Potential impacts of seasonal and altitudinal changes on enzymatic peat decomposition in the High Andean Paramo region of Ecuador.

The Andean Paramo is a vast ecosystem, characterized by distinct vegetational zones at several altitudinal levels with huge water storage and carbon fixation capacity within its peat-like andosols, due to a slow decomposition rate of organic matter. These characteristics become mutually related as enzymatic activities increase with temperature and are associated with oxygen penetration, restricting the activity of many hydrolytic enzymes according to the enzyme Latch Theory. This study describes the changing activity of sulfatase (Sulf), phosphatase (Phos), n-acetyl-glucosaminidase (N-Ac), cellobiohydrolase (Cellobio), β-glucosidase (β-Glu), and peroxidase (POX) on an altitudinal scale from 3600 to 4200 m, in rainy and dry seasons at 10 and 30 cm sampling depth, related to physical and chemical soil characteristics, like metals and organic elements.

LoRa Technology in Flying Ad Hoc Networks: A Survey of Challenges and Open Issues.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Flying Ad Hoc Networks (FANETs) have become hot topics among researchers because of the increased availability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the electronic components required to control and connect them (e.g., microcontrollers, single board computers, and radios).

Continuous Long-Term Physical Activity Monitoring in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Physical inactivity is common in patients receiving hemodialysis, but activity patterns throughout the day and in relation to dialysis are largely unknown. This knowledge gap can be addressed by long-term continuous activity monitoring, but this has not been attempted and may not be acceptable to patients receiving dialysis.

Methods: Ambulatory patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving thrice-weekly hemodialysis wore commercially available wrist-worn activity monitors for 6 months.

Step length and fall risk in adults with chronic kidney disease: a pilot study.

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease commonly experience gait abnormalities, which predispose to falls and fall-related injuries. An unmet need is the development of improved methods for detecting patients at high risk of these complications, using tools that are feasible to implement in nephrology practice. Our prior work suggested step length could be such a marker.

Muscle fibrosis and maladaptation occur progressively in CKD and are rescued by dialysis.

BACKGROUNDSkeletal muscle maladaptation accompanies chronic kidney disease (CKD) and negatively affects physical function. Emphasis in CKD has historically been placed on muscle fiber-intrinsic deficits, such as altered protein metabolism and atrophy. However, targeted treatment of fiber-intrinsic dysfunction has produced limited improvement, whereas alterations within the fiber-extrinsic environment have scarcely been examined.