Coherent Changes in Neural Motor Network Activity during Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Long-term use of levodopa, a metabolic precursor of dopamine (DA) for alleviation of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), can cause a serious side effect known as levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). With the development of LID, high-frequency gamma oscillations (~100 Hz) are registered in the motor cortex (MCx) in patients with PD and rats with experimental PD. Studying alterations in the activity within major components of motor networks during transition from levodopa-off state to dyskinesia can provide useful information about their contribution to the development of abnormal gamma oscillations and LID.

Polymorphism in Genes Encoding HSP40 Family Proteins is Associated with Ischemic Stroke Risk and Brain Infarct Size: A Pilot Study.

Background: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play a critical role in the molecular mechanisms of ischemic stroke (IS). A possible role for HSP40 family proteins in atherosclerosis progression has already been revealed; however, to date, molecular genetic studies on the involvement of genes encoding proteins of the HSP40 family in IS have not yet been carried out.

Aim: We sought to determine whether nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding HSP40 family proteins (, , , , and ) are associated with the risk and clinical features of IS.

Transient destabilization of interhemispheric functional connectivity induced by spreading depolarization.

Cortical spreading depolarization (CSD), a slowly propagating wave of transient cellular depolarization, is a reliable cortical response to various brain insults (stroke, trauma, seizures) and underlying mechanism of migraine aura. Little is known about CSD effects on brain network activity. Using undirected (mutual information, MI) and directed (transfer entropy, TE) measures, we studied the dynamics of cross-hemispheric connectivity associated with the development of unilateral CSD in freely behaving rats and the involvement of inhibitory transmission in mechanisms of the coupling changes.

Sulfur-modified tea-waste biochar improves rice growth in arsenic contaminated soil and reduces arsenic accumulation.

Arsenic (As) is a non-essential carcinogenic metalloid and an issue of concern for rice crops. This study investigated the effects of sulfur-loaded tea waste biochar (TWB) due to modification with sodium sulfide (SSTWB) or thiourea (TUTWB) on As stress and accumulation in rice plants. The results showed that sulfur-modified TWB improved plant morphology compared to plants grown in As-contaminated soil alone.

A novel ensemble ARIMA-LSTM approach for evaluating COVID-19 cases and future outbreak preparedness.

Background: The global impact of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus has created unprecedented challenges, significantly impacting public health and economies worldwide. This research article conducts a time series analysis of COVID-19 data across various countries, including India, Brazil, Russia, and the United States, with a particular emphasis on total confirmed cases.

Methods: The proposed approach combines auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA)'s ability to capture linear trends and seasonality with long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, which are designed to learn complex nonlinear dependencies in the data.

Association between atherosclerosis and the development of multi-organ pathologies.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the vascular system, characterised by the accumulation of modified lipoproteins, immune cell aggregation and the development of fibrous tissue within blood vessel walls. As atherosclerosis impacts blood vessels, its adverse effects may manifest across various tissues and organs. In this review, we examine the association of atherosclerosis with Alzheimer's disease, stroke, pancreatic and thyroid dysfunction, kidney stones and chronic kidney diseases.

Africa and Arabia encompass a much greater species diversity in the aggregate (Amaranthaceae, achyranthoid clade): Evidence from morphological and chorological data.

in its traditional sense (excluding that phylogenetically falls into ) has been considered to contain a restricted (three to four) number of species in Africa and one or two species in the Arabian Peninsula. The morphology of the type species of the genus, , has been treated as highly polymorphic, with several varieties recognised by various authors. Not surprisingly, a recent extended phylogeny revealed a non-monophyly of .

Prospects for Use of Botulinum Toxin Type A for Prevention of Hypertrophic and Keloid Scars after Surgeries.

 To evaluate the possibility of improving and preventing the formation of postoperative hypertrophic and keloid scars using botulinum toxin type A (BTA).  Scientific articles published in English have been systematically screened in PubMed/MEDLINE database over the entire period. The following information about the studies was analyzed: first author surname; year of publication; number of patients; average age; scar location; dosage of the drug administered; follow-up duration; scar assessment methods; results, incidence of hypertrophic and keloid scars formation.

Polygenic score distribution differences across European ancestry populations: implications for breast cancer risk prediction.

Background: The 313-variant polygenic risk score (PRS) provides a promising tool for clinical breast cancer risk prediction. However, evaluation of the PRS across different European populations which could influence risk estimation has not been performed.

Methods: We explored the distribution of PRS across European populations using genotype data from 94,072 females without breast cancer diagnosis, of European-ancestry from 21 countries participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and 223,316 females without breast cancer diagnosis from the UK Biobank.

Pear-Shaped Eggs Evolved to Maximize the Surface Area-to-Volume Ratio, Increase Metabolism, and Shorten Incubation Time in Birds.

Bird eggs can be spherical, ellipsoid, ovoid, or pear-shaped (pyriform), the latter being the most complex. There is however no unambiguous evolutionary/adaptive explanation for this final, exotic shape. We hypothesized that pyriform eggs have a larger surface area-to-volume ratio (S/V) that may be a criterion for increased embryo metabolism.

Novel Insights on the Biology and Immunological Effects of Histamine: A Road Map for Allergists and Mast Cell Biologists.

Histamine (CHN, molecular weight 111.15 g/mol) is a well-studied endogenous biogenic amine composed of an imidazole ring attached to an ethylamine side chain. It has a limited half-life of a few minutes within tissues and in circulation.

The lawc gene emerged de novo from conserved genomic elements and acquired a broad expression pattern in Drosophila.

It has recently become evident that the de novo emergence of genes is widespread and documented for a variety of organisms. De novo genes frequently emerge in proximity to existing genes, forming gene overlaps. Here, we present an analysis of the evolutionary history of a putative de novo gene, lawc, which overlaps with the conserved Trf2 gene, which encodes a general transcription factor in Drosophila melanogaster.

The Mucosal Protection in the Treatment of Erosive Reflux Esophagitis: Mechanisms for Restoring Epithelial Permeability. A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background And Aims: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is widespread in the population and is characterized by the risk of developing Barrett's esophagus and associated adenocarcinoma. Key factors in the progression of the disease are not only the frequency and duration of reflux episodes, but also the resistance of the esophageal mucosa to aggressive reflux molecules. Assessment of the state of tight junction proteins, the rate of their recovery under the influence of various treatment regimens is an urgent task for choosing optimal approaches to curing patients with GERD.

Ultrastructural disturbances in microglia-neuron interactions in the head of the caudate nucleus in schizophrenia.

Previously we found altered microglia-neuron interactions in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that microglia-neuron interactions may be dysregulated in the caudate nucleus in schizophrenia. A postmortem ultrastructural morphometric study was performed to investigate satellite microglia (SatMg) and adjacent neurons in the head of the caudate nucleus in 21 cases of schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls.

Microbial diversity of hot springs of the Kuril Islands.

The Kuril Islands are located in the Far-East of Russia and enriched with shallow and terrestrial hot springs. Prokaryotic diversity of Kuril geothermal environments has been studied fragmentarily and mainly by culture-dependent methods. We performed the first large-scale investigation of microbial communities, inhabited more than 30 terrestrial hot springs of Kunashir and Iturup Islands, analyzed by 16S rRNA gene fragment amplicon sequencing, together with chemical analysis of thermal waters and sediments.

Overexpression of the constitutively-active AtCPK1 mutant in tobacco plants confers cold and heat tolerance, possibly through modulating abscisic acid and salicylic acid signalling.

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are very effective calcium signal decoders due to their unique structure, which mediates substrate-specific [Ca] signalling through phosphorylation. However, Ca-dependence makes it challenging to study CDPKs. This work focused on the effects of the overexpression of native and modified forms of the AtCPK1 gene on the tolerance of tobacco plants to heat and cold.

Progress on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections elimination among youth and adults across BRICS-plus countries: Results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Background: Global strategies aim to eradicate HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by 2030. We aim to assess HIV and other STIs morbidity trends from 1992 to 2021 across BRICS-plus (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), which accounts for nearly half of the world population.

Methods: HIV and other STIs morbidity estimates were derived from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

[Issues of treatment and prevention of recurrent inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract: An immunologist's view. A review].

Often ill people are, first of all, patients with recurrent infectious and inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract (URT). They put a significant financial burden on the healthcare system. The leading etiological factors of recurrent inflammatory diseases of URT, in addition to pathogenic bacterial microflora, are viral agents (viruses of the viral respiratory infections group, herpes viruses).

[The effectiveness of vaccination against pneumococcal infection in patients with severe bronchial asthma].

Introduction: The article discusses topical issues of the use of conjugated 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar®13 (PCV13) in patients with severe bronchial asthma (SBA), including those receiving targeted therapy with genetically engineered biological drugs (GEBD).

Aim: To study the effectiveness of vaccination against pneumococcal infection (PI) in patients with SBA.

Materials And Methods: The study included 381 patients with SBA.

[Prediction of the course of antibiotic-associated diarrhea caused by based on clinical and laboratory characteristics of the disease].

Background: The most severe complications of antibiotic use are clostridial infection (CDI) and pseudomembranous colitis (PMC). There is a need for further study of these conditions and identification of their triggers.

Aim: To identify risk factors for severe forms of antibiotic-associated diarrhea caused by .

[Effectiveness of riamilovir in preventing respiratory viral infection among young people from organized collectives].

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of the antiviral drug riamilovir (trade name - «Triazavirin») for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and other acute respiratory viral infections in young people from organized groups.

Materials And Methods: The study involved 386 individuals aged 18-22 years: 199 received riamilovir at a daily dose of 250 mg for 15 days, while 187 did not receive prophylactic drugs. For 30 days, disease occurrence was monitored among volunteers.

Self-Adaptive Nanocarriers Overcome Multiple Physiological Barriers to Boosting Chemotherapy of Orthotopic Pancreatic Cancer.

Chemotherapy is the primary treatment option for pancreatic cancer, although nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems often struggle with multiple physiological barriers, limiting their therapeutic efficacy. Here, we developed a pH/reactive oxygen species (ROS) dual-sensitive self-adaptive nanocarrier (DAT) encapsulating camptothecin (CPT), an analog of the pancreatic chemotherapeutic drug irinotecan (CPT-11), to enhance chemotherapy outcomes in orthotopic pancreatic cancer by addressing multiple physiological barriers. The nanocarrier features a peripherally positively charged arginine (Arg) residue on DAT and is masked with an acid-labile 2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (DA) to improve circulation time.

[A case of rare hereditary Siddiqi syndrome with novel neuropsychiatric signs].

A fifth world case of autosomal recessive Siddiqi syndrome (SIDDIS) related to ene is presented. In a consanguineous Lezgin (a Dagestan ethnicity) family, there were two affected brothers aged 28 yrs (proband, personally examined) and 32 yrs. Whole-exome sequencing followed by familial Sanger sequencing detected a novel missence variant c.

[Paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome].

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by a combination of main symptoms: opsoclonus, myoclonus, ataxia, psychoemotional and behavioral disturbances. OMS can develop in children as a result of immunopathological processes against the background of infectious or oncological pathology and lead to persistent neurological deficit. A case of ten-year observation of paraneoplastic OMS associated with neuroblastoma in a child is presented.

[A portrait of a doctor with Parkinson's disease].

In a number of causes of Parkinson's disease (PD), occupation is periodically mentioned as a possible risk factor. However, a look at the complex impact of external factors on people of certain professions and the expansion of the area of risk factors in a rapidly changing world leads to the emergence of new studies. There is an assumption that the risk of developing PD is increased in doctors due to long-term exposure to stress.