Optimizing sample quantity and quality improves cost-effective and less invasive dendrochronological investigations. Our study examined 3,831 trees, including 2,921 pine, 404 spruce, and 506 oak trees. Pine had a 79.2% success rate for dating, spruce 46.5%, and oak 67.8%. Success rates increased with more trees analysed, notably in the case of spruce. When 1–3 spruce trees were analysed, only 44%

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the etiology, clinical features, and outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. Understanding the causative pathogens is essential for effective treatment and prevention.DESIGN: Between 2016-2018, 518 hospitalized adults with CAP and 241 controls without symptoms were prospectively enrolled. Urine samples were collected for pneumococcal ur

Objective: While considerable focus has been placed on pain due to inflammation in psoriatic arthritis (PsA), less is reported on pain despite inflammation control. Here, we aimed to investigate the occurrence/predictors of persistent pain, including non-inflammatory components, after starting anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy. Method: Bionaïve PsA patients starting a first anti-TNF t

The general problem of tracer diffusion in non-equilibrium baths is important in a wide range of systems, from the cellular level to geographical length scales. In this paper, we revisit the archetypical example of such a system: A collection of small passive particles immersed in a dilute suspension of non-interacting dipolar microswimmers, representing bacteria or algae. In particular, we consid

Adjuvant bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillations represent a cornerstone in the treatment of non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Instillation schedule and dose modifications have been evaluated in efforts to reduce the incidence of adverse events (AEs), but none so far has the same treatment efficacy as the full-dose recommended schedule. It has been shown that prophylactic quinolone use in c

Termites play an essential role in decomposing dead plant material in tropical ecosystems and are thus major sources of gaseous C emissions in many environments. In African savannas, fungus-growing termites are among the ecologically most influential termite species. We studied the gas exchange from mounds of two closely related fungus-growing species (Macrotermes subhyalinus and M. michaelseni, r

Purpose: To empirically explore and describe the process and practices of managing product returns in Internet retailing.Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study involving twelve e-commerce firms and four logistics service providers. Using semi-structured interviews, documentation, and observations as an integrative data collection approach to gain a comprehensive managerial and operatio

The study presents a multi-proxy archive from hypersaline coastal Lake Chokrak in eastern Crimea, a steppe region which is particularly susceptible to moisture fluctuations. XRF, organic carbon and nitrogen, and palynological analyses are used to reconstruct the evolution of the lake and landscape development around it and to provide information about the driving forces behind those changes, such

A policy entrepreneur is a distinct political actor aiming to affect change. The theoretical narrative regarding policy entrepreneurs is underpinned by their commitment to a policy solution, the multi-dimensional strategies they use to promote that solution, and a suite of attributes and skills facilitating their actions. Policy entrepreneurs reveal themselves through their attempts to transform p

The northern hemisphere has experienced regional cooling, especially during the global warming hiatus (1998-2012) due to ocean energy redistribution. However, the lack of studies about the natural cooling effects hampers our understanding of vegetation responses to climate change. Using 15,125 ground phenological time series at 3,620 sites since the 1950s and 31-year satellite greenness observatio

Background: The #metoo and #akademiuppropet media campaigns brought into stark relief the ongoing issue of workplace sexual harassment. Previous research shows this to be a pernicious and prevalent problem with severe consequences for individuals and organisations. Universities are complex spaces that can be considered as a workplace for students and as a site where boundaries between formal educa

Language development starts during the fetal period when the brain is sensitive to endocrine disruptions from environmental contaminants. This systematic review aims to systematically summarize the existing literature on early-life exposure to PFAS and children’s language and communication development, which is an indicator of neurocognitive development. A structured literature search was conducte

Ultra-hot Jupiters are tidally locked with their host stars, dividing their atmospheres into a hot dayside and a colder nightside. As the planet moves through transit, different regions of the atmosphere rotate into view, revealing different chemical regimes. Highresolution spectrographs can observe asymmetries and velocity shifts and offer the possibility for time-resolved spectroscopy. The ultra

Aim: Acyl ghrelin increases cardiac output (CO) in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). This could impair the right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling (RVPAC), both through an increased venous return and right ventricular afterload. We aim to investigate if acyl ghrelin increases CO with or without worsening the right-sided haemodynamics in HFrEF assessed by RVPAC. Methods an

Diffraction-based tomographic strain tensor reconstruction problems in which a strain tensor field is determined from measurements made in different crystallographic directions are considered in the context of sparse matrix algebra. Previous work has shown that the estimation of the crystal elastic strain field can be cast as a linear regression problem featuring a computationally involved assembl

This chapter explores the composition of civil society elites and to what extent this differs from the general population, what we call the ‘civil society elite-masses gap’. While the civil society elites are, from a normative point of view, expected to be representative of the general population in terms of their social composition and attitudes, professionalisation and elitisation of civil socie

This chapter aims at analysing the inter-organisational networks emerging from interlocking leaders among the most resourceful, national-level civil society organisations (CSOs) in four European countries. By comparing four different country contexts, we analyse differences in the characteristics of networks, find different mechanisms that seem to structure organisational links across the cases, a

This chapter compares three different types of elite identification methods—the positional method, the reputational method, and claims-making analysis. The aim is to address the implications of different methods of elite identification for our understanding of civil society elites and to reflect on the methodological challenges in the study of civil society elites. Hence, we focus on comparing bot

This article introduces the special issue on digital disruption in diplomacy. We propose a new research agenda, advancing novel conceptualisations and empirical insights into the hybrid nature of contemporary diplomatic practices in a broad range of areas such as peace-making, inter-state signalling, domestic politics, digital communication, public diplomacy and popular culture. Emphasising the ma