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Starting to resolve the oceanic mesoscale in climate models is a step change in model fidelity. This study examines how certain obstinate biases in the midlatitude North Atlantic respond to increasing resolution (from 1° to 0.25° in the ocean) and how such biases in sea surface temperature (SST) affect the atmosphere. Using a multimodel ensemble of historical climate simulations run at different horizontal resolutions, it is shown that a severe cold SST bias in the central North Atlantic, common to many ocean models, is significantly reduced with increasing resolution. The associated bias in the time-mean meridional SST gradient is shown to relate to a positive bias in low-level baroclinicity, while the cold SST bias causes biases also in static stability and diabatic heating in the interior of the atmosphere. The changes in baroclinicity and diabatic heating brought by increasing resolution lead to improvements in European blocking and eddy-driven jet variability. Across the multimodel ensemble a clear relationship is found between the climatological meridional SST gradients in the broader Gulf Stream Extension area and two aspects of the atmospheric circulation: the frequency of high-latitude blocking and the southern-jet regime. This relationship is thought to reflect the two-way interaction (with a positive feedback) between the respective oceanic and atmospheric anomalies. These North Atlantic SST anomalies are shown to be important in forcing significant responses in the midlatitude atmospheric circulation, including jet variability and the storm track. Further increases in oceanic and atmospheric resolution are expected to lead to additional improvements in the representation of Euro-Atlantic climate.

Exchanges of mass, momentum and energy between the ocean and atmosphere are of large importance in regulating the climate system. Here, we apply for the first time a relatively novel approach, the rate of information transfer, to quantify interactions between the ocean surface and the lower atmosphere over the period 1988–2017 at a monthly timescale. More specifically, we investigate dynamical dependencies between sea surface temperature (SST), SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in satellite observations. We find a strong two-way influence between SST and/or SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in many regions of the world, with the largest values in the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in western boundary currents. The total number of regions with a significant influence by turbulent heat flux on SST and on SST tendency is reduced when considering the three variables (this case should be privileged, as it provides additional sources of information), while it remains large for the information transfer from SST and SST tendency to turbulent heat flux, suggesting an overall stronger ocean influence compared to the atmosphere. We also find a relatively strong influence by turbulent heat flux taken 1 month before on SST. Additionally, an increase in the magnitude of the rate of information transfer and in the number of regions with significant influence is observed when looking at interannual and decadal timescales compared to monthly timescales.

In the winter of 2020, the Jana Natya Manch (People’s Theatre Front), a political performance group and street-theatre pioneer in India, created a new kind of performance in response to current events. The Hindu-nationalist government was then implementing discriminatory laws targeting Muslims. The very constitution of India, a ‘sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic’ (Constitution Preamble) was under threat. Instead of a conventional street play, the Jana Natya Manch set up a participatory ‘game’ or ‘interactive presentation’ that brought together random and diverse audiences to act, or play, as a united people. The group put into place an inclusive experiment, rather than a didactic one, to counter exclusionary rules and address democratic deficits. Thus this Indian ‘people’s theatre’ produced ‘democratic performances’ that questioned both artistic and political representations. This article, based on fieldwork with the Jana Natya Manch, offers a script translation and an analysis of a new kind of performance developed in active circumstances.

During the second half of the twentieth century, coastal lagoons in densely populated regions experienced eutrophication due to excessive nutrient inputs. Detrimental effects, including hypoxia/anoxia and harmful algae blooms, have occurred in many Mediterranean lagoons, but their trophic evolution is poorly documented. The lack of adequate monitoring data can partly be offset by examining sedimentary records. In the Mar Piccolo, a lagoon comprising two basins near Taranto (Italy), eutrophication has followed population growth and pollution resulting from naval activities and massive industrialisation. Based on 210Pb-dated sediment cores, continuous in situ density profiles obtained with computed tomography, organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) content and OC and TN isotopic signatures, this paper reconstructs the history of eutrophication, discusses the sources of organic matter and provides an estimate of the OC burial rate before and during the eutrophic period. OC burial increased in the period 1928–1935 and peaked in the decade 1960–1970. OC and TN content were still high in the surface sediments collected in 2013, despite partial diversion of sewage outfalls in the period 2000–2005. The divergent δ13C and δ15N signatures of the two basins during the eutrophic period suggest they were affected by different nutrient sources. The OC burial rate during the eutrophic phase (≈ 46 g m−2 y−1) was close to the world median value for lagoon sediments, and was about twice the burial rate recorded in the preceding oligotrophic phase.

Pseudogamous apomixis in Paspalum simplex generates seeds with embryos genetically identical to the mother plant and endosperms deviating from the canonical 2(maternal):1(paternal) parental genome contribution into a maternal excess 4m:1p genome ratio. In P. simplex, the gene homologous to that coding for subunit 3 of the ORIGIN OF RECOGNITION COMPLEX (PsORC3) exists in three isogenic forms: PsORC3a is apomixis specific and constitutively expressed in developing endosperm whereas PsORCb and PsORCc are up-regulated in sexual endosperms and silenced in apomictic ones. This raises the question of how the different arrangement and expression profiles of these three ORC3 isogenes are linked to seed development in interploidy crosses generating maternal excess endosperms. We demonstrate that down-regulation of PsORC3b in sexual tetraploid plants is sufficient to restore seed fertility in interploidy 4n×2n crosses and, in turn, its expression level at the transition from proliferating to endoreduplication endosperm developmental stages dictates the fate of these seeds. Furthermore, we show that only when being maternally inherited can PsORC3c up-regulate PsORC3b. Our findings lay the basis for an innovative route—based on ORC3 manipulation—to introgress the apomictic trait into sexual crops and overcome the fertilization barriers in interploidy crosses.

Spatially selective functionalization of monolayer graphene is achieved by combining electron beam irradiation patterning with 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylide and shown to be reversible via focused laser irradiation-induced desorption.

The economic and ecologically important genus Eucalyptus is rich in structurally diverse specialized metabolites. While some specialized metabolite classes are highly prevalent across the genus, the cyanogenic glucoside prunasin is only produced by c. 3% of species. To investigate the evolutionary mechanisms behind prunasin biosynthesis in Eucalyptus, we compared de novo assembled transcriptomes, together with online resources between cyanogenic and acyanogenic species. Identified genes were characterized in vivo and in vitro. Pathway characterization of cyanogenic Eucalyptus camphora and Eucalyptus yarraensis showed for the first time that the final glucosylation step from mandelonitrile to prunasin is catalyzed by a novel UDP-glucosyltransferase UGT87. This step is typically catalyzed by a member of the UGT85 family, including in Eucalyptus cladocalyx. The upstream conversion of phenylalanine to mandelonitrile is catalyzed by three cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes from the CYP79, CYP706, and CYP71 families, as previously shown. Analysis of acyanogenic Eucalyptus species revealed the loss of different ortholog prunasin biosynthetic genes. The recruitment of UGTs from different families for prunasin biosynthesis in Eucalyptus demonstrates important pathway heterogeneities and unprecedented dynamic pathway evolution of chemical defense within a single genus. Overall, this study provides relevant insights into the tremendous adaptability of these long-lived trees.

Caregiver and observer-reported measures are frequently used as outcomes for research on infants and young children who are unable to report on their own health. Our team developed the Infant with Clefts Observation Outcomes Instrument (iCOO) for infants with cleft lip with or without cleft palate. This exploratory study compared test-retest and interrater reliabilities to inform whether differences in caregiver perspective might affect the iCOO. This study is a secondary analysis comparing caregiver interrater agreement to test-retest reliability. Twenty-five pairs of caregivers completed the iCOO before surgery, 1 week later for test-retest reliability, 2 days after surgery, and 2 months after surgery. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlations (ICCs) and t-tests were used to compare ratings between caregivers. Infants had cleft lip (28%) or cleft lip and palate (72%). Primary caregivers were predominantly mothers (92%) and secondary caregivers were predominantly fathers (80%). Test-retest reliability met psychometric standards for most items on the iCOO (81%-86% of items). Caregiver agreement on the iCOO items was lower than test-retest reliability (33%-46% of items met psychometric standards). Caregivers did not systematically differ in whether they rated infants as healthier or less healthy than the other caregiver (5%-16% of items had statistically significant differences). Caregivers used the measure consistently, but had different experiences and perceptions of their infant’s health and functioning. Future studies are needed to explore mechanisms for the differences in test-retest and interrater reliability. Whenever possible, the same caregiver should provide ratings of the infant, including on the iCOO.

The recent advancements in climate modeling partially build on the improvement of horizontal resolution in different components of the simulating system. A higher resolution is expected to provide a better representation of the climate variability, and in this work we are particularly interested in the potential improvements in representing extreme events of high temperature and precipitation. The two versions of the Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC-CM2) model used here adopt the highest horizontal resolutions available within the last family of the global coupled climate models developed at CMCC to participate in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects, Phase 6 (CMIP6) effort. The main aim of this study is to document the ability of the CMCC-CM2 models to represent the spatial distribution of extreme events of temperature and precipitation, under the historical period, comparing model results to observations, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA5), multi-source weighted-ensemble precipitation (MSWEP) and Climate Hazards Group infrared precipitation with station data (CHIRPS) observations. For a more detailed evaluation we use both 6-hourly and daily time series, to compute indices representative of intense and extreme conditions. In terms of mean climate, the two models are able to realistically reproduce the main patterns of temperature and precipitation. The high resolution version (1/4∘ horizontal resolution) of the atmospheric model provides better results than the standard resolution one (1°), not only in terms of means but also in terms of intense and extreme events of temperature defined at daily and 6-hourly frequencies. This is also the case of average and intense precipitation. On the other hand the extreme precipitation is not improved by the adoption of a higher horizontal resolution.

Purpose The dynamics of the posterior capsule during femtosecond laser lens fragmentation has received little attention in the literature. We analysed the movements of the posterior capsule to identify the rupture risk factors, if any, and to suggest possible modification of the laser spot energy pattern during fragmentation. Materials and methods Posterior capsule ruptures during fragmentation were identified over a 10-year period of femtosecond laser use. In addition, the dynamics of the posterior capsule were identified through the real-time swept-source OCT lateral view available during the surgeries. Results Out of the 1465 laser cataract procedures performed, we recorded 1 case of posterior capsule rupture during lens fragmentation, which was caused by eye movement that was detected but ignored by the surgeon. Three types of posterior capsule dynamics were identified, all related to a gas bubble formation during the first part of the lens fragmentation. In eyes with a hard nucleus, the concussion of the posterior capsule was evident, however, with no capsule rupture. Discussion Maintaining good docking throughout the whole procedure seems important in avoiding a posterior capsule cut by the femtosecond laser. In addition, a Gaussian pattern of spot energy is suggested when fragmenting hard cataracts.

This article contributes to the accounting history literature through an investigation of the realisation and placement of Michelangelo's David from an accountability perspective. Using a contextual approach to thematic archival research, we explore whether and how early dialogic accounting (DA) tools were adopted by a hybrid organisation – the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence – during the period of the statute of David's realisation (1501−1504). Through our analysis of primary and secondary sources, this study sheds light on an early Renaissance accountability system that was based on consensus building and DA. The novel contribution of this study is thus threefold. First, this article adds an early Renaissance analysis to the literature concerning DA. Second, we reveal a new strand of research for accounting historians in regard to the historical period and context of this study. Third, we extend the literature's focus to a hybrid organisation that was financed by the Republic of Florence, associated with the Church and managed by commercial guilds.

Resource modeling aims to explicitly quantify the effects of adopting new health care technologies in settings with capacity-related constraints. The aim of this analysis was to use resource modeling to explore the effects of the uptake of first-line treatment with daratumumab on wait lists and wait times in patients with untreated multiple myeloma. Two formulations were compared: the standard IV formulation (DARA-IV) and a recently approved SC formulation (DARA-SC).First, semi-structured interviews at six oncologic centers were used to retrieve data on the management of patients given a DARA-IV regimen. Second, a discrete event simulation (DES) model was built to estimate the effects on resource consumption, wait lists, and wait times in scenarios with different incident numbers of patients treated with either DARA-IV or DARA-SC.In all of the simulated scenarios with more incident patients initiated on first-line treatment with DARA-IV, the actual capacity of infusion chairs was not enough to meet the demand, leading to increases in wait times and wait lists. In the highest-demand scenario, 17 more infusion chairs per center would be required to avoid such increases. Treatment with DARA-SC would allow centers to meet the demand with their actual capacity.DES modeling can effectively be used to formally explore the effects of different formulations on the use of limited resources, wait lists, and wait times at the facility level. Based on the findings from this analysis, DARA-SC may free up resources and prevent short- and long-term costs to infusion centers.

PurposeDue to the changes in organizational, social, cultural and technological factors, companies from different contexts are shifting towards open forms of strategy-making with more widened inclusion of internal and external actors and greater transparency regarding their strategic issues, including their internationalization processes. The purpose of this paper is to understand how Open Strategizing occurs in the accelerated process of internationalization considering different contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a qualitative comparative case study in Brazilian and English technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which rapidly internationalized. Furthermore, data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documental analysis.FindingsThe authors suggest that openness contributes to the accelerated process of internationalization. Additionally, the authors show that the home-country and the national cultural contexts affect openness. The authors also disclose openness as crucial and inherent to the accelerated process of internationalization, while context is relevant but not determinant in the Open Strategizing.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to Open Strategy (OS) literature by presenting how Open Strategizing unfolds daily during the internationalization process and by evidencing the role of home-country and national cultural contexts in the configuration and dynamics of Open Strategizing. The authors also contribute to the international entrepreneurship (IE) literature by advancing the understanding of the strategies and drivers adopted by technology-based SMEs internationalizing in an accelerated way.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call to action for governments, companies and communities to rebalance the relationship between the economy, the environment and society. Although companies represent a vital partner in achieving the SDGs, the discussion about the involvement of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in such goals is scarce. Drawing upon the ‘powercube’ approach, this research investigates what sustainable development means to SMEs, how they view the SDGs and why they engage – or do not engage – with such goals. Sixteen face-to-face interviews were conducted within rural and urban locations in the UK. The results show that although SMEs are interested in sustainable development, power dynamics impede their understanding and implementation of SDGs guidelines. This research offers to SME managers actionable insights on SDGs' implementation strategies and it provides a research agenda on how institutions and stakeholders can facilitate SMEs adoption of SDGs.

The development of advanced materials for the removal of heavy metal ions is a never-ending quest of environmental remediation. In this study, a facile and cost-effective approach was employed to synthesize copper ferrite (CF) and copper ferrite/reduced graphene oxide (CG) by microwave assisted combustion method for potential removal of barium ions from aqueous medium. The physiochemical characterizations indicated the formation of magnetic nanocomposite with an average crystallite size of CF and CG is 32.4 and 30.3 nm and with specific surface area of 0.66 and 5.74 m2/g. The magnetic results possess multidomain microstructures with saturation magnetization of 37.11 and 33.84 emu/g for CF and CG. The adsorption studies prove that upon addition of rGO on the spherical spinel ferrite, the adsorption performance was greatly improved for CG nanocomposite when compared with the bare CF nanoparticles. The proposed magnetic adsorbent demonstrated a relatively high Ba2+ adsorption capacity of 161.6 mg·g-1 for CG nanocomposite when compared to 86.6 mg·g-1 for CF nanoparticles under optimum conditions ( pH = 7 ; T = 25 ° C ). The pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), and Elovich models were fitted to the kinetic data, the yielded R 2 value of 0.9993 (PSO) for CF and 0.9994 (PSO) for CG which is greater than the other two models, which signify that the adsorption process is chemisorption. Thermodynamic studies show that barium adsorption using CF and CG adsorbents is endothermic. The as-fabricated CuFe2O4/rGO nanocomposite represents a propitious candidate for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions.

Background and purpose: Clinical outcomes of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been thoroughly investigated, but a further analysis on main signs and symptoms and their risk factors still needs attention. The objective of this study was to group together and describe based on similarity the most common signs and symptoms of COVID-19 in MS patients and identify all factors associated with their manifestation. Method: Logistic and linear regression models were run to recognize factors associated with each pooled group of symptoms and their total number. Results: From March 2020 to November 2021, data were collected from 1354 MS patients with confirmed infection of COVID-19. Ageusia and anosmia was less frequent in older people (odds ratio [OR] 0.98; p=0.005) and more in smoker patients (OR 1.39; p=0.049). Smoke was also associated with an incremental number of symptoms (OR 1.24; p=0.031), substance abuse (drugs or alcohol), conjunctivitis and rash (OR 5.20; p=0.042) and the presence of at least one comorbidity with shortness of breath, tachycardia or chest pain (OR 1.24; p=0.008). Some disease-modifying therapies were associated with greater frequencies of certain COVID-19 symptoms (association between anti-CD20 therapies and increment in the number of concomitant symptoms: OR 1.29; p=0.05). Differences in frequencies between the three waves were found for flu-like symptoms (G1, p=0.024), joint or muscle pain (G2, p=0.013) and ageusia and anosmia (G5, p < 0.001). All cases should be referred to variants up to Delta. Conclusion: Several factors along with the choice of specific therapeutic approaches might have a different impact on the occurrence of some COVID-19 symptoms.

This paper examines how the cost of bank debt reflects public information about borrower quality, and whether such information complements or substitutes the private information of banks. Using a sample of small business loans, and the award of a competitive public subsidy as an observable positive signal of external certification, we find that certification is associated with a lower cost of debt for subsidy recipients if the amount of private information of the lender is limited or the local credit market is less competitive. Public information loses importance once the bank accumulates information over the course of the lending relationship or the credit market is more competitive. Our results highlight a positive effect of external certification, driven by the signal it provides to both the lending bank and its competitors, and suggest that public and private information can be substitutes in the pricing of bank debt.

Photovoltaic solar energy has been widely used as an alternative energy source. Composite materials combine the properties of organic polymers, including flexibility and easier processing, with those of inorganic compounds, such as thermal and chemical stability. These characteristics are advantageous to produce materials for organic solar cells. This work aimed to synthesize by casting method and characterize the structure, morphology, chemical, and thermal properties of composite membranes of polysulfone and chitosan (PSF/CS) incorporated with different masses of nickel-zinc ferrite nanoparticles (NZFN) and magnetite nanoparticles (MN). PSF/CS composite membranes incorporated with inorganic nanoparticles were uniform and transparent, evidencing a good dispersion of the nanoparticles and the homogeneity of the synthesized material. The addition of inorganic nanoparticles increases the stability and efficiency of organic substrates making them suitable for different applications in renewable energy systems, such as organic photovoltaic solar cells.

An efficient multicomponent sequential process, which occurs in mild condition has been exploited for the synthesis of systematically modified amphiphilic molecules where the cationic head is tethered to a lipophilic tail through a dihydroorotic acid linker. The process is operatively simple, high yielding, and flexible. Such a strategy could impact combinatorial synthesis of wide libraries of amphiphilic molecules to be tested as transfection agents and/or as antimicrobials.

Background and purpose Some studies have shown that air pollution, often assessed by thin particulate matter with diameter below 2.5 µg/m3 (PM2.5), may contribute to severe COVID‐19 courses, as well as play a role in the onset and evolution of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the impact of air pollution on COVID‐19 has never been explored specifically amongst patients with MS (PwMS). This retrospective observational study aims to explore associations between PM2.5 and COVID‐19 severity amongst PwMS. Methods Data were retrieved from an Italian web‐based platform (MuSC‐19) which includes PwMS with COVID‐19. PM2.5 2016–2018 average concentrations were provided by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service. Italian patients inserted in the platform from 15 January 2020 to 9 April 2021 with a COVID‐19 positive test were included. Ordered logistic regression models were used to study associations between PM2.5 and COVID‐19 severity. Results In all, 1087 patients, of whom 13% required hospitalization and 2% were admitted to an intensive care unit or died, were included. Based on the multivariate analysis, higher concentrations of PM2.5 increased the risk of worse COVID‐19 course (odds ratio 1.90; p = 0.009). Conclusions Even if several other factors explain the unfavourable course of COVID‐19 in PwMS, the role of air pollutants must be considered and further investigated., Air pollution, often assessed by particulate matter with diameter below 2.5 µg/m3, may contribute to severe COVID‐19 courses. 1087 patients were included, of whom 13% required hospitalization and 2% were admitted to an intensive care unit or died. Even if several other factors explain the unfavourable course of COVID‐19 in patients with multiple sclerosis, the role of air pollutants must be considered and further investigated.

To compare the short-term visual and aberrometric outcomes and the long-term capsulotomy incidence in a cohort of patients receiving IOLs with similar structural profile but with a hydrophobic matrix in one eye (PHOB group) and a hydrophilic matrix in the other one (PHIL group).In this retrospective, contralateral study, 26 patients sequentially undergoing phacoemulsification were implanted as mentioned above. Refraction and aberrometry were evaluated 6 months after surgery. For the quality of vision, the Hartmann-Shack optical aberration, Double-Pass Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), contrast sensitivity, and dysphotopsia results were compared. Capsulotomy was ascertained and dated by medical chart revision or phone call.All the considered quantitative and qualitative visual parameters tested statistically comparable between PHIL and PHOB group. After 5 years, four patients (16.7%) in the PHOB group and five patients (20.8%) in the PHIL group underwent a Nd:YAG posterior capsulotomy (P 0.5).In this contralateral comparative study, the hydrophobic and hydrophilic matrix of the IOL similarly influenced the visual and aberrometric outcomes. Also the long-term laser capsulotomy incidence did not statistically differ between groups. The posterior IOL profile, rather than matrix hydrophilia, could consistently influence the posterior capsule opacification.

Multifunctional core@shell nanoparticles have been synthesized in this paper through 3 stages: NiFe2O4 nanoparticles by microwave irradiation using Pedalium murex leaf extract as a fuel, core@shell NiFe2O4@TiO2 nanoparticles by sol-gel, and NiFe2O4@TiO2@rGO by sol-gel using preprepared reduced graphene oxide obtained by modified Hummer’s method. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of both cubic NiFe2O4 spinel and tetragonal TiO2 rutile phases, while Raman spectroscopy analysis displays both D and G bands (ID/IG = 1.04) associated with rGO. Morphological observations by HRTEM reveal a core-shell nanostructure formed by NiFe2O4 core as confirmed by SAED with subsequent thin layers of TiO2 and rGO. Magnetic measurements show a ferromagnetic behavior, where the saturation magnetization drops drastically from 45 emu/g for NiFe2O4 to 15 emu/g after TiO2 and rGO nonmagnetic bilayers coating. The as-fabricated multifunctional core@shell nanostructures demonstrate tunable self-heating characteristics: rise of temperature and specific absorption rate in the range of ΔT = 3–10°C and SAR = 3–58 W/g, respectively. This effectiveness is much close to the threshold temperature of hyperthermia (45°C), and the zones of inhibition show the better effective antibacterial activity of NTG against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains besides simultaneous good efficient, stable, and removable sonophotocatalyst toward the TC degradation.

A simple hydrothermal method is utilized to synthesize iron-doped tin oxide nanoparticles (Fe-SnO2 NPs) at various doping concentrations. The structural characterization using XRD, Raman, and FTIR measurements confirmed the incorporation of Fe ions into the SnO2 lattice without any deviation in the tetragonal crystal system of SnO2 nanoparticles. SEM and HRTEM images show the spherical-shaped nanoparticles with agglomeration. The values of interplanar spacing ( d -value) calculated from the HRTEM lattice are consistent with the XRD results. Further, optical analysis revealed a red shift in the optical absorption band and a decrease in the band gap energy with an increase in Fe-dopant concentration. The decrease of PL emission peak intensity with Fe doping revealed the generation of singly charged oxygen vacancies. The H2O2-assisted photocatalytic degradation efficiency of Fe-SnO2 NPs investigated against crystal violet dye indicated an efficiency of 98% for 0.05 M Fe-SnO2 NPs within 30 minutes under visible light illumination. In addition, the effects of pH, scavengers, and reusability of the catalyst are tested. The antibacterial behavior of Fe-SnO2 NPs against Escherichia coli is examined by using the colony count method, and the inhibition rate was found to be 49, 65, 70, and 78% for pure, 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 M Fe-SnO2 NPs, respectively.

The neuronal protein alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) is crucially involved in Parkinson's disease pathophysiology. Intriguingly, torsinA (TA), the protein causative of DYT1 dystonia, has been found to accumulate in Lewy bodies and to interact with α-Syn. Both proteins act as molecular chaperones and control synaptic machinery. Despite such evidence, the role of α-Syn in dystonia has never been investigated.We explored whether α-Syn and N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion attachment protein receptor proteins (SNAREs), that are known to be modulated by α-Syn, may be involved in DYT1 dystonia synaptic dysfunction.We used electrophysiological and biochemical techniques to study synaptic alterations in the dorsal striatum of the Tor1aIn the Tor1aOur data demonstrate an unprecedented relationship between TA and α-Syn, and reveal that α-Syn and SNAREs alterations characterize the synaptic dysfunction underlying DYT1 dystonia. © 2022 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson Movement Disorder Society.

We investigate the dependence of the Gutenberg–Richter b parameter on the crustal thickness quantified by the Moho depth, for nine different regional catalogs. We find that, for all the catalogs considered in our study, the b-value is larger in areas presenting a thicker crust. This result appears in apparent contradiction with previous findings of a b decreasing with the focal depth. However, both the results are consistent with acoustic emission experiments, indicating a b-value inversely proportion to the applied differential stress. Our results can be indeed interpreted as the signature of a larger stress concentration in areas presenting a thinner crust. This is compatible with the scenario where postseismic deformation plays a central role in stress concentration and in aftershock triggering.

The so-called BGMS10, a bioactive glass containing 10 mol.% SrO and 10 mol.% MgO, displays a low inclination to crystallize, as confirmed by its high activation energy (538.9 kJ/mol). Such peculiar aspect and the beneficial use of SPS allow for the obtainment of 99.7 % dense and fully amorphous products at 750 °C. The incipient crystallization in the glass is observed when temperature is increased to 850 °C, while 95 wt. % crystallized ceramics are produced at 950 °C. Main crystalline phases are α- and β-CaSiO3, with grain size of 89 and 97 nm, respectively. Glass crystallization is accompanied by Young’s modulus increase from 90.92 to 98.38 GPa. On the other hand, partially crystallized samples (850 °C) exhibit higher Vickers hardness (718.8) compared to fully crystallized ones (619.8), which show lower density (98.6%). In-vitro tests in SBF indicate that the silica-gel film preceding apatite nucleation is mostly formed on the amorphous substrate region.

The dependency of CO2 reduction rate in acetonitrile-Bu4NClO4 solution on cathodes, which were modified by laser induction of a copper surface, was studied. The topography of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) → grooves → spikes was successively formed by a certain number of pulses. It was proved that for a higher number of laser pulses, the surface area of the copper cathode increases and preferred platy orientation of the copper surface on [022] crystallografic direction and larger fluence values increase. At the same time, the content of copper (I) oxide on the surface of the copper cathode increases. Also, the tendency to larger fluency values is observed. It promotes the increase of cathodic current density for CO2 reduction, which reaches values of 14 mA cm-2 for samples with spikes surface structures at E = − 3.0 V upon a stable process.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder with motor symptoms. The neuropathological alterations characterizing the brain of patients with PD include the loss of dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal system and the presence of Lewy bodies (LB), intraneuronal inclusions that are mainly composed of alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) fibrils. The accumulation of α-Syn in insoluble aggregates is a main neuropathological feature in PD and in other neurodegenerative diseases, including LB dementia (LBD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA), which are therefore defined as synucleinopathies. Compelling evidence supports that α-Syn post translational modifications (PTMs) such as phosphorylation, nitration, acetylation, O-GlcNAcylation, glycation, SUMOylation, ubiquitination and C-terminal cleavage, play important roles in the modulation α-Syn aggregation, solubility, turnover and membrane binding. In particular, PTMs can impact on α-Syn conformational state, thus supporting that their modulation can in turn affect α-Syn aggregation and its ability to seed further soluble α-Syn fibrillation. This review focuses on the importance of α-Syn PTMs in PD pathophysiology but also aims at highlighting their general relevance as possible biomarkers and, more importantly, as innovative therapeutic targets for synucleinopathies. In addition, we call attention to the multiple challenges that we still need to face to enable the development of novel therapeutic approaches modulating α-Syn PTMs.

Social impressions are fundamental in our daily interactions with other people but forming accurate impressions of our social partners can be biased to different extents. Loneliness has previously been suggested to induce biases that hinder the formation of accurate impressions of others for successful social bonding. Here, we demonstrated that despite counterfactual evidence, negative first impressions bias information weighting, leading to less favorable trustworthiness beliefs. Lonely individuals did not only have more negative expectations of others’ social behavior, but they also manifested a stronger weighting bias. Reduced orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) activity was associated with a stronger weighting bias in lonelier individuals and mediated the relationship between loneliness and this weighting bias. Importantly, stronger coupling between OFC and temporoparietal junction compensated for such effects, promoting more positive trustworthiness beliefs. These findings bear potential for future basic and clinical investigations on social cognition and the development of clinical symptoms linked to loneliness.

The connection between the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) is inspected in a suite of pre-industrial integrations from the 6th phase of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP6), using a change-point detection method to identify different AMOC-AMV co-variability regimes. A key finding of this study is that models robustly simulate multi-decadal windows where the AMV and the AMOC are essentially uncorrelated. These regimes coexist with longer periods with relatively high correlation. Drops and recoveries of correlation are found to be often abrupt and confined in a temporal window of the order of 10 years. Phenomenological evidence suggests that the no-correlation regimes may be explained by drops in the variance of the AMOC: a less variable meridional heat transport leads to a suppressed co-variability of the AMV, leaving a larger role for non-AMOC drivers, consistent with a non-stationary AMOC-stationary noise interpretative framework.

Exchanges of momentum, energy and mass between the ocean and atmosphere are of large importance in regulating the climate system. Here we apply the Liang-Kleeman rate of information transfer to quantify interactions between the upper ocean and lower atmosphere over the period 1988-2017 at monthly time scale in two different case studies. In the first case study, we investigate dynamical dependencies between sea-surface temperature (SST), SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in satellite observations. We find a strong two-way influence between SST or SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in many regions of the world, with largest values in eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in western boundary currents. The total number of regions with a significant influence of turbulent heat flux on SST and SST tendency is reduced when considering the three variables, suggesting an overall stronger ocean influence compared to the atmosphere. In the second case study, we focus on the influence of ocean heat transport convergence (dynamical influence) and net surface heat flux (thermodynamical influence) on upper ocean heat content tendency in three global climate models with at least two different ocean resolutions. We find that low-resolution model configurations (1° in the ocean) show a much larger number of regions with a significant dynamical influence compared to high-resolution model configurations. The reason for the large difference in dynamical influence between low and high resolutions partly comes from the spatial distribution of ocean velocity field, which displays a larger spatial variability at high resolution.

Understanding long-term committed climate change due to anthropogenic forcing is key to inform climate policies, yet these timescales are still under-explored. We present here a set of 1000-year long abrupt stabilization simulations performed with EC-Earth3. Each simulation follows a sudden stabilization of the external forcing at the level specified by CMIP6 for historical (1990) or SSP5-8.5 scenario (2025, 2050, 2065, 2080, 2100) conditions, with a final temperature increase ranging between 1.4 and 9.6 K with respect to the pre-industrial baseline. Remarkably, the simulation stabilized at a level of greenhouse gases (GHGs) close to present-day (2025) well exceeds in the long term the Paris agreement goals of 1.5 and 2 degrees warming above pre-industrial, and only the 1990 simulation leads to a stabilized climate below 1.5 degrees warming. We first focus on the evolution of the climate response at multi-centennial timescales and its dependence on the level of forcing. Surface warming patterns evolve during the course of the simulations, with the most striking feature being a drastic acceleration of the warming in the Southern Ocean. The patterns of precipitation change also evolve during the stabilization runs: the drying trends found in the sub-tropical oceans and in Mediterranean-like hotspots in the SSP5-8.5 scenario tend to reduce, or even to reverse. We finally focus on the rate of heat storage in the global ocean, which is the main driver of the climate response at multi-centennial timescales. We find that the rate of warming of the deep ocean is almost independent from the amplitude of the forcing, so that most of the additional heat remains in the upper layers at high forcing. We hypothesize that this is due – at least partly – to a decreased ventilation of the deep ocean, caused by changes in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The results highlight the importance of studying multi-centennial timescales of climate change to better understand the response of the deep ocean, which will play a crucial role in determining the final state of the climate system once GHGs concentrations are stabilized.

Silicene nanostrips (SiNSs) have garnered significant attention due to their remarkable physical properties, making them an ideal candidate for numerous electronics and plasmonics applications. Their compatibility with current semiconductor technology further enhances their potential. This study aims to investigate the electronic and plasmonic properties of SiNSs with a minimum width of 100 nm using a semi-analytical model that utilizes the carrier velocity of silicene. The carrier velocity was calculated using density functional computations and refined through the GW approximation. Our results reveal that SiNSs with widths ranging from 100 to 500 nm exhibit small bandgaps within the range of a few meV, specifically ranging from 30 to 6 meV, respectively. Furthermore, all the nanostrips analyzed in this study exhibit a q-like plasmon dispersion within the THz regime (≤ 35 THz). By varying the experimental setup or the geometric factors of the nanostrips, the associated plasmon THz frequency can be manipulated, resulting in an increase or decrease in frequency or a shift to larger momentum values. Our study serves as a fundamental starting point and a source of inspiration for future experiments, providing a foundation for confirming the results presented in this study.

Impaired glucose and lipid metabolism are known side effects of the anti-psychotic drug olanzapine. A single bolus of olanzapine induces a rapid rise in blood glucose, circulating fatty acids, and ketones. Strategies to offset these impairments in metabolism are of great interest. Our lab has demonstrated that interventions such as exercise, fasting, and ketogenic diets are effective at reducing olanzapine induced hyperglycemia. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) is a secreted protein that is induced by these interventions. We hypothesized that increased FGF-21 may be a common protective factor in reducing the hyperglycemic response to olanzapine. Our aim was to test if altered FGF-21 concentrations impacted the glycemic response to olanzapine. To increase FGF-21, male mice were fed a low-fat diet (10% Kcal) supplemented with Fenofibrate (0.2% w/w) or a matched control diet for 7 days prior to injection of Olanzapine or vehicle control. The fenofibrate diet significantly increased circulating FGF-21 concentrations (LFD: 744±404pg/ml, Fen: 3187±1050pg/ml, p=0.001, N=14). Olanzapine increased glycemia and circulating fatty acids but mice on the fenofibrate diet had an attenuated glycemic response to olanzapine and reduced circulating fatty acids compared to mice fed the control diet (Area under curve LFD: 1321±354 AU, Fen:1783±70 AU, P=0.0014, N=7). We also investigated if the loss of FGF-21 would lead to an increased glycemic response to olanzapine. In FGF-21 knockout mice, olanzapine induced a larger hyperglycemic response compared to olanzapine treated controls (Area under curve FGF-21 KO: 1788±280 AU, Con:1413±373 AU, p=0.00072, N=12). FGF-21 knockout, however, did not reduce the effect of olanzapine on serum non-esterified fatty acids or beta-hydroxybutyrate. These data show that FGF-21 may determine the extent of the hyperglycemic response to olanzapine and increasing FGF-21 may also offset the impairments in lipid metabolism. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Purpose: Germline mutations in genes encoding mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) are found in patients with paragangliomas, pheochromocytomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and renal cancers. SDH inactivation leads to a massive accumulation of succinate, acting as an oncometabolite and which levels, assessed on surgically resected tissue are a highly specific biomarker of SDHx-mutated tumors. The aim of this study was to address the feasibility of detecting succinate in vivo by magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Experimental Design: A pulsed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) sequence was developed, optimized, and applied to image nude mice grafted with Sdhb−/− or wild-type chromaffin cells. The method was then applied to patients with paraganglioma carrying (n = 5) or not (n = 4) an SDHx gene mutation. Following surgery, succinate was measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and SDH protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in resected tumors.Results: A succinate peak was observed at 2.44 ppm by 1H-MRS in all Sdhb−/−-derived tumors in mice and in all paragangliomas of patients carrying an SDHx gene mutation, but neither in wild-type mouse tumors nor in patients exempt of SDHx mutation. In one patient, 1H-MRS results led to the identification of an unsuspected SDHA gene mutation. In another case, it helped define the pathogenicity of a variant of unknown significance in the SDHB gene.Conclusions: Detection of succinate by 1H-MRS is a highly specific and sensitive hallmark of SDHx mutations. This noninvasive approach is a simple and robust method allowing in vivo detection of the major biomarker of SDHx-mutated tumors. Clin Cancer Res; 22(5); 1120–9. ©2015 AACR.