Optimising parent selection in plant breeding: comparing metaheuristic algorithms for genotype building.

Stacking desirable haplotypes across the genome to develop superior genotypes has been implemented in several crop species. A major challenge in Optimal Haplotype Selection is identifying a set of parents that collectively contain all desirable haplotypes, a complex combinatorial problem with countless possibilities. In this study, we evaluated the performance of metaheuristic search algorithms (MSAs)-genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimisation (PSO), and simulated annealing (SA) for optimising parent selection under two genotype building (GB) objectives: Optimal Haplotype Selection (OHS) and Optimal Population Value (OPV).

Untangling metabolic interactions of a nongrowing, hydrogen producing synthetic coculture through a multispecies metabolic flux analysis.

In this study a methodology to elucidate metabolic interactions that enhance hydrogen (H) production in cocultures under nongrowing conditions is presented. Core metabolic models of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Clostridium butyricum were integrated to perform a multispecies metabolic flux analysis (mMFA), constrained by experimentally measured yields. Flux distributions were clustered, and thermodynamically favorable solutions were identified.

Applying high-density surface EMG to the study of neuromuscular disorders: a systematic review.

Objective: High-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) is a non-invasive and quantitative tool for studying neuromuscular disorders, enabling assessments of muscle excitation, motor unit (MU) characteristics and firing patterns. This systematic review reports the published evidence on the clinical applications of HD-sEMG across neuromuscular disorders, identifying the range of disorders studied, indexes utilized, and gaps in the literature.

Methods: Systematic searches in PubMed and Scopus identified 200 studies, of which 55 met the inclusion criteria.

Atypical complications and co-morbidities of type 1 diabetes in young adults.

Aims: Our review aimed to determine the prevalence of - and factors associated with - hearing loss, oral and olfactory disease, frozen shoulder, trigger finger, and hair loss in young adults with type 1 diabetes. These conditions were selected based on research team interests, existing literature, and group discussion.

Methods: We conducted a quantitative narrative review using a systematic process to identify cohort and cross-sectional studies involving young adults with type 1 diabetes (mean age 18-30 years).

Haemodynamic characteristics of thin-walled regions in intracranial aneurysms: intraoperative imaging and CFD analysis.

Background: Identifying haemodynamic factors associated with thin-walled regions (TWRs) of intracranial aneurysms is critical for improving pre-surgical rupture risk assessment. Intraoperatively, these regions are visually distinguished by a red, translucent appearance and are considered highly rupture prone. However, current imaging modalities lack the resolution to detect such vulnerable areas preoperatively.

The role of low subcortical iron, white matter myelin, and oligodendrocytes in schizophrenia: a quantitative susceptibility mapping and diffusion tensor imaging study.

Iron-the most abundant magnetic brain substance-is essential for many biological processes, including dopamine and myelin synthesis. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) MRI has recently linked altered subcortical magnetic susceptibility (χ) to schizophrenia. Since χ is increased by iron and decreased by myelin, abnormal levels of either could underlie these QSM differences.

Cellular fibronectin exacerbates α-synuclein aggregation via integrin alpha4beta1 mediated PARP1 and SCD elevation.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and lipid metabolic disturbance may promote pathologic α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation, accelerating the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Whether extracellular matrices are associated with those pathological mechanisms in PD remains elusive. Here, we aimed to identify if cellular fibronectin (cFn), a component of extracellular matrices, contributes to α-syn abnormality via inducing mitochondrial energy depletion or disrupting lipid homeostasis.

In vitro formation and growth of glycogen: experimental verification of theoretical predictions.

Glycogen is a complex branched glucose polymer that serves as energy reservoir in animals and some bacteria; it has also been synthesized in vitro. It comprises small β particles linked in large aggregates termed α particles. Theory, based on the evolutionary processes which cause these particles to be formed, suggests that if all ingredients for in vitro particle synthesis were added to a suspension of α particles, then these will grow to a steady-state size distribution, after which new particles will be formed.

Mepolizumab treatment and reduced oral corticosteroid exposure improves symptoms of depression and anxiety in severe eosinophilic asthma: data from the Australian Mepolizumab Registry.

Background: The benefits of oral corticosteroid (OCS) stewardship approaches -including monoclonal antibody treatments for severe asthma- on reducing toxic OCS exposure and related comorbidities such as depression and anxiety require real-world evaluation.

Methods: This real-world observational study investigated OCS exposure and associated complications over 24 months in patients enrolled in the Australian Mepolizumab Registry (n=412).

Results: Patients were median age 59 years, 58% were female.

A novel peptidoglycan deacetylase modulates daughter cell separation in E. coli.

Peptidoglycan hydrolases facilitate bacterial cell wall growth by creating space for insertion of new material and allowing physical separation of daughter cells. In Escherichia coli, three peptidoglycan amidases, AmiA, AmiB and AmiC, cleave septal peptidoglycan during cell division. The LytM-domain proteins EnvC, NlpD and ActS activate these amidases either from inside the cell or the outer membrane: EnvC binds to the cytoplasmic membrane-anchored divisome components FtsEX, while NlpD and ActS are outer membrane-anchored lipoproteins.

International Network of Antibiotic Allergy Nations (iNAAN): Protocol for a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation multicentre prospective cohort and target trial emulation study evaluating penicillin allergy delabeling via direct oral challenge.

Background: Penicillin allergies are reported in 1 in 10 hospitalised patients globally and are associated with inferior patient and health service outcomes. However, more than 95% of low-risk penicillin allergies can be removed by direct oral challenge (DOC).

Objective: The International Network of Antibiotic Allergy Nations (iNAAN) aims to evaluate the utility of an audit and feedback (A&F) and education implementation strategy to increase the adoption of penicillin DOC in patients with a low-risk penicillin allergy, while concurrently assessing the impact of penicillin DOC on antibiotic prescribing and health service outcomes.

Working across religions, cultures, settings, and development: Protocol for wave 2 data collection with children and parents by the developing belief network.

The Developing Belief Network is a global research collaborative studying religious development in diverse social-cultural settings, with a focus on the intersection of cognitive mechanisms and cultural beliefs and practices in early and middle childhood. The current manuscript describes the study protocol for the network's second wave of data collection, which aims to further explore the development and diversity of religious cognition and behavior using a multi-time point approach. This protocol is designed to investigate three key research questions-how children represent and reason about religious and supernatural agents, how children represent and reason about religion as an aspect of social identity, and how religious and supernatural beliefs are transmitted within and between generations-via a set of eight tasks for children between the ages of 5 and 13 years and a survey completed by their parents/caregivers.

Chemsex: Associations with Sexual, Psychosocial and Social Health in Australian Gay and Bisexual Men.

Introduction: Chemsex, the use of psychoactive substances to enhance sexual experience, is most prominent in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). This study explores the prevalence of chemsex in Australian GBMSM ( = 632) and its associations with psychosexual and psychosocial health.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted.

Barriers and enablers to hearing service provision in aged care settings in Australia: perspectives from hearing clinicians.

Objective: To explore the barriers and enablers hearing clinicians face providing services for people in home and residential aged care settings in Australia.

Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Behaviour model (COM-B). Deductive and inductive qualitative analysis were applied using Braun and Clarke's method.

Active upper-limb therapies for hand function, individual goal achievement, and self-care in children with cerebral palsy: A network meta-analysis.

Aim: To compare active upper-limb therapies for children with cerebral palsy using a network meta-analysis.

Method: For this systematic review, five electronic databases were searched up to 2nd September 2024. Outcomes pertaining to improved hand use (Assisting Hand Assessment, AHA), goal attainment (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, COPM), and self-care were analysed with therapies classified into 15 discrete categories.

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality on Pain During Peripheral Intravenous Catheterization in the Emergency Room: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality in reducing pain and procedure-related distress during peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion in children. A 2-arm, randomized, parallel-group clinical trial compared virtual reality with standard care. Children aged 4 to 14 years requiring an elective PIVC were randomly assigned (1:1) to virtual reality with a relaxing ocean film (intervention group) or standard care (control group).

Acclimation of mango (Mangifera indica cv. Calypso) to canopy light gradients - scaling from leaf to canopy.

Mango (Mangifera indica), a leading tropical fruit crop, is a prime candidate for intensification through modern orchard-management techniques, including canopy manipulation to improve light interception. This study investigated how leaf-level acclimation to light gradients within the canopy of a high-yield, dwarfing mango cultivar (Calypso™) could be used to examine integrated canopy-scale responses. We quantified foliar morphological, biochemical, and physiological traits across a range of canopy positions using this information to model canopy-scale productivity within digital-twin representations of mango under both conventional (i.

Working towards affordable healthy diets: a review on innovations in food price monitoring, policy and research in Australia and beyond.

Healthy diets are unaffordable for billions of people worldwide, with food prices rising in high-, middle- and low-income nations in recent times. Despite widespread attention to this issue, recent actions taken to inform policy prioritisation and government responses to high food inflation have not been comprehensively synthesised. Our review summarises (i) innovative efforts to monitor national food and healthy diet price, ii) new policy responses adopted by governments to address food inflation and (iii) future research directions to inform new evidence.

Meta-Analytic Review of the Short-Term Effects of Media Exposure on Children's Attention and Executive Functions.

There are long-held concerns regarding the impact of screen media on children's cognitive development. In particular, fast pace and fantastical events have been theorized to deplete children's cognitive resources, leading to reductions in their attention and executive functions (EF). To date, however, empirical tests of short-term effects of media pace and fantasy on children's cognition have yielded mixed findings.

Immunometabolism: The role of gut-derived microbial metabolites in optimising immune response during checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is the most common type of immunotherapy used in the clinical setting, however, there are significant obstacles with treatment resistance and cancer progression. Since its introduction, there have been relatively few advances in the development of prognostic or predictive biomarkers. The field of metabolomics studies small molecules and can provide us with an understanding of the dynamic events evolving during the tumour-drug-immune-system interaction.

Surface modification of polycaprolactone with sulfated alginate for enhanced binding of a heparin-binding protein.

Surface modification of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) to facilitate interactions with high pI proteins is a strategy used to enhance 3D PCL scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. The approach of the current study was to firstly optimise the surface modification on 2D films and then apply to 3D scaffolds. Melt-pressed PCL films were grafted with 2-aminoethyl methacrylate gamma radiation induced grafting to introduce amine functional groups to the substrate surfaces.

Pushing limits: the acute effects of a heavy-load resistance protocol and supine exercise on fetal well-being.

Objectives: To explore the acute effects of a heavy-load resistance protocol and exercise in the supine position on fetal heart rate (FHR) and uteroplacental blood flow.

Method: In this experimental laboratory study, 48 healthy pregnant athletes (elite: n=7; recreational: n=41) completed 3×8 repetitions with one repetition in reserve in sumo deadlift, bench press and incline bench press. FHR and umbilical and uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) were assessed before and after exercise.

Double Nanofoaming Enhanced Interfacial Polymerization toward Ultra-High-Performance Nanofiltration Membranes.

Polyamide (PA) nanofiltration (NF) membranes represent a promising approach to safe drinking water production. Yet, selective removal of contaminants while retaining essential minerals remains a critical challenge for cost-effective water treatment processes. Here, we employed ammonia bicarbonate (AB) as an economical additive to modify interfacial polymerization (IP) for developing high-performance NF membranes suitable for drinking water applications.