Development of an in vitro assay using abscisic acid to study Toxoplasma gondii infectivity.

The common parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Although most infections in humans remain asymptomatic, clinical toxoplasmosis can develop into a fatal disease. Infections are usually contracted by oral ingestion of tissue cysts or oocysts contained in cat feces.

Screening and eradication of or gastric cancer prevention: Taipei Global Consensus II.

Objective: To convene a global consensus on () screening and eradication strategies for gastric cancer prevention, identify key knowledge gaps and outline future research directions.

Methods: 32 experts from 12 countries developed and refined consensus statements on management, using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework to assess evidence and the Delphi method to achieve ≥80% agreement.

Results: Consensus was achieved on 28 statements.

Activation of glucocorticoid receptors facilitates ex vivo high-frequency network oscillations in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, releasing corticosterone (CORT), which binds to glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptors in the brain. While stress influences behaviorally relevant network oscillations in limbic regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex, the direct effects of CORT on these oscillations remain unclear. We examined the acute impact of CORT on anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) oscillations in adult male mice, a hub region for stress and anxiety regulation.

Increased functional connectivity between motor and arousal brainstem nuclei and sensorimotor cortex in therapy resistant depression.

The neural correlates of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are not fully elucidated. Brainstem functional connectivity (FC) in TRD has rarely been investigated, despite the assumed role of several brainstem nuclei in depression. 23 patients and 23 sex- and age-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional MRI.

Searchlight-based trial-wise fMRI decoding in the presence of trial-by-trial correlations.

In multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals, trial-wise response amplitudes are sometimes estimated using a general linear model (GLM) with one onset regressor for each trial. When using rapid event-related designs with trials closely spaced in time, those estimates can be highly correlated due to the temporally smoothed shape of the hemodynamic response function. In previous work (Soch et al.

SLAMF7 (CD319) enhances cytotoxic T-cell differentiation and sensitizes CD8 T cells to immune checkpoint blockade.

Tumors frequently evade immune destruction by impairing cytotoxic CD8 T-cell responses, highlighting the need for strategies that restore T-cell functionality. Here, we identify SLAMF7 (CD319) as a key enhancer of human CD8 T-cell responses against tumors. SLAMF7 expression is induced by pro-inflammatory signals such as IL-12 and CD28 co-stimulation.

Support Needs of Parents of Children With Congenital Anomalies Across Europe: A EUROlinkCAT Survey.

Background: Parents and carers of children with congenital anomalies can experience stress when managing their child's healthcare needs. It is important that they are well supported. This study explored the support needs of parents/carers of children with a congenital anomaly across Europe.

Genetic and clinical risk factors for anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury: insights from a prospective cohort study in central Ethiopia.

Purpose: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a relevant adverse event of tuberculosis treatment (TBT) especially in sub-Saharan Africa, but data remains limited. Genetic hepatic transport proteins polymorphisms (HTPP) are potential contributors. This study aimed to assess frequency and timing of DILI, identify risk factors, and explore the association of HTPP with DILI risk in Ethiopian TBT-patients.

Schizophrenia and catatonia: from ICD-10 to ICD-11.

The classification of psychotic disorders has undergone a variety of changes. Since Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum's (Kahlbaum 1874) first descriptions of catatonic states and Emil Kraepelin's (Kraepelin 1883) nosological classification of psychotic syndromes in the second half of the nineteenth century, the diagnostic criteria for these disorders have been repeatedly modified, significantly impacting clinical practice. Eugen Bleuler (Bleuler 1911) coined the term "schizophrenia", emphasizing the disturbances in thinking, feeling and acting that he had observed.

Targeting ARPC1B Cancer Stem Cells to Sensitise Pancreatic Cancer to Gemcitabine Treatment.

ARPC1B cancer stem cells (CSCs) in pancreatic cancer are identified as a subpopulation resistant to gemcitabine. In our study, drug repositioning, molecular docking, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique jointly revealed that CK-636 can directly target ARPC1B protein with high affinity. In vitro cytotoxicity, ex vivo organoid cultures, in vivo xenograft and orthotopic gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer model demonstrated that combination therapy of gemcitabine plus CK-636 showed a superior anti-tumor effect compared with gemcitabine monotherapy.

Pathogenic Cardiomyopathy-Associated Gene Variants and Prognosis in Atrial Fibrillation: Results in 18,000 Clinical Trial Participants.

Background: Genetic variants in cardiomyopathy genes are associated with risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), although data on clinical outcomes for AF patients with such variants remain sparse.

Objectives: We aimed to study the prognostic implication of rare cardiomyopathy-associated pathogenic variants (CMP-PLP) in AF patients from large, well-phenotyped clinical trials.

Methods: CMP-PLP carriers were identified using exome sequencing in 5 multinational trials from the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction study group (ENGAGE AF, FOURIER, SAVOR, PEGASUS, and DECLARE), with replication in the EAST-AFNET-4 trial.

Path integration impairments reveal early cognitive changes in subjective cognitive decline.

Path integration, the ability to track one's position using self-motion cues, is critically dependent on the grid cell network in the entorhinal cortex, a region vulnerable to early Alzheimer's disease pathology. In this study, we examined path integration performance in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), a group at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, and healthy controls using an immersive virtual reality task. We developed a Bayesian computational model to decompose path integration errors into distinct components.

Embedding FHIR in Medical PDF: A Migration Path for Interoperable Documentation.

Introduction: Medical services routinely transmit patient data using PDF, even as FHIR emerges as the standard for structured healthcare interoperability. This mismatch reflects a broader fragmentation in digital documentation, where pragmatic workflows often outpace technical ideals.

Methods: We propose embedding FHIR bundles into PDF to enable structured data reuse without disrupting established processes.

Vision transformer network discovers the prognostic value of pancreatic cancer pathology sections via interpretable risk scores.

Pathological sections hold rich diagnostic information, yet their prognostic potential is underutilized. This study leverages deep learning to predict outcomes, advancing precision oncology of pathological sections with focus on pancreatic cancer. We analyzed H&E-stained whole section images of 125 cases from public databases as well as 28 real-world patients with pancreatic cancer and precancerous lesions.

Risk factors for dementia and cognitive impairment within 5 years after stroke: a prospective multicentre cohort study.

Background: Stroke survivors frequently experience subsequent cognitive impairment or dementia. We aimed to identify risk factors for post-stroke dementia (PSD) and cognitive impairment (PSCI) within 5 years after stroke.

Methods: The DEMDAS (German Center for Neurological Diseases (DZNE) mechanisms of dementia after stroke) study is a prospective cohort of stroke patients admitted to six German tertiary stroke centres between May 1, 2011 and January 31, 2019.

Scafari: Exploring scDNA-seq data.

Summary: Recent advances in single-cell sequencing made it possible to not just analyze a cell's individual expression pattern, but to gain insights into a single cell's genome using the cutting-edge technology single-cell DNA sequencing. Mission Bio is, with the Tapestri platform, one of the few providers of this technology. So far, however, there is only little open-source software available for user-friendly processing and quality analysis of this data type.

Box embeddings for extending ontologies: a data-driven and interpretable approach.

Deriving symbolic knowledge from trained deep learning models is challenging due to the lack of transparency in such models. A promising approach to address this issue is to couple a semantic structure with the model outputs and thereby make the model interpretable. In prediction tasks such as multi-label classification, labels tend to form hierarchical relationships.

ML Prediction of Recurrence in Pediatric Thyroid Cancer: MET Cohort Analysis Using XGBoost and SHAP.

Context: Pediatric differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) often presents with advanced disease but generally has excellent long-term survival. However, recurrence or failure to achieve remission remains relatively frequent, underscoring the need for improved early risk stratification.

Objective: To develop and evaluate an interpretable machine learning model for predicting recurrence or non-remission in pediatric DTC using routine clinical and biochemical variables.

Putamen vascularization on high-resolution 7T MRI is associated with perfusion and cognitive performance in cerebral small vessel disease.

Objective: In cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), compromised arterial supply to the deep gray matter contributes to cognitive decline. While CSVD frequently involves lenticulostriate arteries supplying the putamen, the functional consequences of altered putaminal vascular architecture remain unclear. We hypothesized that a less homogeneous arterial network in the putamen is associated with impaired perfusion and worse cognitive performance in CSVD.

Brain Atrophy Does Not Predict Clinical Progression in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

Background: Clinical progression rate is the typical primary endpoint measure in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) clinical trials.

Objectives: This longitudinal multicohort study investigated whether baseline clinical severity and regional brain atrophy could predict clinical progression in PSP-Richardson's syndrome (PSP-RS).

Methods: PSP-RS patients (n = 309) from the placebo arms of clinical trials (NCT03068468, NCT01110720, NCT02985879, NCT01049399) and DescribePSP cohort were included.

Modulating CT Attenuation of Polyvinyl Alcohol Cryogels for Individualized Training Phantoms in Interventional Radiology: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Anthropomorphic CT phantoms are essential training tools for interventional radiology. Given the high technical demands and stringent safety requirements in this field, realistic CT phantoms are vital simulation tools that support effective hands-on training, procedural planning, and risk mitigation. However, commercially available phantom geometries are limited in their scope.

Pulmonary Function Changes in Fighter Pilots with Positive Pressure Ventilation.

: The advancing technological developments of recent decades have also changed the stress profile of pilots of high-performance aircraft (HPA) immensely. Pilots are exposed to different gravitational (G)-forces and are only able to fly with anti-G suits that compensate for the physiological loss of cerebral perfusion by applying external pressure to the body, and positive pressure breathing during G [PBG]. The present study therefore aims to investigate long-term effects of PBG on the lung capacity of fighter pilots.

Effects of Weightlessness on Molecular Changes in Cellular Organisms, Animals and Plants.

Space travel is a dream of humankind [...