Short- and long-range roles of UNC-6/Netrin in dorsal-ventral axon guidance in vivo in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Recent studies in vertebrates and Caenorhabditis elegans have reshaped models of how the axon guidance cue UNC-6/Netrin functions in dorsal-ventral axon guidance, which was traditionally thought to form a ventral-to-dorsal concentration gradient that was actively sensed by growing axons. In the vertebrate spinal cord, floorplate Netrin1 was shown to be largely dispensable for ventral commissural growth. Rather, short range interactions with Netrin1 on the ventricular zone radial glial stem cells was shown to guide ventral commissural axon growth.

Adaptation optimizes sensory encoding for future stimuli.

Sensory neurons continually adapt their response characteristics according to recent stimulus history. However, it is unclear how such a reactive process can benefit the organism. Here, we test the hypothesis that adaptation actually acts proactively in the sense that it optimally adjusts sensory encoding for future stimuli.

Deficient neutrophil responses early in influenza infection promote viral replication and pulmonary inflammation.

Neutrophils play key protective roles in influenza infections, yet excessive neutrophilic inflammation is a hallmark of acute lung injury during severe infections. Phenotypic heterogeneity is increasingly recognized in neutrophil populations; however, how functional variation in neutrophils between individuals determine the diverse outcomes of influenza remains unclear. To examine immunologic responses that may drive varying outcomes in influenza, we infected C57BL/6 (B6) and A/J mice with mouse-adapted influenza A virus A/PR/8/34 H1N1.

Effect of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) on hospitalization among adults with COVID-19: An electronic health record-based target trial emulation from N3C.

Background: Nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (Paxlovid) is indicated for patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) who are at risk for progression to severe disease due to the presence of one or more risk factors. Millions of treatment courses have been prescribed in the United States alone. Paxlovid was highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death in clinical trials.

Psilocybin-assisted massed cognitive processing therapy for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: Protocol for an open-label pilot feasibility trial.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 3.9% of the general population. While massed cognitive processing therapy (CPT) has demonstrated efficacy in treating chronic PTSD, a substantial proportion of patients still continue to meet PTSD criteria after treatment, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic approaches.

Development of a rapid antigen-based lateral flow assay for tick-borne spotted fever rickettsioses.

Tick-borne spotted fever rickettsioses (SFRs) continue to cause severe illness and death in otherwise-healthy individuals due to lack of a timely and reliable diagnostic laboratory test. We recently identified a diagnostic biomarker for SFRs, the putative N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase RC0497. Here, we developed a prototype laboratory test that targets RC0497 for diagnosis of SFRs.

Composition and functional diversity of soil and water microbial communities in the rice-crab symbiosis system.

Rice-crab co-culture is an environmentally friendly agricultural and aquaculture technology with high economic and ecological value. In order to clarify the structure and function of soil and water microbial communities in the rice-crab symbiosis system, the standard rice-crab field with a ring groove was used as the research object. High-throughput sequencing was performed with rice field water samples to analyze the species and abundance differences of soil bacteria and fungi.

The impact of shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic on social support for mental health recovery: A prescribing-oriented qualitative study of patient perspectives.

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for social connectivity and mental health, especially during mandated shelter-in-place periods. For patients engaged in mental health treatment, the social impact of their shelter-in-place experience remains an area of active investigation. This is particularly relevant in the context of social prescribing, a growing area of clinical intervention where healthcare providers actively refer patients to local social resources or activities to enhance mental health and wellbeing.

Implementation outcomes of 1-3-7 focus investigation for malaria in a low transmission setting in Southern Province, Zambia: A mixed methods study.

Eleven countries have been certified as malaria free since 2016, but none of these are in subSaharan Africa where elimination challenges are unique. The 1-3-7 focus investigation approach is an implementation strategy that requires case reporting, case investigation/classification, and focal classification/response to be completed one, three, and seven days, respectively, after index case diagnosis. Real-time short-messaging-service reports are sent at each step to add accountability and data transparency.

Tail Anchored protein insertion mediated by CAML and TRC40 links to neuromuscular function in mice.

Motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive bulbar palsy, involve loss of muscle control resulting from death of motor neurons. Although the exact pathogenesis of these syndromes remains elusive, many are caused by genetically inherited mutations. Thus, it is valuable to identify additional genes that can impact motor neuron survival and function.

Unhealthy behaviours associated with uncontrolled hypertension among adults in India- Insights from a national survey.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are governed by a cluster of unhealthy behaviours and their determinants, like tobacco and alcohol, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, overweight and obesity, pollution (air, water, and soil), and stress. Regulation of these unhealthy behaviours plays a crucial role in blood pressure control among individuals on hypertensive treatment, especially those suffering from uncontrolled hypertension. Hence, the present study aims at identifying the unhealthy behaviours associated with uncontrolled hypertension.

Exploring the impact of grazing on fecal and soil microbiome dynamics in small ruminants in organic crop-livestock integration systems.

In integrated crop-livestock systems, livestock graze on cover crops and deposit raw manure onto fields to improve soil health and fertility. However, enteric pathogens shed by grazing animals may be associated with foodborne pathogen contamination of produce influenced by fecal-soil microbial interactions. We analyzed 300 fecal samples (148 from sheep and 152 from goats) and 415 soil samples (272 from California and 143 from Minnesota) to investigate the effects of grazing and the presence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) or generic E.

Perceptions and practices of imaging personnel and physicians regarding the use of brain MRI for dementia diagnosis in Uganda.

Introduction: Diagnosing dementia remains challenging in low-income settings due to limited diagnostic options and the absence of definitive biomarkers. The use of brain MRI in the diagnosis of dementia is infrequent in Uganda, and even when it is used, subtle findings like mild regional atrophy are often overlooked, despite being crucial for imaging diagnosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and practices of imaging personnel and physicians regarding the use of brain MRI as a diagnostic approach for dementia in Uganda.

Automating the amino acid identification in elliptical dichroism spectrometer with Machine Learning.

Amino acid identification is crucial across various scientific disciplines, including biochemistry, pharmaceutical research, and medical diagnostics. However, traditional methods such as mass spectrometry require extensive sample preparation and are time-consuming, complex and costly. Therefore, this study presents a pioneering Machine Learning (ML) approach for automatic amino acid identification by utilizing the unique absorption profiles from an Elliptical Dichroism (ED) spectrometer.

Spontaneous oxycodone withdrawal disrupts sleep, diurnal, and electrophysiological dynamics in rats.

Opioid dependence is defined by an aversive withdrawal syndrome upon drug cessation that can motivate continued drug-taking, development of opioid use disorder, and precipitate relapse. An understudied but common opioid withdrawal symptom is disrupted sleep, reported as both insomnia and daytime sleepiness. Despite the prevalence and severity of sleep disturbances during opioid withdrawal, there is a gap in our understanding of their interactions.

Characterizing the within-person variability of food insecurity in everyday life.

Food insecurity (FI), the lack of access to adequate food, is linked with negative health and psychological outcomes. FI is typically measured retrospectively over the last year; although this measurement is useful to understand FI prevalence to inform broad policy, it leaves the experience of FI in everyday life poorly understood. Understanding how FI varies across shorter periods of time (days or weeks) can help inform FI prevention and/or intervention.

H-Dots: Renal Clearable Zwitterionic Nanocarriers for Disease Diagnosis and Therapy.

Nanocarriers have shown significant promise in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, utilizing a wide range of biocompatible materials such as metals, inorganic substances, and organic components. Despite diverse design strategies, key physicochemical properties, including hydrodynamic diameter, shape, surface charge, and hydrophilicity/lipophilicity, are crucial for optimizing biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and therapeutic efficacy. However, these properties are often influenced by drug payload, presenting an ongoing challenge in developing versatile platform technologies for theranostics.

Adolescent reports of subjective socioeconomic status: An adequate alternative to parent-reported objective and subjective socioeconomic status?

Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with well-being outcomes across studies; however, there is wide variation in its measurement, particularly in adolescence. One key difference in measures of SES concerns whether participants relay objective information-for example, years of education, household income-or subjective perceptions of socioeconomic status, either with or without reference to others or society. Although parents are often considered the best source of SES information-especially objective SES-within families, interviewing parents within the context of adolescent research is costly, time-consuming, and not always feasible.

Pooled PPIseq: Screening the SARS-CoV-2 and human interface with a scalable multiplexed protein-protein interaction assay platform.

Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs) are a key interface between virus and host, and these interactions are important to both viral reprogramming of the host and to host restriction of viral infection. In particular, viral-host PPI networks can be used to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of tissue specificity, host range, and virulence. At higher scales, viral-host PPI screening could also be used to screen for small-molecule antivirals that interfere with essential viral-host interactions, or to explore how the PPI networks between interacting viral and host genomes co-evolve.

Establishing thresholds for swing transparency at the knee during gait to inform exoskeleton design.

Knee exoskeletons have been developed to assist, stabilize, or improve human movement or recovery. However, exoskeleton designers must implement transparency (i.e.

Evidence for Endogenous Collagen in Fossil Bone.

Reports of proteins in fossilized bones have been a subject of controversy in the scientific literature because it is assumed that fossilization results in the destruction of all organic components. In this paper, a novel combination of analytical techniques is used to address this question for an exceptionally well-preserved sacrum excavated from the Upper Cretaceous strata of the South Dakota Hell Creek Formation. Cross-polarized light microscopy (XPol) shows birefringence consistent with collagen presence.

Permeability Benchmarking: Guidelines for Comparing , , and Measurements.

Permeability is a measure of the degree to which cells can transport molecules across biological barriers. Units of permeability are distance per unit time (typically cm/s), where accurate measurements are needed to define drug delivery in homeostasis and to model dysfunction occurring during disease. This perspective offers a set of community-led guidelines to benchmark permeability data across multidisciplinary approaches and different biological contexts.

Interdisciplinary systems may restore the healthcare professional-patient relationship in electronic health systems.

Objective: To develop a framework that models the impact of electronic health record (EHR) systems on healthcare professionals' well-being and their relationships with patients, using interdisciplinary insights to guide machine learning in identifying value patterns important to healthcare professionals in EHR systems.

Materials And Methods: A theoretical framework of EHR systems' implementation was developed using interdisciplinary literature from healthcare, information systems, and management science focusing on the systems approach, clinical decision-making, and interface terminologies.

Observations: Healthcare professionals balance personal norms of narrative and data-driven communication in knowledge creation for EHRs by integrating detailed patient stories with structured data.