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Electrospun fibers of polyhydroxyalkanoate/bacterial cellulose blends and their role in nerve tissue engineering
Get PDFMultimaterial blends are crucial for developing scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this study, novel blend electrospun nanofibers are created by combining short-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (SCL-PHAs), medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (MCL-PHAs), and bacterial cellulose (BC) using the electrospinning technique. The resulting fibrous materials are characterized for their thermal properties, morphology, and cytocompatibility with NG108-15 neuronal cells. The fabricated blend nanofibers demonstrate good cytocompatibility, as indicated by trends in cell viability and neurite outgrowth in NG108-15 cells. Importantly, the inclusion of BC in the blend significantly improves the thermal stability of the polymer matrix, as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. This study introduces the concept of environmentally friendly and multifunctional materials, highlighting their potential for diverse applications in various scientific disciplines and industries, particularly in the field of nerve tissue engineering
A history of polymyalgia rheumatica: a narrative review
No full textPolymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is characterized by stiffness and pain in the shoulders, hips and neck and presents most commonly in the eighth decade. It can coexist with giant cell arteritis and the two diseases may share some pathophysiological mechanisms. This narrative review considers present-day ideas about PMR in a historical context, from the first names and descriptions of this disease entity, via successive generations of classification criteria sets, and finally to implications for clinical diagnosis. The characteristic distribution of musculoskeletal inflammation in PMR and its relationship to vasculitic and synovitic diseases have framed the way that PMR is described, classified, diagnosed and treated. A response to glucocorticoids is not specific to PMR and so it is important for rheumatologists to support general practitioners in making a definite diagnosis. Multi-stakeholder collaboration will improve current pathways for fast, accurate diagnosis and safe and effective treatment
ALMAGAL
No full textContext.
A large fraction of stars form in clusters containing high-mass stars, which subsequently influences the local and galaxy-wide environment.
Aims.
Fundamental questions about the physics responsible for fragmenting molecular parsec-scale clumps into cores of a few thousand astronomical units (au) are still open, that only a statistically significant investigation with ALMA is able to address; for instance: the identification of the dominant agents that determine the core demographics, mass, and spatial distribution as a function of the physical properties of the hosting clumps, their evolutionary stage and the different Galactic environments in which they reside. The extent to which fragmentation is driven by clumps dynamics or mass transport in filaments also remains elusive.
Methods.
With the ALMAGAL project, we observed the 1.38 mm continuum and lines toward more than 1000 dense clumps in our Galaxy, with M ≥ 500 M⊙, Σ ≥ 0.1 g cm−2 and d ≤ 7.5 kiloparsec (kpc). Two different combinations of ALMA Compact Array (ACA) and 12-m array setups were used to deliver a minimum resolution of ∼1000 au over the entire sample distance range. The sample covers all evolutionary stages from infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) to H II regions from the tip of the Galactic bar to the outskirts of the Galaxy. With a continuum sensitivity of 0.1 mJy, ALMAGAL enables a complete study of the clump-to-core fragmentation process down to M ∼ 0.3 M⊙ across the Galaxy. The spectral setup includes several molecular lines to trace the multiscale physics and dynamics of gas, notably CH3CN, H2CO, SiO, CH3OH, DCN, HC3N, and SO, among others.
Results.
We present an initial overview of the observations and the early science product and results produced in the ALMAGAL Consortium, with a first characterization of the morphological properties of the continuum emission detected above 5σ in our fields. We used “perimeter-versus-area” and convex hull-versus-area metrics to classify the different morphologies. We find that more extended and morphologically complex (significantly departing from circular or generally convex) shapes are found toward clumps that are relatively more evolved and have higher surface densities.
Conclusions.
ALMAGAL is poised to serve as a game-changer for a number of specific issues in star formation: clump-to-core fragmentation processes, demographics of cores, core and clump gas chemistry and dynamics, infall and outflow dynamics, and disk detections. Many of these issues will be covered in the first generation of papers that closely follow on the present publication
Do surface water drainage fee rebates incentivise sustainable drainage retrofit?: A case study of households in England and Wales
Get PDFInternationally, surface water drainage fees are increasingly used to finance stormwater management. In the UK, these fees were first made transparent in 2011, so as to drive SuDS retrofit through a fee rebate available to disconnected households. However, the success of this initiative is unknown. Using Freedom of Information law, requests were made to all the Water and Sewerage companies in England and Wales, on the uptake of the rebate. Results show very low uptake nationally, at most 0.125% of all dwellings each year, and very likely much lower once bill corrections for dwellings never connected to sewer are considered. This is a concern at a time when government has introduced a new plan to combat highly problematic storm overflows. Although the rebate system has failed to incentivise household SuDS retrofit, international experience suggests it can do so if suitably restructured and supported
Assessing Performance in Extracting Topological, Direction and Distance Spatial Relations from Reddit using LLMs
Get PDFThis paper provides an initial exploration of the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) to extract spatial relations from unstructured social media text. The approach examines the performance of GPT-4o and Gemini 1.5-Pro using a diverse set of spatial relation terms, and seeks to determine whether certain spatial relation types (topological, distance and direction) are more challenging to extract. To evaluate, GPT-4o and Gemini 1.5-Pro output is compared to manually labeled spatial relation triplets from Reddit place descriptions. The findings demonstrate challenges in extracting spatial relations for LLMs, with the highest model only achieving 0.48 precision. However, performance varied across spatial relation types, as direction relations were extracted with higher precision (0.75) compared to distance relations (0.62) and topological relations (0.35)
A framework to assess pharmaceutical accumulation in crops: from wastewater irrigation to consumption
Get PDFThe reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation can inadvertently introduce a suite of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals into agri-ecosystems. However, current monitoring efforts to characterise exposure usually focus on a limited range of analytes. A modelling framework was developed that employs a sequence of pre-developed models to predict accumulative potential in a model crop, Zea mays (corn), using chemical structure and excretion rate as the only model inputs. Z. mays was selected as the model crop as it is a major food source, stands as one of the highest cultivated crops globally, and is characterised as having a medium uptake potential. The framework was used to predict uptake in Z. mays in three regions characteristic of high wastewater reuse (Australia, the US and the Middle East). Despite regional and plant specific differences, 72.7 % of the calculated concentrations were within a factor of ten of those reported in the literature. Topiramate, furosemide, and gemfibrozil were observed to accumulate to the greatest extent in Z. mays, predicted concentrations ranged between 50.27 and 418.01 ng/g (dw) for the top 10. Acids predominantly accumulated in leaves and fruit whereas a higher proportion of bases were predicted to accumulate in the roots. To the best of our knowledge 56.7 % of the 30 highest-ranked pharmaceuticals have not been previously documented in existing literature or monitoring campaigns. This presented framework demonstrates a method to assess risk posed by pharmaceutical compounds with limited experimental data
Surveillance of avian influenza through bird guano in remote regions of the global south to uncover transmission dynamics
Get PDFAvian influenza viruses (AIVs) pose a growing global health threat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where limited surveillance capacity and under-resourced healthcare systems hinder timely detection and response. Migratory birds play a significant role in the transboundary spread of AIVs, yet data from key regions along migratory flyways remain sparse. To address these surveillance gaps, we conducted a study between December 2021 and February 2023 using fresh bird guano collected across 10 countries in the Global South. Here, we show that remote, uninhabited regions in previously unsampled areas harbor a high diversity of AIV strains, with H5N1 emerging as the most prevalent. Some of these H5N1 samples also carry mutations that may make them less responsive to the antiviral drug oseltamivir. Our findings documented the presence of AIVs in several underrepresented regions and highlighted critical transmission hotspots where viral evolution may be accelerating. These results underscore the urgent need for geographically targeted surveillance to detect emerging variants, inform public health interventions, and reduce the risk of zoonotic spillover
Mate-switching is not associated with offspring fitness in a socially monogamous bird
Get PDFIn many species, individuals form socially monogamous pair-bonds lasting multiple breeding seasons, or even whole lifetimes. Studies often suggest social monogamy to be adaptive, but this is usually quantified through the survival and annual reproductive success of the partners. However, beyond the number of offspring produced, parental partnerships may also affect their offspring’s phenotype, health and ultimately fitness. Using multigenerational data on the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis), we investigated the impact of parental pair-bond tenure (pair-bond duration) and pair-bond ending (pair-bond ended across breeding seasons) on offspring fitness components. First, we addressed juvenile-stage fitness components using indicators reflecting physiological state (haematocrit, telomere length and body condition). Second, we assessed long-term fitness components using offspring lifespan and lifetime reproductive success (LRS). We found no consistent evidence of pair-bond tenure or pair-bond ending effects on short-term (telomere length, haematocrit and body condition) or long-term (lifespan and LRS) fitness components. To our knowledge, this is the first study quantifying long-term parental effects of pair-bond tenure and pair-bond ending on offspring fitness components in wild populations. This work provides insights into the lack of intergenerational implications of long-term socially monogamous partnerships
Unmet Treatment Need Among Heroin and Crack Users and Dependent Drinkers - FINAL REPORT (2025)
Get PDFThe majority of people in England who use opiates and/or crack cocaine, or who are dependent drinkers, are not in structured treatment1, together accounting for what has been described as ‘unmet treatment need.’ All three substances are associated with high levels of harm, but the evidence suggests that getting problematic users into treatment may be associated with significant reductions in harms and associated costs. This study was undertaken to explore the nature of dependent alcohol use and drug use among out-of-treatment users (OOTUs), their previous experiences of treatment, and obstacles to future engagement. Adults who had been out of treatment for at least a year were interviewed in Exborough, an urban area of a large city in the South of England and Northton, a town in the North of England (both pseudonyms). We also undertook interviews with professionals in both sites, conducted an analysis of local and national drug treatment data and undertook a short national survey of treatment services
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