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Geographical features and cultural traits influence the character of big-mountain tourism in Alaska. This research considers the intersectionality of wilderness and frontier concepts on tourism culture, examines guides' and clients' motivations for participation, and relates these influences to the larger phenomena of tourism generally and nature tourism specifically. The findings show that Alaska's big-mountain tourism is globalized in its political and economic scope. Guides imagine themselves as pioneers on a last frontier of mountain pursuits, notions that relate well to images depicted of the region in literature and promoted by the tourism industry. Clients, on the other hand, come to Alaska because of its exceptional geography and unique mountain sporting culture, but are not as enamored with the mythos of the frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to determine if a blend of capsicum oleoresin, clove essential oil, and garlic essential oil (CCG; Fytera® Advance – Selko® USA, Indianapolis IN) influences cattle performance, sera metabolites or health outcomes during the 56-d feedlot receiving phase. Charolais × Angus steers (n = 256; BW = 273 ± 26 kg) were allotted to 1 of 32 pens (n = 8 steers; 8 pens/treatment) and assigned to treatments: no test product (MON); CCG at 125 mg/steer/d (CCG125); CCG at 250 mg/steer/d (CCG250); or CCG at 500 mg/steer/d (CCG500). Monensin was fed to all steers (25 g/907 kg,DM basis). MON and CCG500 had greater DMI (quadratic effect; P = 0.01).. However, CCG did not improve ADG nor G:F (P ≥ 0.15). On d 14, CCG500 had elevated NEFA compared to the other treatments (P ≤ 0.05). Ceruloplasmin,was decreased (P = 0.04) in steers from CCG250 and CCG500. There was no effect of supplementation on health outcomes (P ≥ 0.12). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organometal halide perovskites (OHPs) exhibit remarkable optoelectronic properties, such as wide visible absorption, high photoluminescence quantum yield, excellent solar-light-harvesting capabilities, and a low lasing threshold. Despite these advances, the best performance in perovskite typically occurs several hours to days post-fabrication, likely due to defect dynamics. The study of defect dynamics, particularly trap deactivation, is crucial for understanding and improving the stability and efficiency of OHPs. Furthermore, the effect of photon energy on these dynamics has not been fully explored. This study examined how aging impacts trap deactivation in MAPbI3 films under different photon energies using photoluminescence (PL). We found that aging significantly enhanced the deactivation of two types of traps, namely TL and TH, especially within the first 10 days. TL and TH ware traps in MAPbI3 that can be deactivated by low and high photon energy thresholds, respectively. PL enhanced more than doubled during this period, attributed to a small amount of oxygen penetration in vacuum conditions aiding trap deactivation. PL increased linearly with increasing aging, and trap deactivation time increased exponentially with age for both TL and TH deactivation. After 27 days, blue photon illumination resulted in reversible degradation and reactivation of the previously deactivated TL and TH traps. However, red photon illumination remained capable of deactivating the TL traps. This research highlights the interplay between light-induced trap dynamics and aging, which is crucial for optimizing MAPbI3 perovskite durability and performance in optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Few studies have evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with diffuse low-grade glioma (LGG) during a clinical and radiological monitoring period. We report a cross sectional cohort study of HRQoL in patients with LGG and compare the results with normative population data. We then explore factors associated with HRQoL. Methods: We used the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30, BN-20 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to evaluate HRQoL. Averaged QLQC30 and HADS scores were compared with scores of a normative population. A general linear model multivariate analysis of variance was used to investigate the association between HRQoL and independent factors. Results: A total of 62 patients with LGG completed HRQoL questionnaires. Compared with a normative population, LGG patients reported statistical and clinically significant lower cognitive, emotional, role and social functioning. Fatigue, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances were frequently reported. Awake surgery and preserved high Karnofsky Performance Status were found to be independent prognostic factors for better global HRQoL, while radiotherapy was associated with worsened HRQoL. Conclusion: Despite a non-therapeutic and progression free phase, LGG patients report noticeable limitations in several HRQoL subscales. Our study highlights the importance of HRQoL assessment not only at diagnosis or during active therapeutic stage. Further studies are needed to develop better adapted tools of HRQoL assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are there group decision methods which (i) give everyone, including minorities, an equal share of effective decision power even when voters act strategically, (ii) promote consensus and equality, rather than polarization and inequality, and (iii) do not favour the status quo or rely too much on chance? We describe two non-deterministic group decision methods that meet these criteria, one based on automatic bargaining over lotteries, the other on conditional commitments to approve compromise options. Using theoretical analysis, agent-based simulations and a behavioral experiment, we show that these methods prevent majorities from consistently suppressing minorities, which can happen in deterministic methods, and keeps proponents of the status quo from blocking decisions, as in other consensus-based approaches. Our simulations show that these methods achieve aggregate welfare comparable to common voting methods, while employing chance judiciously, and that the welfare costs of fairness and consensus are small compared to the inequality costs of majoritarianism. In an incentivized experiment with naive participants, we find that a sizable fraction of participants prefers to use a non-deterministic voting method over Plurality Voting to allocate monetary resources. However, this depends critically on their position within the group. Those in the majority show a strong preference for majoritarian voting methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change-related risk mitigation is typically addressed using cost-benefit analysis that evaluates mitigation strategies against a wide range of simulated scenarios and identifies a static policy to be implemented, without considering future observations. Due to the substantial uncertainties inherent in climate projections, this identified policy will likely be sub-optimal with respect to the actual climate trajectory that evolves in time. In this work, we thus formulate climate risk management as a dynamic decision-making problem based on Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) and Partially Observable MDPs (POMDPs), taking real-time data into account for evaluating the evolving conditions and related model uncertainties, in order to select the best possible life-cycle actions in time, with global optimality guarantees for the formulated optimization problem. The framework is developed for coastal adaptation applications, considering a wide variety of possible action types, including various forms of nature-based infrastructure. Related environmental impacts of carbon emissions and uptake are also incorporated, and social cost of carbon implications are discussed, together with several future directions and supported features. Climate change-related risk mitigation for infrastructure systems often requires adaptation. A computational framework for optimal decision-making under uncertainty based on dynamically changing conditions observed in time is developed in response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conjugation is a complex phenomenon involving multiple plasmid, bacterial, and environmental factors. Here we describe an IncI1 plasmid encoding multidrug antibiotic resistance to aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, and third-generation cephalosporins. This plasmid is widespread geographically among animal, human, and environmental sectors. We present data on the transmissibility of this plasmid from Salmonella enterica ser. Kentucky into 40 strains of S. enterica (10 strains each from serovars Enteritidis, Heidelberg, Infantis, and Typhimurium). Thirty seven out of 40 strains were able to take up the plasmid. Rates of conjugation were variable between strains ranging from 10−8 to 10−4. Overall, serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium demonstrated the highest rates of conjugation, followed by Heidelberg, and then Infantis. No relationships were observed between the recipient cell surface and rate of conjugation. Recipient cell numbers correlated positively with conjugation rate and strains with high conjugation rates had marginally but significantly higher growth parameters compared to strains that took up the plasmid at lower frequencies. Environmental conditions known to impact cell growth, such as temperature, nutrient availability, and the presence of antibiotics, had a modulating effect on conjugation. Collectively, these results will further understanding of plasmid transmission dynamics in Salmonella, which is a critical first step towards the development of mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on university students' academic performance. Participants: Our sample consisted of students 18 years old and above enrolled at least part-time during the Spring 2020 semester. Methods: This cross-sectional survey examined the individual, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19 on academic performance. We examined factors associated with a change in GPA between the two semesters. Results: Most students reported no change in GPA. Students of color had significantly increased odds of reporting a decrease in GPA than non-Hispanic White students (OR = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.01, 7.16). Students who had someone close to them test positive for COVID-19 had increased odds of reporting a decrease in GPA (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 0.55, 5.93). Conclusion: Higher learning institutions may need to develop strategies to improve support for students that have been socio-economically impacted by COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Investigate associations between systemic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) biomarkers in eyes with complete retinal pigment epithelium and outer retina atrophy (cRORA) secondary to non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional study of patients with cRORA. OCT images and blood samples were collected at study enrollment. OCT images were evaluated for biomarkers. Systemic VEGF levels were measured using a standard multiplex assay. Results: Study included 187 eyes from 96 patients. Lower levels of systemic VEGF were significantly associated with retinal pseudocysts (RPs) and sub-retinal hyper-reflective material (SHRM), a median of 7.7 pg/mL and 6.1 pg/mL for patients with the imaging biomarkers compared to those without (10.3 pg/mL [P = 0.004] and 9.3 pg/mL [P = 0.02], respectively). Conclusion: This novel study shows that lower systemic VEGF levels were associated with SHRM and RP, which was shown to correspond to an intermediate stage of the atrophic process in age-related macular degeneration. Systemic VEGF could be a useful biomarker and therapeutic target for eyes with cRORA. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2025;56:23–29.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregivers play an outsized role in shaping early life experiences and development, but we often lack mechanistic insight into how exactly caregiver behavior scaffolds the neurodevelopment of specific learning processes. Here, we capitalized on the fact that caregivers differ in how predictable their behavior is to ask if infants' early environmental input shapes their brains' later ability to learn about predictable information. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study in South Africa, we recorded naturalistic, dyadic interactions between 103 (46 females and 57 males) infants and their primary caregivers at 3–6 months of age, from which we calculated the predictability of caregivers' behavior, following caregiver vocalization and overall. When the same infants were 6–12‐months‐old they participated in an auditory statistical learning task during EEG. We found evidence of learning‐related change in infants' neural responses to predictable information during the statistical learning task. The magnitude of statistical learning‐related change in infants' EEG responses was associated with the predictability of their caregiver's vocalizations several months earlier, such that infants with more predictable caregiver vocalization patterns showed more evidence of statistical learning later in the first year of life. These results suggest that early experiences with caregiver predictability influence learning, providing support for the hypothesis that the neurodevelopment of core learning and memory systems is closely tied to infants' experiences during key developmental windows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if a formulated blend of capsicum oleoresin, clove essential oil, and garlic essential oil (Fytera Advance - Selko USA, Indianapolis IN, USA; CCG) influences measures of cattle growth, efficiency, or carcass traits, during the finishing phase in steers fed a concentrate-based diet. Methods: CharolaisxAngus steers (n = 96; initial shrunk body weight [BW] = 391±34.0 kg) were used in a 144-d (16 February 2023 to 9 July 2023) finishing feedlot experiment in Brookings, SD, USA. Steers were individually weighed and allotted to one of 14 pens (6 to 7 steers; 7 pens/treatment) in a randomized complete block design and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: control diet without the test product (CON) or a diet including CCG at 500 mg/steer daily (CCG). Steers were fed twice daily, and bunks were managed according to a slick bunk system. Results: There were no differences (p≥0.10) in any growth performance outcomes from d 1 to 35, 36 to 70, or 71 to 98. From d 99 to 144 steers from CCG tended to have 5% greater average daily gain (p = 0.09) and 8% improved feed conversion (G:F) (p = 0.01). No differences (p≥0.15) were noted for cumulative growth performance measures. No differences were noted for any carcass measurements or categorical carcass outcomes, nor lung or liver health outcomes (p≥0.15). Conclusion: The use of CCG had no influence on cumulative growth performance responses. However, the use of CCG improved G:F during the late feeding period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western disturbances (WDs) are synoptic-scale weather systems embedded within the subtropical westerly jet. Manifesting as upper-level troughs often associated with a lower-tropospheric low over western or northern India, they share some dynamical features with extratropical cyclones. WDs are most common during the boreal winter (December to March), during which they bring the majority of precipitation – both rain and snow – to the western Himalaya, as well as to surrounding areas of north India, Pakistan, and the Tibetan Plateau. WDs are also associated with weather hazards such as heavy snowfall, hailstorms, fog, cloudbursts, avalanches, frost, and cold waves. In this paper, we review recent developments in understanding WDs and their impacts. Over the last decade, recent studies have collectively made use of novel data, novel analysis techniques such as tracking algorithms, and the increasing availability of high-resolution weather and climate models. This review is separated into six main sections – structure and thermodynamics, precipitation and impacts, teleconnections, modelling experiments, forecasting at a range of scales, and paleoclimate and climate change – each motivated with a brief discussion of the accomplishments and limitations of previous research. A number of step changes in understanding are synthesised. Use of new modelling frameworks and tracking algorithms has significantly improved knowledge of WD structure and variability, and a more frequentist approach can now be taken. Improved observation systems have helped quantification of water security over the western Himalaya. Convection-permitting models have improved our understanding of how WDs interact with the Himalaya to trigger natural hazards. Improvements in paleoclimate and future climate modelling experiments have helped to explain how WDs and their impacts over the Himalaya respond to large-scale natural and anthropogenic forcings. We end by summarising unresolved questions and outlining key future WD research topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate coaches' experience of the reROOT program, a program aiming to increase coaches' autonomy-supportive skills, structure, and involvement. We delivered the program to 32 university sports coaches, and of these coaches, 13 participated in three semistructured focus groups 2 weeks postprogram and discussed their experience of the program. Guiding questions aimed at assessing participants' responsiveness to the program and its perceived usefulness. Classical content analyses were performed and organized based on the guiding questions when applicable. Results suggest that coaches appreciated the program, believed that they could implement its skills in their day-to-day coaching, and observed positive impacts on themselves and their athletes despite the COVID-19 pandemic. It thus appears that coaches are responsive to the reROOT program and that it could be a useful part of their training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To evaluate the current workflow of blood gas ordering and testing in a cardiothoracic operating room to identify opportunities to streamline the process, using performance improvement methodologies. Methods Issues with specimen relabeling were identified that lead to delayed results and potential patient safety concerns. Blood gas specimen relabeling was evaluated for operating room cases from August 2018 to December 2022. An OpTime Epic Sidebar button for arterial blood gas and venous blood gas orders was created in January 2019 to streamline the ordering process so that laboratory barcode labels were then printed in the operating room and attached to the specimen, eliminating the need for relabeling by the technologists. Results This Epic Sidebar intervention led to a drastic improvement of appropriate labeling, which has been sustained. From March 2019 to January 2023, with our new workflow, over 95% of blood gas specimens arrived barcode labeled compared to less than 1% in the preintervention era. Conclusions A multidisciplinary team with key stakeholders is important to address complex care issues. Performance improvement methodology is critical to develop interventions that hardwire the process. This intervention led to a sustained reduction in secondary relabeling of patient samples and improved timeliness of reporting of blood gas results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) in patients with a parathyroid adenoma (PA) requires imaging modalities for precise localization. Parathyroid hormone assay on ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration washout, or PTH washout, can be used for this purpose. It is unclear whether PTH washout complements traditional PA localization techniques such as a sestamibi (MIBI) scan or diminishes its need. This study aims to determine whether a positive PTH washout obviates the need for an MIBI scan in the preoperative localization of a PA. Method: A multi-center retrospective, comparative review comprised adult patients who underwent MIP at 2 McGill University teaching hospitals between 2018 and 2022. Patients who had both PTH washout and MIBI scan for preoperative localization of PA, final histopathology reports available, and preoperative/postoperative results recorded were included in the final analysis. Results: Of the 193 patients' charts reviewed, 87 were included in this study. Of these 87 patients, 74.7% (65/87) had a positive PTH washout result. Among those, MIBI correctly detected 90.8% (59/65) of the PAs. The MIBI scan did not contribute meaningful information for any of the 65 patients who had positive PTH washout results. Conclusion: These findings strongly support the use of preoperative dedicated ultrasound as the initial standard procedure. When a PA candidate on ultrasound is found, a PTH washout should be performed. If positive, it could suffice as the sole localization method for MIP surgery. When a PA was identified on ultrasound and confirmed with PTH washout, the MIBI scan did not add more information. Benefits include fewer patient tests, less exposure to ionizing radiation, and reduced healthcare expenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent endocrine malignancy. Thyroid molecular testing is a tool that can help better understand the nature of thyroid tumors. Thyroid nodules are scored on a Bethesda scale from I–VI based on the likelihood of malignancy. Bethesda III and IV nodules are classified as indeterminate; in other words, there is uncertainty as to whether they are benign or malignant. This study analyzes how molecular testing can help to identify specific molecular mutations, copy number alterations, and gene expression profiles within indeterminate thyroid nodules to have a better understanding of them. This will lead to more effective and optimal treatment plans. Molecular testing is a valuable tool that has been well researched with respect to the invasiveness/aggressiveness of nodules and their associations with specific molecular mutations and alterations. Molecular testing was used in this study to evaluate Bethesda III and IV nodules and highlight any patterns, trends, and differences observed between the two groups. Background: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy, and accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective management. Fine needle aspiration cytology, guided by the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, categorizes thyroid nodules into six categories, with Bethesda III and IV representing indeterminate diagnoses that pose significant challenges for clinical decision-making. Understanding the molecular profiles of these categories may enhance diagnostic accuracy and guide treatment strategies. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed data from 217 patients with Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules who underwent ThyroSeq v3 molecular testing followed by thyroid surgery at McGill University teaching hospitals. The analysis focused on the presence of specific molecular mutations, copy number alterations (CNAs), and gene expression profiles (GEPs) within these nodules. The relationship between these molecular findings and the clinico-pathological features of the patients was also examined. Results: This study identified notable differences in the molecular landscape of Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules. Bethesda IV nodules exhibited a higher prevalence of CNAs and distinct GEPs compared to Bethesda III nodules. Interestingly, the BRAFV600E mutation was found exclusively in Bethesda III nodules, which correlated with more aggressive malignant behavior. These findings underscore the potential of molecular profiling to differentiate between the clinical behaviors of these indeterminate nodule categories. Conclusions: Molecular profiling, including the assessment of CNAs, GEPs, and specific mutations like BRAFV600E, provides valuable insights into the nature of Bethesda III and IV thyroid nodules. The distinct molecular characteristics observed between these categories suggest that such profiling could be instrumental in improving diagnostic accuracy and tailoring treatment approaches, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes in thyroid cancer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: About one-third of workers identify organisational factors as contributors to workplace violence (WPV), but the associations between these factors and WPV have primarily been explored retrospectively and with measures of perceived organisational constraints, hence providing limited information for prevention. Therefore, we assessed whether objectively measured ward-level indicators of turnover, downsizing, overtime, and night shifts are associated with the occurrence of WPV and whether these associations vary by ward type. Methods: We conducted an ecological study at a university hospital in northern Italy from 2016 to 2022, using wards as statistical unit (average: 230 wards per year). Active surveillance of WPV was based on an in-hospital incident reporting procedure, updated in November 2021 based on Health Regional Administration guidelines; 2021 was therefore excluded as a transition year. Individual-level administrative data were used to compute ward-level yearly indicators of turnover, downsizing, overtime and night shifts per active worker. Using generalised linear models, we estimated rate ratios (RRs) for yearly WPV counts per 1 SD increase in the indicators, controlling for study period, ward type (emergency department [ED], psychiatric ward, other) and ward sociodemographic composition. Results: A total of 337 WPV episodes occurred in the 1381 ward-year observations. The WPV rates per 100 active workers per year increased from 1.40 (95%CI: 1.23–1.60) during 2016–2020 to 3.48 (2.90–4.17) in 2022. Higher turnover (RR, 95%CI: 1.47, 1.23–1.75) and downsizing (1.12, 1.00-1.24) were associated with a greater occurrence of WPV across all wards; these associations were consistent across the study periods. In wards with night shift scheduling, turnover (1.64, 1.40–1.92), downsizing (1.21, 1.04–1.40) and the mean number of night shifts (2.50, 1.37–4.56) were associated with WPV. The association between night shifts and WPV was greater in psychiatric wards (RR = 8.73; interaction p-value = 0.02), whereas the role of downsizing was greater in EDs (RR = 1.42, interaction p-value = 0.09) and the role of turnover was greater in the other wards (RR = 1.34, interaction p-value = 0.16). Conclusion: Work organisational factors are associated with the occurrence of WPV episodes against healthcare workers. Ward type-tailored priorities should be given to minimising turnover and downsizing and promoting a fairer allocation of night shifts to decrease WPV occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceiving a romantic partner as instrumental to one's goals predicts myriad desirable relationship outcomes. However, little is known about the origins of perceived partner instrumentality (PPI)—particularly about factors that may bias PPI. In two studies, we provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that relationship quality predicts biased PPI. In a dyadic correlational study (Study 1) and an imagined scenario study in which we experimentally manipulated partner instrumentality levels (Study 2), participants reporting higher relationship quality perceived their partners as more instrumental to their goals—even when controlling for depressive symptoms, and when controlling for partner‐reported (Study 1) or enacted partner (Study 2) instrumentality. Additionally, in Study 1 (but not Study 2), relationship quality attenuated a negative association between depressive symptoms and PPI. Study 2 also revealed that perceiving a partner as more instrumental predicted greater intentions to provide instrumental support to that partner in the future. These findings fill important gaps in the instrumentality and relationships literature, identifying antecedents of PPI and offering insights into how PPI may predict relationship functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent fault diagnosis (IFD) based on deep learning can achieve high accuracy from raw condition monitoring signals. However, models usually perform well on the training distribution only, and experience severe performance drops when applied to a different distribution. This is also observed in fault diagnosis, where assets are often operated in working conditions different from the ones in which the labeled data have been collected. The scenario where labeled data are available in a source domain and only unlabeled data are available in a target domain has been addressed recently by unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) approaches for IFD. Recent methods have relied on self-training with confident pseudo-labels for the unlabeled target samples. However, the confidence-based selection of pseudo-labels is hindered by poorly calibrated uncertainty estimates in the target domain, primarily due to over-confident predictions, which limits the quality of pseudo-labels and leads to error accumulation. In this paper, we propose a novel method called Calibrated Adaptive Teacher (CAT), where we propose to calibrate the predictions of the teacher network on target samples throughout the self-training process, leveraging post hoc calibration techniques. We evaluate CAT on domain-adaptive IFD and perform extensive experiments on the Paderborn University (PU) benchmark for fault diagnosis of rolling bearings under varying operating conditions, using both time- and frequency-domain inputs. We compare four different calibration techniques within our framework, where temperature scaling is both the most effective and lightweight one. The resulting method—CAT+TempScaling—achieves state-of-the-art performance on most transfer tasks, with on average 7.5% higher accuracy and 4 times lower calibration error compared to domain-adversarial neural networks (DANNs) across the twelve PU transfer tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widely regarded as a so-called "superfood," microgreens have become an increasingly significant food crop from both nutritional and agricultural standpoints. However, similar to other produce commodities that are also cultivated using modernized indoor farming methods, there have been mounting concerns over the potential risks of consuming microgreens contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. To gain insights into the microbial properties of microgreens, this study characterized the bacterial composition of fresh microgreen retail products using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Dominated by Gammaproteobacteria, a total of 36 shared genera were identified as putative constituents of the microgreen core microbiome. By monitoring the dynamics of microgreen-borne bacteria undergoing a Listeria -selective cultural enrichment procedure, it was revealed that, regardless of the presence or absence of L. monocytogenes , off-target bacteria of the Klebsiella and Enterococcus genera were significantly enriched from microgreens by the primary enrichment step, with the secondary enrichment step continuing to promote the expansion of Enterococcus population. While Listeria was generally neither the most-enriched nor the dominant taxon in cultures sampled at different enrichment stages, significant enrichment of Lysinibacillus and Bacillus bacteria was detected in microgreens contaminated with L. monocytogenes , suggesting they could be co-enriched in competition with Listeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major global health problem, expensive to manage, and its associations with negative pediatric health outcomes have been clearly demonstrated. One of the most fundamental questions to consider as we use previous epidemiological information to advance research and care paradigms is the strength of the causal link between pediatric AKI and health outcomes. In this review, we apply the foundational framework of the Bradford Hill criteria to evaluate the extent to which a causal link exists between AKI and the associated adverse outcomes in children. Available data in children support a causal link between AKI and short-term outcomes including mortality, length of stay, and ventilation time. Clarifying the causal nature of longer term associations requires further high-quality observational studies in children, careful consideration of what defines the most meaningful and measurable longer term outcomes after pediatric AKI, and integration of evolving biological data related to mechanisms of disease. Preventing or mitigating AKI should lead to improved outcomes. Demonstrating such reversibility will solidify confidence in the causal relationship, improve child health, and highlight an aspect which is highly relevant to clinicians, scientists, and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the process safety principles conduct of operations, operational discipline, and operational readiness, have been a part of risk‐based process safety since the inception, recognizing the need for a formal management system connecting them and optimizing their value is a more recent concept introduced around 2010 with Walk the Line. Conduct of operations is concerned with how work is done in a manufacturing unit to produce consistent results. The philosophy behind Walk the Line is that to successfully produce consistent results, there are elements of leadership identifying the right tools, operators executing tasks correctly, and technical people monitoring results and changing the tools for continuous improvement. Each of these disciplines, management, operational, and engineering should be in place to ensure consistent performance and repeatable results. This paper reflects on the last 10 years of Walk the Line and highlights features of the conduct of operations model that supports a sustainable management system, continuous improvement, and reduction of process safety incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether compensation serves as a motivational resource for employees is still a debated subject. It has been suggested that the effect of pay on motivation could be contingent on the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs as outlined by self‐determination theory. The current research explored the role of amount of base pay as well as pay fairness discrepancy in relation to basic psychological need satisfaction, autonomous work motivation and, in turn, psychological well‐being (i.e., vigor and emotional exhaustion), turnover intentions, and work performance. Managerial need support was also included in the model, so its mechanisms and its effects on the outcomes could be measured against those of pay. Using a combination of archival data and employees' self‐reports from 593 Norwegian workers, results revealed that amount of base pay did not predict satisfaction of any of the basic needs, pay fairness discrepancy negatively predicted satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness and positively predicted satisfaction of the need for competence, whereas managerial need support significantly predicted satisfaction of all three needs. While there was no significant direct relation from amount of base pay to any of the outcomes, results showed a significant direct relation from managerial need support to psychological well‐being (positive to vigor and negative to emotional exhaustion) and turnover intentions (negative). There was also a significant direct positive relation from pay fairness discrepancy to turnover intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Vocal fold scar and sulcus pose significant treatment challenges with no current optimal treatment. Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP), an autologous concentration of growth factors, holds promise for regenerating the superficial lamina propria. This study aims to evaluate the potential benefits of serial PRP injections on mucosal wave restoration and vocal function. Methods: In a prospective clinical trial across two institutions, patients with vocal fold scar underwent four serial PRP injections, one month apart. Blinded independent laryngologists and expert listeners used pretreatment and one‐month post‐fourth injection videostroboscopy and CAPE‐V assessments to evaluate mucosal wave and voice quality changes, respectively. Additionally, patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) were evaluated. Results: In the study, 15 patients received 55 PRP injections without adverse effects. Eight patients (53.3%) had mild, three patients (20%) had moderate, and four patients (26.7%) had severe scar. There was an average reduction of 8.7 points in post‐treatment VHI‐10 scores (p = 0.007). The raters observed an improvement in post‐treatment voice in 73.4% of cases, and CAPE‐V scores showed a reduction of 18.8 points on average (p = 0.036). The videostroboscopic VALI ratings showed an improvement in mucosal wave rating from 2.0 to 4.0. On average, the raters perceived the post‐PRP exams to be better in 56.7% of cases. Conclusions: PRP has been validated as a safe autologous option for treatment of vocal fold scar. While results for mucosal wave and voice quality varied, there was a consistent improvement in PROMs. Level of Evidence: 3: Prospective cohort study, with blinded analysis Laryngoscope, 134:5021–5027, 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

15 ultra-pure sapphire single crystals of 32 mm diameter and 100 mm long were grown under a stationary stable regime using the Czochralski (Cz) technique. Despite varying several growth parameters, the obtained crystals were transparent without visible macroscopic defects such as cracks, inclusions and grain boundaries. The optical absorption coefficients (α) at the 1064 nm wavelength of the grown sapphire crystals were mapped by Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy (PDS). The crystals grown along c-axis using low pulling rates lower than 1.5 mm h−1, at 1064 nm present an very low optical absorption coefficients (α = 11 ppm cm−1). At such low levels, the origin of the optical absorption has never been explained. However, in this paper we point toward the role of Fe2+–Fe3+ and Ti3+–Ti3+ pairs. These results open the route to upscaling the growth process to achieve ultra-large sapphire crystals with outstanding optical performances, which are a key for the next generation of gravitational wave detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tyrosine phosphorylation of metabolic enzymes is an evolutionarily conserved posttranslational modification that facilitates rapid and reversible modulation of enzyme activity, localization, or function. Despite the high abundance of tyrosine phosphorylation events detected on metabolic enzymes in high-throughput mass spectrometry-based studies, functional characterization of tyrosine phosphorylation sites has been limited to a subset of enzymes. Since tyrosine phosphorylation is dysregulated across human diseases, including cancer, understanding the consequences of metabolic enzyme tyrosine phosphorylation events is critical for informing disease biology and therapeutic interventions. To globally identify metabolic enzyme tyrosine phosphorylation events and simultaneously assign functional significance to these sites, we performed parallel phosphoproteomics and polar metabolomics in nontumorigenic mammary epithelial cells (MCF10A) stimulated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the absence or presence of the EGF receptor inhibitor erlotinib. We performed an integrated analysis of the phosphoproteomic and metabolomic datasets to identify tyrosine phosphorylation sites on metabolic enzymes with functional consequences. We identified two previously characterized (pyruvate kinase muscle isozyme, phosphoglycerate mutase 1) and two uncharacterized (glutathione S-transferase Pi 1, glutamate dehydrogenase 1) tyrosine phosphorylation sites on metabolic enzymes with purported functions based on metabolomic analyses. We validated these hits using a doxycycline-inducible CRISPR interference system in MCF10A cells, in which target metabolic enzymes were depleted with simultaneous reexpression of wild-type, phosphomutant, or phosphomimetic isoforms. Together, these data provide a framework for identification, prioritization, and characterization of tyrosine phosphorylation sites on metabolic enzymes with functional significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N) deposition affect plant communities in numerous ways1–11. Nitrogen deposition causes local biodiversity loss globally12–14, but whether, and if so how, rising CO2 concentrations amplify or dampen those losses remains unclear and is almost entirely unstudied. We addressed this knowledge gap with an open-air experiment in which 108 grassland plots were grown for 24 years under different CO2 and N regimes. We initially found that adding N reduced plant species richness less at elevated than at ambient CO2. Over time, however, this interaction reversed, and elevated CO2 amplified losses in diversity from enriched N, tripling reductions in species richness from N addition over the last eight years of the study. These interactions resulted from temporal changes in the drivers of diversity, especially light availability, that were in turn driven by CO2 and N inputs and associated changes in plant biomass. This mechanism is likely to be similar in many grasslands, because additions of the plant resources CO2 and N are likely to increase the abundance of the dominant species. If rising CO2 generally exacerbates the widespread negative impacts of N deposition on plant diversity, this bodes poorly for the conservation of grassland biodiversity worldwide. A long-term experiment in grassland communities finds that, over 24 years, enriching nitrogen caused increasingly greater diversity loss when carbon dioxide levels were increased, raising further concerns over the impacts of global environmental change on biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganism motility often takes place within complex, viscoelastic fluid environments, e.g. sperm in cervicovaginal mucus and bacteria in biofilms. In such complex fluids, strains and stresses generated by the microorganism are stored and relax across a spectrum of length and time scales and the complex fluid can be driven out of its linear response regime. Phenomena not possible in viscous media thereby arise from feedback between the swimmer and the complex fluid, making swimming efficiency co-dependent on the propulsion mechanism and fluid properties. Here, we parameterize a flagellar motor and filament properties together with elastic relaxation and nonlinear shear-thinning properties of the fluid in a computational immersed boundary model. We then explore swimming efficiency, defined as a particular flow rate divided by the torque required to spin the motor, over this parameter space. Our findings indicate that motor efficiency (measured by the volumetric flow rate) can be boosted or degraded by relatively moderate or strong shear thinning of the viscoelastic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient enrichment impacts grassland plant diversity such as species richness, functional trait composition and diversity, but whether and how these changes affect ecosystem stability in the face of increasing climate extremes remains largely unknown.We quantified the direct and diversity‐mediated effects of nutrient addition (by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) on the stability of above‐ground biomass production in 10 long‐term grassland experimental sites. We measured five facets of stability as the temporal invariability, resistance during and recovery after extreme dry and wet growing seasons.Leaf traits (leaf carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and specific leaf area) were measured under ambient and nutrient addition conditions in the field and were used to construct the leaf economic spectrum (LES). We calculated functional trait composition and diversity of LES and of single leaf traits. We quantified the contribution of intraspecific trait shifts and species replacement to change in functional trait composition as responses to nutrient addition and its implications for ecosystem stability.Nutrient addition decreased functional trait diversity and drove grassland communities to the faster end of the LES primarily through intraspecific trait shifts, suggesting that intraspecific trait shifts should be included for accurately predicting ecosystem stability. Moreover, the change in functional trait diversity of the LES in turn influenced different facets of stability. That said, these diversity‐mediated effects were overall weak and/or overwhelmed by the direct effects of nutrient addition on stability. As a result, nutrient addition did not strongly impact any of the stability facets. These results were generally consistent using individual leaf traits but the dominant pathways differed. Importantly, major influencing pathways differed using average trait values extracted from global trait databases (e.g. TRY).Synthesis. Investigating changes in multiple facets of plant diversity and their impacts on multidimensional stability under global changes such as nutrient enrichment can improve our understanding of the processes and mechanisms maintaining ecosystem stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For centuries, humans have intentionally moved species around the world, and such actions have rarely been laudable from conservation perspectives. The notion that introduced populations of cold‐adapted species hold conservation value despite their non‐native status remains controversial. Many such populations exist as a legacy of humans moving wildlife to novel environments with little true consideration of species conservation. Herein, we identify cases in which individuals from inadvertent climate refugia (ICR) are returned to formerly occupied ranges or used to augment declining native populations. While conservation benefits have been infrequently realized, the global distribution of ICR offers a potentially untapped resource. Lessening biodiversity loss under increasing climate challenges will likely require assisted migration of many species and necessitate novel valuation of extant introduced populations—such as those within ICR. While ecological costs of translocated species are widely known, we highlight how species moved generations ago to ICR offer a reservoir for reintroductions and a buffer against rapidly changing climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human respiratory mucus (HRM) is extremely soft, compelling passive microrheology for linear viscoelastic characterization. We focus this study on the use of passive microrheology to characterize HRM heterogeneity, a phenomenon in normal HRM that becomes extreme during cystic fibrosis (CF) disease. Specifically, a fraction of the mucin polymers comprising HRM phase-separate into insoluble structures, called flakes, dispersed in mucin-depleted solution. We first reconstitute HRM samples to the MUC5B:MUC5AC mucin ratios consistent with normal and CF clinical samples, which we show recapitulate progressive flake formation and heterogeneity. We then employ passive particle tracking with 200 nm and 1 μm diameter beads in each reconstituted sample. To robustly analyze the tracking data, we introduce statistical denoising methods for low signal-to-noise tracking data within flakes, tested and verified using model-generated synthetic data. These statistical methods provide a fractional Brownian motion classifier of all successfully denoised, tracked beads in flakes and the dilute solution. From the ensemble of classifier data, per bead diameter and mucus sample, we then employ clustering methods to learn and infer multiple levels of heterogeneity: (i) tracked bead data within vs. outside flakes and (ii) within-flake data buried within or distinguishable from the experimental noise floor. Simulated data consistent with experimental data (within and outside flakes) are used to explore form(s) of the generalized Stokes–Einstein relation (GSER) that recover the dynamic moduli of homogeneous and heterogeneous truth sets of purely flakelike, dilute solution, and mixture samples. The appropriate form of GSER is applied to experimental data to show (i) flakes are heterogeneous with gel and sol domains; (ii) dilute solutions are heterogeneous with only sol domains; and (iii) flake and dilute solution properties vary with probe diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis results from lipid-driven inflammation of the arterial wall that fails to resolve. Imbalances in macrophage accumulation and function, including diminished migratory capacity and defective efferocytosis, fuel maladaptive inflammation and plaque progression. The neuroimmune guidance cue netrin-1 has dichotomous roles in inflammation partly due to its multiple receptors; in atherosclerosis, netrin-1 promotes macrophage survival and retention via its receptor Unc5b. To minimize the pleiotropic effects of targeting netrin-1, we tested the therapeutic potential of deleting Unc5b in mice with advanced atherosclerosis. We generated Unc5bfl/flCx3cr1creERT2/WT mice, which allowed conditional deletion of Un5b (ΔUnc5bMØ) in monocytes and macrophages by tamoxifen injection. After inducing advanced atherosclerosis by hepatic PCSK9 overexpression and western diet feeding for 20 wk, Unc5b was deleted and hypercholesterolemia was normalized to simulate clinical lipid management. Deletion of myeloid Unc5b led to a 40% decrease in atherosclerotic plaque burden and reduced plaque complexity compared to Unc5bfl/flCx-3cr1WT/WT littermate controls (CtrlMØ). Consistently, plaque macrophage content was reduced by 50% in ΔUnc5bMØ mice due to reduced plaque Ly6Chi monocyte recruitment and macrophage retention. Compared to CtrlMØ mice, plaques in ΔUnc5bMØ mice had reduced necrotic area and fewer apoptotic cells, which correlated with improved efferocytotic capacity by Unc5b-deficient macrophages in vivo and in vitro. Beneficial changes in macrophage dynamics in the plaque upon Unc5b deletion were accompanied by an increase in atheroprotective T cell populations, including T-regulatory and Th2 cells. Our data identify Unc5b in advanced atherosclerosis as a therapeutic target to induce pro-resolving restructuring of the plaque immune cells and to promote atherosclerosis regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Molecular testing can reduce the need for diagnostic thyroidectomy in cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules. However, the health-related quality of life in patients managed with molecular testing is not well studied. Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to identify and analyze the health-related quality of life outcomes in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules who are expected to undergo or have undergone surgery or molecular testing. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, PsychINFO, and Embase to identify relevant studies. The search terms included "thyroid neoplasms" or "thyroid nodule" and "molecular testing" or "surgery" and "quality of life". The included articles were analyzed for their main study objective, study design, participant characteristics, and main results. Results: Eight studies were included in this scoping review. Four evaluated the quality-adjusted life years for patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules. Three of these studies found that molecular testing slightly improved quality-adjusted life years compared to surgery, while one study found no difference. Two studies assessed surgical health-related quality of life outcomes and reported that patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules who were expected to undergo surgery favored surgical procedures, while those who underwent surgery experienced impaired health-related quality of life. Two studies evaluated molecular testing in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules and found that the final molecular test result significantly impacted health-related quality of life outcomes. Patients with suspicious/positive molecular test results had worse symptoms of goiter, anxiety, and depression, while those with benign results had preserved health-related quality of life scores. Patients with benign results from molecular testing experience better health-related quality of life within the first year compared to those with benign surgical outcomes. Conclusions: This scoping review highlights the importance of considering health-related quality of life outcomes in the management of patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules. Benign molecular testing results yield better quality of life than benign surgical outcomes within the first year, suggesting molecular testing as a preferable option. Further research comparing the impact of surgery and molecular testing on health-related quality of life is needed to improve shared decision-making and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study explores the impact of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERTp) molecular alterations on the behavior of thyroid nodules, exploring the differential behavior of these molecular alterations occurring alone versus with concurrent molecular alterations. By analyzing the data from thyroid cancer patients treated between 2017 and 2024, this study aimed to clarify how the genetic landscape of TERTp molecular alterations relates to severity and various clinical and histopathological features of disease. The study found that thyroid cancers harboring both TERTp and concurrent molecular alterations were more likely to be classified as high-risk and have aggressive histology in contrast to nodules with TERTp molecular alterations in isolation, which generally showed less aggressive behavior. These findings suggest that identifying concurrent molecular alterations in TERTp-positive thyroid nodules could improve cancer risk assessment and prognosis and inform more tailored treatment strategies. Background/Objectives: Molecular testing of thyroid nodules enables the detection of genetic alterations, which can help assess the risk of malignancy and tumor behavior. While telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERTp) mutations are known to be associated with aggressive disease, their exact prognostic significance when occurring alone or with other molecular alterations remains underreported. Methods: This study examined patients with thyroid cancer treated at two tertiary care hospitals from 2017 to 2024. We compared tumor behavior in patients with TERTp molecular alterations occurring alone and with concurrent molecular alterations. Aggressive histologic subtypes were defined as tall-cell, hobnail, and columnar variants of papillary carcinoma, as well as poorly differentiated and anaplastic carcinoma. High-risk disease was defined according to the 2015 ATA guidelines as gross extrathyroidal extension, lymph node metastasis >3 cm, postoperative elevated serum thyroglobulin, distant metastases, and/or positive resection margins. Statistical analysis was performed to assess differences between groups. Results: 30 patients with TERTp-positive thyroid malignancies were included. TERTp/BRAF V600E was the most prevalent mutation combination (n = 13, 43.3%), followed by TERTp alone (n = 8, 26.7%) and TERTp/RAS (n = 7, 23.4%). TERTp/EIF1AX/GNAS and TERTp/EIF1AX/PIK3CA were the least common combinations (n = 1, 3.3% each). Nodules with TERTp and concurrent mutations were significantly more likely to be classified as high-risk (p = 0.006) and were more frequently associated with aggressive histologic subtypes (p = 0.003) compared to those with TERTp mutations alone, which tended to exhibit more benign behavior. Conclusions: Thyroid carcinomas harboring both TERTp and concurrent molecular alterations are associated with more aggressive features and a higher likelihood of being classified as high-risk. In contrast, TERTp mutations occurring alone do not confer an elevated risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypercalcemia can result from either hyperparathyroidism or non-parathyroid conditions. When hypercalcemia is accompanied by undetectable parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, hyperparathyroidism is rarely considered the diagnosis. Herein, we report the case of a 65-year-old Caucasian woman referred to our hospital for further evaluation of hypercalcemia. Her symptoms included fatigue and brain fog, with undetectable PTH levels. A comprehensive workup, including a series of laboratory and imaging tests, excluded common non-parathyroid causes such as malignancy and familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia. Ultrasound identified a likely enlarged parathyroid gland, which was further confirmed by a sestamibi scan. After 2 weeks of cinacalcet treatment, the patient's calcium levels decreased, indicating the parathyroid gland as the likely source of hypercalcemia. Parathyroidectomy was subsequently performed, revealing a 1927 mg adenoma. Postoperatively, the patient's calcium levels normalized, PTH levels became detectable within the normal range, and her symptoms resolved, with a marked improvement in energy. This case demonstrates that primary hyperparathyroidism can present with hypercalcemia and undetectable PTH. A genetic mutation in the PTH gene within the adenoma may explain the undetectable PTH levels preoperatively. Plain Language Summary: This case report discusses a 65-year-old woman who was found to have high calcium levels in her blood, a condition known as hypercalcemia. Typically, hypercalcemia can result from either a condition where the parathyroid glands produce too much parathyroid hormone (PTH) or from other non-parathyroid-related issues like cancer. However, when hypercalcemia occurs with undetectable levels of PTH, it is unusual for hyperparathyroidism to be the cause. In this patient's case, she experienced symptoms like fatigue and brain fog, but her initial tests showed undetectable PTH levels. Further tests ruled out other common causes of high calcium, such as cancer or a genetic condition called familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia. An ultrasound and a special scan called a sestamibi scan revealed an enlarged parathyroid gland, suggesting the presence of a parathyroid adenoma, a non-cancerous tumor. To confirm this, the doctors gave the patient a medication called cinacalcet, which is known to lower calcium levels if the parathyroid glands are involved. After two weeks of treatment, her calcium levels dropped, indicating that the parathyroid gland was indeed the source of the problem. The patient underwent surgery to remove the adenoma, which weighed nearly two grams. Following the surgery, her calcium levels returned to normal, and her PTH levels became detectable again within the normal range. Her symptoms, including fatigue, improved significantly, and she reported feeling more energetic. This case is unusual because it demonstrates that primary hyperparathyroidism can still be the cause of hypercalcemia even when PTH levels are initially undetectable. The doctors suspect that a genetic mutation in the adenoma might explain why PTH levels were undetectable before surgery. This case emphasizes the importance of thorough clinical evaluation, even when initial test results are not typical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Plants employ a diversity of reproductive safeguarding strategies to circumvent the challenge of pollen limitation. Focusing on southern African Lachenalia (Asparagaceae: Scilloideae), we test the hypothesis that the evolution of reproductive safeguarding traits (self‐compatibility, autonomous selfing, bird pollination and clonal propagation) is favoured in species occupying conditions of low insect abundance imposed by critically infertile fynbos heathland vegetation and by flowering outside the austral spring insect abundance peak.We trace the evolution of these traits and selective regimes on a dated, multi‐locus phylogeny of Lachenalia and assess their evolutionary associations using ordinary and phylogenetic regression.Ancestral state reconstructions identify an association with non‐fynbos vegetation and spring flowering as ancestral in Lachenalia, the transition to fynbos vegetation and non‐spring flowering taking place multiple times. They also show that self‐compatibility, autofertility, bird pollination and production of multiple clonal offsets have evolved repeatedly.Regression models suggest that bird pollination and self‐compatibility are selected for in fynbos and in non‐spring flowering lineages, with autofertility being positively associated with non‐spring flowering. These patterns support the interpretation of these traits as reproductive safeguarding adaptations under reduced insect pollinator abundance. We find no evidence to support the interpretation of clonal propagation as a reproductive safeguarding strategy. See also the Commentary on this article by Burd, 244: 7–9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural background ionizing radiation is present on the earth's surface; however, the biological role of this chronic low-dose-rate exposure remains unknown. The Researching the Effects of the Presence and Absence of Ionizing Radiation (REPAIR) project is examining the impacts of sub-natural background radiation exposure through experiments conducted 2 km underground in SNOLAB. The rock overburden combined with experiment-specific shielding provides a background radiation dose rate 30 times lower than on the surface. We hypothesize that natural background radiation is essential for life and maintains genomic stability and that prolonged exposure to sub-background environments will be detrimental to biological systems. To evaluate this, human hybrid CGL1 cells were continuously cultured in SNOLAB and our surface control laboratory for 16 weeks. Cells were assayed every 4 weeks for growth rate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity (a marker of cellular transformation in the CGL1 system), and the expression of genes related to DNA damage and cell cycle regulation. A subset of cells was also exposed to a challenge radiation dose (0.1 to 8 Gy of X rays) and assayed for clonogenic survival and DNA double-strand break induction to examine if prolonged sub-background exposure alters the cellular response to high-dose irradiation. At each 4-week time point, sub-background radiation exposure did not significantly alter cell growth rates, survival, DNA damage, or gene expression. However, cells cultured in SNOLAB showed significantly higher ALP activity, a marker of carcinogenesis in these cells, which increased with longer exposure to the sub-background environment, indicative of neoplastic progression. Overall, these data suggest that sub-background radiation exposure does not impact growth, survival, or DNA damage in CGL1 cells but may lead to increased rates of neoplastic transformation, highlighting a potentially important role for natural background radiation in maintaining normal cellular function and genomic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural background ionizing radiation is present on the earth's surface; however, the biological role of this chronic low-dose-rate exposure remains unknown. The Researching the Effects of the Presence and Absence of Ionizing Radiation (REPAIR) project is examining the impacts of sub-natural background radiation exposure through experiments conducted 2 km underground in SNOLAB. The rock overburden combined with experiment-specific shielding provides a background radiation dose rate 30 times lower than on the surface. We hypothesize that natural background radiation is essential for life and maintains genomic stability and that prolonged exposure to sub-background environments will be detrimental to biological systems. To evaluate this, human hybrid CGL1 cells were continuously cultured in SNOLAB and our surface control laboratory for 16 weeks. Cells were assayed every 4 weeks for growth rate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity (a marker of cellular transformation in the CGL1 system), and the expression of genes related to DNA damage and cell cycle regulation. A subset of cells was also exposed to a challenge radiation dose (0.1 to 8 Gy of X rays) and assayed for clonogenic survival and DNA double-strand break induction to examine if prolonged sub-background exposure alters the cellular response to high-dose irradiation. At each 4-week time point, sub-background radiation exposure did not significantly alter cell growth rates, survival, DNA damage, or gene expression. However, cells cultured in SNOLAB showed significantly higher ALP activity, a marker of carcinogenesis in these cells, which increased with longer exposure to the sub-background environment, indicative of neoplastic progression. Overall, these data suggest that sub-background radiation exposure does not impact growth, survival, or DNA damage in CGL1 cells but may lead to increased rates of neoplastic transformation, highlighting a potentially important role for natural background radiation in maintaining normal cellular function and genomic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial hospital programs (PHPs) represent an important part of the continuum of care for youth with severe and/or refractory OCD, yet little is known about clinical or utilization outcomes in this setting. The current study aimed to characterize symptom improvement and length of stay (LOS) among 185 youth with OCD treated in a PHP setting and to identify demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics that predict these outcomes. Results demonstrate a 77.3% treatment response rate and a median LOS of 52 days. Holding other predictors constant, less symptom improvement was observed for youth with lower symptom severity at admission, in a racial or ethnic minoritized group, without comorbid anxiety, and receiving more treatment hours per day. Shorter LOS was observed among youth with public (vs. commercial) insurance, receiving more hours of treatment per day, and not taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI). Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed, including a critical need to understand and improve outcomes for minoritized youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oncocytic thyroid carcinoma (OTC) was previously considered a variant of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) but has recently been reclassified as a separate form of thyroid cancer. This study aimed to demonstrate that FTC and OTC are fundamentally distinct entities that can potentially be differentiated preoperatively through cytology and/or molecular testing. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with FTC and OTC operated upon at two university health centers from January 2016 to September 2023 (n = 3219) was conducted. Molecular testing results were correlated with histopathologic diagnosis. Results: Fifty patients met the inclusion criteria. FTC was identified in 27 (54.0%) patients, and OTC in 23 (46.0%) patients. Patients with OTC were older (61.8 years) than FTC patients (51.2 years) (p = 0.013). Moreover, aggressive tumors were found in 39.1% (9/23) of OTCs compared to 11.1% (3/27) of FTCs (p = 0.021). Amongst Bethesda category III and IV nodules, 17 out of 20 (85.0%) OTC cytology reports demonstrated an oncocytic subtype compared to only 5 out of 24 FTC cytology reports (20.8%) (p = 0.002). On molecular testing, the EIF1AX alteration was exclusively present in OTCs while the PAX8/PPARy and PTEN alterations were exclusively found in FTCs. Copy number alterations (CNAs) were found to be more prevalent in OTC (66.7%) compared to FTC (33.3%), and they were not indicative of tumor aggressiveness. Within the OTC group, all three patients who had a TP53 alteration were diagnosed with aggressive cancer. Lastly, the OTCs exhibited a higher frequency of multiple alterations on molecular testing (66.7%) compared to FTCs (33.3%). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date comparing the clinical application of abnormalities found on molecular testing for FTC and OTC. It further demonstrates the distinct clinicopathological and molecular characteristics of OTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Preterm birth and preeclampsia significantly contribute to infant morbidity and mortality, posing critical public health concerns. Viral infections, particularly Cytomegalovirus (CMV), associated with chronic inflammation, may play a role in these adverse pregnancy outcomes. The contribution of CMV to preterm birth and preeclampsia requires further investigation. Method of Study: Data from 6048 pregnant women from two prospective Quebec cohorts, recruited between May 2005 and August 2012, were analyzed. First‐trimester CMV serology was the exposure variable. Associations were assessed using multivariable logistic regression adjusted by inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) of propensity scores. Mediation analyses estimated the direct effect of maternal CMV serostatus on preterm birth, excluding mediation by preeclampsia. Results: Preterm birth and preeclampsia proportions were 5.1% (95% CI: 4.6–5.7) and 1.9% (95% CI: 1.6–2.3), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression adjusted by IPTW showed associations between CMV seropositivity and preterm birth (OR 1.20, 95% CI: 1.02–1.41) and CMV seropositivity and preeclampsia (OR 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08–1.84). Mediation analysis indicated that 97% of the total effect of CMV seropositivity on preterm birth is direct, with the remaining 3% mediated by preeclampsia. Conclusions: CMV seropositivity appears to be a risk factor for both preterm birth and preeclampsia. The effect of maternal CMV seropositivity on preterm birth is primarily direct, not mediated by preeclampsia. Future studies should explore the impact of preventive measures against CMV infection on the incidence of preterm delivery and preeclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Understanding the mechanisms promoting resilience in plant communities is crucial in times of increasing disturbance and global environmental change. Here, we present the first meta‐analysis evaluating the relationship between functional diversity and resilience of plant communities. Specifically, we tested whether the resilience of plant communities is positively correlated with interspecific trait variation (following the niche complementarity hypothesis) and the dominance of acquisitive and small‐size species (following the mass ratio hypothesis), and for the context‐dependent effects of ecological and methodological differences across studies. Location: Global. Time Period: 2004–2021. Major Taxa Studied: Vascular plants. Methods: We compiled a dataset of 69 independent sites from 26 studies that have quantified resilience. For each site, we calculated functional diversity indices based on the floristic composition and functional traits of the plant community (obtained from the TRY database) which we correlated with resilience of biomass and floristic composition. After transforming correlation coefficients to Fisher's Z‐scores, we conducted a hierarchical meta‐analysis, using a multilevel random‐effects model that accounted for the non‐independence of multiple effect sizes and the effects of ecological and methodological moderators. Results: In general, we found no positive functional diversity–resilience relationships of grand mean effect sizes. In contrast to our expectations, we encountered a negative relationship between resilience and trait variety, especially in woody ecosystems, whereas there was a positive relationship between resilience and the dominance of acquisitive species in herbaceous ecosystems. Finally, the functional diversity–resilience relationships were strongly affected by both ecological (biome and disturbance properties) and methodological (temporal scale, study design and resilience metric) characteristics. Main Conclusions: We rejected our hypothesis of a general positive functional diversity–resilience relationship. In addition to strong context dependency, we propose that idiosyncratic effects of single resident species present in the communities before the disturbances and biological legacies could play major roles in the resilience of terrestrial plant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Angiosperms with large genomes experience nuclear‐, cellular‐, and organism‐level constraints that may limit their phenotypic plasticity and ecological niche, which could increase their risk of extinction. Therefore, we test the hypotheses that large‐genomed species are more likely to be threatened with extinction than those with small genomes, and that the effect of genome size varies across three selected covariates: life form, endemism, and climatic zone.We collated genome size and extinction risk information for a representative sample of angiosperms comprising 3250 species, which we analyzed alongside life form, endemism, and climatic zone variables using a phylogenetic framework.Genome size is positively correlated with extinction risk, a pattern driven by a signal in herbaceous but not woody species, regardless of climate and endemism. The influence of genome size is stronger in endemic herbaceous species, but is relatively homogenous across different climates. Beyond its indirect link via endemism and climate, genome size is associated with extinction risk directly and significantly.Genome size may serve as a proxy for difficult‐to‐measure parameters associated with resilience and vulnerability in herbaceous angiosperms. Therefore, it merits further exploration as a useful biological attribute for understanding intrinsic extinction risk and augmenting plant conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of people living in urban areas is growing globally. Understanding how to manage urban biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem services is becoming more important. Biodiversity can increase ecosystem functioning in non‐urban systems. However, few studies have reviewed the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in urban areas, which differ in species compositions, abiotic environments, food webs, and turnover rates. We reviewed evidence of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships in urban environments and assessed factors that influence the relationship direction. Based on 70 studies, relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning were more positive than negative in urban areas, especially for pollination and nutrient cycling and retention. Surprisingly, positive and negative relationships between biodiversity and biomass production and storage were equally not statistically different, perhaps due to extensive plant management in urban areas. The number of studies and geographic coverage of our review was still insufficient to provide a general predictive framework for when biodiversity positively impacts ecosystem functioning. We identify gaps and opportunities to improve urban biodiversity–ecosystem functioning research and discuss how our findings can improve urban green space management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise: Cleomaceae is an important model clade for studies of evolutionary processes including genome evolution, floral form diversification, and photosynthetic pathway evolution. Diversification and divergence patterns in Cleomaceae remain tangled as research has been restricted by its worldwide distribution, limited genetic sampling and species coverage, and a lack of definitive fossil calibration points. Methods: We used target sequence capture and the Angiosperms353 probe set to perform a phylogenetic study of Cleomaceae. We estimated divergence times and biogeographic analyses to explore the origin and diversification of the family. Seed morphology across extant taxa was documented with multifocal image‐stacking techniques and morphological characters were extracted, analyzed, and compared to fossil records. Results: We recovered a well‐supported and resolved phylogenetic tree of Cleomaceae generic relationships that includes 236 (~86%) species. We identified 11 principal clades and confidently placed Cleomella as sister to the rest of the family. Our analyses suggested that Cleomaceae and Brassicaceae diverged ~56 mya, and Cleomaceae began to diversify ~53 mya in the Palearctic and Africa. Multiple transatlantic disjunct distributions were identified. Seeds were imaged from 218 (~80%) species in the family and compared to all known fossil species. Conclusions: Our results represent the most comprehensive phylogenetic study of Cleomaceae to date. We identified transatlantic disjunctions and proposed explanations for these patterns, most likely either long‐distance dispersals or contractions in latitudinal distributions caused by climate change over geological timescales. We found that seed morphology varied considerably but mostly mirrored generic relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]