Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia.

The Casarabe culture (500-1400 CE), spreading over roughly 4,500 km of the monumental mounds region of the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia, is one of the clearest examples of urbanism in pre-Columbian (pre-1492 CE) Amazonia. It exhibits a four-tier hierarchical settlement pattern, with hundreds of monumental mounds interconnected by canals and causeways. Despite archaeological evidence indicating that maize was cultivated by this society, it is unknown whether it was the staple crop and which type of agricultural farming system was used to support this urban-scale society.

How do GPs' new ways of working affect community nurses? A qualitative study.

Background A growing literature examines the way two changes in primary care - the shift towards remote working, and the diversification of practice teams to incorporate, for instance, physician associates and paramedics - affect patient care within the practice. However, little is known about these changes' effects on community nurses. Aim To explore community nurses' experiences of delivering palliative care in the context of GPs' new ways of working.

Infective endocarditis presenting as bilateral ocular choroidal ischaemia and acute visual loss.

We present a challenging case of infective endocarditis (IE) diagnosed after visual loss from bilateral ocular choroidal infarction in the absence of retinal vasculitis, typical retinal embolic phenomenon, clinical cardiac features or obvious medical history.Our case illustrates the difficulties in diagnosing IE and a high index of clinical suspicion is needed.

Assessing the feasibility of measuring residents' quality of life in English care homes and the construct validity and internal consistency of measures completed by staff proxy: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of capturing older care home residents' quality of life (QoL) in digital social care records and the construct validity (hypothesis testing) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of four QoL measures.

Design: Cross-sectional data collected in wave 1 of the DACHA (eveloping resources nd minimum dataset for are omes' doption) study, a mixed-methods pilot of a prototype minimum dataset (MDS).

Setting: Care homes (with or without nursing) registered to provide care for older adults (>65 years) and/or those living with dementia.

Effectiveness of using implementation frameworks to facilitate the implementation of a stroke management guideline in the traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in China: protocol for a factorial randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is commonly used alongside Western medicine for stroke management in China. However, there is significant variation in TCM practice, and the utilisation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines is inadequate. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of three popular frameworks-Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and Normalization Process Theory (NPT)-in improving implementation outcomes for the integrated TCM and Western medicine clinical practice guideline for stroke management.

Latest clinical frontiers related to autism diagnostic strategies.

The diagnosis of autism is currently based on the developmental history, direct observation of behavior, and reported symptoms, supplemented by rating scales/interviews/structured observational evaluations-which is influenced by the clinician's knowledge and experience-with no established diagnostic biomarkers. A growing body of research has been conducted over the past decades to improve diagnostic accuracy. Here, we provide an overview of the current diagnostic assessment process as well as of recent and ongoing developments to support diagnosis in terms of genetic evaluation, telemedicine, digital technologies, use of machine learning/artificial intelligence, and research on candidate diagnostic biomarkers.

Writing for publication: The basics.

Problem: Writing for publication can be a challenging experience. Whilst midwives develop writing skills through their university education, writing a journal article can be quite different.

Purpose: To explain some basic skills of scientific writing when preparing a paper for publication to support midwives in engaging in scientific writing.

Advancing cancer therapy with custom-built alternating electric field devices.

Background: In glioblastoma (GBM) therapy research, tumour treating fields by the company Novocure™, have shown promise for increasing patient overall survival. When used with the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide, they extend median survival by five months. However, there is a space to design alternative systems that will be amenable for wider use in current research.

Epidemiological analysis of Leishmaniasis prevalence in Pakistan during 2016-2023.

Leishmaniasis, caused by the Leishmania parasite, remains a persistent public health challenge in Pakistan. Despite control efforts, the disease prevalence continues to rise, particularly among pediatric populations. Understanding prevalence patterns and transmission dynamics is critical for effective control strategies.

The impact of specialised gastroenterology services for pelvic radiation disease (PRD): Results from the prospective multi-centre EAGLE study.

To undertake a mixed-methodology implementation study to improve the well-being of men with gastrointestinal late effects following radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. All men completed a validated screening tool for late bowel effects (ALERT-B) and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Score (GSRS); men with a positive score on ALERT-B were offered management following a peer reviewed algorithm for pelvic radiation disease (PRD). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at baseline, 6 and 12 months; and healthcare resource usage (HRU) and patient, support-giver, staff experience and acceptability of staff training (qualitative analysis) were assessed.

Tetraspanins 10 and 15 support Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replication in astrocytoma cells.

Tetraspanins (Tspans) are transmembrane proteins that coordinate life cycle steps of viruses from distinct families. Here, we identify the human Tspan10 and Tspan15, both members of the TspanC8 subfamily, as replication factors for alphavirus Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) in astrocytoma cells. Pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-mediated silencing of TspanC8 interactor a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) reduced VEEV infection.

EZH2 inhibition enhances the activity of Carboplatin in aggressive-variant prostate cancer cell lines.

Background: Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancers (AVPCs) are incurable malignancies. Platinum-based chemotherapies are used for the palliative treatment of AVPC. The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) promotes prostate cancer progression histone H3 Lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3).

Minimally invasive compared to open surgery in patients with low-risk cervical cancer following simple hysterectomy: An exploratory analysis from the Gynegologic Cancer Intergroup/Canadian Cancer Trials Group CX.5/SHAPE trial.

Objective: The Laparoscopic Approach to Cervical Cancer trial demonstrated that minimally invasive radical hysterectomy was associated with worse disease-free survival and overall survival among women with early-stage cervical cancer. It is unknown whether this applies to patients with low-risk disease following simple hysterectomy.

Methods: Among patients who underwent simple hysterectomy in the Simple Hysterectomy And PElvic node assessment trial, univariate and multivariate Cox models were used to assess the association of minimally invasive versus open surgery with clinical outcomes, including pelvic and extra-pelvic recurrence-free survival, overall recurrence-free survival, and overall survival.

Time-varying reproduction number estimation: fusing compartmental models with generalized additive models.

The reproduction number, the mean number of secondary cases infected by each primary case, gives an indication of the effort required to control the disease. Beyond the well-known reproduction number, there are two natural extensions, namely the and reproduction numbers. As behaviour, population immunity and viral characteristics can change with time, these reproduction numbers can vary over time.

Long-term follow-up of intradetrusor botulinum toxin utilisation: A comparison of patients with multiple sclerosis and idiopathic overactive bladder.

Objectives: To assess long-term outcomes (up to 10 cycles) of repeated intradetrusor botulinum toxin (BoNT) utilisation in multiple sclerosis (MS) and idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB).

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective, international, multi-centre, observational cohort study of patients diagnosed with MS and neurogenic OAB and treated with intradetrusor BoNT between January 2005 and January 2020 (just prior to COVID-19 interruption). Dose, efficacy, duration of effect, International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Overactive Bladder (ICIQ-OAB) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Urinary Incontinence (ICIQ-UI) measures and complication rates were recorded.

A systematic review of the knowledge, attitude and practice of healthcare professionals and healthcare professional students towards household pharmaceutical waste disposal.

Background: Active pharmaceutical residues introduced into the environment through irresponsible household disposal of unused and expired medication can damage nature and health. Through medication take-back programmes, these risks can be mitigated. However, healthcare professionals' neglect of their responsibility to ensure proper disposal practices has perpetuated subpar norms among the public.

Concomitant motor responses facilitate the acquisition of multiple prior distributions in human coincidence timing.

The brain optimizes timing behaviour by acquiring a prior distribution of target timing and integrating it with sensory inputs. Real events have distinct temporal statistics (e.g.

The Impact of Motivation on Sustained Attention in Very Preterm and Term-born Children: An ERP Study.

Objective: To compare the effect of motivational features on sustained attention in children born very preterm and at term.

Method: EEG was recorded while 34 8-to-11-year-old children born very preterm and 34 term-born peers completed two variants of a cued continuous performance task (CPT-AX); a standard CPT-AX with basic shape stimuli, and structurally similar variant, with a storyline, familiar characters, and feedback.

Results: Higher hit rates, quicker response times and larger event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes were observed during the motivating, compared with the standard, task.

House dust mites eradication treatments: Current updates emphasizing on tropical countries.

House Dust Mites (HDMs) like Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D. pteronyssinus) and Blomia tropicalis (B.

Hearing loss and risk of major osteoporotic fracture: a population-based cohort study in the United Kingdom.

Unlabelled: Using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, our cohort study matched 237,297 individuals with hearing loss (HL) to 829,431 without HL. The study found an 8-10% higher risk of major osteoporotic fracture in individuals with HL compared to those without. Additionally, within the HL cohort, we identified risk factors for potential inclusion in fracture risk models.

Enhanced phosphorus weathering contributed to Late Miocene cooling.

Late Miocene climate evolution provides an opportunity to assess Earth's climate sensitivity to carbon cycle perturbation under warmer-than-modern conditions. Despite its relevance for understanding the climate system, the driving mechanisms underlying profound climate and carbon cycle changes - including the enigmatic Late Miocene cooling from 7 to 5.4 million years ago - remain unclear.

GorillaFACS: The Facial Action Coding System for the Gorilla spp.

The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is an objective observation tool for measuring human facial behaviour. It avoids subjective attributions of meaning by objectively measuring independent movements linked to facial muscles, called Action Units (AUs). FACS has been adapted to 11 other taxa, including most apes, macaques and domestic animals, but not yet gorillas.