Plant responses to limited aeration: Advances and future challenges.

Limited aeration that is caused by tissue geometry, diffusion barriers, high elevation, or a flooding event poses major challenges to plants and is often, but not exclusively, associated with low oxygen. These processes span a broad interest in the research community ranging from whole plant and crop responses, post-harvest physiology, plant morphology and anatomy, fermentative metabolism, plant developmental processes, oxygen sensing by ERF-VIIs, gene expression profiles, the gaseous hormone ethylene, and O dynamics at cellular resolution. The International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis (ISPA) gathers researchers from all over the world contributing to understand the causes, responses, and consequences of limited aeration in plants.

Patient preferences for treatment modalities for localised prostate cancer.

Objectives: To assess the patient preferences and utility scores for the different conventional and innovative treatment modalities for localised prostate cancer (PCa).

Subjects And Methods: Patients treated for localised PCa and healthy volunteers were invited to fill out a treatment-outcome scenario questionnaire. Participants ranked six different treatments for localised PCa from most to least favourable, prior to information.

Cancer detection during the COVID-19 pandemic-Experiences in primary care and recommendations for the future.

Background: To describe general practitioners (GPs) experiences with the impact COVID-19 on the duration of cancer detection.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey study among Dutch GPs.

Results: Fifty-eight GPs participated.

Towards evolutionary predictions: Current promises and challenges.

Evolution has traditionally been a historical and descriptive science, and predicting future evolutionary processes has long been considered impossible. However, evolutionary predictions are increasingly being developed and used in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology and conservation biology. Evolutionary predictions may be used for different purposes, such as to prepare for the future, to try and change the course of evolution or to determine how well we understand evolutionary processes.

The development of a new crop growth model SwitchFor for yield mapping of switchgrass.

Switchgrass is a promising energy crop has the potential to mitigate global warming and energy security, improve local ecology and generate profit. Its quantitative traits, such as biomass productivity and environmental adaptability, are determined by genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) or response of genotypes grown across different target environments. To simulate the yield of switchgrass outside its original habitat, a genotype-specific growth model, SwitchFor that captures GEI was developed by parameterising the MiscanFor model.

Global raster dataset on historical coastline positions and shelf sea extents since the Last Glacial Maximum.

Motivation: Historical changes in sea level caused shifting coastlines that affected the distribution and evolution of marine and terrestrial biota. At the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 26 ka, sea levels were >130 m lower than at present, resulting in seaward-shifted coastlines and shallow shelf seas, with emerging land bridges leading to the isolation of marine biota and the connection of land-bridge islands to the continents. At the end of the last ice age, sea levels started to rise at unprecedented rates, leading to coastal retreat, drowning of land bridges and contraction of island areas.

International organisations as 'custodians' of the sustainable development goals? Fragmentation and coordination in sustainability governance.

It is widely assumed that the fragmentation of global governance can affect coordination efforts among international institutions and organisations. Yet, the precise relationship between the fragmentation of global governance and the extent to which international organisations coordinate their activities remains underexplored. In this article, we offer new empirical evidence derived from the so-called custodianship arrangements in which numerous international organisations have been mandated to coordinate data collection and reporting for 231 indicators of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆) in Aragonite.

Clumped isotope thermometry can independently constrain the formation temperatures of carbonates, but a lack of precisely temperature-controlled calibration samples limits its application on aragonites. To address this issue, we present clumped isotope compositions of aragonitic bivalve shells grown under highly controlled temperatures (1-18°C), which we combine with clumped isotope data from natural and synthetic aragonites from a wide range of temperatures (1-850°C). We observe no discernible offset in clumped isotope values between aragonitic foraminifera, mollusks, and abiogenic aragonites or between aragonites and calcites, eliminating the need for a mineral-specific calibration or acid fractionation factor.

Large-scale production of extracellular vesicles: Report on the "massivEVs" ISEV workshop.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) large-scale production is a crucial point for the translation of EVs from discovery to application of EV-based products. In October 2021, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), along with support by the FET-OPEN projects, "The Extracellular Vesicle Foundry" (evFOUNDRY) and "Extracellular vesicles from a natural source for tailor-made nanomaterials" (VES4US), organized a workshop entitled "massivEVs" to discuss the potential challenges for translation of EV-based products. This report gives an overview of the topics discussed during "massivEVs", the most important points raised, and the points of consensus reached after discussion among academia and industry representatives.

Characteristics of Earthquake Cycles: A Cross-Dimensional Comparison of 0D to 3D Numerical Models.

High-resolution computer simulations of earthquake sequences in three or even two dimensions pose great demands on time and energy, making lower-cost simplifications a competitive alternative. We systematically study the advantages and limitations of simplifications that eliminate spatial dimensions in quasi-dynamic earthquake sequence models, from 3D models with a 2D fault plane down to 0D or 1D models with a 0D fault point. We demonstrate that, when 2D or 3D models produce quasi-periodic characteristic earthquakes, their behavior is qualitatively similar to lower-dimension models.

Improved Model-Data Agreement With Strongly Eddying Ocean Simulations in the Middle-Late Eocene.

Model simulations of past climates are increasingly found to compare well with proxy data at a global scale, but regional discrepancies remain. A persistent issue in modeling past greenhouse climates has been the temperature difference between equatorial and (sub-)polar regions, which is typically much larger in simulations than proxy data suggest. Particularly in the Eocene, multiple temperature proxies suggest extreme warmth in the southwest Pacific Ocean, where model simulations consistently suggest temperate conditions.

Tolerance of Muslim minority identity enactment: The roles of social context, type of action and cultural continuity concern.

There have been strong debates in many European countries about religious identity enactment of Muslims, with the wearing of the headscarf in public places being a central symbolic topic. This study investigated the importance of the context (private versus three public contexts) for tolerance of Muslim identity enactment (e.g.

Episodes of Early Pleistocene West Antarctic Ice Sheet Retreat Recorded by Iceberg Alley Sediments.

Ice loss in the Southern Hemisphere has been greatest over the past 30 years in West Antarctica. The high sensitivity of this region to climate change has motivated geologists to examine marine sedimentary records for evidence of past episodes of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) instability. Sediments accumulating in the Scotia Sea are useful to examine for this purpose because they receive iceberg-rafted debris (IBRD) sourced from the Pacific- and Atlantic-facing sectors of West Antarctica.

Human regulatory T cells locally differentiate and are functionally heterogeneous within the inflamed arthritic joint.

Objective: Tregs are crucial for immune regulation, and environment-driven adaptation of effector (e)Tregs is essential for local functioning. However, the extent of human Treg heterogeneity in inflammatory settings is unclear.

Methods: We combined single-cell RNA- and TCR-sequencing on Tregs derived from three to six patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to investigate the functional heterogeneity of human synovial fluid (SF)-derived Tregs from inflamed joints.

Hyperosmolar expansion medium improves nucleus pulposus cell phenotype.

Background: Repopulating the degenerated intervertebral disc (IVD) with tissue-specific nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) has already been shown to promote regeneration in various species. Yet the applicability of NPCs as cell-based therapy has been hampered by the low cell numbers that can be extracted from donor IVDs and their potentially limited regenerative capacity due to their degenerated phenotype. To optimize the expansion conditions, we investigated the effects of increasing culture medium osmolarity during expansion on the phenotype of dog NPCs and their ability to produce a healthy extracellular matrix (ECM) in a 3D culture model.

Lupus anticoagulant associates with thrombosis in patients with COVID-19 admitted to intensive care units: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Thrombosis is a frequent and severe complication in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Lupus anticoagulant (LA) is a strong acquired risk factor for thrombosis in various diseases and is frequently observed in patients with COVID-19. Whether LA is associated with thrombosis in patients with severe COVID-19 is currently unclear.

Scale-dependent effects of marine subsidies on the island biogeographic patterns of plants.

Although species richness can be determined by different mechanisms at different spatial scales, the role of scale in the effects of marine inputs on island biogeography has not been studied explicitly. Here, we evaluated the potential influence of island characteristics and marine inputs (seaweed wrack biomass and marine-derived nitrogen in the soil) on plant species richness at both a local (plot) and regional (island) scale on 92 islands in British Columbia, Canada. We found that the effects of subsidies on species richness depend strongly on spatial scale.

Regulatory reliance pathways during health emergencies: enabling timely authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines in Latin America.

Objectives: To map the timing and nature of regulatory reliance pathways used to authorize COVID-19 vaccines in Latin America.

Methods: An observational study was conducted assessing the characteristics of all COVID-19 vaccine authorizations in Latin America. For every authorization it was determined whether reliance was used in the authorization process.

Impaired wound healing is associated with poorer mood and reduced perceived immune fitness during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective survey.

Background And Aims: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted medical care of patients with chronic wounds, and in combination with other negative effects of lockdown measures, this may have a negative effect on mood and quality of life. Until now, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns for individuals with impaired wound healing have not been investigated.

Methods: An online survey was conducted to evaluate perceived immune fitness, mood, and health, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An efficient computational approach for three-dimensional modeling and simulation of fibrous battery electrodes.

Fibrous electrodes are a promising alternative to conventional particle-based lithium-ion battery electrodes. In this contribution, we propose an efficient computational approach for the modeling and simulation of electrochemical phenomena taking place in fibrous electrodes during battery charge/discharge processes. Since each fiber is explicitly modeled by means of a dimensionally reduced embedded fiber model, the framework enables simulations in a three-dimensional setting with relatively modest discretization and computational requirements compared to simulations with fully resolved fiber discretizations.

Eutrophication and Deoxygenation Forcing of Marginal Marine Organic Carbon Burial During the PETM.

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is recognized globally by a negative excursion in stable carbon isotope ratios (δC) in sedimentary records, termed the carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Based on the CIE, the cause, duration, and mechanisms of recovery of the event have been assessed. Here, we focus on the role of increased organic carbon burial on continental margins as a key driver of CO drawdown and global exogenic δC during the recovery phase.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Background The major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease differ by race or ethnicity but have largely been defined using populations of European ancestry. Despite the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Africa there are few related data from African populations. Therefore, we compared the association of established cardiovascular risk factors with carotid-intima media thickness (CIMT), a subclinical marker of atherosclerosis, between African, African American, Asian, European, and Hispanic populations.

Global implications of crop-based bioenergy with carbon capture and storage for terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) based on purpose-grown lignocellulosic crops can provide CO emissions to mitigate climate change, but its land requirements present a threat to biodiversity. Here, we analyse the implications of crop-based BECCS for global terrestrial vertebrate species richness, considering both the land-use change (LUC) required BECCS and the climate change prevented BECCS. LUC impacts are determined using global-equivalent, species-area relationship-based loss factors.