Orbital modulation of subtropical versus subantarctic moisture sources in the southeast Pacific mid-latitudes.

Reconstructing rainfall variability and moisture sources is a critical aspect to understand past and future hydroclimate dynamics. Here, we use changes in the deuterium content of land-plant leaf waxes from two marine sediment cores located off Chile to reconstruct changes in rainfall amount and variation in moisture sources over the last ~50 ka. The records indicate increased moisture in central Chile during precession maxima, but an obliquity modulation is evident in southern Chile.

Suspended matter filtration causes a counterintuitive increase in UV-absorption.

In water treatment, filtration is often a first step to avoid interference of chemical or UV-disinfection with suspended matter (SPM). Surprisingly, in testing a ballast water filter with 25 and 40 μm mesh screens, UV-absorption (A, 254 nm) of filtered water increased with the largest increase in the finest screen. The hypothesis that filtration partly removes large particles and partly replaces them with small unfiltered ones, leading to an overall increase in absorption, was tested by measuring particle counts, particle-size distributions (PSD) and by modeling the Mass Normalized Beam Attenuation Coefficient (A/SPM) before and after filtration.

Overweight and Obesity Are Associated With Acute Kidney Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, but Not With Increased Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between overweight and obesity on the clinical course and outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective, observational cohort study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to evaluate the associations between overweight and obesity on the clinical course and outcomes.

The effects of industry funding and positive outcomes in the interpretation of clinical trial results: a randomized trial among Dutch psychiatrists.

Background: Most studies are inclined to report positive rather than negative or inconclusive results. It is currently unknown how clinicians appraise the results of a randomized clinical trial. For example, how does the study funding source influence the appraisal of an RCT, and do positive findings influence perceived credibility and clinical relevance? This study investigates whether psychiatrists' appraisal of a scientific abstract is influenced by industry funding disclosures and a positive outcome.

High-efficiency lysis of cervical cancer by allogeneic NK cells derived from umbilical cord progenitors is independent of HLA status.

Down-regulation of HLA in tumor cells, low numbers and dysfunctionality of NK cells are commonly observed in patients with end-stage cervical cancer. Adoptive transfer of high numbers of cytotoxic NK cells might be a promising treatment approach in this setting. Here, we explored the cytotoxic efficacy on ten cervical cancer cell lines of activated allogeneic NK cells from two sources, i.

The effect of patient feedback on physicians' consultation skills: a systematic review.

Purpose: The effect of patient feedback interventions as a method of improving physicians' consultation (i.e., communication, interpersonal) skills is equivocal; research is scarce, and methods and rigor vary.

Lymph node stromal cells support dendritic cell-induced gut-homing of T cells.

T cells are imprinted to express tissue-specific homing receptors upon activation in tissue-draining lymph nodes, resulting in their migration to the site of Ag entry. Expression of gut-homing molecules alpha(4)beta(7) and CCR9 is induced by retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite produced by retinal dehydrogenases, which are specifically expressed in dendritic cells as well as stromal cells in mucosa-draining lymph nodes. In this study, we demonstrate that mesenteric lymph node stromal cell-derived retinoic acid can directly induce the expression of gut-homing molecules on proliferating T cells, a process strongly enhanced by bone marrow-derived dendritic cells in vitro.

LTbetaR signaling induces cytokine expression and up-regulates lymphangiogenic factors in lymph node anlagen.

The formation of lymph nodes is a complex process crucially controlled through triggering of LTbetaR on mesenchymal cells by LTalpha(1)beta(2) expressing lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells. This leads to the induction of chemokines to attract more hematopoietic cells and adhesion molecules to retain them. In this study, we show that the extravasation of the first hematopoietic cells at future lymph node locations occurs independently of LTalpha and that these cells, expressing TNF-related activation-induced cytokine (TRANCE), are the earliest LTi cells.

The novel AML stem cell associated antigen CLL-1 aids in discrimination between normal and leukemic stem cells.

In CD34(+) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the malignant stem cells reside in the CD38(-) compartment. We have shown before that the frequency of such CD34(+)CD38(-) cells at diagnosis correlates with minimal residual disease (MRD) frequency after chemotherapy and with survival. Specific targeting of CD34(+)CD38(-) cells might thus offer therapeutic options.