Mast cell-deficient mice redefine the role of mast cells in experimental bullous pemphigoid.

Background: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most frequent autoimmune blistering disease of the skin affecting the elderly. BP is immunopathologically characterized by autoantibodies against BP180 and BP230. With the growing evidence of cell-mediated autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of BP, it still remains unclear whether mast cells (MCs) are involved, due to conflicting data obtained from Kit-dependent MC-deficient mouse models.

Instrumental validation of free water, peak-width of skeletonized mean diffusivity, and white matter hyperintensities: MarkVCID neuroimaging kits.

Introduction: To describe the protocol and findings of the instrumental validation of three imaging-based biomarker kits selected by the MarkVCID consortium: free water (FW) and peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD), both derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume derived from fluid attenuation inversion recovery and T1-weighted imaging.

Methods: The instrumental validation of imaging-based biomarker kits included inter-rater reliability among participating sites, test-retest repeatability, and inter-scanner reproducibility across three types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC).

Results: The three biomarkers demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC >0.

Correction: Truncated S-MGBs: towards a parasite-specific and low aggregation chemotype.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D1MD00110H.].

Functional diversity and habitat preferences of native grassland plants and ground-dwelling invertebrates in private gardens along an urbanization gradient.

Urbanization is occurring around the globe, changing environmental conditions and influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Urban domestic gardens represent a small-grained mosaic of diverse habitats for numerous species. The challenging conditions in urban gardens support species possessing certain traits, and exclude other species.

Differences Between Anticoagulated Patients With Ischemic Stroke Versus Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background Data on the relative contribution of clinical and neuroimaging risk factors to acute ischemic stroke (AIS) versus intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) occurring on oral anticoagulant treatment are scarce. Methods and Results Cross-sectional study was done on consecutive oral anticoagulant-treated patients presenting with AIS, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or ICH from the prospective observational NOACISP (Novel-Oral-Anticoagulants-In-Stroke-Patients)-Acute registry. We compared clinical and neuroimaging characteristics (small vessel disease markers and atherosclerosis) in ICH versus AIS/TIA (reference) using logistic regression.

Truncated S-MGBs: towards a parasite-specific and low aggregation chemotype.

This paper describes the design and synthesis of Strathclyde minor groove binders (S-MGBs) that have been truncated by the removal of a pyrrole ring in order to mimic the structure of the natural product, disgocidine. S-MGBs have been found to be active against many different organisms, however, selective antiparasitic activity is required. A panel of seven truncated S-MGBs was prepared and the activities examined against a number of clinically relevant organisms including several bacteria and parasites.

Including tree spatial extension in the evaluation of neighborhood competition effects in Bornean rain forest.

Classical tree neighborhood models use size variables acting at point distances. In a new approach here, trees were spatially extended as a function of their crown sizes, represented impressionistically as points within crown areas. Extension was accompanied by plasticity in the form of crown removal or relocation under the overlap of taller trees.

Autoantibodies against complement component C1q in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the archetype of a systemic autoimmune disease, but the multifaceted pathogenic mechanisms leading to inflammation and organ damage are not fully understood. Homozygous deficiency of complement C1q, the first component of the classical pathway of complement, is strongly associated with the development of SLE, thus pointing at a primarily protective role of C1q. However, while most SLE patients do not have hereditary C1q deficiency, there is indirect evidence for the importance of C1q in the inflammatory processes of the disease, including hypocomplementemia as a result of activation via the classical pathway, deposition of C1q in affected tissues and the occurrence of autoantibodies against C1q (anti-C1q).

Genetic Material and Sequence Data to Protect Global Health in the Light of Pandemic Outbreaks: Mapping the Legal Landscape under European and International Law.

The current pandemic outbreak of corona virus SARS-CoV-2 shows the need for comprehensive European cooperation in drug development and the importance of genetic material and sequence data in research concerning this unknown disease. As corona virus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading across Europe and worldwide, national authorities and the European Union (EU) institutions do their utmost to address the pandemic and accelerate innovation to protect global health. In order to be prepared and to be able to respond immediately to serious epidemic and pandemic diseases, the EU has already adopted the Decision No (EU) 1082/2013 on serious cross-border threats to health.

Saproxylic insects and fungi in deciduous forests along a rural-urban gradient.

Urbanization is increasing worldwide and is regarded a major threat to biodiversity in forests. As consequences of intensive human use, the vegetation structure of naturally growing urban forests and their amount of deadwood can be reduced. Deadwood is an essential resource for various saproxylic insects and fungi.

Gynecomastia and hypertension in a patient treated with posaconazole.

Posaconazole therapy may lead to increased serum estradiol levels and development of gynecomastia. Early detection by endocrine hormone measurements may help preventing gynecomastia.

Incorporating genetic selection into individual-based models of malaria and other infectious diseases.

Introduction: Control strategies for human infections are often investigated using individual-based models (IBMs) to quantify their impact in terms of mortality, morbidity and impact on transmission. Genetic selection can be incorporated into the IBMs to track the spread of mutations whose origin and spread are driven by the intervention and which subsequently undermine the control strategy; typical examples are mutations which encode drug resistance or diagnosis- or vaccine-escape phenotypes.

Methods And Results: We simulated the spread of malaria drug resistance using the IBM OpenMalaria to investigate how the finite sizes of IBMs require strategies to optimally incorporate genetic selection.

Where Am I? Niche constraints due to morphological specialization in two Tanganyikan cichlid fish species.

Food resource specialization within novel environments is considered a common axis of diversification in adaptive radiations. Feeding specializations are often coupled with striking morphological adaptations and exemplify the relation between morphology and diet (phenotype-environment correlations), as seen in, for example, Darwin finches, Hawaiian spiders, and the cichlid fish radiations in East African lakes. The cichlids' potential to rapidly exploit and occupy a variety of different habitats has previously been attributed to the variability and adaptability of their trophic structures including the pharyngeal jaw apparatus.

Human sociality in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic: A systematic examination of change in greetings.

Using multimodal conversation analysis this article examines embodied and tactile greetings in social interaction, documenting their change during the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognizing social interaction as foundational for human sociality, we consider greetings as a crucial normative, organizational, and ritual practice for mutually engaging in intersubjective action. Analyses use video recordings made in Switzerland (featuring (Swiss-)German and English as a lingua-franca), focusing on embodied greetings of acquainted people in public spaces at the age of Covid19-a historical moment in which physical proximity and contact are targeted by official measures restricting social interactions.

Puzzling Haze Events in China During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Shutdown.

It is a puzzle as to why more severe haze formed during the New Year Holiday in 2020 (NYH-20), when China was in an unprecedented state of shutdown to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, than in 2019 (NYH-19). We performed a comprehensive measurement and modeling analysis of the aerosol chemistry and physics at multiple sites in China (mainly in Shanghai) before, during, and after NYH-19 and NYH-20. Much higher secondary aerosol fraction in PM were observed during NYH-20 (73%) than during NYH-19 (59%).

Describing adverse events in Swiss hospitalized oncology patients using the Global Trigger Tool.

Background And Aims: The occurrence rate of adverse events (AEs) related to care among hospitalized oncology patients in Switzerland remains unknown. The primary objective of this study was to describe, for the first time, the occurrence rate, type, severity of harm, and preventability of AEs related to care, reported in health records of hospitalized hematological and solid-tumor cancer patients in three Swiss hospitals.

Methods: Using an adapted version of the validated Global Trigger Tool (GTT) from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, we conducted a retrospective record review of patients discharged from oncology units over a 6-week period during 2018.

The genera and (Gastropoda, Rissooidea, Amnicolidae and Pomatiopsidae) in Bhutan and elsewhere in the eastern Himalaya.

Shells of the Rissooidea species that are known from Bhutan are characterized. is reported from that country for the first time. Two species from Bhutan are described as new to science, viz.

Expression of a specific variant surface glycoprotein has a major impact on suramin sensitivity and endocytosis in .

Suramin was introduced into the clinic a century ago and is still used to treat the first stage of acute human sleeping sickness. Due to its size and sixfold negative charge, uptake is mediated through endocytosis and the suramin receptor in trypanosomes is thought to be the invariant surface glycoprotein 75 (ISG75). Nevertheless, we recently identified a variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) that confers strong in vitro resistance to suramin in a line.

Variation in sex allocation plasticity in three closely related flatworm species.

Sex allocation (SA) theory for simultaneous hermaphrodites predicts an influence of group size on SA. Since group size can vary within an individual's lifetime, this can favor the evolution of phenotypically plastic SA. In an emerging comparative context, we here report on SA plasticity in three closely related flatworm species, namely , , and .

Validation of the instrument "Complexity of Nursing Care"-A mixed-methods study.

Aims: This study aimed to psychometrically test the instrument "Complexity of Nursing Care" and to broaden the understanding of the instrument's psychometrics and applicability.

Design: Embedded mixed-methods design.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study assessing all stationary patients of five Swiss hospitals daily for up to 5 days with the instrument "Complexity of Nursing Care" over a 1-month period in 2015.

Organic Compounds in a Sub-Antarctic Ice Core: A Potential Suite of Sea Ice Markers.

Investigation of organic compounds in ice cores can potentially unlock a wealth of new information in these climate archives. We present results from the first ever ice core drilled on sub-Antarctic island Bouvet, representing a climatologically important but understudied region. We analyze a suite of novel and more familiar organic compounds in the ice core, alongside commonly measured ions.

Mass deworming for improving health and cognition of children in endemic helminth areas: A systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

Background: Soil transmitted (or intestinal) helminths and schistosomes affect millions of children worldwide.

Objectives: To use individual participant data network meta-analysis (NMA) to explore the effects of different types and frequency of deworming drugs on anaemia, cognition and growth across potential effect modifiers.

Search Methods: We developed a search strategy with an information scientist to search MEDLINE, CINAHL, LILACS, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Econlit, Internet Documents in Economics Access Service (IDEAS), Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), Social Services Abstracts, Global Health CABI and CAB Abstracts up to March 27, 2018.