How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain.

Learning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain's ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sighted subjects following training. No study has employed a complex reading task to monitor neural activity during the first weeks of Braille training.

Mid-term Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of the Actis Total Hip System: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction Implant technology for total hip arthroplasty (THA) was developed to improve hip function and patient satisfaction. Actis (DePuy Synthes, Warsaw, IN, USA) is a short fit-and-fill titanium stem, with a medial-collared and triple-taper (MCTT) geometry, that is fully coated with hydroxyapatite (HA). We evaluated the radiographic and clinical outcomes of the Actis Total Hip System during a mean follow-up of five years.

Novel serum biomarkers for early diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus-a review.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects 9-25% of pregnancies. Undiagnosed or poorly managed GDM is associated with both short- and long-term complications in the fetus and mother. The pathogenesis of GDM is complex and has not yet been fully elucidated.

Pressure-induced phase transitions in a new luminescent gold(I)-arylacetylide.

Stimulus-responsive molecular materials are highly desirable because of the wide range of their potential applications. In particular, switching of physical properties opens application pathways for molecular materials as sensors or actuators. Property switching in solids can be achieved by inducing single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) phase transitions.

Resistant Renovascular Hypertension in Youth: Fibromuscular Dysplasia or Takayasu Arteritis?

BACKGROUND Arterial hypertension in pediatric patients often presents complex diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. The diagnosis of hypertension in children is based on different guidelines than in adults, with arterial hypertension in children defined as systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure values at or above the 95th percentile for age, sex, and height. Unlike adult populations, it is predominantly secondary in etiology, with conditions such as renovascular hypertension as common causes.

Whole Exome Sequencing Reveals Candidate Variants in Ion Channel Genes for Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction in Young Females with a Family History.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Pelvic floor dysfunction usually results in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and/or urinary incontinence. In women, several factors, including pregnancy and vaginal delivery, can affect pelvic muscle conditions. The aim of the study was to perform a genetic analysis in young women with a family history of pelvic floor dysfunction to find potentially harmful variants or variants that increase the risk of developing pelvic floor disorders.

Targeting GABA signaling in type 1 diabetes and its complications- an update on the state of the art.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that leads to the progressive destruction of insulin-producing β cells, resulting in lifelong insulin dependence and a range of severe complications. Beyond conventional glycemic control, innovative therapeutic strategies are needed to address the underlying disease mechanisms. Recent research has highlighted gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a promising therapeutic target for T1D due to its dual role in modulating both β cell survival and immune response within pancreatic islets.

Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries.

Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists.

Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries - the TISP dataset.

Science is integral to society because it can inform individual, government, corporate, and civil society decision-making on issues such as public health, new technologies or climate change. Yet, public distrust and populist sentiment challenge the relationship between science and society. To help researchers analyse the science-society nexus across different geographical and cultural contexts, we undertook a cross-sectional population survey resulting in a dataset of 71,922 participants in 68 countries.

A customizable multiplex protein microarray for antibody testing and its application for tick-borne and other infectious diseases.

Tick-borne infections are the most common vector-borne diseases in the USA. Ticks harbor and transmit several infections with Lyme disease being the most common tickborne infection in the US and Europe. Lack of awareness about tick populations, specific diagnostic tests, and overlapping signs and symptoms of tick-borne infections can often lead to misdiagnosis affecting treatment and the prevalence data reported especially for non-Lyme tick-borne infections.

Use of laser-ablation inductively-coupled mass spectroscopy for analysis of selenosugars bound to proteins.

We previously used high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with Se-specific inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and molecule specific (ESI Orbitrap MS/MS) detection to study the increase in liver Se in turkeys and rats supplemented as selenite in high-Se (5 µg Se/g diet) and adequate-Se diets. We found that far more Se is present as selenosugar (seleno-N-acetyl galactosamine) than is present as selenocysteine (Sec) in true selenoproteins. In high-Se liver, the increase in liver Se was due to low molecular weight (LMW) selenometabolites as glutathione-, cysteine- and methyl-conjugates of the selenosugar, but also as high molecular weight (HMW) species as selenosugars decorating general proteins via mixed-disulfide bonds.

Timing of exercise differentially impacts adipose tissue gain in male adolescent rats.

Circadian rhythms of metabolic, hormonal, and behavioral fluctuations and their alterations can impact health. An important gap in knowledge in the field is whether the time of the day of exercise and the age of onset of exercise exert distinct effects at the level of whole-body adipose tissue and body composition. The goal of the present study was to determine how exercise at different times of the day during adolescence impacts the adipose tissue transcriptome and content in a rodent model.

Raman, ROA, and luminescence spectra of chiral lanthanide complexes with L- and D-alanine.

The Raman spectra of lanthanide [Ln(HO)(Ala)](ClO) crystals were measured with 488, 532, 633, and 1064 nm laser lines, and ROA of complexes in water were collected using 532 nm excitation. As in IR and VCD, ν(CO) stretching and β(OCO) bending vibration bands showed a tendency typical to the lanthanide contraction effect. However, in Raman, the effect is less pronounced than the IR spectrum because it is strongly perturbed by lanthanide ion luminescence, which comes from the 4f → 4f transitions.

The clinical assessment of lung involvement in patients with Still's disease, results from the multicentre international AIDA Network Still's Disease Registry.

Objectives: To assess the lung involvement in patients with Still's disease, an inflammatory disease assessing both children and adults. To exploit possible associated factors for parenchymal lung involvement in these patients.

Methods: A multicentre observational study was arranged assessing consecutive patients with Still's disease characterized by the lung involvement among those included in the AIDA (AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance) Network Still's Disease Registry.

Impact of Lower-Volume Training on Physical Fitness Adaptations in Team Sports Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: A small number of reviews have explored lower- versus higher-volume training in non-athletes, but the growing challenge of congested schedules in team sports highlights the need to synthesize evidence specific to team sport athletes. Thus, the objectives of this systematic review with meta-analysis are twofold: (i) to summarize the primary physiological and physical fitness outcomes of lower-volume versus higher-volume training interventions in team sports players; and (ii) to compare the effects of lower-volume training with higher, considering the training modalities used.

Methods: We conducted searches across key databases, including PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science.

Paediatric Otogenic Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Diagnostic Approach and Therapeutic Management - A Five-Year Single-Centre Experience.

<b>Introduction:</b> Central venous thrombosis (CVT) represents a well-documented complication of acute otitis media (AOM) and acute mastoiditis (AM). Despite widespread antibiotic utilization, which has significantly reduced the incidence of severe AOM/AM complications, recent years have witnessed an increasing frequency of thrombotic complications in pediatric patients, not invariably presenting with classical neurological manifestations.<b>Aim:</b> This study aimed to investigate the potential correlation between COVID-19 infection and increased CVT incidence, while sharing therapeutic experiences, given the absence of standardized treatment protocols for otogenic CVT in pediatric populations.

Highly phosphorescent N^C^N platinum(II)-peptide nucleic acid conjugates: synthesis, photophysical studies and hybridization behaviour.

The synthesis of novel highly phosphorescent N^C^N tridentate platinum(II)-complex-peptide nucleic acid (PNA) bioconjugates was accomplished through the solid-phase approach. Melting temperature measurements and circular dichroism spectroscopy studies demonstrated that these conjugates maintain the PNA ability to recognize complementary ssDNA and ssRNA, though the length of the spacer between the metal center and the PNA sequence affects their hybridization properties. Noteworthy, the conjugation of PNA to this family of Pt(II) complexes significantly enhanced the luminescent features of the organometallic moiety, leading to increased quantum yields (82.

DesiRNA: structure-based design of RNA sequences with a replica exchange Monte Carlo approach.

Designing RNA sequences that form a specific structure remains a challenge. Current computational methods often struggle with the complexity of RNA structures, especially when considering pseudoknots or restrictions related to RNA function. We developed DesiRNA, a computational tool for the design of RNA sequences based on the Replica Exchange Monte Carlo approach.

Impact of lymph node involvement in pulmonary carcinoids: a narrative review.

Background And Objective: Pulmonary carcinoids (PCs) represent a rare subset of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) within the respiratory tract that exhibit unique characteristics and clinical behaviors. These tumors are currently staged according to the tumor-nodules-metastases (TNM) classification of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which brings their reliability into question. The aim of this study was to assess reliability of the current TNM staging of PCs and explore other relevant prognostic factors of patient outcomes.

Emerging insights into , and mutations: implications for immunotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become an established treatment option for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the efficacy of single-agent immunotherapy as well as in combination with chemotherapy seems to be dependent on the presence of molecular abnormalities in some genes-serine/threonine kinase 11 (), Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 () and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog () among them. The gene is a critical regulator of the cellular response to oxidative stress and electrophilic stress, thus playing a pivotal role in maintaining cellular homeostasis.

De novo and inherited dominant variants in U4 and U6 snRNAs cause retinitis pigmentosa.

The U4 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) forms a duplex with the U6 snRNA and, together with U5 and ~30 proteins, is part of the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP complex, located at the core of the major spliceosome. Recently, recurrent variants in the U4 RNA, transcribed from the gene, and in at least two other genes were discovered to cause neurodevelopmental disorder.

Experimental, Theoretical, and Studies of Potential CDC7 Kinase Inhibitors.

In this work, we present the synthesis, solid-state characterization, and studies of two pyrazole derivatives: 5-(2-methylphenoxy)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (I) and 5-(4-methylphenoxy)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (II). The molecular crystal properties, in terms of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and other weak interactions, are analyzed using single crystal X-ray diffraction. The Hirshfeld surfaces computational method is used to quantify the intermolecular interactions, density functional theory for theoretical structural optimization, and its comparison with the experimental structure and studies using docking and molecular dynamics studies of I and II with CDC7-kinase.

Relaxin mimetic in pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease: Design and rationale of Re-PHIRE.

Aims: Despite receiving guideline-directed medical heart failure (HF) therapy, patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease (PH-LHD) experience higher mortality and hospitalization rates than the general HF population. AZD3427 is a functionally selective, long-acting mimetic of relaxin, a hormone that has the potential to induce vasodilation and prevent fibrosis. In a phase 1b study conducted in patients with HF, AZD3427 demonstrated a favourable safety and pharmacokinetic profile.

Long-Term Follow-Up After the Charles Procedure: Possibilities for Minimally Invasive Reconstructive Lymphedema Surgery With Lymphaticovenous Anastomosis: A Report of Four Cases.

The Charles procedure (CP) is a potentially devastating treatment; however, in cases of an end stage of untreated or improperly treated lymphedema, it is the ultimate surgical therapy. As a life-saving solution, it quickly relieves patients with giant, hypertrophic extremities, mostly in ambulation and hygiene maintenance. Nevertheless, long-term results may disappoint both doctors and patients, who struggle with social stigma, the need for lifelong compression, massive lymphoedema in the distal parts of the feet, badly fitting shoes, excessive skin fibrosis, severe keratinization of skin-grafted surfaces, periodic lymphorrhea from the resected areas, or acute and chronic inflammation.

Novel radiopharmaceuticals in endocrinology: a comprehensive review.

Endocrinology is the study of hormones and the endocrine glands that are responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the human body. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in endocrinology. This comprehensive review explores the latest advances in novel radiopharmaceuticals with applications in the diagnosis and treatment of different endocrine disorders, including thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary disorders, as well as neuroendocrine tumours.