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Abstract Treatment strategies that are efficient against established Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are needed. BRICHOS is a molecular chaperone domain that prevents amyloid fibril formation and associated cellular toxicity. In this study, we treated an AD mouse model seven months after pathology onset, using intravenous administration of recombinant human (rh) Bri2 BRICHOS R221E. Two injections of rh Bri2 BRICHOS R221E per week for three months in AD mice reduced amyloid β (Aβ) burden, and mitigated astro- and microgliosis, as determined by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1) immunohistochemistry. Sequencing of RNA from cortical microglia cells showed that BRICHOS treatment normalized the expression of identified plaque-induced genes in mice and humans, including clusterin and GFAP. Rh Bri2 BRICHOS R221E passed the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in age-matched wild-type mice as efficiently as in the AD mice, but then had no effect on measures of AD-like pathology, and mainly affected the expression of genes that affect cellular shape and movement. These results indicate a potential of rh Bri2 BRICHOS against advanced AD and underscore the ability of BRICHOS to target amyloid-induced pathology.

Abstract Protein misfolding can generate toxic intermediates, which underlies several devastating diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The surface of AD-associated amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) fibrils has been suggested to act as a catalyzer for self-replication and generation of potentially toxic species. Specifically tailored molecular chaperones, such as the BRICHOS protein domain, were shown to bind to amyloid fibrils and break this autocatalytic cycle. Here, we identify a site on the Aβ42 fibril surface, consisting of three C-terminal β-strands and particularly the solvent-exposed β-strand stretching from residues 26–28, which is efficiently sensed by a designed variant of Bri2 BRICHOS. Remarkably, while only a low amount of BRICHOS binds to Aβ42 fibrils, fibril-catalyzed nucleation processes are effectively prevented, suggesting that the identified site acts as a catalytic aggregation hotspot, which can specifically be blocked by BRICHOS. Hence, these findings provide an understanding how toxic nucleation events can be targeted by molecular chaperones.

Abstract ATP-independent molecular chaperones are important for maintaining cellular fitness but the molecular determinants for preventing aggregation of partly unfolded protein substrates remain unclear, particularly regarding assembly state and basis for substrate recognition. The BRICHOS domain can perform small heat shock (sHSP)-like chaperone functions to widely different degrees depending on its assembly state and sequence. Here, we observed three hydrophobic sequence motifs in chaperone-active domains, and found that they get surface-exposed when the BRICHOS domain assembles into larger oligomers. Studies of loop-swap variants and site-specific mutants further revealed that the biological hydrophobicities of the three short motifs linearly correlate with the efficiency to prevent amorphous protein aggregation. At the same time, they do not at all correlate with the ability to prevent ordered amyloid fibril formation. The linear correlations also accurately predict activities of chimeras containing short hydrophobic sequence motifs from a sHSP that is unrelated to BRICHOS. Our data indicate that short, exposed hydrophobic motifs brought together by oligomerisation are sufficient and necessary for efficient chaperone activity against amorphous protein aggregation.

This correspondence offers clarifications on the utility of BRICHOS domains in understanding pathology in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models and the potential of these domains as a treatment strategy.

The mechanical properties of spider silk are known to be dependent on spinning conditions. Here, the tensile behavior of over 1000 biomimetic spider silk fibers spun under 92 different conditions are tested, resulting in a yield strength of more than 250 MPa.

The problem of occupational accidents in the construction industry has necessitated a focus on proactive measures such as safety management programs. An example of this is safety parks, i.e. facilities where employees and managers from different construction companies can participate in site-specific activities and train in safety-related matters in a realistic context. Two specific focus areas are often present within these types of safety management programs: hands-on safety training and safety culture development as being within the purview of management. The purpose of this article is to investigate the developers' intentions with the park in relation to safety culture development. Twenty interviews were conducted with experts in the area of health and safety. Results indicate that the safety park can contribute as a mirror for the companies own operations, with new information and knowledge of how work can be performed with safety being prioritized, to developing communication regarding safety-related matters, and finally the stations at the park may initiate a translation process as to how the lessons learned at the park can be applied to the participants’ own workplaces. All in all, the activities at the park can be said to be normative in nature, i.e. the developers seemingly have a desire to steer the safety culture development in a certain direction. There is a need for further research focusing on the concept of safety culture in these types of programs and, more broadly, in relation to its intended industry-wide effects.

Recombinant spider silks are of interest but the multimodal and aggregation-prone nature of them is a limitation. Here, the authors report on a miniature spidroin based on the N-terminal domain which forms a hydrogel at 37 °C which allows for ease of production and fusion protein modification to generate functional biomaterials.

Abstract Background We previously observed decreasing resection rates of non‐metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma (GaC) in the US and some European countries. If and to what extent these trends affect the trends in overall survival (OS) of patients with non‐metastatic GaC at the population level remain unclear. This large international population‐based cohort study aimed to assess the impact of the previously observed decreasing resection rates on multivariable‐adjusted trends in the long‐term OS of patients with non‐metastatic GaC. Methods Individual‐level data of patients with non‐metastatic GaC were obtained from the national cancer registries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Slovenia, and the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We analyzed data for each country separately. Associations between year of diagnosis and OS were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression model with adjustment for multiple prognostic variables, with and without including resection and chemotherapy as potential explanatory variables. Results A total of 66,398 non‐metastatic GaC patients diagnosed in 2003‐2016 were analyzed, with an accumulated follow‐up of 172,357 person‐years. Without adjustment for resection, OS was improved only slightly in the US [hazard ratio (HR)per year = 0.99; HR≥ vs.

Introduction: Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the field is still lacking a specific biomarker for its core pathology: alpha synuclein (α-syn). Realtime quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC) has recently emerged as a strong biomarker candidate to detect misfolded α-syn in DLB. However, the variability in the parameters of the technique and the heterogeneity of DLB patients make the reproducibility of the results difficult. Here, we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art research of α-syn RT-QuIC in DLB focused on: (1) the capacity of α-syn RT-QuIC to discriminate DLB from controls, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and AD; (2) the capacity of α-syn RT-QuIC to identify prodromal stages of DLB; and (3) the influence of co-pathologies on α-syn RT-QuIC’s performance. We also assessed the influence of different factors, such as technical conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, shaking-rest cycles), sample type, and clinical diagnosis versus autopsy confirmation.Methods: We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines in August 2022, without any limits in publication dates. Search terms were combinations of “RT-QuIC” and “Lewy Bodies,” “DLB” or “LBD”.Results: Our meta-analysis shows that α-syn RT-QuIC reaches very high diagnostic performance in discriminating DLB from both controls (pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.94 and 0.96, respectively) and AD (pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.95 and 0.88) and is promising for prodromal phases of DLB. However, the performance of α-syn RT-QuIC to discriminate DLB from PD is currently low due to low specificity (pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.94 and 0.11). Our analysis showed that α-syn RT-QuIC’s performance is not substantially influenced by sample type or clinical diagnosis versus autopsy confirmation. Co-pathologies did not influence the performance of α-syn RT-QuIC, but the number of such studies is currently limited. We observed technical variability across published articles. However, we could not find a clear effect of technical variability on the reported results.Conclusion: There is currently enough evidence to test misfolded α-syn by RT-QuIC for clinical use. We anticipate that harmonization of protocols across centres and advances in standardization will facilitate the clinical establishment of misfolded α-syn detection by RT-QuIC.

Spider-silk protein increases the solubility of an aggregation-prone reporter protein, showing potential applications in controlling aggregation of disease-associated proteins by natural solubility domains.

Present day GNSS offers a variety of signals from different satellite constellations and at various frequencies. This paper is based on the work conducted in the project SiL 2.0 and will focus on the study of multi-constellation/multi-frequency GNSS signals as received on top of construction equipment as part of the SiL 2.0 dissemination solution. This paper aims to study the impact of foliage and reflective environments on the various signals of multi-constellation GNSS with a focus on GPS and Galileo. Signal strength indicators (SSI) have been used as a measure to understand the shadowing environment around a stationary GNSS antenna mounted on an excavator. It is quite clear from the analysis that traditional GPS L2 signals, C2W and L2W, are weaker in strength than the L2C and L1 C/A signals, and this is found to be consistent for all of the GPS satellites. The effect of signal degradation due to bending over sharp metallic edges is also discussed.

Abstract AA amyloidosis can be transmitted experimentally in several mammalian and avian species as well as spontaneously between captive animals, even by oral intake of amyloid seeds. Amyloid seeding can cross species boundaries, and fibrils of one kind of amyloid protein may also seed other types. Here we show that meat from Swedish and Italian cattle for consumption by humans often contains AA amyloid and that bovine AA fibrils efficiently cross-seed human amyloid β peptide, associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The concept of sustainable development implies seeking a balance between exploitation and protection of the Earth's resources in an attempt to preserve our basis for living. Sustainable development must satisfy people’s present needs without jeopardizing future generations’ chances of satisfying theirs. Among architects, the concept of sustainable architecture emerged from various social interests based on various interpretations of the problem and characterized by quite a number of different pathways, each pointing to sustainable solutions as responses to the climate crisis. Architects' diverse views on sustainable architecture have become a battleground for ‘the right attitudes’ - artistic schools of thought and cultural movements with competing logics of sustainability. In this respect, the role of the architect and the choice of sustainable logic become central to the design process of sustainable architecture - and also to the development of Danish social housing. Various incentives have helped influence sustainability in a Danish context, for instance in site conditions, sustainable technologies, infrastructure, facilities, financing and social ideals. Since the energy crisis of the 1970s, the development of sustainable social housing in Denmark has also been influenced by various pathways in this fluid system of changing logics, values and beliefs as social responses to the climate crisis.

Abstract Background The human Bri2 BRICHOS domain inhibits amyloid formation and toxicity and could be used as a therapeutic agent against amyloid diseases. For translation into clinical use, large quantities of correctly folded recombinant human (rh) Bri2 BRICHOS are required. To increase the expression and solubility levels of rh Bri2 BRICHOS it was fused to NT*, a solubility tag derived from the N-terminal domain of a spider silk protein, which significantly increases expression levels and solubility of target proteins. To increase the expression levels even further and reach the g/L range, which is a prerequisite for an economical production on an industrial scale, we developed a fed-batch expression protocol for Escherichia coli. Results A fed-batch production method for NT*-Bri2 BRICHOS was set up and systematically optimized. This gradual improvement resulted in expression levels of up to 18.8 g/L. Following expression, NT*-Bri2 BRICHOS was purified by chromatographic methods to a final yield of up to 6.5 g/L. After removal of the NT*-tag and separation into different oligomeric species, activity assays verified that different assembly states of the fed-batch produced rh Bri2 BRICHOS have the same ability to inhibit fibrillar and non-fibrillar protein aggregation as the reference protein isolated from shake flask cultures. Conclusions The protocol developed in this work allows the production of large quantities of rh Bri2 BRICHOS using the solubility enhancing NT*-tag as a fusion partner, which is required to effectively conduct pre-clinical research.

The exploration of therapies combining antimicrobial lung proteins and conventional antibiotics is important due to the growing problem of multidrug-resistant bacteria. The aim of this study was to investigate whether human SP-A and a recombinant trimeric fragment (rfhSP-A) have cooperative antimicrobial activity with antibiotics against pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. We found that SP-A bound the cationic peptide polymyxin B (PMB) with an apparent dissociation constant (KD) of 0.32 ± 0.04 µM. SP-A showed synergistic microbicidal activity with polymyxin B and E, but not with other antibiotics, against three SP-A-resistant pathogenic bacteria: Klebsiella pneumoniae, non-typable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. SP-A was not able to bind to K. pneumoniae, NTHi, or to mutant strains thereof expressing long-chain lipopolysaccharides (or lipooligosaccharides) and/or polysaccharide capsules. In the presence of PMB, SP-A induced the formation of SP-A/PMB aggregates that enhance PMB-induced bacterial membrane permeabilization. Furthermore, SP-A bound to a molecular derivative of PMB lacking the acyl chain (PMBN) with a KD of 0.26 ± 0.02 μM, forming SP-A/PMBN aggregates. PMBN has no bactericidal activity but can bind to the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Surprisingly, SP-A and PMBN showed synergistic bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Unlike native supratrimeric SP-A, the trimeric rfhSP-A fragment had small but significant direct bactericidal activity against K. pneumoniae, NTHi, and P. aeruginosa. rfhSP-A did not bind to PMB under physiological conditions but acted additively with PMB and other antibiotics against these pathogenic bacteria. In summary, our results significantly improve our understanding of the antimicrobial actions of SP-A and its synergistic action with PMB. A peptide based on SP-A may aid the therapeutic use of PMB, a relatively cytotoxic antibiotic that is currently being reintroduced into clinics due to the global problem of antibiotic resistance.

Background: Periprocedural stroke during transcatheter aortic valve implantation is a rare but devastating complication. The calcified aortic valve is the most likely source of the emboli in a periprocedural stroke. The total load and distribution of calcium in the leaflets, aortic root, and left ventricular outflow tract varies from patient to patient. Consequently, there could be patterns of calcification that are associated with a higher risk of stroke. This study aimed to explore whether the pattern of calcification in the left ventricular outflow tract, annulus, aortic valve, and ascending aorta can be used to predict a periprocedural stroke. Methods: Among the 3282 consecutive patients who received a transcatheter aortic valve implantation in the native valve in Sweden from 2014 to 2018, we identified 52 who had a periprocedural stroke. From the same cohort, a control group of 52 patients was constructed by propensity score matching. Both groups had one missing cardiac computed tomography, and 51 stroke and 51 control patients were blindly reviewed by an experienced radiologist. Results: The groups were well balanced in terms of demographics and procedural data. Of the 39 metrics created to describe calcium pattern, only one differed between the groups. The length of calcium protruding above the annulus was 10.6 mm (interquartile range 7-13.6) for patients without stroke and 8 mm (interquartile range 3-10) for stroke patients. Conclusions: This study could not find any pattern of calcification that predisposes for a periprocedural stroke.

Human cathelicidin (LL-37) is a defense peptide with antimicrobial activity against various pathogens. However, LL-37 can also trigger tissue injury by binding to host cell membranes. The cytotoxic effects of LL-37 may be especially relevant in chronic respiratory diseases characterized by increased LL-37. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the human collectin SP-A and a trimeric recombinant fragment thereof (rfhSP-A) can regulate the activities of LL-37. To this end, we studied the interaction of LL-37 with SP-A and rfhSP-A by intrinsic fluorescence, dynamic light scattering, and circular dichroism, as well as the effects of these proteins on the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of LL-37. Both SP-A and rfhSP-A bound LL-37 with high affinity at physiological ionic strength (KD = 0.45 ± 0.01 nM for SP-A and 1.22 ± 0.7 nM for rfhSP-A). Such interactions result in the reduction of LL-37-induced cell permeability and IL-8 release in human pneumocytes, mediated by P2X7 channels. Binding of LL-37 to SP-A did not modify the properties of SP-A or the antibacterial activity of LL-37 against respiratory pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae). SP-A/LL-37 complexes showed a greater ability to aggregate LPS vesicles than LL-37, which reduces endotoxin bioactivity. These results reveal the protective role of native SP-A in controlling LL-37 activities and suggest a potential therapeutic effect of rfhSP-A in reducing the cytotoxic and inflammatory actions of LL-37, without affecting its microbicidal activity against Gram-negative pathogens.

Background The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental healthcare offers a potential solution to some of the problems associated with the availability, attractiveness, and accessibility of mental healthcare services. However, there are many knowledge gaps regarding how to implement and best use AI to add value to mental healthcare services, providers, and consumers. The aim of this paper is to identify challenges and opportunities for AI use in mental healthcare and to describe key insights from implementation science of potential relevance to understand and facilitate AI implementation in mental healthcare. Methods The paper is based on a selective review of articles concerning AI in mental healthcare and implementation science. Results Research in implementation science has established the importance of considering and planning for implementation from the start, the progression of implementation through different stages, and the appreciation of determinants at multiple levels. Determinant frameworks and implementation theories have been developed to understand and explain how different determinants impact on implementation. AI research should explore the relevance of these determinants for AI implementation. Implementation strategies to support AI implementation must address determinants specific to AI implementation in mental health. There might also be a need to develop new theoretical approaches or augment and recontextualize existing ones. Implementation outcomes may have to be adapted to be relevant in an AI implementation context. Conclusion Knowledge derived from implementation science could provide an important starting point for research on implementation of AI in mental healthcare. This field has generated many insights and provides a broad range of theories, frameworks, and concepts that are likely relevant for this research. However, when taking advantage of the existing knowledge basis, it is important to also be explorative and study AI implementation in health and mental healthcare as a new phenomenon in its own right since implementing AI may differ in various ways from implementing evidence-based practices in terms of what implementation determinants, strategies, and outcomes are most relevant. Plain Language Summary: The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental healthcare offers a potential solution to some of the problems associated with the availability, attractiveness, and accessibility of mental healthcare services. However, there are many knowledge gaps concerning how to implement and best use AI to add value to mental healthcare services, providers, and consumers. This paper is based on a selective review of articles concerning AI in mental healthcare and implementation science, with the aim to identify challenges and opportunities for the use of AI in mental healthcare and describe key insights from implementation science of potential relevance to understand and facilitate AI implementation in mental healthcare. AI offers opportunities for identifying the patients most in need of care or the interventions that might be most appropriate for a given population or individual. AI also offers opportunities for supporting a more reliable diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and ongoing monitoring and tailoring during the course of treatment. However, AI implementation challenges exist at organizational/policy, individual, and technical levels, making it relevant to draw on implementation science knowledge for understanding and facilitating implementation of AI in mental healthcare. Knowledge derived from implementation science could provide an important starting point for research on AI implementation in mental healthcare. This field has generated many insights and provides a broad range of theories, frameworks, and concepts that are likely relevant for this research.

BackgroundThe globally dominant treatment with curative intent for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) with subsequent esophagectomy. This multimodal treatment leads to around 60% overall 5-year survival, yet with impaired post-surgical quality of life. Observational studies indicate that curatively intended chemoradiotherapy, so-called definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) followed by surveillance of the primary tumor site and regional lymph node stations and surgery only when needed to ensure local tumor control, may lead to similar survival as nCRT with surgery, but with considerably less impairment of quality of life. This trial aims to demonstrate that dCRT, with selectively performed salvage esophagectomy only when needed to achieve locoregional tumor control, is non-inferior regarding overall survival, and superior regarding health-related quality of life (HRQOL), compared to nCRT followed by mandatory surgery, in patients with operable, locally advanced ESCC.MethodsThis is a pragmatic open-label, randomized controlled phase III, multicenter trial with non-inferiority design with regard to the primary endpoint overall survival and a superiority hypothesis for the experimental intervention dCRT with regard to the main secondary endpoint global HRQOL one year after randomization. The control intervention is nCRT followed by preplanned surgery and the experimental intervention is dCRT followed by surveillance and salvage esophagectomy only when needed to secure local tumor control. A target sample size of 1200 randomized patients is planned in order to reach 462 events (deaths) during follow-up.Clinical Trial Registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04460352.

Abstract Background Effort rupture of the esophagus or Boerhaave’s syndrome is a rare entity, and prognosis is largely dependent on early diagnosis and treatment. Recurrent effort ruptures are very rare, only reported in a few case reports in English literature. We present a case with a third time effort rupture, and to the best of our knowledge there are no such previous publications. Furthermore, the presented case is also distinct because each episode was treated by different methods, reflecting the pathophysiology of recurrent disease as well as the last decade’s advancements in the management of esophageal perforations in our clinic and globally. Case presentation The patient is a 60-year-old White male, suffering from alcohol abuse, mild reflux esophagitis, and a history of effort esophageal ruptures on two previous occasions. He was now admitted to our ward once again because of a third bout of Boerhaave’s syndrome. The first time, 10 years ago, he was managed by thoracotomy and laparotomy with primary repair, and the second time, 5 years ago, by transhiatal mediastinal drainage through a laparotomy and endoscopic stent placement. Now he was successfully managed by endovascular vacuum-assisted closure therapy alone. Conclusions Recurrent cases of Boerhaave’s syndrome are very rare, and treatment must be tailored individually. The basic rationale is, however, no different from primary disease: (1) early diagnosis, (2) adequate drainage of extraesophageal contamination, and (3) restoration of esophageal integrity. Recurrent disease is usually contained and exceptionally suitable for primary endoscopic treatment. To cover the full panorama and difficult nature of complex esophageal disease, endoscopic modalities such as stent placement and endovascular vacuum-assisted closure, as well as the capacity for prompt extensive surgical interventions such as esophagectomy, should be readily accessible within every modern esophageal center.

Abstract Gamma and theta brain rhythms play important roles in cognition and their interaction can affect gamma oscillation features. Hippocampal theta oscillations depend on cholinergic and GABAergic input from the medial septum-diagonal band of Broca. These projecting neurons undergo degeneration during aging and maintain high levels of neurotrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR). p75NTR mediates both apoptosis and survival and its expression is increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. Here, we investigate the importance of p75NTR for the cholinergic input to the hippocampus. Performing extracellular recordings in brain slices from p75NTR knockout mice (p75−/−) in presence of the muscarinic agonist carbachol, we find that gamma oscillation power and rhythmicity are increased compared to wild-type (WT) mice. Furthermore, gamma activity is more phase-locked to the underlying theta rhythm, which renders a stronger coupling of both rhythms. On the cellular level, we find that fast-spiking interneurons (FSNs) fire more synchronized to a preferred gamma phase in p75−/− mice. The excitatory input onto FSN is more rhythmic displaying a higher similarity with the concomitant gamma rhythm. Notably, the ablation of p75NTR counteracts the Aβ-induced degradation of gamma oscillations and its nesting within the underlying theta rhythm. Our results show that the lack of p75NTR signaling could promote stronger cholinergic modulation of the hippocampal gamma rhythm, suggesting an involvement of p75NTR in the downregulation of cognition-relevant hippocampal network dynamics in pathologies. Moreover, functional data provided here suggest p75NTR as a suitable target in the search for efficacious treatments to counteract the loss of cognitive function observed in amyloid-driven pathologies such as AD.

Exposing spider silk to wet conditions can cause supercontraction. Here, tyrosine amino acid residues within the amorphous regions are found to contribute to supercontraction, which can be controlled by protein engineering.

Objective: To report vision-related symptoms and neuro-visual clinical signs in patients approximately 4 months after discharge from hospitalization after COVID-19 infection. To report on coexisting functional and activity limitations. Design: The study is part of an ambidirectional population-based cohort study. Setting: An outpatient setting in a hospital environment. Participants: Patients from a population-based cohort study including all patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to hospital during a 3-month period in a health care region in Sweden. Among patients who, based on a standardized telephone interview, were identified as having persisting rehabilitation needs 4 months after discharge (n=185), several (n=57) reported vision-related symptoms. All 57 patients were invited to a neuro-visual examination. Six patients declined, 6 were unavailable, and 3 did not fulfil the inclusion criteria. Thus, 42 patients were included in the analysis (N=42). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Vision-related symptoms, neuro-visual function, and coexisting impairments affecting activities of daily life and participation. Results: A total of 31% of patients with rehabilitation needs after COVID-19 reported vision-related symptoms. Reading-related issues (73.8%), blurry vision (69.0%), and light sensitivity (66.7%) were the most common symptoms. Patients with reading-related issues showed a higher level of eye strain (P

The spidroin N-terminal domain (NT) is responsible for high solubility and pH-dependent assembly of spider silk proteins during storage and fiber formation, respectively. It forms a monomeric five-helix bundle at neutral pH and dimerizes at lowered pH, thereby firmly interconnecting the spidroins. Mechanistic studies with the NTs from major ampullate, minor ampullate, and flagelliform spidroins (MaSp, MiSp, and FlSp) have shown that the pH dependency is conserved between different silk types, although the residues that mediate this process can differ. Here we study the tubuliform spidroin (TuSp) NT from Argiope argentata, which lacks several well conserved residues involved in the dimerization of other NTs. We solve its structure at low pH revealing an antiparallel dimer of two five-α-helix bundles, which contrasts with a previously determined Nephila antipodiana TuSp NT monomer structure. Further, we study a set of mutants and find that the residues participating in the protonation events during dimerization are different from MaSp and MiSp NT. Charge reversal of one of these residues (R117 in TuSp) results in significantly altered electrostatic interactions between monomer subunits. Altogether, the structure and mutant studies suggest that TuSp NT monomers assemble by elimination of intramolecular repulsive charge interactions, which could lead to slight tilting of α-helices.

Abstract Amyloid fibrils are mechanically robust and partly resistant to proteolytic degradation, making them potential candidates for scaffold materials in cell culture, tissue engineering, drug delivery and other applications. Such applications of amyloids would benefit from the possibility to functionalize the fibrils, for example by adding growth factors or cell attachment sites. The BRICHOS domain is found in a family of human proteins that harbor particularly amyloid-prone regions and can reduce aggregation as well as toxicity of several different amyloidogenic peptides. Recombinant human (rh) BRICHOS domains have been shown to bind to the surface of amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrils by immune electron microscopy. Here we produce fusion proteins between mCherry and rh Bri2 BRICHOS and show that they can bind to different amyloid fibrils with retained fluorescence of mCherry in vitro as well as in cultured cells. This suggests a “generic” ability of the BRICHOS domain to bind fibrillar surfaces that can be used to synthesize amyloid decorated with different protein functionalities.

Synchronized and properly balanced electrical activity of neurons is the basis for the brain's ability to process information, to learn, and to remember. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), which causes cognitive decline in patients, this synchronization and balance is disturbed by the accumulation of neuropathological biomarkers such as amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ42). Failure of Aβ42 clearance mechanisms as well as desynchronization of crucial neuronal classes such as fast-spiking interneurons (FSN) are root causes for the disruption of the cognition-relevant gamma brain rhythm (30–80 Hz) and consequent cognitive impairment observed in AD. Here we show that recombinant BRICHOS molecular chaperone domains from ProSP-C or Bri2, which interfere with Aβ42 aggregation, can rescue the gamma rhythm. We demonstrate that Aβ42 progressively decreases gamma oscillation power and rhythmicity, disrupts the inhibition/excitation balance in pyramidal cells, and desynchronizes FSN firing during gamma oscillations in the hippocampal CA3 network of mice. Application of the more efficacious Bri2 BRICHOS chaperone rescued the cellular and neuronal network performance from all ongoing Aβ42-induced functional impairments. Collectively, our findings offer critical missing data to explain the importance of FSN for normal network function and underscore the therapeutic potential of Bri2 BRICHOS to rescue the disruption of cognition-relevant brain rhythms in AD.

The EU directive 92/57/EEC focuses on ensuring that health and safety-related matters are taken into consideration during every stage of construction-related work and has been introduced into the regulations of the member countries. In 2006, Sweden was tasked by the European Commission to clarify its implementation of the directive, including which management roles and responsibilities were to come into effect during both the planning and eventual execution of construction work—changes that ultimately were introduced into the national regulations in 2009. Focusing on the accident trends in the construction industry in the years immediately following these regulatory changes, we find that the new management roles and responsibilities had no apparent effect on the accident rates. Furthermore, we argue that there is a need to broaden the analysis regarding the implementation of the EU directive 92/57/EEC to also include nation-specific changes to health and safety management and policy. These qualitative studies should also include a dedicated focus on how changes to management structures and processes may affect the prevalence of occupational diseases specifically.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of using a wearable eye-tracker when assessing patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness using the Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R), focusing on technical challenges. Design: A methodological investigation with descriptive and analytical elements. Subjects: Four patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness were recruited from the rehabilitation clinic of a regional rehabilitation unit. Methods: A selection of subtests in the CRS-R were performed while recording eye movements with a wearable eye-tracker. Results: No major adverse reactions were observed, suggesting likely patient acceptability. Calibration was not always possible. However, distinct eye movements were discernible from the recorded data even without calibration, and analysis of these produced results with the potential to support clinical assessment. Conclusion: Eye tracking was feasible during clinical assessment for this patient group. Recording eye movement responses in these easily fatigued patients has the potential to add sensitivity for detection of conscious responses and to complement clinical examination. Further study is merited. Current hardware and software limitations can be overcome with manual data processing and analysis; however, significant developments in automating data processing will be required for broader clinical application.

Summary: Efficient functionalization of C−H bonds can be achieved using transition metal catalysts, such as Pd(OAc)2. To better control the regioselectivity in these reactions, some functional groups on the substrate may be used as directing groups, guiding the reactivity to an ortho position. Herein, we describe a methodology to score the relative strength of such directing groups in palladium-catalyzed aromatic C−H activation. The results have been collected into a scale that serves to predict the regioselectivity on molecules with multiple competing directing groups. We demonstrate that this scale yields accurate predictions on over a hundred examples, taken from the literature. In addition to the regioselectivity prediction on complex molecules, the knowledge of the relative strengths of directing groups can also be used to work with new combinations of functionalities, exploring uncharted chemical space. : Catalysis; Computational Molecular Modelling; Organic Reaction Subject Areas: Catalysis, Computational Molecular Modelling, Organic Reaction

Key Clinical Message Visual function problems is a common, yet easily overlooked group of issues after stroke that may hamper the capacity to perform rehabilitation activities and resume daily tasks. We show the potential of an intense vision therapy program for restoring objectively measurable visual functions and documented improvements in activity‐based performance.

Aims: The role of resection remains debated in cases of metastatic gastric carcinoma (mGC). Some mGCs are technically resectable. At the population level, the real-world application of resection for mGC remains largely unclear in most Western countries. This large, population-based international investigation aimed to reveal the resection patterns and trends for mGC and the treatment-associated factors in Europe and the US. Methods: Data on cases with microscopically-confirmed primary invasive stomach carcinoma with distant metastasis were obtained from the nationwide cancer registries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Slovenia and the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-18 database. We calculated age-standardized rates of primary cancer-directed resection and assessed resection trends using linear regression. We investigated associations of treatment with patient and cancer factors using multivariable-adjusted log-binomial regression. Results: Among 133,321 patients with gastric cancer, overall, 40,215 cases with mGC diagnosed between 2003–2017 were investigated. Age-standardized resection rates significantly declined over time in the US, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway (by 5–14%). Resection rates greatly differed from 5% to 16% in 2013–2014. Cases with older ages, cardia tumors, or tumors involving adjacent structures were significantly less often operated across most countries. Sex was not significantly associated with resection. Across countries the association patterns and strengths differed largely. With multivariable adjustment, resection rates decreased significantly in all countries except Slovenia and Estonia (prevalence ratio per year = 0.90–0.98), and the decreasing trends were consistently observed in various stratifications by age and location. Conclusion: In Europe and the US, resection patterns and trends largely varied across countries for mGCs, which were mostly less often resected in the early 21st century. Various resection-associated factors were shown, with greatly varying association patterns and strengths. Our report could aid to identify discrepancies in clinical practice and highlight the great need for further clarifying the role of resection in mGCs to enhance standardization of care.

Abstract Background Acquired brain injury affects many brain areas and causes a range of dysfunctions including vision‐related issues. These issues can have negative impacts on rehabilitation progress and activities of daily life but may easily be overlooked. There is no common recommendation about how to assess visual impairments after ABI. The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of objectively measures oculomotor dysfunctions, and also how these findings are related to two inventories intended to support detection of visual impairment. Methods The study was cross‐sectional and included 73 outpatients. In addition to the standard evaluation program, the patients went through a comprehensive optometric examination. The inventories used were the Vision Interview (VI) and the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS). Results All three types of examinations showed a high proportion vision‐related symptoms. Fusion vergence was the most common objectively measured finding, 83%. There were seven statistically significant associations between five VI items and five visual deficits. The strength of associations was moderate (Phi 0.261–0.487, p

Abstract Background Resection is the cornerstone of curative treatment for many nonmetastatic gastric cancers (GCs), but the population treatment patterns remains largely unknown. This large international population‐based study aimed at investigating the treatment patterns and trends for nonmetastatic GC in Europe and the United States and at exploring factors associated with resection. Methods Data of patients with microscopically confirmed primary invasive GC without distant metastasis from the national cancer registries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, and Estonia and the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)‐18 Program were retrieved. Age‐standardized treatment rates were computed and trends were evaluated using linear regression. Associations of resection with patient and tumor characteristics were analyzed using multivariable‐adjusted log‐binomial regression. Analysis was performed in each country respectively without pooling. Results Together 65 707 nonmetastatic GC patients diagnosed in 2003‐2016 were analyzed. Age‐standardized resection rates significantly decreased over years in all countries (by 4‐24%). In 2013‐2014, rates varied greatly from 54 to 75%. Patients with increasing ages, cardia cancers, or cancers invading adjacent structure were significantly less frequently resected. Resection was further associated with sex, performance status, comorbidities, tumor histology, tumor size, hospital type, and hospital volume. Association patterns and strengths varied across countries. After multivariable adjustment, resection rates remained decreasing (prevalence ratio = 0.97‐0.995 per year), with decreasing trends consistently seen in various subgroups. Conclusions Nonmetastatic GCs were less frequently resected in Europe and the United States in the early 21st century. Resection rates varied greatly across countries and appeared not to be optimal. Various factors associated with resection were revealed. Our findings can help to identify differences and possibly modifiable places in clinical practice and provide important novel references for designing effective population‐based GC management strategies. In Europe and the United States, nonmetastatic gastric cancers were less frequently resected in the early 21st century. Resection rates varied greatly across countries and appeared not optimal. Various factors associated with resection were revealed. Our findings identify differences and possibly modifiable places in clinical practice and provide important novel references for designing effective population‐based management strategies.

Background: Despite improvements in surgical methodologies and perioperative chemo- and radiotherapy, the prognosis for patients with esophageal and gastric cancer remains poor. Hence, there is a great need to identify complementary biomarkers for improved treatment stratification. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells have been shown to impact on outcome in many types of cancer, including gastroesophageal cancer. The aim of this present study was to examine the prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating macrophages in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.Methods: The density of CD68+, CD163+, and MARCO+ macrophages was assessed by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays with primary tumors from a consecutive, retrospective cohort of 174 patients with treatment-naïve gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. Total densities and infiltration in tumor nest (TN) were denoted as none/sparse (0), intermediate (1), or high (2). The impact on overall survival (OS) was examined by Kaplan–Meier analysis, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards modeling.Results: Increased infiltration of both CD68+ and CD163+, but not MARCO+, macrophages in TN was significantly associated with a stepwise reduced survival. Median OS for patients with none/sparse, intermediate, and high CD68+ TN infiltration was 4.4, 2.6, and 1.0 years, respectively. Median OS for patients with none/sparse, intermediate, and high CD163+ TN infiltration was 4.4, 2.2, and 1.1 years, respectively. High infiltration of CD68+ macrophages remained an independent prognostic factor in adjusted analysis (hazard ratio = 1.61, 95% confidence interval = 1.02–2.55, and p = 0.041).Conclusion: Infiltration of CD68+ and CD163+, but not MARCO+, macrophages is prognostic for OS in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. The relevance of this finding in clinical practice remains to be elucidated.

Background/Aims: The association between serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients has previously been reported and may be a result of increased vascular calcification and inflammation. Here we report, for the first time, the effects of pharmacologic epigenetic modulation on levels of ALP and kidney function via a novel oral small molecule BET inhibitor, apabetalone, in CKD patients. Methods: A post-hoc analysis evaluated patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

Scaffolds of recombinant spider silk protein (spidroin) and hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel hold promise in combination with cell therapy for spinal cord injury. However, little is known concerning the human immune response to these biomaterials and grafted human neural stem/progenitor cells (hNPCs). Here, we analyzed short- and long-term in vitro activation of immune cells in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) cultured with/without recombinant spidroins, HA hydrogels, and/or allogeneic hNPCs to assess potential host–donor interactions. Viability, proliferation and phenotype of hPBMCs were analyzed using NucleoCounter and flow cytometry. hPBMC viability was confirmed after exposure to the different biomaterials. Short-term (15 h) co-cultures of hPBMCs with spidroins, but not with HA hydrogel, resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of activated CD69+ CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, B cells and NK cells, which likely was caused by residual endotoxins from the Escherichia coli expression system. The observed spidroin-induced hPBMC activation was not altered by hNPCs. It is resource-effective to evaluate human compatibility of novel biomaterials early in development of the production process to, when necessary, make alterations to minimize rejection risk. Here, we present a method to evaluate biomaterials and hPBMC compatibility in conjunction with allogeneic human cells.

The BRICHOS domain is a chaperone that can act against amyloid-β peptide fibril formation and non-fibrillar protein aggregation. Here the authors use a multidisciplinary approach and show that the Bri2 BRICHOS domain has qualitatively different chaperone activities depending on its quaternary structure.

The properties of many transmembrane or aggregation-prone proteins make them difficult to recombinantly express. Here the authors use a modified N-terminal domain of a spider silk protein to express and purify several difficult to express proteins at levels considerably higher than with conventional tags.