CRISPR based bacterial genome editing and removal of pathogens.

Engineering nucleases to achieve targeted genome editing has turned out to be a revolutionary means for manipulating the genetic content in diversified living organisms. For targeted genome editing, till to date, only three engineered nucleases exist viz. zinc finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases and RNA-mediated nucleases (RGNs) (Cas nucleases) from the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR).

Effects of ectoparasite infestation during pregnancy on physiological stress and reproductive output in a rodent-flea system.

Biotic and abiotic stressors impose various fitness costs on individuals across a variety of taxa. In vertebrates, these stressors typically trigger complex neuroendocrine responses that stimulate glucocorticoid (GC) secretion from the adrenal cortex. Short-term elevation of GCs can be adaptive as it shifts energy toward physiological processes that cope with acute stressors; however, chronic increases in GC levels could have detrimental effects on fitness.

High-gamma oscillations as neurocorrelates of ADHD: A MEG crossover placebo-controlled study.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurobehavioral disorder with a significant and pervasive impact on patients' lives. Identifying neurophysiological correlates of ADHD is important for understanding its underlying mechanisms, as well as for improving clinical accuracy beyond cognitive and emotional factors. The present study focuses on finding a diagnostic stable neural correlate based on evaluating MEG resting state frequency bands.

Impact in total ischemic time and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction admissions during COVID-19.

Background: Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, cardiovascular disease is still the main cause of death in developed countries. Of these deaths, acute coronary syndromes (ACS) account for a substantial percentage of deaths. Improvement in ACS outcomes, are achieved by reducing the time from symptom onset until reperfusion or total ischemic time (TIT).

Perspective taking effects are modulated by the valence of stimuli.

Previously we found perspective taking (PT) influenced affect ratings of negative pictures more than neutral pictures. The current follow-up experiments extend that research to explore effects of perspective taking with positive valence pictures. We used stimuli consisting of neutral, happy and sad pictures.

A review of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and airborne particulates and its use for virus spreading surveillance.

According to the WHO, on October 16, 2020, the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, reached 235 countries and territories, and resulting in more than 39 million confirmed cases and 1.09 million deaths globally. Monitoring of the virus outbreak is one of the main activities pursued to limiting the number of infected people and decreasing the number of deaths that have caused high pressure on the health care, social, and economic systems of different countries.

Community coherence and acculturation strategies among refugee adolescents: How do they explain mental-health symptoms?

Background: Against the backdrop of 10 years of civil war in Syria, with millions of refugees, this study aimed to explore sense of community coherence and the acculturation strategies of separation and competition as factors that might explain mental-health problems among adolescent Syrian refugees in Greece.

Methods: Data were gathered from 173 adolescents aged 13-18 (M = 15.85; SD = 1.

Maladaptive Daydreaming and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms: A confirmatory and exploratory investigation of shared mechanisms.

Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a newly proposed mental disorder characterized by excessive, vivid fantasy activity impairing functioning. There is a high comorbidity of MD with Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Symptoms (OCSS), yet the mechanisms responsible for this relationship are still unclear. The present study set out to explore the relationship between MD and OCSS by: (1) examining dissociation, trauma, sense of control, and mind-wandering as potential mediators; (2) exploring whether MD is more strongly related to obsessions or compulsions; and (3) identifying patterns of specific obsessions and/or compulsions common in an MD sample.

Unfolding the pathophysiology of congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy: lessons from a cluster of familial cases.

Background: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare, potentially life-threatening thrombotic microangiopathy, manifests either as congenital TTP or acquired forms. It is caused by the absence or severe depletion of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 13 (ADAMTS13) protease, leading to the accumulation of ultra large von Willebrand factor multimers as well as extensive platelet adhesion and clumping, which can ultimately cause severe secondary end-organ damage. Pregnancy can provoke or exacerbate TTP, leading to maternal and fetal complications.

Approaches and challenges in the diagnosis and management of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: A Central Eastern European perspective from healthcare professionals.

Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is a debilitating condition characterized by gradual worsening after an initial relapsing disease course. Despite the recent advances in our understanding of the disease, the diagnosis and treatment of SPMS continue to be challenging in routine clinical practice. The aim of this review article is to present the views of leading MS experts on the challenges in the diagnosis and management of SPMS and clinicians' perspectives in Central and Eastern Europe.

Retest Reliability of Integrated Speed-Accuracy Measures.

Cognitive tasks borrowed from experimental psychology are often used to assess individual differences. A cardinal issue of this transition from experimental to correlational designs is reduced retest reliability of some well-established cognitive effects as well as speed-accuracy trade-off. The present study aimed to address these issues by examining the retest reliability of various methods for speed-accuracy integration and by comparing between two types of task modeling: difference scores and residual scores.

Low field, time domain NMR in the agriculture and agrifood sectors: An overview of applications in plants, foods and biofuels.

In this contribution, a selective overview of low field, time-domain NMR (TD-NMR) applications in the agriculture and agrifood sectors is presented. The first applications of commercial TD-NMR instruments were in food and agriculture domains. Many of these earlier methods have now been recognized as standard methods by several international agencies.

Grafting in Hylocereus (Cactaceae) as a tool for strengthening tolerance to high temperature stress.

The Hylocereus species that are grown as exotic fruit crops are very often farmed under marginal agronomic conditions, which may include exposure to high temperatures. Here we present a pioneering investigation of grafting as an agro-technique to improve heat tolerance in Hylocereus. To this end, we studied the diploid species H.

Measuring body condition of lizards: a comparison between non-invasive dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, chemical fat extraction and calculated indices.

Background: Condition indices (CIs) are used in ecological studies as a way of measuring an individual animal's health and fitness. Noninvasive CIs are estimations of a relative score of fat content or rely on a ratio of body mass compared to some measure of size, usually a linear dimension such as tarsus or snout-vent length. CIs are generally validated invasively by lethal fat extraction as in a seasonal sample of individuals in a population.

On the indicators for perceiving empty sets as zero.

The question whether human beings process empty sets as zero has received little research attention. In this study, we used the distance and end effects as indicators for treating empty sets as a numerical entity that represents an absence of quantity. In a series of experiments, participants performed a magnitude comparison task.

Induction of labor in women with a scarred uterus: does grand multiparity affect the risk of uterine rupture?

Background: Previous cesarean delivery is the most important risk factor for subsequent uterine rupture. Data are inconsistent regarding grand multiparity (≥6th delivery) and a risk for uterine rupture. Specifically, no data exist regarding the risk that is associated with labor induction or augmentation in grand multiparous women after cesarean delivery.

Is disgust in obsessive-compulsive disorder mediated by fear of pathogens?

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) tend to report higher levels of disgust, but not much is known about factors that might underlie this relationship. The present study was motivated by the behavioral immune theory, which suggests that disgust has evolved as a protective reaction to potential presence of disease agents in the immediate environment. We examined the relationships between the intensity of experienced physical disgust, perceived vulnerability to disease, and OCD symptoms.

A 9-Year-Old Boy With Recurrent Chest Pain and Nonresolving Pneumonia.

A previously healthy, 9-year-old boy presented with five recurrent episodes of left-sided chest pain with low-grade fever over the last 18 months. The pain usually lasted for few hours, was severe and consistent, and resolved spontaneously. It worsened during inspiration, physical activity, and swallowing.

Effect of morphine on cerebral activity of extremely premature infants.

Background: Morphine is widely used for sedation in premature infants and may have long-term effects on neurodevelopmental outcome.

Aims: To assess its effect on cerebral activity of extremely preterm infants.

Methods: Retrospective study in infants less than 28 weeks of gestational age (GA), treated with morphine and monitored with amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG), that were assessed at baseline and 6 consecutive 2 h periods.

Early Feasibility of Automated Artificial Intelligence Angiography Based Fractional Flow Reserve Estimation.

Despite the evidence of improved patients' outcome, fractional flow reserve (FFR) is underused in current everyday practice. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel automated artificial intelligence angiography-based FFR software (AutocathFFR) as a decision supporting tool for interventional cardiologists. AutocathFFR was performed on angiographic images of patients who underwent coronary angiography with a pressure wire FFR measurement.

Irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with symptoms including abdominal pain associated with a change in stool form or frequency. The condition affects between 5% and 10% of otherwise healthy individuals at any one point in time and, in most people, runs a relapsing and remitting course. The best described risk factor is acute enteric infection, but irritable bowel syndrome is also more common in people with psychological comorbidity and in young adult women than in the rest of the general population.

Do you feel like me or not? This is the question: manipulation of emotional imagery modulates affective priming.

Mood congruity and affective priming have been used to study the effects of affective phenomena on perception. Manipulation of mood is appropriate for investigations of long-term effects while affective priming is limited to short intervals (approximately 300 ms) between a prime and target. However, studying the influence of real-world rapidly changing emotional episodes on perception may fall between the cracks of these methods.