Suspiciousness detection is crucial for anticipating potential security threats and facilitating timely intervention and risk mitigation. Enhanced by deep learning, vision-based systems can play a significant role in this area. This paper presents a computationally efficient vision-based suspiciousness estimation system cascading detection, classification, and analysis modules. It incorporates factors like suspicious objects, facial expressions, and abnormal body language. A suspicious object detector (SOD) is designed to precisely locate the objects invariant to the size, scale, rotation, translation, and occlusion. A deep convolutional neural network is implemented for body language and facial expression recognition with the image and landmark features as its input. To estimate the final suspiciousness, an algorithm (USE-riskometer) is proposed in this work by considering all the detected and analyzed factors. All the modules are separately trained with the corresponding object detection and facial expression datasets. In addition to this, a novel dataset for suspiciousness estimation is proposed in this work. This dataset includes various suspicious elements, such as weapons, fire, crowd presence, facial expressions, and body language in an uncontrolled environment. Each module, along with the dataset, is evaluated against state-of-the-art methods, demonstrating robustness. This work represents a significant advancement in preemptive security measures, leveraging advanced technologies for improved recognition of suspicious activities.

Objectives: Individuals with hearing loss complain of perceiving the emotions conveyed in music. While many studies have examined this issue, the cortical mechanisms involved remain unclear. This study aims to investigate how audibility affects cortical activity during the emotional perception of music. Methods: Musical stimuli expressing happiness, sadness, and neutrality were filtered at 1kHz to simulate low-frequency (LFsim) or high-frequency (HFsim) hearing loss. Forty-eight healthy participants were randomly assigned to three groups: HFsim group, LFsim group, and normal hearing (NH) group. During 64-channel EEG recording, participants listened to these stimuli, followed by rating arousal and valence (dimensional model) and selecting emotions (discrete model). Each of the 15 stimuli was presented 20 times, resulting in a total of 300 trials. Results: The HFsim group exhibited significantly increased alpha power during the perception of all three emotions, particularly in the sad condition. Trials were selected based on normalized ratings of arousal and valence (high or positive >= 0.3, low or negative < -0.3, middle -0.3<= and < 0.3). In the sad condition, alpha power showed prolonged periods of significant differences among groups, especially in arousal while valence ratings displayed minimal variability. Alpha changes were more pronounced in the sad condition and more evident in arousal than in valence. Conclusions: These results suggest that the lack of high-frequency auditory information might require increased cognitive load during emotional perception. Additionally, audible spectral information, especially high-frequency audibility, significantly affects alpha activity during the perception of musical emotions.

Abstract ‘Lived mental health experience’ (LMHE) describes direct impact of a mental health problem or being a mental health carer. The phenomenon of LMHE among Trainee Clinical Psychologists (TCP) is rarely investigated despite encountering challenges throughout training. Conducting research which quantifies prevalence of mental health problems among TCPs may help training courses, organisations, leaders and researchers observe relevance and necessity to drive biopsychosocial initiatives, effective interventions, and combat stigma. The current study aimed to estimate point, period, and lifetime prevalence of LMHE among TCPs. UK-based TCPs ( N=301) completed an online survey. Results found 39.9% identified as a mental health carer at some point in life (current for 21.2%; historical for 32.8%) with 38.5% acquiring mental health carer responsibilities before training, and 6.6% since training commenced. Additionally, 44.9% and 45.2% respectively reported experiencing a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health problem at some point in life (current for 55.8%; historical for 63.6%). Moreover, 86.4% reported a mental health problem prior to training, and 11.2% since training started. TCPs are likely to experience a mental health problem or identify as a mental health carer at some point in their life either before or during their doctoral training. The dissemination of prevalence rates to DClinPsy course staff and employing trusts may be useful in their practice in terms of developing resources and promoting adaptations to support TCPS with LMHE. This may facilitate normalisation of LMHE within this population and combat stigma. Key words: Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Psychology, Lived Experience, Lived Mental Health Experience, Prevalence

Cross-domain analogical reasoning (CAR) is a potent cognitive tool that links seemingly unrelated knowledge do-mains, fostering creative thinking by identifying similarities across different fields. This study aimed to identify functional connectomes encoding individual variations in CAR abilities and to reveal the underlying brain-CAR mechanisms in predicting creativity. Participants included 69 typical university students who underwent resting-state brain MRI scans and behavioral tests. These tests assessed CAR and within-domain analogical reasoning(WAR) abilities using verbal analogy tasks in the A:B::C:D format and measured individual creativity levels using the Al-ternative Uses Test (AUT). We employed a connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) approach, utilizing the Power264 brain atlas to identify functional connectomes supporting CAR abilities. CPM analysis indicated that both positive and combined network models could stably predict individual CAR scores, with functional connectiv-ity primarily distributed across the default mode, cingulo-opercular task control, salience, and motor networks. Moreover, mediation analysis suggested that CAR mediates the impact of brain functional connectomes on creativi-ty. Our research provides evidence for functional neural markers of CAR and reveals a potential neuropsychological pathway for predicting creativity, whereby brain functional connectomes support creativity through CAR.

Mountains play a crucial role in shaping the climate of an area and subsequently, the habitat and species that are suited to those particular conditions. Understanding the relationships between environmental conditions and their influence on the occurrence of a species is necessary to make informed decisions when conserving relevant habitats. This study evaluated and compared the potential for different interactions between climatic variables to describe the habitat preferences and the range of the Ladakh urial, a narrowly distributed sub-species of Ovis vignei, in the arid Himalayas. Habitat suitability models were created from spatially thinned presence-only occurrence data of 55 locations using a Maximum Entropy (Maxent) model. For this, we subdivided the modeled habitat into habitat categories with varying degrees of suitability. We identified a high cold precipitation to annual precipitation ratio typical of cold desert climates well suited to describe the highest quality habitat for urial. The inverse, low warm precipitation to annual precipitation ratio was found to better describe the urial’s range at the lower end of potential habitat. In this comparison, we observed that with the exclusion of unsuitable cold steppe habitat with a higher warm precipitation to annual precipitation ratio, we were able to refine the extent of this species range but at a tradeoff to the accurate description of high quality habitat. The results have implications for identifying areas for the conservation and management of the species in the high altitude rangelands of Ladakh.

Scene classification presents significant challenges in computer vision, crucial for advancements in robotics and automation. These challenges include intra-class variation, varying object sizes, and spatial information diversity. To address these issues, this paper proposes MFP-CNN, a Multi-Scale Fusion and Pooling Convolutional Neural Network. We introduce a Lightweight Multi-Stage Feature Fusion (LMSFF) method to effectively capture multi-scale information and enhance feature discriminability, thus mitigating intra-class diversity. We incorporate Spatial Pyramid Pooling (SPP) to improve scale invariance by considering features at various spatial scales. Additionally, we use the Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) attention mechanism to focus on informative regions, resulting in improved feature extraction and accuracy. We also introduce the Scene7 dataset, which features diverse real-world scenes with annotations for both scene classification and object detection. Extensive experiments on custom and public datases validate the effectiveness of MFP-CNN, achieving an impressive top-1 accuracy of 97.4% on Scene7, surpassing state-of-the-art methods. Notably, our model achieves this with a parameter-efficient design, utilizing only 2.13MB for trained parameters. MFP-CNN offers an efficient and impactful solution for scene classification, advancing robot vision applications. Access the source code and dataset at https://github.com/Wanelle/MFP-CNN.

Plants adapt to their local environment through complex interactions between genes, gene networks, and hormones. Although the impact of gene expression on trait regulation and evolution has been recognized for many decades, its role in the evolution of adaptation is still a subject of intense exploration. We used a Multi-parent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross (MAGIC) population, which we derived from crossing multiple parents from two distinct coastal ecotypes of an Australia wildflower, Senecio lautus. We focused on studying the contrasting gravitropic behaviors of these ecotypes, which have evolved independently multiple times and show strong responses to natural selection in field experiments, emphasizing the role of natural selection in their evolution. Here, we investigated how gene expression differences have contributed to the adaptive evolution of gravitropism. We studied gene expression in 600 pools at five time points (30, 60, 120, 240, and 480 minutes) after rotating half of the pools 90°. We found 428 genes with differential expression in response to the 90° rotation treatment. Of these, 81 genes (~19%) have predicted functions related to the plant hormones auxin and ethylene, which are crucial for the gravitropic response. By combining insights from Arabidopsis mutant studies and analyzing our gene networks, we propose a preliminary model to explain the differences in gravitropism between ecotypes. This model suggests that the differences arise from changes in the transport and availability of the hormones auxin and ethylene. Our findings indicate that the genetic basis of adaptation involves interconnected signaling pathways that work together to give rise to new ecotypes.

Telomere length maintenance and pubertal timing are complex biological processes influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Recent findings suggest a potential connection between the mechanisms governing telomere length and the onset of puberty. The Hippo signaling pathway, well-known for its role in regulating organ size and tissue balance, has emerged as a potential mediator in linking these processes. This review explores the current understanding of telomere dynamics in sexual maturation and the impact of environmental cues, with a focus on the integration of the Hippo pathway as a central player. We discuss recent discoveries indicating a link between the Hippo pathway and telomere length regulation, as well as evidence supporting its involvement in pubertal timing. Furthermore, we explore how environmental factors such as diet and temperature may influence telomere length and pubertal timing, potentially through modulation of the Hippo pathway. Finally, we propose future research directions to uncover the precise mechanisms through which the Hippo pathway integrates signals from telomere dynamics, pubertal timing, and environmental cues, shedding light on the complex interplay between genetics and environment in sexual maturation. Understanding these mechanisms could lead to developing new strategies in conservation genetics and production management in animals as well as therapeutics targeting age-related diseases and reproductive disorders in humans.

Theoretical predictions regarding trophic cascades, the positive indirect effect of a predator on a resource, are challenged by empirical observations reporting variations in their signs and magnitude. A limitation is that theory focuses on simple food chains while those are embedded into complex food webs in nature. Using simulated and empirical food webs, we generalize the concept of trophic cascade to whole food webs where longer-order indirect effects trickling across multiple species can influence trophic cascade patterns. We find that indirect effects generate divergences from the classic trophic cascade scheme, leading to a diversity of cascade behavior. Divergences occur both in trophic chains embedded within food webs, but also when species are aggregated into trophic levels. From this perspective, the classic cascade is a specific case occurring only when longer-order indirect effects are negligible. Indirect pathways could be prevalent on the dynamic of species in food web exhibiting collective behavior.

A document by Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen. Click on the document to view its contents.

In order to explore the mechanism of forgiveness on malevolent creativity and the mediating role of anger and revenge motivation, a questionnaire survey was administered to 310 college student subjects using the Trait Forgiveness Scale (TFS), Trait Anger Scale (TAS), Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Scale (TRIM-12), and Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale (MCBS). The results of the study found that forgiveness was significantly negatively correlated with anger, revenge motivation, and malevolent creativity; and there was a significant positive correlation between the two of anger, retaliation motivation, and malicious creativity.In addition, we found that forgiveness not only negatively predicts malevolent creativity directly, but also has an effect on malevolent creativity through anger and revenge motivation and the chain mediating role of the two. The results can provide a theoretical basis for developing preventive or corrective measures for malevolent creativity.

The investigation of the resilience of cultivated land in primary grain producing regions, considering both natural and human characteristics, holds significant theoretical and practical importance. We aim to elucidate the feedback mechanism of regional cultivated land systems in response to various pressures and coercions, and design both a theoretical evaluation system and an econometric evaluation model of cultivated land resilience in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China. It analyses the spatial and temporal development of cultivated land resilience from 2001 to 2020. Additionally, we use a geographic detector to uncover the influencing mechanism of multi-dimensional factors. The research findings indicate that the cultivated land resilience index in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has experienced a general increase of 7.2%. However, it exhibits a cyclical evolution of ”decline-recovery” in the time sequence. Additionally, the spatial pattern of cultivated land resilience is evident, with high values observed in the area extending from the middle to the surrounding areas. Furthermore, there is a positive spatial correlation between cultivated land resilience and the level of agglomeration, with a gradual increase in the agglomeration level. The spatial heterogeneity of cultivated land resilience is influenced by the interplay of various factors, resulting in a two-factor enhancement that is partially non-linear. The intensity of each factor’s role varies across different time periods, and its significance gradually transitions from ecological pressure to scale structure, ultimately leading to food security. It is determined that the utilisation of cultivated land resources at the regional scale exhibits significant environmental intricacy, temporal fluctuations, and geographical heterogeneity. Consequently, the ensuing ambiguity in food security emerges as a crucial matter that warrants consideration at the national strategic level. The examination of cultivated land resilience offers a more comprehensive framework for identifying and diagnosing the primary deficiencies within the cultivated land system at the regional level. This, in turn, improves the region’s capacity to effectively address environmental changes and mitigate development risks. Additionally, it facilitates the establishment of an optimal spatial allocation of cultivated land resources at the regional level, promoting sustainable and robust development of the cultivated land system.

This paper presents a new Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm for Multifactorial Optimization Problems referred to as MOPSO-mfact. It operates in two distinct steps with two processing steps. Initially, a pre-search is conducted in a unified search space where all individuals are optimized to address various tasks simultaneously. Then, the dominance operator is used to explore the solution encoding search space and identify the best skill factor. In the subsequent step, individuals with identical solution skill factors are grouped together to create multiple sub-swarms for multitasking optimization. This approach leverages the dominance operator instead of relying on random mating probabilities. The MOPSO-mfact algorithm was tested on a set of Multifactorial test benchmarks called “ETMOF” which includes 36 multi/many objectives optimization problems. A comparative study is conducted toward the Inverted General Distance (IGD) and the Mean Inverted General Distance (MIGD) metrics. The Mean Standard Score (MSS) is used to determine the best approach for multitasking optimization. Parameter optimization for MOPSO-mfact is achieved through sensitivity analysis using the Taguchi method, ensuring optimal performance. The MOPSO-mfact algorithm demonstrated promising results, achieving a good MSS result for solving the 28/26 ETMOF test suite as assessed by the IGD indicators. Additionally, it performed well, solving 33 out of 36 problems in the ETMOF suite when evaluated using the MIGD metric.

This study aims to investigate the structure and diversity of the intestinal microbiome of Gryllus bimaculatus from wild and farmed environment. Additionally, we sought to identify the core microbes and the adaptability to the farm conditions in the gut of G. bimaculatus. We analyzed the microbial community diversity in intestinal samples of both wild and farmed G. bimaculatus using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and ITS rRNA amplicons. Using the PICRUSt2 software, we predicted the functional capabilities of bacterial communities. The analysis indicated significant differences in the diversity of the microbial communities (including bacteria and fungi) within the gut of crickets under farmed and wild conditions, with notably higher microbial diversity observed in the gut of farmed crickets compared to those in the wild. While, the community structure of gut bacteria between the two conditions shows a high degree of similarity, suggesting that the diversity differences are primarily driven by species of low abundance. The functional prediction analysis identified a significant increase of pathways about Terpenoids and polyketides metabolism, and bacterial infectious disease in the farmed group; as well as a significant decrease in pathways about Environmental adaptation, Development and regeneration, and the Nervous system, compared to the wild group. The high population density and excessive feeding, in the farmed condition, create a more diverse gut microbiota for G. bimaculatus, including potential pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, when breeding G. bimaculatus, the environmental hygiene management should be strengthened to reduce the carrying and transmission of pathogenic bacteria.

The surface integrity and fatigue life of Ti-17 rotary bending fatigue specimens after ultrasonic rolling strengthening were investigated. The results show that the fatigue crack initiation position of the ultrasonic rolling specimen is located on the subsurface of the specimen, and the crack initiation is related to the stress concentration caused by the internal defects of the material and the uneven distribution of residual stress. The improvement of ultrasonic rolling on the rotary bending fatigue performance of Ti-17 is mainly reflected in the delay of crack initiation. The crack initiation life of the three groups of samples reaches more than 97% of their total life. After ultrasonic rolling, the surface roughness of Ti-17 samples is low, the Ra value is mostly within 0.2 μm, and the surface stress concentration coefficient is low, which reduces the possibility of crack initiation from the surface. The introduction of a deeper residual compressive stress layer and a work hardening layer hinders the nucleation of fatigue cracks and reduces the crack nucleation rate. The surface grains are significantly refined, and the high density of the dislocation wall can significantly improve the fatigue strength of the material.

Background and Aims Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia, and catheter ablation (CA) has emerged as a viable option for selected patients. However, its role in specific liver cirrhosis (LC) populations remains underexplored. Methods Using the National Inpatient Sample Database 2016–2020, we analyzed adult encounters undergoing CA for atrial fibrillation diagnosed with LC. Using propensity scores, encounters were divided into 2 cohorts based on the presence and absence of LC and matched in a 1:1 fashion using LC as the dependent variable. In-hospital mortality and post-procedure total complications were compared using logistic regression models and linear regression for length of stay and total cost of hospitalization. Results We identified 93,830 atrial fibrillation CA admissions, of which 910 had LC. The mean age in the LC cohort was 66.5±5.1 years. Mortality did not significantly differ between the groups (aOR=0.85; 95%CI=0.28-2.60; P=0.77). However, the LC cohort exhibited higher odds of total complications (aOR=2.00; 95%CI=1.11-3.48; p<0.01). Length of stay was comparable, but total cost showed statistically significant differences among the two cohorts: 6.7 days (95%CI=6.8-7.46; P<0.0001) vs. 6.3 days (95%CI=5.4-7.2;p<0.0001) and $184,000 (95%CI=$169 000-$201 000; P<0.0001) vs. $193,000 (95%CI=$171 000-$216 000;p<0.0001), respectively. Conclusion In the 2016-2020 National Inpatient Sample, patients who underwent atrial fibrillation CA with LC, mortality, and length of stay were comparable. However, the likelihood of total complications was higher to a propensity score‐matched cohort of no cirrhotics patients. Further, longitudinal studies are needed it to assess the safety profile of CA in this sub-population

Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem. The human gut microbiome is implicated in the dynamics of antibiotic resistance acquisition and transmission, with the gut microbiota thought to play a crucial role. This study aimed to determine the potential (i) influence of human gut bacteria microbiota on the gut resistome and (ii) the relationship between gut bacteria microbiota and E. coli resistome. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to systematically review published studies that characterised gut microbiota and resistome using metagenomic analysis and/or those that reported gut E. coli resistome in healthy individuals. Changes in the diversity and abundance of bacterial gut microbiota and the resistome across different groups and the microbiota composition of the gut harbouring antibiotic-resistant E. coli were summarised. Lower diversity in the bacteria microbiota was associated with a concurrent increase in the abundance of the gut resistome. The gut microbiota of younger infants exhibited a lower diversity and was higher in the abundance of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) compared to older infants and adults. A strong positive correlation was observed between the compositional relative abundance of Proteobacteria and ARGs abundance, mainly driven by members within the Enterobacteriaceae family, particularly E. coli. Employing a strategy that targets Enterobacteriaceae, with specific emphasis on E. coli, could be instrumental in controlling gut antibiotic resistance in humans. This study also revealed that human gut microbiome studies that investigate gut resistome using metagenomic sequencing approaches in apparently healthy individuals are at least uncommon.

Despite the ubiquity of Membrane Occupation Recognition Nexus (MORN) motifs across diverse species in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms, these protein domains remain poorly characterized. Their significance is underscored in the context of the Alsin protein, implicated in the debilitating condition known as Infantile-onset Ascending Hereditary Spastic Paralysis (IAHSP). Studies have proposed that mutations within the Alsin MORN domain disrupt proper protein assembly, precluding the formation of the requisite tetrameric configuration essential for the protein’s inherent biological activity. However, a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the biological functions of Alsin and its three-dimensional molecular structure is hindered by the lack of available experimental structures. In this study, by comparing experimentally resolved MORN domains, we predicted a three-dimensional structure for the putative MORN of Alsin. Furthermore, inspired by experimental pieces of evidence from previous studies, we employed the developed models to predict and investigate two homo-dimeric assemblies, characterising their stability. This study’s insights into the three-dimensional structure of the Alsin MORN domain and the stability dynamics of its homo-dimeric assemblies suggest an antiparallel linear configuration stabilized by a non-covalent interaction network. The elucidation of these intricate molecular relationships holds promise for advancing our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and facilitating the development of treatments for this severe neurodegenerative disorder.

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes Ebola virus disease (EVD), a severe hemorrhagic fever that has high case fatality rates (CFR). Although previous Ebola miRNA research has mainly focused on host miRNA expression during infection, it has been shown that the Ebola virus also encodes miRNAs. However, further studies are required to fully understand the role of EBOV-encoded miRNAs in infection and pathogenic mechanisms. This study aimed to identify known and novel EBOV-encoded miRNAs and predict their potential functions in Ebola virus pathogenic mechanisms. Previously available, small RNASeq data was reanalyzed to identify the miRNAs and predict their cellular targets and potential functions. Four EBOV-encoded miRNAs, EBOV-mir-M1 (4390-4414), EBOV-mir-M4 (11501-11523), EBOV-mir-M2 (8288-8309), and EBOV-mir-M3 (9885-9906) were identified and expressed specifically in the Ebola-infected human adult retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE) cells. EBOV-mir-M1 (4390-4414) was expressed up to 19-fold higher than the other three miRNAs. The miRNAs identified were predicted to target genes associated with several pathways, including calcium signaling, MAPK signaling, tight junction pathway, necroptosis, cytosolic DNA sensing, type I interferon signaling, and cytokine-mediated signaling. These pathways are known to play critical roles in Ebola infection and pathogenic processes. This study contributes to elucidating the role of Ebola virus-encoded miRNAs in infection and pathogenesis. It demonstrates the expression of EBOV-encoded miRNAs with potential functions in human ARPE cells, providing a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying Ebola virus infection.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of an artificial neural network (ANN) model in diagnosing idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and to compare the results of the diagnostic model constructed by combining the expression levels of miR-146a, miR-155, and miR-132 genes using ANN, random forest (RF), and discriminant analysis (DA). qRT-PCR is employed to determine the expression levels of the three miRNA genes. 46 IGE patients and 51 healthy controls were included in the study. Three genetic biomarkers were employed to assess the discriminative power of the disease, and they were combined using ANN. Additionally, the performance of ANN was compared with RF and DA. Compared to healthy controls, the miR-132 gene was significantly higher (p<0.001) and the miR-155 and miR-146a genes were significantly lower in IGE patients (p<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) for predictions made by the ANN, RF, and DA were 0.96, 0.87, and 0.75, respectively, with accuracy rates of 0.96, 0.88, and 0.76. We demonstrate that ANN exhibits the highest accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, and specificity values among the three methods. The obtained results indicate that the combination of the three genes used as markers in IGE plays a significant role in the diagnosis of the disease. Instead of assessing biomarkers individually for the disease, combining them using machine learning methods leads to improved model performance. Additionally, not relying on a single genetic biomarker for the disease enables discrimination based on the collective impact of all biomarkers.

The inevitable depletion of fossil resources and the anthropogenic climate change arising from their excessive utilization make necessary the search for renewable feedstocks and developing eco-friendly technologies for producing greener energy, fuels and chemicals. Through the present mini-review, we intend to share with the research community our relevant contributions to advance the production of carbon-neutral propylene, 1,2-propanediol and biohydrogen through thermo-chemical conversion of biomass-derived glycerol, aided by diverse heterogeneous catalysts. The reported achievements, which have been recently recognized by the “ACI/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award”, are organized and discussed in four marked sections. Thus, after having highlighted the possible economic and environmental benefits of producing such value-added commodities from bioglycerol excess, we present different re-designing actions to improve the properties of transition metals-based (e.g. Pt, Pd, Ni, Cu or Mo) supported on γ-Al2O3 or SiO2 for boosting glycerol transformation via: i) steam reforming, ii) aqueous-phase reforming, iii) hydrogenolysis and iv) hydrodeoxygenation reactions. Then, the catalytic role of metallic, acid and/or redox sites in these reactions is discussed together with the identification of the main factors affecting their stability under H2O-rich conditions. The effect of reaction configurations and operating conditions in the conversion of glycerol to the target product are also assessed. The gained knowledge on re-modulating catalyst properties and optimizing reaction strategies, including mechanisms and process operability, is expected to provide a comprehensive guideline for continuously improving the efficiency of bioglycerol upgrading routes.

Pupil dilation (PD) is more pronounced during correct recognition of previously presented target items than during correct identification of novel, previously not seen foils. We examined whether this so-called pupil old/new effect is caused by a bottom-up attentional orienting response triggered by the activated mnemonic information. Because the magnitude of the orienting response to a given stimulus is dependent on the task-relevancy of the stimulus, we tested the potential link between orienting response and the pupil old/new effect by examining whether task-relevancy affects PD during processing of previously seen items. Specifically, we presented well-learned material intermixed with novel foils and requested participants either to semantically categorize them as animate/inanimate (non-mnemonic task), or to make an old/new recognition judgement (mnemonic task). Our results show that whereas the pupil old/new effect was present in both conditions, its magnitude was larger in the mnemonic task, where mnemonic information was relevant for the task.Thus, the pupil old/new effect was sensitive to task relevancy, and this finding is in line with the notion that increased PD triggered by correct recognition is caused by an attentional orienting response towards activated mnemonic information.

Background: The growing emergence of anthelmintic-resistant parasitic isolates is leading us to reconsider the management of digestive strongylosis in horses. In addition, European regulations are moving towards a reduction in the use of chemical treatments, in line with societal demand for environmentally-friendly management and the use of ”natural” alternatives. Objectives: In this context, we investigated the effect of plant-based feed additives commercialized to support the natural defenses against intestinal parasites and the immune defenses of the equines. Study design: Randomized blinded in vivo experiments Methods: Has higher concentrations than the manufacturer recommendation, three treatments based either on mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris), echinacea ( Echinacea purpurea) or curcumin ( Curcuma longa), were administrated to 18 (six per treatment) Welsh female ponies naturally infected with cyathostomins. Six more no treated ponies were used as control group. Fecal egg count (FEC), eggs development into infective larvae, red blood cells and immune system parameters (lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils) were measured the first and the last day of each treatment, and compared with those characterizing the control group. Results: None of the three treatments showed a significant effect, on the studied parameters. However, Cohen’s size effect indicates a strong effect for all three treatments on FEC, only mugwort on larval development and on different blood cells (0.9 ≥ d ≥ 1.09). Nevertheless, the efficacy of treatments, measured from the FEC reduction (FECR) compared to the control group was weak (≤ 38.6). Main limitations: The size of the animal groups used in the study, similar to the number of horses owned by the owners, was too small to observe a significant effect. Conclusions: Under our conditions, these results provide an initial view of the antiparasitic and immunostimulant activity of three plant-based food additives. However, the measured efficacy was insufficient to justify the practical use of these additives.

Background: A number of observational studies and small trials have suggested that higher levels of circulating vitamin K1 might improve insulin sensitivity and therefore protect against the development of Type II Diabetes (T2DM). The use of vitamin K-inhibitors, such as warfarin, may lead to an increased risk of developing T2DM compared to alternative oral anticoagulants (OACs). Objective: To compare the risk of developing T2DM among atrial fibrillation patients initiating warfarin vs direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs). Methods: We included AF patients with no history of diabetes newly prescribed OACs in Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum between 01.01.2013 to 31.01.2019. Patients were followed from 30 days after the first OAC prescription to 21.01.2020, death, deregistration or the first occurrence of a diagnostic code for T2DM. Potential confounders were identified using a directed acyclic graph, and Cox regression was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHR), comparing the hazard of T2DM between warfarin and DOAC initiators. We investigated a-priori interactions with sex and age and conducted subgroup analyses according to the type of DOAC. An on-treatment analysis was added post-hoc to take into account treatment switches and discontinuation. Results: A total of 94,394 OAC initiators were included, 46.34% were female, and the average age was 74.78 (SD 11.6) years. After a mean follow-up of 2.77 years (IQR 1.45-4.19), 7,041 patients developed T2DM, with the crude Kaplan-Meier risk slightly lower among DOAC initiators (13.58%, 95%CI=12.89 – 14.31) compared to warfarin initiators (15.53%, 95%CI = 14.99 – 16.09). After adjusting for a-priori identified confounders, a modest protective association between DOACs and incident T2DM was found (aHR=0.90, 95%CI 0.84-0.95; p<0.001). No interaction by age group or sex was observed (p=0.11 and 0.61, respectively). Subgroup analyses were consistent, with potentially somewhat more marked protective effects for initiators of edoxaban and dabigatran compared to warfarin, although confidence intervals were wide [HR=0.82 (95%CI 0.63-1.08) and HR=0.86 (95%CI 0.76-0.96), respectively]. Sensitivity analyses applying a lagged index date (initiation + 180 days) led to consistent results. On-treatment analysis showed a more marked protective effect, with an adjusted HR of 0.69 (0.65, 0.73). Conclusions: Treatment initiation with DOACs compared to warfarin was associated with a relatively modest reduction in the risk of developing T2DM in this cohort. We did not find any evidence that the association differed according to patient sex or age.