bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Drone mapping links reindeer browsing during an herbivory pulse to divergent vegetation community responses
Authors: Spiegel Marcus P , Kerby Jeffrey T , Ehrich Dorothée , Volkovitskiy Alexander , Terekhina Alexandra , Filippova Violetta , Shklyar Kirill , Sokolova Natalia , Sokolov Aleksandr A , Macias-Fauria Marc
Published: January 2025

Large herbivores regulate ecosystem structure and functioning across Earth’s biomes, but vegetation community responses to herbivory depend on complex interactions involving the timing and intensity of herbivory pressure and other, often abiotic, controls on vegetation. Consequently, reindeer-driven vegetation transitions in the Arctic occur heterogeneously between and even within landscapes. Here, we employed drone surveys to investigate drivers of spatial heterogeneity in vegetation responses to reindeer herbivory by mapping change comprehensively across a landscape at the fine scale inherent to plant-herbivore interactions. We conducted our surveys on the Yamal Peninsula, West Siberia in coordination with Indigenous Nenets mobile pastoralists managing a reindeer herd of hundreds of animals, including 13 animals with GPS collars. The surveys mapped the focal landscape immediately before the herd arrived, immediately after they had left the site, and one month after the herd’s activity. Using structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry in a novel workflow that accounts for spatially variable uncertainty in the SfM reconstructions, we detected significant decreases in canopy height over 0.4% of the site after the herbivory event and significant increases in canopy height over 3% of the site one month later. Vegetation responses diverged depending on the amount of herbivory pressure, which was derived from the collar GPS data. In areas with higher reindeer activity, there were initial decreases in canopy height strongly suggesting trampling and defoliation, including signs of browsing around the edges of erect shrubs, and subsequent growth instead predominantly in low-lying vegetation one month later. Areas with lower herbivory pressure within the same habitat types showed strikingly little change throughout the study period. Due to our spatially comprehensive approach, we were able to pinpoint immediate and lagged effects of an herbivory pulse, ultimately demonstrating how herbivory can shape the productivity and distribution of vegetation communities within a landscape.
The vulnerability of European agricultural areas to anthesis heat stress increases with climate change
Authors: Lucia Martin Lioba , Smerald Andrew , Kiese Ralf , Klimiuk Tatiana , Ludwig Patrick , Sanchéz-Benítez Antonio , Goessling Helge , Scheer Clemens
Published: January 2025

Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture, primarily through yield losses due to droughts and heatwaves. The flowering phase is a particularly critical period during which many crops are highly susceptible to heat, resulting in long-term damage and substantial yield reduction. By imposing the large-scale atmospheric circulation of the 2018 to 2022 heatwaves in a CMIP6 model, we explore the potential impact of such a multi-year event within future climate scenarios as a storyline. We developed a heat stress index to quantify the amount of stress experienced by crops due to heat exposure during flowering relative to unstressed conditions. This index was then applied to the storylines over the European domain and evaluated for major cereal crops (maize and wheat). Extrapolating 2022 conditions to a scenario with global warming of +4 K, we show that over 30% of the harvested area would experience severe heat stress, resulting in a 10% yield reduction across Europe. Our investigations highlight that the timing and severity of a heatwave can have a much higher impact than the mean warming level, emphasizing the need for accurate seasonal forecasts. Addressing these challenges will require proactive management adaptations, including dynamic forecast-based decisions on planting dates, crop, and variety selection.
Interests of Reason
Authors: Cureton Adam
Published: January 2025

The book’s third main question is: What moves us to govern ourselves by reason? The aim of this chapter is to explore the motives that lead a rational and reasonable person to exercise her governing abilities of reason, to comply with requirements of reason, to legislate laws of reason, and otherwise to live as a rationally self-governing person. Traditional Kantian theories contend that our reason includes some limited interests in governing ourselves by moral laws. The third feature of the Sovereignty Conception of Reason is that our power of reason includes or gives rise to many formal and substantive desires, dispositions, drives, goals, needs, feelings, and other interests of reason. Part of having a rational nature is that we care about certain things for their own sakes, are disposed to act in various ways, and have certain needs and certain desires and feelings simply because we are rational. Our power of reason is not inert, passive, or otherwise dependent on our natural desires, natural feelings, or choices. It includes its own active elements. A rational and reasonable person favors unity and harmony, seeks explanations of things, wants to learn as much as she can, values enlightened thought, cares about the lives of other rational people, aims for the development of their own rational and natural abilities, and seeks friendships. This chapter explores the idea of an interest of reason, characterizes two types of them, and suggests that our power of reason includes a wide variety of these formal and substantive interests.
Natural Perfection
Authors: Cureton Adam
Published: January 2025

Our power of reason includes substantive final interests in the natural perfection of all people. As rational and reasonable people, we care about developing our understanding, imagination, agility, dexterity, and other physical and mental abilities we have. We also value cultivating these powers in other people. The aims of this chapter are to describe a conception of what it is to be a naturally perfect human person, to explain our interest of reason in this kind of natural perfection of all people, to distinguish it from others, and to explore some presumptive laws of reason that are favored by our interest of reason in the natural perfection of everyone. A human person is naturally perfect just in case she has intrinsic properties that, for any end, lead to the realization of that end. Such an ideal person can accomplish all ends and is immanently useful for satisfying all ends. Rational and reasonable persons with interests of reason in the natural perfection of all could or would favor presumptive laws of reason that concern cultivating our own powers of body and mind, learning new skills, acquiring knowledge, toughening our bodies, not mutilating people, and educating children. Various kinds of friendships, social groups, economic competition, educational institutions, and political arrangements provide favorable conditions for enhancing the natural perfection of human persons. Our interests in natural perfection also favor laws that require us to feel pleasure, not pain, at the perfections of others and to feel pain, not pleasure, at their imperfections.
Respect and Expressions of Respect
Authors: Cureton Adam
Published: January 2025

Our power of reason includes substantive final interests in respect and expressions of respect. As rational and reasonable people, we care about respecting and not disrespecting rational nature, reasonable actions and characters, and the laws of reason themselves. We also value expressions of respect for these things in word, manner, and deed. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate how the Sovereignty Conception of Reason can capture and explain a wide variety of judgments in reflective common sense about respect, contempt, and their expressions. It explores a novel conception of respect as a judgment that something is an object of our interests of reason. This is an unorthodox view of respect that fits with some themes in Kant’s thinking and helps to explain why we sometimes fail to respect the things we should. The chapter also considers presumptive laws of reason that our interests in respect and expressions of respect favor. Our interests of reason in respect favor presumptive requirements to make accurate judgments of inner worth, guard against biases in these judgments, be modest in assessing actions and characters of others, and communicate with others to correct errors in them. Our interests of reason in expressions of respect favor laws that presumptively require us to express accurate judgments of inner worth and to exercise due care in what signs we use. Both interests favor laws about defending ourselves from mistaken judgments of our inner worth and not giving occasion for people to make and express such mistaken judgments.
European Sirens
Authors: Andriessen Louis , Ligeti György , Lutoslawski Witold
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on salons given by European composers Louis Andriessen, György Ligeti, and Witold Lutoslawski. Most of Freeman’s patronage favored American composers; she was wary of European musical aesthetics and knew European countries were more generous with grants to artists than the United States. However, her attention and support expanded toward European composers beginning in the late 1980s. While the composers in this chapter represent a European origin (though not the only Europeans included in this book), in many ways this is where their similarities end. Still, their presence in the Music Room represents a heightened awareness of the European avant-garde and, partially through events like Freeman’s musicales, shows how important connections between composers on both continents were made.
Ap-Vas1 distribution unveils new insights into germline development in the parthenogenetic and viviparous pea aphid: from germ-plasm assembly to germ-cell clustering
Authors: Lin Gee-Way , Chang Chun-che
Published: January 2025

Targeting the distribution of germ-cell markers is a widely used strategy for investigating germline development in animals. Among these markers, the vasa (vas) orthologues, which encode ATP-dependent RNA helicases, are highly conserved. Previous studies have examined asexual (parthenogenetic) and viviparous embryos of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum using a cross-reacting Vas antibody. This study utilized a specific antibody against Ap-Vas1, a Vas orthologue in the pea aphid, to gain new insights into germline development. The Ap-Vas1-specific antibody facilitates earlier detection of germ-plasm assembly at the oocyte posterior, challenging the previous assumption that germ-plasm assembly begins only at the onset of embryogenesis. Treatment of oocytes and early embryos with cytoskeleton inhibitors suggests that germ-plasm assembly primarily depends on actin, in contrast to the fly Drosophila melanogaster, where both actin and microtubules are essential. Since pea aphids lack an orthologue of osk, which encodes the protein Osk responsible for anchoring Vas to the germ plasm in Drosophila, this suggests that pea aphids employ distinct mechanisms for osk- and microtubule-independent formation of the germ plasm. Moreover, the clustering of germ cells into germarium-like structures in the extraembryonic region before entering the embryos suggests a gonad formation process different from that in Drosophila, where germ cells begin to cluster into germaria after settling within the embryonic gonads. Therefore, the analysis of the Ap-Vas1 distribution provides a deeper understanding of germline development in asexual pea aphids, uncovering novel aspects of parthenogenetic and viviparous reproduction in insects.
2651 UHS SHINE service: haematology is looking to establish a novel MDT approach for the Management of Elderly non-Hodgkin’s patients
Authors: Brown H , Singh A , King A
Published: January 2025

Introduction

In conjunction with Roche, an 18-month project was proposed to facilitate a more holistic approach in managing this patient cohort post-diagnosis and in turn improve outcomes, reduce length of stay and improve patient experience.

Method

The aim of the project was to design the MDT, ensure there is sufficient clinician capacity for implementation as well as develop accompanying pathways. The patient cohort was all patients with a diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma over the age of 65. Whilst all patients meeting these criteria would potentially be eligible to be reviewed by the MDT, the patients would first complete a comprehensive frailty assessment at the end of which the clinician will assign a clinical frailty score (CFS). Any patient scoring 4 or above with a clinical concern will be added to the MDT for review. The MDT itself will aim to address all aspects of the patient’s health care journey post diagnosis. To this end, the roles that have been defined as critical are: Haematologist, Geriatrician, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist/Occupational Therapist, Dietician, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Support Worker.

Results

Currently over 90 patients assessed. Over 60 discussed in MDT, with over 170 total reviews. Further qualitative TBC.

Conclusions

Currently at UHS there is limited provision of frailty services. This unmet need manifests as e.g. reduced rates of treatment completion or increased treatment modifications, increased length of stay for post treatment episodes, missed appointments and non-elective admissions. All of which subsequently impact the patient’s prognosis and NHS resources.

Evidence shows centres with a geriatric oncology service have seen increased success in completion of treatment for patients and length of stay reduced by an average of 4.5 days. This pilot has enabled the Trust to collate evidence of this being the case locally, ultimately facilitating improved patient experience, better patient outcomes and reduced.
2659 Setting up a frailty virtual Ward: opportunities, successes and challenges
Authors: Savage L , Gibbons C , Chatterjee S , Alexander H
Published: January 2025

Introduction

The Gloucestershire Frailty Virtual Ward (FVW) is a novel multidisciplinary collaborative project which seeks to improve care for frail older patients. We describe our experience, reflect on lessons learnt and plans for future service development.

Methods

The Gloucestershire FVW was started in early 2023. It arose from an understanding that the needs of frail patients can often be better met in their own homes, by utilising a combination of digital technology combined with improved working across organisational boundaries at the primary/secondary care interface. We reviewed data from all patients admitted onto our FVW between October 2023 and March 2024.

Results

66 patients were included. The majority of patients were ‘step-down’, having been in hospital prior to FVW admission. The minority were ‘step-up’, having been referred from community colleagues. Clinical frailty scores ranged from 2–8, with a mean of 6. During this period, our FVW managed a range of different clinical problems. The most common reason for FVW admission was infection, then heart failure, delirium and acute kidney injury. Most patients were admitted for the management of a single problem (58%), although a significant proportion had 2 or more problems (42%). Our FVW conducted a variety of interventions, including blood tests, face-to-face reviews, amending medications including antimicrobials, diuretics and analgesia. Our FVW was also involved in decisions around the withdrawal of active care and initiation of a palliative approach.

Conclusions

Our FVW has helped facilitate early discharge and avoid hospital admission, with associated benefits to both patients and the acute trust. As a new service which aims to sit between primary and secondary care, we have encountered logistical and governance challenges associated with working across organisational boundaries. Additionally, we have found that the use of digital technology can cause anxiety for patients and place additional strain on carers.
2865 Revamping ReSPECT: a qualitative assessment of the documentation in the ‘clinician recommendations’ section in ReSPECT forms
Authors: de Silva C , Twigg M , Dykes L , Gilpin R
Published: January 2025

Background

This project is based in the geriatric department of Wye Valley NHS trust which serves Herefordshire and mid-Powys.

Introduction

In frail, older patients, cardiopulmonary (CPR) resuscitation has low rates of success. Lack of appropriately completed ReSPECT forms leads to futile attempts of CPR, repeated readmissions and patient harm.

This project aims to improve patient centred advance care planning (ACP), and the quality of their documentation in the ‘clinician recommendations’ section in ReSPECT forms through development of new educational tools.

Methods

The Supportive and Palliative Care Indicator Tool (SPICT) was used to identify patients benefitting from ACP in the department. Data was collected on how many patients had ReSPECT forms and how well they were completed against standards adapted from the Resuscitation Council guidelines.

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle 1 was completed developing an aide-memoire (ReSPECT tool), and an interactive workshop. PDSA cycle 2 lead to design of the project poster titled ‘Revamp your ReSPECT discussions’ which was displayed on the wards and shared on social media. PDSA cycle 3 was conducted to measure response and aid direction.

Results

PDSA 1 showed 71% patients meeting SPICT criteria had ReSPECT forms. This improved to 82% by PDSA 3. PDSA cycle 1 revealed that only 32% of ReSPECT forms were completed to audit standards, by PDSA 3 this improved to 43%. The project received engagement from the wider healthcare community on Twitter/X where the project poster garnered over 36,600 views and has been shared in the trusts latest issue of safety bites.

Conclusions

Our work led to an improvement in the quality of documentation and illustrated a novel approach to communicating the standards expected when delivering patient-centred ACP. The interest received via social media highlighted the importance of sharing this experience. We plan on building on this success through wider communication of the standards.
2766 The ‘frailty opportunity identifier’—a practical tool utilising data to identify opportunities for improvement
Authors: Thompson D , Conroy S , Tite M
Published: January 2025

Key to managing frailty is to first measure it. Until recently, there was no hospital coding for frailty, which meant that it was not visible to commissioners in routine datasets, despite the wealth of studies highlight poor outcomes for older people living with frailty. AFN has created the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS), which generates a frailty risk from routine codes included in NHS datasets. This allows commissioners and providers to ‘see’ frailty across their system. We have designed and implemented easy to use tools that allow any NHS staff to look at frailty risk profiles in any NHS organisation, to support improvement activity. The HFRS tool has been downloaded by 122 health systems in England.

Patient safety is fundamental to AFN and reducing the harm older people are exposed to in hospital is the main aim of the programme and sites participating in the network. To achieve this and spread best practice the AFN delivery team use a specific QI approach, primarily the Model for Improvement, focusing on Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to build change in local systems. The team deliver events each year for all participating teams to support teams and enable sharing of experience. Site visits comprise discussion about the local context, plans for change and a discussion about possible barriers, as well as a walk-though the patient pathway with patient safety as the absolute focus. Each participating hospital has an allocated QI Associate to support the team to plan, deliver and measure improvements.

AFN has linked closely with other campaigns that support the safety and improve the care of older people, such as ‘end PJ paralysis’ and ‘no decision about me without me’.
2828 The influence of ethnicity and social disadvantage on frailty in a United Kingdom (UK) population
Authors: Heald AH , Lu W , Williams R , McCay K , Stedman M , O’Neill TW
Published: January 2025

Background

Frailty has both health + health economic consequences. There are however few data concerning occurrence of frailty in different ethnic groups in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this analysis was to determine frailty prevalence across an ethnically diverse city and to explore the influence of age/social-disadvantage/ethnicity on occurrence. We looked also at frailty related risk of severe illness in relation to COVID-19 infection.

Methods

Using data from the Greater Manchester Health Record (GMCR), we defined frailty index based on the presence/absence of up to 36 deficits scaled 0–1. We defined frailty based on those with 9 or more deficits (out of total = 36) and electronic frailty index (eFi) as the total number of deficits present, divided by 36 (range 0–1).

Results

There were 534,567 people aged 60 + years on 1January2020 in Greater Manchester. There was noticeable variation in frailty prevalence across general practices. The majority were white (84%) with 4.7% self-describing as Asian/Asian British, and 1.3% Black/Black British. The prevalence of moderate to severe frailty (eFI > 0.24) was 22.1%. Prevalence was higher in women than men (25.3% vs 18.5%) and increased with age. Compared to the prevalence of frailty in Whites (22.5%) prevalence was higher in Asian/Asian British ethnicity people (28.1%) and lower in those of Black/Black British descent (18.7%). Prevalence increased with increasing social disadvantage (p = 0.002 for trend across disadvantage quintiles). Among those with a positive COVID-19 test those with frailty were more likely to require hospital admission within 28-days, with increased risk for Asian/Asian British descent (OR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.34–1.61) and Black/Black British descent (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.56–2.20) people vs Whites.

Conclusion

There is marked variation in occurrence of frailty across Greater Manchester. Frailty is more common in Asian/Asian British people than Whites and less common among Black/Black British with a gradient that relates to social disadvantage.
2864 A system wide approach to raising frailty awareness through tier 1 training
Authors: Adams J , Bull M , Merrony I , Ahmad G
Published: January 2025

Introduction

The British Geriatrics Society ‘Joining the Dots’ blueprint recommends delivery of inter-professional education aligned with the Skills for Health Frailty Core Capabilities Framework as part of a system wide frailty strategy. Our ambition is to educate and train the entire health and care system in frailty awareness through the Guildford & Waverley Frailty Academy (GWFA).

Methods

The GWFA developed a Frailty Awareness course aligned to Tier 1 Core Capabilities and introduced this as part of a system wide programme of education and workforce development in frailty. The course was embedded in e-learning platforms across Acute, Community, Ambulance services and Local Authorities. A blend of virtual and face to face (FTF) workshops were used in undergraduate University programmes, the Voluntary sector and care sector.

Results

Between April 2023 and July 2024, 2195 people completed Tier 1 training.

Feedback showed the following:

Qualitative responses showed participants felt more aware of frailty and had a better understanding of how to adapt their practice when encountering older people with frailty.

Conclusions

Tier 1 training is an effective method of raising awareness of frailty across a health and care system when applied as part of a broader system strategy using a variety of mediums for delivery.
SSL-VQ: vector-quantized variational autoencoders for semi-supervised prediction of therapeutic targets across diverse diseases
Authors: Namba Satoko , Li Chen , Yuyama Otani Noriko , Yamanishi Yoshihiro
Published: January 2025

Motivation

Identifying effective therapeutic targets poses a challenge in drug discovery, especially for uncharacterized diseases without known therapeutic targets (e.g. rare diseases, intractable diseases).

Results

This study presents a novel machine learning approach using multimodal vector-quantized variational autoencoders (VQ-VAEs) for predicting therapeutic target molecules across diseases. To address the lack of known therapeutic target–disease associations, we incorporate the information on uncharacterized diseases without known targets or uncharacterized proteins without known indications (applicable diseases) in the semi-supervised learning (SSL) framework. The method integrates disease-specific and protein perturbation profiles with genetic perturbations (e.g. gene knockdowns and gene overexpressions) at the transcriptome level. Cross-cell representation learning, facilitated by VQ-VAEs, was performed to extract informative features from protein perturbation profiles across diverse human cell types. Concurrently, cross-disease representation learning was performed, leveraging VQ-VAE, to extract informative features reflecting disease states from disease-specific profiles. The model’s applicability to uncharacterized diseases or proteins is enhanced by considering the consistency between disease-specific and patient-specific signatures. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated across three practical scenarios for 79 diseases: target repositioning for target–disease pairs, new target prediction for uncharacterized diseases, and new indication prediction for uncharacterized proteins. This method is expected to be valuable for identifying therapeutic targets across various diseases.

Availability and implementation

Code: github.com/YamanishiLab/SSL-VQ and Data: 10.5281/zenodo.14644837.
Unusual presentation of Ascaris lumbricoides in the urinary tract: a case report
Authors: Sowaity Zaid A , Zamareh Ammar A , Sabooh Tayseer N , Sowaity Amjed T , Khdour Yazan F , Atmeza Mutaz A A
Published: January 2025

Ascaris lumbricoides is one of the most well-known helminthic parasites affecting humans. Ascariasis is prevalent in developing countries where inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilitate human-to-human transmission. In this report, we present a case of a 20-year-old male who arrived at the emergency room with severe right flank pain, high-grade fever, and recurrent vomiting. Diagnostic evaluations were conducted, including a complete blood count test, urinalysis, stool analysis, abdominal ultrasound, and CT scan. The final diagnosis was A lumbricoides found in the distal part of the ureter. A ureteroscopy procedure confirmed the diagnosis and extracted the worm, which measured 6 cm in length, had a brown colour, and exhibited a tight elastic consistency. While Ascaris is commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract, its occurrence in the urinary tract is an extremely rare phenomenon. In our case, the most likely explanation is that the Ascaris accessed the distal ureter through retrograde migration, wherein the worm traverses from the bladder into the ureter.
Reflective group interventions with social workers: A scoping review
Authors: Gregory Mark , Cook Laura , Yussif Ibn Abdallah , Porter Bryony
Published: January 2025

Social work is a rewarding yet highly demanding profession, and supporting practitioners to manage the emotional and practical demands of the role is key to addressing ongoing challenges in the recruitment and retention of social workers. Reflective group interventions (RGIs)—such as group supervision and reflective case discussion groups—are commonly used to support social workers, however, comparatively little is known about the effectiveness of RGIs or the outcomes of providing them to social workers. This article is based on a scoping review of empirical research on RGIs with social workers. Twenty-seven studies were included as part of the review and findings data were extracted under four pre-determined categories: personal and professional development, working with service users, retention, and cost effectiveness. Challenges in embedding RGIs into practice were also identified as an area of interest. The evidence base for the effectiveness of RGIs is relatively weak, with most studies being small-scale, localized, and exploratory in nature. Based on findings from the review, this article proposes a logic model for prospective inputs, outputs, and outcomes of RGIs and recommends further research to support the development of effective RGIs with social workers.
Brain connectivity in individuals with migraine resets during the headache phase: a whole-brain connectivity study
Authors: Schulz Enrico , Mayr Astrid , Jahn Pauline , Stankewitz Anne
Published: January 2025

Episodic migraine is reflected by cyclic changes in behavior and cortical processing. We aimed to identify how functional connectivity changes over the entire migraine cycle. By using longitudinal neuroimaging and a whole-brain connectivity analysis approach, we tested 12 episodic migraine patients across 82 functional MRI recordings during spontaneous migraine headaches with follow-up measurements over the pain-free interval without any external stimulation. We found that the functional connectivity linearly increased over the interictal interval. In the prodromal phase, we observed the strongest connections between the anterior agranular insula and the posterior orbitofrontal cortex with sensory, motor and cingulate areas. The strength of the connections dropped during the headache. Peak connectivity during the prodromal phase and its collapse during the headache can be regarded as a mechanism of normalizing cortical processing. We speculate about a malfunction at the molecular level in agranular frontal and insular regions, which needs to be addressed in subsequent studies.
Conceptual obstacles to the existence of an innate sense of number in the brain
Authors: dos Santos César Frederico
Published: January 2025

I contend that the paper by Lorenzi et al. (2025) fails to establish the existence of an innate sense of number in the brain, as it conflates the terms “number” and “numerosity.” While “numerosity” refers to the magnitude, “number” refers to the scale used by numerate humans to measure this magnitude. Since they do not provide evidence that the numerical scale is innately present in the brain, the behavioral and neural findings they present, at best, support the existence of a cerebral mechanism sensitive to numerosities.
The origins of number sense: a commentary on “Is there an innate sense of number in the brain?”
Authors: Howard Scarlett R
Published: January 2025

The question of whether a “sense of number” is innate has been posed in a new article by Lorenzi et al. (2025). The article explores the behavioral and neurobiological evidence from newborn animals to delve into the evolutionary origins of a sense of number. Lorenzi et al.(2025) raises new questions, interpretations, and ideas for future work to understand how number sense has evolved in humans and nonhuman animals. In this commentary, I discuss the arguments for an innate number sense, evaluate the implications for numerical cognition, and suggest how future work could fill the current gaps in our knowledge.
Judge Dread: Court severity, repossession risk and demand in mortgage and housing markets
Authors: Montebruno Piero , Silva Olmo , Szumilo Nikodem
Published: January 2025

We study the impact of borrower protection on mortgage and housing demand using variation in the likelihood that houses are repossessed coming from heterogeneity in preferences of local judges. We develop a framework that provides conditions to identify the impact of repossession risk on housing and credit demand – holding supply fixed. Empirically, we exploit exogenous variation in risk created by boundaries of courts’ catchment areas. We find that one standard deviation decrease in borrower protection decreases borrowing and house prices by 4.5%.
Phenotype and genotype of 23 patients with hypopituitarism and pathogenic GLI2 variants
Authors: Aouchiche Karine , Charmensat Camille , Morgane Pertuit , Teinturier Cécile , Bretones Patricia , Brac de la Perriere Aude , Layet Valérie , Bouhours-Nouet Natacha , Vantyghem Marie-Christine , Haine Elsa , Nunes-Sanchez Marie-Laure , Camard Odile , Baron Sabine , Castinetti Frederic , Barlier Anne , Brue Thierry , Reynaud Rachel , Saveanu Alexandru ,   Genhypopit Network, Linglard A , Lambert A-S , Coutant R , Abel C , Daval Cote M , Barat P , Nicolino M , Jullien Nicolas
Published: January 2025

Objective

To analyze the phenotype and genotype of patients with congenital hypopituitarism (CH) and pathogenic (P) GLI2 variants.

Methods

A large cohort of patients with hypopituitarism was screened for GLI2 variants using a next-generation sequencing panel. Genotype–phenotype correlations were then assessed using GENHYPOPIT phenotypic data.

Results

Of the 39 GLI2 variants identified in 717 index cases, 17 were classified as pathogenic and likely pathogenic. All these GLI2 variants were identified in 23 patients (17 index cases and 6 relatives) with associated pituitary stalk interruption syndrome or extrapituitary manifestations. GLI2 variants were the most frequently identified genetic cause in patients with syndromic hypopituitarism (68%): 88% (15/17) of mutations were truncating variants, and 45% were de novo. Most patients with a GLI2 variant (21/23, 91%) had hypopituitarism, including 21.7% (5/23) presenting isolated growth hormone deficiency. Two patients had Kallmann syndrome. Pituitary morphological abnormalities were present in 84% of the patients with P GLI2 variants (index cases and affected relatives). The remaining signs included neurocognitive disorders (38%), hexadactyly (27%), cardiac septal defects, and renal/vesical abnormalities. A possible digenic origin (GLI2/HESX1) is proposed in one family.

Conclusion

In this large multicentric international cohort, GLI2 was the most frequently identified genetic cause of syndromic CH with constant association of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome or extrapituitary clinical features. In addition to polydactyly and neurocognitive disorders, cardiac and renal abnormalities were also frequently observed and should be investigated further. The variable expression of GLI2-associated phenotypes justifies further research in this area.
Suspected de novo heart failure in outpatient care: the REVOLUTION HF study
Authors: Anderson Lisa , Bayes-Genis Antoni , Bodegård Johan , Mullin Katrina , Gustafsson Stefan , Rosano Giuseppe M C , Sundström Johan
Published: January 2025

Background and Aims

Ambulatory patients presenting with signs or symptoms of heart failure (HF) should undergo natriuretic peptide testing. Rates of death, HF hospitalization, and healthcare costs were examined in patients thus identified with suspected de novo HF.

Methods

This population-based study (REVOLUTION HF) encompassing two large healthcare regions in Sweden examined patients who presented to outpatient care for the first time between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2020, who had a recorded sign (peripheral oedema) or symptom (dyspnoea) of HF, and whose N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measured >300 ng/L within ±30 days of that sign or symptom. Characteristics, outcomes, healthcare patterns, and healthcare costs for these patients were followed for 1 year. Comparisons were made with matched controls without history of HF, its signs, its symptoms, or elevated NT-proBNP.

Results

Overall, 5942 patients (median age 78.7 years; 54% women) presented with suspected de novo HF. Within 1 year, 29% had received a HF diagnosis. Patients with suspected de novo HF had higher rates of all-cause death (11.7 vs. 6.5 events/100 person-years) and HF hospitalizations (12.5 vs. 2.2 events/100 person-years) than matched controls (n = 2048), with the highest event rates in the weeks after presentation. Rates were higher with higher NT-proBNP levels. Although some patients already used HF guideline-directed medical therapies for other indications, initiation of new medications was variable. Healthcare costs were higher in patients with suspected de novo HF than in matched controls, driven mostly by HF and chronic kidney disease.

Conclusions

Patients with suspected HF and elevated NT-proBNP had high mortality and morbidity in the weeks after presentation, and accrued substantial healthcare costs, highlighting an urgent need for prompt identification, evaluation, and treatment of HF.
Costly traits in a dynamic world: trait responses to fine-scale varying environment differ according to selection pressures in a tropical lizard
Authors: Valiya Parambil Gokul , Isvaran Kavita
Published: January 2025

Under current climate change patterns, rapidly changing environments can impose strong selection on traits. Costly traits that require heavy investment and strongly affect fitness may be particularly vulnerable to such changes. Despite organisms experiencing dynamic environments, our knowledge of costly trait responses is limited as longitudinal studies across generations are rare. Using a long-term 11-generation dataset, we examined how fine-scale spatial and temporal variation in ecological and demographic conditions modify costly traits, specifically positive allometry in morphological traits under different selection pressures, in Psammophilus dorsalis, a short-lived socially polygynous lizard. We comprehensively measured males and females across non-overlapping generations and space and quantified fine-scale variation in key ecological and demographic parameters. Positive allometry in male head width (under sexual selection) varied dramatically over generations and space. Limited rainfall, harsh temperatures, and greater competition promoted positive allometry in male head width. In stark contrast, positive allometry in female interlimb length (under fecundity selection) only weakly correlated with environmental conditions. We demonstrate that costly traits are sensitive to changing environments depending on the underlying selection pressure, with sexually selected traits showing larger effects in tropical lizards. Future climatic predictions, indicating accelerated warming and altered rainfall, can strongly impact phenotypes in tropical lizards.
Targeted seed EMS mutagenesis reveals a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor underlying male sterility in sorghum
Authors: Xiao Yuguo , Khangura Rajdeep S , Wang Zhonghui , Dilkes Brian P , Eveland Andrea L
Published: January 2025

Forward genetic screens of mutant populations are fundamental for functional genomics studies. However, isolating independent mutant alleles to molecularly identify causal genes is challenging in species recalcitrant to genetic manipulation. Here, we demonstrate that classic seed ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis coupled with genome sequencing can overcome this limitation in sorghum. We used this method to generate new mutant alleles of sorghum MALE STERILE 8 (MS8) and identified the causal locus for the ms8 phenotype as Sobic.004G270900, which encodes the sorghum ortholog of maize bhlh122, a basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factor required for male fertility in maize. Bulked segregant analysis mapped ms8-1 to a region on chromosome 4 containing Sobic.004G270900. Seeds from heterozygous MS8/ms8-1 plants were mutagenized and screened for chimeric inflorescences containing sectors with white, sterile anthers resembling the ms8-1 homozygous phenotype. DNA sequencing of sterile and fertile sectors from a single chimeric inflorescence revealed two mutations in Sobic.004G270900 within the sterile sector, but not the fertile sector. Isolation of this loss-of-function allele (ms8-2) established Sobic.004G270900 as the causative locus for male sterility in the ms8 mutant. We generated additional alleles of MS8 in a different genetic background using CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, where deletions in Sobic.004G270900 also resulted in male sterility. Our work identified a gene underlying male sterility in sorghum and provides a novel and straightforward genetic tool for researchers who lack access to advanced transformation facilities to validate gene candidates. Unlike gene editing, no prior knowledge of candidate genes is required for targeted seed EMS mutagenesis to aid identification of causal loci.
Why, How, and When Do National Competition Agencies Support Supranational Regional Competition Regimes? A Case of the COMESA Competition Regime
Authors: Kigwiru Vellah Kedogo
Published: January 2025

A supranational institution is established by Member States and delegated with regulatory authority to make legally binding decisions over a specific issue area. Focusing on an inherently political and complex issue area – competition policy – this paper examines the conditions under which national regulatory agencies (NRA) support supranational institutions sharing competencies with NRAs in enforcing a specific policy area. Using rational choice theory, which argues that actors are instrumentally motivated by benefits accrued and costs incurred when supporting institutions, COMESA national competition agency (NCA) officials were interviewed to elicit what motivates them to support the COMESA regional competition regime (RCR) over time. The findings of this study have shown that COMESA NCA officials consider benefits accrued and costs incurred when working with the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC). Beyond the benefits and costs analysis, membership in the CCC Board of Commissioners, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) between CCC and NCAs, the ability of the CCC to consider NCA’s concerns in its decision-making, and citizen support for the CCC have all driven COMESA NCA officials’ supranational roles towards CCC. This study calls for nuanced research that explores the bureaucratic cooperation between NRA’s sharing competencies with supranational institutions to inform legal, political and international relations research. Importantly, the findings inform research on how supranational institutions can invoke national-level support for supranational governance.
Leveraging stringency and lifecycle thinking to advance environmental sustainability in health technology regulation
Authors: Cimprich Alexander , Parker Gillian , Miller Fiona A , Young Steven B
Published: January 2025

Regulatory actors, particularly market authorization agencies, health technology assessment agencies, and health care procurement agencies, exert a powerful influence on the adoption and use of health technologies (eg, medicines and medical devices). With health care being responsible, directly and indirectly, for an estimated 4.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, alongside other environmental harms, these actors have recognized the need to address the environmental impacts of health technologies. In this commentary, we utilize concepts of regulatory stringency and lifecycle thinking, considering scope, prescriptiveness, and performance requirements, to analyze recent efforts to incorporate environmental sustainability into the regulation of medicines and medical devices. While we acknowledge recent progress, we argue that there is significant, untapped potential for developing more fulsome and effective regulatory mechanisms to improve the environmental sustainability of health technologies.
Terrestrial Friction-Reducing Properties of Mucus and Scale Anisotropy in the Amphibious Northern Snakehead (Channa argus)
Authors: Lopez-Chilel Francis , Bressman Noah
Published: January 2025

Synopsis

The mucus coating around a fish’s body is essential to its survival. It contains antimicrobial properties, aids in drag reduction, and protects against physical damage. It is versatile in the aquatic environment but little is known about the role of mucus in amphibious fishes. The Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) is a species of amphibious fish that is not only invasive to the Chesapeake Bay but is renowned for its ability to crawl on land. However, the role of their slippery mucus in terrestrial behaviors is currently unknown. This project aims to investigate how snakehead mucus affects friction during terrestrial locomotion, assess if snakehead mucus is adapted to facilitate terrestrial movements compared to the mucus of fully aquatic fish (i.e., Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio), and determine how snakehead scales influence frictional anisotropy compared to scale-less fish (i.e., Blue Catfish, Ictalurus furcatus). This was tested by towing freshly euthanized fish along two different substrates in the forward and backward directions using a force meter to determine the force needed to overcome static friction. The same fish was tested with its mucus coat intact and again with it wiped off to allow for paired comparisons. Snakehead mucus significantly reduced terrestrial friction, and did so significantly more than carp mucus. Additionally, fish with scales exhibited frictional anisotropy, with less friction in the forward direction and more in the backward direction, similar to how snake scale anisotropy promotes forward movement. Amphibious fishes such as snakeheads may have evolved particularly slippery mucus to aid in terrestrial locomotion by reducing friction and energy required to move overland, potentially facilitating overland movement between bodies of water. This study may also provide insight to the development of artificial fish mucus for amphibious robots and other applications.
Transseptal approach for pseudoaneurysms at the aortic root in Loeys–Dietz syndrome
Authors: Ishida Shinichi , Sakurai Hajime , Usui Akihiko , Nonaka Toshimichi
Published: January 2025

Loeys–Dietz syndrome involves vascular abnormalities and aortic root aneurysms. This study described a 10-year-old boy who presented with progressively enlarging ascending aortic aneurysm and mild aortic valve regurgitation. He was diagnosed with LDS and underwent aortic valve-sparing repair. However, 6 months after the surgery, aortic root pseudoaneurysms were detected. Thus, aortic root repair was performed by transseptal approach. The orifices of pseudoaneurysms were closed with double-layer patches composed of autologous and bovine pericardial patches. Based on the findings of this study, we conclude that the transseptal approach is useful for closing aneurysms at the aortic root.
Approximate controllability for impulsive neutral semilinear evolution equations with nonlocal conditions
Authors: Duque Cosme , Leiva Hugo , Karite Touria
Published: January 2025

The primary goal of this work is to establish the approximate controllability of a semilinear neutral-type system with nonlocal conditions and impulses, demonstrating that the approximate controllability of a neutral linear equation is preserved when external forces, impulses and nonlocal conditions are introduced as perturbations to the system. The approach leverages the properties of sectorial operators, the compactness of the semigroup that governs the evolution of the linear part of the equation and Rothe’s fixed point theorem. To demonstrate the practical applicability of our method, we present a specific case that encompasses a broad family of examples, including a neutral-type heat equation.