A preliminary evaluation of a fast, low-cost, and high-throughput nucleic acid extraction method for bacterial microbiota profiling in low-microbial biomass samples.

The respiratory tract is colonized with low-density microbial communities, which have been shown to impact human respiratory health through microbiota-host interactions. However, a lack of fast and cost-effective nucleic acid extraction method for low-microbial biomass samples hinders investigation of respiratory microbiota. Here, we performed a pilot study to assess the suitability of the NAxtra nucleic acid extraction protocol for profiling bacterial microbiota in respiratory samples.

The role of fluid friction in streamer formation and biofilm growth.

Biofilms constitute one of the most common forms of living matter, playing an increasingly important role in technology, health, and ecology. While it is well established that biofilm growth and morphology are highly dependent on the external flow environment, the precise role of fluid friction has remained elusive. We grew Bacillus subtilis biofilms on flat surfaces of a channel in a laminar flow at wall shear stresses spanning one order of magnitude (τ = 0.

Airborne observations reveal the fate of the methane from the Nord Stream pipelines.

The Nord Stream pipeline leaks on 26 September 2022 released 465 ± 20 kt of methane into the atmosphere, which is the largest recorded transient anthropogenic methane emission event. While most of the gas escaped directly to the atmosphere, a fraction dissolved in the water. So far, studies on the fate of this dissolved methane rely on pipeline volumetric estimates or spatially sparse concentration measurements and ocean models.

Nord Stream methane leaks spread across 14% of Baltic waters.

A suspected 443-486 kt of methane escaped from the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 at four explosion sites across three pipelines. Much of this methane rapidly escaped to the atmosphere, while an unknown amount was dissolved. We use sustained high-resolution observations of methane concentrations from autonomous gliders and an instrumented ship of opportunity to reveal the timing and spread of dissolved methane across different Baltic regions and marine protected areas.

Cutting through the noise: A narrative review of Alzheimer's disease plasma biomarkers for routine clinical use.

As novel, anti-amyloid therapies have become more widely available, access to timely and accurate diagnosis has become integral to ensuring optimal treatment of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plasma biomarkers are a promising tool for identifying AD pathology; however, several technical and clinical factors need to be considered prior to their implementation in routine clinical use. Given the rapid pace of advancements in the field and the wide array of available biomarkers and tests, this review aims to summarize these considerations, evaluate available platforms, and discuss the steps needed to bring plasma biomarker testing to the clinic.

A Systematic Review of Evaluated Labor Market Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment: Findings and Public Health Implications.

Precarious employment (PE) is a major determinant of population health and contributor to health and social inequities. The purpose of this article is to synthesize and critically appraise available evidence on labor market initiatives addressing PE identified through a systematic review. Of the 21 initiatives reviewed, grouped into four categories-labor market policies, legislation, and reforms; union strategies; apprenticeships and other youth programs; social protection programs-10 showed consistently positive outcomes and 11 a combination of negative, mixed, or inconclusive outcomes.

Explainable deep neural networks for predicting sample phenotypes from single-cell transcriptomics.

Recent advances in single-cell RNA-Sequencing (scRNA-Seq) technologies have revolutionized our ability to gather molecular insights into different phenotypes at the level of individual cells. The analysis of the resulting data poses significant challenges, and proper statistical methods are required to analyze and extract information from scRNA-Seq datasets. Sample classification based on gene expression data has proven effective and valuable for precision medicine applications.

Migraine and its major subtypes - with and without aura are associated with polygenic scores for autism.

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience a wide array of neurological, psychiatric and medical comorbidities, yet little attention has been given to the potential link between ASD and migraine, one of the most prevalent neurological disorders worldwide. This study aimed to investigate whether a genetic predisposition for ASD is linked to migraine and its major subtypes, with and without aura. Additionally, potential moderator and mediators of the association between ASD and migraine were explored.

Therapist-Guided Internet-Delivered Acceptance-Enhanced Behavior Therapy for Skin-Picking Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Despite its high prevalence, individuals suffering from skin-picking disorder (SPD) face limited access to treatment due to several factors, including geographical and economic barriers, as well as a shortage of properly trained therapists. Offering Internet-delivered therapy could be a solution to these barriers. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of therapist-guided Internet-delivered acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy (iBT) for SPD compared to a wait-list control condition.

The impact of neoadjuvant therapy in patients with left-sided resectable pancreatic cancer: an international multicenter study.

Purpose: To assess the association between neoadjuvant therapy and overall survival (OS) in patients with left-sided resectable pancreatic cancer (RPC) compared to upfront surgery.

Background: Left-sided pancreatic cancer is associated with worse OS compared to right-sided pancreatic cancer. Although neoadjuvant therapy is currently seen as not effective in patients with RPC, current randomized trials included mostly patients with right-sided RPC.

Adverse Outcomes After Cemented and Cementless Primary Elective Total Hip Arthroplasty in 60,064 Matched Patients: A Study of Data From the Swedish Arthroplasty Register.

Introduction: The choice between cemented and cementless fixation in primary elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) remains a subject of ongoing debate. However, comparisons between the two are subject to limited adjustments for patient characteristics, diagnoses, and surgical factors, as well as by limited outcome time endpoints. Our study aimed to compare the effect of femoral fixation on safety and implant survival outcomes in matched patients.

Heterogeneous entity representation for medicinal synergy prediction.

Motivation: Forecasting the synergistic effects of drug combinations facilitates drug discovery and development, especially regarding cancer therapeutics. While numerous computational methods have emerged, most of them fall short in fully modeling the relationships among clinical entities including drugs, cell lines, and diseases, which hampers their ability to generalize to drug combinations involving unseen drugs. These relationships are complex and multidimensional, requiring sophisticated modeling to capture nuanced interplay that can significantly influence therapeutic efficacy.

Association between dairy products intake and frailty transitions in older adults: The InCHIANTI cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between dairy products consumption and the probability of frailty transitions in community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Longitudinal study.

Setting And Participants: We included 863 community-dwelling participants ≥65 years from the Chianti region in Italy.

Interventions to Maintain HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Service Delivery During Public Health Emergencies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Background: Although existing disease preparedness and response frameworks provide guidance about strengthening emergency response capacity, little attention is paid to health service continuity during emergency responses. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, there were 11,325 reported deaths due to the Ebola virus and yet disruption in access to care caused more than 10,000 additional deaths due to measles, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Low- and middle-income countries account for the largest disease burden due to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria and yet previous responses to health emergencies showed that HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria service delivery can be significantly disrupted.

Kynurenines and aerobic exercise capacity in chronic kidney disease: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

Background: The causes of reduced aerobic exercise capacity (ExCap) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) are multifactorial, possibly involving the accumulation of tryptophan (TRP) metabolites such as kynurenine (KYN) and kynurenic acid (KYNA), known as kynurenines. Their relationship to ExCap has yet to be studied in CKD. We hypothesised that aerobic ExCap would be negatively associated with plasma levels of TRP, KYN and KYNA in CKD.

Impact of hysterectomy on opioid use in patients with adenomyosis: A nationwide register study.

Introduction: Dysmenorrhea and heavy menstrual bleeding are the most common symptoms in adenomyosis, in addition to infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Hysterectomy is a common treatment for adenomyosis symptoms with curative effect on heavy menstrual bleeding but with less studied effects on pain reduction.

Material And Methods: This is a nationwide retrospective register-based cohort study including all hysterectomized patients with pathology-verified adenomyosis between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015 with a long-term follow-up three years pre- and three years postoperatively.

Effectiveness and Safety of Adalimumab in Patients With Very Early-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Retrospective Study on Behalf of the Porto Inflammatory Bowel Disease Working Group of European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition.

Background And Aims: Patients with very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD), with an age of onset < 6 years, can present with severe manifestations and may require biologic therapy. Infliximab and adalimumab are approved for induction and maintenance in pediatric IBD patients but are licensed only above the age of 6 years. Effectiveness and safety data on adalimumab in this patient population are lacking.

Risk Stratification for Cardiovascular Disease: A Comparative Analysis of Cluster Analysis and Traditional Prediction Models.

Aim: Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) relies on effective risk stratification to guide interventions. Current models, primarily developed using regression analysis, can lead to inaccurate estimates when applied to external populations. This study evaluates the utility of cluster analysis as an alternative method for developing CVD risk stratification models, comparing its performance with established CVD risk prediction models.

The prognostic value of global longitudinal strain in patients with myocardial infarction and preserved ejection fraction - a prespecified substudy of the REDUCE-AMI trial.

Aims: The REDUCE-AMI trial showed that beta-blockers in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) had no effect on mortality or cardiovascular outcomes. The aim of this substudy was to evaluate whether global longitudinal strain (GLS) is a better prognostic marker than LVEF, and if beta-blockers have a beneficial effect in patients with decreased GLS.

Methods And Results: REDUCE-AMI was a registry-based randomized clinical trial.

Intranasal delivery of a ghrelin mimetic engages the brain ghrelin signalling system in mice.

Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), promotes food intake, other feeding behaviours and stimulates growth hormone (GH) release from the pituitary. Growth hormone secretagogues (GHS), such as GHRP-6 and MK-0677, are synthetic GHSR ligands that activate orexigenic Neuropeptide Y neurons that co-express Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP) in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus when administered systemically. Systemic GHRP-6 also stimulates GH release in humans and rats.

Surgery for primary ventral hernias and risk of postoperative pain, nausea: a population-based register study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for postoperative pain and nausea after open repair for primary ventral hernias.

Method: A population-based registry study was conducted based on data assembled from the Swedish national ventral hernia repair register between January 2016 and December 2021and cross-matched with the Swedish perioperative register.

Results: Altogether 2064 open ventral hernia repairs were registered, including 816 (39.

Impulse control and correlation to dopamine agonist serum concentrations in people with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Impaired impulse control is often seen in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients using dopamine agonists.

Methods: We performed a therapeutic drug monitoring study of 100 PD patients using ropinirole or pramipexole extended release. Three blood samples were collected on the same day.