Primordial black holes and their gravitational-wave signatures.

In the recent years, primordial black holes (PBHs) have emerged as one of the most interesting and hotly debated topics in cosmology. Among other possibilities, PBHs could explain both some of the signals from binary black hole mergers observed in gravitational-wave detectors and an important component of the dark matter in the Universe. Significant progress has been achieved both on the theory side and from the point of view of observations, including new models and more accurate calculations of PBH formation, evolution, clustering, merger rates, as well as new astrophysical and cosmological probes.

Landscapes-a lens for assessing sustainability.

Context: There are urgent calls to transition society to more sustainable trajectories, at scales ranging from local to global. Landscape sustainability (LS), or the capacity for landscapes to provide equitable access to ecosystem services essential for human wellbeing for both current and future generations, provides an operational approach to monitor these transitions. However, the complexity of landscapes complicates how and what to consider when assessing LS.

An evolutionary perspective for the exposome.

The exposome was proposed following the realization that most human diseases have an environmental rather than a genetic (hereditary) origin. Non-communicable diseases are, in fact, the consequence of multiple exposures that activate a sequence of stages in a multistage process that already starts in early life. This attracted attention to both the multiplicity (in fact, potentially the totality) of exposures humans are exposed to since conception and to the life-long perspective of disease causation.

The Kerbernez long-term experiment: A dataset on crop yield and soil organic matter evolution in forage crop rotations and permanent grasslands in a temperate oceanic climate.

Forage crop rotations including grasslands, common in dairy systems, are known to ensure good productivity and limit the decrease of soil organic matter frequently observed in permanent arable land. A dataset was built to compile data from the Kerbernez long-term experiment, conducted in Brittany(France) from 1978 to 2005. This experiment compared the effect of different forage crop rotations fertilized with ammonium nitrate and/or slurry, with or without grassland, on forage production (quantity, quality) and changes in soil physio-chemical characteristics.

Missing value replacement in strings and applications.

Missing values arise routinely in real-world sequential (string) datasets due to: (1) imprecise data measurements; (2) flexible sequence modeling, such as binding profiles of molecular sequences; or (3) the existence of confidential information in a dataset which has been deleted deliberately for privacy protection. In order to analyze such datasets, it is often important to replace each missing value, with one or more letters, in an efficient and effective way. Here we formalize this task as a combinatorial optimization problem: the set of constraints includes the of the missing value (i.

Near-Field Mixing in a Coaxial Dual Swirled Injector.

Improving mixing between two coaxial swirled jets is a subject of interest for the development of next generations of fuel injectors. This is particularly crucial for hydrogen injectors, where the separate introduction of fuel and oxidizer is preferred to mitigate the risk of flashback. Raman scattering is used to measure the mean compositions and to examine how mixing between fuel and air streams evolves along the axial direction in the near-field of the injector outlet.

Effects of intramuscular fat on the flavor of fresh sheep and goat meat: Recent insights into pre-mortem and post-mortem factors.

Sheep and goat meat products are becoming increasingly popular among consumers due to their unique flavor derived from intramuscular fat (IMF), which contributes to formation of the distinctive odor. However, there is currently a dearth of reviews on the impact of IMF on the flavor of sheep and goat meat. The present review aims to discuss the relationships between IMF and flavor through lipid composition and fatty acid (FA) distribution, provide an overview of characteristic flavor compounds affecting the flavor of sheep and goat meat, and shed light on the impacts of pre-mortem and post-mortem factors on meat flavor attributed to changes in FAs and flavor compounds.

Accuracy of Digital Intraoral Scans Three-dimensional Surface Analysis Compared with Plaster Models Dental Measurement in Mixed Dentition.

Aims And Background: This study aimed to assess the accuracy of digital intraoral scans in capturing the three-dimensional (3D) surface of teeth and dental arches in mixed dentition, compared with conventional plaster models. Intraoral scanning technology has seen rapid advancements in recent years, revolutionizing orthodontic and dental practices. However, its accuracy in mixed dentition remains a subject of investigation.

Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Clinically Isolated Strains of Acinetobacter baumannii in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Libya.

Objective:   accounts for a notable percentage of hospital-acquired infections. The widespread resistance to multiple antibiotic classes complicates treatment efforts. This study aims to find out the pattern of susceptibility of multidrug-resistant  (MDRAB) isolated from clinical specimens to antibiotics recommended for testing and use for and to determine a local guide at Tripoli University Hospital (TUH), Tripoli, Libya for the empirical antibiotic treatment of MDRAB based on the susceptibility pattern identified.

A vacuolar invertase gene modulates sugar metabolism and postharvest fruit quality and stress resistance in tomato.

Sugars act as signaling molecules to modulate various growth processes and enhance plant tolerance to various abiotic and biotic stresses. Moreover, sugars contribute to the postharvest flavor in fleshy fruit crops. To date, the regulation of sugar metabolism and its effect in plant growth, fruit ripening, postharvest quality, and stress resistance remains not fully understood.

What is the origin of the normal ranges of blood cell counts? An evolutionary perspective.

Background: The normal values of the complete blood count are part of the foundational medical knowledge that is seldom questioned due to their well-established nature. These normal values are critical for optimal physiological function while minimizing the harmful consequences of an excessive number of blood cells. Thus, they represent an evolutionary trade-off likely shaped by natural selection if they significantly influence individual fitness and exhibit heritability.

Observation of super-Alfvénic slippage of reconnecting magnetic field lines on the Sun.

Slipping motions of magnetic field lines are a distinct signature of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process driving solar and stellar flares. While being a key prediction of numerical experiments, the rapid super-Alfvénic field line slippage driven by the 'slip-running' reconnection has remained elusive in previous observations. New frontiers into exploring transient flare phenomena were introduced by recently designed high cadence observing programs of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS).

A luminous and young galaxy at = 12.33 revealed by a JWST/MIRI detection of Hα and [O iii].

The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a surprising population of bright galaxies in the very early Universe (≲500 Myr after the Big Bang) that is hard to explain with conventional galaxy-formation models and whose physical properties are not fully understood. Insight into their internal physics is best captured through nebular lines, but at these early epochs, the brightest of these spectral features are redshifted into the mid-infrared and remain elusive. Using the mid-infrared instrument onboard the James Webb Space Telescope, here we present a detection of Hα and doubly ionized oxygen ([O iii] 4959,5007 Å) from the bright, ultra-high-redshift galaxy candidate GHZ2/GLASS-z12.

The redox aspects of lithium-ion batteries.

This article aims to present the redox aspects of lithium-ion batteries both from a thermodynamic and from a conductivity viewpoint. We first recall the basic definitions of the electrochemical potential of the electron, and of the Fermi level for a redox couple in solutions. The Fermi level of redox solids such as metal oxide particles is then discussed, and a Nernst equation is derived for two ideal systems, namely an ideally homogenous phase where the oxidised and reduced metal ions are homogeneously distributed and two segregated phases where the oxidised and the reduced metal ions are separated in two distinct phases such as observed, for example, in biphasic lithium iron phosphate.

Diagnosis and management of de novo non-specific spinal infections: European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) Spine Section Delphi consensus recommendations.

Introduction: The management of de novo non-specific spinal infections (spondylodiscitis - SD) remains inconsistent due to varying clinical practices and a lack of high-level evidence, particularly regarding the indications for surgery.

Research Question: This study aims to develop consensus recommendations for the diagnosis and management of SD, addressing diagnostic modalities, surgical indications, and treatment strategies.

Material And Methods: A Delphi process was conducted with 26 experts from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS).

The role of energy deposition on the luminescence sensitization in porphyrin-functionalized SiO/ZnO nanoparticles under X-ray excitation.

Hybrid nanoscintillators, which feature a heavy inorganic nanoparticle conjugated with an organic emitter, represent a promising avenue for advancements in diverse fields, including high-energy physics, homeland security, and biomedicine. Many research studies have shown the suitability of hybrid nanoscintillators for radiation oncology, showing potential to improve therapeutic results compared to traditional protocols. In this work, we studied SiO/ZnO nanoparticles functionalized with porphyrin as a photosensitizer, capable of producing cancer cytotoxic reactive oxygen species for possible use in radio-oncological therapeutics.

Liver transplantation in glycogen storage disease type III: A case-series.

Glycogen storage disease type III (GSD III) is a rare metabolic disorder characterized by a deficiency of liver and muscle amylo-1,6-glucosidase. This condition presents with severe hepatic symptoms in childhood, mostly hepatomegaly, hypoglycemia in half of patients, while muscular complications may predominate in adulthood. Hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are common complications in older patients.

Assessing the economic impact and healthcare resource utilization of inpatient pneumococcal disease among adults: a French national claims database study.

Introduction: Pneumococcal diseases (PD) caused by include invasive PD (IPD) and non-bacteremia pneumococcal pneumonia (NBPP). Current French vaccination guidelines FOCUS on patients with underlying medical conditions (UMC) who are at a higher risk of PD. This study describes the healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and economic burden of inpatient PD in French adults, to inform vaccination guidelines, especially among vulnerable subpopulations at increased risk of PD.

Efficacy, Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Immunogenicity of ABBV-154 in Adults With Glucocorticoid-Dependent Polymyalgia Rheumatica: A Phase 2, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objective: An unmet need exists for glucocorticoid-sparing treatments for patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). The antibody-drug conjugate ABBV-154 comprises adalimumab conjugated to a glucocorticoid receptor modulator. We evaluated ABBV-154 versus placebo in patients with glucocorticoid-dependent PMR.

Long-Term Post-Stroke Cognition in Patients With Minor Ischemic Stroke is Related to Tract-Based Disconnection Induced by White Matter Hyperintensities.

Over a third of minor stroke patients experience post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI), but no validated tools exist to identify at-risk patients early. This study investigated whether disconnection features derived from infarcts and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) could serve as markers for short- and long-term cognitive decline in first-ever minor ischemic stroke patients. First-ever minor ischemic stroke patients (NIHSS ≤ 7) were prospectively followed at 72-h, 6 months, and 36 months post-stroke with cognitive tests and brain MRI.

Negative gas adsorption transitions and pressure amplification phenomena in porous frameworks.

Nanoporous solids offer a wide range of functionalities for industrial, environmental, and energy applications. However, only a limited number of porous materials are responsive, the nanopore dynamically alters its size and shape in response to external stimuli such as temperature, pressure, light or the presence of specific molecular stimuli adsorbed inside the voids deforming the framework. Adsorption-induced structural deformation of porous solids can result in unique counterintuitive phenomena.

A complex interplay between histone variants and DNA methylation.

Nucleosomes, the chromatin building blocks, play an important role in controlling DNA and chromatin accessibility. Nucleosome remodeling and the incorporation of distinct histone variants confer unique structural and biochemical properties, influencing the targeting of multiple epigenetic pathways, particularly DNA methylation. This stable epigenetic mark suppresses transposable element expression in plants and mammals, serving as an additional layer of chromatin regulation.

Nutritional and functional outcomes in trials of nutrient-stimulated hormone-based therapy-A systematic mapping review.

Introduction: Currently, trials are investigating the efficacy of nutrient-stimulated hormone-based therapies (NuSHs) in promoting weight loss in people living with overweight and obesity. However, the extent to which nutritional and functional outcomes are evaluated remains uncertain. Thus, we conducted a systematic mapping to assess the presence of nutritional and functional outcomes in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating NuSHs.