Hirschroach3060
Bee functional trait responses were variable, with floral diverse sites supporting greater richness of ground nesting, eusocial, and generalist bees regardless of landscape-level impervious surface. Importantly, our study provides evidence that urban areas can support diverse bee communities, but urban and suburban bee communities do differ in composition. Solutol HS-15 Thus, bee conservation efforts in urban areas should focus on creating floral diverse habitats to help support more bee species, specifically native bee species, while also considering which bees are best supported by these conservation efforts.Variants in KCNT1, encoding a sodium-gated potassium channel (subfamily T member 1), have been associated with a spectrum of epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. These range from familial autosomal dominant or sporadic sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy ((AD)SHE) to epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS) and include developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE). This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of KCNT1 mutation-related epileptic disorders in 248 individuals, including 66 unpreviously published and 182 published cases, the largest cohort reported so far. Four phenotypic groups emerged from our analysis i) EIMFS (152 individuals, 33 previously unpublished); ii) DEE other than EIMFS (non-EIMFS DEE) (37 individuals, 17 unpublished); iii) (AD)SHE (53 patients, 14 unpublished); iv) other phenotypes (6 individuals, 2 unpublished). In our cohort of 66 new cases, the most common phenotypic features were a) in EIMFS, heterogeneiamong the different domains of the KCNT1 protein, genotype-phenotype considerations showed many of the (AD)SHE-associated mutations to be clustered around the RCK2 domain in the C-terminus, distal to the NADP domain. Mutations associated with EIMFS/non-EIMFS DEE did not show a particular pattern of distribution in the KCNT1 protein. Recurrent KCNT1 mutations were seen to be associated with both severe and less severe phenotypes. Our study further defines and broadens the phenotypic and genotypic spectrums of KCNT1-related epileptic conditions and emphasizes the increasingly important role of this gene in the pathogenesis of early onset DEEs as well as in focal epilepsies, namely (AD)SHE.The purpose of this work is to investigate the efficiency of wearable assistive devices under different load-carriage walking. We designed an experimental platform with a lightweight ankle-assisted robot. Eight subjects were tested in three experimental conditions free walk with load (FWL), power-off with load (POFL), and power-on with load for different levels of force at a walking speed of 3.6 km/h. We recorded the metabolic expenditure and kinematics of the subjects under three levels of load-carried (10%, 20%, and 30% of body mass). We define the critical force, where at a certain load, the robot inputs a certain force to the human body, and with the assistance of this force, the positive effect of the robot on the human body exactly compensates for the negative effect. The critical forces from the fit of the assistive force and metabolic cost curves were 130 N, 160 N, and 215 N at three different load levels. The intrinsic weight of our device increases mechanical work at the ankle as the load weight rises with 2.08 J, 2.43 J, and 2.73 J for one leg during a gait cycle. With weight bearing increasing, the ratio of the mechanical work input by the robot to the mechanical work output by the weight of the device decreases (from 0.904 to 0.717 and 0.513), verifying that the walking assistance efficiency of such devices decreases as the weight rises.
The influence of low-level-laser therapy (LLLT) on the stability of orthodontic mini-screw implants (MSIs) has not been systematically reviewed.
The aim was to assess the influence of LLLT on the stability of orthodontic MSIs.
An unrestricted search of indexed databases was performed.
Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) investigating the influence of LLLT on orthodontic MSI stability.
Two authors independently performed study retrieval and selection, and data extraction. The risk of bias (RoB) of individual studies was assessed using the Cochrane RoB Tool for RCTs. Meta-analyses were performed separately for RCTs using periotest and resonance frequency analysis (RFA) to measure MSI stability; and a random effects model was applied. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the time-points of MSI stability evaluation. The quality of available evidence was evaluated using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach.
Initially, 1332 articles were screened. econdary stability of MSIs placed in patients undergoing OT remains debatable.
PROSPERO (CRD42021230291).
PROSPERO (CRD42021230291).
This study aimed to compare the skeletal and dentoalveolar effects produced by slow maxillary expansion (SME) with the Leaf expander versus the conventional rapid maxillary expansion (RME) on digital dental casts, lateral and postero-anterior cephalometric radiographs.
This is a superiority, two-center, two arms parallel balanced randomization trial.
Patients in the mixed dentition were included with a transverse interarch discrepancy of at least 3 mm. An expansion screw using moderate continuous forces (Leaf group) was compared to a conventional RME screw (RME group). The primary response variable was the difference in maxillary intermolar width (U6-U6) measured at baseline (T0) and one-year follow-up (T1) on the digital dental casts. Other dento-skeletal variables were also measured on digital dental casts and cephalograms. Computer-generated block randomization was used with allocation concealed in sequentially numbered opaque sealed envelopes. link2 The examiner was blinded on the type of expander used. Lf interest to be declared.
No funding or conflict of interest to be declared.The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life.
Upper airway cough syndrome (UACS) is generally considered a common cause of chronic cough but remains poorly recognised in Japan.
This study aimed to assess whether UACS was a common cause of chronic cough in Japan, as is true in other countries. Interview and examination items were evaluated for their potential use in UACS diagnosis.
All patients with chronic cough were preliminarily diagnosed with bronchial asthma, UACS, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or postinfectious prolonged cough, based on interviews and examinations. Treatment centred on nasal steroids was administered to the UACS group and standard treatment to the other groups. The observation period lasted 4 weeks. The subjective cough score at first diagnosis was set at 10, and the final diagnosis was made based on the treatment administered at the time the cough score had decreased to ≤2. The associations between the presence or absence of UACS and interview and examination items were statistically evaluated.
Among 230 patients with chronic cough, 146 were diagnosed with UACS-only. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that the assessment items 'awareness of mucus accumulating in the back of the throat', 'presence of abnormal echography findings', 'absence of associated coughing when exercising' and 'presence of coughing persisting after onset' were significantly correlated with the presence or absence of UACS (p < 0.05).
UACS may be the most common cause of chronic cough in Japan and may be effectively treated with nasal corticosteroids. Diagnosing UACS might be possible by selecting appropriate interview and examination items.
UACS may be the most common cause of chronic cough in Japan and may be effectively treated with nasal corticosteroids. Diagnosing UACS might be possible by selecting appropriate interview and examination items.Biomechanical testing of long bones can be susceptible to errors and uncertainty due to malalignment of specimens with respect to the mechanical axis of the test frame. To solve this problem, we designed a novel, customizable alignment and potting fixture for long bone testing. The fixture consists of three-dimensional-printed components modeled from specimen-specific computed tomography (CT) scans to achieve a predetermined specimen alignment. We demonstrated the functionality of this fixture by comparing benchtop torsional test results to specimen-matched finite element models and found a strong correlation (R2 = 0.95, p less then 0.001). Additional computational models were used to estimate the impact of malalignment on mechanical behavior in both torsion and axial compression. Results confirmed that torsion testing is relatively robust to alignment artifacts, with absolute percent errors less than 8% in all malalignment scenarios. In contrast, axial testing was highly sensitive to setup errors, experiencing absolute percent errors up to 50% with off-center malalignment and up to 170% with angular malalignment. This suggests that whenever appropriate, torsion tests should be used preferentially as a summary mechanical measure. When more challenging modes of loading are required, pretest clinical-resolution CT scanning can be effectively used to create potting fixtures that allow for precise preplanned specimen alignment. link3 This may be particularly important for more sensitive biomechanical tests (e.g., axial compressive tests) that may be needed for industrial applications, such as orthopedic implant design.Parkinson's disease (PD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is primarily caused by the degeneration and loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra in the ventral midbrain. Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most common genetic cause of late-onset PD identified to date, with G2019S being the most frequent LRRK2 mutation, which is responsible for up to 1-2% of sporadic PD and up to 6% of familial PD cases. As no treatment is available for this devastating disease, developing new therapeutic strategies is of foremost importance. Cellular models are commonly used for testing novel potential neuroprotective compounds. However, current cellular PD models either lack physiological relevance to dopaminergic neurons or are too complex and costly for scaling up the production process and for screening purposes. In order to combine biological relevance and throughput, we have developed a PD model in Lund human mesencephalic (LUHMES) cell-derived dopaminergic neurons by overexpressing wild-type (WT) and G2019S LRRK2 proteins.
