Density-dependent network structuring within and across wild animal systems.

Theory predicts that high population density leads to more strongly connected spatial and social networks, but how local density drives individuals' positions within their networks is unclear. This gap reduces our ability to understand and predict density-dependent processes. Here we show that density drives greater network connectedness at the scale of individuals within wild animal populations.

Evaluating Megacity Resilience to Pandemics: The Case of China.

Megacities' inherent complexity and dense populations heighten vulnerability to health crises, necessitating pandemic resilience research. This study pioneers a tailored resilience assessment framework for pandemic-facing megacities, building upon a refined Tyler and Moench urban resilience model. Applying grey correlation-technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology and barrier diagnosis modeling, we evaluated eight Chinese megacities.

Modifiable risk factors for lower-extremity injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the Female, Woman and Girl Athlete Injury Prevention (FAIR) consensus.

Objective: Examine potentially modifiable risk factors (MRFs) for female/woman/girl athletes' lower-extremity injuries.

Design: Systematic review with meta- or semiquantitative analyses and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane Systematic Review Database, CENTRAL, SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, ERIC searched 30 October or 23 November 2023.

Maternal Distress in Pregnancies After Previous Fetal Anomaly: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Objective: To assess mental health throughout pregnancy among women with a history of diagnosis of fetal anomaly.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Tertiary referral centre for fetal medicine.

Does online information about hormone replacement therapy (or menopause hormone therapy) reflect indications from the British National Formulary and guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: a cross-sectional study of UK media.

Objectives: To describe: (1) the most visible information (from individuals or organisations) on UK social media regarding hormone replacement therapy (HRT)/menopause hormone treatment for menopause; (2) claims made by these sources for HRT and testosterone outwith the indications specified by the British National Formulary (BNF) and the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (ie, vasomotor instability, vaginal dryness, low mood associated with the menopause and, for testosterone, low libido after treatment with HRT) and for use for the prevention of future ill health and (3) conflicts of interest of commentators.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Online references to HRT, for use in menopause, in UK online media, comprising Facebook, Google, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, 30 top ranked hits between 1 January 2022 and 1 June 2023 and Twitter (X) up to 1 May 2024.

Experiences of Adult Informal Caregivers in Palliative Care Provision for Persons with Advanced Cancer: A Meta-synthesis.

Context: Cancer diagnoses are increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Diagnoses often occur at a late stage in the disease, hampering the timely initiation of palliative care. The lack of formalised palliative care provision in the region results in informal caregivers assuming most of the caregiving roles for patients.

Competing coalitions in alcohol policymaking in Malawi: a retrospective case study analysis of the alcohol sachet ban.

Background: Harmful alcohol consumption has significant public health implications across Africa and disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. In Malawi, the emergence of alcohol sachets - small, affordable plastic packets containing high-strength spirits - and their consumption, has raised substantial public health concerns. In particular, the resulting access and consumption amongst young people, led to a ban on those products by the Malawi Government in 2017.

Unlocking the blueprint to eliminating neglected tropical diseases: A review of efforts in 50 countries that have eliminated at least 1 NTD.

Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of 21 diseases affecting approximately 1.5 billion people globally. Significant progress has been made in their control: by March 2024, 50 countries had eliminated at least one NTD, with 13 of these countries eliminating at least two.

Increasing Sea Surface Temperatures Driving Widespread Tropicalization in South Atlantic Pelagic Fisheries.

Ocean warming is leading to a tropicalization of fisheries in subtropical regions around the world. Here, we scrutinize pelagic fisheries catch data from 1978 to 2018 in the South Atlantic Ocean in search of signs of tropicalization in these highly migratory and top-of-the-food-chain fish. Through the analysis of catch composition data, thermal preferences, and climatic data, we described the temporal variability in the mean temperature of the catch and assessed the role of sea surface temperature and the Brazil Current's transport volumes as drivers of such variability.

Functional Thoracic MRI: Recent Advances in Pulmonary Assessment.

Functional thoracic MRI provides regional assessment of the three principal components of lung function: ventilation, perfusion, and gas exchange. It offers advantages over pulmonary function tests like spirometry, which yield only global measurements. MRI enables comprehensive evaluation of respiratory mechanics, including chest wall and diaphragm motion, dynamic large airway instability, and lung ventilation using various contrast mechanisms and gas agents.

The assessment and management of patients with type 2 myocardial infarction: an international Delphi study.

Aims: Type 2 myocardial infarction due to myocardial oxygen supply-demand imbalance is associated with poor outcomes. There are no guidelines to inform care for these patients. The consensus on the assessment and management of type 2 myocardial infarction is gained.

Characterisation of the Historic Demographic Decline of the British European Polecat Population.

The European polecat (Mustela putorius) has a widespread distribution across many countries of mainland Europe but is documented to be declining within these ranges. In Britain, direct persecution led to a severe decline of the polecat population during the 19th century. Unlike European mainland populations, it is now recovering across much of its former British range.

Fuelling aortic stenosis: the integral role of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3-mediated glycolysis in Lp(a)-induced valve inflammation.

Aims: Calcific aortic valve disease is the most common valvular heart disease characterized by an inflammatory response in the leaflets followed by fibro-calcific remodelling of valvular interstitial cells (VICs). Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a well-recognized risk factor for CAVD, however the role of metabolism in driving Lp(a)-induced inflammation remains largely elusive. Therefore, we aim to investigate the role of Lp(a) in driving inflammatory and metabolic changes in VICs and examine how alterations in cellular metabolism can alter their inflammatory phenotype.

Alternative splicing drives a dynamic transcriptomic response during programmed cell death.

Programmed cell death (PCD) in unicellular organisms is not well characterized. This study investigated the transcriptomic response of to G418-induced PCD, focusing on the role of alternative splicing (AS). RNA sequencing revealed extensive transcriptional changes, affecting approximately 70% of annotated genes over six hours of treatment.

Experimental signatures of interstitial electron density in transparent dense sodium.

The transparent 4 phase of dense sodium (Na), stable above 200 GPa, has been computed to be an electride in which valence electrons are localised on interstitial lattice sites within the structure. However, there is no experimental evidence for this interstitial electron localisation in Na, or indeed in other high-density electride phases. Using static compression and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques, we have grown and studied a single-crystal sample of Na in the 4 phase at 223 GPa.

Silicate precursor silane detected in cold low-metallicity brown dwarf.

Within 20 pc of the Sun, there are currently 29 known cold brown dwarfs-sources with measured distances and an estimated effective temperature between that of Jupiter (170 K) and approximately 500 K (ref. ). These sources are almost all isolated and are the closest laboratories we have for detailed atmospheric studies of giant planets formed outside the Solar System.

Discovery of core genes for systemic lupus erythematosus via genome-wide aggregated trans-effects analysis.

The "omnigenic" hypothesis postulates that the polygenic effects of common variants on a typical complex trait coalesce on relatively few core genes through trans-effects on their expression. Our aim was to identify core genes for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by testing for association with genome-wide aggregated trans-effects (GATE) scores for gene expression in a large genetic dataset (5267/4909 SLE cases/controls). SLE was strongly associated with upregulation of expression of eight interferon-stimulated genes driven by shared trans-effects.

Challenges in reducing the 10-item CARE measure to a two-item version: comparison of patients' preferences with psychometric evaluation in a cross-sectional survey in Scotland.

Background: The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure is a widely used 10-item measure to assess patients' perceptions of physician empathy. Takahashi et al.'s (2022) recent study proposed a two-item version based on psychometric evaluation of survey responses, without considering patient preferences.

Has the new Scottish GP contract improved GPs' working lives in deprived areas? A secondary analysis of two cross-sectional national surveys of GPs' views in 2018 and 2023.

Background: The new 2018 Scottish GP contract aimed to reduce GP workload and address health inequalities in primary care.

Aim: To compare the working life experiences of GPs working in affluent and deprived areas in 2023, and assess changes since 2018.

Design & Setting: Two postal surveys were conducted in 2018 (=2465, 56% response rate) and 2023 (=1378, 30% response rate), of all qualified GPs in Scotland.

Delivering public health advice to sign language users: a qualitative study with key stakeholders.

Objectives: There are more than 10 million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK. While the deaf and hard of hearing population is heterogeneous, many of those with profound hearing loss are part of deaf communities (UK estimate around 120 000) which are defined minority communities. Many members of deaf communities are sign language users.

Developing a machine learning prediction model for postpartum psychiatric admission: Findings from the born in Queensland study.

Background: We utilised novel prenatal depression screening data in a population sample to develop a machine learning-based prediction model for postpartum psychiatric admissions.

Methods: We used health administrative data from Queensland, Australia, containing 945 clinical and demographic variables for 205,495 pregnancies between July 2015 and January 2021. Two machine learning algorithms, gradient-boosted trees and elastic net regularisation, were compared to predict postpartum psychiatric admissions occurring within 12 months of neonatal discharge.

Parent reports of eating behaviour and feeding practices: effects of parent and child sex.

Research on parental feeding practices has focused on mothers, often overlooking fathers' perspectives and the influence of child sex. This study examined (1) differences between fathers' and mothers' own eating behaviours, their use of feeding practices, and perceptions of their children's eating behaviours, and (2) the role of child sex in these perceptions and practices. Parents (N = 784; 145 fathers and 639 mothers) of preschoolers (3-5 years, 51.

Ancient host-associated microbes obtained from mammoth remains.

Ancient genomic studies have extensively explored human-microbial interactions, yet research on non-human animals remains limited. In this study, we analyzed ancient microbial DNA from 483 mammoth remains spanning over 1 million years, including 440 newly sequenced and unpublished samples from a 1.1-million-year-old steppe mammoth.