The role of nutrition and dietary patterns has been widely investigated in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, but there are limited data on nutritional impact on COPD. This systematic ...review (PROSPERO-reg. no: CRD42020172712) aimed to investigate the effect of nutritional interventions on pulmonary and physical function, inflammation, and health-related quality of life among individuals with COPD.
Systematic searches were conducted in Medline, Embase, and Cochrane, resulting in 3861 references. Studies focusing exclusively on inpatient-stays, underweight or obese patients were excluded. Double screening, extraction and bias assessment were conducted. Bias was assessed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized controlled trials. Thirteen randomized controlled trials with 916 participants were included.
These trials investigated effects of protein supplementation, beetroot juice, increased fruit and vegetable intake, black seed oil, Tualang honey, Chlorella vulgaris-extract, whey-peptide containing nutritional drink, and increased macronutrient intake. The durations of the interventions were from weeks to a few months, and only one with duration >1 year (investigating increased fruit/vegetable intake). The intervention increasing fruit/vegetables found improvement in pulmonary function tests. Some interventions observed effects on systemic inflammation, health-related quality of life and physical function, although with some mixed results. Five were classified as poor, five as fair, and three as good in terms of risk of bias and quality.
Increasing intake of fruits and vegetables over prolonged periods might have positive effects on lung function in individuals with COPD. Some nutritional interventions also observed effects on systemic inflammation, health-related quality of life, and physical function, although with some mixed results. Many of the trials were underpowered, had high dropout rates, or had a high risk of bias. Further research should investigate effect of prolonged dietary interventions.
To optimize devices, elementary steps that store or transfer charge must be identified
Organic electrochemical devices, which use conjugated polymers in contact with an electrolyte, have applications ...in bioelectronics, energy storage, electrocatalysis, and sensors (
1
,
2
). Their operation relies on the oxidation (electron loss) or reduction (electron gain) of the polymer, which are traditionally described as Faradaic processes that transfer charge (
3
). However, recent evidence from various devices based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) chemically doped with poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is consistent with a purely capacitive process that stores charge (
4
). To clarify whether PEDOT:PSS is an exception or the rule and determine which processes are capacitive and which are Faradaic, solid-state physics methodology developed to understand the operation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) can be used (
5
). Such studies can pave the way for device optimization.
Greenhouse and outdoor studies evaluated weed species common to Louisiana soybean (Glycine max) fields as potential hosts for Diaporthe phaseolorum var. caulivora. Species tested were: barnyardgrass ...(Echinochloa crus-galli), black nightshade (Solanum nigrum), curly dock (Rumex crispus), entire leaf morning-glory (Ipomoea hederacea var. integriuscula), hairy indigo (Indigofera hirsuta), hemp sesbania (Sesbania exaltata), ivy-leaf morning-glory (Ipomoea hederacea), johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense), northern joint-vetch (Aeschynomene virginica), pitted morning-glory (Ipomoea lacunosa), prickly side (Sida spinosa), redweed (Melochia corchorifolia), sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia), smallflower morning-glory (Jacquemontia tamnifolia), spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus), tall morning-glory (Ipomoea purpurea), and wild poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla). Soybean cultivars susceptible to stem canker were included as controls. Plants were inoculated twice in each experiment using ascospores in water. Host status of each species was confirmed by recovering the pathogen from weeds using selective medium or by observing production of perithecia. All weed species tested except johnsongrass, barnyardgrass, and curly dock were hosts for D. p. var. caulivora. Lesions 1 to 2 cm long and less than or equal to 50.5 cm wide were common on soybean, hemp sesbania, and hairy indigo. These consistently yielded mycelium of D. p. var. caulivora. All other weed hosts were asymptomatic
The registration and alignment of a monolayer of microdomains in a self-assembled block copolymer thin film can be controlled by chemical or physical templating methods. Although planar patterns are ...useful for nanoscale device fabrication, three-dimensional multilevel structures are required for some applications. We found that a bilayer film of a cylindrical-morphology block copolymer, templated by an array of posts functionalized with a brush attractive to the majority block, can form a rich variety of three-dimensional structures consisting of cylinder arrays with controllable angles, bends, and junctions whose geometry is controlled by the template periodicity and arrangement. This technique allows control of microdomain patterns and the ability to route and connect microdomains in specific directions.
Amyloid formation is cytotoxic and can activate the caspase cascade. Here, we monitor caspase-3-like activity as reduction of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using the contstruct ...pFRET2-DEVD containing enhanced cyan fluorescent protin (EYFP) linked by the caspase-3 specific cleavage site residues DEVD. Beta-TC-6 cells were transfected, and the fluoorescence was measured at 440 nm excitation and 535 nm (EYFP) and 480 nm (ECFP) emission wavelength. Cells were incubated with recombinant pro lset Amyloid Polypeptide (rec prolAPP) or the processing metabolites of prolAPP; the N-terminal flanking peptide withIAPP (recN+IAPP); IAPP with the C-terminal flanking peptied (recIAPP+C) and lslet Amyloid Polypeptide (recIAPP) . Peptides were added in solubilized from (50 μM) or as performed amyloid-like fibrils, or as a combination of these. FRET was measured and incubation with a mixture of solubilized peptide and performed fibrils resulted in loss of FRET and apoptosis was determined to occure in cells incubated with recproIAPP (49%), recN+IAPP (46%), recIAPP (72%) and recIAPP+C (59%). These results show that proIAPP and the processing intermediates reside the same cell toxic capacity as IAPP, and they can all have a central role in the reduction of beta-cell number in type 2 diabetes.
Despite the extensive use of 10Be as the most significant information source on past solar activity, there has been only one record (Dye‐3, Greenland) providing annual resolution over several ...centuries. Here we report a new annual resolution 10Be record spanning the period 1389–1994 AD, measured in an ice core from the NGRIP site in Greenland. NGRIP and Dye‐3 10Be exhibits similar long‐term variability, although occasional short term differences between the two sites indicate that at least two high resolution 10Be records are needed to assess local variations and to confidently reconstruct past solar activity. A comparison with sunspot and neutron records confirms that ice core 10Be reflects solar Schwabe cycle variations, and continued 10Be variability suggests cyclic solar activity throughout the Maunder and Spörer grand solar activity minima. Recent 10Be values are low; however, they do not indicate unusually high recent solar activity compared to the last 600 years.
Hydrogenases are the most active molecular catalysts for hydrogen production and uptake, and could therefore facilitate the development of new types of fuel cell. In FeFe-hydrogenases, catalysis ...takes place at a unique di-iron centre (the 2Fe subsite), which contains a bridging dithiolate ligand, three CO ligands and two CN(-) ligands. Through a complex multienzymatic biosynthetic process, this 2Fe subsite is first assembled on a maturation enzyme, HydF, and then delivered to the apo-hydrogenase for activation. Synthetic chemistry has been used to prepare remarkably similar mimics of that subsite, but it has failed to reproduce the natural enzymatic activities thus far. Here we show that three synthetic mimics (containing different bridging dithiolate ligands) can be loaded onto bacterial Thermotoga maritima HydF and then transferred to apo-HydA1, one of the hydrogenases of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae. Full activation of HydA1 was achieved only when using the HydF hybrid protein containing the mimic with an azadithiolate bridge, confirming the presence of this ligand in the active site of native FeFe-hydrogenases. This is an example of controlled metalloenzyme activation using the combination of a specific protein scaffold and active-site synthetic analogues. This simple methodology provides both new mechanistic and structural insight into hydrogenase maturation and a unique tool for producing recombinant wild-type and variant FeFe-hydrogenases, with no requirement for the complete maturation machinery.
Pollinators benefit from increasing floral resources in agricultural landscapes, which could be an underexplored co‐benefit of mass‐flowering crop cultivation. However, the impacts of mass‐flowering ...crops on pollinator communities are complex and appear to be context‐dependent, mediated by factors such as crop flowering time and the availability of other flower resources in the landscape. A synthesis of research is needed to develop management recommendations for effective pollinator conservation in agroecosystems.
By combining 22 datasets from 13 publications conducted in nine temperate countries (20 European, 2 North American), we investigated if mass‐flowering crop flowering time (early or late season), bloom state (during or after crop flowering) and extent of non‐crop habitat cover in the landscape moderated the effect of mass‐flowering crop cover on wild pollinator abundance and species richness in mass‐flowering crop and non‐crop habitats.
During bloom, wild bee abundance and richness are negatively related to mass‐flowering crop cover. Dilution effects were predominant in crop habitats and early in the season, except for bumblebees, which declined with mass‐flowering crop cover irrespective of habitat or season. Late in the season and in non‐crop habitats, several of these negative relationships were either absent or reversed. Late‐season mass‐flowering crop cover is positively related to honeybee abundance in crop habitats and to other bee abundance in non‐crop habitats. These results indicate that crop‐adapted species, like honeybees, move to forage and concentrate on late‐season mass‐flowering crops at a time when flower availability in the landscape is limited, potentially alleviating competition for flower resources in non‐crop habitats. We found no evidence of pollinators moving from mass‐flowering crop to non‐crop habitats after crop bloom.
Synthesis and applications: Our results confirm that increasing early‐season mass‐flowering crop cover dilutes wild pollinators in crop habitats during bloom. We find that dilution effects were absent late in the season. While mass‐flowering crop cultivation alone is unlikely to be sufficient for maintaining pollinators, as part of carefully designed diverse crop rotations or mixtures combined with the preservation of permanent non‐crop habitats, it might provide valuable supplementary food resources for pollinators in temperate agroecosystems, particularly later in the season when alternative flower resources are scarce.
Our results confirm that increasing early‐season mass‐flowering crop cover dilutes wild pollinators in crop habitats during bloom. We find that dilution effects were absent late in the season. While mass‐flowering crop cultivation alone is unlikely to be sufficient for maintaining pollinators, as part of carefully designed diverse crop rotations or mixtures combined with the preservation of permanent non‐crop habitats, it might provide valuable supplementary food resources for pollinators in temperate agroecosystems, particularly later in the season when alternative flower resources are scarce.
At high intensities, light-matter interactions are controlled by the electric field of the exciting light. For instance, when an intense laser pulse interacts with an atomic gas, individual cycles of ...the incident electric field ionize gas atoms and steer the resulting attosecond-duration electrical wavepackets1, 2. Such field-controlled light-matter interactions form the basis of attosecond science and have recently expanded from gases to solid-state nanostructures3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Here, we extend these field-controlled interactions to metallic nanoparticles supporting localized surface plasmon resonances. We demonstrate strong-field, carrier-envelope-phase-sensitive photoemission from arrays of tailored metallic nanoparticles, and we show the influence of the nanoparticle geometry and the plasmon resonance on the phase-sensitive response. Additionally, from a technological standpoint, we push strong-field light-matter interactions to the chip scale. We integrate our plasmonic nanoparticles and experimental geometry in compact, micro-optoelectronic devices that operate out of vacuum and under ambient conditions.
We investigated electron-beam lithography with an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. We achieved 2 nm isolated feature size and 5 nm half-pitch in hydrogen silsesquioxane ...resist. We also analyzed the resolution limits of this technique by measuring the point-spread function at 200 keV. Furthermore, we measured the energy loss in the resist using electron-energy-loss spectroscopy.
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