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Abstract The cuticle is a polymeric membrane covering all plant aerial organs of primary origin. It regulates water loss and defends against environmental stressors and pathogens. Despite its significance, understanding of the micro-mechanical properties of the cuticle (cuticular membrane; CM) remains limited. In this study, non-invasive Brillouin light scattering (BLS) spectroscopy was applied to probe the micro-mechanics of native CM, dewaxed CM (DCM), and isolated cutin matrix (CU) of mature apple fruit. The BLS signal arises from the photon interaction with thermally induced pressure waves and allows for imaging with mechanical contrast. The derived loss tangent showed significant differences with wax extraction from the CM and further with carbohydrate extraction from the DCM, consistent with tensile test results. Spatial heterogeneity between anticlinal and periclinal regions was observed by BLS microscopy of CM and DCM, but not in CU. The key conclusions are: (1) BLS is sensitive to micro-mechanical variations, particularly the strain-stiffening effect of the cutin framework, offering insights into the CM’s micro-mechanical behavior and underlying chemical structures; (2) CM and DCM exhibit spatial micro-mechanical heterogeneity between periclinal and anticlinal regions.

Abstract Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) systems acquire images with spectral information over a wide range of wavelengths but are often affected by chromatic and other optical aberrations that degrade image quality. Deconvolution algorithms can improve the spatial resolution of HSI systems, yet retrieving the point spread function (PSF) is a crucial and challenging step. To address this challenge, we have developed a method for PSF estimation in HSI systems based on computed wavefronts. The proposed technique optimizes an image quality metric by modifying the shape of a computed wavefront using Zernike polynomials and subsequently calculating the corresponding PSFs for input into a deconvolution algorithm. This enables noise-free PSF estimation for the deconvolution of HSI data, leading to significantly improved spatial resolution and spatial co-registration of spectral channels over the entire wavelength range.

Abstract Background The early and specific detection of abiotic and biotic stresses, particularly their combinations, is a major challenge for maintaining and increasing plant productivity in sustainable agriculture under changing environmental conditions. Optical imaging techniques enable cost-efficient and non-destructive quantification of plant stress states. Monomodal detection of certain stressors is usually based on non-specific/indirect features and therefore is commonly limited in their cross-specificity to other stressors. The fusion of multi-domain sensor systems can provide more potentially discriminative features for machine learning models and potentially provide synergistic information to increase cross-specificity in plant disease detection when image data are fused at the pixel level. Results In this study, we demonstrate successful multi-modal image registration of RGB, hyperspectral (HSI) and chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) kinetics data at the pixel level for high-throughput phenotyping of A. thaliana grown in Multi-well plates and an assay with detached leaf discs of Rosa × hybrida inoculated with the black spot disease-inducing fungus Diplocarpon rosae. Here, we showcase the effects of (i) selection of reference image selection, (ii) different registrations methods and (iii) frame selection on the performance of image registration via affine transform. In addition, we developed a combined approach for registration methods through NCC-based selection for each file, resulting in a robust and accurate approach that sacrifices computational time. Since image data encompass multiple objects, the initial coarse image registration using a global transformation matrix exhibited heterogeneity across different image regions. By employing an additional fine registration on the object-separated image data, we achieved a high overlap ratio. Specifically, for the A. thaliana test set, the overlap ratios (ORConvex) were 98.0 ± 2.3% for RGB-to-ChlF and 96.6 ± 4.2% for HSI-to-ChlF. For the Rosa × hybrida test set, the values were 98.9 ± 0.5% for RGB-to-ChlF and 98.3 ± 1.3% for HSI-to-ChlF. Conclusion The presented multi-modal imaging pipeline enables high-throughput, high-dimensional phenotyping of different plant species with respect to various biotic or abiotic stressors. This paves the way for in-depth studies investigating the correlative relationships of the multi-domain data or the performance enhancement of machine learning models via multi modal image fusion.

Multiword expressions (MWEs) exhibit both regular and idiosyncratic properties. Their idiosyncrasy requires lexical encoding in parallel with their component words. Their (at times intricate) regularity, on the other hand, calls for means of flexible factorization to avoid redundant descriptions of shared properties. However, so far, non-redundant general-purpose lexical encoding of MWEs has not received a satisfactory solution. We offer a proof of concept that this challenge might be effectively addressed within eXtensible MetaGrammar (XMG), an object-oriented metagrammar framework. We first make an existing metagrammatical resource, the FrenchTAG grammar, MWE-aware. We then evaluate the factorization gain during incremental implementation with XMG on a dataset extracted from an MWE-annotated reference corpus.

Strict headedness is a common idealization in the structural analysis of linguistic entities, particularly in syntax. This contribution takes a critical look at its premises and applications by demonstrating the surprising sloppiness of both the defining concepts and the test procedures, and by showing how strict headedness is nevertheless implemented as an important axiom into virtually all mainstream grammar formalisms. Subsequently, I present a non-trivial head-agnostic analysis based on Tree Unification & Constraints (TUCO) in order to show that there actually is a choice and that strict headedness can be avoided in principle.

This work presents results on the integration of frame-based representations into the framework of eXtensible MetaGrammar (XMG). Originally XMG allowed for the description of tree-based syntactic structures and underspecified representations of predicate-logical formulae, but the representation of frames as a sort of typed feature structure, particularly type unification, was not supported. Therefore, we introduce an extension that is capable of handling frame representations directly by means of a novel -dimension. The aim is not only to make possible a straightforward specification of frame descriptions, but also to offer various ways to specify constraints on types, be it as a contiguous type hierarchy or a loose set of feature structure constraints. The presented extensions to XMG are fully operational in a new prototype.

Malaria parasites of the genus Polychromophilus commonly infect vespertilionid and miniopterid bats, and are transmitted by bat flies (Nycteribiidae). While Polychromophilus murinus has been recorded sporadically in Europe, its host range, distribution and phylogeographic structure have not been explored. Here we investigate the prevalence and genetic diversity of P. murinus infections in 1131 bat flies collected from seven European bat species, focusing on Basilia nana, collected from its primary host, the Bechstein's bat throughout its distribution. Additionally, we explore the temporal dynamics of P. murinus in two regions in Germany where bat flies were repeatedly collected over at least five years. Bat flies were screened for Polychromophilus infection via PCR of a fragment of cytochrome b, and fragments of three additional genes were sequenced for positive samples. Overall, P. murinus infections were detected in 287 of 1131 screened bat flies of four different species, collected from seven bat species, across 13 countries. The 269 recovered cytb sequences represented 21 distinct haplotypes, clustered based on the bat species from which the infected flies were collected. Repeated sampling over multiple years revealed a consistent presence of P. murinus in both investigated populations, without substantial variation in prevalence between years. The results suggest an endemic long-term presence of Polychromophilus within European bat populations, and the presence of host-specific associations between P. murinus lineages and its various bat hosts. We posit that exposure to P. murinus appears to be a near certainty in several European bat species, and its potential costs should be further investigated., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Juliane Schaer reports financial support was provided by German Research Foundation. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Frailty is increasing worldwide as the population ages. Physical activity is one component that has been shown to hinder and even reverse the process. The POSITIVE system (i.e., maintaining and imPrOving the intrinSIc capaciTy Involving primary care and caregiVErs) is a prevention program that consists of home-monitoring equipment and a communication platform to support the initial treatment of frailty symptoms in primary health care. The participants, older aged (+ 70) frail persons and those at risk for frailty, took part in the program that promoted physical activity at home for six months. The aim was to explore and describe older persons' experiences of participating in a new prevention program using the POSITIVE system including technological tools intended to prevent the development of frailty., Methods: Nine interviews were conducted about experiences of participating in an intervention including use of technological tools to support physical activity. Qualitative content analysis was applied., Results: Two themes revealed: (1) Perceptions of being old are seldom positive, and (2) A rewarding and fruitful participation in the project with suggestions for improvement. Becoming older was related to physical pain and tiredness reducing the performance of former meaningful activities as well as an increase in mental stress. There was also a tendency to postpone the start of everyday activities, and in general, fewer activities were planned for one day than at younger ages. Participating in a physical activity intervention, including the use of technical tools, was considered meaningful and added motivation for engaging in other physical activities, this despite some difficulties with technical tools provided by the program. The contact with health care and the research team was appreciated. In addition, contact with other participants was requested and reported to be highly valued if added to the intervention, which could have been an expression of loneliness., Conclusion: Participation in a prevention program motivated activities and social interaction. Adding opportunities for participants to meet each other is suggested for improving the intervention in terms of increasing the social dimensions. Our findings conclude that despite difficulties with handling the technical tools for the home-monitoring and communication platform, participation in the POSITIVE intervention was in general a positive experience., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Knowledge about early immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern mainly comes from the analysis of human blood. Such data provide limited information about host responses at the site of infection and largely miss the initial events. To gain insights into compartmentalization and the early dynamics of host responses to different SARS-CoV-2 variants, we utilized human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) transgenic mice and tracked immune changes during the first days after infection by RNAseq, multiplex assays, and flow cytometry. Viral challenge infection led to divergent viral loads in the lungs, distinct inflammatory patterns, and innate immune cell accumulation in response to ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Beta (B.1.351) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of concern (VOC). Compared to other SARS-CoV-2 variants, infection with Beta (B.1.351) VOC spread promptly to the lungs, leading to increased inflammatory responses. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies and T cells developed within the first 7 days postinfection and were required to reduce viral spread and replication. Our studies show that VOCs differentially trigger transcriptional profiles and inflammation. This information contributes to the basic understanding of immune responses immediately postexposure to SARS-CoV-2 and is relevant for developing pan-VOC interventions including prophylactic vaccines., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Immunology published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: The global burden of stroke is increasing and persons with low socioeconomic status are among those worst affected. In Uganda, stroke is estimated to be the sixth highest ranking cause of death. The Ugandan healthcare system is reported to be inequitable, where poorer populations often live in rural areas with long distances to health care. Stroke rehabilitation is often scarce, with less financial and human resources. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the consequences of stroke in daily activities in everyday life for people in a rural part of Masaka in Uganda., Methods: Qualitative study design. Fourteen persons who had had stroke and were living in their home environment were interviewed about their experiences of having a stroke and managing their lives after the stroke incident. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. In addition, sociodemographic data and level of independence (Barthel Index and Stroke Impact Scale 3.0) was collected to describe participant characteristics., Results: Most of the participants had major consequences of stroke and described that they were dependent on support for managing their daily activities. Five themes were identified in the analysis: (1) Accepting and adapting to new ways of managing everyday life, (2) Changing roles and hierarchical positions, (3) Depending on caregiver support, (4) Interrupted care due to economic constraints, (5) Stroke leading to losses and losses leading to stroke., Conclusions: The consequences of stroke on the persons' daily lives clearly reached beyond the person with stroke, affecting the whole family and their proximate social networks. These consequences included increased burdens on caregivers and a worsened economic situation for all persons affected. Therefore, interventions for stroke management should preferably not only target the individual affected by stroke, but also support the caregivers in the caring and rehabilitation process. Home rehabilitation approaches with a focus on improving health literacy are suggested., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Lifestyle interventions focusing on diet and physical activity for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes have been found effective. Acceptance of the intervention is crucial. The Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) developed by Sekhon et al. (2017) describes the multiple facets of acceptance: Affective attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, ethicality, intervention coherence, opportunity costs and self-efficacy. The aims of this study were to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measurement scale for acceptance of a telephone-facilitated health coaching intervention, based on the TFA; and to determine the acceptability of the intervention among participants living with diabetes or having a high risk of diabetes in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Stockholm., Methods: This study was nested in the implementation trial SMART2D (Self-management approach and reciprocal learning for type 2 diabetes). The intervention consisted of nine telephone-facilitated health coaching sessions delivered individually over a 6-month period. The acceptability of the intervention was assessed using a questionnaire consisting of 19 Likert scale questions developed using Sekhon's TFA. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed., Results: Ratings from 49 participants (19 with type 2 diabetes and 30 at high risk of developing diabetes) in ages 38-65 were analyzed. The EFA on the acceptability scale revealed three factors with acceptable reliabilities: affective attitude (alpha 0.90), coherence and understanding (alpha 0.77), perceived burden (alpha 0.85), explaining 82% of the variance. Positive affect and coherence had high median scores and small variance. Median score for perceived burden was low, but with significant variance due to younger individuals and those at high risk reporting higher burden., Conclusions: The telephone-facilitated health coaching intervention was perceived as acceptable by the study population using a questionnaire based on Sekhon's TFA, with a wider variation in perceived burden seen among high risk and younger participants., Competing Interests: Collaborative Care Systems Finland (CCSF) is a social innovation enterprise classified as a small and medium enterprise (SME) partner in the SMART2D Consortium. Similar to other partners in the project, its work was funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 grant. Apart from this project, CCSF provides services for fee in the form of consultation and training for health care organisations and professionals in implementing behaviour change science into practice in health promotion and disease prevention and self-management support. CCSF as a commercial body had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript; it also does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its complications are increasing rapidly. Support for healthy lifestyle and self-management is paramount, but not adequately implemented in health systems. Process evaluations facilitate understanding why and how interventions work through analyzing the interaction between intervention theory, implementation and context. The Self-Management and Reciprocal Learning for Type 2 Diabetes project implemented and evaluated community-based interventions (peer support program; care companion; and link between facility care and community support) for persons at high risk of or having T2D in a rural community in Uganda, an urban township in South Africa, and socioeconomically disadvantaged urban communities in Sweden., Research Design and Methods: This paper reports implementation process outcomes across the three sites, guided by the Medical Research Council framework for complex intervention process evaluations. Data were collected through observations of peer support group meetings using a structured guide, and semistructured interviews with project managers, implementers, and participants., Results: The countries aligned implementation in accordance with the feasibility and relevance in the local context. In Uganda and Sweden, the implementation focused on peer support; in South Africa, it focused on the care companion part. The community-facility link received the least attention. Continuous capacity building received a lot of attention, but intervention reach, dose delivered, and fidelity varied substantially. Intervention-related and context-related barriers affected participation., Conclusions: Identification of the key uncertainties and conditions facilitates focus and efficient use of resources in process evaluations, and context relevant findings. The use of an overarching framework allows to collect cross-contextual evidence and flexibility in evaluation design to adapt to the complex nature of the intervention. When designing interventions, it is crucial to consider aspects of the implementing organization or structure, its absorptive capacity, and to thoroughly assess and discuss implementation feasibility, capacity and organizational context with the implementation team and recipients. These recommendations are important for implementation and scale-up of complex interventions., Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN11913581., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Esophageal and Gastric Adenocarcinomas (AGE/S) are characterized by early metastasis and poor survival. MACC1 (Metastasis Associated in Colon Cancer 1) acts in colon cancer as a metastasis inducer and is linked to reduced survival. This project illuminates the role and potential for the inhibition of MACC1 in AGE/S. Using 266 of 360 TMAs and survival data of AGE/S patients, we confirm the value of MACC1 as an independent negative prognostic marker in AGE/S patients. MACC1 gene expression is correlated with survival and morphological characteristics. In vitro analysis of lentivirally MACC1-manipulated subclones of FLO-1 and OE33 showed enhanced migration induced by MACC1 in both cell line models, which could be inhibited by the MEK1 inhibitor selumetinib. In vivo, the efficacy of selumetinib on tumor growths and metastases of MACC1-overexpressing FLO-1 cells xenografted intrasplenically in NOG mice was tested. Mice with high-MACC1-expressing cells developed faster and larger distant metastases. Treatment with selumetinib led to a significant reduction in metastasis exclusively in the MACC1-positive xenografts. MACC1 is an enhancer of tumor aggressiveness and a predictor of poor survival in AGE/S. This effect can be inhibited by selumetinib.

Deregulated Wnt-signaling is a key mechanism driving metastasis in adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction and stomach (AGE/S). The oncogene S100A4 was identified as a Wnt-signaling target gene and is known to promote metastasis. In this project, we illuminate the role of S100A4 for metastases development and disease prognosis of AGE/S. Five gastric cancer cell lines were assessed for S100A4 expression. Two cell lines with endogenous high S100A4 expression were used for functional phenotyping including analysis of proliferation and migration after stable S100A4 knock-down. The prognostic value of S100A4 was evaluated by analyzing the S100A4 expression of tissue microarrays with samples of 277 patients with AGE/S. S100A4 knock-down induced lower migration in FLO1 and NCI-N87 cells. Treatment with niclosamide in these cells led to partial inhibition of S100A4 and to reduced migration. Patients with high S100A4 expression showed lower 5-year overall and disease-specific survival. In addition, a larger share of patients in the S100A4 high expressing group suffered from metachronous metastasis. This study identifies S100A4 as a negative prognostic marker for patients with AGE/S. The strong correlation between S100A4 expression, metastases development and patient survival might open opportunities to use S100A4 to improve the prognosis of these patients and as a therapeutic target for intervention in this tumor entity.