barriergenesis.

Veins have emerged as the origin of all other endothelial cell subtypes needed to expand vascular networks during developmental and pathological neoangiogenesis. Here, we uncover the role of the angioneurin Fibronectin Leucine Rich Transmembrane protein (FLRT) 2 in central nervous system (CNS) vascular development in the mouse. Early postnatal FLRT2 deletion reveals specific defects in retinal veins, impacting endothelial cell proliferation, sprouting and polarity that result in reduced tip cells at the vascular front.

Performance of the EULAR Systemic sclerosis Impact of Disease (ScleroID) questionnaire as a patient-reported outcome measure for patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis.

Objective: Systemic sclerosis Impact of Disease (ScleroID) is the first comprehensive patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) specifically developed for systemic sclerosis (SSc). We investigated the performance of ScleroID in patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), as a prerequisite for its use in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing potentially disease-modifying drugs.

Methods: All patients with dcSSc from the large, multicentric, ScleroID cohort were included.