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Advancing Transgender Health amid Rising Policy Threats
Weight loss dynamics after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a retrospective single center analysis with age and preoperative weight stratification
Flexible hippocampal representation of abstract boundaries supports memory-guided choice
Examining dose-response of an outdoor walk group program in the Getting Older Adults Outdoors (GO-OUT) trial
Objective The Getting Older Adults Outdoors (GO-OUT) randomized trial showed that a 10-week outdoor walk group (OWG) program was not superior to 10 weekly phone reminders in increasing physical and mental health; however, OWG attendance varied. This study examined whether dose-response relationships existed between OWG attendance and improvement in physical and mental health among older adults with mobility limitations. Methods We analyzed data from 76 OWG participants with pre- and post-intervention scores on at least one of seven measures of health outcomes (walking endurance, comfortable and fast walking speed, balance, lower extremity strength, walking self-efficacy, and emotional well-being). Participants were classified as attending 0–9, 10–15, and 16–20 OWG sessions based on attendance tertiles. We adjusted for participant sex and study site in regression analyses. Results Among the 76 participants, mean age was 74.9 ± 6.6 years and 72% were female. Compared to those attending 0–9 OWG sessions, participants attending 16–20 sessions exhibited a 56.3-meter greater improvement in walking endurance (95% CI: 17.3, 95.4, p = 0.005); 0.15-meter/second greater improvement in comfortable walking speed (95% CI: 0.01, 0.29, p = 0.034); and 0.18-meter/second greater improvement in fast walking speed (95% CI: 0.03, 0.34, p = 0.020). Higher attendance was associated with greater odds of improvement in comfortable walking speed (OR = 7.1; 95% CI: 1.1, 57.8, p = 0.047) and fast walking speed (OR = 10.1, 95% CI: 1.8, 72.0, p = 0.014). No significant dose-response relationships for the remaining outcomes were observed. Conclusions Higher attendance in a park-based, supervised, task-oriented and progressive OWG program is associated with greater improvement in walking endurance and walking speed among older adults with mobility limitations. Attendance likely impacted walking capacity and not balance, lower extremity strength, walking self-efficacy or emotional well-being due to task-specificity of training. This study highlights the importance of attendance when designing and implementing OWG programs to enhance walking endurance and speed among older adults.
A Smooth Transition
Pattern change of precipitation extremes in Svalbard
Abstract Besides global attention on extreme precipitation, a limited research has been done in the Arctic due to constraints of data availability. In this backdrop, we attempt to analyze extreme precipitation events at three Arctic stations (Bjørnøya, Ny-Ålesund, and Svalbard Lufthavn) in Svalbard using extreme value theory. The analysis revealed that these high-latitudinal Arctic stations were characterized by heavy-tailed distributions for the exceedances, suggesting a higher probability of the occurrence of extreme precipitation events. Ny-Ålesund and Bjørnøya have exhibited a significant increase in return values over the last three decades. Among the three stations, Ny-Ålesund displayed the strongest return values, especially in winter post-1994 when the atmospheric temperature was characterized by an enhanced positive trend. Significant seasonal variability in return values has also been observed; the fall in Ny-Ålesund was characterized by a low-intensity regime as indicated by the shape parameter. Ny-Ålesund precipitation had shifted from heavy-tailed distribution in pre-1994 to bounded tail distribution post-1994 during spring. Bjørnøya’s extremes are driven by cyclonic circulation, while southerly winds drive extremes in Ny-Ålesund and Svalbard Lufthavn. Even though, Svalbard Lufthavn, displayed regime changes, showed low variability, likely due to its position in a rain shadow region. This research highlights the nuanced responses of Arctic hydrology to warming, emphasizing the need for localized studies and active collaboration with policymakers to translate these insights into effective climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Selective regulation of corticostriatal synapses by astrocytic phagocytosis
Evaluating the protective effects of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) 21 ligand, CpG ODN, against necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens
Necrotic enteritis (NE), caused by Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens), presents a challenge to the global broiler industry. Evidence suggests that Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands can enhance the immune responses in chickens and protect them against infectious diseases. This study investigated the protective effects of TLR21 ligand class B CpG oligonucleotides (ODN) against NE in broiler chickens. On day 21 of age, chickens were injected with 50 or 100 μg CpG intramuscularly, and one group was injected with 50 μg CpG followed by a booster dose on day 22. Subsequently, birds were orally challenged with C. perfringens twice daily for three days, starting on day 22. On day 22, intestinal samples were collected for gene expression analysis. On day 25, all birds were euthanized, intestinal lesions were scored, and tissue samples were collected from the intestine for gene expression analysis, lymphocyte subset determination, and histomorphological analysis. Cecal contents were also collected for microbiome analysis. The results demonstrated that CpG pre-treatment, either at a single dose of 100 μg or two doses of 50 μg per bird, reduced lesion scores compared to the positive control. C. perfringens infection increased crypt depth in both the jejunum and ileum in the positive control group compared to both the CpG-treated group. At 22 days of age, CpG administration at doses of 100 μg per bird enhanced expression of TLR21, interleukin (IL)-2, CXCL8, IL-10, and interferon (IFN)-γ mRNA transcripts in both the jejunum and ileum. Additionally, at 25 days of age, the group pretreated with two doses of 50 μg of CpG per bird showed increased expression of all cytokines in both the jejunum and ileum compared to the control groups. The percentage of intestinal lymphocytes was not affected by CpG pre-treatment. However, CpG pretreatment at doses of 100 μg resulted in a higher abundance of the members of families Lactobacillaceae and Bacteroidaceae, which are crucial for maintaining gut health. In conclusion, our findings suggest that pretreatment of chickens with intramuscular administration of CpG may be effective in maintaining gut health during C. perfringens infection.
What I Wish I Had Done for a Grieving Father
Dual beam and dual circular polarized multiplexing reflectarray for Ku band satellite communication
Observation of quantum criticality of a four-dimensional phase transition
Abstract Understanding how a system’s behavior extrapolates beyond 3D is a fundamental question in physics, spanning topics from unification theories to critical phenomena. In statistical physics, fluctuations’ strength is highly sensitive to dimensionality, affecting phase transitions. In low dimensions, phase transitions are suppressed, while high-dimensional systems exhibit simpler mean-field behavior. In some cases, like the Anderson localization-delocalization transition in disordered media, criticality remains non-trivial even in dimensions larger than three, presenting challenges to existing frameworks. In this work, using a periodically-driven ultracold atomic gas to engineer disorder and synthetic dimensions, we experimentally observe a phase transition between localized and delocalized phases. The results display three key features of the 4D transition: 1) observables follow d=4 critical scale invariance, 2) critical exponents match numerical predictions for the 4D Anderson transition, and 3) they agree with Wegner’s relation in 4D. These findings provide a new avenue for exploring complex critical phenomena in higher dimensions.
Ecological footprints, global sustainability, and the roles of natural resources, financial development, and economic growth
The prevailing ecological deficit is devastating the ecosystem which is leading toward the unsustainability by endangering the livings on earth. The important drivers of this environment degradation are natural resources depletion, financial development and the economic growth which are investigated to test their impact on ecological footprints. The EKC hypothesis is evaluated to test the growth led environment pattern. This study incorporated twenty years (2002–2021) data of 146 countries and the group of countries are investigated into various quantiles, geographical regions and income wise groups formed by the World Bank. Keeping in view the heterogeneous data established through the Shapiro-Francia W test and graphical analysis, the panel quantile regression is used which is insensitive to heterogeneous data. Firstly, the impact of dependent variables is estimated on environment degradation using the 10th, 20th, 30th,40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 99th quantiles. The results suggested that the natural resources depletion and financial development are deteriorating the ecological footprints, which varies from smaller in initial quantiles to large in later quantiles. NR in North America and FD in the Middle East & North Africa are severely deteriorating the environment quality. The economic growth is improving the ecology in East Asia and the Pacific. The negative impact of natural resources on environment degradation is found in all income groups albeit with varying intensities. The financial development in upper middle income and lower middle income groups is deteriorating the environment quality. The EKC hypothesis remained undetermined for the estimated quantiles and geographical regions whereas it is established in high income group only. The policy intervention is recommended to restrict the natural resources depletion and binding the credit facilities to invest in ecosystem friendly projects by curtailing the process of ecological deficit for global sustainability which may be initiated from the most environment degraded quantiles, geographical region and income group.
Multilabel classification for defect prediction in software engineering
Placenta-derived factors contribute to human iPSC-liver organoid growth
Revolutionizing Molecular cloning: Introducing FastCloneAssist, a Streamlined Python tool for optimizing primer design in restriction & ligation-independent PCR cloning
FastCloning, a paradigm shift in PCR cloning, has streamlined the process by eliminating laborious, multi-step traditional methods. This innovative technique, pioneered by Li et al. (2011), utilizes overlapping PCR primers and DpnI digestion for seamless integration of insert DNA into any desired vector position, regardless of restriction sites. This versatility makes FastCloning ideal for constructing fusion proteins, chimeric cDNAs, and manipulating genes with unparalleled ease. However, efficient primer design remains a critical hurdle, particularly for newcomers, as errors can lead to failed cloning attempts. To address this bottleneck, we present FastCloneAssist, a user-friendly Python program that automates FastCloning primer design with minimal user input. Users simply provide vector and insert sequences, along with the desired melting temperature (Tm), and FastCloneAssist provides best primer pairs after calculating optimal primer parameters for efficient PCR amplification and seamless DNA integration using established bioinformatics libraries. This open-source, freely available tool simplifies and accelerates cloning, making this powerful technique accessible to researchers of all levels and expediting scientific discovery.
A modified elastoplastic damage structural constitutive model of unsaturated Q3 undisturbed loess
Reply to: Weather anomalies cannot explain insect decline
PNPLA6 regulates retinal homeostasis by choline through phospholipid turnover
The impact of carbon information disclosure on corporate green technology innovation in the context of “dual carbon”—— Based on data from heavily polluting industries
In the current global response to climate change, the “dual carbon” goal has become a common development goal for all countries. In the context of “dual carbon”, China’s heavily polluting enterprises, as the main governance body, have become the necessary path for green transformation. Green technology innovation is important for heavily polluting industries to achieve green transformation. Starting from the perspective of environmental regulation based on information disclosure, this article mainly explores the mechanism of carbon information disclosure promoting green technology innovation in enterprises. This article takes heavily polluting enterprises in China from 2017 to 2021 as samples and innovatively constructs a carbon information disclosure indicator system based on the “dual carbon” background. Then, empirical tests examine the relationship between carbon information disclosure level, green technology innovation, and financing constraints. Research has shown that the quality of carbon information disclosure improves corporate green technology innovation; The quality of carbon information disclosure can promote green technology innovation by alleviating corporate financing constraints. The research results have theoretical value and significance for incentivizing heavily polluting enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and support China’s dual carbon goals.