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The Dahra field site in Senegal, West Africa, was established in 2002 to monitor ecosystem properties of semiarid savanna grassland and their responses to climatic and environmental change. This article describes the environment and the ecosystem properties of the site using a unique set of in situ data. The studied variables include hydroclimatic variables, species composition, albedo, normalized

Disease and death caused by bacterial infections are global health problems. Effective bacterial strategies are required to promote survival and proliferation within a human host, and it is important to explore how this adaption occurs. However, the detection and quantification of bacterial virulence factors in complex biological samples are technically demanding challenges. These can be addressed

Background: The association between adiposity and cardiometabolic traits is well known from epidemiological studies. Whilst the causal relationship is clear for some of these traits, for others it is not. We aimed to determine whether adiposity is causally related to various cardiometabolic traits using the Mendelian randomization approach. Methods and Findings: We used the adiposity-associated va

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are a class of recently developed luminescent biomarkers that - in several aspects - are superior to organic dyes and quantum dots. UCNPs can emit spectrally narrow anti-Stokes shifted light with quantum yields which greatly exceed those of two-photon dyes for fluence rates relevant for deep tissue imaging. Compared with conventionally used Stokes-shifting fluoro

Passenger leukocyte transfer from the donor lung to the recipient is intrinsically involved in acute rejection. Direct presentation of alloantigen expressed on donor leukocytes is recognized by recipient T cells, promoting acute cellular rejection. We utilized ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) to study passenger leukocyte migration from donor lungs into the recipient and to evaluate the effects of don

Papillomaviruses (PV) are a remarkably heterogeneous family of small DNA viruses that infect a wide variety of vertebrate species and are etiologically linked with the development of various neoplastic changes of the skin and mucosal epithelia. Based on nucleotide similarity, PVs are hierarchically classified into genera, species and types. Novel human PV (HPV) types are given a unique number only

Plant canopies affect the canopy micrometeorology, and thereby alter canopy exchange processes. For the simulation of these exchange processes on a regional or global scale, large-scale vegetation models often assume homogeneous environmental conditions within the canopy. In this study, we address the importance of vertical variations in light, temperature, CO2 concentration and humidity within th

(23)Na-NMR has previously been used to monitor Na(+) translocation across membranes in Gram-negative bacteria and in various other organelles and liposomes using a membrane-impermeable shift reagent to resolve the signals resulting from internal and external Na(+). In this work, the (23)Na-NMR method was adapted for measurements of internal Na(+) concentration in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacill

The allergen bronchoprovocation test is a long-standing exacerbation model of allergic asthma that can induce several clinical and pathophysiologic features of asthma in sensitized subjects. Standardized allergen challenge is primarily a research tool, and when properly conducted by qualified and experienced investigators, it is safe and highly reproducible. In combination with validated airway sa

We study two-color high-order harmonic generation using an intense driving field and its weak second harmonic, crossed under a small angle in the focus. Employing sum- and difference-frequency generation processes, such a noncollinear scheme can be used to measure and control macroscopic phase matching effects by utilizing a geometrical phase mismatch component, which depends on the noncollinear a

Tackling health inequalities is a top priority for public health services in England. Third sector organisations, or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), are seen as having a key role in providing these services, particularly to the socially excluded, often dubbed ‘hard to reach’, for whom services must be provided if health inequalities are to be reduced. The plethora of evaluation frameworks a

The adaptor protein Grb10 plays important roles in mitogenic signaling. However, its roles in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are predominantly unknown. Here we describe the role of Grb10 in FLT3-ITD-mediated AML. We observed that Grb10 physically associates with FLT3 in response to FLT3-ligand (FL) stimulation through FLT3 phospho-tyrosine 572 and 793 residues and constitutively associates with onco

Potex constitutes a potato fiber preparation widely used as an ingredient to meat and bakery products which thermal treatment results in creation of new compounds. Melanoidins are high molecular weight brown end products of Maillard reaction, and few data presenting tumor cell growth inhibiting activity of melanoidins have been reported. Thus, in present study we utilized water extract of Potex ro

Given that public transportation networks are often worse in rural areas than in urban areas, rural residents who do not drive can find it difficult to access health-promoting goods, services, and resources related to masticatory ability. Moreover, geographical location, assessed by elevation, could modify this association. The aim of this study was to test whether the association between access t

Multi-target aptamer selection, known as multiplex systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), is rapidly drawing interest because of its potential to enable high-speed, high-throughput aptamer selection. The parallelization of chemical processes by integrating microfluidic unit operations is a key strategy for developing a multiplex SELEX process. One of the potential probl

The c.4309A>C mutation in the LRRK2 gene (LRRK2 p.N1437H) has recently been reported as the seventh pathogenic LRRK2 mutation causing monogenic Parkinson's disease (PD). So far, only two families worldwide have been identified with this mutation. By screening DNA from seven brains of PD patients, we found one individual with seemingly sporadic PD and LRRK2 p.N1437H mutation. Clinically, the patien

Background Prior studies have examined the impact of preterm birth on the quality of the attachment relationship to the mother in infancy, but few have examined extremely preterm born infants and almost no data have been reported on prematurity and its impact on the attachment organization attained after childhood. Methods Thirty-nine adolescents born extremely preterm and 39 full-term born contro

Common genetic variations in the gene encoding transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) reveal the strongest association with type 2-diabetes known to date. These lead to impaired insulin production and output, but the mechanisms of disease remain incompletely known. In this issue of Diabetologia, two publications provide new insights into TCF7L2-dependent diabetes.