Testing for heterogeneous rates of discrete character evolution on phylogenies.

Many hypotheses in the field of phylogenetic comparative biology involve specific changes in the rate or process of trait evolution. This is particularly true of approaches designed to connect macroevolutionary pattern to microevolutionary process. We present a method to test whether the rate of evolution of a discrete character has changed in one or more clades, lineages, or time periods.

A comparison of the biofouling potential of field-collected and laboratory-cultured .

The marine algae spp. are commonly used as model biofouling organisms. As biofouling studies are primarily conducted using field-collected specimens, factors including species identity, seasonal availability, and physiological status can hinder the replicability of the results.

Community views of neurodiversity, models of disability and autism intervention: Mixed methods reveal shared goals and key tensions.

Some people support the neurodiversity movement and other people criticize it. They often disagree about what the neurodiversity movement means. Confusion about what the neurodiversity movement is makes it hard for people to agree about how best to support autistic or disabled people.

Use of Braille in the Workplace by People Who Are Blind.

Interest in the benefits of braille for people who are blind is high among professionals in the blindness field, but we know little about how braille is used in the workplace. The broad purpose of this study was to learn how employed people who are blind use braille on the job. Specific topics investigated included: work tasks refreshable braille technology (RBT) is used for, personal and job characteristics of RBT users compared to non-users, and factors associated with RBT use among workers with at least moderate braille skills.

Measuring spontaneous episodic future thinking in children: Challenges and opportunities.

The "Spoon task" is a common measure of episodic future thinking (i.e., ability to imagine hypothetical future events) in children.

Technology for advancing behavioral health integration: implications for behavioral health practice and policy.

Behavioral health integration (BHI) encompasses the integration of general health, mental health, and substance use care. BHI has promise for healthcare improvement, yet several challenges limit its uptake and successful implementation. Translational Behavioral Medicine published the Continuum-Based Framework by Goldman et al.

Melastatin subfamily Transient Receptor Potential channels support spermatogenesis in planarian flatworms.

The Transient Receptor Potential superfamily of proteins (TRPs) form cation channels that are abundant in animal sensory systems. Amongst TRPs, the Melastatin-related subfamily (TRPMs) is composed of members that respond to temperature, pH, sex hormones, and various other stimuli. Some TRPMs exhibit enriched expression in gonads of vertebrate and invertebrate species, but their contributions to germline development remain to be determined.

The Efficacy and Patient Experience of Virtual Reality in Labor: An Integrative Review of Pain and Anxiety Management.

Background: Labor pain and anxiety are significant challenges in maternal healthcare, often managed through pharmacological interventions. Virtual Reality (VR), as a non- pharmacological method, has emerged as a potential tool for pain and anxiety relief in labor. This integrative review aims to synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), qualitative studies, and mixed-methods research to evaluate the effectiveness of VR in labor pain and anxiety management and to understand patient experiences.

Regulation of Drosophila brain development and organ growth by the Minibrain/Rala signaling network.

The human dual specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) is implicated in the pathology of Down syndrome, microcephaly, and cancer; however the exact mechanism through which it functions is unknown. Here, we have studied the role of the Drosophila ortholog of DYRK1A, Minibrain (Mnb), in brain development and organ growth. The neuroblasts (neural stem cells) that eventually give rise to differentiated neurons in the adult brain are formed from a specialized tissue in the larval optic lobe called the neuroepithelium, in a tightly regulated process.

Target engagement of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex with transcranial temporal interference stimulation in major depressive disorder: a protocol for a randomized sham-controlled trial.

Background: Transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a new, emerging neurostimulation technology that utilizes two or more electric fields at specific frequencies to modulate the oscillations of neurons at a desired spatial location in the brain. The physics of tTIS offers the advantage of modulating deep brain structures in a non-invasive fashion and with minimal stimulation of the overlying cortex outside of a selected target. As such, tTIS can be effectively employed in the context of therapeutics for the psychiatric disease of disrupted brain connectivity, such as major depressive disorder (MDD).

Efficacy of Behavioral Intervention, Text Messaging, and Extended Intervention to Address Alcohol Misuse in Sexual Minority Men with HIV: A Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial.

This clinical trial examined the individual and combined effects of three different approaches to reducing alcohol misuse among a sample of sexual minority men (SMM) with HIV. Specifically, we used a 2 × 2 × 2 randomized factorial design to compare: (a) behavioral intervention based in motivational interviewing (MI) vs. brief intervention (BI), (b) interactive text messaging (ITM) for alcohol use vs.

Training school psychologists to conduct culturally informed Functional Behavior Assessment interviews.

Exclusionary discipline is a racialized mechanism through which schools systematically remove racially and ethnically minoritized youth from the learning environment. Although the development of Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and linked behavior support plans have been identified as an alternative practice, school psychologists often do not ask questions about the cultural and contextual factors that may influence students' behavior during FBA interviews. Therefore, training is warranted.

Exploring threats to internal validity of direct assessment in single-case design research.

Single-case design research studies have historically used external observers to collect time series data that may be used to evaluate intervention effectiveness; however, single-case interventions implemented in educational settings may use the person implementing the intervention (e.g., teacher) to collect data in order to maximize feasibility.

Electronic Spectrum of α-Hydrofulvenyl Radical (CH), and a Simple and Accurate Recipe for Predicting Adiabatic Ionization Energies of Resonance-Stabilized Hydrocarbon Radicals.

Using a combination of resonant two-photon two-color ionization (R2C2PI) and laser-induced fluorescence/dispersed fluorescence spectroscopy, we have examined the  ″ ←  2″ transition of the resonance-stabilized α-hydrofulvenyl radical, produced from methylcyclopentadiene dimer in a jet-cooled discharge. Like the related 1,4-pentadienyl and cyclohexadienyl radicals, the α-hydrofulvenyl -state lifetime is orders of magnitude shorter than the predicted -value implies, indicative of rapid nonradiative decay. The transition is fully allowed by symmetry but considerably weakened by transition moment interference.

Integrating Nursing Practice and Policy in Opioid Overdose Prevention: Analysis of the Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach Practice Guide.

Aim: To present a comprehensive analysis of the Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach (ORCCA) Practice Guide 2023, evaluating its alignment with Russell and Fawcett's conceptual model of nursing and health policy and highlighting the implications for nursing practice and policy.

Design: This paper employs a policy analysis framework to evaluate the ORCCA Practice Guide, using Russell and Fawcett's conceptual model as a lens to assess the policy's structure and implementation.

Methods: The analysis is framed by Russell and Fawcett's conceptual model, focusing on the dimensions of efficacy, effectiveness, equity and justice.

Community-Based Physical Activity Programs for Blood Pressure Management in African Americans: A Scoping Review.

Background: Hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with a higher prevalence among African Americans (AA) than other racial groups. The impact of community-based interventions on managing blood pressure (BP) in AA communities is not fully understood. The purpose of this review was to synthesize literature on community-based physical activity (PA) programs designed to manage BP in AA populations.

Drug resistant pancreatic cancer cells exhibit altered biophysical interactions with stromal fibroblasts in imaging studies of 3D co-culture models.

Interactions between tumor and stromal cells are well known to play prominent roles in progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). As knowledge of stromal crosstalk in PDAC has evolved, it has become clear that cancer associated fibroblasts can play both tumor promoting and tumor suppressive roles through a combination of paracrine crosstalk and juxtacrine interactions involving direct physical contact. Another major contributor to dismal survival statistics for PDAC is development of resistance to chemotherapy drugs, though less is known about how the acquisition of chemoresistance impacts upon tumor-stromal crosstalk.

Disaggregating between- and within-person associations of mastery and cognitive function: age as a moderator.

Background: Mastery may shape the way individuals cope with life challenges and influence cognitive function in later life. Mastery grows out of traumatic experience and could change over the life course. This study examined the within-person and between-person associations of mastery and cognitive function, and if these associations were moderated by age in the United States.

ERK synchronizes embryonic cleavages in Drosophila.

Extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling controls development and homeostasis and is genetically deregulated in human diseases, including neurocognitive disorders and cancers. Although the list of ERK functions is vast and steadily growing, the full spectrum of processes controlled by any specific ERK activation event remains unknown. Here, we show how ERK functions can be systematically identified using targeted perturbations and global readouts of ERK activation.

Single cell expression and chromatin accessibility of the Toxoplasma gondii lytic cycle identifies AP2XII-8 as an essential ribosome regulon driver.

Sequential lytic cycles driven by cascading transcriptional waves underlie pathogenesis in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite's unique division by internal budding, short cell cycle, and jumbled up classically defined cell cycle stages have restrained in-depth transcriptional program analysis. Here, unbiased transcriptome and chromatin accessibility maps throughout the lytic cell cycle are established at the single-cell level.

Preventing overdoses involving stimulants: the POINTS study protocol.

Background: In recent years, overdoses involving illicit cocaine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants have increased in the U.S. The unintentional consumption of stimulants containing illicit fentanyl is a major risk factor for overdoses, particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Exploring Functional Improvements by Sex in Six-Minute Walk Test, Exertional Angina, and Dyspnea After Enhanced External Counterpulsation Therapy.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to explore functional improvements by sex for patients with refractory angina pectoris using a 6-min walk test (6MWT) after enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) therapy.

Methods: All patients who completed EECP from 2015 to 2023 were identified for analysis retrospectively, utilizing the electronic medical record. Patients completed 35 1-hr EECP sessions 5 d/wk over 7 wk.

Naming internal insertion alleles created using CRISPR in .

The budding yeast is a powerful model organism, partly because of the ease of genome alterations due to the combination of a fast generation time and many molecular genetic tools. Recent advances in CRISPR-based systems allow for the easier creation of alleles with internally inserted sequences within the coding regions of genes, such as the internal insertion of sequences that code for epitopes or fluorescent proteins. Here we briefly summarize some exisiting nomenclature standards and suggest nomenclature guidelines for internal insertion alleles which are informative, consistent, and computable.

Views and experiences of involuntary civil commitment of people who use drugs in Massachusetts (Section 35).

Background: Involuntary civil commitment (ICC) is a court-mandated process to place people who use drugs (PWUD) into substance use treatment. Research on ICC effectiveness is mixed, but suggests that coercive drug treatment like ICC is harmful and can produce a number of adverse outcomes. We qualitatively examined the experiences and outcomes of ICC among PWUD in Massachusetts.