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The alkylation of 3‐/4‐bromo‐ and ‐iodopyridine with methyl triflate smoothly affords the corresponding N‐methylpyridinium triflate salts. An anion exchange with NaI or [PPh4]Y (Y=Cl, Br, I) yields the corresponding halide salts. Most of them could be structurally characterized and their strong halogen bonds were investigated. While the halogen atom of 4‐halogenopyridinium is susceptible to nucleophilic substitution, 3‐halogenopyridinium ions are far more stable against nucleophilic attacks. Due to the comparable interaction strength of halogen bonds and hydrogen bonds, the latter of which is widely used in chromatography, the potential of 3‐halogenopyridinium moieties for an application in chromatography is obvious and was successfully employed in affinity chromatography of different proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of a stone fragment from Svingerud/Hole in Norway, whose inscription is dated between 1/25 and 250 CE, attests to the early use of rūnō (cf. Zilmer/Vasshus 2023) as opposed to rūnōʀ. The plural rūnōʀ (ON rúnar) is attested on runestones of the Classical and Post-classical runic periods including C-bracteates. The paper aims to clarify whether rūnō is to be understood soberly with Morris (1985) and Antonsen (1980) as a term of everyday language ›message, inscription‹ to be distinguished from Goth. rūna ›mystery, secret, counsel‹, or rather as a term for ›secret, orally presented knowledge‹, before being linked up to the fuþark and writing in runes in the due course of its history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent uptick in the approval of ex vivo cell therapies highlights the relevance of lentivirus (LV) as an enabling viral vector of modern medicine. As labile biologics, however, LVs pose critical challenges to industrial biomanufacturing. In particular, LV purification—currently reliant on filtration and anion‐exchange or size‐exclusion chromatography—suffers from long process times and low yield of transducing particles, which translate into high waiting time and cost to patients. Seeking to improve LV downstream processing, this study introduces peptides targeting the enveloped protein Vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSV‐G) to serve as affinity ligands for the chromatographic purification of LV particles. An ensemble of candidate ligands was initially discovered by implementing a dual‐fluorescence screening technology and a targeted in silico approach designed to identify sequences with high selectivity and tunable affinity. The selected peptides were conjugated on Poros resin and their LV binding‐and‐release performance was optimized by adjusting the flow rate, composition, and pH of the chromatographic buffers. Ligands GKEAAFAA and SRAFVGDADRD were selected for their high product yield (50%–60% of viral genomes; 40%–50% of HT1080 cell‐transducing particles) upon elution in PIPES buffer with 0.65 M NaCl at pH 7.4. The peptide‐based adsorbents also presented remarkable values of binding capacity (up to 3·109 TU per mL of resin, or 5·1011 vp per mL of resin, at the residence time of 1 min) and clearance of host cell proteins (up to a 220‐fold reduction of HEK293 HCPs). Additionally, GKEAAFAA demonstrated high resistance to caustic cleaning‐in‐place (0.5 M NaOH, 30 min) with no observable loss in product yield and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of NOWELE: North-Western European Language Evolution is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell 2 (TREM2) is a major regulator of neuroinflammatory processes in neurodegeneration. To date, the p.H157Y variant of TREM2 has been reported only in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we report three patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from three unrelated families with heterozygous p.H157Y variant of TREM2: two patients from Colombian families (study 1) and a third Mexican origin case from the USA (study 2). Methods To determine if the p.H157Y variant might be associated with a specific FTD presentation, we compared in each study the cases with age-matched, sex-matched and education-matched groups—a healthy control group (HC) and a group with FTD with neither TREM2 mutations nor family antecedents (Ng-FTD and Ng-FTD-MND). Results The two Colombian cases presented with early behavioural changes, greater impairments in general cognition and executive function compared with both HC and Ng-FTD groups. These patients also exhibited brain atrophy in areas characteristic of FTD. Furthermore, TREM2 cases showed increased atrophy compared with Ng-FTD in frontal, temporal, parietal, precuneus, basal ganglia, parahippocampal/hippocampal and cerebellar regions. The Mexican case presented with FTD and motor neuron disease (MND), showing grey matter reduction in basal ganglia and thalamus, and extensive TDP-43 type B pathology. Conclusion In all TREM2 cases, multiple atrophy peaks overlapped with the maximum peaks of TREM2 gene expression in crucial brain regions including frontal, temporal, thalamic and basal ganglia areas. These results provide the first report of an FTD presentation potentially associated with the p.H157Y variant with exacerbated neurocognitive impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global initiatives call for further understanding of the impact of inequity on aging across underserved populations. Previous research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents limitations in assessing combined sources of inequity and outcomes (i.e., cognition and functionality). In this study, we assessed how social determinants of health (SDH), cardiometabolic factors (CMFs), and other medical/social factors predict cognition and functionality in an aging Colombian population. We ran a cross-sectional study that combined theory- (structural equation models) and data-driven (machine learning) approaches in a population-based study (N = 23,694; M = 69.8 years) to assess the best predictors of cognition and functionality. We found that a combination of SDH and CMF accurately predicted cognition and functionality, although SDH was the stronger predictor. Cognition was predicted with the highest accuracy by SDH, followed by demographics, CMF, and other factors. A combination of SDH, age, CMF, and additional physical/psychological factors were the best predictors of functional status. Results highlight the role of inequity in predicting brain health and advancing solutions to reduce the cognitive and functional decline in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers a new typology of runic formulas in the corpus of the older runic inscriptions (up to AD 700). Its basis as defined in this paper is the minimal ›one-word formula‹ along with its diverse morpho-syntactical extensions. The approach taken in this study identifies ›one-word-formulas‹ such as alu or laukaR as the basic building blocks of runic formulaicity which can be extended in various ways. The typology thus established comprises 1. monolexemes consisting of isolated charm words, e. g., alu, 2. reduplication formulas, e. g., salu-salu, 3. twin formulas, e. g., līna laukaR, 4. alliterative non-twin formulas, e. g., rūnō raginakundō, 5. tandem formulas and further combinations of formulas, e. g., laukaR alu, and 6. disguised and distorted formulas, e. g., tua , which probably can stand for alu. The methodological foundation of this overall classification lies in the linguistic and rhythmic-metrical principles that these formulas obey, not least Behaghel's Fourth Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) has been related to different genetic factors. Identifying multimodal phenotypic heterogeneity triggered by various genetic influences is critical for improving diagnosis, prognosis, and treatments. However, the specific impact of different genetic levels (mutations vs. risk variants vs. sporadic presentations) on clinical and neurocognitive phenotypes is not entirely understood, specially in patites from underrepresented regions such as Colombia. Methods: Here, in a multiple single cases study, we provide systematic comparisons regarding cognitive, neuropsychiatric, brain atrophy, and gene expression-atrophy overlap in a novel cohort of FTD patients (n = 42) from Colombia with different genetic levels, including patients with known genetic influences (G-FTD) such as those with genetic mutations (GR1) in particular genes (MAPT, TARDBP, and TREM2); patients with risk variants (GR2) in genes associated with FTD (tau Haplotypes H1 and H2 and APOE variants including ε2, ε3, ε4); and sporadic FTD patients (S-FTD (GR3)). Results: We found that patients from GR1 and GR2 exhibited earlier disease onset, pervasive cognitive impairments (cognitive screening, executive functioning, ToM), and increased brain atrophy (prefrontal areas, cingulated cortices, basal ganglia, and inferior temporal gyrus) than S-FTD patients (GR3). No differences in disease duration were observed across groups. Additionally, significant neuropsychiatric symptoms were observed in the GR1. The GR1 also presented more clinical and neurocognitive compromise than GR2 patients; these groups, however, did not display differences in disease onset or duration. APOE and tau patients showed more neuropsychiatric symptoms and primary atrophy in parietal and temporal cortices than GR1 patients. The gene-atrophy overlap analysis revealed atrophy in regions with specific genetic overexpression in all G-FTD patients. A differential family presentation did not explain the results. Conclusions: Our results support the existence of genetic levels affecting the clinical, neurocognitive, and, to a lesser extent, neuropsychiatric presentation of bvFTD in the present underrepresented sample. These results support tailored assessments characterization based on the parallels of genetic levels and neurocognitive profiles in bvFTD. Highlights: • Different genetic levels in underrepresented FTD patients are not well understood. • We compared cognition, neuropsychiatry, and gene-atrophy overlap in FTD cases. • Mutations (MAPT-TARDBP-TREM2), variants (tau-APOE) & sporadic cases were compared. • FTD genetic level was linked to clinical & neurocognitive changes in case analysis. • Mutations showed more impairments than risk variants and sporadic presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dialectologia et Geolinguistica is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A multi-talker paradigm is introduced that uses different attentional processes to adjust speech-recognition scores with the goal of conducting measurements at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). The basic idea is to simulate a group conversation with three talkers. Talkers alternately speak sentences of the German matrix test OLSA. Each time a sentence begins with the name "Kerstin" (call sign), the participant is addressed and instructed to repeat the last words of all sentences from that talker, until another talker begins a sentence with "Kerstin". The alternation of the talkers is implemented with an adjustable overlap time that causes an overlap between the call sign "Kerstin" and the target words to be repeated. Thus, the two tasks of detecting "Kerstin" and repeating target words are to be done at the same time. The paradigm was tested with 22 young normal-hearing participants (YNH) for three overlap times (0.6 s, 0.8 s, 1.0 s). Results for these overlap times show significant differences, with median target word recognition scores of 88%, 82%, and 77%, respectively (including call-sign and dual-task effects). A comparison of the dual task with the corresponding single tasks suggests that the observed effects reflect an increased cognitive load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Scandinavian Studies is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A multi-talker paradigm is introduced that uses different attentional processes to adjust speech-recognition scores with the goal of conducting measurements at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). The basic idea is to simulate a group conversation with three talkers. Talkers alternately speak sentences of the German matrix test OLSA. Each time a sentence begins with the name "Kerstin" (call sign), the participant is addressed and instructed to repeat the last words of all sentences from that talker, until another talker begins a sentence with "Kerstin". The alternation of the talkers is implemented with an adjustable overlap time that causes an overlap between the call sign "Kerstin" and the target words to be repeated. Thus, the two tasks of detecting "Kerstin" and repeating target words are to be done at the same time. The paradigm was tested with 22 young normal-hearing participants (YNH) for three overlap times (0.6 s, 0.8 s, 1.0 s). Results for these overlap times show significant differences, with median target word recognition scores of 88%, 82%, and 77%, respectively (including call-sign and dual-task effects). A comparison of the dual task with the corresponding single tasks suggests that the observed effects reflect an increased cognitive load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listening to speech in noisy environments is challenging and effortful. Factors like the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the spatial separation between target speech and noise interferer(s), and possibly also the listener's age might influence perceived listening effort (LE). This study measured and modeled the effect of the spatial separation of target speech and interfering stationary speech-shaped noise on the perceived LE and its relation to the age of the listeners. Reference ranges for the relationship between subjectively perceived LE and SNR for different noise azimuths were established. For this purpose, 70 listeners with normal hearing and from three age groups rated the perceived LE using the Adaptive Categorical Listening Effort Scaling method (ACALES, Krueger et al., 2017a) with speech from the front and noise from 0°, 90°, 135°, or 180° azimuth. Based on these data, the spatial release from listening effort (SRLE) was calculated. The noise azimuth had a strong effect on SRLE, with the highest release for 135°. The binaural speech intelligibility model (BSIM2020, Hauth et al., 2020) predicted SRLE very well at negative SNRs, but overestimated for positive SNRs. No significant effect of age was found on the respective subjective ratings. Therefore, the reference ranges were determined independently of age. These reference ranges can be used for the classification of LE measurements. However, when the increase of the perceived LE with SNR was analyzed, a significant age difference was found between the listeners of the youngest and oldest group when considering the upper range of the LE function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease where muscle weakness and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) denervation precede motor neuron cell death. Although acetylcholine is the canonical neurotransmitter at the mammalian NMJ synapse, glutamate has recently been identified as a critical neurotransmitter for NMJ development and maintenance. One source of glutamate is through the catabolism of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG), which is found in mM concentrations in mammalian motoneurons, where it is released upon stimulation and hydrolyzed to glutamate by the glial enzyme glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII). Using the SOD1G93A model of ALS, we found an almost fourfold elevation of GCPII enzymatic activity in SOD1G93A versus WT muscle and a robust increase in GCPII expression which was specifically associated with activated macrophages infiltrating the muscle. 2-(Phosphonomethyl)pentanedioic acid (2PMPA) is a potent GCPII inhibitor which robustly blocks glutamate release from NAAG but is highly polar with limited tissue penetration. To improve this, we covalently attached 2PMPA to a hydroxyl polyamidoamine (PAMAM-G4-OH) dendrimer delivery system (D-2PMPA) which is known to target activated macrophages in affected tissues. Systemic D-2PMPA therapy (20 mg/kg 2PMPA equivalent; IP 2 × /week) was found to localize in muscle macrophages in SOD1G93A mice and completely normalize the enhanced GCPII activity. Although no changes in body weight or survival were observed, D-2PMPA significantly improved grip strength and inhibited the loss of NMJ innervation in the gastrocnemius muscles. Our finding that inhibiting elevated GCPII activity in SOD1G93A muscle can prolong muscle function and delay NMJ denervation may have early therapeutic implications for ALS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to musculoskeletal impairments that are impacted by muscle metabolism. We tested the hypothesis that 10-weeks of voluntary wheel running can improve skeletal muscle mitochondria activity and function in a rat model of CKD. Groups included (n = 12–14/group): (1) normal littermates (NL); (2) CKD, and; (3) CKD-10 weeks of voluntary wheel running (CKD-W). At 35-weeks old the following assays were performed in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL): targeted metabolomics, mitochondrial respiration, and protein expression. Amino acid-related compounds were reduced in CKD muscle and not restored by physical activity. Mitochondrial respiration in the CKD soleus was increased compared to NL, but not impacted by physical activity. The EDL respiration was not different between NL and CKD, but increased in CKD-wheel rats compared to CKD and NL groups. Our results demonstrate that the soleus may be more susceptible to CKD-induced changes of mitochondrial complex content and respiration, while in the EDL, these alterations were in response the physiological load induced by mild physical activity. Future studies should focus on therapies to improve mitochondrial function in both types of muscle to determine if such treatments can improve the ability to adapt to physical activity in CKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An issue commonly expressed by hearing aid users is a difficulty to understand speech in complex hearing scenarios, that is, when speech is presented together with background noise or in situations with multiple speakers. Conventional hearing aids are already designed with these issues in mind, using beamforming to only enhance sound from a specific direction, but these are limited in solving these issues as they can only modulate incoming sound at the cochlear level. However, evidence exists that age-related hearing loss might partially be caused later in the hearing processes due to brain processes slowing down and becoming less efficient. In this study, we tested whether it would be possible to improve the hearing process at the cortical level by improving neural tracking of speech. The speech envelopes of target sentences were transformed into an electrical signal and stimulated onto elderly participants' cortices using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). We compared 2 different signal to noise ratios (SNRs) with 5 different delays between sound presentation and stimulation ranging from 50 ms to 150 ms, and the differences in effects between elderly normal hearing and elderly hearing impaired participants. When the task was performed at a high SNR, hearing impaired participants appeared to gain more from envelope-tACS compared to when the task was performed at a lower SNR. This was not the case for normal hearing participants. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis of the different time-lags suggest that elderly were significantly better at a stimulation time-lag of 150 ms when the task was presented at a high SNR. In this paper, we outline why these effects are worth exploring further, and what they tell us about the optimal tACS time-lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An issue commonly expressed by hearing aid users is a difficulty to understand speech in complex hearing scenarios, that is, when speech is presented together with background noise or in situations with multiple speakers. Conventional hearing aids are already designed with these issues in mind, using beamforming to only enhance sound from a specific direction, but these are limited in solving these issues as they can only modulate incoming sound at the cochlear level. However, evidence exists that age-related hearing loss might partially be caused later in the hearing processes due to brain processes slowing down and becoming less efficient. In this study, we tested whether it would be possible to improve the hearing process at the cortical level by improving neural tracking of speech. The speech envelopes of target sentences were transformed into an electrical signal and stimulated onto elderly participants' cortices using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). We compared 2 different signal to noise ratios (SNRs) with 5 different delays between sound presentation and stimulation ranging from 50 ms to 150 ms, and the differences in effects between elderly normal hearing and elderly hearing impaired participants. When the task was performed at a high SNR, hearing impaired participants appeared to gain more from envelope-tACS compared to when the task was performed at a lower SNR. This was not the case for normal hearing participants. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis of the different time-lags suggest that elderly were significantly better at a stimulation time-lag of 150 ms when the task was presented at a high SNR. In this paper, we outline why these effects are worth exploring further, and what they tell us about the optimal tACS time-lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue explores the technological contributions and developments of approximate computing at disparate levels and provides insight into exciting directions for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Das Ribe-Fragment sollte richtiger Weise aber dazu führen, das Ende der urnordischen Überlieferung um 725/750 n.Chr. anzusetzen. Aber dies bedeutet gleichzeitig, dass das Urnordische als Sprachstufe hier bereits abgeschlossen ist, weil die Synkope durchgeführt ist. Es wird präzisiert, dass das Späturnordische auf die Gruppe der Blekinger Inschriften, auch Lister-Steine genannt, und einige wenige andere Inschriften zielt (S. 15, 137). Ein letzter Kommentar betrifft das Großkapitel 8 "Ordforråd" ("Wortschatz"), das zentrale Aspekte des dänischen Lexikons beleuchtet (S. 259-382). [Extracted from the article]

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of different spatial noise-processing algorithms in hearing aids on listening effort and memory effort on a subjective, behavioral, and neurophysiological level using electroencephalography (EEG). Two types of directional microphone (DM) technologies for spatial noise processing were chosen: one with a wide directionality (wide DM) and another with a narrower directionality (narrow DM) to accentuate the speech source. Participants with a severe hearing loss were fitted with hearing aids and participated in two EEG experiments. In the first one, participants listened to sentences in cafeteria noise and were asked to rate the experienced listening effort. The second EEG experiment was a listening span task during which participants had to repeat sentence material and then recall the final words of the last four sentences. Subjective listening effort was lower with narrow than wide DM and EEG alpha power was reduced for the narrow DM. The results of the listening span task indicated a reduction in experienced memory effort and better memory performance. During the memory retention phase, EEG alpha level for the narrow relative to the wide DM was reduced. This effect was more pronounced during linguistically difficult sentences. This study extends previous findings, as it reveals a benefit for narrow DM in terms of cognitive performance and memory effort also on a neural level, and when speech intelligibility is almost 100%. Together, this indicates that a narrow and focused DM allows for a more efficient neurocognitive processing than a wide DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The runic inscriptions of the older period contain a series of terms referring to the notion of speed, agility and alertness in a broader sense. Most of these forms that occur on runestones are conveniently explained in terms of bynames and individual names (cf. Brylla 1993). The paper explores the structure of this lexical field which has two major sub-groups: (1) Weapon names designating attack and swift motion, and (2) Personal names and bynames invoking the notions of speed, travel and alertness. Subgroup 1 includes East Germanic material, whereas subgroup 2 seems to be restricted to the Northwest Germanic linguistic territory. The recently discovered Rakkestad runestone from eastern Norway affirms the relevance of this interpretation of personal names and bynames. The paper argues that this linguistic discussion is of socio-cultural importance in an overarching perspective of Early Norse society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aus der Sicht des Rezensenten sollte aber betont werden, dass Ambiguität und Vagheit wichtige semantische und pragmatische Funktionen in der Sprache übernehmen, die ihre Produktivität sichern (vgl. Götzsche distanziert sich außerdem von Berwick & Chomsky ([2]) und [4] ([4]), die das menschliche Bewusstsein und die Sprache ‚nur' im Gehirn lokalisieren. Die Auswahl der angesprochenen Beiträge dokumentiert eindrucksvoll das breite Spektrum theoretischer Modelle und Ansätze zur Phonologie, Morphologie, Syntax, Diskursanalyse und zum Interface zwischen Sprache und Logik, die alle in diesem Band zur Anwendung kommen. [Extracted from the article]

Der Beitrag untermauert die mehrfach (vor allem von Hagland/Page 1998) geäußerte Vermutung, dass die punktierten Runen zu diakritischen Zwecken auf den Britischen Inseln entstanden sind, und zwar an Orten, wo die englische, skandinavische und keltische Bevölkerung in engem Kontakt miteinander stand. Auch der lateinische Einfluss auf Manuskriptrunen wird ausführlich diskutiert. Ein Zentrum dieser multikulturellen Mischgesellschaft war die Insel Man. Bei ihren Schreibern steht zu vermuten, dass sie außer den skandinavischen und englischen Runen vor allem die Ogam-Schrift kannten, in der Punkte ebenso wie Kerben eine konstitutive und nicht nur diakritische Rolle spielen. Dies könnte die Schreiber zur Punktierung von Runen angeregt haben. Die für diese These wichtigste Inschrift Kirk Michael III, in der Runen und Ogam kombiniert erscheinen, wird detailliert untersucht. Verschiedene ungrammatische Formen werden als Zeichen eines fortschreitenden Sprachverfalls (language attrition) des Skandinavischen gedeutet. Die Entstehung der Inschrift wird aus kunstgeschichtlichen Gründen in der 2. Hälfte des 10. Jahrhunderts, auf jeden Fall aber vor 1000 angesetzt. Diese Datierung lässt einen Transport der neuen diakritischen Technik nach Skandinavien vor ihrem ersten Auftreten in dortigen Inschriften zumindest möglich erscheinen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to study whether cancer cells possess distinguishing metabolic features compared with surrounding normal cells, such as increased glutamine uptake. Given this, quantitative measures of glutamine uptake may reflect critical processes in oncology. Approximately, 10 % of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) express BRAF V600E , which may be actionable with selective BRAF inhibitors or in combination with inhibitors of complementary signaling axes. Non-invasive and quantitative predictive measures of response to these targeted therapies remain poorly developed in this setting. The primary objective of this study was to explore 4-[18F]fluoroglutamine (4-[18F]F-GLN) positron emission tomography (PET) to predict response to BRAFV600E-targeted therapy in preclinical models of colon cancer.Procedures: Tumor microarrays from patients with primary human colon cancers (n = 115) and CRC liver metastases (n = 111) were used to evaluate the prevalence of ASCT2, the primary glutamine transporter in oncology, by immunohistochemistry. Subsequently, 4-[18F]F-GLN PET was evaluated in mouse models of human BRAF V600E -expressing and BRAF wild-type CRC.Results: Approximately 70 % of primary colon cancers and 53 % of metastases exhibited positive ASCT2 immunoreactivity, suggesting that [18F]4-F-GLN PET could be applicable to a majority of patients with colon cancer. ASCT2 expression was not associated selectively with the expression of mutant BRAF. Decreased 4-[18F]F-GLN predicted pharmacological response to single-agent BRAF and combination BRAF and PI3K/mTOR inhibition in BRAF V600E -mutant Colo-205 tumors. In contrast, a similar decrease was not observed in BRAF wild-type HCT-116 tumors, a setting where BRAFV600E-targeted therapies are ineffective.Conclusions: 4-[18F]F-GLN PET selectively reflected pharmacodynamic response to BRAF inhibition when compared with 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose PET, which was decreased non-specifically for all treated cohorts, regardless of downstream pathway inhibition. These findings illustrate the utility of non-invasive PET imaging measures of glutamine uptake to selectively predict response to BRAF-targeted therapy in colon cancer and may suggest further opportunities to inform colon cancer clinical trials using targeted therapies against MAPK activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of different spatial noise-processing algorithms in hearing aids on listening effort and memory effort on a subjective, behavioral, and neurophysiological level using electroencephalography (EEG). Two types of directional microphone (DM) technologies for spatial noise processing were chosen: one with a wide directionality (wide DM) and another with a narrower directionality (narrow DM) to accentuate the speech source. Participants with a severe hearing loss were fitted with hearing aids and participated in two EEG experiments. In the first one, participants listened to sentences in cafeteria noise and were asked to rate the experienced listening effort. The second EEG experiment was a listening span task during which participants had to repeat sentence material and then recall the final words of the last four sentences. Subjective listening effort was lower with narrow than wide DM and EEG alpha power was reduced for the narrow DM. The results of the listening span task indicated a reduction in experienced memory effort and better memory performance. During the memory retention phase, EEG alpha level for the narrow relative to the wide DM was reduced. This effect was more pronounced during linguistically difficult sentences. This study extends previous findings, as it reveals a benefit for narrow DM in terms of cognitive performance and memory effort also on a neural level, and when speech intelligibility is almost 100%. Together, this indicates that a narrow and focused DM allows for a more efficient neurocognitive processing than a wide DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zu den wesentlichen Ergebnissen der Studie gehört, dass das Altnordische (d. h. Altwestnordische) in diametralem Gegensatz zum Gotischen, Altenglischen und Althochdeutschen im strengen Sinn keine "relative pronoun strategy" aufweist. Damit beruft sich Wagener auf [4] (1943), [2] (1967) und einige andere Forscher, die feststellten, dass das Altnordische und Altisländische kein Relativpronomen kannten (vgl. Das Pronomen I sá i lässt sich mit anderen Pronomen kombinieren, während dies bei den konkurrierenden Pronomen nicht möglich ist (S. 101-114). Wagener bemerkt, dass die Relativsatzkonstruktionen in den modernen skandinavischen Sprachen überraschend uniform sind. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: Model-based hearing aid development considers the assessment of speech recognition using a master hearing aid (MHA). It is known that aided speech recognition in noise is related to cognitive factors such as working memory capacity (WMC). This relationship might be mediated by hearing aid experience (HAE). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of WMC and speech recognition with a MHA for listeners with different HAE. Design: Using the MHA, unaided and aided 80% speech recognition thresholds in noise were determined. Individual WMC capacity was assed using the Verbal Learning and Memory Test (VLMT) and the Reading Span Test (RST). Study sample: Forty-nine hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss divided into three groups differing in HAE. Results: Whereas unaided speech recognition did not show a significant relationship with WMC, a significant correlation could be observed between WMC and aided speech recognition. However, this only applied to listeners with HAE of up to approximately three years, and a consistent weakening of the correlation could be observed with more experience. Conclusions: Speech recognition scores obtained in acute experiments with an MHA are less influenced by individual cognitive capacity when experienced HA users are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the study was, based on the individualisation of hearing aids (HA) and pre-sets for audio devices, to develop a questionnaire to determine the basis for profiling sound preferences and hearing habits to gather additional information usable for HA fitting and adjustment tools for audio-devices. Methods: We developed a questionnaire consisting of 46 items. A postal survey was conducted with N = 622 users with a mean age of 66 years (47.9% aided with HA, 45.7% female). Results: Seven factors were identified by means of Explanatory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses: F1: ‘Annoyance/distraction by background noise’, F2: ‘Importance of sound quality’, F3: ‘Noise Sensitivity’, F4: ‘Avoidance of unpredictable sounds’, F5: ‘Openness towards loud/new sounds’, F6: ‘Preferences for warm sounds’, and F7: ‘Details of environmental sounds/music’. Only the first of these factors was related to the audiogram of the user. No difference with any of the factors could be observed with HA use/non-use. In contrast, gender effects were found with female respondents preferring warm sounds and being more sensitive to noise. Conclusions: The sound preference and hearing habits questionnaire (SP-HHQ) is a usable tool for profiling the users with respect to sound preferences relevant for HA fitting and pre-sets for audio devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Although glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the European Union, little is known about the patterns of its usage in arable farming. Therefore, a nationwide survey of 2026 German farmers was analysed to obtain further knowledge about glyphosate applications in conventional European arable farming. Given its broad range of agri‐environmental and farm‐type conditions, Germany can be regarded as a suitable study region to represent Central European farming. The growing season 2013/2014 was set as a reference. RESULTS: Farmers who participated in the survey employ diverse patterns of glyphosate use. While 23% stated that they did not use glyphosate in the season in question, others applied glyphosate to their total arable area. However, most applications occurred on specific parts of the farm. Application patterns of oilseed rape, winter wheat, maize and sugar beet were studied in detail, and U‐shaped distributions of glyphosate use intensity were observed. The effects of farm type and management practices on glyphosate use patterns were mixed in the various crops. CONCLUSION: Motivation for glyphosate use differs widely within the farming community. Agricultural researchers, extension services and policy makers are recommended to mitigate vulnerabilities associated with glyphosate use, such as routine spraying and practices that increase selection pressure for the evolution of glyphosate‐resistant weeds. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Subjective ratings of listening effort might be applicable to estimate hearing difficulties at positive signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) at which speech intelligibility scores are near 100%. Hence, ratings of listening effort were compared with speech intelligibility scores at different SNRs, and the benefit of hearing aids was evaluated. Method: Two groups of listeners, 1 with normal hearing and 1 with hearing impairment, performed adaptive speech intelligibility and adaptive listening effort tests (Adaptive Categorical Listening Effort Scaling; Krueger, Schulte, Brand, & Holube, 2017) with sentences of the Oldenburg Sentence Test (Wagener, Brand, & Kollmeier, 1999a, 1999b; Wagener, Kühnel, & Kollmeier, 1999) in 4 different maskers. Model functions were fitted to the data to estimate the speech reception threshold and listening effort ratings for extreme effort and no effort. Results: Listeners with hearing impairment showed higher rated listening effort compared with listeners with normal hearing. For listeners with hearing impairment, the rating extreme effort, which corresponds to negative SNRs, was more correlated to the speech reception threshold than the rating no effort, which corresponds to positive SNRs. A benefit of hearing aids on speech intelligibility was only verifiable at negative SNRs, whereas the effect on listening effort showed high individual differences mainly at positive SNRs. Conclusion: The adaptive procedure for rating subjective listening effort yields information beyond using speech intelligibility to estimate hearing difficulties and to evaluate hearing aids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Julius-Kühn-Archiv is the property of Julius Kuehn Institut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Julius-Kühn-Archiv is the property of Julius Kuehn Institut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of bilateral hearing aids (HA) in subjects with mild and moderate-to-severe hearing loss. This study was designed as a within-subject feasibility study. Bilateral HA use was assessed using different laboratory tests on speech reception, listening effort, noise tolerance, and localization. All data were evaluated with bilateral and unilateral HA fittings. Forty experienced bilateral HA users were included with hearing impairment ranging from mild to moderate-to-severe. Subjects were stratified into two groups based on the degree of hearing loss. Speech reception in noise, listening effort, and localization tests showed a bilateral benefit for the moderate-to-severely hearing-impaired subjects. A bilateral benefit was also observed for listening effort in the mildly hearing-impaired group. The assessment of listening effort shows promise as a measure of bilateral HA benefit for mild hearing impairment. Localization and speech reception in noise tests provide additional value for larger losses. The next step is to compare experienced unilateral with bilateral HA users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Cultivated Plants / Journal für Kulturpflanzen is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)