Feb 3rd, 2023 - Owing to its difficulty in degrading and ease of accumulation in the body, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has a detrimental effect on reproduction. This study aimed to examine the effect of PFOA concentration in follicular fluid during ovulation stimulation on embryo quality and the impact of PFOA exposure on the metabolic components of follicular fluid. This was a single-center prospective stud...

Feb 3rd, 2023 - Adult stem cells are indispensable for tissue regeneration, but their function declines with age. The niche environment in which the stem cells reside plays a critical role in their function. However, quantification of the niche effect on stem cell function is lacking. Using muscle stem cells (MuSC) as a model, we show that aging leads to a significant transcriptomic shift in their subpopulatio...

Feb 3rd, 2023 - Handgrip strength (HGS) has been adopted as one of the diagnostic tools for sarcopenia and is gaining attention because of its association with osteoporotic hip fractures. Longitudinal data of HGS at multiple follow-up intervals in older hip fractures are lacking. We aimed to investigate and compare the HGS changes in patients with hip fracture within 1-year with those in patients with hip dise...

Feb 3rd, 2023 - Due to the rapid expansion of pyrethroid-resistance in malaria vectors in Africa, Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management (GPIRM) has recommended the development of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), containing insecticide mixtures of active ingredients with different modes of action to mitigate resistance and improve LLIN efficacy. This good laboratory practice (GLP) study evalu...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - The intimate association between the gut microbiota (GM) and the central nervous system points to potential intervention strategies for neurological diseases. Nevertheless, there is currently no theoretical framework for selecting the window period and target bacteria for GM interventions owing to the complexity of the gut microecosystem. In this study, we constructed a complex network-based mo...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - Theta-burst stimulation (TBS) represents a brain stimulation technique effective for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) as underlined by meta-analyses. While the methodology undergoes constant refinement, bilateral stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) appears promising to restore left DLPFC hypoactivity and right hyperactivity found in depression. The post-synaptic inhibi...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - Wheat, an essential crop for global food security, is well adapted to a wide variety of soils. However, the gene networks shaping different root architectures remain poorly understood. We report here that dosage differences in a cluster of monocot-specific 12-OXOPHYTODIENOATE REDUCTASE genes from subfamily III (OPRIII) modulate key differences in wheat root architecture, which are associated wi...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Measurement of fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the gold standard for determining the physiologic significance of coronary artery stenosis, but newer software programs can calculate the FFR from 2-dimensional angiography images. A retrospective analysis was conducted using the records of patients with intermediate coronary stenoses who had undergone adenosine FFR (aFFR). To calculate the comput...

Feb 1st, 2023 - In middle-aged and particularly older adults, body mass index (BMI) is associated with various health outcomes. We examined associations between physical activity (PA) and longitudinal BMI change in persons aged ≥ 50 years. The sample included 5159 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 50 years (50.5% males, mean (SD) age 73.0 (10.2) years at baseline) who were enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is a widely applied invasive physiological assessment, endorsed by major guidelines to aid in the decision to perform or defer revascularisation. While a threshold of  > 0.8 has been applied universally, clinical outcomes may be affected by numerous factors, including the presence of diabetes. This meta-analysis aims to investigate the outcomes of diabetic versus n...

Feb 1st, 2023 - The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for detecting skull fractures and to evaluate sonographic measurements of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and ONSD/eyeball vertical diameter (EVD) ratios in children with head trauma. Children who presented with local signs of head trauma and underwent cranial computed tomography (CT) were enrolled...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Some artists do terrible things. But does knowing something bad about an artist affect the way we perceive the work? Despite increased public interest, this question has yet to be addressed empirically. In this pre-registered study, we used aesthetic ratings and electrophysiological brain responses to shed light on the issue. We found that paintings of artists associated with negative-social bi...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Theories of neural replay propose that it supports a range of functions, most prominently planning and memory consolidation. Here, we test the hypothesis that distinct signatures of replay in the same task are related to model-based decision-making ("planning") and memory preservation. We designed a reward learning task wherein participants utilized structure knowledge for model-based evaluatio...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Decisions in the management of aortic stenosis are based on the peak pressure drop, captured by Doppler echocardiography, whereas gold standard catheterization measurements assess the net pressure drop but are limited by associated risks. The relationship between these two measurements, peak and net pressure drop, is dictated by the pressure recovery along the ascending aorta which is mainly ca...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Most colorectal cancers (CRC) are associated with activated Wnt signaling, making it the fourth most prevalent type of cancer globally. To function properly, the Wnt signaling pathway requires secreted glycoproteins known as Wnt ligands (Wnts). Humans have 19 Wnts, which suggest a complicated signaling and biological process, and we still know little about their functions in developing CRC. Thi...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Emergency myelopoiesis (EM) is a hematopoietic response against systemic infections that quickly supplies innate immune cells. As lymphopoiesis is strongly suppressed during EM, the role of lymphocytes in that process has not received much attention. Here, we found that myeloid-like B cells (M-B cells), which express myeloid markers, emerge in the bone marrow (BM) after the induction of EM. M-B...

Feb 1st, 2023 - Loss of physiological nocturnal blood pressure (BP) decline is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of body composition and fat distribution on 24-hour BP pattern and nocturnal dipping of mean arterial pressure (MAP) in patients with obesity. The study comprised 436 patients, 18 to 65 years old (306 women), with BMI...

Feb 1st, 2023 - The accuracy of estimation of kidney function with the use of routine metabolic tests, such as measurement of the serum creatinine level, has been controversial. The European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) developed a creatinine-based equation (EKFC eGFRcr) to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) with a rescaled serum creatinine level (i.e., the serum creatinine level is divided by ...

Feb 1st, 2023 - High-voltage-activated R-type CaV2.3 channel plays pivotal roles in many physiological activities and is implicated in epilepsy, convulsions, and other neurodevelopmental impairments. Here, we determine the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of human CaV2.3 in complex with the α2δ1 and β1 subunits. The VSDII is stabilized in the resting state. Electrophysiological expe...

Jan 31st, 2023 - Subfornical organ (SFO) is vital in chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression caused by high salt levels. The current study investigated the effects of high salt on phosphoproteomic changes in SFO in CKD rats. 5/6 nephrectomized rats were fed a normal-salt diet (0.4%) (NC group) or a high-salt diet (4%) (HC group) for three weeks, while sham-operated rats were fed a normal-salt diet (0.4%) (NS g...