Soil nutrient limitation controls trophic cascade effects of micro-food web-derived ecological functions in degraded agroecosystems.

Introduction: Soil nutrient supply drives the ecological functions of soil micro-food webs through bottom-up and top-down mechanisms in degraded agroecosystems. Nutrient limitation responds sensitively to variations in degraded agroecosystems through restoration practices, such as legume intercropping.

Objectives: This study examined the effects of legume intercropping on trophic cascade dynamics through resource supply in degraded purple soil ecosystems.

Prolonged grief reactions and help-seeking in bereaved adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many care systems limiting bereaved people's ability to access social, community, and professional support. This study investigated help-seeking of people living with probable prolonged grief disorder (PGD) to identify challenges and facilitators of care, with the aim of informing bereavement practice and policy recommendations.

Methods: Participants (N = 786; 96.

Improving influenza forecast in the tropics and subtropics: a case study of Hong Kong.

Influenza forecasts could aid public health response as shown for temperate regions, but such efforts are more challenging in the tropics and subtropics due to more irregular influenza activities. Here, we built six forecast approaches for influenza in the (sub)tropics, with six model forms designed to model seasonal infection risk (i.e.

DNA and spores from coprolites reveal that colourful truffle-like fungi endemic to New Zealand were consumed by extinct moa (Dinornithiformes).

Mycovores (animals that consume fungi) are important for fungal spore dispersal, including ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi symbiotic with forest-forming trees. As such, fungi and their symbionts may be impacted by mycovore extinction. New Zealand (NZ) has a diversity of unusual, colourful, endemic sequestrate (truffle-like) fungi, most of which are ECM.

The effect of a brief intervention video on gambling advertising resistance: Results of a randomized, on-line experimental study.

Background And Aims: Gambling advertising is nowadays prevalent in multiple jurisdictions and can take multiple forms, such as TV adverts and social media promotions. However, few independently designed interventions for gambling advertising have been empirically tested. We aimed to measure the effectiveness of an inoculative intervention video for gambling advertising, which was developed based on previous interventions for alcohol and tobacco, and which used input from academics and experts by experience.

Evaluating the effect of detached mindfulness techniques on gaming-related urges and intentions to play.

Individuals who struggle to regulate their gaming involvement, particularly those with gaming disorder, often report strong subjective urges to play games. Desire thinking has been proposed to be an active driver of urge, and therefore disrupting desire thinking processes may reduce urges to play. Detached mindfulness, a meta-cognitive therapy technique, is a candidate option for reducing desire thinking, but the available research in relation to gaming is limited.

Stacking paper sheets into multi-purpose quick response sensing code with built-in nitrocellulose-membrane-free lateral flow assay for detecting tetracycline in food samples.

Lateral flow assays (LFAs) have found extensive applications in food safety and quality monitoring. Now, smartphone technology is redefining how tests are conducted at the point of use. At the same time, quick response (QR) codes enhance digital connectivity for information transmission, data collection, and response linkage.

Decoding imagined movement in people with multiple sclerosis for brain-computer interface translation.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous autoimmune-mediated disorder affecting the central nervous system, commonly manifesting as fatigue and progressive limb impairment. This can significantly impact quality of life due to weakness or paralysis in the upper and lower limbs. A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) aims to restore quality of life through control of an external device, such as a wheelchair.

Diffuse soil pollution from agriculture: Impacts and remediation.

Agricultural activities are essential for sustaining the global population, yet they exert considerable pressure on the environment. A major challenge we face today is agricultural pollution, much of which is diffuse in nature, lacking a clear point of origin for chemical discharge. Modern agricultural practices, which often depend on substantial applications of fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation water, are key contributors to this form of pollution.

Exploring the contribution of integrated healthcare practices to malaria control in Ghana: perspectives of medical herbalists.

Background: The integration of herbal and orthodox medicines has gained momentum in global health, ensuring improved management of infectious diseases like malaria. This study explored the experiences of medical herbalists working in Ghana's diverse ecological zones to understand the contributions of integrated healthcare to malaria control.

Methods: A phenomenological design was employed to conduct in-depth interviews with 19 purposively sampled medical herbalists.

Structural changes of muscle spindles in the multifidus muscle after intervertebral disk injury are resolved by targeted muscle activation.

Purpose: Fibrosis of muscle spindles (sensory organs) in back muscles induced by intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration could limit transmission of muscle stretch to the sensory receptor and explain the proprioceptive deficits common in back pain. Exercise reduces back muscles fibrosis. This study investigated whether targeted muscle activation via neurostimulation reverses or resolves muscle spindle fibrosis in a model of IVD injury.

Reacting to reductive stress at the mitochondrial import gate.

A byproduct of mitochondrial energy production is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Too much ROS is toxic, but ROS deficiency is equally deleterious (reductive stress). In a recent study, McMinimy et al.

The trochlea for the intermediate tendon of the digastric muscle: a review.

This review explores the novel perspective that the intermediate tendon of the digastric muscle may function as an anatomical trochlear pulley system within the human body, challenging the traditional understanding of trochlear systems. While widely recognized trochlear units include structures like the medial part of the humerus and the superior oblique muscle of the orbit, the review focuses on the unique anatomical arrangement of the intermediate tendon of the digastric muscle in connection with the anterior and posterior bellies of the digastric muscles. Despite current debates within the anatomical community about labeling the digastric muscles as having a trochlea, this paper delves into the scientific definition of a trochlear pulley system, presenting the intermediate tendon of the digastric muscle as a potential trochlea.

"Part of the world again": qualitative enquiry into community participation during inpatient rehabilitation and transition years following severe brain injury.

Purpose: To understand the experience of community and social participation for people with severe ABI during inpatient rehabilitation and the transition years.

Methods: Constructivist grounded theory methodology informed participant recruitment and data analysis. Adults with ABI were recruited using purposive sampling and data collected via in-depth interviews.

Refractory pyoderma gangrenosum-like ulcerations in granulomatosis with polyangiitis treated successfully with rituximab.

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a small-to-medium vessel vasculitis that can affect the skin, respiratory tract, kidneys and other organs. A rare cutaneous manifestation of GPA is pyoderma gangrenosum (PG)-like ulcerations, which can have debilitating and disfiguring consequences. We report the case of a man in his 40s with refractory PG-like ulcerations secondary to GPA, not responsive to conventional immunosuppression, who was successfully treated with rituximab.

Decoding gene expression dynamics during seed development in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) through RNA-Seq analysis.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L., 2n = 2× = 26) from the Pedaliaceae family is primarily grown for its high oil content, rich in unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). However, the molecular mechanisms of sesame oil accumulation remain poorly understood.

Random walk models in the life sciences: including births, deaths and local interactions.

Random walks and related spatial stochastic models have been used in a range of application areas, including animal and plant ecology, infectious disease epidemiology, developmental biology, wound healing and oncology. Classical random walk models assume that all individuals in a population behave independently, ignoring local physical and biological interactions. This assumption simplifies the mathematical description of the population considerably, enabling continuum-limit descriptions to be derived and used in model analysis and fitting.

Clonally expanded, targetable, natural killer-like NKG7 T cells seed the aged spinal cord to disrupt myeloid-dependent wound healing.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) increasingly affects aged individuals, where functional impairment and mortality are highest. However, the aging-dependent mechanisms underpinning tissue damage remain elusive. Here, we find that natural killer-like T (NKLT) cells seed the intact aged human and murine spinal cord and multiply further after injury.