Parthenogenetic activation decreases the polyphosphoinositide content of frog eggs

AbstractPolyphosphoinositides were quantified in metaphase II-arrested eggs of the amphibian Xenopuslaevis, and 8–10 min later in eggs activated by pricking. The content of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate (PIP2) was remarkably high in metaphase II-arrested eggs with respect to that of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP). It was found to drop dramatically at activation. In contrast PIP content did not change significantly

UHI Street Typology Based on Seasonality: A Case Study from Apeldoorn, Netherlands

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon results in higher temperatures in urban areas compared to less urbanized regions. This is due to the concentration of urban infrastructure, which absorbs and then releases solar radiation. Given its significant role in exacerbating the climate crisis, the UHI phenomenon demands urgent attention. While traditional physics-based simulations for studying UHI are accurate, they require substantial resources, which limits their practical application in urban planning. Previous research by the authors highlighted the capability of data-driven models as a practical alternative for assessing UHI. Such models, however, depend on the availability of extensive high-resolution datasets. Building on this prior work, the current study explores utilizing UHI’s seasonality to narrow the required data scope for effective data-driven UHI modelling. By strategically targeting data collection on specific seasons, it is possible to capture UHI’s intricate and dynamic nature more efficiently. This approach involved using street-based clustering to identify common seasonal patterns in Surface UHI (SUHI) and Canopy UHI (CUHI). Findings show notable seasonal fluctuations in SUHI, especially during summer. The training of Random Forest (RF) models employed varying data set proportions: 45% for summer and spring, 65% for autumn, and 75% for winter. Despite the challenges of smaller training datasets, the models achieved high accuracies, with CUHI models attaining an R2 of 0.85 and SUHI models an R2 of 0.74. These outcomes highlight the efficacy of strategic data collection, indicating its potential to enhance urban heat resilience and mitigate UHI effects

Bone Marrow Stem Cell Treatment for Ischemic Heart Disease in Patients with No Option of Revascularization: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PMCID: PMC3686792This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

The role of contracting strategies in social value implementation

There has been an increasing demand for social value (SV) implementation to assume a cardinal position in the infrastructure delivery efforts of infrastructure client organisations (ICOs). However, whereas successful implementation has been recorded in some projects, monumental failures have also been recorded in others. This variance in implementation performance is a cause for concern. The mode of governance applied in an infrastructure delivery endeavour has been identified as capable of influencing the implementation of SV. This observation makes imperative an investigation into the role of contracting strategies – an integral part of governance modes – adopted by ICOs on SV implementation performance. This is the aim of this study. Using a case study approach, three infrastructure projects which used different contracting strategies were selected from two different countries, the UK and Nigeria. Semistructured interviews were conducted with ICO representatives on these projects and subsequently analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings confirmed that the kind of contract adopted by ICOs influenced their ability to drive the successful implementation of desirable SV objectives through their supply chain. It is therefore recommended that ICOs ensure that the selected contracting strategies are capable of ensuring successful implementation of the desired objectives

Control of meiosis reinitiation in starfish : calcium ion as the primary effective trigger

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