Search results

Background: The development of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as a framework for work-based training and assessment in undergraduate medical education has become popular. EPAs are defined as units of a professional activity requiring adequate knowledge, skills, and attitudes, with a recognized output of professional labor, independently executable within a time frame, observable and me

Interfacial processes are involved in many areas of chemistry, physics and biochemistry, but following the structural changes of surfaces and thin films at relevant timescales remains challenging. Time-of flight neutron reflectometry can determine changes in surface composition and film thickness, but the speed of these measurements is typically limited by the neutron flux over the range of wavele

Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services, and ecosystem models can be applied to assess the contribution of different forest management strategies to climate mitigation and adaptation. Complex model output and trade-offs between environmental, economic, and social sustainability dimensions are difficult to convey. To facilitate stakeholder communication, we developed composite indicators

Aims: Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) exists in three isoforms TGF-β1, -β2, and -β3. TGF-β1 has been suggested to be important for maintaining plaque stability, yet the role of TGF-β2 and -β3 in atherosclerosis remains to be investigated. This study explores the association of the three isoforms of TGF-β with plaque stability in the human atherosclerotic disease. Methods and results: TGF-β

BACKGROUND: Reproductive factors have been shown to be differentially associated with risk of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative breast cancer. However, their associations with intrinsic-like subtypes are less clear.METHODS: Analyses included up to 23 353 cases and 71 072 controls pooled from 31 population-based case-control or cohort studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortiu

BACKGROUND: Polygenic risk score (PRS), calculated based on genome-wide association studies (GWASs), can improve breast cancer (BC) risk assessment. To date, most BC GWASs have been performed in individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalisation of EUR-based PRS to other populations is a major challenge. In this study, we examined the performance of EUR-based BC PRS models in Ashkenazi

Surgical site infections (SSI) are a clinical and economic burden. Suture-associated SSI may develop when bacteria colonize the suture surface and form biofilms that are resistant to antibiotics. Thrombin-derived C-terminal peptide (TCP)-25 is a host defense peptide with a unique dual mode of action that can target both bacteria and the excessive inflammation induced by bacterial products. The pep

A method for probing the temporal evolution of ultra-fast carrier generation and recombination processes in wide-bandgap semiconductors, e.g. diamond, is described. Two extreme ultraviolet (pump) pulses produced by high-order harmonic generation in Argon gas (with a photon energy of 32 eV) are superimposed on a sample with a small angle between them, inducing periodic changes in the refractive ind

Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 i

Background: Observational studies have consistently associated obesity with colorectal cancer risk. Because both traits are genetically determined and share some metabolic biomarkers, we hypothesized that obesity-related polymorphisms could also influence the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive population-based case-control study in 1,792 German colorectal c

By combining a large-scale experimental assessment on timing of insect emergence with long-term monitoring of waterfowl hatching date, we here show that insect emergence is mainly driven by temperature, whereas there is only a weak effect of increasing spring temperatures on inter-annual variability in observations of waterfowl chicks. Hence, a change in timing of the mass-emergence of insects fro

Signalling through gap junctions contributes to control insulin secretion and, thus, blood glucose levels. Gap junctions of the insulin-producing β-cells are made of connexin 36 (Cx36), which is encoded by the GJD2 gene. Cx36-null mice feature alterations mimicking those observed in type 2 diabetes (T2D). GJD2 is also expressed in neurons, which share a number of common features with pancreatic β-

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can provide a promising source of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons for cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease. However, iPSC-derived donor cells inevitably contain tumorigenic or inappropriate cells. Here, we show that human iPSC-derived DA progenitor cells can be efficiently isolated by cell sorting using a floor plate marker, CORIN. We ind

Waste incineration bottom ash fine fraction contains a significant amount of aluminium, but previous works have shown that current recovery options based on standard on-step Eddy Current Separation (ECS) have limited efficiency. In this paper, we evaluated the improvement in the efficiency of ECS by using an additional step of crushing and sieving. The efficiency of metallic Al recovery was quanti

Although heavy on labor and equipment, thus not often applied, cryoanalysis of frozen hydrated biological specimens can provide information that better reflects the living state of the organism, compared with analysis in the freeze-dried state. In this paper we report a study where the cryoanalysis facility with cryosectioning capabilities at Materials Research Department, iThemba LABS, South Afri