A new species-group in Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) takes shape.

Two new species of Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) are described: C. safavii Popovici & Talamas, sp. nov.

A Potent, Selective, Small-Molecule Inhibitor of DHX9 Abrogates Proliferation of Microsatellite Instable Cancers with Deficient Mismatch Repair.

DHX9 is a multifunctional DExH-box RNA helicase with important roles in the regulation of transcription, translation, and maintenance of genome stability. Elevated expression of DHX9 is evident in multiple cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Microsatellite instable-high (MSI-H) tumors with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) display a strong dependence on DHX9, making this helicase an attractive target for oncology drug discovery.

Autoantibodies immuno-mechanically modulate platelet contractile force and bleeding risk.

Altered mechanotransduction has been proposed as a putative mechanism for disease pathophysiology, yet evidence remains scarce. Here we introduce a concept we call single cell immuno-mechanical modulation, which links immunology, integrin biology, cellular mechanics, and disease pathophysiology and symptomology. Using a micropatterned hydrogel-laden coverslip compatible with standard fluorescence microscopy, we conduct a clinical mechanobiology study, specifically focusing on immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoantibody-mediated platelet disorder that currently lacks a reliable biomarker for bleeding risk.

Fighting to thrive via plant growth regulators: Green chemical strategies for drought stress tolerance.

As global climate change intensifies, the occurrence and severity of various abiotic stresses will significantly threaten plant health and productivity. Drought stress (DS) is a formidable obstacle, disrupting normal plant functions through specific morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms. Understanding how plants navigate DS is paramount to mitigating its adverse effects.

Activation of estrogen-related receptor γ by calcium and cadmium.

Objective: Estrogen-related receptor γ (ERRγ) is a metabolic regulator with no identified physiological ligands. This study investigates whether calcium is an ERRγ ligand that mediates the effects of glucagon and whether cadmium, which mimics the effects of calcium, disrupts metabolism through ERRγ.

Method: HepG2, MCF-7, and HEK293T transfected with ERRγ were treated with glucagon, calcium, cadmium, ERRγ agonist, or ERRγ inhibitor.

Advances, limitations and perspectives in the use of celecoxib-loaded nanocarriers in therapeutics of cancer.

Cancer is highlighted as a major global health challenge in the XXI century. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme rises as a widespread tumor progression marker. Celecoxib (CXB) is a selective COX-2 inhibitor used in adjuvant cancer therapy, but high concentrations are required in humans.

Embedding Multimodal Rehabilitation Within Routine Cancer Care in Sheffield-The Active Together Service Evaluation Protocol.

Background: Approximately 3 million people in the United Kingdom are currently living with or beyond cancer. People undergoing treatment for cancer are at risk of complications following treatment. Increasing evidence supports the role of rehabilitation (including prehabilitation) in enhancing psychological and physical well-being in patients with cancer and improving outcomes.

Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and associated miRNAs in the development of breast cancer in African American women.

Breast cancer (BCa) is a prevalent form of cancer in women, exhibiting varying rates and distribution across different ethnic groups. Among these groups, African American (AA) women have the highest incidence of BCa and the lowest levels of Vitamin D (VD). Numerous studies have explored the connection between variations in the VDR gene and BCa risk, particularly in different populations, but research on the AA population remains limited.

Correction: Keen et al. Establishing Innovative Complex Services: Learning from the Active Together Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation Service. 2023, , 3007.

Anna Myers and Gabriella Frith were not included as authors in the original publication [...

WiPFIM: A digital platform for interlinking biocollections of wild plants, fruits, associated insects, and their molecular barcodes.

The current knowledge on insects feeding on fruits is limited, and some of the scarce existing data on the fruit-associated insects are secluded within the host institutions. Consequently, their value is not fully realized. Moreover, in countries like Kenya, the integration of biocollections data within a digital framework has not been fully exploited.

A longitudinal study combining the Double Diamond framework and Behavior Change Wheel to co-create a sedentary behavior intervention in police control rooms.

Background: Police work can be sedentary and stressful, negatively impacting health and wellbeing. In a novel co-creation approach, we used the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) and Double Diamond (DD) design framework to guide the collaborative design and development of a sedentary behavior intervention in the control rooms of two British police forces.

Methods: Multiple stakeholders participated in four phases of research.

Towards a common definition of surgical prehabilitation: a scoping review of randomised trials.

Background: There is no universally accepted definition for surgical prehabilitation. The objectives of this scoping review were to (1) identify how surgical prehabilitation is defined across randomised controlled trials and (2) propose a common definition.

Methods: The final search was conducted in February 2023 using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Cochrane.

The Development of a Multi-Modal Cancer Rehabilitation (Including Prehabilitation) Service in Sheffield, UK: Designing the Active Together Service.

Cancer patients undergoing major interventions face numerous challenges, including the adverse effects of cancer and the side effects of treatment. Cancer rehabilitation is vital in ensuring cancer patients have the support they need to maximise treatment outcomes and minimise treatment-related side effects and symptoms. The Active Together service is a multi-modal rehabilitation service designed to address critical support gaps for cancer patients.

International consensus is needed on a core outcome set to advance the evidence of best practice in cancer prehabilitation services and research.

Prehabilitation aims to optimise patients' physical and psychological status before treatment. The types of outcomes measured to assess the impact of prehabilitation interventions vary across clinical research and service evaluation, limiting the ability to compare between studies and services and to pool data. An international workshop involving academic and clinical experts in cancer prehabilitation was convened in May 2022 at Sheffield Hallam University's Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, England.

Tackling physical inactivity and inequalities: implementing a whole systems approach to transform community provision for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.

Background: Physical inactivity is a global public health priority. There are known health and well-being consequences of being inactive, and the benefits of being physically active are well established. However, there are persistent inequalities when it comes to how physically active people are, with disabled people, people living with long-term health conditions, and people residing in areas of socio-economic deprivation being particularly affected.

Validating Indigenous Farmers' Practice in the Management of the Fall Armyworm (J. E. Smith) in Maize Cropping Systems in Africa.

Before the invasion of the fall armyworm (FAW) into Africa, smallholder farmers had been using indigenous practices such as applying fish soup to plants to manage stemborer pests. Although farmers have since begun adapting this practice against FAW, no attempt has been made to scientifically evaluate this practice. Therefore, we assessed the efficacy of applying fish soup to maize plants that were artificially infested with FAW under semi-field conditions.

Methodological and statistical characteristics of meta-analyses on spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain: a systematic review.

Background: A growing number of meta-analyses (MA) have investigated the use of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) as a treatment modality for chronic pain. The quality of these MAs has not been assessed by validated appraisal tools.

Objective: To examine the methodological characteristics and quality of MAs related to the use of SCS for chronic pain syndromes.

Supporting physical activity through co-production in people with severe mental ill health (SPACES): protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

Background: Severe mental ill health (SMI) includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder and is associated with premature deaths when compared to people without SMI. Over 70% of those deaths are attributed to preventable health conditions, which have the potential to be positively affected by the adoption of healthy behaviours, such as physical activity. People with SMI are generally less active than those without and face unique barriers to being physically active.

Spatial constraints and stochastic seeding subvert microbial arms race.

Surface attached communities of microbes grow in a wide variety of environments. Often, the size of these microbial community is constrained by their physical surroundings. However, little is known about how size constraints of a colony impact the outcome of microbial competitions.

Steric Perturbation of the Grob-like Final Step of Ethylene-Forming Enzyme Enables 3-Hydroxypropionate and Propylene Production.

Ethylene-forming enzyme (EFE) is an iron(II)-dependent dioxygenase that fragments 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) to ethylene (from C3 and C4) and 3 equivs of carbon dioxide (from C1, C2, and C5). This major ethylene-forming pathway requires l-arginine as the effector and competes with a minor pathway that merely decarboxylates 2OG to succinate as it oxidatively fragments l-arginine. We previously proposed that ethylene forms in a polar-concerted (Grob-like) fragmentation of a (2-carboxyethyl)carbonatoiron(II) intermediate, formed by the coupling of a C3-C5-derived propion-3-yl radical to a C1-derived carbonate coordinated to the Fe(III) cofactor.

African Platyplectrus Ferrire (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from Kenya, with description of nine new species.

Eleven species of Platyplectrus have been recorded from the Afrotropical region. Ch. Ferrire described nine species in 1941: two of them as Platyplectrus (P.

The Chalcidoidea bush of life: evolutionary history of a massive radiation of minute wasps.

Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that include as many as 500 000 estimated species. Capturing phylogenetic signal from such a massive radiation can be daunting. Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution.