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Olivine formation processes and fluid pathways in subducted serpentinites revealed by in-situ oxygen isotope analysis (Zermatt-Saas, Switzerland)
Get PDFDehydration of serpentinites plays a crucial role in mass transfer into the Earth's interior by releasing aqueous fluids and forming new minerals. These minerals, such as metamorphic olivine, can serve as tracers of fluid-related processes. High-pressure (HP) antigorite, metamorphic olivine, and coexisting magnetite in serpentinites from a continuous, km-scale outcrop within the Zermatt-Saas HP ophiolite were analyzed in situ for trace elements and oxygen isotopes to identify differences in the initial serpentinization conditions and to investigate fluid pathways during subduction-related metamorphism. The oxygen isotopic composition, and As and Sb concentrations in antigorite reveal two distinct serpentinization conditions within the studied region: i) high As and Sb (1–25 μg/g and 0.5–5 μg/g, respectively), coupled with δ18O of +6 to +7 ‰, suggesting serpentinization at relatively low temperatures near the seafloor, and ii) low As and Sb (0.03–5 μg/g and ≤ 0.1 μg/g, respectively), coupled with mostly lower δ18O of +4 to +6 ‰, suggesting serpentinization at higher temperatures by interaction with fluids deeper below the seafloor.
Olivine produced in situ by the brucite + antigorite dehydration reaction during subduction shows isotopic equilibrium with antigorite, and coexisting magnetite with ∆18OAtg-Ol of +1.5–2.5 ‰ and ∆18OOl-Mt of ∼+3 ‰ at reaction temperature conditions of 550–600 °C. The obtained isotopic signatures of metamorphic olivine with δ18O values of +1 to +2 ‰ and + 4 to +5 ‰ correspond to two different isotopic compositions of the released fluid of +5 to +6 ‰ and + 8 to +9 ‰ at these temperature conditions. This suggests that fluids released from subducted serpentinites may have variable δ18O under forearc conditions. The presence of fluids with variable δ18O can cause olivine in structures associated with fluid flow (e.g., shear bands, shear zones and veins) to be in isotopic equilibrium with magnetite, but in either isotopic equilibrium or disequilibrium with antigorite. Isotopic equilibrium with antigorite is achieved when the fluid responsible for olivine crystallization is internally derived. Isotopic disequilibrium is due to an externally derived fluid released by dehydration of serpentinite with a different isotopic composition than the serpentinite with which the fluid interacts. The restricted occurrence of non-equilibrated olivine only in shear bands and nearly pure Ol-veins indicates channelized fluid flow in subduction zone settings and demonstrates that isotopic disequilibrium can be used as a tracer for fluid infiltration
Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment for portal hypertension: not yet ready for clinical practice!
No full textNew window into hepatitis B in Africa: Liver sampling combined with single cell omics enables deep and longitudinal assessment of intrahepatic immunity in Zambia.
Get PDFIn Lusaka, Zambia, we introduced liver fine needle aspiration (FNA) into a research cohort of adults with treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, with and without HIV coinfection, as well as with acute HBV infection. Over 117 enrollment and 47 longitudinal FNAs (at 1 year follow-up), we established participant acceptability and safety. We also demonstrated the quality of the material through single cell RNA sequencing of selected enrollment FNAs, which revealed a range of immune cells. This approach can drive new insights into HBV immunology, informing cure strategies, and can improve our understanding of HBV natural history in Africa
Isolation and Structure Determination of Drought-Induced Multihexose Benzoxazinoids from Maize (Zea mays).
Get PDFBenzoxazinoids (BXDs) are plant specialized metabolites exerting a pivotal role in plant nutrition, allelopathy, and defenses. Multihexose benzoxazinoids were previously observed in cereal-based food products such as whole-grain bread. However, their production in plants and exact structure have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we showed that drought induced the production of di-, tri-, and even tetrahexose BXDs in maize roots and leaves. We performed an extensive nuclear magnetic resonance study and elucidated the nature and linkage of the sugar units, which were identified as gentiobiose units β-linked (1″ → 6') for the dihexoses and (1″ → 6')/(1‴ → 6″) for the trihexoses. Drought induced the production of DIMBOA-2Glc, DIMBOA-3Glc, HMBOA-2Glc, HMBOA-3Glc, and HDMBOA-2Glc. The induction was common among several maize lines and the strongest in seven-day-old seedlings. This work provides ground to further characterize the BXD synthetic pathway, its relevance in maize-environment interactions, and its impact on human health
Which context matters? Analysing team and club contextual conditions of member commitment in voluntary sports clubs
Get PDFVoluntary sports clubs (VSC) face the challenges of dropouts and unstable membership. Studies have analysed member commitment—that is, the decision to remain in a club—regarding individual member characteristics and structural club conditions. To date, studies have not considered the team context, even though most members participate in teams or training groups. To address this research gap, this study analysed the role of team and club contexts in VSC member commitment. This study applies an innovative three-level model to a sample of 1395 Swiss football club members selected from 138 teams across 42 clubs. This study highlights the relevance of the team context, where pronounced goals of sporting success are detrimental, and a culture of mutual respect benefits member commitment. Based on this study, the team context should be included in theoretical and empirical models of member action in sport clubs
Current Spectrum and Outcomes of Infarct-Related Cardiogenic Shock: Insights from the CULPRIT-SHOCK Registry and RCT.
No full textBACKGROUND
We analysed consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS) who were enrolled into the CULPRIT-SHOCK randomized controlled trial (RCT) and those with exclusion criteria who were included into the accompanying registry.
METHODS
In total, 1,075 patients with infarct-related CS were screened for CULPRIT-SHOCK in 83 specialised centres in Europe; 369 of them had exclusion criteria for the RCT and were enrolled into the registry. Patients were followed over 1-year.
RESULTS
Mean age was 68 years and 260 (25 %) were women. 13.5 %, 30.9 %, and 55.6 % had 1-vessel, 2-vessel, and 3-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD), respectively. Significant left main (LM) coronary artery stenosis was present in 8.0 %. 54.2 % of the patients had cardiac arrest before admission. TIMI 3 patency of the infarct vessel after PCI was achieved in 83.6 % of all patients. Mechanical circulatory support was applied in one third of patients. Total mortality after 30 days and one year was 47.6 % and 52.9 %. Mortality after one year was highest in patients with LM coronary artery stenosis (63.5 %), followed by 3-vessel- (56.6 %), 2-vessel- (49.8 %), and 1-vessel-CAD (38.6 %), respectively. Mechanical complications were rare (21/1008; 2.1 %) but associated with a high mortality of 66.7 % after 1 year.
CONCLUSIONS
In specialised centres in Europe short- and long-term mortality of patients with infarct-related CS treated with an invasive strategy is still high and mainly depending on the extent of coronary artery disease. Therefore, there is still need for improvement of care to improve prognosis of infarct-related CS
Electronic Nicotine-Delivery Systems for Smoking Cessation.
Get PDFBackground: Electronic nicotine-delivery systems - also called e-cigarettes - are used by some tobacco smokers to assist with quitting. Evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of these systems is needed.
Methods: In this open-label, controlled trial, we randomly assigned adults who were smoking at least five tobacco cigarettes per day and who wanted to set a quit date to an intervention group, which received free e-cigarettes and e-liquids, standard-of-care smoking-cessation counseling, and optional (not free) nicotine-replacement therapy, or to a control group, which received standard counseling and a voucher, which they could use for any purpose, including nicotine-replacement therapy. The primary outcome was biochemically validated, continuous abstinence from smoking at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included participant-reported abstinence from tobacco and from any nicotine (including smoking, e-cigarettes, and nicotine-replacement therapy) at 6 months, respiratory symptoms, and serious adverse events.
Results: A total of 1246 participants underwent randomization; 622 participants were assigned to the intervention group, and 624 to the control group. The percentage of participants with validated continuous abstinence from tobacco smoking was 28.9% in the intervention group and 16.3% in the control group (relative risk, 1.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.43 to 2.20). The percentage of participants who abstained from smoking in the 7 days before the 6-month visit was 59.6% in the intervention group and 38.5% in the control group, but the percentage who abstained from any nicotine use was 20.1% in the intervention group and 33.7% in the control group. Serious adverse events occurred in 25 participants (4.0%) in the intervention group and in 31 (5.0%) in the control group; adverse events occurred in 272 participants (43.7%) and 229 participants (36.7%), respectively.
Conclusions: The addition of e-cigarettes to standard smoking-cessation counseling resulted in greater abstinence from tobacco use among smokers than smoking-cessation counseling alone. (Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and others; ESTxENDS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03589989.)
Non-invasive neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction using theta-burst stimulation in functional neurological disorder.
Get PDFBACKGROUND
Disrupted sense of agency (SoA)-the sense of being the agent of one's own actions-has been demonstrated in patients with functional neurological disorder (FND), and a key area of the corresponding neuronal network is the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). Several functional MRI (fMRI) studies have found hypoactivation as well as hyperactivation of the rTPJ in FND. In a proof-of-concept study, we tested whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the rTPJ could restore this aberrant activity.
METHODS
In a randomised, crossover, single-blinded, sham-controlled study design, theta-burst stimulation (tb-rTMS) was applied over the rTPJ in 23 patients with FND and 19 healthy controls (HC), with each participant undergoing three stimulatory visits (inhibitory continuous TBS (cTBS), excitatory intermittent TBS (iTBS) and sham). During fMRI, participants played a visuomotor task artificially reducing their SoA (manipulated agency, MA), repeated after each neurostimulation. We compared brain activity and behavioural SoA as primary outcomes before and after tb-rTMS and investigated the feasibility of tb-rTMS over the rTPJ in FND as secondary outcome.
RESULTS
At baseline, patients showed decreased accuracy in detecting reduced agency compared with controls (p<0.001), paralleled by lower brain activation in the rTPJ during MA (p=0.037, volume of interest). A region of interest analysis on the rTPJ showed no effect of the sham condition in FND or HC (p=0.917; p=0.375) but revealed a significant effect of stimulation protocol (cTBS/iTBS, p=0.037) in patients with FND, with the excitatory protocol increasing the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal, whereas this effect was not found in HC. In neither group, a behavioural effect of tb-rTMS was observed.
CONCLUSION
Aberrant processing of agency in FND was confirmed at baseline, reflected in behavioural outcome and reduced activity in the rTPJ. Tb-rTMS over this key region elicited neuronal changes in patients, paving ways for future studies exploring TMS as neurobiologically informed intervention to restore SoA in FND. We critically discuss methodological intricacies and outline further steps in this research line
Exploring grandparents' psychosocial responses to childhood cancer: A qualitative study.
Get PDFOBJECTIVE
A childhood cancer diagnosis is a traumatic experience for patients and their families. However, little is known about the effect on grandparents. We aimed to investigate the negative psychosocial impact, coping strategies, and positive outcomes of grandparents of childhood cancer patients in Switzerland.
METHODS
We collected data using a semi-structured interview guide and applied qualitative content analysis.
RESULTS
We conducted 20 interviews with 23 grandparents (57% female; mean age = 66.9 years; SD = 6.4; range = 57.0-82.4) of 13 affected children (69% female; mean age = 7.5 years; SD = 6.1; range = 1.0-18.9) between January 2022 and April 2023. The mean time since diagnosis was 1.0 years (SD = 0.5; range = 0.4-1.9). Grandparents were in shock and experienced strong feelings of fear and helplessness. They were particularly afraid of a relapse or late effects. The worst part for most was seeing their grandchild suffer. Many stated that their fear was always present which could lead to tension and sleep problems. To cope with these negative experiences, the grandparents used internal and external strategies, such as accepting the illness or talking to their spouse and friends. Some grandparents also reported positive outcomes, such as getting emotionally closer to family members and appreciating things that had previously been taken for granted.
CONCLUSIONS
Grandparents suffer greatly when their grandchild is diagnosed with cancer. Encouragingly, most grandparents also reported coping strategies and positive outcomes despite the challenges. Promoting coping strategies and providing appropriate resources could reduce the psychological burden of grandparents and strengthen the whole family system
The parasomnia defense in sleep-related homicide: A systematic review and a critical analysis of the medical literature.
No full textThis review critically analyzes the forensic application of the Parasomnia Defense in homicidal incidents, drawing from medical literature on disorders of arousal (DOA) and rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane databases was conducted until October 16, 2022. We screened English-language articles in peer-reviewed journals discussing murders committed during sleep with a Parasomnia Defense. We followed PRISMA guidelines, extracting event details, diagnosis methods, factors influencing the acts, perpetrator behavior, timing, motives, concealment, mental experiences, victim demographics, and court verdicts. Three sleep experts evaluated each case. We selected ten homicides, four attempted homicides, and one homicide/attempted homicide that met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Most cases were suspected DOA as unanimously confirmed by experts. RBD cases were absent. Among aggressors, a minority reported dream-like experiences. Victims were primarily female family members killed in or near the bed by hands and/or with sharp objects. Objective sleep data and important crime scene details were often missing. Verdicts were ununiform. Homicides during DOA episodes, though rare, are documented, validating the Parasomnia Defense's use in forensics. RBD-related fatal aggression seems very uncommon. However, cases often lack diagnostic clarity. We propose updated guidelines to enhance future reporting and understanding of such incidents
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