TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo
A1  - Pérez-Castilla, Alejandro
A1  - Thapa, Rohit Kumar
A1  - Afonso, José
A1  - Clemente, Filipe Manuel Batista
A1  - Colado, Juan C.
A1  - Eduardo, Saéz de Villarreal
A1  - Chaabene, Helmi
T1  - Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Measures of Physical Fitness and Sport-Specific Performance of Water Sports Athletes
BT  - A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis
JF  - Sports Medicine - Open
N2  - Background
A growing body of literature is available regarding the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on measures of physical fitness (PF) and sport-specific performance (SSP) in-water sports athletes (WSA, i.e. those competing in sports that are practiced on [e.g. rowing] or in [e.g. swimming; water polo] water). Indeed, incoherent findings have been observed across individual studies making it difficult to provide the scientific community and coaches with consistent evidence. As such, a comprehensive systematic literature search should be conducted to clarify the existent evidence, identify the major gaps in the literature, and offer recommendations for future studies.

Aim
To examine the effects of PJT compared with active/specific-active controls on the PF (one-repetition maximum back squat strength, squat jump height, countermovement jump height, horizontal jump distance, body mass, fat mass, thigh girth) and SSP (in-water vertical jump, in-water agility, time trial) outcomes in WSA, through a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled studies.

Methods
The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched up to January 2022. According to the PICOS approach, the eligibility criteria were: (population) healthy WSA; (intervention) PJT interventions involving unilateral and/or bilateral jumps, and a minimal duration of ≥ 3 weeks; (comparator) active (i.e. standard sports training) or specific-active (i.e. alternative training intervention) control group(s); (outcome) at least one measure of PF (e.g. jump height) and/or SSP (e.g. time trial) before and after training; and (study design) multi-groups randomized and non-randomized controlled trials. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. The DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used to compute the meta-analyses, reporting effect sizes (ES, i.e. Hedges’ g) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Certainty or confidence in the body of evidence for each outcome was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), considering its five dimensions: risk of bias in studies, indirectness, inconsistency, imprecision, and risk of publication bias.

Results
A total of 11,028 studies were identified with 26 considered eligible for inclusion. The median PEDro score across the included studies was 5.5 (moderate-to-high methodological quality). The included studies involved a total of 618 WSA of both sexes (330 participants in the intervention groups [31 groups] and 288 participants in the control groups [26 groups]), aged between 10 and 26 years, and from different sports disciplines such as swimming, triathlon, rowing, artistic swimming, and water polo. The duration of the training programmes in the intervention and control groups ranged from 4 to 36 weeks. The results of the meta-analysis indicated no effects of PJT compared to control conditions (including specific-active controls) for in-water vertical jump or agility (ES =  − 0.15 to 0.03; p = 0.477 to 0.899), or for body mass, fat mass, and thigh girth (ES = 0.06 to 0.15; p = 0.452 to 0.841). In terms of measures of PF, moderate-to-large effects were noted in favour of the PJT groups compared to the control groups (including specific-active control groups) for one-repetition maximum back squat strength, horizontal jump distance, squat jump height, and countermovement jump height (ES = 0.67 to 1.47; p = 0.041 to < 0.001), in addition to a small effect noted in favour of the PJT for SSP time-trial speed (ES = 0.42; p = 0.005). Certainty of evidence across the included studies varied from very low-to-moderate.

Conclusions
PJT is more effective to improve measures of PF and SSP in WSA compared to control conditions involving traditional sport-specific training as well as alternative training interventions (e.g. resistance training). It is worth noting that the present findings are derived from 26 studies of moderate-to-high methodological quality, low-to-moderate impact of heterogeneity, and very low-to-moderate certainty of evidence based on GRADE.

Trial registration The protocol for this systematic review with meta-analysis was published in the Open Science platform (OSF) on January 23, 2022, under the registration doi https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/NWHS3 (internet archive link: https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-nwhs3-v1).
KW  - Plyometric exercise
KW  - Musculoskeletal and neural physiological phenomena
KW  - Human physical conditioning
KW  - Movement
KW  - Muscle strength
KW  - Resistance training
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-022-00502-2
SN  - 2198-9761
VL  - 8
SP  - 1
EP  - 27
PB  - Springer
CY  - Berlin
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Reeg, Jette
A1  - Strigl, Lea
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
T1  - Agricultural buffer zone thresholds to safeguard functional bee diversity
BT  - Insights from a community modeling approach
JF  - Ecology and Evolution
N2  - Wild bee species are important pollinators in agricultural landscapes. However, population decline was reported over the last decades and is still ongoing. While agricultural intensification is a major driver of the rapid loss of pollinating species, transition zones between arable fields and forest or grassland patches, i.e., agricultural buffer zones, are frequently mentioned as suitable mitigation measures to support wild bee populations and other pollinator species. Despite the reported general positive effect, it remains unclear which amount of buffer zones is needed to ensure a sustainable and permanent impact for enhancing bee diversity and abundance. To address this question at a pollinator community level, we implemented a process-based, spatially explicit simulation model of functional bee diversity dynamics in an agricultural landscape. More specifically, we introduced a variable amount of agricultural buffer zones (ABZs) at the transition of arable to grassland, or arable to forest patches to analyze the impact on bee functional diversity and functional richness. We focused our study on solitary bees in a typical agricultural area in the Northeast of Germany. Our results showed positive effects with at least 25% of virtually implemented agricultural buffer zones. However, higher amounts of ABZs of at least 75% should be considered to ensure a sufficient increase in Shannon diversity and decrease in quasi-extinction risks. These high amounts of ABZs represent effective conservation measures to safeguard the stability of pollination services provided by solitary bee species. As the model structure can be easily adapted to other mobile species in agricultural landscapes, our community approach offers the chance to compare the effectiveness of conservation measures also for other pollinator communities in future.
KW  - agricultural landscape
KW  - buffer zones
KW  - community model
KW  - functional traits
KW  - solitary bees
KW  - spatially explicit
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8748
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 12
SP  - 1
EP  - 17
PB  - Wiley Online Library
CY  - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
ET  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rösler, Antonia
A1  - Gasparatos, Nikolaos
A1  - Hermanussen, Michael
A1  - Scheffler, Christiane
T1  - Practicability and user-friendliness of height measurements by proof of concept APP using Augmented Reality, in 22 healthy children
JF  - Human biology and public health
N2  - Background: Child growth is a dynamic process. When measured at short intervals, children’s growth shows characteristic patterns that can be of great importance for clinical purposes.

Objective: To study whether measuring height on a daily basis using an APP is practicable and user-friendly.

Methods: Recruitment took place via Snowball Sampling. Thirteen out of 14 contacted families signed up for a study period of 12 weeks with altogether 22 healthy children aged 3 to 13 years (response rate 93%). The study started with a visit to the family home for the setup of the measurement site, conventional height measuring and initial training of the new measurement process. Follow-up appointments were made at four, eight and 12 weeks. The children’s height was measured at daily intervals at their family homes over a period of three months.

Results: The parents altogether recorded 1704 height measurements and meticulously documented practicability and problems when using the device.
A 93% response rate in recruitment was achieved by maintaining a high motivation within the families. Contact with the principal investigator was permanently available, including open communication, personal training and attendance during the appointments at the family homes.

Conclusion: Measuring height by photographic display is interesting for children and parents and can be used for height measurements at home. A positive response rate of 13 out of 14 families with altogether 22 children highlights feasible recruitment and the high convenience and user-friendliness of daily APP-supported height measurements. Daily APP measurements appear to be a promising new tool for longitudinal growth studies.
KW  - body height
KW  - guideline
KW  - augmented reality
KW  - daily home-made measurements
KW  - iPhone
KW  - APP
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.2.48
SN  - 2748-9957
VL  - 2022
IS  - 2
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sagu Tchewonpi, Sorel
A1  - Huschek, Gerd
A1  - Waldbach Braga, Tess
A1  - Rackiewicz, Michal
A1  - Homann, Thomas
A1  - Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal
T1  - Design of Experiment (DoE) for Optimization of HPLC Conditions for the Simultaneous Fractionation of Seven α-Amylase/Trypsin Inhibitors from Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
JF  - Processes : open access journal
N2  - Wheat alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors remain a subject of interest considering the latest findings showing their implication in wheat-related non-celiac sensitivity (NCWS). Understanding their functions in such a disorder is still unclear and for further study, the need for pure ATI molecules is one of the limiting problems. In this work, a simplified approach based on the successive fractionation of ATI extracts by reverse phase and ion exchange chromatography was developed. ATIs were first extracted from wheat flour using a combination of Tris buffer and chloroform/methanol methods. The separation of the extracts on a C18 column generated two main fractions of interest F1 and F2. The response surface methodology with the Doehlert design allowed optimizing the operating parameters of the strong anion exchange chromatography. Finally, the seven major wheat ATIs namely P01083, P17314, P16850, P01085, P16851, P16159, and P83207 were recovered with purity levels (according to the targeted LC-MS/MS analysis) of 98.2 ± 0.7; 98.1 ± 0.8; 97.9 ± 0.5; 95.1 ± 0.8; 98.3 ± 0.4; 96.9 ± 0.5, and 96.2 ± 0.4%, respectively. MALDI-TOF-MS analysis revealed single peaks in each of the pure fractions and the mass analysis yielded deviations of 0.4, 1.9, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.9, and 0.1% between the theoretical and the determined masses of P01083, P17314, P16850, P01085, P16851, P16159, and P83207, respectively. Overall, the study allowed establishing an efficient purification process of the most important wheat ATIs. This paves the way for further in-depth investigation of the ATIs to gain more knowledge related to their involvement in NCWS disease and to allow the absolute quantification in wheat samples.
KW  - wheat
KW  - α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors
KW  - fractionation
KW  - purification
KW  - reversed-phase chromatography
KW  - ion-exchange chromatography
KW  - design of experiment
KW  - LC–MS/MS
KW  - MALDI-TOF-MS
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10020259
SN  - 2227-9717
VL  - 10
SP  - 1
EP  - 18
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 2
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sarabadani, Jalal
A1  - Metzler, Ralf
A1  - Ala-Nissila, Tapio
T1  - Driven polymer translocation into a channel: Isoflux tension propagation theory and Langevin dynamics simulations
JF  - Physical Review Research
N2  - Isoflux tension propagation (IFTP) theory and Langevin dynamics (LD) simulations are employed to study the dynamics of channel-driven polymer translocation in which a polymer translocates into a narrow channel and the monomers in the channel experience a driving force fc. In the high driving force limit, regardless of the channel width, IFTP theory predicts τ ∝ f βc for the translocation time, where β = −1 is the force scaling exponent. Moreover, LD data show that for a very narrow channel fitting only a single file of monomers, the entropic force due to the subchain inside the channel does not play a significant role in the translocation dynamics and the force exponent β = −1 regardless of the force magnitude. As the channel width increases the number of possible spatial configurations of the subchain inside the channel becomes significant and the resulting entropic force causes the force exponent to drop below unity.
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033003
SN  - 2643-1564
VL  - 4
SP  - 033003-1
EP  - 033003-14
PB  - American Physical Society
CY  - College Park, Maryland, USA
ET  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schjeide, Brit-Maren
A1  - Schenke, Maren
A1  - Seeger, Bettina
A1  - Püschel, Gerhard
T1  - Validation of a novel double control quantitative copy number PCR method to quantify off-target transgene integration after CRISPR-induced DNA modification
JF  - Methods and protocols : M&Ps
N2  - In order to improve a recently established cell-based assay to assess the potency of botulinum neurotoxin, neuroblastoma-derived SiMa cells and induced pluripotent stem-cells (iPSC) were modified to incorporate the coding sequence of a reporter luciferase into a genetic safe harbor utilizing CRISPR/Cas9. A novel method, the double-control quantitative copy number PCR (dc-qcnPCR), was developed to detect off-target integrations of donor DNA. The donor DNA insertion success rate and targeted insertion success rate were analyzed in clones of each cell type. The dc-qcnPCR reliably quantified the copy number in both cell lines. The probability of incorrect donor DNA integration was significantly increased in SiMa cells in comparison to the iPSCs. This can possibly be explained by the lower bundled relative gene expression of a number of double-strand repair genes (BRCA1, DNA2, EXO1, MCPH1, MRE11, and RAD51) in SiMa clones than in iPSC clones. The dc-qcnPCR offers an efficient and cost-effective method to detect off-target CRISPR/Cas9-induced donor DNA integrations.
KW  - CRISPR editing validation
KW  - copy number analyses
KW  - homology-directed repair
KW  - homologous recombination deficiency
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps5030043
SN  - 2409-9279
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schlör, Anja
A1  - Hirschberg, Stefan
A1  - Ben Amor, Ghada
A1  - Meister, Toni Luise
A1  - Arora, Prerna
A1  - Pöhlmann, Stefan
A1  - Hoffmann, Markus
A1  - Pfänder, Stephanie
A1  - Eddin, Omar Kamal
A1  - Kamhieh-Milz, Julian
A1  - Hanack, Katja
T1  - SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies as powerful tools for diagnostic and therapeutic applications
JF  - Frontiers in Immunology
N2  - Introduction: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation caused by SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern such as B.1.617.2 (Delta) and recently, B.1.1.529 (Omicron) is posing multiple challenges to humanity. The rapid evolution of the virus requires adaptation of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Objectives: In this study, we describe camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies (hcAb) as useful tools for novel in vitro diagnostic assays and for therapeutic applications due to their neutralizing capacity.

Methods: Five antibody candidates were selected out of a naïve camelid library by phage display and expressed as full length IgG2 antibodies. The antibodies were characterized by Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, surface plasmon resonance with regard to their specificity to the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and to SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles. Neutralization assays were performed with authentic SARS-CoV-2 and pseudotyped viruses (wildtype and Omicron).

Results: All antibodies efficiently detect recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles in different ELISA setups. The best combination was shown with hcAb B10 as catcher antibody and HRP-conjugated hcAb A7.2 as the detection antibody. Further, four out of five antibodies potently neutralized authentic wildtype SARS-CoV-2 and particles pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins of the wildtype and Omicron variant, sublineage BA.1 at concentrations between 0.1 and 0.35 ng/mL (ND50).

Conclusion: Collectively, we report novel camelid hcAbs suitable for diagnostics and potential therapy.
KW  - camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies
KW  - single domain antibodies
KW  - nanobodies
KW  - SARS-CoV-2
KW  - neutralization
KW  - Omicron
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.930975
SN  - 1664-3224
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
PB  - Frontiers Media SA
CY  - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schmidt, Lena Katharina
A1  - Francke, Till
A1  - Rottler, Erwin
A1  - Blume, Theresa
A1  - Schöber, Johannes
A1  - Bronstert, Axel
T1  - Suspended sediment and discharge dynamics in a glaciated alpine environment
BT  - identifying crucial areas and time periods on several spatial and temporal scales in the Ötztal, Austria
JF  - Earth surface dynamics
N2  - Glaciated high-alpine areas are fundamentally altered by climate change, with well-known implications for hydrology, e.g., due to glacier retreat, longer snow-free periods, and more frequent and intense summer rainstorms. While knowledge on how these hydrological changes will propagate to suspended sediment dynamics is still scarce, it is needed to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. To understand the processes and source areas most relevant to sediment dynamics, we analyzed discharge and sediment dynamics in high temporal resolution as well as their patterns on several spatial scales, which to date few studies have done.

We used a nested catchment setup in the Upper Ötztal in Tyrol, Austria, where high-resolution (15 min) time series of discharge and suspended sediment concentrations are available for up to 15 years (2006–2020). The catchments of the gauges in Vent, Sölden and Tumpen range from 100 to almost 800 km2 with 10 % to 30 % glacier cover and span an elevation range of 930 to 3772 m a.s.l. We analyzed discharge and suspended sediment yields (SSY), their distribution in space, their seasonality and spatial differences therein, and the relative importance of short-term events. We complemented our analysis by linking the observations to satellite-based snow cover maps, glacier inventories, mass balances and precipitation data.

Our results indicate that the areas above 2500 m a.s.l., characterized by glacier tongues and the most recently deglaciated areas, are crucial for sediment generation in all sub-catchments. This notion is supported by the synchronous spring onset of sediment export at the three gauges, which coincides with snowmelt above 2500 m but lags behind spring discharge onsets. This points at a limitation of suspended sediment supply as long as the areas above 2500 m are snow-covered. The positive correlation of annual SSY with glacier cover (among catchments) and glacier mass balances (within a catchment) further supports the importance of the glacier-dominated areas. The analysis of short-term events showed that summer precipitation events were associated with peak sediment concentrations and yields but on average accounted for only 21 % of the annual SSY in the headwaters. These results indicate that under current conditions, thermally induced sediment export (through snow and glacier melt) is dominant in the study area.

Our results extend the scientific knowledge on current hydro-sedimentological conditions in glaciated high-alpine areas and provide a baseline for studies on projected future changes in hydro-sedimentological system dynamics.
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-653-2022
SN  - 2196-632X
SN  - 2196-6311
VL  - 10
IS  - 3
SP  - 653
EP  - 669
PB  - Copernicus Publications
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schäfer, Marjänn Helena
A1  - Kakularam, Kumar Reddy
A1  - Reisch, Florian
A1  - Rothe, Michael
A1  - Stehling, Sabine
A1  - Heydeck, Dagmar
A1  - Püschel, Gerhard Paul
A1  - Kuhn, Hartmut
T1  - Male Knock-in Mice Expressing an Arachidonic Acid Lipoxygenase 15B (Alox15B) with Humanized Reaction Specificity Are Prematurely Growth Arrested When Aging
JF  - Biomedicines
N2  - Mammalian arachidonic acid lipoxygenases (ALOXs) have been implicated in cell differentiation and in the pathogenesis of inflammation. The mouse genome involves seven functional Alox genes and the encoded enzymes share a high degree of amino acid conservation with their human orthologs. There are, however, functional differences between mouse and human ALOX orthologs. Human ALOX15B oxygenates arachidonic acid exclusively to its 15-hydroperoxy derivative (15S-HpETE), whereas 8S-HpETE is dominantly formed by mouse Alox15b. The structural basis for this functional difference has been explored and in vitro mutagenesis humanized the reaction specificity of the mouse enzyme. To explore whether this mutagenesis strategy may also humanize the reaction specificity of mouse Alox15b in vivo, we created Alox15b knock-in mice expressing the arachidonic acid 15-lipoxygenating Tyr603Asp+His604Val double mutant instead of the 8-lipoxygenating wildtype enzyme. These mice are fertile, display slightly modified plasma oxylipidomes and develop normally up to an age of 24 weeks. At later developmental stages, male Alox15b-KI mice gain significantly less body weight than outbred wildtype controls, but this effect was not observed for female individuals. To explore the possible reasons for the observed gender-specific growth arrest, we determined the basic hematological parameters and found that aged male Alox15b-KI mice exhibited significantly attenuated red blood cell parameters (erythrocyte counts, hematocrit, hemoglobin). Here again, these differences were not observed in female individuals. These data suggest that humanization of the reaction specificity of mouse Alox15b impairs the functionality of the hematopoietic system in males, which is paralleled by a premature growth arrest.
KW  - eicosanoids
KW  - lipid peroxidation
KW  - oxidative stress
KW  - polyenoic fatty acids
KW  - erythropoiesis
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10061379
SN  - 2227-9059
VL  - 10
SP  - 1
EP  - 22
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 6
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Smirnov, Lev A.
A1  - Bolotov, Maxim
A1  - Bolotov, Dmitri
A1  - Osipov, Grigory V.
A1  - Pikovsky, Arkady
T1  - Finite-density-induced motility and turbulence of chimera solitons
JF  - New Journal of Physics
N2  - We consider a one-dimensional oscillatory medium with a coupling through a diffusive linear field. In the limit of fast diffusion this setup reduces to the classical Kuramoto–Battogtokh model. We demonstrate that for a finite diffusion stable chimera solitons, namely localized synchronous domain in an infinite asynchronous environment, are possible. The solitons are stable also for finite density of oscillators, but in this case they sway with a nearly constant speed. This finite-density-induced motility disappears in the continuum limit, as the velocity of the solitons is inverse proportional to the density. A long-wave instability of the homogeneous asynchronous state causes soliton turbulence, which appears as a sequence of soliton mergings and creations. As the instability of the asynchronous state becomes stronger, this turbulence develops into a spatio-temporal intermittency.
KW  - chimera
KW  - soliton
KW  - finite-size effects
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac63d9
SN  - 1367-2630
VL  - 24
PB  - IOP
CY  - London
ER  -