Switzerland and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations from the youngSCS Perspective.

Switzerland's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations is showcased in this article with concrete examples of actions taken so far in the private and public sector. To further highlight the involvement of the chemical scientists in the implementation of the SDGs in Switzerland to date, the young-SCS also interviewed various individuals.

Enhancing affordability and profit in a non-cooperative, coordinated, hypothetical pediatric vaccine market via sequential optimization.

This study considers a hypothetical global pediatric vaccine market where multiple coordinating entities make optimal procurement decisions on behalf of countries with different purchasing power. Each entity aims to improve affordability for its countries while maintaining a profitable market for vaccine producers. This study analyzes the effect of several factors on affordability and profitability, including the number of non-cooperative coordinating entities making procuring decisions, the number of market segments in which countries are grouped for tiered pricing purposes, how producers recover fixed production costs, and the procuring order of the coordinating entities. The study relies on a framework where entities negotiate sequentially with vaccine producers using a three-stage optimization process that solves a MIP and two LP problems to determine the optimal procurement plans and prices per dose that maximize savings for the entities' countries and profit for the vaccine producers. The study's results challenge current vaccine market dynamics and contribute novel alternative strategies to orchestrate the interaction of buyers, producers, and coordinating entities for enhancing affordability in a non-cooperative market. Key results show that the order in which the coordinating entities negotiate with vaccine producers and how the latter recuperate their fixed cost investments can significantly affect profitability and affordability. Furthermore, low-income countries can meet their demands more affordably by procuring vaccines through tiered pricing via entities coordinating many market segments. In contrast, upper-middle and high-income countries increase their affordability by procuring through entities with fewer and more extensive market segments. A procurement order that prioritizes entities based on the descending income level of their countries offers higher opportunities to increase affordability and profit when producers offer volume discounts.

Freud in Bulgaria: Psychoanalysis, Literature, Translation: An Experience with the Singular.

This contribution considers a monthly seminar, Literature and Psychoanalysis, that has been taking place at Sofia University (Sofia, Bulgaria) since 2017. Three of the seminar's founders reflect on the transferences between literature and psychoanalysis, and on the ways in which literature and psychoanalysis can meaningfully converse. The exchange also touches on the fate of Freud's textual legacy in communist and post-communist Bulgaria.

Primary hepatic pleomorphic liposarcoma: Case report and literature review / Liposarcoma pleomorfo hepático primario: presentación de un caso y revisión bibliográfica

Primary hepatic liposarcoma is an extremely rare malignant tumour derived from adipocytes and is part of the group of mesenchymal tumours. We present the case of a 43-year-old Hispanic male patient with a pleomorphic hepatic liposarcoma and absence of MDM2 gene amplification. Two years and six months after surgery, the patient is asymptomatic. The present case is the first report of this entity with positive immunohistochemical testing for p16, p53, S100, vimentin and absence of MDM2 gene amplification. (AU)

El liposarcoma hepático primario es un tumor maligno extremadamente raro, derivado de adipocitos, y forma parte del grupo de tumores mesenquimales. Presentamos el caso de un paciente masculino de 43 años con diagnóstico de liposarcoma hepático pleomorfo con ausencia de amplificación del gen MDM2. Dos años y 6 meses después de la cirugía el paciente se encuentra asintomático. El presente caso es el primer informe de esta entidad con estudio inmunohistoquímico positivo para p16, p53, S100, vimentina y ausencia de amplificación del gen MDM2. (AU)

Global Water Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and how to strengthen science-policy dialogues on transboundary governance and cooperation.

The United Nations Water Conference 2023 highlighted the need for concrete actions to boost integrated water resources management for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and called for strategies to enhance cooperation among stakeholders. Technical cooperation between countries and institutions in transboundary systems, e.g., on environmental data collection, is an effective way to promote international diplomacy and prevent disputes between riparian states. Still, establishing collaborations to inform bilateral dialogues on the identification of environmental challenges, their causes, and development priorities may be a difficult task in itself. This is particularly true in the African context because of limited resources and lack of data. In this paper, we analyse the case of nine transboundary river basins in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify which water-management challenges are perceived as most important by the different riparian countries from a policy and scientific perspective. Our insights are based on the most up-to-date scientific papers, open access reports and technical literature, river basin authority's strategy papers, projects' summary reports, and national policy documents. We also complement these sources with the pieces of information we gained through collaborations with regional and local experts, and management bodies (such as river basin authorities). We highlight the current water-related conflicts and the gap between the priorities identified by the scientific community and different riparian countries on how to tackle hydro-climatic change and improve food and energy security, human and environmental health. Based on our experience, we discuss some keys to building trust among stakeholders, strengthening cooperation, and identifying shared water-governance measures in transboundary river basins. They are: (i) connect science and policy to provide sound knowledge for the right questions, (ii) value local knowledge and exploit the complementarity of different perspectives, (iii) consider multiple spatial scales and multi-level stakeholders to leave no one behind, (iv) promote a culture which values trade-offs and handles complexity, and (v) co-create data and knowledge to facilitate stakeholder dialogue from problem definition to intervention identification.

Intestinal parasitic infections in children from marginalised Roma communities: prevalence and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal parasitic infections remain a significant global health issue, particularly affecting poor and marginalised populations. These infections significantly contribute to children's diseases, malnutrition, poor school performance, cognitive disorders, and future economic losses. This study aimed to explore and compare the occurrence of intestinal parasites in early childhood among the group of infants from the Slovak majority population and from marginalised Roma communities (MRCs). Furthermore, it aimed to explore the health complaints of children with and without intestinal parasitic infection in the past month and assess the effect of various risk factors on the occurrence of intestinal parasitic infection in infants from MRCs. METHODS: We obtained cross-sectional data from mothers and stool samples of their children aged 13-21 months using the first wave of the longitudinal RomaREACH study. A total of 181 stools from infants were analysed: 105 infants from the Slovak majority population and 76 from MRCs. RESULTS: Infants from MRCs are significantly more often infected by Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Giardia duodenalis than their better-off peers from the majority population. Infection rates are 30% in infants from MRCs vs. 0% in the majority population (p < 0.001). Single and mixed infections were observed in children from MRCs. Infants with intestinal parasitic infections suffer significantly more often from various health complaints, particularly cough, stomach ache, irritability, and diarrhoea. Within MRCs, the risk of parasitic infections in infants is significantly increased by risk factors such as the absence of flushing toilets in households (OR = 4.17, p < 0.05) and contact with un-dewormed animals (OR = 3.61, p < 0.05). Together with the absence of running water in the household, these three factors combined increase the risk more than ten times (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Maintaining hygienic standards in conditions of socioeconomic deprivation in MRCs without running water and sewage in the presence of un-dewormed animals is problematic. These living conditions contribute to the higher prevalence of parasitic infections in children from MRCs, causing various health complaints and thus threatening their health and healthy development.

The mediatory role of water quality on the association between extreme precipitation events and infectious diarrhea in the Yangtze River Basin, China.

Extreme precipitation is exacerbating the burden of infectious diarrhea in the context of climate change, it is necessary to identify the critical and easy-to-intervene intermediate factors for public health strategies. Water quality may be the most important mediator, while relevant empirical evidence is limited. This study aimed to examine the role of water quality in the process of infectious diarrhea caused by extreme precipitation. Weekly infectious diarrhea cases, meteorological factors and water quality data in Yangtze River Basin in China between October 29, 2007 to February 19, 2017 were obtained. Two-stage statistical models were used to estimate city-specific extreme precipitation, water quality and infectious diarrhea relationships that were pooled to derive regional estimates. A causal mediation analysis was used to assess the mediation effect of water quality. In Yangtze River Basin, extreme precipitation events had a significant impact on infectious diarrhea (Incidence Rate Ratios [IRR]: 1.027, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.013∼1.041). After extreme precipitation events, the dissolved oxygen (DO) in surface water decreased (-0.123 mg/L, 95%CI: -0.159 mg/L∼-0.086 mg/L), while the un-ionized ammonia (NH(3)-N) increased (0.004 mg/L, 95%CI: 0.001 mg/L∼0.006 mg/L). The combined overall effect of DO and NH(3)-N on infectious diarrhea showed that both low and high concentrations were associated with an increased risk of infectious diarrhea. The causal mediation analysis showed that the mediation proportion of the two water quality indexes (DO and NH(3)-N) is 70.54% (P < 0.001). To reduce the health effects of extreme precipitation, in contrast to current population-oriented health strategies, those that take into account more direct and easy-to-intervene water quality indicators should be encouraged by future policies.

Impact of three different peak picking software tools on the quality of untargeted metabolomics data.

Data quality and control parameters are becoming more important in metabolomics. For peak picking, open-source or commercial solutions are used. Other publications consider different software solutions or data acquisition types for peak picking, a combination, including proposed and new quality parameters for the process of peak picking, does not exist. This study tries to examine the performance of three different software in terms of reproducibility and quality of their output while also considering new quality parameters to gain a better understanding of resulting feature lists in metabolomics data. We saw best recovery of spiked analytes in MS-DIAL. Reproducibility over multiple projects was good among all software. The total number of features found was consistent for DDA and full scan acquisition in MS-DIAL but full scan data leading to considerably more features in MZmine and Progenesis Qi. Feature linearity proved to be a good quality parameter. Features in MS-DIAL and MZmine, showed good linearity while Progenesis Qi produced large variation, especially in full scan data. Peak width proved to be a very powerful filtering criteria revealing many features in MZmine and Progenesis Qi to be of questionable peak width. Additionally, full scan data appears to produce a disproportionally higher number of short features. This parameter is not yet available in MS-DIAL. Finally, the manual classification of true positive features proved MS-DIAL to perform significantly better in DDA data (62 % true positive) than the two other software in either mode. We showed that currently popular solutions MS-DIAL and MZmine perform well in targeted analysis of spiked analytes as well as in classic untargeted analysis. The commercially available solution Progenesis Qi does not hold any advantage over the two in terms of quality parameters, of which we proposed peak width as a new parameter and showed that already proposed parameters such as feature linearity in samples of increasing concentration are advisable to use.

The Onset of Intussusceptive Angiogenesis in COVID-19 Patients Might Come from the Mobilization of Stem Cell Sub-Populations Expressing the Hemangioblast Marker CD143.

COVID-19 and infectious diseases have been included in strategic development goals (SDG) of United Nations (UN). The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has unveiled complex pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning COVID-19, notably inducing a systemic acquired vascular hemopathy characterized by endothelial dysfunction and intussusceptive angiogenesis, a rapid vascular remodeling process identified as a hallmark in severe COVID-19 cases affecting pulmonary and cardiac tissues. Stem cell migration have been proposed as significant regulators of this neoangiogenic process. In a monocentric cross-sectional study, through spectral flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we identified a distinct stem cell subpopulation mobilized in critical COVID-19. Indeed, by an unsupervised analysis generating a UMAP representation we highlighted eleven different clusters in critical and non-critical COVID-19 patients. Only one cluster was significantly associated to critical COVID-19 compared to non-critical patients. This cluster expressed the markers: CD45dim, CD34+, CD117+, CD147+, and CD143+, and were negative for CD133. Higher level of expression of hemangioblast markers CD143 were found in critical COVID-19 patients. This population, indicative of hemangioblast-like cells, suggests a key role in COVID-19-related neoangiogenesis, potentially driving the severe vascular complications observed. Our findings underscore the need for further investigation into the contributions of adult stem cells in COVID-19 pathology, offering new insights into therapeutic targets and interventions.

Transforming the Water-Energy Nexus in Gaza: A Systems Approach.

The acute water and electricity shortages in Gaza necessitate comprehensive solutions that recognize the interconnected nature of these vital resources. This article presents pragmatic solutions to align supply with fundamental needs in both domains, offering viable pathways for achieving strategic water-energy security in Gaza. Baseline data reveals a deficit in the current water supply, falling below the international minimum of 100 L per capita per day, while the reported 137-189 MW per day electricity supply significantly lags behind the estimated 390 MW per day peak demand. To meet projected 2024 residential, commercial, and industrial demands, this study proposes actionable measures including expanding wastewater treatment to enable over 150 MCM per year tertiary effluents for agricultural reuse and adopting energy-efficient forward osmosis-reverse osmosis and osmotically assisted reverse osmosis desalination methods to increase potable water supply to 150 MCM per year. Electricity supply strategies include scaling renewable capacity towards 110 MW per day, exploring regional cooperation to unlock over 360 MW of power per day, and potentially recovering up to 60 MW per day through system efficiencies. These recommendations aim to prevent exacerbated scarcity and alleviate hardships in Gaza.

Nano Revolution: "Tiny tech, big impact: How nanotechnology is driving SDGs progress".

Nanotechnology has emerged as a powerful tool in addressing global challenges and advancing sustainable development. By manipulating materials at the nanoscale, researchers have unlocked new possibilities in various fields, including energy, healthcare, agriculture, construction, transportation, and environmental conservation. This paper explores the potential of nanotechnology and nanostructures in contributing to the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by improving energy efficiency and energy conversion, leading to a more sustainable and clean energy future, improving water purification processes, enabling access to clean drinking water for communities, enabling targeted drug delivery systems, early disease detection, and personalized medicine, thus revolutionizing healthcare, improving crop yields, efficient nutrient delivery systems, pest control mechanisms, and many other areas, therefore addressing food security issues. It also highlights the potential of nanomaterials in environmental remediation and pollution control. Therefore, by understanding and harnessing nanotechnology's potential, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders can work together toward a more sustainable future by achieving the 17 UN SDGs.

Engineering miniature CRISPR-Cas Un1Cas12f1 for efficient base editing.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a relatively safe and efficient vector for gene therapy. However, due to its 4.7-kb limit of cargo, SpCas9-mediated base editors cannot be packaged into a single AAV vector, which hinders their clinical application. The development of efficient miniature base editors becomes an urgent need. Un1Cas12f1 is a class II V-F-type CRISPR-Cas protein with only 529 amino acids. Although Un1Cas12f1 has been engineered to be a base editor in mammalian cells, the base-editing efficiency is less than 10%, which limits its therapeutic applications. Here, we developed hypercompact and high-efficiency base editors by engineering Un1Cas12f1, fusing non-specific DNA binding protein Sso7d, and truncating single guide RNA (sgRNA), termed STUminiBEs. We demonstrated robust A-to-G conversion (54% on average) by STUminiABEs or C-to-T conversion (45% on average) by STUminiCBEs. We packaged STUminiCBEs into AAVs and successfully introduced a premature stop codon on the PCSK9 gene in mammalian cells. In sum, STUminiBEs are efficient miniature base editors and could readily be packaged into AAVs for biological research or biomedical applications.

Functional connectivity-hemodynamic (un)coupling changes in chronic mild brain injury are associated with mental health and neurocognitive indices: a resting state fMRI study.

PURPOSE: To examine hemodynamic and functional connectivity alterations and their association with neurocognitive and mental health indices in patients with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). METHODS: Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological assessment of 37 patients with chronic mTBI were performed. Intrinsic connectivity contrast (ICC) and time-shift analysis (TSA) of the rs-fMRI data allowed the assessment of regional hemodynamic and functional connectivity disturbances and their coupling (or uncoupling). Thirty-nine healthy age- and gender-matched participants were also examined. RESULTS: Patients with chronic mTBI displayed hypoconnectivity in bilateral hippocampi and parahippocampal gyri and increased connectivity in parietal areas (right angular gyrus and left superior parietal lobule (SPL)). Slower perfusion (hemodynamic lag) in the left anterior hippocampus was associated with higher self-reported symptoms of depression (r = - 0.53, p = .0006) and anxiety (r = - 0.484, p = .002), while faster perfusion (hemodynamic lead) in the left SPL was associated with lower semantic fluency (r = - 0.474, p = .002). Finally, functional coupling (high connectivity and hemodynamic lead) in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)) was associated with lower performance on attention and visuomotor coordination (r = - 0.50, p = .001), while dysfunctional coupling (low connectivity and hemodynamic lag) in the left ventral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and right SPL was associated with lower scores on immediate passage memory (r = - 0.52, p = .001; r = - 0.53, p = .0006, respectively). Uncoupling in the right extrastriate visual cortex and posterior middle temporal gyrus was negatively associated with cognitive flexibility (r = - 0.50, p = .001). CONCLUSION: Hemodynamic and functional connectivity differences, indicating neurovascular (un)coupling, may be linked to mental health and neurocognitive indices in patients with chronic mTBI.

Exploring the spatial mental associations of distinct food types.

Previous research explored the spatial representations of healthy low-calorie and unhealthy high-calorie food items, revealing an association of healthy low-calorie food with left and top sides, and unhealthy/high-calorie food with right and top sides. This association, namely side bias, was limited to these specific categories leaving the representations of healthy high-calorie and unhealthy low-calorie food categories yet to be explored. Present study was designed to examine the spatial representation of four food categories (unhealthy low-calorie, unhealthy high-calorie, healthy low-calorie, healthy high-calorie) using a computerized food placement task. In Experiment 1, participants placed four food items from different categories into eight locations. In Experiment 2, identical task was used with the addition of centrally presented anchor food item to investigate the mental representation of food items in relation to each other. The frequency of placing food items in specific spatial locations were measured. The results of Experiment 1 provided partial support for side bias. However, the use of anchor items in Experiment 2 provided compelling evidence for vertical side bias, demonstrating consistent pattern of placing healthy foods on the upper sides and unhealthy foods on the lower sides. In both experiments, real-life food choices were examined to investigate whether the high-calorie bias would be observed in actual food choice behavior. The results from both experiments indicated strong preference to select high-calorie foods, supporting high-calorie bias. Overall, this study extends the evidence on the spatial representations of distinct food categories.

Microplastic contamination in salt-cured fish and commercial sea salts: an emerging food safety threat in relation to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Microplastic (MP) contamination in seafood, particularly processed varieties like dried and salt-cured fish, poses a significant threat to human health. This study investigated MP levels in 22 salt-cured fish species and commercial sea salts along the Indian east coast. Results showed substantially higher MP concentrations compared to global averages, with fragments and fibres (< 250 µm) composing 70% of identified MPs, primarily PVC and PS polymers (> 55%). Station 2 exhibited high pollution levels, with salt-cured fish averaging 54.06 ± 14.48 MP items/g and salt containing 23.53 ± 4.2 MP items/g, indicating a high hazard risk index. A modest correlation was observed between MP abundance, morphotypes, polymer composition in the salt, and their impact on fish products. Given the critical link between food safety, security, and public health, further research is imperative to mitigate MP contamination, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 14, and Goal 15) for enhanced food safety and security.

Primary hepatic pleomorphic liposarcoma: Case report and literature review.

Primary hepatic liposarcoma is an extremely rare malignant tumour derived from adipocytes and is part of the group of mesenchymal tumours. We present the case of a 43-year-old Hispanic male patient with a pleomorphic hepatic liposarcoma and absence of MDM2 gene amplification. Two years and six months after surgery, the patient is asymptomatic. The present case is the first report of this entity with positive immunohistochemical testing for p16, p53, S100, vimentin and absence of MDM2 gene amplification.

[The subjective experience of contact with the deceased or necrophany: a widespread and little-known phenomenon]. / Le vécu subjectif de contact avec un défunt ou nécrophanie : un phénomène répandu et peu connu.

The subjective experience of contact with the deceased (VSCD), spontaneous and direct, by people most often in mourning, is neither rare nor new. It's even considered a universal and timeless phenomenon. Yet this psychological and sensory manifestation, which can manifest itself through sight, hearing, smell or touch, remains little known to the general public and health professionals alike. This article is an opportunity for many to discover this phenomenon, also known as necrophany.

Socio-demographic inequalities influence differences in the chemical exposome among Swedish adolescents.

Relatively little is known about the relationship between socio-demographic factors and the chemical exposome in adolescent populations. This knowledge gap hampers global efforts to meet certain UN sustainability goals. The present work addresses this problem in Swedish adolescents by discerning patterns within the chemical exposome and identify demographic groups susceptible to heightened exposures. Enlisting the Riksmaten Adolescents 2016-17 (RMA) study population (N = 1082) in human-biomonitoring, and using proportional odds ordinal logistic regression models, we examined the associations between concentrations of a diverse array of substances (N = 63) with the determinants: gender, age, participant/maternal birth country income per capita level, parental education levels, and geographic place of living (longitude/latitude). Participant/maternal birth country exhibited a significant association with the concentrations of 46 substances, followed by gender (N = 41), and longitude (N = 37). Notably, individuals born in high-income countries by high-income country mothers demonstrated substantially higher estimated adjusted means (EAM) concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) compared to those born in low-income countries by low-income country mothers. A reverse trend was observed for cobalt (Co), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), aluminium (Al), chlorinated pesticides, and phthalate metabolites. Males exhibited higher EAM concentrations of chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), Pb, PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, BFRs and PFASs than females. In contrast, females displayed higher EAM concentrations of Mn, Co, Cd and metabolites of phthalates and phosphorous flame retardants, and phenolic substances. Geographical disparities, indicative of north-to-south or west-to-east substance concentrations gradients, were identified in Sweden. Only a limited number of lifestyle, physiological and dietary factors were identified as possible drivers of demographic inequalities for specific substances. This research underscores birth country, gender, and geographical disparities as contributors to exposure differences among Swedish adolescents. Identifying underlying drivers is crucial to addressing societal inequalities associated with chemical exposure and aligning with UN sustainability goals.