Hemodynamic Comparison between the Avalus and the Perimount Magna Ease Aortic Bioprosthesis up to 5 Years.

Background:  We aimed to compare hemodynamic performance of the Avalus (Medtronic) and the Perimount Magna Ease (PME, Edwards Lifesciences) bioprosthesis up to 5 years by serial echocardiographic examinations.

Methods:  In patients undergoing aortic valve replacement, 58 received PME prostheses between October 2007 and October 2008, and another 60 received Avalus prostheses between October 2014 and November 2015. To ensure similar baseline characteristics, we performed a propensity score matching based on left ventricular ejection fraction, age, body surface area, and aortic annulus diameter measured by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography.

Integrated clinical case discussions - a fully student-organized peer-teaching program on internal medicine.

Background: In response to students´ poor ratings of emergency remote lectures in internal medicine, a team of undergraduate medical students initiated a series of voluntary peer-moderated clinical case discussions. This study aims to describe the student-led effort to develop peer-moderated clinical case discussions focused on training cognitive clinical skill for first and second-year clinical students.

Methods: Following the Kern Cycle a didactic concept is conceived by matching cognitive learning theory to the competence levels of the German Medical Training Framework.

Altered sensorimotor processing in irritable bowel syndrome: Evidence for a transdiagnostic pathomechanism in functional somatic disorders.

Objective: A recent hypothesis suggests that functional somatic symptoms are due to altered information processing in the brain, with rigid expectations biasing sensorimotor signal processing. First experimental results confirmed such altered processing within the affected symptom modality, e.g.

investigation of molecular networks linking gastrointestinal diseases, malnutrition, and sarcopenia.

Malnutrition (MN) is a common primary or secondary complication in gastrointestinal diseases. The patient's nutritional status also influences muscle mass and function, which can be impaired up to the degree of sarcopenia. The molecular interactions in diseases leading to sarcopenia are complex and multifaceted, affecting muscle physiology, the intestine (nutrition), and the liver at different levels.

Metabolites of Key Flavor Compound 2,3,5-Trimethylpyrazine in Human Urine.

Pyrazines are among the most important compound class conveying the odor impressions "roasty", "nutty", and "earthy". They are formed by the Maillard reaction and occur ubiquitously in heated foods. The excretion of metabolites of the key flavor odorant 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, abundant in the volatile fraction of roasted coffee, was investigated.

Altered frontal electroencephalography as a potential correlate of acute dissociation in dissociative disorders: novel findings from a mirror confrontation study.

People suffering from chronic dissociation often experience stress and detachment during self-perception. We tested 18 people with dissociative disorders not otherwise specified (DDNOS; compared with a matched sample of 18 healthy controls) undergoing a stress-inducing facial mirror confrontation paradigm, and measured acute dissociation and frontal electroencephalography (measured with a four-channel system) per experimental condition (e.g.

Using visual speech at the cocktail-party: CNV evidence for early speech extraction in younger and older adults.

The comprehension of spoken language benefits from visual speech information. One reason for this is the temporal lead of mouth and lip movements over the onset of acoustic speech utterance. Here, we investigated EEG event-related potentials preceding acoustic speech, focusing on a fronto-central contingent negative variation (CNV) prior to the onset of acoustic speech.

A zlog-based algorithm and tool for plausibility checks of reference intervals.

Objectives: Laboratory information systems typically contain hundreds or even thousands of reference limits stratified by sex and age. Since under these conditions a manual plausibility check is hardly feasible, we have developed a simple algorithm that facilitates this check. An open-source R tool is available as a Shiny application at github.

Proteins from Modern and Ancient Wheat Cultivars: Impact on Immune Cells of Healthy Individuals and Patients with NCGS.

In non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), the elimination of wheat results in a clear symptom improvement, but gluten has still not been proven as (the sole) trigger. Due to the increase in the prevalence of gluten-related diseases, the breeding of high-performance wheat cultivars is discussed as a trigger. To analyze the immune stimulation and signal pathways, the immune cells of healthy subjects and patients with NCGS were stimulated with gliadins from wheat, and the expression and secretion of interleukin 1ß (IL1ß) and interleukin 6 (IL6) were studied.

Robust Preanalytical Performance of Soluble PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 Assessed by Sensitive ELISAs in Blood.

The interaction between programmed death-1 receptor PD-1 and its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2 is involved in self-tolerance, immune escape of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and COVID-19. As blood-based protein markers they bear great potential to improve oncoimmunology research and monitoring of anti-cancer immunotherapy. A variety of preanalytical conditions were tested to assure high quality plasma sample measurements: (i) different time intervals and storage temperatures before and after blood centrifugation; (ii) fresh samples and repeated freeze-thaw-cycles; (iii) different conditions of sample preparation before measurement.

Critical Sites on Ostreolysin Are Responsible for Interaction with Cytoskeletal Proteins.

We explored the structural features of recombinant ostreolysin A (rOlyA), a protein produced by and responsible for binding to α/β-tubulin. We found that rOlyA cell internalization is essential for the induction of adipocyte-associated activity, which is mediated by the interaction of rOlyA and microtubule proteins. We created different point mutations at conserved tryptophan (W) sites in rOlyA and analyzed their biological activity in HIB-1B preadipocytes.

High Quality Performance of Novel Immunoassays for the Sensitive Quantification of Soluble PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 in Blood.

Programmed death-1 receptor PD-1(CD279) and its corresponding ligands PD-L1(CD274, B7-H1) and PD-L2(CD273, B7-DC) play important roles in physiological immune tolerance and for immune escape in cancer disease. Hence, the establishment and analytical validation of a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure soluble PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 in blood samples according to high quality standards is required. Antibody pairs were used to establish novel highly sensitive ELISAs for all three markers on an open electrochemiluminescence Quickplex platform.

DermX: An end-to-end framework for explainable automated dermatological diagnosis.

Dermatological diagnosis automation is essential in addressing the high prevalence of skin diseases and critical shortage of dermatologists. Despite approaching expert-level diagnosis performance, convolutional neural network (ConvNet) adoption in clinical practice is impeded by their limited explainability, and by subjective, expensive explainability validations. We introduce DermX, an end-to-end framework for explainable automated dermatological diagnosis.

Changes in the Major Odorants of Grape Juice during Manufacturing of Dornfelder Red Wine.

Application of the aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) on a distillate prepared from freshly squeezed juice of Dornfelder grapes revealed (3)-hex-3-enal and -4,5-epoxy-(2)-dec-2-enal with the highest flavor dilution (FD) factors. In contrast, in the final Dornfelder wine prepared thereof, the highest FD factors were found for 2-phenylethyl acetate, 2-phenylethan-1-ol, and ()-β-damascenone. However, for example, among others, (3)-hex-3-enal no longer appeared as an important odorant.

Decoding the Fine Flavor Properties of Dark Chocolates.

Fine flavor properties of chocolates such as fruity, floral, and cocoa-like were decoded on a molecular level for the first time. The molecular compositions of six chocolates made out of liquors that were referenced with specific sensory attributes were analyzed. After the screening for odor-active molecules by aroma extract dilution analysis, selected compounds were quantitated with the overall aim to decode the distinct fine flavor attributes on a molecular level.

Computed Tomography Imaging in ILD: New Trends for the Clinician.

Today, radiological methods are an integral part of diagnostics in lung diseases, and they provide important information regarding the evaluation of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) [...

The impact of pulmonary artery size on midterm outcomes after nonfenestrated Fontan operation.

Objective: We sought to identify the impact of pulmonary artery size on outcomes after nonfenestrated total cavopulmonary connection. In a subgroup of patients with right-sided bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt, the impact of each branch pulmonary artery size was individually determined.

Methods: The medical records of all patients who underwent nonfenestrated total cavopulmonary connection between 2009 and 2021 were reviewed.

Impact of lactisole on the time-intensity profile of selected sweeteners in dependence of the binding site.

Currently, there is limited insight into the influence of the different binding sites of agonists and antagonists of the sweet taste receptor TAS1R2/TAS1R3 on temporal sensory properties of sweet tasting compounds. We investigated whether the binding site and a competitive or allosteric inhibition of TAS1R2/TAS1R3 influence the time-dependent sensory perception and in vitro TAS1R2/TAS1R3-activation profiles. We compared time-intensity ratings of cyclamate, NHDC, acesulfame K, and aspartame with and without lactisole with the corresponding TAS1R2/TAS1R3-activation in transfected HEK293 cells.

Premexotac: Machine learning bitterants predictor for advancing pharmaceutical development.

Bitter taste receptors were recently found to be involved in numerous physiological and pathological conditions other than taste and are suggested as potential drug targets. In vivo and in vitro techniques for screening bitterants as ligands come with economical, time and ethic challenges. Therefore, in silico tools can represent a valuable alternative due to their practicality.

Taking the chance!-Interindividual differences in rule-breaking.

While some individuals tend to follow norms, others, in the face of tempting but forbidden options, tend to commit rule-breaking when this action is beneficial for themselves. Previous studies have neglected such interindividual differences in rule-breaking. The present study fills this gap by investigating cognitive characteristics of individuals who commit spontaneous deliberative rule-breaking (rule-breakers) versus rule-followers.

Polymorphism and solid solutions of trimethylammonium monocarboranes.

Metal -boranes have recently received significant attention as solid-state electrolytes due to their high thermal and electrochemical stability, and the weak interaction between the cat- and anion, facilitating fast ionic conductivity. Here we report a synthesis method for obtaining a novel mixed -carborane compound, [NH(CH)][(CBH)(CBH)(CBH)]. The crystal structures are investigated for [NH(CH)][CBH] and [NH(CH)][(CBH)(CBH)(CBH)], revealing that the latter forms a solid solution isostructural to [NH(CH)][CBH].

The SLC26A9 inhibitor S9-A13 provides no evidence for a role of SLC26A9 in airway chloride secretion but suggests a contribution to regulation of ASL pH and gastric proton secretion.

The solute carrier 26 family member A9 (SLC26A9) is an epithelial anion transporter that is assumed to contribute to airway chloride secretion and surface hydration. Whether SLC26A9 or CFTR is responsible for airway Cl transport under basal conditions is still unclear, due to the lack of a specific inhibitor for SLC26A9. In the present study, we report a novel potent and specific inhibitor for SLC26A9, identified by screening of a drug-like molecule library and subsequent chemical modifications.

Efficiency Optimization of the Electroerosive Process in µ-WEDM of Steel MS1 Sintered Using DMLS Technology.

Although the application of mathematical optimization methods for controlling machining processes has been the subject of much research, the situation is different for µ-WEDM. This fact has prompted us to fill the gap in this field in conjunction with investigating µ-WEDM's very low productivity and overall process efficiency, since the current trend is oriented towards achieving high quality of the machined area at a high manufacturing productivity. This paper discusses in detail the application of non-linear programming (NLP) methods using MATLAB to maximize the process performance of µ-WEDM maraging steel MS1 sintered using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technology.