Do the dominant plant species impact the substrate and vegetation composition of post-coal mining spoil heaps?

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Ecological Engineering on 03/12/2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.105685 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version�� 2019 Dominant species influence both species and functional composition of the vegetation as well as soil properties of the substrate. However, knowledge about the role played by dominant species in the process of shaping their habitat within post-industrial ecosystems is still limited. We aimed to assess the impact of four dominant species (Calamagrostis epigejos, Daucus carota, Poa compressa and Tussilago farfara) on soil abiotic and biotic properties, and to detect differences in species and functional composition of the vegetation types studied. We hypothesized that (1) dominant species of higher mean biomass cause lower aboveground biodiversity and (2) dominant species of higher mean biomass have a higher impact than the others on soil properties. We measured soil chemistry (TOC, N, P, K, Na, Mg content, EC, pH and enzyme activities) as well as biomass, species diversity and functional diversity of vegetation on 15 study plots (28.3 m2) for each species studied. The DCA analysis revealed a clear distinction between the patches dominated by studied species. Vegetation patches dominated by Calamagrostis epigejos were correlated with amount of biomass, canopy height CWM and specific leaf CWM. Patches dominated by Daucus carota were related to the light requirements (EIV-L), Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and K content. The vegetation patches dominated by Poa compressa were related to dehydrogenase activity, higher Mg content and species richness of the vegetation patches. The highest TOC content was recorded for T. farfara substrates, and the lowest for C. epigejos substrates. The content of potassium does not differ statistically significantly in the substrates from sites dominated by D. carota and P. compressa. The highest values of Mg content were recorded for D. carota and were statistically different from Poa compressa sites, while the higher phosphorus content (statistically significantly different) was recorded for patches dominated by T. farfara and P. compressa. Despite our assumptions, the species with the highest mean biomass (Calamagrostis epigejos) did not cause lower species or functional diversity. In contrast, Tussilago farfara has the highest impact on postindustrial site habitats on coal mine heaps, as extreme values of four soil substratum parameters were recorded on these plots. This species also decreased both species and functional diversity of vegetation. The knowledge about relationship existing between plants (aboveground vegetation) and soil organisms seems important in order to undertake suitable reclamation measures and to restore variety of functions as well as to create diverse vegetation based on native species.Published versio

Relaxin: Review of Biology and Potential Role in Treating Heart Failure

Relaxin is a naturally occurring human peptide initially identified as a reproductive hormone. More recently, relaxin has been shown to play a key role in the maternal hemodynamic and renal adjustments that accommodate pregnancy. An understanding of these physiologic effects has led to the evaluation of relaxin as a pharmacologic agent for the treatment of patients with acute heart failure. Preliminary results have been encouraging. In addition, the other known biologic properties of relaxin, including anti-inflammatory effects, extracellular matrix remodeling effects, and angiogenic and anti-ischemic effects, all may play a role in potential benefits of relaxin therapy. Ongoing, large-scale clinical testing will provide additional insights into the potential role of relaxin in the treatment of heart failure

Therapeutic regulation of cardiac fibroblast function: targeting stress-activated protein kinase pathways

Cardiac fibroblasts are key players in the myocardial remodeling process and respond to myocardial damage or dysfunction by adopting a myofibroblast phenotype and undergoing increased proliferation, migration, secretion of bioactive molecules and turnover of the extracellular matrix. Many of the key cellular responses of the heart to injury or stress are mediated via specific signaling cascades involving the stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs). The SAPKs comprise the p38 MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase families, both of which have been implicated in promoting myocardial damage and adverse cardiac remodeling. This article focuses on SAPK signaling cascades in the heart, with particular emphasis on their modulatory effects on cardiac fibroblast function, inflammation and fibrosis. It also describes current and future therapeutic strategies for inhibiting SAPKs in the myocardium. Understanding the role of SAPK signaling at the cellular level holds potential for developing novel therapies to ameliorate cardiac dysfunction in man

INNODIA Master Protocol for the evaluation of investigational medicinal products in children, adolescents and adults with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes

Background The INNODIA consortium has established a pan-European infrastructure using validated centres to prospectively evaluate clinical data from individuals with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes combined with centralised collection of clinical samples to determine rates of decline in beta-cell function and identify novel biomarkers, which could be used for future stratification of phase 2 clinical trials. Methods In this context, we have developed a Master Protocol, based on the “backbone” of the INNODIA natural history study, which we believe could improve the delivery of phase 2 studies exploring the use of single or combinations of Investigational Medicinal Products (IMPs), designed to prevent or reverse declines in beta-cell function in individuals with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. Although many IMPs have demonstrated potential efficacy in phase 2 studies, few subsequent phase 3 studies have confirmed these benefits. Currently, phase 2 drug development for this indication is limited by poor evaluation of drug dosage and lack of mechanistic data to understand variable responses to the IMPs. Identification of biomarkers which might permit more robust stratification of participants at baseline has been slow. Discussion The Master Protocol provides (1) standardised assessment of efficacy and safety, (2) comparable collection of mechanistic data, (3) the opportunity to include adaptive designs and the use of shared control groups in the evaluation of combination therapies, and (4) benefits of greater understanding of endpoint variation to ensure more robust sample size calculations and future baseline stratification using existing and novel biomarkers

Improvements of Thermal Resistance and Thermal Stress in Quasi-Monolithic Integration Technology (QMIT) with a New Fabrication Process

Static heat transfer and thermal stress analysis for the new generation quasi-monolithic integration technology (NGQMIT) is presented using a three-dimensional finite element simulator. Effects of different factors and parameters such as the gap between the silicon sidewalls and GaAs-chip (Wg), temperature dependent materials properties, isotropic material properties and backside gold metallization thickness or diamond-filled polyimide are described. It is shown that thermal resistances of 11 °C/W and 8.5 °C/W are possible using 200 µm electroplated gold heat-spreader and diamond-filled polyimide on the backside of the active device, respectively. This promises successful realization of the high frequency circuits containing power active devices using the novel QMIT. In comparison to the earlier fabrication process [1-2], eight times improvement in thermal stress is achieved. This extremely improves lifetime of the packaging. The results of thermal stress simulation are compared with white-light interferomety measurement