Predicting the severity of the grass pollen season and the effect of climate change in Northwest Europe

Allergic rhinitis is an inflammation in the nose caused by overreaction of the immune system to allergens in the air. Managing allergic rhinitis symptoms is challenging and requires timely intervention. The following are major questions often posed by those with allergic rhinitis: How should I prepare for the forthcoming season? How will the season's severity develop over the years? No country yet provides clear guidance addressing these questions. We propose two previously unexplored approaches for forecasting the severity of the grass pollen season on the basis of statistical and mechanistic models. The results suggest annual severity is largely governed by preseasonal meteorological conditions. The mechanistic model suggests climate change will increase the season severity by up to 60%, in line with experimental chamber studies. These models can be used as forecasting tools for advising individuals with hay fever and health care professionals how to prepare for the grass pollen season

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Ten Simple Rules for Effective Computational Research

<p>Ten Simple Rules for Effective Computational Research</p

Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Cross-disciplinary collaborations have become an increasingly important part of science. They are seen as key if we are to find solutions to pressing, global-scale societal challenges, including green technologies, sustainable food production, and drug development. Regulators and policy- makers have realized the power of such collaborations, for example, in the 80 billion Euro "Horizon 2020" EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This programme puts special emphasis on “breaking down barriers to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation

Route of drug administration in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial (PARAMEDIC-3)

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).AIMS: The PARAMEDIC-3 trial evaluates the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an intraosseous first strategy, compared with an intravenous first strategy, for drug administration in adults who have sustained an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. METHODS: PARAMEDIC-3 is a pragmatic, allocation concealed, open-label, multi-centre, superiority randomised controlled trial. It will recruit 15,000 patients across English and Welsh ambulance services. Adults who have sustained an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are individually randomised to an intraosseous access first strategy or intravenous access first strategy in a 1:1 ratio through an opaque, sealed envelope system. The randomised allocation determines the route used for the first two attempts at vascular access. Participants are initially enrolled under a deferred consent model.The primary clinical-effectiveness outcome is survival at 30-days. Secondary outcomes include return of spontaneous circulation, neurological functional outcome, and health-related quality of life. Participants are followed-up to six-months following cardiac arrest. The primary health economic outcome is incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained. CONCLUSION: The PARAMEDIC-3 trial will provide key information on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of drug route in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.Trial registration: ISRCTN14223494, registered 16/08/2021, prospectively registered.Peer reviewe

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Using Transcription Modules to Identify Expression Clusters Perturbed in Williams-Beuren Syndrome

The genetic dissection of the phenotypes associated with Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS) is advancing thanks to the study of individuals carrying typical or atypical structural rearrangements, as well as in vitro and animal studies. However, little is known about the global dysregulations caused by the WBS deletion. We profiled the transcriptomes of skin fibroblasts from WBS patients and compared them to matched controls. We identified 868 differentially expressed genes that were significantly enriched in extracellular matrix genes, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, as well as genes in which the products localize to the postsynaptic membrane. We then used public expression datasets from human fibroblasts to establish transcription modules, sets of genes coexpressed in this cell type. We identified those sets in which the average gene expression was altered in WBS samples. Dysregulated modules are often interconnected and share multiple common genes, suggesting that intricate regulatory networks connected by a few central genes are disturbed in WBS. This modular approach increases the power to identify pathways dysregulated in WBS patients, thus providing a testable set of additional candidates for genes and their interactions that modulate the WBS phenotypes

Diez reglas sencillas para una exitosa colaboración transdisciplinar

El presente artículo es la versión en castellano de la publicación: KNAPP, B.; BARDENET, R.; BERNABEU, M.O.; BORDAS, R.; BRUNA, M.; CALDERHEAD, B. ET AL. (2015) “Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration”. PLoS Comput Biol 11(4): e1004214, disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004214. La traducción, autorizada por la entidad editora, ha sido llevada a cabo por Ona Lorda Roure y Leila Adim, colaboradoras del Instituto de Investigación TransJus y supervisada por el Dr. Juli Ponce Solé, Director del TransJus. En la misma se han incluido algunas notas aclaratorias para el lector en español, así como bibliografía complementaria en español.[spa] En el auge de las colaboraciones interdisciplinarias entre los distintos campos científicos, la transdisciplinariedad se presenta como la clave para encontrar soluciones a una variedad de problemas globales. Este trabajo, situado en el marco de la biología informática, se centra en exponer una lista extensa de reglas y consejos útiles para lograr una exitosa sinergia entre los varios colaboradores de un proyecto transdisciplinar. Se trata, de hecho, de una guía que pretende dirigirse tanto a investigadores noveles como a aquellos investigadores consolidados que se adentran en un espacio transdisciplinar por primera vez. En particular, este trabajo expone los beneficios principales de establecer una colaboración transdisciplinar, así como los problemas que de ella puedan surgir.[cat] En l'auge de les col·laboracions interdisciplinàries entre els diferents camps científics, la transdisciplinarietat es presenta com la clau per trobar solucions a una varietat de problemes globals. Aquest treball, situat en el marc de la biologia informàtica, es centra en exposar una llista extensa de regles i consells útils per aconseguir una reeixida sinergia entre els varis col·laboradors d'un projecte transdisciplinar. Es tracta, de fet, d'una guia que pretén dirigir-se tant a recercadors novells com a aquells recercadors consolidats que s'endinsen en un espai transdisciplinar per primera vegada. En particular, aquest treball exposa els beneficis principals d'establir una col·laboració transdisciplinar, així com els problemes que d'ella puguin sorgir.[eng] At a time of increasing interdisciplinary collaboration between different scientific fields, cross-disciplinarity represents a key for finding solutions to a variety of global problems. This work, located within the framework of computer biology, focuses on exposing an extensive list of rules and useful tips to achieve a successful synergy among the various collaborators of a transdisciplinary project. It is, in fact, a guide aimed at addressing both first-time researchers and consolidated researchers who enter a transdisciplinary space for the first time. In particular, this work exposes the main benefits of establishing a cross-disciplinary collaboration, as well as the problems that may arise from it

Twenty years of stereotype threat research: A review of psychological mediators

This systematic literature review appraises critically the mediating variables of stereotype threat. A bibliographic search was conducted across electronic databases between 1995 and 2015. The search identified 45 experiments from 38 articles and 17 unique proposed mediators that were categorized into affective/subjective (n = 6), cognitive (n = 7) and motivational mechanisms (n = 4). Empirical support was accrued for mediators such as anxiety, negative thinking, and mind-wandering, which are suggested to co-opt working memory resources under stereotype threat. Other research points to the assertion that stereotype threatened individuals may be motivated to disconfirm negative stereotypes, which can have a paradoxical effect of hampering performance. However, stereotype threat appears to affect diverse social groups in different ways, with no one mediator providing unequivocal empirical support. Underpinned by the multi-threat framework, the discussion postulates that different forms of stereotype threat may be mediated by distinct mechanisms