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The decline of European ash by dieback caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineustogether with stem collar necroses and rots caused by various fungi has been investigated intensively during the last years. Nevertheless, hitherto nearly nothing is known about the species diversity of the fungal rhizobiome of ash trees. Here we investigated the fine roots of affected ash trees on 15 sampling sites in 6 federal countries of Germany. Fine-root samples have been treated in three different sample regimes each as root-adhering soil, unsterilized fine roots and sterilized fine roots. The samples of trees in sampling sites were pooled to get an overview of the species-richness in the area. The next-generation sequencing platform Oxford Nanopore MinION was used to sequence the entire ITS of pooled probes. Most abundant phyla in all samples were the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. Species richness in sterilized roots was significantly different from unsterilized roots and root-adhering soil. Surprisingly most abundant genera in sterilized roots were the genera Mycena, Mycenellaand Delicatula,all of them agaricoids with saprophytic lifestyle. Eleven genera of Glomeromycota have been detected in various abundances, whereas the detection of H. fraxineuswas neglectable.

Confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) spectroscopy facilitates three-dimensional (3D) elemental imaging of heterogeneous samples in the micrometer range. Laboratory setups using X-ray tube excitation render the method accessible for diverse research fields but interpretation of results and quantification remain challenging. The attenuation of X-rays in composites depends on the photon energy as well as on the composition and density of the material. For confocal micro-XRF, attenuation severely impacts elemental distribution information, as the signal from deeper layers is distorted by superficial layers. Absorption correction and quantification of fluorescence measurements in heterogeneous composite samples have so far not been reported. Here, an absorption correction approach for confocal micro-XRF combining density information from microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) data with laboratory X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and synchrotron transmission measurements is presented. The energy dependency of the probing volume is considered during the correction. The methodology is demonstrated on a model composite sample consisting of a bovine tooth with a clinically used restoration material.

Objective:Extracellular purines such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), uridine triphosphate (UTP), and uridine diphosphate (UDP) and the ATP degradation product adenosine are biologically active signaling molecules, which accumulate at sites of metabolic stress in sepsis. They have potent immunomodulatory effects by binding to and activating P1 or adenosine and P2 receptors on the surface of leukocytes. Here we assessed the levels of extracellular purines, their receptors, metabolic enzymes, and cellular transporters in leukocytes of septic patients. Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), neutrophils, and plasma were isolated from blood obtained from septic patients and healthy control subjects. Ribonucleic acid was isolated from cells, and mRNA levels for purinergic receptors, enzymes, and transporters were measured. Adenosine triphosphate, UTP, UDP, and adenosine levels were evaluated in plasma. Results:Adenosine triphosphate levels were lower in septic patients than in healthy individuals, and levels of the other purines were comparable between the two groups. Levels of P1 and P2 receptors did not differ between the two patient groups. mRNA levels of ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (NTPDase) 1 or CD39 increased, whereas those of NTPDase2, 3, and 8 decreased in PBMCs of septic patients when compared with healthy controls. CD73 mRNA was lower in PBMCs of septic than in healthy individuals. Equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT) 1 mRNA concentrations were higher and ENT2, 3, and 4 mRNA concentrations were lower in PBMCs of septic subjects when compared with healthy subjects. Concentrative nucleoside transporter (CNT) 1 mRNA levels were higher in PBMCs of septic versus healthy subjects, whereas the mRNA levels of CNT2, 3, and 4 did not differ. We failed to detect differences in mRNA levels of purinergic receptors, enzymes, and transporters in neutrophils of septic versus healthy subjects. Conclusion:Because CD39 degrades ATP to adenosine monophosphate (AMP), the lower ATP levels in septic individuals may be the result of increased CD39 expression. This increased degradation of ATP did not lead to increased adenosine levels, which may be explained by the decreased expression of CD73, which converts AMP to adenosine. Altogether, our results demonstrate differential regulation of components of the purinergic system in PBMCs during human sepsis.

METfusions have been described only rarely in NSCLC. Thus, data on patient characteristics and treatment response are limited. We here report histopathologic data, patient demographics, and treatment outcome including response to MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in METfusion-positive NSCLC.

IntroductionThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued proposed product standards banning menthol as a characterising flavour in cigarettes and cigars. The public health benefits of these product standards may be attenuated by the role of plausible substitutes in the marketplace. Therefore, the present study examined the addiction potential of plausible combustible menthol alternatives compared with usual brand menthol cigarettes (UBMC).MethodsNinety-eight adult menthol cigarette smokers completed four visits, smoking their UBMC at the first session and three menthol cigarette alternatives in random order at the subsequent visits: (1) a preassembled menthol roll-your-own (mRYO) cigarette using menthol pipe tobacco and mentholated cigarette tube, (2) a menthol filtered little cigar (mFLC) and (3) a non-menthol cigarette (NMC). Measures of smoking topography, exhaled carbon monoxide (CO), craving and withdrawal, subjective effects and behavioural economic demand indices were assessed.ResultsCompared with UBMC, menthol cigarette alternatives resulted in different puffing topography and CO exposure (except mRYO), and lower levels of positive subjective experience and behavioural economic demand indices. Among the alternative products, participants reported the highest level of positive subjective experience and higher demand for mRYO, compared with mFLC and NMC. Similarly, participants were significantly more likely to want to try again, purchase and use the mRYO product regularly compared with mFLC and NMC.Conclusions and relevancemRYO cigarettes were the most highly rated cigarette alternative among study products, suggesting their potential appeal as a menthol cigarette substitute and needed inclusion of menthol pipe tobacco and cigarette tubes in FDA’s proposed ban.

Abstract: Several malware analysis techniques suppose that the disassembled code of a piece of malware is available, which is however not always possible. This paper proposes a flexible and automated approach to extract malware behaviour by observing all the system function calls performed in a virtualized execution environment. Similarities and distances between malware behaviours are computed which allows to classify malware behaviours. The main features of our approach reside in coupling a sequence alignment method to compute similarities and leverage the Hellinger distance to compute associated distances. We also show how the accuracy of the classification process can be improved using a phylogenetic tree. Such a tree shows common functionalities and evolution of malware. This is relevant when dealing with obfuscated malware variants that have often similar behaviour. The phylogenetic trees were assessed using known antivirus results and only a few malware behaviours were wrongly classified.

The European Commission's draft for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) aims to empower citizens to access their personal health data and share it with physicians and other health-care providers. It further defines procedures for the secondary use of electronic health data for research and development. Although this planned legislation is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, implementation approaches could potentially result in centralised data silos that pose data privacy and security risks for individuals. To address this concern, we propose federated personal health data spaces, a novel architecture for storing, managing, and sharing personal electronic health records that puts citizens at the centre—both conceptually and technologically. The proposed architecture puts citizens in control by storing personal health data on a combination of personal devices rather than in centralised data silos. We describe how this federated architecture fits within the EHDS and can enable the same features as centralised systems while protecting the privacy of citizens. We further argue that increased privacy and control do not contradict the use of electronic health data for research and development. Instead, data sovereignty and transparency encourage active participation in studies and data sharing. This combination of privacy-by-design and transparent, privacy-preserving data sharing can enable health-care leaders to break the privacy-exploitation barrier, which currently limits the secondary use of health data in many cases.

Activation of the antioxidant KEAP1/NFE2L2 (NRF2) pathway leads to increased glutamine dependence and an aggressive phenotype in NSCLC. Because this pathway has been explored as a clinical target, we developed a transcriptomic signature for identifying KEAP1/NFE2L2-activated tumors.

Background: Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) transfer is a well-established method for treating chronic Achilles tendon ruptures and tendinopathy. Harvesting of the FHL tendon in zone 2 results in greater length but is also associated with an increased risk of injury to the medial plantar nerve and requires an additional plantar incision. Because of the anatomic proximity of the FHL tendon to the tibial neurovascular bundle in zone 2, the purpose of this study was to investigate the risk of vascular or nerve injury with arthroscopic assisted percutaneous tenotomy in zone 2 of the FHL tendon.Methods: Endoscopically assisted percutaneous FHL transfer was performed on 10 right lower extremities from 10 cadaveric human specimens. The FHL tendon lengths and the relationship between FHL tendon and the tibial neurovascular bundle at zone 2 was analyzed.Results: We observed a complete transection of the medial plantar nerve in 1 case (10%). The mean length of the FHL tendon was 54.7 ± 9.5 mm and the mean distance from the distal stump of the FHL tendon to local neurovascular structures was 1.3 ± 0.7 mm.Conclusion: There is a risk of neurovascular injury after endoscopic FHL tenotomy in zone 2. The tenotomy site is within 2 mm of the local neurovascular structures in the majority of cases. The additional length gained from this technique is unlikely to be required for the majority of FHL tendon transfer procedures. If additional length is needed, we would recommend the use of intraoperative ultrasonography or a mini-open approach to minimize injury risk.Level of Evidence: Level V, expert opinion.

Introduction:Intestinal spirochetosis is sometimes found by chance in histological specimen of routine endoscopies. There are only a few cases described in the literature that spirochetosis of the appendix was mimicking acute appendicitis. We present a case of pseudoappendicitis with the histological finding of spirochetes and review the current literature. Case Presentation:A 72-year-old woman presented with pain of the lower right abdomen and previous systemic corticoid therapy. In clinical examination, there was a tenderness and pain in the right lower quadrant, and inflammation values were elevated. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed no obvious inflammation of the appendix. A diagnostic laparoscopy was performed and revealed a macroscopically uninflamed appendix which was removed. Histology revealed spirochetosis of the appendix but no typical signs of appendicitis. The patient was treated with antibiotics for 5 days and was discharged without abdominal pain. In a clinical control 6 weeks later, the abdominal pain had disappeared and the patient was in good clinical condition. Discussion:Intestinal spirochetosis is randomly found in histological specimen during routine endoscopies, even in asymptomatic patients. There are only a few cases described with spirochetosis of the appendix causing pain and mimicking appendicitis; hence, this entity is an important differential diagnosis of pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen.

Massive trauma remains the leading cause of mortality among people aged younger than 45 years. In this review, we discuss the initial care and diagnosis of trauma patients followed by a comparison of resuscitation strategies. We discuss various strategies including use of whole blood and component therapy, examine viscoelastic techniques for management of coagulopathy, and consider the benefits and limitations of the resuscitation strategies and consider a series of questions that will be important for researchers to answer to provide the best and most cost-effective therapy for severely injured patients.

Application of next-generation sequencing may lead to the detection of secondary findings (SF) not related to the initially analyzed disease but to other severe medically actionable diseases. However, the analysis of SFs is not yet routinely performed. We mined whole-exome sequencing data of 231 pediatric cancer patients and their parents who had been treated in our center for the presence of SFs. By this approach, we identified in 6 children (2.6%) pathogenic germline variants in 5 of the noncancer-related genes on the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) SF v3.0 list, of which the majority were related to cardiovascular diseases (RYR2, MYBPC3, KCNQ1). Interestingly, only the patient harboring the KCNQ1variant showed at the time point of the analysis signs of the related Long QT syndrome. Moreover, we report 3 variants of unknown significance which, although not classified as pathogenic, have been reported in the literature to occur in individuals with the respective disease. While the frequency of patients with SFs is low, the impact of such findings on the patients’ life is enormous, with regard to the potential prevention of life-threatening diseases. Hence, we are convinced that such actionable SF should be routinely analyzed.

The functionalization of the chain end of a polymer is gathering increasing attention in the field of synthetic polymer chemistry. The present study is the first example to demonstrate the incorporation of a platinum–acetylide complex at the terminal of a polynorbornene derivative. N-Benzyl-5-norbornene-2-exo,3-exo-dicarboxyimide (1) was polymerized with Grubbs 3rd-generation catalyst (G3). The polymerization was quenched with (Z)-1,4-bis(3-((trimethylsilyl)ethynyl)phenoxy)-2-butene (2) to obtain poly(1)′, followed by the cleavage of trimethylsilyl group and dehydroiodination coupling with trans-bis(tributylphosphine)phenylethynyl iodo platinum (3a) to obtain poly(1a), which was functionalized with a platinum complex at the chain end. Poly(1)′ exhibited no remarkable absorption around 330 nm, while poly(1a) exhibited an intense absorption based on ligand-to-metal charge-transfer transition. Poly(1b) functionalized with a naphthylamide ethynyl platinum complex was synthesized in a similar fashion. The photoluminescene color of a poly(1b) solution in CH2Cl2changed from green to red with Ar bubbling and rapidly returned to green by ceasing Ar bubbling. A poly(1b)-containing polymethyl methacrylate film exhibited a similar trend, as was observed for the polymer in solution. The weight residues of poly(1a) and poly(1b) at 800 °C were higher than that of poly(1).

The work of automation in education is not automatic but needs to be ‘done’. Grounded in an ethnographic study which followed a Grade 9/10 class through their daily activities in a ‘regular’ high school for a year, this paper asks how automation is enacted by students and teachers, and what these practices imply for forms of knowledge and relationality. Inspired by feminist technoscience, and drawing on recent work on everyday automation, the paper suggests that the ‘auto-’ of automation in practice is very often more of a ‘sym-’, a ‘with’, in which students and machines co-produce something that looks like automation. Rather than ‘automation’, observing practices in classrooms shows practices of ‘symmation’. The paper elaborates on symmation scenes of realigning, revising and reworking relations. Automation is, in these scenes, deeply embedded in social relations, involving the processing of ability, difference and hierarchy. Rather than the industry hype of automation, these sets of socio-technical practices alert us to the messy, non-linear, contested, warm realities of education (and not just learning) in schools today. The paper identifies specific aspects of how these socio-technical realities impact knowledge and teacher-student relations.

There is much controversy regarding enhanced recovery for recipients of liver transplants from deceased and living donors. The objectives of this Review were to summarise current knowledge on individual enhanced recovery elements on short-term outcomes, identify key components for comprehensive pathways, and create internationally accepted guidelines on enhanced recovery for liver-transplant recipients. The ERAS4OLT.org collaborative partnered by the International Liver Transplantation Society performed systematic literature reviews on the effect of 32 relevant enhanced perioperative recovery elements on short-term outcomes, and global specialists prepared expert statements on deceased and living donor liver transplantation. The Grading Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations approach was used for rating of quality of evidence and grading of recommendations. A virtual international consensus conference was held in January, 2022, in which results were presented, voted on by the audience, and discussed by an independent international jury of eight members, applying the Danish model of consensus. 273 liver transplantation specialists from 30 countries prepared expert statements on elements of enhanced recovery for liver transplantation based on the systematic literature reviews. The consensus conference yielded 80 final recommendations, covering aspects of enhanced recovery for preoperative assessment and optimisation, intraoperative surgical and anaesthetic conduct, and postoperative management for the recipients of liver transplants from both deceased and living donors, and for the living donor. The recommendations represent a comprehensive overview of the relevant elements and areas of enhanced recovery for liver transplantation. These internationally established guidelines could direct the development of enhanced recovery programmes worldwide, allowing adjustments according to local resources and practices.

Aktuelle Planungsprojekte zur Produktionssystemgestaltung erfordern die Integration zahlreicher Akteure. Zur erfolgreichen, verteilten Kollaboration ist eine geeignete digitale Plattform erforderlich. Die in diesem Beitrag vorgestellte Plattformarchitektur stellt eine aufgabenorientierte Bereitstellung der Planungsdaten vor und zeigt die Verknüpfung mit einem Workflow-Management zur unternehmensinternen Ablauforganisation auf. Die Kollaboration auf der digitalen Plattform wird auf Konzeptebene mit einer agilen Projektplanung und mit einem flexiblen Visualisierungskonzept unterstützt. Abschließend zeigt dieser Beitrag eine exemplarische Integration der IT-Lösung auf und führt Indikatoren ein, welche die Akzeptanz im industriellen Mittelstand erfassen.

Inverse problems aim at determining model parameters that produce observed data to subsequently understand, predict or manage hydrological or other environmental systems. While statistical inversion is especially popular, its sampling‐based nature often inhibits its application to computationally costly models, which has compromised the use of the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) methodology, for example, for spatially distributed (partial) differential equation based models. In this study we introduce multilevel GLUE (MLGLUE), which alleviates the computational burden of statistical inversion by utilizing a hierarchy of model resolutions. Inspired by multilevel Monte Carlo, most parameter samples are evaluated on lower levels with computationally cheap low‐resolution models and only samples associated with a likelihood above a certain threshold are subsequently passed to higher levels with costly high‐resolution models for evaluation. Inferences are made at the level of the highest‐resolution model but substantial computational savings are achieved by discarding samples with low likelihood already on levels with low resolution and low computational cost. Two example inverse problems, using a rainfall‐runoff model and groundwater flow model, demonstrate the substantially increased computational efficiency of MLGLUE compared to GLUE as well as the similarity of inversion results. Findings are furthermore compared to inversion results from Markov‐chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and multilevel delayed acceptance MCMC, a corresponding multilevel variant, to compare the effects of the multilevel extension. All examples demonstrate the wide‐range suitability of the approach and include guidelines for practical applications. We extend the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation methodology to a strategy that considers multiple resolution levels (MLGLUE)We demonstrate the acceleration with MLGLUE for different spatial (groundwater flow model) and temporal (rainfall‐runoff model) resolutionsWe show that inversion results from multilevel and conventional methods align and discuss factors affecting computational efficiency We extend the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation methodology to a strategy that considers multiple resolution levels (MLGLUE) We demonstrate the acceleration with MLGLUE for different spatial (groundwater flow model) and temporal (rainfall‐runoff model) resolutions We show that inversion results from multilevel and conventional methods align and discuss factors affecting computational efficiency

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are immunomodulatory compounds produced by the microbiome through dietary fiber fermentation. Although generally considered beneficial for gut health, patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) display poor tolerance to fiber-rich diets, suggesting that SCFAs may have contrary effects under inflammatory conditions. To investigate this, we examined the effect of SCFAs on human macrophages in the presence of Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. In contrast to anti-inflammatory effects under steady-state conditions, we found that butyrate and propionate activated the NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in the presence of TLR agonists. Mechanistically, these SCFAs prevented transcription of FLICE-like inhibitory protein (cFLIP) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) through histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition, triggering caspase-8-dependent NLRP3 inflammasome activation. SCFA-driven NLRP3 activation was potassium efflux independent and did not result in cell death but rather triggered hyperactivation and IL-1β release. Our findings demonstrate that butyrate and propionate are bacterially derived danger signals that regulate NLRP3 inflammasome activation through epigenetic modulation of the inflammatory response.

Grant writing is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that is the essential mechanism by which most academic researchers fund their scientific investigations. To support this effort, we present a software application with corresponding source code that provides draft sections of a typical NIH-style grant to expedite the time to a first draft. The software provides draft grant text, affording researchers extra time to optimize the content and improve the probability of an award. There are three main components to the software: 1) a search and compare tool that compares the proposed research to previously funded NIHapplications, 2) a specific aims page drafter, and 3) a research strategy section that incorporates significance, innovation, approach, rigor, and preliminary data. Our initial internal software deployment has been well received, and researchers indicate significant perceived time savings when using this tool.

In diesem Beitrag werden Praktiken im Zusammenhang mit dem Bereitstellen von unterrichtlichen Aufgaben über eine Schulplattform in einer Lerngruppe einer Gesamtschule während der Covid 19-Pandemie untersucht. Die Aufgaben über die Plattform zu prozessieren, wurde im Distanzlernen während der zeitweiligen Schulschließungen eingeführt und im Präsenzunterricht anschließend beibehalten. An ethnographischem Datenmaterial wird aus einer praxistheoretischen, posthumanistischen Perspektive analysiert, wie mit der Bezugnahme auf und durch das Agieren des Aufgabenmoduls verschiedene Interferenzen und insgesamt ein Interferenzmuster des ‚Sich Kümmerns‘ zu Tage tritt. Dieses Sich-Kümmern, das u.a. das Verfügbarmachen von Aufgaben auch dann aufrecht erhält, wenn sich einzelne unterrichtliche Praktiken in und durch die Pandemie verschieben, interferiert mit Annahmen über eine einfache, glatte Entwicklungs- und Effizienzsteigerung durch zunehmende automatisierte Technologien im Unterricht.

Since the fall of 2020, the debate on “islamo-leftism” (“islamo-gauchisme” in French) has taken on an important place in both the media and academia. This debate was encouraged by two ministers and has had the effect of highlighting the timid emergence of intersectional work in France, particularly on the topics of race, gender, and class. In this public controversy, a small group of conservative scholars founded the “Observatoire du décolonialisme,” which used the scientific legitimacy of its authors to publicly attack scientific work in a non-scientific manner, as well as grassroots activism movements. If the controversy has since been replaced by ongoing discussions about “wokism,” it has also revealed the construction of a relatively violent discourse on the part of a certain political fringe, on the left as well as on the right, which positions itself in defense of a universalist republican model. This version of the republican model does not support the criticism fed by scientific works using the epistemological framework of intersectionality, which represents a minority in France. The purpose of this article is to study a corpus of press articles, comments from social networks, and texts written by members of the “Observatoire du décolonialisme,” in order to report on the issues and social and political implications of the controversy over “islamo-leftism.”

More settlements will suffer as heavy rains and unregulated construction destabilize slopes in the tropics, models show.

Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally1,2, yet their impacts are still increasing3. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data4,5. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced. If the second event was much more hazardous than the first, its impact was almost always higher. This is because management was not designed to deal with such extreme events: for example, they exceeded the design levels of levees and reservoirs. In two success stories, the impact of the second, more hazardous, event was lower, as a result of improved risk management governance and high investment in integrated management. The observed difficulty of managing unprecedented events is alarming, given that more extreme hydrological events are projected owing to climate change3.

Introduction While individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) often receive occupational therapy, relatively little is known about how those with related oculomotor problems characterize their ability to participate in everyday activities and life roles. This study describes the difficulties experienced by this population.Method This study is a thematic analysis of qualitative responses to open-ended questions based on answers to a standardized assessment. Thirty rehabilitation outpatients with ABI-related oculomotor impairments participated in semi-structured interviews to describe their experiences of difficulties in everyday activities.Results Difficulties were associated with three themes: challenges of the activities and environments (activity requirements, physical and socioeconomic environments, and time), self-identified personal difficulties (physical, cognitive, and socioemotional), and changes in habits/roles/priorities (modifications to activities and environments, loss and negative consequences, and life management changes).Conclusion How people with ABI-related oculomotor impairments experience difficulties while participating in activities is dynamic and complex. Challenging activity requirements and environments often led to personal difficulties, which limited participation. Activity modifications, changes in priorities, and managing energy budget enhanced participation. A model of the experience is proposed. Findings suggest using activity analysis and teaching compensatory methods and life management strategies with individuals may assist in ability to participate.

Background: The nutritional status in alpacas is often masked by their dense fibre coat. Its assessment is commonly approached by different body condition scores (BCS) that rely on manual palpation of defined anatomical regions. However, BCS is an important diagnostic tool to aid recognition of diseased South American camelids (SACs) and low BCS has been associated with conditions like anaemia and neutrophilia. For dose-dependent veterinary treatment, body weight (BW), that should be as accurate as possible, is required. As on-site weighing with scales is often not possible, BW can mostly only be roughly estimated. To date, it remains unclear whether BCS in alpacas provides reliable information on BW or the ratios of BW to body length commonly known as Body Mass Index (BMI) or Ponderal Index (PI). Equations to estimate BW based on body measurements are available in the literature. Nonetheless, respective equations were developed in growing alpacas or adult llamas and BCS was not included. Results: To compare six different BCS approaches and to examine the relationship between BCS and BW, body measurements and BCS scores were recorded in a herd of 105 alpacas. The examined BCS approaches showed significant (p < 0.05) but poor to moderate positive correlations to BW, BMI or PI. A solely visual inspection of BCS, in contrast, was not correlated with BW, BMI or PI. Equations previously developed in other studies provided an accurate estimation of BW. Multiple linear regression showed that the accuracy in predicting BW could be further increased by adding BCS data and sex. Conclusion: Our observations indicate that most selected BCS approaches are not only important measures of nutritional status but can also be used to create more accurate models for BW calculation in alpacas. The study also supports the claim that a purely visual inspection of alpacas is not an adequate method to evaluate the nutritional status of these animals.

During compromised protein import at the mitochondrial outer membrane, Msp1 and the proteasome are required for maintaining organellar biogenesis. Msp1 cooperates with the proteasome, which drives the extraction of arrested and mislocalized proteins at the import pore.

An internet protocol (IP) address is the foundation of the Internet, allowing connectivity between people, servers, Internet of Things, and services across the globe. Knowing what is connecting to what and where connections are initiated is crucial to accurately assess a company’s or individual’s security posture. IP reputation assessment can be quite complex because of the numerous services that may be hosted on that IP address. For example, an IP might be serving millions of websites from millions of different companies like web hosting companies often do, or it could be a large email system sending and receiving emails for millions of independent entities. The heterogeneous nature of an IP address typically makes it challenging to interpret the security risk. To make matters worse, adversaries understand this complexity and leverage the ambiguous nature of the IP reputation to exploit further unsuspecting Internet users or devices connected to the Internet. In addition, traditional techniques like dirty-listing cannot react quickly enough to changes in the security climate, nor can they scale large enough to detect new exploits that may be created and disappear in minutes. In this paper, we introduce the use of cross-protocol analysis and graph neural networks (GNNs) in semi-supervised learning to address the speed and scalability of assessing IP reputation. In the cross-protocol supervised approach, we combine features from the web, email, and domain name system (DNS) protocols to identify ones which are the most useful in discriminating suspicious and benign IPs. In our second experiment, we leverage the most discriminant features and incorporate them into the graph as nodes’ features. We use GNNs to pass messages from node to node, propagating the signal to the neighbors while also gaining the benefit of having the originating nodes being influenced by neighboring nodes. Thanks to the relational graph structure we can use only a small portion of labeled data and train the algorithm in a semi-supervised approach. Our dataset represents real-world data that is sparse and only contain a small percentage of IPs with verified clean or suspicious labels but are connected. The experimental results demonstrate that the system can achieve 85.28%accuracy in detecting malicious IP addresses at scale with only 5%of labeled data.

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) provides mechanical circulatory support for patients with end-stage heart failure. As these devices become more prevalent, clinicians must be familiar with the device's function, common complications, and management strategies when evaluating this patient population.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is associated with hypercoagulability that may cause thromobembolic complications. We describe our recent studies investigating the mechanisms of hypercoagulability in patients with severe COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation during the COVID-19 crisis in New York City in spring 2020. Using rotational thombelastometry we found that almost all patients with severe COVID-19 had signs of hypercoagulability compared with non–COVID-19 controls. Specifically, the maximal clot firmness in the fibrin-based extrinsically activated test was almost twice the upper limit of normal in COVID patients, indicating a fibrin-mediated cause for hypercoagulability. To better understand the mechanism of this hypercoagulability we measured the components of the fibrinolytic pathways. Fibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, but not plasminogen levels were elevated in patients with severe COVID-19. Our studies indicate that hypercoagulability in COVID-19 may be because of decreased fibrinolysis resulting from inhibition of plasmin through high levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Clinicians creating treatment protocols for anticoagulation in critically ill COVID-19 patients should consider these potential mechanisms of hypercoaguability.

IntroductionFlavourants and humectants in waterpipe tobacco (WT) increase product appeal. Removal of these constituents, however, is associated with increased intensity of WT puffing, likely due to reduced nicotine delivery efficiency. To clarify the potential public health outcomes of restrictions on flavourants or humectants in WT, we evaluated the effects of these constituents on puffing behaviours, biomarkers of exposure and subjective effects among adults with high versus low WT dependence.MethodsN=39 high dependence and N=49 low dependence WT smokers (Lebanese Waterpipe Dependence Scale scores >10 = high dependence) completed four smoking sessions in a cross-over experiment. Conditions were preferred flavour with humectant (+F+H), preferred flavour without humectant (+F-H), unflavoured with humectant (−F+H) and unflavoured without humectant (−F−H). Measures of puff topography, plasma nicotine and expired carbon monoxide (eCO) boost, and subjective effects were assessed.ResultsLevel of WT dependence modified the effect of WT condition on average flow rate, average puff volume and eCO boost. Although, overall, participants puffed the +F+H WT least intensely and −F−H WT most intensely, this association was strongest among WT smokers with high dependence. Participants preferred smoking the +F+H WT and achieved the largest plasma nicotine boost in that condition.DiscussionFindings underscore the complexity of setting product standards related to flavourants and humectants in WT. Future research evaluating whether WT smokers with high dependence would quit or reduce their WT smoking in response to removal of flavourants or humectants from WT is necessary to appreciate the full public health effects of such policies.

The IEEE Joint Industry Applications Society (IAS)/Power Electronics Society (PELS)/Industrial Electronics Society (IES) German Chapter recently organized a two-day trip for visiting multiple facilities involved in the field of power electronics.

The use of memes and GIFs has a significant influence on interactions in social networks and online forums. As productions or utterances, these modes of communication benefit from thorough research works, notably led by Shifman, thus impacting many different scientific fields—such as linguistics, semantics, and communication studies. This situation is linked to the recent emergence of memes and GIFs, and also to their complex intertwining of discursive, visual, and videographic signs, thus leading to a polysemic communicative phenomenon. In this paper, I wish to show how memes and GIFs work by analyzing scientific studies and looking at the digital dynamics in online interaction, and on the possible impact on the offline world, in a postdigital perspective. The aim is to propose an approach based on the communicational role played by memes and GIFs, and also to underline the fact that they do represent a new form of human discourse, enriched by cultural references, popular culture and individual, and collective creativity.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.Hemodynamic instability (HDI) during liver transplantation (LT) can be difficult to manage and increases postoperative morbidity and mortality. In addition to surgical causes of HDI, patient- and graft-related factors are also important. Nitric oxide–mediated vasodilatation is a common denominator associated with end-stage liver disease related to HDI. Despite intense investigation, optimal management strategies remain elusive.In this consensus article, experts from the International Liver Transplantation Society, the Liver Intensive Care Group of Europe, and the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia performed a rigorous review of the most current literature regarding the epidemiology, causes, and management of HDI during LT. Special attention has been paid to unique LT-associated conditions including the causes and management of vasoplegic syndrome, cardiomyopathies, LT-related arrhythmias, right and left ventricular dysfunction, and the specifics of medical and fluid management in end-stage liver disease as well as problems specifically related to portal circulation. When possible, management recommendations are made.