Congruency between publicly available pictorial displays of medial temporal lobe atrophy

UNLABELLED: The medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) score is used for visual assessment of MTA on radiological images in suspected neurodegenerative dementia. Although volumetric tools are available, many radiologists still use visual scoring and compare to reference images. Numerous such example images are found online on educational websites and in scientific articles. The aim of this study was to compare congruencies between MTA scores of publicly available sample images with normalized heights and areas of relevant brain structures, measured in the same images.METHOD: Systematic online searches yielded 148 individual sample images. The height and area of relevant brain structures were manually delineated, normalized, and compared with regard to the displayed MTA score.RESULTS: The normalized heights and areas showed correlation with MTA but with considerable overlap between adjacent scores, especially when comparing heights. Also, displays of the MTA score were more consistent with the area of the temporal horn than with the hippocampal area.CONCLUSION: There is considerable overlap between adjacent scores in publicly available pictorial displays of the MTA grading system. Insufficient congruency leads to confusion and reduces inter-rater reliability. We also found that publicly available images are more consistent with temporal horn area than the hippocampus, which means that ventricular size may bias the grading. This can impede relevant differential diagnostics, especially regarding normal pressure hydrocephalus. Here, we present lectotype images selected specifically with regard to the hippocampal area.KEY POINTS: Question Overlap between publicly available example images of medial temporal atrophy causes confusion and limits reliability. Findings Available images are more consistent with ventricular dilatation than hippocampal atrophy; this article provides lectotype images selected specifically regarding the hippocampal area. Clinical relevance Visual assessment of medial temporal atrophy is used daily and worldwide in radiological examinations regarding suspected dementia. In clinical routine, many radiologists experience uncertainty, and hydrocephalus is often overlooked. This may be caused by insufficient congruency between educational sample images.</p

Avoiding areas with high livestock pressure: Understanding impacts of livestock on markhor in north-western Himalayas

In the Himalaya, wild ungulates and livestock share resources and interact. We studied impacts of livestock on Kashmir markhor (Capra falconeri cashmeriensis), a species on the brink of local extinction within Indian Himalayan region. One of our study sites (Lachipora WLS received much less livestock than the other (Limber WLS) which allowed us to investigate and compare the interactions between livestock and markhor in a better way. We assessed the impact of livestock grazing on altitudinal migration and habitat use of markhor. We further looked at population performance of markhor by studying its population density and structure in the two valleys. Markhor habitat use was examined along a gradient of livestock grazing intensity. Livestock grazing intensity at each pasture was assessed based on the number of livestock and number of days livestock spent in that pasture. Population of markhor was monitored through block counts. Results reveal that livestock population seasonally exceeds by over 30 times that of markhor. Markhor primarily used areas with low to medium livestock pressure. Markhor showed altitudinal migration in the valley with no livestock in alpine and subalpine habitats but did not migrate to higher altitudes which were occupied by livestock. High livestock pressure had negative impact on population performance of markhor, as evident by a lower population density and extremely low yearling: adult female ratios in the Limber Valley. Keeping habitats of markhor relatively free from grazing should help to maintain the population of this threatened caprid within India

Interrelationships between bryophytes, pH and phosphate availability in grasslands and on exposed soil in southern Sweden. [Elektronisk resurs]

Introduction. We aimed to investigate effects of soil pH and phosphate availability on bryophyte species in unshaded dry–mesic habitats, and to explore their implications for bioindication and conservation. Methods. Species abundance, pH and water-soluble phosphate data were collected from 1098 relevés in southernmost Sweden. Soil variable effects on 95 bryophyte taxa and species richness were evaluated and visualised as heat maps. Changes in community composition along chemistry gradients were analysed based on cumulative graphs. Results. For 96% of the species, cover differed significantly between plots with low, medium and high pH and phosphate availability; 84% of species were significantly affected by pH, 57% by phosphate, and 54% by pH:PO4 interaction. Effect sizes were twice as large for pH as for phosphate, and minimal for their interaction. Interaction effects were evident for only a few species, in such cases indicating that low phosphate availability promotes ‘calcifuge’ species at high pH. Community composition changed relatively evenly along all gradients. However, per-plot species richness peaked at around pH 7 at low phosphate availability, and around pH 8 at median phosphate availability, thus reflecting a pH:PO4 interaction effect. Conclusions. Both pH and phosphate availability strongly affect bryophyte species, and hence community composition and richness, although phosphate is generally less influential. Interaction effects exist but are weak, and low rather than high phosphate availability appears to favour species at suboptimal pH, suggesting that the ‘calcifuge–calcicole’ behaviour of bryophytes may not be determined by toxic aluminium and phosphate solubility, as they are in tracheophytes

Skadedjur i byggnader [Elektronisk resurs] : en kunskapssammanställning

Skadedjuren är många och finns i ett brett spektrum. Från stora djur som grävlingar tillden minsta insekten. I denna kunskapssammanställning läggs tyngdpunkten påbeskrivning av insekter. Skadedjur finns i och påverkar de flesta byggmaterial, frånorganiska material som trä och cellulosa till hårdare material som metall, puts och bruk.Skadedjur kan leva av och med mikroorganismer, svampar och mögel, ibland i synergi.Statistik från förvaltare och skadesanerare visar att i flerbostadshus är vägglöss detproblem som hanteras oftast. Generellt i hela byggnadsbeståndet är gnagare detskadedjur som ger upphov till de flesta saneringarna. Myror är vanligare under apriljuni medan problem med vägglöss är störst augusti-mars.Lagstiftning samt föreskrifter och vägledningar från myndigheter ger tillsammans medbranschens aktörer, miljöcertifieringssystem och internationella standarderförutsättningar för byggande/förvaltning och hantering av skadedjur. En utblick till våragrannländer och i Europa visar att mycket är lika och att traditioner, kultur och historikkan förklara olikheter som finns. Mycket finns att lära av varandra.Det finns en oro att skadedjursproblem kan öka i framtiden med tanke på ökad handelöver gränserna och ett varmare klimat.</p

Insecurity and psychological well-being among faculty in academia : exploring the constraints and conduits of positive psychological functioning

Purpose: Job insecurity characterizes academic work, with potential risks for the health, well-being, and personal lives of faculty. Notwithstanding, faculty with job insecurity experiences may still find academia conducive to pursuing personal fulfilment. As faculty experiences of psychological well-being may be coloured by insecurity, this study sought to qualitatively investigate the ways in which experiences of insecurity and psychological well-being co-occur.Methods: This study followed a questionnaire study of a representative sample of faculty in Swedish academia and their job insecurity perceptions, inviting the most insecure to participate. The participant group included 19 faculty from nine public Swedish higher education institutions. Transcripts of the semi-structured interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, guided by the six theoretical dimensions of psychological well-being.Results: Two themes were developed: 1) Staying afloat?, and 2) I’m not yet where I’m supposed to be. These themes elucidate faculty experiences of managing their current work (and personal) situations, and reveal how faculty orient themselves in relation to their futures, pasts and presents.Conclusions: The findings demonstrate how experiences of insecurity co-exist with psychological well-being in constraining and enhancing faculty well-being. This reveals how psychological well-being involves a dynamic process of negotiation, especially during transitional periods.</p

High sensitivity of cloud formation to aerosol changes

The susceptibility of cloud droplet number to cloud condensation nuclei number is one of the major factors controlling the highly uncertain change in the amount of solar radiation reflected by clouds when aerosol emissions are perturbed (the radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions). We investigate this susceptibility in low-level stratiform clouds using long-term (3–10-yr) in situ observations of aerosols and clouds at three high-latitude locations. The in situ observations show higher susceptibility for low-level stratiform clouds than values reported for satellite data. We estimate −1.16 W m−2 for the aerosol indirect radiative forcing on the basis of our observations, which is at the higher end of satellite-derived forcing estimates and the uncertainty range of the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. We evaluate four Earth system models against the observations and find large inter-model variability in the susceptibility. Our results demonstrate that, even if the susceptibility in some of the models is relatively close to observations, the underlying physics in the models is unrealistic when compared with observations. We show that the inter-model variability is driven by differences in sub-grid-scale updraught velocities and aerosol size distributions, raising a need to improve these aspects in models.</p

Utilizing TOGAF 10 to Design an Enterprise Architecture for BPRBCo SME Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation (DT) has become a strategic imperative for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) banks, including for Bank Perekonomian Rakyat (BPRBCo) in Indonesia, which often face constraints in infrastructure, technology adoption, and regulatory compliance. While prior research has underscored the importance of DT strategy and architecture for success in large banking institutions, how these insights apply to smaller-scale banks remains underexplored. This paper develops an Enterprise Architecture (EA) blueprint for BPRBCo, an SME-scale bank, following a Design Science Research approach that encompasses problem explication, requirement specification, design and development, demonstration, and evaluation. Data was collected through semistructured interviews and triangulated with internal documents. By employing the latest best practice TOGAF Standard 10th Edition from preliminary planning to migration, the study proposes an integrated architecture featuring core banking enhancements and loan management automation. The resulting blueprint, incorporated into BPRBCo's DT Strategy, provides a replicable roadmap for aligning technology investments with business objectives. This research contributes both theoretically by extending EA discourse to smaller-scale banking contexts— and practically by offering actionable guidance for BPR-scale organizations seeking to achieve successful DT despite limited resources.</p

Activation and signaling characteristics of the hydroxy-carboxylic acid 3 receptor identified in human neutrophils through a microfluidic flow cell technique

Human neutrophils express numerous G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) of importance for immune regulation. However, several functionally characterized neutrophil GPCRs, are not included within the human neutrophil proteome. To identify GPCRs not previously demonstrated to be expressed in human neutrophils, we utilized a microfluidic flow cell technique in conjunction with subcellular granule fractionation and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This approach led to the identification of hydroxy-carboxylic acid 3 receptor (HCA3R, also known as GPR109B) as a novel component of the human neutrophil proteome. The β-oxidation intermediate 3-hydroxy-octanoic acid (3-OH-C8) is the primary endogenous agonist of the HCA3R and expressed at high levels in adipocytes where it exerts anti-lipolytic effects. However, literature describing the role and function of HCA3R in human neutrophils is scarce. We show that 3-OH-C8, as well as the synthetic HCA3R agonist IBC 293, activate human neutrophils determined as an increase in the intracellular concentration of free calcium ions ([Ca2+]i) and activation of the NADPH oxidase. However, in contrast to the rise in [Ca2+]i, which could be triggered in naïve neutrophils, pre-treatment of neutrophils was required for the HCA3R agonists to activate the NADPH oxidase. That is, the HCA3R-mediated NADPH oxidase activation occurred only in neutrophils pre-treated with either an actin cytoskeleton disrupter or an allosteric modulator targeting the GPCR termed free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFA2R). Our findings demonstrate that HCA3R is not only a new member of the human neutrophil proteome but also exhibits functional activity with complex signaling pathways when stimulated with endogenous and synthetic HCA3R agonists