Although species radiations on island archipelagos are broadly studied, the geographic and ecological modes of speciation that underlie diversification are often not fully understood. Both allopatry and sympatry play a role during radiations, particularly on islands with profound habitat diversity. Here, we use the most diverse Canary Island plant radiation, Aeonium (Crassulaceae), to phylogenetically test two hypotheses: (1) allopatric speciation, which predicts that closely related taxa are ecologically similar but do not co-occur, and (2) sympatric speciation, whereby closely related taxa co-occur geographically but are ecologically distinct. We fitted niche and spatial distribution models based on extensive field surveys to quantify geographic and ecological divergence among taxa integrated in a phylogenetic context. While allopatry seems to be the main driver in speciation among islands, within-island speciation occurs in sympatry. Contrary to our expectation, phylogenetically closely related species tend to occupy similar ecological niches, suggesting that ecological niche divergence among species accumulates slowly, even in sympatry. This suggests that evolutionary young taxa, may be partially reproductively isolated due to subtle phenotypic differences, such as reproductive morphology and phenology rather than by ecology and may putatively exacerbate divergence among populations. Thus, allopatry and sympatry are complementary speciation mechanisms on oceanic islands, jointly spurring this enigmatic radiation.

Background: In adults, there is a link between socioeconomic status (SES) and cancer prognosis, notably due to increased time to diagnosis (TTD) in deprived population leading to the spread of the disease. In children, such an association has not been clearly reported. The objective of our study was to assess the impact of SES on TTD of childhood cancer and its potential consequences on cancer prognosis. Methods: We carried out a multicenter retrospective study based on the LOGAFTER multicentric database. We studied the SES at the individual and ecological levels. Results: Overall, 854 children were included. The median time to diagnosis was 28 days [12;64]. A usual care pathway did not seem to impact TTD, but the use of alternative medicine and an initial management by professionals not usually involved in the specific childhood cancer context increased TTD. None of the SES ecological variables were strictly associated with a significant impact on TTD. However, we noted strong trends for single-parent families and children whose fathers had died who presented with an increased TTD. Conclusions: In the current study, the impact of SES on TTD in children on both the individual and ecological levels was not clear. However, we noted some keys at the individual scale that require further investigation to explain a potential association between deprivation and TTD.

Biomonitoring is an approach that uses indicators or sentinel species to assess the health or pollution of an environment, combining diversity based on specific taxonomic groups with the taxa’s indicator of pollution into a single index or score. Benthic macroinvertebrates are among the most preferred and valuable indicators of the biotic index. Our study aims to evaluate water quality and ecological status using biotic and diversity indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates. The macroinvertebrate samples used in this study were collected seasonally from 16 stations determined in Karasu Stream. These samples consist of 14747 specimens belonging to 9 orders and 40 families of Insecta, Malacostraca, Hirudinea and Oligochaeta. In addition, some physicochemical parameters were measured at the stations. The data obtained were analyzed using the Turkey-Biological Monitoring Working Group (TR-BMWP), Average Score per Taxon (ASPT), Family Biotic Index (FBI), Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxon richness index, and Shannon-Wiener (SWDI), Simpson (SDI) and Hill’s diversity indices. Our results showed that the last six stations of Karasu Stream were under pressure due to various anthropogenic effects. According to biotic indexes, the ecological quality status of the water in the stations was determined to be High or Good in the first ten stations and Average, Poor, or Bad in the last six stations. The results of our study showed that TR-BMWP, FBI, and EPT indices are more reliable in determining water quality than the ASPT index and reflect the environmental situation better. Since the TR-BMWP index is adapted to macroinvertebrate taxa distributed in Türkiye, it can be used as a suitable tool for evaluating other rivers’ water quality in Türkiye.

We investigate the geodynamic and melting history of Mars using 3D spherical shell models of mantle convection, constrained by the recent InSight mission results. The Martian mantle must have produced sufficient melt to emplace the Tharsis rise by the end of the Noachian–requiring on the order of 1–3×109 km3 of melt after accounting for limited (~10\%) melt extraction. Thereafter, melting declined, but abundant evidence for limited geologically recent volcanism necessitates some melt even in the cool present-day mantle inferred from InSight data. We test models with two mantle activation energies, and a range of crustal Heat Producing Element (HPE) enrichment factors and initial core-mantle boundary temperatures. We also test the effect of including a hemispheric (spherical harmonic degree-1) step in lithospheric thickness to model the Martian dichotomy. We find that a higher activation energy (350 kJ mol−1) rheology produces present-day geotherms consistent with InSight results, and of those the cases with HPE enrichment factors of 5–10x produce localized melting near or up to present-day. 10x crustal enrichment is consistent with both InSight and geochemical results, and those models also produce present-day geoid power spectra consistent with Mars. However, it is very difficult to produce sufficient melt to form Tharsis in a mantle that also matches the present-day geotherm, without assuming extremely efficient extraction of melt to the surface. The addition of a degree-1 hemispheric dichotomy, as an equatorial step in lithospheric thickness, does not significantly improve upon melt production or the geoid.

Background Asthma during pregnancy is associated with a range of adverse perinatal outcomes. It is also linked to increased rates of neurodevelopmental conditions the offspring. We aimed to assess whether fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F ENO)-based asthma management during pregnancy improves child developmental and behavioural outcomes compared to usual care. Methods The Breathing for Life Trial was a randomised controlled trial that compared F ENO-based asthma management during pregnancy to usual care. Participants were invited to the developmental follow-up, the Breathing for Life Trial – Infant Development study, which followed up infants at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary outcomes were measured in infants at 12-months using the Bayley-III: Cognitive, Language, and Motor composite scores. Secondary outcomes included Bayley-III social-emotional and adaptive behaviour scores, autism likelihood, and sensory and temperament outcomes. The exposure of interest was the randomised intervention group. Results 220 infants and their 217 participating mothers were recruited to the follow-up; 107 mothers were in the intervention group and 113 were in the control group. There was no evidence of an intervention effect for the primary outcomes: Bayley-III cognitive (Mean=108.9 control, 108.5 intervention, p=0.93), language (Mean=95.9 control, 95.6 intervention, p=0.87) and motor composite scores (Mean=97.2 control, 97.9 intervention, p=0.25). Mean scores for secondary outcomes were also similar among infants born to control and F ENO group mothers, with few results reaching p<0.05. Conclusion In this sample, F ENO-guided asthma treatment during pregnancy did not improve infant developmental outcomes in the first year of life.

Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) are one of the most behaviourally diverse, colourful and species rich reef fish families. One remarkable characteristic of damselfishes is that they communicate in ultraviolet (UV) light. Not only are they sensitive to UV they are also prone to have UV-reflective colours and patterns enabling social signalling. Using more than 50 species, we aimed to uncover the evolutionary history of UV colour and UV vision in damselfishes. We find that all damselfishes had UV-transmitting lenses, expressed the UV-sensitive SWS1 opsin gene, and most displayed UV-reflective patterns and colours. We find evidence for several tuning events across the radiation, and while SWS1 gene duplications are generally very rare amongst teleosts, our phylogenetic reconstructions uncovered two independent duplication events, one close to the base of the most species-rich clade in the subfamily Pomacentrinae, and one in an individual Chromis species. Using amino acid comparisons, we found that known spectral tuning sites were altered several times in parallel across the damselfish radiation (through sequence change and duplication followed by sequence change), causing repeated shifts in peak spectral absorbance of around 10 nm. Pomacentrine damselfishes expressed either one or both copies of SWS1, likely to further finetune UV-signal detection and differentiation. This highly advanced and modified UV vision among damselfishes, in particular the duplication of SWS1 among Pomacentrinae, might be seen as a key evolutionary innovation that facilitated the evolution of the exuberant variety of UV reflectance traits and possibly the diversification of this coral reef fish lineage.

Adsorbents with high adsorption efficiency and excellent biosafety for biomedical applications are highly required. MXene is a promising candidate owning these advantages, yet pristine MXene faces dilemmas including insufficient utility of surface site as well as limited processibility. Here, we develop MXene-encapsulated porous microcapsules via microfluidics. The microcapsules have a biomass hydrogel shell that provides a robust support for MXene in the core, by which the microcapsules are endowed with high MXene dosage and remarkable biosafety. Additionally, the MXene nanoflakes assemble into a three-dimension (3D) network via metal ion-induced gelation, thereby avoiding restacking and significantly improving surface utilization. Moreover, a freeze-pretreatment of the microcapsules during preparation results in the formation of a macroporous structure in the shell, which can facilitate the diffusion of the target molecules. These features, combined with additional magneto-responsiveness rendered by the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles, contribute to prominent performances of the microcapsules in cleaning uremia toxins including creatinine, urea, and uric acid. Thus, it is anticipated that the MXene-encapsulated microcapsules will be promising adsorbents in dialysis-related applications, and the combination of microfluidic encapsulation with metal ion gelation will provide a novel approach for construction of hybrid MXene materials with desired functions.

External events impact significant policy changes. This study integrates the Advocacy Coalition Framework, Multiple Streams model, and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to analyze how external events influenced China’s abolition of the Labor Reeducation System (LRS). Findings show that external events broke through decision makers’ attention constraints, shifted power dynamics, and created an opportunity for change. Limited learning occurred within coalitions as a tactical response to shocks, while intercoalition learning resulted from higher authorities’ interference. Destabilizing events reduce consensus requirements and reinforce China’s authoritarian decision-making style. The role of external events depends on their alignment with the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) ideology and political interests.

A document by Mo Sadique. Click on the document to view its contents.

In this paper, we study the long time dynamics of piezoelectric system with damping term, past history and time-varying delay effects. We prove the well-posedness of the solution by the semigroup theory. Then the existence of global attractors with finite fractal dimension and the existence of exponential attractors are proved. Moreover, the upper semicontinuity of the global attractor is shown. Finally, the fact that the total energy of the system decays exponentially under suitable conditions is also derived.

Accumulating evidence suggests that electroacupuncture (EA) has obevious therapeutic effects and unique advantages in alleviating myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI), while the underlying neuromolecular mechanisms of EA intervention for MIRI have not been fully elucidated. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of the neural pathway of hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neurons projecting to the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) in the alleviation of MIRI rats by EA preconditioning. MIRI models were established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 2 h. Electrocardiogram recording, chemogenetics, enzyne-linked immunosorbent assay, multichannel physiology recording, hematoxylin-eosin and immunofluorescence staining methods were conducted to demonstrate that firing frequencies of neurons in the PVN and expression of c-Fos decreased by EA pretreatment. Meanwhile, EA preconditioning significantly reduced the levels of creatine kinase isoenzymes (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH). Virus tracing showed a projection connection between PVN and RVLM. Inhibition of the PVN-RVLM neural pathway could replicate the protective effect of EA pretreatment on MIRI rats. However, activation of the pathway weakened the effect of EA preconditioning. EA pretreatment alleviated MIRI by regulating PVN neurons projecting to RVLM. This work provides novel evidence of EA pretreatment for improving MIRI.

Background: There has been no construction of nomograms specifically geared towards pblueicting the prognosis of older patients with rectal cancer. Our objective was to create a nomogram that can accurately pblueict the chances of cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) for older patients with rectal cancer,stratifying them into distinct risk groups. Methods: Data of older than 65 years with rectal cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2000 and 2020 were extracted. Results: A total of 12,780 patients were collected in order to identify the independent prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) and construct nomograms. The factors included age, sex, race,year of diagnos, marital status, grade, tumor size, CEA, T classification, N classification, Months from diagnosis to treatment, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. LASSO regression was used for this purpose. The results showed that grade, chemotherapy, and months from diagnosis to treatment were identified as independent prognostic factors for OS, while grade, chemotherapy, and tumor size were identified as independent prognostic factors for CSS. The concordance index of the CSS nomogram was 0.609 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.598-0.619) in the training cohort and 0.682 (95%CI, 0.665-0.698) in the validation cohort. The concordance index of the OS nomogram was 0.697 (95%CI, 0.686-0.708) in the training cohort and 0.605 (95%CI, 0.589-0.621) in the validation cohort. Conclusion: Caution should be taken when administering adjuvant therapy after surgery in older patients with rectal cancer,as we have developed and validated a new pblueictive nomogram for CSS and OS.

Aim: The pharmacokinetics of doravirine have been studied in clinical trials, but not in real-world settings. Our study aims to characterize and identify factors influencing doravirine pharmacokinetics (a CYP3A4 substrate) in real-world people with HIV (PWH). Methods: A total of 174 doravirine concentrations measured in 146 PWH followed up in the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) program at the University Hospital of Lausanne (Switzerland) between 2019 and 2023 were included in the analysis. Population pharmacokinetic analysis and Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the clinical significance of the covariates retained in the final model were performed using NONMEM. Results: A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and linear elimination best described doravirine pharmacokinetics. Potent CYP3A4 inhibitors and, to a lesser extent age, were the only tested covariates to significantly impact doravirine clearance (CL). Potent CYP3A4 reduced CL by 50%, and a 30% decrease in CL was observed in an 80-year-old compared to a 55-year-old PWH. The effect of potent CYP3A4 inhibitors was prominent, explaining 59% of between-subject variability in CL. Model-based simulations predicted 2.8-fold and 1.6-fold increases in median steady-state trough and maximum doravirine concentrations, respectively, when a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor was co-administered. Conclusion: Our findings show that potent CYP3A4 inhibitors and age influence doravirine pharmacokinetics. However, given the good tolerability of doravirine, dosing adjustment of doravirine is probably not mandatory in those situations. TDM remains useful essentially in specific clinical situations, such as hepatic impairment, suspected non-adherence or pregnancy.

Scratch tests were done on thermally resistant hard Si-C-N coatings developed on glass substrates using magnetron sputtering. The change in loading rate and coating thickness showed variation in adhesion strength and wear, The Boussinesq, Hans and Blister stress distribution beneath the indenter had on effect of the failure processes. Elastic recovery was prevalent in coatings of higher thickness and higher rate of loading. The increased loading rate although caused early failure but resulted in less wear.

Intraspecific variation in plants is expected to have profound impacts on the arthropod communities associated with them. Because sexual dimorphism in plants is expected to provide consistent variation among individuals of the same species, researchers have often studied the effect it has on associated arthropods. Nevertheless, most studies have focused on the effect of sexual dimorphism in a single or a few herbivores, thus overlooking the potential effects on the whole arthropod community. Our main objective was to evaluate effects of Buddleja cordata’s plant-sex on its associated arthropod community. We surveyed 13 pairs of male and female plants every two months during a year (June 2010-April 2011). Every sampling date, we measured plant traits (water content and leaf thickness), herbivory, and the arthropod community. We did not find differences in herbivory between plant sex or through time. However, we found differences in water content through time, with leaf water-content matching the environmental seasonality. For arthropod richness, we found 68 morphospecies associated with female and 72 with male plants, from which 53 were shared by both sexes. We did not observe differences in morphospecies richness; however, we found sex-associated differences in the diversity of all species and differences on the diversity of the most abundant species with an interesting temporal component. During peak flowering season male plants showed higher values on both parameters, but during the peak fructification season female plants showed the higher values on both diversity parameters. Our research exemplifies the interaction between plant-phenology and plant-sex as drivers of arthropod communities’ diversity, even when plant sexual-dimorphism is inconspicuous, and highlighting the importance of accounting for seasonal variation. We stress the need of conducting more studies that test this time-dependent framework in other dioecious systems, as it has the potential to reconcile previous contrasting observations reported in the literature.

Introduction: Vaccine-induced neutralizing-antibodies(NAbs) are key forCOVID-19 protective-immunity. This study aimed to assess Nabs-dynamics during nine-month follow-up-period after primary-CoronaVac vaccination and booster-immunization and its correlation with anti-RBD-IgG-levels to evaluate vaccination-strategies. Material and Method: This prospective-cohort-study followed 226-healthcare-workers who received double-dose CoronaVac at a university-hospital. Serum samples were collected at four-different-time points after primary and booster(CoronaVac-BNT162b2) immunization. Antibody-levels were assessed by SARS-CoV-2-IgG-II-QUANT(Abbott, USA) and ACE2-RBD-Neutralization-Assay(Dia-Pro, Italy)tests. Factors affecting antibody-response were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM-SPSS-22.0. Results: NAbs were detected in 79.2% of participants one-month after the second-dose of CoronaVac but decreased to 48.8% by the fourth-month and was influenced by smoking,BMI and the presence of chronic-diseases. Boosters,regardless of type, significantly raised Nab-levels. Heterologous-vaccination yielded higher NAb and anti-RBD-IgG responses. Single or double-BNT162b2 boosters resulted in similar NAb responses. A strong-correlation was found between anti-RBD-IgG response and Nabs-levels following CoronaVac-vaccination, leading to the determination of predictive IgG-thresholds for the presence-of Nab. The type of-booster influenced the correlation strength and threshold-value. Conclusion: Nabs-levels drop rapidly after primary double-dose CoronaVac-vaccination. Booster-doses significantly increase these levels while the combination of heterologous-vaccines ensures a higher-response. Anti-RBD-IgG levels can predict NAb response however the correlation varies by the type of-vaccine, the strength of the resulting Nab response and the time-since-vaccination.

The precise effects of infection and maternal vaccination during pregnancy on the fetus remain uncertain. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the immunological responses triggered by SARS-CoV-2 exposure or vaccination in pregnant women. However, we also evaluated the vertical antibody transmission and the persistence of immunity in infants up to six months post-birth. The study recruited pregnant women admitted for labor and delivery in Fortaleza, Brazil, between January 2021 and March 2022. Participants aged 18 or older with flu-like symptoms were included. Nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples were collected for COVID-19 testing and antibody detection for the viral Nucleocapsid (N) and Spike (S) of SARS-CoV-2. Participants were categorized as Unvaccinated or Vaccinated, and further divided based on PCR test results. Blood or plasma samples were collected at birth and from infants at six months postpartum. We included 76 mother-infant dyads, 11 in the unvaccinated/PCR-/IgG+, 39 in the unvaccinated/PCR+, 20 in the vaccinated/PCR- and 6 in the vaccinated/PCR+. Analysis of maternal serological profiles showed no significant differences in anti-N IgG levels between unvaccinated and vaccinated groups. However, anti-S IgG titers were significantly higher in vaccinated mothers. The ratio of anti-S IgG antibody transfer from vaccinated mothers to infants was notably higher, especially in the Unvaccinated/PCR+ group compared to the Vaccinated/PCR- group. Furthermore, infants born to vaccinated mothers maintained seroconversion at six months, while those born to unvaccinated mothers did not. Maternal vaccination, particularly during the second trimester, results in a significantly higher transplacental transfer ratio. This leads to elevated anti-S IgG antibody levels in cord blood and infants at six months of age. The study emphasizes the importance of vaccination protocols in optimizing antibody transfer and persistence.

Rangelands and semi-arid ecosystems are subject to increasing changes in ecologic makeup from a collection of factors. In much of the northern Great Basin, rangelands invaded by exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass (Broumus tectorum) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) are experiencing an increasingly short fire cycle which is compounding and persistent. Improving and expanding ground-based field methods for measuring above-ground biomass (AGB) may enable more sample collections across a landscape and over succession regimes, and better harmonize with other remote sensing techniques. Developments and increased adoption of uncrewed aerial vehicles and instrumentation for vegetation monitoring are enabling greater understanding of vegetation in many ecosystems. Research towards understanding the relationship of traditional field measurements with newer aerial platforms in rangeland environments is growing rapidly, and there is increasing interest in exploring the potential use both to quantify AGB and fine fuel load at pasture scales. Our study here uses relatively inexpensive handheld photography with custom sampling frames to collect and automatically reconstruct 3D-models of the vegetation within 0.2 m2 quatrats (n = 288). Next, we examine the relationship between volumetric estimates of vegetation to compare with biomass. We found that volumes calculated with 0.5 cm voxel sizes (0.125 cm3) most closely represented the range of biomass weights. We further develop methods to classify ground points, finding a 2% reduction in predictive ability compared to using the true ground surface. Overall, our reconstruction workflow had an R2 of 0.42, further emphasizing the importance of high-resolution imagery and reconstruction techniques. Ultimately, we conclude that more work is needed of increasing extents (such as from UAS) to better understand and constrain uncertainties in volumetric estimations of biomass in ecosystems with high amounts of invasive annual grasses and fine fuel litter.

Olfactory dysfunction was one of the most common symptom of infection with the Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2 and could persist for several months after symptom onset. The pathogenesis of prolonged olfactory dysfunction (OD) remains poorly understood but probably involves sustained viral replication associated with limited mucosal immune response to the virus. This prospective study was conducted to investigate the potential relationship between nasal SARS-CoV-2 viral load and antibody levels in patients with loss of smell. One hundred and five patients were recruited 2 weeks after presenting with confirmed COVID-19 associated OD. Based on the identification sniffing test performed at enrollment, 52 patients were still anosmic or hyposmic and 53 were normosmic. SARS-CoV-2 was detectable in nasal wash of about 50% of anosmic and normosmic patients. Higher viral load was detected in anosmic patients with lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 specific nasal IgG and IgA. This association was not observed in normosmic patients. No relationship between nasal viral load and antibodies to endemic coronaviruses was observed. SARS-CoV-2 replication in the nasal cavity may be promoted by defective mucosal antibody responses in patients with OD. Boosting mucosal immunity may limit nasal SARS-CoV-2 replication and thereby help in the control of persistent OD.

Different techniques are used in the diagnosis of medial patellar ligament tear in horses along with ultrasonography, which is frequently used. This study investigates the use of thermography, a non-invasive, cost-effective and portable diagnostic tool, in a rare case of medial patellar ligament tear in horses. An 11-year-old German jumping horse with hindlimb lameness was examined before and after training using clinical evaluation, ultrasonography, and thermography. Temperature changes in different anatomical regions differed with the activity level of the horse. The cranial surface of the stifle joint showed elevated temperatures at rest, signifying the medial patellar ligament's struggle to absorb quadriceps forces. As the horse trained, temperatures on the cranial and lateral surfaces increased, indicating increased loading. After rigorous training, load-sharing occurred between the cranial and caudal surfaces of the joint and the quadriceps muscle. Temperature changes on specific joint surfaces and the quadriceps muscle, as captured by thermography, can indicate injury severity and help clinicians suspect ligament tears even without access to ultrasonography. This study is among the first to explore medial patellar ligament tears and suggests the potential of thermography as a diagnostic method in equine stifle joint injuries. However, this research marks a promising step towards improved equine diagnostics, particularly in field conditions where other diagnostic methods may be impractical.

Decades of persecution resulted in the long-term absence of Grey wolves (Canis lupus) from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves have eased the pressure and, over the last 20 years, wolves have begun rapidly re-establishing territories in their previous Central European habitats. Unfortunately, those habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped twelve wolves (from eight packs) in five Central European areas with GPS collars and calculated their monthly home ranges using Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation. In addition, we used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats within each home range. Home range size for most wolves (84.6%) ranged from 56.4 to 259.7 km2. Our data confirmed the general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase and non-breeders showing no specific pattern. Somewhat predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests. Some animals within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grasslands, which could be influenced by the specific land use of this habitat type and the high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re-colonisation of Central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively rapidly across Central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicting concerns with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify the management implications.

Background. Pediatric Brain Tumour Survivors (PBTS) are at risk of neurocognitive impairments. This study assesses both objective and parent-reported cognitive functioning in PBTS and examines how various factors (medical and socio-demographic) may contribute to cognitive outcomes. PBTS ( n = 100) were on average 5.77 years old at diagnosis, 12.36 years from diagnosis, and 47% female. Method. Participant IQ was measured using the full-scale IQ of the WISC-IV and WISC-V, and executive function using the BRIEF2 Global Executive Composite. Examined contributors included: age, sex, tumour location, time since diagnosis, radiation type, chemotherapy dose (high versus low), parent’s education level and mother’s partnered status. Results. Higher IQ was correlated with higher executive function skills. Differential patterns were observed with socio-demographic variables influencing working memory, while radiation influenced processing speed. Higher education level in both mothers and fathers and maternal partnered status were associated with higher child working memory. Proton radiation was associated with higher processing speed scores. However, only time since diagnosis contributed to total IQ and working memory in multiple linear regression analyses. Conclusion. The findings shed light on the sparsely examined domain of the impact of socio-demographic variables on neurocognitive outcomes in PBTS. Time since diagnosis remains a significant predictor of cognitive performance, accentuating the need for early identification and intervention in PBTS.

Introduction Effective medical staffing is pivotal for a successful healthcare system, demanding strategic planning to ensure a high-quality service. Although the UK’s doctor to population ratio has improved over time, it remains below global averages. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges, resulting in an unprecedented NHS waiting list with Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeries ranking third highest in waiting times amongst all specialties. Methods This study utilized a national jotform survey to gather data from ENTUK members, primarily focusing on consultant staffing within ENT departments across the UK. Additional information collected encompassed registration status, part-time roles, gender, vacancies, locum roles, associate specialists, registrars and other junior doctors, and advanced nurse practitioners. When survey responses were inadequate, direct communication was established with departmental consultants or secretaries, followed by Freedom of Information requests as necessary. All data were compiled using Microsoft Excel. Results Among the 65 responses to the ENTUK survey, 53 individual trusts were identified. These included 41 English acute trusts, with supplementary participation from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Data from 749 consultants across 115 English acute trusts were collected in combination with a Freedom of Information request. Conclusion Despite an increased number of ENT consultants, the persistence of unfilled posts coincides with mounting waiting lists. The pandemic’s effects, including early retirements and part-time roles, emphasise the urgency of expanding training positions to counterbalance these shifts. Local and national interventions are essential to fortify and diversify the ENT workforce through a variety of strategies.

Introduction: Olfactory dysfunction associated with COVID-19 infection is frequently described, but few studies utilize validated, objective tests or a control group. We compared rates of olfactory dysfunction between adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and controls admitted with similar upper respiratory symptoms who were COVID-19-negative. Methods: Hospitalized (general ward) adults with upper respiratory symptoms who tested PCR positive or negative for SARS-CoV-2 completed the objective Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT; ≥9 correct=normal) and subjective assessments while hospitalized and again at 3 month follow up. Comparison of groups was performed by t test or chi-square test of independence. Results: There were no differences in mean age or gender between groups (n=26 COVID, n=28 control). Both groups demonstrated objective olfactory dysfunction (mean BSIT 7.9 ± 2.8 COVID vs. 8.3 ± 3.2 control, p=0.62). Rates of both objective and subjective dysfunction did not significantly differ between groups. Follow up data at 3 months was limited (n=6 COVID, n=5), but showed 50% olfactory dysfunction in COVID patients compared to 20% in controls. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 and other viral illnesses serious enough to cause hospitalization cause olfactory dysfunction. Better understanding of the trajectory of chemosensory recovery will help elucidate the pathophysiology of viral-associated olfactory dysfunction and inform the care of patients suffering from its sequelae.