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Background: Infantile nephropathic cystinosis (INC) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder, mostly and often firstly affecting the kidneys, together with impaired disharmonious growth and rickets, eventually resulting in progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). With the introduction of cysteamine therapy, most pediatric patients reach adulthood with no need for kidney replacement therapy. Still, detailed changes in INC patients' clinical and morphological presentation over the past decades have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Methods: Two groups with a respective total of 64 children with INC and 302 children with CKD, both treated conservatively and aged 2 to 18 years, were prospectively observed in the time span from 1998 to 2022 with 1186 combined annual clinical and morphological examinations clustered into two measurement periods (1998 to 2015 and ≥ 2016). Results: In INC patients, thoracic proportion indices remained markedly increased, whereas body fat stores remained decreased over the past 25 years (+ 1 vs. below ± 0 z-score, respectively). Their CKD peers presented with overall improved growth, general harmonization of body proportions, and improved body fat stores, while INC patients only presented with an isolated significant increase in leg length over time (∆0.36 z-score). eGFR adjusted for age did not significantly change over the past 25 years in both groups. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) showed a significant decrease in CKD patients over time, while remaining above normal levels in INC patients. Conclusions: Disproportionate thoracic shape and impaired body fat stores remain the most characteristic morphological traits in INC patients over the past 25 years, while causal mechanisms remain unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Extensive investigations have been carried out on spinel mixed transition metal oxide-based materials for high-performance electrochemical energy storage applications. In this study, mesoporous Mn-substituted MnxZn1−xCo2O4 (ZMC) ternary oxide microspheres (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1) were fabricated as electrode materials for supercapacitors through a facile coprecipitation method. Electron microscopy analysis revealed the formation of microspheres comprising interconnected aggregates of nanoparticles. Furthermore, the substitution of Mn into ZnCo2O4 significantly improved the surface area of the synthesized samples. The electrochemical test results demonstrate that the ZMC3 oxide microspheres with an optimal Mn substitution exhibited enhanced performance, displaying the largest specific capacitance of 589.9 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. Additionally, the ZMC3 electrode maintained a capacitance retention of 92.1% after 1000 cycles and exhibited a significant rate capability at a current density of 10 A g−1. This improved performance can be ascribed to the synergistic effects of multiple metals resulting from Mn substitution, along with an increase in the surface area, which tailors the redox behavior of ZnCo2O4 (ZC) and facilitates charge transfer. These findings indicate that the incorporation of Mn into mixed transition metal oxides holds promise as an effective strategy for designing high-performance electrodes for energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chirurgie (2731-6971) is the property of Springer Nature 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 human–robot interaction (HRI) field goes beyond the mere technical aspects of developing robots, often investigating how humans perceive robots. Human perceptions and behavior are determined, in part, by expectations. Given the impact of expectations on behavior, it is important to understand what expectations individuals bring into HRI settings and how those expectations may affect their interactions with the robot over time. For many people, social robots are not a common part of their experiences, thus any expectations they have of social robots are likely shaped by other sources. As a result, individual expectations coming into HRI settings may be highly variable. Although there has been some recent interest in expectations within the field, there is an overall lack of empirical investigation into its impacts on HRI, especially in-person robot interactions. To this end, a within-subject in-person study ( N = 31 ) was performed where participants were instructed to engage in open conversation with the social robot Pepper during two 2.5 min sessions. The robot was equipped with a custom dialogue system based on the GPT-3 large language model, allowing autonomous responses to verbal input. Participants' affective changes towards the robot were assessed using three questionnaires, NARS, RAS, commonly used in HRI studies, and Closeness, based on the IOS scale. In addition to the three standard questionnaires, a custom question was administered to capture participants' views on robot capabilities. All measures were collected three times, before the interaction with the robot, after the first interaction with the robot, and after the second interaction with the robot. Results revealed that participants to large degrees stayed with the expectations they had coming into the study, and in contrast to our hypothesis, none of the measured scales moved towards a common mean. Moreover, previous experience with robots was revealed to be a major factor of how participants experienced the robot in the study. These results could be interpreted as implying that expectations of robots are to large degrees decided before interactions with the robot, and that these expectations do not necessarily change as a result of the interaction. Results reveal a strong connection to how expectations are studied in social psychology and human-human interaction, underpinning its relevance for HRI research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few measurements of fatigue and quality of life have been performed during neoadjuvant chemotherapy of early breast cancer. This study evaluates fatigue and quality of life experienced by early breast cancer patients during neoadjuvant chemotherapy and their association with different clinical parameters. Methods: Fifty-four stage I–III patients' responses to the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and to the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) were analyzed by a linear covariance pattern model. Chemotherapy regimen, age, baseline fatigue level, body-mass-index and cancer stage were added to the model to estimate their impact on both outcomes. Results: All fatigue dimensions worsened in clinically relevant levels. Physical fatigue worsened the most, mental fatigue the least. For quality of life, physical and functional well-being worsened the most. Only emotional well-being improved during chemotherapy. Physical well-being worsened more during standard than during dose-dense chemotherapy, and more during anthracycline than during taxane cycles. Age, body-mass-index and cancer stage had no impact. The higher the fatigue levels at baseline, the less they worsened during chemotherapy. Conclusions: Further actions to reduce fatigue and improve quality of life during neoadjuvant chemotherapy of early breast cancer are needed. Focus should be laid on the physical dimension. Future research should also investigate the impact of different chemotherapy sequences and densities on fatigue and quality of life. Study registration: The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register in May 2019 (DRKS00016761). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infantile nephropathic cystinosis (INC) is a systemic lysosomal storage disease causing intracellular cystine accumulation, resulting in renal Fanconi syndrome, progressive kidney disease (CKD), rickets, malnutrition, and myopathy. An INC-specific disproportionately diminished trunk length compared to leg length poses questions regarding the functionality of the trunk. Methods: Thus, we prospectively investigated thoracic dimensions and proportions, as well as their clinical determinants in 44 pediatric patients with INC with CKD stages 1–5 and 97 age-matched patients with CKD of other etiology between the ages of 2–17 years. A total of 92 and 221 annual measurements of patients with INC and CKD, respectively, were performed, and associations between anthropometric and clinical parameters were assessed using linear mixed-effects models. Results: Patients with INC exhibited altered chest dimensions that were distinct from CKD controls, characterized by markedly increased chest depth to height and chest depth to chest width ratio z-scores (> 1.0), while those of patients with CKD were only mildly affected (z-score within ± 1.0). Ratio z-scores differed significantly between both patient groups from 2–6 years of age onward. The degree of chest disproportion in INC patients was significantly associated with both the degree of CKD and tubular dysfunction (e.g., low serum phosphate and bicarbonate) across three different age groups (2–6, 7–12, and 13–17 years). Conclusion: Our data show an INC-specific alteration in thoracic shape from early childhood onward, which is distinct from CKD of other etiologies, suggesting early childhood subclinical changes of the musculoskeletal unit of the thoracic cage, which are associated with kidney function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kidney organoids are a promising model to study kidney disease, but their use is constrained by limited knowledge of their functional protein expression profile. Here, we define the organoid proteome and transcriptome trajectories over culture duration and upon exposure to TNFα, a cytokine stressor. Older organoids increase deposition of extracellular matrix but decrease expression of glomerular proteins. Single cell transcriptome integration reveals that most proteome changes localize to podocytes, tubular and stromal cells. TNFα treatment of organoids results in 322 differentially expressed proteins, including cytokines and complement components. Transcript expression of these 322 proteins is significantly higher in individuals with poorer clinical outcomes in proteinuric kidney disease. Key TNFα-associated protein (C3 and VCAM1) expression is increased in both human tubular and organoid kidney cell populations, highlighting the potential for organoids to advance biomarker development. By integrating kidney organoid omic layers, incorporating a disease-relevant cytokine stressor and comparing with human data, we provide crucial evidence for the functional relevance of the kidney organoid model to human kidney disease. Lassé et al. show that genes involved in kidney organoid proteomic response to TNFα segregate a subset of individuals with poor outcomes in proteinuric kidney disease, demonstrating the relevance of kidney organoid modeling to human kidney disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Most patients with congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) remain genetically unexplained. In search of novel genes associated with CAKUT in humans, we applied whole-exome sequencing in a patient with kidney, anorectal, spinal, and brain anomalies, and identified a rare heterozygous missense variant in the DACT1 (dishevelled binding antagonist of beta catenin 1) gene encoding a cytoplasmic WNT signaling mediator. Our patient's features overlapped Townes–Brocks syndrome 2 (TBS2) previously described in a family carrying a DACT1 nonsense variant as well as those of Dact1-deficient mice. Therefore, we assessed the role of DACT1 in CAKUT pathogenesis. Taken together, very rare (minor allele frequency ≤ 0.0005) non-silent DACT1 variants were detected in eight of 209 (3.8%) CAKUT families, significantly more frequently than in controls (1.7%). All seven different DACT1 missense variants, predominantly likely pathogenic and exclusively maternally inherited, were located in the interaction region with DVL2 (dishevelled segment polarity protein 2), and biochemical characterization revealed reduced binding of mutant DACT1 to DVL2. Patients carrying DACT1 variants presented with kidney agenesis, duplex or (multi)cystic (hypo)dysplastic kidneys with hydronephrosis and TBS2 features. During murine development, Dact1 was expressed in organs affected by anomalies in patients with DACT1 variants, including the kidney, anal canal, vertebrae, and brain. In a branching morphogenesis assay, tubule formation was impaired in CRISPR/Cas9-induced Dact1−/− murine inner medullary collecting duct cells. In summary, we provide evidence that heterozygous hypomorphic DACT1 variants cause CAKUT and other features of TBS2, including anomalies of the skeleton, brain, distal digestive and genital tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change heavily threatens forest ecosystems worldwide and there is urgent need to understand what controls tree survival and forests stability. There is evidence that biodiversity can enhance ecosystem stability (Loreau and de Mazancourt in Ecol Lett 16:106–115, 2013; McCann in Nature 405:228–233, 2000), however it remains largely unclear whether this also holds for climate change and what aspects of biodiversity might be most important. Here we apply machine learning to outputs of a flexible-trait Dynamic Global Vegetation Model to unravel the effects of enhanced functional tree trait diversity and its sub-components on climate-change resistance of temperate forests (http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~billing/video/Forest%5fResistance%5fLPJmLFIT.mp4). We find that functional tree trait diversity enhances forest resistance. We explain this with 1. stronger complementarity effects (~ 25% importance) especially improving the survival of trees in the understorey of up to + 16.8% (± 1.6%) and 2. environmental and competitive filtering of trees better adapted to future climate (40–87% importance). We conclude that forests containing functionally diverse trees better resist and adapt to future conditions. In this context, we especially highlight the role of functionally diverse understorey trees as they provide the fundament for better survival of young trees and filtering of resistant tree individuals in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equilibrium phases of the Bi2O3-WO3 system, synthesized using the citrate-gel method with slow cooling, have been systematically investigated for samples with 22–27 mol% WO3. Annealing temperature and content of WO3 were shown to play a significant role in the phases present. Both powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the room temperature equilibrium phases were 7Bi2O3-WO3 and 7Bi2O3-2WO3, with the latter being dominant. Variable temperature Raman spectroscopy showed that both these phases were present up to 850 °C, with the possible formation of a third unidentified phase at higher temperatures. The ionic conductivities of the mixed-phase materials were between that for the pure 7Bi2O3-WO3 and 7Bi2O3-2WO3 phases and at 700 °C was only about three times lower than that of the pure defect fluorite phase of the 22 mol% WO3 samples. The Arrhenius plots showed no sudden increase in conductivity between 300 and 750 °C providing evidence that no major phase change occurred in this temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major noble way to realizing high-efficiency organic solar cell device is the use of ternary blends with non-fullerene acceptors. Although offset in the band gap (E-gap) of the donor/acceptor material is negligible, it still exhibits ultra-fast and efficient charge separation. Regardless of the progress made, device optimization and fundamental understanding of the role of structural configurations in charge transport mechanisms is still on the way. The performances and stability of such devices largely depend on the nanoscale solid-state interpenetrating morphology of their donor/acceptor components within the photoactive region. Here, we analyze the effects of the second acceptor material PC71BM which is fullerene derivative on the nano-morphology within the bulk-heterojunction active layer made of PBDB-T (as donor) and non-fullerene derivative ITIC-Th (as acceptor) as well as the photovoltaic performance. Upon varying the blend ratio, 2:1:1 ratio showed a remarkable performance with more photo-generated current resulting from the favorable nano-scaled interpenetrating network with less traps as can be visualized in Fig. 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomedical studies have become larger in size and yielded large quantities of data, yet efficient data processing remains a challenge. Here we present Trellis, a cloud-based data and task management framework that completely automates the process from data ingestion to result presentation, while tracking data lineage, facilitating information query, and supporting fault-tolerance and scalability. Using a graph database to coordinate the state of the data processing workflows and a scalable microservice architecture to perform bioinformatics tasks, Trellis has enabled efficient variant calling on 100,000 human genomes collected in the VA Million Veteran Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pediatric patients spend significant time on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and traveling. They are often not capable of participating in sports activities. To assess the effects of exercise training during HD on dialysis efficacy in children and adolescents, we set up a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT). Methods: Patients on HD, age 6 to 18 years, were randomized either to 3× weekly bicycle ergometer training or to no training during HD for 12 weeks. Change in single-pool Kt/V (spKt/V) was the primary outcome parameter. Results: We randomized 54 patients of whom 45 qualified (23 in the intervention and 22 in the waiting control group, 14.5 ± 3.01 years, 32 male and 13 female) for the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. Only 26 patients finished study per-protocol (PP). Training was performed for an average of 11.96 weeks (0.14–13.14) at 2.08 ± 0.76 times per week and for a weekly mean of 55.52 ± 27.26 min. Single-pool Kt/V was similar in the intervention compared to the control group (1.70 [0.33] vs. 1.79 [0.55]) at V0 and (1.70 [0.36] vs. 1.71 [0.51]) at V1; secondary endpoints also showed no difference in both ITT and PP analysis. No significant adverse events were reported. No bleeding or needle dislocation occurred in 1670 training sessions. Conclusions: Intradialytic bicycle training is safe, but does not improve dialysis efficacy and physical fitness. However, the study can be considered underpowered, particularly because of high dropout rates. Future studies need better strategies to increase motivation and compliance and other more effective/intensive exercise measures should be evaluated. Trial registration: The trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01561118) on March 22, 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal blood pressure (BP) variation is mostly found between the summer and winter months. Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in children have not considered this variation until recently. This review aims to present an overview of seasonal BP variation in childhood along with potential underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and long-term implications as well as conclusions for future studies. In pediatric cohorts, seven studies investigated seasonal changes in BP. These changes amount to 3.4–5.9 mmHg (or 0.5–1.5 mmHg per − 1 °C difference in environmental temperature) in systolic BP with a peak in fall or winter. Potential mechanisms and mediators of seasonal BP variation include sympathetic activation of the nervous system with an increase of urinary and plasma norepinephrine levels in the winter season. Additionally, the physical activity among children and adolescents was inversely correlated with BP levels. Temperature sensitivity of BP and pediatric BP levels predict future systolic BP and target-organ damage. Therefore, cardiovascular events may even be long-term complications of seasonal BP variation in pediatric hypertensive patients. Overall, these data strongly suggest an important effect of ambient temperature on BP in children. Additional studies in pediatric cohorts are needed to define how best to incorporate such variation into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging provides reliable assessments of biventricular morphology and function. Since manual post-processing is time-consuming and prone to observer variability, efforts have been directed towards novel artificial intelligence-based fully automated analyses. Hence, we sought to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence-based fully automated assessments on the inter-study variability of biventricular volumes and function. Eighteen participants (11 with normal, 3 with heart failure and preserved and 4 with reduced ejection fraction (EF)) underwent serial CMR imaging at in median 63 days (range 49–87) interval. Short axis cine stacks were acquired for the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) mass, LV and right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic, end-systolic and stroke volumes as well as EF. Assessments were performed manually (QMass, Medis Medical Imaging Systems, Leiden, Netherlands) by an experienced (3 years) and inexperienced reader (no active reporting, 45 min of training with five cases from the SCMR consensus data) as well as fully automated (suiteHEART, Neosoft, Pewaukee, WI, USA) without any manual corrections. Inter-study reproducibility was overall excellent with respect to LV volumetric indices, best for the experienced observer (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) > 0.98, coefficient of variation (CoV, < 9.6%) closely followed by automated analyses (ICC > 0.93, CoV < 12.4%) and lowest for the inexperienced observer (ICC > 0.86, CoV < 18.8%). Inter-study reproducibility of RV volumes was excellent for the experienced observer (ICC > 0.88, CoV < 10.7%) but considerably lower for automated and inexperienced manual analyses (ICC > 0.69 and > 0.46, CoV < 22.8% and < 28.7% respectively). In this cohort, fully automated analyses allowed reliable serial investigations of LV volumes with comparable inter-study reproducibility to manual analyses performed by an experienced CMR observer. In contrast, RV automated quantification with current algorithms still relied on manual post-processing for reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cisplatin is a frontline cancer therapeutic, but intrinsic or acquired resistance is common. We previously showed that cisplatin sensitivity can be achieved by inactivation of ASNA-1/TRC40 in mammalian cancer cells and in Caenorhabditis elegans. ASNA-1 has two more conserved functions: in promoting tail-anchored protein (TAP) targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and in promoting insulin secretion. However, the relation between its different functions has remained unknown. Here, we show that ASNA-1 exists in two redox states that promote TAP-targeting and insulin secretion separately. The reduced state is the one required for cisplatin resistance: an ASNA-1 point mutant, in which the protein preferentially was found in the oxidized state, was sensitive to cisplatin and defective for TAP targeting but had no insulin secretion defect. The same was true for mutants in wrb-1, which we identify as the C. elegans homolog of WRB, the ASNA1/TRC40 receptor. Finally, we uncover a previously unknown action of cisplatin induced reactive oxygen species: cisplatin induced ROS drives ASNA-1 into the oxidized form, and selectively prevents an ASNA-1-dependent TAP substrate from reaching the endoplasmic reticulum. Our work suggests that ASNA-1 acts as a redox-sensitive target for cisplatin cytotoxicity and that cisplatin resistance is likely mediated by ASNA-1-dependent TAP substrates. Treatments that promote an oxidizing tumor environment should be explored as possible means to combat cisplatin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare, life-threatening microangiopathy, frequently causing kidney failure. Inhibition of the terminal complement complex with eculizumab is the only licensed treatment but mostly requires long-term administration and risks severe side effects. The underlying genetic cause of aHUS is thought to influence the severity of initial and recurring episodes, with milder courses in patients with mutations in membrane cofactor protein (MCP). Methods: Twenty pediatric cases of aHUS due to isolated heterozygous MCP mutations were reported from 12 German pediatric nephrology centers to describe initial presentation, timing of relapses, treatment, and kidney outcome. Results: The median age of onset was 4.6 years, with a female to male ratio of 1:3. Without eculizumab maintenance therapy, 50% (9/18) of the patients experienced a first relapse after a median period of 3.8 years. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a relapse-free survival of 93% at 1 year. Four patients received eculizumab long-term treatment, while 3 patients received short courses. We could not show a benefit from complement blockade therapy on long term kidney function, independent of short-term or long-term treatment. To prevent 1 relapse with eculizumab, the theoretical number-needed-to-treat (NNT) was 15 for the first year and 3 for the first 5 years after initial presentation. Conclusion: Our study shows that heterozygous MCP mutations cause aHUS with a risk of first relapse of about 10% per year, resulting in large NNTs for prevention of relapses with eculizumab. More studies are needed to define an optimal treatment schedule for patients with MCP mutations to minimize the risks of the disease and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains (LRIG) proteins have been implicated as regulators of growth factor signaling; however, the possible redundancy among mammalian LRIG1, LRIG2, and LRIG3 has hindered detailed elucidation of their physiological functions. Here, we show that Lrig-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) are deficient in adipogenesis and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling. In contrast, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling appeared unaltered in Lrig-null cells. The BMP signaling defect was rescued by ectopic expression of LRIG1 or LRIG3 but not by expression of LRIG2. Caenorhabditis elegans with mutant LRIG/sma-10 variants also exhibited a lipid storage defect. Human LRIG1 variants were strongly associated with increased body mass index (BMI) yet protected against type 2 diabetes; these effects were likely mediated by altered adipocyte morphology. These results demonstrate that LRIG proteins function as evolutionarily conserved regulators of lipid metabolism and BMP signaling and have implications for human disease. Herdenberg et al. show that adipogenesis and BMP signaling are altered in mouse cells deficient in LRIG (Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains) proteins. They find that mutant LRIG/sma-10 variant worms exhibit lipid storage defects and that human LRIG1 variants are associated with higher body mass index, yet protect against type 2 diabetes. This study suggests an evolutionarily conserved role of LRIG proteins for lipid metabolism and BMP signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who experience poor nutrition during the first 1000 days of life are more vulnerable to illness and death in the near term, as well as to lower work capacity and productivity as adults. These problems motivate research to identify basic and underlying factors that influence risks of child malnutrition. Based on a structured search of existing literature, we identified 90 studies that used statistical analyses to assess relationships between potential factors and major indicators of child malnutrition: stunting, wasting, and underweight. Our review determined that wasting, a measure of acute malnutrition, is substantially understudied compared to the other indicators. We summarize the evidence about relationships between child malnutrition and numerous factors at the individual, household, region/community, and country levels. Our results identify only select relationships that are statistically significant, with consistent signs, across multiple studies. Among the consistent predictors of child malnutrition are shocks due to variations in climate conditions (as measured with indicators of temperature, rainfall, and vegetation) and violent conflict. Limited research has been conducted on the relationship between violent conflict and wasting. Improved understanding of the variables associated with child malnutrition will aid advances in predictive modeling of the risks and severity of malnutrition crises and enhance the effectiveness of responses by the development and humanitarian communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translocation of conspecific individuals to reduce extinction risk of small, isolated populations and prevent genetic depletion is a powerful tool in conservation biology. An important question is how the translocated individuals influence the long-term genetic composition of the recipient population. Here, we experimentally reinforced a house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population, and examined the impact of this translocation on allele frequencies, levels of heterozygosity and genetic differentiation over six cohorts. We found no permanent increase in the mean number of alleles across loci or levels of observed heterozygosity, but a few alleles private to the translocated individuals remained in the population and we found a short-term increase in heterozygosity. Consequently, genetic differentiation of the recipient population compared to the genetic composition prior to reinforcement was small. The limited genetic impact was due to combined effects of a small probability of establishment and low mating success for the translocated individuals, together with increased genetic drift in the recipient population. Our findings emphasize the importance of selection and genetic drift as forces that may decrease the genetic contribution of reinforcement, especially in small populations. Conservation managers should aim to improve habitat quality in the recipient population to reduce genetic drift following translocation and thereby avoid the need for continued reinforcement. Furthermore, by facilitating establishment success and selecting individuals expected to have high mating success, possibly indicated by sexually selected traits, genetic contribution of released individuals is increased which in turn will decrease reproductive skew and genetic drift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu-doped ZnO (ZnO:Eu3+) thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering have been investigated to establish the effect of annealing on the red photoluminescence. PL spectra analysis reveal a correlation between the characteristics of the red photoluminescence and the annealing temperature, suggesting efficient energy transfer from the ZnO host to the Eu3+ ions as enhanced by the intrinsic defects levels. Five peaks corresponding to 5D0–7FJ transitions were observed and attributed to Eu3+ occupancy in the lattice sites of ZnO thin films. As a proof of concept a dye sensitized solar cell with ZnO:Eu3+ thin films of high optical transparency was fabricated and tested yielding a PCE of 1.33% compared to 1.19% obtained from dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with pristine ZnO without Eu produced indicating 11.1% efficiency enhancement which could be attributed to spectral conversion by the ZnO:Eu3+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localised breast cancer can be cured by surgery and adjuvant treatments, but mortality remains high as some tumours metastasize early. Perlecan is a basement membrane (BM) protein involved in tumour development and progression. Here, mRNA and protein expression of perlecan, and mRNA expression of matrix degrading enzymes were studied in normal breast and invasive breast cancer, and correlated to prognostic risk factors, in particular oestrogen status. Moreover, plasma levels of perlecan were measured in patients with breast cancer and compared with controls. mRNA data was extracted from the Cancer Genome Atlas database. Perlecan protein expression was visualized using immunofluorescence and plasma levels measured by ELISA assay. Perlecan mRNA levels were twice as high in normal breast compared with breast cancer tissue. A strong correlation was found between mRNA expression of perlecan and several matrix-degrading enzymes in oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) tumours. Perlecan protein was localized to both epithelial and vascular BMs, but absent in the stroma in normal breast. In breast cancer, the expression of perlecan in epithelial BM was fragmented or completely lost, with a marked upregulation of perlecan expression in the stroma. Significantly higher levels of perlecan were found in plasma of ER+ patients when compared with ER- patients. This study shows that perlecan expression and degradation in breast cancer may be linked to the ER status of the tumour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High prevalence of arterial hypertension is known in pediatric renal transplant patients, but how blood pressure (BP) distribution and control differ between age groups and whether sex and age interact and potentially impact BP after transplantation have not been investigated. Methods: This retrospective analysis included 336 pediatric renal transplant recipients (62% males) from the Cooperative European Pediatric Renal Transplant Initiative Registry (CERTAIN) with complete BP measurement at discharge and 1, 2 and 3 years post-transplant. Results: At discharge and 3 years post-transplant, arterial hypertension was highly prevalent (84% and 77%); antihypertensive drugs were used in 73% and 68% of the patients. 27% suffered from uncontrolled and 9% from untreated hypertension at 3 years post-transplant. Children transplanted at age < 5 years showed sustained high systolic BP z-score and received consistently less antihypertensive treatment over time. Younger age, shorter time since transplantation, male sex, higher body mass index (BMI), high cyclosporine A (CSA) trough levels, and a primary renal disease other than congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) were significantly associated with higher systolic BP z-score. Sex-stratified analysis revealed a significant association between high CSA and higher systolic BP in older girls that likely had started puberty already. An association between BP and estimated glomerular filtration rate was not detected. Conclusions: BP control during the first 3 years was poor in this large European cohort. The description of age- and sex-specific risk profiles identified certain recipient groups that may benefit from more frequent BP monitoring (i.e. young children) or different choices of immunosuppression (i.e. older girls). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fields like transport or materials sourcing, it is common industrial practice nowadays to contract several partners for the fulfilment of similar sets of tasks. A typical approach is to include quotes to the contracts that specify which portion of the total volume should be given to each partner. In this study, which is inspired by a real-world problem, we examine the question of operationally distributing jobs to a set of partners in order to meet the contracted quotes in different dimensions as closely as possible. We propose the term fair task allocation problem and analyze its complexity. While the problem is NP-hard in the strong sense for the general case, we show that it is solvable in pseudopolynomial time for a given number of partners and dimensions. Besides an exact solution approach based on dynamic programming, we present an efficient Tabu Search procedure. The Tabu Search is applied to real world as well as to self-generated instances. To verify its quality, the results are compared to the solutions of a commercial MIP-solver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) with a solid gold electrode could be used for arsenic speciation of mine-influenced water. The DPASV parameters were optimized using a 100-µg L−1 As(III) standard solution. The procedure for chemical reduction of As(V) to As(III) using thiosulfate prior to DPASV measurements was also optimized. Two samples of mine-influenced waters from the Witwatersrand mining area, an acid mine drainage (AMD) and a more dilute Fleurhof dam water sample, were used to assess the method viability. Interference from elements in the AMD proved insurmountable using this technique alone; the method was also unable to detect arsenic in the dam water sample. However, spiked dam water samples gave percent recoveries of 81.6% and 123% for As(III) and As(V), respectively, showing that arsenic species in mine-influenced water can be effectively determined if the method is reoptimized for lower arsenic concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of sputtered Pt40Pd57Al3 thin films of varying thickness, in the as-deposited (AD) and annealed (AN) state, was investigated for the electro-oxidation of aqueous SO2. From physical characterisation (scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD)), significant differences were found in the morphology and crystallinity between AD and AN samples. In terms of electrochemical activity, the current output for the AD and AN thin films decreased as the thickness increased, whilst the AN thin films in general resulted in lower current outputs. No specific trend was observed for stability in an acidic environment and a 60 nm Pt40Pd57Al3 thin film proved to be the optimum thickness for aqueous SO2 electro-oxidation. In addition, the 60 nm Pt40Pd57Al3 AN thin film outperformed pure Pt (60 nm, AD and AN) in terms of current density and stability, emphasising the fact that multicomponent electrocatalysts can be superior compared with their pure metal counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Endoscopic evaluation with high-definition white light endoscopy and random 4-quadrant biopsy (Seattle Protocol) is the current standard of care for the detection of Barrett's esophagus (BE). Recently, enhanced imaging technologies have become available to provide real-time diagnosis of intestinal metaplasia (IM) and dysplasia, reducing the need for tissue biopsy. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) provides dynamic microscopic mucosal views, rapidly capturing digital images that become optical biopsies. This study examined the role of pCLE in BE screening and surveillance as compared to the Seattle Protocol.Methods: Patients undergoing BE screening or surveillance endoscopy were enrolled at eight US centers. Optical biopsy using pCLE was interpreted in real time. Endoscopists performing pCLE were new users with a median experience of 8.5 months and no formal training in surgical pathology. Seattle Protocol biopsies were then taken. Recorded pCLE images were reviewed by a blinded expert in optical biopsy interpretation.Results: Early pCLE users identified significantly more patients with IM than the Seattle Protocol overall (99/172 vs. 46/172, p < 0.0001). Early users of pCLE also identified significantly more patients with IM than the Seattle Protocol in the patients with visible columnar lined esophagus (75 vs. 31, p < 0.0001), but not in the 76 patients without columnar lined esophagus (24 vs. 15, p = 0.067). There was no statistically significant difference between early pCLE users and expert review.Conclusion: Optical biopsy using pCLE technology allows for the real-time evaluation of entire segments of columnar lined esophagus. Consequently, pCLE is considerably more sensitive in the detection of BE than the Seattle Protocol, which leaves a majority of epithelium unexamined. This effect is seen even in new users and increases with experience. Overall, pCLE provides a promising advance in Barrett's detection which will likely result in superior identification of individuals at risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the problem of delivering finished vehicles from a logistics yard to dealer locations at which they are sold. The requests for cars arrive dynamically and are not announced in advance to the logistics provider who is granted a certain time-span until which a delivery has to be fulfilled. In a real-world setting, the underlying network is relatively stable in time, since it is usually a rare event that a new dealership opens or an existing one terminates its service. Therefore, probabilities for incoming requests can be derived from historical data. The study explores the potential of using such probabilities to improve the day-to-day decision of sending out or postponing cars that are ready for delivery. Apart from the order selection, we elaborate a heuristic to optimize delivery routes for the selected vehicles, whereby special loading constraints are considered to meet the particular constraints of car transportation via road. In a case study, we illustrate the value of introducing probabilistic information to the planning process and compare the quality of different configurations of our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affective touch has a fundamental role in human development, social bonding, and for providing emotional support in interpersonal relationships. We present, what is to our knowledge, the first HRI study of tactile conveyance of both positive and negative emotions (affective touch) on the Nao robot, and based on an experimental set-up from a study of human-human tactile communication. In the present work, participants conveyed eight emotions to a small humanoid robot via touch. We found that female participants conveyed emotions for a longer time, using more varied interaction and touching more regions on the robot’s body, compared to male participants. Several differences between emotions were found such that emotions could be classified by the valence of the emotion conveyed, by combining touch amount and duration. Overall, these results show high agreement with those reported for human-human affective tactile communication and could also have impact on the design and placement of tactile sensors on humanoid robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infants with a body weight of less than 10 kg are often not considered to be suitable candidates for renal transplantation (RTx). The objective of this study was to evaluate this arbitrary weight threshold for pediatric RTx.Methods: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, match-controlled cohort study on infants weighing less than 10 kg at time of engrafting (low-weight group [LWG], n = 38) compared to a matched control group (n = 76) with a body weight of 10-15 kg, using data from the first 2 years post-transplant derived from the CERTAIN Registry.Results: Patient survival was 97 and 100% in the LWG and control groups, respectively (P = 0.33), and death-censored graft survival was 100 and 95% in the LWG and control groups, respectively (P = 0.30). Estimated glomerular filtration rate at 2 years post-transplant was excellent and comparable between the groups (LWG 77.6 ± 34.9 mL/min/1.73 m2; control 74.8 ± 29.1 mL/min/1.73 m2; P = 0.68). The overall incidences of surgery-related complications (LWG 11%, control 23%; P = 0.12) and medical outcome measures (LWG 23%, control 36%, P = 0.17) were not significantly different between the groups. The medical outcome measures included transplant-related viral diseases (LWG 10%, control 21%; P = 0.20), acute rejection episodes (LWG 14%, control 29%; P = 0.092), malignancies (LWG 3%, control 0%; P = 0.33) and arterial hypertension (LWG 73%, control 67%; P = 0.57).Conclusions: These data suggest that RTx in low-weight children is a feasible option, at least in selected centers with appropriate surgical and medical expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Avoidance of vaccine-preventable infections in paediatric renal allograft recipients is of utmost importance. However, the development and maintenance of protective vaccination titres may be impaired in this patient population owing to their need for immunosuppressive medication.Methods: In the framework of the Cooperative European Paediatric Renal Transplant Initiative (CERTAIN), we therefore performed a multi-centre, multi-national study and analysed vaccination titres pre- and post-transplant in 155 patients with serial titre measurements in comparison with published data in healthy children.Results: The percentage of patients with positive vaccination titres before renal transplantation (RTx) was low, especially for diphtheria (38.5%, control 75%) and pertussis (21.3%, control 96.3%). As few as 58.1% of patients had a hepatitis B antibody (HBsAb) titre >100 IU/L before RTx. 38.1% of patients showed a vaccination titre loss post-transplant. Patients with an HBsAb titre between 10 and 100 IU/L before RTx experienced a significantly (p < 0.05) more frequent hepatitis B vaccination titre loss post-transplant than patients with an HBsAb titre >100 IU/L. The revaccination rate post-transplant was low and revaccination failed to induce positive titres in a considerable number of patients (27.3 to 83.3%). Treatment with rituximab was associated with a significantly increased risk of a vaccination titre loss post-transplant (odds ratio 4.26, p = 0.033).Conclusions: These data show a low percentage of patients with positive vaccination titres pre-transplant, a low revaccination rate post-transplant with limited antibody response, and a high rate of vaccination titre losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We recently showed that a 3-year growth hormone (GH) treatment improves linear growth in severely short children with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH). It is unknown if GH therapy increases adult height in XLH patients.Methods: We carried out a follow-up analysis of a randomized controlled open-label GH study in short prepubertal children with XLH on phosphate and active vitamin D treatment. The changes in SD scores (SDS) of height, sitting height, leg and arm length, and sitting height index (i.e., the ratio between sitting height and height) were analyzed in 11 out of 16 patients followed-up until adult height.Results: At baseline, XLH patients showed disproportionately short stature with reduced standardized height (−3.2 ± 0.6), sitting height (−1.7 ± 0.6), leg (−3.7 ± 0.7) and arm (−2.5 ± 0.8) length, and markedly elevated sitting height index (3.3 ± 0.6; each p < 0.01 versus healthy children). In GH-treated patients, adult height, sitting height, leg length, and arm length exceeded baseline values by 0.7 SDS, 1.7 SDS, 0.7 SDS, and 1.2 SDS respectively, although this was only significant for sitting height. In controls, no significant changes in linear body dimensions were noted. Adult height did not statistically differ between groups (−2.4 ± 0.7 vs −3.3 ± 1.2, p = 0.082). GH did not exaggerate body disproportion.Conclusions: Growth hormone treatment did not significantly increase adult height in this group of short children with XLH, which may be at least partly due to the small number of patients included in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the viability and outlines the current challenges in electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN) experiments on supported Pt catalysts. EQCN experiments involving Pt supported on 2-D “surface-treated graphite sputtered onto quartz crystal” (Pt/MFG-H) catalysts were compared to standard polycrystalline Pt (Ptpoly), which showed similarities in frequency versus potential trends; however, the Pt/MFG-H catalysts obtained higher frequencies due to the support capacitance. The physical characterizations (XRD and XPS) and electrochemical responses, mainly cyclic voltammetry in acidic media and the ferri/ferrocyanide couple, of the 2-D Pt/MFG-H were compared to the representative 2-D Pt supported on treated highly orientated pyrolytic graphite (Pt/HOPG-H), in order to make assertions on the similarities between the two catalysts. The XRD diffraction patterns and the XPS valence band structure for the treated and untreated MFG (-H and -P, respectively) and HOPG (-H and -P, respectively) demonstrated similarities. Nevertheless, the cyclic voltammograms and peak positions of the ferri/ferrocyanide couple between the treated and untreated MFG and HOPG catalysts were dissimilar. However, EQCN may be used qualitatively between the two different 2-D catalysts since the same trends in electrochemical responses before and after treatment of the MFG and HOPG catalysts were seen. Hence, the EQCN technique can be used in future studies as an alternative method to study degradation mechanisms of Pt and carbon for PEFCs.ᅟ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Because infections constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric renal allograft recipients, avoidance of preventable systemic infections by vaccination before transplantation is of utmost importance. However, data on the completeness of vaccinations and factors associated with incomplete vaccination coverage are scarce. Methods: Within the framework of the Cooperative European Paediatric Renal Transplant Initiative (CERTAIN), we therefore performed a multi-centre, multi-national, retrospective study investigating the vaccination coverage before transplantation of 254 European children with end-stage renal disease (mean age 10.0 ± 5.6 years). Results: Only 22 out of 254 patients (8.7%) presented complete vaccination coverage. In particular, the respective vaccination coverage against human papillomavirus (27.3%), pneumococci (42.0%), and meningococci (47.9%) was low. Patients with complete pneumococcal vaccination coverage had numerically less lower respiratory tract infections during the first 3 years post-transplant than children without vaccination or with an incomplete status (16.4% vs 27.7%, p = 0.081). Vaccine-preventable diseases post-transplant were 4.0 times more frequently in unvaccinated than in vaccinated patients. Factors associated with an incomplete vaccination coverage were non-Caucasian ethnicity (OR 9.21, p = 0.004), chronic dialysis treatment before transplantation (OR 6.18, p = 0.001), and older age at transplantation (OR 1.33, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The vaccination coverage in paediatric kidney transplant candidates is incomplete. Paediatric nephrologists, together with primary-care staff and patients' families, should therefore make every effort to improve vaccination rates before kidney transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) is an experimentally established phenomenon: behavioural response to a given stimulus is more persistent when previously inconsistently rewarded than when consistently rewarded. This phenomenon is, however, controversial in animal/human learning theory. Contradictory findings exist regarding when the PREE occurs. One body of research has found a within-subjects PREE, while another has found a within-subjects reversed PREE (RPREE). These opposing findings constitute what is considered the most important problem of PREE for theoreticians to explain. Here, we provide a neurocomputational account of the PREE, which helps to reconcile these seemingly contradictory findings of within-subjects experimental conditions. The performance of our model demonstrates how omission expectancy, learned according to low probability reward, comes to control response choice following discontinuation of reward presentation (extinction). We find that a PREE will occur when multiple responses become controlled by omission expectation in extinction, but not when only one omission-mediated response is available. Our model exploits the affective states of reward acquisition and reward omission expectancy in order to differentially classify stimuli and differentially mediate response choice. We demonstrate that stimulus-response (retrospective) and stimulus-expectation-response (prospective) routes are required to provide a necessary and sufficient explanation of the PREE versus RPREE data and that Omission representation is key for explaining the nonlinear nature of extinction data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wet waste feedstocks present an attractive opportunity for biomass conversion to fuels by hydrothermal processing. In this study, grape pomace slurries from two varieties, Montepulciano and cabernet sauvignon, have been converted into a biocrude by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) in a bench-scale, continuous-flow reactor system. Carbon conversion to gravity-separable biocrude product up to 56% was accomplished at relatively low temperature (350 °C) in a pressurized (sub-critical liquid water) environment (20 MPa) when using grape pomace feedstock slurry with a 16.8 wt% concentration of dry solids processed at a liquid hourly space velocity of 2.1 h. Direct biocrude recovery was achieved without the use of a solvent and biomass trace mineral components were removed by precipitation and filtration so that they did not cause processing difficulties. In addition, catalytic hydrothermal gasification (CHG) was effectively applied for HTL byproduct water cleanup using a Ru on C catalyst in a fixed bed producing a gas composed of methane and carbon dioxide from water-soluble organics. Conversion of 99.8% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) left in the aqueous phase was demonstrated. As a result, high conversion of grape pomace to liquid and gas fuel products was found with residual organic contamination in byproduct water reduced to <150 mg/kg COD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]