The DprA protein has been implicated in the protection of incoming DNA. However, the presence of dprA gene family members, also known as smf, across diverse bacterial species suggests a broader functionality for their gene products. We examined the role of the Escherichia coli DprA/Smf homologue in conjugation. Remarkably, Bacillus subtilis dprA/smf can complement an E. coli dprA mutant, indicating interchangeability of dprA/smf genes between competent and non-competent species in conjugational processes. The DprA protein forms a complex with DNA, facilitating the nucleation of RecA protein filaments onto circular single-stranded DNA coated with SSB protein. To focus on RecA nucleation, we employed short DNA oligonucleotides that restrict RecA-DNA binding but allow for DprA-RecA-DNA binding. Analysis of dATPase activity revealed that RecA-DNA complexes were readily formed only with olig50, while DprA-RecA-DNA complexes were also feasible with olig21. Combining experimental data with a full-atomic model of the RecA-DprA-ssDNA complex’s spatial structure, we proposed a molecular mechanism for DprA-mediated loading of RecA proteins onto ssDNA. Our findings suggest that only one DprA-ssDNA interaction can occur sterically, occupying one strand of ssDNA in the complex.

Mucormycosis is an invasive fungal infection with considerably high mortality rates in immunocompromised individuals. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the disease has resurfaced recently and lack of appropriate antifungals resulted in a poor outcome in patients. The iron uptake mechanism in Rhizopus delemar, the predominant causal agent is crucial for its survival and pathogenesis in human host. The current study focuses on the structural dynamics of high affinity iron permease (Ftr1) which act as a virulence factor in this fatal fungal disease. Ftr1 is a transmembrane protein which is responsible for the transport of Fe 3+ ion from the extracellular milieu to the cytoplasm under iron-starving conditions in Rhizopus. In this work, the three-dimensional modelling of Ftr1 was carried out and it was found to possess seven transmembrane helices with N-terminal lying in the extracellular region and C-terminal in the intracellular region. Moreover, the present study delineates the interaction of glutamic acid residues, found in the REGLE motif of the fourth transmembrane helix with Fe 3+. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study revealed that the glycine present in the motif destabilizes the helix thereby bringing E157 closer to the positively charged ion. Understanding the interaction between Fe 3+ ion and Ftr1 would be helpful in designing effective small molecule drugs against this novel therapeutic target for treating mucormycosis.

Hofmeister effect is a famous physical chemistry phenomenon that was reported a hundred years ago, which firstly refers to the action of certain salts to decrease the solubility of proteins while others increase. The Hofmeister effect on the luminescent properties of cationic organic fluorophore is still obscure, especially for their room temperature phosphorescence (RTP). Herein, hydrophilic groups (quaternization pyridine) were introduced into carbazole molecules to obtain a series of carbazole derivatives (named CZ-Py +) with different counter anions in the Hofmeister series. These carbazole derivatives displayed tunable fluorescent color from cyan to yellow in the solid state following the Hofmeister sequence and anti-Hofmeister behavior in aqueous solution. Moreover, RTP material with tunable emission color and lifetime was achieved by doping CZ-Py + with Hofmeister series anion in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which displayed good performance in time getting information encryption and anti-counterfeiting.

In this paper we consider the following Klein-Gordon equation coupled with Born-Infeld theory { − ∆ u +( λA ( x )+ 1 ) u − ( 2 ω + ϕ ) ϕu = f ( x , u ) in R 3 , ∆ ϕ + β ∆ 4 ϕ = 4 π ( ω + ϕ ) u 2 in R 3 , where f may be a superlinear term, or it may be an asymptotically linear term. When f satisfies the superlinear conditions, we can obtain the existence of a ground state solution. When f satisfies the asymptotic conditions, we prove the existence of positive solutions based on variational methods and some analytical techniques. In addition, we will study the properties of decay estimates and asymptotic behavior for the positive solution.

The West Morava (WM) River, situated in Serbia’s Central region, boasts the largest reservoir of freshwater resources within the country. The primary objective of this study was to investigate alterations in the flow (Q) of the WM River (length of 308 km) at the Jasika hydrological station (near the confluence) spanning from 1948 to 2023. Trend analyses and standardized deviation method across monthly, seasonal, and annual timeframes indicates an overall shift towards “drier” conditions along the river’s trajectory. When examining the analysis at a daily level, utilizing the percentile method revealed a diminishing trend in the annual count of days small waters (Qd<9th), very small waters (Qd<25th), large waters (Qd>75th), and very large waters (Qd>91st). However, in the current segment of the 21st century (2001–2023), there has been a notable rise in the risk of floods, evidenced by a significant increase in the annual count of days with Qd>91st. It’s worth noting that river flow is chiefly influenced by precipitation (P) and air temperature (T), which in turn impacts evaporation rates. The findings from the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis indicate that several atmospheric oscillations, including NAO, NAO-500, NCP, AO, MO1, MO2, WeMO, and EAWR, exert a significant influence on the local hydroclimate conditions, particularly during colder months. Additionally, SNAO and AMO exhibit substantial impact during the summer period. Notably, the influence of EA is pronounced on T during February, April, and August, with correlation coefficients ranging between 0.61–0.71. Conversely, the connections with ENSO, SOI, SCAND, and POLEUR appear to be comparatively weaker overall. Given the crucial importance of the WM River for Serbia, it is necessary to define as soon as possible certain plans related to flow equalization and sustainable management of water resources, but also mitigation and adaptation to current and specially projected future climate changes.

In the present analysis, an effort has been made to highlight the behavior of thermophoresis and Brownian motion parameters on the movement of micropolar nanofluid between two plates separated by common height across the entire length. Different temperature and concentration values are used at the boundaries and are fixed by a specific value. It is to be noted that the fluids are periodically withdrawn and injected from the upper and lower plates. The partial differential equations underwent a transformation into a system of ordinary differential equations by implementing similarity transformations. To obtain the solution to the problem, a fourth-order Runge-Kutta system was employed. A graphical analysis of the non-dimensionless velocity, mass and heat profiles is conducted to investigate the influence of different fluid and geometrical parameters.

This research engages a non-similarity analysis to investigate the effects of ternary hybrid-nanoparticles in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Darcy-Forchheimer fluid stream stimulated by a porous stretching sheet. The ternary nanoparticles under study are copper, titanium and carbon nanotubes, whereas water is taken as a base fluid. In addition, the heat equation is modelled with the various pertinent factors such as thermal radiation, viscous dissipation, non-uniform, heat flux, and Joule heating. Following the mathematical formulations, the differential equations are non-dimensionless through a non-similarity conversion. Additionally, the local non-similarity approach is utilized to transform non-similar partial differential equations (PDEs) into ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The resulting set of reduced ordinary differential equations are solved numerically using the bvp4c MATLAB tool. To enhance the understanding of emerging physical model, key factors are comprehensively illustrated graphically and in tabular form. Moreover, the pertinent engineering parameters, namely skin friction and Nusselt number, are systematically portrayed in tabular form concerning the significant factors.

Hybrid nanofluids are recognized as advanced nanofluids due to their superior thermal properties and the potential advantages they offer in boosting heat transfer rates. Keeping the potential properties of hybrid nanofluid, this study aims to discuss the numerical solution for the the micro-rotating tangent hybrid nanofluid induced porous stretchable surface. Additionally, the consequences of suction/injection phenomena is also incorporated at the stretching plate in the presence of inclined MHD. In order to compute the micro-rotation effects of the tangent hyperbolic fluid the nonlinear micro-polar differential equation is introduced in the governed model. Moreover, the heat transfer equation is equipped with the several body forces like; Joule heating, heat source/sink and thermal slip factor. The above model is mathematically formulated. The mathematical formulation yields a set of interconnected non-linear partial differential equations. To derive a similarity solution, we introduce similarity variables. The numerical solution to the system of differential equation is achieved by engaging the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg 45 (RKF-45) method, in conjunction with the shooting method. Graphical representations are employed to demonstrate the physical significance of relevant parameters. The investigation presents and discusses the impact of various parameters on linear velocity, angular velocity and temperature profiles. It is anticipated that a rise in both permeability and the magnetic parameter will lead to a significant decrease in the skin friction coefficient. Furthermore, as the Eckert number and heat source parameter reach substantial values, an increase in the heat transfer rate is foreseen.

Heritage bilinguals are speakers who acquire a minority (heritage) language at home (typically from birth), in addition to the language of the majority, which they are exposed to either from birth or later in childhood; usually through education (Rothman, 2009; Montrul, 2016). The population of heritage speakers is characterised by heterogeneity and diverse linguistic skills, especially in the heritage language (HL).The process of Heritage Language Acquisition (HLA) differs from that of Monolingual First Language Acquisition (MFLA). While during MFLA, all received input supports the development of the one language, input received by developing bilinguals is divided between two linguistic codes. Additionally, heritage speakers often use the minority language only at home and the only interactions they engage in using their HL is with their carers, who live outside the geographical area where the HL is spoken. This situation is very different for monolingual children, who interact with different speakers, who usually use the standard local variety of the language. Finally, and possibly most importantly, heritage speakers usually do not receive formal education in their minority language. This means their experience with different registers and modalities in HL is limited, and they may rely only on spoken language in familiar everyday situations. With the onset of schooling, many HS become dominant in the majority language and their use of HL often decreases.Therefore, the outcomes of HLA are often different from those of MFLA. Because of the context in which HLA takes place, HSs often use child language and may have smaller vocabularies. Informal registers are usually the strongest or even the only ones HS are familiar with and their morphosyntax tends to diverge from that used by speakers where the language is dominant. Proficiency asymmetries have also been observed and reported in HL literature, with receptive skills usually stronger than productive ones.Theoretical discussions have centred around the causes of this divergent trajectory of language development and a debate questioning whether the divergent outcome is due to individual attrition (Polinsky, 2011) or non-acquisition of certain linguistic features (Polinsky, 2006; Montrul, 2008). Recently, more attention has been directed towards explanations focusing on exposure to formal registers and literacy (e.g. Tsimply, 2014; Kupisch & Rothman, 2016).Literacy and schooling have been proved to facilitate later language development in MFLA.It has been documented that language development continues well beyond pre-school years (see Nippold, 2006 for a summary). However, the process of language acquisition during school years differs from that occurring in children prior to the onset of education. One key dissimilarity is the source of input (Nippold, 1998). While toddlers, pre-schoolers and children in the first years of schooling are primarily exposed to spoken language, once reading skills are established, written communication becomes an additional source of input. Written language plays an increasingly significant role and between the ages 8-10, once reading skills are mastered, a major transition starts (Reed, 2018). Children become capable of an individual exploration of the world and pursuing their personal interest through printed texts, which results in more individual differences and what Kamhi (1987) calls increasing linguistic individualism. Studies show that students who are interested in a variety of topical areas and read actively to learn about them develop a larger lexicon. (Carnine et al., 1984; Nagy et al., 1985). However, these differences are not limited to vocabulary. Apart from more sophisticated or specialised vocabulary, this independent exploration also results in exposure to figurative meanings and more complex syntax (Nippold, 1998) . Written modality is an important booster of language acquisition as it provides the potential for greater styles of linguistic expression not found in spoken language. This is because writing is carefully planned, edited and revised (Biber, 2009). As it is not as time-bound as speaking, there is more time to find the precise expression, term or grammatical construction. Biber and Conrad (2019) performed a corpus-based analysis of spoken and written language and reported a significant difference in the range of linguistic variation with much more diversity in the written language (Biber & Conrad, 2019). Therefore, the process of language learning is facilitated by literacy.More evidence that exposure to written language at school facilitates further language development comes from Montag & McDonald (2015)’s work. The authors first conducted a corpus based analysis, which confirmed that passive and object relative clauses are more frequent in the written modality, and that the ratio of passive to object relatives was much higher in the written corpus, too. Subsequently, they tested eight and twelve year old children as well as adults on production of these and found that older participants, and participants with more print exposure produced more passive relative clauses. Another study whose results demonstrate the role of increased literacy in syntactic development in school age children has been conducted by Ravid and Berman (2009b). They demonstrated that noun phrase complexity increases as children advance schooling. In a different study, Ravid and Berman (2009a) also proved that “across school age the route to linguistics literacy [ability to access a widely encyclopaedic range of varieties of language use (Ravid and Tolchinsky, 2002)] and command of the genre-modality interface is invariably mediated by the written modality”. As “linguistic literacy is most clearly manifested in increased use of high register, morphologically complex lexicon and depends crucially on written language as a major source of lexical growth and diversification”, print exposure and literacy are crucial in later language development.This relationship between literacy and linguistics skills is also evident in the results of research conducted on literate and illiterate populations. In literate societies, linguistic skills improve with schooling. Dabrowska & Street (2006), for example, found that comprehension of passive sentences differed between groups with high vs low educational achievement. When presented with passive items and asked to identify agents, participants with lower education levels often misinterpreted non-canonical or less plausible sentences. The results reveal substantial variations in the ultimate achievement in native speakers, which seem to be influenced by educational background. In a different study, Dabrowska et al (2022) also observed large differences in performance on object relatives between literate, semi-literate and late-literate groups in Spanish, which indicates that literacy facilitates the acquisition of certain grammatical constructions.Research with illiterate participants, however, presents certain challenges as they are not always easily accessible, and when interpreting results, it may be difficult to disentangle the effects of literacy from other factors. For example, in the above two studies tapping into native speakers’ knowledge related to grammatical constructions that typically develop relatively late, the variation could partly be explained by differences in IQ, working memory or metalinguistic awareness. It is indubitable that in literate societies, linguistic skills generally improve with schooling but as individuals advance in education, they also mature and develop biologically, therefore, distinguishing the effects of literacy from other confounding factors is not straightforward. And while it has been documented that literacy has a dramatic influence on human mind (e.g. Huettig et al, 2014), it may be difficult to investigate this through testing illiterates, who are not as experienced in interpreting decontextualised language or testing situations. Therefore, conducting experiments with heritage speakers, who are usually literate in their majority but not necessarily heritage language, familiar with testing situations, and have normal IQ, may offer an opportunity to further investigate the role of literacy, education and schooling in language development.

Background: Cow milk protein allergy (CMPA) is an increasing disease in Neonates and related with allergic diseases in childhood. Emerging evidence has highlighted the involvement of gut microbes and its downstream metabolic pathways in CMPA, but it remains unknown in neonates. Methods: Thirty-one neonates with CMPA were selected as the CMPA group, and 31 neonates matched for demographic and clinical characteristics comprised the control group in a 1:1 ratio. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to detect the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome, meanwhile liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC‒MS/MS) non-targeted metabolomics was used to detect its metabolites. Results: There were significant differences in the beta diversity of the gut microbiome at the class and family levels between groups ( p=0.018, 0.03). Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Klebsiella, Cutibacterium, Phascolarctobacterium and Bacillus were found with significant disparity between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed the AUC of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 was 0.69, which was the highest. Nontargeted metabolomics revealed 214 different metabolites between groups, the enriched pathways mainly included protein digestion and absorption; mineral absorption; tryptophan and galactose metabolism. The ROC analysis indicated that the AUC were both 0.85 for genipic acid and tryptophan. Conclusion: The microbiome Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 and metabolites genipic acid and tryptophan are related to neonatal CMPA, and combined detection can be used as an early diagnostic marker.

In developing nations such as Pakistan, mental health disorders are common. The high incidence might be attributed, in part, to the inadequate understanding of mental health concerns and the low literacy rate. That might be the cause of Pakistan's extremely low number of psychiatrists. Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of psychiatrists in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and the entire globe, with only 0.19 per 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organization's statistics

Southeast Asia is a biodiversity hotspot characterized by a complex paleogeography, and its Polypodiopsida flora is particularly diverse. While hybridization is recognized as common in ferns, investigations into the relationship between hybridization events and fern diversity are notably lacking. Lecanopteris s.s., an ant-associated fern, has been subject to debate regarding species delimitations primarily due to limited DNA markers and species sampling. Our study integrates 22 newly generated plastomes, 22 transcriptomes, and flow cytometry of all native species along with two cultivated hybrids. Our objective is to elucidate the reticulate evolutionary history within Lecanopteris through the integration of phylo-biogeography reconstruction, gene flow inference, and genome size estimation. Key findings of our study include: (1) An enlarged plastome size in Lecanopteris, attributed to extreme expansion of the Inverted Repeat (IR) regions; (2) The traditional ‘pumila’ and ‘crustacea’ groups are paraphyletic; (3) Significant cytonuclear discordance attributed to gene flow; (4) Natural hybridization and introgression in the ‘pumila’ and ‘darnaedii’ groups; (5) L. luzonensis is the maternal parent of L. ‘Yellow Tip’, with L. pumila suggested as a possible paternal parent; (6) L. ‘Tatsuta’ is a hybrid between L. luzonensis and L. crustacea; (7) Lecanopteris first diverged during the Neogene and then during the middle Miocene climatic optimum in Indochina and Sundaic regions. In conclusion, the biogeographic history and speciation of Lecanopteris have been profoundly shaped by past climate changes and geodynamics of Southeast Asia. Dispersals, hybridization and introgression between species act as pivotal factors in the evolutionary trajectory of Lecanopteris.

Background: The global impact of COVID-19 necessitates effective methods to assess disease severity, prompting the exploration of salivary ferritin as a potential biomarker due to its roles in iron storage and immune modulation. Methods: A case-control study comprising 60 participants (30 COVID-19 patients and 30 controls) was conducted. Salivary samples were collected using a non-stimulatory draining technique and analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for ferritin quantification. The SOFA score, reflecting disease severity, was recorded for the case group. Statistical analyses, including Mann-Whitney tests and partial correlation controlling for age and sex, were performed to assess relationships between salivary ferritin, SOFA score, and demographic variables. Results: The mean age was 54.1 ± 18.5 years in the case group and 33.8 ± 10.0 years in the control group. Of the participants, 48% were female and 52% were male. The case group had a non-significantly higher mean rank of salivary ferritin (31.30) compared to the control group (29.70) (U = 426.000, p = .723). No significant differences were observed in ferritin levels between COVID-19 patients and controls (p = 0.88). However, a significant correlation emerged between salivary ferritin levels and SOFA score (p < .001), indicating a potential link between ferritin concentrations and disease severity. Conclusions: Results show a non-significantly higher mean rank of salivary ferritin in COVID-19 patients. The observed correlation between salivary ferritin and SOFA score suggests its potential as a non-invasive biomarker for assessing disease severity, contributing to understanding COVID-19 pathophysiology. Further research is needed to validate its role in diverse patient populations.

Advances in next-generation sequencing have allowed the use of DNA obtained from unusual sources for wildlife studies. However, these samples have been used predominantly to sequence mitochondrial DNA for species identification while population genetics analyses have been rare. Since next-generation sequencing allows indiscriminate detection of all DNA fragments in a sample, technically it should be possible to sequence whole genomes of animals from environmental samples. Here we used a blood-feeding insect, tsetse fly, to target whole genome sequences of wild animals. Using pools of flies, we compared the ability to recover genomic data from hosts using the short-read sequencing (Illumina) and adaptive sampling of long-read data generated using Oxford nanopore technology (ONT). We found that most of the short-read data (85-99%) was dominated by tsetse fly DNA and that adaptive sampling on the ONT platform did not substantially reduce this proportion. However, once tsetse reads were removed, the remaining data for both platforms tended to belong to the dominant host expected in the tsetse fly blood meal. Reads mapping to elephants, warthogs and giraffes were recovered more reliably than for buffalo, and there was high variance in the contribution of DNA by individual flies to the pools, suggesting that there are host specific biases. We were able to identify over 300,000 SNPs for elephants, which we used to estimate the allele frequencies and expected heterozygosity for the population. Overall, our results show that at least for certain wild mammals, it is possible to recover genome-wide host data from blood-feeding insects.

A key challenge in molecular breeding is breaking trait coupling. Recently, Zhang et al. found inhibiting tissue-specific BR pathway expression in rice increases panicle number by over 40% without affecting grain size, offering a strategy to avoid hormonal negative effects by optimizing hormone spatial distribution.

Growing evidence indicates that the tendency to synchronize community dynamics may be a general phenomenon in nature related to metaecosystem stability. Synchronized dynamics reduce stability since local variations in biomass or richness are directly propagated to variations in metacommunity dynamics. Asynchronous dynamics have a strong stabilizing effect because of the cancelling out of local variations. Synchronization of biodiversity dynamics may occur due to dispersal among communities and similar responses of different communities to correlated environmental variations---the generalized Moran effect. This congruent response of different communities to environmental dynamics depends on their similar functional composition, which is determined by the similarity in local conditions and the spatial distance between them. In a metacommunity of 51 temporary ponds that were surveyed for 14 years, we evaluated the existence of synchronized dynamics in plant richness and biomass among communities, and their association with temporal stability. A path analysis based on Mantel tests was used to evaluate the hypothesized determinants of synchrony and stability. Community-community matrices for Mantel tests were constructed with synchrony in biomass and richness, and with the Euclidean distance in geographic location, environmental conditions, and functional composition. Elements of the stability matrices were the inverse of variation in richness and biomass for each pair of ponds. A wide range of dynamics from asynchronous to synchronous rhythms was observed, and stability decreased with the coupling of community dynamics. Geographic, environmental, and functional distances between pairs of communities decoupled their dynamics in richness but weakly affected biomass synchrony. The role of rare species in richness dynamics and of dominant species in biomass dynamics may explain the observed discrepancies. While evidence for biodiversity synchrony is accumulating, evaluating the role of the proposed determinants becomes essential. Our results support the main hypotheses but also identify discrepancies that may devote further attention.

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important tree symbionts within forests. The biogeography of ECM fungi remains to be investigated because it is challenging to observe and identify species. Because most ECM plant taxa have a Holarctic distribution, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which host preference restricts the global distribution of ECM fungi. To address this issue, we aimed to assess whether host preference enhances the endemism of ECM fungi that inhabit dipterocarp rainforests. Highly similar sequences of 175 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for ECM fungi that were obtained from Lambir Hill’s National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, were searched for in a nucleotide sequence database. Using a two-step binomial model, the probability of presence for the query OTUs and the registration rate of barcode sequences in each country were simultaneously estimated. The results revealed that the probability of presence in the respective countries increased with increasing species richness of Dipterocarpaceae and decreasing geographical distance from the study site (i.e., Lambir). Furthermore, most of the ECM fungi were shown to be endemic to Malaysia and neighboring countries. These findings suggest that not only dispersal limitation but also host preference are responsible for the high endemism of ECM fungi in dipterocarp rainforests. Moreover, host preference likely determines the areas where ECM fungi potentially expand and dispersal limitation creates distance–decay patterns within suitable habitats. Although host preference has received less attention than dispersal limitation, our findings support that host preference has a profound influence on the global distribution of ECM fungi.

Endoplasmic Reticulum-Plasma Membrane contact sites (ER-PM CS) are evolutionarily conserved membrane domains found in all eukaryotes, where the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) closely interfaces with the plasma membrane (PM). This short distance is achieved in plants through the action of tether proteins such as Synaptotagmins (SYTs). Arabidopsis comprises five SYT members ( SYT1-SYT5), but whether they possess overlapping or distinct biological functions remains elusive. SYT1, the best-characterized member, plays essential roles in the resistance to abiotic stress. This study reveals that the functionally redundant SYT1 and SYT3 genes, but not SYT5, are involved in salt and cold stress resistance. We also show that, unlike SYT5, SYT1 and SYT3 are not required for Pseudomonas syringae resistance . Since SYT1 and SYT5 interact in vivo via their SMP domains , the distinct functions of these proteins cannot be caused by differences in their localization. Interestingly, structural phylogenetic analysis indicates that SYT1 and SYT5 clades emerged early in the evolution of land plants. We also show that SYT1 and SYT5 clades exhibit different structural features, rationalizing their distinct biological roles.

Range expansion is a common feature from invasive to reintroduced or recovering populations. This process is mainly driven by population growth and dispersal and, consequently, different species’ intrinsic characteristics and dispersal mechanisms will result in contrasting population structures in space. How individuals of different sex and age classes are spatially distributed is key to understand and forecast range expansions, but remains largely unexplored. Here, we developed an age-structured open population spatial capture recapture (OPSCR) model to understand how spatial sex and age structures can shape population dynamics, as well as recovery processes. We use the expanding and endangered Pyrenean brown bear population as case study, taking advantage of a comprehensive non-invasive monitoring dataset collected between 2017 and 2021. The expansion front was dominated by adult (>4 years) and subadult males (2-4 years), while females and juveniles (<2 years) prevailed at the core. Overall, density declined with distance to the population core (area where last bears remained in the ‘90s and where translocated females established). Bear expansion was affected by the locations of the remnant range (i.e., the core areas) and constrained by female philopatry. Future projections suggest that increasing reproduction events at the periphery could speed up future population spread, and that this population will continue growing even under some level of demographic stochasticity. Our novel OPSCR model opens new pathways to understand complex spatiotemporal patterns of expanding populations and, in the case of large carnivores, could inform conservation action, for example, anticipating the adoption of damage prevention measures and raising awareness campaigns on how to coexist with bears in future expansion areas.

Title pageTitle of the article: The Association of Thrombophilia and Pregnancy: Six Pregnancies with recurrent fetal deformities: A Case Report

This study explores the varying thermal response of additively manufactured samples of AlSi10Mg subjected to cyclic loading. The thermal response is driven primarily by the self-heating effect. The paper explores the viability of employing thermographic methods to establish an S-N curve for fatigue life prediction with fewer samples than traditionally required from constant-amplitude tests. Specific Self-Heating tests are conducted, gradually increasing the loading amplitude while monitoring the specimen's temperature. The validity of evaluated solution is compared with the own experimental data including the impact of four heat treatments on the samples from one AM batch, leading to valuable insights and conclusions.

Modified method of scalp fixation promotes survival of complete scalp avulsion replantation

Background Voriconazole (VCZ) is a first-line treatment drug for invasive fungal disease, with narrow therapeutic window and significant inter-individual variability. VCZ is primarily metabolized by liver, which declines with age. For elderly patients, physiological and pathological factors lead to more pronounced fluctuations in VCZ plasma concentrations. Thus, it is crucial to establish a model that accurately predicts VCZ plasma concentration in elderly patients. Methods A retrospective study was performed incorporating 32 variables, including population pharmacokinetics (PPK) parameters derived from the PPK model. Recursive Feature Elimination with Cross-Validation was used for feature selection. Multiple algorithms were selected and combined into an ensemble model, and the model was interpreted by Shapley Additive exPlanations. Results The predictive performance of machine learning was greatly improved after inclusion of PPK parameters. The composition of XGBoost, RF, and CatBoost (1:1:8) with the highest R2 (0.828) was determined as the final ensemble model. Feature selection greatly simplified the model from 31 variables to 9 variables without compromising its performance. The R2, mean square error, mean absolute error, and accuracy (± 30%) of external validation were 0.633, 1.094, 2.286, and 71.05%, respectively. Conclusions Our study is the first to include PPK parameters as new factors for machine learning modeling to predict VCZ plasma concentrations in elderly patients. The model underwent optimization through feature selection. Our model provides a reference for individualized dosing of VCZ in clinical practice, enhancing the efficacy and safety of VCZ treatment in elderly patients. Keywords: voriconazole, elderly patients, machine learning, population pharmacokinetics, precision medicine

This work builds upon the findings of a 2020 pilot study which for the first time showed that correlates of electrodermal activity (EDA) could be estimated using simple spatial filters on video data captured under special lighting conditions. A total of 25 participants were recruited for this study in which they were presented with visual and auditory stimuli, video sequences and sensor-based EDA recorded from the left hand. A contactless estimate of the EDA was calculated using only the grayscale information from the video. Data from 18 participants was analyzed and it was seen that the average responses from the camera-based contactless estimate and the ground truth EDA were strongly positively correlated for both visual (Pearson r = 0.84, p < 0.01) and auditory stimuli (Pearson r = 0.86, p < 0.01). Most previous studies involve stronger stimuli such as breathing exercises, Valsalva Maneuver or self-pinching. This study shows that camera-based methods are also able to capture responses to relatively weaker stimuli. However, large inter-subject variability was also observed across the participants. A camera-based method not only allows for contactless estimation of EDA, but also facilitates spatiotemporal analysis of the distribution of electrodermal activity over a larger area of the body.