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Geophysical and hydrogeologic investigation of groundwater in the Karoo stratigraphic sequence at Sawmills in northern Matabeleland, Zimbabwe: a case history

Geophysical and hydrogeological investigations have been carried out around Sawmills in Zimbabwe, Africa. The investigations are components of a larger investigation to assess the groundwater potential of the Karoo sedimentary basin with regards to supplying water to Bulawayo City. The Sawmills area was selected due to the availability of borehole logs indicating favourable stratigraphy for groundwater availability and due to the high yields from the aquifers measured from these boreholes. Data collected using two geophysical methods are presented here: transient electromagnetic (TEM) and continuous vertical electrical sounding (CVES) data. The data have also been processed using laterally constrained inversion (LCI). Because the CVES provides greater detail in the shallow subsurface, whereas TEM is more effective at depth, a more accurate image of the entire subsurface profile is provided based on using both methods. The results suggest that LCI of CVES and TEM data, in the subsurface at the required depths at Sawmills, is able to provide a substantially more accurate image of the subsurface than either method alone. The hydrogeological interpretation of the geophysical data is valuable for determining the depth to and thickness of the potential aquifer horizon(s) and for identifying the position of potential recharge zones

Size-dependent long-term tissue response to biostable nanowires in the brain

AbstractNanostructured neural interfaces, comprising nanotubes or nanowires, have the potential to overcome the present hurdles of achieving stable communication with neuronal networks for long periods of time. This would have a strong impact on brain research. However, little information is available on the brain response to implanted high-aspect-ratio nanoparticles, which share morphological similarities with asbestos fibres. Here, we investigated the glial response and neuronal loss in the rat brain after implantation of biostable and structurally controlled nanowires of different lengths for a period up to one year post-surgery. Our results show that, as for lung and abdominal tissue, the brain is subject to a sustained, local inflammation when biostable and high-aspect-ratio nanoparticles of 5 μm or longer are present in the brain tissue. In addition, a significant loss of neurons was observed adjacent to the 10 μm nanowires after one year. Notably, the inflammatory response was restricted to a narrow zone around the nanowires and did not escalate between 12 weeks and one year. Furthermore, 2 μm nanowires did not cause significant inflammatory response nor significant loss of neurons nearby. The present results provide key information for the design of future neural implants based on nanomaterials

Effects of treadmill slip and trip perturbation-based balance training on falls in community-dwelling older adults (STABILITY): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Falls among older adults are most frequently caused by slips and trips and can have devastating consequences. Perturbation-based balance training (PBT) have recently shown promising fall preventive effects after even small training dosages. However, the fall preventive effects of PBT delivered on a treadmill are still unknown. Therefore, this parallel-group randomised controlled trial aims to quantify the effects of a four-session treadmill-PBT training intervention on falls compared with treadmill walking among community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or more. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 140 community-dwelling older adults will be recruited and randomised into either the treadmill-PBT or the treadmill walking group. Each group will undergo three initial training sessions within a week and an additional ‘booster’ session after 26 weeks. Participants in the treadmill-PBT group will receive 40 slip and/or trip perturbations induced by accurately timed treadmill belt accelerations at each training session. The primary outcome of interest is daily life fall rates collected using fall calendars for a follow-up period of 52 weeks. Secondary outcomes include physical, cognitive and social–psychological fall-related risk factors and will be collected at the pre-training and post-training test and the 26-week and 52-week follow-up tests. All outcomes will be analysed using the intention-to-treat approach by an external statistician. A Poisson’s regressions with bootstrapping, to account for overdispersion, will be used to compare group differences in fall rates. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study protocol has been approved by the North Denmark Region Committee on Health Research Ethics (N-20200089). The results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and at international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04733222

Is paternal age associated with transfer day, developmental stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to live birth?:A multicenter cohort study

In this study we investigated whether age of men undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment was associated with day of transfer, stage, morphology, and initial hCG-rise of the competent blastocyst leading to a live birth? The design was a multicenter historical cohort study based on exposure (age) and outcome data (blastocyst stage and morphology and initial hCG-rise) from men whose partner underwent single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy/birth. The ART treatments were carried out at sixteen private and university-based public fertility clinics. We included 7246 men and women, who between 2014 and 2018 underwent controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) or Frozen-thawed Embryo Transfer (FET) with a single blastocyst transfer resulting in singleton pregnancy were identified. 4842 men with a partner giving birth were included, by linking data to the Danish Medical Birth Registry. We showed that the adjusted association between paternal age and transfer day in COS treatments was OR 1.06, 95% CI (1.00;1.13). Meaning that for every increase of one year, men had a 6% increased probability that the competent blastocyst was transferred on day 6 compared to day 5. Further we showed that the mean difference in hCG values when comparing paternal age group 30–34, 35–39 and 40–45 with the age group 25–29 in those receiving COS treatment, all showed significantly lower adjusted values for older men. In conclusion we hypothesize that the later transfer (day 6) in female partners of older men may be due to longer time spent by the oocyte to repair fragmented DNA of the sperm cells, which should be a focus of future research in men

The chromatin-remodeling factor CHD4 coordinates signaling and repair after DNA damage

The CHD4 helicase is identified as a new component of the genome surveillance machinery in a proteomic screen for factors enriched on chromatin after ionizing radiation (see also related paper by Smeenk et al. in this issue)