bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
K-feldspar enrichment in the Pacific pelagic sediments before Miocene
Authors: Usui Yoichi , Yamazaki Toshitsugu
Published: August 2023

The mineralogy of atmospheric silicate dust controls its interaction with clouds. K-feldspar has a remarkably high ice-nucleating activity, and its distribution may have influenced the global climate throughout Earth's history. However, long-term archives of past atmospheric feldspar are not known. Here, we investigate feldspar mineralogy, content, and grain size in pelagic clay cores. Sediments around Minamitorishima Island contain > 10 wt% of K-feldspar before ~ 35 Ma, which is five times more than the younger sediments. This distribution does not resemble other volcanic minerals or geochemically estimated volcanic input, suggesting that the K-feldspars are not associated with volcanic ash. The K-feldspars are present as isolated grains as well as pseudorhombohedral microcrystals indicative of authigenic overgrowth. On the other hand, they contain some Na, arguing against a purely authigenic origin. Grain size distributions of chemically separated quartz and feldspars show stratigraphic variation analogous to other North Pacific sites, further suggesting a link to eolian materials. Sediments from a South Pacific site also show K-feldspar enrichment over plagioclase before ~ 44 Ma, although the content relative to bulk sediment does not change much. We propose that the K-feldspar may be enriched in the wide area of the Pacific before ~ 30 to 40 Ma.
Holobiont responses of mesophotic precious red coral Corallium rubrum to thermal anomalies
Authors: Tignat-Perrier Romie , van de Water Jeroen A. J. M. , Allemand Denis , Ferrier-Pagès Christine
Published: August 2023

Marine heat waves (MHWs) have increased in frequency and intensity worldwide, causing mass mortality of benthic organisms and loss of biodiversity in shallow waters. The Mediterranean Sea is no exception, with shallow populations of habitat-forming octocorals facing the threat of local extinction. The mesophotic zone, which is less affected by MHWs, may be of ecological importance in conservation strategies for these species. However, our understanding of the response of mesophotic octocoral holobionts to changes in seawater temperature remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a study on an iconic Mediterranean octocoral, the red coralCorallium rubrumsampled at 60 m depth and 15 °C. We exposed the colonies to temperatures they occasionally experience (18 °C) and temperatures that could occur at the end of the century if global warming continues (21 °C). We also tested their response to extremely cold and warm temperatures (12 °C and 24 °C). Our results show a high tolerance ofC. rubrumto a two-month long exposure to temperatures ranging from 12 to 21 °C as no colony showed signs of tissue loss, reduced feeding ability, stress-induced gene expression, or disruption of host-bacterial symbioses. At 24 °C, however, we measured a sharp decrease in the relative abundance of Spirochaetaceae, which are the predominant bacterial symbionts under healthy conditions, along with a relative increase in Vibrionaceae. Tissue loss and overexpression of the tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 gene were also observed after two weeks of exposure. In light of ongoing global warming, our study helps predict the consequences of MHWs on mesophotic coralligenous reefs and the biodiversity that depends on them.
The occurrence and extent of anxiety and distress among Dutch travellers after encountering an animal associated injury
Authors: Warmerdam Anouk M. T. , Luppino Floriana S. , Visser Leo G.
Published: August 2023

Background

Prompt administration of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is crucial to prevent a fatal rabies infection after an animal associated injury (AAI), preferably within 24 h. PEP, especially in case of a type III injury for which rabies immune globulin (RIG) is needed, is difficult to obtain abroad. This, along with the fear of potentially having contracted a lethal disease, might be an important source for anxiety and distress. We investigated the occurrence and extent of self-reported anxiety and distress at different timepoints among Dutch travellers after encountering an AAI, and the involved factors.

Methods

A retrospective quantitative observational study was conducted including insured Dutch travellers who actively contacted Eurocross Assistance after encountering an AAI abroad. An online questionnaire was designed to measure anxiety and distress levels, using the HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and distress thermometer at three time points: departure from home (T1), post-AAI (T2), and treatment administration (T3). Statistical analyses included T-tests, Chi-square tests, and ANCOVA analyses.

Results

We showed a significant increase in mean anxiety and distress scores at T2, and a significant decrease at T3. Women were more often anxious and distressed. Between T1 and T2, PrEP, and being aware of the risks were positively associated with anxiety levels, and PrEP and WHO region Africa with distress levels. Between T2 and T3, anxiety levels remained higher for monkey-induced injury, thoracic injuries, and WHO region Southeast Asia. PEP-delay between 24–48 h resulted in decreased distress levels at this time period, while type II injury elevated distress levels.

Conclusions

This study showed significant anxiety and distress levels after an AAI among the vast majority of travellers, which is detrimental to their health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). This highlights the importance of proper pre-travel information. In the context of rabies prevention, these results suggest that pre-travel advice and policy makers should also take aspects of HR-QOL into consideration.
Is microbiota a part of obesogenic memory? Insights about the role of oral and gut microbiota in re-obesity
Authors: AbdelMassih Antoine , Eid Maryam , Gadalla Mahenar , AbouShadi Nour , Youssef Steven , Ali Batoul , AbdelDayem Janna , AbdelFatah Emmy , Mahmoud Abdulrahman , ElLithey Ahmed , Ghabreal Beshoy , ElSaid Doha , Mohamed Haya , Labib Hoda , ShamselDin Mennatullah , Daniel Nada , Youssef Omnia , KC Rajan , Ahmed Rana , Sayed Rawan , Ali Rodaina , Eid Yomna , Hozaien Rafeef , ElAhmady Maryam
Published: August 2023

Background

Weight re-gain (which is also known as re-obesity) is an overwhelming challenge many dieters face in their pursuit to maintain consistent results following successful weight loss. This frustrating pattern of weight cycling can have various mental and physical implications, which further puts another roadblock in any weight reduction program.

Main body of the abstract

A comprehensive analysis of the causes behind the phenomenon of re-obesity has been widely conducted in literature, exploring the importance of creating the right mindset for weight loss maintenance and identifying the hormonal role, specifically of insulin–leptin resistance and ghrelin enhanced affinity, on appetite and food intake regulation. Insulin–Leptin resistance, due to circulating prostaglandins and prostaglandin metabolites, along with a decline in leptin-producing adipocytes following body mass reduction, cuts off leptin’s satiety signals to the brain. The persistence of this hormonal dysregulation after weight loss is collectively called obesogenic memory, and it seems to be largely mediated by dysbiosis.

Short conclusion

In conclusion, understanding of the influence of hormonal dysbiosis on re-obesity is fundamental in targeting the culprits behind ineffective attempts at weight loss sustenance, optimization of diet duration, use of synbiotics. Fecal and oral microbial transplantation hold high potential in improving long-term management interventions in obesity patients.
Using audit and feedback to guide tailored implementations of measurement-based care in community mental health: a multiple case study
Authors: Snider Mira D. H. , Boyd Meredith R. , Walker Madison R. , Powell Byron J. , Lewis Cara C.
Published: August 2023

Background

Audit and feedback (A&F) is an implementation strategy that can facilitate implementation tailoring by identifying gaps between desired and actual clinical care. While there are several theory-based propositions on which A&F components lead to better implementation outcomes, many have not been empirically investigated, and there is limited guidance for stakeholders when applying A&F in practice. The current study aims to illustrate A&F procedures in six community mental health clinics, with an emphasis on reporting A&F components that are relevant to theories of how feedback elicits behavior change.

Methods

Six clinics from a larger trial using a tailored approach to implement measurement-based care (MBC) were analyzed for feedback content, delivery mechanisms, barriers to feedback, and outcomes of feedback using archival data. Pattern analysis was conducted to examine relations between A&F components and changes in MBC use.

Results

Several sites utilized both aggregate and individualized data summaries, and data accuracy concerns were common. Feedback cycles featuring individual-level clinician data, data relevant to MBC barriers, and information requested by data recipients were related to patterns of increased MBC use.

Conclusions

These findings support extant theory, such as Feedback Intervention Theory. Mental health professionals wishing to apply A&F should consider establishing reciprocal feedback mechanisms on the quality and amount of data being received and adopting specific roles communicating and addressing data quality concerns.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02266134.
Efficacy of threshold inspiratory muscle trainer versus diaphragmatic plus pursed lip breathing in occupational COPD
Authors: Mohammed Marwa , Mehani Sherin , Aziz Azza Abdel , Mohamed Maha Fathy , El Nahas Nesreen
Published: August 2023

Background

Smoking mainly induces COPD, but occupational threats play a significant role in the development of COPD. Previous studies concerning pulmonary rehabilitation mainly focus on COPD caused by smoking, but COPD induced by occupational hazards has not been studied yet. We aimed to identify the efficacy of IMT (Inspiratory Muscle training) using classic POWERbreathe versus DB (Diaphragmatic breathing) plus PLB (Pursed-lip Breathing) exercise in dyspnea, exercise capacity and pulmonary function parameters in occupational COPD farmers with moderate-to-severe COPD (GOLD II–III) FEV1% 30–79%.

Methods

A prospective supervised RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) included 60 farmers with COPD assigned randomly into two groups; Group A performed IMT using a classic POWERbreathe, and Group B performed DB plus PLB. Both groups completed two daily sessions for three months, seven days/week.

Results

Between-group differences outcome scores were compared, and there was a more remarkable significant improvement in exercise capacity, lung parameters, and dyspnea using the mMRC scale in the IMT group compared to DB plus PLB group. The 6MWT distance (effect size Cohen’s d: 1.69), FEV1 (effect size Cohen’s d: 0.78), FEV1/FVC (effect size Cohen’s d: 0.86), FVC (effect size Cohen’s d: 1.01), and mMRC score (effect size Cohen's d: 1.12) were significantly improved in group A (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that the IMT group showed better exercise capacity, dyspnea, and pulmonary function outcomes in occupational COPD farmers. Further studies require COPD patients from different occupations.
Development of a robust and reliable reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method using analytical quality by design principles for the accurate determination of esculin in its bulk form
Authors: Patil Sarvesh , Adhyapak Anjana , Shetti Priya , Gurao Rohan
Published: August 2023

Background

Analytical quality by design is a proactive, holistic, and data-driven approach to quality that emphasizes risk assessment and management. This can lead to more robust and reliable methods than traditional approaches. Using principles of analytical quality by design for method development can help to assure the quality and consistency of analytical methods. This is important for the pharmaceutical industry, where accurate and reproducible analytical methods are essential for ensuring drug safety, shelf life, and efficacy. Esculin is a naturally occurring derivative of coumarin that is found in the stems of the plant Aesculus indica. The present study describes the use of an analytical quality by design approach to develop and validate a reliable RP-HPLC method for the analysis of esculin bulk form.

Result

A central composite design was employed to optimize the percent of methanol in the mobile phase and flow rate for the analysis of a compound esculin using the RP-HPLC method. The optimized conditions were 43% methanol and 0.9 ml/min flow rate, with a retention time of 3.78 min, and Phenomenex Luna (5 µm × 250 mm, 4.6 mm) column was used. The method was found to be linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9998 for a concentration range of 4–20 μg/ml. The parameters of the system suitability test were within the acceptable range (0.0612–0.1398%), and the precision for both intra-day and inter-day measurements was below 2%. The robustness and ruggedness of the method were also good, with changes in the flow rate and mobile phase composition having a minimal impact on the method's performance. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were reported to be 0.82891 μg/ml and 2.511 μg/ml, respectively. The validation parameters of the method adhered to the specified limit following the ICH guidelines.

Conclusion

In summary, an AQbD-based efficient and robust RP-HPLC chromatographic method has been developed for the quantification of the esculin compound. The method is linear, precise, and reproducible, and it has good LOD and LOQ values. The method could be used for repetitive analysis of the compound in pharmaceutical formulations.
Harnessing of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in agroecosystem sustainability
Authors: Fasusi Oluwaseun Adeyinka , Babalola Olubukola Oluranti , Adejumo Timothy Olubisi
Published: August 2023

Background

Soil microorganisms including rhizobacteria and fungi play a key role in soil health, biodiversity and productivity of natural and managed ecosystems. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) associated with plant roots enhance the uptake of nutrient and improve productivity. Similarly, mycorrhizal fungi particularly, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), form a mutualistic association with plants and enhance nutrients uptake and consequently promote plant growth and productivity.

Methods

Here we show how harnessing beneficial soil microorganisms like PGPR and AMF with their positive effect on plant development can contribute to the green and clean economic growth strategy.

Results

Through a review of the state-of -art knowledge in this area we demonstrate that this approach can improve uptake of nutrients, enhance plant growth, yield and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. We argue that this approach can reduce the need for agrochemicals that destabilizes the ecological system.

Conclusions

This review provides a state-of-the-art synthesis of the knowledge generated so far and insight into the multifunctional strategies employed by AMF and PGPR toward ensuring sustainable agriculture.
Population mental health in Burma after 2021 military coup: online non-probability survey
Authors: Saw Htay-Wah , Owens Victoria , Morales Stephanie A. , Rodriguez Nicolas , Kern Christoph , Bach Ruben L.
Published: August 2023

Background

Humanitarian crises and armed conflicts lead to a greater prevalence of poor population mental health. Following the 1 February 2021 military coup in Burma, the country's civilians have faced humanitarian crises that have probably caused rising rates of mental disorders. However, a dearth of data has prevented researchers from assessing the extent of the problem empirically.

Aims

To better understand prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders among the Burmese adult population after the February 2021 military coup.

Method

We fielded an online non-probability survey of 7720 Burmese adults aged 18 and older during October 2021 and asked mental health and demographic questions. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 to measure probable depression and anxiety in respondents. We also estimated logistic regressions to assess variations in probable depression and anxiety across demographic subgroups and by level of trust in various media sources, including those operated by the Burmese military establishment.

Results

We found consistently high rates of probable anxiety and depression combined (60.71%), probable depression (61%) and probable anxiety (58%) in the sample overall, as well as across demographic subgroups. Respondents who ‘mostly’ or ‘completely’ trusted military-affiliated media sources (about 3% of the sample) were significantly less likely than respondents who did not trust these sources to report symptoms of anxiety and depression (AOR = 0.574; 95% CI 0.370–0.889), depression (AOR = 0.590; 95% CI 0.383–0.908) or anxiety (AOR = 0.609; 95% CI 0.390–0.951).

Conclusions

The widespread symptoms of anxiety and depression we observed demonstrate the need for both continuous surveillance of the current situation and humanitarian interventions to address mental health needs in Burma.
A survey on football network analysis
Authors: Li Ming-Xia , Xu Li-Gong , Zhou Wei-Xing
Published: August 2023

Being the world’s most popular sport, football research has traditionally concentrated on empirical summaries or statistics, with only limited data available in the past. In recent years, social network analysis has been applied to a variety of fields, which also brings new perspectives to the study of football sports. In this paper, we survey the literature related to football networks and discuss the use of network measures to analyze the performance of footballers and teams in different types of football networks. We aim to find out how to construct appropriate football networks based on different perspectives on football research. Various studies on football network analysis, including team performance, player interactions, and club behavior, are reviewed. The findings provide insights into team performance, player roles, and social dynamics within football teams and clubs.
Ways of Seeing, Ways of Being Seen
Authors: Cenatiempo Dantzel
Published: August 2023

This article explores how Josephine Baker leveraged post–World War I European primitivism to subvert her mostly white male audience's voyeuristic gaze. Baker's youthful experiences with early twentieth-century American minstrelsy fostered many techniques, from cross-dressing to whiteface, that proved useful for navigating her sudden fame in Jazz Age Paris. In particular, Baker's subversive parody of her rival Mistinguett in La joie de Paris in 1932 demonstrates how skin color, despite becoming both fetish and fashion during the interwar period, still fell into colonial hierarchies. Baker used her body to resist this system, moving away from her two-dimensional public image as a nude banana dancer and closer to the World War II agent and antisegregation activist she would soon become. The theories of Sigmund Freud, Frantz Fanon, Joanne B. Eicher, and Laura Mulvey help elucidate how this 1932 performance, by destabilizing gendered and racialized stereotypes, marks a significant turning point in Baker's political consciousness.
Because Religion
Authors: Jakobsen Janet R.
Published: August 2023

This chapter examines knotted narratives that assume religion causes gender-based violence. It shows that secular frameworks and the actions of the secular state are as deeply implicated in gender-based violence as are religious actors. Taking as its primary example actions by three successive US administrations (Bush, Obama, Trump), the chapter explores the intertwined invocation of “religion” and, specifically of Islam, with ideas about “gender-based violence” and “terrorism.” The resulting discourse is more than a reflection of contemporary US politics, it is also the historical product of how religion is conceptualized. The chapter suggests rethinking both religion and secularism, taking an approach in which religion is not automatically considered a source of violence and secularism is not the key to ending violence. Instead, activists, like those of Sakhi for South Asian women in New York City, can draw upon both religious and secular resources in responding to violence and restoring justice
State Criminality and Gender-Based Violence
Authors: Shalhoub-Kevorkian Nadera
Published: August 2023

This chapter examines the nexus of state crime, settler colonialism, and dominant frameworks of gender-based violence (GBV). Foregrounding the experiences of Palestinian schoolgirls, it uncovers invisible and sexualized state gender-based violence to expand our understanding of the geopolitics of gender violence by showing the utility of the concept of “state crime” that legal theorists and criminologists have recently developed to analyze states' use of violence to control, discriminate against, and govern subjugated populations. Based on the girls' descriptions of what they experience on their way to school in Occupied East Jerusalem, the chapter expands standard definitions of gender-based violence in two ways: (1) it recognizes the policing of schoolchildren and its ideological justifications as a form of gender-based state terror and (2) it shows that schoolgirls experience the intimate invasions of their bodily safety by armed soldiers and police as a form of sexual violence.
Weaponized Bodies
Authors: Zakaria Rafia
Published: August 2023

This chapter analyzes the author's dramatic story of pitching an article investigating the media coverage and complex politics of a highly publicized legal case in Michigan against a physician for performing female genital cutting (FGC). The case coincided with the introduction of new national programs directed at women immigrants that involved surveillance and profiling at national airports in the name of protecting them from this particular form of gender violence, codified as female genital mutilation. This is an iconic form of GBV that links culture and religion. The chapter shows how mainstream American media normalizes the political mobilization of this form of gender violence toward anti-immigrant discourses and policies of exclusion in the United States and Europe. The unexamined good of “public health” measures like Operation Limelight at British and American airports neutralize the profiling, policing, and surveillance of Black and brown women.
Immeasurable Weather
Authors: Grossman Sara J.
Published: August 2023

In Immeasurable Weather Sara J. Grossman explores how environmental data collection has been central to the larger project of settler colonialism in the United States. She draws on an extensive archive of historical and meteorological data spanning two centuries to show how American scientific institutions used information about the weather to establish and reinforce the foundations of a white patriarchal settler society. Grossman outlines the relationship between climate data and state power in key moments in the history of American weather science, from the nineteenth-century public data-gathering practices of settler farmers and teachers and the automation of weather data during the Dust Bowl to the role of meteorological satellites in data science's integration into the militarized state. Throughout, Grossman shows that weather science reproduced the natural world as something to be measured, owned, and exploited. This data gathering, she contends, gave coherence to a national weather project and to a notion of the nation itself, demonstrating that weather science's impact cannot be reduced to a set of quantifiable phenomena.
Speechifying
Authors: Cole Johnnetta Betsch
Published: August 2023

Speechifying collects the most important speeches of Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole—noted Black feminist anthropologist, the first Black female president of Spelman College, former director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, and former chair and president of the National Council of Negro Women. A powerful and eloquent orator, Dr. Cole demonstrates her commitment to the success of historically Black colleges and universities, her ideas about the central importance of diversity and inclusion in higher education, the impact of growing up in the segregated South on her life and activism, and her belief in public service. Drawing on a range of Black thinkers, writers, and artists as well as biblical scripture and spirituals, her speeches give voice to the most urgent and polarizing issues of our time while inspiring transformational leadership and change. Speechifying also includes interviews with Dr. Cole that highlight her perspective as a Black feminist, her dedication to public speaking and “speechifying” in the tradition of the Black church, and the impact that her leadership and mentorship have had on generations of Black feminist scholars.
How Things Fall Apart
Authors: Dore Elizabeth
Published: August 2023

In How Things Fall Apart Elizabeth Dore reveals the decay of the Cuban political system through the lives of seven ordinary Cuban citizens. Born in the 1970s and 1980s, they recount how their lives changed over a tumultuous stretch of thirty-five years: first when Fidel Castro opened the country to tourism following the fall of the Soviet bloc; then when Raúl Castro allowed market forces to operate; and finally when President Trump's tightening of the US embargo combined with the COVID-19 pandemic caused economic collapse. With warmth and humanity, they describe learning to survive in an environment where a tiny minority has grown rich, the great majority has been left behind, and inequality has destroyed the very things that used to give meaning to Cubans' lives. In this book, everyday Cubans illuminate their own stories and the slow and agonizing decline of the Cuban Revolution.
Learning Curves for Robot-Assisted Pedicle Screw Placement: Analysis of Operative Time for 234 Cases
Authors: Jiang Kelly , Hersh Andrew M. , Bhimreddy Meghana , Weber-Levine Carly , Davidar A. Daniel , Menta Arjun K. , Routkevitch Denis , Alomari Safwan , Judy Brendan F. , Lubelski Daniel , Weingart Jon , Theodore Nicholas
Published: August 2023

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Robot-assisted pedicle screw placement is associated with greater accuracy, reduced radiation, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and fewer complications than freehand screw placement. However, it can be associated with longer operative times and an extended training period. We report the initial experience of a surgeon using a robot system at an academic medical center.

METHODS:

We retrospectively reviewed all patients undergoing robot-assisted pedicle screw placement at a single tertiary care institution by 1 surgeon from 10/2017 to 05/2022. Linear regression, analysis of variance, and cumulative sum analysis were used to evaluate operative time learning curves. Operative time subanalyses for surgery indication, number of levels, and experience level were performed.

RESULTS:

In total, 234 cases were analyzed. A significant 0.19-minute decrease in operative time per case was observed (r = 0.14, P = .03). After 234 operations, this translates to a reduction in 44.5 minutes from the first to last case. A linear relationship was observed between case number and operative time in patients with spondylolisthesis (−0.63 minutes/case, r = 0.41, P < .001), 2-level involvement (−0.35 minutes/case, r = 0.19, P = .05), and 4-or-more-level involvement (−1.29 minutes/case, r = 0.24, P = .05). This resulted in reductions in operative time ranging from 39 minutes to 1.5 hours. Continued reductions in operative time were observed across the learning, experienced, and expert phases, which had mean operative times of 214, 197, and 146 minutes, respectively (P < .001). General proficiency in robot-assisted surgery was observed after the 20th case. However, 67 cases were required to reach mastery, defined as the inflection point of the cumulative sum curve.

CONCLUSION:

This study documents the long-term learning curve of a fellowship-trained spine neurosurgeon. Operative time significantly decreased with more experience. Although gaining comfort with robotic systems may be challenging or require additional training, it can benefit surgeons and patients alike with continued reductions in operative time.
Disrupting Hedgehog signaling in melanocytes by SUFU knockout leads to ocular melanocytosis and anterior segment malformation
Authors: Wang Weizhuo , Li Feiyang , Wang Jing , Liu Zuimeng , Tian Meiyu , Wang Zhenhang , Li Huirong , Qu Jia , Chen Yu , Hou Ling
Published: August 2023

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is well known for its crucial role during development, but its specific role in individual cell lineages is less well characterized. Here, we disrupted Hh signaling specifically in melanocytes by using Cre-mediated cell-type-specific knockout of the Hh regulator suppressor of fused (Sufu). Interestingly, corresponding mice were fully pigmented and showed no developmental alterations in melanocyte numbers or distribution in skin and hair follicles. However, there were ectopic melanoblasts visible in the anterior chamber of the eye that eventually displayed severe malformation. Choroidal melanocytes remained unaltered. Surprisingly, the abnormal accumulation of anterior uveal melanoblasts was not the result of increased cell proliferation but of increased migration to ectopic locations such as the cornea. In melanoblasts in vitro, Sufu knockdown replicated the increase in cell migration without affecting proliferation and was mediated by an increased level of phosphorylated-ERK brought about by a reduction in the levels of the repressor form of GLI3. These results highlight the developmental divergence of distinct melanocyte subpopulations and may shed light on the pathogenesis of human ocular melanocytosis.
Getting to the heart of anatomical diversity and phenotypic plasticity: fish hearts are an optimal organ model in need of greater mechanistic study
Authors: Farrell Anthony P.
Published: August 2023

Natural selection has produced many vertebrate ‘solutions’ for the cardiac life-support system, especially among the approximately 30,000 species of fishes. For example, across species, fish have the greatest range for central arterial blood pressure and relative ventricular mass of any vertebrate group. This enormous cardiac diversity is excellent ground material for mechanistic explorations. Added to this species diversity is the emerging field of population-specific diversity, which is revealing that cardiac design and function can be tailored to a fish population's local environmental conditions. Such information is important to conservation biologists and ecologists, as well as physiologists. Furthermore, the cardiac structure and function of an individual adult fish are extremely pliable (through phenotypic plasticity), which is typically beneficial to the heart's function when environmental conditions are variable. Consequently, exploring factors that trigger cardiac remodelling with acclimation to new environments represents a marvellous opportunity for performing mechanistic studies that minimize the genetic differences that accompany cross-species comparisons. What makes the heart an especially good system for the investigation of phenotypic plasticity and species diversity is that its function can be readily evaluated at the organ level using established methodologies, unlike most other organ systems. Although the fish heart has many merits as an organ-level model to provide a mechanistic understanding of phenotypic plasticity and species diversity, bringing this potential to fruition will require productive research collaborations among physiologists, geneticists, developmental biologists and ecologists.
Comparative morphology of the whiskers and faces of mice (Mus musculus) and rats (Rattus norvegicus)
Authors: Bresee Chris S. , Belli Hayley M. , Luo Yifu , Hartmann Mitra J. Z.
Published: August 2023

Understanding neural function requires quantification of the sensory signals that an animal's brain evolved to interpret. These signals in turn depend on the morphology and mechanics of the animal's sensory structures. Although the house mouse (Mus musculus) is one of the most common model species used in neuroscience, the spatial arrangement of its facial sensors has not yet been quantified. To address this gap, the present study quantifies the facial morphology of the mouse, with a particular focus on the geometry of its vibrissae (whiskers). The study develops equations that establish relationships between the three-dimensional (3D) locations of whisker basepoints, whisker geometry (arclength, curvature) and the 3D angles at which the whiskers emerge from the face. Additionally, the positions of facial sensory organs are quantified relative to bregma-lambda. Comparisons with the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) indicate that when normalized for head size, the whiskers of these two species have similar spacing density. The rostral–caudal distances between facial landmarks of the rat are a factor of ∼2.0 greater than the mouse, while the scale of bilateral distances is larger and more variable. We interpret these data to suggest that the larger size of rats compared with mice is a derived (apomorphic) trait. As rodents are increasingly important models in behavioral neuroscience, the morphological model developed here will help researchers generate naturalistic, multimodal patterns of stimulation for neurophysiological experiments and allow the generation of synthetic datasets and simulations to close the loop between brain, body and environment.
Prey consumption does not restore hydration state but mitigates the energetic costs of water deprivation in an insectivorous lizard
Authors: Chabaud Chloé , Brusch George A. , Pellerin Anouk , Lourdais Olivier , Le Galliard Jean-François
Published: August 2023

To cope with limited availability of drinking water in their environment, terrestrial animals have developed numerous behavioral and physiological strategies including maintaining an optimal hydration state through dietary water intake. Recent studies performed in snakes, which are generalist carnivorous reptiles, suggest that the benefits of dietary water intake are negated by hydric costs of digestion. Most lizards are generalist insectivores that can shift their prey types, but firm experimental demonstration of dietary water intake is currently missing in these organisms. Here, we performed an experimental study in the common lizard Zootoca vivipara, a keystone mesopredator from temperate climates exhibiting a great diversity of prey in its mesic habitats, in order to investigate the effects of food consumption and prey type on physiological responses to water deprivation. Our results indicate that common lizards cannot improve their hydration state through prey consumption, irrespective of prey type, suggesting that they are primarily dependent upon drinking water. Yet, high-quality prey consumption reduced the energetic costs of water deprivation, potentially helping lizards to conserve a better body condition during periods of limited water availability. These findings have important implications for understanding the physiological responses of ectotherms to water stress, and highlight the complex interactions between hydration status, energy metabolism and feeding behavior in insectivorous lizards.
Discovering pathways through ribozyme fitness landscapes using information theoretic quantification of epistasis
Authors: Charest Nathaniel , Shen Yuning , Lai Yei-Chen , Chen Irene A. , Shea Joan-Emma
Published: August 2023

The identification of catalytic RNAs is typically achieved through primarily experimental means. However, only a small fraction of sequence space can be analyzed even with high-throughput techniques. Methods to extrapolate from a limited data set to predict additional ribozyme sequences, particularly in a human-interpretable fashion, could be useful both for designing new functional RNAs and for generating greater understanding about a ribozyme fitness landscape. Using information theory, we express the effects of epistasis (i.e., deviations from additivity) on a ribozyme. This representation was incorporated into a simple model of the epistatic fitness landscape, which identified potentially exploitable combinations of mutations. We used this model to theoretically predict mutants of high activity for a self-aminoacylating ribozyme, identifying potentially active triple and quadruple mutants beyond the experimental data set of single and double mutants. The predictions were validated experimentally, with nine out of nine sequences being accurately predicted to have high activity. This set of sequences included mutants that form a previously unknown evolutionary “bridge” between two ribozyme families that share a common motif. Individual steps in the method could be examined, understood, and guided by a human, combining interpretability and performance in a simple model to predict ribozyme sequences by extrapolation.
Comparative study on real-time pose estimation of vision-based unmanned underwater vehicles
Authors: Li Ming , Yang Ke , Qin Jiangying , Zhong Jiageng , Jiang Zipeng , Su Qin
Published: August 2023

Background: Navigation and localization are key to the successful execution of autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) in marine environmental monitoring, underwater 3D mapping, and ocean resource surveys. The estimation of the position and the orientation of autonomous UUVs are a long-standing challenging and fundamental problem. As one of the underwater sensors, camera has always been the focus of attention due to its advantages of low cost and rich content information in low visibility waters, especially in the fields of visual perception of the underwater environment, target recognition and tracking. At present, the visual real-time pose estimation technology that can be used for UUVs is mainly divided into geometry-based visual positioning algorithms and deep learning-based visual positioning algorithms.

Methods: In order to compare the performance of different positioning algorithms and strategies, this paper uses C++ and python, takes the ORB-SLAM3 algorithm and DF-VO algorithm as representatives to conduct a comparative experiment and analysis.

Results: The geometry-based algorithm ORB-SLAM3 is less affected by illumination, performs more stably in different underwater environments, and has a shorter calculation time, but its robustness is poor in complex environments. The visual positioning algorithm DF-VO based on deep learning takes longer time to compute, and the positioning accuracy is more easily affected by illumination, especially in dark conditions. However, its robustness is better in unstructured environments such as large-scale image rotation and dynamic object interference.

Conclusions: In general, the deep learning-based algorithm is more robust, but multiple deep learning networks make it need more time to compute. The geometry-based method costs less time and is more accurate in low-light and turbid underwater conditions. However, in real underwater situations, these two methods can be connected as binocular vision or methods of multi-sensor combined pose estimation.
A study protocol in assessing knowledge attitude practices of breastfeeding amongst lactating women in Wardha, Maharashtra
Authors: Sahu Sweta , Nagtode Dr. Nikhilesh
Published: August 2023

Background: The best strategy for enhancing a child's health is breastfeeding. Success depends on starting breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth. Breastfeeding should begin during the first few hours of life and should be continued for the first six months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Early initiation of breastfeeding and six months of exclusive nursing are necessary for the infant's cognitive development. For a child to meet their developmental milestones and reduce the incidence of infant mortality in India, nutrition throughout the first 1000 days of life is essential. A substantial focus on modifying feeding habits in the first 1000 days is required.

The study’s objectives are to assess the knowledge regarding early initiation to exclusive breastfeeding after childbirth (within 24 hours and seven days of post-delivery) and the knowledge regarding breastfeeding techniques.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 355 lactating women are included in the age group of 20-35 years in the Wardha district. The study excludes those women who are not willing to participate, and those with medical conditions such as HIV, cancer, psychosis, active tuberculosis, complicated delivery, the baby who required neonatal NICU and neonatal resuscitation admission in the immediate post-delivery period, and those with Gross Congenital anomaly. The key outcome variables were timely and exclusive breastfeeding initiation and techniques. The data collection tool is a face-to-face questionnaire that will be developed through open data kit (ODK)) based on WHO and NFHS-4 and 5 surveys. We will analyze data through the use of Microsoft Excel software.

Conclusions: Early breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breastfeeding, and supplemental feeding strategies are all included in the research to assess and identify women's knowledge, attitude, and nursing practices.
Learning healthcare systems and rehabilitation: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Christophers Lauren , Torok Zsofia , Cornall Catherine , Henn Aoife , Hudson Clare , Whyte Teresa , Stokes Diarmuid , Carroll Aine
Published: August 2023

Background:  Healthcare literature has proposed that “learning organisations” (LO) or “learning healthcare systems” (LHS) that continuously generate and apply evidence, innovation, quality, and value can provide better care. This is of value to non-acute healthcare settings such as rehabilitation, which are complex, multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary in nature. Little is known about how these frameworks have been applied to rehabilitation settings.

Objective and inclusion criteria: The aim of this scoping review is to systematically summarise the literature conceptualising and operationalising LHS and LO in rehabilitation settings. Studies will be included which define a LO or LHS, describe an operating LHS/LO or include the translation of research evidence generated from LHS/LO data into healthcare improvement within a rehabilitation context. All study designs will be included.

Methods: The guidelines from the Joanna Briggs institute methodology for scoping reviews will be used for this review. The literature search will be performed using a three-step search strategy: an initial limited search of two databases has been performed to identify relevant key words and index terms. The developed search string will be adapted and applied across the following databases: OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, APA PsycINFO and COCHRANE Database of Systematic Reviews. Reference lists of selected sources and relevant data-hubs will also be searched. A draft data extraction framework will be used and updated iteratively to extract data. Data will be extracted and described to address the research question of how LHS and LO have been conceptualised and operationalised in the context of rehabilitation.

Discussion and Implications: There is potential for rehabilitation focused LHSs to advance global rehabilitation services and facilitate best practice. Little is known about how rehabilitation focused LHSs have been constructed and sustained. This will be the first review to explore LHS application in rehabilitation, guiding future development and research.
Ethics, climate change and health – a landscape review
Authors: Sheather Julian , Littler Katherine , Singh Jerome A , Wright Katharine
Published: August 2023

Anthropogenic climate change is unequivocal, and many of its physical health impacts have been identified, although further research is required into the mental health and wellbeing effects of climate change. There is a lack of understanding of the importance of ethics in policy-responses to health and climate change which is also linked to the lack of specific action-guiding ethical resources for researchers and practitioners. There is a marked paucity of ethically-informed health input into economic policy-responses to climate change—an area of important future work. The interaction between health, climate change and ethics is technically and theoretically complex and work in this area is fragmentary, unfocussed, and underdeveloped. Research and reflection on climate and health is fragmented and plagued by disciplinary silos and exponentially increasing literature means that the field cannot be synthesised using conventional methods. Reviewing the literature in these fields is therefore methodologically challenging. Although many of the normative challenges in responding to climate change have been identified, available theoretical approaches are insufficiently robust, and this may be linked to the lack of action-guiding support for practitioners. There is a lack of ethical reflection on research into climate change responses. Low-HDI (Human Development Index) countries are under-represented in research and publication both in the health-impacts of climate change, and normative reflection on health and climate change policy. There is a noticeable lack of ethical commentary on a range of key topics in the environmental health literature including population, pollution, transport, energy, food, and water use. Serious work is required to synthesise the principles governing policy responses to health and climate change, particularly in relation to value conflicts between the human and non-human world and the challenges presented by questions of intergenerational justice.
Code and Data Repository for Decision Rule Approaches for Pessimistic Bilevel Linear Programs Under Moment Ambiguity with Facility Location Applications
Authors: Goyal Akshit , Zhang Yiling , He Chuan
Published: August 2023

This archive is distributed in association with the INFORMS Journal on Computing under the GNU GPLv3. The software and data in this repository are a snapshot of the software and data that were used in the research reported on in the paper Decision Rule Approaches for Pessimistic Bilevel Linear Programs under Moment Ambiguity with Facility Location Applications by A. Goyal, Y. Zhang, and C. He. The snapshot is based on this SHA in the development repository.