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Understanding the relative impacts of pressures on coastal ecosystems is central for implementing relevant measures to reach environmental management objectives. Here, survey data on the species and size composition of coastal fish are evaluated in relation to fishing and eutrophication, by comparing a long-standing no-take area to an environmental gradient in the Baltic Sea. The no-take area represents an intermediate eutrophication level, but the species composition resembles that seen at low eutrophication in areas with fishing. The catch biomass of piscivores is 2–3 times higher in the no-take area than in the other areas, while the biomass of Cyprinids, generally benefitted by eutrophication, corresponds to that of areas with low eutrophication. The results support that fishing may generate eutrophication-like effects, and, conversely, that no-take areas may contribute to improving environmental status in impacted areas by enhancing piscivores, which in turn may contribute to further improvement in the food web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study assesses the short and medium-term impact of extreme temperatures on population health and health-related costs in Germany. For 1999 to 2008, we link the universe of 170 million hospital admissions and all 8 million deaths with weather and pollution data at the day-county level. Extreme heat significantly and immediately increases hospitalizations and deaths. This finding holds irrespective of whether we employ econometric models that are standard in economics or models that are standard in epidemiology; we compare and discuss both approaches. We find evidence for partial "harvesting." At the end of a 30-day window, the immediate health effects are, on average, one quarter lower, but this reduction is primarily evident for cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases. Moreover, aggregating at the yearly level reduces the effect size by more than 90 percent. The health-related economic costs accumulate up to €5 million per 10 million population per hot day with maximum temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores gender differences in political communication among blogging politicians. The article sets out to explore two baseline questions: (1) Are distinct gendered ‘blogstyles’ to be found among political representatives? and (2) How do gender and gendered blogstyles interplay and affect the impact of political blogs? The empirical study draws on a survey targeting blogging politicians in Sweden (N = 523). The analysis identifies substantial differences in how female and male politicians communicate in the blogosphere as well as the outcomes in terms of feedback and impact. Female politicians, to a greater degree than their male counterparts, utilize blogging for the purpose of fostering a stronger connection with their readers as well as to enquire about ideas and policy perspectives. This strategy seems to be successful for fostering qualitative feedback from readers; yet, female bloggers have far less impact than their male colleges. We discuss two potential understandings of these results: relating to gender stereotypes and the network power structure of the blogosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several structural modifications have been made to a sensitizer dye based on the phenoxazine core, which was tested in a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell configuration based on the hole transporting material 2,2′,7,7′,-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9′,-spirofluorene. Light-to-power conversion efficiencies between 2.5% and 4.1% are reported herein. The difference in device performance is significantly related to the variations of dye molecular structure, with dye molecules having surface protecting alkoxy-groups yielding better solar cell devices. The phenoxazine dyes were characterized by their light harvesting capabilities and electronic properties such as electron recombination lifetime and chemical dipole moment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

While the academic interest in the political blogosphere has grown exponentially in recent years, existing research is predominantly dedicated to political campaigning. In view of the “diminishing prestige of the electoral process” and the “rise of new forms of legitimacy” a broader political analysis of blogs is called for. This article investigates whether the political blogosphere is an arena for political representation by asking (1) how representatives communicate with citizens through blogging in order to aid central functions of political representation, such as accountability, connectivity, and inquiry, and (2) what strategic, technological, and normative factors explain differences in representatives’ communication with citizens. The empirical analysis, based on a survey questionnaire targeting all Swedish blogging representatives, illuminates four different approaches to blogging, with different drivers and implications for the representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we estimate the effect of the HIV epidemic on demographic outcomes in three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We apply the synthetic control group method and estimate the consequences for life expectancy, mortality, and birth rates. According to standard measures of fit, the method seems to perform well for all countries and outcomes. Our results show a large effect on life expectancy and mortality in two countries, and a small and insignificant effect on birth rates. The impact of the pandemic is very heterogeneous. In Mozambique, the impact of HIV on life expectancy and mortality appears to have been surprisingly small. This heterogeneity is not due to AIDS causing fewer deaths in Mozambique than in the two other countries. Instead, the net effect of HIV in Mozambique appears to be diminished by reduced mortality for other causes-in particular child mortality, respiratory infections, and injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Analysis of the economic impact of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. [•] Significant increases in poorhouse rates and negative effects on capital returns. [•] No discernible mortality effect on earnings. [•] Results go against theoretical predictions and challenge previous empirical studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: To determine the discriminative accuracy and calibration of EuroSCORE II in relation to age, sex, and surgical risk in a large nationwide coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) cohort. Methods: All 14,118 patients undergoing isolated CABG in Sweden during 2012–2017 were included. Individual patient data were taken from the SWEDEHEART registry. Patients were divided by age (< 60, 60–69, 70–79, ≥ 80 years), sex, and surgical risk (low: EuroSCORE < 4%, intermediate: 4–8%, high: > 8%). Discriminative accuracy was determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration by the observed/estimated (O/E) mortality ratio at 30 days. Results: AUC and O/E ratio were 0.82 (95% CI 0.79–0.85) and 0.58 (0.50–0.66) overall, 0.82 (0.79–0.86) and 0.57 (0.48–0.66) in men, and 0.79 (0.73–0.85) and 0.60 (0.47–0.75) in women. Regarding age, discriminative accuracy was highest in patients aged 60–69 years (AUC: 0.86 [0.80–0.93]) but was satisfactory in all groups (AUC: 0.74–0.80). O/E ratio varied from 0.26 for patients > 60 years to 0.90 for patients > 80 years. Regarding surgical risk, AUC and O/E ratio were 0.63 (0.44–0.83) and 0.18 (0.09–0.30) in low-risk patients, 0.60 (0.55–0.66) and 0.57 (0.46–0.68) in intermediate-risk patients, and 0.78 (0.73–0.83) and 0.78 (0.64–0.92) in high-risk patients. Conclusions: EuroSCORE II had good discriminative accuracy independently of sex and age, but markedly overestimated mortality risk, especially in younger patients. Accuracy and calibration were better in high-risk patients than in low-risk and intermediate-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the recent interest in more interactive practices in political representation, this article argues that there is a need to understand the differentiated meanings and functions of this form of communication. The subject of political representation as interactive communication is addressed theoretically as well as empirically. A theoretical framework is presented identifying three strategic functions of interactive communication in political representation: (1) interactivity as accountability, (2) interactivity as inquiry, and (3) interactivity as connectivity. Also, empirical analyses are conducted among blogging politicians in Sweden. These analyses suggest that interactive communication among political representatives cannot be understood as either a radical change in terms of new interactive forms of representation breaking with earlier norms and ideals, or complete continuity. Instead, the argument is that representatives may adopt interactive communication strategically to fulfil different normative ideals of political representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blogging is an increasingly important practice in election campaigns, showing interesting variations across contexts. Recent research has shown that the adoption and use of blogs is strongly shaped by national institutional settings, that is, the different roles given to parties within political systems. However, intra-national differences in the practice of political blogging are yet to be explained. This article investigates the variation in usage of blogs in electoral campaigns in Sweden, a country characterized by strong political parties and a party-centered form of representative democracy. The central argument is that different parties utilize blogging in different ways. Just as blogging is shaped by how institutions support persons or parties, we propose that political blogging is shaped by party affiliation and ideological positions on individualism and collectivism. The empirical analysis, based on a survey among over 600 blogging politicians, confirms that ideological positions towards individualism and collectivism have a great impact on the uptake and usage of political blogs, portraying political blogging as a strongly ideologically situated practice of political communication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives. To investigate the importance of blood sampling conditions for multiple electrode platelet aggregometry (MEA) in cardiac surgery patients. Design. Eighty-one patients undergoing first time CABG surgery were included in three prospective, observational studies. MEA was used to analyze platelet aggregability after addition of adenosine-diphosphate (ADP) or thrombin activating peptide 6 (TRAP). In substudy 1, hirudin and citrate tubes were compared. In substudy 2, samples from peripheral vein, central venous catheter, and radial artery were compared and in substudy 3, the effect of surgery was investigated by analyzing pre- and postoperative samples. Results. Platelet aggregability values were 30% higher in hirudin tubes than in citrate tubes. There was a significant correlation between hirudin and citrate tubes in TRAP-induced aggregability (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) but not in ADP-induced aggregability (r = 0.25, p = 0.13). The blood sampling site did not influence platelet aggregability. Surgery reduced ADP-induced aggregability by 31% (p < 0.001) and TRAP-induced aggregability by 30% (p < 0.001) with large intraindividual variations. Conclusions. MEA results in cardiac surgery patients should not be compared between samples collected in test tubes with different anticoagulants. The choice of blood sampling site does not affect the results. The operation in itself reduces markedly mean platelet aggregability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open in new tab Download slide OBJECTIVES Excessive bleeding leading to re-exploration is a severe complication of cardiac surgical procedures, associated with early postoperative morbidity and mortality. Less is known about the long-term outcome of these patients. We evaluated the impact of re-exploration after cardiac surgery on peri- and postoperative morbidity and mortality, as well long-term mortality, in a well-defined nationwide population. METHODS In this retrospective study, 48 060 consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or valve surgery from 2006 to 2015 were analysed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with re-exploration, morbidity and mortality. Cox regression analysis was implemented to explore the association between re-exploration and long-term mortality. The mean follow-up time was 4.6 years (range 0–10 years) with follow-up time set at 31 December 2015. RESULTS Overall, 2371 patients (4.9%) underwent re-exploration. Factors associated with re-exploration included advanced age, procedures other than isolated CABG and acute surgery. Re-explored patients had an increased risk of unadjusted mortality at 30, 90 and beyond 90 days (all P < 0.001). Significance was maintained after adjustment at 30 days [odds ratio: 3.94, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.19–4.85, P < 0.001] and 90 days (odds ratio: 3.79, 95% CI: 3.14–4.55, P < 0.001), but not with long-term mortality (hazard ratio: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.91–1.15, P = 0.712). Furthermore, re-exploration was independently associated with other postoperative complications, e.g. prolonged hospital stay, stroke and renal injury. CONCLUSIONS Patients who are re-explored for bleeding within 24 h have almost four-fold higher odds of mortality within 3 months post-procedure. However, the increased risk of death following re-exploration is not maintained in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines divergent patterns of political discussion through a comparative analysis of 28 online forums, initiated by the European Commission as part of the 2009 European Citizens' Consultations. These forums shared the same design (technological and process) and had the same connection to the policy process. Still, great divergences were apparent in the intensity of discussion between the forums. The aim of this article is to create an understanding of these divergences. A hypothetic deductive approach is first employed, investigating three hypotheses about favorable conditions for political discussion grounded in prior studies and deliberative democratic theory. The results indicate that political discussions are more intense in forums where the level of consensus among participants is low. Thereafter, a comparative case study is conducted of two forums in order to foster a deeper understanding of these results, which showed that a high level of consensus was created through efforts of organized groups to mobilize support for their positions. The results of the analyses make it evident that online political discussion must be studied and understood in relation to an actor-centered perspective investigating participants' strategies and conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different somatic motor neuron subpopulations show a differential vulnerability to degeneration in diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy and spinobulbar muscular atrophy. Studies in mutant superoxide dismutase 1 over-expressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis model mice indicate that initiation of disease is intrinsic to motor neurons, while progression is promoted by astrocytes and microglia. Therefore, analysis of the normal transcriptional profile of motor neurons displaying differential vulnerability to degeneration in motor neuron disease could give important clues to the mechanisms of relative vulnerability. Global gene expression profiling of motor neurons isolated by laser capture microdissection from three anatomical nuclei of the normal rat, oculomotor/trochlear (cranial nerve 3/4), hypoglossal (cranial nerve 12) and lateral motor column of the cervical spinal cord, displaying differential vulnerability to degeneration in motor neuron disorders, identified enriched transcripts for each neuronal subpopulation. There were striking differences in the regulation of genes involved in endoplasmatic reticulum and mitochondrial function, ubiquitination, apoptosis regulation, nitrogen metabolism, calcium regulation, transport, growth and RNA processing; cellular pathways that have been implicated in motor neuron diseases. Confirmation of genes of immediate biological interest identified differential localization of insulin-like growth factor II, guanine deaminase, peripherin, early growth response 1, soluble guanylate cyclase 1A3 and placental growth factor protein. Furthermore, the cranial nerve 3/4-restricted genes insulin-like growth factor II and guanine deaminase protected spinal motor neurons from glutamate-induced toxicity (P < 0.001, ANOVA), indicating that our approach can identify factors that protect or make neurons more susceptible to degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper uses a unique dataset-containing information collected in 2006 on individuals aged 40–79 in 21 countries throughout the world to examine whether individual income, relative income in a reference group, and income inequality are related to health status across middle/low and high-income countries. The dependent variable is self-assessed health (SAH), and as a robustness check, activities of daily living (ADL) are considered. The focus is particularly on assumptions regarding an individual''s reference group and on how the estimated relationships depend on the level of economic development. Correcting for national differences in health reporting behavior, individual absolute income is found to be positively related to individual health. Furthermore, in the high-income sample, there is strong evidence that average income within a peer-age group is negatively related to health, thus supporting the relative income hypothesis. In middle/low-income countries, it is instead average regional income that is negatively associated with health. Finally, there is evidence of a negative relationship between income inequality and individual health in high-income countries. Overall, the results suggest that there might be important differences in these relationships between high-income and middle/low-income countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this letter, we report on an efficient organic tandem solar cell combining a solid state dye-sensitized with a -based, vacuum deposited bulk heterojunction solar cell. Due to an effective serial connection of both subcells and to the complementary absorption of the dyes used, a power conversion efficiency of )% was achieved under simulated AM 1.5 illumination. The device parameters are , and . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

BACKGROUND: Early identification of patients with increased risk of excessive bleeding and transfusion after cardiac surgery offers the possibility to initiate countermeasures. Fibrinogen is a key protein in the coagulation cascade and thus a potential biomarker for bleeding. We investigated the relationship between preoperative fibrinogen plasma concentration and postoperative bleeding and transfusion after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 170 patients (mean age, 67 ± 9 years; 75% men) undergoing isolated CABG were included in a prospective observational study. Patient variables (age, sex, operation time, anticoagulation therapy), preoperative laboratory variables (platelet [PLT] count, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and fibrinogen), postoperative bleeding volume, and transfusions during hospital stay were registered. Independent predictors of bleeding volume and transfusion were identified with multiple regression models. RESULTS: Postoperative bleeding volume correlated univariately with preoperative fibrinogen concentration (r = −0.53, p < 0.001) and PLT count (r = −0.26, p = 0.001) but only preoperative fibrinogen concentration was an independent predictor of postoperative bleeding volume. Twenty-nine of the 170 patients (17%) received transfusions with blood products. Independent predictors of transfusion were preoperative fibrinogen concentration (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-3.7 per 1-unit decrease; p = 0.027), female sex (OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.8-14.7; p = 0.002), and aortic cross-clamp time (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06 per minute; p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that preoperative fibrinogen concentration (even within the normal range) is a limiting factor for postoperative hemostasis. Preoperative measurement of fibrinogen concentration provides information about bleeding volume and transfusion requirements after CABG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the positions formed as a result of a misapprehension of philosopher Bertrand Russell's paradox. The authors discuss a reductio of the idea of a successful definition, arguing that no paradox exists. Concepts discussed in the essay include the philosopher Timothy Williams, examples of reactions to paradox in literature, and the formulation and examination of alleged paradoxical arguments.

Asymmetry in the magnetic circuit, around the air gap circumference, in a hydroelectric generator will give rise to a unbalanced magnetic pull. In this paper, a hydropower rotor system is modeled and the influence of electro-mechanical forces due to overexcitation is analyzed. The active power has been kept constant and the rotor excitation has been changed in order to vary the output of reactive power. The electromagnetic field is solved with the finite element method. Two electromagnetic models are compared: one with and one without damper winding. The mechanical model of the generator consists of a four degrees of freedom rigid disk connected to an elastic shaft supported by two bearings with linear properties. It has been found that the unbalanced magnetic pull slightly increases for reactive loads resulting in a decrease of natural frequencies and an increase of unbalance response. When the damper winding is included, the magnetic pull will decrease compared to the model without damper winding, and the pull force has two components: one radial and one tangential. The tangential component can influence the stability of the mechanical system for a range of design parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyses whether GPs in a capitation system have incentives to provide quality even though health is a credence good. A model is developed where the quality of the service varies due to inherent differences between the GPs and rational patients make choices based on the outcome of treamtent. We find that it is difficult to provide appropriate incentives since the search activity of patients offsets direct effects of a change in reimbursement. Variation in the inherent ability of the GPs is good since it increases the search activity of the patients and the optimal reimbursement scheme is inversely proportional to the dispersion in types. Finally, we find that offering a menu of contracts can potentially increase social welfare above the level of a simple capitation regime, but it tends to lead to a higher variation in quality levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background . Cardiac surgery induces a systemic inflammatory activation and alterations in the hemostatic cascade. The responses contribute to postoperative complications but may also have protective effects. We investigated the relationship between inflammation, hemostasis and bleeding after off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB). Methods . Ten OPCAB patients were included in a prospective descriptive study. Selected markers of inflammation (IL-6, IL-8, PMN-elastase, C3a, and SC5b-9), and hemostasis (platelet count, ß-thromboglobulin, anti-thrombin, D-dimer and fibrinogen) were measured before and immediately after surgery. Postoperative bleeding was registered. Results . Inflammatory variables did not alter significantly during surgery while ß-thromboglobulin concentrations increased and anti-thrombin and fibrinogen decreased. There were significant postoperative correlations between PMN-elastase and ß-thromboglobulin (r?=?0.82, p?=?0.004), between PMN-elastase and fibrinogen (r?=?0.69, p?=?0.03) and between C3a and ß-thromboglobulin (r?=?0.71, p?=?0.02). In addition, there were significant inverse correlations between postoperative bleeding and pre- and postoperative fibrinogen levels (r?=?-?0.76, p?=?0.011 and r?=?-?0.84, p?=?0.002 respectively), between bleeding and postoperative ß-thromboglobulin levels (r?=?-?0.66, p?=?0.04) and between bleeding and postoperative PMN-elastase (r?=?-?0.75, p?=?0.01). Conclusions . The results give further evidence for an association between the inflammatory response and hemostasis after cardiac surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of protein stability on the adsorption and desorption behavior to surfaces with fundamentally different properties (negatively charged, positively charged, hydrophilic, and hydrophobic) was examined by surface plasmon resonance measurements. Three engineered variants of human carbonic anhydrase II were used that have unchanged surface properties but large differences in stability. The orientation and conformational state of the adsorbed protein could be elucidated by taking all of the following properties of the protein variants into account: stability, unfolding, adsorption, and desorption behavior. Regardless of the nature of the surface, there were correlation between (i) the protein stability and kinetics of adsorption, with an increased amplitude of the first kinetic phase of adsorption with increasing stability; (ii) the protein stability and the extent of maximally adsorbed protein to the actual surface, with an increased amount of adsorbed protein with increasing stability; (iii) the protein stability and the amount of protein desorbed upon washing with buffer, with an increased elutability of the adsorbed protein with increased stability. All of the above correlations could be explained by the rate of denaturation and the conformational state of the adsorbed protein. In conclusion, protein engineering for increased stability can be used as a strategy to decrease irreversible adsorption on surfaces at a liquid-solid interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineered disulfide bridge A23C/L203C in human carbonic anhydrase II, inserted from homology modeling of Neisseria gonorrhoeae carbonic anhydrase, significantly stabilizes the native state of the protein. The inserted cysteine residues are placed in the interior of the structure, and because of the conformationally restrained localization, the protein is expressed in the reduced state and the cysteines are not readily oxidized. However, upon exposure to low concentrations of denaturant (0.6 M guanidine hydrochloride), corresponding to the lower part of the denaturation curve for the first unfolding transition, the oxidation rate of correctly formed disulfide bridges was markedly increased. By entropy estimations it appears that the increased flexibility, induced by the denaturant, enables the cysteines to find each other and hence to form the disulfide bridge. The outlined strategy of facilitating formation of disulfide bonds by addition of adjusted concentrations of a denaturant should be applicable to other proteins in which engineered cysteine residues are located in nonideal conformations. Moreover, a S99C/V242C variant was constructed, in which the cysteine residues are located on the surface, En this mutant the disulfide bridge was spontaneously formed and the native state was considerably stabilized (midpoint concentration of unfolding was increased from 1.0 to 1.4 M guanidine hydrochloride). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple gas-phase method has been developed for producing size- and composition-controlled nanoparticles of binary alloys. The process includes the formation and classification of aerosol nanoparticles of one material and the subsequent condensation of a controlled shell of another. The shell thickness is controlled by the evaporation temperature of the second material. Here we study the Au-Ga system with particle compositions ranging from pure Au to 50 atomic percent Ga. Transmission electron microscopy was used to study the morphology, composition, and structure of the generated particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study of the transfer function of copies of the Vienna-type differential mobility analyser (DMA) it was found that three, supposedly identical, DMAs exhibited distinct differences with respect to the width of the transfer function. This means that the transfer function of a DMA needs to be determined on an individual basis in order to obtain accurate results from DMA measurements. The size dependence of the transfer function width and the penetration of three DMAs were investigated experimentally in a broad range of Peclet numbers (400–400 000). Two of the three DMAs exhibited transfer function widths in excess of the broadening induced by diffusion. The size dependence of the width of all three DMAs could be explained within a few percents by assuming an instrument-specific, size-independent broadening in addition to diffusion broadening. The penetration was evaluated by relating to deposition in a circular tube. Excellent agreement between the experimental data and the simple model was obtained. The penetration study was extended to include literature data, showing that the simple model could be applied and that there are distinct differences between different DMA types. The results of this study indicate that the size dependence of the width of the transfer function and the penetration can be estimated by measuring the transfer function for a single particle size, thus greatly reducing the amount of work required by DMA users to characterise their instruments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Describes the stabilization of the native state of human carbonic anhydrase II by an engineered disulfide bond. Grafting of the disulfide into HCA II; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Protein engineering; Protein folding.

A method to estimate the nonideal features of the transfer function of individual differential mobility analyzers (DMA) was developed and tested experimentally. This was up to now an unsolved problem, which is important for the precision in DMA measurements. The method involves three DMAs of unknown characteristics, which are used in three rounds of experiments with two DMAs according to a fixed schedule. The width of the transfer functions of the three DMAs is obtained in a single fitting procedure where one parameter is fitted to each DMA transfer function and the particle losses in each DMA are calculated in direct relation to that parameter and parameters known from the experiment. It was shown that the proposed method could solve the apportioning problem and unambiguously estimate the transfer function width and the particle losses in each of the DMAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) in cardiac cohorts. Less is known regarding the magnitude of this association in a sleep clinic cohort with vs. without excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). To explore the association of OSA severity with AF in a sleep clinic cohort stratified by EDS. All consecutive adults (n = 3814) admitted to the Skaraborg Hospital, Sweden between Jan 2005 and December 2011 were registered in a local database, and the follow-up ended in December 2018. OSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5 events/h. Mild OSA was defined as AHI ≥5 & AHI<15 events/h; moderate OSA as AHI ≥15 & AHI<30 events/h; and severe OSA as AHI ≥30 events/h. EDS was defined as an Epworth Sleepiness Scale score ≥11. We conducted cross-sectional analyzes of the prevalent AF across the OSA severity categories and logistic regression analyzes stratified by EDS. In all, 202 patients (5.3%) had AF at baseline, 1.6% in no-OSA, 3.9% in mild OSA, 5.2% in moderate OSA, and 7.6% in severe OSA, respectively (p < 0.001). The stratified analyzes revealed that patients with severe OSA without EDS had an increased risk for prevalent AF (OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.05–6.16; p = 0.039) independent of the confounding factors. There was an independent dose-response relationship between OSA and prevalent AF among the non-sleepy phenotype in this sleep clinic cohort. Since adherence to OSA treatment is challenging in the absence of EDS, these patients may have increased risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. • OSA is associated with AF, which is confounded by common risk factors and congestive heart failure in cardiac cohorts. • Less is known regarding of this association in a sleep clinic cohort with vs. without excessive daytime sleepiness. • There was an independent linear relationship between OSA and AF among the non-sleepy in this large sleep clinic cohort. • OSA treatment is challenging in the absence of symptoms, so, these patients may have an increased risk for adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Anders Jeppsson and Martin Karlsson to a letter to the editor about their article on data suggesting that preoperative plasma concentration fibrinogen is an independent risk factor for bleeding and transfusions after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in a previous issue is presented.

Using the reductive power of the ferrocene moiety (Fc), an ultrafast regeneration step via a covalent attachment of a Fc moiety to an organic triphenylamine-based dye (L1) when adsorbed on TiO 2 is highlighted. Two modified dyes with one and two Fc moieties attached (L1Fc, and L1Fc2), respectively, were synthesized by addition to the L1 dye. These dyes have been studied spectroscopically using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy in the visible and the infrared (IR) regions. In acetonitrile, the results show an ultrafast excited state quenching of the modified dyes due to an expected electron transfer process from the Fc(s) to L1. Adsorbed onto TiO 2 , an electron transfer process is also detected from Fc to the oxidized dye (L1 + ). Despite the occurrence of an ultrafast regeneration step, the solar cell performance does not improve by the attachment of Fc(s) to the dye L1. Transient absorption measurements in the IR region revealed a fast electron recombination process to the Fc + moiety on an average time scale of ca. 300 ps, outcompeting the >12 ns process to L1 + . The reasons for the observed considerably faster recombination rate to Fc + than to L1 + are discussed in detail. This study provides deep spectroscopic insights for such organic dyes utilized to afford ultrafast regeneration step without showing high performance in photovoltaic devices. In addition, this study will improve our understandings for the triangular relationship between the molecular design, electron kinetics, and the performance in photovoltaic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study examines the destiny of macromolecules in different full-scale biogas processes. From previous studies it is clear that the residual organic matter in outgoing digestates can have significant biogas potential, but the factors dictating the size and composition of this residual fraction and how they correlate with the residual methane potential (RMP) are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to generate additional knowledge of the composition of residual digestate fractions and to understand how they correlate with various operational and chemical parameters. The organic composition of both the substrates and digestates from nine biogas plants operating on food waste, sewage sludge, or agricultural waste was characterized and the residual organic fractions were linked to substrate type, trace metal content, ammonia concentration, operational parameters, RMP, and enzyme activity. Results: Carbohydrates represented the largest fraction of the total VS (32–68%) in most substrates. However, in the digestates protein was instead the most abundant residual macromolecule in almost all plants (3–21 g/kg). The degradation efficiency of proteins generally lower (28–79%) compared to carbohydrates (67–94%) and fats (86–91%). High residual protein content was coupled to recalcitrant protein fractions and microbial biomass, either from the substrate or formed in the degradation process. Co-digesting sewage sludge with fat increased the protein degradation efficiency with 18%, possibly through a priming mechanism where addition of easily degradable substrates also triggers the degradation of more complex fractions. In this study, high residual methane production (> 140 L CH4/kg VS) was firstly coupled to operation at unstable process conditions caused mainly by ammonia inhibition (0.74 mg NH3-N/kg) and/or trace element deficiency and, secondly, to short hydraulic retention time (HRT) (55 days) relative to the slow digestion of agricultural waste and manure. Conclusions: Operation at unstable conditions was one reason for the high residual macromolecule content and high RMP. The outgoing protein content was relatively high in all digesters and improving the degradation of proteins represents one important way to increase the VS reduction and methane production in biogas plants. Post-treatment or post-digestion of digestates, targeting microbial biomass or recalcitrant protein fractions, is a potential way to achieve increased protein degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Zeolites act upon LCFA produced by anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse waste. [•] Results suggests that the mechanism is an adsorption of the LCFA to the zeolites. [•] Zeolites have the potential to relieve inhibitory stress from LCFA. [•] VFA consumers are the main group of microorganisms that is inhibited by LCFA. [•] Zeolites shortens the prolonged lag phase caused by LCFA in batch conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fibrinogen concentrate is used clinically to improve hemostasis in bleeding patients. We investigated and compared the efficacy of three commercially available fibrinogen concentrates to improve clot strength in blood samples from cardiac surgery patients. Objectives: Postoperative blood samples were collected from 23 cardiac surgery patients. Samples were each divided into four vials, each supplemented with 1.125 mg of fibrinogen of one of three fibrinogen concentrates (RiaSTAP®, Fibryga®, FibCLOT®), or placebo. The fibrinogen dose corresponded to 2.5 g per 70 kg of body weight. Clot strength after supplementation was assessed in duplicate with rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM®) using FIBTEM maximum clot firmness, EXTEM clot formation time, and maximum clot firmness assays. Results: In vitro fibrinogen concentrate supplementation of the samples resulted in higher plasma fibrinogen concentrations and improved clot strength with all three concentrates. Supplementation with FibCLOT increased FIBTEM maximum clot firmness (+46% [25th–75th percentile 35–55] compared to placebo) significantly more than did supplementation with Fibryga (+26% [21–35]) and RiaSTAP (+29% [22–47], p <.001). FibCLOT supplementation also shortened EXTEM clot formation time and increased EXTEM maximum clot firmness to a greater extent than did the other concentrates (both p <.001). Conclusions: At the selected dose, FibCLOT was more effective than Fibryga and RiaSTAP in restoring clot strength in postoperative blood samples from cardiac surgery patients. These results may have implications for the choice of fibrinogen concentrate and dosing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smartphone applications (apps) that target recreational fishers are growing in abundance. These apps have the potential to provide data useful for management of recreational fisheries. We surveyed expert opinion in 20, mostly European, countries to assess the current and future status of app use in marine recreational fisheries. The survey revealed that a few countries already use app data to support existing data collection, and that this number is likely to increase within 5–10 years. The strongest barriers to use app data were a scarcity of useful apps and concern over data quality, especially biases due to the opt-in nature of app use. Experts generally agreed that apps were unlikely to be a "stand-alone" method, at least in the short term, but could be of immediate use as a novel approach to collect supporting data such as, fisheries-specific temporal and spatial distributions of fishing effort, and aspects of fisher behaviour. This survey highlighted the growing interest in app data among researchers and managers, but also the need for government agencies and other managers/researchers to coordinate their efforts with the support of survey statisticians to develop and assess apps in ways that will ensure standardisation, data quality, and utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although end-of-life medical spending is often viewed as a major component of aggregate medical expenditure, accurate measures of this type of medical spending are scarce. We used detailed health care data for the period 2009-11 from Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the United States, and the Canadian province of Quebec to measure the composition and magnitude of medical spending in the three years before death. In all nine countries, medical spending at the end of life was high relative to spending at other ages. Spending during the last twelve months of life made up a modest share of aggregate spending, ranging from 8.5 percent in the United States to 11.2 percent in Taiwan, but spending in the last three calendar years of life reached 24.5 percent in Taiwan. This suggests that high aggregate medical spending is due not to last-ditch efforts to save lives but to spending on people with chronic conditions, which are associated with shorter life expectancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Enzymatic treatment of lignocellulosic material for increased biogas production has so far focused on pretreatment methods. However, often combinations of enzymes and different physicochemical treatments are necessary to achieve a desired effect. This need for additional energy and chemicals compromises the rationale of using enzymes for low energy treatment to promote biogas production. Therefore, simpler and less energy intensive in situ anaerobic digester treatment with enzymes is desirable. However, investigations in which exogenous enzymes are added to treat the material in situ have shown mixed success, possibly because the enzymes used originated from organisms not evolutionarily adapted to the environment of anaerobic digesters. In this study, to examine the effect of enzymes endogenous to methanogenic microbial communities, cellulolytic enzymes were instead overproduced and collected from a dedicated methanogenic microbial community. By this approach, a solution with very high endogenous microbial cellulolytic activity was produced and tested for the effect on biogas production from lignocellulose by in situ anaerobic digester treatment. Results: Addition of enzymes, endogenous to the environment of a mixed methanogenic microbial community, to the anaerobic digestion of ensiled forage ley resulted in significantly increased rate and yield of biomethane production. The enzyme solution had an instant effect on more readily available cellulosic material. More importantly, the induced enzyme solution also affected the biogas production rate from less accessible cellulosic material in a second slower phase of lignocellulose digestion. Notably, this effect was maintained throughout the experiment to completely digested lignocellulosic substrate. Conclusions: The induced enzyme solution collected from a microbial methanogenic community contained enzymes that were apparently active and stable in the environment of anaerobic digestion. The enzymatic activity had a profound effect on the biogas production rate and yield, comparable with the results of many pretreatment methods. Thus, application of such enzymes could enable efficient low energy in situ anaerobic digester treatment for increased biomethane production from lignocellulosic material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hitherto, the main goal of metaproteomic analyses has been to characterize the functional role of particular microorganisms in the microbial ecology of various microbial communities. Recently, it has been suggested that metaproteomics could be used for bioprospecting microbial communities to query for the most active enzymes to improve the selection process of industrially relevant enzymes. In the present study, to reduce the complexity of metaproteomic samples for targeted bioprospecting of novel enzymes, a microbial community capable of producing cellulases was maintained on a chemically defined medium in an enzyme suppressed metabolic steady state. From this state, it was possible to specifically and distinctively induce the desired cellulolytic activity. The extracellular fraction of the protein complement of the induced sample could thereby be purified and compared to a non-induced sample of the same community by differential gel electrophoresis to discriminate between constitutively expressed proteins and proteins upregulated in response to the inducing substance. Results: Using the applied approach, downstream analysis by mass spectrometry could be limited to only proteins recognized as upregulated in the cellulase-induced sample. Of 39 selected proteins, the majority were found to be linked to the need to degrade, take up, and metabolize cellulose. In addition, 28 (72%) of the proteins were noncytosolic and 17 (44%) were annotated as carbohydrate-active enzymes. The results demonstrated both the applicability of the proposed approach for identifying extracellular proteins and guiding the selection of proteins toward those specifically upregulated and targeted by the enzyme inducing substance. Further, because identification of interesting proteins was based on the regulation of enzyme expression in response to a need to hydrolyze and utilize a specific substance, other unexpected enzyme activities were able to be identified. Conclusions: The described approach created the conditions necessary to be able to select relevant extracellular enzymes that were extracted from the enzyme-induced microbial community. However, for the purpose of bioprospecting for enzymes to clone, produce, and characterize for practical applications, it was concluded that identification against public databases was not sufficient to identify the correct gene or protein sequence for cloning of the identified novel enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme discovery in individual strains of microorganisms is compromised by the limitations of pure culturing. In principle, metaproteomics allows for fractionation and study of different parts of the protein complement but has hitherto mainly been used to identify intracellular proteins. However, the extracellular environment is also expected to comprise a wealth of information regarding important proteins. An absolute requirement for metaproteomic studies of protein expression, and irrespective of downstream methods for analysis, is that sample preparation methods provide clean, concentrated and representative samples of the protein complement. A battery of methods for concentration, extraction, precipitation and resolubilization of proteins in the extracellular environment of a constructed microbial community was assessed by means of 2D gel electrophoresis and image analysis to elucidate whether it is possible to make the extracellular protein complement available for metaproteomic analysis. Most methods failed to provide pure samples and therefore negatively influenced protein gel migration and gel background clarity. However, one direct precipitation method (TCA-DOC/acetone) and one extraction/precipitation method (phenol/methanol) provided complementary high quality 2D gels that allowed for high spot detection ability and thereby also spot detection of less abundant extracellular proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an alternative to energy intensive physical methods, enzymatic treatment of sludge produced at wastewater treatment plants for increased hydrolysis and biogas production was investigated. Several hydrolytic enzymes were assessed with a focus on how enzyme activity and life time was influenced by sludge environments. It could be concluded that the activity life time of added enzymes was limited (<24 h) in both waste activated sludge and anaerobic digester sludge environments and that this was, for the majority of enzymes, due to endogenous protease activity. In biogas in situ experiments, subtilisin at a 1% mixture on basis of volatile solids, was the only enzyme providing a significantly increased biomethane production of 37%. However, even at this high concentration, subtilisin could not hydrolyze all available substrate within the life time of the enzyme. Thus, for large scale implementation, enzymes better suited to the sludge environments are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel enzymes that are stable in diverse conditions are intensively sought because they offer major potential advantages in industrial biotechnology, and microorganisms in extreme environments are key sources of such enzymes. However, most potentially valuable enzymes are currently inaccessible due to the pure culturing problem of microorganisms. Novel metagenomic and metaproteomic techniques that circumvent the need for pure cultures have theoretically provided possibilities to identify all genes and all proteins in microbial communities, but these techniques have not been widely used to directly identify specific enzymes because they generate vast amounts of extraneous data. In a first step towards developing a metaproteomic approach to pinpoint targeted extracellular hydrolytic enzymes of choice in microbial communities, we have generated and analyzed the necessary conditions for such an approach by the use of a methanogenic microbial community maintained on a chemically defined medium. The results show that a metabolic steady state of the microbial community could be reached, at which the expression of the targeted hydrolytic enzymes were suppressed, and that upon enzyme induction a distinct increase in the targeted enzyme expression was obtained. Furthermore, no cross talk in expression was detected between the two focal types of enzyme activities under their respective inductive conditions. Thus, the described approach should be useful to generate ideal samples, collected before and after selective induction, in controlled microbial communities to clearly discriminate between constituently expressed proteins and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes that are specifically induced, thereby reducing the analysis to only those proteins that are distinctively up-regulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] An SO2-setpoint was maintained by controlling the sulfuric acid dosage to the boiler. [•] The corrosions rates decreased significantly for 16Mo3, Sanicro 28 and Inconel 625. [•] Sulfur recirculation allowed an increase from 450 to 525°C at similar corrosion rates. [•] The raw gas and fly ash PCDD/F concentrations decreased by a quarter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Thrombin is a key component in the coagulation cascade, and impaired thrombin generation has been linked to increased bleeding after surgical procedures. The aim was to evaluate postoperative thrombin generation capacity in plasma after cardiac surgery, and its potential associations to activity of individual coagulation factors and heparin. Material and Methods: Forty-eight coronary artery bypass grafting patients were included in a prospective observational cohort study. Thrombin generation capacity was analysed in plasma with calibrated automated thrombogram with tissue factor as activator before (baseline), and 2h and 24h after surgery. In addition, plasma activity of coagulation factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XIII, were determined. Heparin effect was assessed by anti-Xa activity, APTT and thrombin time. Results: Thrombin generation was markedly reduced 2h after surgery compared to baseline. Peak levels decreased with median 74% (interquartile range 52–90), p<0.001, and endogenous thrombin generation potential decreased with 65% (43–86), p<0.001. Postoperative changes in endogenous thrombin generation potential correlated inversely to changes in anti-Xa activity (r=−0.51, p=0.010) and to changes in thrombin time (r=−0.51, p=0.009), but there were no correlations to changes in individual coagulation factor activity. Conclusions: A marked reduction in thrombin generation potential was observed in the early postoperative phase after cardiac surgery. The decrease was independent of reductions in individual coagulation factor activity but correlated to heparin effects. The results indicate that a sustained heparin effect contributes to the postoperative reduction in thrombin generation capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Hemodilution and consumption of coagulation factors during cardiopulmonary bypass has been suggested to contribute to bleeding complications after cardiac surgery. The aim was to describe the activity of individual coagulation factors after CABG in relation to hemodilution and postoperative bleeding. Materials and Methods: Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen and plasma activity of FII, FV, FVII, FVIII, FIX, FX, FXI and FXIII adjusted for hemodilution were analysed in 57 CABG patients before, and 2h and 24h after surgery. Postoperative bleeding was registered and correlations to coagulation factor activity were calculated. Results: Adjusted plasma concentration of fibrinogen (-14±6%), and plasma activity of FII (-9±6%), FV (-13±8%), FX (-13±7%) and FXIII (-9±14%) were reduced two hours after surgery compared to baseline (all p<0.001). FVII (+3±12%, p=0.34) and FXI (+1±19%, p=0.50) were unchanged, while FVIII (+23±44%, p=0.006) and FIX (+23±17%, p<0.001) increased. Twenty-four hours after surgery fibrinogen (+45±27%), FVIII (+93±66%) and FIX (+33±26%) were all increased (all p<0.001), while FVII (-37±14%, p<0.001), FXI (-4±18%, p=0.02) and FXIII (-6±15%, p=0.004) were decreased. Median postoperative blood loss was 380ml/12h. There were significant inverse correlations between postoperative blood loss and fibrinogen concentration 2h after surgery (r=-0.33, p=0.019) and between postoperative blood loss and pre- and postoperative FXIII activity (r=-0.34, p=0.009 and r=-0.41, p=0.003, respectively), but not between blood loss and any of the other factors. Conclusions: There is a marked dissociation in plasma activity of individual coagulation factors after CABG. Plasma concentration of fibrinogen and factor XIII activity correlates inversely to postoperative blood loss after CABG. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]