Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tor E. Eriksen, John E. Brittain, Geir Soli, Dean Jacobsen, Peter Goethals, Nikolai Friberg
Summary: This study provides a first global overview of methods used to assess the environmental quality of rivers and streams using macroinvertebrates. By reviewing literature from developing economies, the study found that macroinvertebrates were successful in detecting degradation of environmental quality in rivers. A global common metric is proposed for river assessment, comprising three common river assessment metrics from literature review, emphasizing the urgent need for attention to riverine environmental quality.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ali Kizgin, Danina Schmidt, Adriano Joss, Juliane Hollender, Eberhard Morgenroth, Cornelia Kienle, Miriam Langer
Summary: Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of micropollutants to surface waters. Continuous assessment of wastewater composition is currently not feasible due to the labor and cost-intensive nature of the process. This study demonstrates the potential of automated real-time biological early warning systems for wastewater surveillance.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Afshin Anssari-Benam, Yuan-Tsan Tseng, Martino Pani, Andrea Bucchi
Summary: A theoretical framework is presented to model the rate-dependent mechanical behavior of the aortic heart valve. The proposed model is shown to provide favorable predictions when compared to experimental data, and it allows the incorporation of the rate of deformation as an explicit modeling variable.
JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sergey Kolesnikov, Tatiana Minnikova, Natalya Tsepina, Natalya Evstegneeva, Alena Timoshenko
Summary: Soil contamination with rare heavy metals such as silver, bismuth, tellurium, and thallium disrupts agricultural and ecological functions. The ecotoxicity of these metals was assessed using biological indicators in a laboratory simulation experiment. The length of wheat roots and total number of bacteria were the most sensitive indicators during contamination with oxides and nitrates, respectively. Azotobacter sp. abundance was the most informative indicator for contamination with both forms of the rare elements. Thallium and tellurium were found to be the most ecotoxic elements.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marine Uguen, Sylvie M. Gaudron, Katy R. Nicastro, Gerardo I. Zardi, Nicolas Spilmont, Laurent Seuront
Summary: Both individual and collective anti-predator behaviors are important for the survival of many species, including intertidal mussels. Plastic pollution, especially microplastics, can disrupt these behaviors and indirectly affect predation risk. This study found that microplastic leachates affected the collective behaviors and anti-predator responses of small and large mussels, with small mussels showing taxis towards conspecifics and stronger aggregations in the presence of microplastics. All mussels responded to predator cues, but with different collective anti-predator behaviors. These behavioral changes may increase predation risk and have implications for the species and structure of intertidal ecosystems.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ilaria Caliani, Tommaso Campani, Barbara Conti, Francesca Cosci, Stefano Bedini, Antonella D'Agostino, Laura Giovanetti, Agata Di Noi, Silvia Casini
Summary: The study assessed the ecotoxicological status of honeybees in different environments and found that bees from the orchard and cultivated area were most affected by environmental contaminants, while bees from the urban area showed signs of immunosuppression.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
David B. Kelleghan, Luke 'Callaghan, Freddie Huggard, Paul R. Brooks
Summary: Coastal ecosystems are facing increasing pressure from anthropogenic sources, including heavy metal pollution and invasive species. This study compared the resilience of an invasive oyster and a native mussel to heavy metal pollution, using their valve gape response as an indicator. The results showed that mussels were more responsive to pollution events than oysters, with significant effects observed for lead and cadmium. Oysters, on the other hand, displayed no significant difference in their response to the treatments. Further studies are needed to quantify this relative resilience using mesocosm or field studies.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Fabio Fazzari, Andrea Baggiano, Laura Fusini, Sarah Ghulam Ali, Paola Gripari, Daniele Junod, Maria Elisabetta Mancini, Riccardo Maragna, Saima Mushtaq, Gianluca Pontone, Mauro Pepi, Manuela Muratori
Summary: Biological valve failure (BVF) is a condition that compromises the durability of biological heart valves, resulting in valve dysfunction. Diagnostic modalities such as echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, cardiac magnetic resonance, and nuclear imaging play vital roles in diagnosing BVF. Early detection and appropriate management of BVF are crucial for improving patient prognosis and overall quality of life. Timely intervention and tailored treatments can alleviate the burden of BVF on patients and enhance medical professionals' ability to manage the condition effectively.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Emiliano A. Rodriguez-Caulo, Oscar R. Blanco-Herrera, Elisabet Berastegui, Javier Arias-Dachary, Souhayla Souaf-Khalafi, Gertrudis Parody-Cuerda, Gregorio Laguna
Summary: This study compared the long-term outcomes of biological and mechanical prostheses for aortic valve replacement in patients aged 50 to 65. The results showed no significant difference in long-term survival between the two groups, but patients with mechanical prostheses had a higher risk of major bleeding while those with biological prostheses had a higher reoperation rate. Therefore, for patients in this age group in Spain, biological prostheses may be a reasonable choice.
JOURNAL OF THORACIC AND CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Romain Lavaud, Guillaume Durier, Jean-Bruno Nadalini, Ramon Filgueira, Luc A. Comeau, Jose M. F. Babarro, Sonia Michaud, Michael Scarratt, Rejean Tremblay
Summary: The study found that mussels exposed to toxic dinoflagellates accumulated toxins and reduced toxin levels after a seven-week depuration period. Physiological indicators of mussels exposed to toxic algae significantly decreased, including respiration rate and valve opening behavior. Mussels affected by toxic algae also produced fewer byssal threads.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Zhaoquan Yu, Jian Hao
Summary: This study investigates the association between real-time heart rate and prosocial behavior in 60 adults. The results show a peak in heart rate during the prosocial decision-making stage and an inverted U-shaped relationship between heart rate and altruistic prosocial behavior for individuals with higher perceived stress. These findings suggest that real-time physiological arousal and subjective experience jointly determine altruistic prosocial behavior.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tania Opitz, Samanta Benitez, Carolina Fernandez, Sebastian Osores, Jorge M. Navarro, Araceli Rodriguez-Romero, Karin B. Lohrmann, Marco A. Lardies
Summary: The study found that higher environmental concentrations of microplastics had minimal impact on the energy balance of giant mussels, but could potentially affect their health status.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Review
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Walid Kamal Abdelbasset, Saud M. Alrawaili, Ahmed M. Osailan, Ahmed Abdelmoniem Ibrahim, Gaber S. Soliman, Ahmed M. Abodonya
Summary: Valvular heart disease presents a clinical challenge, and heart valve tissue engineering offers potential solutions. Polysaccharides as scaffolding biomaterials have widespread applications in HVTE.
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Chaoran Liang, Shuang Liu, Xiaoru Wanyan, Chengping Liu, Xu Xiao, Yuchen Min
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of input method and display mode on the performance of Early Warning Aircraft reconnaissance tasks. The results suggest that a touch screen requires greater task completion time and physical demands than mouse operation, but it facilitates information processing by reducing average fixation time. Color mode decreases saccade counts compared to grayscale mode and is more suitable for target search tasks with less visual search load. High information complexity negatively affects behavior performance and subjective workload, and interacts significantly with input method in fixation and saccade counts.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF AERONAUTICS
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Nathalie Donis, Zheshen Jiang, Celine D'Emal, Alexia Hulin, Margaux Debuisson, Raluca Dulgheru, Mai-Linh Nguyen, Adriana Postolache, Francois Lallemand, Philippe Coucke, Philippe Martinive, Marielle Herzog, Dorian Pamart, Jason Terrell, Joel Pincemail, Pierre Drion, Philippe Delvenne, Alain Nchimi, Patrizio Lancellotti, Cecile Oury
Summary: The study investigated the effects of dietary cholesterol, palmitic acid, and cardiac irradiation on vascular and valvular lesions in a rabbit model of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The results showed that a cholesterol-enriched diet led to aortic wall thickening, immune cell infiltration, and aortic valve calcification, while a lard-enriched diet induced massive aorta and aortic valve calcification without immune cell infiltration. The addition of cardiac irradiation to the cholesterol diet resulted in more calcification and immune cell infiltrates in the atheroma and aortic valve. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that inflammation-related processes were mainly triggered by a cholesterol-enriched diet, which was further enhanced by cardiac irradiation. Lard-enriched diet mainly affected calcification- and muscle-related processes. Early biomarkers of cholesterol-induced tissue alterations were identified, and cardiac irradiation led to elevated levels of circulating nucleosomes. In conclusion, this study highlights the specificities related to common risk factors underlying CVD.
FRONTIERS IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE
(2022)