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Reciprocal Love as the Foundation for Chiara Lubich’s Theology of Collective Spirituality — Chiara Lubich, one of the most prominent Catholic thinkers of the late 20th century, posits reciprocal love as the foundation for her theology of unity in collective spirituality. Her Spirituality of Unity is followed by a worldwide and cross-denominational Focolare Movement, founded by Lubich in 1943. This
Whole tree harvesting (WTH) following final felling of productive forests is increasingly promoted as a method to extract biomass for energy purposes. Despite its importance, there is a limited number of experimental studies investigating the impacts of WTH on forest ecosystem sustainability. Modelling studies have previously been carried out to complement and explain empirical observations from f
To predict the vibroacoustic performance of complex thin-walled structures, an analysis using a finite element model considering structure–acoustic interaction is often required. The acoustic response of such models can be time-consuming to compute and sensitive to minor design changes. These models can be too computationally intense since fast design optimizations must be performed. Moreover, kno
Background Recently, a group of betainized compounds have been suggested to play a role in health effects in relation to a whole-grain-rich diet. Objectives The aims of this study were to develop a quantitative mass spectrometric method for selected betainized compounds in human plasma, and to investigate their association with nutrient intake and measures of metabolic health in participants of
A Circular Economy (CE) can help to achieve the sustainable development goal of responsible consumption and production. Product policies, in turn, can support CE objectives by promoting reuse of products, recycling of materials, and providing ecodesign incentives for more durable products. This thesis examined the role of product policies in meeting CE objectives in the EU, with specific focus on
Economic globalization and the modularization of value chains increasingly challenge long-held conceptual models explaining the spatial evolution of industries. This paper seeks to re-interpret early industry life cycle dynamics by disintegrating an industry's value chain into upstream, core and downstream parts and characterizing each part according to its underlying global innovation system (GIS
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) dry deposition is an important component in total N deposition. However, uncertainty exists in the assessment of global dry deposition. Here, we develop empirical models for estimating ground N concentrations using NO 2 satellite measurements from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and ground measurements from 555 monitoring sites. Global patterns and trends in the flux
Purpose: The aim of this paper was to describe how people living with a neurological disability such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and stroke reason regarding using apps to facilitate self-management in everyday life.Material and methods: A qualitative research approach with a focus group methodology was used. The sample comprised 16 participants, 11 men and 5 women, with an average a
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands are unique geographical regions and store substantial soil organic matter (SOM) in the soil surface, which make them very sensitive to global climate change. Here, we focused on three main grassland types (alpine meadow, steppe, and desert) and conducted a soil incubation experiment at five different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25°C) to investigate SOM decompo
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, an important component in the global N cycle, has increased sharply in recent decades in China. Here, we constructed national-scale inorganic N wet deposition (N dep) patterns in China based on data from 280 observational sites and analysed the effects of anthropogenic sources and precipitation on N dep. Our results showed that the mean N dep over China increas
Synapse impairment is thought to be an early event in Alzheimer's disease (AD); dysfunction and loss of synapses are linked to cognitive symptoms that precede neuronal loss and neurodegeneration. Neurogranin (Ng) is a somatodendritic protein that has been shown to be reduced in brain tissue but increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients compared to age-matched controls. High levels
Purpose: The quality of the study design and data reporting in human trials dealing with the inter-individual variability in response to the consumption of plant bioactives is, in general, low. There is a lack of recommendations supporting the scientific community on this topic. This study aimed at developing a quality index to assist the assessment of the reporting quality of intervention trials
Today, the innovation arena is open to a wider range of participants than previously acknowledged. One specifically neglected group of innovators in traditional innovation studies is non-R&D and non-managerial employees, also referred to as ‘ordinary’ employees by the existing body of literature on employee-driven innovation (EDI). These employees have no formal innovation function, meaning th
CONTEXT: Vitamin D (25OHD) is involved in many physiological functions that decline with age, contributing to frailty and increased risk for negative health outcomes. Whether 25OHD is a long-term risk marker for frailty over a longer time and whether it is consistent with advancing age is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between 25OHD and frailty in older women followed for 10 ye
Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients frequently develop cognitive impairment. There is a need for brief clinical assessments identifying PD patients at high risk of progressing to dementia. In this study, we look into predicting dementia in PD and underlying structural and functional correlates to cognitive decline in PD. We included 175 patients with PD, 30 with PD dementia, 51 neurologically health
BACKGROUND: A chronic disease impacts a patient's daily life, with the burden of symptoms and managing the condition, and concerns of progression and disease complications. Such aspects are captured by Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures (PROM), assessments of e.g. wellbeing. Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREM) assess patients' experiences of healthcare and address patient preferences. Biom
Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The clinical presentation and prognosis of NPC is well described, but not in relation to intralesional EBV-DNA load. In a retrospective design, 48 patients with NPC were examined. Patient history was re-evaluated, and diagnostic biopsies were re-examined. Furthermore, intralesional EBV-DNA was quantitated and HPV status d
The aim of this work was to develop a method for assessing the drying performance of a hygienic, small-scale fruit juice preservation process called Solar Assisted Pervaporation (SAP). SAP is a batch process that allows for fruit juices or purées to be solar dried in water vapour-permeable membrane pouches in rural and remote areas. Traditional methods for measuring water vapour flux through membr
Osteopontin (OPN) plays a role in inflammation via recruitment of neutrophils and tissue remodeling. In this study, we investigated the distribution of OPN-expressing cells in the airway epithelium of normal lung tissue and that from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OPN was detected on the epithelial cell surface of small airways and in scattered cells within the epithel
