Freshwater mussels in the order Unionida are highly adapted to parasitize fish for the primary purpose of dispersal. The parasitic larval stage affixes itself to the gills or fins of the host where it becomes encysted in the tissue, eventually excysting to develop into a free-living adult. Research on the parasitic interactions between unionids and their host fishes has garnered attention recently

Previous work regarding the relationship between negative life events (NLEs) and survivors’ quality of life (QoL) post-disaster has commonly employed a variable-centered approach. Little is known about the roles of individual variance in time-varying changes of NLEs in future QoL. Moreover, whether sex modifies the impacts of NLEs trajectories on QoL is still understudied. We addressed these issue

Summation-By-Parts (SBP) methods provide a systematic way of constructing provably stable numerical schemes. However, many proofs of convergence and accuracy rely on the assumption that the SBP operator possesses a particular eigenvalue property. In this note, three results pertaining to this property are proven. Firstly, the eigenvalue property does not hold for all nullspace consistent SBP opera

Background: A high prevalence of skin sensitization and dermatitis has been reported among workers exposed to epoxy components. Objectives: To estimate the risk of skin sensitization and dermatitis among workers exposed to epoxy components during production of wind turbine blades while using comprehensive safety measures. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 180 highly epoxy-exposed production work

Introduction: The impact of open versus minimally invasive surgery on recurrence pattern in the management of localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains uncertain. We thus aimed to determine the impact of surgical approach on survival and recurrence pattern. Material and methods: This is a multi-institutional, matched cohort study on patients with pT1-3aN0M0 RCC from the RECUR database. After pr

For many species, the ability to rapidly adapt to changes in seasonality is essential for long-term survival. In the Arctic, seasonal moulting is a key life-history event that provides year-round camouflage and thermal protection. However, increased climatic variability of seasonal events can lead to phenological mismatch. In this study, we investigated whether winter-white (white morph) and winte

We consider a 2+1 dimensional wave equation appearing in the context of polarized waves for the nonlinear Maxwell equations. The equation is quasilinear in the time derivatives and involves two material functions V and Γ. We prove the existence of traveling waves which are periodic in the direction of propagation and localized in the direction orthogonal to the propagation direction. Depending on

The efficient valorization of lignin is crucial if we are to replace current petroleum-based feedstock and establish more sustainable and competitive lignocellulosic biorefineries. Pulp and paper mills and second-generation biorefineries produce large quantities of low-value technical lignin as a by-product, which is often combusted on-site for energy recovery. This Review focuses on the conversio

We report on experimental measurements of energy transfer efficiencies in a GeV-class laser wakefield accelerator. Both the transfer of energy from the laser to the plasma wakefield and from the plasma to the accelerated electron beam was diagnosed by simultaneous measurement of the deceleration of laser photons and the acceleration of electrons as a function of plasma length. The extraction effic

The transition from a healthy to a persistent severe pain state following otherwise successful elective surgery is a feared complication. Groin hernia repair, previously considered minor surgery, is a standard surgical procedure annually performed on 2,000 individuals per one million residents. A trajectory into persistent severe pain is, unfortunately, seen in 2-4%, severely impeding physical and

Background: The TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce is a collaborative international network of registries collecting data of atopic eczema (AE) patients receiving systemic and phototherapy with the common goal to provide long-term real-world data on the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of therapies. A core dataset, consisting of domains and domain items with correspo

This article reports on an investigation of audit independence in the context of local public audit in Sweden. The article focuses on the influence of two different sets of interests. The results show that there is a risk that the way the results of the audit process are communicated and disseminated in an organization is influenced by political, as well as market, interests. The article reveals t

Crop production security is an essential guarantee for the prosperity of country and the well-being of people. In the context of frequent occurrence of extreme weather events, how to comprehensively evaluate the risk of multiple hazards and quantitatively describe spatial differences will be one of the significant topics in agricultural disaster mitigation. In this study, based on the gridded mete

Scene and object information reach the entorhinal-hippocampal circuitry in partly segregated cortical processing streams. Converging evidence suggests that such information-specific streams organize the cortical – entorhinal interaction and the circuitry’s inner communication along the transversal axis of hippocampal subiculum and CA1. Here, we leveraged ultra-high field functional imaging and adv

Mixed models for repeated measures (MMRMs) are ubiquitous when analyzing outcomes of clinical trials. However, the linearity of the fixed-effect structure in these models largely restrict their use to estimating treatment effects that are defined as linear combinations of effects on the outcome scale. In some situations, alternative quantifications of treatment effects may be more appropriate. In

Aims/hypothesis: Using a targeted proteomics approach, we aimed to identify and validate circulating proteins associated with impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) and type 2 diabetes in a Black South African cohort. In addition, we assessed sex-specific associations between the validated proteins and pathophysiological pathways of type 2 diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study included Black So

The streaming instability is a promising mechanism to induce the formation of planetesimals. Nonetheless, this process has been found in previous studies to require either a dust-to-gas surface density ratio or a dust size that is enhanced compared to observed values. Employing two-dimensional global simulations of protoplanetary disks, we show that the vertical shear instability and the streaming

Background: Contemporary data on stroke epidemiology and the availability of national stroke clinical registries are important for providing evidence to improve practice and support policy decisions. Aims: To update the most current incidence, case-fatality, and mortality rates on stroke and identify national stroke clinical registries worldwide. Methods: We searched multiple databases (based on o

Background: Understanding the micro-­evolutionary response of populations to demographic declines is a major goal in evolutionary and conservation biology. In small populations, genetic drift can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, which will increase the risk of extinction. However, demographic recovery can still occur after extreme declines, suggesting that natural selection may pu

Perovskite oxides are promising oxygen carrier materials to produce O2/CO2 gas for oxyfuel combustion application. In this study, PrBaCo2O5+δ double perovskite oxide was prepared by the EDTA sol-gel method and first applied as oxygen carrier for oxygen production. The oxygen adsorption/desorption performance of PrBaCo2O5+δ perovskite was carrried out in a fixed-bed set-up. The operating factors of