Notes

Sieving soil before incubation experiments overestimates as well as mineralization but underestimates temperatures level of sensitivity.
In particular, dCas9-based therapeutic strategies for Dravet syndrome, transcallosal dysconnectivity caused by mutations in C11orf46 gene, and Fragile X syndrome are presented and discussed. A direct comparison with other possible therapeutic strategies, such as classic gene replacement or CRISPR/Cas9-based strategies, is provided. We also highlight not only those aspects that constitute a clear advantage compared to previous strategies but also the main technical hurdles related to their applications that need to be overcome.
Although the effects of proximal smoking cues have been widely studied in smokers, little is known on the features associated with background spatial context effect, that is, "context reactivity." The aim of this study was to investigate context reactivity exhibited by smokers in virtual cue-free domestic scenarios.

Sixty-nine participants divided in 2 cohorts (33 smokers and 36 non-smokers) were exposed to a virtual reality session with 4 domestic room scenarios presented in a balanced order bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room.

We showed that (i) it is possible to elicit smoking craving in smokers in virtual reality, and (ii) these effects are room dependent and (iii) associated with a lower sense of presence; furthermore, (iv) smokers reported higher craving scores for alcohol and food in a room-dependent fashion compared to non-smokers.

Our study provides an experimental paradigm for assessing context reactivity in smokers and suggests a potential use for the identification of non-pharmacological interventions as a co-adjuvant of smoking cessation treatment.
Our study provides an experimental paradigm for assessing context reactivity in smokers and suggests a potential use for the identification of non-pharmacological interventions as a co-adjuvant of smoking cessation treatment.Treatment of cancer patients has become challenging when large parts of hospital services need to be shut down as a consequence of a local COVID-19 outbreak that requires rapid containment measures, in conjunction with the shifting of priorities to vital services. Reports providing conceptual frameworks and first experiences on how to maintain a clinical hematology/oncology service during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic are scarce. Here, we report our first 8 weeks of experience after implementing a procedural plan at a hematology/oncology unit with its associated cancer center at a large academic teaching hospital in Germany. By strictly separating team workflows and implementing vigorous testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections for all patients and staff members irrespective of clinical symptoms, we were successful in maintaining a comprehensive hematology/oncology service to allow for the continuation of treatment for our patients. Notably, this was achieved without introducing or further transmitting SARS-CoV-2 infections within the unit and the entire center. selleck Although challenging, our approach appears safe and feasible and may help others to set up or optimize their procedures for cancer treatment or for other exceedingly vulnerable patient cohorts.
Parkinson's disease (PD) progressively impairs motor and cognitive performance. The current tools to detect decline in motor and cognitive functioning are often impractical for busy clinics and home settings. To address the gap, we designed an instrumented trail-making task (iTMT) based on a wearable sensor (worn on the shin) with interactive game-based software installed on a tablet. The iTMT test includes reaching to 5 indexed circles, a combination of numbers (1-3) and letters (A&B) randomly positioned inside target circles, in a sequential order, which virtually appears on a screen kept in front of the participants, by rotating one's ankle joint while standing and holding a chair for safety. By measuring time to complete iTMT task (iTMT time), iTMT enables quantifying cognitive-motor performance.

This study's objective is to examine the feasibility of iTMT to detect early cognitive-motor decline in PDs.

Three groups of volunteers, including 14 cognitively normal (CN) older adults, 14 PDs, anibility and early results supporting the potential application of iTMT to determine cognitive-motor and distinguishing individuals with MCI and PD from CN-older adults. Future studies are warranted to test the ability of iTMT to track its subtle changes over time.An adverse maternal environment (AME) predisposes adult offspring toward cognitive impairment in humans and mice. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Epigenetic changes in response to environmental exposure may be critical drivers of this change. Epigenetic regulators, including microRNAs, have been shown to affect cognitive function by altering hippocampal neurogenesis which is regulated in part by brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). We sought to investigate the effects of AME on miR profile and their epigenetic characteristics, as well as neurogenesis and BDNF expression in mouse hippocampus. Using our mouse model of AME which is composed of maternal Western diet and prenatal environmental stress, we found that AME significantly increased hippocampal miR-10b-5p levels. We also found that AME significantly decreased DNA methylation and increased accumulations of active histone marks H3 lysine (K) 4me3, H3K14ac, and -H3K36me3 at miR-10b promoter. Furthermore, AME significantly decreased hippocampal neurogenesis by decreasing cell numbers of Ki67+ (proliferation marker), NeuroD1+ (neuronal differentiation marker), and NeuN+ (mature neuronal marker) in the dentate gyrus (DG) region concurrently with decreased hippocampal BDNF protein levels. We speculate that the changes in epigenetic profile at miR-10b promoter may contribute to upregulation of miR-10b-5p and subsequently lead to decreased BDNF levels in a model of impaired offspring hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition in mice.This work is intended to study the radioprotective effect of palladium α-lipoic acid nano-complex (PLAC) on hemoglobin molecule in vitro. Blood samples were obtained from adult male rats weighing 120-150 g after dissection, using heparinized needles. Each blood sample was divided into four groups; the first group was kept untreated as control, palladium α-lipoic acid (PLAC) was added to the second group at concentration 2% v/v, the third group was exposed to 100 Gy gamma radiation and the forth group was irradiated with the addition of PLAC. Hemoglobin was extracted and prepared for measurement. The effects on the hemoglobin molecule were evaluated by FTIR and UV-visible spectroscopy. The results showed that PLAC increases the optical energy gap of the transition of the amino acid side chains and affects the spatial distribution of the globin part. Gamma radiation affects mainly the globin part, results in unfolding of the protein structure and perturbation in the relative orientation of the transition dipole moments.
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