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The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world largely unprepared, including scientific and policy communities. On April 10-13, 2022, researchers across academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations met at the Keystone symposium "Lessons from the Pandemic: Responding to Emerging Zoonotic Viral Diseases" to discuss the successes and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and what lessons can be
α-Synuclein is a synaptic protein that accumulates primarily in synucleinopathies and secondarily in certain lysosomal storage disorders. However, its physiological roles in health and disease are not fully understood. In part, this has been hampered by the inability to visualize α-synuclein and its cellular localization, due to the lack of specific antibodies and faithful reporters. Here, we used
Multi-wavelength thermo-optical analysis (MW-TOA) and Raman spectroscopy are commonly used methods to study soot sampled on filters, in terms of carbon content, nanostructure, and absorption properties. In this work, these techniques were combined to study how these characteristic properties of soot change in premixed flames, 1) at various flame heights during soot maturation and 2) as a result of
The growing complexity of urban energy systems, climate uncertainties, and geopolitical disruptions highlight the need for energy flexibility and smart management. Recent developments in smart buildings enable real-time adaptability and collective energy behavior through the deployment of Reinforcement Learning (RL), which optimizes energy use, integrates distributed resources, and enhances demand
Carbon Black (CB), graphene, and nanodiamonds represent three classes of manufactured carbonaceous nanoparticles consisting almost exclusively of insoluble material. Particle-related Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) have been linked to in vivo and in vitro toxicity and determining particle ROS activity is an efficient way of estimating nanomaterial toxicity and assist in the safe-by-design developmen
Background Limited information is available regarding genetic contributions to valvular calcification, which is an important precursor of clinical valve disease. Methods We determined genomewide associations with the presence of aortic-valve calcification (among 6942 participants) and mitral annular calcification (among 3795 participants), as detected by computed tomographic (CT) scanning; the stu
Cholecystokinin (CCK-) positive basket cells form a distinct class of inhibitory GABAergic interneurons, proposed to act as fine-tuning devices of hippocampal gamma-frequency (30-90 Hz) oscillations, which can convert into higher frequency seizure activity. Therefore, CCK-basket cells may play an important role in regulation of hyper-excitability and seizures in the hippocampus. In normal conditio
Massive expansion of erythroid progenitor cells is essential for surviving anemic stress. Research towards understanding this critical process, referred to as stress-erythropoiesis, has been hampered due to the lack of specific marker-combinations enabling analysis of the distinct stress-progenitor cells capable of providing radioprotection and enhanced red blood cell production. Here we present a
Importance: Aortic stenosis (AS) has no approved medical treatment. Identifying etiological pathways for AS could identify pharmacological targets. Objective: To identify novel genetic loci and pathways associated with AS. Design, Setting, and Participants: This genome-wide association study used a case-control design to evaluate 44703 participants (3469 cases of AS) of self-reported European ance
BACKGROUND: Chronic low-grade inflammation may play a role in the pathophysiology of depression, at least in a subset of patients. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) has been used to define an inflamed subgroup of depression with specific clinical characteristics and symptoms. In this study we investigated biochemical and clinical characteristics in patients with difficult-to-treat depre
Hematopoiesis is regulated by the bone marrow (BM) stroma. However, cellular identities and functions of the different BM stromal elements in humans remain poorly defined. Based on single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), we systematically characterized the human non-hematopoietic BM stromal compartment and we investigated stromal cell regulation principles based on the RNA velocity analysis using s
Monoclonal antibody solutions are set to become a major therapeutic tool in the years to come, capable of targeting various diseases by clever design of their antigen binding site. However, the formulation of stable solutions suitable for patient self-administration typically presents challenges, as a result of the increase in viscosity that often occurs at high concentrations. Here, we establish
This study explores the coating of photocatalytic nanoparticles with antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for boosted antimicrobial effects, and how such effects depend on AMP properties. For this, TiO2 nanoparticles are coated with the AMP KYE21 or its hydrophobically enhanced variant WWWKYE21. Mirroring effects of free peptides, coated nanoparticles displayed higher binding and UV-induced degradation f
Alexander disease (AxD) is a rare and severe neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). While the exact disease mechanism remains unknown, previous studies suggest that mutant GFAP influences many cellular processes, including cytoskeleton stability, mechanosensing, metabolism, and proteasome function. While most studies have primarily focused on GFAP
In this study, we report the degradation of smooth and rough lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria and of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Gram-positive bacteria by peptide-coated TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs). While bare TiO2 NPs displayed minor binding to both LPS and LTA, coating TiO2 NPs with the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 dramatically increased the level of binding to both LPS an
The discovery of novel protein biomarkers in melanoma is crucial. Our introduction of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor protocol provides new opportunities to understand the progression of melanoma and open the possibility to screen thousands of FFPE samples deposited in tumor biobanks and available at hospital pathology departments. In our retrospective biobank pilot study, 90 FFPE sa
Intensity Analysis (IA) of land use and land cover change (LULCC) is important to support policy and practice. We applied IA to analyse LULCC in Sironko catchment, Uganda. Results show that agricultural land, forest, and wetland reduced by 8%; 32%; and 20% between 1986-2000. Between 2000-2016, forest, wetland, and built-up areas increased by 84%, 5%, and 57%. Active gainers between 1986-2000 were
Charges and their contribution to protein-protein interactions are essential for the key structural and dynamic properties of monoclonal antibody (mAb) solutions. In fact, they influence the apparent molecular weight, the static structure factor, the collective diffusion coefficient, or the relative viscosity, and their concentration dependence. Further, charges play an important role in the collo
