The expanding petrochemical industry depends on fossil fuels both as feedstock and a source of energy and is at the heart of the intertwined global crises relating to plastics, climate, and toxic emissions. Addressing these crises requires uprooting the deep-seated lock-ins that sustain petrochemical plastics. This perspective identifies lock-ins that stand in the way of ambitious emission reducti

Glucocorticoid use is associated with steroid-induced diabetes mellitus and impaired pancreatic β-cell insulin secretion. Here, the glucocorticoid-mediated transcriptomic changes in human pancreatic islets and the human insulin-secreting EndoC-βH1 cells were investigated to uncover genes involved in β-cell steroid stress-response processes. Bioinformatics analysis revealed glucocorticoids to exert

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is currently considered as a membrane material for alkaline water electrolyzers (AWEs), and has to be fed with highly concentrated aqueous KOH electrolytes in order to ensure sufficient electrolyte uptake and conductivity. However, the harsh operating conditions significantly limit the lifetime of PBI membranes. In response, we here report on the synthesis and performance o

Based on artefactual field experiments, we investigate whether finance professionals differ from a sample of the working population in terms of industry-relevant preferences and personality traits. When adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics, we find only few and less marked differences: finance professionals are less risk averse, less trustworthy, show higher levels of psychopathy and are mo

Through improved bitumen characterization, which will increase the road'sdurability, stability, and performance, pavement engineering can apply thesustainability notion that should be followed in all disciplines nowadays. The newtechniques distinguish between the rheological properties of bituminous binders as a function of loading time and temperature to depict real-world behavior rather than onl

Complementary pathways are often viewed as an entirely political matter. While there is no legal obligation for states to introduce such, this article shows that their presence or absence has a bearing on how the ECtHR assesses compliance with the prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens. This concrete interaction between complementary pathways and human rights law has been introduced through

As found in the health studies literature, the levels of climate association between epidemiological diseases have been found to vary across regions. Therefore, it seems reasonable to allow for the possibility that relationships might vary spatially within regions. We implemented the geographically weighted random forest (GWRF) machine learning method to analyze ecological disease patterns caused

Background: Women with mild breast cancer-related arm lymphedema (BCRAL) mostly receive treatment with compression garments and instructions in self-care to prevent the progression of lymphedema. However, wearing a compression garment may be experienced as negative and may affect health-related quality of life (HRQOL) more than the lymphedema itself. The aim of this study was to investigate if the

There is a lack of clinical protocols for re-irradiation in paediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumours. To fill this void, the Swedish Workgroup of Paediatric Radiotherapy (SBRTG) compiled national guidelines on re-irradiation in paediatric CNS tumours (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, ependymoma, germinoma and medulloblastoma). These have been in clinical practice since 2019 in all paediatr

The Royal Society’s results exaggerated the efficacy of mandated lockdowns.A recent Royal Society report on the Covid-19 pandemic produced by a team led by Mark Walport, a professor of medicine at Imperial College London, captivated the press. The report concludes that non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including mandatory lockdowns, “can provide powerful, effective and prolonged reductions

The bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment (HME) plays a pivotal role in regulating normal and diseased hematopoiesis. However, the spatial organization of the human HME has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Therefore, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) immunofluorescence model to analyze changes in the cellular architecture in control and diseased bone marrows (BMs). BM biopsies from p

Background: Postoperative complications (POCs) following resection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) are common. The objective of this study was to evaluate risk factors for developing complications and their impact on survival considering prognostic factors of the primary tumor, metastatic pattern and treatment in a well-defined national cohort. Methods: Patients treated with resection for CR

Similarity measurement has been a prevailing research topic in geographic information science. Geometric similarity measurement in scaling transformation (GSM_ST) is critical to ensure spatial data quality while balancing detailed information with distinctive features. However, GSM_ST is an uncertain problem due to subjective spatial cognition, global and local concerns, and geometric complexity.

Introduction: Lynch syndrome-associated cancer develops due to germline pathogenic variants in one of the mismatch repair (MMR) genes, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 or PMS2. Somatic second hits in tumors cause MMR deficiency, testing for which is used to screen for Lynch syndrome in colorectal cancer and to guide selection for immunotherapy. Both MMR protein immunohistochemistry and microsatellite instability

Trading on peer-to-peer tourist accommodation platforms requires a sufficient level of trust between individual consumers and service providers. This is often achieved by using mutual consumer–provider evaluations, which are perceived as a trustworthy resource for information about upcoming stays. A variety of mechanisms and metrics are used to facilitate trust building on platforms; however, trus

Norm enforcement may be important for resolving conflicts and promoting cooperation. However, little is known about how preferred responses to norm violations vary across cultures and across domains. In a preregistered study of 57 countries (using convenience samples of 22,863 students and non-students), we measured perceptions of the appropriateness of various responses to a violation of a cooper

For over 300 million years, insects have relied on symbiotic microbes for nutrition and defence. However, it is unclear whether specific ecological conditions have repeatedly favoured the evolution of symbioses, and how this has influenced insect diversification. Here, using data on 1,850 microbe–insect symbioses across 402 insect families, we found that symbionts have allowed insects to specializ