Evaluation of a casein glycomacropeptide-based protein substitute, in the dietary management of NTBC-induced tyrosinaemia in patients with alkaptonuria: A prospective open-label study.

Background: 2-(2-Nitro-4-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)-1,3-cyclohexanedione (NTBC) treatment of alkaptonuria (AKU) leads to increased blood tyrosine levels, causing skin issues and potentially sight-threatening corneal keratopathy. Adherence to dietary management of NTBC-induced tyrosinemia, a low-protein diet with or without protein substitutes, can be difficult for patients. This 28-day interventional study evaluated a low tyrosine casein glycomacropeptide (cGMP) protein substitute (TYR sphere)®, a 20 g protein equivalent, cGMP-based protein substitute, in terms of adherence, palatability, usability, comparison to amino acid (AA)-based protein substitutes, gastrointestinal tolerance and metabolic control in adults with NTBC-induced tyrosinaemia.

Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare, Ethics, and Behavior.

This Special Issue of was launched to promote the discussion of how animal welfare can be best addressed in zoos and aquariums while accommodating conservation needs, as well as how further improvements can be made in a similar vein to how medical and scientific research has advanced human health and welfare [...

No change in substance use disorders or overdose after implementation of state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Background: Inadequate income is associated with higher likelihood of experiencing a substance use disorder (SUD). This study tests whether the earned income tax credit (EITC), which issues supplemental income for workers with children in the U.S.

Training the Concept of Innovate in Dolphins () Is Both Creative and Cognitively Stimulating.

Creative or novel behaviors in bottlenose dolphins () can be indicators of flexible thinking and problem solving. Over 50 years ago, two rough-tooth dolphins demonstrated creative novel behaviors acquired through reinforcement training in human care. Since this novel training, a variety of species have been trained to respond to this conceptual cue.

Graphene-Based Analog of Single-Slit Electron Diffraction.

This work reports the experimental demonstration of single-slit diffraction exhibited by electrons propagating in encapsulated graphene with an effective de Broglie wavelength corresponding to their attributes as massless Dirac fermions. Nanometer-scale device designs were implemented to fabricate a single-slit followed by five detector paths. Predictive calculations were also utilized to readily understand the observations reported.

"Cooooooommmmmmmeeeeeeeee heeeerrrrrreeeee . . . . Momma dolphin has something to say".

Mother dolphins shift their signature whistles to higher frequencies and have larger bandwidths when calling to their dependent calves during separations involving stranded health assessments compared with separations when the calf is absent. While this shift may reflect a version of "child-directed communication," more research is needed to understand the parameters and function of this phenomenon.

Bivalent and Monovalent SARS-CoV-2 Variant Vaccine Boosters Improve coverage of the known Antigenic Landscape: Results of the COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) Trial.

Vaccine protection against COVID-19 wanes over time and has been impacted by the emergence of new variants with increasing escape of neutralization. The COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) randomized clinical trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT05289037) compares the breadth, magnitude and durability of antibody responses induced by a second COVID-19 vaccine boost with mRNA (Moderna mRNA-1273 and Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2), or adjuvanted recombinant protein (Sanofi CoV2 preS DTM-AS03) monovalent or bivalent vaccine candidates targeting ancestral and variant SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens (Beta, Delta and Omicron BA.

Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in the association between higher state minimum wages and health and mental well-being in US adults with low educational attainment.

Background: To date, research evaluating the association between minimum wage and health has been heterogenous and varies based on the specific subpopulation or health outcomes under evaluation while associations across racial, ethnic, and gender identities have been understudied.

Methods: A triple difference-in-differences strategy using modified Poisson regression was used to evaluate the associations between minimum wage and obesity, hypertension, fair or poor general health, and moderate psychological distress in 25-64-year-old adults with a high school education/GED or less. Data from the 1999-2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamics was linked to state policies and characteristics to estimate the risk ratio (RR) associated with a $1 increase in current and 2-year lagged state minimum wages overall and by race, ethnicity, and gender (non-Hispanic or non-Latino (NH) White men, NH White women, Black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) men, and BIPOC women) adjusting for individual and state-level confounding.

Cumulative Payments Through the Earned Income Tax Credit Program in Childhood and Criminal Conviction During Adolescence in the US.

Importance: Childhood poverty is associated with poor health and behavioral outcomes. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), first implemented in 1975, is the largest cash transfer program for working families with low income in the US.

Objective: To assess whether cumulative EITC payments received during childhood are associated with the risk of criminal conviction during adolescence.

Cetacean responses to violation of expectation paradigm in a free-swim context.

The investigation of individual responses to unexpected stimuli or outcomes provides insights into basic cognitive processes, such as mental representations, emotional states of surprise, and detections of anomalies. Three experiments using a violation of expectation paradigm were conducted with 12 belugas and 17 bottlenose dolphins in managed care to test two classes of stimuli (humans and objects) in manipulated sequences of familiar and unfamiliar humans (Study 1, trainers and strangers), familiar and unfamiliar objects (Study 2, typical enrichment devices and new objects), and finally objects and humans (Study 3). Gaze durations were assessed for each condition in a given study during free-swim contexts.

Killer whale innovation: teaching animals to use their creativity upon request.

Thinking flexibly is a skill that enables animals to adapt to changing environments, which enhances survival. Killer whales, Orcinus orca, as the ocean apex predator display a number of complex cognitive abilities, especially flexible thinking or creativity when it comes to foraging. In human care, smaller dolphins and other marine mammals have been trained to think creatively while under stimulus control.

Earned Income Tax Credit and Youth Violence: Findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

Family- and neighborhood-level poverty are associated with youth violence. Economic policies may address this risk factor by reducing parental stress and increasing opportunities. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest cash transfer program in the US providing support to low-income working families.

Investigation of lateralization of socio-sexual behavior in belugas (Delphinapterus leucas).

The majority of cetacean research suggests a right side/left cerebral hemisphere bias for processing visuospatial information and a left side/right cerebral hemisphere bias for processing social information. Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) socio-sexual behavior involves motor skills coordination and is also hypothesized to serve a social function. The present study assessed whether 14 belugas in managed care displayed side bias in their lateral socio-sexual presentation behavior.

SARS-CoV-2 Variant Vaccine Boosters Trial: Preliminary Analyses.

Background: Protection from SARS-CoV-2 vaccines wanes over time and is compounded by emerging variants including Omicron subvariants. This study evaluated safety and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 variant vaccines.

Methods: This phase 2 open-label, randomized trial enrolled healthy adults previously vaccinated with a SARS-CoV-2 primary series and a single boost.

Income support policies and firearm violence prevention: A scoping review.

Firearm violence is a major threat to global public health and safety. Several individual, family, peer, community, and societal risk and protective factors determine or modify the risk of firearm violence. Specifically, there is a strong relationship between poverty, income inequality, and firearm violence; as such, interventions that influence upstream determinants of health by providing income support may hold much promise in affecting multiple domains of risk that are on the causal pathway to firearm violence.

Short-Term Effects of Tax Credits on Rates of Child Maltreatment Reports in the United States.

Objectives: Poverty and low income are associated with increased risk for child maltreatment. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) are among the largest antipoverty programs in the United States. We estimated associations between income transfer payments via the EITC and CTC and child maltreatment reports in the period shortly after families receive payments from these programs.

Computational Methods for Charge Density Waves in 2D Materials.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials that exhibit charge density waves (CDWs)-spontaneous reorganization of their electrons into a periodic modulation-have generated many research endeavors in the hopes of employing their exotic properties for various quantum-based technologies. Early investigations surrounding CDWs were mostly focused on bulk materials. However, applications for quantum devices require few-layer materials to fully utilize the emergent phenomena.

MAS-1, a novel water-in-oil adjuvant/delivery system, with reduced seasonal influenza vaccine hemagglutinin dose may enhance potency, durability and cross-reactivity of antibody responses in the elderly.

Background: Increased influenza vaccine efficacy is needed in the elderly at high-risk for morbidity and mortality due to influenza infection. Adjuvants may allow hemagglutinin (HA) dose-sparing with enhanced immunogenicity. MAS-1 is an investigational water-in-oil emulsion-based adjuvant/delivery system comprised of stable nanoglobular aqueous droplets.

A phase 1 dose-sparing, randomized clinical trial of seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine combined with MAS-1, a novel water-in-oil adjuvant/delivery system.

Background: New influenza vaccines are needed to increase vaccine efficacy. Adjuvants may allow hemagglutinin (HA) dose-sparing with enhanced immunogenicity. MAS-1 is an investigational low viscosity, free-flowing, water-in-oil emulsion-based adjuvant/delivery system comprised of stable nanoglobular aqueous droplets.

State earned income tax credits and depression and alcohol misuse among women with children.

About 30% of single mothers in the US live at or below the poverty line. Poverty is associated with higher risk of depression and substance use. We investigated associations between state earned income tax credit (EITC) policies and reported depressive symptoms and alcohol misuse among birthing parents who responded to Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey spanning 1990-2017.

Cetacean Acoustic Welfare in Wild and Managed-Care Settings: Gaps and Opportunities.

Cetaceans are potentially at risk of poor welfare due to the animals' natural reliance on sound and the persistent nature of anthropogenic noise, especially in the wild. Industrial, commercial, and recreational human activity has expanded across the seas, resulting in a propagation of sound with varying frequency characteristics. In many countries, current regulations are based on the potential to induce hearing loss; however, a more nuanced approach is needed when shaping regulations, due to other non-hearing loss effects including activation of the stress response, acoustic masking, frequency shifts, alterations in behavior, and decreased foraging.