Context
Methods for measuring restoration success that include functional connectivity between species’ populations are rare in landscape ecology and restoration practices. We developed an approach ...that analyzes connectivity between populations of target species and their dispersal probabilities to assess restoration success based on easily accessible input data. Applying this method to landscape development scenarios can help optimize restoration planning.
Objectives
We developed an assessment for restoration success and restoration planning based on functional connectivity between species’ populations and spatially explicit scenarios. The method was used in a case study to test its applicability.
Methods
Based on data on available habitat, species’ occurrence and dispersal ranges, connectivity metrics and dispersal probabilities for target species are calculated using the software Conefor Sensinode. The metrics are calculated for scenarios that reflect possible changes in the landscape to provide a basis for future restoration planning. We applied this approach to floodplain meadows along the Upper Rhine for four plant species and three future scenarios.
Results
In the case study, habitats of the target species were poorly connected.
Peucedanum
officinale
and
Sanguisorba
officinalis
were more successful in recolonizing new habitats than
Iris
spuria
and
Serratula
tinctoria.
The scenarios showed that restoration of species-rich grassland was beneficial for dispersal of the target species. As expected in the agriculturally dominated study area, restoration of former arable land significantly increased dispersal probabilities.
Conclusions
In the case study, the developed approach was easily applicable and provided reasonable results. Its implementation will be helpful in decision-making for future restoration planning.
In comparison to single‐analyte devices, multiplexed systems for a multianalyte detection offer a reduced assay time and sample volume, low cost, and high throughput. Herein, a multiplexing platform ...for an automated quasi‐simultaneous characterization of multiple (up to 16) capacitive field‐effect sensors by the capacitive–voltage (C–V) and the constant‐capacitance (ConCap) mode is presented. The sensors are mounted in a newly designed multicell arrangement with one common reference electrode and are electrically connected to the impedance analyzer via the base station. A Python script for the automated characterization of the sensors executes the user‐defined measurement protocol. The developed multiplexing system is tested for pH measurements and the label‐free detection of ligand‐stabilized, charged gold nanoparticles.
This work introduces a platform that allows for the automated characterization of capacitive field‐effect sensors in capacitance–voltage (C–V) and constant‐capacitance (ConCap) mode. Sixteen sensors are mounted in a multicell, share a common reference electrode, and are electrically connected to an impedance analyzer via a base station.
Electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitors (EISCAP) belong to field-effect sensors having an attractive transducer architecture for constructing various biochemical sensors. In this study, a ...capacitive model of enzyme-modified EISCAPs has been developed and the impact of the surface coverage of immobilized enzymes on its capacitance-voltage and constant-capacitance characteristics was studied theoretically and experimentally. The used multicell arrangement enables a multiplexed electrochemical characterization of up to sixteen EISCAPs. Different enzyme coverages have been achieved by means of parallel electrical connection of bare and enzyme-covered single EISCAPs in diverse combinations. As predicted by the model, with increasing the enzyme coverage, both the shift of capacitance-voltage curves and the amplitude of the constant-capacitance signal increase, resulting in an enhancement of analyte sensitivity of the EISCAP biosensor. In addition, the capability of the multicell arrangement with multi-enzyme covered EISCAPs for sequentially detecting multianalytes (penicillin and urea) utilizing the enzymes penicillinase and urease has been experimentally demonstrated and discussed.
•Capacitive model for an enzyme-modified field-effect biosensor is developed.•Impact of the enzyme coverage on the field-effect biosensor performance is studied.•Increase of the enzyme coverage enhances the analyte sensitivity of the biosensor.•Ability of the multicell for the sequential multianalyte detection is demonstrated.
Field-effect-based capacitive electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor (EIS) sensors have been utilised for the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) immobilisation and hybridisation detection as well as for ...monitoring the layer-by-layer adsorption of polyelectrolytes (anionic poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and cationic poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)). The EIS sensors with charged macromolecules have been systematically characterised by capacitance–voltage, constant-capacitance, impedance spectroscopy and atomic-force microscopy methods. The effect of the number and polarity of the polyelectrolyte layers on the shift of the capacitance–voltage curves has been investigated. Alternating potential shifts of about 30–90
mV have been observed after the adsorption of each polyanion and polycation layer, respectively. The DNA immobilisation and hybridisation signals were 35–55 and 24–33
mV, respectively. The possible mechanisms for the sensor responses are discussed.
Purpose
To examine the safety and short-term oncologic outcomes of computer-tomography-guided (CT-guided) irreversible electroporation (IRE) of recurrent, irresectable colorectal liver metastases ...(CRLM) after major hepatectomy deemed unsuitable for thermal ablation.
Patients and Methods
Twenty-three patients undergoing CT-guided IRE of recurrent CRLM after major hepatectomy were included in this study. All tumors were located adjacent to sole remaining intrahepatic blood vessels and bile ducts, precluding thermal ablation. Patients underwent systematic clinical and imaging follow-up, including magnetic resonance imaging of the liver at 1-month and 3-month intervals thereafter. Time to local and intrahepatic tumor progression within 12 and 36 months and associated risk factors were assessed using Kaplan Meier and Cox regression analysis, respectively.
Results
Complete ablation with a safety margin of at least 0.5 cm was achieved in 22/23 (95.6%) patients. No vessel injury or thrombosis occurred. Five patients developed moderate biliary stenosis after a median of 4 weeks, without requiring treatment. Local tumor-progression-free rates within 12/36 months were 64%/57.4%, respectively. Intrahepatic-progression-free rate within 12/36 months was 36.4%/19.5%, respectively. Five (23%) patients were tumor-free at the end of follow-up. Multivariate Cox regression analysis did not show any association between local tumor-progression-free rates and patient age, target tumor size, primary tumor side or synchronicity of liver metastases.
Conclusion
In this highly selected patient population with local recurrences of CRLM after major surgery, IRE was shown to be a safe salvage treatment option when thermal ablation is unsuitable.
Cimicifuga racemosa (CR) extracts contain diverse constituents such as saponins. These saponins, which act as a defense against herbivores and pathogens also show promise in treating human conditions ...such as heart failure, pain, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, and inflammation. Some of these effects are mediated by activating AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK). Therefore, comprehensive screening for activating constituents in a CR extract is highly desirable. Employing machine learning (ML) techniques such as Deep Neural Networks (DNN), Logistic Regression Classification (LRC), and Random Forest Classification (RFC) with molecular fingerprint MACCS descriptors, 95 CR constituents were classified. Calibration involved 50 randomly chosen positive and negative controls. LRC achieved the highest overall test accuracy (90.2%), but DNN and RFC surpassed it in precision, sensitivity, specificity, and ROC AUC. All CR constituents were predicted as activators, except for three non-triterpene compounds. The validity of these classifications was supported by good calibration, with misclassifications ranging from 3% to 17% across the various models. High sensitivity (84.5–87.2%) and specificity (84.1–91.4%) suggest suitability for screening. The results demonstrate the potential of triterpene saponins and aglycones in activating AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK), providing the rationale for further clinical exploration of CR extracts in metabolic pathway-related conditions.
Dengue is an emerging vector-borne viral disease across the world. The primary dengue mosquito vectors breed in containers with sufficient water and nutrition. Outdoor containers can be detected from ...geotagged images using state-of-the-art deep learning methods. In this study, we utilize such container information from street view images in developing a risk mapping model and determine the added value of including container information in predicting dengue risk. We developed seasonal-spatial models in which the target variable dengue incidence was explained using weather and container variable predictors. Linear mixed models with fixed and random effects are employed in our models to account for different characteristics of containers and weather variables. Using data from three provinces of Thailand between 2015 and 2018, the models are developed at the sub-district level resolution to facilitate the development of effective targeted intervention strategies. The performance of the models is evaluated with two baseline models: a classic linear model and a linear mixed model without container information. The performance evaluated with the correlation coefficients, R-squared, and AIC shows the proposed model with the container information outperforms both baseline models in all three provinces. Through sensitivity analysis, we investigate the containers that have a high impact on dengue risk. Our findings indicate that outdoor containers identified from street view images can be a useful data source in building effective dengue risk models and that the resulting models have potential in helping to target container elimination interventions.
Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) constitutes a significant source of morbidity and mortality after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The allograft is metabolically impaired during warm and ...cold ischemia and is further damaged by a paradox reperfusion injury after revascularization and reoxygenation. Short-term and long-term complications including post-reperfusion syndrome, delayed graft function, and immune activation have been associated with IRI. Due to the current critical organ shortage, extended criteria grafts are increasingly considered for transplantation, however, with an elevated risk to develop significant features of IRI. In recent years, ex vivo machine perfusion (MP) of the donor liver has witnessed significant advancements. Here, we describe the concept of hypothermic (oxygenated) machine perfusion (HMP/HOPE) approaches and highlight which allografts may benefit from this technology. This review also summarizes clinical applications and the main aspects of ongoing randomized controlled trials on hypothermic perfusion. The mechanistic aspects of IRI and hypothermic MP-which include tissue energy replenishment, optimization of mitochondrial function, and the reduction of oxidative and inflammatory damage following reperfusion-will be comprehensively discussed within the context of current preclinical and clinical evidence. Finally, we highlight novel trends and future perspectives in the field of hypothermic MP in the context of recent findings of basic and translational research.
In lab‐on‐chip systems, electrodes are important for the manipulation (e.g., cell stimulation, electrolysis) within such systems. An alternative to commonly used electrode structures can be a ...light‐addressable electrode. Here, due to the photoelectric effect, the conducting area can be adjusted by modification of the illumination area which enables a flexible control of the electrode. In this work, titanium dioxide based light‐addressable electrodes are fabricated by a sol–gel technique and a spin‐coating process, to deposit a thin film on a fluorine‐doped tin oxide glass. To characterize the fabricated electrodes, the thickness, and morphological structure are measured by a profilometer and a scanning electron microscope. For the electrochemical behavior, the dark current and the photocurrent are determined for various film thicknesses. For the spatial resolution behavior, the dependency of the photocurrent while changing the area of the illuminated area is studied. Furthermore, the addressing of single fluid compartments in a three‐chamber system, which is added to the electrode, is demonstrated.
Titanium dioxide layers with different thicknesses are fabricated by a non‐aqueous sol–gel approach on fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) glass to work as light‐addressable electrodes (LAE). The dependence of the film thickness on the dark‐ and photocurrent is evaluated and the spatial resolution is successfully tested for the integration of the LAE in lab‐on‐chip systems.
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