Quantifying habitat quality is dependent on measuring a site’s relative contribution to population growth rate. This is challenging for studies of waterbirds, whose high mobility can decouple demographic rates from local habitat conditions and make sustained monitoring of individuals near-impossible. To overcome these challenges, biologists have used many direct and indirect proxies of waterbird habitat quality. However, consensus on what methods are most appropriate for a given scenario is lacking. We undertook a structured literature review of the methods used to quantify waterbird habitat quality, and provide a synthesis of the context-dependent strengths and limitations of those methods. Our structured search of the Web of Science database returned a sample of 398 studies, upon which our review was based. The reviewed studies assessed habitat quality by either measuring habitat attributes (e.g., food abundance, water quality, vegetation structure), or measuring attributes of the waterbirds themselves (e.g., demographic parameters, body condition, behaviour, distribution). Measuring habitat attributes, although they are only indirectly related to demographic rates, has the advantage of being unaffected by waterbird behavioural stochasticity. Conversely, waterbird-derived measures (e.g., body condition, peck rates) may be more directly related to demographic rates than habitat variables, but may be subject to greater stochastic variation (e.g., behavioural change due to presence of conspecifics). Therefore, caution is needed to ensure that the measured variable does influence waterbird demographic rates. This assumption was usually based on ecological theory rather than empirical evidence. Our review highlighted that there is no single best, universally applicable method to quantify waterbird habitat quality. Individual project specifics (e.g., time frame, spatial scale, funding) will influence the choice of variables measured. Where possible, practitioners should measure variables most directly related to demographic rates. Generally, measuring multiple variables yields a better chance of accurately capturing the relationship between habitat characteristics and demographic rates.

COVID-19 infection can present with thrombotic manifestations like PE with no ultrasonographic evidence of lung parenchymal affection. BLUE protocol provides excellent step by step approach for diagnosis of acute dyspnoea. Adding FECHO to BLUE protocol complete the picture and help making solid diagnosis especially in sub-massive and massive PE

Rationale, aims and objectives: Consistent data demonstrates negative psychological effects of caregiving on front-line health professionals. Evidence that psychological resilience factors can help minimise distress and the potential for low-cost interventions have created interest in resilience-based development programmes; yet evidence of perceived value amongst health professionals is lacking. This study explored health professionals’ experiences and perceptions of a novel, resilience-based intervention designed to pro-actively prepare staff for coping with error; to investigate their perceptions of what resilience meant to them, the relevance of the intervention, and impact of participation on ability to cope with error. Method: Semi-structured interviews 4-6 weeks post intervention with 23 randomly selected participants from seven cohorts (midwives, paediatricians, obstetrians/gynaecologists, paramedics) and trainees (physician associates, mammographers, sonographers). Thematic analysis of interview data. Findings: Participants reported various interpretations of, and a shift in perception regarding what the concept of psychological resilience meant to them and their practice. These included for example, resilience as a positive or negative concept and their awareness and response to a range of personal, organisational and system factors influencing personal resilience. They valued the prophylactic, clinically relevant, interactive and applied nature of the intervention; having developed and applied valuable skills beyond the context of involvement in error, noting that individuals needed to be willing to explore their own coping mechanisms and human fallibility to gain maximum benefit. There was also consensus that whilst proactively developing individual level psychological resilience is important, so too is addressing the organisational and system factors that affect staff resilience which are outside individual staff control. Conclusion: Enhancing resilience appears to be considered useful in supporting staff to prepare for coping with error and the wider emotional burden of clinical work, but such interventions require integration into wider system approaches to reduce the burden of clinical work for health professionals.

As digitilisation is being applied in redefining products and business models world-wide, evidence abound in the construction industry as a sector that is slow to its adoption. While digitilisation tools have been applied in modifying processes/procedures in the global North; a larger percentage of the sector in the global South is yet to be disrupted. For indigenous firms to join the rapid transformation wheel, this study reviews the interrelationship between digitilisation and building information modeling. The study objectives are to examine the prevalence of cultural and strategic capability, evaluate the relationship between cultural orientation and strategic capability as well as predict a model of building information adoption from culture and strategy. The study population was drawn from the list of construction firms registered with the Lagos State Tender board, list of registered construction firms from the Institute and specific listed firms on the internet. Factor Analysis, Correlation and Regression were the adopted statistical tools. The results revealed production; task and goal attainment; information/communication technology; workforce; innovation, learning and knowledge management as well as conflict and dispute resolution as the prevalent cultural orientations. The availability of resources to communicate, interact and collaborate digitally and leadership capability to organise and coordinate digitally are the top two strategic capabilities. Consequently, 3 out of every 5 firms have moderate awareness on BIM implementation. It was concluded that the level of agreement on the adoption of the culture and the strategy did not reflect on the level of BIM adoption model. Since the results revealed that the existing orientation and strategy contribute about a tenth of BIM adoption model; the firms’ leadership need cultural re-orientation from the client angle and from business environment. On strategy, the firms need support from institutions/government on policies that will cushion the effect of the provision of resources for transformation.

Nascent advanced therapies, including regenerative medicine and cell and gene therapies, rely on the production of cells in bioreactors that are highly heterogeneous in both space and time. Unfortunately, these promising therapies have failed to reach a wide patient population due to unreliable manufacturing processes that result in batch variability and cost prohibitive production. This can be attributed largely to a void in existing process analytical technologies (PATs) capable of characterizing the secreted critical quality attributes (CQAs) biomolecules that correlate with the final product quality. The Dynamic Sampling Platform (DSP) is a PAT for cell bioreactor monitoring that can be coupled to a suite of sensor techniques to provide real-time feedback on spatial and temporal CQA content in situ. In this study, DSP is coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and direct-from-culture sampling to obtain measures of CQA content in bulk media and the cell microenvironment throughout the entire cell culture process (~3 weeks). Post hoc analysis of this real-time data reveals that DSP output is heavily dependent on spatial context. Importantly, these results demonstrate that an effective PAT must incorporate both spatial and temporal resolution to serve as an effective input f or feedback control in advanced therapy production.

Poor cold flow property is a major issue that hinders the application of biodiesel-diesel blends. In this work, a series of methacrylate-benzyl methacrylate-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone terpolymers (RMC-MB-NVP, R= C12, C14, C16, C18) was synthesized and used as the pour point depressants (PPDs) for waste cooking oil biodiesel blends. To further improve their depressive effects, dispersants, including Tween (40, 60, and 80), Span (40, 60, and 80), phthalic acid esters (PAEs), and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (FAPE; FAPE 5, FAPE 7, and FAPE 9), were optimized and combined with the C14MC-MB-NVP terpolymers. The effects of C14MC-MB-NVP terpolymers and combined PPDs (PPDC) on the cloud point (CP), cold filter-plugging point (CFPP), and pour point (PP) of biodiesel blends were studied. Here, results showed that the presence of dispersants can efficiently enhance the solubility and dispersibility of polymeric PPDs in biodiesel blends; thus, the PPDC presents better depressive effects. Among of them, C16MC-MB-NVP (5:1:1) combined with FAPE 7 dispersant at 4:1 mass ratio (PPDC-FAPE 7) showed the best synergistic effect, and the CP, CFPP, and PP of B20 treated with 2000 ppm PPDC-FAPE 7 decreased by 4, 10 and 19 °C, respectively. Moreover, differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscope and rheological analyses were performed to rationalize the action mechanism of these PPDs and dispersants in biodiesel blends.

CDC estimates 1 million dogs are imported into the United States annually. With the movement of large numbers of animals into the United States the risk of disease importation is a concern, especially for emerging diseases. Dogs that arrive to the United States ill or dead are investigated by public health authorities to ensure dogs are not infected with diseases of concern (such as rabies). We identified factors associated with illness and death in imported dogs and estimated the initial investigation cost to public health authorities. Dog importation data from the CDC’s Quarantine Activity Reporting System were reviewed from 2010–2018. The date of entry, country of origin, port of entry, transportation method, and breed were extracted to examine factors associated with illness and death in dogs during international travel. Costs for public health investigations were estimated from data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Office of Personal Management. Death or illness was more likely to occur in brachycephalic breeds (aOR=3.88, 95%CI 2.74–5.51). Transportation of dogs via cargo (aOR=2.41, 95%CI 1.57–3.70) or as checked baggage (aOR=5.74, 95%CI 3.65–9.03) were also associated with death or illness. On average, 19 dog illnesses or deaths were reported annually from 2010–2018. The estimated annual cost to public health authorities to conduct initial public health assessments ranged from $2,071–$104,648. Current regulations do not provide adequate resources or mechanisms to monitor the rates of morbidity and mortality of imported dogs. There are growing attempts to assess animal welfare and communicable disease importation risks; however, responsibility for dogs’ health and well-being is overseen by multiple agencies. A joint federal agency approach to identify interventions that reduce dog morbidity and mortality during flights while continuing to protect U.S. borders from public health and foreign animal disease threats could be beneficial.

Bronchiectasis (BE) is defined as a permanent, irreversible dilation of the bronchial tree. In the pediatric population, this disease process is most commonly associated with patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). However, bronchiectasis unrelated to cystic fibrosis is increasingly noted as a cause of chronic respiratory related morbidity worldwide. Chronic inflammation and recurrent infection result in cellular cascades that lead to irreversible structural changes of the airways. When these architectural changes occur, they confer extensive risks to morbidity usually due to continued infections. In the adult population, bronchiectasis has been associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is mainly caused by cigarette smoking. In this report, the authors reviewed various cases of bronchiectasis in the pediatric population where the only inciting factor was electronic cigarette use.

Background: Periostin has emerged as a novel biomarker in the pathogenesis of T helper 2-type allergic diseases in the last years. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of serum periostin levels with clinical features in children with asthma. Methods: Children with physician-diagnosed asthma who attended regularly to an outpatient pediatric allergy and asthma center were enrolled in the study along with control subjects. Asthma severity and control status of the patients were evaluated according to recent GINA guidelines. Results: A total of 158 children (125 with asthma and 33 age and sex-matched control subjects) with a median age of 10.2 years (range 5.9-17.0) were enrolled. Asthma severity was mild in 41 (32.8%), moderate in 63 (50.4%) and severe in 21 (16.8%) children. Children with asthma had significantly higher periostin levels than controls (53.1 ± 13.1 vs 43.0 ± 11.2 ng/mL; p < 0.001). The mean serum periostin levels of children with severe asthma (63.8 ± 10.8) were significantly higher than in children with moderate asthma (53.3 ± 12.7) and mild asthma (47.4 ± 11.1) (p < 0.001). Serum periostin levels were found to be significantly correlated with asthma severity (Spearman’s rho [r]=0.41, p < 0.001). Results of multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated an association between serum periostin levels and asthma severity in children (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15; p <0.001) Conclusion: Serum periostin levels may serve clinicians in identifying children with severe asthma.

Purpose:In the present study, the impact of penile nerve block(PNB) on postoperative pain and CRBD in transurethral resection of prostate(TURP) patients were evaluated. Methods:Participants of the present study were selected from patients who performed TURP under spinal anesthesia for benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH) between January 2018-July 2020. This study was planned as a single center, randomized-controlled prospective study. The patients were divided into two groups; Group 1 was administered Control(n:40), and Group 2 ultrasonography(USG) guided PNB(n:40). The patients were included in the Groups respectively. Visual analogue scale(VAS) scores were questioned and recorded in order to evaluate the postoperative pain complaints of the patients after the operation. In addition, in order to evaluate the CRBD, VAS scores were questioned and recorded as 0-1th hour, 1st-2nd hours, 2nd – 4th hours, 4th-8th hours, 8th-12th hours, and 12th-24th hours. In addition, postoperative pain and analgesic need were recorded. Tramodol was given to patients with moderate to severe CRBD. The findings was compared between to the Groups. Results:There was no statistical difference between Group 1 and Group 2 between demographic and per-operative data. The CRBD and pain-related VAS scores was significantly higher in Group 1 between the 0-8th hours. There was no difference between VAS scores in the postoperative 8-24th hours. In total 24 hours, Group 2’s need for tramodol for CRBD and pain was significantly less than Group 1. On examining the factors affecting CRBD in the multivariate analysis, age, body mass index(BMI), prostate volume, operation time do not affect CRBD statistically, only PNB reduces CRBD (p: 0.029). While less drug-related complications were observed in Group 2, no serious complications related to PNB were observed. Conclusion:PNB is the effective method for the decrease pain and CRBD after urological surgery.It will also reduce the need for analgesics, and provide the painless patients in postoperative period.

Mixed-culture fermentation provides a means to recycle carbon from complex organic waste streams into valuable feedstock chemicals. Using complex microbial consortia, individual systems can be tuned to produce a range of biochemicals to meet market demand. However, the metabolic mechanisms and community interactions which drive product expression changes under differing conditions are currently poorly understood. Furthermore, predictable product transitions are currently limited to pH-driven changes between butyrate and ethanol, and chain-elongation (fed by CO2, acetate, and ethanol) to butyrate, valerate, and hexanoate. Lactate, a high-value biopolymer feedstock chemical, has been observed in transition states, but sustained production has not been described. In this work, a continuous stirred bioreactor was operated at low pH (5.5) with substrate concentration varied between limiting and non-limiting conditions. Using glucose as a model substrate, two sustained operational states were defined: butyrate production during substrate limitation, and lactate production in the non-limited state. Through SWATH-MS metaproteomics and 16S rDNA community profiling, the mechanism of change between butyrate and lactate was described primarily by redirected carbon flow through the methylglyoxal bypass by Megasphaera under substrate non-limiting concentrations. Crucially, butyrate production resumed upon return to substrate-limited conditions, demonstrating the reversibility of this transition.

Homework assignments in psychoanalysis are contentious; some believe they contradict psychoanalytic principles, while others argue they enhance coping skills. We propose that homework can be a legitimate aspect of relational psychoanalysis when used in a way that is attuned to the patient’s experience and that homework may be an important component of treating personality disorders. We present the case of a man diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder to illustrate this: the patient, wrestling with social relations and control dynamics within therapy, was assigned homework aimed at curbing his compulsive caregiving and exploring its underlying motives. This exercise led him to understand his actions stemmed from avoidance of exposing his vulnerabilities. Subsequently, he was able to engage with relationships from diverse perspectives and discover new meanings. We advocate that homework tasks can be successfully incorporated into the relational psychoanalytic approach, fostering self-reflection and facilitating transformative change in patients with personality disorders.

This research investigated comprehensively the fundamental science of estimating sorption, diffusion, and permeation of 1,3-butadiene and nitrogen in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) filled mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs). ZIF-8 and Ni-ZIF-8 nanocrystals were synthesized at room temperature and incorporated into PDMS at different loadings. The physical and chemical properties of both ZIFs have been studied by XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and TGA, respectively. Synthesized Ni-ZIF-8/PDMS MMMs demonstrated homogeneous particle dispersion, improved particle-polymer adhesion, and better butadiene permeation under various testing conditions. 15% Ni-ZIF-8/PDMS MMM exhibits 1,3-butadiene permeance 323 GPU, which improved by 60% compared with PDMS, and 32% with 15% ZIF-8/PDMS MMM, while BD/N2 ideal selectivity of 19.5was higher 81% than PDMS, and 32% than 15% ZIF-8/PDMS MMM at 40°C and 1.5 bar. Additionally, Ni-ZIF-8/PDMS MMMs have improved the solution-diffusion properties of butadiene and decreased sorption enthalpy, entropy change, activation energies of diffusion, and permeability from PDMS and ZIF-8/PDMS.

AlphaFold has transformed structure prediction by enabling highly accurate predictions on par with experimentally determined structures. Still, for difficult cases, in particular, multimers, there is still room for improvement. Important for the success of AlphaFold is its ability to assess its own predictions. The basic idea for the Wallner group in CASP15 was to exploit the excellent ranking score in AlphaFold by massive sampling. To this end, we ran AlphaFold using six different settings, with and without templates, and with an increased number of recycles using both multimer v1 and v2 weights. In all cases, the dropout layers were enabled at inference to sample the uncertainty and increase the diversity of the generated models. A median of 4,810 models per target was generated and almost all (35/38) received a ranking_confidence >0.7. Compared to other groups in CASP15, Wallner obtained the highest sum of Z-scores based on the DockQ score, 40.8 compared to 26.3 for the second highest, much higher than -0.2 achieved by the AlphaFold baseline method, NBIS-AF2-multimer. The improvement over the baseline is substantial with the mean DockQ increasing from 0.43 to 0.56, with several targets showing a DockQ score increase by +0.6 units. Remarkable, considering Wallner and NBIS-AF2-multimer were using identical input data. The reason for the success can be attributed to the diversified sampling using dropout with different settings and, in particular, the use of multimer v1, which seems to be much more susceptible to sampling compared to v2. The method is available here: http://wallnerlab.org/AFsample/.

In this paper, a class of stochastic fractional differential equations (SFDEs) with impulses is considered. By virtue of the Monch’s fixed point theorem and Banach contraction principle, we explore the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the addressed system. Furthermore, with the aid of the Jensen’s inequality, Holder inequality, Burkholder-Davis-Gundy inequality, Gronwall-Bellman inequality and some novel assumptions, the averaging principle of our considered system is obtained. At the end of this paper, an example is provided to illustrate the theoretical results.

Background. Attention to the healthcare workforce has increased, yet comprehensive information on migrant healthcare workers is missing. This study focuses on migrant healthcare workers’ experiences and mobility patterns in the middle of a global health crisis, aiming to explore the capacity for circular migration and support effective and equitable healthcare workforce policy. Material and methods. Romanian physicians working in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic served as an empirical case study. We applied a qualitative explorative approach; interviews (n=21) were collected from mid of September to early November 2022 and content analysis was performed. Results and discussion. Migrant physicians showed strong resilience during the COVID-19 crisis and rarely complained. Commitment to high professional standards and career development were major pull factors towards Germany, while perceptions of limited career choices, nepotism and corruption in Romania caused strong push mechanisms. We identified two major mobility patterns that may support circular migration policies: well-integrated physicians with a wish to give something back to their home country, and mobile cosmopolitan physicians who flexibly balance career opportunities and personal/family interests. Health policy must establish systematic monitoring of the migrant healthcare workforce including actor-centred approaches, support integration in destination countries as well as health system development in sending countries, and invest in evidence-based circular migration policy.

Edwardsiella ictaluri is an emerging bacterial pathogen that affects farmed tilapia ( Oreochromis spp.). This study reports the arrival, establishment, and widespread findings of E. ictaluri in farmed tilapia in Vietnam. Among 26 disease outbreaks from 9 provinces in Northern Vietnam during 2019–2021, 19 outbreaks originated from imported seeds, while outbreaks in seven farms were from domestic sources. Clinically sick fish showed the appearance of numerous white spots in visceral organs, and accumulative mortality reached 30%–65%. Twenty-six representative bacterial isolates recovered from 26 disease outbreaks were identified as E. ictaluri based on a combination of phenotypic tests, genus- and species-specific polymerase chain reaction assays, 16S rRNA and gyrB sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis. All isolates harbored the same virulence gene profiles esrC +, evpC +, ureA-C +, eseI-, escD-, and virD4-. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed that 80.8%–100% of isolates were multidrug resistant, with resistance to 4–8 antimicrobials in the groups of penicillin, macrolides, sulfonamides, amphenicols, and glycopeptides. The experimental challenge successfully induced disease that mimicked natural infection. The median lethal doses (LD 50) of the tested isolates (n = 4) were 42–61 colony forming units/fish, indicating their extremely high virulence. This emerging pathogen is established and has spread to various geographical locations, causing serious impacts on farmed tilapia in northern Vietnam. It is likely that this pathogen will continue to spread through contaminated stocks (both imported and domestic sources) and persist. Thus, increased awareness, combined with biosecurity measures and emergent vaccination programs is essential to mitigate the negative impact of this emerging disease on the tilapia farming industry.

The 3-dimensional structure of habitats is a critical component of species' niches driving coexistence in species-rich ecosystems. However, its influence on structuring and partitioning recruitment niches has not been widely addressed. We developed a new method to combine Species Distribution Modeling and Structure from Motion and characterized three-dimensional recruitment niches of two ecosystem engineers on Caribbean coral reefs, scleractinian corals and gorgonians. Fine-scale roughness was the most important predictor of suitable habitat for both taxa, and their niches largely overlapped, primarily due to scleractinians broader niche breadth. Crevices and holes at mm-scales on calcareous rock with low coral cover were more suitable for octocorals than for scleractinian recruits, suggesting the decline of scleractinian corals is facilitating the recruitment of octocorals on contemporary Caribbean reefs. However, the relative abundances of the taxa were independent of the amount of suitable habitat on the reef, emphasizing niche-processes solely do not predict recruitment rates.