Collective oscillatory signaling in Dictyosteliumdiscoideum acts as a developmental timer initiated by weak coupling of a noisy pulsatile signal.

Oscillatory phenomena play widespread roles in the control of biological systems. In D. discoideum, oscillatory cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling drives collective behavior and induces a temporal developmental gene expression program.

Barriers to Postdischarge Smartphone App Use Among Patients With Traumatic Rib Fractures.

Rib fractures commonly result from traumatic injury and often require hospitalization for pain control and supportive pulmonary care. Although the use of mobile health technology to share patient-generated health data has increased, it remains limited in patients with traumatic injuries. We sought to assess the feasibility of mobile health tracking in patients with rib fractures by using a smartphone app to monitor postdischarge recovery.

A novel class of insecticidal alkylsulfones are potent inhibitors of vesicular acetylcholine transport.

Pyridine alkylsulfone derivatives typified by oxazosulfyl (Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd.) and compound A2 (Syngenta) represent a new class of insecticides, with potent activity against several insect orders. Whilst the MOA of this class has been attributed to interaction with the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC), here we present strong evidence that their toxicity to insects is mediated primarily through inhibition of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT).

Barriers and facilitators to parents' engagement with and perceived impact of a childhood obesity app: A mixed-methods study.

Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern. Although mobile health apps have the potential to deliver behavioural interventions, their impact is commonly limited by a lack of sufficient engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to engagement with a family-focused app and its perceived impact on motivation, self-efficacy, and behaviour.

Functional mechanism study of the allelochemical myrigalone A identifies a group of ultrapotent inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis in plants.

Allelochemicals represent a class of natural products released by plants as root, leaf, and fruit exudates that interfere with the growth and survival of neighboring plants. Understanding how allelochemicals function to regulate plant responses may provide valuable new approaches to better control plant function. One such allelochemical, Myrigalone A (MyA) produced by Myrica gale, inhibits seed germination and seedling growth through an unknown mechanism.

Patient and Public Willingness to Share Personal Health Data for Third-Party or Secondary Uses: Systematic Review.

Background: International advances in information communication, eHealth, and other digital health technologies have led to significant expansions in the collection and analysis of personal health data. However, following a series of high-profile data sharing scandals and the emergence of COVID-19, critical exploration of public willingness to share personal health data remains limited, particularly for third-party or secondary uses.

Objective: This systematic review aims to explore factors that affect public willingness to share personal health data for third-party or secondary uses.

Walk a mile in my shoes: perspectives towards sharing of health and experience data among individuals living with sickle cell disorder.

Background: Advancements in digital health technologies (DHTs) mean people are increasingly recording and managing personal health data. As observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing of such data may provide unrivalled opportunities in advancing our understanding of conditions otherwise poorly understood, including rare conditions.

Methods: A semi-structured focus group (n=25) explored perspectives and experiences of sharing health data among those with a group of rare haematological conditions, sickle cell disorder (SCD).

Balance of activity during a critical period tunes a developing network.

Developing neural circuits are influenced by activity and are especially sensitive to changes in activity during critical periods (CPs) of development. Changes occurring during a CP often become 'locked in' so that they affect the mature network. Indeed, several neurodevelopmental disorders have been linked to excessive activity during such periods.

Puckered and JNK signaling in pioneer neurons coordinates the motor activity of the Drosophila embryo.

Central nervous system organogenesis is a complex process that obeys precise architectural rules. The impact that nervous system architecture may have on its functionality remains, however, relatively unexplored. To clarify this problem, we analyze the development of the Drosophila embryonic Ventral Nerve Cord (VNC).

Association Between the Characteristics of mHealth Apps and User Input During Development and Testing: Secondary Analysis of App Assessment Data.

Background: User involvement is increasingly acknowledged as a central part of health care innovation. However, meaningful user involvement during the development and testing of mobile health apps is often not fully realized.

Objective: This study aims to examine in which areas user input is most prevalent and whether there is an association between user inclusion and compliance with best practices for mobile health apps.

Multi-modal deformation and temperature sensing for context-sensitive machines.

Owing to the remarkable properties of the somatosensory system, human skin compactly perceives myriad forms of physical stimuli with high precision. Machines, conversely, are often equipped with sensory suites constituted of dozens of unique sensors, each made for detecting limited stimuli. Emerging high degree-of-freedom human-robot interfaces and soft robot applications are delimited by the lack of simple, cohesive, and information-dense sensing technologies.

Spikebot: A Multigait Tensegrity Robot with Linearly Extending Struts.

Numerous recent research efforts have leveraged networks of rigid struts and flexible cables, called tensegrity structures, to create highly resilient and packable mobile robots. However, the locomotion of existing tensegrity robots is limited in terms of both speed and number of distinct locomotion modes, restricting the environments that a robot is capable of exploring. In this study, we present a tensegrity robot inspired by the volumetric expansion of Tetraodontidae.

Loneliness and social networks of older adults in rural communities: a narrative synthesis systematic review.

Introduction: Loneliness has significant impacts on the health of older adults. Social networks help to improve psychosocial and quality of life outcomes among older adults. A fifth of older adults live in rural communities, where geographic isolation poses challenges to health.

Ca1.4 congenital stationary night blindness is associated with an increased rate of proteasomal degradation.

Pathogenic, generally loss-of-function, variants in , encoding the Ca1.4α calcium channel, underlie congenital stationary night blindness type 2 (CSNB2), a rare inherited retinal disorder associated with visual disability. To establish the underlying pathomechanism, we investigated 10 clinically derived missense variants located across pore-forming domains, connecting loops, and the carboxy-tail domain of the Ca1.

A Targeted, Low-Throughput Compound Screen in a Model of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Identifies Simvastatin and BMS-204352 as Potential Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition for which there are no pharmacological therapies that effectively target its core symptomatology. Animal models of syndromic forms of ASD, such as neurofibromatosis type 1, may be of use in screening for such treatments. larvae lacking expression exhibit tactile hypersensitivity following mechanical stimulation, proposed to mirror the sensory sensitivity issues comprising part of the ASD diagnostic criteria.

Attitudes Toward Personal Health Data Sharing Among People Living With Sickle Cell Disorder, Exemplar for Study of Rare Disease Populations.

Purpose: Rare conditions are often poorly understood, creating barriers in determining the value treatments can provide. This study explored barriers and facilitators to personal health data sharing among those with one particular group of rare hematologic disorders, ie, sickle cell disorder (SCD) and its variants.

Methods: A single online focus group among those >18 years of age and living with SCD was conducted.

Programming 3D Curves with Discretely Constrained Cylindrical Inflatables.

Programming inflatable systems to deform to desired 3D shapes opens up multifarious applications in robotics, morphing architecture, and interventional medicine. This work elicits complex deformations by attaching discrete strain limiters to cylindrical hyperelastic inflatables. Using this system, a method is presented to solve the inverse problem of programming myriad 3D centerline curves upon inflation.

Facial recognition lock technology for social care settings: A qualitative evaluation of implementation of facial recognition locks at two residential care sites.

Background: There is limited literature on security and access for social care settings despite policy highlighting importance, and no published research exploring facial recognition lock technology (FRLT) for potential improvements. This study explored FRLT device implementation, use, barriers and benefits.

Methods: One residential care home with 43 older adults and 68 staff members (Site A), and one supported living facility caring for six individuals with mental health issues with 18 staff members (Site B) were provided with FRLT for six months.

Essential elements of radical pair magnetosensitivity in Drosophila.

Many animals use Earth's magnetic field (also known as the geomagnetic field) for navigation. The favoured mechanism for magnetosensitivity involves a blue-light-activated electron-transfer reaction between flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and a chain of tryptophan residues within the photoreceptor protein CRYPTOCHROME (CRY). The spin-state of the resultant radical pair, and therefore the concentration of CRY in its active state, is influenced by the geomagnetic field.

Critical periods in neural network development: Importance to network tuning and therapeutic potential.

Critical periods are phases of heightened plasticity that occur during the development of neural networks. Beginning with pioneering work of Hubel and Wiesel, which identified a critical period for the formation of ocular dominance in mammalian visual network connectivity, critical periods have been identified for many circuits, both sensory and motor, and across phyla, suggesting a universal phenomenon. However, a key unanswered question remains why these forms of plasticity are restricted to specific developmental periods rather than being continuously present.

Loss of in Larvae Causes Tactile Hypersensitivity and Impaired Synaptic Transmission at the Neuromuscular Junction.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition in which the mechanisms underlying its core symptomatology are largely unknown. Studying animal models of monogenic syndromes associated with ASD, such as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), can offer insights into its etiology. Here, we show that loss of function of the ortholog results in tactile hypersensitivity following brief mechanical stimulation in the larva (mixed sexes), paralleling the sensory abnormalities observed in individuals with ASD.

Multi-environment robotic transitions through adaptive morphogenesis.

The current proliferation of mobile robots spans ecological monitoring, warehouse management and extreme environment exploration, to an individual consumer's home. This expanding frontier of applications requires robots to transit multiple environments, a substantial challenge that traditional robot design strategies have not effectively addressed. For example, biomimetic design-copying an animal's morphology, propulsion mechanism and gait-constitutes one approach, but it loses the benefits of engineered materials and mechanisms that can be exploited to surpass animal performance.