bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self-reported sleep dysfunction among males deemed a “grave and immediate” risk to others: relationship with reported head injury, executive dysfunction and dynamic risk
Authors: Murphy David , Boniface Lauren , Walker Freya , Broyd Josephine
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The link between sleep disturbance and aggression among forensic psychiatric patients is well established. However, the relationship between subjective experience of sleep quality and sleep hygiene, reported head injury, age, neuropsychological functioning and risk within these populations remains poorly understood. A study is described examining the relationships between these factors in a sample of individuals deemed a “grave and immediate” risk toothers. The aim of this study is to explore these relationships in more detail.

Design/methodology/approach

A service evaluation project examining the prevalence of self-reported sleep dysfunction, age and the relationship with neuropsychological functioning, reported head injury and dynamic risk appraisals of a UK high secure psychiatric patient sample is described (n = 84).

Findings

Self-reported poor sleep quality and poor sleep hygiene is present among 65% of patients, especially those in admission and high dependency wards. Whilst there are no differences between those with a self-reported head injury history in sleep quality, there is in sleep hygiene. Older patients also report more sleep hygiene problems. The combination of poor sleep quality, poor sleep hygiene and performance within selective aspects of executive functioning tasks has some relationship with dynamic risk.

Practical implications

The importance of sleep management and cognitive remediation is discussed, as is the need for more robust research and inclusion of an assessment of sleep within forensic neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship of sleep disturbance, neuropsychological functioning and head injuries and risk within a high secure psychiatric patient sample.
Academia’s gig economy: visiting professors
Authors: Lewis Vance Johnson
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the growing trend of Visiting professorships in higher education, drawing parallels with the gig economy and exploring its implications for academia.

Design/methodology/approach

This perspective paper combines personal experience, literature review and analysis of current trends in higher education employment practices.

Findings

The increasing use of Visiting professors in academia mirrors the broader gig economy trends but poses unique challenges in the higher education context. These challenges include potential negative impacts on organizational culture, faculty motivation and long-term institutional goals.

Practical implications

This paper highlights the need for higher education administrators to reconsider the use of Visiting professorships and their potential long-term consequences on faculty development, institutional culture and educational quality.

Social implications

The trend toward more temporary faculty positions may have broader implications for the future of tenure, academic freedom and the overall structure of higher education institutions.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique perspective on the intersection of the gig economy and academia, offering insights into the experiences of Visiting professors and the potential consequences of this employment trend for higher education institutions.
Insights into the use of GRESB as an ESG benchmarking tool
Authors: Anders Gregory , Wiejak-Roy Grazyna Aleksandra , Horry Rosemary E. , Squires Graham , Booth Colin A.
Published: February 2025

Purpose

Sustainability practices and reporting have consistently evolved over the years with trends towards more holistic approaches with respect to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). In the real estate sector over the last decade, GRESB (formerly known as Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) has become the leading global ESG benchmarking tool for real asset investments. However, it has attracted limited research, and this underpins this works’ motivation for the exploration of the perspectives of real estate stakeholders relating to the uptake and use of GRESB.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach used in this study is qualitative in nature, adopting a phenomenological research design to capture the essence of the lived experiences of purposely sampled participants. This is done through an interpretative phenomenological analysis of semi-structured interviews.

Findings

Legislation, regulation and risk management are the main motivations for engaging with ESG-related issues. The main benefit of GRESB is benchmarking, while the main weaknesses lie in the data collection and the undeveloped social component. Within data, the major challenges are observed for the transparency of performance data and overreliance on policies instead of performance. GRESB would benefit from the inclusion of (1) more detailed sustainability benchmarks relating to social and governance components, and (2) social value metrics in their overall assessment.

Practical implications

Policymakers need to develop or support globally recognised reporting standards to increase the quality, accuracy and comparability of ESG information.

Originality/value

This is the first study on ESG reporting using a phenomenological research design.
Performance optimization of Ag/ATO thick film resistor pastes
Authors: Ren Qian , Tang Guohui , Li Xu , Chen Zheng , Duan Lei , Sun Aihua , Xu Gaojie
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study and report the effects of silver (Ag) content, glass phase particle size and Ag/antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) particle size on the properties of ATO thick film resistor pastes, especially on the microstructure, square resistance, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), resistance temperature curve and other properties of the pastes.

Design/methodology/approach

Thick film resistor pastes with different Ag content, glass phase particle size and ATO particle size were printed on stainless steel substrates by screen printing technology, and a series of Ag/ATO thick film resistors (TFRs) were obtained after high-temperature sintering. The electrical properties of TFRs were evaluated. The microstructure development, square resistance, TCR and other properties of the developed TFRs were evaluated with the change in Ag content and the particle size.

Findings

The results show that with the increase of Ag content, the square resistance of the pastes decreases and the TCR increases. The change rate of resistance after resintering is less than 4%, and the pastes show excellent antiaging properties. Meanwhile, with the increase of the particle size of the glass phase, the square resistance decreases first and then increases, and the TCR increases first and then decreases, which has little effect on the conductive behavior. The increase in ATO particle size leads to an increase in the square resistance of TFRs and a decrease in the TCR.

Originality/value

This paper provides a useful evaluation of the square resistance, TCR and other properties of Ag/ATO thick film resistor pastes, which are related to the Ag content, glass phase particle size and ATO particle size of the developed TFRs. The thick film resistor pastes with zero TCR can be obtained using Ag/ATO as the functional phase without Pd or Pt.
Nothofagus species in South America
Authors: Echeverría Cristian
Published: February 2025

The diversity of South American Nothofagus species in Chile and Argentina is described and discussed. Vernacular names and their derivations are provided. The importance of Nothofagus in forest ecosystems across the region, and threats to their existence are discussed, while conservation actions are outlined.
Computer‐Based Answer‐Until‐Correct and Elaborated Feedback: Effects on Affective‐Motivational and Performance Outcomes
Authors: Mertens Ute , Lindner Marlit A.
Published: February 2025

Background

Educational assessments increasingly shift towards computer‐based formats. Many studies have explored how different types of automated feedback affect learning. However, few studies have investigated how digital performance feedback affects test takers' ratings of affective‐motivational reactions during a testing session.

Method

In this within‐subject experiment, 97 university students completed a multiple‐choice treatment test including 36 challenging fact‐based science tasks (biology, chemistry, and physics). The test items were presented with different types of computer‐based feedback (i.e., elaborated feedback [EF] and multiple‐try feedback, i.e., Answer‐Until‐Correct [AUC]) and compared to a no‐feedback control condition. Outcome measures were students' self‐reported affective‐motivational responses and their performance in the treatment and in a recall posttest.

Results

Feedback positively affected performance. EF enhanced students' recall performance in a posttest more than AUC feedback. Yet, error correction, as measured by the number of corrected responses in the posttest, did not differ between the two feedback conditions. Regarding affective‐motivational outcomes, both EF and AUC feedback affected students similarly and were more beneficial than no feedback. This effect was further moderated by the item‐level response correctness. Following correct responses, the affective‐motivational impact of feedback was substantial and positive. In contrast to earlier findings, automated feedback did not have detrimental affective‐motivational effects after incorrect responses. Although the emotional benefit of AUC and EF feedback was reduced after incorrect responses, students' affect remained more positive compared to when they received no feedback.

Conclusion

Feedback effects on emotions and motivation varied by feedback type and the correctness of test‐takers' responses.
The concept of representation in the brain sciences: The current status and ways forward
Authors: Favela Luis H. , Machery Edouard
Published: February 2025

This article outlines the motivations and main findings of Favela and Machery's “Investigating the concept of representation in the neural and psychological sciences”, and discusses what to do with the concept of representation in the brain sciences moving forward.
Increasing syphilis cases in Japan: A risk posed to blood services
Authors: Suzuki H. , Tsuno N. H. , Kitsukawa K. , Miyagi T. , Sakamoto K. , Matsubayashi K. , Satake M. , Muroi K.
Published: February 2025

Background and Objectives

Syphilis cases surged in Japan, exceeding 10,000 in 2022, primarily through heterosexual transmission. The Japanese Red Cross Blood Services (JRCBS) screens donated blood for syphilis, disqualifying positive donors. This study explores syphilis infection among blood donors to understand its impact on blood collection and supply.

Materials and Methods

Data from blood donors (2015–2022) at JRCBS were analysed. Treponema pallidum (TP) antibody was tested by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay or chemiluminescent immunoassay. A total of 39,199,047 donations were scrutinized. Reactive samples were further tested by rapid plasma reagin (RPR).

Results

The number of TP and RPR positives (referred as syphilis positives) in 2022 compared with 2015 increased by 1.7 times in blood donors and 4.9 times in the general population. High syphilis‐positive rate in 2022 was mainly observed among male first‐time/reactivated donors and females in their 20s and 30s. Although syphilis cases in general population declined during the Corona pandemic, no significant decrease occurred in syphilis‐positive donors.

Conclusion

Although the increase in syphilis positives among blood donors may be a reflection of the increase in the general population, the rate of increase was less pronounced among blood donors. Although the increase in the syphilis‐positive rate may not affect blood product safety, it would have a significant impact on the number of potential blood donors in the future because the increase was more frequently observed in young donors and new donors, and currently, syphilis‐positive individuals are permanently deferred from blood donation. The implementation of effective measures to prevent transmission in the general population is required.
Arabidopsis seed lipid extract reference spectrum
Authors: Seydoux Claire , Simon Mathilde , Barnes Jean-Paul , Jouhet Juliette , Jouneau Pierre-Henri
Published: February 2025

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has become a popular tool in recent years to detect and map lipids in biological, organic, and mixed samples. Identifying lipids from a mass spectrum requires prior knowledge of the type of lipids that may be expected in a given sample but also of their possible fragmentation pattern under an ion beam. In this paper, we present reference spectra of lipid extracts from wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana dry seed lipid extracts, which is a complex mixture of triacylglycerols well-characterized and described in the literature. These spectra and tables of secondary ions will be helpful in the future to better identify lipid fragments and full species in complex mixtures such as naturally occurring biological samples.
Early life’s phosphorus problem solved?
Authors: Service Robert F.
Published: February 2025

Minerals from volcanic rock could have supplied a key ingredient for biomolecules
Characterization of a cytokinin-binding protein locus in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Yoo Jin Hee , Santarossa Cristina , Thomas Audrey , Ekiert Damian , Darwin K. Heran
Published: February 2025

Cytokinins are adenine-based hormones that have been well-characterized in plants but are also made by bacteria, including the human-exclusive pathogen
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
. Like plants,
M. tuberculosis
uses cytokinins to regulate gene expression. We previously established that cytokinin overaccumulation in
M. tuberculosis
results in a buildup of aldehydes produced during cytokinin breakdown. In plants, dedicated enzymes called cytokinin oxidases convert cytokinins into adenine and various aldehydes. Proteasome degradation-deficient
M. tuberculosis
, which cannot degrade the cytokinin-producing enzyme Log, accumulates several cytokinins and at least one cytokinin-associated aldehyde, resulting in increased sensitivity to nitric oxide and copper. We therefore hypothesized that
M. tuberculosis
encodes one or more cytokinin oxidases, and disruption of this enzyme might restore resistance to nitric oxide and copper in a proteasome-defective strain. Using a homology-based search, we identified Rv3719 as a protein with high similarity to a plant cytokinin oxidase. Deletion of this gene, however, did not restore nitric oxide or copper resistance to a degradation-defective mutant. Instead, we observed increased copper sensitivity when Rv3719 was deleted from either wild-type or proteasome-defective strains. Finally, we characterized Rv3718c, a protein encoded adjacent to Rv3719, and found that it bound a cytokinin with high specificity. Collectively, these data support a role for cytokinin activity in
M. tuberculosis
physiology that remains to be further elucidated.

IMPORTANCE

Numerous bacterial species encode cytokinin-producing enzymes, the functions of which are almost completely unknown. This work contributes new knowledge to the cytokinin field for bacteria and reveals further conservation of cytokinin-associated proteins between plants and prokaryotes.
The
Salmonella
pathogenicity island 1-encoded small RNA InvR mediates post-transcriptional feedback control of the activator HilA in
Salmonella
Authors: Hou Yutong , Kim Kyungsub , Cakar Fatih , Golubeva Yekaterina A. , Slauch James M. , Vanderpool Carin K.
Published: February 2025

Salmonella
Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI1) encodes a Type-3 secretion system (T3SS) essential for
Salmonella
invasion of intestinal epithelial cells. Many environmental and regulatory signals control SPI1 gene expression, but in most cases, the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Many regulatory signals control SPI1 at a post-transcriptional level, and we have identified a number of small RNAs (sRNAs) that control the SPI1 regulatory circuit. The transcriptional regulator HilA activates the expression of the genes encoding the SPI1 T3SS structural and primary effector proteins. Transcription of
hilA
is controlled by the AraC-like proteins HilD, HilC, and RtsA. The
hilA
mRNA 5′ untranslated region (UTR) is ~350 nucleotides in length and binds the RNA chaperone Hfq, suggesting it is a likely target for sRNA-mediated regulation. We used rGRIL-seq (reverse global sRNA target identification by ligation and sequencing) to identify sRNAs that bind to the
hilA
5′ UTR. The rGRIL-seq data, along with genetic analyses, demonstrate the SPI1-encoded sRNA
inv
asion gene-associated
R
NA (InvR) base pairs at a site overlapping the
hilA
ribosome binding site. HilD and HilC activate both
invR
and
hilA
. InvR, in turn, negatively regulates the translation of the
hilA
mRNA. Thus, the SPI1-encoded sRNA InvR acts as a negative feedback regulator of SPI1 expression. Our results suggest that InvR acts to fine-tune SPI1 expression and prevents overactivation of
hilA
expression, highlighting the complexity of sRNA regulatory inputs controlling SPI1 and
Salmonella
virulence.

IMPORTANCE

Salmonella
Typhimurium infections pose a significant public health concern, leading to illnesses that range from mild gastroenteritis to severe systemic infection. Infection requires a complex apparatus that the bacterium uses to invade the intestinal epithelium. Understanding how
Salmonella
regulates this system is essential for addressing these infections effectively. Here, we show that the small RNA (sRNA) InvR imposes a negative feedback regulation on the expression of the invasion system. This work underscores the role of sRNAs in
Salmonella
's complex regulatory network, offering new insights into how these molecules contribute to bacterial adaptation and pathogenesis.
International Education, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and ASM Ambassadors
Authors: Maloy Stanley
Published: February 2025

Global, high-quality education is crucial for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Inspiring young minds: the Microbiology Kids Club in Mozambique
Authors: Chambal Chilengue Aureliana , Namburete Marília , Inlamea Osvaldo , Melchior Bibiana , Pereira Sádia , Nhavoto Emídio , Inguana Pedro , Simbine Dolorte , Nandza Júlio , Sevene Esperança
Published: February 2025

The Microbiology Kids Club is an initiative designed to foster early interest in microbiology among children aged 5 to 16 years in Mozambique. Through hands-on activities such as microscopy, pipetting and artistic exploration, the program introduces participants to key microbiological concepts, sparking curiosity and promoting an understanding of microbiology’s role in our daily lives. The first edition of the club successfully engaged 100 children from Maputo City, while the second involved 60 children from Marracuene District, resulting in improved comprehension of microbial sciences. Positive feedback from participants, teachers, and community members emphasized the program’s importance in children’s education. These outcomes highlight the program's potential to promote scientific literacy in Mozambique, with plans to expand into rural areas to broaden access to microbiology education.
Pandemic risk stemming from the bovine H5N1 outbreak: an account of the knowns and unknowns
Authors: Lowen Anice C. , Baker Amy L. , Bowman Andrew S. , García-Sastre Adolfo , Hensley Scott E. , Lakdawala Seema S. , Moncla Louise H. , Nelson Martha I. , Pekosz Andrew , Poulson Rebecca L. , Puryear Wendy B. , Runstadler Jonathan A. , Sutton Troy C. , Tompkins S. Mark , Webby Richard J. ,   The Risk Assessment Pipeline working group of the NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) Network
Published: February 2025

H5N1 subtype influenza A viruses represent a long-standing pandemic concern. Owing to their global occurrence in poultry, humans are routinely exposed to these viruses, and hundreds of human cases have been documented worldwide since 2003. The relevant viral lineages are not static, however, and have recently undergone a massive expansion of host range and geographic distribution. Within this expansion, the introduction of H5N1 viruses into dairy cattle in the United States has spawned a novel animal-human interface. In response, public health agencies have sought to evaluate the risk of an H5N1 pandemic stemming from the bovine outbreak. These assessments draw on evidence from the field and the laboratory to score a series of recognized risk factors. As such, their utility hinges on fundamental understanding of the processes that drive pandemic emergence and the availability of relevant data. Advancing this understanding and gathering data prior to and during an outbreak are primary missions of the NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) Network. To further these goals and highlight the need for an invigorated response across US agencies, here, we review gaps in understanding of the dairy cattle outbreak and identify constraints on efforts to close these gaps.
The complete and circular genome of nitrogen-fixing
Mesorhizobium
sp. AaZ17, isolated from the root nodule of
Astragalus armatus
growing in a lead- and zinc-abandoned mine in Morocco
Authors: Alami Soufiane , Chaddad Zohra , Lamrabet Mouad , Kaddouri Kaoutar , Abdelmoumen Hanaa , Missbah El Idrissi Mustapha
Published: February 2025

In this study, we sequenced the genome of
Mesorhizobium
sp. strain AaZ16, a nitrogen-fixing rhizobial species isolated from the root nodules of
Astragalus armatus
growing wild in a lead- and zinc-rich mine tailings in the High Atlas, Morocco. This study reveals the genomic characteristics of the root microsymbiont.
Genome sequence of
Bacillus
sp. strain BAU-SS-2023, isolated from nasal swab of cattle in Bangladesh
Authors: Rahman Md. Abdur , Alam Jahangir , Zereen Farah , Hossain Md. Golzar , Saha Sukumar
Published: February 2025

We report the genome sequence of the
Bacillus
sp. strain BAU-SS-2023, isolated from nasal swabs of cattle in Bangladesh. The strain was isolated using brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and blood agar media. The genome was 9,162,285 bp, 32.4% G+C content, 9,145 coding sequences, 6 rRNAs, 73 tRNAs, and 9 noncoding RNAs.
Fecal bacterial biomarkers and blood biochemical indicators as potential key factors in the development of colorectal cancer
Authors: Cai Ping , Yang Qingzhen , Lu Jiaqi , Dai Xiaoyu , Xiong Jinbo
Published: February 2025

The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) has been increasing in recent decades. Current methods for CRC screening have their own drawbacks, thus there is an urgent need to identify the key microbes that drive the development of CRC for wider application in the early detection and prevention of CRC. To address this issue, we performed fecal microbiome analysis by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene combined with blood biochemical indicators in patients with CRC stages I, II, III, and IV, healthy people, and patients with polyps. Fecal microbiota of patients with CRC was disturbed, as evidenced by significantly reduced α-diversity in patients with CRC stage IV and markedly different β-diversity. The random forest model identified the top 25 genera from 174 training data, resulting in a diagnostic accuracy of 87.95%. Further, by combining with differential genera analysis, we screened out 11 biomarkers that significantly changed in different groups.
Peptostreptococcus
,
Parvimonas
,
Shewanella
,
Oscillibacter
,
Eggerthella
, and
Gemella
associated with the development of CRC were significantly enriched, while
Fenollaria
,
Staphylococcus
,
Ezakiella
,
Finegoldia,
and
Neisseria
associated with the remission of CRC were significantly suppressed in patients with CRC. Importantly, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was significantly correlated with these 11 microbial biomarkers, and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) was markedly correlated with
Oscillibacter
. Notably, co-occurrence network analysis at the genus level exhibited that the microbial co-occurrence network of CRC IV was the most complex and stable. These results suggested that CEA, CA 19-9 and 11 microbial biomarkers may be co-biomarkers for the disease occurrence and development, and non-invasive diagnosis of CRC.

IMPORTANCE

Identifying the key microbes that drive the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) has been important in this field. We delved into the research on the association between CRC and fecal microbiota in this study, providing a detailed analysis of the characteristics of fecal microbiota during the transition from normal intestine to polyps to cancer. Fecal bacterial biomarkers and blood biochemical indicators may be co-biomarkers in the development of CRC.
The flavonoid-sensing regulator AefR is involved in modulating quorum sensing through repressing the MexEF-OprN efflux pump in
Pseudomonas fluorescens
Authors: Xiao-Quan Yu , Jian-Ting Han , Han-Zhong Feng , Jun Hou , Zhi-Ping Wang , He Yong-Xing
Published: February 2025

Flavonoids, a major component of plant root exudates, play a crucial role in mediating plant-microbe interactions. However, the mechanisms by which flavonoids are perceived and trigger downstream signaling events in microbes remain largely unknown. In this study, we characterized AefR, a flavonoid-sensing transcriptional regulator from
Pseudomonas fluorescens
2P24, a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) known for its biocontrol properties. AefR was found to repress the expression of the mexEF-oprN efflux pump, which putatively exports N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs). This repression attenuates the PcoR/PcoI quorum-sensing system, leading to decreased production of the antibiotic mupirocin in
P. fluorescens
2P24. Furthermore, quantitative proteomic analysis revealed that the PcoR/PcoI quorum-sensing system regulates a diverse range of physiological processes, including mupirocin production and denitrification. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a quorum-quenching role of flavonoids in a PGPR strain, establishing that flavonoids can disrupt quorum-sensing by enhancing the efflux of quorum-sensing signaling molecules. These findings have practical implications for the development of sustainable biocontrol strategies, where leveraging natural plant-microbe interactions could enhance the suppression of plant pathogens without the use of synthetic chemicals.

IMPORTANCE

Flavonoids are key mediators of plant-microbe interactions; however, their role in regulating microbial signaling remains poorly understood. This study identifies AefR as a flavonoid-sensing regulator in
Pseudomonas fluorescens
2P24, revealing a novel quorum-quenching mechanism where flavonoids enhance the efflux of quorum-sensing signals. These findings shed light on the molecular basis of flavonoid-mediated microbial regulation and offer new strategies for sustainable plant health management.
Emerging
Clostridioides difficile
ribotypes have divergent metabolic phenotypes
Authors: Midani Firas S. , Danhof Heather A. , Mathew Nathanael , Ardis Colleen K. , Garey Kevin W. , Spinler Jennifer K. , Britton Robert A.
Published: February 2025

Clostridioides difficile
is a gram-positive spore-forming pathogen that commonly causes diarrheal infections in the developed world. Although
C. difficile
is a genetically diverse species, certain ribotypes are overrepresented in human infections, and it is unclear if metabolic adaptations are essential for the emergence of these epidemic ribotypes. To identify ribotype-specific metabolic differences, we therefore tested carbon substrate utilization by 88
C
.
difficile
isolates and looked for differences in growth between 22 ribotypes. As expected,
C. difficile
was capable of growing on a variety of carbon substrates. Further,
C. difficile
strains clustered by phylogenetic relationship and displayed ribotype-specific and clade-specific metabolic capabilities. Surprisingly, we observed that two emerging lineages, ribotypes 023 and 255, have divergent metabolic phenotypes. In addition, although
C. difficile
Clade 5 is the most evolutionary distant clade and often detected in animals, it displayed robust growth on simple sugars similar to Clades 1–4. Altogether, our results corroborate the generalist metabolic strategy of
C. difficile
but also demonstrate lineage-specific metabolic capabilities.

IMPORTANCE

The gut pathogen
Clostridioides difficile
utilizes a wide range of carbon sources. Microbial communities can be rationally designed to combat
C. difficile
by depleting its preferred nutrients in the gut. However,
C. difficile
is genetically diverse with hundreds of identified ribotypes, and most of its metabolic studies were performed with lab-adapted strains. To identify ribotype-specific metabolic differences, we profiled carbon metabolism by a myriad of
C. difficile
clinical isolates. While the metabolic capabilities of these isolates clustered by their genetic lineage, we observed surprising metabolic divergence between two emerging lineages. We also found that genetically newer and older clades grew to a similar level on simple sugars, which contrasts with recent findings that newer clades experienced positive selection on genes involved in simple sugar metabolism. Altogether, our results underscore the importance of considering the metabolic diversity of pathogens in the study of their evolution and the rational design of therapeutic interventions.
Anaerobic digestion of microalgae: microbial response and recovery after organic loading disturbances
Authors: Walter Juline M. , Greses Silvia , Hagen Live H. , Schiml Valerie C. , Pope Phillip B. , González-Fernández Cristina , Arntzen Magnus Ø
Published: February 2025

Industrial anaerobic digestion (AD) represents a relevant energy source beyond today’s fossil fuels, wherein organic matter is recycled to methane gas via an intricate and complex microbial food web. Despite its potential, anaerobic reactors often undergo process instability over time, which is frequently caused by substrate composition perturbations, making the system unreliable for stable energy production. To ensure the reliability of AD technologies, it is crucial to identify microbial and system responses to better understand the effect of such perturbations and ultimately detect signatures indicative of process failure. Here, we investigate the effect of the microalgal organic loading rate (OLR) on the fermentation product profile, microbiome dynamics, and disruption/recovery of major microbial metabolisms. Reactors subjected to low- and high-OLR disturbances were operated and monitored for fermentation products and biogas production over time, while microbial responses were investigated via 16S rRNA gene amplicon data, shotgun metagenomics, and metagenome-centric metaproteomics. Both low- and high-ORL fed systems encountered a sudden decline in methane production during OLR disturbances, followed by a recovery of the methanogenic activity within the microbiome. In the high-OLR disturbances, system failure triggered an upregulation of hydrolytic enzymes, an accumulation of fermentation products, and a shift in the methanogenic population from hydrogenotrophic to acetoclastic methanogens, with the latter being essential for recovery of the system after collapse.

IMPORTANCE

Anaerobic digestion (AD) with microalgae holds great potential for sustainable energy production, but process instability caused by substrate disturbances remains a significant barrier. This study highlights the importance of understanding the microbial dynamics and system responses during organic loading rate perturbations. By identifying key shifts in microbial populations and enzyme activity, particularly the transition from hydrogenotrophic to acetoclastic methanogens during recovery, this research provides critical insights for improving AD system stability and can contribute to optimizing microalgae-based AD processes for more reliable and efficient methane production.
Supplemental Material: Key factors controlling the late Mesozoic diverse porphyry Mo, Cu, and Au mineralization in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Central China
Authors: Tang Li , et al.
Published: February 2025

Table S1: Summary of the geological characteristics of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous porphyry-skarn deposits from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S2: Compilation of whole-rock major and trace element compositions of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S3: Compilation of whole-rock Sr-Nd isotopes of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries, and Triassic mafic microgranular enclaves from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S4: Compilation of zircon U-Pb ages and Hf-O isotopes of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries and Taihua Group from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S5: Compilation of zircon trace element compositions of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S6: Compilation of apatite compositions of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries from the Qinling Orogenic Belt. Table S7: Statistical median εHf(t), εNd(t), and Sr/Y values of the late Mesozoic fertile and barren porphyries from the Qinling Orogenic Belt.
Cataract surgery in the extremely small eye: morphology, comorbidities and outcomes in 300 eyes
Authors: Hammer Maximilian , Teich Lilly , Friedrich Maximilian , Reitemeyer Emanuel , Britz Leoni , Khoramnia Ramin , Yildirim Timur Mert , Auffarth Gerd U
Published: February 2025

Background/aims

Data on morphological characteristics and outcomes of extremely short eyes undergoing cataract surgery is sparse. Thus, an in-depth characterisation of eyes implanted with a high-power intraocular lens (IOL) (>30 dioptres) was performed.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study from January 2009 to October 2023, 300 eyes of 191 patients undergoing cataract surgery with extremely short axial length requiring the implantation of a high power IOL>30D were included. Eyes were categorised into the morphologies of nanophthalmos (N), relative anterior microphthalmos (RAM) and high or low/moderate hyperopia (HH and MH). Comorbidities, intraoperative and postoperative complications, preoperative and postoperative refraction and visual outcomes were investigated.

Results

Mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) was +6±2.85 D. The mean axial length was 20.68±0.92 mm. 19.3%, 45.3%, 22.7% and 12.7% of the studied eyes were categorised as MH, HH, N and RAM, respectively. Amblyopia (14.7%), previous strabismus surgery (7.3%), glaucoma (12.7%) and previous iridotomy (9.4%) were prevalent. Postoperative SE was −0.42±1.56 D. Preoperative Corrected Distance Visual Acuity (CDVA) and postoperative Uncorrected Distance Visual Acuity (UDVA) were not significantly different (0.34±0.39 Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (logMAR) vs 0.47±0.38 logMAR, respectively, p=0.47), postoperative CDVA was slightly improved (0.28±0.31 logMAR, p=0.02). The narrow anterior chamber angle was significantly alleviated, posterior capsule rupture rates (3%) were within previously reported ranges.

Conclusions

Lens surgery is safe, improves the anterior chamber situation but is rather imprecise in extremely short eyes. Of all subtypes, nanophthalmic eyes showed compromised outcomes. Postoperative CDVA is only slightly improved to preoperative CDVA, while postoperative UDVA closely resembles preoperative CDVA. Surgery thus provides spectacle independence leading to good patient satisfaction.
Barriers and strategies to improve vaccine adverse events reporting: views from health workers and managers in Northern Ghana
Authors: Ansah Nana Akosua , Weibel Daniel , Chatio Samuel Tamti , Oladokun Samuel Tomilola , Duah Enyonam , Ansah Patrick , Oduro Abraham , Hollestelle Marieke , Sturkenboom Miriam
Published: February 2025

Background

The increasing incidence of novel vaccine-preventable diseases, such as COVID-19, has led to an increase in the development of vaccines globally. Vaccine hesitancy has risen due to fears of vaccines causing harm. African health systems have generally relied on spontaneous reporting of adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) to monitor vaccine safety.

Objectives

This study explored the views of healthcare professionals and managers regarding barriers and strategies to improve AEFI reporting in northern Ghana.

Methods

This study used a qualitative research design where in-depth interviews were conducted with health professionals and managers in five administrative regions in northern Ghana between March and August 2021. The purposive sampling method was used to select districts and participants. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded into themes using QSR NVivo V.12 software before thematic content analysis.

Results

The study found that lack of feedback is the main regulatory-level factor affecting reporting adverse events. Health system-level factors, such as limited knowledge of reporting AEFIs, a lack of training, difficulties in using electronic application software to complete AEFI forms, and fear of punishment, significantly affect AEFI reporting. At the patient/community level, the main factors affecting AEFI reporting are the distance to health facilities and transportation costs. However, participants suggested continuous AEFI education, sensitisation of health workers and patients, timely feedback, and effective stakeholder collaboration among front-line health workers, health managers, and the national pharmacovigilance authority could improve AEFI reporting in Ghana.

Conclusions

Reporting of AEFIs contributes to improving vaccine safety, surveillance systems and prompt case management. However, the study identified multiple key factors at the regulatory, health system, and patient levels affecting AEFI reporting. Thus, improvements in line with these suggestions, including effective stakeholder engagement, are necessary to increase AEFI reporting.
Architecture for mental health
Authors: Rusca Roberto
Published: February 2025

The present study aims at establishing if anything has been learnt from 140 years of modern architecture when it comes to designing for inpatient mental health and to identifying how architecture can contribute to the development of low stress psychiatric units. Creative architects have generally rejected the ‘classical language’ of architecture. The principles of modern architecture can be applied to the design of psychiatric units. The effects of living conditions on the human mind had already been addressed in the 1920s. More recent studies have looked at links between ward design and aggression, aimed at identifying environmental stress-reducing factors. Environmental psychology studies, along with the work of 261 architects over a span of 140 years and of 32 major architectural firms, were reviewed. Aggression seems to be linked to factors such as crowding, noise, lack of privacy and the lack of stress-reducing positive distractions. Out of 261 architects, 22 (8.42%) designed hospital buildings and only five (1.91%) were involved in designing psychiatric hospitals. Out of 69 recently built modern hospitals, 18 were psychiatric hospitals (26.08%). Principles of modern architecture have been sporadically implemented in older hospital buildings, rarely in psychiatric units, more frequently in some recently built psychiatric hospitals, hopefully to create low stress environments that could speed up recovery, reduce costs, enhance staff satisfaction and recruiting.
Six early CPAP-usage behavioural patterns determine peak CPAP adherence and permit tailored intervention, in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea
Authors: Dielesen Julia , Ledwaba-Chapman Lesedi J , Kasetti Pragna , Husain Noori Fatima , Skinner Timothy C , Pengo Martino F , Whiteman Teresa , Asimakopoulou Koula , Merritt Simon , Jones David , Dickel Peter , Pulakal Siddiq , Ward Neil R , Pepperell Justin , Steier Joerg , Sathyapala S Amanda
Published: February 2025

Background

High rates of non-adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in obstructive sleep apnoea hamper good clinical outcomes. Current recommendations assumes two behaviours (adherence and non-adherence) and days 7–90 follow-up post-CPAP initiation mitigates against non-adherence.

Objectives

To investigate associations between early CPAP-usage behaviours and (1) CPAP adherence at month 3 of treatment and (2) sleep centres’ treatment pathways (the procedures patients undergo that may affect barriers or facilitators of CPAP adherence).

Methods

We conducted growth mixture modelling (GMM) on retrospective data from 1000 patients at 5 UK sleep centres. Night 1 to month 3 telemonitored CPAP-usage data were downloaded from 200 patients per centre who started CPAP in 2019 (100) or 2020 (100). Adherence was defined using accepted criteria (mean CPAP-usage ≥4 hours/night for ≥70% of nights).

Results

GMM identified six distinct CPAP-usage behaviour patterns over month 1. In four (54% of patients), CPAP-usage increased or decreased, in two (remaining 46%), CPAP-usage/non-usage was consistent. 62% of the cohort were non-adherent by month 3, despite pathways following current recommendations. 98% of patients who were non-adherent by month 3 were already non-adherent by month 1. Regression analysis with a separate dataset demonstrated that early CPAP-usage behaviour explained 86% of the variance in CPAP non-adherence at month 3.

Conclusions

These data, supported by previous work, indicate that recommended day 30–90 follow-up is too late to prevent CPAP non-adherence. Determining CPAP-usage behavioural pattern in week 2 identifies risk of CPAP non-adherence at month 3 and permits the possibility of tailored interventions.
Do heavy monopoles hide from us?
Authors: Fanchiotti Huner , García Canal C. A. , Vento Vicente
Published: February 2025

Dirac demonstrated that the existence of a single magnetic monopole in the universe could explain the discrete nature of electric charge. Magnetic monopoles naturally arise in most grand unified theories. However, the extensive experimental searches conducted thus far have not been successful. Here, we propose a mechanism in which magnetic monopoles bind deeply with neutral states, effectively hiding some of the properties of free monopoles. We explore various scenarios for these systems and analyze their detectability. In particular, one scenario is especially interesting, as it predicts a light state—an analog of an electron but with magnetic charge instead of electric charge—which we refer to as a magnetron.
PAPooling: Graph-based Position Adaptive Aggregation of Local Geometry in Point Clouds
Authors: Wang Jie , Xu Tingfa , Song Liqiang , Ding Lihe , Li Hui , Jiang Peng , Han Yuqi , Li Jianan
Published: February 2025

Fine-grained geometry, obtained through the assimilation of localized point features, is crucial in the realms of object recognition and scene comprehension within point cloud contexts. Traditional point cloud backbones predominantly utilize max pooling for the amalgamation of local features, a process that tends to overlook spatial interrelations among points, consequently leading to the potential loss of fine-grained geometric details. To overcome this limitation, we introduce an innovative operation termed
Position Adaptive Pooling
(PAPooling), which is designed to amalgamate local features while sensitively considering the spatial positions of points. This is achieved by employing a graph-based representation to explicitly model the spatial relationships of points. PAPooling involves two principal components: firstly, the
local graph construction
, which establishes a local graph for a set of points by linking a central point with its adjacent points, thereby transforming pairwise relative positions into channel-specific attention weights; secondly, the
attentive feature aggregation
, which adeptly takes into account the contribution of each node and simulates the inter-node relationships within the local graph, effectively extracting representations of local features through a Graph Convolution Network (GCN). PAPooling’s simplicity and efficacy make it a versatile addition to widely-used point-based backbones such as PointNet++ and DGCNN, offering a plug-and-play solution. Comprehensive experimental analysis demonstrates PAPooling’s enhanced capability in capturing local geometry, contributing significantly across a spectrum of applications including 3D shape classification, part segmentation, scene segmentation, and corruption defense, all with minimal computational increase. Code will be public at
https://github.com/Roywangj/PAPooling/
.
AdGPT: Explore Meaningful Advertising with ChatGPT
Authors: Huang Jiannan , Qu Mengxue , Li Longfei , Wei Yunchao
Published: February 2025

Advertising is pervasive in everyday life. Some advertisements are not as readily comprehensible, as they convey a deeper message or purpose, which is referred to as “meaningful advertising”. These ads often aim to create an emotional connection with the audience or promote a social cause. Developing a method for automatically understanding meaningful advertising would be advantageous for the dissemination and creation of such ads. However, current models of ad understanding primarily focus on the superficial aspects of images. In this paper, we introduce AdGPT, a model that leverages visual expert analysis to guide Large Language Models (LLMs) in generating adaptive reasoning chains. Informed by these chains of thought, the model can intelligently comprehend meaningful ads regarding category, content, and sentiment. To assess the effectiveness of our approach, we extract a subset of meaningful ads from the widely used Pitt’s ad images for analysis. Beyond employing traditional ad understanding metrics to evaluate the LLMs’ comprehensive ad comprehension, we also develop a novel generative metric that aligns with user study evaluations for consistent performance assessment. Experiments show that our methods outperform existing state-of-the-art (SOTA) approaches directly linking visual expert models and LLMs and large-scale visual-language models. Code is available at
https://github.com/Rbrq03/AdGPT
Strategies for Electrochemical Point-of-Care Biosensors
Authors: Wachholz Junior Dagwin , Deroco Patricia Batista , Hryniewicz Bruna M. , Kubota Lauro Tatsuo
Published: February 2025

Electrochemical biosensors have emerged as pivotal tools in point-of-care (POC) sensing, offering rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective detection platforms. Different strategies for advancing electrochemical POC biosensors have been explored recently, including fabrication methodologies and advances in biorecognition elements. This review comprehensively explores the miniaturization and integration of portable and wireless devices into fully integrated systems, highlighting recent advancements and challenges in fabrication techniques. We also discuss different enhancement strategies for biorecognition in POC testing, including immunosensors, aptasensors, genosensors, and CRISPR-based biosensors, evaluating their respective strengths and applications. Furthermore, this review addresses the complexity of multiplexing within electrochemical biosensing platforms. Finally, we outline some critical considerations for field deployment and commercialization of electrochemical POC biosensors. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of advancing electrochemical biosensors toward robust and scalable POC solutions by synthesizing advancements across this emerging field.