Publications by authors named "Gerber R"

Flight is a key feature of the reproduction and dispersal of emerging aquatic insects. However, morphological measurements of insect flight are mostly available for terrestrial taxa and dragonflies, while aquatic insects have been poorly investigated. We analyzed 7 flight-related morphological parameters of 32 taxa belonging to 5 orders of emerging aquatic insects (Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, Plecoptera, Diptera, and Megaloptera) with different life history traits related to flight (dispersal strategy, voltinism, adult lifespan, and swarming behavior).

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Article Synopsis
  • Benzothiazole (BTH) and its derivatives are common environmental contaminants due to their widespread use in consumer products, with their reaction in the air primarily involving hydroxyl radicals (OH).
  • Researchers conducted experiments and theoretical studies to determine the reaction rate and the products formed when BTH reacts with OH in the gas phase.
  • Findings indicated a rate constant of 2.1 ± 0.1 × 10¹ cm per molecule per second, leading to a 5.5-day atmospheric lifetime for BTH, and identified several stable products while showcasing the effectiveness of combining experimental and theoretical methods to study environmental impacts.
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Background: Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) can decrease hypoglycemic events and health care costs; however, barriers and facilitators that influence CGM use are unknown.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate hypoglycemic events and cost outcomes after CGM implementation and describe associated barriers and facilitators.

Methods: A mixed-methods study design was used to evaluate CGM implementation on 2 pulmonary units within an academic health center.

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Aquatic ecosystems globally have been invaded by molluscs. is a highly successful invader, often becoming the dominant aquatic invertebrate species in an invaded ecosystem. Resultingly, it has been suggested that may have severe negative impacts on these invaded ecosystems.

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Computational biologists are frequently engaged in collaborative data analysis with wet lab researchers. These interdisciplinary projects, as necessary as they are to the scientific endeavor, can be surprisingly challenging due to cultural differences in operations and values. In this Ten Simple Rules guide, we aim to help dry lab researchers identify sources of friction and provide actionable tools to facilitate respectful, open, transparent, and rewarding collaborations.

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In this study, we optimized the dissociation of synovial tissue biopsies for single-cell omics studies and created a single-cell atlas of human synovium in inflammatory arthritis. The optimized protocol allowed consistent isolation of highly viable cells from tiny fresh synovial biopsies, minimizing the synovial biopsy drop-out rate. The synovium scRNA-seq atlas contained over 100,000 unsorted synovial cells from 25 synovial tissues affected by inflammatory arthritis, including 16 structural, 11 lymphoid, and 15 myeloid cell clusters.

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Study Question: After an IVF cycle cancellation, does changing the stimulation protocol affect the odds of live birth and recurrent cancellation in the subsequent cycle?

Summary Answer: After IVF cycle cancellation, compared to those who repeated the same stimulation protocol, those who changed their protocol had higher odds of live birth and lower odds of recurrent cycle cancellation.

What Is Known Already: There is limited data addressing the effect of changing the stimulation protocol after an IVF cycle is cancelled during initial stimulation. The odds of live birth outcomes are not known so far in studies addressing the effect of changing the protocol.

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Digital interventions can enhance access to healthcare in under-resourced settings. However, guided digital interventions may be costly for low- and middle-income countries, despite their effectiveness. In this randomised control trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of two digital interventions designed to address this issue: (1) a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Skills Training (CST) intervention that increased scalability by using remote online group administration; and (2) the SuperBetter gamified self-guided CBT skills training app, which uses other participants rather than paid staff as guides.

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Family migration has gained prominence as one of the main reasons for international mobility in both Switzerland and the rest of western European countries. However, research aimed at evaluating the economic performance of reunited families has been constrained by the unavailability of individual income and/or household composition data. The joint use of population registers and information about individuals' social security contributions has allowed us to overcome this limitation.

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While natural floods play a crucial role in shaping the composition of aquatic communities, the most rivers worldwide are regulated or dammed for anthropogenic purposes, resulting in alterations to the biological and chemical composition of these ecosystems. Studies have demonstrated various negative effects of river regulation on aquatic invertebrate communities globally. However, there is a scarcity of research in Africa, despite its vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts.

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Topical treatments for mild-to-moderate (MM) atopic dermatitis (AD) include emollients, corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, a Janus kinase inhibitor, and a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, which differ in multiple ways. This study aimed to quantify the conditional relative importance (CRI) of attributes of topical treatments for MM AD among adult and adolescent patients and caregivers of children with MM AD. A discrete-choice experiment (DCE) survey was administered to US adults and adolescents with MM AD and caregivers of children with MM AD.

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The highly reactive dihalogens play a significant role in the oxidative chemistry of the troposphere. One of the main reservoirs of these halogens is hypohalous acids, HOX, which produce dihalogens in the presence of halides (Y), where X, Y = Cl, Br, I. These reactions occur in and on aerosol particles and seawater surfaces and have been studied experimentally and by field observations.

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Background: Globally, the high prevalence of mental disorders among university students is a growing public health problem, yet a small minority of students with mental health problems receive treatment. Digital mental health solutions could bridge treatment gaps and overcome many barriers students face accessing treatment. However, there is scant evidence, especially in South Africa (SA), relating to university students' use of and intention to use digital mental health solutions or their attitudes towards these technologies.

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Objective: To compare obstetric and neonatal outcomes after single embryo transfer (SET) compared with multiple embryo transfer (MET) from frozen-thawed transfer cycles of embryos that underwent preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from the SART CORS (Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System) national database. Clinical and demographic data were obtained from the SART CORS database for all autologous and donor egg frozen-thawed transfer cycles of embryos that underwent PGT-A between 2014 and 2016, after excluding cycles that used frozen oocytes, fresh embryo transfer, and transfers of embryos from more than one stimulation cycle.

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Importance: Cesarean birth rate among nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) pregnancies is a standard quality measure in obstetrical care. There are limited data on how the number and type of preexisting conditions affect mode of delivery among primigravidae, and it is also uncertain how maternal comorbidity burden differs across racial and ethnic groups and whether this helps to explain disparities in the NTSV cesarean birth rate.

Objective: To determine the association between obstetric comorbidity index (OB-CMI) score and cesarean delivery among NTSV pregnancies and to evaluate whether disparities in mode of delivery exist based on race and ethnicity group after adjusting for covariate factors.

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Background: Serum tumor markers (STM) may complement imaging and provide additional clinical information for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Objective: To determine whether STMs can predict outcomes in patients with stable disease (SD) after initial treatment.

Methods: This single-center, prospective, observational trial enrolled 395 patients with stage III/IV treatment-naïve NSCLC; of which 263 patients were included in this analysis.

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The impact of the stereochemistry of the glycosyl cation species upon its dynamic properties is examined together with their vibrational spectra in order to gain insight into the effects of configurational isomerism on conformer dynamics and proton mobility. molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations and infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy explore the conformational and reactive dynamics of two pairs of glycosyl cation isomers: (1) protonated α- and β- anomers of methyl-D-galactopyranoside and (2) the oxocarbenium ions of the D-aldohexose C2 epimers galactose and talose. Analysis of these simulations together with experimental spectroscopy, interpreted by anharmonic calculations, points to the key role played by the intramolecular hydrogen bonds which are present in a unique pattern and extent in each isomer.

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This registry assessed the impact of conservative and invasive strategies on major adverse clinical events (MACE) in elderly patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Patients aged ≥75 years with NSTEMI were prospectively registered from European centers and followed up for one year. Outcomes were compared between conservative and invasive groups in the overall population and a propensity score-matched (PSM) cohort.

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Article Synopsis
  • Stable isotope analyses (δ C and δ N) are increasingly important for understanding ecosystem function, food webs, and consumer diets, specifically in studying the feeding behavior of the tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus in South Africa.
  • A baseline study examined the diets of large and small tigerfish across different river and lake ecosystems, collecting fish and food sources to analyze diet variations using multivariate and Bayesian techniques.
  • Results showed significant differences in diet between ecosystems, with small and large tigerfish exhibiting distinct dietary patterns, particularly in lotic systems, highlighting the importance of stable isotope methods in understanding predator feeding ecology and diet shifts with growth.
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Organic chromophores initiate much of daytime aqueous phase chemistry in the environment. Thus, studying the absorption spectra of commonly used organic photosensitizers is paramount to fully understand their relevance in environmental processes. In this work, we combined UV-Vis spectroscopy, H-NMR spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations, and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the absorption spectra of 4-benzoyl benzoic acid (4BBA), a widely used photosensitizer and a common proxy of environmentally relevant chromophores.

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Computational methods represent the lifeblood of modern molecular biology. Benchmarking is important for all methods, but with a focus here on computational methods, benchmarking is critical to dissect important steps of analysis pipelines, formally assess performance across common situations as well as edge cases, and ultimately guide users on what tools to use. Benchmarking can also be important for community building and advancing methods in a principled way.

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Anthropogenic activities, including combustion of fossil fuels, coal, and gold mining, are significant sources of mercury (Hg) emissions into aquatic ecosystems. South Africa is a major contributor to global Hg emissions (46.4 tons Hg in 2018), with coal-fired power stations as the main source.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of uterine balloon tamponade (UBT) and a vacuum-induced hemorrhage control device (VHD) in managing primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) due to uterine atony between January 2019 and June 2021.
  • - Results indicated that patients using VHD required significantly fewer blood transfusions (2.8% vs. 20.5%) and had lower estimated blood loss compared to those using UBT, suggesting VHD may be more effective.
  • - The researchers concluded that although VHD appears to lead to better outcomes, further randomized controlled trials are necessary for definitive conclusions on the superior device for treating PPH.
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