Cranial osteology and neuroanatomy of the late Permian reptile and implications for early reptile evolution.

Millerettidae are a group of superficially lizard-like Permian stem reptiles originally hypothesized as relevant to the ancestry of the reptile crown group, and particularly to lepidosaurs and archosaurs. Since the advent of cladistics, millerettids have typically been considered to be more distant relatives of crown reptiles as the earliest-diverging parareptiles and therefore outside of 'Eureptilia'. Despite this cladistic consensus, some conspicuous features of millerettid anatomy invite reconsideration of their relationships.

Unexpected stability of the iron(II) complex by an asymmetrical Schiff base from Fe(III): structure, magnetic and Mössbauer investigations.

The asymmetric Schiff base prepared from ethylenediamine and pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde reacts with Fe(ClO)·6HO to form the Fe(II) complex [FeL](ClO) with L = ,-diethyl-'-(pyridin-2-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine, where the Fe(III) starting material has been unexpectedly reduced to Fe(II). This complex was characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectra, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction measurements, variable temperature DC magnetic measurement and room temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy. The asymmetric ligand L coordinates in a tridentate fashion through its pyridyl, azomethine and amino nitrogen atoms, generating a distorted octahedral geometry around the central metal ion.

The Mason-Loop for Single-Row Full-Thickness Rotator Cuff Repair.

Rotator cuff injuries are common and can lead to pain and functional limitation of the shoulder, sometimes requiring surgical procedure. We describe a surgical approach combining the modified Mason-Allen and lasso-loop techniques for the repair of rotator cuff injuries. This hybrid approach brings the 2 advantages of each suture: the compression provided by the loop and the large quantity of tendons caught by the Mason-Allen in a single repair row.

Surgical management of atrioesophageal fistula after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: A French nationwide study.

Objective: The study objective was to assess the efficacity of different surgical strategies for atrioesophageal fistula after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Methods: Between January 2010 and April 2023, all patients with a diagnosis of atrioesophageal fistula or pericardo-esophageal fistula after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation were analyzed retrospectively from the French database EPITHOR. Patients without surgical management were excluded.

Fifteen-year experience of direct bridge with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to heart transplantation.

Objective: The study objective was to evaluate outcomes of patients directly bridged with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to heart transplantation.

Methods: A single-center retrospective study was performed on 1152 adult patients undergoing isolated cardiac transplantation between January 2007 and December 2021. Among these, patients bridged with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to transplantation (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation group, n = 317) were compared with standard cohorts of patients (no extracorporeal membrane oxygenation group, n = 835).

Multimodal analgesia with parasternal plane block protocol within an enhanced recovery after cardiac surgery program decreases opioid use.

Objective: This study investigated the efficacy of a multimodal analgesia (MMA) with an opioid-sparing strategy, incorporating a parasternal plane block (PPB) within a systematic standardized Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program for patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery.

Methods: From 2015 to 2021, 3153 patients underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valve procedures. Patients were dichotomized by the presence or absence of an ERAS program including a perioperative MMA with an opioid-sparing approach and PPB protocols.

Too Far From Relatives? Impact of the Genetic Distance on the Success of Exon Capture in Phylogenomics.

The exon capture approach allows for sequencing a large number of loci to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships at varying taxonomic levels. In order to efficiently recover the targeted loci, the probes designed to capture the exons need to be genetically sufficiently similar to bind to the DNA, with a proposed limit of 10% of divergence. However, this threshold has never been tested with a specific protocol.

Breaking the deep-red light absorption barrier of iridium(III)-based photosensitizers.

Activating photosensitizers with long-wavelength excitation is an important parameter for effective photodynamic therapy due to the minimal toxicity of this light, its superior tissue penetration, and excellent spatial resolution. Unfortunately, most Ir(III) complexes suffer from limited absorption within the phototherapeutic window, rendering them ineffective against deep-seated and/or large tumors, which poses a significant barrier to their clinical application. To address this issue, several efforts have been recently made to shift the absorption of Ir(III) photosensitizers to the deep-red/near-infrared region by using different strategies: functionalization with organic fluorophores, including porphyrinoid compounds, and ligand design π-extension and donor-acceptor interactions.

Insights into the structural complexity and local disorder of crystalline AsTe from semi-automated first-principles modelling.

A semi-automated workflow relying on atomic-scale modelling is introduced to explore and understand the yet-unsolved structure of the crystalline AsTe material, recently obtained from crystallization of the parent AsTe glass, which shows promising properties for thermoelectric applications. The seemingly complex crystal structure of AsTe is investigated with density functional theory, from the stand point of As/Te disorder, in a structural template derived from elemental-Te (Te), following experimental findings from combined X-ray total scattering and diffraction. Our workflow includes a combinatorial structure generation step followed by successive structure selection and relaxation steps with progressively-increasing accuracy levels and a multi-criterion evaluation procedure.

Virtual reality in clinical evaluation of Unilateral Spatial Neglect, anatomy of current trends: A scoping review.

Background: Virtual technologies (VR) could respond to several challenges in Unilateral Spatial Neglect (USN) assessment, particularly the lack of sensitivity and ecological validity of traditional paper-and-pencil tests. A scoping review was conducted to explore current trends in this area.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, IEEE, ACM, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for VR USN assessment.

An Alternative Hypothesis on Enhanced Deep Supercooling of Water: Nucleator Inhibition via Bicarbonate Adsorption.

Supercooling allows for retarding water crystallization toward negative Celsius temperatures. Previous findings of CO molecules shifting into bicarbonate species upon freezing, the latter which naturally adsorb on hydrophobic interfaces, are put in perspective here to interpret earlier published data. Since it has been shown that ice nucleation is unlikely on negatively charged surfaces, I propose that bicarbonates adsorb on most solid particles present in water that act as nucleators, thus retarding freezing and enhancing supercooling.

Graph-Based Deep Learning Models for Thermodynamic Property Prediction: The Interplay between Target Definition, Data Distribution, Featurization, and Model Architecture.

In this contribution, we examine the interplay between target definition, data distribution, featurization approaches, and model architectures on graph-based deep learning models for thermodynamic property prediction. Through consideration of five curated data sets, exhibiting diversity in elemental composition, multiplicity, charge state, and size, we examine the impact of each of these factors on model accuracy. We observe that target definition, i.

Measuring trends in extinction risk: a review of two decades of development and application of the Red List Index.

The Red List Index (RLI) is an indicator of the average extinction risk of groups of species and reflects trends in this through time. It is calculated from the number of species in each category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with trends influenced by the number moving between categories when reassessed owing to genuine improvement or deterioration in status. The global RLI is aggregated across multiple taxonomic groups and can be disaggregated to show trends for subsets of species (e.

Accounting for functionality in the identification of global conservation priorities: promises and pitfalls.

Whereas preventing species extinctions remains a central objective of conservation efforts, it must be complemented by the long-term preservation of functional ecosystems and of the benefits humans derive from them. Here, I review recent approaches that explicitly account for functionality in setting large-scale conservation priorities, discussing their promise while highlighting challenges and pitfalls. Crossing data on species' distributions and ecological traits has enabled the mapping of global patterns of functional diversity and functional rarity and the identification of species that stand out for their functional distinctiveness.

Impacts of limits to adaptation on population and community persistence in a changing environment.

A key issue in predicting how ecosystems will respond to environmental change is understanding why populations and communities are able to live and reproduce in some parts of ecological and geographical space, but not in others. The limits to adaptation that cause ecological niches to vary in position and width across taxa and environmental contexts determine how communities and ecosystems emerge from selection on phenotypes and genomes. Ecological trade-offs mean that phenotypes can only be optimal in some environments unless these trade-offs can be reshaped through evolution.

An African perspective to biodiversity conservation in the twenty-first century.

Africa boasts high biodiversity while also being home to some of the largest and fastest-growing human populations. Although the current environmental footprint of Africa is low compared to other continents, the population of Africa is estimated at around 1.5 billion inhabitants, representing nearly 18% of the world's total population.

Intertwined people-nature relations are central to nature-based adaptation to climate change.

Adaptation to climate change is a social-ecological process: it is not solely a result of natural processes or human decisions but emerges from multiple relations within social systems, within ecological systems and between them. We propose a novel analytical framework to evaluate social-ecological relations in nature-based adaptation, encompassing social (people-people), ecological (nature-nature) and social-ecological (people-nature) relations. Applying this framework to 25 case studies, we analyse the associations among these relations and identify archetypes of social-ecological adaptation.

A recurrent loss-of-function variant in DRC1 causes non-syndromic severe asthenozoospermia with favorable intracytoplasmic sperm injection and pregnancy outcomes.

Background: Asthenozoospermia, characterized by reduced sperm motility, is a common cause of male infertility. Multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF) represent a severe and genetically heterogeneous form of asthenozoospermia. Over 50 genes have been associated, but approximately half of MMAF cases remain unexplained.

Transcriptomic data reveal divergent paths of chitinase evolution underlying dietary convergence in anteaters and pangolins.

Ant-eating mammals represent a textbook example of convergent evolution. Among them, anteaters and pangolins exhibit the most extreme convergent phenotypes with complete tooth loss, elongated skulls, protruding tongues, and hypertrophied salivary glands producing large amounts of saliva. However, comparative genomic analyses have shown that anteaters and pangolins differ in their chitinase acidic gene (CHIA) repertoires, which potentially degrade the chitinous exoskeletons of ingested ants and termites.

Rare Coronary Artery Anomaly: Single Coronary Artery from Distal Circumflex Detected by CT.

BACKGROUND A single coronary artery is a rare congenital anomaly of the coronary arteries distribution, with an incidence of only 0.03% in the general population undergoing coronary angiography. RCA arising from the distal circumflex artery is an extremely rare variety.

FAP-Targeted SPECT/CT and PET/CT Imaging for Breast Cancer Patients.

Breast cancer presents a significant global health challenge, necessitating continued innovation in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Recent advances have led to the identification of cancer-associated fibroblasts, which are highly prevalent in breast cancers and express fibroblast activation proteins (FAPs), as critical targets. FAP-specific radiotracers, when used with PET/CT and SPECT/CT, have significant potential for improving early breast cancer detection, staging, treatment response monitoring, and therapeutic intervention.

Intranodular Thyroid Metastasis of a Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Endometrium.

A 64-year-old woman underwent initial 18F-FDG PET/CT staging for a suspicious endometrial mass, which showed high uptake in the endometrial mass and a focal uptake in a known left thyroid nodule. Histology revealed a high-grade large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium with FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage Ib. Further explorations revealed a synchronous thyroid metastasis.

Validation of the Perceived hope scale in Arabic-speaking adults living in Gaza in the midst of war, destruction and death.

Background: Despite its obvious relevance for clinical practice and research, it is surprising that presently no hope measure is available for use among Arabic-speaking populations, especially the most vulnerable ones who have been going through major humanitarian crises. This paper aimed to provide novel insights into psychometric information on the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Perceived Hope Scale (PHS) in Palestinians living in Gaza who have endured several months of suffering since the war began in October 2023.

Method: This study had a cross-sectional design and applied a quantitative research approach.