New approach methodologies for risk assessment using deep learning.

The advancement of technologies and the development of more efficient artificial intelligence (AI) enable the processing of large amounts of data in a very short time. Concurrently, the increase in information within biological databases, such as 3D molecular structures or networks of functional macromolecule associations, will facilitate the creation of new methods for risk assessment that can serve as alternatives to animal testing. Specifically, the predictive capabilities of AI as new approach methodologies (NAMs) are poised to revolutionise risk assessment approaches.

Increased Temperature and Exposure to Ammonium Alter the Life Cycle of an Anuran Species.

Amphibian populations are undergoing a major recession worldwide, likely triggered by global change components such as the global warming and pollutants, among which agrochemicals, in general, and fertilizers, in particular, play a central role given their relevance in agriculture. Potential synergies among these stressors could maximize their individual effects. In this work, we investigated the consequences of a controlled chronic exposure to increased temperature and a sublethal dose of ammonium during the larval stage of frogs on the growth, development, and locomotor performance of tadpoles and the metamorphs they gave rise to.

Epigenetic Study of Cohort of Monozygotic Twins With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Due to MYBPC3 (Cardiac Myosin-Binding Protein C).

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an autosomal dominant cardiac disease. The mechanisms that determine its variable expressivity are poorly understood. Epigenetics could play a crucial role in bridging the gap between genotype and phenotype by orchestrating the interplay between the environment and the genome regulation.

Unlocking rivers' hidden diversity and ecological status using DNA metabarcoding in Northwest Spain.

Rivers are crucial ecosystems supporting biodiversity and human well-being, yet they face increasing degradation globally. Traditional river biomonitoring methods based on morphological identification of macroinvertebrates present challenges in terms of taxonomic resolution and scalability. This study explores the application of DNA metabarcoding analysis in both bulk and environmental DNA (eDNA) samples for comprehensive assessment of macrozoobenthic biodiversity, detection of invasive and endangered species, and evaluation of river ecological status in northwestern Spain.

Coping-strategies as a mediator between emotional disorders and problematic alcohol use.

Background: Epidemiological studies reveal a high prevalence of alcohol use and comorbidity rates with emotional disorders. This study aims to explore the possible mediational effect of stress-coping strategies on the relationship between symptoms of emotional disorders and problematic alcohol use.

Methods: The sample included 1014 participants (33.

Lyko, 2017: A new threat to Iberian inland waters.

An eco-monitoring programme to assess faunal biodiversity in the main rivers of the northern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) reveals the first occurrence of the marbled crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in Iberian inland waters. Iberian specimens have been identified by combining morphological and genetic traits. We discuss the most plausible pathways and introduction vectors, its potential invasiveness and subsequent impacts on host localities.

Systematic Review of the Evaluation of Foster Care Programs.

Objetive: The aim of this study was to conduct an exhaustive synthesis to determine which instruments and variables are most appropriate to evaluate foster care programs (foster, kinship, and professional families). This evaluation includes the children, their foster families, their families of origin, professionals, and foster care technicians.

Method: The systematic review included randomized, quasi-randomized, longitudinal, and control group studies aimed at evaluating foster care interventions.

PROTOCOL: Problem solving before instruction (PS-I) to promote learning and motivation in child and adult students.

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows: The purpose of this review is to synthesize the evidence about the efficacy of problem solving before instruction (PS-I) to promote learning and motivation in students. Specifically, this review is designed to answer the following questions: To what degree does PS-I affect learning and motivation, relative to alternative learning approaches? To what extent is the efficacy of PS-I associated with the use of different design features within it, including the use of group work, contrasting cases, and metacognitive guidance in the initial problem-solving activity, and the use of explanations that build upon students' solutions in the explicit instruction phase? To what extent is the relative efficacy of PS-I associated with the contextual factors of activities used as control, age of students, duration of the interventions, and learning domain? What is the quality of the existent evidence to evaluate these questions in terms of number of studies included and potential biases derived from publication and methodological restrictions?

Changes in Mental Health of Children and Young People in Residential Care: Outcomes and Associated Factors.

Several studies have evidenced that children in out-of-home care (OOHC), including foster family care and residential care, reveal high levels of mental health disorders (ranging from 40% to 88%). This study examines the outcomes in mental health reported by key residential workers in a group of children and youth ( = 492) between 8-17 years old who were in residential child care (RCC) in Spain. The research also aims to explore the relationship between mental health outcomes and the provision of mental health services (i.

Peer Victimization, Peer Aggression and Depressive Symptoms over Time: A Longitudinal Study with Latent Growth Curves.

Most empirical research on the relationship between peer victimization, aggression, and mental health has been conducted with correlational designs. Much of this research has also focused primarily on linking peer victimization with either the potential aggressive behaviors of victims or a deterioration in their mental health. This study analyzes the relationship between peer victimization, peer aggression, and depressive symptoms in adolescents over time.

Leaving obstacles aside: Antegrade paravalvular leakage closure after transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Paravalvular leakage (PVL) is yet a potential and serious complication after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Percutaneous PVL closure may be the treatment of choice upon failure of balloon postdilation in patients with excessive surgical risk. If the retrograde approach fails, an antegrade strategy might provide the solution.

Phenology and plasticity can prevent adaptive clines in thermal tolerance across temperate mountains: The importance of the elevation-time axis.

Critical thermal limits (CT and CT) decrease with elevation, with greater change in CT, and the risk to suffer heat and cold stress increasing at the gradient ends. A central prediction is that populations will adapt to the prevailing climatic conditions. Yet, reliable support for such expectation is scant because of the complexity of integrating phenotypic, molecular divergence and organism exposure.

Ionizing radiation and melanism in Chornobyl tree frogs.

Human actions are altering ecosystems worldwide. Among human-released pollutants, ionizing radiation arises as a rare but potentially devastating threat to natural systems. The Chornobyl accident (1986) represents the largest release of radioactive material to the environment.

Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems.

Non-forest ecosystems, dominated by shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, provide ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and forage for grazing, and are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Yet these ecosystems are poorly represented in remotely sensed biomass products and are undersampled by in situ monitoring. Current global change threats emphasize the need for new tools to capture biomass change in non-forest ecosystems at appropriate scales.

Unusual evolution of tree frog populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Despite the ubiquity of pollutants in the environment, their long-term ecological consequences are not always clear and still poorly studied. This is the case concerning the radioactive contamination of the environment following the major nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Notwithstanding the implications of evolutionary processes on the population status, few studies concern the evolution of organisms chronically exposed to ionizing radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Smartphone Addiction, Social Support, and Cybercrime Victimization: A Discrete Survival and Growth Mixture Model.

In recent decades, criminological theories have identified a set of vulnerabilities in potential victims that seek to explain their victimization. When it comes to explaining cybercrime victimization, however, the important role that addiction to the vulnerabilities associated with technological devices can play has tended to be overlooked. In this paper we empirically link smartphone addiction, social support, and cyberfraud victimization in a nationally representative sample of 716 smartphone users followed for three years.

Relationship Between Exposure to Sulphur Dioxide Air Pollution, White Cell Inflammatory Biomarkers and Enzymatic Infarct Size in Patients With ST-segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes.

To analyse the relationship among air pollutants, markers of inflammation and infarct size in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This was a prospective analysis of consecutive patients admitted to hospital because of ACS. Cardiac biomarkers were drawn.

Dual function and associated costs of a highly exaggerated trait in a cichlid fish.

Exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics are apparently costly and seem to defy natural selection. This conundrum promoted the theory of sexual selection. Accordingly, exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics might be ornaments on which female choice is based and/or armaments used during male-male competition.

Demography_Lab, an educational application to evaluate population growth: Unstructured and matrix models.

Training in Population Ecology asks for scalable applications capable of embarking students on a trip from basic concepts to the projection of populations under the various effects of density dependence and stochasticity. Demography_Lab is an educational tool for teaching Population Ecology aspiring to cover such a wide range of objectives. The application uses stochastic models to evaluate the future of populations.

Can asymmetric post-translational modifications regulate the behavior of STAT3 homodimers?

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a ubiquitous and pleiotropic transcription factor that plays essential roles in normal development, immunity, response to tissue damage and cancer. We have developed a Venus-STAT3 bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay that allows the visualization and study of STAT3 dimerization and protein-protein interactions in living cells. Inactivating mutations on residues susceptible to post-translational modifications (PTMs) (K49R, K140R, K685R, Y705F and S727A) changed significantly the intracellular distribution of unstimulated STAT3 dimers when the dimers were formed by STAT3 molecules that carried different mutations (ie they were "asymmetric").

Pop-Inference: An educational application to evaluate statistical differences among populations.

Pop-Inference is an educational tool designed to help teaching of hypothesis testing using populations. The application allows for the statistical comparison of demographic parameters among populations. Input demographic data are projection matrices or raw demographic data.