Selective poly(vinyl ether) upcycling photooxidative degradation with visible light.

Poly(vinyl ethers) (PVEs) have many applications, such as adhesives, lubricants, and anticorrosive agents, thanks to their elastic, nonirritating, and chemically inert properties. The recycling of PVEs remains largely underexplored, and current methods lack generality towards other polymer classes. Thus, the chemical upcycling of PVE into small molecule feedstocks would provide an alternative approach to combat these current issues.

An exploration of knowledge-organizing technologies to advance transdisciplinary back pain research.

Chronic low back pain (LBP) is influenced by a broad spectrum of patient-specific factors as codified in domains of the biopsychosocial model (BSM). Operationalizing the BSM into research and clinical care is challenging because most investigators work in silos that concentrate on only one or two BSM domains. Furthermore, the expanding, multidisciplinary nature of BSM research creates practical limitations as to how individual investigators integrate current data into their processes of generating impactful hypotheses.

Finite element modeling to predict the influence of anatomic variation and implant placement on performance of biological intervertebral disc implants.

Background: Tissue-engineered intervertebral disc (TE-IVD) constructs are an attractive therapy for treating degenerative disc disease and have previously been investigated in vivo in both large and small animal models. The mechanical environment of the spine is notably challenging, in part due to its complex anatomy, and implants may require additional mechanical support to avoid failure in the early stages of implantation. As such, the design of suitable support implants requires rigorous validation.

Stochastic modeling of obesity status in United States adults using Markov Chains: A nationally representative analysis of population health data from 2017-2020.

Importance: The prevalence of obesity among United States adults has increased from 34.9% in 2013-2014 to 42.8% in 2017-2018.

Enabling Al sacrificial anodes in tetrahydrofuran electrolytes for reductive electrosynthesis.

Al is widely used as a sacrificial anode in organic electrosynthesis. However, there remains a notable knowledge gap in the understanding of Al anode interface chemistry under electrolysis conditions. We hypothesize that Al interfacial chemistry plays a pivotal role in the discernible bias observed in solvent selections for reductive electrosynthesis.

Tellurolate: an effective Te-atom transfer reagent to prepare the triad of group 5 metal bis(tellurides).

We show in this work how lithium tellurolate Li(X)TeCHSiMe (X = THF, = 1, 1; X = 12--4, = 2, 2), can serve as an effective Te-atom transfer reagent to all group 5 transition metal halide precursors irrespective of the oxidation state. Mononuclear and bis(telluride) complexes, namely (PNP)M(Te) (M = V; Nb, 3; Ta, 4; PNP = N[2-PPr-4-methylphenyl]), are reported herein including structural and spectroscopic data. Whereas the known complex (PNP)V(Te) can be readily prepared from the trivalent precursor (PNP)VCl, two equiv.

Nitrene transfer from a sterically confined copper nitrenoid dipyrrin complex.

Despite the myriad Cu-catalyzed nitrene transfer methodologies to form new C-N bonds (, amination, aziridination), the critical reaction intermediates have largely eluded direct characterization due to their inherent reactivity. Herein, we report the synthesis of dipyrrin-supported Cu nitrenoid adducts, investigate their spectroscopic features, and probe their nitrene transfer chemistry through detailed mechanistic analyses. Treatment of the dipyrrin Cu complexes with substituted organoazides affords terminally ligated organoazide adducts with minimal activation of the azide unit as evidenced by vibrational spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Ionomer degradation in catalyst layers of anion exchange membrane fuel cells.

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) that operate at high pH, offer the advantage of enabling the use of abundant 3d-transition metal-based electrocatalysts. While they have shown remarkable improvement in performance, their long-term durability remains insufficient for practical applications with the alkaline polymer electrolytes (APEs) being the limiting factor. The stability of APEs is generally evaluated in concentrated alkaline solutions, which overlooks/oversimplifies the complex electrochemical environment of the catalyst layer in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) devices.

Identification of genes associated with abiotic stress tolerance in sweetpotato using weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

Sweetpotato, (L.), a key food security crop, is negatively impacted by heat, drought, and salinity stress. The orange-fleshed sweetpotato cultivar "Beauregard" was exposed to heat, salt, and drought treatments for 24 and 48 h to identify genes responding to each stress condition in leaves.

Nutritional status and dietary diversity of pregnant and nonpregnant reproductive-age Rohingya women.

There are no data on the nutritional status and dietary diversity of the pregnant and nonpregnant reproductive-age Rohingya women who have recently shifted to the Bhasan Char Relocation Camp located on an island in the Bay of Bengal. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in November-December, 2021 to assess the nutritional status and evaluate the dietary diversity of two vulnerable groups of the forcibly displaced Rohingya population: nonpregnant reproductive-age women and pregnant mothers. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to identify the factors associated with nutritional impairments.

How we study cryptic species and their biological implications: A case study from marine shelled gastropods.

Methodological and biological considerations are intertwined when studying cryptic species. A potentially large component of modern biodiversity, the frequency of cryptic species among taxonomic groups is not well documented. The term "cryptic species" is imprecisely used in scientific literature, causing ambiguity when interpreting their evolutionary and ecological significance.

The successes and pitfalls: Deep-learning effectiveness in a Chernobyl field camera trap application.

Camera traps have become in situ sensors for collecting information on animal abundance and occupancy estimates. When deployed over a large landscape, camera traps have become ideal for measuring the health of ecosystems, particularly in unstable habitats where it can be dangerous or even impossible to observe using conventional methods. However, manual processing of imagery is extremely time and labor intensive.

Postural analysis reveals persistent changes in paper wasp foundress behavioral state after conspecific challenge.

Vigilant animals detect and respond to threats in the environment, often changing posture and movement patterns. Vigilance is modulated not only by predators but also by conspecific threats. In social animals, precisely how conspecific threats alter vigilance behavior over time is relevant to long-standing hypotheses about social plasticity.

Temporal dynamics of antibody level against Lyme disease bacteria in roe deer: Tale of a sentinel?

Changes in the risk of exposure to infectious disease agents can be tracked through variations in antibody prevalence in vertebrate host populations. However, information on the temporal dynamics of the immune status of individuals is critical. If antibody levels persist a long time after exposure to an infectious agent, they could enable the efficient detection of the past circulation of the agent; if they persist only a short time, they could provide snap shots of recent exposure of sampled hosts.

When to shed? Patterns and drivers of time to first ecdysis in snakes.

Time from birth or hatching to the first shed (postnatal ecdysis) in snakes ranges from about an hour to several weeks depending upon the species. We assessed patterns in time to postnatal ecdysis in 102 snake species for which we could source appropriate information, covering 2.6% of all extant snake species, and related measures to various biological traits.

Correlations among morphological and biochemical traits in high-cannabidiol hemp ( L.).

is cultivated for multiple uses including the production of cannabinoids. In developing improved production systems for high-cannabinoid cultivars, scientists and cultivators must consider the optimization of complex and interacting sets of morphological, phenological, and biochemical traits, which have historically been shaped by natural and anthropogenic selection. Determining factors that modulate cannabinoid variation within and among genotypes is fundamental to developing efficient production systems and understanding the ecological significance of cannabinoids.

Non-exploitative human disturbance provides shelter for prey from predator.

Human activities can influence behaviors of predators and prey, as well as predator-prey interactions. Using camera trap data, we investigated whether or to what extent human activities influenced behaviors of predators (tigers and leopards) and prey (sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boar, and barking deer), and predator-prey interactions in the Barandabhar Corridor Forest (BCF), Chitwan District, Nepal. A multispecies occupancy model revealed that the presence of humans altered the conditional occupancy of both prey and predator species.

Comparing study features is easy but identifying next steps is hard: Evaluating critical thinking through the Biology Lab Inventory of Critical Thinking in Ecology.

Critical thinking, which can be defined as the evidence-based ways in which people decide what to trust and what to do, is an important competency included in many undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. To help instructors effectively measure critical thinking, we developed the Biology Lab Inventory of Critical Thinking in Ecology (Eco-BLIC), a freely available, closed-response assessment of undergraduate students' critical thinking in ecology. The Eco-BLIC includes ecology-based experimental scenarios followed by questions that measure how students decide on what to trust and what to do next.

Projected northward shifts in eastern red-backed salamanders due to changing climate.

Many species' distributions are being impacted by the acceleration of climate change. Amphibians in particular serve numerous ecosystem functions and are useful indicators of environmental change. Understanding how their distributions have been impacted by climate change and will continue to be impacted is thus important to overall ecosystem health.

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with diabetes have an increased risk for pneumonia, intensive care unit requirement, intubation, and death: A cross-sectional cohort study in Mexico in 2020.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic health condition that has been linked with an increased risk of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19. In Mexico, the impact of diabetes on COVID-19 outcomes in hospitalized patients has not been fully quantified. Understanding the increased risk posed by diabetes in this patient population can help healthcare providers better allocate resources and improve patient outcomes.

Climate-mediated population dynamics of a migratory songbird differ between the trailing edge and range core.

Understanding the demographic drivers of range contractions is important for predicting species' responses to climate change; however, few studies have examined the effects of climate change on survival and recruitment across species' ranges. We show that climate change can drive trailing edge range contractions through the effects on apparent survival, and potentially recruitment, in a migratory songbird. We assessed the demographic drivers of trailing edge range contractions using a long-term demography dataset for the black-throated blue warbler () collected across elevational climate gradients at the trailing edge and core of the breeding range.

Environmental conditions and marine heatwaves influence blue whale foraging and reproductive effort.

Animal behavior is motivated by the fundamental need to feed and reproduce, and these behaviors can be inferred from spatiotemporal variations in biological signals such as vocalizations. Yet, linking foraging and reproductive effort to environmental drivers can be challenging for wide-ranging predator species. Blue whales are acoustically active marine predators that produce two distinct vocalizations: song and D calls.

Parents' work arrangements and gendered time use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study uses time diaries to examine how parents' work arrangements shaped their time use at home and work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The pandemic transformed home and work life for parents, disrupting employment and childcare. The shift to work from home offered more flexibility to manage increased care burdens, but the lack of separation between work and family also likely contributed to more challenging work environments, especially among mothers.