Risk factors for dysphagia after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury: A retrospective study.

Objective: The pathophysiological mechanisms of dysphagia in individuals with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) are not well understood yet. Several risk factors for developing dysphagia after SCI were postulated including mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, age, female sex, anterior surgical approach, SCI severity, and multi-level spinal fusion. This study aimed to identify risk factors for dysphagia in individuals who sustained traumatic cervical SCI.

Spin Excitations of High Spin Iron(II) in Metal-Organic Chains on Metal and Superconductor.

Many-body interactions in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are fundamental for emergent quantum physics. Unlike their solution counterpart, magnetization at surfaces in low-dimensional analogues is strongly influenced by magnetic anisotropy (MA) induced by the substrate and still not well understood. Here, on-surface coordination chemistry is used to synthesize on Ag(111) and superconducting Pb(111) an iron-based spin chain by using pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone (PTO) precursors as ligands.

HED LANG - A Hierarchical Event Descriptors library extension for annotation of language cognition experiments.

Experimental design in language cognition research often involves presenting language material while measuring associated behavior and/or neural activity. To make the collected data easily and fully analyzable by both the original data authors and others, it is important to have detailed information about the stimulus presentation events, including the nature and properties of the presented stimuli, using a common vocabulary and syntax. We present HED LANG, a library extension of the Hierarchical Event Descriptors (HED) event annotation schema for time series behavioral and neuroimaging data.

UV Irradiation as a Versatile Low-Temperature Strategy for Fabricating Templated Mesoporous Titania Films.

Mesoporous titania thin films offer promising applications in sensors, batteries, and solar cells. The traditional soft templating methods rely on high-temperature calcination, which is energy-intensive, incompatible with thermosensitive flexible substrates, and destructive for titania structures. This work demonstrates UV irradiation as a versatile low-temperature and energy-saving alternative for mesoporous crystalline titania fabrication.

Mortality of chronic disorders of consciousness in adults and adolescents - a retrospective community based study from Salzburg, Austria.

Introduction: Epidemiological data on disorders of consciousness (DoC) is rare and very heterogeneous due to difficulties in case ascertainment and differences in health care pathways between countries. This study reports data on mortality and survival time for DoC patients in Salzburg, Austria.

Methods: All patients with DoC were registered in the health care region of Salzburg North, Austria between 2007 and 2022 and their death data retrieved from the Statistik Austria.

Heparin Differentially Regulates the Expression of Specific miRNAs in Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

In regenerative medicine, stromal cells are supposed to play an important role by modulating immune responses and differentiating into various tissue types. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of heparin, frequently used as an anticoagulant in human platelet lysate (HPL)-supplemented cell cultures, on the expression of non-coding RNA species, particularly microRNAs (miRNA), which are pivotal regulators of gene expression. Through genomic analysis and quantitative RT-PCR, we assessed the differential impact of heparin on miRNA expression in various stromal cell types, derived from human bone marrow, umbilical cord and white adipose tissue.

The impact of dietary claims on behaviour: Expectations qualify how actual satiety affects cognitive performance.

Dietary choices significantly impact health and daily cognitive performance, prompting various recommendations for eating habits. Whereas much research has focused on the effects of actual satiety on cognitive performance, the influence of expectations regarding effects of satiety on performance remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap by examining how the expectation of satiety influences cognitive outcomes, building on existing findings that highlight the role of placebo effects in shaping eating behaviour.

BaTiO Nanoparticle Interfaces in Contact: Ferroelectricity Drives Tribochemically Induced Oxygen Radical Formation.

Chemical transformations at metal oxide interfaces that are triggered by mechanical energy set the basis for applications in the fields of tribo- and mechanochemistry, ceramic and composite processing, and piezoelectric devices. We investigated the early stages of tribochemically initiated radical chemistry of structurally well-defined TiO and BaTiO nanoparticles in argon or in oxygen atmosphere. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy enabled the determination of the chemical nature and concentration of paramagnetic surface species which form upon uniaxial powder compaction at room temperature.

Contextual and affective precursors of physical activity intention and enactment examined through ecological momentary assessment.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) provides numerous health benefits, which is why many people intend to lead an active lifestyle. Yet, internal and external states and barriers can hinder the translation of such intentions into actual behavior. This study prospectively studied such barriers, namely, the temporal relationship between the independent variables momentary affect (stress, emotions), and the dependent variables PA intentions and subsequent PA behavior.

Predatory midges of the genus Schizohelea Kieffer, 1917 in Europe and North Africa (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

Five species of the Holarctic genus Schizohelea occurring in Europe and North Africa are reviewed, diagnosed and illustrated. These are S. leucopeza (Meigen, 1804), S.

Interactive and additive effects of word frequency and predictability: A fixation-related fMRI study.

The effects of word frequency and predictability are informative with respect to bottom-up and top-down mechanisms during reading. Word frequency is assumed to index bottom-up, whereas word predictability top-down information. Findings regarding potential interactive effects, however, are inconclusive.

Dual specific STAT3/5 degraders effectively block acute myeloid leukemia and natural killer/T cell lymphoma.

The transcription factors STAT3, STAT5A, and STAT5B steer hematopoiesis and immunity, but their enhanced expression and activation promote acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or natural killer/T cell lymphoma (NKCL). Current therapeutic strategies focus on blocking upstream tyrosine kinases to inhibit STAT3/5, but these kinase blockers are not selective against STAT3/5 activation and frequent resistance causes relapse, emphasizing the need for targeted drugs. We evaluated the efficacy of JPX-0700 and JPX-0750 as dual STAT3/5 binding inhibitors promoting protein degradation.

Understanding Rate and Capacity Limitations in Li-S Batteries Based on Solid-State Sulfur Conversion in Confinement.

Li-S batteries with an improved cycle life of over 1000 cycles have been achieved using cathodes of sulfur-infiltrated nanoporous carbon with carbonate-based electrolytes. In these cells, a protective cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) is formed, leading to solid-state conversion of S to LiS in the nanopores. This prevents the dissolution of polysulfides and slows capacity fade.

Stress and the City: Mental Health in Urbanized vs. Rural Areas in Salzburg, Austria.

Background: Living in the city is associated with a higher risk of suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression. Due to an increase of migration to the city, the association between mental health and city life is highly relevant to society.

Methods: We analyzed data of 9573 participants (Ø 55.

Common neural mechanisms supporting time judgements in humans and monkeys.

There has been an increasing interest in identifying the biological underpinnings of human time perception, for which purpose research in non-human primates (NHP) is common. Although previous work, based on behaviour, suggests that similar mechanisms support time perception across species, the neural correlates of time estimation in humans and NHP have not been directly compared. In this study, we assess whether brain evoked responses during a time categorization task are similar across species.

Development of a novel tool for individual treatment trials in mucopolysaccharidosis.

Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) encompasses a group of genetic lysosomal storage disorders, linked to reduced life expectancy and a significant lack of effective treatment options. Immunomodulatory drugs could have the potential to be a relevant medical approach, as the accumulation of undegraded substances initiates an innate immune response, which leads to inflammation and clinical deterioration. However, immunomodulators are not licensed for this indication.

Extending Our Understanding of the Social Determinants of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Families: A Systems Mapping Approach.

Background: The social environment is important to consider for effective promotion of movement behaviors like increased physical activity (PA) and reduced sedentary behavior (SB); yet, it is less often considered than individual and built environments. One way to advance social environment research is to develop system maps, an innovative, participatory, action-oriented research process that actively engages stakeholders to visualize system structures and explore how systems "work." The purpose of this research was to develop PA and SB system maps of the social environment embedded within the core/nuclear family system.

Defining vulnerabilities and enabling community engagement in epidemics preparedness: the CAVE model from Austria.

During the COVID-19 outbreak the transdisciplinary research project CAVE (Community Engagement and Vulnerability Assessment in Epidemics) investigated perceptions and practicability of public health communication among stakeholders of care and social facilities in Austria. It aimed at finding accurate definitions of vulnerability in the context of epidemics and at developing operational models for engagement of vulnerable groups in co-creating epidemic response mechanisms. Transdisciplinary methods included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and desk reviews as well as spatial analysis and composite indicator-based mapping methods.

Young athletes' mental well-being is associated with smartphone social networking application usage and moderated by performance level and app type.

Smartphones and social media have become an integral part of human daily life and they influence mental well-being. These accounts have been researched in the general population, but not in athletes. This is critical given enhanced physical and emotional stressors in athletes versus non-athletes.

The dual-feature approach-avoidance task: validity, training efficacy, and the role of contingency awareness in changing food preference.

The approach-avoidance task (AAT) probes tendencies contributing to unwanted behaviours, like excessive snacking, by measuring RT differences between approach and avoidance responses to different stimuli. It retrains such tendencies using repeated avoidance of appetitive stimuli and approach of healthy alternatives. The most common paradigm, the irrelevant-feature AAT, conceals these stimulus-response contingencies by requiring approach or avoidance based on features irrelevant to the tendencies (e.

Development of a graphene field effect transistor-based immersible biosensor for immunodetection of the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 in air samples.

Pollen traps, the current gold standard to determine pollen load and thereby the allergy season, are not sufficient to determine the allergenic risk. Therefore, the establishment of highly sensitive assays for allergen measurement is of highest interest. Herein, a graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) was constructed on an interdigitated electrodes chip to develop an immersible biosensor, which was used to detect the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1.

Digest: Scarce pollen resources and asymmetric reproductive isolation.

What mechanisms cause asymmetries in reproductive success in crosses between closely related species that differ in floral style length? Feller et al. (2024) found that in 5 Phlox species, short-styled species produced smaller pollen grains than long-styled species. The smaller pollen of short-styled species lacked the resources to grow pollen tubes long enough to reach the ovules of long-styled species.