Dialog beyond the Grave: Necrosis in the Tumor Microenvironment and Its Contribution to Tumor Growth.

Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are endogenous molecules released from the necrotic cells dying after exposure to various stressors. After binding to their receptors, they can stimulate various signaling pathways in target cells. DAMPs are especially abundant in the microenvironment of malignant tumors and are suspected to influence the behavior of malignant and stromal cells in multiple ways often resulting in promotion of cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis, as well as increased immune evasion.

PTSD, Immune System, and Inflammation.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe trauma and stress-related disorder associated with different somatic comorbidities, especially cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, and with chronic low-grade inflammation. Altered balance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, cytokines and chemokines, C-reactive protein, oxidative stress markers, kynurenine pathways, and gut microbiota might be involved in the alterations of certain brain regions regulating fear conditioning and memory processes, that are all altered in PTSD. In addition to the HPA axis, the gut microbiota maintains the balance and interaction of the immune, CNS, and endocrine pathways forming the gut-brain axis.

The Associations of Neutrophil-Lymphocyte, Platelet-Lymphocyte, Monocyte-Lymphocyte Ratios and Immune-Inflammation Index with Negative Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII index) are increasingly used as indicators of inflammation in different conditions, including schizophrenia. However, their relationship with negative symptoms, including anhedonia, is largely unknown. Included were 200 patients with schizophrenia and 134 healthy controls (HC), assessed for physical anhedonia (PA), using the Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPAS), and social anhedonia (SA) by the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS).

Gauge Invariance at Large Charge.

Quantum field theories with global symmetries simplify considerably in the large-charge limit allowing us to compute correlators via a semiclassical expansion in the inverse powers of the conserved charges. A generalization of the approach to gauge symmetries has faced the problem of defining gauge-independent observables and, therefore, has not been developed so far. We employ the large-charge expansion to calculate the scaling dimension of the lowest-lying operators carrying U(1) charge Q in the critical Abelian Higgs model in D=4-ε dimensions to leading and next-to-leading orders in the charge and all orders in the ε expansion.

Diversity of Hepatozoon species in wild mammals and ticks in Europe.

Background: Hepatozoon spp. are tick-borne parasites causing subclinical to clinical disease in wild and domestic animals. Aim of this study was to determine Hepatozoon prevalence and species distribution among wild mammals and ticks in Europe.

The nature of π-hole interactions between iodide anions and quinoid rings in the crystalline state.

The investigated co-crystal of 3-chloro-N-methylpyridinium iodide with tetrabromoquinone (3-Cl-N-MePy·I·BrQ) reveals a π-hole interaction between an iodide anion and a quinoid ring involving an n → π* charge transfer. The quinoid ring has a partial negative charge (estimated to be in the range 0.08-0.

Removal of residues of psychoactive substances during wastewater treatment, their occurrence in receiving river waters and environmental risk assessment.

Continuous consumption combined with incomplete removal during wastewater treatment means residues of psychoactive substances (licit drugs, medications of abuse and illicit drugs) are constantly introduced into the aquatic environment, where they have the potential to affect non-target organisms. In this study, 17 drug residues of psychoactive substances were determined in wastewater influent, effluent and in receiving rivers of six Slovene municipal wastewater treatment plants employing different treatment technologies. Variations in removal efficiencies (REs) during spring, summer and winter were explored, and ecotoxic effects were evaluated using in silico (Ecological Structure-Activity Relationships software-ECOSAR) and in vivo (algal growth inhibition test) methods.

The Role of Thermal Camera in the Assessment of Thyroid Eye Disease Activity.

Background: Thyroid eye disease (TED; also known as thyroid - associated orbitopathy, Graves ophthalmopathy) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease which presents in typical signs and symptoms such as deep orbital pain, chemosis with or without caruncular edema, unilateral or bilateral proptosis, eyelid retraction, eyelid edema or erythema, restrictive strabismus and compressive optic neuropathy.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of thermal camera in the assessment of thyroid eye disease (TED) activity compared to the Clinical Activity Score (CAS) scale, exophthalmometry values, and thyroid hormone and antibody levels.

Methods: A total of 50 patients participated in this cross-sectional study of whom 29 were in the active phase of TED according to the sum on CAS scale and 21 patients in the inactive phase.

Lipidation of NOD2 Agonists with Adamantane and Stearoyl Moieties Differentially Regulates Their In Vivo Adjuvant Activity.

NOD2 is an innate immune receptor that constitutes an important target for the development of small molecule immunopotentiators with great potential to be used as vaccine adjuvants. We report here the results of an in vivo study of the adjuvant properties of a desmuramylpeptide NOD2 agonist SG29 and its lipidated analogs featuring an adamantyl moiety or a stearoyl group. These compounds have been synthesized, incorporated into liposomes, and evaluated for their in vivo adjuvant activity.

, and Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Haloperidol-Induced Parkinsonism.

Antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism (AIP) is the most common type of extrapyramidal side effect (EPS), caused by the blockage of dopamine receptors. Since dopamine availability might influence the AIP risk, the dopamine transporter (DAT) and serotonin receptors (5-HTRs), which modulate the dopamine release, may be also involved in the AIP development. As some of the individual differences in the susceptibility to AIP might be due to the genetic background, this study aimed to examine the associations of and gene polymorphisms with AIP in haloperidol-treated schizophrenia patients.

Multidimensional scaling for animal traits in the context of dynamic energy budget theory.

The method of multidimensional scaling (MDS) has long existed, but could only recently be applied to animal traits in the context of dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory. The application became possible because of the following: (i) the Add-my-Pet (AmP) collection of DEB parameters and traits (approximately 280) recently reached 3000 animal species with 45000 data sets of measurements; (ii) we found a natural distance measure for species based on their traits as a side result of our research on parameter estimation in DEB context; and (iii) we developed plotting code for visualization that allows labelling of taxonomic relationships. Traits, here defined as DEB parameters or any function of these parameters, have different dimensions, which hamper application of many popular distance measures since they (implicitly) assume that all traits have the same dimensions.

4-Hydroxynonenal Modulates Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability In Vitro through Changes in Lipid Composition and Oxidative Status of Endothelial Cells and Astrocytes.

Blood brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic interface responsible for proper functioning of brain, but also a major obstacle for effective treatment of neurological diseases. Increased levels of free radicals, in high ferrous and high lipid content surrounding, induce lipid peroxidation, leading to production of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE). HNE modifies all key proteins responsible for proper brain functioning thus playing a major role in the onset of neurological diseases.

Minimal Massive Supergravity.

Minimal massive gravity in three dimensions propagates a single massive spin-2 mode around an anti-de Sitter vacuum. It is distinguished by allowing for vacua with positive central charges of the asymptotic conformal algebra and a bulk graviton of positive energy. We present a new action for the model (and its higher order extensions) in terms of a dreibein and an independent spin connection.

Trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean sediments: Concentration ranges as a tool for quality control of large data collections.

Assessing the status of marine pollution at regional and sub-regional scales requires the use of comparable and harmonized data provided by multiple institutions, located in several countries. Standardized data management and quality control are crucial for supporting a coherent evaluation of marine pollution. Taking the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as a case study, we propose an approach to improve the quality control procedures used for sediment pollution data, thus supporting a harmonized environmental assessment.

Perinatal derivatives application: Identifying possibilities for clinical use.

Perinatal derivatives are drawing growing interest among the scientific community as an unrestricted source of multipotent stromal cells, stem cells, cellular soluble mediators, and biological matrices. They are useful for the treatment of diseases that currently have limited or no effective therapeutic options by means of developing regenerative approaches. In this paper, to generate a complete view of the state of the art, a comprehensive 10-years compilation of clinical-trial data with the common denominator of PnD usage has been discussed, including commercialized products.

Search for Dark Matter Axions with CAST-CAPP.

The CAST-CAPP axion haloscope, operating at CERN inside the CAST dipole magnet, has searched for axions in the 19.74 μeV to 22.47 μeV mass range.

Resveratrol-Maltol and Resveratrol-Thiophene Hybrids as Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Antioxidants: Synthesis, Biometal Chelating Capability and Crystal Structure.

New resveratrol-thiophene and resveratrol-maltol hybrids were synthesized as cholinesterase inhibitors and antioxidants. As with photostability experiments, biological tests also found remarkable differences in the properties and behavior of thiophene and maltol hybrids. While resveratrol-thiophene hybrids have excellent inhibitory and antioxidant properties (similar to the activity of reference drug galantamine), maltols have been proven to be weaker inhibitors and antioxidants.

Energetic basis for bird ontogeny and egg-laying applied to the bobwhite quail.

Birds build up their reproductive system and undergo major tissue remodeling for each reproductive season. Energetic specifics of this process are still not completely clear, despite the increasing interest. We focused on the bobwhite quail - one of the most intensely studied species due to commercial and conservation interest - to elucidate the energy fluxes associated with reproduction, including the fate of the extra assimilates ingested prior to and during reproduction.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA): Pharmacological Effects and Potential Therapeutic Application.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is the most abundant steroid hormone in primates, which is predominantly synthesized in the adrenal cortex. A characteristic curve of growth and decline of its synthesis during life was observed, together with the corresponding formation of its sulphate ester (DHEAS). High levels of plasma circulating DHEA are suggested as a marker of human longevity, and various pathophysiological conditions lead to a decreased DHEA level, including adrenal insufficiency, severe systemic diseases, acute stress, and anorexia.

The Virus-Induced Upregulation of the miR-183/96/182 Cluster and the FoxO Family Protein Members Are Not Required for Efficient Replication of HSV-1.

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) expresses a large number of miRNAs, and their function is still not completely understood. In addition, HSV-1 has been found to deregulate host miRNAs, which adds to the complexity of the regulation of efficient virus replication. In this study, we comprehensively addressed the deregulation of host miRNAs by massive-parallel sequencing.

The Structural Role of Smart Contracts and Exchanges in the Centralisation of Ethereum-Based Cryptoassets.

In this paper, we use the methods of networks science to analyse the transaction networks of tokens running on the Ethereum blockchain. We start with a deep dive on four of them: Ampleforth (AMP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Dai (DAI) and Uniswap (UNI). We study two types of blockchain addresses, smart contracts (SC), which run code, and externally owned accounts (EOA), run by human users, or off-chain code, with the corresponding private keys.