Antioxidants as Therapeutic Agents in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) Treatment—From Mice to Men

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a major cause of patient mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. Considering that no causative treatment but only symptomatic care is available, it is obvious that there is a high unmet medical need for a new therapeutic concept. One reason for a missing etiologic therapy strategy is the multifactorial origin of ARDS, which leads to a large heterogeneity of patients. This review summarizes the various kinds of ARDS onset with a special focus on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are generally linked to ARDS development and progression. Taking a closer look at the data which already have been established in mouse models, this review finally proposes the translation of these results on successful antioxidant use in a personalized approach to the ICU patient as a potential adjuvant to standard ARDS treatment.

Secretory Autophagy Forges a Therapy Resistant Microenvironment in Melanoma

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer characterized by high mutational burden and large heterogeneity. Cancer cells are surrounded by a complex environment, critical to tumor establishment and progression. Thus, tumor-associated stromal components can sustain tumor demands or impair cancer cell progression. One way to manage such processes is through the regulation of autophagy, both in stromal and tumor cells. Autophagy is a catabolic mechanism that provides nutrients and energy, and it eliminates damaged organelles by degradation and recycling of cellular elements. Besides this primary function, autophagy plays multiple roles in the tumor microenvironment capable of affecting cell fate. Evidence demonstrates the existence of novel branches in the autophagy system related to cytoplasmic constituent’s secretion. Hence, autophagy-dependent secretion assembles a tangled network of signaling that potentially contributes to metabolism reprogramming, immune regulation, and tumor progression. Here, we summarize the current awareness regarding secretory autophagy and the intersection with exosome biogenesis and release in melanoma and their role in tumor resistance. In addition, we present and discuss data from public databases concerning autophagy and exosome-related genes as important mediators of melanoma behavior. Finally, we will present the main challenges in the field and strategies to translate most of the pre-clinical findings to clinical practice.

Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset: A typology for aligning instructional strategies with three dominant entrepreneurial mindset conceptualizations

Entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions (HEIs) increasingly aims at fostering an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) in students. However, large heterogeneity exists in conceptualizations of EM. This is a challenge for educators as it is difficult to develop instructional strategies to foster students’ EM when there is no clarity about what this mindset is. The purpose of the article is to address this challenge. It does so by analysing and synthesizing current literature in the field of entrepreneurship education in HEIs and develops a taxonomy that depicts three dominant conceptualizations of EM, their theoretical origins and the type of attributes typically associated with each conceptualization. The article goes beyond the integrative literature review by reflecting on the consequences for the design of entrepreneurship education of the simultaneous existence of these three dominant conceptualizations. The author develops a typology for aligning instructional strategies with the EM conceptualizations and thus contributes to practice by providing a better understanding of how to achieve coherence between learning outcomes and instructional choices. The article advances the field’s conceptual knowledge about EM and thereby facilitates future theory generation.

Systematic Review of Incidence Studies of Pneumonia in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Pneumonia continues to complicate the course of spinal cord injury (SCI). Currently, clinicians and policy-makers are faced with only limited numbers of pneumonia incidence in the literature. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to provide an objective synthesis of the evidence about the incidence of pneumonia in persons with SCI. Incidence was calculated per 100 person-days, and meta-regression was used to evaluate the influence of the clinical setting, the level of injury, the use of mechanical ventilation, the presence of tracheostomy, and dysphagia. For the meta-regression we included 19 studies. The incidence ranged from 0.03 to 7.21 patients with pneumonia per 100 days. The main finding of this review is that we found large heterogeneity in the reporting of the incidence, and we therefore should be cautious with interpreting the results. In the multivariable meta-regression, the incidence rate ratios showed very wide confidence intervals, which does not allow a clear conclusion concerning the risk of pneumonia in the different stages after a SCI. Large longitudinal studies with a standardized reporting on risk factors, pneumonia, and detailed time under observation are needed. Nevertheless, this review showed that pneumonia is still a clinically relevant complication and pneumonia prevention should focus on the ICU setting and patients with complete tetraplegia.

The evolution of depressive symptomatology across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: A 17-month representative longitudinal study of the adult population

This 17-month longitudinal study on a representative sample of 4,361 Norwegian adults employs an observational ABAB design across six repeated assessments and three pandemic waves to systematically investigate the evolution of depressive symptomatology across all modifications of viral mitigation protocols (VMPs) from their onset to termination. Using Latent Change Score Models to analyze 26,166 observations, the study empirically corroborates that critical fluctuations in depressive symptomatology within and across individuals occur during the first three months of the pandemic, after which symptom trajectories are predominantly consolidated throughout the pandemic period. Contrary to established belief, female sex, young age, lower education and preexisting psychiatric diagnosis only served as adequate predictors of the initial shocks to symptomatology observed during the onset of the pandemic, and did not adequately predict subsequent change and the critical fluctuations observed in symptoms within and across individuals. Population-level trajectories demonstrated that symptom levels increased in accordance with the presence and strictness of VMPs. Upon predominant termination of VMPs, population-level symptoms began declining, while large heterogeneity was present across the adult population. Detrimental long-term adversities were revealed by 10% of the adults. These individuals displayed chaotic adaptation to the pandemic and its VMPs, exhibiting substantial increases in clinical levels of symptomatology ensuing partial re-opening of society and through the remainder of the pandemic, with these deleterious symptoms further projected to remain heightened ahead. Number of times exposed to quarantine was incrementally tied with increases in contemporaneously experienced and long-term depressive adversities, while information obtainment through unmonitored sources was associated with contemporaneous but not long-term states of heightened symptomatology.

Contrasting surface velocities between lake- and land-terminating glaciers in the Himalayan region

Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are expected to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into proglacial lakes, and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to exhibit higher-than-average total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a composite (2017–2019) glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering central and eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km2. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers (N = 70; umedian: 18.83 m yr−1; IQR – interquartile range – uncertainty estimate: 18.55–19.06 m yr−1) are on average more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (N = 249; umedian: 8.24 m yr−1; IQR uncertainty estimate: 8.17–8.35 m yr−1) and show substantially more heterogeneity than land-terminating glaciers around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which causes about half of the lake-terminating glacier population to accelerate towards the glacier termini. Numerical ice-flow model experiments show that changes in the force balance at the glacier termini are likely to play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front, with variations in basal friction only being of modest importance. The expansion of current glacial lakes and the formation of new meltwater bodies will influence the dynamics of an increasing number of Himalayan glaciers in the future, and these factors should be carefully considered in regional projections.

What are the effective features of consultation? A mixed methods approach

Consultation is an integral part of many Educational Psychologist’s (EPs) work. Yet there is a large heterogeneity in understanding and use of this tool. Such diversity makes evaluating its efficacy difficult. This research therefore sought to identify what the effective features of consultation are by linking observed features to changes in agreed outcomes for children and young people (CYP). Mixed methods were employed to explore what EPs believe are the key features of consultation, what the barriers to effective consultation are, what happens in a consultation for a child or young person, and what combination of features can be identified in consultations which lead to positive changes for CYP.To explore EP views towards the effective features of consultation, 30 EPs were interviewed. Observable features of consultation were tallied for six consultations. For those consultations, goals were identified by participants and a baseline rating was given for each goal using Target Monitoring Evaluation (TME) forms. There were 10 goals identified. Change for these goals was recorded through completing the same form 6-8 weeks later, to allow analysis of which combination of features were present for children with differing progress towards outcomes. This was assessed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The most effective features of consultation, as identified by EPs, included the expert knowledge EPs have, the collaborative nature of consultation, and creating a shared understanding of the CYP and context for all participants. Consultations which were most likely to see positive change for CYP were ones in which the consultation was not dominated by gaining an understanding of the presenting problem. These results give clarity as to what the features of an effective consultation are through a mixed methods analysis. The findings have implications for EPs who use consultation, as well as consultees and those whom consultations are for.

What are the effective features of consultation? A mixed methods analysis

Consultation is an integral part of many Educational Psychologist’s (EPs) work. Yet there is a large heterogeneity in understanding and use of this tool. Such diversity makes evaluating its efficacy difficult. This research therefore sought to identify what the effective features of consultation are by linking observed features to changes in agreed outcomes for children and young people (CYP). Mixed methods were employed to explore what EPs believe are the key features of consultation, what the barriers to effective consultation are, what happens in a consultation for a child or young person, and what combination of features can be identified in consultations which lead to positive changes for CYP. To explore EP views towards the effective features of consultation, 30 EPs were interviewed. Observable features of consultation were tallied for six consultations. For those consultations, goals were identified by participants and a baseline rating was given for each goal using Target Monitoring Evaluation (TME) forms. There were 10 goals identified. Change for these goals was recorded through completing the same form 6-8 weeks later, to allow analysis of which combination of features were present for children with differing progress towards outcomes. This was assessed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The most effective features of consultation, as identified by EPs, included the expert knowledge EPs have, the collaborative nature of consultation, and creating a shared understanding of the CYP and context for all participants. Consultations which were most likely to see positive change for CYP were ones in which the consultation was not dominated by gaining an understanding of the presenting problem. These results give clarity as to what the features of an effective consultation are through a mixed methods analysis. The findings have implications for EPs who use consultation, as well as consultees and those whom consultations are for.

Ubiquitous mRNA decay fragments in E. coli redefine the functional transcriptome

Bacterial mRNAs have short life cycles, in which transcription is rapidly followed by translation and degradation within seconds to minutes. The resulting diversity of mRNAs impacts their functionality but has remained unresolved. Here we quantitatively map the 3' status of cellular RNAs in Escherichia coli during steady-state growth and report a large fraction of molecules (median>60%) that are fragments of canonical full-length mRNAs. The majority of RNA fragments are decay intermediates following endonuclease cleavage by RNase E and yet-unknown nucleases, whereas nascent RNAs contribute to a smaller fraction. Despite the prevalence of decay intermediates in total RNA, they are underrepresented in the pool of ribosome-associated transcripts and can thus distort quantifications for the abundance of full-length, functional mRNAs. The large heterogeneity within mRNA molecules in vivo highlights the importance in discerning functional transcripts and provides a lens for studying the dynamic life cycle of mRNAs.

Quantification of water related soil erosion in the transboundary basin of the Bia (West Africa)

In view of the complexity of the phenomenon of water related soil erosion in the Bia catchment area, linked to a large heterogeneity of soils, to a very scattered and in some places non-existent vegetation cover, and to a poorly distributed precipitation in both space and time, a mapping test of the “specific erosion” random variable is undertaken. The mapping of the intensity of the erosion hazard was carried out using the Universal Soil Loss Model (USLE). The map shows that the basin is generally characterized by relatively moderate erosion rates with an average erosion rate of 16 t/ha/year.