The kinetic analysis of irreversible protein reactions requires an analytical technique that provides access to time-dependent infrared spectra in a single shot. Here, we present a spectrometer based ...on dual-frequency-comb spectroscopy using mid-infrared frequency combs generated by quantum cascade lasers. Attenuation of the intensity of the combs by molecular vibrational resonances results in absorption spectra covering 55 cm–1 in the fingerprint region. The setup has a native resolution of 0.3 cm–1, noise levels in the μOD range, and achieves sub-microsecond time resolution. We demonstrate the simultaneous recording of both spectra and transients of the photoactivated proton pump bacteriorhodopsin. More importantly, a single shot, i.e., a single visible light excitation, is sufficient to extract spectral and kinetic characteristics of several intermediates in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. This development paves the way for the noninvasive analysis of enzymatic conversions with high time resolution, broad spectral coverage, and minimal sample consumption.
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•Simple, low cost and easy to prepare electrochemical device.•Shellac natural polymer.•Detection of sulfamethoxazole in real samples.•Miniaturized paper-based device.
The growth in ...the demand for mass analysis, in a fast and safe way, with good reliability and low cost has aroused great scientific interest in the search for new devices that prioritize precision and time. In this sense, this work presents a simple, disposable, and easy-to-use electrochemical sensor, developed on a waterproof paper substrate with a conductive ink based on shellac, a resin of natural origin, and graphite. The conductive ink was obtained through a simple mixture of its components and deposited on the paper substrate, being ready to use after a drying period. The new sensor was employed for the electrochemical detection of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), an antibiotic belonging to the class of sulfonamides, which presents great importance due to its direct impact on the flow of the food chain and is, therefore, commonly found as a metabolic residue in environmental and food samples. Using the differential pulse voltammetry technique, a linear range of 5.0 μmol L−1–100 μmol L−1 and a limit of detection of 0.4 μmol L−1 were obtained. The electrochemical sensor was also employed for the analysis of SMX in water and milk samples, and recovery values between 91 and 110% were obtained, proving that the development and application of the new conductive ink proposed for the fabrication of disposable devices provided an efficient electrochemical detection of SMX in the applied samples.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
493.
A Theory of States and Traits-Revised Steyer, Rolf; Mayer, Axel; Geiser, Christian ...
Annual review of clinical psychology,
01/2015, Volume:
11, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We present a revision of latent state-trait (LST-R) theory with new definitions of states and traits. This theory applies whenever we study the consistency of behavior, its variability, and its ...change over time. States and traits are defined in terms of probability theory. This allows for a seamless transition from theory to statistical modeling of empirical data. LST-R theory not only gives insights into the nature of latent variables but it also takes into account four fundamental facts: Observations are fallible, they never happen in a situational vacuum, they are always made using a specific method of observations, and there is no person without a past. Although the first fact necessitates considering measurement error, the second fact requires allowances for situational fluctuations. The third fact implies that, in the first place, states and traits are method specific. Furthermore, compared to the previous version of LST theory (see, e.g.,
Steyer et al. 1992
,
1999
), our revision is based on the notion of a person-at-time-t. The new definitions in LST-R theory have far-reaching implications that not only concern the properties of states, traits, and the associated concepts of measurement errors and state residuals, but also are related to the analysis of states and traits in longitudinal observational and intervention studies.
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CMK, FFLJ, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Executive functions refer to a set of higher-order cognitive processes involved in the control and organization of information to serve goal-directed behaviors. Skills in executive functioning are ...developed throughout childhood and adolescence and have been shown to be predictive of academic achievement. The coordination of these complex processes is critically dependent on brain maturation and connectivity, including key neurodevelopmental processes like myelination and synaptogenesis. Among other factors, research highlights the influential effect of nutrition and diet on these neurodevelopmental processes, which may impact executive function performance in healthy and deficient populations. This review considers the research to date on the role of key nutrients that have been identified for executive function development and their underlying neurophysiological processes in school-aged children.
Fungal taxonomy and ecology have been revolutionized by the application of molecular methods and both have increasing connections to genomics and functional biology. However, data streams from ...traditional specimen- and culture-based systematics are not yet fully integrated with those from metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies, which limits understanding of the taxonomic diversity and metabolic properties of fungal communities. This article reviews current resources, needs, and opportunities for sequence-based classification and identification (SBCI) in fungi as well as related efforts in prokaryotes. To realize the full potential of fungal SBCI it will be necessary to make advances in multiple areas. Improvements in sequencing methods, including long-read and single-cell technologies, will empower fungal molecular ecologists to look beyond ITS and current shotgun metagenomics approaches. Data quality and accessibility will be enhanced by attention to data and metadata standards and rigorous enforcement of policies for deposition of data and workflows. Taxonomic communities will need to develop best practices for molecular characterization in their focal clades, while also contributing to globally useful datasets including ITS. Changes to nomenclatural rules are needed to enable validPUBLICation of sequence-based taxon descriptions. Finally, cultural shifts are necessary to promote adoption of SBCI and to accord professional credit to individuals who contribute to community resources.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
To derive reference points (RPs) for health-based guidance values, the benchmark dose (BMD) approach increasingly replaces the no-observed-adverse-effect level approach. In the BMD approach, the RP ...corresponds to the benchmark dose lower confidence bounds (BMDLs) of a mathematical dose–response model derived from responses of animals over the entire dose range applied. The use of the entire dose range is seen as an important advantage of the BMD approach. This assumes that responses over the entire dose range are relevant for modeling low-dose responses, the basis for the RP. However, if part of the high-dose response was unnoticed triggered by a mechanism of action (MOA) that does not work at low doses, the high-dose response distorts the modeling of low-dose responses. Hence, we investigated the effect of high-dose specific responses on BMDLs by assuming a low- and a high-dose MOA. The BMDLs resulting from modeling fictitious quantal data were scattered over a broad dose range overlapping with the toxic range. Hence, BMDLs are sensitive to high-dose responses even though they might be irrelevant to low-dose response modeling. When applying the BMD approach, care should be taken that high-dose specific responses do not unduly affect the BMDL that derives from low doses.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•We develop lichen bioindicators of N pollution in dry forests of the Pacific Northwest.•Lichen communities are positively related to monitored ambient N concentrations.•Lichen N concentrations are ...positively related to monitored ambient N concentrations.•Lichen communities are naturally more eutrophic in climates with more moisture stress.•Lichen communities indicate climate regimes independently of air quality.
Biomonitoring can provide cost-effective and practical information about the distribution of nitrogen (N) deposition, particularly in regions with complex topography and sparse instrumented monitoring sites. Because of their unique biology, lichens are very sensitive bioindicators of air quality. Lichens lack a cuticle to control absorption or leaching of nutrients and they dynamically concentrate nutrients roughly in proportion to the abundance in the atmosphere. As N deposition increases, nitrogen-loving eutrophic lichens become dominant over oligotrophic lichens that thrive in nutrient-poor habitats. We capitalize on these characteristics to develop two lichen-based indicators of air-borne and depositional N for interior forested mountain ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest and calibrate them with N concentration measured in PM2.5 at 12 IMPROVE air quality monitoring sites in the study area. The two lichen indices and peak frequencies of individual species exhibited continuous relationships with inorganic N pollution throughout the range of N in ambient PM2.5, suggesting that the designation of a critical level or critical load is somewhat arbitrary because at any level above background, some species are likely to experience adverse impacts. The concentration of N in PM2.5 near the city of Spokane, Washington was the lowest measured at an instrumented monitoring site near known N pollution sources. This level, 0.37μg/m3/year, served as a critical level, corresponding to a concentration of 1.02% N in the lichen Letharia vulpina, which is similar to the upper end of background lichen N concentrations measured elsewhere in the western United States. Based on this level, we estimate critical loads to be 1.54 and 2.51kg/ha/year of through-fall dissolved inorganic N deposition for lichen communities and lichen N concentration, respectively. We map estimated fine-particulate (PM2.5) N in ambient air based on lichen community and lichen N concentration indices to identify hotspots in the region. We also develop and map an independent lichen community-based bioclimatic index, which is strongly related to gradients in moisture availability and temperature variability. Lichen communities in the driest climates were more eutrophic than those in wetter climates at the same levels of N air pollution.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Giardia intestinalis is a non-invasive, protozoan parasite infecting the upper small intestine of most mammals. Symptomatic infections cause the diarrhoeal disease giardiasis in humans and animals, ...but at least half of the infections are asymptomatic. However, the molecular underpinnings of these different outcomes of the infection are still poorly defined. Here, we studied the early transcriptional response to G. intestinalis trophozoites, the disease-causing life-cycle stage, in human enteroid-derived, 2-dimensional intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) monolayers. Trophozoites preconditioned in media that maximise parasite fitness triggered only neglectable inflammatory transcription in the IECs during the first hours of co-incubation. By sharp contrast, "non-fit" or lysed trophozoites induced a vigorous IEC transcriptional response, including high up-regulation of many inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Furthermore, "fit" trophozoites could even suppress the stimulatory effect of lysed trophozoites in mixed infections, suggesting active G. intestinalis suppression of the IEC response. By dual-species RNA-sequencing, we defined the IEC and G. intestinalis gene expression programs associated with these differential outcomes of the infection. Taken together, our results inform on how G. intestinalis infection can lead to such highly variable effects on the host, and pinpoints trophozoite fitness as a key determinant of the IEC response to this common parasite.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background/Aim: Metaphors on theoretical concepts may be congruent or divergent from their explicit definitions. We carried out a secondary qualitative analysis on metaphors of members of an ...interdisciplinary research group on resilience and investigated: (A) Which metaphors do experts in different disciplines use to describe people showing resilience? (B) Do these (implicit) metaphors support the (explicit) theses of the research group on resilience? (C) Do we find differences between experts from different disciplines in the use of metaphors on resilience? Method: Nine guideline-based interviews with experts from medicine, psychology, philosophy, and theology were studied using a systematic metaphor analysis, basing on inductive and deductive categorizations. Results: Eight metaphor sources were identified, for example, battle, path. Experts used similar metaphors to describe resilience that often overarched the concepts of resilience as a trait, process, and outcome. Moments of vulnerability within the resilience trajectory were found. Conclusions: The analysis revealed high concordance of metaphors across different disciplines, reflecting both the ideas of the group as well as the mainstream view of resilience. This supports that implicit concepts may be more difficult to reframe than explicit theories. Few differences between disciplines may point to the impact of an overarching Western concept of individual resilience.
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