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Salivary response of Geoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to consumption of plant secondary metabolites
No full textGeoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) can modulate the acidity-alkalinity (pH) and salivary expression of total proteins (TP) and proline-rich proteins (PRPs) depending on the concentration of tannins in their diet, helping to counteract negative post-ingestive effects. Besides tannins, plants produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites like flavonoids and alkaloids that elicit a bitter taste. Geoffroy's spider monkeys feed on various plant species and consume different concentrations of secondary metabolites. However, it is unclear whether there is salivary modulation of pH, TP, and PRPs to secondary metabolites other than tannins, or whether this effect also occurs towards bitter substances not associated with secondary metabolites. Therefore, we assessed if there are changes in salivary pH, TP, and PRPs expression towards bitter substances or if spider monkeys display a specific response to secondary metabolites present in their diet and substances not associated with secondary metabolites. We determined the concentration of tannic acid, caffeine and rutin in fruits and leaves in different maturity stages reported as a part of the diet of Geoffroy's spider monkeys. We presented six adults Geoffroy's spider monkeys with different concentrations of tannic acid, caffeine, and rutin (0.1, 0.3, 0.6 and one mM) and denatonium benzoate (0.001, 0.003, 0.006 and 0.01 mM) dissolved in a 30 mM sucrose solution. We administered each concentration and collected saliva using swabs (SalivaBio). We used test paper strips to measure the pH and determined the TP concentration using the Bradford method at 595 nm. We also determined the percentage of PRPs using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results showed marked differences in tannic acid, caffeine and rutin concentration depending on the plant part and species. We found an increase in salivary pH in response to consumption of secondary metabolites, no variations in TP concentration, variations in the percentage of PRPs associated with tannic acid concentrations, and no significant changes when the animals consumed denatonium benzoate. Our results showed that spider monkeys specifically modulate acidity-alkalinity towards secondary metabolites and salivary PRPs expression towards tannic acid in their diet, and that they do not have a generalized salivary response to bitter compounds that are typically considered as toxic substances.Funding Agencies|Secretaria de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnologia e Innovacion [931446]</p
Influence of statistical approaches on Probabilistic Sweet Spots computation in Deep Brain Stimulation for severe Essential Tremor
No full textDeep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for movement and neuropsychiatric disorders. Identifying brain regions (Probabilistic Sweet Spots, PSS) linked with the greatest symptom improvement is crucial for refining pre-operative targeting and post-operative programming. Probabilistic stimulation mapping is a powerful data-driven tool to delineate these regions. However, the chosen statistical methods can influence the identified PSS. A comprehensive evaluation of their impact is lacking in DBS research. The present study compares the PSS generated with four voxel-wise statistical approaches - t-test, Wilcoxon test, Linear Mixed Model, and Bayesian t-test - with the aim of assessing their influence on computed results on the same dataset. Intraoperative stimulation test data of 23 Essential Tremor (ET) patients was used to run patient-specific electric field simulations and to generate PSS in a group-specific anatomical template space. The PSS for the different statistical tests were first compared in terms of size and topography. Then, their correlation with clinical improvement was calculated in a leave-one-out cross-validation scheme and PSS consistency across datasets with different compositions was assessed. Our findings emphasize the impact of statistical test selection on both the anatomical location and volume of the extracted PSS, highlighting the importance of careful methodological choices in future DBS mapping studies. The Bayesian t-test and a voxel-wise application of nonparametric permutation testing, introduced for the first time in DBS research, showed promising results in identifying PSS representative of improvement and exhibited robustness to variations in the dataset.Funding Agencies|Swiss National Science Foundation [205320-207491]</p
A data-driven approach to model spatial dose characteristics for catheter placement of high dose-rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer
No full textReferenceless 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance with deep learning
No full textBackground: Despite its potential to improve the assessment of cardiovascular diseases, four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is hampered by long scan times. 4D flow CMR is conventionally acquired with three motion encodings and one reference encoding, as the three-dimensional velocity data are obtained by subtracting the phase of the reference from the phase of the motion encodings. In this study, we aim to use deep learning to predict the reference encoding from the three motion encodings for cardiovascular 4D flow. Methods: A U-Net was trained with adversarial learning (U-NetADV) and with a velocity frequency-weighted loss function (U-NetVEL) to predict the reference encoding from the three motion encodings obtained with a nonsymmetric velocity-encoding scheme. Whole-heart 4D flow datasets from 126 patients with different types of cardiomyopathies were retrospectively included. The models were trained on 113 patients with a 5-fold crossvalidation, and tested on 13 patients. Flow volumes in the aorta and pulmonary artery, mean and maximum velocity, total and maximum turbulent kinetic energy at peak systole in the cardiac chambers and main vessels were assessed. Results: Three-dimensional velocity data reconstructed with the reference encoding predicted by deep learning agreed well with the velocities obtained with the reference encoding acquired at the scanner for both models. UNetADV performed more consistently throughout the cardiac cycle and across the test subjects, while U-NetVEL performed better for systolic velocities. Comprehensively, the largest error for flow volumes, maximum and mean velocities was -6.031% for maximum velocities in the right ventricle for the U-NetADV, and -6.92% for mean velocities in the right ventricle for U-NetVEL. For total turbulent kinetic energy, the highest errors were in the left ventricle (-77.17%) for the U-NetADV, and in the right ventricle (24.96%) for the U-NetVEL, while for maximum turbulent kinetic energy were in the pulmonary artery for both models, with a value of -15.5% for UNetADV and 15.38% for the U-NetVEL. Conclusion: Deep learning-enabled referenceless 4D flow CMR permits velocities and flow volumes quantification comparable to conventional 4D flow. Omitting the reference encoding reduces the amount of acquired data by 25%, thus allowing shorter scan times or improved resolution, which is valuable for utilization in the clinical routine.Funding Agencies|ALF Grants; Region Ostergoetland; Medical Faculty at Linkoping University; Analytic Imaging Diagnostics Arena (AIDA) at Linkoping University</p
Greener logistics through resource sharing - A resource dependency lens on supply chain interaction
No full textThe greening of logistics requires extensive resources in order for actors to implement green logistics practices (GLPs) and become more environmentally sustainable. As no actors in the supply chain are self-sustained and must gather resources from other actors, "the greening" of our supply chains needs to be considered holistically. The interactive nature of supply chains, where actors must interact with other actors, also gives them a platform to exchange resources. This paper sets out to explore how resources can be shared between actors and support the greening of logistics, by studying a dyadic relationship between a shipper and an LSP, applying a resource dependency theory perspective. The paper suggests that GLPs will require resources to be gathered from other actors to be implemented and explore how the greening of logistics involves several actors, and why these actors need to be included. It suggests that some types of resources are more central than others, such as knowledge or technology; and that some actors are more central than others, especially shippers and LSPs. This study illustrates how different GLPs will require different combinations and quantities of resources, which suggests various degrees of dependency on different actors.Funding Agencies|Vinnova, Sweden's innovation agency [2019-03180]; Vinnova [2019-03180] Funding Source: Vinnova</p
Etiology of Heart Failure Across the Ejection Fraction Spectrum and Association With Prognosis
No full textBackground The associations between heart failure (HF) etiology and ejection fraction (EF) category and the association between etiology and outcomes in different EF categories are poorly studied. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess differences in etiology and their impact on outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Methods Patients enrolled in SwedeHF (Swedish Heart Failure Registry) between April 2010 and December 2023 were included. Patients were categorized according to HF etiology (ischemic, valvular, hypertensive, dilated cardiomyopathy, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and other) and EF category. The primary outcome was the composite of time to all-cause death and first HF hospitalization. Logistic multinominal regression was used to assess the association between HF etiology and EF category, and Cox regression was used to assess the association between etiology and outcome within each EF category. Results Among 73,769 patients with HF (53% HFrEF, 25% HFmrEF, and 22% HFpEF; 38% ischemic, 8% valvular, 25% hypertensive, and 29% other), ischemic etiology was independently associated with HFrEF and HFmrEF, while hypertensive and valvular etiologies were associated with HFpEF. In HFrEF, ischemic etiology was associated with the primary outcome in comparison with all other 3 etiologies. In HFmrEF, hypertensive etiology was associated with first HF hospitalization (HR: 1.10 [95% CI: 1.03-1.19]). In HFpEF, valvular etiology was associated with first HF hospitalization (HR: 1.11 [95% CI: 1.02-1.22]). Conclusions Ischemic etiology was dominant in HFrEF and HFmrEF, while valvular and hypertensive etiologies dominated in HFpEF. Etiologies most associated with death/HF hospitalization were ischemic in HFrEF, hypertensive in HFmrEF, and valvular in HFpEF. (JACC Heart Fail. 2025;13:102491) (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Funding Agencies|AstraZeneca; Menarini Foundation; Swedish Medical Society; Roche Diagnostics; Bayer; Vifor; Boehringer Ingelheim; Servier; Medtronic; Abbott; Stockholm County Council [20170112, 20190525]; Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation [20220524]; Swedish Research Council [523-2014-2336]; Swedish Society for Medical Research [SG-23-0142-B]; Swedish Society of Medicine [987010]; Karolinska Institutet; Swedish Heart Lung Foundation [20150557, 20190310]; Merck Sharpe and Dohme; OrionPharma</p
Gender differences in commuting distance: A temporal analysis of changes and (Un)explained gaps
No full textWe examine the gender gap in commuting distance over time. We show that the gender gap in commuting distance has decreased less than the wage earnings gap. This holds true also for singles without children, where an uneven division of household duties should not be a factor. In 1998, the lion's share of the gender gap in commuting distance, conditional on effective job density, could be attributed to job specialization and women's higher marginal cost of commuting due to their higher share of unpaid work. However, by 2017, the influence of these factors has diminished, resulting in a growing "unexplained" gender gap in commuting distance
Digitalising biodiversity: Exploring perceptions on risks and opportunities
No full textSocietal Impact StatementDigitalisation is transforming biodiversity conservation, offering new opportunities for research, governance and public engagement. Herbarium digitisation, for example, enables large-scale access to plant data, supporting conservation, restoration and sustainable use. However, digitalisation raises concerns about equity, data ownership and benefit-sharing, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. This study analyses biodiversity reports, surveys and interviews with experts and participants at the international biodiversity negotiations. It explores diverse perspectives on biodiversity digitalisation worldwide to inform more inclusive and transparent governance, supporting democratic decision-making, equitable data access and fair benefits distribution across global biodiversity actors.Summary This study examines biodiversity actors' perspectives on the opportunities and risks of biodiversity digitalisation, with a particular focus on views about herbaria digitisation. Understanding herbaria digitisation in the broader context of governance and digital transformation is crucial as societies become increasingly digitalised and biodiversity actors expand their roles. Ultimately, this study is grounded in the assumption that fostering a deeper understanding of perspectives is essential for enhancing the inclusivity, legitimacy and effectiveness of digital tools in biodiversity action. Our mixed-methods approach combined (1) semantic analysis of 103 national reports submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity, (2) an on-site survey of 510 COP16 participants and an online survey with 61 biodiversity experts and (3) 29 in-depth interviews with participants at COP16. Statistical and qualitative analyses identified patterns in perceptions and experiences. Findings reveal broad support for biodiversity digitalisation across all country and income groups, particularly for enhancing monitoring, accessibility and decision-making. The primary risk identified was the potential exclusion of Indigenous Peoples' knowledge. Concerns also emerged about data ownership, data exploitation and biodiversity commodification, necessitating inclusive governance frameworks for equitable digitalisation. While digitalisation presents unprecedented opportunities for biodiversity worldwide, it also raises concerns about deepening inequalities and reinforcing culturally hegemonic knowledge systems. Findings underscore the need for inclusive governance, responsible innovation, digital literacy and equitable benefit-sharing to enhance the benefits of digitised herbaria and ensure biodiversity digitalisation contributes to global conservation goals without marginalising stakeholders.Funding Agencies|Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research Council Formas through the project 'Seeing, Knowing and Acting in the Climate-Biodiversity Nexus [2022-01784]; Swedish Research Council [2019-05191, 2024-04303]; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research MISTRA; RBG Kew Development; [2022.0064]</p
Influence of Cargo Size on Membrane-Active Peptide-Triggered Release from Liposomes
No full textOver the past decades, liposomes have shown promising results, especially as drug delivery systems in cancer therapy. They can overcome limitations of traditional treatments (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy) by improving drug pharmacokinetics, protecting healthy cells, and enabling targeted drug delivery. Liposomes, with their bilayer structure and hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, can encapsulate both water- and fat-soluble drugs. Their small size allows them to penetrate tissues, while their stability and enhanced circulation time lead to drug accumulation at tumor sites. Research at Linköping University is currently striving to design a peptide-covered liposomal drug delivery system where controlled release can be triggered by peptide cleavage of cancerspecific proteases, enabling targeted therapy with fewer side effects and reduced dosing frequency. The aim of this project was to investigate how molecular size affects the encapsulation and release behavior of cargo molecules in liposomes, to support the development of more personalized drug delivery systems. Fluorescently labeled molecules of different sizes (carboxyfluorescein [CF], fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran [FITC-D], and VPM peptide) were used as model molecules. Liposomes were prepared by thin-film hydration and extrusion, purified by Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), characterized by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), and release kinetics were monitored using fluorescence spectroscopy. Results showed CF and VPM were successfully encapsulated and released, while FITC-D showed limitations due to separation challenges. This suggests that the peptide coated liposomes show potential to be used to deliver both small drugs such as doxorubicin but also larger peptide drugs.
Open Anterior Mesh Repair vs Modified Open Anterior Mesh Repair for Groin Hernia in Women A Randomized Clinical Trial
No full textImportance Most women in low- and middle-income countries lack access to laparoscopic methods for groin hernia repair; therefore, an open technique through which both inguinal and femoral hernias can be treated is needed. This could be an option in the absence or inability to use laparoscopic methods. Objective To determine the safety and effectiveness of open anterior mesh (OAM) repair compared with modified open anterior mesh (MOAM) repair, which includes opening the transversalis fascia and covering the femoral canal with a mesh flap. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a parallel, 2-arm, double-blind, randomized clinical trial conducted in Northern Uganda, in East Africa, at 2 public hospitals between October 2019 and February 2023. Included in the study were adult women 18 years and older with a primary groin hernia, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I or II, and the ability to give informed consent. Interventions OAM in the control arm and MOAM in the intervention arm. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was groin hernia recurrence 1 year postoperatively. Results A total of 200 participants (mean [SD] age, 52.7 [14.0] years) were included in the study; 99 (49.5%) were allocated to OAM repair, and 101 (50.5%) were allocated to MOAM repair. Nearly 45% of the participants (89 of 200) had a femoral hernia; therefore, 35 of 99 participants (35.4%) in the control arm received the intervention procedure. One year postoperatively, the overall recurrence was 5.6% (11 of 195 participants), and the intention-to-treat analysis showed that 4 of 97 participants (4.1%) in the control arm and 7 of 98 participants (7.1%) in the intervention arm had recurrence (absolute difference = -3.0 percentage points; 95% CI, -9.5 to 3.4; P = .36). Conclusions and Relevance Results of this randomized clinical trial demonstrate that the MOAM repair was a good option for groin hernia repair in women in low-resource settings. Femoral hernias were very common in the study population, and exposure of the femoral canal was essential to detect these hernias.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council</p