Declining precipitation frequency may drive earlier leaf senescence by intensifying drought stress and enhancing drought acclimation.

Precipitation is an important factor influencing the date of foliar senescence, which in turn affects carbon uptake of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the temporal patterns of precipitation frequency and its impact on foliar senescence date remain largely unknown. Using both long-term carbon flux data and satellite observations across the Northern Hemisphere, we show that, after excluding impacts from of temperature, radiation and total precipitation by partial correlation analysis, declining precipitation frequency may drive earlier foliar senescence date from 1982 to 2022.

Diagnostic accuracy of 99Tc-HDP SPECT/CT and MRI for foot and ankle osteoarthritis (ProSPECT-trial): Study protocol.

Background: Accurate localisation of symptomatic osteoarthritic (OA) lesions in the midfoot, hindfoot and ankle remains challenging due to their complex anatomy. Conventional radiographs have limitations in complex areas or overlapping structures. SPECT/CT has shown promising results in detecting symptomatic OA lesions, yet its superiority over MRI, the current standard for soft tissue pathology, remains uncertain.

2021 European Society of Cardiology guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronisation therapy : Statement of endorsement by the NVVC.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has updated its guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronisation. As the majority are class II recommendations (61%) and based on expert opinion (59%), a critical appraisal for the Dutch situation was warranted. A working group has been established, consisting of specialists in cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, geriatrics, allied professionals in cardiac pacing, and patient organisations with support from the Knowledge Institute of the Dutch Association of Medical Specialists.

Bidirectional associations between smartphone usage and momentary well-being in young adults: Tackling methodological challenges by combining experience sampling methods with passive smartphone data.

Given the pervasive role of smartphones in modern life, research into their impact on well-being has flourished. This study addresses existing methodological shortcomings using smartphone log data and experience sampling methods (ESM) to explore the bidirectional within-person relationship between smartphone usage and momentary well-being variables (i.e.

Improved Annotation of Asthma Gene Variants with Cell Type Deconvolution of Nasal and Lung Expression-Quantitative Trait Loci.

Asthma is a genetically complex inflammatory airway disease associated with over 200 Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, the functional effects of many asthma-associated SNPs in lung and airway epithelial samples are unknown. Here, we aimed to conduct expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis using a meta-analysis of nasal and lung samples.

Sound enrichment helps persons suffering from low frequency phantom sounds.

Low frequency noise (LFN) of unknown origin can be disturbing, especially at night, and affect sleep and relaxation. If reduction of the LFN is impossible, adding sound can mask the troubling noise or detract attention from it to reduce distress. To assess the effectiveness of this, a survey was set up consisting of three questionnaires: the first when a person requested a masking sound and follow-ups after 1 and 3 months.

Design of a wasp-inspired biopsy needle capable of self-propulsion and friction-based tissue transport.

Percutaneous pancreatic core biopsy is conclusive but challenging due to large-diameter needles, while smaller-diameter needles used in aspiration methods suffer from buckling and clogging. Inspired by the ovipositor of parasitic wasps, which resists buckling through self-propulsion and prevents clogging via friction-based transport, research has led to the integration of these functionalities into multi-segment needle designs or tissue transport system designs. This study aimed to combine these wasp-inspired functionalities into a single biopsy needle by changing the interconnection of the needle segments.

Association between gut microbiome profiles and host metabolic health across the life course: a population-based study.

Background: The human gut microbiome changes considerably over time. Previous studies have shown that gut microbiome profiles correlate with multiple metabolic traits. As disease development is likely a lifelong process, evidence gathered at different life stages would help gain a better understanding of this correlation.

Receiver design for the REACH global 21-cm signal experiment.

We detail the REACH radiometric system designed to enable measurements of the 21-cm neutral hydrogen line. Included is the radiometer architecture and end-to-end system simulations as well as a discussion of the challenges intrinsic to highly-calibratable system development. Following this, we share laboratory results based on the calculation of noise wave parameters utilising an over-constrained least squares approach.

Alcohol consumption and incident heart failure in men and women.

Aims: Regular heavy alcohol consumption may lead to the development of alcohol-related cardiomyopathy and symptomatic heart failure (HF) later in life. However, the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and risk for incident HF, and whether these associations vary by sex and type of alcoholic beverage remains unclear.

Methods And Results: A total of 407 014 participants (52% women, age 56 years) from the UK Biobank who completed alcohol-related questionnaires and without a history of HF at baseline were included in the study.

EXPRESS: Vocal and musical emotion perception, voice cue discrimination, and quality of life in cochlear implant users with and without acoustic hearing.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive picture of auditory emotion perception in cochlear implant (CI) users by (1) investigating emotion categorization in both vocal (pseud-ospeech) and musical domains, and (2) how individual differences in residual acoustic hearing, sensitivity to voice cues (voice pitch, vocal tract length), and quality of life (QoL) might be associated with vocal emotion perception, and, going a step further, also with musical emotion perception. In 28 adult CI users, with or without self-reported acoustic hearing, we showed that sensitivity (d') scores for emotion categorization varied largely across the participants, in line with previous research. However, within participants, the d' scores for vocal and musical emotion categorization were significantly correlated, indicating similar processing of auditory emotional cues across the pseudo-speech and music domains and robustness of the tests.

Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries.

Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists.

Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries - the TISP dataset.

Science is integral to society because it can inform individual, government, corporate, and civil society decision-making on issues such as public health, new technologies or climate change. Yet, public distrust and populist sentiment challenge the relationship between science and society. To help researchers analyse the science-society nexus across different geographical and cultural contexts, we undertook a cross-sectional population survey resulting in a dataset of 71,922 participants in 68 countries.

Unloader brace or high tibial osteotomy in the treatment of the young patient with medial knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Purpose:  For medial knee osteoarthritis (OA), operative and nonoperative treatment options are available. Two widely applied unloading therapies are a valgus unloader brace and a high tibial osteotomy (HTO). We aimed to compare the effects of a valgus unloader knee brace with an HTO on knee pain after 1 year in patients with symptomatic medial knee OA.

How Do Nurses Decide on Missed Nursing Care? A Grounded Theory Study of Grassroots Arrangement of Nursing Care.

Aims: To explore the complete decision-making process and action logic of nurses making autonomous decisions that result in missed nursing care.

Background: The complex characteristics of patients in Intensive Care Units place higher demands on the allocation of nursing resources, as well as on the professional skills, resilience and ethics of nursing staff. Preventing missed nursing care is particularly crucial in Intensive Care Units.

Plant species, inundation, and sediment grain size control the development of sediment stability in tidal marshes.

Tidal marshes can contribute to nature-based shoreline protection by reducing the wave load onto the shore and reducing the erosion of the sediment bed. To implement such nature-based shoreline erosion protection requires the ability to quickly restore or create highly stable and erosion-resistant tidal marshes at places where they currently do not yet occur. Therefore, we aim to identify the drivers controlling the rate by which sediment stability builds up in young pioneer marshes.

Biofabricated tissue model for determining biocompatibility of metallic coatings.

Metallic biomaterials are extensively used in orthopedics and dentistry, either as implants or coatings. In both cases, metal ions come into contact with surrounding tissues causing a particular cell response. Here, we present a biofabricated tissue model, consisting of a hydrogel reinforced with a melt electrowritten mesh, to study the effects of bound and released metal ions on surrounding cells embedded in a hydrogel matrix.

Mixed-phase enabled high-rate copper niobate anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

The advancement of rapid-response grid energy storage systems and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles are significantly hindered by the charging times and energy densities associated with current lithium-ion battery technology. In state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, graphite is employed as the standard negative electrode material. However, graphite suffers from polarization and deteriorating side-reactions at the high currents needed for fast charging.

Energy Transition in Northern Netherlands: seeking a balance between top-down and bottom-up initiatives.

This brief report focuses on top-down and bottom-up processes within the field of energy transition. It aims at gaining a better understanding of the needs of the local energy initiatives. On this basis, policy recommendations are formulated to help the municipality of Groningen to facilitate local energy initiatives, ultimately leading to a more balanced approach of the local energy transition.

Perspectives and Practices of Healthcare Leaders in Supporting Healthcare Worker Well-Being: A Reality Check.

Introduction: The well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs) is a critical concern. While healthcare leaders can play a crucial role in influencing employees' well-being, it remains unclear how leaders are leveraging this influence. This study aims to unravel the current perspectives and practices of healthcare leaders in supporting HCW well-being.