Search

This analysis aimed to (1) identify longitudinal joint trajectories of participation in organized and unorganized physical activity contexts, and level of daily moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and (2) assess whether basic psychological need satisfaction during adolescence differentiates between membership in different physical activity trajectories. Participants (n = 888; 56% girls) reported their involvement in 36 different physical activities, level of MVPA, and their perceived satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness satisfaction in physical activity up to three times per year, over 8 years (from ages 10 to 17 years). Group‐based multi‐trajectory models were used to identify longitudinal joint trajectories of physical activity participation. We estimated a multinomial logistic regression model for membership in a physical activity trajectory by including individual‐level intercepts and slopes for each psychological need obtained using mixed models over the 24 cycles modelized as natural cubic splines. Five longitudinal trajectory groups emerged: Non‐participants, Dropouts, Active in unorganized physical activities, Active in organized physical activities, and Active through a variety of activities. Relative to Non‐participants, we identify a dose–response relationship in baseline competence and membership in the higher active trajectory groups. In addition, a positive change in competence in early adolescence predicted membership in all three Active trajectory groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers an overview of the threats posed to our democratic and educational institutions by neoliberalism and neofascism and articulates a pedagogy of "educated hope" based on the work of Ernst Bloch, Paulo Freire, and James Baldwin to restore a sense of civic and democratic agency in the classroom and other public settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP), biomedical sciences have moved away from a gene-centred view and towards a multi-factorial one in which environment, broadly speaking, plays a central role in the determination of human health and disease. Environmental exposures have been shown to be highly prevalent in disease causation. They are considered as complementary to genetic factors in the etiology of diseases, hence the introduction of the concept of the "exposome" as encompassing the totality of human environmental exposures, from conception onwards (Wild in Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 14:1847–1850, 2005), and the launch of the Human Exposome Project (HEP) which aims to complement the HGP. At first sight, and seen as complementary to the genome, the exposome could thus appear as contributing to the rise of novel postgenomic deterministic narratives which place the environment at their core. Is this really the case? If so, what sort of determinism is at work in exposomics research? Is it a case of environmental determinism, and if so, in what sense? Or is it a new sort of deterministic view? In this paper, we first show that causal narratives in exposomics are still very similar to gene-centred deterministic narratives. They correspond to a form of Laplacian determinism and, above all, to what Claude Bernard called the "determinism of a phenomenon". Second, we introduce the notion of "reversed heuristic determinism" to characterize the specific deterministic narratives present in exposomics. Indeed, the accepted sorts of external environmental exposures conceived as being at the origins of diseases are determined, methodologically speaking, by their identifiable internal and biological markers. We conclude by highlighting the most relevant implications of the presence of this heuristic determinism in exposomics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veganism and anarchism are burgeoning worldwide, yet very few studies have examined the psychological characteristics of people belonging to these two anti‐oppression groups. The present study investigated whether vegans and anarchists, on the one hand, and activists and non‐activists belonging to these two groups, on the other hand, exhibit distinct personality profiles. To this end, a sample of 180 adults who self‐identify as vegans or anarchists completed an online socio‐demographic questionnaire, the HEXACO Personality Inventory, and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen. A discriminant function analysis showed that anarchists are more likely than vegans to self‐identify as belonging to a gender other than female or male, or to identify with no gender at all. Further, the proportion of men was larger in the anarchist group than in the vegan group. In terms of personality traits, vegans scored higher on the Conscientiousness, Emotionality, and Honesty–Humility dimensions than anarchists did. Anarchists scored higher than vegans on Openness to Experience and Psychopathy. Activists and non‐activists were not distinguished based on gender or personality traits. While the dynamics of power and oppression toward humans and toward animals share common factors, the present results suggest that veganism and anarchism attract anti‐oppression advocates with distinct personality profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the concept of freedom has been appropriated by the far right to impose a number of authoritarian policies designed to dismantle the critical functions of public and higher education. It explores, in particular, the ways in which Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has used an appeal to freedom to punish critics, wage a war on trans people, misrepresent the history of slavery, and impose a new version of McCarthyism on higher education. It challenges what it terms neoliberal and fascist notions of freedom by making clear that democracy and capitalism are incompatible, and that any viable notion of freedom must address not only personal and political rights but also economic rights. Freedom from domination must be matched by a freedom to live in a world marked by the principles of justice, equality, and dignity. There is no freedom in the midst of massive inequalities in wealth, power, and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the 5-mass kite family of self-energy Feynman integrals and present a systematic approach for constructing an ε-form basis, along with its differential equation pulled back onto the moduli space of two tori. Each torus is associated with one of the two distinct elliptic curves this family depends on. We demonstrate how the locations of relevant punctures, which are required to parametrize the full image of the kinematic space onto this moduli space, can be extracted from integrals over maximal cuts. A boundary value is provided such that the differential equation is systematically solved in terms of iterated integrals over g-kernels and modular forms. Then, the numerical evaluation of the master integrals is discussed, and important challenges in that regard are emphasized. In an appendix, we introduce new relations between g-kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We find that different asymptotic measurements in quantum field theory can be related to one another through new versions of crossing symmetry. Assuming analyticity, we conjecture generalized crossing relations for multi-particle processes and the corresponding paths of analytic continuation. We prove them to all multiplicity at tree-level in quantum field theory and string theory. We illustrate how to practically perform analytic continuations on loop-level examples using different methods, including unitarity cuts and differential equations. We study the extent to which anomalous thresholds away from the usual physical region can cause an analytic obstruction to crossing when massless particles are involved. In an appendix, we review and streamline historical proofs of four-particle crossing symmetry in gapped theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores the different shapes that can be realized by the one-particle velocity distribution functions (VDFs) associated with the fourth-order maximum-entropy moment method. These distributions take the form of an exponential of a polynomial of the particle velocity, with terms up to the fourth-order. The 14- and 21-moment approximations are investigated. Various non-equilibrium gas states are probed throughout moment space. The resulting maximum-entropy distributions deviate strongly from the equilibrium VDF, and show a number of lobes and branches. The Maxwellian and the anisotropic Gaussian distributions are recovered as special cases. The eigenvalues associated with the maximum-entropy system of transport equations are also illustrated for some selected gas states. Anisotropic and/or asymmetric non-equilibrium states are seen to be associated with a non-uniform spacial propagation of perturbations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to empirically explore the strengths and skills among public housing tenants as well as the opportunities offered by their environment to use them. In Québec (Canada), 310 participants took part in interviews including open and closed-ended questions about their strengths and skills. Public housing tenants indicated possessing a diversity of strengths and skills. Although participants hinted toward a positive influence of their environment, they quantitatively evaluated the available opportunities to use their strengths and skills as moderately satisfying. The findings suggest a need for interventions specifically tailored to low-income populations such as public housing tenants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of authoritarian politics across the globe, echoes of a fascist past are with us once again signaling a looming and dangerous threat to education and democracy. This essay argues that is it crucial to engage fascism both as a language of white supremacy and a politics of disconnection. If fascism is to be addressed both politically and educationally, it is crucial to address its underlying political, educational, and economic elements comprehensively as part of a broad politics. Any viable mode of resistance to fascism in its upgraded forms must not only make education central to politics but also analyze the problems it produces and its root causes in their interconnections and as part of a wider totality of power and exclusion. Fascism is normalized in a capitalist order when its diverse economic, political and social problems appear fragmented, disconnected, and are treated in isolation. This essay argues against this form of normalization and critiques the relationship between fascism and capitalism and its politics of diversion by examining how a number of crucial issues are often wrongly dealt with in isolation. It concludes by demonstrating how a politics that is comprehensive and interrelated provides a language to rethink how fascism can be made visible and resisted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider asymptotic observables in quantum field theories in which the S-matrix makes sense. We argue that in addition to scattering amplitudes, a whole compendium of inclusive observables exists where the time-ordering is relaxed. These include expectation values of electromagnetic or gravitational radiation fields as well as out-of-time-order amplitudes. We explain how to calculate them in two ways: by relating them to amplitudes and products of amplitudes, and by using a generalization of the LSZ reduction formula. As an application, we discuss one-loop master integrals contributing to gravitational radiation in the post-Minkowski expansion, emphasizing the role of classical cut contributions and highlighting the different infrared physics of in-in observables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of lineup size, target presence, and target sex on voice identification accuracy. In Study 1, participants identified a female target from 1‐, 6‐, or 10‐voice target present or target absent lineups. Results demonstrated increasing accuracy with smaller target absent lineups. One‐voice lineups led to higher rates of innocent suspect identifications than 10‐voice lineups. In Study 2, participants identified a male or female target from 1‐, 6‐, or 10‐voice target present or target absent lineups. Results revealed increased correct identifications in 1‐ and 6‐voice and increased innocent suspect identifications in 1‐voice lineups, compared to 10‐voice lineups. Female lineups resulted in higher accuracy in target present lineups yet increased rates of innocent suspect identifications. Our findings indicate 1‐voice lineups result in both increased accuracy and increased innocent suspect identifications, a trade‐off which may not be advisable. Future research should further explore the impact of multi‐voice lineups on accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood is a commonly encountered type of biological evidence and can provide critical information about the crime that occurred. The ability to accurately and precisely determine the time since deposition (TSD) of a bloodstain is highly sought after in the field of forensic science. Current spectral methods for determining TSD are typically developed using small volume bloodstains, we investigate the applicability to larger volume blood pools where drying and degradation mechanics are different. We explored the differences that exist between the surface and bulk of dried segments from fragments collected from 15 mL dried blood pools and identified heterogeneity using RGB colour analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The physical, molecular, and atomic differences between the layers were further investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. SEM identified different morphology on the surface and the bulk indicative of density-dependant cellular settling. XPS revealed that iron was not present on the surface but rather was present in the bulk where the red blood cells had settled. The oxidation state of the iron was quantified over three weeks in which it transitioned from entirely Fe2+ to primarily Fe3+, as expected for ex vivo degradation of hemoglobin. Further, indications of amide saponification occurring at the blood–air interface were identified in the increased quantity of the C–O moiety relative to C＝O, and the formation of free amines and O＝C-ONa groups over time. ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy provided insights into differences in the molecular composition of the layers, suggesting that the surface consists of more nucleic acids, lipids, and glycoproteins than the bulk, which was dominated by proteins (p < 0.001% using principal component analysis (PCA)). Additionally, spectral band trends previously reported to have applicability to the estimation of TSD were observed for the bulk portion of the blood pool as the Hb underwent predictable time dependant changes from oxyHb to metHb. PCA was performed based on all spectral data which demonstrated statistically significant differences between the surface and bulk, as well as proof-of-concept for linear TSD estimation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) predispose to development of anorectal symptoms that affect women's quality of life. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted for all women with singleton vaginal deliveries who had a primary OASIS repair and attended the Postpartum Perineal Clinic between July 1st 2017 and December 31st 2020. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine correlation between endoanal ultrasound (EAUS) findings and anorectal symptoms quantified by the St. Mark's Incontinence Score (SMIS), (2) to determine the incidence of residual anal sphincter defects, and (3) to determine the rate of clinical overdiagnosis of OASIS. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess correlation between anorectal symptoms and EAUS findings. Results: A total of 247 participants with clinical diagnosis of OASIS met the inclusion criteria. A 3rd-degree tear was identified in 126 (51.0%) and 4th-degree tear was identified in 30 (12.1%) participants. In participants with sonographic evidence of OASIS, there was a statistically significant weak positive correlation between the size of residual defect and SMIS for both external anal sphincter (EAS) (r =.3723, p <.0001) and internal anal sphincter (IAS) (r =.3122, p =.0180). Residual defect in the anorectal sphincter of greater than 1 hour (> 30°) in width was present in 64.3% participants with 3rd-degree tear and 86.7% participants with 4th-degree tear. The rate of overdiagnosis was 36.8%. Conclusion: The size of residual defect of EAS and IAS has a weak positive correlation with anorectal symptoms, emphasizing the importance of EAUS for counselling regarding mode of subsequent delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past ten years radical educators have developed several theories around the notions of reproduction and resistance. In this article, Henry Giroux critically analyzes the major positions of these theories, finding them inadequate as a foundation for a critical science of schooling. He concludes by outlining the directions for a new theory of resistance and schooling which contains an understanding of how power, resistance, and human agency can become central elements in the struggle for social justice in schools and in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential of moment closures as a possible path to future quantum hydrodynamics models. Moment closures are known to produce accurate predictions of continuum and non-equilibrium classical gas flows while offering modeling and numerical advantages over other commonly used methods. The maximum-entropy hierarchy of moment closures holds the promise of robustly hyperbolic stable moment equations, however, the predicted distribution function in phase space is positive by design, which is in disagreement with the quasi-distribution function described by the Wigner equation. In this paper, predictions made by an interpolative one-dimensional five-moment system are compared to direct numerical solutions of the Wigner equation for a simple low-energy quantum state in unbounded doublewell potentials. Numerical solutions for a particle in various potentials described by quartic polynomials are presented. The capacity of moment methods to provide accurate and efficient models for quantum systems is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is at a turning point in its history. As civic culture collapses, neoliberalism wages war on the public imagination, and politics is emptied of democratic values, violence and staggering inequality in wealth and power occupy the center of power and everyday life. This articles explores how the different mobilizing passions of fascism overlap and shape language, policies and a range of educational practices that extend from banning books and whitewashing history to forcing teachers to take loyalty while enacting punishing policies aimed at Black, Brown, and trans-gender youth. As fascism is normalized, it is crucial for the crisis of education to be matched by a crisis of ideas. In addition, there is an urgent need for educators to merge a mass movement for economic and social justice with a formative culture and educational project that places matters of morality, justice, compassion, care, and civic courage above a predatory neoliberal capitalism that is destroying the planet and ushering in a new age of fascist barbarism. The article calls upon teachers and educators along with artists, youth and others committed to a democratic socialist society to unite and fight for a future defined by social justice democratic values, equality, social responsibility, inclusiveness, and freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring the rock physics properties of the subsurface is of great importance for reservoir management. For either oil and gas applications or CO2 storage, seismic data are a valuable source of information for tracking changes in elastic properties which can be related to fluids saturation and pressure changes within the reservoir. Changes in elastic properties can be estimated with time‐lapse full‐waveform inversion. Monitoring rock physics properties, such as saturation, with time‐lapse full‐waveform inversion is usually a two‐step process: first, elastic properties are estimated with full‐waveform inversion, then the rock physics properties are estimated with rock physics inversion. However, multiparameter time‐lapse full‐waveform inversion is prone to crosstalk between parameter classes across different vintages. This leads to leakage from one parameter class to another, which, in turn, can introduce large errors in the estimated rock physics parameters. To avoid inaccuracies caused by crosstalk and the two‐step inversion strategy, we reformulate time‐lapse full‐waveform inversion to estimate directly the changes in the rock physics properties. Using Gassmann's model, we adopt a new parameterization containing porosity, clay content and water saturation. In the context of reservoir monitoring, changes are assumed to be induced by fluid substitution only. The porosity and clay content can thus be kept constant during time‐lapse inversion. We compare this parameterization with the usual density–velocity parameterization for different benchmark models. Results indicate that the proposed parameterization eliminates crosstalk between parameters of different vintages, leading to a more accurate estimation of saturation changes. We also show that using the parameterization based on porosity, clay content and water saturation, the elastic changes can be monitored more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammals use thermoregulatory behavioural strategies to reduce the cost of physiological thermoregulation. Environmental temperatures should, therefore, impact their decisions. We investigated the effect of environmental temperature on the movement decisions of a large mammal with low capacity for physiological thermoregulation: the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla. We GPS-tracked 14 giant anteaters in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland over 5 years. We used hidden Markov models to identify two behavioural states (encamping, as a proxy of resting, and moving, as a proxy of being active) across individuals' trajectories. Then, we estimated the effect of environmental temperature on the probability of moving across the hours of the day in open and forested habitats. We also used integrated step selection analysis to understand how environmental temperature drives giant anteater's habitat selection across the day. Giant anteaters showed three important behavioural thermoregulatory strategies in response to environmental temperature changes: they modulated activity duration, completely shifted activity period on a scale of days and selected forests as thermal shelters. With increasing environmental temperature, giant anteaters increased activity duration, nocturnality and diurnal selection for forests, increasing energy intake while avoiding heat gain by solar radiation. With decreasing environmental temperature, they decreased activity duration, increased diurnality and increased nocturnal selection for forests, thus gaining heat from solar radiation when active and taking shelter in milder microclimates when resting. Besides their high short-term behavioural plasticity regarding activity, giant anteaters also used forests to thermoregulate. These results provide insights into how other mammals could respond to climate change. In particular, we highlight the importance of forests as thermal shelters, offering milder temperatures than adjacent open areas during both hot and cold weather spells. Thermal shelters will become more and more indispensable to animal thermoregulation as the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events increase. • Anteaters use activity modulation as a behavioural strategy to thermoregulate. • Anteaters selected forests as thermal shelters. • Anteaters show the importance of forests to mammals' thermoregulation. • Deforestation should intensify climate change effects on mammals' homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults represent more than 50% of trauma admissions in many high-income countries. Furthermore, they are at increased risk for complications, resulting in worse health outcomes than younger adults and a significant health care utilization burden. Quality indicators (QIs) are used to assess the quality of care in trauma systems, but few QIs reflect responses to older patients' specific needs. We aimed to (1) identify QIs used to assess acute hospital care for injured older patients, (2) assess support for identified QIs and, (3) identify gaps in existing QIs. Scoping review of the scientific and gray literature. Selection and data extraction were performed by 2 independent reviewers. The level of support was assessed by the number of sources reporting QIs and whether they were developed according to scientific evidence, expert consensus, and patients' perspectives. Of 10,855 identified studies, 167 were eligible. Among 257 different QIs identified, 52% were hip fracture specific. Gaps were identified for head injuries, rib, and pelvic ring fractures. Although 61% of QIs assessed care processes, 21% and 18% focused on structures and outcomes, respectively. Although most QIs were based on literature reviews and/or expert consensus, patients' perspective was rarely accounted for. The 15 QIs with the highest level of support included minimum time between emergency department arrival and ward admission, minimum time to surgery for fractures, assessment by a geriatrician, orthogeriatric review for hip fracture patients, delirium screening, prompt and appropriate analgesia, early mobilizations, and physiotherapy. Multiple QIs were identified, but their level of support was limited, and important gaps were identified. Future work should focus on achieving consensus for a set of QIs to assess the quality of trauma care to older adults. Such QIs could be used for quality improvement and ultimately improve outcomes for injured older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the previous research on total and heavy precipitation trends across the northeastern United States (herein, the Northeast) used daily precipitation totals over relatively short periods of record, which do not capture the full range of climate variability and change. Less well understood are the characteristics of long-term changes and synoptic patterns in longer-duration heavy precipitation events across the Northeast. A multiduration (1, 2, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days), multi-return-interval (2, 5, 10, and 50 years) precipitation dataset was used to diagnose changes in various types of precipitation events across the Northeast from 1895 to 2017. Increasing trends were found in all duration and return-interval event combinations with the rarest, longest duration events increasing at faster rates than more-frequent, shorter-duration ones. Daily 850-hPa geopotential height patterns associated with precipitation events were extracted from rotated principal component analysis and k-means clustering analysis, which allowed for the main synoptic types present as well as their structure and evolution to be analyzed. The daily synoptic patterns thus identified were found to be similar across all durations and return intervals and included coastal low (Northeasters, tropical cyclones, and predecessor rain events), deep trough, East Coast trough, zonal, and high pressure patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on fundamentals of democracy and the mode of governance have been under attack by Trump. Topics include conspiracy theories eagerly appropriated by a social base filled with fascists, neo-Nazis, militarists; and Republican politicians actively promoting conspiracy theories and dangerous propaganda.

We present a loop-by-loop method for computing the differential equations of Feynman integrals using the recently developed dual form formalism. We give explicit prescriptions for the loop-by-loop fibration of multi-loop dual forms. Then, we test our formalism on a simple, but non-trivial, example: the two-loop three-mass elliptic sunrise family of integrals. We obtain an ε-form differential equation within the correct function space in a sequence of relatively simple algebraic steps. In particular, none of these steps relies on the analysis of q-series. Then, we discuss interesting properties satisfied by our dual basis as well as its simple relation to the known ε-form basis of Feynman integrands. The underlying K3-geometry of the three-loop four-mass sunrise integral is also discussed. Finally, we speculate on how to construct a "good" loop-by-loop basis at three-loop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to: (1) develop a coding manual to characterize topics discussed and conversation techniques used during peer mentorship conversations between people with spinal cord injury (SCI); (2) assess the reliability of the manual; and (3) apply the manual to characterize conversations. The study was conducted in partnership with three Canadian provincial SCI organizations. Twenty-five phone conversations between SCI peer mentors and mentees were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Ten transcripts were inductively analyzed to develop a coding manual identifying topics and techniques used during the conversations. Inductive technique codes were combined and deductively linked to motivational interviewing and behaviour change techniques. Two coders independently applied the coding manual to all transcripts. Code frequencies were calculated. The coding manual included 14 topics and 31 techniques. The most frequently coded topics were personal information, recreational programs, and chronic health services for mentors and mentees. The most frequently coded techniques were giving personal information, social smoothers, and closed question for mentors; and giving personal information, social smoothers, and sharing perspective for mentees. This research provides insights into topics and techniques used during real-world peer mentorship conversations. Findings may be valuable for understanding and improving SCI peer mentorship programs. SCI peer mentorship conversations address a wide range of rehabilitation topics ranging from acute care to living in the community. Identification of the topics discussed, and techniques used in SCI peer mentorship conversations can help to inform formalized efforts to train and educate acute and community-based rehabilitation professionals. Identifying commonly discussed topics in SCI peer mentorship conversation may help to ensure that peer mentors are equipped with the necessary knowledge and resources, or the development of those resources be prioritized. Developing a method to characterize the topics discussed and techniques used during SCI peer mentorship conversations may aid in designing methods to evaluate how rehabilitation professionals provide support to people with SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a loop-by-loop method for computing the differential equations of Feynman integrals using the recently developed dual form formalism. We give explicit prescriptions for the loop-by-loop fibration of multi-loop dual forms. Then, we test our formalism on a simple, but non-trivial, example: the two-loop three-mass elliptic sunrise family of integrals. We obtain an ε-form differential equation within the correct function space in a sequence of relatively simple algebraic steps. In particular, none of these steps relies on the analysis of q-series. Then, we discuss interesting properties satisfied by our dual basis as well as its simple relation to the known ε-form basis of Feynman integrands. The underlying K3-geometry of the three-loop four-mass sunrise integral is also discussed. Finally, we speculate on how to construct a "good" loop-by-loop basis at three-loop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Des inquiétudes grandissent depuis plusieurs années chez nos maîtres, quant à la qualité et à la quantité de la formation en chirurgie plastique en France. Elles se basent principalement sur la diminution du temps de travail des internes, l'apparition de nouveaux internes de la Génération Z à former, et enfin la pluridisciplinarité de la chirurgie plastique dans le contexte actuel de surspécialisation des services formateurs. Afin d'objectiver ces inquiétudes, un sondage a été réalisé parmi les internes et jeunes chefs de chirurgie plastique français pour évaluer leur formation à la spécialité depuis 2019. Nous avons ensuite recherché dans la loi, des possibilités pour pallier ces inquiétudes. Tous les répondants pensent que leur formation à la spécialité est incomplète, et peu d'entre eux ont pu la compléter par des stages hors subdivision ou des visites de praticiens privés. Or, dans la loi, il est possible de réaliser trois stages hors subdivisions, des stages hors Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire (CHU) en établissements privés de santé, et des stages ou échanges internationaux. Au terme de cette analyse, nous proposons trois solutions pour optimiser la formation en chirurgie plastique en France : un système d'échange d'internes, l'ouverture de terrains de stage dans des établissements privés de santé, et enfin, faciliter la réalisation d'aides opératoires auprès de praticiens libéraux. Avec ces solutions, le champ de formation des internes pourrait s'étendre d'une région à la France entière. Ces solutions pourraient aisément s'appliquer à d'autres spécialités, chirurgicales et médicales. Concerns have been growing for several years among masters, as to the quality and quantity of training in plastic surgery in France. They are mainly based on the reduction in the working time of residents, the appearance of new residents from generation Z to be trained, and finally the multidisciplinarity of plastic surgery in the current context of overspecialization of training center. In order to objectify these concerns, a survey was carried out among French residents and young heads of plastic surgery to assess their training in the specialty since 2019. We then looked in the law for possibilities to alleviate these concerns. All the respondents think that their training in the specialty is incomplete, and few of them have been able to supplement it with rotations outside the subdivision or visits from private practitioners. However, in the law, it is possible to carry out: three residents rotations outside the subdivision, clinics rotations and international exchanges. At the end of this analysis, we propose three solutions to optimize training in plastic surgery in France: a system of exchange of residents, the opening of residents rotations in clinics, and finally, to facilitate the realization of operating aids with private practitioners. With these solutions, the field of training for residents could extend from one region to the whole of France. These solutions could easily be applied to other specialties, surgical and medical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microscopic organisms are often overlooked in traditional diversity assessments due to the difficulty of identifying them based on morphology. Metabarcoding is a method for rapidly identifying organisms where Environmental DNA (eDNA) is used as a template. However, legacy DNA is problematically detected from organisms no longer in the environment during sampling. Environmental RNA (eRNA), which is only produced by living organisms, can also be collected from environmental samples and used for metabarcoding. The aim of this study was to determine differences in community composition and diversity between eRNA and eDNA templates for metabarcoding. Using mesocosms containing field-collected communities from an estuary, RNA and DNA were co-extracted from sediment, libraries were prepared for two loci (18S and COI), and sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq. Results show a higher number of unique sequences detected from eRNA in both markers and higher α-diversity compared to eDNA. Significant differences between eRNA and eDNA for all β-diversity metrics were also detected. This study is the first to demonstrate community differences detected with eRNA compared to eDNA from an estuarine system and illustrates the broad applications of eRNA as a tool for assessing benthic community diversity, particularly for environmental conservation and management applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intense transmission of syphilis has emerged in some Canadian Arctic communities despite screening and prevention efforts. The remoteness of most communities and limited diagnostic infrastructure yield long delays (≥14 days) between screening and treatment of cases. These hamper syphilis control efforts and may contribute to sustained transmission. Syphilis rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been developed to make screening more accessible and to inform clinical decision-making within the same clinical encounter. These RDTs have been successfully deployed in several countries, but not yet in Canada. Methods and design: We describe the methodology of the "Stopping Syphilis Transmission in Arctic Communities Through Rapid Diagnostic Testing" (STAR) study, wherein the clinical and epidemiological impact of deploying a dual syphilis RDT in the context of ongoing transmission in Nunavut and Nunavik will be evaluated. In this prospective multisite field evaluation, sexually active individuals aged ≥14 years at risk for syphilis will be offered screening by an RDT at the point-of-care by non-laboratory trained registered nurses. Whole blood and serum specimens will be concurrently collected, when feasible, for rapid testing with an RDT containing both treponemal and non-treponemal components (Chembio DPP®Syphilis Screen & Confirm) and compared to laboratory-based reference testing according to a reverse sequence algorithm. The diagnostic accuracy of the RDT, using both whole blood and centrifuged serum specimens, will be validated under real-world conditions in remote Northern settings, outside of specialized laboratories. Additionally, screening-to-treatment time, case detection rates, and the number of infectious contacts averted by using the RDT relative to reference testing will be estimated. The impact of both diagnostic approaches on syphilis transmission dynamics will also be modeled. Discussion: This study will provide much needed evidence for strengthening rapid responses to emerging syphilis outbreaks in remote Arctic regions, by supplementing traditional diagnostic strategies with an RDT to rapidly triage patients likely in need of treatment. These results will also inform the development and tailoring of future diagnostic strategies and public health responses to emerging outbreaks in the North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many aspects of our lives. Older adults, those with less income or fewer resources, and those living in rural parts of the United States are potentially more vulnerable. To understand the negative impact of COVID-19 on perceived food security, physical and mental health, and loneliness in a sample of older, rural, low-income adults in the United States, we use results from a mailed survey in which residents of four Indiana counties contrasted their status during the early period of the pandemic to their typical pre-pandemic status. We test for significant changes in status and what predicts negative impacts to food security, health, and loneliness. We asked respondents to report on both pre-pandemic and since-pandemic experiences in the instrument, which was administered after the pandemic had begun, in May 2020. We measure food security using the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module (six-item short form; HFSSM), physical and mental health using the Centers for Disease Control's Healthy Days Measures (HRQOL-4), and loneliness using the UCLA Revised Loneliness Scale. A binomial test identified significant declines in status for all three measures. Logistic regressions identified factors associated with each of the measures worsening. Fear of going to the store or food pantry was associated with all three measures. Decreased store hours and closed food pantries were associated with lower food security. More education, fewer years of age, being female, decreased income, and stockpiling were associated with more reported days of poor physical or mental health. Fewer years of age, lack of transportation, and eating less often with others were associated with perceived increased loneliness. The pandemic had a negative impact on respondents' food security, unhealthy days, and loneliness, but different factors were associated with each measure for this population. Our findings provide insight for targeted recovery efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social media has diverse applications for nursing education. Current literature focuses on how nursing faculty use social media in their courses and teaching; less is known about how and why nursing students use social media in support of their learning. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore how nursing students use social media in their learning formally and informally. Methods: This exploratory qualitative case study of a Canadian School of Nursing reports on the findings of interviews (n = 9) with nursing students to explore how they use social media in their learning. Data were analyzed using a combined deductive and inductive coding approach, using three cycles of coding to facilitate category identification. Results and conclusions: The findings demonstrate that participants use social media for formal and informal learning and specifically, as a third space to support their learning outside of formal institutional structures. Social media plays a role in the learning activities of nursing students studying both face-to-face and by distance. Accordingly, social media use has implications for learning theory and course design, particularly regarding creating space for student learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profound and variable immune responses in human hosts. Chromatin remodeling has been observed in individuals severely ill or convalescing with COVID-19, but chromatin remodeling early in disease prior to anti-spike protein IgG seroconversion has not been defined. We performed the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq) and RNA-seq on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from outpatients with mild or moderate symptom severity at different stages of clinical illness. Early in the disease course prior to IgG seroconversion, modifications in chromatin accessibility associated with mild or moderate symptoms were already robust and included severity-associated changes in accessibility of genes in interleukin signaling, regulation of cell differentiation and cell morphology. Furthermore, single-cell analyses revealed evolution of the chromatin accessibility landscape and transcription factor motif accessibility for individual PBMC cell types over time. The most extensive remodeling occurred in CD14+ monocytes, where sub-populations with distinct chromatin accessibility profiles were observed prior to seroconversion. Mild symptom severity was marked by upregulation of classical antiviral pathways, including those regulating IRF1 and IRF7, whereas in moderate disease, these classical antiviral signals diminished, suggesting dysregulated and less effective responses. Together, these observations offer novel insight into the epigenome of early mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest that detection of chromatin remodeling in early disease may offer promise for a new class of diagnostic tools for COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyse how neoliberal principles in education create a state of precariousness. The question that will guide the problematisation and the argumentation of the work is: What is the «status» of precariousness in the current order and how does it manifest itself - expressly or inadvertently - in the contemporary educational field? In order to address this question, a theoretical-analytical exercise has been carried out based on a review of relevant literature on the relationship between neoliberalisation and education. As a central hypothesis, we propose that the processes of precarisation constitute an objective necessity for the expansion and reproduction of the new neoliberal order. In addition, this order requires the production of a specific type of subjectivity that normalizes «precariousness» as a new historical condition, producing a particular notion of subjectivity and agency. The intersection between objective needs and the production of a particular subjectivity is produced in the cultural space through «pedagogies of precariousness». The installation of such pedagogies in formal education systems will be verified through the analysis of three predominant figures: the entrepreneur, the apprentice of competences and the teacher as technician. Finally, it is analysed how a «pedagogy of possibilities» could be opposed to «pedagogies of precariousness», enabling other forms of educational relations and new political-pedagogical horizons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plan for Ending the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) Epidemic (EHE) in the United States aims to reduce new infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. For EHE to be successful, it is important to accurately measure changes in numbers of new HIV infections after 5 and 10 years (to determine whether the EHE goals have been achieved) but also over shorter timescales (to monitor progress and intensify prevention efforts if required). In this viewpoint, we aim to demonstrate why the method used to monitor progress toward the EHE goals must be carefully considered. We briefly describe and discuss different methods to estimate numbers of new HIV infections based on longitudinal cohort studies, cross-sectional incidence surveys, and routine surveillance data. We particularly focus on identifying conditions under which unadjusted and adjusted estimates based on routine surveillance data can be used to estimate changes in new HIV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on biodiversity risks, we perform an empirical asset pricing analysis and document three main results. First, the factor going long on low biodiversity intensity assets and short on high biodiversity intensity ones as well as the factors based on the biodiversity intensity subcomponents (land use, greenhouse gases—GHG, air pollution, and water pollution) have heterogeneous dynamics but are not spanned by the Fama and French (2015) and carbon factors. Second, the biodiversity factor excluding the GHG subcomponent (ex-GHG) commands a positive risk premium on realized returns and a negative one on expected returns in the sector highly exposed to the double materiality of biodiversity risks (i.e., physical and transition risks). Third, we show that the negative premium of both the biodiversity and the ex-GHG biodiversity factors on expected returns has materialized strongly from 2021 onward and that it amplifies with attention to biodiversity issues and risk aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(C) Symptom severity sums for subjects profiled with single-cell assays and (D) severity scores for each reported symptom for the subjects profiled with single-cell assays. Graph: Figure 1 (A) Symptom severity sums for the subjects profiled with bulk assays and (B) severity scores for each reported symptom for the subjects profiled with bulk assays. [Extracted from the article]

Concerns over the negative environmental impacts of livestock parasiticide treatments and the widespread development of resistance has precipitated a move towards integrated parasite management (IPM). However, within the pasture ecosystem management strategies are likely to impact multiple processes in complex ways. This study investigates the impacts of IPM strategies on pest flies, gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasites, beneficial dung insects, and soil health. Twenty-nine grazing dairy farms participated in the study, representing different chemical and nonchemical parasite management and grazing strategies (continuous, rotational, or management intensive rotational (MIG)). Cattle managed using rotational grazing and MIG had significantly lower FEC than continuously grazed cattle. Farms using chemical parasiticides had significantly fewer pest flies, however farms releasing parasitoid wasps as biological control also had reduced abundances. Dung inhabiting beetle abundance was significantly correlated with reduced pest flies and GIN. Beneficial insects were negatively impacted on farms that used parasiticides. Continuously grazed pastures had higher beneficial insect abundances only on farms that did not use chemical parasiticides. Pastures managed under MIG had lower soil bulk density and higher active carbon compared to continuous grazing. There were positive associations between soil health and tunneling dung insects (Onthophagus spp. dung beetles). Finding optimal strategies will be context dependent, however the results of this study indicate that grazing strategies can control gastrointestinal parasites and improve soil health outcomes, natural enemies such as parasitoid wasps and dung inhabiting beetles can suppress pest fly populations, and the impacts of chemical control strategies may be mitigated through thoughtful implementation. • Rotational grazing reduced cattle gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasites. • Parasitoid wasp biological control may suppress pest flies. • Beneficial pasture insects correlated with reduced pest flies and GIN parasites. • Conventional parasiticides and grazing strategy affected beneficial pasture insects. • Grazing management and beneficial pasture insects influenced soil health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accurate and reliable estimates of violence against women form the backbone of global and regional monitoring efforts to eliminate this human right violation and public health problem. Estimating the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is challenging due to variations in case definition and recall period, surveyed populations, partner definition, level of age disaggregation, and survey representativeness, among others. In this paper, we aim to develop a sound and flexible statistical modeling framework for global, regional, and national IPV statistics.Methods: We modeled IPV within a Bayesian multilevel modeling framework, accounting for heterogeneity of age groups using age-standardization, and age patterns and time trends using splines functions. Survey comparability is achieved using adjustment factors which are estimated using exact matching and their uncertainty accounted for. Both in-sample and out-of-sample comparisons are used for model validation, including posterior predictive checks. Post-processing of models' outputs is performed to aggregate estimates at different geographic levels and age groups.Results: A total of 307 unique studies conducted between 2000-2018, from 154 countries/areas, and totaling nearly 1.8 million unique women responses informed lifetime IPV. Past year IPV had a similar number of studies (n = 332), countries/areas represented (n = 159), and individual responses (n = 1.8 million). Roughly half of IPV observations required some adjustments. Posterior predictive checks suggest good model fit to data and out-of-sample comparisons provided reassuring results with small median prediction errors and appropriate coverage of predictions' intervals.Conclusions: The proposed modeling framework can pool both national and sub-national surveys, account for heterogeneous age groups and age trends, accommodate different surveyed populations, adjust for differences in survey instruments, and efficiently propagate uncertainty to model outputs. Describing this model to reproducible levels of detail enables the accurate interpretation and responsible use of estimates to inform effective violence against women prevention policy and programs, and global monitoring of elimination efforts as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proactive aggressive behaviour (PA) refers to violent and intentional behaviours with serious consequences. Adolescents entrusted by law to youth protection centres are at risk of this type of behaviour. To understand their behaviour, several factors have to be considered (i.e. reactive aggressive behaviour (RA), gender differences, externalized disorders). More importantly, callous–unemotional (CU) traits and lack of empathy can have an impact either way, but their contribution needs to be better understood. The objective of this study is to document the relationships between these factors and PA and to measure their contribution. A total of 87 teenagers living in a youth protection centres (53.5% girls and 46.5% boys), aged between 13 and 18, took part in the study. Results showed positive correlation between PA and RA, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and CU traits, as well as negative correlation between PA and affective empathy. Hierarchical regression analyses confirm that CU traits and affective empathy remain contributing factors in a unique way. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account the adolescent's capacity to feel emotions towards others in order to better assess, understand and act upon their aggressive behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research investigates a novel relationship between travelers' childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and travel decision-making. We theorize that travelers from lower childhood SES or resource-scarce/unpredictable environments are more likely to avoid extreme options in a choice set. Five studies consistently show that childhood SES is negatively associated with extremeness aversion in diverse travel choices. We also demonstrate that the general risk tendency mediates the relationship between childhood SES and extremeness aversion in travel decision making (studies 3A and 3B). Lastly, we reveal that childhood SES is more likely to predict extremeness aversion when a choice set involves a quality–price trade-off rather than a quality–quality trade-off (study 4). This research introduces evolutionary aspects to explain pervasive behavioral tendencies in the context of travel and tourism and offers new insights to practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine how the quality of spinal cord injury peer mentorship relationships and mentor-mentee behaviors are impacted by interaction modality.Methods: Using a within-subjects, repeated measures, experimental design, peer mentors (n = 8) completed two mentoring sessions with a standardized mentee in a telephone and a video chat condition. Measures of therapeutic alliance and autonomy supportiveness were administered following each session. Mentors' leadership behaviors, motivational interviewing skills, and behavior change techniques were compared across conditions. Mentors' and mentees' use of motivational interviewing skills and behavior change techniques were further analyzed using state space grids.Results: Mentors' therapeutic alliance, autonomy supportiveness, use of leadership behaviors, motivational interviewing skills, and behavior change techniques did not significantly differ across the two conditions (ps > 0.123; Cohen's d range = 0.218-0.619). State space grids analyses revealed that the dynamic structure of mentoring conversations was similar when interactions occurred through the telephone versus video chat.Conclusions: Mentors were effective at forming positive, autonomy supportive relationships with mentees in telephone and video chat interaction conditions. Mentors also used leadership/counselling behaviors to a similar extent when interacting through these two modalities.Practice Implications: Organizations that provide peer mentorship can have confidence in using both telephone and video chat modalitites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When semantically-related photos appear with true-or-false trivia claims, people more often rate the claims as true compared to when photos are absent--truthiness. This occurs even when the photos lack information useful for assessing veracity. We tested whether truthiness changed in magnitude as a function of participants' age in a diverse sample using materials appropriate for all ages. We tested participants (N = 414; Age range = 3-87 years) in two culturally diverse environments: a community science center (First language: English (61.4%); Mandarin/Cantonese (11.6%); Spanish (6%), other (21%); ethnicity: unreported) and a psychology lab (First language: English (64.4%); Punjabi (9.8%); Mandarin/Cantonese (7.4%); other (18.4%); ethnicity: Caucasian (38%); South Asian (30.7%); Asian (22.7%); other/unreported (8.6%). Participants rated trivia claims as true or false. Half the claims appeared with a semantically related photo, and half appeared without a photo. Results showed that participants of all ages more often rated claims as true when claims appeared with a photo; however, this truthiness effect was stable across the lifespan. If truthiness age differences exist, they are likely negligible in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is at a turning point in its history. Insurrection has become a dominant motif describing a country torn between the promises and ideals of democracy and an emergent authoritarianism that trades in lies, lawlessness, and a rebranded fascist politics. In this article, I analyze the contrasting visions, politics, and role of education that are central to both notions of insurrection. In the first instance, I argue that insurrectional authoritarianism is wedded to a fascist legacy that calls for racial purity, militarism, ultra-nationalism, and state terrorism. In the second instance, I analyze insurrectional democracy as a mode of resistance that has a long legacy in the battle for racial justice, economic equality, and a politics of inclusion. The article explores how both positions are motivated by particular understandings of education, agency, and the future. Within this distinctive historical moment, both participate in a landscape in which images, the social media, and the Internet play a decisive role in merging political education, power, and cultural politics. Both notions of insurrection infuse cultural politics with a specific language that narrate their visions and work to produce particular modes of agency, identifications, and social relations. At the core of the article is an analysis of how each narrative uses language and cultural politics to define their different notions of insurrection and how education and politics merge to create militarized identities operating in a warring environment in which the very categories of politics, education and democracy are on trial. I conclude that insurrectional authoritarianism has created the context for a civil war marked by a number of counter-revolutionary interventions in which ideas are married to violence and present a threat to democracy. I conclude with a call for an insurrectional democracy that makes education central to politics in order to produce an anti-capitalist consciousness as the basis for a mass movement in defense of socialist democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammals can show conspicuous behavioral responses to thermal variation, including changes in movement patterns. We used an integrative approach to understand how environmental temperature can drive the movement behavior of a mammal with low capacity for physiological thermoregulation, the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). We tracked 52 giant anteaters in 7 areas throughout the Brazilian savannah. We estimated the distance moved, area used, use of forest areas, and mean environmental temperature for each monitoring day of each individual. We modeled these data with Mixed Structural Equations — considering the possible interactions between our variables and controlling for sex and body mass. Giant anteaters reduced displacement and increased forest use with decreasing environmental temperature, probably because of their low body heat production. It is possible that they reduce distance moved and area used by reducing the duration of activity. With decreasing temperature, forest habitats become warmer than open ones, besides buffer rain and chilly winds. Reducing displacement and using forests are important strategies to reduce body heat loss and the energetic costs of thermoregulation. However, decreasing movement can limit food access and, consequently, fitness. Therefore, we highlight the importance of forests as thermal shelters. With increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, we showed the need to preserve forest patches to offer suitable conditions for tropical mammals' behavioral thermoregulation. In this context, policies favoring deforestation on Brazilian territory are especially worrisome. Finally, we emphasize the need of integrative approaches to understand the complex interactions between organisms and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When making travel decisions, consumers are frequently exposed to a multitude of options, including differing price levels for the same product or service across a range of online travel agencies. The current research investigates how the magnitude of price dispersion in online pricing can influence travelers' product evaluations and purchase intentions. Specifically, we predict that travelers will prefer a hotel with no price dispersion to a hotel with different prices listed when the price difference is small, or narrow. However, when the price difference is more pronounced, or wide, travelers will prefer a hotel with price differences compared to a hotel with no price dispersion. Four experiments demonstrate that this effect is consistent across different contexts and categories. Additionally, based on life history theory, we argue that the relative preference for the same versus different price dispersion will be moderated by the travelers' childhood socioeconomic status (SES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence against women is a global public health problem with many short-term and long-term effects on the physical and mental health of women and their children. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for its elimination in target 5.2. To monitor governments' progress towards SDG target 5.2, this study aimed to provide global, regional, and country baseline estimates of physical or sexual, or both, violence against women by male intimate partners. This study developed global, regional, and country estimates, based on data from the WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women. These data were identified through a systematic literature review searching MEDLINE, Global Health, Embase, Social Policy, and Web of Science, and comprehensive searches of national statistics and other websites. A country consultation process identified additional studies. Included studies were conducted between 2000 and 2018, representative at the national or sub-national level, included women aged 15 years or older, and used act-based measures of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence. Non-population-based data, including administrative data, studies not generalisable to the whole population, studies with outcomes that only provided the combined prevalence of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence with other forms of violence, and studies with insufficient data to allow extrapolation or imputation were excluded. We developed a Bayesian multilevel model to jointly estimate lifetime and past year intimate partner violence by age, year, and country. This framework adjusted for heterogeneous age groups and differences in outcome definition, and weighted surveys depending on whether they were nationally or sub-nationally representative. This study is registered with PROSPERO (number CRD42017054100). The database comprises 366 eligible studies, capturing the responses of 2 million women. Data were obtained from 161 countries and areas, covering 90% of the global population of women and girls (15 years or older). Globally, 27% (uncertainty interval [UI] 23–31%) of ever-partnered women aged 15–49 years are estimated to have experienced physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence in their lifetime, with 13% (10–16%) experiencing it in the past year before they were surveyed. This violence starts early, affecting adolescent girls and young women, with 24% (UI 21–28%) of women aged 15–19 years and 26% (23–30%) of women aged 19–24 years having already experienced this violence at least once since the age of 15 years. Regional variations exist, with low-income countries reporting higher lifetime and, even more pronouncedly, higher past year prevalence compared with high-income countries. These findings show that intimate partner violence against women was already highly prevalent across the globe before the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments are not on track to meet the SDG targets on the elimination of violence against women and girls, despite robust evidence that intimate partner violence can be prevented. There is an urgent need to invest in effective multisectoral interventions, strengthen the public health response to intimate partner violence, and ensure it is addressed in post-COVID-19 reconstruction efforts. UK Department for International Development through the UN Women–WHO Joint Programme on Strengthening Violence against Women Data, and UNDP-UN Population Fund-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction, a cosponsored programme executed by WHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-invasive prenatal testing requires the presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Understanding how preexamination conditions affect the integrity of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and fetal fraction (FF) are a prerequisite for test implementation. Therefore, we examined the adjusted effect that EDTA and Streck tubes have on the cfDNA quantity and FF. A total of 3,568 maternal blood samples across Canada were collected in either EDTA, or Streck tubes, and processing metrics, maternal body mass index (BMI), gestational age and fetal karyotype and sex were recorded. Plasma samples were sequenced using two different sequencing platforms in separate laboratories. Sequencing data were processed with SeqFF to estimate FF. Linear regression and multivariate imputation by chained equations were used to estimate the adjusted effect of tube type on cfDNA and FF. We found a positive association between cfDNA quantity and blood shipment time in EDTA tubes, which is significantly reduced with the use of Streck tubes. Furthermore, we show the storage of plasma at −80 °C is associated with a 4.4% annual relative decrease in cfDNA levels. FF was not associated with collection tube type when controlling for confounding variables. However, FF was positively associated with gestational age and trisomy 21, while negatively associated with BMI, male fetus, trisomy 18, Turners syndrome and triploidy. Preexamination, maternal and fetal variables are associated with cfDNA quantity and FF. The consideration of these variables in future studies may help to reduce the number of pregnant women with inconclusive tests as a result of low FF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wearable resistance (WR) training is a modality that allows athletes to perform loaded sport-specific movements to develop force and power outputs. The acute responses by which WR works is still relatively unknown, and the effects of WR load and location of the load has not yet been examined. Objectives: To investigate the acute neuromuscular and stride characteristic responses to different wearable resistance (WR) loads and placements on the calf muscles during high-speed running. Methods: Ten well-trained subjects completed a workout of ten sets of three 10s runs at 18km.h-1 (20s of rest between runs and one min between sets). Five conditions were tested: (1) unloaded control, (2) bilateral 0.75 vs. 1.5% body mass (BM) loading on the distal posterior calf, (3) bilateral proximal vs. distal loading of 1.5% BM positioned posteriorly, (4) bilateral anterior vs. posterior loading of 1.5% BM positioned distally, (5) unilateral loading of 1.5% BM on the distal posterior calf. Data were collected using Electromyography (EMG) and back-mounted GPS-embedded accelerometers. Magnitude of differences of within athlete and between muscle comparisons were calculated using effect sizes (ES) ± 90% confidence limits (CL). Results: No substantial differences in accelerometry data were observed between any of the loaded conditions and the control. EMG activity was lower for proximal loading compared to the control for the gluteus maximus (ES±90%CL; -0.72±0.41), vastus lateralis (-0.89±0.47) and vastus medialis (VM) (-0.97±0.46). Anterior loading induced substantially lower EMG activity for the semitendinosus (-0.70±0.48) and VM (-0.64±0.39) muscles compared with the control. EMG activity of the VM (-0.73±0.46) muscle was also substantially lower for posterior loading compared to the control. Unilateral loading induced no substantial differences in EMG activity between the loaded and unloaded legs. Conclusion: This preliminary study has provided a rationale for the performance of further investigations into the effects of WR lower limb loading on stride characteristics and EMG activity from a chronic standpoint using a larger population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]