Search

Recent technological advancements in spectral imaging core-scanning techniques have proved to be a promising tool to study lake sediments at extremely high resolution. We used this novel analytical approach to scan core AU3 of the Pleistocene Auel maar, Western Germany. The resulting ultra-high-resolution RABD670 spectral index, a proxy for the lake’s primary production, shows an almost complete succession of Greenland Interstadials of the NGRIP ice core chronology back to around 60,000 years. Using the ELSA-20 chronology and its anchor points to the NGRIP record as a stratigraphic basis, we were able to compare and fine-tune prominent climate signals occurring in both regions. This in-depth correlation yields strong evidence that the climates of Greenland and Central Europe were not only strongly coupled on timescales of stadials and interstadials but even on multidecadal scales, showing prominent climate cycles between 20 and 125 years. As climate changes in these regions were ultimately driven by variations in the North Atlantic meridional heat transport, their strong coupling becomes most apparent during cold and arid intervals. In contrast, longer-lasting warmer and more humid phases caused the activation of various regional feedback mechanisms (e.g., soil formation, forest growth), resulting in more complex patterns in the proxy records.

Abstract is missing (Short communication)

The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect several tephra to eruption sites. All tephra were dated by application of the ELSA-20 chronology, developed using the late Pleistocene infilled maar lake of Auel and the Holocene lake Holzmaar (0–60,000 yr b2k). We extend the ELSA-20 chronology with this paper for the millennia of 60,000–130,000 yr b2k (ELSA-23 chronology), which is based on the infilled maar lake records from Dehner, Hoher List, and Jungferweiher. The evaluation of the tephra from the entire last glacial cycle shows that all 14 tephra were close to interstadial warming of the North Atlantic sea surface temperatures. In particular, phreatomagmatic maar eruptions were systematically associated with Heinrich events or C-events. These events represent times of warming of the Southern Hemisphere, global sea level rise, and CO2 increase, which predate the abrupt interstadial warming events of the Northern Hemisphere. This synchroneity indicates a physical relationship between endogenic and exogenic processes. Changes in the lithospheric stress field in response to changes in continental ice loads have already been suggested as a potential candidate to explain the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes. The chronology of volcanic activity in the Eifel demonstrates that intraplate mantle plumes are also affected by the exogenic forcing of endogenic processes.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disorder which involves skin barrier and immune dysregulation. The management of AD involves the use of moisturizers and immunosuppressant which are only used for temporary symptom relief and may potentially harm the fetal growth. Autologous activated platelet-rich plasma (aaPRP) is a potential adjuvant treatment for symptom control in pregnant AD patient. This report examines a case of a pregnant patient with AD treated with aaPRP and the monitoring of fetal growth until birth. Case Report: A 37-year-old pregnant patient with a history of AD when in contact with latex or consumption of dairy products came to Hayandra Clinic. As she had been working as anesthesiologist continuously in contact with latex gloves, she underwent routine aaPRP therapy for 3 years and had 15 aaPRP treatments over the course of her pregnancy. The patient had lesser lesions when AD was induced, no exacerbation of symptoms during pregnancy, and the baby was healthy during pregnancy to birth. Conclusion: The use of aaPRP therapy for the management of AD may be indicated as it controls the symptoms yet is safe for the patient during pregnancy. There was also no harm effect showing on the fetal development. A larger study such as randomized controlled trial is required to evaluate our findings.

Abstract Lake sediment records from Holzmaar and the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany) are used to reconstruct landscape changes and megafauna abundances. Our data document a forested landscape from 60,000 to 48,000 yr b2k and a stepwise vegetation change towards a glacial desert after 26,000 yr b2k. The Eifel landscape was continuously inhabited from 48,000 to 9000 yr b2k by large mammals, documented by the presence of spores of coprophilous fungi from Sordaria and Sporormiella fungi that grow on fecal remains of the megafauna. Megafauna reached higher numbers during cold stadial climates but was present also during the warmer interstadials. Highest abundance was at 56,500/48,500/38,500/33,000/27,000/21,000/16,200/14,000 yr b2k, i.e. under different climate regimes. Some of these dates were associated with clear human presence, which indicates that megafauna was not overkilled by humans. In contrast, human presence could quite likely have been stimulated by the abundant food supply. Megafauna presence decreased significantly when tree abundance increased during interstadials. The Megafauna disappeared finally at 11,400 yr b2k with the development of the early Holocene forest cover, which appears to be the most important threshold for megafauna presence.

Abstract The combination of direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) with laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) enables the fabrication of functional surfaces reported for a wide spectrum of materials. The process throughput is usually increased by applying higher average laser powers. However, this causes heat accumulation impacting the roughness and shape of produced surface patterns. Consequently, the effect of substrate temperature on the topography of fabricated features requires detailed investigations. In this study, steel surfaces were structured with line-like patterns by ps-DLIP at 532 nm. To investigate the influence of substrate temperature on the resulting topography, a heating plate was used to adjust the temperature. Heating to 250 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ C led to a significant reduction of the produced structure depths, from 2.33 to 1.06 µm. The reduction is associated with the appearance of a different LIPSS type, depending on the grain orientation of the substrates and laser-induced superficial oxidation. This study revealed a strong effect of substrate temperature, which is also to be expected when heat accumulation effects arise from processing surfaces at high average laser power.

Although modern medicine has made great strides in the management of burn injuries, associated complications such as pain, infection, dyspigmentation, and scarring have yet to be fully dealt with. Although skin grafting and meshing are routinely performed on burn patients, this method poses a risk for adverse effects. Activated autologous platelet-rich plasma (aaPRP), which is increasingly used in the field of plastic surgery, contains growth factors beneficial for wound regeneration. Seven cases of burns with varying severity and conditions that were treated with intralesional subcutaneous injection and intravenous aaPRP are presented and discussed herein. This case series indicates that subcutaneous and intravenous aaPRP is a safe procedure with the potential to be an alternative when skin grafting cannot be done or as an adjunct treatment to skin grafting.

We present a timeseries of flood and slumping phases in central Europe for the past 65,000 years from event layers in sediment cores from infilled Eifel maar basins (Germany). Palynological, petrographic and organic carbon (chlorins) records are used to understand the precise timing of these events. Periods of increased flood activity seem to coincide with Heinrich stadials in marine sediment records, which are associated with cold and more arid climate conditions, indicating a vegetation response within the maars’ catchment areas. This multi-proxy correlation reveals prominent slumps at different maar sites during Greenland Stadial (GS) 12. The stratigraphy is based on sediment records from the Auel infilled maar and we thus call this event Auel Cold Event (ACE). Frozen and fractured sediment packages within the slump suggest deep frost or permafrost conditions for the region during the stadial. The results agree well with sediment archives and archeological sites across Europe that report severely cold and arid conditions for the stadial. This supports the assumption that GS12 was indeed one of the coldest periods of the last glacial cycle rather than the Heinrich stadials. Based on our age model, the ACE occurred at 43,500 yr b2k (years before the year 2000), which coincides with the initial weakening of Earth’s magnetic field strength prior to the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion.

Background Even with satisfactory anastomosis technique and adequate experience of the surgeon, flap loss due to thrombosis can still occur due to the patient’s underlying condition. Patients with hypercoagulability due to etiologies such as malignancy, hereditary conditions, and acquired thrombophilia are among those who could benefit from free flap procedures. This review aimed to evaluate the risk of free flap thrombosis in patients with hypercoagulability and to identify the most effective thromboprophylaxis regimen. Methods This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline. The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were explored. Types of free flaps, types of hypercoagulable states, thrombosis prevention protocols, thrombosis complication rates, and flap vitality outcomes were reviewed. Samples from the included studies were pooled to calculate the relative risk of free flap thrombosis complications in patients with hypercoagulability compared to those without hypercoagulability. Results In total, 885 articles underwent title, abstract, and full-text screening. Six articles met the inclusion criteria. The etiologies of hypercoagulability varied. The overall incidence of thrombosis and flap loss in hypercoagulable patients was 13% and 10.3%, respectively. The thrombosis risk was two times higher in hypercoagulable patients (P=0.074) than in controls. Thromboprophylaxis regimens were variable. Heparin was the most commonly used regimen. Conclusions Hypercoagulability did not significantly increase the risk of free flap thrombosis. The most effective thromboprophylaxis regimen could not be determined due to variation in the regimens. Further well-designed studies should be conducted to confirm this finding.

Introduction: Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been a growing trend in the field of medicine due to its broad range of application and is considered safe from bloodborne diseases. Furthermore, various studies have tried to optimize the use of autologous PRP through various preparation protocols, including PRP activation. However, most of the studies available have not evaluated the safety for intravenous delivery of PRP, especially autologous activated PRP (aaPRP). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the safety of intravenous delivery of aaPRP. Methods: Blood was drawn from each patient and aaPRP was isolated through calcium activation and light irradiation. Each aaPRP was administered intravenously to all patients. Adverse events were documented and analyzed. Results: Six hundred eleven patients participated in this study with a total of 4244 aaPRP therapies. Quality control of autologous aaPRP showed no platelets present after both calcium activation and light irradiation. No adverse events such as allergic reaction, infection, and coagulation problems were observed on all patients over the course of the study. Conclusion: Our results showed that intravenous administration of autologous aaPRP is safe even in patients with various pathological conditions.

Objective: A cutting edge potential treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the use of cellular therapy. One recent method is the use of combination of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and autologous activated platelet-rich plasma (aaPRP). This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy of SVF combined with aaPRP to treat T2D. Materials and methods: Patients with T2D who underwent SVF and aaPRP treatment were recruited in this study. The lipoaspirate was digested by H-Remedy enzyme and centrifuged to isolate SVF. Blood was drawn from the patients and the aaPRP was isolated. The combination of autologous SVF and aaPRP was administered intravenously to each patient. Patients’ 1-month and 3-month post-therapy HbA1c level were statistically analyzed to their baseline level. Results: A total of 39 patients, 28 male and 11 female, with T2D with mean age of 59±11 years and baseline HbA1c of 8.31 g/dL were included in this study. Combination of SVF and aaPRP treatment in T2D resulted in a statistically significant decrease in HbA1c level to 7.58 g/dL at 1 month and to 7.63 g/dL at 3 months posttherapy, while a decrease in HbA1c was still observed at 6 and 12 months after therapy. Conclusions: SVF combined with aaPRP may have potential to reduce HbA1c levels in patients with T2D. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of our research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]