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A theoretical model has been developed for the processes occurring at diffusion controlled formation of TiB2 in liquid Al under microgravity.

Summary: Background: Biologics are indicated for treating moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis. As the number of biologics registered for the treatment of psoriasis increases, so does the need for biomarkers to guide personalized therapeutic decisions. Genetic variants might serve as predictors for treatment response, a field of research known as pharmacogenetics. Objectives: To assess which genetic variants are associated with response to biologics in patients with psoriasis according to current literature. Methods: A systematic search was performed in Embase, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science. In total, 26 papers were included in this systematic review; 24 original studies and two meta‐analyses. Quality was assessed using a predesigned form and risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results: The majority of studies reported a candidate gene approach, focusing on polymorphisms in genes related to the therapeutic target or to psoriasis susceptibility. Studied populations were small and results were divergent, especially for studies investigating tumour necrosis factor inhibitors. The evidence for the role of HLA‐Cw6 in ustekinumab efficacy shows minimal heterogeneity, with a higher response rate among patients who were positive for HLA‐Cw6 reported across three of five studies. Conclusions: Pharmacogenetic studies in psoriasis have generated divergent results. Replication of findings in larger cohorts is required. Large‐scale hypothesis‐free searches for genetic biomarkers are needed to uncover the complete genetic background of outcomes for treatment with biologics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: 银屑病是一种常见皮肤病,是机体过量产生一种称为“肿瘤坏死因子‐α”(TNF‐α) 的蛋白质反过来引发炎症的情形。生物制剂是相对新型的强效药物,能够降低 TNF‐α 活性,可用于治疗中度到重度的银屑病。目前有很多不同类型的生物制剂,寻找最适合个体患者的生物制剂是一个反复试验的过程,可能在很长一段时间里治疗结果不如预期的那么好,而且需要投入大量不必要的成本。基因差异(遗传变异)可能解释为何生物制剂的效果因人而异,并且有助于预测特效生物制剂是否可能对患者有效。该医学领域被称为药物遗传学。这项在荷兰开展的研究对其他发表的研究进行了综述,旨在了解遗传变异与使用不同生物制剂的疗效之间的关联。该综述涵盖了 26 项研究,探讨了阿达木单抗、依那西普、英夫利昔单抗以及优特克单抗生物制剂。未找到苏金单抗或伊赛珠单抗这两种生物制剂的相关研究。许多研究主要关注与 TNF‐α 工作机理有关的基因变异。一些研究发现了部分 TNF‐α 变异与生物制剂之间的关联,但这些结果与其他研究往往冲突。作者得出结论,在银屑病领域的药物遗传学研究结果不一致。遗传变异 HLA‐Cw6 有可能作为衡量优特克单抗疗效的预测指标,但还需要更大规模的研究来证实这一点。研究人员需要大规模搜索基因生物标志,以找出生物制剂疗效的完整遗传背景。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of understanding the long-lasting legacy of past land use on modern ecosystems has long been acknowledged. However, the magnitude and persistence of such legacies have been assessed only occasionally. Northern Greece has been a gateway of farming into mainland Europe during the Neolithic, thus providing a perfect setting to assess the potential impact of land-use history on present-day ecosystems. Additionally, the marked Holocene climatic variability of the southern Balkans makes it possible to investigate climate-vegetation-land use interactions over long timescales. Here, we have studied a sediment record from Limni Vegoritis (Northern Greece) spanning the past ∼9000 years using palaeoecological proxies (pollen, spores, stomata, microscopic charcoal). We aimed to reconstruct long-term vegetation dynamics in submediterranean Greece, to assess the environmental factors controlling them and to establish the legacies of the long history of land use in the modern landscape. We found that the Early Holocene afforestation, mainly oak woodlands, was delayed because of suboptimal moisture conditions. Later, colder and drier conditions during the rapid climate change centred around the '8.2 ka event' triggered woodland opening and the spread of wooded (Juniperus) steppe vegetation. First indicators of farming activities are recorded during this period, but their abundances are too low to explain the concurrent large deforestation episode. Later, pinewoods (probably dominated by Pinus nigra) with deciduous Quercus spread and dominated the landscape for several millennia. These forests experienced repeated multi-centennial setback-recovery episodes associated with land-use intensification, but pines eventually declined ∼2500-2000 years ago during Classical times under heavy land use comprising intense pastoralism. This was the starting point for the present-day landscape, where the main 'foundation' taxon of the ancient forests (Pinus cf. nigra) is missing, therefore attesting to the strong imprint that historical land use has left on the modern landscape., 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.)

The COVID-19-pandemic forced many countries to close schools abruptly in the spring of 2020. These school closures and the subsequent period of distance learning has led to concerns about increasing inequality in education, as children from lower-educated and poorer families have less access to (additional) resources at home. This study analyzes differences in declines in learning gains in primary education in the Netherlands for reading, spelling and math, using rich data on standardized test scores and register data on student and parental background for almost 300,000 unique students. The results show large inequalities in the learning loss based on parental education and parental income, on top of already existing inequalities. The results call for a national focus on interventions specifically targeting vulnerable students., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Genetic predictors for treatment response could optimize allocation of biological treatment in patients with psoriasis. There is minimal knowledge about pharmacogenetics of anti-IL-17 agents., Objectives: To assess whether genetic variants in the protein-coding region or untranslated regions of the IL-17A gene are associated with response to IL-17A inhibitors in patients with psoriasis., Methods: This was a multicenter European cohort study investigating pharmacogenetics of IL-17A inhibitors in patients with psoriasis. Patients with plaque psoriasis treated with secukinumab or ixekizumab in daily practice were included. For all participants, the protein-coding region and untranslated regions of the IL-17A gene were analysed using Sanger sequencing. Identified genetic variants were tested for association with response to secukinumab/ixekizumab, measured as ∆PASI, after 12 weeks (primary outcome) and after 24 weeks (secondary outcome). Association was tested using a linear regression model with correction for baseline PASI as a fixed covariate and for biological naivety and body mass index as additional covariates., Results: In total, 134 patients treated with secukinumab or ixekizumab were included. Genotyping of the cohort identified genetic variants present in untranslated regions and intronic DNA, but not in the protein-coding region of the IL-17A gene. Five genetic variants in non-coding DNA with a known or suspected functional effect on IL-17A expression were selected for association analyses: rs2275913, rs8193037, rs3819025, rs7747909 and rs3748067. After 12 weeks, 62% of patients achieved PASI75 and 39% achieved PASI90. At week 24, PASI75 and PASI90 response rates were 72% and 62%, respectively. No associations were found between the five genetic variants and ∆PASI, PASI75 or PASI90 after 12 and 24 weeks of anti-IL-17A treatment., Conclusions: Response to IL-17A inhibitors secukinumab and ixekizumab cannot be explained by genetic variation in the protein-coding and untranslated regions of the IL-17A gene. Pharmacogenetics of IL-17A inhibitors in the treatment of psoriasis requires further exploration., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.)

Background: Balancing treatment decisions in frail older adults with nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) can be challenging. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) could provide assistance., Objectives: To collect and prioritize items related to frail older adults with NMSC for integration into CPGs and to assess the current extent of this integration., Methods: Items were collected and prioritized by a multidisciplinary working group (29 members) using a modified Delphi procedure and a five-point Likert scale. To assess current integration of these items in CPGs, a systematic review was subsequently performed by two independent reviewers using five medical databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, SUMsearch and Trip Database), websites of guideline developers/databases, and (inter)national dermatological societies., Results: Prioritization of a final 13-item list showed that 'limited life expectancy' (4·5 ± 0·9) and 'treatment goals other than cure' (4·4 ± 0·7) were most desired to be integrated into CPGs; both were included in six (46%) of the CPGs found (n = 13). Attention to 'tumour characteristics' and 'comorbidities' were included in CPGs most often (100% and 77%, respectively)., Conclusions: More attention to items related to frail older adults in NMSC CPGs is broadly desired, but CPG integration of these items is currently limited. More integration might stimulate more holistic, personalized and patient-centred care in frail older adults., (© 2016 British Association of Dermatologists.)

The unique properties of nanostructured materials enable their transformation into complex, kinetically controlled morphologies that cannot be obtained during their growth. Solution-phase cation-exchange reactions can transform sub-10 nm nanocrystals/nanorods into varying compositions and superlattice structures; however, because of their small size, cation-exchange reaction rates are extremely fast, which limits control over the transformed products and possibilities for obtaining new morphologies. Nanowires are routinely synthesized via gas-phase reactions with 5-200 nm diameters, and their large aspect ratios allow them to be electrically addressed individually. To realize their full potential, it is desirable to develop techniques that can transform nanowires into tunable but precisely controlled morphologies, especially in the gas-phase, to be compatible with nanowire growth schemes. We report transformation of single-crystalline cadmium sulfide nanowires into composition-controlled Zn(x)Cd((1-x))S nanowires, core-shell heterostructures, metal-semiconductor superlattices (Zn-Zn(x)Cd((1-x))S), single-crystalline ZnS nanotubes, and eventually metallic Zn nanowires by utilizing size-dependent cation-exchange reaction along with temperature and gas-phase reactant delivery control. This versatile synthetic ability to transform nanowires offers new opportunities to study size-dependent phenomena at the nanoscale and tune their chemical/physical properties to design reconfigurable circuits.

The emission spectrum of individual high-quality ZnO nanowires consists of a series of Fabry-Pérot-like eigenmodes that extend far below the band gap of ZnO. Spatially resolved luminescence spectroscopy shows that light is emitted predominantly at both wire ends, with identical spectra reflecting standing wave polariton eigenmodes. The intensity of the modes increases supralinearly with the excitation intensity, indicating that the mode population is governed by scattering among polaritons. Due to strong light-matter interaction, light emission from a ZnO nanowire is not dictated by the electronic band diagram of ZnO but depends also on the wire geometry and the excitation intensity. Delocalized polaritons provide a natural explanation for the pronounced subwavelength guiding in ZnO wires that has been reported previously.