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Background: Novel treatments are needed to control refractory status epilepticus (SE). This study aimed to assess the potential effectiveness of fenfluramine (FFA) as an acute treatment option for SE. We present a summary of clinical cases where oral FFA was used in SE.
Methods: A case of an adult patient with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) who was treated with FFA due to refractory SE is presented in detail. To identify studies that evaluated the use of FFA in SE, we performed a systematic literature search.
Results: Four case reports on the acute treatment with FFA of SE in children and adults with Dravet syndrome (DS) and LGS were available. We report in detail a 30-year-old woman with LGS of structural etiology, who presented with generalized tonic and dialeptic seizures manifesting at high frequencies without a return to clinical baseline constituting the diagnosis of SE. Treatment with anti-seizure medications up to lacosamide 600 mg/d, brivaracetam 300 mg/d, valproate 1,600 mg/d, and various benzodiazepines did not resolve the SE. Due to ongoing refractory SE and following an unremarkable echocardiography, treatment was initiated with FFA, with an initial dose of 10 mg/d (0.22 mg/kg body weight [bw]) and fast up-titration to 26 mg/d (0.58 mg/kg bw) within 10 days. Subsequently, the patient experienced a resolution of SE within 4 days, accompanied by a notable improvement in clinical presentation and regaining her mobility, walking with the assistance of physiotherapists. In the three cases reported in the literature, DS patients with SE were treated with FFA, and a cessation of SE was observed within a few days. No treatment-emergent adverse events were observed during FFA treatment in any of the four cases.
Conclusions: Based on the reported cases, FFA might be a promising option for the acute treatment of SE in patients with DS and LGS. Observational data show a decreased SE frequency while on FFA, suggesting a potentially preventive role of FFA in these populations.
Key points
* We summarize four cases of refractory status epilepticus (SE) successfully treated with fenfluramine.
* Refractory SE resolved after 4–7 days on fenfluramine.
* Swift fenfluramine up-titration was well-tolerated during SE treatment.
* Treatment-emergent adverse events on fenfluramine were not observed.
* Fenfluramine might be a valuable acute treatment option for SE in Dravet and Lennox–Gastaut syndromes.
In high light, the antenna system in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms switches to a photoprotective mode, dissipating excess energy in a process called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Diatoms exhibit very efficient NPQ, accompanied by a xanthophyll cycle in which diadinoxanthin is de-epoxidized into diatoxanthin. Diatoms accumulate pigments from this cycle in high light, and exhibit faster and more pronounced NPQ. The mechanisms underlying NPQ in diatoms remain unclear, but it can be mimicked by aggregation of their isolated light-harvesting complexes, FCP (fucoxanthin chlorophyll-a/c protein). We assess this model system by resonance Raman measurements of two peripheral FCPs, trimeric FCPa and nonameric FCPb, isolated from high- and low-light-adapted cells (LL, HL). Quenching is associated with a reorganisation of these proteins, affecting the conformation of their bound carotenoids, and in a manner which is highly dependent on the protein considered. FCPa from LL diatoms exhibits significant changes in diadinoxanthin structure, together with a smaller conformational change of at least one fucoxanthin. For these LL-FCPa, quenching is associated with consecutive events, displaying distinct spectral signatures, and its amplitude correlates with the planarity of the diadinoxanthin structure. HL-FCPa aggregation is associated with a change in planarity of a 515-nm-absorbing fucoxanthin, and, to a lesser extent, of diadinoxanthin. Finally, in FCPb, a blue-absorbing fucoxanthin is primarily affected. FCPs thus possess a plastic structure, undergoing several conformational changes upon aggregation, dependent upon their precise composition and structure. NPQ in diatoms may therefore arise from a combination of structural changes, dependent on the environment the cells are adapted to.
From hunting and foraging to clearing land for agriculture, humans modify forest biodiversity, landscapes, and climate. Forests constantly undergo disturbance–recovery dynamics and understanding them is a major objective of ecologists and conservationists. Chronosequences are a useful tool for understanding global restoration efforts. They represent a space-for-time substitution approach suited for the quantification of the resistance of ecosystem properties to withstand disturbance and the resilience of these properties until reaching pre-disturbance levels. Here we introduce a newly established chronosequence with 62 plots (50 ⍰ 50 m) in active cacao plantations and pastures, early and late regeneration, and mature old-growth forests, across a 200 km2 area in the extremely wet Chocó rainforest. Our chronosequence covers by far the largest total area of plots compared to others in the Neotropics. Plots ranged from 159–615 masl in a forested landscape with 74 ± 2.8 % forest cover within a 1-km radius including substantial old-growth forest cover. Land-use legacy and regeneration time were not confounded by elevation. We tested how six forest structure variables (maximum tree height and DBH, basal area, number of stems, vertical vegetation heterogeneity, and light availability), aboveground biomass (AGB), and rarefied tree species richness change along our chronosequence. Forest structure variables, AGB, and tree species richness increased with regeneration time and are predicted to reach similar levels to those in old-growth forests after ca. 30–116, 202, and 108 yrs, respectively. Compared to previous work in the Neotropics, old-growth forests in Canandé accumulate high AGB that takes one of the largest time spans reported until total recovery. Our chronosequence comprises one of the largest tree species pools, covers the largest total area of regenerating and old-growth forests, and has higher forest cover than other Neotropical chronosequences. Hence, our chronosequence can be used to determine the time for recovery and stability (resistance and resilience) of different taxa and ecosystem functions, including species interaction networks. This integrative effort will ultimately help to understand how one of the most diverse forests on the planet recovers from large-scale disturbances.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical post-transcriptional regulators in many biological processes. They act by guiding RNA-induced silencing complexes to miRNA response elements (MREs) in target mRNAs, inducing translational inhibition and/or mRNA degradation. Functional MREs are expected to predominantly occur in the 3’ untranslated region and involve perfect base-pairing of the miRNA seed. Here, we generate a high-resolution map of miR-181a/b-1 (miR-181) MREs to define the targeting rules of miR-181 in developing murine T-cells. By combining a multi-omics approach with computational high-resolution analyses, we uncover novel miR-181 targets and demonstrate that miR-181 acts predominantly through RNA destabilization. Importantly, we discover an alternative seed match and identify a distinct set of targets with repeat elements in the coding sequence which are targeted by miR-181 and mediate translational inhibition. In conclusion, deep profiling of MREs in primary cells is critical to expand physiologically relevant targetomes and establish context-dependent miRNA targeting rules.
Key Points:
* Deep profiling identifies novel targets of miR-181 associated with global gene regulation.
* miR-181 MREs in repeat elements in the coding sequence act through translational inhibition.
* High-resolution analysis reveals an alternative seed match in functional MREs.
The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is a highly flexible membrane receptor that triggers the translocation of the virus into cells by attaching to the human receptors. Like other type I membrane receptors, this protein has several extracellular domains connected by flexible hinges. The presence of these hinges results in high flexibility, which consequently results in challenges in defining the conformation of the protein. Here, We developed a new method to define the conformational space based on a few variables inspired by the robotic field’s methods to determine a robotic arm’s forward kinematics. Using newly performed atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and publicly available data, we found that the Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters can reliably show the changes in the local conformation. Furthermore, the rotational and translational components of the homogenous transformation matrix constructed based on the DH parameters can identify the changes in the global conformation of the spike and also differentiate between the conformation with a similar position of the spike head, which other types of parameters, such as spherical coordinates, fail to distinguish between such conformations. Finally, the new method will be beneficial for looking at the conformational heterogeneity in all other type I membrane receptors.
Highlights
• Family structure transitions decrease academic school track attendance among children of less educated parents.
• Children of highly educated fathers in single-mother families also have lower outcomes.
• Reduced income and increased exposure to poverty are relevant mediators.
• There is no cumulative disadvantage linked to a further transition to a stepfamily.
• Previous parental separation does not affect educational outcomes for children residing with a highly educated stepfather.
Abstract
Recent research has documented that the effect of parental separation on children’s educational outcomes depends on socioeconomic background. Yet, parental separation could lead to a stable single-parent family or to a further transition to a stepfamily. Little is known about how the effect of family structure transitions on educational outcomes depends on the education of parents and stepparents, and there has been limited empirical research into the mechanisms that explain heterogeneity in the effects of family transitions. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and models with entropy balancing and sibling fixed effects, I explore the heterogeneous effects of family transitions during early and middle childhood on academic secondary school track attendance, grades and aspirations. I find that family transitions only reduce the academic school track attendance among children of less educated parents living in stepfamilies or with a single mother after parental separation, and among children of highly educated fathers living in single-mother families. The mechanisms that partly explain these effects relate to reduced income and exposure to poverty after parental separation. The findings underscore the importance of considering the stepparent's educational level, indicating that the adverse consequences of parental separation on educational outcomes are mitigated when a highly educated stepfather becomes part of the family. Overall, these findings align more closely with the resource perspective than the family stability perspective.
We present a new experimental dataset on the impact of the heavy halogens chlorine, bromine and iodine on the Raman water bands concerning pressure and their concentration at room temperature. These experiments were conducted at ambient temperature, with variations in halogen concentration and pressure ranging from 0 to 1.4 GPa.
The strength of the Raman water band shift change increases with the ionic size from chlorine, over bromine, to iodine. Our experiments further demonstrate that increased pressure diminishes the impact of the halogen shift change to a varying extent for each of the three halogens. This finding can have significant implications for the salinity calculation of fluid inclusions in minerals such as quartz or olivine. Particularly in the low salinity range, the concentration can be markedly underestimated if the pressure effect is neglected. For experiments in diamond anvil cells involving halogens dissolved in water, the change in Raman water band shifts can serve either as a new tool to monitor pressure, or to monitor the salinity.
Understanding the underlying mechanisms that link psychopathology and physical comorbidities in schizophrenia is crucial since decreased physical fitness and overweight pose major risk factors for cardio-vascular diseases and decrease the patients’ life expectancies. We hypothesize that altered reward anticipation plays an important role in this. We implemented the Monetary Incentive Delay task in a MR scanner and a fitness test battery to compare schizophrenia patients (SZ, n = 43) with sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC, n = 36) as to reward processing and their physical fitness. We found differences in reward anticipation between SZs and HCs, whereby increased activity in HCs positively correlated with overall physical condition and negatively correlated with psychopathology. On the other handy, SZs revealed stronger activity in the posterior cingulate cortex and in cerebellar regions during reward anticipation, which could be linked to decreased overall physical fitness. These findings demonstrate that a dysregulated reward system is not only responsible for the symptomatology of schizophrenia, but might also be involved in physical comorbidities which could pave the way for future lifestyle therapy interventions.
Diversität und Diskurs – Wie (un-)politisch ist die Universität? : Ringvorlesung im Sommersemester
(2024)
We carry out an in-depth analysis of the prompt-collapse behaviour of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers. To this end, we perform more than 80 general relativistic BNS merger simulations using a family of realistic Equations of State (EOS) with different stiffness, which feature a first order deconfinement phase transition between hadronic and quark matter. From these simulations we infer the critical binary mass Mcrit that separates the prompt from the non-prompt collapse regime. We show that the critical mass increases with the stiffness of the EOS and obeys a tight quasi-universal relation, Mcrit/MTOV ≈ 1.41 ± 0.06, which links it to the maximum mass MTOV of static neutron stars, and therefore provides a straightforward estimate for the total binary mass beyond which prompt collapse becomes inevitable. In addition, we introduce a novel gauge independent definition for a one-parameter family of threshold masses in terms of curvature invariants of the Riemann tensor which characterizes the development toward a more rapid collapse with increasing binary mass. Using these diagnostics, we find that the amount of matter remaining outside the black hole sharply drops in supercritical mass mergers compared to subcritical ones and is further reduced in mergers where the black hole collapse is induced by the formation of a quark matter core. This implies that Mcrit, particularly for merger remnants featuring quark matter cores, imposes a strict upper limit on the emission of any detectable electromagnetic counterpart in BNS mergers.
Vielfalt im Hochschulsport
(2024)
Zum Sommersemester hat das Team vom Zentrum für Hochschulsport (ZfH) der Goethe-Universität wieder ein vielfältiges und buntes Programm auf die Beine gestellt. Dazu gehören natürlich Klassiker wie Fußball oder Volleyball, aber auch Trendsportarten und exotische Disziplinen. Einiges davon ist auch im laufenden Semester noch buchbar! Im Folgenden werden einige Angebote kurz beschrieben.
Spezialwissen für SCALE
(2024)
Volker Zickermann und Eric Helfrich sind bei der Exzellenzcluster-Initiative SCALE (Subcellular Architecture of Life) dabei und werden dort ihre Expertise einbringen. Das Spezialgebiet des einen ist ein Proteinkomplex in den Mitochondrien, den Kraftwerken der Zelle. Der andere sucht schwerpunktmäßig bisher unbekannte Naturstoffe, die die Basis für neue Antibiotika sein könnten.
Herzforschung meets KI
(2024)
Moderne Methoden der Künstlichen Intelligenz (KI) spielen in der Wissenschaft eine immer größere Rolle. Wie Forscher des Exzellenzclusters Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) KI in der Herzbildgebung nutzen, zeigte Professor Eike Nagel im Rahmen der Bürgeruniversität der Goethe-Universität. Er leitet das Institut für experimentelle und translationale kardiovaskuläre Bildgebung am Fachbereich Medizin und forscht an der Entwicklung verbesserter Behandlungsmöglichkeiten für Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen. Mit dem Ziel, seine Forschung für alle Menschen zugänglich und verständlicher zu machen, lud Prof. Nagel interessierte Bürger*innen am 10. Mai in sein Institut ein.
Das deutsche Open Science Festival geht in die dritte Runde und wird am 17. und 18. September 2024 an der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz stattfinden. In den Räumen der Musikhochschule bietet das Festival den Teilnehmenden die Gelegenheit, die Vielfalt und Bedeutung von Open Science zu entdecken und zu erleben.
Im Wintersemester 2022/23 wurde die dritte universitätsweite Studierendenbefragung durchgeführt, die für Studierende ein wichtiges Instrument der Partizipation an der Qualitätsentwicklung in Studium und Lehre ist. Aus diesem Grund gebührt den 7765 Studierenden, die den umfassenden Fragebogen mit 314 Basisfragen sowie zusätzlichen fachbereichsspezifischen Fragen beantwortet haben, besonderer Dank. Die Ergebnisse der Befragung können in den Berichten auf www.studierendenbefragung.uni-frankfurt.de nachgelesen werden.
Der unter der Ägide der Freunde und Förderer der Goethe-Universität von der Paul Ehrlich-Stiftung ausgelobte Paul Ehrlich-und-Ludwig Darmstaedter-Preis ist die renommierteste Auszeichnung, die in Deutschland für medizinische Forschung verliehen wird. Den mit 120.000 Euro dotierten Preis nahm in der Frankfurter Paulskirche in diesem Jahr der Arzt und Immunologe Prof. Dennis L. Kasper (81) von der Harvard Medical School entgegen. Er hat die ersten Wörter der biochemischen Sprache entdeckt, mit der Darmbakterien unserem Immunsystem zu einer gesunden Entwicklung verhelfen. Den mit 60.000 Euro dotierten Nachwuchspreis erhielt der Chemiker Dr. Johannes Karges (31) von der Ruhr-Universität Bochum für die Entwicklung eines Verfahrens zur ferngesteuerten Tumortherapie.
Das erziehungswissenschaftliche Projekt »InterCare« will erforschen, wie junge Menschen die Doppelbelastung von Ausbildung/Studium und Pflege bewältigen. Offizieller Start des Projekts, das über vier Jahre hinweg mit 1,2 Millionen Euro von der VolkswagenStiftung gefördert wird, ist im Oktober 2024. Die Soziologin und Altersforscherin Dr. Anna Wanka koordiniert InterCare und erläutert das Design des Projekts.
Über einen Schriftsteller und seinen Körper : Aris Fioretos wird neuer Frankfurter Poetikdozent
(2024)
Um den eigenen Beitrag zur sozial-ökologischen Transformation zu konkretisieren, entwickelt die Goethe-Universität in den kommenden Monaten eine Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie. Die Strategie soll klare Ziele, Maßnahmen und Verantwortlichkeiten definieren und das Bewusstsein für Nachhaltigkeit an der Universität, aber auch darüber hinaus, stärken.
Wie kommen Wissenschaft und Praxis zueinander? Unter dem Motto »Bridging the gap« stellte das Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt (FGZ) am 25. April auf einem Festival neue Formate der Wissenschaftskommunikation vor. Der UniReport sprach mit den FGZ-Referenten für Wissenstransfer Katja Maasch und Manuel Steinert.
Lifestyle factors—such as diet, physical activity (PA), smoking, and alcohol consumption—have a significant impact on mortality as well as healthcare costs. Moreover, they play a crucial role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). There also seems to be a link between lifestyle behaviours and insulin resistance, which is often a precursor of DM2. This study uses an enhanced Healthy Living Index (HLI) integrating accelerometric data and an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to explore differences in lifestyle between insulin-sensitive (IS) and insulin-resistant (IR) individuals. Moreover, it explores the association between lifestyle behaviours and inflammation. Analysing data from 99 participants of the mPRIME study (57 women and 42 men; mean age 49.8 years), we calculated HLI scores—ranging from 0 to 4— based on adherence to specific low-risk lifestyle behaviours, including non-smoking, adhering to a healthy diet, maximally moderate alcohol consumption, and meeting World Health Organization (WHO) PA guidelines. Insulin sensitivity was assessed using a Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were used as a proxy for inflammation. Lifestyle behaviours, represented by HLI scores, were significantly different between IS and IR individuals (U = 1529.0; p = 0.023). The difference in the HLI score between IR and IS individuals was mainly driven by lower adherence to PA recommendations in the IR group. Moreover, reduced PA was linked to increased CRP levels in the IR group (r = −0.368, p = 0.014). Our findings suggest that enhancing PA, especially among individuals with impaired insulin resistance, holds significant promise as a preventive strategy.
Highlights
• CD62p + exosomes were significantly increased in septic polytrauma-patients, while CD40+, as well as CD49e + exosomes were diminished.
• Exosomal IL-6 concentration in septic patients reflects the systemic IL-6.
• Exosomal IL-10 concentration seemed to be constant in patients and healthy controls.
• Decrease of miR-21 in exosomes was associated with the development of sepsis, while exosomal miR-93, miR-155 and miR-92a were not specifically altered.
Abstract
Sepsis as a severe systemic inflammation leads oftentimes to organ dysfunction and subsequently to death. In polytrauma patients, septic complications represent with 45% the predominant cause of late death and are responsible for extremely high costs in the healthcare system. Therefore, clinicians have to detect as early as possible the begin of sepsis to improve the patient's outcome. One new promising diagnostic tool to diagnose septic complications in polytraumatized patients are exosomes.
Plasma samples from polytraumatized patients (Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16) which developed sepsis (n = 10) and without sepsis (n = 10), were collected at emergency room (ER), 24h and 5 days after trauma. The EVs subpopulations were investigated by a bead-based multiplex flow cytometry measurement of surface epitopes and were compared with plasma EVs from healthy controls (n = 10). Moreover, exosomal cytokine concentrations were measured via high-sensitive ELISA and were correlated with systemic concentrations. For miRNA cargo analysis, we analysed the miRNAs miR-1298-5p, miR-1262, miR-125b-5p, miR-92a-3p, miR-93-5p, miR-155-5p and miR-21-5p and compared their exosomal concentrations by means of RT-qPCR.
CD62p + exosomes were significantly increased in septic polytrauma-patients (p ≤ 0.05), while CD40+exosomes, as well as CD49e + exosomes were diminished (p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, we observed that the exosomal IL-6 concentration reflects the systemic IL-6 concentration (r2 = 0.63) and did not significantly alter between patients with and without sepsis. The exosomal IL-10 concentration seemed to be constant in all patients and healthy controls. We observed that a decrease of miR-21-5p in exosomes was associated with the development of sepsis (p ≤ 0.05), while exosomal miR-93-5p, miR-155-5p and miR-92a-3p were not specifically altered in septic patients.
Taken together, the present study in polytraumatized patients demonstrated that the development of sepsis is associated with an increase of CD62p + exosomes. Furthermore, the exosomal cargo was changed in septic patients: miR-21-5p was diminished.
The Chinese members of the genera Leptothorax Mayr, 1855 and Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 are reviewed based on the morphological characters of the worker caste, and 66 species are recognized in China to date. A new synonym is proposed: T. opaciabdomin (Chang & He, 2001) is a junior synonym of T. mongolicus (Pisarski, 1969). Twenty-eight new species of Temnothorax, T. bailu sp. nov., T. chun sp. nov., T. chunfen sp. nov., T. chushu sp. nov., T. dahan sp. nov., T. dashu sp. nov., T. daxue sp. nov., T. dong sp. nov., T. dongzhi sp. nov., T. guyu sp. nov., T. hanlu sp. nov., T. jingzhe sp. nov., T. lichun sp. nov., T. lidong sp. nov., T. liqiu sp. nov., T. lixia sp. nov., T. mangzhong sp. nov., T. qingming sp. nov., T. qiu sp. nov., T. qiufen sp. nov.,T. shuangjiang sp. nov., T. xia sp. nov., T. xiaohan sp. nov., T. xiaoman sp. nov., T. xiaoshu sp. nov., T. xiaoxue sp. nov., T. xiazhi sp. nov., T. yushui sp. nov., are described from China based on worker caste. Three species of Temnothorax, T. desioi (Menozzi, 1939), T. susamyri (Dlussky, 1965) and T. volgensis (Ruzsky, 1905) are recorded in China for the first time. The following eight species are recorded in a province or autonomous region of China for the first time: Leptothorax acervorum (Fabricius, 1793) is a new record in Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan; Temnothorax angulohumerus Zhou et al., 2010 is a new record in Guizhou and Tibet; T. argentipes (Wheeler, 1928) is a new record in Sichuan and Yunnan; T. mongolicus (Pisarski, 1969) is a new record in Inner Mongolia; T. reticulatus (Chang & He, 2001) is a new record in Beijing, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Shaanxi and Yunnan; T. spinosior (Forel, 1901) is a new record in Yunnan; T. taivanensis (Wheeler, 1929) is a new record in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan; and T. zhejiangensis Zhou et al., 2010 is a new record in Henan and Guangxi. A key based on the worker caste is provided for the 66 known Chinese species.
We prove that the projectivized strata of differentials are not contained in pointed Brill-Noether divisors, with only a few exceptions. For a generic element in a stratum of differentials, we show that many of the associated pointed Brill-Noether loci are of expected dimension. We use our results to study the Auel-Haburcak Conjecture: We obtain new non-containments between maximal Brill-Noether loci in Mg. Our results regarding quadratic differentials imply that the quadratic strata in genus 6 are uniruled.
The transverse momentum (pT) differential production cross section of the promptly-produced charm-strange baryon Ξ0c (and its charge conjugate Ξ0c¯¯¯¯¯¯) is measured at midrapidity via its hadronic decay into π+Ξ− in p−Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon−nucleon collision sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The Ξ0c nuclear modification factor (RpPb), calculated from the cross sections in pp and p−Pb collisions, is presented and compared with the RpPb of Λ+c baryons. The ratios between the pT-differential production cross section of Ξ0c baryons and those of D0 mesons and Λ+c baryons are also reported and compared with results at forward and backward rapidity from the LHCb Collaboration. The measurements of the production cross section of prompt Ξ0c baryons are compared with a model based on perturbative QCD calculations of charm-quark production cross sections, which includes only cold nuclear matter effects in p−Pb collisions, and underestimates the measurement by a factor of about 50. This discrepancy is reduced when the data is compared with a model in which hadronisation is implemented via quark coalescence. The pT-integrated cross section of prompt Ξ0c-baryon production at midrapidity extrapolated down to pT = 0 is also reported. These measurements offer insights and constraints for theoretical calculations of the hadronisation process. Additionally, they provide inputs for the calculation of the charm production cross section in p−Pb collisions at midrapidity.
Investigating strangeness enhancement with multiplicity in pp collisions using angular correlations
(2024)
A study of strange hadron production associated with hard scattering processes and with the underlying event is conducted to investigate the origin of the enhanced production of strange hadrons in small collision systems characterised by large charged-particle multiplicities. For this purpose, the production of the single-strange meson K0S and the double-strange baryon Ξ± is measured, in each event, in the azimuthal direction of the highest-pT particle (``trigger" particle), related to hard scattering processes, and in the direction transverse to it in azimuth, associated with the underlying event, in pp collisions at s√=5.02 TeV and s√=13 TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The per-trigger yields of K0S and Ξ± are dominated by the transverse-to-leading production (i.e., in the direction transverse to the trigger particle), whose contribution relative to the toward-leading production is observed to increase with the event charged-particle multiplicity. The transverse-to-leading and the toward-leading Ξ±/K0S yield ratios increase with the multiplicity of charged particles, suggesting that strangeness enhancement with multiplicity is associated with both hard scattering processes and the underlying event. The relative production of Ξ± with respect to K0S is higher in transverse-to-leading processes over the whole multiplicity interval covered by the measurement. The K0S and Ξ± per-trigger yields and yield ratios are compared with predictions of three different phenomenological models, namely PYTHIA 8.2 with the Monash tune, PYTHIA 8.2 with ropes and EPOS LHC. The comparison shows that none of them can quantitatively describe either the transverse-to-leading or the toward-leading yields of K0S and Ξ±.
The first measurement of the impact-parameter dependent angular anisotropy in the decay of coherently photoproduced ρ0 mesons is presented. The ρ0 mesons are reconstructed through their decay into a pion pair. The measured anisotropy corresponds to the amplitude of the cos(2ϕ) modulation, where ϕ is the angle between the two vectors formed by the sum and the difference of the transverse momenta of the pions, respectively. The measurement was performed by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC using data from ultraperipheral Pb−Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. Different impact-parameter regions are selected by classifying the events in nuclear-breakup classes. The amplitude of the cos(2ϕ) modulation is found to increase by about one order of magnitude from large to small impact parameters. Theoretical calculations, which describe the measurement, explain the cos(2ϕ) anisotropy as the result of a quantum interference effect at the femtometer scale that arises from the ambiguity as to which of the nuclei is the source of the photon in the interaction.
Four new species of the genus Catonidia Uhler, 1896, C. triangula sp. nov., C. saccata sp. nov., C. trilobata sp. nov. and C. uncinata sp. nov. from China (Fujian, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hainan provinces), are described and illustrated, giving the genus 14 species in total. A checklist and key to all known species of Catonidia are provided, as well as a map of their geographic distributions.
Four new species of the genus Catonidia Uhler, 1896, C. triangula sp. nov., C. saccata sp. nov., C. trilobata sp. nov. and C. uncinata sp. nov. from China (Fujian, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hainan provinces), are described and illustrated, giving the genus 14 species in total. A checklist and key to all known species of Catonidia are provided, as well as a map of their geographic distributions.
New World lampyrid taxonomy faces severe taxonomic impediments. Most species remain known from original taxonomic descriptions only, often insufficient for accurate identification. Therefore, the study of type specimens is critical to ensure proper identification. The Russian entomologist Viktor Ivanovich Motschulsky was one of the most important authors of firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) taxonomy during the XIXth century, and his work is still relevant today. Part of his material, including the type specimens of several species, is deposited at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Unlike their European, Asian, and Oceanian counterparts, the taxonomy of Neotropical fireflies is still in its infancy, partly due to largely outdated literature and difficulties in accessing type specimens. Here, we review the type specimens of 38 firefly species deposited at ZIN, 15 of which are holotypes and 7 are lectotypes. For each specimen, the name-bearing status, condition of preservation, as well as the associated label data are provided. Lectotypes are designated for the following species described by Motschulsky: Bicellonycha lividipennis, Ellychnia californica, Lychnuris klugii, Macrolampis longipennis, Pseudolychnuris suturalis, Telephoroides lineaticollis, Telephoroide occidentalis.
Phyllanthus novofriburgensis J.C.R.Mendes, J.M.A.Braga & Fraga sp. nov. and P. pedrosae J.C.R.Mendes, J.M.A.Braga & Fraga sp. nov. are new species of Phyllanthaceae described from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Cerrado, respectively. Phyllanthus novofriburgensis resembles P. acutifolius Poir. ex Spreng., P. hypoleucus Müll.Arg. and P. lilliputianus J.C.R.Mendes, J.M.A.Braga & Fraga, sharing ovate, elliptical, and lanceolate leaf blades. However, it can be distinguished by its pendulous habit, often with sinuous branches and lanceolate leaf blades with characteristically revolute margins. Phyllanthus pedrosae exhibits morphological similarities with P. claussenii Müll.Arg. due to its subshrubby and prostrate habit. It is distinghuished by the unisexual inflorescence with cymules composed of one or two staminate flowers proximally positioned in the axil of the branches and solitary pistillate flowers distally situated, and the 5-merous calyx in the staminate and pistillate flowers. Both new species are classified in Phyllanthus subgen. Phyllanthus sect. Phyllanthus subsect. Clausseniani G.L.Webster, primarily due to the deeply emarginate anthers. Notes on their geographical distribution and habitat are provided, as well as a key to the species of Phyllanthus from Southeastern Brazil.
In the present study, a revision of the phylogeny and taxonomy of the family Dorididae is carried out focusing on the genus Doris Linnaeus, 1758. The type species D. verrucosa Linnaeus, 1758 and a blueish and yellow morphotype of D. ocelligera collected in different localities in the Mediterranean Sea and the North-East Atlantic were sequenced, as well as D. bertheloti and the elusive D. marmorata for the first time. The genetic markers include the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 16S rRNA, and histone 3. The phylogenetic results suggest that the genus Doris is paraphyletic, and D. ocelligera morphotypes separate into two species, as confirmed with species delimitation tests. To complement the phylogenetic evidence with morphoanatomical data, the dissection of two specimens of each morphotype is conducted. Significant differences in morphological traits such as body shape, colouration patterns, and mantle tubercles come to light, together with anatomical differences in the relative shape and size of the radular teeth and reproductive structures. Considering the modern and old descriptions of D. ocelligera, it is finally concluded that the blueish morphotype belongs to D. ocelligera. In contrast, the yellow morphotype responds to the actual synonym Aldisa berghi (Vayssière, 1901), which is resurrected here as Doris berghi comb. rest. Considering the broad phylogeny of the family, some systematic notes at the genus level are here provided.
Highlights
• Artificial intelligence systems for mechanically ventilated patients are increasing.
• The clinical and financial impact of these models are often unexamined.
• We developed a generic health-economic model for artificial intelligence systems.
• This model assesses the cost-effectiveness for many different scenarios.
• The developed framework is easily adjustable to other (clinical) situations.
Abstract
Purpose: The health and economic consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) systems for mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients often remain unstudied. Early health technology assessments (HTA) can examine the potential impact of AI systems by using available data and simulations. Therefore, we developed a generic health-economic model suitable for early HTA of AI systems for mechanically ventilated patients.
Materials and methods: Our generic health-economic model simulates mechanically ventilated patients from their hospitalisation until their death. The model simulates two scenarios, care as usual and care with the AI system, and compares these scenarios to estimate their cost-effectiveness.
Results: The generic health-economic model we developed is suitable for estimating the cost-effectiveness of various AI systems. By varying input parameters and assumptions, the model can examine the cost-effectiveness of AI systems across a wide range of different clinical settings.
Conclusions: Using the proposed generic health-economic model, investors and innovators can easily assess whether implementing a certain AI system is likely to be cost-effective before an exact clinical impact is determined. The results of the early HTA can aid investors and innovators in deployment of AI systems by supporting development decisions, informing value-based pricing, clinical trial design, and selection of target patient groups.
Highlights
• Gender cues are defined differently across languages.
• We propose a new refined and standardized definition of gender transparency.
• Gender transparency is quantifiable with values that match theoretical expectations.
• We present the first quantitative method to measure the gender transparency of languages.
Abstract
Languages can express grammatical gender through different ortho-phonological regularities present in nouns (e.g., the cues “-o” and “-a” for the masculine and the feminine respectively in Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish). The term “gender transparency” was coined to describe these regularities (Bates et al., 1995). In gendered languages, we can hence distinguish between transparent nouns, i.e., those displaying form regularities; opaque nouns, i.e., those with ambiguous endings; and irregular nouns, i.e., those that display the typical form regularities but are associated with the opposite gender. Following a descriptive analysis of such regularities, languages have been recently classified according to their degree of gender transparency, which seems relevant in regard to gender acquisition and processing. Yet, there are certain inconsistencies in determining which languages are overall transparent and which are opaque. In particular, it is not clear whether some other complex regularities such as derivational suffixes are also “transparent” cues for gender, what really constitutes an “opaque” noun, or which role orthography and morphology have in transparency. Given the existing inconsistencies in classifying languages as transparent or opaque, this work introduces a proposal to assess gender transparency systematically. Our methodology adapts the standardized factors proposed by Audring (2019) to analyse the relative complexity of gender systems. Such factors are adapted to gender transparency on the basis of the literature on gender acquisition and processing. To support the feasibility of such a proposal, the concepts have been instantiated in a quantitative model to obtain for the first time an objective measure of gender transparency using European Portuguese and Dutch as instances of target languages. Our results coincide with the theoretically expected outcome: European Portuguese obtains a high value of gender transparency while Dutch obtains a moderately low one. Future adaptations of this model to the gender systems of other languages could allow the continuum of gender transparency to sustain robust predictions in studies on gender processing and acquisition.
Highlights
• Deletion of SPPL3 promotes resistance of malignant B cells to NK cell cytotoxicity
• Loss of SPPL3 blocks ligand binding to NK receptors via increased N-glycosylation
• B3GNT2 deletion reduces LacNAc addition and restores SPPL3-KO cell sensitivity to NK cells
• SPPL3-deficient cells are enriched in tetra-antennary N-glycans with LacNAc elongations
Summary
Natural killer (NK) cells are primary defenders against cancer precursors, but cancer cells can persist by evading immune surveillance. To investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying this evasion, we perform a genome-wide CRISPR screen using B lymphoblastoid cells. SPPL3, a peptidase that cleaves glycosyltransferases in the Golgi, emerges as a top hit facilitating evasion from NK cytotoxicity. SPPL3-deleted cells accumulate glycosyltransferases and complex N-glycans, disrupting not only binding of ligands to NK receptors but also binding of rituximab, a CD20 antibody approved for treating B cell cancers. Notably, inhibiting N-glycan maturation restores receptor binding and sensitivity to NK cells. A secondary CRISPR screen in SPPL3-deficient cells identifies B3GNT2, a transferase-mediating poly-LacNAc extension, as crucial for resistance. Mass spectrometry confirms enrichment of N-glycans bearing poly-LacNAc upon SPPL3 loss. Collectively, our study shows the essential role of SPPL3 and poly-LacNAc in cancer immune evasion, suggesting a promising target for cancer treatment.
Using data samples with an integrated luminosity of 22.42 fb−1 collected by the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring, we measure the cross sections of the 𝑒+𝑒−→𝜂𝐽/𝜓 process at center-of-mass energies from 3.808 to 4.951 GeV. Three structures are observed in the line shape of the measured cross sections. A maximum-likelihood fit with 𝜓(4040), two additional resonances, and a nonresonant component are performed. The mass and width of the first additional state are (4219.7±2.5±4.5) MeV/𝑐2 and (80.7±4.4±1.4) MeV, respectively, consistent with the 𝜓(4230). For the second state, the mass and width are (4386±13±17) MeV/𝑐2 and (177±32±13) MeV, respectively, consistent with the 𝜓(4360). The first uncertainties are statistical, and the second ones are systematic. The statistical significance of 𝜓(4040) is 8.0𝜎 and those for 𝜓(4230) and 𝜓(4360) are more than 10.0𝜎.