Exploring movements in pea plants: decision-making in support selection

openChoosing a support is a crucial aspect of the life journey of climbing plants. Those that can find a suitable support exhibit higher performance and fitness. While numerous studies on climbing plants have provided insights into the mechanistic details of support-searching behaviors, few have explored the purposeful nature of these movements and the decision-making processes involved. One crucial factor influencing plants’ decisions is the diameter of the support. Once it exceeds a certain point, climbing plants struggle to maintain tensional forces and detach from the support. In this connection, the present study focuses on the decision-making processes underlying support-searching in pea plants (Pisum sativum L.). The plants were grown in two conditions: a single-support setting and an environment to choose between two supports of different diameters. As they developed, their movements were analyzed using time-lapse photography and 3D motion analysis. Consistently with previous research suggesting a preference for supports with smaller diameters, the results show an inclination among plants to choose the thinner support. The statistical analyses revealed disparities in the kinematic properties depending on the growth condition and the grasped support type. Plants that chose a thicker support differed significantly in their movement patterns from plants that grasped a thin support. Similarly, plants grown in the single-support condition varied from those in the decision-making condition. The current study elucidates the decision-making process of climbing plants in their search for support and presents evidence that plants adopt different plastic responses, choosing the one that optimally corresponds to environmental conditions.Choosing a support is a crucial aspect of the life journey of climbing plants. Those that can find a suitable support exhibit higher performance and fitness. While numerous studies on climbing plants have provided insights into the mechanistic details of support-searching behaviors, few have explored the purposeful nature of these movements and the decision-making processes involved. One crucial factor influencing plants’ decisions is the diameter of the support. Once it exceeds a certain point, climbing plants struggle to maintain tensional forces and detach from the support. In this connection, the present study focuses on the decision-making processes underlying support-searching in pea plants (Pisum sativum L.). The plants were grown in two conditions: a single-support setting and an environment to choose between two supports of different diameters. As they developed, their movements were analyzed using time-lapse photography and 3D motion analysis. Consistently with previous research suggesting a preference for supports with smaller diameters, the results show an inclination among plants to choose the thinner support. The statistical analyses revealed disparities in the kinematic properties depending on the growth condition and the grasped support type. Plants that chose a thicker support differed significantly in their movement patterns from plants that grasped a thin support. Similarly, plants grown in the single-support condition varied from those in the decision-making condition. The current study elucidates the decision-making process of climbing plants in their search for support and presents evidence that plants adopt different plastic responses, choosing the one that optimally corresponds to environmental conditions

Digital health and modern technologies applied in patients with heart failure: Can we support patients' psychosocial well-being?

Despite advances in the treatment of heart failure (HF), the physical symptoms and stress of the disease continue to negatively impact patients' health outcomes. Technology now offers promising ways to integrate personalized support from health care professionals via a variety of platforms. Digital health technology solutions using mobile devices or those that allow remote patient monitoring are potentially more cost effective and may replace in-person interaction. Notably, digital health methods may not only improve clinical outcomes but may also improve the psycho-social status of HF patients. Using digital health to address biopsychosocial variables, including elements of the person and their context is valuable when considering chronic illness and HF in particular, given the multiple, cross-level factors affecting chronic illness clinical management needed for HF self-care

Whole‐cell biocatalysis platform for gram‐scale oxidative dearomatization of phenols

Technologies enabling new enzyme discovery and efficient protein engineering have spurred intense interest in the development of biocatalytic reactions. In recent years, whole‐cell biocatalysis has received attention as a simple, efficient, and scalable biocatalytic reaction platform. Inspired by these developments, we have established a whole‐cell protocol for oxidative dearomatization of phenols using the flavin‐dependent monooxygenase, TropB. This approach provides a scalable biocatalytic platform for accessing gram‐scale quantities of chiral synthetic building blocks.The development of scalable and economical biocatalytic reaction platforms is critical for the application of biocatalysis in synthetic chemistry. Therefore, we have established a whole‐cell method for the oxidative dearomatization of phenols using the flavin‐dependent monooxygenase, TropB. In comparison with reactions using isolated enzyme, our whole‐cell method allowed us to perform tenfold more reactions per liter of cell culture, without loss of site‐ or stereoselectivity.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150545/1/cbdd13443.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150545/2/cbdd13443_am.pd

An investigation of toxicities and survival in Hispanic children and adolescents with ALL: Results from the Danaâ Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium protocol 05â 001

PurposeThis study compared the relative incidence of treatmentâ related toxicities and the eventâ free and overall survival between Hispanic and nonâ Hispanic children undergoing therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on Danaâ Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium protocol 05â 001.Patients and methodsSecondary analysis of prospectively collected data from a phase III multicenter study in children and adolescents of 1â 18 years with previously untreated ALL.ResultsBetween 2005 and 2011, 794 eligible patients enrolled on DFCI 05â 001, 730 of whom were included in this analysis (19% [N = 150] Hispanic, 73% [N = 580] nonâ Hispanic). Hispanic patients were more likely to be â ¥10 years of age (32% vs. 24%, P = 0.045) at diagnosis. Toxicity analyses revealed that Hispanic patients had significantly lower cumulative incidence of bone fracture (P < 0.001) and osteonecrosis (ON; P = 0.047). In multivariable risk regression, the risk of ON was significantly lower in Hispanic patients â ¥10 years (HR 0.23; P = 0.006). Hispanic patients had significantly lower 5â year eventâ free survival (EFS) (79.4%; 95% CI: 71.6â 85.2) and overall survival (OS) (89.2%; 95% CI: 82.7â 93.4) than nonâ Hispanic patients (EFS: 87.5%; 95% CI: 84.5â 90.0, P = 0.004; OS: 92.7%; 95% CI: 90.2â 94.6, P = 0.006). Exploratory analyses revealed differences between Hispanic and nonâ Hispanic patients in the frequency of common variants in genes related to toxicity or ALL outcome.ConclusionHispanic children treated for ALL on DFCI 05â 001 had fewer boneâ related toxicities and inferior survival than nonâ Hispanic patients. While disease biology is one explanatory variable for outcome disparities, these findings suggest that biologic and nonâ biologic mechanisms affecting drug delivery and exposure in this population may be important contributing factors as well.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141132/1/pbc26871.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141132/2/pbc26871_am.pd

Differences in the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

IntroductionThe development of molecular biology methods and their application in microbial research allowed the detection of many new pathogens that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). Despite the advances of using new research techniques, the etiopathogenesis of UTIs, especially in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, is still not fully understood.MethodsThis study aimed to characterize and compare the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome between the groups of patients undergoing dialysis (n = 50) and patients after kidney transplantation (n = 50), with positive or negative urine culture, compared to healthy individuals (n = 50).ResultsAsymptomatic bacteriuria was observed in 30% of the urine cultures of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, with Escherichia coli as the most dominant microorganism (73%) detected with the use of classical microbiology techniques. However, differences in the bacterial composition of the urine samples between the evaluated patient groups were demonstrated using the amplicon sequencing. Finegoldia, Leptotrichia, and Corynebacterium were found to be discriminative bacteria genera in patients after dialysis and kidney transplantation compared to the control group. In addition, in all of urine samples, including those without bacteriuria in classical urine culture, many types of bacteria have been identified using 16S rRNA sequencing.DiscussionThe revealed microbial characteristics may form the basis in searching for new diagnostic markers in treatment of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

A prebiotic intervention study in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)

Different dietary approaches, such as gluten and casein free diets, or the use of probiotics and prebiotics have been suggested in autistic spectrum disorders in order to reduce gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances. GI symptoms are of particular interest in this population due to prevalence and correlation with the severity of behavioural traits. Nowadays, there is lack of strong evidence about the effect of dietary interventions on these problems, particularly prebiotics. Therefore, we assessed the impact of exclusion diets and a 6-week Bimuno® galactooligosaccharide (B-GOS®) prebiotic intervention in 30 autistic children. RESULTS: The results showed that children on exclusion diets reported significantly lower scores of abdominal pain and bowel movement, as well as lower abundance of Bifidobacterium spp. and Veillonellaceae family, but higher presence of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bacteroides spp. In addition, significant correlations were found between bacterial populations and faecal amino acids in this group, compared to children following an unrestricted diet. Following B-GOS® intervention, we observed improvements in anti-social behaviour, significant increase of Lachnospiraceae family, and significant changes in faecal and urine metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study where the effect of exclusion diets and prebiotics has been evaluated in autism, showing potential beneficial effects. A combined dietary approach resulted in significant changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolism suggesting that multiple interventions might be more relevant for the improvement of these aspects as well as psychological traits

Sex- and age-related differences in the management and outcomes of chronic heart failure: an analysis of patients from the ESC HFA EORP Heart Failure Long-Term Registry

Aims: This study aimed to assess age- and sex-related differences in management and 1-year risk for all-cause mortality and hospitalization in chronic heart failure (HF) patients. Methods and results: Of 16 354 patients included in the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Long-Term Registry, 9428 chronic HF patients were analysed [median age: 66 years; 28.5% women; mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 37%]. Rates of use of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) were high (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists: 85.7%, 88.7% and 58.8%, respectively). Crude GDMT utilization rates were lower in women than in men (all differences: P\ua0 64 0.001), and GDMT use became lower with ageing in both sexes, at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Sex was not an independent predictor of GDMT prescription; however, age >75 years was a significant predictor of GDMT underutilization. Rates of all-cause mortality were lower in women than in men (7.1% vs. 8.7%; P\ua0=\ua00.015), as were rates of all-cause hospitalization (21.9% vs. 27.3%; P\ua075 years. Conclusions: There was a decline in GDMT use with advanced age in both sexes. Sex was not an independent predictor of GDMT or adverse outcomes. However, age >75 years independently predicted lower GDMT use and higher all-cause mortality in patients with LVEF 6445%