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Rapidly increasing urbanisation is one of the most significant anthropogenic environmental changes which can affect demographic traits of animal populations, for example resulting in reduced reproductive success. The food limitation hypothesis suggests that the shortage of high-quality nestling food in cities is a major factor responsible for the reduced reproductive performance in insectivorous b
Many iterative optimization algorithms involve compositions of special cases of Lipschitz continuous operators, namely firmly nonexpansive, averaged, and nonexpansive operators. The structure and properties of the compositions are of particular importance in the proofs of convergence of such algorithms. In this paper, we systematically study the compositions of further special cases of Lipschitz c
Galectins are versatile glycan-binding proteins involved in immunomodulation. Evidence suggests that galectins can control the immunoregulatory function of cytokines and chemokines through direct binding. Here, we report on an inverse mechanism in which chemokines control the immunomodulatory functions of galectins. We show the existence of several specific galectin-chemokine binding pairs, includ
In the event of an accidental release of radioactive elements from a nuclear power plant, it has been shown that the radionuclides contributing the most to long-term exposure are 134Cs and 137Cs. In the case of nuclear power plant fallout, with subsequent intake of radionuclides through the food chain, the internal absorbed dose to target tissues from protracted intake of radionuclides needs to be
Arctic-breeding birds are of particular conservation concern since their habitats are subject to severe changes and shifts upwards in both altitude and latitude due to global warming. Detailed knowledge on habitat characteristics of those species is required to understand how specialized Arctic-breeding species deal with changing habitat conditions. Therefore, sufficient data and methods to assess
Background and aims: Skin autofluorescence (AF), a measure of tissue accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), has been associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the association of skinAF with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in the general population is largely unknown. Our study aimed toexamine the associations between skin AF and subclinical atherosclerosis
Background: Several studies have examined the role of physical activity as a predictor of heart failure (HF) mortality and morbidity. Here, we aimed to evaluate the role of self-reported physical activity as an independent risk factor of post-discharge mortality and re-hospitalization in patients hospitalized for HF, as well as study the association between physical activity and 92 plasma proteinsBackground: Several studies have examined the role of physical activity as a predictor of heart failure (HF) mortality and morbidity. Here, we aimed to evaluate the role of self-reported physical activity as an independent risk factor of post-discharge mortality and re-hospitalization in patients hospitalized for HF, as well as study the association between physical activity and 92 plasma proteins
The analysis of acid-base disturbances contributes to the diagnostic work-up of critically ill patients. Most emergency departments are equipped with blood gas point-of-care analyzers that quantify within minutes pH, pCO2, standard bicarbonate, standard base excess, sodium and chloride levels. This article provides a pragmatic stepwise approach to the analysis of acid-base disturbances in the emer
Quantifying the ways in which local particle rearrangements contribute to macroscopic plasticity is one of the fundamental pursuits of granular mechanics and soft matter physics. Here we examine local rearrangements that occur naturally during the deformation of three samples of 3D granular materials subjected to distinct boundary conditions by employing in situ x-ray measurements of particle-reso
This paper presents an LO frequency multiplier and phase shifter for the 28-GHz band, implemented in 28nm FD-SOI CMOS technology. The phase control is introduced in an injection-locked oscillator, followed by an injection-locked frequency tripler. The phase of the output signal is compared with that of the input signal using a phase detector based on third harmonic mixing, enabling automatic phase
Quantiferon-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) is an interferon gamma release assay used to diagnose latent tuberculosis (LTB). A borderline range (0.20 to 0.99 IU/ml) around the cutoff (0.35 IU/ml) has been suggested for the earlier QFT version. Our aims were to evaluate the borderline range for QFT-Plus and the contribution of the new TB2 antigen tube. QFT-Plus results were collected from clinical laborato
Past efforts to synthesize and quantify the magnitude and change in carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems across the rapidly warming Arctic-boreal zone (ABZ) have provided valuable information but were limited in their geographical and temporal coverage. Furthermore, these efforts have been based on data aggregated over varying time periods, often with only minimal site ancillary d
BACKGROUND: Consumption of a Mediterranean diet, adequate levels of physical activity, and energy-restricted lifestyle interventions have been individually associated with improvements in HDL functions. Evidence of intensive interventions with calorie restriction and physical activity is, however, scarce. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether an intensive lifestyle intervention with an energy-restricte
OBJECTIVES: To identify variables associated with longitudinal change in meniscal extrusion, which might be used as possible targets for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) prevention. METHODS: In a high-risk population of middle-aged overweight women, meniscal extrusion was assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T, coronal proton density, in-plane resolution 0.5 mm2, Sante DICOM Editor) at baseline
Recent pT-integrated cross-section measurements of the ground-state charm mesons and baryons, D0, D+, Ds+, Λc+, and Ξc0, are used to evaluate the charm fragmentation fractions and production cross section per unit of rapidity at midrapidity (|y|
Vapor phase infiltration into a self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) to create a hybrid material in one of the constituent blocks can enhance the etch selectivity for pattern transfer. Mul- tiple pulse infiltration into carbohydrate-based high-χ BCP has previously been shown to enable sub-10 nm feature pattern transfer. By optimizing the amount of infiltrated material, the etch selectiv- ity shoul
In this work, combustion and thermal decomposition processes were studied employing laser-based diagnostic techniques, and the techniques were improved and demonstrated to achieve enhanced detection sensitivity. Raman spectroscopy was employed to study flames under elevated and atmospheric pressures with various fuels, such as methane, hydrogen-enriched methane, DME, ethylene, and ammonia. Raman s
Understanding the production mechanism of light (anti)nuclei is one of the key challenges of nuclear physics and has important consequences for astrophysics, since it provides an input for indirect dark-matter searches in space. In this paper, the latest results about the production of light (anti)nuclei in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV are presented, focusing on the comparison with the predictions
Southeast Asia is a region known for active land-use changes (LUC) over the past 60 years; yet, how trends in net CO2 uptake and release resulting from LUC activities (net LUC flux) have changed through past decades remains uncertain. The level of uncertainty in net LUC flux from process-based models is so high that it cannot be concluded that newer estimates are necessarily more reliable than old
