GABA receptor availability in clinical high-risk and first-episode psychosis: a [C]Ro15-4513 positron emission tomography study.

Disrupted gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Reductions in hippocampal GABAergic neurons have been found in schizophrenia, and increased hippocampal perfusion has been described in schizophrenia and in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHRp). We have also found decreases in hippocampal GABA receptors containing the α5 subunit (GABARα5) in a well-validated neurodevelopmental rat model of relevance for schizophrenia.

Chronic kidney disease and incident cancer risk: an individual participant data meta-analysis.

Background: Studies examining the association of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with cancer risk have demonstrated conflicting results.

Methods: This was an individual participant data meta-analysis including 54 international cohorts contributing to the CKD Prognosis Consortium. Included cohorts had data on albuminuria [urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR)], estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), overall and site-specific cancer incidence, and established risk factors for cancer.

Slow wave sleep is associated with a reorganisation of episodic memory networks.

Models of memory consolidation propose that newly acquired memory traces undergo reorganisation during sleep. To test this idea, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during an evening session of word-image learning followed by immediate (pre-sleep) and delayed (post-sleep) recall. Polysomnography was employed throughout the intervening night, capturing time spent in different sleep stages.

Can malaria rapid diagnostic tests be used to detect simian malaria?

Background: The increasing recognition of zoonotic malaria, particularly from Plasmodium species infecting non-human primates (NHP), poses significant diagnostic challenges. Performance of human malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) has not been evaluated in simian malaria.

Methods: A total of 131 blood samples from NHP hosts with confirmed malaria were analyzed using 14 different commercially available RDTs, detecting the antigens P.

Enteric (typhoid and paratyphoid) fever.

Enteric fever, caused by the human-restricted bacteria Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (typhoid) and Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A, B, and C (paratyphoid), affects persons residing in, or travelling from, areas lacking safe water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure. Transmission is by the faecal-oral route. A gradual fever onset over 3-7 days with malaise, headache, and myalgia is typical.

Effect of a treatment strategy utilising golimumab, methotrexate and corticosteroids versus methotrexate and corticosteroids in early, untreated psoriatic arthritis (GOLMePsA): a single-centre, double-blind, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial.

Background: The optimal treatment strategy in early psoriatic arthritis remains unknown. We aimed to assess whether the combination of methotrexate and golimumab plus corticosteroids is superior to methotrexate plus corticosteroids in reducing disease activity in early, untreated psoriatic arthritis.

Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single-centre study in adults with treatment-naïve active psoriatic arthritis.

The deadly drink: Nipah virus transmission through date palm sap, cultural practices and the evolution of behavioral interventions in Bangladesh over two decades.

Nipah virus (NiV) has emerged as a significant public health threat, with recurring outbreaks in Bangladesh often linked to the consumption of raw date palm sap contaminated by fruit bats (Pteropus species). Over the past two decades, substantial efforts have been made to understand the cultural context of sap consumption, promoting behavior change and developing interventions to prevent NiV spillover. Despite these efforts, achieving sustainable change in sap consumption practices remains challenging due to deep-seated cultural practices, community perceptions of sap consumption, habitual behaviors, limited awareness of health risks and economic barriers.

Protocol for using treeLFA to infer multimorbidity patterns in the form of disease topics from diagnosis data in biobanks.

Research on multimorbidity patterns promotes our understanding of the common pathological mechanisms that underlie co-occurring diseases. Here, we present a protocol to infer multimorbidity clusters in the form of disease topics from large-scale diagnosis data using treeLFA, a topic model based on the Bayesian binary non-negative matrix factorization. We describe steps for installing software, preparing input data, and training the model.

Cortical and Corticomuscular Beta-Gamma Phase-Amplitude Coupling During Different Locomotion States and the Effects of Levodopa in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) in the beta-gamma range has emerged as a promising electrophysiological biomarker of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: This study aims to investigate how levodopa and locomotion modulate cortical (central electroencephalogram [cEEG]) and corticomuscular (cEEG-gEMG [gastrocnemius electromyography]) beta-gamma PAC in patients with PD.

Methods: Thirty patients with PD underwent simultaneous cEEG and gEMG recordings during sitting, standing, and free walking in both off and on dopaminergic states.

Metabolic cost of external work: a novel CPET parameter optimises characterisation of exercise performance in obese individuals.

Purpose: Both obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness are crucial determinants of symptoms and prognosis. However, interpreting the gold-standard cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is complicated by increasing body size and varying body composition. We hypothesised that the 'metabolic cost of external work' (or oxygen uptake (ml/min)/workload (Watts); V̇O/W), a body weight-independent determinant of endurance capacity, would reflect metabolic health more accurately than V̇O alone.

The role of low subcortical iron, white matter myelin, and oligodendrocytes in schizophrenia: a quantitative susceptibility mapping and diffusion tensor imaging study.

Iron-the most abundant magnetic brain substance-is essential for many biological processes, including dopamine and myelin synthesis. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) MRI has recently linked altered subcortical magnetic susceptibility (χ) to schizophrenia. Since χ is increased by iron and decreased by myelin, abnormal levels of either could underlie these QSM differences.

Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits.

We introduce an advanced transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) system for precise deep brain neuromodulation, featuring a 256-element helmet-shaped transducer array (555 kHz), stereotactic positioning, individualised planning, and real-time fMRI monitoring. Experiments demonstrated selective modulation of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and connected visual cortex regions. Participants showed significantly increased visual cortex activity during concurrent TUS and visual stimulation, with high cross-individual reproducibility.

Composite arterial and venous collateral score on single-phase CTA predicts 90-day outcomes in anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion stroke.

Background: Collateral circulation influences clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion (LVO). While both arterial and venous collateral assessments on single-phase computed tomography angiography (CTA) have prognostic value, they have traditionally been evaluated independently.

Purpose: We developed the CTA Collateral Impairment Score (CCIS), a composite measure incorporating arterial (Tan) and venous (Cortical Venous Opacification Score (COVES)) scores, and investigated its association with 90-day functional outcomes.

An Electronic Health Record-Wide Association Study to identify populations at increased risk of E. coli bloodstream infections.

Objectives: Escherichia coli bacteraemias have been under mandatory surveillance in the UK for fifteen years, but cases continue to rise. Systematic searches of all features present within electronic healthcare records (EHRs), described here as an EHR-wide association study (EHR-WAS), could potentially identify under-appreciated factors that could be targeted to reduce infections.

Methods: We used data from Oxfordshire, UK, and an EHR-WAS method developed for use with large-scale COVID-19 data to estimate associations between E.

Unravelling symptom-specific polygenic effects on maternal mental health during the perinatal period and postpartum.

Background: While genetic factors are important influences on maternal mental health, few studies have used symptom-level analyses to examine how genetic liability is related to the experience of specific mental health problems in mothers. A symptom-level approach can account for disorder heterogeneity and delineate key associations between genetic liabilities and mental health.

Methods: Three waves of data (30 weeks of gestation, 6 and 18 months postpartum) from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) were used to assess item-level associations between genetic liabilities to depression, anxiety, neuroticism and positive affect, and maternal mental health phenotypes (i.

Combining evidence from human genetic and functional screens to identify pathways altering obesity and fat distribution.

Overall adiposity and body fat distribution are heritable traits associated with altered risk of cardiometabolic disease and mortality. Performing rare-variant (minor allele frequency <1%) association testing using exome-sequencing data from 402,375 participants of European ancestry in the UK Biobank for nine overall and tissue-specific fat distribution traits, we identified 19 genes where putatively damaging rare variation associated with at least one trait (Bonferroni-adjusted p < 1.58 × 10) and 50 additional genes at false discovery rate (FDR) ≤1% (p ≤ 4.

The plasma proteome of plant-based diets: Analyses of 2920 proteins in 49,615 people.

Background & Aims: Circulating proteins are integral to many biological processes and could be influenced by diet. We aimed to assess differences in the plasma proteome between people of different dietary groups, defined by degree of animal food consumption.

Methods: The UK Biobank recruited middle-aged adults (mostly 40-69 years) throughout the UK between 2006 and 2010.

A qualitative study exploring physician perspectives on a cardiac-based seizure prediction digital service for epilepsy management.

Objective: The unpredictability of epileptic seizures represents a significant challenge to people with epilepsy. To address this, research on seizure prediction has been evolving rapidly. However, insights from end-users that guide the development of this technology have been limited.

Mechanosensitive biochemical imprinting of the talin interaction with DLC1 regulates RhoA activity and cardiomyocyte remodeling.

During heart disease, the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) undergoes a structural and mechanical transformation. Cardiomyocytes sense the mechanical properties of their environment, leading to phenotypic remodeling. A critical component of the ECM mechanosensing machinery, including the protein talin, is organized at the cardiomyocyte costamere.

Membrane contact sites between chloroplasts and the pathogen interface underpin plant focal immune responses.

Communication between cellular organelles is essential for mounting effective innate immune responses. The transport of organelles to pathogen penetration sites and their assembly around the host membrane, which delineates the plant-pathogen interface, are well-documented. However, whether organelles associate with these specialized interfaces, and the extent to which this process contributes to immunity, remain unknown.