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Semiconductor light emission can be changed considerably in an optical resonator. Prerequisite is that the electronic transitions involved in light generation are in resonance with a cavity mode. Although resonance can be arranged through dedicated fabrication, there are cases where this is virtually impossible. As an example, we study a planar microcavity containing an inhomogeneous quantum dot ensemble with a spectral broadening much larger than the optical mode width, so that resonance is achieved for a tiny dot fraction only. Still, the laser threshold can be crossed at moderate optical pumping. We demonstrate that strain pulses generated by ultrafast acoustics techniques can be used to modulate the transition energies so that resonance with the optical mode is dynamically induced for a much larger dot fraction. As a result, the emission output can be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude, which is potentially useful for modulating light sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotextiles are frequently used in waterway construction, for instance as filtration or separation layers of river banks and canals. A variety of additives are added to improve their lifespan during application and avivage agents are applied to optimize the manufacturing process. Two nonwoven needle-punched geotextiles were leached with deionized water, groundwater and river water via the dynamic surface leaching test. Organic compounds released by the materials were identified via non-target screening using liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS). A variety of the identified compounds belong to the groups of sulfates, (benzene)sulfonates, polyethylene glycols, phosphates, carboxylic acids (amides), plastic-oligomers, antioxidants and light stabilizers. The luminescence inhibition of Aliivibrio fischeri, observed in leachates of tested polyethylene terephthalate/polypropylene (PET/PP) geotextile, can mainly be attributed to the released anionic surfactant monododecyl phosphate, that was identified by a combination of biotests and chemical analysis. This surfactant is obviously used as an avivage agent during geomembrane production. Target analysis via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) ultimately elucidated that elements such as antimony and zinc as well as a multitude of organic substances are mainly released at the beginning probably by wash-off effects, while their release after the third leaching step was negligible., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between the total cumulative oxytocin dose during labour and adverse postpartum outcomes, childbirth experience and breastfeeding in term primiparous women with spontaneous onset of labour., Study Design: A prospective observational multicentre study, including 1395 women with spontaneous labour, in seven hospitals in Southeast Sweden. Multivariable logistic regression (Crude Odds Ratios (OR) and adjusted OR (aOR) for relevant confounders) was used to analyze the association between oxytocin dose and postpartum outcomes. The exposure was the cumulative oxytocin dose during labour, classified in percentiles (<25th, 25-75th, >75th). The outcomes were occurrence of obstetric anal sphincter injury, postpartum haemorrhage (blood loss > 1000 ml), Apgar score < 7 at five minutes, umbilical cord arterial pH, postpartum bladder overdistension, exclusive breastfeeding at one week and three months, and the woman's perceived birth experience., Results: Women receiving high amounts (>75th percentile, >4370 mU) of oxytocin infusion during labour had an increased risk of postpartum haemorrhage (OR 2.73 (1.78-4.19)), an overdistended bladder (OR 2.19 (1.11-4.31)), an infant with an Apgar score < 7 at five minutes (OR 2.89 (1.27-6.57)), a negative birth experience (OR 1.83 (1.25-2.69)), and a decreased chance of exclusive breastfeeding at one week (OR 0.63 (0.41-0.96)). After adjusting for confounders, all outcomes remained statistically significant except risk of low Apgar score and chance of exclusive breastfeeding., Conclusion: In women with high cumulative oxytocin dose during labour prompt, and prophylactic administration of uterotonics after delivery of the placenta should be considered to reduce the risk of postpartum haemorrhage. The risk for bladder overdistension can be reduced by implementing routines for observation for signs of bladder filling in the early postpartum period, as well as routine use of bladder scans post micturition to assess for successful bladder emptying. As women's birth experience have a major impact on their future mental health, should be routinely assessed postpartum, and support should be offered to women with negative experiences., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The effects of diagnosing and treating labor dystocia with oxytocin infusion at different cervical dilatations have not been fully evaluated. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether cervical dilatation at diagnosis of dystocia and initiation of oxytocin infusion at different stages of cervical dilatation were associated with mode of birth, obstetric complications and women's birthing experience., Methods: A retrospective cohort study, including 588 nulliparous term women with spontaneous onset of labor and dystocia requiring oxytocin augmentation. The study population was divided into three groups according to cervical dilatation at diagnosis of dystocia and initiation of oxytocin-infusion (≤ 5 cm, 6-10 cm, fully dilated) with mode of birth as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were obstetrical and neonatal complications and women´s experience of childbirth. Statistical comparison between groups using Chi-square and ANOVA was performed. The risk of operative birth (cesarean section and instrumental birth) was assessed using binary logistic regression with suitable adjustments (maternal age, body mass index and risk assessment on admission to the labor ward)., Results: The cesarean section rate differed between the groups (p < 0.001); 12% in the ≤ 5 cm group, 6% in the 6-10 cm group and 0% in the fully dilated group. There was no increased risk for operative birth in the ≤ 5 cm group compared to the 6-10 cm group, adjusted OR 1.28 95%CI (0.78-2.08). The fully dilated group had a decreased risk of operative birth (adjusted OR 0.48 95%CI (0.27-0.85). The rate of a negative birthing experience was high in all groups (28.5%, 19% and 18%) but was only increased among women in the ≤ 5 cm group compared with the 6-10 cm group, adjusted OR 1.76 95%CI (1.05-2.95)., Conclusions: Although no difference in the risk of operative birth was found between the ≤ 5 cm and 6-10 cm cervical dilatation-groups, the cesarean section rate was highest in women with dystocia requiring oxytocin augmentation at ≤ 5 cm cervical dilatation. This might indicate that oxytocin augmentation before 6 cm cervical dilatation could be contra-productive in preventing cesarean sections. Further, the increased risk of negative birth experience in the ≤ 5 cm group should be kept in mind to improve labor care., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Cell loss after transplantation is a major limitation for cell replacement approaches in regenerative medicine. To assess the survival kinetics of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (CM) we generated transgenic murine iPSC lines which, in addition to CM-specific expression of puromycin N-acetyl-transferase and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), also constitutively express firefly luciferase (FLuc) for bioluminescence (BL) in vivo imaging. While undifferentiated iPSC lines generated by random integration of the transgene into the genome retained stable FLuc activity over many passages, the BL signal intensity was strongly decreased in purified iPS-CM compared to undifferentiated iPSC. Targeted integration of FLuc-expression cassette into the ROSA26 genomic locus using zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology strongly reduced transgene silencing in iPS-CM, leading to a several-fold higher BL compared to iPS-CM expressing FLuc from random genomic loci. To investigate the survival kinetics of iPS-CM in vivo, purified CM obtained from iPSC lines expressing FLuc from a random or the ROSA26 locus were transplanted into cryoinfarcted hearts of syngeneic mice. Engraftment of viable cells was monitored by BL imaging over 4 weeks. Transplanted iPS-CM were poorly retained in the myocardium independently of the cell line used. However, up to 8% of cells survived for 28 days at the site of injection, which was confirmed by immunohistological detection of EGFP-positive iPS-CM in the host tissue. Transplantation of iPS-CM did not affect the scar formation or capillary density in the periinfarct region of host myocardium. This report is the first to determine the survival kinetics of drug-selected iPS-CM in the infarcted heart using BL imaging and demonstrates that transgene silencing in the course of iPSC differentiation can be greatly reduced by employing genome editing technology. FLuc-expressing iPS-CM generated in this study will enable further studies to reduce their loss, increase long-term survival and functional integration upon transplantation.

Streptococcus suis is an important porcine pathogen causing meningitis and other invasive diseases in piglets of different ages. Application of S. suis serotype 2 bacterins to specific-pathogen-free (SPF) weaning piglets has been demonstrated to protect against the homologous serotype. However, autogenous S. suis bacterins are also applied to sows and suckling piglets in the field. Therefore, comparative evaluation of different bacterin immunization regimes, including sow vaccination, was performed in this study. The main objectives were to determine the immunogenicity of an S. suis bacterin in sows prepartum and its influence on active immunization of piglets. Experimental infection of 6- and 8-week-old weaning piglets was performed to elucidate protective efficacies. Humoral immune responses were investigated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measuring muramidase-released protein (MRP)-specific IgG titers and by opsonophagocytosis assays. Bacterin application elicited high MRP-specific IgG titers in the serum and colostrum of sows, as well as opsonizing antibodies. Piglets from vaccinated sows had significantly higher MRP-specific titers than respective piglets from nonvaccinated sows until 6 weeks postpartum. Vaccination of suckling piglets did not result in high MRP-specific titers nor in induction of opsonizing antibodies. Furthermore, neither vaccination of suckling nor of weaning piglets from immunized sows was associated with a prominent active immune response and protection at 8 weeks postpartum. However, protection was observed in respective 6-week-old weaning piglets, most likely because of protective maternal immunity. In conclusion, this study provides the first results suggesting protective passive maternal immunity for S. suis serotype 2 after bacterin vaccination of sows and a strong inhibitory effect on active immunization of suckling and weaning piglets, leading to highly susceptible growers.

We report experiments in which high quality silica opal films are used as three-dimensional hypersonic crystals in the 10 GHz range. Controlled sintering of these structures leads to well-defined elastic bonding between the submicrometer-sized silica spheres, due to which a band structure for elastic waves is formed. The sonic crystal properties are studied by injection of a broadband elastic wave packet with a femtosecond laser. Depending on the elastic bonding strength, the band structure separates long-living surface acoustic waves with frequencies in the complete band gap from bulk waves with band frequencies that propagate into the crystal leading to a fast decay.

Growth of the alpha-proteobacterium Paracoccus denitrificans NKNIS with taurine or isethionate as sole source of carbon involves sulfoacetaldehyde acetyltransferase (Xsc), which is presumably encoded by an xsc gene in subgroup 3, none of whose gene products has been characterized. The genome of the alpha-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 was interpreted to contain a nine-gene cluster encoding the inducible dissimilation of taurine, and this deduced pathway included a regulator, a tripartite ATP-independent transporter, taurine dehydrogenase (TDH; presumably TauXY) as well as Xsc (subgroup 3), a hypothetical protein and phosphate acetyltransferase (Pta). A similar cluster was found in P. denitrificans NKNIS, in contrast to an analogous cluster encoding an ATP-binding cassette transporter in Paracoccus pantotrophus. Inducible TDH, Xsc and Pta were found in extracts of taurine-grown cells of strain NKNIS. TDH oxidized taurine to sulfoacetaldehyde and ammonium ion with cytochrome c as electron acceptor. Whereas Xsc and Pta were soluble enzymes, TDH was located in the particulate fraction, where inducible proteins with the expected masses of TauXY (14 and 50 kDa, respectively) were detected by SDS-PAGE. Xsc and Pta were separated by anion-exchange chromatography. Xsc was effectively pure; the molecular mass of the subunit (64 kDa) and the N-terminal amino acid sequence confirmed the identification of the xsc gene. Inducible isethionate dehydrogenase (IDH), Xsc and Pta were assayed in extracts of isethionate-grown cells of strain NKNIS. IDH was located in the particulate fraction, oxidized isethionate to sulfoacetaldehyde with cytochrome c as electron acceptor and correlated with the expression of a 62 kDa protein. Strain NKNIS excreted sulfite and sulfate during growth with a sulfonate and no sulfite dehydrogenase was detected. There is considerable biochemical, genetic and regulatory complexity in the degradation of these simple molecules.