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Meeting Scotland’s workforce needs for a transition to net zero:the role of migration and the impact of demographic challenges
No full textThis report by the independent Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population analyses the role of migration and demographic changes within the context of broader objectives for a Net Zero economy, and sets out potential lessons and recommendations
Long-read sequencing reveals increased isoform diversity in key transcription factor effectors of intercellular signalling at the invertebrate-vertebrate transition
No full textBackground Several intercellular signalling pathways (including wingless (Wnt), hedgehog (Hh), and bone mor‐ phogenetic protein (BMP)) are used repeatedly in animals throughout development and evolution and are also fre‐ quent targets for disease‐associated disruptions. We have previously shown that the major transcriptional effectors of β‐catenin‐dependent Wnt signalling, the TCF/LEF proteins, in contrast to other pathway components, have a higher gene number and isoform diversity in vertebrates versus invertebrates, but this increased diversity has only been poorly quantified. Considering that isoform diversity correlates with organism complexity, any increase in major sig‐ nalling effectors is likely to have made a significant contribution to vertebrate evolution.Results Using de novo long‐read transcriptomes, we compared isoform number per gene for the chordates Ciona intestinalis, Lampetra planeri and Xenopus tropicalis, thus encompassing the invertebrate sister group to vertebrates, as well as a cyclostome and a gnathostome vertebrate. We find a significant increase in the number of transcript iso‐ forms per gene expressed during embryo development and organogenesis at the invertebrate‐to‐vertebrate transi‐ tion, specifically for the main transcription factor effectors of the Wnt/β‐catenin, Hh and BMP pathways, i.e. TCF/LEF, GLI and SMAD.Conclusions Our results implicate an increase in isoform diversity of the transcription factors of major intercellular signalling pathways as having a disproportionate role in the evolutionary origin and diversification of vertebrates
A call for CARE in animal behaviour:an holistic ethical research framework
No full textDespite increasing awareness of animal welfare, there are vast discrepancies between legal protections and recommended practices for different species, in different countries and at different institutions. While many guidelines are now available, they often target specific research contexts or species, leaving a gap in comprehensive ethical oversight across the entire research process. Within animal behaviour research, there is a bias for considering ethics during only the methodology and design phase. This often means only the immediate impact on animals directly involved in the research is accounted for. Conducting ethical research should extend beyond ensuring animal welfare during data collection and include environmentally sustainable research practices, alongside the ethical treatment of people working within and alongside animal behaviour research. We offer the Consult, Approve, Research and Evaluate (CARE) framework to improve the scientific integrity, transparency and ethical practices within the field of animal behaviour. CARE encourages researchers and academic bodies to (1) Consult existing (academic and traditional) knowledge on the study species, local human–animal interactions, their environment and previously implemented ethical practices and to reflect on personal experience and biases when approaching a study question; (2) seek Approval from relevant bodies (e.g. institutional ethics committees and local and government authorities) even when not mandatory; (3) uphold ethical standards while carrying out Research and (4) Evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of the specific study. Our framework is designed to distribute accountability at every level of the academic system, from individual researchers to their institutions, funding bodies and publishers. We pitch this framework as a ‘version 1.0’ to recognize the fast-evolving nature of ethical standards in animal behaviour research and to allow space for improvement. CARE provides a necessary infrastructure for addressing systemic biases and ensuring ethically sound, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable animal behaviour research
A pragmatic trial with an optimized dose of rifampicin and moxifloxacin for the treatment of drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis:a study protocol for open-label, randomized phase III trial (OptiRiMoxTB)
No full textBackground: Current combination antibiotic treatment for drug-susceptible tuberculosis (DS-TB) usually takes 6 months to complete. This long duration can compromise clinical outcomes. Although a 4-month regimen including an optimized dose of rifapentine plus moxifloxacin is non-inferior to standard therapy, rifapentine is hard to source globally and adoption of this regimen has been slow. This trial investigates the efficacy and safety of a 4-month DS-TB treatment including the more readily available rifamycin, rifampicin 35 mg/kg, with or without moxifloxacin 400 mg.Methods: This multi-centre phase III randomized open-label clinical trial will be conducted across four African countries (Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania). A total of 414 newly diagnosed consenting adult participants will be block randomized, after stratification by chest radiograph cavitation, to two experimental and one control arm at a ratio of 1:1:1. The first experimental group will receive optimized dose rifampicin (35 mg/kg) with routine weight-banded doses of isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol once daily for 4 months. The second experimental group will receive optimized dose rifampicin (35 mg/kg) and moxifloxacin 400 mg once daily alongside routine doses of isoniazid and pyrazinamide. The control group will receive 6-month standard of care therapy: rifampicin (10 mg/kg) plus weight-banded dose of isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol for 2 months, followed by the same doses of rifampicin and isoniazid for 4 months. Participants will be followed until the allocation of efficacy (TB-free survival) and safety (proportion of severe adverse events) outcomes. Secondary outcomes will also include the evaluation of the Tuberculosis Molecular Bacterial Load Assay (TB-MBLA) for microbiological treatment monitoring.Discussion: This study will evaluate whether 4-month duration multi-drug treatment including an optimized dose of rifampicin with or without moxifloxacin has non-inferior efficacy and safety outcomes compared to standard of care DS-TB therapy in Africa.</p
Under the surface:hunting, collecting and taxidermy in Ulrich Seidl's <i>Safari </i>(2016) and Joerg Burger's <i>Archiv der Zukunft</i> (2023)
No full textThis article considers the pivotal role of taxidermy in Ulrich Seidl's Safari(2016)—a film about big game hunting in Africa—and Joerg Burger's 2023 portrait of Vienna's Natural History Museum, Archiv der Zukunft. Despite their differences, not least in location, the films' shared focus on taxidermy allows for an interrogation of how collections—private and institutional—come to be. Read together, Safariand Archiv der Zukunftreveal how colonial history and neocolonial practices converge in trophy hunting and the drive to collect. Drawing also on the Safariphotobook, which figures as a pendant to Seidl's film, the article argues for taxidermy's disruptive potential to expose repressed violence past and present
Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate
No full textGlacier surges are ice flow instabilities characterized by periods of acceleration, during which mass is rapidly transferred from high to low elevations and the glacier front often advances. In this Review, we outline global trends in glacier surging and the influence of climate on the distribution and behaviour of surge-type glaciers and surge-related hazards. Glaciers exhibit diverse surging behaviours and typically recur at intervals that range from 5 years to over 100 years, with all surges largely driven by a reduction in basal friction. Most of the ~3,100 surge-type glaciers identified globally are clustered in the Arctic and Subarctic (48.3%) and High Mountain Asia (50.5%), where climate conditions are conducive to the development of surge instabilities, and there is emerging evidence that climate warming is changing surge behaviour. At least 81 surge-type glaciers globally have caused hazards such as ice-dammed glacial lake outburst floods, which can lead to infrastructure damage and loss of life. Future research should acquire spatiotemporally high-resolution remote-sensing data and direct observations of basal processes during all stages of surges, develop numerical models to better capture surge mechanisms and diversity, and project the impact of future climate warming on surge-type glacier behaviour and distribution
Electron cyclotron maser emission from ejected stellar prominences on V374 Peg
No full textWe investigate a possible origin for bursty radio emission observed on the active M dwarf V374 Peg, combining data-driven magnetic field modelling with archival radio light curves. We examine whether stellar prominence ejection can plausibly account for the observed radio bursts that have been attributed to electron cyclotron maser (ECM) emission. Our analysis shows that ejected prominences can produce the required energy range to drive the emission, and that modelled ECM visibility exhibits a rotational phase dependence consistent with the limited observational data (four observed bursts). The results support prominence ejection as a viable mechanism for ECM generation on V374 Peg and motivate further observational campaigns to constrain this process
Synthesis and evaluation of a nano silver/Congo red-based colorimetric sensor for sensing mercury ions in water
No full textColorimetric detection of Hg2+ ions is one of the most promising and highly needed areas of environmental research. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) provide an efficient platform for visual detection of Hg2+ ions because these particles are easy to synthesize. However, the application of AgNPs suffers from certain shortcomings such as AgNPs aggregation, low detection limit, and poor selectivity. In the present study, AgNPs have been synthesized using a conventional method. After synthesis, AgNPs were treated with Congo red forming complex (Ag–CR). The synthesis procedure adopted was to prevent AgNPs from aggregation and to achieve higher sensitivity and selectivity. Ag–CR exhibited its function as a colorimetric sensor and facilitated clear visual detection of Hg2+ ions in aqueous media. After treatment, the solutions turned from yellow to colorless in just 30 s. The sensor can sense Hg ion up to the minimum concentration of 11 nM limit of detection (LOD). Similarly, limit of quantification was found to be 35 nM. Ag–CR efficiently sensed Hg2+ in real samples also. In comparison to AgNPs in the bare form, that is, without CR, Ag–CR imparts stability by blocking AgNPs from aggregation, removing toxicity of CR, exhibiting higher selectivity, and detecting only Hg2+ ions in water
Similarities and differences between non-linear force-free fields produced by evolution and extrapolation techniques
No full textNon-Linear Force-Free Fields (NLFFF) play a key role in our understanding of the nature and evolution of coronal magnetic fields. Two of the most common methods for their construction are the “extrapolation” and “evolution” approaches. The aim of the present paper is to compare results from these two approaches when they have the same vector magnetic field on the bottom boundary. To begin with a NLFFF evolution simulation of AR10977 is carried out to produce a time series of the vector field at the lower boundary covering the full life-span of the active region. Next at eight unique times in this time series, NLFFF extrapolations are constructed using the simulated vector boundary data. The resulting 3D coronal magnetic fields are then compared. During the early stages in the lifetime of AR10977, when the coronal magnetic field is composed of simply connected field lines, both NLFFF approaches produce a high level of agreement as long as the full vector field is injected into the extrapolation. When injection is limited to only strong field locations, a poorer agreement is found. In contrast, once a flux rope has formed during the later stages in the lifetime of the active region poor agreement is found between the two approaches, regardless of how the boundary information is injected in the extrapolations. This indicates that once a flux rope has formed through flux cancellation and risen into the corona the information held within the boundary vector field is insufficient to capture the complexity of the 3D coronal magnetic field. This result is also supported by the poor agreement that arises when comparing the relative magnetic helicity between the two modelling approaches. While the present study considers one extrapolation approach, it is important to repeat the study using alternative extrapolation methods that exist in the published literature
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