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Diamond Chemistry: Advances and Perspectives
No full textDiamond as a material has many unique properties. Its high optical dispersion, extraordinarily high mechanical strength, and unparalleled thermal conductivity have long made it a material of interest for applications such as high-temperature electronics and as wear-resistance coatings. More recently, diamond has emerged as a material with a wide range of applications in chemistry and biology. The high intrinsic stability of diamond, coupled with the ability to modify diamond surfaces with a wide range of inorganic, organic, and biological species via highly stable covalent linkages, provides a wealth of opportunity to couple diamond's chemical properties with its extraordinary physical properties. The practical utility of diamond has been greatly expanded in recent years through dramatic advances in the ability to produce diamond in bulk, thin film, and nanoparticle form, with controlled doping and purity at modest cost. These advances, together with diamond's highly stable and tunable surface chemistry with versatility of physical structure enable a wide range of emerging applications of interest to chemists, including quantum science, biomedicine, energy storage, and catalysis. Yet, to fully exploit the unique properties of diamond, some formidable chemical challenges lie ahead.We begin by reviewing some of the features of diamond that are of particular importance to the chemistry community. We aim to highlight some of the important applications where diamond chemistry plays a key role, identify some of the key observations, and outline some of the future directions and opportunities for diamond in the chemical world.N.Y. thanks the financial support from the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Founda-tion) under the project of 457444676. A.K. thanks the GermanScience Foundation, Projects 501932605 and 501934692, theBMBF Cluster4Future QSens, and the European Commissionfor projects SUNGATE (101122061) and DIACAT (665085),and the QPhoton Center of the Carl Zeiss Foundation for thesupport of our research. Contributions by R.J.H. are basedon material supported by the National Science Foundationgrants DMR-1904106, CHE-1839174, and CHE-2001611 forsupport of research in diamond-based electron emission, inquantum chemical sensing, and in nanoscale probing of thenanoparticles in the environment, respectively.Open access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEA
Prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of subclinical vasculitis in polymyalgia rheumatica: a retrospective cohort study
No full textObjectives: Two recent meta-analyses reported subclinical vasculitis in 22-23% of patients with PMR. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of subclinical vasculitis among our PMR patients. Methods: Consecutive patients with GCA/PMR spectrum disease with isolated PMR symptoms who underwent FDG PET imaging between 2003 and 2020 and who were followed for ≥6 months, were included retrospectively. Vasculitis was defined as FDG uptake ≥grade 2 in any vessel. Results: We included 337 patients, of whom 31 (9%) with subclinical vasculitis. Among those with subclinical vasculitis, 21 (58%) had isolated large vessel vasculitis, 3 (10%) had isolated cranial vasculitis and 7 (23%) had both cranial and large vessel vasculitis. The glucocorticoid (GC) starting dose and GC doses during follow-up were higher in those with subclinical vasculitis until 12 months after diagnosis (P < 0.001). There was no difference in the duration of GC treatment (25 vs 20 months, P ¼ 0.187). Cox proportional hazard regression analyses showed no difference in the proportion of patients able to stop GC (HR 0.78 [95% CI 0.49-1.25], P ¼ 0.303) and in the proportion of patients with relapse (HR 0.82 [95%CI 0.50-1.36], P ¼ 0.441). Conclusion: Only 9% of our PMR patients had subclinical vasculitis with a predilection for large vessel vasculitis. There were no differences in relapse rate and duration of GC treatment, however, those with subclinical vasculitis received higher GC doses until 12 months after diagnosis. Prospective interventional trials are needed to evaluate the outcome of PMR patients with and without subclinical vasculitis treated with a similar GC protocol.No specific funding was received from any bodies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors to carry out the work described in this article. Disclosure statement: L.M.: Abbvie, Roche; L.B.: none; A.B.: none; T.M.: none; G.M.: none; K.V.L.: none; E.D.L.: AC immune, Actelion, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Novartis, Otsuka; S.V.: none; D.B.: Eli Lily, GSK, Roche
Back muscle characteristics to tailor exercise therapy for low back pain: study protocol and preliminary results of the “Back-to-Back” proof of concept study
No full textNon-specific low back pain (NSLBP) is the leading cause of disability. People with NSLBP exhibit alterations in their lumbar muscle characteristics and proprioceptive postural control (PPC). Defining shared underlying mechanisms and guiding treatment based on them may improve the limited effects of current treatments. This study will define the most distinctive lumbar muscle characteristics among people with NSLBP and healthy controls, and examine their interrelatedness and correlation with PPC to delineate NSLBP phenotypes. The effects of a proprioceptive intervention on these phenotypes will be investigated.
In 53 people with recurrent NSLBP and 47 healthy controls, the characteristics of the lumbar multifidus and erector spinae muscles will be investigated and compared. To evaluate PPC, ankle and back muscle vibration are applied during standing on stable and unstable ground with vision occluded. The vibration-induced Center of Pressure (COP) displacements are measured with a force plate and used to calculate relative proprioceptive reliance. Muscle activation and oxygenation are measured with electromyography and near-infrared spectroscopy, respectively, and muscle volume with 3D freehand ultrasound. The 53 people with NSLBP participate in a 16-week proprioceptive intervention, integrated into their daily lives and comprising a high-load lifting exercise. Its effects are evaluated midway, at the end and 16 weeks after the end of-intervention.
Recruitment is in progress and preliminary descriptive results of the five enrolled participants with NSLBP on PPC comprise an increase in back vibration induced COP displacement (Pre: 0.018 ± 0.011; Post: 0.020 ±0.012 stable and Pre: 0.015 ± 0.013; Post: 0.021 ± 0.009 unstable) at the end of intervention and an increased lumbar proprioceptive reliance at midway (Pre: 0.69 ± 0.04; Post: 0.46 ± 0.30 stable and Pre: 0.58 ± 0.13; Post: 0.44 ± 0.31 unstable) and end (Post: 0.40 ± 0.30 stable and Post: 0.34 ± 0.16 unstable) of intervention.
This proprioceptive intervention improved PPC, based on preliminary results. It increased the use of lumbar proprioception, leading to a shift from dominance in ankle proprioception to lumbar. The lumbar muscle characteristics and their correlation with PPC will be examined and the effects of this intervention on the delineated NSLBP phenotypes will be assessed. Patient-tailored exercise therapy for NSLBP may benefit from these results.Research Foundation Flanders - FWO (grant G072122N
Enhanced Recovery After Craniotomy: Global Practices, Challenges, and Perspectives
No full textThe global demand for hospital care, driven by population growth and medical advances, emphasizes the importance of optimized resource management. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols aim to expedite patient recovery and reduce health care costs without compromising patient safety or satisfaction. Its principles have been adopted in various surgical specialties but have not fully encompassed all areas of neurosurgery, including craniotomy. ERAS for craniotomy has been shown to reduce the length of hospital stay and costs without increasing complications. ERAS protocols may also reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting and perioperative opioid requirements, highlighting their potential to enhance patient outcomes and health care efficiency. Despite these benefits, guidelines, and strategies for ERAS in craniotomy remain limited. This narrative review explores the current global landscape of ERAS for craniotomy, assessing existing literature and highlighting knowledge gaps. Experts from 26 countries with diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds contributed to this review, offering insights about current ERAS protocol applications, implementation challenges, and future perspectives, and providing a comprehensive global overview of ERAS for craniotomy. Representatives from all 6 World Health Organization geographical world areas reported that barriers to the implementation of ERAS for craniotomy include the absence of standardized protocols, provider resistance to change, resource constraints, insufficient education, and research scarcity. This review emphasizes the necessity of tailored ERAS protocols for low and middle-income countries, addressing differences in available resources. Acknowledging limitations in subjectivity and article selection, this review provides a comprehensive overview of ERAS for craniotomy from a global perspective and underscores the need for adaptable ERAS protocols tailored to specific health care systems and countries
Urinary parabens, advanced glycation end products and blood pressure in children: a longitudinal cohort study
No full textBackground: Paraben exposure and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have both been linked to cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension. However, the association between parabens and AGEs has not been studied yet. Parabens could affect blood pressure (BP) via AGEs. Methods: In this longitudinal study, urinary paraben concentrations [methyl (MeP), ethyl (EtP), propyl (PrP), butyl (BuP)] were measured in preschool children from the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. BP and AGEs, assessed with skin-autofluorescence (SAF) zscores, were measured at baseline (4 years) and six years later in 83 children (166 observations). First, generalized linear mixed models and quantile g-computation were applied to assess associations and mixture effects of parabens with AGEs and with BP. Next, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to disentangle timespecific effects in these associations and explore the role of AGEs as mediators in the relationship between parabens and BP. Results: We observed an inverse association between the paraben mixture and AGEs ((3 = -0.30 per quantile increase; 95 % CI: -0.55, -0.042), driven by PrP with the strongest negative weight. Single-pollutant models confirmed this association for PrP ((3 = -0.15; 95 % CI: -2.51, -0.049). SEM revealed direct effects of parabens on systolic blood pressure at 4 years (est.std. = 0.50; 95 % Boot CI: 0.10, 0.82). AGEs mediated an inverse indirect effect of parabens on DBP at 10 years ((3 = -0.21; 95 % Boot CI: -0.41, -0.05). Conclusions: Early-life paraben exposure, particularly PrP, is associated with AGEs and blood pressure, warranting further investigation into long-term consequences.The ENVIRONAGE birth cohort is supported by the Methusalem Fund of the Flemish Government, Belgium, the Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium (FWO, grant numbers 1516112N, G.0873.11.N.10, G026222N), the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, European Union, for the STOP project (Grant No. 774548H2020), and Kom op Tegen Kanker, Belgium.the Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium financially supported RA (FWO grant number 1296523N). MP has received funding from the Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (BOF) of Hasselt University, Belgium. The authors are very grateful to the participating parents and children, as well as the staff of the maternity ward, midwives, and the staff of the clinical laboratory of East-Limburg Hospital in Genk
Sex differences in the association between long-term ambient particulate air pollution and the intestinal microbiome composition of children
No full textThe intestinal microbiome is essential for gastrointestinal and overall health, yet its response to air pollution in children remains underexplored. In a study involving 412 young children from the ENVIRONAGE cohort, stool samples were analysed via Illumina Miseq sequencing to assess microbiome alpha diversity (observed richness, species evenness, and Shannon diversity) and composition. Exposure to previous year particulate air pollution (black carbon, PM2.5, coarse PM, and PM10) was modeled using high-resolution spatial-temporal interpolation models. Multiple linear regression models were adjusted for a priori selected covariables and stratified by sex. Furthermore, we performed a differential relative abundance analysis at family and genus level, while accounting for the same covariables. Statistically significant effect modification by sex was apparent for several intestinal alpha diversity indices and air pollutants. In boys, we observed negative associations between particulate air pollution exposure and intestinal microbiome richness (estimates ranging from -5.55 to -9.06 per interquartile range (IQR) increase in particulate air pollution exposure) and Shannon diversity (estimates ranging from -0.058 to -0.095 per IQR increase). Differently, in girls non-significant positive associations were observed with species evenness (estimates ranging from 0.019 to 0.020 per IQR increase) and Shannon diversity (estimate 0.065 per IQR increase in black carbon). After multiple testing correction, we reported several bacterial families and genera (Streptococcaceae, Clostridiales Incertae Sedis XIII, Coriobacteriaceae, Streptococcus, and Paraprevotella) to be oppositely associated with particulate air pollution exposure in boys and girls. Our findings show a sex-dependent association between particulate air pollution exposure and intestinal microbiome composition, highlighting boys as potentially more vulnerable to diversity loss associated with childhood exposure to particulate pollution.The ENVIRONAGE birth cohort was initiated by ERC grant (ERC2012-StG.310898) and the current work is supported by grants from the Interuniversity Special Research Fund (iBOF) (grant number 01IB1320, FLEXiGUT). Tim S. Nawrot is a Methusalem grant holder. Thessa Van Pee holds a doctoral fellowship from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), grant number: 11C7421N. We thank all mother-child pairs for participating in the stud
Response to “Comments on the article “Physiotherapy-led care versus physician-led care for persons with low back pain: A systematic review” by Severijns et al. (Clin Rehabil. 2024 Dec;38(12):1571-1589)
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Meet-in-the-middle meets multi-omics identifying molecular signatures of environmental drivers of childhood overweight
No full textBackground: Obesity is a multi-cause chronic disease recognized across the lifespan, with childhood obesity prevalence rising over the past decades. Although exposome-wide association studies have identified early-life environmental drivers of child obesity, and explored the multi-omics signatures of the exposome of children, it is understudied whether the combined effects of multiple exposures are potentially mediated by multi-omics. Methods: Within the Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) project, 1041 mother-child pairs were surveyed for a wide range of environmental exposures including over 354 prenatal and childhood exposures. Multi-omics molecular features were measured during childhood, encompassing the blood methylome and transcriptome, plasma proteins and urinary and serum metabolites. Exposome and multi-omics features were integrated into latent factors by Multi-omics Factor Analysis, based on which structural equation modelling was used to assess whether multi-omics mediated associations between exposome and child body mass index (BMI). Results: Key findings included: (i) prenatal nutrition, exercise, and passive smoking influencing BMI via DNA methylation of HOXA5 and Tenascin XB; (ii) childhood exposure to PCBs and phenols linked with BMI through inflammation and coagulation pathways; and (iii) childhood PCB and dietary exposures associated with BMI via immune pathways. Conclusions: This novel untargeted workflow elucidated biological mechanisms linking environmental exposures to child obesity, potentially supporting targeted public health interventions.We would like to thank all the families for their generous contribution. The study has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, European Union, under grant agreement No 874583 (ATHLETE project). Data were collected as part of the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/ 2007-206), European Union, under grant agreement no 308333 (HELIX project). BiB is supported by a joint grant from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and UK Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) (MR/N024391/1), United Kingdom; the British Heart Foundation (CS/16/4/32482), United Kingdom; a Wellcome Infrastructure Grant (WT101597MA), United Kingdom; the National Institute for Health Research under its Applied Research Collaboration for Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR200166), United Kingdom. The National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network, United Kingdom, provided research delivery support for this study. INMA data collections were supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERESP,
and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT, Spain. KANC was funded by the grant of the Lithuanian Agency for Science Innovation and Technology (6-04-2014_31V-66), Lithuania. The Norwegian Mother, Father and
Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health
and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research, Norway.
The Rhea project was financially supported by European projects (EU
FP6-2003-Food-3-NewGeneris, EU FP6. STREP Hiwate, EU FP7
ENV.2007.1.2.2.2. Project No 211250 Escape, EU FP7-2008-ENV1.2.1.4 Envirogenomarkers, EU FP7-HEALTH-2009- single stage
CHICOS, EU FP7 ENV.2008.1.2.1.6. Proposal No 226285 ENRIECO, EUFP7- HEALTH-2012 Proposal No 308333 HELIX, European Union), and
the Greek Ministry of Health, Greece (Program of Prevention of obesity
and neurodevelopmental disorders in preschool children, in Heraklion
district, Crete, Greece: 2011-2014; “Rhea Plus”: Primary Prevention
Program of Environmental Risk Factors for Reproductive Health, and
Child Health: 2012-15). The CRG/UPF Proteomics Unit is part of the
Spanish National Infrastructure for Omics Sciences (ICTS OmicsTech),
Spain.
Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO), Beligum, financially supported R. A. (grant number 1296523N) and D. S.
M. (grant number 12X9623N). L. M. is funded by a Juan de la CiervaIncorporacion ´ fellowship (IJC2018-035394-I) awarded by the Spanish
Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Spain. M. V.-U. and
C. R.-A. were supported by a FI fellowship from the Catalan Government
(FI-DGR 2015 and #016FI_B 00272), Spain. M. Casas received funding
from Instituto Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness),
Spain (CD12/00563 and MS16/00128)
Coercion and Consent under Techno-Economic Despotism: Workers' Alienation and 'Liberation' in the Amazon Warehouse
No full textThis article explores the role of subjectivity in workers' control in warehouses. Relying on Marx's theory of the alienated subject under capitalism, we analyse the narratives of Polish Amazon workers to understand how alienating work produces a contradictory consenting subject. Workers are both estranged from the labour process, commodities, social relations and themselves, and simultaneously reconstituted as agents with new potentialities. Reflecting Marx's 'civilising' dimension of capitalism, they are reconstituted as sellers of labour, consumers, individuals deserving respect and holders of legal rights. This transformation elicits workers' consent to alienating work conditions because these new possibilities depend on such conditions. Our study advances discussions of control in global warehousing by highlighting how workers' consent operates alongside coercion. It also advances our understanding of consent by showing that it is not merely a coping mechanism for meaningless work but rather emerges from workers' integration into capitalist relations.Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: We would like to acknowledge the funding Miłosz Miszczyński received from the National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. 2019/35/B/HS4/04136 and Patrizia Zanoni received from the Research Foundation Flanders # G0L0422N CHANSE-840-HuLog
Acknowledgements
We would like to express gratitude to Work, Employment and Society editor Knut Laaser and the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and guidance throughout the review process. This article also benefitted from the feedback received in the sub-theme ‘Re-organizing Imperfections at Work: Negotiating Power and Control in Employment Relations’ at the 38th EGOS Colloquium in Vienna in 2022