Search

Background: Motor development of many children in rural areas of South Africa is compromised because of various socio-economic factors, hence, the need to address these developmental needs. Aim: To examine the immediate and sustainable effects of a 9-week movement programme on fundamental movement skills (FMS) of school children. Setting: Seven to eight years old school children in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, Eastern Cape province. Methods: A two-group, pre-post-re-test research design was used. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency was assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition (TGMD-3) at pre-test, post-test and re-test after 6 months. Ninety-three school children (intervention group [IG] = 57) and (control group = 36), with a mean age of 7.12 (± 0.71) participated in the study. The twice-a-week FMS programme of 30 min was conducted during school hours. Statistical analysis included an ANOVA type of hierarchical linear model (HLM) (mixed models) procedure to test for intervention effects with school, time, sex and group as covariants. Cohen's effect size was calculated to assess the practical significance of changes. Results: Immediate and sustainable effects were found on locomotor (p < 0.05; d > 1.7, p < 0.05; d > 2.0), ball skills (p < 0.05; d > 0.7, p < 0.05; d > 1.5) and the gross motor index (GMI) of the IG (p < 0.05; d > 1.0, p < 0.05; d > 2.0). Conclusions: A short-duration FMS intervention significantly improve locomotor, ball skills, and GMI of school children in rural areas. Contributions: Interventions of this nature are encouraged to improve the FMS development of school children, especially in rural areas, as it can enhance the building blocks required in the future development of these children.

IntroductionFew studies have examined the relationship between education and cognition among the oldest-old.MethodsCognitive assessments were conducted biannually for 803 participants (62.6% women) of LifeAfter90, a longitudinal study of individuals ≥ 90 years old. Gender differences in associations between education (

Background and objectivesAmyloid pathology, vascular disease pathology, and pathologies affecting the medial temporal lobe are associated with cognitive trajectories in older adults. However, only limited evidence exists on how these pathologies influence cognition in the oldest old. We evaluated whether amyloid burden, white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, and hippocampal volume (HV) are associated with cognitive level and decline in the oldest old.MethodsThis was a longitudinal, observational community-based cohort study. We included participants with 18F-florbetapir PET and MRI data from the 90+ Study. Amyloid load was measured using the standardized uptake value ratio in the precuneus/posterior cingulate with eroded white matter mask as reference. WMH volume was log-transformed. All imaging measures were standardized using sample means and SDs. HV and log-WMH volume were normalized by total intracranial volume using the residual approach. Global cognitive performance was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and modified MMSE (3MS) tests, repeated every 6 months. We used linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts; random slopes; and interaction between time, time squared, and imaging variables to estimate the associations of imaging variables with cognitive level and cognitive decline. Models were adjusted for demographics, APOE genotype, and health behaviors.ResultsThe sample included 192 participants. The mean age was 92.9 years, 125 (65.1%) were female, 71 (37.0%) achieved a degree beyond college, and the median follow-up time was 3.0 years. A higher amyloid load was associated with a lower cognitive level (βMMSE = -0.82, 95% CI -1.17 to -0.46; β3MS = -2.77, 95% CI -3.69 to -1.84). A 1-SD decrease in HV was associated with a 0.70-point decrease in the MMSE score (95% CI -1.14 to -0.27) and a 2.27-point decrease in the 3MS score (95% CI -3.40 to -1.14). Clear nonlinear cognitive trajectories were detected. A higher amyloid burden and smaller HV were associated with faster cognitive decline. WMH volume was not significantly associated with cognitive level or decline.DiscussionAmyloid burden and hippocampal atrophy are associated with both cognitive level and cognitive decline in the oldest old. Our findings shed light on how different pathologies contributed to driving cognitive function in the oldest old.

ImportanceMost research to understand postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), or long COVID, has focused on adults, with less known about this complex condition in children. Research is needed to characterize pediatric PASC to enable studies of underlying mechanisms that will guide future treatment.ObjectiveTo identify the most common prolonged symptoms experienced by children (aged 6 to 17 years) after SARS-CoV-2 infection, how these symptoms differ by age (school-age [6-11 years] vs adolescents [12-17 years]), how they cluster into distinct phenotypes, and what symptoms in combination could be used as an empirically derived index to assist researchers to study the likely presence of PASC.Design, setting, and participantsMulticenter longitudinal observational cohort study with participants recruited from more than 60 US health care and community settings between March 2022 and December 2023, including school-age children and adolescents with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection history.ExposureSARS-CoV-2 infection.Main outcomes and measuresPASC and 89 prolonged symptoms across 9 symptom domains.ResultsA total of 898 school-age children (751 with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection [referred to as infected] and 147 without [referred to as uninfected]; mean age, 8.6 years; 49% female; 11% were Black or African American, 34% were Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, and 60% were White) and 4469 adolescents (3109 infected and 1360 uninfected; mean age, 14.8 years; 48% female; 13% were Black or African American, 21% were Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, and 73% were White) were included. Median time between first infection and symptom survey was 506 days for school-age children and 556 days for adolescents. In models adjusted for sex and race and ethnicity, 14 symptoms in both school-age children and adolescents were more common in those with SARS-CoV-2 infection history compared with those without infection history, with 4 additional symptoms in school-age children only and 3 in adolescents only. These symptoms affected almost every organ system. Combinations of symptoms most associated with infection history were identified to form a PASC research index for each age group; these indices correlated with poorer overall health and quality of life. The index emphasizes neurocognitive, pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms in school-age children but change or loss in smell or taste, pain, and fatigue/malaise-related symptoms in adolescents. Clustering analyses identified 4 PASC symptom phenotypes in school-age children and 3 in adolescents.Conclusions and relevanceThis study developed research indices for characterizing PASC in children and adolescents. Symptom patterns were similar but distinguishable between the 2 groups, highlighting the importance of characterizing PASC separately for these age ranges.

Although Eastern Canadian liberal arts universities are portrayed as progressive work environments that cultivate inclusivity and diversity, the corporatisation of these public spaces has transformed them from institutions that once encouraged pluralism and acceptance among all social groups to spaces that unevenly distribute privileges among faculty and students based on ascribed characteristics, social class, and adherence to cisnormative and heteronormative expectations. Under neoliberal reforms, universities and unions adopt their own policies and procedures that legitimate institutional power abuse over marginalised women Contract Limited Term (CLT) assistant professors. Using material evidence from complaints filed with a province's Human Rights Commission and Labour Board, this critical autoethnographic case study explores the institutionalised responses to a disenfranchised woman CLT's discrimination and harassment by a student, departmental chair, faculty and university staff. A theory of genocidal mobbing is developed to conceptualise the organisational processes and practices that maintain the status quo of white heteropatriarchy and disentitle women CLTs to safety, equality and fair representation by their unions. Genocidal mobbing is efficient, because misogynistic administrators only require weaponising one disgruntled student, and effective, because administrators utilise the most fatal and insidious of gendered narcissistic abuse: "gaslighting." The current neoliberal climate within academia puts marginalised women faculty at increased risk of genocidal mobbing from those with institutional power and from students with ethnic/racial and/or economic privilege. This article illuminates the union's culpability in the genocidal mobbing of women CLTs disenfranchised by multiple marginalised intersectional identities. Implications for future research and on policy are presented.

Background and objectivesThe aim of this study was to compare 2 large clinicopathologic cohorts of participants aged 90+ and to determine whether the association between neuropathologic burden and dementia in these older groups differs substantially from those seen in younger-old adults.MethodsAutopsied participants from The 90+ Study and Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study community-based cohort studies were evaluated for dementia-associated neuropathologic changes. Associations between neuropathologic variables and dementia were assessed using logistic or linear regression, and the weighted population attributable fraction (PAF) per type of neuropathologic change was estimated.ResultsThe 90+ Study participants (n = 414) were older (mean age at death = 97.7 years) and had higher amyloid/tau burden than ACT

(1) Background: American Indians are disproportionately affected by air pollution, an important risk factor for dementia. However, few studies have investigated the effects of air pollution on the risk of dementia among American Indians. (2) Methods: This retrospective cohort study included a total of 26,871 American Indians who were 55+ years old in 2007, with an average follow-up of 3.67 years. County-level average air pollution data were downloaded from land-use regression models. All-cause dementia was identified using ICD-9 diagnostic codes from the Indian Health Service’s (IHS) National Data Warehouse and related administrative databases. Cox models were employed to examine the association of air pollution with dementia incidence, adjusting for co-exposures and potential confounders. (3) Results: The average PM2.5 levels in the IHS counties were lower than those in all US counties, while the mean O3 levels in the IHS counties were higher than the US counties. Multivariable Cox regressions revealed a positive association between dementia and county-level O3 with a hazard ratio of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.02–1.50) per 1 ppb standardized O3. PM2.5 and NO2 were not associated with dementia risk after adjusting for all covariates. (4) Conclusions: O3 is associated with a higher risk of dementia among American Indians.

The brain evolved as a sensory-motor machine that drives behavior while being linked to the world through sensors. Human cognition abstracts from these sensory-motor roots but retains intimate ties. The brain's structure reflects this history. How do neural processes at different distances from the sensory and motor surfaces integrate to achieve meaningful and grounded cognition? This is a challenge given the time-continuous and graded nature of sensory-motor processing, which enables continuous online updating. It is also a major challenge to understanding development and autonomous learning, in which the coupling across functional boundaries evolves under the influence of online activation patterns.

We investigate the relation between conceptual and syntactic structure by focusing on the phenomenon of circumstantial metonymy e.g., “Table #6 wants another pizza”. We hypothesize that the construal of a metonymic interpretation is facilitated when the metonymized argument e.g., “Table #6” is retrieved before the metonymy-trigger e.g., “wants”, since this gives the processor more time to build the event structure that metonymy demands. This predicts greater cost of metonymy composition when the argument is in object position (after the trigger) relative to subject position (before the trigger). An acceptability task shows a main effect of metonymy for both syntactic positions. A self-paced reading task demonstrates a cost for metonymy only in object position. This indicates that the cost of metonymy composition is rooted in the requirement that the conceptual structure for the metonymic argument be fully retrieved, a process constrained by the order of lexical retrieval provided by syntactic structure.

IntroductionDigital tomosynthesis (DT) has emerged as a potential imaging modality for evaluating anatomic structures in veterinary medicine. This study aims to validate the diagnostic yield of DT in identifying predefined anatomic structures in feline cadaver heads, comparing it with conventional intraoral dental radiography (DR).MethodsA total of 16 feline cadaver heads were utilized to evaluate 19 predefined clinically relevant anatomic structures using both DR and DT. A semi-quantitative scoring system was employed to characterize the ability of each imaging method to identify these structures.ResultsDT demonstrated a significantly higher diagnostic yield compared to DR for all evaluated anatomic structures. Orthogonal DT imaging identified 13 additional anatomic landmarks compared to a standard 10-view feline set obtained via DR. Moreover, DT achieved statistically significant higher scores for each of these landmarks, indicating improved visualization over DR.DiscussionThese findings validate the utility of DT technology in reliably identifying clinically relevant anatomic structures in the cat skull. This validation serves as a foundation for further exploration of DT imaging in detecting dentoalveolar and other maxillofacial bony lesions and pathologies in cats.

Abstract Clathrin forms a triskelion, or three-legged, network that regulates cellular processes by facilitating cargo internalization and trafficking in eukaryotes. Its N-terminal domain is crucial for interacting with adaptor proteins, which link clathrin to the membrane and engage with specific cargo. The N-terminal domain contains up to four adaptor-binding sites, though their role in preferential occupancy by adaptor proteins remains unclear. In this study, we examine the binding hierarchy of adaptors for clathrin, using integrative biophysical and structural approaches, along with in vivo functional experiments. We find that yeast epsin Ent5 has the highest affinity for clathrin, highlighting its key role in cellular trafficking. Epsins Ent1 and Ent2, crucial for endocytosis but thought to have redundant functions, show distinct binding patterns. Ent1 exhibits stronger interactions with clathrin than Ent2, suggesting a functional divergence toward actin binding. These results offer molecular insights into adaptor protein selectivity, suggesting they competitively bind clathrin while also targeting three different clathrin sites.

Abstract This study aims to describe the ophthalmic characteristics of autosomal dominant (AD) WFS1-associated optic atrophy (AD WFS1-OA), and to explore phenotypic differences with dominant optic atrophy (DOA) caused by mutations in the OPA1-gene. WFS1-associated diseases, or ‘wolframinopathies’, exhibit a spectrum of ocular and systemic phenotypes, of which the autosomal recessive Wolfram syndrome has been the most extensively studied. AD mutations in WFS1 also cause various phenotypical changes including OA. The most common phenotype in AD WFS1-associated disease, the combination of OA and hearing loss (HL), clinically resembles the ‘plus’ phenotype of DOA. We performed a comprehensive medical record review across tertiary referral centers in the Netherlands and Belgium resulting in 22 patients with heterozygous WFS1 variants. Eighteen (82%) had HL in addition to OA. Diabetes mellitus was found in 7 (32%). Four patients had isolated OA. One patient had an unusual phenotype with anterior chamber abnormalities and malformations of the extremities. Compared to DOA, AD WFS1-OA patients had different color vision abnormalities (red-green vs blue-yellow in DOA), abnormal OPL lamination on macular OCT (absent in DOA), more generalized thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer, and more reduced and delayed pattern reversal visual evoked potentials.

Emoticons are a vivid example of graphic emotionology in virtual communication. The interdisciplinary character of this research made it possible to combine linguistics with exact and natural sciences, including the young science of emotional artificial intelligence. Transmitting psycho-emotional experiences is important for effective virtual communication. Emotional pictography provides a more accurate understanding of the emotive content in a message. It relies on associative links between the image of a specific psycho-emotional state and its perception by a carrier of a specific linguistic culture. Basic emoticons are of universal nature, and internet users with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds tend to interpret them similarly. However, members of different ethno-linguistic communities sometimes decode the same emotions differently, which may lead to misunderstanding, as well as to serve as a marker on the friend – foe axis. Emoticons represent a clearly verified range of emotive states, which can be appealed to in virtual communication. The authors developed a classification of emoticons and proposed graphic emotionology as a new branch of linguistic semiotics. The metaphorical nature of the emoticon as a coded emotion with additional evaluative shades is revealed as a certain unified image or a complex of signs due to the accepted emotive norms of speech behavior. In addition, emoticons provide efficient compression during virtual communication. Intercultural virtual communication enriches the range of emoticons both linguistically and culturally, thus developing graphic emotionology internationally. Emoticons provide insight into the development of graphic emotionology.

Abstract Background The benefits of lean adoption in healthcare include improved process efficiency and quality of patient care. However, research indicates that lean implementation in healthcare, and specifically hospitals, is often not sustained. Furthermore, there is a need for maturity models that guide lean implementation, specifically in hospitals. This study develops a prescriptive maturity model named the Sustaining of Lean Adoption in Hospitals Roadmap (SOLAR) that acts as a practical guideline for the sustainable adoption of lean in hospitals. Methods The SOLAR has three theoretical foundations, namely lean implementation success factors in hospitals, implementation science, and change management theory. A systematic literature review was conducted to determine the lean implementation success factors in hospitals as the first building block. Secondly, practices from implementation science were used to create the action items in the SOLAR. Ten change steps were elicited from change management theory as the third theoretical building block of the roadmap. We refined the roadmap through three Delphi rounds that verified its useability in hospitals. Results The final SOLAR consists of four maturity phases (prepare, plan, experiment and learn, and sustain) and includes action items for each phase related to the hospital’s strategy, resources, engaging of people, and culture. The action items and change management steps shown in the SOLAR are not intended as an exhaustive list but provide guidelines on aspects hospitals must consider when they aim to adopt lean sustainably. Conclusions The strong theoretical base of the SOLAR enables hospitals to safely experiment and learn which implementation methods are best suited to their unique environment. The SOLAR is, therefore, an actionable guideline that informs both academics and practitioners involved in lean adoption in hospitals. This roadmap can guide future retrospective longitudinal or action research.

Abstract A genomic database of all Earth’s eukaryotic species could contribute to many scientific discoveries; however, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. In 2018, scientists across the world united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), aiming to produce a database of high-quality reference genomes containing all ~1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) sought to implement a new decentralised, equitable and inclusive model for producing reference genomes. For this, ERGA launched a Pilot Project establishing the first distributed reference genome production infrastructure and testing it on 98 eukaryotic species from 33 European countries. Here we outline the infrastructure and explore its effectiveness for scaling high-quality reference genome production, whilst considering equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational, national genomic resource projects and the EBP.

Abstract A hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) in C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Human brain imaging and experimental studies indicate early changes in brain structure and connectivity in C9-ALS/FTD, even before symptom onset. Because these early disease phenotypes remain incompletely understood, we generated iPSC-derived cerebral organoid models from C9-ALS/FTD patients, presymptomatic C9ORF72-HRE (C9-HRE) carriers, and controls. Our work revealed the presence of all three C9-HRE-related molecular pathologies and developmental stage-dependent size phenotypes in cerebral organoids from C9-ALS/FTD patients. In addition, single-cell RNA sequencing identified changes in cell type abundance and distribution in C9-ALS/FTD organoids, including a reduction in the number of deep layer cortical neurons and the distribution of neural progenitors. Further, molecular and cellular analyses and patch-clamp electrophysiology detected various changes in synapse structure and function. Intriguingly, organoids from all presymptomatic C9-HRE carriers displayed C9-HRE molecular pathology, whereas the extent to which more downstream cellular defects, as found in C9-ALS/FTD models, were detected varied for the different presymptomatic C9-HRE cases. Together, these results unveil early changes in 3D human brain tissue organization and synaptic connectivity in C9-ALS/FTD that likely constitute initial pathologies crucial for understanding disease onset and the design of therapeutic strategies.

We aim to understand the distribution and environmental drivers for the occurrence of the European green toad (Bufotes viridis) in Austria and create breeding habitats for it. Citizen scientists can use a custom smartphone application (AmphiApp) to record data such as the calls of anurans and photographic documentation. The records are validated by experts. To provide breeding habitats for green toads, we gave citizen scientists 300 small plastic ponds (1.20L × 0.9W × 0.4D m) to place on their land (garden, backyard). These citizen scientists will monitor their pond every two weeks for two seasons (March–August 2024 & 2025) for the occurrence of amphibians and their invertebrate prey. During the first two months, most pond owners have been highly motivated and have followed the monitoring scheme, despite the involved procedure, likely due to our active engagement with them (e.g., during the pond delivery by team members, emails, phone calls and messaging within AmphiApp).

Abstract While evolution is often considered from a DNA- and protein-centric view, RNA-based regulation can also impact gene expression and protein sequences. Here we examine interspecies differences in RNA-protein interactions using the conserved neuronal RNA-binding protein, Unkempt (UNK) as model. We find that roughly half of mRNAs bound in human are also bound in mouse. Unexpectedly, even when transcript-level binding was conserved across species differential motif usage was prevalent. To understand the biochemical basis of UNK-RNA interactions, we reconstitute the human and mouse UNK-RNA interactomes using a high-throughput biochemical assay. We uncover detailed features driving binding, show that in vivo patterns are captured in vitro, find that highly conserved sites are the strongest bound, and associate binding strength with downstream regulation. Furthermore, subtle sequence differences surrounding motifs are key determinants of species-specific binding. We highlight the complex features driving protein-RNA interactions and how these evolve to confer species-specific regulation.