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Background: Preterm infants (i.e., those born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy) often require additional care and are admitted to neonatal units soon after birth. Readiness for discharge home typically requires a level of physiological maturity such that an infant is able to: 1) breathe spontaneously without additional support; 2) maintain their own body temperature; 3) take all their nutritional requirements orally; 4) weighs ≥ 1700g and is gaining weight. Longer hospital stays than necessary can be detrimental to infants, stressful for families, and costly. Currently, little is known about whether, how long and why preterm infants stay in hospital beyond physiological readiness for discharge. Materials and methods: We will conduct a retrospective cohort study using data from the National Neonatal Research Database on all infants born at < 37 weeks' gestational age (GA) admitted to neonatal units in England and Wales from 2016-2022. The day of life and postmenstrual age infants reach each physiological milestone, and the final barrier to discharge, will be identified. We will assess whether the final barrier differs by GA and between neonatal Operational Delivery Networks and summarise the number of days infants remain in hospital after surpassing all physiological milestones. We will explore the characteristics of infants, mothers and neonatal units associated with extended hospital stays beyond physiological readiness for discharge. Discussion: The results of this study will allow identification of areas to target to help achieve a safe reduction in length of hospital stay and will support the development of evidence-based recommendations to guide optimal discharge practices. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06284044 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new lens model for the ɀ = 0.396 galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1 –2403 based on a previously known set of 77 spectroscop-ically confirmed, multiply imaged galaxies plus an additional set of 42 candidate multiply imaged galaxies from past HST and new JWST data. The new galaxies lack spectroscopic redshifts but have geometric and/or photometric redshift estimates that are presented here. The new model predicts magnifications and time delays for all multiple images. The full set of constraints totals 343, constituting the largest sample of multiple images lensed by a single cluster to date. Caustic-crossing galaxies lensed by this cluster are especially interesting. Some of these galaxies show transient events, most of which are interpreted as micro-lensing of stars at cosmological distances. These caustic-crossing arcs are expected to show similar events in future, deeper JWST observations. We provide time delay and magnification models for all these arcs. The time delays and the magnifications for different arcs are generally anti-correlated. In the major sub-halos of the cluster, the dark-matter mass from our lens model correlates well with the observed number of globular clusters, as expected from N-body simulations. This confirms earlier results, derived at lower redshifts, which suggest that globular clusters can be used as powerful mass proxies for the halo masses when lensing constraints are scarce or not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of evolved stars in high-redshift galaxies can place valuable indirect constraints on the onset of star formation in the Universe. Thus, we use PEARLS GTO (Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science Guaranteed Time Observations) and public NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) photometric data to search for Balmer-break candidate galaxies at 7 < z < 12. We find that our Balmer-break candidates at z ∼ 10.5 tend to be older (115 Myr), have lower inferred [O  iii ] + Hβ equivalent widths (120 Å), have lower specific star formation rates (6 Gyr−1) and redder UV slopes (β = −1.8) than our control sample of galaxies. However, these trends all become less strong at z ∼ 8, where the F 444 W filter now probes the strong rest-frame optical emission lines, thus providing additional constraints on the current star formation activity of these galaxies. Indeed, the bursty nature of epoch of reionization galaxies can lead to a disconnect between their current spectral energy distribution (SED) profiles and their more extended star formation histories. We discuss how strong emission lines, the cumulative effect of weak emission lines, dusty continua, and active galactic nuclei can all contribute to the photometric excess seen in the rest-frame optical, thus mimicking the signature of a Balmer break. Additional medium-band imaging will thus be essential to more robustly identify Balmer-break galaxies. However, the Balmer break alone cannot serve as a definitive proxy for the stellar age of galaxies, being complexly dependent on the star formation history. Ultimately, deep Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) continuum spectroscopy and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) imaging will provide the strongest indirect constraints on the formation era of the first galaxies in the Universe, thereby revealing when cosmic dawn breaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilize theoretical models of Population III stellar + nebular spectra to investigate the prospects of observing and accurately identifying Population III galaxies with JWST using both deep imaging and spectroscopy. We investigate a series of different colour cuts, finding that a combination of NIRCam and MIRI photometry through the F444W − F560W, F560W−F770W colours offers the most robust identifier of potential z  = 8 Pop III candidates. We calculate that NIRCam will have to reach ∼28.5–30.0 AB mag depths (1–20 h), and MIRI F560W must reach ∼27.5–29.0 AB mag depths (10–100 h) to achieve 5σ continuum detections of M * = 106 M⊙ Pop III galaxies at z  = 8. We also discuss the prospects of identifying Pop III candidates through slitless and NIRSpec spectroscopic surveys that target Lyα, Hβ, and/or He  ii λ1640. We find small differences in the Hβ rest-frame equivalent width (EW) between Pop III and non-Pop III galaxies, rendering this diagnostic likely impractical. Instead, we find that the detection of high EW He  ii λ1640 emission will serve as the definitive Pop III identifier, requiring (ultra-)deep integrations (5–150 h) with NIRSpec/G140M for M * = 106 M⊙ Pop III galaxies at z  = 8. However, MIRI F 770 W detections of Pop III galaxies will require substantial gravitational lensing (μ = 10) and/or fortuitous imaging of exceptionally massive (M * = 107 M⊙) Pop III galaxies. Thus, NIRCam medium-band imaging surveys that can search for high EW He  ii λ1640 emitters in photometry may perhaps be a viable alternative for finding Pop III candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the photometric and spectroscopic properties of four galaxies in the epoch of reionization (EoR) within the SMACS J0723.3−7327 JWST Early Release Observations field. Given the known spectroscopic redshifts of these sources, we investigated the accuracy with which photometric redshifts can be derived using NIRCam photometry alone, finding that F115W imaging is essential to distinguish between z ∼ 8 galaxies with high equivalent width (EW) [O  iii ] λ5007 emission and z ∼ 10 Balmer break galaxies. We find that all four sources exhibit strong (≥0.6 mag) F356W−F444W colours, which sit at the extreme end of theoretical predictions from numerical simulations. We find that these galaxies deviate (by ≈0.5 dex) from the local correlation between [O  iii ] λ5007/H β and [Ne  iii ] λ3869/[O  ii ], which is consistent with the predictions from simulations of high-redshift galaxies having elevated line-excitation ratios. We measure the [O  iii ] λ5007 rest-frame EWs both directly from the spectroscopy, and indirectly as inferred from the strong F356W−F444W colours, finding large [O  iii ] λ5007 EWs of 225–1740 Å. The [O  iii ] λ5007 and H β EWs are consistent with those seen in extreme, intensely star-forming dwarf galaxies in the local Universe. Our structural analysis indicates that these galaxies are resolved, exhibiting irregular shapes with bright clumps. In line with the predictions from the FLARES hydrodynamic simulations, such intense star formation and extreme nebular conditions are likely the norm, rather than the exception, in the EoR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines professional vitality (passion, vigor, facility, and satisfaction) among Maine elementary school principals. Finds three variables related to level of principal vitality: Tenure in the same school (longer tenure results in lower vitality), gender (women have more vitality than men), and support (more faculty and staff support equals higher vitality). (PKP)

Flexibility in health care design is typically addressed from an architectural perspective without a systematic understanding of its meaning from the end-user's viewpoint. Moreover, the architectural perspectives have been generally focused on expandability and convertibility. This study explored flexibility needs in adult medical-surgical inpatient care with the objective to understand its meaning from an end-user perspective and identify characteristics of the physical environment that promote or impede stakeholder' requirements. Semistructured interviews were conducted using a qualitative design with 48 stakeholders in nursing and nursing-support services at 6 hospitals across the United States. Data were collected during September-November 2006. Findings suggest that adaptability influences more aspects of unit operations than convertibility or expandability. Furthermore, physical design characteristics affect 9 critical operational issues where flexibility is required, spanning nursing, environmental services, materials management, dietary services, pharmacy, and respiratory therapy. Keywords: adaptability; convertibility; efficiency; expandability; flexibility; inpatient unit

Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) may benefit less from exercise training due to consequences of their injury, leading to lower cardiorespiratory fitness and higher risks of developing cardiovascular diseases. Arm-crank exercise (ACE) is the most common form of volitional aerobic exercise used by people with SCI outside a hospital. However, evidence regarding the specific effects of ACE alone on fitness and health in adults with SCI is currently lacking. Hence, this review aimed to determine the effects of ACE on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, motor function, health-related quality of life (QoL), and adverse events in adults with chronic SCI. Inclusion criteria were: inactive adults (≥18 years) with chronic SCI (>12 months post injury); used ACE alone as an intervention; measured at least one of the following outcomes; cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, cardiovascular disease risk factors, motor function, health-related QoL, and adverse events. Evidence was synthesized and appraised using GRADE. Eighteen studies with a combined total of 235 participants having an injury between C4 to L3 were included. There was a moderate certainty of the body of evidence on ACE improving cardiorespiratory fitness. Exercise prescriptions from the included studies were 30–40 min of light to vigorous-intensity exercise, 3–5 times per week for 2–16 weeks. GRADE confidence ratings were very low for ACE improving body composition, CVD risks factors, motor function, or health-related QoL. No evidence suggests ACE increases the risk of developing shoulder pain or other injuries. Overall, this review recommends adults with chronic SCI should engage in regular ACE to improve cardiorespiratory fitness. More high-quality, larger-scale studies are needed to increase the level of evidence of ACE in improving cardiorespiratory fitness and to determine the effects of ACE on other outcomes. Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display%5freco rd.php?ID=CRD42021221952], identifier [CRD42021221952]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the north of Hanoi, about a day's drive by car, lies Ha Giang Province, the northernmost region of Vietnam. Ha Giang is remote from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and beyond its eponymous provincial capital towards the border with China, mountains rise quickly to Quan Ba, 'Heaven's Gate'. The mountains form an uneven landscape of steep‐sided karst rising from deep river‐cut gorges and form a formidable barrier on the northern frontier of Vietnam. Beyond 'Heaven's Gate' lies the little travelled region of Dong Van, with its majestic mountains of Palaeozoic strata rising precipitously to the sky. Here, a century ago, the French geologists Henri Mansuy and Jacques Deprat documented early finds of fossils from lower Palaeozoic strata on the border with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ostracods are tiny crustacean arthropods just a few millimetres long, with a bivalved carapace made of calcium carbonate that covers the whole body, and into which the animal can retreat from the world outside. Because of their diminutive size they are largely overlooked as fossils, but they have a fascinating history. Silent witnesses to life in the seas since the time of trilobites, they have a fossil record extending back to the Early Ordovician, and possibly the Cambrian. Ostracods have survived nearly 500 million years of Earth history including the 'big five' mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic Eon; they are true survivors. They are almost perfectly adapted for the aquatic environments in which they live, and can be found from the ocean abyssal plains to damp leaf litter. The ostracod carapace is a triumph of biological engineering that has been re-configured into myriad different morphologies according to environment. Streamlined and agile species plough through the ocean water column, sometimes reaching a 'giant' size of a centimetre in length, whilst their tinier sea bottom cousins make elaborately ornamented carapaces to withstand the pressures of living at the seabed, or shape their carapaces into forms that facilitate burrowing into sediment. Ostracods are key components of aquatic ecosystems. As primary consumers they are food for larger animals both in seabed and planktonic habitats, and they recycle much of the organic detritus produced by larger animals and plants. Delve into the history of ostracods and it is possible to find pioneers who triumphed in the plankton, early colonisers of terrestrial aquatic ecosystems, and ostracods that literally conquered the land. And in more recent times, ostracods have even hitched rides on rockets into space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexibility in health care design is typically addressed from an architectural perspective without a systematic understanding of its meaning from the end-user's viewpoint. Moreover, the architectural perspectives have been generally focused on expandability and convertibility. This study explored flexibility needs in adult medical-surgical inpatient care with the objective to understand its meaning from an end-user perspective and identify characteristics of the physical environment that promote or impede stakeholders' requirements. Semistructured interviews were conducted using a qualitative design with 48 stakeholders in nursing and nursing-support services at 6 hospitals across the United States. Data were collected during September-November 2006. Findings suggest that adaptability influences more aspects of unit operations than convertibility or expandability. Furthermore, physical design characteristics affect 9 critical operational issues where flexibility is required, spanning nursing, environmental services, materials management, dietary services, pharmacy, and respiratory therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat with yellow head disease (YHD) (yellow heads and mosaic leaf symptoms) has been observed in Kansas since 1997. A pathogen was transmitted from the infected wheat to maize by vascular puncture inoculation and to Nicotiana benthamiana by rub inoculation. The original infected wheat and infected maize and N. benthamiana test plants all produced a unique 32- to 34-kDa protein when analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of the unique 32- to 34-kDa protein showed that the amino acid sequence was most closely related to the nucleoprotein of Rice hoja blanca virus, indicating that the virus causing YHD symptoms in wheat is a tenuivirus. Antiserum made to this protein failed to react with extracts made from healthy wheat or wheat infected with Wheat streak mosaic virus or the High Plains virus. The antiserum did react to extracts made from symptomatic wheat, maize, and N. benthamiana, shown by SDS-PAGE to contain the unique protein, and to extracts of wheat with YHD symptoms from Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. The name Wheat yellow head virus is proposed for this virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which evaluated the resistance of Aegilops tauschii, the wild diploid D-genome progenitor of wheat, Triticum aestivum, to biotypes of the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella. Background to the study; Materials and methods; Results and discussion.

Reveals the renewable energy plans of Great Britain. Themes of training needs; Call for research proposals.