19683 research outputs found
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The sicker sex is plastic: Thermal plasticity determines sex biases in pathogen transmission
No full textSex differences are predicted to play an important role in the spread and evolution of pathogens. However, attempts to generalize the “sicker” sex have been challenged by intraspecific variability of sex biases across the infection process. Sex-specific plasticity provides a framework to resolve this by elucidating how infection is shaped at the sex-pathogen-environment interface. Using the Daphnia magna and Pasteuria ramosa system, we measure infection outcomes for males and females across three temperatures and seven pathogen densities to quantify how sex-specific plasticity shapes susceptibility, pathogen loads, and ultimately transmission. We find unique forms of plasticity at each stage of infection – including equivalent, sex-specific, and divergent plasticity. Integrating these into a single estimate of transmission reveals a clear pattern—male-biased transmission at cold temperatures, and female-biased transmission at warm temperatures. Sex-specific thermal plasticity can thus determine the “sicker” sex, with implications for pathogen spread and evolution in a warming world.</p
Traditional cultural knowledge and functional analysis of a non-returning wangim (boomerang) from Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
No full textBoomerangs are part of a suite of Australian throwing sticks, which are specialised wooden implements of purposeful design and aerodynamic properties that are used as projectiles. While throwing sticks are known to occur throughout Australia, they are less commonly found in buried contexts. In this paper, we report on a single, non-returning wooden wangim (boomerang) recovered from a reported burial mound at Yarra Junction, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, Victoria. Analysis of morphometrics (shape, size), wear traces and residues, combined with traditional cultural knowledge, indicates that the wangim was made and maintained primarily using a variety of metal tools from the nineteenth century. The presence of impact traces, right-handed grip marks, blood, and charcoal indicates that the wangim had many purposes. The steps required to craft (and maintain) this wangim, along with evidence for its continuous use for multiple activities (throwing, hunting, fire management) and its association with a reported burial, indicate that it probably held some form of prestige to its owner(s), who formed a strong personal attachment. The shape, symmetry and cross-section of the wangim appear to be distinct from other Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung wangim housed at Museums Victoria and elsewhere. This study sheds light on boomerangs in southeastern Australia, and is the first of its kind to combine traditional cultural knowledge and functional analysis of a boomerang.</p
A Comprehensive Review of Bio-Inspired Approaches to Coordination, Communication, and System Architecture in Underwater Swarm Robotics
No full textThe increasing complexity of marine operations has intensified the need for intelligent robotic systems to support ocean observation, exploration, and resource management. Underwater swarm robotics offers a promising framework that extends the capabilities of individual autonomous platforms through collective coordination. Inspired by natural systems, such as fish schools and insect colonies, bio-inspired swarm approaches enable distributed decision-making, adaptability, and resilience under challenging marine conditions. Yet research in this field remains fragmented, with limited integration across algorithmic, communication, and hardware design perspectives. This review synthesises bio-inspired coordination mechanisms, communication strategies, and system design considerations for underwater swarm robotics. It examines key marine-specific algorithms, including the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm, Whale Optimisation Algorithm, Coral Reef Optimisation, and Marine Predators Algorithm, highlighting their applications in formation control, task allocation, and environmental interaction. The review also analyses communication constraints unique to the underwater domain and emerging acoustic, optical, and hybrid solutions that support cooperative operation. Additionally, it examines hardware and system design advances that enhance system efficiency and scalability. A multi-dimensional classification framework evaluates existing approaches across communication dependency, environmental adaptability, energy efficiency, and swarm scalability. Through this integrated analysis, the review unifies bio-inspired coordination algorithms, communication modalities, and system design approaches. It also identifies converging trends, key challenges, and future research directions for real-world deployment of underwater swarm systems.</p
Requiring an Interpreter Influences Stroke Care and Outcomes for People With Aphasia During Inpatient Rehabilitation
No full textBACKGROUND: Communicative ability after stroke influences patient outcomes. Limited research has explored the impact of aphasia when it intersects with cultural or linguistic differences on receiving stroke care and patient outcomes. We investigated associations between requiring an interpreter and the provision of evidence-based stroke care and outcomes for people with aphasia in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. METHODS: Retrospective patient-level data from people with aphasia were aggregated from the Australian Stroke Foundation National Stroke Audit-Rehabilitation Services (2016-2020). Multivariable regression models compared adherence to processes of care (eg, home assessment complete, type of aphasia management) and in-hospital outcomes (eg, length of stay, discharge destination) by the requirement of an interpreter. Outcome models were adjusted for sex, stroke type, hospital size, year, and stroke severity factors. RESULTS: Among 3160 people with aphasia (median age, 76 years; 56% male), 208 (7%) required an interpreter (median age, 77 years; 52% male). The interpreter group had a more severe disability on admission, reflected by reduced cognitive (6% versus 12%, P=0.009) and motor Functional Independence Measure scores (6% versus 12%, P=0.010). The interpreter group were less likely to have phonological and semantic interventions for their aphasia (odds ratio, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.40-0.80]) compared with people not requiring an interpreter. They more often had a carer (68% versus 48%, P CONCLUSIONS: Some processes of care and outcomes differed in inpatient rehabilitation for people with poststroke aphasia who required an interpreter compared with those who did not. Equitable access to therapy is imperative and greater support for cultural/linguistic minorities during rehabilitation is indicated.</p
Utility of bronchoalveolar lavage in checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis evaluation: a narrative review
No full textBackground and Objective: Checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionised cancer treatment over the past few decades; however, their successes in clinical trials and real-world settings have been tempered by immune-related adverse events (IrAEs). Checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP), the leading cause of IrAE-related mortality, poses a significant challenge to clinicians due to non-specific clinical features and unpredictable disease trajectory. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a diagnostic procedure that offers insight into the immune and molecular processes underlying CIP. This review presents the current role and application of BAL in the evaluation of CIP, explores current literature, and discusses how recent advances in research and technology may shape future approaches to its diagnosis and management. Methods: A comprehensive literature search using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases was performed to identify recent literature evaluating BAL findings in CIP. This review synthesizes findings from these studies to provide an up to date and comprehensive overview of the role of BAL in CIP management. Key Content and Findings: Current guidelines recommend BAL in symptomatic patients when the diagnosis of CIP remains uncertain, primarily to exclude infection and other disease processes. However, the unpredictable clinical course of CIP narrows the window of opportunity to safely perform BAL. Variable utilisation of BAL in clinical practice may also be attributed to the lack of clinically reliable and applicable biomarkers that could improve diagnostic clarity. Beyond lymphocytosis, a well-recognised finding in BALs of patients with CIP, the role of specific immune cell populations and molecular drivers in shaping a proinflammatory microenvironment has been highlighted in multiple emerging studies. Advances in molecular profiling, immunogenomics, and lung microbiome research hold promise for enhancing our understanding of CIP pathogenesis and guiding future approaches to its diagnosis and management. Conclusions: In current clinical practice, BAL remains an important investigation to support a diagnosis of CIP; however, its diagnostic value remains uncertain. Enhanced understanding of the CIP immune landscape is fundamental to identifying robust diagnostic and predictive biomarkers that could improve diagnosis and patient outcomes in cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors.</p
Polynomially Superintegrable Hamiltonians Separating in Cartesian Coordinates
No full textThe problem of finding superintegrable Hamiltonians and their integrals of motion can be reduced to solving a series of compatibility equations that result from the overdetermination of the commutator or Poisson bracket relations. The computation of the compatibility equations requires a general formula for the coefficients, which in turn must depend on the potential to be solved for. This is in general a nonlinear problem and quite difficult. Thus, research has focused on dividing the classes of potential into standard and exotic ones so that a number of parameters may be set to zero and the coefficients may be obtained in a simpler setting. We have developed a new method in both the classical and quantum settings that allows a formula for the coefficients of the integral to be obtained without recourse to this division for Cartesian-separable Hamiltonians. The expressions we obtain are in general non-polynomial in the momenta whose fractional terms can be arbitrarily set to zero. These conditions are equivalent to the compatibility equations, but the only unknowns in addition to the potential are constant parameters. We also classify all the fourth-order standard superintegrable Hamiltonians.</p
From divergence to convergence: Russia and China's attitudes towards human rights in the 1990s
No full textNo description supplied</p
Exploring ‘family’ in paediatric intensive care family-centred-care research: A concept analysis
No full textObjectives: Family-Centred Care (FCC) is a cornerstone of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) care. While FCC is well defined, debate exists as to how ‘family’ is or should be defined. FCC research commonly focuses on parents, particularly mothers. To ensure PICU research represents all family members’ voices, understanding how family is currently used and understood within PICU research is required. Therefore, this systematic concept analysis explored the concept of ‘family’ within PICU FCC research. Methods: Following Rodgers’ Evolutionary Concept Analysis method, a systematic search of Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, OVID Medline, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, PsycINFO, and Nursing and Allied Health Database (ProQuest) was conducted in November 2023. All citations underwent two stage screening based on a pre-developed protocol. Data related to attributes, antecedents, and consequences were extracted and analysed using open coding. Results: Twenty-four articles were included. Attributes of ‘family’ in PICU FCC research included: Family characteristics; Recognition of adversity and vulnerability, and Evolving expectations of family. Antecedents included: A child in PICU; (Child)- and Family-Centred Care; and Hospital culture and environment. Consequences included impacts on delivery of care in PICU; and impact on PICU research. Conclusions: Despite addressing a range of important issues, FCC research in PICUs lacks a clear definition and operationalisation of the concept of ‘family’. This impacts on subsequent care and research design. Addressing this gap is key to developing an inclusive FCC culture in PICU research. Implications for clinical practice: A historically narrow definition of family means that most PICU family support is aimed at parents. To meet the needs of a changing society, clinical support services should consider extended family, including grandparents and siblings. More broadly, PICUs should challenge the definition and operationalisation of “family centred care” to ensure families are properly supported during a PICU admission.</p
Guiding Principles for Undertaking Strengths-Based Sexual Violence Research
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Model selection and validation 23 July 2024
No full textThis script accompanies the manuscript "New models for classifying heterogeneous cover types in wetlands of the Greater Melbourne region". It is the script used to validate models of wetland cover types across the Greater Melbourne region.</p