Hungry Ghosts Eat Casino Chips: Associations Between Dispositional Greed and Gambling.

Dispositional greed is characterized as the insatiable desire for more. Although greed may be a driving force for wealth accumulation, it can also relate to increased financial difficulties and risk-taking. Across two studies in different countries, The Netherlands (Study 1, = 1,118) and England, Study 2, = 4,855), we tested the degree to which dispositional greed was associated with gambling outcomes.

A systematic review and embryological perspective of pluripotent stem cell-derived autonomic postganglionic neuron differentiation for human disease modelling.

Human autonomic neuronal cell models are emerging as tools for modelling diseases such as cardiac arrhythmias. In this systematic review, we compared thirty-three articles applying fourteen different protocols to generate sympathetic neurons and three different procedures to produce parasympathetic neurons. All methods involved the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, and none employed permanent or reversible cell immortalization.

Age and Latent Cytomegalovirus Infection Do Not Affect the Magnitude of De Novo SARS-CoV-2-Specific CD8 T Cell Responses.

Immunosenescence, age-related immune dysregulation, reduces immunity upon vaccinations and infections. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection results in declining naïve (T) and increasing terminally differentiated (T) T cell populations, further aggravating immune aging. Both immunosenescence and CMV have been speculated to hamper the formation of protective T-cell immunity against novel or emerging pathogens.

Vaginal Prevotella timonensis Bacteria Enhance HIV-1 Uptake and Differentially Affect Transmission by Distinct Primary Dendritic Cell Subsets.

Young females are at high risk of acquiring HIV-1 infections and an imbalance in the vaginal microbiome enhances susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. More insights into the underlying mechanisms could open up new strategies to prevent HIV-1 acquisition and dissemination. Here, we investigated the effect of anaerobic bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) on HIV-1 transmission by two distinct dendritic cell (DC) subsets, that is, inflammatory monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) and primary CD1c DCs.

Tumor Glycosylation: A Main Player in the Modulation of Immune Responses.

Tumor immune escape refers to the process by which cancer cells evade detection and destruction by the immune system. Glycosylation, a post-translational modification that is altered in almost all cancer types, plays a crucial role in this process by modulating immune responses. This review examines our current understanding of how aberrant tumor glycosylation contributes to a tolerogenic microenvironment, focusing on specific glycosylation signatures-fucosylation, truncated O-glycans, and sialylation-and the immune receptors involved.

HIV-2EU - Supporting Standardized HIV-2 Drug Resistance Interpretation: an Update.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) is an attenuated retroviral infection characterized by specific natural susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs and acquired resistance profiles. Based on the latest knowledge of phenotypic data and clinical follow-up, HIV-2 resistance interpretation rules have been updated and implemented in a freely available resistance analysis tool.

Cognitive performance is associated with return to work after ischemic stroke in young adults: The ODYSSEY study.

Introduction: Limited data exist on cognitive performance and return to work after ischemic stroke, especially in patients under 50 years. We investigated whether cognitive performance in the subacute phase after ischemic stroke in young adults was associated with unemployment and the inability to retain their jobs among those who returned to work.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective cohort study between 2013 and 2021, enrolling patients aged 18-49 years with first-ever ischemic stroke.

Premolar Autotransplantation to the Anterior Maxilla Region-Aesthetic Outcome and Patient Satisfaction.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the aesthetic results and patient satisfaction of premolars transplanted to the maxillary incisor region.

Material And Methods: In this multicenter study, 192 patients were included, with a minimum follow-up of 3 years. The aesthetic evaluation comprised two parts: Assessment of the PES/WES score using standardized intraoral photographs.

Exploiting Polynomial Chaos Expansion for Rapid Assessment of the Impact of Tissue Property Uncertainties in Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Stimulation.

Neuromodulation with low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFUS) holds significant promise for noninvasive treatment of neurological disorders, but its success relies heavily on accurately targeting specific brain regions. Computational model predictions can be used to optimize LIFUS, but uncertain acoustic tissue properties can affect prediction accuracy. The Monte Carlo method is often used to quantify the impact of uncertainties, but many iterations are generally needed for accurate estimates.

Design of a Soft Robotic Artificial Cardiac Wall.

Background: In cardiovascular engineering, the recent introduction of soft robotic technologies sheds new light on the future of implantable cardiac devices, enabling the replication of complex bioinspired architectures and motions. To support human heart function, assistive devices and total artificial hearts have been developed. However, the system's functionality, hemocompatibility, and overall implantability are still open challenges.

Characterising symptomatic substates in individuals on the psychosis continuum: a hidden Markov modelling approach.

Background: To improve early intervention and personalise treatment for individuals early on the psychosis continuum, a greater understanding of symptom dynamics is required. We address this by identifying and evaluating the movement between empirically derived attenuated psychotic symptomatic substates-clusters of symptoms that occur within individuals over time.

Methods: Data came from a 90-day daily diary study evaluating attenuated psychotic and affective symptoms.

Extensive Fragmentation, Atom Transfer, H loss and Cross-linking Induced by Single Collisions between Carbon Ions and Protonated Antibiotics in the Gas Phase.

The direct effects of ionizing radiation on antibiotics are largely unknown. Here, we report mass spectra of the cationic products of the irradiation of three antibiotics by carbon ions at 10.4 MeV kinetic energy.

Highlights from the plenary session: cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease (I).

In this plenary session of the Vasculitis Workshop 2024, pioneering translational research on autoimmune vasculitis, particularly ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), was presented, highlighting advancements in our understanding of disease mechanisms and promising therapeutic prospects. Advances in elucidating molecular pathways, such as IL-17 and IFN-I, pave the way for specific treatments. Preclinical studies have revealed the gut microbiome's role in the pathogenesis of MPO-AAV and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of dietary interventions.

Highlights from the breakout session: transcriptomic approaches to the study of systemic vasculitis.

The search for targeted therapies and biomarkers for immune-mediated systemic vasculitis requires detailed understanding of molecular pathogenesis. Whilst candidate approaches have identified new opportunities for drug repurposing, they also miss novel approaches for targeting critical immunological or stromal pathways. On the other hand, bulk transcriptional profiling may fail to capture differences in cellular composition and, depending on the cell source profiled, miss important changes within inflamed vascular tissue.

Cohort multiple randomized controlled trial in pediatric asthma to assess the long- and short-term effects of eHealth interventions: protocol of the CIRCUS study.

Background: Asthma is one of childhood's most prevalent chronic conditions significantly impacting the quality of life. Current asthma management lacks real-time, objective, and longitudinal monitoring reflected by a high prevalence of uncontrolled asthma. Long-term home monitoring promises to establish new clinical endpoints for timely anticipation.

Routine anaesthesia ward-based patient visits in surgery: 1-year outcomes of the TRACE randomized clinical trial.

Background: The TRACE (Routine posTsuRgical Anaesthesia visit to improve patient outComE) RCT did not show any perioperative benefit from ward-based visits by anaesthetists after surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this intervention on longer-term outcomes.

Methods: Patients were followed up in the TRACE RCT to 1 year in nine hospitals in the Netherlands.

Video-assessment of Surgical Performance in Robotic Gastro-enterostomy During Pancreatoduodenectomy: Evaluating the Learning Curve and Risk of Delayed Gastric Emptying.

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify learning curves for robotic gastro-enterostomy (RGE) during RPD and the predictive value of the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) score for DGE according to the Birkmeyer et al and UPMC method.

Summary Of Background Data: In some series, robotic pancreatoduodenectomy (RPD) has been associated with increased risk of delayed gastric emptying (DGE). It is unclear whether this is attributable to learning curve.

An NRF2/β3-Adrenoreceptor Axis Drives a Sustained Antioxidant and Metabolic Rewiring Through the Pentose-Phosphate Pathway to Alleviate Cardiac Stress.

Background: Cardiac β3-adrenergic receptors (ARs) are upregulated in diseased hearts and mediate antithetic effects to those of β1AR and β2AR. β3AR agonists were recently shown to protect against myocardial remodeling in preclinical studies and to improve systolic function in patients with severe heart failure. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.

Enhancing Kidney Quality Assessment: Power Doppler During Normothermic Machine Perfusion.

Objectives: Marginal donor kidneys are increasingly used for transplantation to overcome organ shortage. This study aims to investigate the additional value of Power Doppler (PD) imaging in kidney quality assessment during normothermic machine perfusion (NMP).

Methods: Porcine kidneys (n = 22) retrieved from a local slaughterhouse underwent 2 h of NMP.

Somatic Genomic Alterations in Haematological Tumours Can Interfere With Accurate HLA and Chimerism Diagnostics.

Tumour cells, which are often found in the peripheral blood of patients with acute leukaemia, may harbour multiple somatic alterations throughout the genome, including changes in the HLA region and short tandem repeat (STR) regions. We investigated whether such somatic alterations interfere with HLA and chimerism diagnostics conducted in preparation for an allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). This study describes 10 patient-based cases for which laboratory diagnostics were performed prior to a possible stem cell transplant in the Maastricht University Medical Center.

ERS Congress 2024: highlights from the Interstitial Lung Diseases Assembly.

https://bit.ly/3WAhw19.

ERS Congress 2024: highlights from the Allied Respiratory Professionals Assembly.

https://bit.ly/3ZPrlZw.