Niche-derived Semaphorin 4A safeguards functional identity of myeloid-biased hematopoietic stem cells.

Somatic stem cell pools comprise diverse, highly specialized subsets whose individual contribution is critical for the overall regenerative function. In the bone marrow, myeloid-biased hematopoietic stem cells (myHSCs) are indispensable for replenishment of myeloid cells and platelets during inflammatory response but, at the same time, become irreversibly damaged during inflammation and aging. Here we identify an extrinsic factor, semaphorin 4A (Sema4A), which non-cell-autonomously confers myHSC resilience to inflammatory stress.

scATAC-seq generates more accurate and complete regulatory maps than bulk ATAC-seq.

Bulk ATAC-seq assays have been used to map and profile the chromatin accessibility of regulatory elements such as enhancers, promoters, and insulators. This has provided great insight into the regulation of gene expression in many cell types in a variety of organisms. To date, ATAC-seq has most often been used to provide an average evaluation of chromatin accessibility in populations of cells.

From relaxed beliefs under psychedelics (REBUS) to revised beliefs after psychedelics (REBAS).

The Relaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS) model proposes that serotonergic psychedelics decrease the precision weighting of neurobiologically-encoded beliefs. We conducted a preliminary examination of two psychological assumptions of REBUS: (a) psychedelics foster acute relaxation and post-acute revision of confidence in mental-health-relevant beliefs; which (b) facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes and are associated with the entropy of EEG signals. Healthy individuals (N = 11) were administered 1 mg and 25 mg psilocybin 4-weeks apart.

Superior Outcomes with Ultrasound-Guided Hyaluronidase for Impending Filler-Induced Facial Skin Necrosis: A Systematic Review and Pilot Meta-Analysis.

Background: Hyaluronidase remains the mainstay treatment for impending filler-induced facial skin necrosis. Complete resolution of impending skin necrosis following hyaluronidase injection is estimated to be around 77.8%.

Implementation Determinants of PrEP and Behavioral Health Treatment Referral among HIV Test Counselors.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an effective biomedical prevention intervention, is not sufficiently reaching populations experiencing high HIV incidence. Behavioral health (BH) treatment addressing mental health and substance use similarly requires increased reach to HIV-affected populations. HIV testing is an opportunity to refer individuals to PrEP and BH treatment.

Medical management pathways for Cushing's disease in pituitary tumors centers of excellence (PTCOEs).

Purpose: A recent update of consensus guidelines for the management of Cushing's disease (CD) included indications for medical therapy. However, there is limited evidence regarding their implementation in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate current medical therapy approaches by expert pituitary centers through an audit conducted to validate the criteria of Pituitary Tumors Centers of Excellence (PTCOEs) and provide an initial standard of medical care for CD.

Cross-priming in cancer immunology and immunotherapy.

Cytotoxic T cell immune responses against cancer crucially depend on the ability of a subtype of professional antigen-presenting cells termed conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) to cross-present antigens. Cross-presentation comprises redirection of exogenous antigens taken from other cells to the major histocompatibility complex class I antigen-presenting machinery. In addition, once activated and having sensed viral moieties or T helper cell cooperation via CD40-CD40L interactions, cDC1s provide key co-stimulatory ligands and cytokines to mount and sustain CD8 T cell immune responses.

The effect of pregnancy vitamin D supplementation on maternal blood pressure: real-world data analysis within the MAVIDOS randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Purpose: Observational studies have suggested negative associations between maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status and risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and preeclampsia (PET)]. Data from intervention studies are limited. We hypothesised that vitamin D supplementation would lower maternal blood pressure (BP) during pregnancy and reduce the incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Evaluation of the Digital Ventilated Cage® system for circadian phenotyping.

The study of circadian rhythms has been critically dependent upon analysing mouse home cage activity, typically employing wheel running activity under different lighting conditions. Here we assess a novel method, the Digital Ventilated Cage (DVC, Tecniplast SpA, Italy), for circadian phenotyping. Based upon capacitive sensors mounted under black individually ventilated cages with inbuilt LED lighting, each cage becomes an independent light-controlled chamber.

Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia.

The Casarabe culture (500-1400 CE), spreading over roughly 4,500 km of the monumental mounds region of the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia, is one of the clearest examples of urbanism in pre-Columbian (pre-1492 CE) Amazonia. It exhibits a four-tier hierarchical settlement pattern, with hundreds of monumental mounds interconnected by canals and causeways. Despite archaeological evidence indicating that maize was cultivated by this society, it is unknown whether it was the staple crop and which type of agricultural farming system was used to support this urban-scale society.

A manifesto for a globally diverse, equitable, and inclusive open science.

The field of psychology has rapidly transformed its open science practices in recent years. Yet there has been limited progress in integrating principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. In this Perspective, we raise the spectre of Questionable Generalisability Practices and the issue of MASKing (Making Assumptions based on Skewed Knowledge), calling for more responsible practices in generalising study findings and co-authorship to promote global equity in knowledge production.

Transforming CCTV cameras into NO sensors at city scale for adaptive policymaking.

Air pollution in cities, especially NO, is linked to numerous health problems, ranging from mortality to mental health challenges and attention deficits in children. While cities globally have initiated policies to curtail emissions, real-time monitoring remains challenging due to limited environmental sensors and their inconsistent distribution. This gap hinders the creation of adaptive urban policies that respond to the sequence of events and daily activities affecting pollution in cities.

Neural signatures of risk-taking adaptions across health, bipolar disorder, and lithium treatment.

Cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying bipolar disorder (BD) and its treatment are still poorly understood. Here we examined the role of adaptations in risk-taking using a reward-guided decision-making task. We recruited volunteers with high (n = 40) scores on the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, MDQ, suspected of high risk for bipolar disorder and those with low-risk scores (n = 37).

Examining the physical and psychological effects of combining multimodal feedback with continuous control in prosthetic hands.

Myoelectric prosthetic hands are typically controlled to move between discrete positions and do not provide sensory feedback to the user. In this work, we present and evaluate a closed-loop, continuous myoelectric prosthetic hand controller, that can continuously control the position of multiple degrees of freedom of a prosthesis while rendering proprioceptive feedback to the user via a haptic feedback armband. Twenty-eight participants without and ten participants with upper limb difference (ULD) were recruited to holistically evaluate the physical and psychological effects of the controller via isolated control and sensory tasks, dexterity assessments, embodiment and task load questionnaires, and post-study interviews.

Advances in systematic conservation planning to meet global biodiversity goals.

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) involves the cost-effective placement and application of management actions to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives. Given the political momentum for greater global nature protection, restoration, and improved management of natural resources articulated in the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, assessing the state-of-the-art of SCP is timely. Recent advances in SCP include faster and more exact algorithms and software, inclusion of ecosystem services and multiple facets of biodiversity (e.

Doing 'detective work' to find a cancer: how are non-specific symptom pathways for cancer investigation organised, and what are the implications for safety and quality of care? A multisite qualitative approach.

Background: Over the past two decades, the UK has actively developed policies to enhance early cancer diagnosis, particularly for individuals with non-specific cancer symptoms. Non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways were piloted and then implemented in 2015 to address delays in referral and diagnosis. The aim of this study was to outline the functions that enable NSS teams to investigate cancer and other diagnoses for patients with NSSs.

Low-coverage whole genome sequencing of low-grade dysplasia strongly predicts advanced neoplasia risk in ulcerative colitis.

Background: The risk of developing advanced neoplasia (AN; colorectal cancer and/or high-grade dysplasia) in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients with a low-grade dysplasia (LGD) lesion is variable and difficult to predict. This is a major challenge for effective clinical management.

Objective: We aimed to provide accurate AN risk stratification in UC patients with LGD.

Developing a set of key principles for care planning within older adult care homes: study protocol for a modified Delphi survey.

Background: Older adult care homes in England are required to develop care plans on behalf of each of their residents and to make these documents available to those who provide care. However, there is a lack of formal agreement around the key principles that should inform the development of care plans in care homes for older adults. Using a modified Delphi survey, we intend to generate consensus on a set of key principles that should inform the care planning process.

Multicentre adaptive randomised trial of GvHD prophylaxis following unrelated donor stem cell transplantation comparing Thymoglobulin versus calcineurin inhibitor-based or sirolimus-based post-transplant cyclophosphamide (Methods of T cell Depletion, MoTD trial).

Introduction: Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) remains a major complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), affecting 30-70% of patients (representing 800 new patients per year in the UK). The risk is higher in patients undergoing unrelated allo-SCT. About 1 in 10 patients die as a result of GvHD or through complications of its treatment.

The Protocol for the Multi-Ethnic, multi-centre raNdomised controlled trial of a low-energy Diet for improving functional status in heart failure with Preserved ejection fraction (AMEND Preserved).

Introduction: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is characterised by severe exercise intolerance, particularly in those living with obesity. Low-energy meal-replacement plans (MRPs) have shown significant weight loss and potential cardiac remodelling benefits. This pragmatic randomised trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of MRP-directed weight loss on exercise intolerance, symptoms, quality of life and cardiovascular remodelling in a multiethnic cohort with obesity and HFpEF.

Wireless Stimulation of Barium Titanate@PEDOT Nanoparticles Toward Bioelectrical Modulation in Cancer.

Cancer cells possess distinct bioelectrical properties, yet therapies leveraging these characteristics remain underexplored. Herein, we introduce an innovative nanobioelectronic system combining a piezoelectric barium titanate nanoparticle core with a conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) shell (BTO@PEDOT NPs), designed to modulate cancer cell bioelectricity through noninvasive, wireless stimulation. Our hypothesis is that acting as nanoantennas, BTO@PEDOT NPs convert mechanical inputs provided by ultrasound (US) into electrical signals, capable of interfering with the bioelectronic circuitry of two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231.

TPepRet: a deep learning model for characterizing T cell receptors-antigen binding patterns.

Motivation: T-cell receptors (TCRs) elicit and mediate the adaptive immune response by recognizing antigenic peptides, a process pivotal for cancer immunotherapy, vaccine design, and autoimmune disease management. Understanding the intricate binding patterns between TCRs and peptides is critical for advancing these clinical applications. While several computational tools have been developed, they neglect the directional semantics inherent in sequence data, which are essential for accurately characterizing TCR-peptide interactions.

Cup-Cage Reconstruction for Pelvic Discontinuity: Encouraging Long-Term Survival.

Background: Pelvic discontinuity (PD) poses a difficult challenge in revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA). There is a paucity of evidence assessing five- to ten-year outcomes of cup cages for PD. This study aimed to review the survivorship and outcomes of cup-cage constructs for PD.