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Cities are growing in size and becoming increasingly dense. This situation calls for strategic planning of green infrastructure in the urban planning process. Safeguarding the green infrastructure is important for maintaining urban ecosystem services and increasing the well-being of urban populations. To facilitate appropriate urban planning that enables cities to grow sustainably, it is important

Urbanisation is accelerating across the globe, transforming landscapes, presenting organisms with novel challenges, shaping phenotypes and impacting fitness. Urban individuals are claimed to have duller carotenoid-based colouration, compared to their non-urban counterparts, the so-called ‘urban dullness’ phenomenon. However, at the intraspecific level, this generalisation is surprisingly inconsist

The depletion of disruptive variation caused by purifying natural selection (constraint) has been widely used to investigate protein-coding genes underlying human disorders 1–4, but attempts to assess constraint for non-protein-coding regions have proved more difficult. Here we aggregate, process and release a dataset of 76,156 human genomes from the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD)—the larges

Aim: In neuroendocrine cells, large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs) undergo highly regulated pre-fusion processes before releasing hormones via membrane fusion. Significant heterogeneity has been found for LDCV population based on the dynamics of membrane fusion. However, how the pre-fusion status impacts the heterogeneity of LDCVs still remains unclear. Hence, we explored pre-fusion determinants of h

Objectives: To assess whether extended surveillance with repeated computed tomography (CT) scans for patients with clinical stage IIA (CS IIA; <2 cm abdominal node involvement) and negative markers (Mk−) non-seminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCTs) can identify those with true CS I. To assess the rate of benign lymph nodes, teratoma, and viable cancer in retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND

Background: Management of young febrile infants is challenging. Therefore, several guidelines have been developed over the last decades. However, knowledge regarding the impact of introducing guidelines for febrile infants is limited. We assessed the impact of and adherence to a novel guideline for managing febrile infants aged ≤59 days. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conduc

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the fastest growing non-infectious disease worldwide. Impaired insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells is a hallmark of T2D, but the mechanisms behind this defect are insufficiently characterized. Integrating multiple layers of biomedical information, such as different Omics, may allow more accurate understanding of complex diseases such as T2D. Our aim was to explore

Background and purpose: Recommendations for regional radiotherapy (RT) of sentinel lymph node (SLN)-positive breast cancer are debated. We here report a RT quality assessment of the SENOMAC trial. Materials and Methods: The SENOMAC trial randomized clinically node-negative breast cancer patients with 1–2 SLN macrometastases to completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) or SLN biopsy only be

Mortar extrusion during bricklaying, resulting from suboptimal workmanship, may act as a bridge linking clay brick masonry claddings and adjacent layers (e.g., insulation or weather-resistant barriers), thereby, facilitating water penetration into the adjacent layer owing to wind-driven rain (WDR). Despite the significant effect of water penetration on the hygrothermal performance of building enve

Objective: Various lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol, physical activity, sedentary behavior, diet quality, sleep behavior, and overweight have been related to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD); however, their joint impact on risk of MASLD is not well known. We prospectively investigated the association between a combination of lifestyle factors and risk of

Introduction: The CVA24 antigenic variant is the causal agent of epidemics of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis that has prevailed to date. To study the transmission dynamics and evolution of this variant, we molecularly characterized Cuban isolates obtained in 5 epidemic periods between 1986 and 2009. Methods: Using the BEAST v1.8.4 program, it was performed the phylogenetic and phylodynamic analy

Dendrometers offer valuable insights into how tree growth responds to climatic variables and physiological processes over the course of a year. Yet, their applicability to extremely slow-growing trees, such as those in peatlands, has been limited due to the intricate and slow nature of growth, therefore rendering interpretation of results complex. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive monito

The receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) has pro-inflammatory and pro-atherogenic effects. Low plasma levels of soluble RAGE (sRAGE), a decoy receptor for RAGE ligands, have been associated with increased risk for major adverse coronary events (MACE) in the general population. We performed a genome-wide association study to identify genetic determinants of plasma sRAGE in 4338 indivi

Background: The recent guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology recommends using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) in either 0/1-h or 0/2-h algorithms to identify or rule out acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Several studies have reported good diagnostic accuracy with both algorithms, but few have compared the algorithms directly. Objective: We aimed to compare the diagnostic a

CONTEXT: The 2 peaks of type 1 diabetes incidence occur during early childhood and puberty.OBJECTIVE: We sought to better understand the relationship between puberty, islet autoimmunity, and type 1 diabetes.METHODS: The relationships between puberty, islet autoimmunity, and progression to type 1 diabetes were investigated prospectively in children followed in The Environmental Determinants of Diab

PURPOSE: Autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin (TgAb) define pre-clinical autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) which can progress to either clinical hypo- or hyperthyroidism. We determined the age at seroconversion in children genetically at risk for type 1 diabetes.METHODS: TPOAb and TgAb seropositivity were determined in 5066 healthy children with HLA DR3 or DR4 containing

Upper-body adiposity is adversely associated with metabolic health whereas the opposite is observed for the lower-body. The neck is a unique upper-body fat depot in adult humans, housing thermogenic brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is increasingly recognised to influence whole-body metabolic health. Loss of BAT, concurrent with replacement by white adipose tissue (WAT), may contribute to metaboli