Threat to the predator suppresses defence of its prey.

Many studies have shown that prey can optimize their defence mechanisms based on cues indicating predator presence and pressure. However, little is known about whether prey can assess the actual threat by considering both predator density and the motivational state of cannibalistic predators, which can be influenced by threats from higher order predators. We conducted laboratory experiments to test the hypothesis that high predator density, combined with chemical cues indicating predator stress (e.

Normative and limit values of speed, endurance and power tests results of young football players.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the development of speed, endurance and power in young football players and to create percentile charts and tables for standardized assessment.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 495 male players aged 12-16 years at RKS Raków Częstochowa Academy in 2018-2022. Players participated in a systematic training in which running time 5 m, 10 m, 30 m, lower limb power (standing long jump), and Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) were measured using the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test.

Mgl2 cDC2s coordinate fungal allergic airway type 2, but not type 17, inflammation in mice.

Fungal spores are abundant in the environment and a major cause of asthma. Originally characterised as a type 2 inflammatory disease, allergic airway inflammation that underpins asthma can also involve type 17 inflammation, which can exacerbate disease causing failure of treatments tailored to inhibit type 2 factors. However, the mechanisms that determine the host response to fungi, which can trigger both type 2 and type 17 inflammation in allergic airway disease, remain unclear.

Methionine Sulfoximine as a Tool for Studying Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Initiator, Developer, Attenuator.

Methionine sulfoximine (MSO) is a compound originally discovered as a byproduct of agene-based milled flour maturation. MSO irreversibly inhibits the astrocytic enzyme glutamine synthase (GS) but also interferes with the transport of glutamine (Gln) and of glutamate (Glu), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesized within the Glu/Gln-GABA cycle, in this way dysregulating neurotransmission balance in favor of excitation. No wonder that intraperitoneal administration of MSO has long been known to induce behavioral and/or electrographic seizures.

Genomics yields biological and phenotypic insights into bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease. Despite high heritability (60-80%), the majority of the underlying genetic determinants remain unknown. We analysed data from participants of European, East Asian, African American and Latino ancestries (n = 158,036 cases with bipolar disorder, 2.

COVID-19, school closures, and student learning outcomes. New global evidence from PISA.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant disruption in schooling worldwide. Global test score data is used to estimate learning losses by modeling the effect of school closures on achievement by predicting the deviation of the most recent results from a linear trend using data from all rounds of PISA. Mathematics scores declined an average of 14 percent of a standard deviation, roughly equal to seven months of learning.

Anthropometric but not motor characteristics of young volleyball players were improved after a one-week-long intense training sports camp.

This study aimed to examine potential changes in the anthropometric and motor characteristics of volleyball players aged 17.98 ± 0.51 years after participation in a week-long sports camp.

GPCR oligomerization across classes: A2AR-mediated regulation of mGlu5R activation.

The adenosine A receptor (AR), a class A GPCR, is a known player in neurological diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, and is also implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recent studies have revealed its oligomerization with metabotropic glutamate receptor type 5 (mGluR), a class C G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that exists in the homodimeric form. Simultaneous activation of both receptors synergistically enhances mGluR-mediated effects in the hippocampus.

Gelsolin traps ribosomal protein SA (RPSA) within lipid nanodomains of the plasma membrane and modulates the level of protein synthesis in the submembranous region of human skin melanoma cells.

The connection between the F-actin and ribosome docking to the PM has been reported, but the exact mechanism has remained unclear. Previously, we discovered that gelsolin (GSN) forms complexes with numerous ribosomal proteins, including ribosomal protein SA (RPSA). Now, we have unraveled the mechanism of ribosome recruitment to the lipid nanodomains of the PM, with GSN playing a pivotal role in this process.

Asymmetric role of board diversity on green growth mechanism: Evidence from COP27 framework.

Corporate governance has an ethical and legal obligation to safeguard environment from the effects of business operations. In this vein, our study examines the role of board diversity in green growth, renewable energy, social inclusion, and natural capital protection. A green growth index was created using indicators endorsed by the Global Green Growth Organization to accomplish the research objectives.

HBM4EU E-waste study - An untargeted metabolomics approach to characterize metabolic changes during E-waste recycling.

E-waste contains hazardous chemicals that may be a direct health risk for workers involved in recycling. We conducted an untargeted metabolomics analysis of urine samples collected from male e-waste processing workers to explore metabolic changes associated with chemical exposures in e-waste recycling in Belgium, Finland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal. Questionnaire data and urine samples were obtained from workers involved in the processing of e-waste (sorting, dismantling, shredding, pre-processing, metal, and non-metal processing), as well as from controls with no known occupational exposure.

Morningness-eveningness and mental health: Initial evidence of the moderating roles of mattering and anti-mattering.

Mental health problems are more prevalent in evening-oriented individuals than in their morning-oriented counterparts. Recently, research has offered first insights into how the negative effects of eveningness on mental health and well-being can be magnified or alleviated depending on accompanying psychological characteristics. In the current study, we evaluated how eveningness relates to mattering and anti-mattering and whether mattering and anti-mattering can moderate the association between eveningness and mental health.

Dual Interface Modification for Reduced Nonradiative Recombination in n-i-p Methylammonium-Free Perovskite Solar Cells.

High defect concentrations at the interfaces are the basis of charge extraction losses and instability in perovskite solar cells. Surface engineering with organic cations is a common practice to solve this issue. However, the full implications of the counteranions of these cations for device functioning are often neglected.

Detection of clinically relevant variants in the gene below 10% allelic frequency: A multicenter study by ERIC, the European Research Initiative on CLL.

In chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the reliability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect variants ≤10% allelic frequency (low-VAF) is debated. We tested the ability to detect 23 such variants in 41 different laboratories using their NGS method of choice. The sensitivity was 85.

Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy in a Non-communicating Rudimentary Horn at 18 Weeks of Gestation.

This case highlights the critical role of early radiological screening by ultrasound in identifying uterine anomalies. In this report, we discuss a 39-year-old pregnant woman, gravida 4 para 3, and her fetus at gestational age 18 weeks. The patient was referred to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department at Qatif Central Hospital, Saudi Arabia, from a private hospital due to an ultrasound study indicating a possible ectopic pregnancy with an abdominal fetal location.

The effects of clinical and pharmacological factors on the ratio of clozapine to norclozapine in psychiatric patients.

Background: Due to its exceptional effectiveness, clozapine (CLO), whose metabolite is norclozapine (NCLO), is a drug of choice in the management of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors modifying the CLO/NCLO ratio (CNR).

Methods: A total of 446 blood samples (233 of which were drawn from females and 213 from males, aged from 18 to 77 years) were analyzed in this study.

Comparative analysis of anticoagulant influence on PMI estimation based on porcine blood metabolomics profile measured using GC-MS.

Introduction: Accurate post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation is essential in forensic investigations. Although various methods for PMI determination have been developed, only an approximate estimation is still achievable, and an accurate PMI indication is still challenging. Therefore, in this study, we employed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomics to assess post-mortem changes in porcine blood samples collected with and without the addition of anticoagulant (EDTA).

Mental wellbeing of higher education students in challenging times.

Objective: Student age and starting higher education require adaptation to a new physical and psychosocial environment, making the time of studies a highly sensitive period. Current and future generations of students are also likely to face additional global stressors, which potentially exacerbate their mental wellbeing. The aim of the study was to investigate how higher education students' appraisal of the COVID-19 pandemic situation and of their personal resources predict mental wellbeing (anxiety and curiosity).

Synthesis and Chiroptical Activity of π-Expanded Electron-rich Heterohelicenes Based on the 1,4-Dihydropyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole core.

Herein, we report the synthesis and chiroptical characteristics of the first (double) helicenes possesing the 1,4-dihydropyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole (DHPP) moiety as their central core. We have developed a three-step synthesis with 6π-electrocyclization accompanied with HBr elimination as its key step. We found that, whereas for smaller periphereal arms double 6π-electrocyclization occurs smoothly forming a double helicene, in the case of longer policyclic aromatic hydrocarbons the reaction becomes less efficient and mono-helicenes are the only products.

The impact of digital transformational leadership on digital intensity among primary healthcare entities: a moderated mediation model.

Background: Uncertain times require healthcare entities to demonstrate strong leadership, develop digitalisation, and respond to change in a creative and flexible manner. Based on emerging new institutional theory, we developed and tested a model of how digital transformational leadership (DTL) affects digital intensity (DI) among healthcare entities through the mediating role of organisational agility (OA). In this article, we also examine the moderating role of the country in the studied relationship.

Immunosuppressive therapy and nutritional diseases of patients after kidney transplantation: a systematic review.

Background: Kidney transplantation (kTx) is by far the most effective method of treating end-stage renal disease, with immunosuppressive therapy being obligatory for all, except identical twins. Despite kTx being the most effective treatment for end-stage renal disease, the patients face significant morbidity. They are often burdened with diabetes, anaemia, lipid disorders, all of which pose heightened risks for cardiovascular disease.

CryoEM structure and small-angle X-ray scattering analyses of porcine retinol-binding protein 3.

The vertebrate visual cycle hinges on enzymatically converting all--retinol (at-ROL) into 11--retinal (11c-RAL), the chromophore that binds to opsins in photoreceptors, forming light-responsive pigments. When struck by a photon, these pigments activate the phototransduction pathway and initiate the process of vision. The enzymatic isomerization of at-ROL, crucial for restoring the visual pigments and preparing them to receive new light stimuli, relies on various enzymes found in both the photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium cells.

Effect of high-pressure carbon dioxide combined with modified atmosphere packaging on the quality of fresh-cut squash during storage.

The study evaluated the application of a novel high-pressure microbial inactivation method combining dense carbon dioxide with modified atmosphere packaging on organic fresh-cut squash (Cucurbita moschata). Approximately 4 g or 32 g of squash was packed in plastic pouches filled with CO to test two different gas-to-product ratios and treated with the high-pressure method at previously optimized process conditions (45 °C, 6.0 MPa and 40 min).

Towards stormwater reuse risk management plans: Methodology and catchment scale evaluation of QMRA.

The reuse of stormwater represents a potential option for meeting water demands in water stressed regions as well as preventing and mitigating diffuse pollution of receiving water bodies. Particularly, the elaboration of a risk management plan for stormwater reuse may help to understand associated environmental and public health risks and design fit-for-purpose water treatment processes. In this work, it is presented an innovative methodology to perform quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for stormwater reuse by using data simulated by SWMM software.

Can household energy efficiency dampen crude oil price volatility in the United States?

Even though the effect of oil price shocks on macroeconomics has been extensively investigated, the literature on how efficiency in household energy use affect crude oil price volatility is yet explored. This study unveils whether household energy efficiency lower crude oil price volatility asymmetrically in the United States using the historical and forecast dataset that spans from 1970:Q1-2040:Q1. Applying the multivariate case of Quantile-on-Quantile Regression, the empirical results show that household energy efficiency dampens crude oil price volatility with a stronger connection in quantiles before the median quantiles of crude oil price volatility.