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His fame bolstered after helping to rebuild Gotham City after an earthquake, billionaire Lex Luthor decides to run for the highest office in the land, the American presidency.

The use of saliva as a biological sample has many advantages, being especially relevant in pigs where the blood collection is highly stressful and painful, both for the animal and the staff in charge of the sampling. Currently one of the main uses of saliva is for diagnosis and detection of infectious diseases, but the saliva can also be used to measure biomarkers that can provide information of stress, inflammation, immune response and redox homeostasis. This review will be focused on the analytes that can be used for such evaluations. Emphasis will be given in providing data of practical use about their physiological basis, how they can be measured, and their interpretation. In addition, some general rules regarding sampling and saliva storage are provided and the concept of sialochemistry will be addressed. There is still a need for more data and knowledge for most of these biomarkers to optimize their use, application, and interpretation. However, this review provides updated data to illustrate that besides the detection of pathogens in saliva, additional interesting applicative information regarding pigs´ welfare and health can be obtained from this fluid. Information that can potentially be applied to other animal species as well as to humans.

Chronotype is a reliable biomarker for studying the influence of external zeitgebers on circadian entrainment. Assessment of chronotype variation in participants exposed to extreme photoperiods may be useful to investigate how changes in light–dark cycle modulate the circadian system. This study aimed to examine chronotype and sleep changes during a winter campaign at the Argentine Antarctic station Belgrano II. A sample of 82 men who overwintered in Antarctica completed the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire during March (daylight length: 18.6 h), May (daylight length: 2.8 h), July (daylight length: 0 h), September (daylight length: 14.5 h), November (daylight length: 24 h). The main results showed a decrease in sleep duration and a delay in chronotype and social jetlag during the polar night, highlighting the influence of social cues and the impact of the lack of natural light on circadian rhythms.

Subsidence related to multiple natural and human-induced processes affects an increasing number of areas worldwide. Although this phenomenon may involve surface deformation with 3D displacement components, negative vertical movement, either progressive or episodic, tends to dominate. Over the last decades, differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a very useful remote sensing tool for accurately measuring the spatial and temporal evolution of surface displacements over broad areas. This work discusses the main advantages and limitations of addressing active subsidence phenomena by means of DInSAR techniques from an end-user point of view. Special attention is paid to the spatial and temporal resolution, the precision of the measurements, and the usefulness of the data. The presented analysis is focused on DInSAR results exploitation of various ground subsidence phenomena (groundwater withdrawal, soil compaction, mining subsidence, evaporite dissolution subsidence, and volcanic deformation) with different displacement patterns in a selection of subsidence areas in Spain. Finally, a cost comparative study is performed for the different techniques applied.

The disintegration of liquid drops with low electrical conductivity and subject to an electric field is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. This disintegration takes place through the development of a conical cusp that eventually ejects an ultrathin liquid ligament. A first tiny drop is emitted from the end of this ligament. Due to its exceptionally small size and large electric charge per unit volume, that drop has been the object of relevant recent studies. In this paper, universal scaling laws for the diameter and electric charge of the first issued droplet are proposed and validated both numerically and experimentally. Our analysis shows how charge relaxation is the mechanism that differentiates the onset of electrospray, including the first droplet ejection, from the classical steady cone-jet mode. In this way, our study identifies when and where charge relaxation and electrokinetic phenomena come into play in electrospray, a subject of live controversy in the field.

Currently, a large amount of pharmaceutical waste (PW) and its derivatives are being produced and, in some cases, inadequate management or treatment practices are applied. In this regard, this research explores the adoption of several alternatives to deal with these problems, including biocarbon within the framework of the circular economy. Photocatalytic nanomaterials have been also extensively discussed as a feasible way to remove pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater. Although there are existing reports in this area, this document provides a detailed study of the synthesis process, experimental conditions, the integration of photocatalysts, and their impact on enhancing photocatalytic efficiency. Additionally, the low cost and ease of fabrication of lab-scale microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are thoroughly examined. This innovative technology not only facilitates the degradation of hazardous compounds in wastewater but also harnesses their energy to generate electricity simultaneously. The aforementioned approaches are covered and discussed in detail by documenting interesting recently published research and case studies worldwide. Furthermore, this research is of significant importance because it addresses the valorization of PW by generating valuable by-products, such as H2 and O2, which can occur simultaneously during the photodegradation process, contributing to more sustainable industrial practices and clean energy technologies.

Cool white dwarf stars often have mysteriously strong magnetic fields (because their coolness suggests that they are old, and magnetic fields should decline in strength with age) and unexplained brightness variations; here the magnetic field is shown to suppress atmospheric convection, inhibiting cooling evolution and causing dark spots. Cooling slowed in magnetic white dwarfs Most stars in the Universe will end their lives as burnt-out cores known as white dwarfs. Many old, isolated white dwarf stars with convecting atmospheres have stronger magnetic fields than young, convection-free ones, which is puzzling because the fields are expected to decay with time. In addition, some white dwarfs with strong fields vary in brightness with their rotation. Gennady Valyavin et al . report optical observations and analysis of the strongly-magnetic white dwarf WD1953-011. They find that the magnetic field suppresses atmospheric convection, leading to dark spots in the most magnetized areas. These strong fields are sufficient to suppress convection over the entire surface in cool magnetic white dwarfs, thereby inhibiting their cooling evolution relative to weakly magnetic and non-magnetic white dwarfs. Isolated cool white dwarf stars more often have strong magnetic fields than young, hotter white dwarfs 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , which has been a puzzle because magnetic fields are expected to decay with time 5 , 6 but a cool surface suggests that the star is old. In addition, some white dwarfs with strong fields vary in brightness as they rotate 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , which has been variously attributed to surface brightness inhomogeneities similar to sunspots 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , chemical inhomogeneities 13 , 14 and other magneto-optical effects 15 , 16 , 17 . Here we describe optical observations of the brightness and magnetic field of the cool white dwarf WD 1953-011 taken over about eight years, and the results of an analysis of its surface temperature and magnetic field distribution. We find that the magnetic field suppresses atmospheric convection, leading to dark spots in the most magnetized areas. We also find that strong fields are sufficient to suppress convection over the entire surface in cool magnetic white dwarfs, which inhibits their cooling evolution relative to weakly magnetic and non-magnetic white dwarfs, making them appear younger than they truly are. This explains the long-standing mystery of why magnetic fields are more common amongst cool white dwarfs, and implies that the currently accepted ages of strongly magnetic white dwarfs are systematically too young.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibits differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells (DC), suggesting a potential immunosuppressive role for this proangiogenic factor. Bevacizumab, sorafenib and sunitinib target VEGF-mediated angiogenesis and are active against several types of cancer, but their effects on the immune system are poorly understood. In this study, VEGF and supernatants of renal carcinoma cell lines cultured under hypoxia were found to alter the differentiation of human monocytes to DC. Resulting DC showed impaired activity, as assessed by the alloreactive mixed T-lymphocyte reaction. Bevacizumab and sorafenib, but not sunitinib, reversed the inhibitory effects of VEGF, but not of those mediated by tumour supernatants. Dendritic cells matured under the influence of VEGF expressed less human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) and CD86, and this effect was restored by bevacizumab and sorafenib. Finally, tumour-cell supernatants decreased interleukin-12 (IL-12) production by mature DC, and such inhibition was not restored by any of the tested drugs, delivered either as single agents or in combination. The deleterious effects of tumour-cell supernatants were mainly mediated by thermostable molecules distinct from VEGF. These results indicate that inhibition of the differentiation of monocytes to DC is a multifactorial effect, and that they support the development of combinations of angiogenesis inhibitors with immunological modulators.

Variations in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) may not be included as external forcing when running regional climate models (RCMs); at least, this is a non-regulated, non-documented practice. Here we investigate the so far unexplored impact of considering the rising evolution of the CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O atmospheric concentrations on near-surface air temperature (TAS) trends, for both the recent past and the near future, as simulated by a state-of-the-art RCM over Europe. The results show that the TAS trends are significantly affected by 1–2 K century −1 , which under 1.5 °C global warming translates into a non-negligible impact of up to 1 K in the regional projections of TAS, similarly affecting projections for maximum and minimum temperatures. In some cases, these differences involve a doubling signal, laying further claim to careful reconsideration of the RCM setups with regard to the inclusion of GHG concentrations as an evolving external forcing which, for the sake of research reproducibility and reliability, should be clearly documented in the literature. The inclusion of greenhouse gas forcing in regional climate model experiments is a non-regulated, non-documented practice. Here, the authors demonstrate the significant of the impact of this lack of regulation on simulated regional warming trends, which can double climate change signals under 1.5 °C global warming.

Sepsis is a complex clinical syndrome triggered by an inflammatory host response to an infection. It is usually complicated to detect and diagnose, and has severe consequences in human and veterinary health, especially when treatment is not started early. Therefore, efforts to detect sepsis accurately are needed. In addition, its proper diagnosis could reduce the misuse of antibiotics, which is essential fighting against antimicrobial resistance. This case is a particular issue in farm animals, as antibiotics have been traditionally given massively, but now they are becoming increasingly restricted. When sepsis is suspected in animals, the most frequently used biomarkers are acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A and haptoglobin, but their concentrations can increase in other inflammatory conditions. In human patients, the most promising biomarkers to detect sepsis are currently procalcitonin and presepsin, and there is a wide range of other biomarkers under study. However, there is little information on the application of these biomarkers in veterinary species. This review aims to describe the general concepts of sepsis and the current knowledge about the biomarkers of sepsis in pigs, horses, and cattle and to discuss possible advances in the field.