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Diverging selection on body size in specialist terrestrial mammals
Get PDFBody size is a fundamental organismal trait, affecting a wide variety of physiological and ecological functions. Such relationships are often interactive and nonlinear, forming complex feedbacks. In terrestrial mammals, larger bodies are associated with higher mobility in trade-off with larger absolute resource demand. Here we propose a hypothesis, with support from empirical patterns and a mathematical model, that this trade-off interacts with diet specialization to drive diverging selection on body size because specialists are more efficient resource users and have lower mortality risks at extreme sizes. Our analysis of a global terrestrial mammal species dataset found significantly lower proportions of specialists at intermediate sizes, but higher proportions towards extreme sizes; this pattern also applies to species assemblages in zoographic realms. Our mathematical model of coexistence between equal-sized specialists and generalists shows that specialists of extreme sizes have higher equilibrium frequencies and likelihood of coexistence with generalists at quasi-stability. The combined results support dietary specialization as a key factor for shaping body size diversity. Our work highlights the value of connecting ecology and evolution in understanding the diversity of key traits like body size, and calls for further investigations on the related history of resource distribution and lineage diversification
Symptom change in depression and anxiety during psychological therapy for autistic adults
Get PDFAutistic people are less likely to benefit from currently recommended mental health treatments, but little is known about how outcomes vary across individuals. This gap makes it difficult to adapt therapies (or develop new ones) to meet diverse needs among autistic people. Here we show that autistic people receiving routine psychological therapies for anxiety and depression in English primary care mental health services followed different symptom pathways: several improved, others remained stable, whereas others experienced worsening symptoms. Our analysis used data from 7,175 autistic adults who accessed services in England between 2012 and 2019, linked with national healthcare records drawn from the MODIFY dataset. We used growth mixture models to identify five patterns of depression change and seven patterns of anxiety change and a regression model to understand how risk factors related to the type of change. Being from an ethnically minoritized background was linked to a higher likelihood of worsening anxiety compared with White participants. More difficulties with functioning in daily living—such as managing social leisure activities—were linked to poorer outcomes for severe anxiety and depression. These findings highlight the need for therapies that are culturally responsive and affirming of neurodivergent experiences. Support for daily living tasks including social leisure (attending to camouflaging and burnout) may be a helpful focus for additional neurodiversity-affirming support
Inhibitory GABAergic Neuron Loss due to Oxidative Damage During Ex Vivo Acute Brain Slice Preparation Influences Genesis and Dynamics of Epileptiform Activity
Get PDFEx vivo acute brain slice is a popular technique in neuroscience research with many variations. While many variations are currently used by labs around the world, no study has comprehensively examined the impact of these variations on the quality of the acute brain slice preparation. In this study, we compared different animal sacrifice methods (decapitation or transcardial perfusion) and cutting solution (normal or sucrose artificial cerebrospinal fluid). Brain slices were prepared from 10 to 12 weeks old male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus). Neuronal population was quantified by immunohistochemistry against various neuronal markers. Neuronal dynamics was evaluated by in vitro electrophysiology using two acute epilepsy models—zero-magnesium and 4-aminopyridine. We found that the method of brain slice preparation significantly affected the quality of the brain slice preparation. In general, the combination of transcardial perfusion and sucrose artificial cerebrospinal fluid produces the optimal brain slice preparation. The slices prepared with transcardial perfusion and sucrose aCSF had higher preservation of inhibitory interneurons and subsequently less successful induction of acute epileptiform activity. We also found that loss of inhibitory GABAergic neurons during brain slice preparation is primarily due to oxidative damage. Limiting oxidative stress is an effective neuroprotection strategy to prevent loss of inhibition in brain slice preparation. In conclusion, consideration of brain slice preparation method is crucial in preserving inhibitory GABAergic neurons and the degree of inhibition in the slice. Loss of inhibitory interneuron due to oxidative stress significantly affects quality of brain slice preparation and subsequent ex vivo epileptiform activity induction and dynamics
<i>Haemophilus influenzae</i> in the airways:canary in the coal mine or driver of disease?
Get PDFIntroduction: Overgrowth and colonization by non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a common feature of increasing disease severity, treatment resistance and increased susceptibility to disease exacerbations across chronic airways diseases (CADs). Whether NTHi is a driver of respiratory disease or reflects that the damaged airway has become a permissive environment for growth remains to be proven. Areas covered: In this review, we discuss the potential roles of hypermutation, biofilm formation and intracellular living in allowing NTHi to adapt to living in the lungs of individuals with CADs. Furthermore, we also highlight immunological, structural and mucosal changes in the lungs themselves that can create a permissive niche for NTHi colonization. Given the significance of the host-pathogen interaction in the pathophysiology of CADs, we also consider which host and bacterial mechanisms may serve as potential targets for novel therapeutics. To achieve this we performed a comprehensive literature search through PubMed to identify studies reporting on NTHi in chronic airways diseases published up to 1 December 2025. Expert opinion: A deeper understanding of the dynamic interactions between NTHi and the diseased airway may help identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic interventions that can be effective across multiple CADs.</p
Is adrenal adenoma to carcinoma transformation possible? – Illustrative cases and literature review
Get PDFContext: A minority of adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) demonstrate indolent growth, but can usually be identified by radiological characteristics such as inhomogeneity or high unenhanced density. However, cases of ACC developing from a lesion with benign radiological features at baseline and histopathological reports of ACC embedded within an adrenal adenoma have emerged. The adenoma to carcinoma transition in the adrenal gland may be a possible, albeit rare, phenomenon.Case Descriptions: We present two cases from two tertiary centres in the UK who were diagnosed with an adrenal adenoma and showed stable radiological characteristics over 14 years and 11 years respectively, prior to a rapid enlargement of the lesion and diagnosis with ACC. We review the existing literature and describe four additional cases who met radiological criteria for an adrenal adenoma and demonstrated prolonged lesion stability (>5 years) on serial imaging prior to a subsequent diagnosis of ACC. We also identify four case reports of patients with radiologically indeterminate adrenal nodules at baseline who demonstrated prolonged size stability for up to 10 years prior to an accelerated growth phase and diagnosis with ACC. There was no significant difference in the average time to ACC diagnosis seen in those with benign radiological features at baseline (10.5 years, n=6) and those with radiologically indeterminate nodules at baseline (8.75 years, n=4, p=0.39).Conclusions: Adrenal lesions with baseline benign radiological characteristics can very rarely transpire to be ACC. Prolonged dimensional stability cannot be considered a reassuring feature in isolation when assessing radiologically indeterminate adrenal lesions
Madame de Rochmondet’s 'Études sur la traduction de l’anglais' (1830):a meeting of theory and practice
No full textExposure to dynamic social norm messages increases plant-based food choice:An online and field-based experiment
Get PDFQuick-service restaurants (QSRs) are increasing the availability of plant-based options. However, there is a gap between the availability of these items and consumer demand. One strategy to promote plant-based food consumption is social norm messages which provide information about others' behaviour. This remains to be fully examined in a QSR setting, hence, across two experimental studies, we examined the effectiveness of social norm messages on increasing plant-based food choices. The effectiveness of social norm messages may vary by individual characteristics; thus, collectivism was examined as a potential moderator. Study 1 comprised an online experimental study with participants from eight countries (N = 892). Participants were asked to select a plant- or meat-based meal following exposure to either a descriptive, dynamic, or injunctive social norm message, or a no-norm control message. Questionnaire data was used to examine collectivism as a moderator. The dynamic and injunctive norm messages, but not the descriptive norm message, increased plant-based food choices in Study 1. Collectivism did not significantly moderate the relationship between plant-based food choices and social norm messages. A field study (Study 2) was also conducted. Participants were exposed to a social norm message (descriptive or dynamic) or standard-control message at order terminals in real-world QSRs. Only dynamic norms were found to increase plant-based food choices. Overall, these findings suggest that implementing dynamic social norms into real-world QSRs could be an effective strategy for increasing plant-based food consumption to improve human and planetary health. Further research examining the long-term effects on food choice is needed.</p
Decentralised task planning and motion coordination for scalable multi-robot collaborative manufacturing
Get PDFThis paper introduces a decentralised task planning and motion coordination (TPMC) framework for scalable multi-robot collaborative manufacturing (MRCMfg). Built upon cognitive digital twins, the framework addresses challenges in dynamic system configurations, such as real-time adjustments to the number and position of active robots. The manufacturing process is divided into four phases: cognition, configuration, planning, and coordination. A large language model (LLM) analyses and infers data from cognitive digital twin simulations for state cognition and configuration optimisation, ensuring scalability by dynamically adjusting robot layouts. Multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) is employed for TPMC, which relies solely on local observations and incorporates a Transformer, along with a Soft Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) module, to update the policy network. This results in a decentralised decision-making policy with superior scalability and generalisation capabilities. A novel decentralised Soft-Soft Actor-Critic (SSAC) algorithm is developed, integrating a Soft MoE into the policy network, enhancing policy generalisation. The method is trained and tested on a scalable MRCMfg system in cognitive digital twins, specifically for the disassembly of electric vehicle batteries. Experiments demonstrate the approach's effectiveness, scalability, and efficiency in handling dynamic system configurations, as well as achieving efficient TPMC. The paper concludes by highlighting the framework's ability to maintain continuous operation in dynamic environments. The paper also suggests future work on enhancing the coupling mechanisms between task and motion planning (TAMP), integrating stochastic task-duration modelling, and incorporating physical priors into training
Improving outcomes and supporting the social and educational inclusion of children and young people with vision impairment
Get PDFPatient-Perceived Overall Side Effect Bother at and After Cancer Treatment Discontinuation:An Analysis Using Commercial Cancer Trial Data
Get PDFIntroduction: There is widespread interest, among patients, clinicians, regulators and other constituents in post-treatment patient-reported cancer data. Side effect bother is a patient-reported outcome (PRO) that can capture an important aspect of tolerability. In this study, we examined side effect bother at cancer treatment discontinuation and post-discontinuation in commercial cancer trials. We sought to understand completion rates, the extent of bother and its association with other PROs. Materials and Methods: Data were evaluated from three trials in patients with solid tumours (renal cell carcinoma and breast cancer). Side effect bother was measured with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) GP5 item. Symptom items were drawn from FACIT and function items were drawn from the EQ-5D-3L. FACIT items, including the GP5, are on a 0-4 scale (higher=worse symptoms/bother), and were dichotomised as 0-1 (“low”) vs 2-4 (“moderate”). EQ-5D-3L items were characterised as no problems (1) and some problems (2-3). Descriptive and correlation analyses were conducted separately for each trial. Results: Among patients who received treatment, completion rates at discontinuation for most items were at least 70%, and 52% to 78% at follow up. More than 20% of patients had high side effect bother at and after discontinuation, and similar percentages were seen for symptom items and functioning problems. GP5 and most items were at least somewhat correlated (≥0.2 in nearly all evaluations). Discussion and Conclusions: Persistent side effect bother and symptomatic and functional detriments at and after discontinuation suggest capturing this information post-treatment can inform understanding of tolerability, particularly with improved PRO completion.<br/
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