Translation regulation by RNA stem-loops can reduce gene expression noise.

Background: Stochastic modelling plays a crucial role in comprehending the dynamics of intracellular events in various biochemical systems, including gene-expression models. Cell-to-cell variability arises from the stochasticity or noise in the levels of gene products such as messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein. The sources of noise can stem from different factors, including structural elements.

Targeting the gut and tumor microbiome in cancer treatment resistance.

Therapy resistance represents a significant challenge in oncology, occurring in various therapeutic approaches. Recently, animal models and an increasing set of clinical trials highlight the crucial impact of the gut and tumor microbiome on treatment response. The intestinal microbiome contributes to cancer initiation, progression, and formation of distant metastasis.

Socioeconomic status, smoking, and lung cancer: mediation and bias analysis in the SYNERGY study.

Background: Increased lung-cancer risks for low socioeconomic status (SES) groups are only partially attributable to smoking habits. Little effort has been made to investigate the persistent risks related to low SES by quantification of potential biases.

Methods: Based on 12 case-control studies, including 18 centers of the international SYNERGY project (16,550 cases, 20,147 controls), we estimated controlled direct effects (CDE) of SES on lung cancer via multiple logistic regression, adjusted for age, study center, and smoking habits, and stratified by sex.

Role of artificial intelligence in haematolymphoid diagnostics.

The advent of digital pathology and the deployment of high-throughput molecular techniques are generating an unprecedented mass of data. Thanks to advances in computational sciences, artificial intelligence (AI) approaches represent a promising avenue for extracting relevant information from complex data structures. From diagnostic assistance to powerful research tools, the potential fields of application of machine learning techniques in pathology are vast and constitute the subject of considerable research work.

L. fruit peels show anti-cancer effects in preclinical models of breast carcinoma: The perspectives in the chemoprevention and therapy modulation.

Introduction: Within oncology research, there is a high effort for new approaches to prevent and treat cancer as a life-threatening disease. Specific plant species that adapt to harsh conditions may possess unique properties that may be utilized in the management of cancer.

Hypothesis: Chokeberry fruit is rich in secondary metabolites with anti-cancer activities potentially useful in cancer prevention and treatment.

Atypical Manifestation of X-linked Agammaglobulinemia - the Importance of Genetic Testing.

X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) was one of the first inborn errors of immunity to be described. It is caused by pathogenic variants in the gene for Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), which has important functions in B cell development and maturation. Recurrent bacterial infections in the first two years of life and hypogammaglobulinemia with absent B cells in male patients are the most common symptoms.

Space Analogs and Behavioral Health Performance Research review and recommendations checklist from ESA Topical Team.

Space analog research has increased over the last few years with new analogs appearing every year. Research in this field is very important for future real mission planning, selection and training of astronauts. Analog environments offer specific characteristics that resemble to some extent the environment of a real space mission.

Exploring the potential of reconstructed human epithelial tissue models for safety assessment of intraoral medical devices.

Medical devices are integral to a wide array of medical interventions and are increasingly utilized in both clinical and home settings. Within the oral cavity, intraoral medical devices are employed for various applications, to improve quality of life and maintain oral health and hygiene. However, the dynamic and complex environment of the oral cavity, characterized by the influence of factors, such as saliva composition, fluctuating pH, and microbial flora presents a challenge to ensure the safety of end-users.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in aquatic ecosystems and wastewater treatment works in Africa: Occurrence, ecological implications, and future perspectives.

The increasing levels of industrialization and urbanization have led to the generation of significant amounts of wastewater and waste products, often containing chemicals like per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) commonly found in consumer products. PFASs are known for their persistence, ubiquity, and ecotoxicological impacts, raising concerns about potential harm to ecosystems. This paper reports the occurrence and evaluates the ecological risks of PFASs in aquatic ecosystems and wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) across Africa.

Development of crystal optics for X-ray multi-projection imaging for synchrotron and XFEL sources.

X-ray multi-projection imaging (XMPI) is an emerging experimental technique for the acquisition of rotation-free, time-resolved, volumetric information on stochastic processes. The technique is developed for high-brilliance light-source facilities, aiming to address known limitations of state-of-the-art imaging methods in the acquisition of 4D sample information, linked to their need for sample rotation. XMPI relies on a beam-splitting scheme, that illuminates a sample from multiple, angularly spaced viewpoints, and employs fast, indirect, X-ray imaging detectors for the collection of the data.

Characterization of two Plasmodium falciparum lipid transfer proteins of the Sec14/CRAL-TRIO family.

Invasion of human red blood cells by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is followed by dramatic modifications of erythrocytes properties, including de novo formation of new membrane systems. Lipid transfer proteins from both the parasite and the host cell are most likely an important part of those membrane remodeling processes. Using bioinformatics and in silico structural analysis, we have identified five P.

Epigenomic and phenotypic characterization of DEGCAGS syndrome.

Developmental Delay with Gastrointestinal, Cardiovascular, Genitourinary, and Skeletal Abnormalities syndrome (DEGCAGS, MIM #619488) is caused by biallelic, loss-of-function (LoF) ZNF699 variants, and is characterized by variable neurodevelopmental disability, discordant organ anomalies among full siblings and infant mortality. ZNF699 encodes a KRAB zinc finger protein of unknown function. We aimed to investigate the genotype-phenotype spectrum of DEGCAGS and the possibility of a diagnostic DNA methylation episignature, to facilitate the diagnosis of a highly variable condition lacking pathognomonic clinical findings.

Long-term nitrogen deposition reduces the diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants.

Biological nitrogen fixation is a fundamental part of ecosystem functioning. Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition and climate change may, however, limit the competitive advantage of nitrogen-fixing plants, leading to reduced relative diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants. Yet, assessments of changes of nitrogen-fixing plant long-term community diversity are rare.

Biodielectrics: old wine in a new bottle?

Biodielectrics is a subset of biological and/or bioinspired materials that has brought a huge transformation in the advancement of medical science, such as localized drug delivery in cancer therapeutics, health monitoring, bone and nerve repair, tissue engineering and use in other nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). While biodielectrics has long been used in the field of electrical insulation for over a century, polar dielectric properties of biological building blocks have not been well understood at the fundamental building block level. In this review article, we provide a brief overview of dielectric properties of biological building blocks and its hierarchical organisations to include polar dielectric properties such as piezo, pyro, and ferroelectricity.

Sex differences in the correlation between lipids related to cardiovascular risk factors and small dense LDL particles in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: Sex differences in lipid metabolism associated with prevalent small dense (S-) low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol particles are not elucidated. An LDL to apolipoprotein B (ApoB) ratio < 1.2 can estimate how prevalent S-LDL particles are and, thus, reflect cardiovascular risk.