Mangroves are highly salt-tolerant species, which live in saline intertidal environments, but rely on alternative, less saline water to maintain hydraulic integrity and plant productivity. Foliar water uptake (FWU) is thought to assist in hydration of mangroves, particularly during periods of acute water deficit. We investigated the dynamics of FWU in Avicennia marina and Aegiceras corniculatum by submerging and spraying excised branches and measuring leaf water potential (Ψ) at different time intervals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShape memory hydrogels constitute a highly attractive materials class that bears enormous potential within a broad range of areas - from engineering to medicine. Within the present contribution we demonstrate that energetic electron crosslinked methylcellulose-only hydrogels exhibit an "inverse" shape memory effect that transforms from a secondary shape to its primary shape upon cooling. The primary shape can conveniently be "programmed" by application of energetic electrons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first year in a tree's life is characterized by distinct morphological changes, requiring constant adjustments of the hydraulic system. Despite their importance for the natural regeneration of forests and future vegetation composition, little has been known about the hydraulics of tree seedlings. At different times across the first growing season, we analysed xylem area-specific (K) and leaf area-specific (K) shoot hydraulic conductance, as well as embolism resistance of three temperate conifer trees, two angiosperm trees and one angiosperm shrub, and related findings to cell osmotic parameters and xylem anatomical traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the first, and so far, only index patient with neonatal onset MoCD type A who was diagnosed and treated early enough with cPMP to avoid severe brain injury and disability. The child presented with hypoglycemia at the age of 10 h and was diagnosed because of the incidental finding of severely decreased L-cystine in plasma. Due to a high level of awareness and excellent co-operation between metabolic laboratory and clinical services, cPMP substitution could be initiated before severe encephalopathy set in, and the child subsequently had a normal motor development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe literature on action control is rife with differences in terminology. This consensus statement contributes shared definitions for perception-action integration concepts as informed by the framework of event coding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs major terrestrial carbon sinks, forests play an important role in mitigating climate change. The relationship between the seasonal uptake of carbon and its allocation to woody biomass remains poorly understood, leaving a significant gap in our capacity to predict carbon sequestration by forests. Here, we compare the intra-annual dynamics of carbon fluxes and wood formation across the Northern hemisphere, from carbon assimilation and the formation of non-structural carbon compounds to their incorporation in woody tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep, or the lack thereof, has far-reaching consequences on many aspects of human physiology, cognitive performance, and emotional wellbeing. To ensure undisturbed sleep monitoring, unobtrusive measurements such as ballistocardiogram (BCG) are essential for sustained, real-world data acquisition. Current analysis of BCG data during sleep remains challenging, mainly due to low signal-to-noise ratio, physical movements, as well as high inter- and intra-individual variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLichens are a mutualistic symbiosis between a fungus and one or more photosynthetic partners. They are photosynthetically active during desiccation down to relative water contents (RWCs) as low as 30% (on dry mass). Experimental evidence suggests that during desiccation, the photobionts have a higher hydration level than the surrounding fungal pseudo-tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Serving as a reservoir, the gastric fundus can expand significantly, with an initial receptive and a following adaptive relaxation, controlled by extrinsic and intrinsic reflex circuits, respectively. We hypothesize that mechanosensitive enteric neurons (MEN) are involved in the adaptive relaxation, which is initiated when a particular gastric volume and a certain stretch of the stomach wall is reached. To investigate whether the responsiveness of MEN in the gastric fundus is dependent on tissue stretch, we performed mechanical stimulations in stretched versus ganglia "at rest".
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA substantial parallel increase in prevalence and geographical spread of the rumen fluke, Calicophoron daubneyi, in livestock in western and central Europe has been recognized in the recent past. In the course of the examination of rectum feces of 471 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and one sika deer (Cervus nippon) from the Fascioloides magna endemic Šumava National Park in the years 2021 and 2022, rumen fluke eggs were detected in four red deer (0.8%) and the sika deer and identified as eggs of C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpin waves are collective perturbations in the orientation of the magnetic moments in magnetically ordered materials. Their rich phenomenology is intrinsically three-dimensional; however, the three-dimensional imaging of spin waves has so far not been possible. Here, we image the three-dimensional dynamics of spin waves excited in a synthetic antiferromagnet, with nanoscale spatial resolution and sub-ns temporal resolution, using time-resolved magnetic laminography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnzymatic polymerization of lignosulfonate (LS) has a high potential for various applications ranging from coatings to adhesives. Here, the effect of different ions in low concentrations on enzymatic polymerization of LS was investigated, including salt solutions consisting of mono- and dicarboxylic acids, sulfate, phosphate and chloride with sodium as counter ion. LS polymerization was followed by viscometry and size exclusion (SEC) chromatography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Biomater Sci Eng
February 2024
Ten MeV electron beam treatment facilitates a biomimetic introduction of cross-links in collagenous biopolymer systems, modifying their viscoelastic properties, mechanical stability, and swelling behavior. For reconstituted collagen type I fibers, electron-induced cross-linking opens up new perspectives regarding future biomedical applications in terms of tissue and ligament engineering. We demonstrate how electron irradiation affects stiffness both in low-strain regimes and in postyield regimes of biocompatible reconstituted rat tail collagen type I fibers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA recent study and related commentaries have raised new interest in the phenomenon of ultrasonic sound production by plants exposed to stress, especially drought. While recent technological advancements have allowed the demonstration that these sounds can propagate in the air surrounding plants, we remind readers here that research on sound production by plants is more than 100 years old. The mechanisms and patterns of sound emission from plants subjected to different stress factors are also reasonably understood, thanks to the pioneering work of John Milburn and others.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective of this study was to analyze advantages and disadvantages of mucus and serum for biomarker analysis.
Methods: This study includes prospective study of 61 CRS with nasal polyps patients who were followed over 24 months and over nine time points after functional endoscopic sinus surgery. At each time points, the nasal polyp score (NPS) was assessed and mucus as well as serum was collected.
In task switching, response repetitions (RRs) usually yield performance benefits as compared to response switches, but only when the task also repeats. When the task switches, RR benefits vanish or even turn into costs, yielding an interaction between repeating versus switching the task and the response (the RR effect). Different theoretical accounts for this RR effect exist, but, in the present study, we specifically tested a prediction derived from binding and retrieval accounts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, xylem sap composition has been shown to affect xylem hydraulics. However, information on how much xylem sap composition can vary across seasons and specifically under drought stress is still limited. We measured xylem sap chemical composition ([Ca], [K], [Na], electrical conductivity EC and pH) and surface tension () of six Australian angiosperm trees and shrubs over 1 year, which comprised of exceptional dry and wet periods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurogastroenterol Motil
November 2023
Background: Coping with the ingested food, the gastric regions of fundus, corpus, and antrum display different motility patterns. Intrinsic components of such patterns involving mechanosensitive enteric neurons (MEN) have been described in the guinea pig gastric corpus but are poorly understood in the fundus and antrum.
Methods: To elucidate mechanosensitive properties of myenteric neurons in the gastric fundus and antrum, membrane potential imaging using Di-8-ANEPPS was applied.
Freeze-thaw-induced embolism, a key limiting factor for perennial plants results from the formation of gas bubbles during freezing and their expansion during thawing. However, the ice volumetric increase generates local pressures, which can affect the formation of bubbles. To characterize local dynamics of pressure tension and the physical state of the sap during freeze-thaw cycles, we simultaneously used ultrasonic acoustic emission analysis and synchrotron-based high-resolution computed tomography on the diffuse-porous species Betula pendula.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbiotic factors such as water and nutrient availability can exert a dominant influence on the susceptibility of plants to various pathogens. Effects of abiotic environmental factors on phenolic compound concentrations in the plant tissue may represent one of the major underlying mechanisms, as these compounds are known to play a substantial role in plant resistance to pests. In particular, this applies to conifer trees, in which a large range of phenolic compounds are produced constitutively and/or induced by pathogen attack.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study analyses the decision criteria for a specific form of reorganisation in a creditor-friendly bankruptcy system such as that of Austria. From a neoinstitutional perspective, we present different forms of bankruptcy law and the specifics of reorganisation in Austria. Next, we show several distinctive criteria and influencing factors for formal reorganisation and workouts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFoliar water uptake (FWU) is a widespread mechanism that may help plants cope with drought stress in a wide range of ecosystems. FWU can be affected by various leaf traits, which change during leaf development. We exposed cut and dehydrated leaves to rainwater and measured FWU, changes in leaf water potential after 19 h of FWU (ΔΨ), minimum leaf conductance (g ), and leaf wettability (abaxial and adaxial) of leaves of Acer platanoides, Fagus sylvatica, and Sambucus nigra at three developmental stages: unfolding (2-5-day-old), young (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRapid prototyping of microfluidic chips is a key enabler for controlled biotechnology applications in microspaces, as it allows for the efficient design and production of microfluidic systems. With rapid prototyping, researchers and engineers can quickly create and test new microfluidic chip designs, which can then be optimized for specific applications in biotechnology. One of the key advantages of microfluidic chips for biotechnology is the ability to manipulate and control biological samples in a microspace, which enables precise and controlled experiments under well-defined conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHelminth composition and burden data for dairy cows have not been reported for >40 years for Germany and even less information is available for Austria. In the context of two recent studies, helminth parasitism was studied in 32 cows (23 from six farms in Bavaria and Tyrol; 9 from one farm in Saxony) from pasture-based dairy farms necropsied during the housing period. Helminths were enumerated and identified based on morphological characters (all helminths but rumen flukes) or molecular techniques (rumen flukes).
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