Previously, apoE-derived ABCA1 agonist peptides have been shown to possess anti-atherosclerotic and possibly antidiabetic properties. Here we assessed the in vitro and in vivo actions of a second generation of ABCA1 peptide agonists, CS6253 and T6991-2, on glucose homeostasis. The results show that these two peptides improve glucose tolerance in a prediabetic diet-induced obesity mouse model by en

Purpose: To assess the ability of quantitative pupillometry [using the Neurological Pupil index (NPi)] to predict an unfavorable neurological outcome after cardiac arrest (CA). Methods: We performed a prospective international multicenter study (10 centers) in adult comatose CA patients. Quantitative NPi and standard manual pupillary light reflex (sPLR)—blinded to clinicians and outcome assessors—

Aim: Plant functional groups are widely used in community ecology and earth system modelling to describe trait variation within and across plant communities. However, this approach rests on the assumption that functional groups explain a large proportion of trait variation among species. We test whether four commonly used plant functional groups represent variation in six ecologically important pl

The High Arctic region has experienced marked climate fluctuations within the past decades strongly affecting tundra shrub growth. However, the spatial variability in dwarf shrub growth responses in this remote region remains largely unknown. This study characterizes temperature sensitivity of radial growth of two willow dwarf shrub species from two distinct High Arctic sites. The dwarf shrub Sali

The artificial replaced hip joint represents the major success story in orthopedic surgery in the twentieth century; there is much interest in extending research on hip joint even further. The stress distribution in the different bone tissues of a femur is significantly altered after an artificial replacement. Thus, there is a strong need to increase the prosthesis performance considering several

Carbapenem resistance is a rapidly growing threat to our ability to treat refractory bacterial infections. To understand how carbapenem resistance is mobilized and spread between pathogens, it is important to study the genetic context of the underlying resistance mechanisms. In this study, the resistomes of six clinical carbapenem-resistant isolates of five different species - Acinetobacter bauman

Background: The aim was to determine prevalence and age at seroconversion of thyroid autoimmunity in relation to islet autoantibodies, gender and HLA-DQ genotypes in children with increased risk for type 1 diabetes followed from birth. Methods: In 10-year-old children (n = 1874), blood samples were analysed for autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb), thyroglobulin (TGAb), glutamic acid

This chapter proposes a novel conceptual framework for understanding how different knowledge bases (analytic, synthetic and symbolic) can be accessed and combined at different territorial scales, looking at which mechanisms can be used to favor positive transformation paths in local productive systems. We apply such framework to the role of combinatorial knowledge for sustainable transformation un

BACKGROUND: Although growing evidence suggests that early-life excess manganese (Mn) impairs neurodevelopment, data on the neurodevelopmental effects of mancozeb, a fungicide containing Mn, and its main metabolite ethylenethiourea (ETU) are limited. OBJECTIVE: We examined whether prenatal mancozeb exposure and excess Mn were associated with neurodevelopment in 355 1-y-old infants living near banan

The continuously growing number of products containing nanoparticles (NPs) makes their presence in the environment inevitable, and given the well-known toxicity of dissolved metals, concerns regarding the toxicity of metal-based NPs have been raised. Whether metal-based NPs present similar or different toxicological effects compared with metal salts is an emerging field. In the present study, rain

Mega-projects are a growing phenomenon worldwide. More and more projects are started and they grow ever bigger in size. At the same time, there is overwhelming evidence that mega-projects tend to run late, overrun in terms of costs and fail to deliver the expected benefits. Paradoxically, more and more money is invested in projects that fail to deliver on their promises.This dissertation analyses

We present an accurate analysis of phase noise in ring oscillators, where each stage in the ring is a CMOS inverter loaded by a capacitance. Closed-form phase noise expressions are obtained in both 1/f2 and 1/f3 offset frequency regions, displaying an excellent agreement with numerical simulations using either ideal Verilog-A MOS models (allowing theoretical predictions to be tested with exactly t

This entry provides a presentation of different leader-follower perspectives. Traditional leadership research has a psychological orientation and focuses on leaders as persons. Leaders are conceptualized as active communicators and subordinates/followers as more or less passive recipients, which implies a monologic, transmission-oriented view of communication. In recent years, there has been a tur

Introduction: The aim was to create readily available algorithms that estimate the individual risk of β-amyloid (Aβ) positivity. Methods: The algorithms were tested in BioFINDER (n = 391, subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment) and validated in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (n = 661, subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment). The examined predictor

Precipitation variability over the Bolivian Altiplano is strongly affected by local climate and temporal variation of large-scale atmospheric flow. Precipitation is the main water source for drinking water and agricultural production. For this reason, a better understanding of precipitation variability and its relation with climate phenomena can provide important information for forecasting of dro

This paper presents a design teaching approach that aims to support students to shift their approach when exploring, prototyping and testing user interactions with physical products. This is conducted in a bottom-up, iterative manner to change the perspective from focusing on the opportunities of user-involvement during the form-giving process, rather than prematurely stressing the design outcome.

Creativity is a wildly debated topic among scholars and practitioners, but one that lacks consensus. Many have tried to define, describe and explain creativity, its purpose, effect and use. Is creativity a personality trait you are born with, or can you learn to become creative? As a design teacher with a teaching practice focused on the skills of creativity, this is a relevant question, because i