The Pelvic Floor Disorders Network: Evolution Over Two Decades of Female Pelvic Floor Research.

Importance: This review aimed to describe research initiatives, evolution, and processes of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-supported Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN). This may be of interest and inform researchers wishing to conduct multisite coordinated research initiatives as well as to provide perspective to all urogynecologists regarding how the PFDN has evolved and functions.

Study Design: Principal investigators of several PFDN clinical sites and Data Coordinating Center describe more than 20 years of development and maturation of the PFDN.

Fracture Toughness of Short Fibre-Reinforced Composites-In Vitro Study.

The development of dental materials needs to be supported with sound evidence. This in vitro study aimed to measure the fracture toughness of a short fibre-reinforced composite (sFRC), at differing thicknesses. In this study, 2 mm, 3 mm and 4 mm depths of sFRC were prepared.

The biogeography of the Amazonian tree flora.

We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions.

Reviewing assessment strategies in European dental schools.

Objectives: Effectively assessing dental students' knowledge and skills is an important part of their education. Assessment techniques available to teachers, have become more diverse as new technologies are introduced. This study aimed to investigate what dental educators thought about current and future assessment techniques.

Population Immunity and Polio Eradication.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative made immense progress after its establishment in 1988 as a consequence of high coverage with various poliovirus vaccines in all populations of the world. Problems have arisen in recent years, however, related to security issues in some countries, to the circulation of vaccine-derived polioviruses, and to the recognition that individuals with certain immune deficiencies can remain infected and infectious for many months or years. As natural infection and different vaccines have different effects on the immune system, the patterns of humoral and mucosal immunity to polioviruses in the world today are complex but are crucial to the ultimate success of the eradication initiative.

EDTA biodegradability and assisted phytoextraction efficiency in a large-scale field simulation: Is EDTA phasing out justified?

Enhanced phytoextraction of metal-polluted soils using EDTA is phasing out in favor of biodegradable chelants. However, these are too short-lived to be effective in the acclimated biodegrading soil environment established in long-term phytoextraction operations. We hypothesize that full-scale EDTA-enhanced phytoextraction can be both effective and environmentally safe, provided that soil leaching is prevented while EDTA persists in the soil profile.

Assessing dentists' awareness of the orthodontic-restorative interface.

Objectives: Awareness of the interface between restorative and orthodontic treatments is essential for dentists to facilitate a meaningful interdisciplinary approach by integrating the knowledge and skills of different dental disciplines into patients' treatment to enhance outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate General Dental Practitioners' (GDPs) awareness of the orthodontic-restorative interface.

Methods: This was a mixed-method study involving the collection of a) quantitative data via a bespoke online questionnaire and b) qualitative data through open questions.

Understanding different dominance patterns in western Amazonian forests.

Dominance of neotropical tree communities by a few species is widely documented, but dominant trees show a variety of distributional patterns still poorly understood. Here, we used 503 forest inventory plots (93,719 individuals ≥2.5 cm diameter, 2609 species) to explore the relationships between local abundance, regional frequency and spatial aggregation of dominant species in four main habitat types in western Amazonia.

Longevity of Anterior Composite Restorations for Localized Tooth Wear: A Scoping Review.

(1) Objective: This scoping review evaluates composite restorations as a treatment modality for anterior tooth surface loss and investigates the longevity of the direct and indirect composites used herein. (2) Method: The search encompassed Medline, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and hand search utilizing the PICO framework. (3) Results: Eight studies were included in this review, comprising one randomized controlled trial, one retrospective, and six prospective studies.

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora.

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness.

Effect of biosolid-derived dissolved organic matter on orthophosphate sorption to soils depends on clay mineralogy and solution composition.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from biosolids can alter the sorption of orthophosphate (inorganic phosphorus (IP)) to soils and, therefore, affect the bioavailability of IP. It is not clear how clay mineralogy and solution composition interfere with DOM effects on IP sorption by soils. Hence, we studied the effect of DOM on IP sorption to five semi-arid soils dominated by either illite/smectite (I/S) or kaolinite clays.

More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia.

Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest.

Dental Teacher Feedback and Student Learning: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: Feedback is essential to improve student learning and motivation and to encourage curriculum development by teachers. This study looked at feedback to and from dental students from a qualitative perspective.

Methods: Dental teachers were recruited exclusively to this study from the membership of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE).

Niche breadth of Amazonian trees increases with niche optimum across broad edaphic gradients.

Understanding how biotic interactions and environmental filtering mediated by soil properties shape plant community assembly is a major challenge in ecology, especially when studying complex and hyperdiverse ecosystems like tropical forests. To shed light on the influence of both factors, we examined how the edaphic optimum of species (their niche position) related to their edaphic range (their niche breadth) along different environmental gradients and how this translates into functional strategies. Here we tested four scenarios describing the shape of the niche breadth-niche position relationship, including one neutral scenario and three scenarios proposing different relative influences of abiotic and biotic factors on community assembly along a soil resource gradient.

Unraveling Amazon tree community assembly using Maximum Information Entropy: a quantitative analysis of tropical forest ecology.

In a time of rapid global change, the question of what determines patterns in species abundance distribution remains a priority for understanding the complex dynamics of ecosystems. The constrained maximization of information entropy provides a framework for the understanding of such complex systems dynamics by a quantitative analysis of important constraints via predictions using least biased probability distributions. We apply it to over two thousand hectares of Amazonian tree inventories across seven forest types and thirteen functional traits, representing major global axes of plant strategies.

Parallel evolution and cryptic diversification in a common and widespread Amazonian tree, Protium subserratum.

The lowland Amazon rainforest houses some of the greatest tree diversity on Earth. While the vast majority of these species are rare, a small number are common and widespread and thus considered to play a disproportionate role in many of the global ecosystem services provided by the Amazon. However, the extent to which dominant Amazonian tree species actually include multiple clades, each on their own unique evolutionary trajectory, is unknown.

Contribution of remote M.tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease: A 30-year population study.

Background: The importance of remote infection with M.tuberculosis as a cause of tuberculosis disease (TB) is unclear, with limited evidence of impact on TB rates beyond 10 years. Our objective was to assess rates of tuberculosis over 30 years by M.

A nuclear target sequence capture probe set for phylogeny reconstruction of the charismatic plant family Bignoniaceae.

The plant family Bignoniaceae is a conspicuous and charismatic element of the tropical flora. The family has a complex taxonomic history, with substantial changes in the classification of the group during the past two centuries. Recent re-classifications at the tribal and generic levels have been largely possible by the availability of molecular phylogenies reconstructed using Sanger sequencing data.

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study.

Objectives: Investigate risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in school students and staff.

Methods: In the 2020/2021 school year, we administered polymerase chain reaction, antibody tests, and questionnaires to a sample of primary and secondary school students and staff, with data linkage to COVID-19 surveillance. We fitted logistic regression models to identify the factors associated with infection.