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Ecoacoustics-or acoustic ecology-aids in monitoring elusive and protected species in several ecological contexts. For example, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), which involves autonomous acoustic sensors, is widely used to detect various taxonomic groups in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, from birds and bats to fish and cetaceans. Here, we illustrate the potential of ecoacoustics to monitor soil biodiversity (specifically fauna)-a crucial endeavour given that 59% of species live in soil yet 75% of soils are affected by degradation. We describe the sources of sound in the soil (e.g. biological, geological and anthropogenic) and the ability of acoustic technology to detect and differentiate between these sounds, highlighting opportunities and current gaps in knowledge. We also propose a roadmap for the future development of optimized hardware, analytical pipelines and experimental approaches. Soil ecoacoustics is an emerging field with considerable potential to improve soil biodiversity monitoring and 'soil health' diagnostics. Indeed, early studies suggest soil ecoacoustics can be successfully applied in various ecosystems (e.g. grasslands, temperate, tropical and arid forests) and land uses (e.g. agriculture, viticulture, natural and restored ecosystems). Given the low cost, minimal intrusiveness, and effectiveness in supporting soil biodiversity assessments and biosecurity risks, we advocate for the advancement of soil ecoacoustics for future land management applications.

Background: Lack of access to timely, detailed antibiotic use data has limited ambulatory antibiotic stewardship efforts. Antibiotic utilization is tracked across ambulatory care sites and emergency departments (ED) within a large integrated health system. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort analysis from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020 comparing antibiotic prescribing for all patients with ICD-10 diagnosis codes for cystitis, otitis media, pharyngitis, sinusitis, and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) among five ambulatory care departments across northeast Ohio and southeast Florida locations: ED, Urgent Care (UC), On-Demand Telehealth (TEL), Pediatrics (PED), and Primary Care (PC). Results: A total of 261,947 encounters were included (ED:56,766, UC:92,749, TEL:8,783, PED:29,151, PC:74,498) for the treatment of cystitis (30,932), otitis media (22,094), pharyngitis (59,964), sinusitis (53,693), or URTI (95,264). The population was 63% female with a median age of 34.2 years [12.8-56.3]. A total of 17% of patients had documented penicillin allergies and 18% of patients with pharyngitis received Group A Streptococcus (GAS) testing. Antibiotics were prescribed in 44% of encounters (ED:21,746 [38%], UC:45,652 [49%], TEL:4,622 [53%], PED:10,909 [37%], PC:33,547 [45%]; P < 0.001). Guideline concordant antibiotics were prescribed in 65% of encounters (ED:14,338 [66%], UC:31,532 [69%], TEL:3,869 [84%], PED:8,212 [75%], PC:17,263 [51%]; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Observed rates of antibiotic and guideline concordant antibiotic prescribing were similar to national published rates of antibiotic prescribing in the ambulatory setting. The variability in antibiotic prescribing demonstrates opportunities for targeted outpatient stewardship efforts. Timely antibiotic tracking tools can facilitate ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship activities., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objectives: Bartonella spp., renowned for cat-scratch disease, has limited reports of dissemination. Tissue and blood cultures have limitations in detecting this fastidious pathogen. Molecular testing (polymerase chain reaction, PCR) and cell-free DNA have provided an avenue for diagnoses. This retrospective observational multicenter study describes the incidence of disseminated Bartonella spp. and treatment-related outcomes., Methods: Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of bartonellosis via diagnosis code, serology testing of blood, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of blood, 16/18S tests of blood or tissue, cultures of blood or tissue, or cell-free DNA of blood or tissue from January 1, 2014, through September 1, 2021. Exclusions were patients who did not receive treatment, insufficient data on treatment course, absence of dissemination, or retinitis as dissemination., Results: Patients were primarily male (n = 25, 61.0%), white (n = 28, 68.3%), with mean age of 50 years (SD 14.4), and mean Charlson comorbidity index of 3.5 (SD 2.1). Diagnosis was primarily by serology (n = 34, 82.9%), with Bartonella henselae (n = 40, 97.6%) as the causative pathogen. Treatment was principally doxycycline with rifampin (n = 17, 41.5%). Treatment failure occurred in 16 (39.0%) patients, due to escalation of therapy during treatment (n = 5, 31.3%) or discontinuation of therapy due to an adverse event or tolerability (n = 5, 31.3%)., Conclusions: In conclusion, this is the largest United States-based cohort of disseminated Bartonella spp. infections to date with a reported 39% treatment failure. This adds to literature supporting obtaining multiple diagnostic tests when Bartonella is suspected and describes treatment options., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Cryoconite has been demonstrated to be an efficient accumulator of some classes of contaminants on glaciers in both mountain and polar environments, however the accumulation of contaminants in cryoconite in Iceland has received very little attention to date. To understand the spatial variability of natural and anthropogenic fallout radionuclides and metals on glaciers in Iceland, we present the first study of this region including both cryoconite from three glaciers: Virkisjökull; Skaftafellsjökull; and Falljökull, together with moss balls ('glacier mice') from Falljökull. The cryoconite samples and glacier mice were analysed using XRF spectrometry to assess their elemental composition and gamma spectrometry to identify, and quantify, fallout radionuclides, primarily 7 Be, 137 Cs, 241 Am, excess 210 Pb, and 40 K. The results revealed that the cryoconite samples had similar compositions, influenced by local geology and natural sources of volcanic ash and dust. Higher concentrations of radionuclides and heavy metals were found in both cryoconite and glacier mice compared to control samples comprising nearby proglacial sediments. In comparison to other glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, however, cryoconite from Icelandic glaciers contains some of the lowest activity concentrations of key radionuclides. Consequently, cryoconite deposits that are released and diluted during the melt and retreat of Icelandic glaciers are unlikely to be of environmental concern following transport to proglacial areas., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Caroline Clason reports financial support was provided by Quaternary Research Association., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Literature indicating that transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) may enable the brain to recover normal function after concussion, resulting in symptoms reduction, and improved cognitive function after concussion is limited by small sample sizes and lack of controls., Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examining the effect of 6 wk of tPBM in patients 11 yr or older who received care for persistent postconcussion symptoms between September 2012 and December 2015. Our primary outcome measure was the mean difference in Postconcussion Symptom Scale total score and the raw Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing composite scores between study entry and treatment completion. Participants received two, 10-min sessions either with tPBM units or via two placebo units, three times per week. We screened for potential confounding variables using univariable analyses. We entered covariables that differed between the two groups on univariable screening into a regression analysis. We considered adjusted odds ratio that did not cross one statistically significant., Results: Forty-eight participants completed the study. Most were female (63%), and a majority sustained their injury during sports or exercise (71%). Despite randomization, those that received tPBM therapy reported a greater number of previous concussions. After adjusting for the effect of previous concussions and multiple comparisons, there were no significant differences between tPBM and placebo groups at 3 or 6 wk of treatment., Conclusions: Despite showing promise in previous investigations, our study did not show benefit to tPBM over placebo therapy in patients experiencing persistent postconcussion symptoms. Further investigation is needed to determine if varying the dose or timing alters the efficacy of tPBM after concussion., (Copyright © 2023 by the American College of Sports Medicine.)

A new study shows a falcon species, the striated caracara, displays similar levels of behavioural innovation to tool-using parrots when solving a battery test in the wild., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The author declares no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification - a measure of self-control - requires the ability to tolerate delays and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the 'rotating-tray' paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We predicted that, given the increased risk of losing a reward with a competitor present, both species would similarly, flexibly alter their choices in the presence of a conspecific compared to when alone. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non-competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors related to adult sociality and food-caching (storing). New Caledonian crows are more socially tolerant and moderate cachers, while Eurasian jays are highly territorial and intense cachers that may have evolved under the social context of cache pilfering and cache protection strategies. Therefore, flexibility (or inflexibility) in delay of gratification under different social contexts may relate to the species' social tolerance and related risk of competition., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Miller et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The accumulation of fallout radionuclides (FRNs) from nuclear weapons testing and nuclear accidents has been evaluated for over half a century in natural environments; however, until recently their distribution and abundance within glaciers have been poorly understood. Following a series of individual studies of FRNs, specifically 137 Cs, 241 Am and 210 Pb, deposited on the surface of glaciers, we now understand that cryoconite, a material commonly found in the supraglacial environment, is a highly efficient accumulator of FRNs, both artificial and natural. However, the variability of FRN activity concentrations in cryoconite across the global cryosphere has never been assessed. This study thus aims to both synthesize current knowledge on FRNs in cryoconite and assess the controls on variability of activity concentrations. We present a global database of new and previously published data based on gamma spectrometry of cryoconite and proglacial sediments, and assess the extent to which a suite of environmental and physical factors can explain spatial variability in FRN activity concentrations in cryoconite. We show that FRNs are not only found in cryoconite on glaciers within close proximity to specific sources of radioactivity, but across the global cryosphere, and at activity concentrations up to three orders of magnitude higher than those found in soils and sediments in the surrounding environment. We also show that the organic content of cryoconite exerts a strong control on accumulation of FRNs, and that activity concentrations in cryoconite are some of the highest ever described in environmental matrices outside of nuclear exclusion zones, occasionally in excess of 10,000 Bq kg -1 . These findings highlight a need for significant improvements in the understanding of the fate of legacy contaminants within glaciated catchments. Future interdisciplinary research is required on the mechanisms governing their accumulation, storage, and mobility, and their potential to create time-dependent impacts on downstream water quality and ecosystem sustainability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Caroline Clason reports financial support was provided by INTERACT. Caroline Clason reports financial support was provided by Quaternary Research Association. Ewa Poniecka reports financial support was provided by Natural Environment Research Council. Ewa Poniecka reports travel was provided by National Science Foundation. Philip Owens reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Philip Owens reports financial support was provided by Forest Renewal British Columbia. Edyta Lokas reports financial support was provided by National Science Centre Poland., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The nature and evolution of positive emotion is a major question remaining unanswered in science and philosophy. The study of feelings and emotions in humans and animals is dominated by discussion of affective states that have negative valence. Given the clinical and social significance of negative affect, such as depression, it is unsurprising that these emotions have received more attention from scientists. Compared to negative emotions, such as fear that leads to fleeing or avoidance, positive emotions are less likely to result in specific, identifiable, behaviours being expressed by an animal. This makes it particularly challenging to quantify and study positive affect. However, bursts of intense positive emotion (joy) are more likely to be accompanied by externally visible markers, like vocalisations or movement patterns, which make it more amenable to scientific study and more resilient to concerns about anthropomorphism. We define joy as intense, brief, and event-driven (i.e. a response to something), which permits investigation into how animals react to a variety of situations that would provoke joy in humans. This means that behavioural correlates of joy are measurable, either through newly discovered 'laughter' vocalisations, increases in play behaviour, or reactions to cognitive bias tests that can be used across species. There are a range of potential situations that cause joy in humans that have not been studied in other animals, such as whether animals feel joy on sunny days, when they accomplish a difficult feat, or when they are reunited with a familiar companion after a prolonged absence. Observations of species-specific calls and play behaviour can be combined with biometric markers and reactions to ambiguous stimuli in order to enable comparisons of affect between phylogenetically distant taxonomic groups. Identifying positive affect is also important for animal welfare because knowledge of positive emotional states would allow us to monitor animal well-being better. Additionally, measuring if phylogenetically and ecologically distant animals play more, laugh more, or act more optimistically after certain kinds of experiences will also provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the evolution of joy and other positive emotions, and potentially even into the evolution of consciousness., (© 2023 The Authors. Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.)

Importance: Acute neurological involvement occurs in some patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), but few data report neurological and psychological sequelae, and no investigations include direct assessments of cognitive function 6 to 12 months after discharge., Objective: To characterize neurological, psychological, and quality of life sequelae after MIS-C., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional cohort study was conducted in the US and Canada. Participants included children with MIS-C diagnosed from November 2020 through November 2021, 6 to 12 months after hospital discharge, and their sibling or community controls, when available. Data analysis was performed from August 2022 to May 2023., Exposure: Diagnosis of MIS-C., Main Outcomes and Measures: A central study site remotely administered a onetime neurological examination and in-depth neuropsychological assessment including measures of cognition, behavior, quality of life, and daily function. Generalized estimating equations, accounting for matching, assessed for group differences., Results: Sixty-four patients with MIS-C (mean [SD] age, 11.5 [3.9] years; 20 girls [31%]) and 44 control participants (mean [SD] age, 12.6 [3.7] years; 20 girls [45%]) were enrolled. The MIS-C group exhibited abnormalities on neurological examination more frequently than controls (15 of 61 children [25%] vs 3 of 43 children [7%]; odds ratio, 4.7; 95% CI, 1.3-16.7). Although the 2 groups performed similarly on most cognitive measures, the MIS-C group scored lower on the National Institutes of Health Cognition Toolbox List Sort Working Memory Test, a measure of executive functioning (mean [SD] scores, 96.1 [14.3] vs 103.1 [10.5]). Parents reported worse psychological outcomes in cases compared with controls, particularly higher scores for depression symptoms (mean [SD] scores, 52.6 [13.1] vs 47.8 [9.4]) and somatization (mean [SD] scores, 55.5 [15.5] vs 47.0 [7.6]). Self-reported (mean [SD] scores, 79.6 [13.1] vs 85.5 [12.3]) and parent-reported (mean [SD] scores, 80.3 [15.5] vs 88.6 [13.0]) quality of life scores were also lower in cases than controls., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, compared with contemporaneous sibling or community controls, patients with MIS-C had more abnormal neurologic examinations, worse working memory scores, more somatization and depression symptoms, and lower quality of life 6 to 12 months after hospital discharge. Although these findings need to be confirmed in larger studies, enhanced monitoring may be warranted for early identification and treatment of neurological and psychological symptoms.

A cardinal feature of adult cognition is the awareness of our own cognitive struggles and the capacity to draw upon this awareness to offload internal demand into the environment. In this preregistered study conducted in Australia, we investigated whether 3-8-year-olds ( N = 72, 36 male, 36 female, mostly White) could self-initiate such an external metacognitive strategy and transfer it across contexts. Children watched as an experimenter demonstrated how to mark the location of a hidden prize, thus helping them successfully retrieve that prize in the future. Children were then given the opportunity to spontaneously adopt an external marking strategy across six test trials. Children who did so at least once were then introduced to a conceptually similar but structurally distinct transfer task. Although most 3-year-olds deployed the demonstrated strategy in the initial test phase, none of them modified that strategy to solve the transfer task. By contrast, many children aged 4 years and older spontaneously devised more than one previously unseen reminder-setting strategy across the six transfer trials, with this tendency increasing with age. From age 6, children deployed effective external strategies on most trials, with the number, combination, and order of unique strategies used varying widely both within and across the older age groups. These results demonstrate young children's remarkable flexibility in the transferral of external strategies across contexts and point to pronounced individual differences in the strategies children devise. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: To evaluate the clinical impact of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (PNA panel) in critically ill patients., Design: Single-center, preintervention and postintervention retrospective cohort study., Setting: Tertiary-care academic medical center., Patients: Adult ICU patients., Methods: Patients with quantitative bacterial cultures obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage or tracheal aspirate either before (January-March 2021, preintervention period) or after (January-March 2022, postintervention period) implementation of the PNA panel were randomly screened until 25 patients per study month (75 in each cohort) who met the study criteria were included. Antibiotic use from the day of culture collection through day 5 was compared., Results: The primary outcome of median time to first antibiotic change based on microbiologic data was 50 hours before the intervention versus 21 hours after the intervention ( P = .0006). Also, 56 postintervention regimens (75%) were eligible for change based on PNA panel results; actual change occurred in 30 regimens (54%). Median antibiotic days of therapy (DOTs) were 8 before the intervention versus 6 after the intervention ( P = .07). For the patients with antibiotic changes made based on PNA panel results, the median time to first antibiotic change was 10 hours. For patients who were initially on inadequate therapy, time to adequate therapy was 67 hours before the intervention versus 37 hours after the intervention ( P = .27)., Conclusions: The PNA panel was associated with decreased time to first antibiotic change and fewer antibiotic DOTs. Its impact may have been larger if a higher percentage of potential antibiotic changes had been implemented. The PNA panel is a promising tool to enhance antibiotic stewardship., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Objective: To determine whether slow processing speed is associated with risk of sport-related concussion., Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using computerized neurocognitive assessments (Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing [ImPACT]) from the Massachusetts Concussion Management Coalition. Slow processing speed was defined as 2 SD below the sample mean (n = 131) and fast processing speed as 2 SD above the sample mean (n = 259). We used a binary logistic regression model to determine the odds of sustaining a concussion with our main predictor being processing speed (high or low) adjusted for the effects of age, sex, and prior number of concussions., Setting: Massachusetts Concussion Management Coalition, Institutional care., Participants: Three hundred ninety junior high soccer players ages 10 to 15 with a baseline score for ImPACT., Independent Variables: Processing Speed., Main Outcome Measures: Risk of sustaining a concussion., Results: Those with slow processing speed had a visual motor composite score of ≤19.92, those with fast-processing speed had a score of ≥46.20. Athletes with slow processing speed were younger (13 vs 14 years; P < 0.001) and more likely to be male (57% vs 49%; P = 0.014). After adjusting for the effects of age, sex, and prior concussions, there was no significant difference in the odds of sustaining a concussion between groups (aOR 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.04)., Conclusions: Despite previous research showing that slow processing speed is a risk factor for musculoskeletal injuries during sports, our study suggests that processing speed is not associated with the risk of sustaining a concussion among junior high school soccer players., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Contrafreeloading-working to access food that could be freely obtained-is rarely exhibited and poorly understood. Based on data from Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), researchers proposed a correlation between contrafreeloading and play: that contrafreeloading is more likely when subjects view the task as play. We tested that hypothesis by subjecting a relatively more playful parrot species, the kea (Nestor notabilis), to the same experimental tasks. Experiment 1 presented eight kea with container pairs holding more- or less-preferred free or enclosed food items, and examined three types of contrafreeloading: calculated (working to access preferred food over less-preferred, freely available food); classic (working to access food identical to freely available food); and super (working to access less-preferred food over preferred, freely available food). At the group level, the kea behaved similarly to the Greys: They significantly preferred calculated contrafreeloading, performed classic contrafreeloading at chance, and significantly failed to super contrafreeload. However, overall kea engaged in more contrafreeloading than Greys. Experiment 2 examined a potentially more ecologically relevant task, a choice between shelled and unshelled walnuts. No kea contrafreeloaded for nuts, whereas two of five Greys significantly preferred nut contrafreeloading and one chose at chance. We examine proximate and adaptive explanations for the performances of these differentially playful parrot species to further elucidate the role of play in contrafreeloading., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Making inferences from behaviour to cognition is problematic due to a many-to-one mapping problem, in which any one behaviour can be generated by multiple possible cognitive processes. Attempts to cross this inferential gap when comparing human intelligence to that of animals or machines can generate great debate. Here, we discuss the challenges of making comparisons using 'success-testing' approaches and call attention to an alternate experimental framework, the 'signature-testing' approach. Signature testing places the search for information-processing errors, biases, and other patterns centre stage, rather than focussing predominantly on problem-solving success. We highlight current research on both biological and artificial intelligence that fits within this framework and is creating proactive research programs that make strong inferences about the similarities and differences between the content of human, animal, and machine minds., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests None declared by authors., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To describe the use of a medical intensive care unit (MICU) delirium order set pilot and its associated impact on utilization of nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions, pharmacologic continuation at transitions of care, and resolution of ICU delirium., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of MICU patients who received delirium management using an order set pilot compared to standard care. Patients 18 years of age or older admitted to the MICU between May 2019 and January 2020 who received an antipsychotic or valproic acid for the treatment of delirium were included., Results: Pharmacologic treatment continuation past ICU discharge occurred in 30% of patients in the pilot cohort (n = 50) compared to 54% of patients receiving standard care (n = 50; P = 0.027). On treatment days 1 through 7, utilization of deliriogenic medications was significantly lower in the pilot cohort (78% vs 96%, P = 0.007). No differences were observed between the groups in delirium resolution, delirium recurrence, hospital and ICU length of stay, or mortality., Conclusion: A MICU order set prioritizing nonpharmacologic management and limiting the duration of pharmacologic agents for delirium may aid providers in the management of ICU delirium and reduce exposure to pharmacologic interventions., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Metacognition plays an essential role in adults' cognitive offloading decisions. Despite possessing basic metacognitive capacities, however, preschool-aged children often fail to offload effectively. Here, we introduced 3- to 5-year-olds to a novel search task in which they were unlikely to perform optimally across trials without setting external reminders about the location of a target. Children watched as an experimenter first hid a target in one of three identical opaque containers. The containers were then shuffled out of view before children had to guess where the target was hidden. In the test phase, children could perform perfectly by simply placing a marker in a transparent jar attached to the target container prior to shuffling, and then later selecting the marked container. Children of all ages used this external strategy above chance levels if they had seen it demonstrated to them, but only the 4- and 5-year-olds independently devised the strategy to improve their future performance. These results suggest that, when necessary for optimal performance, even 4- and 5-year-olds can use metacognitive knowledge about their own future uncertainty to deploy effective external solutions., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Jumping spiders (Salticidae) use exceptional vision, largely mediated by their forward-facing anterior lateral (AL) and anterior medial (AM) eyes, to pounce on prey from a distance. We evaluated depth perception through the use of 'texture density' (depth estimation through surface texture comparisons, with greater distances having higher textural density) in the salticid Trite planiceps. In visual cliff experiments, spiders tended to choose an area with a false 'low drop' over a false 'high drop' with the same texture densities, but showed no preference for either area when presented with substrates with different texture densities at a constant height. This was corroborated when T. planiceps did not avoid jumping over an illusion resembling a trench compared to a no-illusion control pattern. We then selectively occluded both AL and 1 AM eye (monocular treatment), both AL eyes (ALE-occluded binocular treatment) or no eyes (control), and induced spiders to jump across a gap at different heights. Neither control spiders, spiders with binocular cues from the AM eyes or monocular treatment spiders exhibited a height preference. These results suggest that while T. planiceps accurately perceives depth, it does not appear to rely on texture gradients as a depth cue., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) physicians' accurate assessment of the neurovascular and musculoskeletal (NV/MSK) examination in pediatric patients with suspected elbow fracture is crucial to the early recognition of neurovascular compromise. Our objective was to determine the impact of computer-based simulation (CBS) and computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSS) on ED and UC physicians' assessment of the NV/MSK examination of pediatric patients with elbow fracture as noted in their documentation., Methods: All ED UC physician participants received CBS training about management of pediatric patients with suspected elbow fracture. Participants were then randomized to receive CCDSS (intervention arm) when an eligible patient was seen or no further intervention (comparison arm.) Participants received feedback on the proportion of patients with discharge diagnosis of elbow fracturewith proper examination elements documented., Results: Twenty-eight ED and UC physicians were enrolled - 14 in each arm. Over the span of 16 weeks, 50 patients with a discharge diagnosis of elbow fracture were seen - 25 in each arm. Twenty-two of 25 (88%) patients seen by intervention arm participants had a complete NV/MSK examination documented. Six of 25 (24%) patients seen by comparison arm participants had a complete NV/MSK examination documented. Elements most commonly missed in the comparison arm included documentation of ulnar pulse as well as radial, median, and ulnar nerve motor functions., Conclusions: Compared with single CBS training alone, repeated exposure to CCDSS after CBS training resulted in improved documentation of the NV/MSK status of pediatric patients with elbow fracture., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Evaluation of the spatial and temporal composition of floodplain sediments and soils is critical in the creation of soil management strategies for impacted riverine catchments. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution, and to identify the sources, of particulate trace elements and fallout radionuclides in the catchment of the River Avon (SW England), where sedimentary processes had been altered by reservoir construction in the 1950s. The catchment was compartmentalized into its main functional units namely, cultivated land, pasture, woodland, wet moorland, and channel bank. Surface soils were collected in each unit, along with four strategically-placed cores, all of which were analyzed for particle size, fallout radionuclides and elemental concentrations. Sediment particle sizes and sediment accumulation rates were affected by the construction of the reservoir, specifically the distributions of silt and clay. The concentrations of fertilizer constituent Cr and P were highly correlated in the mid-catchment but were unrelated downstream due to elevated concentrations of Cr from geological deposits. Copper, As, Pb and Sn had variable down-core distributions, with pulses in concentrations due to mining inputs. The contributions of the end-member sources of particulate elements in the sedimentary mixtures were evaluated, quantitatively, using a Bayesian Mixing Model and the cultivated land was identified as a significant contributor to the mixtures, independent of space and time. The results contribute to advances in soil quality and conservation measures as components of a catchment management plan for the Avon, an approach maybe applicable to other small catchments in the UK and internationally., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To explore home medicine practices and safety for people shielding and/or over the age of 70 during the COVID-19 pandemic and to create guidance, from the patient/carer perspective, for enabling safe medicine practices for this population., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 50 UK participants who were shielding and/or over the age of 70 and who used medicines for a long-term condition, using telephone or video conferencing. Participants were recruited through personal/professional networks and through patient/carer organisations. Participants were asked about their experiences of managing medicines during the pandemic and how this differed from previous practices. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis., Key Findings: Patients' and their families' experiences of managing medicines safely during the pandemic varied greatly. Analysis suggests that this was based on the patient's own agency, the functioning of their medicines system pre-pandemic and their relationships with family, friends, community networks and pharmacy staff. Medicine safety issues reported included omitted doses and less-effective formulations being used. Participants also described experiencing high levels of anxiety related to obtaining medicines, monitoring medicines and feeling at risk of contracting COVID-19 while accessing healthcare services for medicine-related issues. Effects of the pandemic on medicines adherence were reported to be positive by some and negative by others., Conclusions: Pharmacy staff have a key role to play by establishing good relationships with patients and their families, working with prescribers to ensure medicines systems are as joined up as possible, and signposting to community networks that can help with medicines collection., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.)

Tooling is associated with complex cognitive abilities, occurring most regularly in large-brained mammals and birds. Among birds, self-care tooling is seemingly rare in the wild, despite several anecdotal reports of this behaviour in captive parrots. Here, we show that Bruce, a disabled parrot lacking his top mandible, deliberately uses pebbles to preen himself. Evidence for this behaviour comes from five lines of evidence: (i) in over 90% of instances where Bruce picked up a pebble, he then used it to preen; (ii) in 95% of instances where Bruce dropped a pebble, he retrieved this pebble, or replaced it, in order to resume preening; (iii) Bruce selected pebbles of a specific size for preening rather than randomly sampling available pebbles in his environment; (iv) no other kea in his environment used pebbles for preening; and (v) when other individuals did interact with stones, they used stones of different sizes to those Bruce preened with. Our study provides novel and empirical evidence for deliberate self-care tooling in a bird species where tooling is not a species-specific behaviour. It also supports claims that tooling can be innovated based on ecological necessity by species with sufficiently domain-general cognition., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Human psychology and animal cognition have increasingly used virtual stimuli to test cognitive abilities, with the expectation that participants are 'naive realists', that is, that they perceive virtual environments as both equivalent and continuous with real-life equivalents. However, there have been no attempts to investigate whether nonhuman subjects in fact behave as if physical processes in the virtual and real worlds are continuous. As kea parrots have previously shown the ability to transfer knowledge between real stimuli and both images on paper and images on touchscreens, here we test whether kea behave as naive realists and so expect physical processes to be continuous between the physical and virtual worlds. We find that, unlike infants, kea do not discriminate between these two contexts, and that they do not exhibit a preference for either. Our findings therefore validate the use of virtual stimuli as a powerful tool for testing the cognition of nonhuman animal species.

Naïve individuals of some bird species can rapidly solve vertical string-pulling tasks with virtually no errors. This has led to various hypotheses being proposed which suggest that birds mentally simulate the effects of their actions on strings. A competing embodied cognition hypothesis proposes that this behaviour is instead modulated by perceptual-motor feedback loops, where feedback of the reward moving closer acts as an internal motivator for functional behaviours, such as pull-stepping. To date, the kea parrot has produced some of the best performances of any bird species at string-pulling tasks. Here, we tested the predictions of the four leading hypotheses for the cognition underpinning bird string-pulling by presenting kea with a horizontal connectivity task where only one of two loose strings was connected to the reward, both before and after receiving perceptual-motor feedback experience. We find that kea fail the connectivity task both before and after perceptual-motor feedback experience, suggesting not only that kea do not mentally simulate their string-pulling actions, but also that perceptual-motor feedback alone is insufficient in eliciting successful performance in the horizontal connectivity task. This suggests a more complex interplay of cognitive factors underlies this iconic example of animal problem-solving., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Jealousy may have evolved to protect valuable social bonds from interlopers, but some researchers have suggested that it is linked to self-awareness and theory of mind, leading to claims that it is unique to humans. We presented dogs ( N = 18; 11 females; age: M = 4.6 years, SD = 1.9) with situations in which they could observe an out-of-sight social interaction between their owner and a fake dog or between their owner and a fleece cylinder. We found evidence for three signatures of jealous behavior in dogs: (a) Jealousy emerged only when the dog's owner interacted with a perceived social rival, (b) it occurred as a consequence of that interaction and not because of the mere presence of a conspecific, and (c) it emerged even for an out-of-sight interaction between the dog's owner and a social rival. These results support claims that dogs display jealous behavior, and they provide the first evidence that dogs can mentally represent jealousy-inducing social interactions.

Executive function plays a critical role in regulating behaviour. Behaviour which directs attention towards the correct solution leads to increased executive function performance in children, but it is unknown how other animals respond to such scaffolding behaviour. Dogs were presented with an A-not-B detour task. After learning to go through gap A to obtain the reward, the barrier was reversed, and the dogs had to inhibit their learned response and enter through gap B on the opposite side. Failure to do so is known as the perseveration error. In test trials, dogs taking part in one of two scaffolding conditions, a pointing condition, where the experimenter pointed to the new gap, and a demonstration condition, where the experimenter demonstrated the new route, were no less likely to commit the perseveration error than dogs in a control condition with no scaffolding behaviour. Dogs' lack of responsiveness to scaffolding behaviour provides little support for suggestions that simple social learning mechanisms explains scaffolding behaviour in humans. Instead, our results suggest that the theory of natural pedagogy extends to the development of executive function in humans. This suggests that human children's predisposition to interpret ostensive-communicative cues as informative may be an innate, species-specific adaptation.

Neuropsychological assessment is a key component in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to assessment of sport-related concussion (SRC). Currently computerized tests are the most commonly used modality of neurocognitive testing and involve both baseline and postinjury assessments. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment should not only include neurocognitive testing but also incorporate symptom inventories, vestibular-ocular screening, and a psychological evaluation. Neuropsychological assessments are most effective when completed by a Clinical Neuropsychologist, given their specialized training in test interpretation and conceptualization of the psychological, cognitive, behavioral, physiologic, as well as neurologic principals when treating and managing SRC., Competing Interests: Disclosure Dr S. Jennings has nothing to disclose. Dr M.W. Collins does not currently have a conflict of interest with ImPACT but was a board member and co-owner until Dec 16, 2019., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the pharmacokinetics of oral transmucosal (OTM) detomidine gel in healthy cats and assess its effects on sedation and hemodynamic variables., Methods: Eight adult cats weighing 4.12 kg ± 0.72 received 4 mg/m 2 detomidine gel onto the buccal mucosa. Level of sedation, heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and respiratory rate ( f  R) were assessed at predetermined intervals following administration. Blood samples for plasma detomidine concentrations and venous blood gas variables were collected from a medial saphenous catheter. Plasma detomidine concentrations were analyzed using ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection, and pharmacokinetic estimates were obtained with compartmental methods. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and paired t -test or appropriate non-parametric tests., Results: Sedation occurred in all cats, and was increased from baseline at 30 mins ( P <0.001). Decreases in HR occurred from 15-60 mins, ranging from 140 to 165 beats per min ( P <0.001). Blood glucose increased from 101 ± 12 mg/dl to 168 ± 27.3 mg/dl at 60 mins ( P  = 0.004). Systolic blood pressure decreased from baseline (139 ± 14.8 mmHg) to 103 ± 23.0 mmHg at 60 mins ( P  = 0.023). All changes abated by 120 mins. Emesis occurred in 7/7 cats within 2 mins of gel administration. Geometric mean (coefficient of variation) for clearance was 220.7 ml/min/kg (35.3 ml/min/kg), volume of distribution was 14.9 l/kg (39.9 l/kg) (both a function of bioavailability) and elimination half-life was 46.9 mins (16.0 mins). Maximum plasma concentrations of 10.5 ng/ml (35.5 ng/ml) detomidine occurred at 36.9 mins (21.5 mins)., Conclusions and Relevance: OTM detomidine gel produced moderate sedation with minimal undesirable side effects in healthy cats, although emesis occurred in all cats. The pharmacokinetic profile supports short-term, minimally invasive sedation in this species. Further studies are warranted to assess its safety and feasibility for use in debilitated cats, or prior to general anesthesia.

The investigation of prosocial behavior is of particular interest from an evolutionary perspective. Comparisons of prosociality across non-human animal species have, however, so far largely focused on primates, and their interpretation is hampered by the diversity of paradigms and procedures used. Here, we present the first systematic comparison of prosocial behavior across multiple species in a taxonomic group outside the primate order, namely the bird family Corvidae. We measured prosociality in eight corvid species, which vary in the expression of cooperative breeding and colonial nesting. We show that cooperative breeding is positively associated with prosocial behavior across species. Also, colonial nesting is associated with a stronger propensity for prosocial behavior, but only in males. The combined results of our study strongly suggest that both cooperative breeding and colonial nesting, which may both rely on heightened social tolerance at the nest, are likely evolutionary pathways to prosocial behavior in corvids., Competing Interests: LH, TB, MG, MH, EI, TO, CR, CS, MS, MS, AT, LV, Av, YZ, JM No competing interests declared, (© 2020, Horn et al.)

New Caledonian (NC) crow populations have developed complex tools that show suggestive evidence of cumulative change. These tool designs, therefore, appear to be the product of cumulative technological culture (CTC). We suggest that tool-using NC crows offer highly useful data for current debates over the necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence of CTC.

Macphail famously criticized two foundational assumptions that underlie the evolutionary approach to comparative psychology: that there are differences in intelligence across species, and that intelligent behavior in animals is based on more than associative learning. Here, we provide evidence from recent work in avian cognition that supports both these assumptions: intelligence across species varies, and animals can perform intelligent behaviors that are not guided solely by associative learning mechanisms. Finally, we reflect on the limitations of comparative psychology that led to Macphail's claims and suggest strategies researchers can use to make more advances in the field., (Copyright © 2020 Bastos and Taylor.)

Temporal and spatial sediment dynamics in an East-African Rift Lake (Lake Manyara, Tanzania), and its river inputs, have been evaluated via a combination of sediment tracing and radioactive dating. Changes in sedimentation rates were assessed using radioactive dating of sediment cores in combination with geochemical profile analysis of allogenic and autogenic elements. Geochemical fingerprinting of riverine and lake sediment was integrated within a Bayesian mixing model framework, including spatial factors, to establish which tributary sources were the main contributors to recent lake sedimentation. The novel application of Bayesian source attribution on sediment cores and subsequent integration with sedimentation data permitted the coupling of changes in the rate of lake sedimentation with variations in sediment delivery from the tributaries. These complimentary evidence bases demonstrated that Lake Manyara has experienced an overall upward trajectory in sedimentation rates over the last 120 years with distinct maxima between 0.80 and 0.85 g cm -2  yr -1 in the 1960s and between 0.84 and 1.81 g cm -2  yr -1 in 2010. Increased sedimentation rates are largely a result of a complex interaction between increased upstream sediment delivery following changes in land cover and natural rainfall fluctuations. Modelling results identified two specific tributaries as responsible for elevated sedimentation rates, contributing 58% and 38% of the recently deposited lake sediment. However, the effects of sedimentation were shown to be spatially distinct given the domination of different tributaries in various areas of Lake Manyara. The application of source-tracing techniques constrained sedimentation problems in Lake Manyara to specific tributary sources and established a link between upstream land degradation and downstream ecosystem health. This novel application provides a solid foundation for targeted land and water management strategies to safeguard water security and environmental health in Lake Manyara and has potential application to fill knowledge gaps on sediment dynamics in other East-African Rift Lakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In adult humans, decisions involving the choice and use of tools for future events typically require episodic foresight. Previous studies suggest some non-human species are capable of future planning; however, these experiments often cannot fully exclude alternative learning explanations. Here, we used a novel tool-use paradigm aiming to address these critiques to test flexible planning in 3- to 5-year-old children, in relation to executive function and language abilities. In the flexible planning task, children were not verbally cued during testing, single trials avoided consistent exposure to stimulus-reward relationships, and training trials provided experience of a predictable return of reward. Furthermore, unlike most standard developmental studies, we incorporated short delays before and after tool choice. The critical test choice included two tools with equal prior reward experience-each only functional in one apparatus. We tested executive function and language abilities using several standardized tasks. Our results echoed standard developmental research: 4- and 5-year-olds outperformed 3-year-olds on the flexible planning task, and 5-year-old children outperformed younger children in most executive function and language tasks. Flexible planning performance did not correlate with executive function and language performance. This paradigm could be used to investigate flexible planning in a tool-use context in non-human species., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2020 The Authors.)

The ability to make profitable decisions in natural foraging contexts may be influenced by an additional requirement of tool-use, due to increased levels of relational complexity and additional work-effort imposed by tool-use, compared with simply choosing between an immediate and delayed food item. We examined the flexibility for making the most profitable decisions in a multi-dimensional tool-use task, involving different apparatuses, tools and rewards of varying quality, in 3-5-year-old children, adult humans and tool-making New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). We also compared our results to previous studies on habitually tool-making orangutans (Pongo abelii) and non-tool-making Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Adult humans, cockatoos and crows, but not children and orangutans, did not select a tool when it was not necessary, which was the more profitable choice in this situation. Adult humans, orangutans and cockatoos, but not crows and children, were able to refrain from selecting non-functional tools. By contrast, the birds, but not the primates tested, struggled to attend to multiple variables-where two apparatuses, two tools and two reward qualities were presented simultaneously-without extended experience. These findings indicate: (1) in a similar manner to humans and orangutans, New Caledonian crows and Goffin's cockatoos can flexibly make profitable decisions in some decision-making tool-use tasks, though the birds may struggle when tasks become more complex; (2) children and orangutans may have a bias to use tools in situations where adults and other tool-making species do not., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

One key aspect of domain-general thought is the ability to integrate information across different cognitive domains. Here, we tested whether kea (Nestor notabilis) can use relative quantities when predicting sampling outcomes, and then integrate both physical information about the presence of a barrier, and social information about the biased sampling of an experimenter, into their predictions. Our results show that kea exhibit three signatures of statistical inference, and therefore can integrate knowledge across different cognitive domains to flexibly adjust their predictions of sampling events. This result provides evidence that true statistical inference is found outside of the great apes, and that aspects of domain-general thinking can convergently evolve in brains with a highly different structure from primates. This has important implications not only for our understanding of how intelligence evolves, but also for research focused on how to create artificial domain-general thought processes.

Purpose: To compare three fractions of a medicinal mushroom blend (MMB), MyCommunity, on immune-activation, inflammation-regulation, and induction of biomarkers involved in regenerative functions., Methods: A seventeen-species MMB was sequentially extracted: first, saline solution at ambient temperature, followed by re-extraction of the solids in ethanol, and finally resuspension of the homogenized ethanol-insoluble solids in cell-culture media. Fractions were tested on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from three healthy donors. Immunostaining, flow-cytometry, and Luminex protein-arrays measured immune-cell activation and cytokine response. Dose-responses for induction of the CD69 early activation marker and individual cytokine and growth-factor responses for each donor were evaluated. The CD69 and the combined cytokine and growth-factor results were subjected to Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) and multivariate ordination to aid interpretation of the aggregate immune response and pairwise permutational MANOVA on a distance-matrix to evaluate statistical differences between treatments on pooled data from all donors., Results: Differential effects were induced by water-soluble, ethanol-soluble, and insoluble immunomodulatory compounds of the MMB. The aqueous and ethanol fractions upregulated expression of CD69 on all tested cell types. Monocyte-activation was correlated with the ethanol fraction, while NKT and non-NK non-T cell-activation was more closely correlated with the aqueous fraction. The solid fraction was the most potent inducer of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, as well as the anti-viral cytokines interferon-γ, MCP-1 (CCL-2), MIP-1α (CCL-3), and MIP-1β (CCL-4), and induced G-CSF and b-FGF-growth-factors involved in regenerative functions-and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1ra., Conclusion: The aqueous, ethanol, and insoluble compounds within MMB induced differential immune-activating, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative effects. This in vitro data suggests that, upon consumption, MMB may induce a concerted series of immunomodulatory events based on the differential solubility and bioavailability of the active constituents. These differential responses support both immune-activation and resolution of the host defense-induced inflammatory reactions, thus assisting a post-response return to homeostasis., Competing Interests: RD, RN, and AT are employed by the sponsor of the study, Fungi Perfecti, LLC. PS holds several patents on topics related to the presented work and is the founder and owner of Fungi Perfecti, LLC. PS also conducted this research on a formulation that he has devised which is sold as a nutritional supplement. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Davis et al.)

Contagious yawning has been suggested to be a potential signal of empathy in non-human animals. However, few studies have been able to robustly test this claim. Here, we ran a Bayesian multilevel reanalysis of six studies of contagious yawning in dogs. This provided robust support for claims that contagious yawning is present in dogs, but found no evidence that dogs display either a familiarity or gender bias in contagious yawning, two predictions made by the contagious yawning-empathy hypothesis. Furthermore, in an experiment testing the prosociality bias, a novel prediction of the contagious yawning-empathy hypothesis, dogs did not yawn more in response to a prosocial demonstrator than to an antisocial demonstrator. As such, these strands of evidence suggest that contagious yawning, although present in dogs, is not mediated by empathetic mechanisms. This calls into question claims that contagious yawning is a signal of empathy in mammals.

The presence of pictures of eyes reduces antisocial behaviour in humans. It has been suggested that this 'watching-eye' effect is the result of a uniquely human sensitivity to reputation-management cues. However, an alternative explanation is that humans are less likely to carry out risky behaviour in general when they feel like they are being watched. This risk-aversion hypothesis predicts that other animals should also show the watching-eye effect because many animals behave more cautiously when being observed. Dogs are an ideal species to test between these hypotheses because they behave in a risk-averse manner when being watched and attend specifically to eyes when assessing humans' attentional states. Here, we examined if dogs were slower to steal food in the presence of pictures of eyes compared to flowers. Dogs showed no difference in the latency to steal food between the two conditions. This finding shows that dogs are not sensitive to watching-eyes and is not consistent with a risk-aversion hypothesis for the watching-eye effect.

Self-control underlies cognitive abilities such as decision making and future planning. Delay of gratification is a measure of self-control and involves obtaining a more valuable outcome in the future by tolerating a delay or investing a greater effort in the present. Contextual issues, such as reward visibility and type, may influence delayed gratification performance, although there has been limited comparative investigation between humans and other animals, particularly non-primate species. Here, we adapted an automated 'rotating tray' paradigm used previously with capuchin monkeys to test for delay of gratification ability that requires little pre-test training, where the subject must forgo an immediate, less preferred reward for a delayed, more preferred one. We tested New Caledonian crows and 3-5-year-old human children. We manipulated reward types to differ in quality or quantity (Experiments 1 and 2) as well as visibility (Experiment 2). In Experiments 1 and 2, both species performed better when the rewards varied in quality as opposed to quantity, though performed above chance in both conditions. In Experiment 1, both crows and children were able to delay gratification when both rewards were visible. In Experiment 2, 5-year-old children outperformed 3- and 4-year olds, though overall children still performed well, while the crows struggled when reward visibility was manipulated, a result which may relate to difficulties in tracking the experimenters' hands during baiting. We discuss these findings in relation to the role of contextual issues on self-control when making species comparisons and investigating the mechanisms of self-control.

The ability to represent both the identity and trajectory of hidden objects underlies our capacity to reason about causal mechanisms. However, to date no studies have shown that non-human animals are capable of representing these two factors simultaneously. Here, we tested whether kea can represent out-of-sight object trajectories and identities by presenting subjects with three tasks, each of which involved tracking or predicting hand trajectories as they moved behind a screen. Taken together, our results suggest that kea have the capacity for mental simulation in complex tasks involving moving hidden objects.

Background: The medicinal mushroom Trametes versicolor (Tv, Turkey Tail) is often prepared for consumption as a powder from the fungal mycelium and the fermented substrate on which it grew. The goal for this study was to evaluate the immune-modulating properties of the mycelium versus the fermented substrate, to document whether an important part of the immune-activating effects resides in the metabolically fermented substrate., Methods: Tv mycelium was cultured on rice flour. The mycelium and the fermented substrate were mechanically separated, dried, and milled. The initial substrate served as a control. Aqueous fractions were extracted and passed through 0.22-μm filters. The remaining solids were passed through homogenization spin columns without filtration. The aqueous and solid fractions of the initial substrate (IS), the fermented substrate (FS), and the Trametes versicolor mycelium (TvM) were tested for immune-activating and modulating activities on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures, to examine expression of the CD69 activation marker on lymphocytes versus monocytes, and on the T, NKT, and NK lymphocyte subsets. Culture supernatants were tested for cytokines using Luminex arrays., Results: Both aqueous and solid fractions of TvM triggered robust induction of CD69 on lymphocytes and monocytes, whereas FS only triggered minor induction of CD69, and IS had no activating effect. The aqueous extract of TvM had stronger activating effects than the solid fraction. In contrast, the solid fraction of IS triggered a reduction in CD69, below levels on untreated cells. Both aqueous and solid fractions of FS triggered large and dose-dependent increases in immune-activating pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-6), anti-inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10), anti-viral cytokines interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-alpha (MIP-1α), as well as Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) and Interleukin-8 (IL-8). TvM triggered more modest cytokine increases. The aqueous extract of IS showed no effects, whereas the solid fraction showed modest effects on induction of cytokines and growth factors., Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the immune-activating bioactivity of a mycelial-based medicinal mushroom preparation is a combination of the mycelium itself (including insoluble beta-glucans, and also water-soluble components), and the highly bioactive, metabolically fermented substrate, not present in the initial substrate.

To test the potential of different analytical tools to determine the geographical origin of Ethiopian coffee, 103 green arabica coffee samples from four coffee regions in Ethiopia were subjected to multi-elements and δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 18 O determinations. Multi-elements were determined by using inductively coupled plasma (ICP)- and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF)-based techniques, and δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 18 O were determined by using elemental analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Using linear discriminant analysis, XRF-based multi-elements with and without δ 13 C appeared to be most effective in discriminating the geographical origin of coffee, giving higher classification accuracy (89 and 86%, respectively) than ICP-based multi-elements with and without stable isotopes (80%, each). These results demonstrate the potential of XRF-based multi-element profiling as a relatively fast and low-cost tool to trace the geographical origin of Ethiopian coffee. All together this study offers the proof of concept for a promising method that, upon standardization, could be used for coffee provenance authentication and fraud detection., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Are complex, species-specific behaviors in animals reinforced by material reward alone or do they also induce positive emotions? Many adaptive human behaviors are intrinsically motivated: they not only improve our material outcomes, but improve our affect as well [1-8]. Work to date on animal optimism, as an indicator of positive affect, has generally focused on how animals react to change in their circumstances, such as when their environment is enriched [9-14] or they are manipulated by humans [15-23], rather than whether complex actions improve emotional state. Here, we show that wild New Caledonian crows are optimistic after tool use, a complex, species-specific behavior. We further demonstrate that this finding cannot be explained by the crows needing to put more effort into gaining food. Our findings therefore raise the possibility that intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) may be a fundamental proximate cause in the evolution of tool use and other complex behaviors. VIDEO ABSTRACT., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study investigates the use of a canopy-connected recirculating class II type A2 biological safety cabinet (BSC) as an alternative to the B2 when preparing volatile, sterile compounded preparations. Selection of the appropriate BSC for processes that use subgram levels of volatile chemicals is difficult due to a lack of quantitative containment evidence by cabinet type. There is a perception that hazardous compounding must be done in a B2 cabinet due to the potential for vapors, and this study seeks to challenge that perception., Methods: In total, 5 tests, 3 prequalification tests and 2 containment capability tests, were conducted on a single cabinet of each type at sterile compounding pharmacies. Prequalification tests were performed to verify that each BSC was operating properly. Each cabinet was certified to NSF-ANSI 49-2016, particle counted per ISO 14644-1:1999, and subjected to a qualitative video smoke study. Once these tests confirmed the expected working conditions, 2 containment capability tests were conducted. The containment testing included tracer gas testing per ASHRAE 110:2016 section 8.1.1 through 8.1.13, and cyclophosphamide sampling during sterile compounding of the drug material., Results: Both cabinets passed all the prequalification tests. During the ASHRAE tracer gas testing the A2 cabinet was able to contain a tracer gas 92% to 160% as effectively as the B2 cabinet depending on the position of the gas ejection. During sterile compounding the airborne cyclophosphamide sampling captured samples of less than 1.0 ng at all locations for both the A2 and B2 cabinets., Conclusion: The data generated from this study demonstrate that use of an A2 for hazardous compounding can provide a comparable level of safety for the environment, users, and product while having less stringent airflow requirements relative to a B2. The simpler requirements for an A2 make them an appealing alternative as they have the potential to reduce the overall operating costs associated with a compounding pharmacy while maintaining safe levels of containment., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Lycophytes are a key group for understanding vascular plant evolution. Lycophyte plastomes are highly distinct, indicating a dynamic evolutionary history, but detailed evaluation is hindered by the limited availability of sequences. Eight diverse plastomes were sequenced to assess variation in structure and functional content across lycophytes. Lycopodiaceae plastomes have remained largely unchanged compared with the common ancestor of land plants, whereas plastome evolution in Isoetes and especially Selaginella is highly dynamic. Selaginella plastomes have the highest GC content and fewest genes and introns of any photosynthetic land plant. Uniquely, the canonical inverted repeat was converted into a direct repeat (DR) via large-scale inversion in some Selaginella species. Ancestral reconstruction identified additional putative transitions between an inverted and DR orientation in Selaginella and Isoetes plastomes. A DR orientation does not disrupt the activity of copy-dependent repair to suppress substitution rates within repeats. Lycophyte plastomes include the most archaic examples among vascular plants and the most reconfigured among land plants. These evolutionary trends correlate with the mitochondrial genome, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms. Copy-dependent repair for DR-localized genes indicates that recombination and gene conversion are not inhibited by the DR orientation. Gene relocation in lycophyte plastomes occurs via overlapping inversions rather than transposase/recombinase-mediated processes., (© 2018 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust.)

One of the mysteries of animal problem-solving is the extent to which animals mentally represent problems in their minds. Humans can imagine both the solution to a problem and the stages along the way [1-3], such as when we plan one or two moves ahead in chess. The extent to which other animals can do the same is far less clear [4-25]. Here, we presented New Caledonian crows with a series of metatool problems where each stage was out of sight of the others and the crows had to avoid either a distractor apparatus containing a non-functional tool or a non-functional apparatus containing a functional tool. Crows were able to mentally represent the sub-goals and goals of metatool problems: crows kept in mind the location and identities of out-of-sight tools and apparatuses while planning and performing a sequence of tool behaviors. This provides the first conclusive evidence that birds can plan several moves ahead while using tools., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)