Return to work after parenting in thoracic surgery: a call to action.

Objectives: Women in our modern era are facing considerable challenges in the workplace, particularly in Cardiothoracic Surgery where women are under-represented in leadership and academic roles. Returning to work after parental leave may potentially uncover or exacerbate existing gender biases within the workplace, with important consequences on professional and personal lives. Our goal was to characterize the experiences and the impact of return-to-work after parenting on Thoracic Surgery careers across Europe.

The genome sequence of the Eurasian minnow, (Linnaeus, 1758).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female (the Eurasian minnow; Chordata; Actinopteri; Cypriniformes; Leuciscidae). The genome sequence spans 950.50 megabases.

Metal-organic frameworks of -hydroxybenzoic acid: synthesis, structure and ring opening polymerization capability.

Two new, isostructural, metal-organic frameworks {[Co(OCCHO)(DMF)]} and {[Mn(OCCHO)(DMF)]} have been synthesised and structurally characterized. Use of -hydroxybenzoic acid resulted in a three-dimensional MOF featuring a linker with a carboxylic group and a -hydroxyl group. Ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone and δ-valerolactone has been performed using these MOFs as catalysts, and results compared with the known zinc MOF Zn(OCCHO).

Instruments for assessing social health in the context of cognitive decline and dementia: a systematic review.

The concept of social health has recently received increasing attention in dementia research. Various notions of what social health is and how it can be measured are circulating. They may pose challenges for comparing results and interpreting them for the development of interventions.

Blood-glucose regulator design for diabetics based on LQIR-driven Sliding-Mode-Controller with self-adaptive reaching law.

Type I Diabetes is an endocrine disorder that prevents the pancreas from regulating the blood glucose (BG) levels in a patient's body. The ubiquitous Linear-Quadratic-Integral-Regulator (LQIR) is an optimal glycemic regulation strategy; however, it is not resilient enough to withstand measurement noise and meal disruptions. The Sliding-Mode-Controller (SMC) yields robust BG regulation effort at the expense of a discontinuous insulin infusion rate that perturbs the BG concentrations.

Evaluation of Natural Organic Additives as Eco-friendly Inhibitors for Calcium and Magnesium Scale Formation in Water Systems.

Mineral scale formation reduces the heat transfer efficiency and clogs pipes and valves, increasing power consumption. To address the environmental concerns of conventional scale inhibitors, this paper explores biodegradable and eco-friendly alternatives. It examines the effects of organic additives on calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) scaling in water vaporization.

Two decades of body length measurements of larval and juvenile fish populations in English rivers.

Long-term datasets provide context and understanding of complex ecological processes, including temporal variations in species diversity and ecosystem dynamics. This dataset is comprised of body length measurements (mm) of more than 380,000 larval or juvenile fish of 30 species from five English river catchments collected almost monthly over two decades. Such information can be used to determine growth rates, future recruitment success, population structure and compliance with monitoring protocols and conservation objectives.

The discontinuation of implantable cardioverter defibrillator shock therapies towards the end of life: consensus guideline from the British Heart Rhythm Society.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are implanted in increasing numbers of patients with the aim of treating ventricular arrhythmias in high-risk patients and reducing their risk of dying. Individuals are also living longer with these devices. As a result, a greater number of patients with an ICD will deteriorate either with worsening cardiac failure, another non-cardiac condition or general frailty and will have a limited prognosis.

Hospice topophilia and topophobia as experienced by a local population: Implications for equity of access.

The examination of hospice settings from the position of space and place is an emerging area of academic interest. Engaging with this perspective, this paper explores how topophilia and topophobia of the physical hospice setting coincides with and informs a broader love and fear of hospice care and UK hospice organisations. We report the findings of a qualitative study of 53 participants in the catchment population of a hospice in England.

A catalogue of chromosome counts for Phylum Nematoda.

Nematodes are important biological models in genetics and genomics, with research driven by basic biological as well as applied questions. The presence of holocentric chromosomes, clades with frequent polyploidy and the phenomenon of programmed DNA elimination make nematode karyotypic diversity of particular interest. Here we present a catalogue of published karyotypes of nematode species, rationalising and normalising descriptions from the previous 135 years.

Surfactant-Nanoparticle Formulations for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Calcite-Rich Rocks.

Aqueous surfactant-nanoparticle mixtures have received great attention recently for promoting a more sustainable and efficient enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process. However, colloidal stability under reservoir conditions is considered a great challenge. In addition, the way synergy operates in EOR is not clearly understood.

Nutrition Modulation of Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer: A Scoping Review.

Background/objectives: Advancements in breast cancer therapeutics, such as anthracyclines, are improving cancer survival rates but can have side effects that limit their use. Cardiotoxicity, defined as damage to the heart caused by cancer therapeutics, is characterised by a significant reduction in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and symptoms of cardiac dysfunction. Multiple oral supplements exist with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that have the potential to lower cardiotoxicity risk and ameliorate the complications associated with left ventricular dysfunction.

Differences in internal carotid artery tortuosity in ruptured and unruptured anterior circulation aneurysms. A matched case-control study.

Objective: Tortuosity of the internal carotid artery is believed to contribute to the formation of intracranial aneurysms, although there is scant literature on its role as a risk factor for rupture specifically. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of cervical internal carotid artery (cICA) tortuosity on rupture of aneurysms of the anterior cerebral circulation.

Methods: Angiographic imaging studies from patients who underwent endovascular embolisation for anterior circulation aneurysms at a tertiary centre were identified.

Investigating the role of non-helpers in group living thrips.

Behavioural variation among individuals is a hallmark of cooperative societies, which commonly contain breeders and non-breeders, helpers and non-helpers. In some cases, labour is divided with non-breeders "helping." Conversely, in some societies, subordinate non-breeders may not help.

The repeatability of a cycling exercise-heat stress test in a male population.

Introduction: There is considerable inter-individual variability in the physiological responses to environmental stressors and so to accurately assess and monitor changes in an individual's ability to cope with exercise-heat stress, a reliable protocol is required. The aim of this study was to examine the repeatability of a 90-min steady-state heat exercise bout with physiological and subjective variables, and performance during an incremental test to exhaustion post 90-min steady-state exercise.

Method: Sixteen mixed ability males (Age: 39 ± 15yrs; Height: 176.

Multilevel En-Bloc Excision of Thoracic Spine Primary Chondrosarcoma Through an All-Posterior Approach: A Report of Two Cases.

Chondrosarcomas are malignant, cartilage-forming neoplasms. As these tumours are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, en-bloc excision of the tumour with wide margins is the only option that provides maximum disease-free survival and possible cure. We present two cases of primary chondrosarcoma of the thoracic spine treated by multilevel en-bloc excision through an all-posterior approach.

Enhanced Asymmetric Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Self-Organized Helical Superstructures Enabled by Macro-Chiral Liquid Crystal Quantum Dots.

Circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) materials have garnered considerable interest for a variety of advanced optical applications including 3D imaging, data encryption, and asymmetric catalysis. However, the development of high-performance CPL has been hindered by the absence of simple synthetic methods for chiral luminescent emitters that exhibit both high quantum yields and dissymmetry factors. In this study, we present an innovative approach for the synthesis of macro-chiral liquid crystal quantum dots (Ch-QDs/LC) and their CPL performance enhancement through doping with 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), thus yielding a CPL-emitting generator (CEG).