The rapid expansion of impermeable surfaces in cities has a major impact on urban hydrology. Infiltration of rainwater is reduced and water runs off faster with higher runoff peaks. Urban trees as stormwater management tools are becoming more relevant to reduce flood risks in addition to other ecosystem services. An in-situ field experiment to measure throughfall on Norway maple ( Acer platanoides) and small-leaved lime ( Tilia cordata) was conducted to determine the interception of solitary urban trees with different degrees of surface sealing in the city of Freiburg, Germany. The relationships between rainfall characteristics, tree morphological traits, and the interception behavior were investigated with eight trees per species. 76 recorded rainfall events were evaluated from April to September 2021. Average interception values were higher for small-leaved lime (70.3 ± 6.6%) than for Norway maple (54.8 ± 10.3%) and hence much higher than in a typical forested environment. The average interception loss of all recorded events was 2.58 ± 0.60 mm for Norway maple and 3.73 ± 0.29 mm for small-leaved lime. For both tree species, significant linear correlations were found between the relative interception and other factors like rainfall depths, the leaf area index (LAI), and the plant area index (PAI) (adj.R 2 > 0.45). In contrast to Norway maple, small-leaved lime also showed significant relationships of several tree morphological parameters with the interception (adj.R 2 > 0.43). LAI, which also effects the interception, of both tree species significantly decreased with the degree of surface sealing. Our results provide a better understanding of the interception process of solitary trees for different urban sites and allows to parameterize interception based on measurable properties. However, further field experiments with various tree species need to be conducted to obtain a larger database for typical parameters in models and to support urban planners in managing stormwater runoff.

Sonification, or the practice of generating sound from data, is a promising alternative or complement to data visualization for exploring research questions in the life sciences. Expressing or communicating data in the form of sound rather than graphs, tables, or renderings can provide a secondary information source for multitasking or remote monitoring purposes or make data accessible when visualizations cannot be used. While popular in astronomy, neuroscience, and geophysics as a technique for data exploration and communication, its potential in the biological and biotechnological sciences has not been fully explored. In this review, we introduce sonification as a concept, some examples of how sonification has been used to address areas of interest in biology, and the history of the technique. We then highlight a selection of biology-related publications that involve sonifications of DNA datasets and protein datasets, sonifications for data collection and interpretation, and sonifications aimed to improve science communication and accessibility. Through this review, we aim to show how sonification has been used both as a discovery tool and a communication tool and to inspire more life-science researchers to incorporate sonification into their own studies.

Singlet Oxygen (SO) is among the most potent reactive oxygen species, and readily oxidizes proteins, lipids, and DNA. It can be generated at the plant surface by phototoxins in the epidermis, acting as a direct defense against pathogens and herbivores (including humans). SO can also accumulate within mitochondria, peroxisomes, cytosol, and the nucleus through multiple enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes. However, the primary location of SO in plants is in the chloroplast, where it results from transfer of light energy from PhotosystemII to triplet oxygen. SO accumulates in response to diverse stresses that perturb chloroplast metabolism, and while its short half-life precludes exiting the chloroplast, it participates in retrograde signaling through the EXECUTER1 sensor, generation of carotenoid metabolites, and possibly other unknown pathways. SO thereby reprograms nuclear gene expression and modulates hormone signaling and programmed cell death. While SO signaling has long been known to regulate plant responses to high-light stress, recent literature also suggests a role in plant interactions with insects, bacteria, and fungi. The goals of this review are to provide a brief overview of SO, summarize evidence for its involvement in biotic stress responses, and discuss future directions for the study of SO in signaling and defense.

Due to their stationery nature, plants are exposed to a diverse range of biotic and abiotic stresses, of which heavy metals stress poses as one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses, targeting crucial and vital processes. Heavy metals instigate the over-production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and in order to mitigate the adverse effects of ROS, plants induce multiple defence mechanisms. Besides the negative implications of overproduction of ROS, these molecules play a multitude of signaling roles in plants, acting as a central player in the complex signaling network of cells. One of the signaling mechanisms it is involved in is the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, a signaling pathway used to transduce extracellular stimuli into intracellular responses. Plant MAPKs have been implicated in signaling of stresses, phytohormones and cell cycle cues. However, the influence of various heavy metals on MAPKs activation has not been well documented. In this review, we will attempt to address and summarize several aspects related to various heavy metal-induced ROS signaling, how these signals activate the MAPK cascade and the downstream transcription factors that instigates the plants response to these heavy metals. Moreover, we will highlight a modern research methodology that could characterize the novel genes associated with MAPKs and their roles in heavy metal stress.

Australia’s national living guidelines for COVID-19 were launched in April 2020 and include over 200 recommendations to guide the clinical care of patients with COVID-19. Until the guidelines were retired in August 2023, new evidence was continually monitored through daily surveillance. This paper describes how evidence surveillance was established (at a time when efforts to collate information on the novel coronavirus were in their infancy and often duplicative) and how it evolved throughout the pandemic. Among the wide range of sources monitored, the collections of COVID-19 research from leading medical journals, medRxiv preprints and PubMed auto alerts proved the most enduring in identifying time-critical and impactful evidence. The paper also explores how evidence was tracked and surveillance integrated into the overall evidence workflow by using messaging apps and communication platforms. Several factors contributed to the feasibility of daily surveillance, including the clearly defined scope of the guidelines; focusing efforts on maximum impact; minimising duplication by partnering with others; setting up simple but effective processes for managing evidence; and the value of continuous involvement of personnel from the outset. The example of Australia’s living COVID-19 guidelines has demonstrated the feasibility and essential role of daily evidence surveillance in maintaining COVID-19 living guidelines for over 3 years.

1. Prey metabarcoding has become a popular tool in molecular ecology for resolving trophic interactions at high resolution, from various sample types and animals. To date, most predator-prey studies of small-sized animals (<1 mm) have met the problem of overabundant predator DNA in dietary samples by adding blocking primers/peptide nucleic acids. These primers aim to limit the PCR amplification and detection of the predator DNA but may introduce bias to the prey composition identified by interacting with sequences that are similar to those of the predator. 2. Here we demonstrate the use of an alternative method to explore the prey of small marine copepods using whole-body DNA extracts and deep, brute force metabarcoding of an 18S rDNA fragment. 3. After processing and curating raw data from two sequencing runs of varying depth (0.4 and 5.4 billion raw reads), we isolated 1.3 and 52.2 million prey reads, with average depths of ~15 900 and ~120 000 prey reads per copepod individual, respectively. While data from both sequencing runs were sufficient to distinguish dietary compositions from disparate seasons, locations and copepod species, greater sequencing depth led to better separation of clusters. 4. As computation and sequencing are becoming ever more powerful and affordable, we expect the brute force approach to become a general standard for prey metabarcoding, as it offers a simple and affordable solution to consumers that are impractical to dissect or unknown to science.

Objectives: To investigate psychological correlates in women referred with suspected ovarian cancer via the fast-track pathway, explore how anxiety and distress levels change 12 months post-testing and report cancer conversion rates by age and referral pathway. Design: Single arm prospective cohort study Setting: Multicentre. Secondary care including outpatient clinics and emergency admissions. Participants: 2596 newly presenting symptomatic women with a raised CA125 level, abnormal imaging or both. Methods: Women completed anxiety and distress questionnaires at recruitment and at 12 months for those who had not undergone surgery or a biopsy within 3 months of recruitment. Main outcome measures: Anxiety and distress levels measured using STAI-6 and IES-r questionnaires. OC conversion rates by age, menopausal status and referral pathway. Results: 1355/2596 (52.1%) and 1781/2596 (68.6%) experienced moderate-to-severe distress and anxiety at recruitment. Younger age and emergency presentations had higher distress levels. Clinical category for anxiety and distress remained unchanged/worsened in 76% at 12 months despite a non-cancer diagnosis. OC rates by age were 1.6% (95% CI 0.5 to 5.9) under 40 and 10.9 % (95% CI 8.7 to 13.6) over 40 years. In women referred through fast-track pathways, 3.3% (95% CI 1.9 to 5.7) of pre- and 18.5% (95% CI 16.1 to 21.0) of postmenopausal women were diagnosed with OC. Conclusions: Women undergoing diagnostic testing display severe anxiety and distress. Younger women are especially vulnerable and should be targeted for support. Women under 40 have low conversion rates and we advocate reducing testing in this group to reduce harms of testing.

Artemisia annua sublingual immunotherapy in children with seasonal allergic rhinitis To the Editor,Artemisia pollen is the main aeroallergen of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) in summer and autumn.1,2Artemisia annua Allergens Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) Drops (Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Zhejiang, China, National Drug Approval No.: S20210001) is the only standardized SLIT preparation approved in China for treatingArtemisia-induced allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis (AC).3 In this study, we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of A. annua- SLIT in children with SARs.Pediatric patients with at least a two-year clinical history ofArtemisia pollen-induced SAR with or without AC from Inner Mongolia were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center clinical trial and randomized to receive A. annua -SLIT or placebo at a 2:1 ratio for approximately 28 weeks. The combined score of medication and rhinitis symptoms (CSMS; primary endpoint) and combined score of medication and rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms (CSMRS; secondary endpoint) were recorded to evaluate efficacy; adverse events (AEs) were reported to assess safety.Fifty-seven eligible patients aged 4–18 years were randomized into the SLIT (n=38) and placebo (n=19) groups (Figure 1). Finally, 54 patients (SLIT group: n=36; placebo group: n=18) completed the study with 3 patients withdrew by themselves. No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of sex, age, atopic status, comorbidity of other allergic diseases, and CSMS and CSMRS scores in the previous pollen season (P >0.05, Table S1).The 2019 pollen season in Inner Mongolia was from 20th July to 7th September (50 days; Figure 2A). The temporal variation of daily CSMRS in both groups showed a similar trend of positive correlation with pollen concentration throughout the pollen season (SLIT group: r=0.66, 95% CI: 0.53–0.76; placebo group: r=0.68, 95% CI: 0.56–0.77). The SLIT group showed significant improvements in CSMS (1.55±0.81 vs. 1.97±0.73) and CSMRS (1.46±0.75 vs. 1.88±0.75) compared with the placebo group (P <0.05, Figure 2B–C). Fifty-three (98.1%) patients experienced AEs [35, SLIT group; 18, placebo group] (Table S2). All AEs were mild or moderate and resolved without any action or by adjusting the dose of the study drug. There were no significant differences in the incidence and severity of AEs between the groups (P >0.05). Epinephrine use was not reported, and no patients withdrew from the trial because of AEs. Furthermore, 94.4% and 100% of patients in the SLIT and placebo groups, respectively, experienced treatment-related AEs (TRAEs), which frequently occurred in the nose, eyes, throat, and tongue in both groups (P >0.05, Figure 2D). The common TRAEs in children with SLIT are shown in Figure 2E. Most TRAEs in the SLIT group were mild, similar to those in the placebo group.To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the efficacy and safety of A. annua -SLIT in a Chinese pediatric population. Our results showed a consistent trend of clinical efficacy improvements withA. annua -SLIT in children similar to those in adults.4 Recently, a cumulative AE incidence of 93.0% was reported with ragweed SLIT in children and adolescents, with no serious AEs.5 The incidence of AEs in our study were comparable to those in the previous study. Lou et al. found that the most common TRAEs in adults with A. annua -SLIT were mild or moderate.4,6 Our results showed a safety profile similar to that in adults. No new safety signals emerged, and no throat irritation was observed in adults.In conclusion, 28-week A. annua -SLIT treatment was effective and safe for children with SAR, with no major safety concerns. Investigating the benefits of A. annua -SLIT in children will not only expand its application for treatment but also provide the basis for intervention in the early phase of SAR.

A document by Mary Anissa Sinnathamby. Click on the document to view its contents.

The continuous and close combination of artificial intelligence technology and agriculture promotes the rapid development of smart agriculture, among which the agricultural robot navigation line recognition algorithm based on deep learning has achieved great success in detection accuracy and detection speed. However, there are still many problems, such as the large size of the algorithm is difficult to deploy in hardware equipment, and the accuracy and speed of crop row detection in real farmland environment are low. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposed a navigation line extraction algorithm for corn spraying robot based on Light-YOLOv8s network. Firstly, the Convolution (Conv) module and C2f module of YOLOv8s network are replaced with Depthwise Convolution (DWConv) module and PP-LCNet module respectively to reduce the parameters (Params) and giga floating-point operations per second (GFLOPs) of the network, so as to achieve the purpose of network lightweight. Secondly, in order to reduce the precision loss caused by network lightweight, the spatial pyramid pooling fast (SPPF) module in the backbone network is changed to atrous spatial pyramid pooling faster (ASPPF) module to improve the accuracy of network feature extraction. Meanwhile, normalization-based attention module (NAM) is introduced into the network to improve the network’s attention to corn plants. Then the corn plant was located by using the midpoint of the corn plant detection box. Finally, the least square method is used to extract the maize crop row line, and the middle line of the maize crop row line is the navigation line of the maize spraying robot. According to the experimental results, the Params of Light-YOLOv8s network decreased by 29.24%, 86.64% and 55.38%, respectively, compared with YOLOv5s network, YOLOv7 network and YOLOv8s network. GFLOPs dropped 26.79%, 88.77%, and 58.74%, respectively, while accuracy lost only 1%, 0.6%, and 2.2%. It shows that the Light-YOLOv8s network proposed in this paper greatly reduces the size of the model, solves the problems such as the difficulty of deployment caused by the large size of the existing algorithm, and also greatly reduces the accuracy loss of the model, and solves the problems such as the reduced accuracy of the algorithm caused by the lightweight network. When the corn spraying robot works in the real farmland environment, the navigation line extraction algorithm proposed in this paper not only ensures the real-time navigation of the corn spraying robot, but also ensures the accuracy of the navigation, and makes a contribution to the development of agricultural robot visual navigation technology.

Pathogen genomic epidemiology has the potential to provide a deep understanding of population dynamics, facilitating strategic planning of interventions, monitoring their impact, and enabling timely responses, and thereby supporting control and elimination efforts of parasitic tropical diseases. Plasmodium vivax, responsible for most malaria cases outside Africa, shows high genetic diversity at the population level, driven by factors like sub-patent infections, a hidden reservoir of hypnozoites, and early transmission to mosquitoes. While Latin America has made significant progress in controlling Plasmodium falciparum, it faces challenges with residual P. vivax. To characterize genetic diversity and population structure and dynamics, we have analysed the largest collection of P. vivax genomes to date, including 1474 high-quality genomes from 31 countries across Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America. While P. vivax shows high genetic diversity globally, Latin American isolates form a distinctive population, which is further divided in sub-populations and occasional clonal pockets. Genetic diversity within the continent was associated with the intensity of transmission. Population differentiation exists between Central America and the North Coast of South America, vs. the Amazon Basin, with significant gene flow within the Amazon Basin, but limited connectivity between the Northwest Coast and the Amazon Basin. Shared genomic regions in these parasite populations indicate adaptive evolution, particularly in genes related to DNA replication, RNA processing, invasion, and motility -- crucial for the parasite's survival in diverse environments. Understanding these population-level adaptations is crucial for effective control efforts, offering insights into potential mechanisms behind drug resistance, immune evasion, and transmission dynamics.

To detect hydrogen in materials at the atomic scale, atom probe tomography is now regularly used. In order to avoid cumbersome cryo-preparation to suppress diffusion, often hydrogen is charged only into the finished specimen. Here, the use of hydrogen gas over electrochemical hydrogen has the advantage that the specimen is not contaminated with an electrolyte. So far, this ‘charging’ has been done in large, expensive systems. Here, we introduce small devices that enable the exposure of atom probe specimens to hydrogen and potentially other gases, using only very small gas volumes. This enables the operation in regular laboratory environments without additional safety measures. These devices can be used to expose the specimen to hydrogen up to 10 bar / 90 °C. Higher temperatures may be attained with small changes. Validation of the success of charging with these setups is demonstrated through experiments employing deuterium charging of palladium atom probe tips.

Persons with dependent personality disorder (DPD) have difficulties describing their inner world, and in realizing their negative ideas about the self, such as being weak, unworthy or powerless are just ideas. As a consequence, they tend to over-rely on others and may lose control over their emotions. Treating these persons can gain benefits from including body-focused techniques as they can promote a) awareness of internal states, b) better emotion regulation, c) the capacity to consider their negative ideas about themselves as not necessarily true, and d) gain power of and agency. We will describe the therapist used body-focused techniques in the context of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy when treating Lia, a 40-year-old woman suffering from DPD who also suffered from generalized anxiety disorder and had difficulties in making autonomous choices. She had a romantic relationship with a man she described as distant and judgmental so she felt lonely and not entitled to express her discomfort or capable to break up. The therapist used body-focused techniques, together with behavioural exposure, mindfulness and guided imagery, in order to let Lia be more aware of her thoughts and feelings, and then to regulate affects and realize she had previously capacities. At therapy termination anxiety diminished and she could break up with the partner and start a new one where she felt free to express herself. We suggest how bodily-focused techniques can be used to enhance therapy effectiveness in DPD.

The process of estimating the number of individuals within a defined area, commonly referred to as people counting, is of paramount importance in the realm of safety, security and crisis management. It serves as a crucial tool for accurately monitoring crowd dynamics and facilitating well-informed decision-making during critical situations. In our current study, we place a special emphasis on the utilization of the WiFi fingerprint technique, leveraging probe request messages emitted by smart devices as a proxy for people counting. However, it is essential to recognize the evolving landscape of privacy regulations and the concerted efforts by major smart-device manufacturers to enhance user privacy, exemplified by the introduction of MAC addresses randomization techniques. In this context, we designed a crowd monitoring solution that exploits Bloom filters for ensuring a formal deniability, aligning with the stringent requirements set forth by regulations like the European GDPR [1] . Our proposed solution not only addresses the essential task of people counting but also incorporates advanced privacy-preserving mechanisms. Importantly, it seamlessly integrates with trajectory-based crowd monitoring, offering a comprehensive approach to managing crowds while respecting individual privacy rights.

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is hybrid imaging modality with good optical contrast and spatial resolution. Portable, cost-effective, smaller footprint LEDs are rapidly becoming important PA optical sources. However, the key challenge faced by the LED-based systems is the low fluence that is generally compensated by high frame averaging; consequently reducing acquisition frame-rate. In this study, we present a simple deep learning U-Net framework that enhances the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast of the low number of frame-averaged PA images. The SNR increased by approximately 4-fold for both in-class in vitro phantoms (4.39 ± 2.55) and out-of-class in vivo models (4.27 ± 0.87). We also demonstrate the noise invariancy of the network and discuss the downsides (blurry outcome and fails to reduce the salt & pepper noise). Overall, the developed U-Net framework can provide a real-time image enhancement platform for clinically translatable low-cost and low-energy light source-based PA imaging systems.

Pancreatic cancer (PC), a highly malignant tumor of the digestive system with poor therapeutic response and low survival rates. In recent years, immunotherapy have developed rapidly and achieved substantial results in many malignant neoplasms. However, responses to immunotherapy in PC are rare and its immunosuppressive and desmoplastic tumor microenvironment (TME) composes an important impediment to their efficacy in PC. Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) play a crucial role in the PC microenvironment, exerting a profound influence on PC immunotherapy through establishing a robust stromal shelter and restraining immune cells to assist PC cells in immune escape, which may subvert the current situation of immunotherapy for PC. The purpose of this review is to offer a thorough summary of the latest progress in comprehending the involvement of TANs in PC desmoplastic and immunosuppressive functions, as well as to emphasize the potential therapeutic consequences of focusing on TANs in the immunotherapy of this destructive ailment. Last but not least, we have provided an outlook for the future of TANs in PC immunotherapy.

In this study, we investigated a new structure of a protective meander line (ML): a meander microstrip line (MSL) with two passive conductors. The existing theory of ultra-short pulse (USP) attenuation in MLs is presented for the first time. Based on this theory, we determined the number of decomposed pulses at the output of the MSL line with two passive conductors, and, for the first time, formulated the conditions for pulse decomposition in the line. The folding of the MSL line into non-core turns was studied in detail. As a result of this study, we proposed a new theory that involves the utilization of additional groups of decomposed pulses for enhanced USP attenuation. These additional groups were thoroughly examined, and the delays of pulses from these groups were defined. This analysis allowed identifying the reason for their appearance. It was revealed that folding the meander line into non-core turns allows further attenuation of the USP amplitude, which increases with the increase of the number of non-core turns. To validate the obtained simulation results, we performed experimental measurements and obtained good consistency of the results. The N-norms analysis demonstrated that combined use of such folding and passive conductors reduces the probability of electrical breakdown, arc discharge, and dielectric breakdown. The maximum USP attenuation at the output was 24.9 dB. As a result of useful signal integrity analysis, it is proposed to use a folded meander microstrip line (MSL) together with a USB 2.0 “Full-speed” interface with a data transfer rate of 12 Mbit/s. In addition, it is proposed to use such MSLs in DC power circuits.

In this article, we extend a previously developed globally optimal enumeration methodology for the synthesis of Heat Exchanger Networks to the simultaneous synthesis of the network and the basic design of Heat Exchangers. Our procedure guarantees global optimality, unlike previous approaches, such as Pinch Technology, metaheuristics, or mathematical programming that do not guarantee it and sometimes do not even guarantee local optimality. The procedure is not iterative, and does not present any convergence issues. To enumerate HEN structures, we use linear methods and for the HEX design we use Set Trimming followed by sorting. In addition, because some network structures are incompatible with single shell exchangers, we use multiple shell exchangers in series. The comparison of the results of the proposed approach with two solution alternatives from the literature in two different problems indicates that considerable cost reductions may be obtained.