Residual melanins have been detected in multimillion-year-old animal body fossils; how-ever, confident identification and characterization of these natural pigments remain challenging due to loss of chemical signatures during diagenesis. Here, we simulate this post-burial process through artificial maturation experiments using three synthetic and one natural eumelanin exposed to mild (100◦C/100 ba

The role of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability is investigated using coupled model experiments with different topography setups. Removing the TP results in weakened trade winds in the tropical Pacific, an eastward shift of atmospheric convection center, a shallower mixed layer in the equatorial Pacific, and a flattened equatorial thermocline, which leads to

BACKGROUND: Gastrectomy including D2 lymphadenectomy is regarded as the standard curative treatment for advanced gastric cancer in Asia. This procedure has also been adopted gradually in the West, despite lack of support from RCTs. This study sought to investigate any advantage for long-term survival following D2 lymphadenectomy in routine gastric cancer surgery in a Western nationwide population-

Objective: The present study proposes a model-based, statistical approach to characterizing episode patterns in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Thanks to the rapid advancement of noninvasive monitoring technology, the proposed approach should become increasingly relevant in clinical practice. Methods: History-dependent point process modeling is employed to characterize AF episode patterns, us

We here describe the current knowledge about the radiologic and histologic pulmonary features of covid-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, and present lung histology from a case with fatal disease. Initial findings on computed tomography (CT) typically include peripheral multifocal bilateral ground-glass opacities, and correspondingly microscopic alveolar edema. This is followed by peripheral consolidations

Infectious diseases often vary seasonally in a predictable manner, and seasonality may be responsible for geographical differences in prevalence. In temperate regions, vector-borne parasites such as malaria are expected to evolve lower virulence and a time-varying strategy to invest more in transmission when vectors are available. A previous model of seasonal variation of avian malaria described a

Socially responsible behavior is crucial for slowing the spread of infectious diseases. However, economic and epidemiological models of disease transmission abstract from prosocial motivations as a driver of behaviors that impact the health of others. In an incentivized study, we show that a large majority of people are very reluctant to put others at risk for their personal benefit. Moreover, thi

Objective: Pain sensitization contributes to the complex osteoarthritis (OA) pain experience. The relationship between imaging features of hand OA and clinically assessed pain sensitization is largely unexplored. This study was undertaken to examine the association of structural and inflammatory features of hand OA with local pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) in the Nor-Hand study. Methods: The cros

The percentage of blasts cells in the bone marrow (BM) of MDS patients is one of the key parameters for MDS classification and for the differential diagnosis with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Currently, the gold standard to determine the blast percentage is conventional cytomorphology. To assess the possible impact of blast cell enumeration in BM biopsies from MDS patients on the final WHO classi

Graphene layers grown on the C-face SiC exhibit quite different structural and electronic properties compared with those grown on the Si-face SiC. Herein, the growth and structural properties of graphene on the off-axis C-face 3C-SiC((Formula presented.)) are studied. The as-grown 4° off-axis 3C-SiC((Formula presented.)) exhibits highly periodic steps with step height of ≈0.75 nm and terrace width

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently the standard of care for many malignant and nonmalignant blood diseases. As several treatment-emerging acute toxicities are expected, optimal supportive measurements critically affect HSCT outcomes. The paucity of good clinical studies in supportive practices gives rise to the establishment of heterogeneous guidelines across the different

In this review, I summarize recent experimental investigations of surface and friction forces between bottlebrush structure macromolecules including biolubricants and biomimetic ones by direct force measurements. I also discuss recent experimental investigations of synergy in lubrication in which a question, ‘How do lubricants act together?’, is aimed to be answered. Lastly, challenges and opportu

Purpose: To compare rates of tau biomarker positivity (T-status) per the 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) Research Framework derived from [18F]flortaucipir (FTP) PET visual assessment, FTP quantification, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated Tau-181 (PTau181). Methods: We included 351 subjects with varying clinical diagnoses from three cohorts with available FTP PET and CSF PTau181 within 18

The formation mechanism and the evolution of optoelectronic properties during annealing of chlorine-derived methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3-xClx) are investigated in detail combining in situ and ex situ optical and structural characterization. Using in situ optical reflectometry we are able to monitor the evolution of the MAPbI3-xClx phase as a function of time and processing temperature. The f

Among the fundamental biological processes affected by microRNAs, small regulators of gene expression, a potential role in host-parasite communication is intriguing. We compared the miRNA complement of extracellular vesicles released by the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in culture to that of other adult parasitic nematodes. Expecting convergent functional roles for secreted miRNAs du

We performed a national population-based study of all patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in Sweden in 2007–2014 to assess treatment intent and risk of relapsed/refractory disease, including central nervous system (CNS) relapse, in the presence of competing risks. Overall, 84% of patients started treatment with curative intent (anthracycline-based) (n = 3550, median age 6

In the present review, we highlight the possible “extra-immunological” effects of maternal immunoglobulins (Ig) transferred to the blood circulation of offspring, either via the placenta before birth or via the colostrum/milk across the gut after birth in different mammalian species. Using the newborn pig as a model, since they are naturally born agammaglobulinemic, intravenously (i.v.) infused pu

In the mixed-valence manganites, a near-infrared laser typically melts the orbital and spin order simultaneously, corresponding to the photoinduced d1d0→d0d1 excitations in the Mott-Hubbard bands of manganese. Here, we use ultrafast methods-both femtosecond resonant X-ray diffraction and optical reflectivity-to demonstrate that the orbital response in the layered manganite Nd1-xSr1+xMnO4(x=2/3) do

In the present study, strategies are developed to enable time-efficient models for structures subjected to blast loading, appropriate for use in a structural design process. Dynamic sub structuring is employed to obtain reduced models with localized nonlinearities, such as predefined plastic hinges in a beam column structure. The parts of the substructures that remains linear elastic are modeled b