| 1. |
- Abend, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Terrestrial very-long-baseline atom interferometry : Workshop summary
- 2024
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Ingår i: AVS Quantum Science. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 2639-0213. ; 6:2
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more kilometer--scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions.
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| 2. |
- Aktaa, Suleman, et al.
(författare)
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European Society of Cardiology quality indicators for the care and outcomes of adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Developed in collaboration with the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology
- 2023
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Ingår i: European Journal of Heart Failure. - : Wiley. - 1388-9842 .- 1879-0844. ; 25:4, s. 469-477
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: To develop a suite of quality indicators (QIs) for the evaluation of the care and outcomes for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Methods and results: We followed the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) methodology for the development of QIs. This included (i) the identification of key domains of care for the management of PAH, (ii) the proposal of candidate QIs following systematic review of the literature, and (iii) the selection of a set of QIs using a modified Delphi method. The process was undertaken in parallel with the writing of the 2022 ESC/European Respiratory Society (ERS) guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension and involved the Task Force chairs, experts in PAH, Heart Failure Association (HFA) members and patient representatives. We identified five domains of care for patients with PAH: structural framework, diagnosis and risk stratification, initial treatment, follow-up, and outcomes. In total, 23 main and one secondary QIs for PAH were selected. Conclusion: This document presents the ESC QIs for PAH, describes their development process and offers scientific rationale for their selection. The indicators may be used to quantify and improve adherence to guideline-recommended clinical practice and improve patient outcomes.
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| 3. |
- Dinede, Getachew, et al.
(författare)
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Foodborne hazards in food in Burkina Faso, 1990-2019 : a systematic review and meta-analysis
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2571-581X. ; 7
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Foodborne diseases impose substantial public health burden and jeopardize socio-economic development worldwide. While accurate information on foodborne hazards is needed for informed decision in food safety interventions, such information is scarce in developing countries such as Burkina Faso. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting foodborne hazards in foods in Burkina Faso to describe the present knowledge of the situation.Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was used to conduct this review. Abstracts were searched in PubMed and CAB direct between 1 January 1990 to 30 September 2019. We used random-effects models to estimate pooled prevalence and I2 values to measure heterogeneity between studies.Results: 188 articles were identified, of which 14 are included in this review: 12 were on bacterial hazards (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus, E. coli, Shigella), three on fungal hazards and one on parasitic hazards (Toxoplasma gondii). The overall pooled prevalence of Salmonella spp. was 13% (95% CI: 8–21), the highest in lettuce: 50% (95% CI: 30–70) and the lowest in milk: 1.2% (95% CI: 0–5), demonstrating substantial variation among the studies (I2 = 85, 95% CI: 79–90%, p < 0.01). Campylobacter spp. was reported in chicken carcass, with 50% of the samples being positive. The overall pooled microbial load of Staphylococcus in the studied food samples was 3.2 log (95% CI: 2.8–3.6) CFU per g or ml of food, the highest in poultry samples: 4.5 log (95% CI: 2.8–6.2) CFU per g or ml of food. The overall pooled prevalence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was 40% (95% CI: 29–51), the highest in beef intestines: 62% (95% CI: 22–91) and the lowest in dairy products: 31% (95% CI: 17–50), showing substantial variation across the studies (I2 = 86, 95% CI: 80–90%, p < 0.01).Conclusion: Our results showed widespread contamination of foods with foodborne hazards across various food value chains indicating poor hygienic handling of foods, raising consumers’ health risk due to foodborne illnesses from the foods. We recommend promotion of awareness creation in food safety and improved monitoring of hazards in food.
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| 4. |
- Gazu, Lina, et al.
(författare)
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Foodborne disease hazards and burden in Ethiopia : A systematic literature review, 1990-2019
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2571-581X. ; 7
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Foodborne disease (FBD) affects millions of people each year, posing a health burden similar to malaria, tuberculosis or HIV. A recent World Bank study estimated the productivity losses alone attributed to unsafe food within Africa at $20 billion in 2016, and the cost of treating these illnesses at an additional $3.5 billion. Ethiopia faces multiple food safety challenges due to lack of infrastructure and basic pre-requisites for food safety such as clean water and environment, washing facilities, compounded by limited implementation of food safety regulations, and a lack of incentives for producers to improve food safety. A consolidation of our understanding and evidence of the source, nature and scale of FBD in Ethiopia is needed to inform policy and future research. We performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of publications on FBD occurrence in Ethiopia including hazard presence and impact.Method: The SLR followed Cochrane and PRISMA guidelines. We searched PubMed and CAB-Direct for relevant publications between 1990 and 2019 (inclusive). Observational studies and reviews were included. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts, and retained publications were reviewed in full for quality and data extraction.Result: In total 128 articles met the inclusion criteria. Most articles focused on the identification of biological hazards in food. High levels of microbial contamination in different food value chains were often found in the small, ad hoc, observational studies that dominated the literature. Raw milk (22/128, 17.0%) and raw beef (21/128, 16.4%) were the most studied food products. Foodborne (FB) parasites were often found at higher rates in food than bacterial and viral pathogens, possibly due to differences in ease of identification. High levels of bacterial contamination on the hands of food handlers were widely reported. There were no reports on the incidence of human FBDs or resulting health and economic impacts.Conclusion: Our findings reflect existing concerns around food safety in Ethiopia. A lack of substantial, coordinated studies with robust methodologies means fundamental gaps remain in our knowledge of FBD in Ethiopia, particularly regarding FBD burden and impact. Greater investment in food safety is needed, with enhanced and coordinated research and interventions.
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| 5. |
- Geier, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Paleovegetation and paleoclimate inferences of the early late Sarmatian palynoflora from the Gleisdorf Fm. at Gratkorn, Styria, Austria
- 2022
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Ingår i: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0034-6667 .- 1879-0615. ; 307, s. 1-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Gleisdorf Formation (Fm.) deposits in the clay pit at Gratkorn, Styria, Austria, are dated to 12.2–12 Ma,and are of late Middle Miocene age (late Serravallian or Sarmatian). To reconstruct the paleovegetation and estimate the paleoclimate at this important vertebrate site, the palynoflora close to the boundary between the vertebrate-bearing layers of the Gratkorn Fm. and the overlying limnic clay deposits of the Gleisdorf Fm. was investigated. Using the single-grain method, 140 palynomorphs were identified. The palynoflora suggests that the paleovegetation was characterised by well-drained lowland and upland forests, riparian forest, and swamp forests. Depending on the dominating tree species, lowland and upland forests might have had closed or more open canopies. Open habitats included wet meadows and shrublands. In addition, conifers were present in theswampy lowlands and the forested uplands. The most prominent paleoclimatic signatures of the palynoflora indicate a fully humid warm temperate climate, with hot to warm summers and cool winters (Cfa-, Cfb-climate), and a seasonal climate with cool and drier winters and hot to warm and wetter summers (Cwa-, Cwb-climate). Our results align with existing studies bordering the Styrian Basin and support the presence of subtropical to warm-temperate vegetation around Gratkorn during the Sarmatian.
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| 6. |
- Guo, Xiaohu, et al.
(författare)
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Structure and mechanism of a phage-encoded SAM lyase revises catalytic function of enzyme family
- 2021
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) degrading enzyme (SAMase) was discovered in bacteriophage T3, as a counter-defense against the bacterial restriction-modification system, and annotated as a SAM hydrolase forming 5’-methyl-thioadenosine (MTA) and L-homoserine. From environmental phages, we recently discovered three SAMases with barely detectable sequence similarity to T3 SAMase and without homology to proteins of known structure. Here, we present the very first phage SAMase structures, in complex with a substrate analogue and the product MTA. The structure shows a trimer of alpha–beta sandwiches similar to the GlnB-like superfamily, with active sites formed at the trimer interfaces. Quantum-mechanical calculations, thin-layer chromatography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrate that this family of enzymes are not hydrolases but lyases forming MTA and L-homoserine lactone in a unimolecular reaction mechanism. Sequence analysis and in vitro and in vivo mutagenesis support that T3 SAMase belongs to the same structural family and utilizes the same reaction mechanism.
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| 7. |
- Hilbert, Kevin, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical and Subcortical Brain Alterations in Specific Phobia and Its Animal and Blood-Injection-Injury Subtypes: A Mega-Analysis From the ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group.
- 2024
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Ingår i: The American Journal of Psychiatry. - 1535-7228. ; 181:8, s. 728-740
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Specific phobia is a common anxiety disorder, but the literature on associated brain structure alterations exhibits substantial gaps. The ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group examined brain structure differences between individuals with specific phobias and healthy control subjects as well as between the animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia. Additionally, the authors investigated associations of brain structure with symptom severity and age (youths vs. adults).Data sets from 31 original studies were combined to create a final sample with 1,452 participants with phobia and 2,991 healthy participants (62.7% female; ages 5-90). Imaging processing and quality control were performed using established ENIGMA protocols. Subcortical volumes as well as cortical surface area and thickness were examined in a preregistered analysis.Compared with the healthy control group, the phobia group showed mostly smaller subcortical volumes, mixed surface differences, and larger cortical thickness across a substantial number of regions. The phobia subgroups also showed differences, including, as hypothesized, larger medial orbitofrontal cortex thickness in BII phobia (N=182) compared with animal phobia (N=739). All findings were driven by adult participants; no significant results were observed in children and adolescents.Brain alterations associated with specific phobia exceeded those of other anxiety disorders in comparable analyses in extent and effect size and were not limited to reductions in brain structure. Moreover, phenomenological differences between phobia subgroups were reflected in diverging neural underpinnings, including brain areas related to fear processing and higher cognitive processes. The findings implicate brain structure alterations in specific phobia, although subcortical alterations in particular may also relate to broader internalizing psychopathology.
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| 8. |
- Lepri, Gemma, et al.
(författare)
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Systemic sclerosis and primary biliary cholangitis : Longitudinal data to determine the outcomes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders. - 2397-1983. ; 8:3, s. 210-220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Several studies described the cross-sectional characteristics of systemic sclerosis patients and coexisting primary biliary cholangitis, but longitudinal prognostic data are lacking. Aims: To describe the systemic sclerosis–primary biliary cholangitis phenotype, including baseline characteristics and outcomes. Methods: We performed a multicentre the European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group study of systemic sclerosis patients with primary biliary cholangitis or with primary biliary cholangitis–specific antibodies, matched with systemic sclerosis controls free from hepatobiliary involvement matched for disease duration and cutaneous subset. Data were recorded at baseline and at the last available visit. Results: A total of 261 patients were enrolled (115 primary biliary cholangitis–systemic sclerosis, 161 systemic sclerosis). At baseline, systemic sclerosis–primary biliary cholangitis patients had a higher prevalence of anti-centromere antibodies (p = 0.0023) and a lower prevalence of complete absence of digital ulcers. The milder vascular involvement was confirmed at follow-up when crucial differences emerged in the percentage of patients experiencing digital ulcers; a significantly higher number of patients who never experienced digital ulcers were observed among primary biliary cholangitis–systemic sclerosis patients (p = 0.0015). Moreover, a greater incidence of pulmonary arterial hypertension (p < 0.001) and of conduction blocks (p = 0.0256) was observed in systemic sclerosis patients without primary biliary cholangitis. Patients with primary biliary cholangitis had higher levels of liver enzymes at baseline than systemic sclerosis patients; a significant decrease in liver enzymes was observed at follow-up. Out of 18 patients with cholangitis, one received a liver transplant at follow-up. Conclusion: Our data show that systemic sclerosis–primary biliary cholangitis exhibit a mild systemic sclerosis and primary biliary cholangitis phenotype with outcomes being in general favourable.
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