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Background: CD4 + (cluster of differentation) and CD8 + T cells are increased in the ocular fluids of patients with neovascular retinopathy, yet their role in the disease process is unknown. Methods: We describe how CD8 + T cells migrate into the retina and contribute to pathological angiogenesis by releasing cytokines and cytotoxic factors. Results: In oxygen-induced retinopathy, flow cytometry revealed the numbers of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells were increased in blood, lymphoid organs, and retina throughout the development of neovascular retinopathy. Interestingly, the depletion of CD8 + T cells but not CD4 + T cells reduced retinal neovascularization and vascular leakage. Using reporter mice expressing gfp (green fluorescence protein) in CD8 + T cells, these cells were localized near neovascular tufts in the retina, confirming that CD8 + T cells contribute to the disease. Furthermore, the adoptive transfer of CD8 + T cells deficient in TNF (tumor necrosis factor), IFNγ (interferon gamma), Prf (perforin), or GzmA/B (granzymes A/B) into immunocompetent Rag1 −/− mice revealed that CD8 + T cells mediate retinal vascular disease via these factors, with TNF influencing all aspects of vascular pathology. The pathway by which CD8 + T cells migrate into the retina was identified as CXCR3 (C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 3) with the CXCR3 blockade reducing the number of CD8 + T cells within the retina and retinal vascular disease. Conclusions: We discovered that CXCR3 is central to the migration of CD8 + T cells into the retina as the CXCR3 blockade reduced the number of CD8 + T cells within the retina and vasculopathy. This research identified an unappreciated role for CD8 + T cells in retinal inflammation and vascular disease. Reducing CD8 + T cells via their inflammatory and recruitment pathways is a potential treatment for neovascular retinopathies.

This article introduces a recently developed synthetic dataset generator, which contains anonymised data from the Prague University of Economics and Business information system logs. The generator is opensource and is able to scale this data time-wise and also perform injection of the data with cyberattackers’ behaviour patterns. The anonymised data still contains user behaviour patterns; therefore, individual anomalous behaviour can be detected. Different types of real attack behaviour patterns in the university environment have been selected; they are used to demonstrate attackers’ behaviour in synthetically created system logs. The mentioned features allow other researchers to benchmark their anomaly detection algorithms with complex data.

Differences in neonatal pharmacokinetics are known to cause systemic accumulation of levobupivacaine with adverse effects during epidural analgesia. Therefore, it is not recommended to surpass 48 hours of administration in neonates. Free and total levobupivacaine levels are considered as predictors of toxicity.The aim of the LEVON pilot study was to detect the accumulation of levobupivacaine during epidural analgesia exceeding 48 hours in neonates.Ten neonates received a loading dose of levobupivacaine (1.25 mg/kg) followed by a continuous infusion (0.2 mg/kg/hour) epidurally. Free and total levobupivacaine concentrations were measured 0.5, 1, 6, 12, 36, 72 and 144 hours after the start of infusion. Cumulative doses of levobupivacaine, pain scores and clinical signs of toxicity were used for assessing efficacy and safety.The median concentrations of total levobupivacaine were 586.0, 563.0, 837.5, 957.0, 1930.0, 708.5 and 357.5 ng/ml. The median concentrations of free levobupivacaine were 4.0, 3.6, 5.5, 3.6, 5.5, 0.8 and 0.0 ng/ml. Three patients reached concerning concentrations of total levobupivacaine. Levels of free levobupivacaine remained low. No signs of toxicity were observed.Caudal epidural analgesia with levobupivacaine lasting longer than 48 hours appears to be safe providing that free levobupivacaine levels are below the presumed threshold for toxicity (Tab. 1, Fig. 1, Ref. 29). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: free levobupivacaine, total levobupivacaine, neonate, caudal continuous epidural analgesia, postoperative pain.

L’irrégularité des pluies ainsi que les fortes températures sont des facteurs limitant la croissance des espèces végétales qui vivent dans les zones arides en Algérie, ce qui a pour conséquence une réduction du couvert végétale, favorisant ainsi la désertification. La plantation d’espèces résistantes à la sécheresse présente un avantage certain dans le repeuplement de ces zones et la lutte contre l’érosion des terres. Le robinier, Robinia pseudoacacia L., fait partie de la famille des légumineuses fixatrices d’azote, ce qui lui confère une aptitude à coloniser des sols pauvres en minéraux. Grâce à sa multiplication végétative rapide, le robinier permettrait de recoloniser des zones menacées par la sécheresse. L’étude du comportement physiologique des jeunes plants de R. pseudoacacia L., en conditions de stress hydrique est importante afin d’évaluer la résistance de cette espèce, ainsi que sa capacité à vivre dans des zones exposées à de faibles précipitations. Après dix semaines de croissance, un arrêt d’arrosage de quatre semaines est appliqué sur de jeunes plants de R. pseudoacacia. Cette contrainte induit une diminution significative de la croissance après deux semaines d’arrêt d’arrosage. Cette réduction s’accompagne d’un arrêt de formation de nouvelles feuilles. La teneur relative en eau des feuilles (TRE), diminue progressivement durant cette même période pour atteindre 78 %, puis chute après quatre semaines d’arrêt d’arrosage. Une diminution significative de la conductance stomatique est observée à partir de la deuxième semaine d’arrêt d’arrosage afin de réduire la quantité d’eau perdue par transpiration stomatique. Une reprise de la croissance ainsi qu’une augmentation de la teneur en eau et de la conductance stomatique des feuilles sont observées chez les plants stressés après une semaine de réarrosage. Le robinier présenterait donc une bonne capacité à reprendre une activité physiologique normale après un arrêt d’arrosage de quatre semaines.

This study investigated the effect of germination time (0, 24, 48 and 72 h) on the physicochemical characteristics, in vitro starch digestibility and microstructural changes in Bambara groundnut starch. The starch yield, lightness (L*) value, amylose content and resistant starch contents of isolated starches decreased significantly (

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the reliability of peak interleukin-6 (IL-6) level within 24 hours after delivery as a predictor for early-onset sepsis (EOS) in very preterm neonates. Interleukin-6 was assessed at 2 hours and at 12 to 24 hours after delivery. The highest level was considered a peak value. The definition of EOS was based on positive blood culture and clinical signs of infection or negative blood culture, clinical signs of infection, and C-reactive protein >10 mg/L. Among 445 enrolled infants, 53 developed EOS. A peak IL-6 level of more than 200 ng/L had a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 77% for the presence of EOS. The negative predictive value was 98%. Receiver operating characteristics curve had area under the curve of 0.92. Peak IL-6 is a reliable marker of systemic inflammatory response and might be useful to exclude EOS within the first 24 hours.

Disabled people can benefit greatly from assistive digital technologies. However, this increased human-machine symbiosis makes it important that systems are personalized and transparent to users. Existing work often uses data-oriented approaches. However, these approaches lack transparency and make it hard to influence the system’s behavior. In this paper, we use knowledgebased techniques for personalization, introducing the concept of Semantic User Models for representing the behavior, values and capabilities of users. To allow the system to construct such a user model, we investigate the use of a conversational agent which can elicit the relevant information from users through dialogue. A conversational interface is essential for our case study of navigation support for visually impaired people, but in general, has the potential to enhance transparency as users know what the system represents about them. For such a dialogue to be effective, it is crucial that the user understands what the conversational agent is asking, i.e., that misalignments that decrease the transparency are avoided or resolved. In this paper, we investigate whether we can use a conversational agent for Semantic User Model elicitation, which types of misalignments can occur in this process and how they are related, and how misalignments can be reduced. We investigate this in two (iterative) qualitative studies (n ¼ 7 & n ¼ 8) with visually impaired people in which a personalized user model for navigation support is elicited via a dialogue with a conversational agent. Our results show four hierarchically structured levels of humanagent misalignment. We identify several design solutions for reducing misalignments, which point to the need for restricting the generic user model to what is needed in the domain under consideration. With this research, we lay a foundation for conversational agents capable of eliciting Semantic User Models.

Sonchus oleraceus (L.) L. (sow thistle) is an underutilised functional leafy vegetable with both high nutritional and pharmacological values. In the current study, high performance liquid chromatography ion trap time-of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-IT-Tof-MS)-based metabolomics in combination with principal component analysis (PCA) were used to provide an overall phytochemical composition of different tissues (leaf, stem and roots) of this underutilised plant. A total of 32 phytochemicals, comprising hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids and terpene classes were identified across the three different tissues of S. oleraceus. The study used the new approach of colour coded PCA models to info-graphically depict the metabolic profiles across different parts of the plant. The results of the current study indicate S. oleraceus as a potential source of metabolites with highly claimed nutraceutical properties. As such, the results herein can be used as a template reference for further biological studies aimed at the evaluation of nutraceutical properties of the S. oleraceus plant.

Segmentation helps interpret imaging data in a biological context. With the development of powerful tools for automated segmentation, public repositories for imaging data have added support for sharing and visualizing segmentations, creating the need for interactive web-based visualization of 3D volume segmentations. To address the ongoing challenge of integrating and visualizing multimodal data, we developed Mol* Volumes and Segmentations (Mol*VS), which enables the interactive, web-based visualization of cellular imaging data supported by macromolecular data and biological annotations. Mol*VS is fully integrated into Mol* Viewer, which is already used for visualization by several public repositories. All EMDB and EMPIAR entries with segmentation datasets are accessible via Mol*VS, which supports the visualization of data from a wide range of electron and light microscopy experiments. Additionally, users can run a local instance of Mol*VS to visualize and share custom datasets in generic or application-specific formats including volumes in .ccp4, .mrc, and .map, and segmentations in EMDB-SFF .hff, Amira .am, iMod .mod, and Segger .seg. Mol*VS is open source and freely available at https://molstarvolseg.ncbr.muni.cz/.

The AlphaFold2 prediction algorithm opened up the possibility of exploring proteins’ structural space at an unprecedented scale. Currently, >200 million protein structures predicted by this approach are deposited in AlphaFoldDB, covering entire proteomes of multiple organisms, including humans. Predicted structures are, however, stored without detailed functional annotations describing their chemical behaviour. Partial atomic charges, which map electron distribution over a molecule and provide a clue to its chemical reactivity, are an important example of such data. We introduce the web application αCharges: a tool for the quick calculation of partial atomic charges for protein structures from AlphaFoldDB. The charges are calculated by the recent empirical method SQE+qp, parameterised for this class of molecules using robust quantum mechanics charges (B3LYP/6-31G*/NPA) on PROPKA3 protonated structures. The computed partial atomic charges can be downloaded in common data formats or visualised via the powerful Mol* viewer. The αCharges application is freely available at https://alphacharges.ncbr.muni.cz with no login requirement.

Real-time genome monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic outbreak is of utmost importance for designing diagnostic tools, guiding antiviral treatment and vaccination strategies. In this study, we present an accurate method for temporal and geographical comparison of mutational events based on GISAID database genome sequencing. Among 42523 SARS-CoV-2 genomes analyzed, we found 23202 variants compared to the reference genome. The Ti/Tv (transition/transversion) ratio was used to filter out possible false-positive errors. Transition mutations generally occurred more frequently than transversions. Our clustering analysis revealed remarkable hotspot mutation patterns for SARS-CoV-2. Mutations were clustered based on how their frequencies changed over time according to each geographical location. We observed some clusters showing a clear variation in mutation frequency and continuously evolving in the world. However, many mutations appeared in specific periods without a clear pattern over time. Various important nonsynonymous mutations were observed, mainly in Oceania and Asia. More than half of these mutations were observed only once. Four hotspot mutations were found in all geographical locations at least once: T265I (NSP2), P314L (NSP12), D614G (S), and Q57H (ORF3a). The current analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes provides valuable information on the geographical and temporal mutational evolution of SARS-CoV-2.

Since their development, social media has grown as a source of information and has a significant impact on opinion formation. Individuals interact with others and content via social media platforms in a variety of ways but it remains unclear how decision making and associated neural processes are impacted by the online sharing of informational content, from factual to fabricated. Here, we use EEG to estimate dynamic reconfigurations of brain networks and probe the neural changes underlying opinion change (or formation) within individuals interacting with a simulated social media platform. Our findings indicate that the individuals who changed their opinions are characterized by less frequent network reconfigurations while those who did not change their opinions tend to have more flexible brain networks with frequent reconfigurations. The nature of these frequent network configurations suggests a fundamentally different thought process between intervals in which individuals are easily influenced by social media and those in which they are not. We also show that these reconfigurations are distinct to the brain dynamics during an in-person discussion with strangers on the same content. Together, these findings suggest that brain network reconfigurations may not only be diagnostic to the informational context but also the underlying opinion formation.Author SummaryDistinctive neural underpinnings of opinion formation and change during in-person and online social interactions are not well understood. Here, we analyze EEG recordings of the participants interacting with a simulated social media platform and during an in-person discussion using a network-based analysis approach. We show that the structure of network reconfigurations during these interactions is diagnostic of the opinion change and the context in which information was received.

Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic ability of multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in very preterm infants assessed for risk of early onset neonatal sepsis (EOS). Methods Prospective observational cohort study. Blood samples of preterm neonates ≤32 weeks of gestation were evaluated by commercial multiplex real-time PCR within 2 h after delivery. The definition of EOS was based on positive blood culture and clinical signs of infection or negative blood culture, clinical signs of infection and abnormal neonatal blood count and serum biomarkers. Results Among 82 subjects analyzed in the study, 15 had clinical or confirmed EOS. PCR was positive in four of these infants (including the only one with a positive blood culture), as well as in 15 of the 67 infants without sepsis (sensitivity 27%, specificity 78%). Out of 19 PCR positive subjects, Escherichia coli was detected in 12 infants (63%). Statistically significant association was found between vaginal E. coli colonization of the mother and E. coli PCR positivity of the neonate (p=0.001). No relationship was found between neonatal E. coli swab results and assessment findings of bacterial DNA in neonatal blood stream. Conclusions Multiplex real-time PCR had insufficient diagnostic capability for EOS in high risk very preterm infants. The study revealed no significant association between PCR results and the diagnosis of clinical EOS. Correlation between maternal vaginal swab results and positive PCR in the newborn needs further investigation to fully understand the role of bacterial DNA analysis in preterm infants.

The objective of this analysis was to determine the generalizability of the relationship between different samples of a driver’s perceived state after cannabis use and related performance while operating a motor vehicle. Data were collected from 52 subjects in a study examining the effects of cannabis on driving performance. Data were analyzed using the SAS GLM Select procedure, using stepwise selection, with subjective effects, dosing condition (placebo vs. 6.18% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]), and driving context as independent measures. Correlation matrices of measures of driving performance against subjective responses and dosing condition used Pearson’s and Spearman’s test statistics, respectively. Results were compared to a prior study from a sample of 10 subjects. Subjective perceptions of acute cannabis impairment remain significant predictors of driving performance and explain individual variability in driving performance degradation as well as the data, beyond that which can be explained by acute use of cannabis alone. However, the significant subjective predictors of driving performance differ between the current and prior studies. To better understand these differences, correlations between subjective effects and performance measures were evaluated, which revealed that most correlations matched directionally (e.g., an increase in “good drug effect” was correlated with an increase in standard deviation of lane position [SDLP]). When there was a mismatch, 1 or more correlations were insignificant. Dosing condition and “stoned” were perfectly consistent; “high” and “sedated” contained 1 mismatch; and “anxious,” “good drug effect” and “restless” contained 3 or more mismatches. The results indicate that across both studies, differences in the perceived effects of cannabis are reflected in changes in both lateral and longitudinal control beyond the acute effects of cannabis, which may help explain individual variability in response to acute intoxication. However, the generalizability of these findings is lacking, as shown by inconsistencies in when and where subjective effects were significant. Other factors such as frequency of use, usage type, the evolving profile of a cannabis user, as well as other individual differences should be considered to explain this additional variability.

HLA-DRB4*01:165N exhibits deletion of a nucleotide in exon 3, producing a premature stop codon.

Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecium, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, and Enterobacter aerogenes (ESKAPE) bacterial group is well noted for drug resistance. These strains cause various diseases and in doing so, utilize various ways to resist a broad range of antibiotics. Susceptibility to antibiotics amongst ESKAPE bacteria is rapidly declining, and therefore, there is a need to explore alternative ways to deal with ESKAPE-related conditions by utilizing bacterial compounds. The compounds used in this study were derived from secondary metabolites of Staphylococci stains (S saprophyticus [ATCC 35552], S. aureus [isolated from milk of mastitic cows], and S. epidermidis [ATCC 51625]. These compounds were screened, identified and evaluated for cytotoxicity beforehand. Such compounds included Veratramine, 1,2,6-Hexanetriol, Succinic acid, 4-Methyl-pentyl-amine; from S. saprophyticus, Fluoranthene, 3-Methyl-2-phenyl-1H-pyrrole, and Cyclo (L-Leu-L-Propyl) and from S. epidermidis, Oleamide and Methyl palmitate. However, Fluoranthene is excluded in this study as it previously exhibited cytotoxicity against Vero cells, therefore, is considered unsuitable as a prospective antimicrobial agent. Prior to exploring the antimicrobial properties of Staphylococci-derived compounds, the susceptibility of ESKAPE bacteria was tested against the antibiotic regimens as per South African guidelines. The investigations on antibiotics susceptibility were carried out to compare the susceptibility of ESKAPE bacteria to known antibiotics against Staphylococci-derived compounds. The antimicrobial properties of the compounds were evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively by TLC bioautography and a broth microdilution method, respectively. In this study, we found that all the compounds did not exhibit any antimicrobial properties against the ESKAPE bacteria except for Succinic acid, which exhibited its efficacy against A. baumannii with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 62.5 µg/mL.

Summary Every protein family has a set of characteristic secondary structures. However, due to individual variations, a single structure is not enough to represent the whole family. OverProt can create a secondary structure consensus, showing the general fold of the family as well as its variation. Our server provides precomputed results for all CATH superfamilies and user-defined computations, visualized by an interactive viewer, which shows the secondary structure element type, length, frequency of occurrence, spatial variability and β-connectivity. Availability and implementation OverProt Server is freely available at https://overprot.ncbr.muni.cz. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

In this article, we describe how neuroscience can be used in the study of team dynamics. Specifically, we point out methodological limitations in current team-based research and explain how quantitative electroencephalogram technology can be applied to the study of emergent processes in teams. In so doing, we describe how this technology and related analyses can explain emergent processes in teams through an example of the neural assessment of attention of team members who are engaged in a problem-solving task. Specifically, we demonstrate how the real-time, continuous neural signatures of team members’ attention in a problem-solving context emerges in teams over time. We then consider how further development of this technology might advance our understanding of the emergence of other team-based constructs and research questions. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Emerging experimental evidence suggests tau pathology spreads between neuroanatomically connected brain regions in a prion-like manner in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tau seeding, the ability of prion-like tau to recruit and misfold naïve tau to generate new seeds, is detected early in human AD brains before the development of major tau pathology. Many antitumour drugs have been reported to confer protection against neurodegeneration, supporting the repurposing of approved and experimental or investigational oncology drugs for AD therapy. In this study, we evaluated whether antitumour drugs that abrogate the generation of seed-competent aggregates of tau Repeat 3 (R3) domain peptides can prevent tau seeding and toxicity in Tau-RD P301S FRET Biosensor cells and Caenorhabditis elegans. We demonstrate that drugs that interact with the N-terminal VQIVYK or the C-terminal region housing the Cys322 prevent R3 dimerisation, abolishing the generation of prion-like R3 seeds. Preformed R3 seeds (fibrils) capped with, or R3 seeds formed in the presence of VQIVYK- or Cys322-targeting drugs have a reduced potency to cause aggregation of naïve tau in biosensor cells and protect worms from aggregate toxicity. These findings indicate that VQIVYK- or Cys322-targeting drugs may act as prophylactic agents against tau seeding.

Introduction Sleep markers can assess prodromal risk for neurodegenerative disorders (NDD). In a recent study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, most isolated REM sleep behavior disorder patients preferred knowing about their risk for parkinsonism or dementia. In their email survey, patients indicated a strong preference for disclosure of prognostic NDD risk in order to spur family discussions and plan for the future. For this pilot study, the Mayo questions were modified in order to investigate the perspectives and preferences of community-based adults about potentially being at-risk of a NDD and how it might impact their lives. Methods A brief survey was administered to Rotary Club attendees prior to a presentation on sleep and neurodegenerative disease. Each question offered five responses: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly agree. Personal identifiers were not obtained. Thirty-four surveys were completed from approximately equal numbers of older men and women with estimated ages above 50 years. Personal information were not obtained (e.g., age and sex). Results When asked whether it was important to know their NDD risk given the fact that there are no known methods to prevent or cure the disease, most (83%) strongly agreed or agreed, while only 18% preferred not to know their NDD risk. The majority felt they would be more pessimistic about their future if identified as being at risk of NDD the (62% strongly agreed/agreed). Most believed their priorities and plans for living life would change (68% strongly agreed/agreed). Further, the vast majority felt that knowing NDD risk would help them plan for the future (89% strongly agreed/agreed), including planning for health resources and support (88% strongly agreed/agreed). Conclusion Eighty-three percent of those surveyed reported they would benefit from knowing if they were at risk of NDD, even though the majority would feel more pessimistic about their future. The vast majority (89%) responded that knowing their NDD risk would help them plan for the future. These results suggest that most community adults might be receptive to future sleep screening for NDD with results. Investigations are underway to confirm these findings in a broader community-based study. Support (if any) NIA-R44AG050326

Understanding how ion channels gate is important for elucidating their physiological roles and targeting them in pathophysiological states. Here, we used SthK, a cyclic nucleotide-modulated channel from Spirochaeta thermophila, to define a ligand-gating trajectory that includes multiple on-pathway intermediates. cAMP is a poor partial agonist for SthK and depolarization increases SthK activity. Tuning the energy landscape by gain-of-function mutations in the voltage sensor domain (VSD) allowed us to capture multiple intermediates along the ligand-activation pathway, highlighting the allosteric linkage between VSD, cyclic nucleotide-binding (CNBD) and pore domains. Small, lateral displacements of the VSD S4 segment were necessary to open the intracellular gate, pointing to an inhibitory VSD at rest. We propose that in wild-type SthK, depolarization leads to such VSD displacements resulting in release of inhibition. In summary, we report conformational transitions along the activation pathway that reveal allosteric couplings between key sites integrating to open the intracellular gate.

Data literacy is regarded as a critical competence for the 21st century as the range of skills and knowledge needed to handle data is now essential in our personal and professional lives. There is a widening gap between the demand for a data-literate workforce and the supply of properly trained individuals with data skills. This gap is increasingly recognized by universities, with some now prioritizing data skills for students to ensure that they are fully equipped for the future. Higher education has recognized data literacy as an important learning outcome to help students survive and thrive in this complex job market.There have been efforts to develop a data literacy competency framework to enhance our understanding of conceptions of data literacy and demonstrate how required data literacy skills and knowledge should be characterized. Such data literacy competency frameworks are found in multiple disciplines, including information science, computer science, and statistics. They serve as a descriptive tool that outlines and integrates the knowledge and skills needed to perform a specific job within the workforce and a guide for curriculum development and self-assessment tool for the students. This poster presentation will illustrate the preliminary results of a comparative analysis of data literacy competency frameworks to identify a set of common core competencies.

In this paper, a wide bandwidth (20 GHz) and small sized (200×200×50 µm3) terahertz (THz) square graphene ribbon antenna using Photonic Band Gap (PBG) substrate are investigated in the 0.6–0.8 THz band. The proposed antenna consists of graphene as radiating patch mounted on four types of ground plane. The important aim of this work is to eliminate the second resonance frequency by utilize a several types of ground plane and keep a single frequency by improving the performance of the proposed antenna. The effect of change ground plane on the performance of antenna is compared, in terms of reflection coefficient, bandwidth, directivity and radiation pattern. The antenna has achieved good gain (7.62 dB) and good directivity (6.38 dB) in comparison to work reported in the literature.

Poplars are among the fastest-growing trees and significant resources in agriculture and forestry. However, rapid growth requires a large water consumption, and irrigation water provides a natural means for pathogen spread. That includes members of Phytophthora spp. that have proven to be a global enemy to forests. With the known adaptability to new hosts, it is only a matter of time for more aggressive Phytophthora species to become a threat to poplar forests and plantations. Here, the effects of artificial inoculation with two different representatives of aggressive species (P. cactorum and P. plurivora) were analyzed in the proteome of the Phytophthora-tolerant hybrid poplar clone T-14 [Populus tremula L. 70 × (Populus × canescens (Ait.) Sm. 23)]. Wood microcore samples were collected at the active necrosis borders to provide insight into the molecular processes underlying the observed tolerance to Phytophthora. The analysis revealed the impact of Phytophthora on poplar primary and secondary metabolism, including carbohydrate-active enzymes, amino acid biosynthesis, phenolic metabolism, and lipid metabolism, all of which were confirmed by consecutive metabolome and lipidome profiling. Modulations of enzymes indicating systemic response were confirmed by the analysis of leaf proteome, and sampling of wood microcores in distal locations revealed proteins with abundance correlating with proximity to the infection, including germin-like proteins, components of proteosynthesis, glutamate carboxypeptidase, and an enzyme that likely promotes anthocyanin stability. Finally, the identified Phytophthora-responsive proteins were compared to those previously found in trees with compromised defense against Phytophthora, namely, Quercus spp. and Castanea sativa. That provided a subset of candidate markers of Phytophthora tolerance, including certain ribosomal proteins, auxin metabolism enzymes, dioxygenases, polyphenol oxidases, trehalose-phosphate synthase, mannose-1-phosphate guanylyltransferase, and rhamnose biosynthetic enzymes. In summary, this analysis provided the first insight into the molecular mechanisms of hybrid poplar defense against Phytophthora and identified prospective targets for improving Phytophthora tolerance in trees.

Cadmium is one of the most toxic heavy metal pollutants, and its accumulation in the soil is harmful to agriculture. Plants have a higher cadmium tolerance than animals, and some species can be used for phytoremediation. Flax (

Power cycles using carbon dioxide in a supercritical state (sc-CO2) can be used in both the nuclear and non-nuclear power industry. These systems are characterized by their advantages over steam power cycles, e. g., the sc-CO2 turbine is more compact than the steam turbine with a similar performance. The parameters and lifespan of the system are influenced by the purity of the CO2 in the circuit, especially the admixtures, such as O2, H2O, etc., cause the enhanced structural materials to degrade. Therefore, gas purification and purity control systems for the sc-CO2 power cycles should be proposed and developed. The inspiration for the proposal of these systems could stem from the gas, especially the CO2-cooled nuclear reactors operation. The first information concerning the CO2 and sc-CO2 power cycle chemistry was gathered in the first period of the project and it is summarized in the paper.

This essay outlines a participative team formation process for class projects with resources to support instructors in implementing this process. This hybrid process, integrating self-selection and teacher assigned methods, includes four touch points that foster students’ awareness of effective team behaviors and the presence (or absence) of these behaviors within themselves and in team members. The awareness can provide students the foundation for developing team skills—beneficial in both team projects and in organizational teams.

The corrosion resistance of the alloys designed for precise casting Inconel 713LC and Inconel 738 in high temperature gas environment were tested. The environments during tests simulated helium coolant of advanced gas cooled reactors and high temperature carbon capture storage environment (CO2). The specimens were exposed in helium containing 500 vppm CO, 100 vppm CH4, 100 vppm H2 a 10 vppm H2O at 900 °C for 1000 hours and in CO2 at 900 °C during 200 hours. After exposure weight changes were investigated, the corrosion damage was observed by optical and electron microscope, the samples exposed in CO2 were investigated by XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), GD-OES (Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry). After exposure in helium, 2 types of scales with different composition were observed on the sample surface. The depth corrosion damage was up to 20 μm, on the alloy Inconel 738 was deep corrosion damage only local, on the alloy Inconel 713LCcontinuous. After exposure in CO2 the surface corrosion layer was compact and almost uniform, corrosion interfered up to 30 μm under the surface layer. In high temperature helium, the alloy Inconel 738 could be said to bo more corrosion resistant than Inconel 713LC. In high temperature CO2 both tested alloys performed almost the same corrosion resistance.

In this paper, a dual-band bandpass microwave filter (DBBPF) is presented. This filter is based on the electromagnetic coupling between two identical split-ring metamaterial resonators (SRRs) (for the same square shape and also for the same dimensions) and a complementary symmetrical metamaterial resonator (CSRR) for a square shape with optimized dimensions. The set of two square SRRs of magnetic activity for negative permeability ( $$\upmu $$

Systemic infection may negatively modulate the development of cerebral white matter and long-term outcome of neonates. We analyzed the growth of corpus callosum (using cranial ultrasonography) and neurodevelopment (Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition) in 101 very low-birth-weight newborns. We observed significantly reduced corpus callosum length at 3 months of corrected age (44.5 mm vs 47.7 mm, P = .004) and diminished corpus callosum growth (0.07 mm/d vs 0.08 mm/d, P = .028) in infants who experienced systemic infection. The subgroup exhibited inferior neurodevelopmental outcomes with predominant motor impairment. The results suggest that length and growth of corpus callosum might be affected by systemic inflammatory response in preterm newborns. The changes in corpus callosum can contribute to adverse neurodevelopment at 2 years of corrected age. Serial ultrasonographic measurements of the corpus callosum may be suitable to identify preterm infants with increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairment.

Overview Objective: Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome (FIRS) is a serious complication accompanied by increased neonatal mortality and morbidity. Early dia­gnosis of FIRS is essential to detect high risk infants. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) in cord blood and histologically proven funisitis/ chorioamnionitis in high-risk infants after preterm birth. Methods: Blood sampling for the measurement of inflammatory bio­markers was performed immediately after placental delivery and umbilical cutting. Umbilical and placental inflammatory changes were assessed using a recently released scoring system (Amsterdam Placental Workshop Group Consensus). Results: One hundred preterm infants (30.5 ± 2.5 gestational week, birth weight 1,443 ± 566 grams) and 21 health term infants were analyzed. Histologic chorioamnionitis was confirmed in 19% cases and chorioamnionitis with funisitis in 7% cases. Thirty-three infants (33%) fulfilled criteria of FIRS (funistis and/ or umbilical IL-6 > 11 ng/ L). The presence of FIRS correlated significantly with maternal leukocytosis (P < 0.001), preterm premature rupture of membrane (P < 0.001) and preterm uterine contraction (P < 0.0001). In comparison to preterm and healthy term infants we found statistically significant higher levels of umbilical inflammatory bio­markers (IL-6, PCT, CRP) in FIRS group (P < 0.0001). Composite mortality and morbidity (bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular haemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia) was higher in FIRS group (28.1 vs 22.4% in preterm group). However, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.53). Conclusion: Our study confirmed the correlation of umbilical inflammatory bio­markers levels (IL-6, PCT, CRP) and the presence of FIRS. We did not find significant adverse impact of FIRS on neonatal mortality and morbidity. Nevertheless, our results could be influenced by the size of study group and strict inclusion criteria (only cases after C-section were analyzed). Keywords: fetal inflammatory response syndrome – neonatal mortality – morbidity – interleukin-6 – C-reactive protein – procalcitonin – chorioamnionitis and funisitis

Native starches are unsuitable for most industrial applications. Therefore, they are modified to improve their application in the industry. Starch may be modified using enzymatic, genetic, chemical, and physical methods. Due to the demand for safe foods by consumers, researchers are focusing on the use of cheap, safe and environmentally friendly methods such as the use of physical means for starch modification. Microwave heating of starch is a promising physical method for starch modification due to its advantages such as homogeneous operation throughout the whole sample volume, shorter processing time, greater penetration depth and better product quality. More recently, the use of synergistic methods for starch modification is being encouraged because they confer better functionality on starch than single methods. This review summarizes the present knowledge on the structure and physicochemical properties of starches from different botanical origins modified using microwave heating alone and in combination with other starch modification methods.