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Purpose: There are few markers to identify those likely to recur or progress after treatment with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). We developed and validated artificial intelligence (AI)–based histologic assays that extract interpretable features from transurethral resection of bladder tumor digitized pathology images to predict risk of recurrence, progression, development of BCG-unresponsive disease, and cystectomy. Materials and Methods: Pre-BCG resection-derived whole-slide images and clinical data were obtained for high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer cases treated with BCG from 12 centers and were analyzed through a segmentation and feature extraction pipeline. Features associated with clinical outcomes were defined and tested on independent development and validation cohorts. Cases were classified into high or low risk for recurrence, progression, BCG-unresponsive disease, and cystectomy. Results: Nine hundred forty-four cases (development: 303, validation: 641, median follow-up: 36 months) representative of the intended use population were included (high-grade Ta: 34.1%, high-grade T1: 54.8%; carcinoma in situ only: 11.1%, any carcinoma in situ: 31.4%). In the validation cohort, "high recurrence risk" cases had inferior high-grade recurrence-free survival vs "low recurrence risk" cases (HR, 2.08, P <.0001). "High progression risk" patients had poorer progression-free survival (HR, 3.87, P <.001) and higher risk of cystectomy (HR, 3.35, P <.001) than "low progression risk" patients. Cases harboring the BCG-unresponsive disease signature had a shorter time to development of BCG-unresponsive disease than cases without the signature (HR, 2.31, P <.0001). AI assays provided predictive information beyond clinicopathologic factors. Conclusions: We developed and validated AI-based histologic assays that identify high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer cases at higher risk of recurrence, progression, BCG-unresponsive disease, and cystectomy, potentially aiding clinical decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND Biomedical data are inherently multimodal, comprising physical measurements and natural-language narratives. A generalist biomedical artificial intelligence (AI) model needs to simultaneously process different modalities of data, including text and images. Therefore, training an effective generalist biomedical model requires high-quality multimodal data, such as parallel image-text pairs. METHODS Here, we present PMC-15M, a novel dataset that is two orders of magnitude larger than existing biomedical multimodal datasets, such as MIMIC-CXR, and spans a diverse range of biomedical image types. PMC-15M contains 15 million biomedical image-text pairs collected from 4.4 million scientific articles. Based on PMC-15M, we have pretrained BiomedCLIP, a multimodal foundation model, with domain-specific adaptations tailored to biomedical vision-language processing. RESULTS We conducted extensive experiments and ablation studies on standard biomedical imaging tasks from retrieval to classification to visual question answering (VQA). BiomedCLIP achieved new state-of-the-art results in a wide range of standard datasets, substantially outperforming prior approaches. Intriguingly, by large-scale pretraining on diverse biomedical image types, BiomedCLIP even outperforms state-of-the-art radiology-specific models, such as BioViL, in radiology-specific tasks such as Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) pneumonia detection. CONCLUSIONS BiomedCLIP is a fully open-access foundation model that achieves state-of-the-art performance on various biomedical tasks, paving the way for transformative multimodal biomedical discovery and applications. We release our models at aka.ms/biomedclip to facilitate future research in multimodal biomedical AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to quantify changes in peak bending moments at the distal tibia, peak patellofemoral joint contact forces and peak Achilles tendon forces during a high-intensity run to fatigue at middle-distance speed. Observational study. 16 high-level runners (7 female) ran on a treadmill at the final speed achieved during a preceding maximum oxygen uptake test until failure (~ 3 min). Three-dimensional kinetics and kinematics were used to derive and compare tibial bending moments, patellofemoral joint contact forces and Achilles tendon forces at the start, 33 %, 67 % and the end of the run. Average running speed was 5.7 (0.4) m·s−1. There was a decrease in peak tibial bending moments (− 6.8 %, p = 0.004) from the start to the end of the run, driven by a decrease in peak bending moments due to muscular forces (− 6.5 %, p = 0.001), whilst there was no difference in peak bending moments due to joint reaction forces. There was an increase in peak patellofemoral joint forces (+ 8.9 %, p = 0.026) from the start to the end of the run, but a decrease in peak Achilles tendon forces (− 9.1 %, p < 0.001). Running at a fixed, high-intensity speed to failure led to reduced tibial bending moments and Achilles tendon forces, and increased patellofemoral joint forces. Thus, the altered neuromechanics of high-intensity running to fatigue may increase patellofemoral joint injury risk, but may not be a mechanism for tibial or Achilles tendon overuse injury development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment of Primary metatarsal aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) with curettage and bone grafting unfortunately has a high recurrence rate, particularly in short tubular bones. This study presents a 16-year experience treating ABCs in the bones of the foot at an orthopaedic oncology referral center. Treatment involved en bloc resection and reconstruction of the defect with fibular allograft in all cases. Retrospectively collected data were used to document the outcomes. Methods: This retrospective review includes patients with primary metatarsal ABC treated en bloc resection at a single center between 2004 and 2020. Information on the diagnosis, treatment, complications, and outcomes was collected from our database for all eligible patients. Radiologic healing was used as our primary outcome measure. The patient's function was assessed using the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score. Results: The study included 19 subjects (11 women, 8 men) with a mean age of 18 years (SD 11-35). The average resected length was 4.24 cm (3-6 cm). The mean follow-up time was 79.26 months (28-160 months). The mean TESS score and MSTS were 94.52 and 28.42, respectively. The average healing time was 10.2 weeks. No patient had local recurrence. Arthrodesis was performed in 3 patients because of joint involvement. Repeat surgery was performed for 2 patients, debridement for one because of infection and bone graft for another because of nonunion. One patient had experienced an allograft fracture. Conclusion: Based on the Enneking classification, our experience has shown that a reasonable surgical approach for primary active and invasive metatarsal ABC is en bloc resection and reconstruction with fibula allograft. This method has a low risk of recurrence and does not result in significant functional impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burning moouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic pain condition similar to neuropathic pain. It is characterized by a persistent burning sensation in the oral cavity. Despite the lack of clarity regarding the etiology of BMS, recent studies have reported an association between the gut microbiome and neuropathic pain. However, few studies have investigated the association between the oral microbiome and orofacial pain, such as BMS. This study aimed to compare the oral microbial profiles of healthy controls (HC) and patients with BMS. The BMS group was further divided into BMS_low and BMS_high groups according to pain intensity. A total of 60 patients with BMS (BMS_low, n = 16; BMS_high, n = 44) and 30 HC provided saliva samples, which were sequenced and analyzed for the V1–V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The alpha diversity was similar among the three groups. However, a significant difference in the distribution of microbiome composition was observed between BMS_high and HC, as revealed by the Bray–Curtis distance analysis (P < 0.01). At the genus level, Prevotella and Alloprevotella were the most abundant genera in the BMS group. Compared to HC, BMS_high exhibited a relatively higher abundance of bacterial species. Some bacteria, including Prevotella spp., exhibit an increasing pattern with subjective pain intensity. These results suggest the potential involvement of oral microbiota in BMS pathogenesis. Additionally, variations in the microbiome may occur not only in the presence or absence of pain, but also with pain severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fixation preserves the tissues in a close to the life-like state by preventing its autolysis and putrefaction. Formalin has long been considered the close to ideal fixative for histological studies. With the awareness of occupational hazards, a few researchers have tried phenoxetol as a secondary preservative which offered comparable histological results to that of formalin. The adoption of phenoxetol as a non-toxic histological fixative of choice for staining purposes will require a process of validation; hence, the study aimed to see the suitability of different proportions of formalin and phenoxetol which can be used as a histological fixative. A few tissue sections (lip, ear lobe, muscle, vessels, and adipose tissue) were taken from a single cadaver before routine formalin-based embalming. The tissues were cut into smaller segments and fixed in 10% formalin, 1% phenoxetol, and in different proportions of 10% formalin and 1% phenoxetol. After the set time of fixation, tissue processing was carried out, and the slides were stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) as well as special stains. The histological features of the tissues were assessed by two observers who were blinded to the fixation process. Most of the tissues preserved in 1% phenoxetol stained sufficiently well compared to other fixatives (formalin, phenoxetol + formalin). As the study was done using a standardized protocol followed for 10% formalin, few combinations did not work well. Still, the tissues fixed in 1% phenoxetol gave excellent results. We can conclude that for histological studies, 1% phenoxetol can be used as a short-term primary fixative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of rare malignant tumors. Tumor grade might be underestimated in biopsy due to intratumoral heterogeneity. This mini-review aims to present the current state of predicting malignancy grades of STS through radiomics, machine learning, and deep learning on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Several studies investigated various machine-learning and deep-learning approaches in T2-weighted (w) images, contrast-enhanced (CE) T1w images, and DWI/ADC maps with promising results. Combining semantic imaging features, radiomics features, and deep-learning signatures in machine-learning models has demonstrated superior predictive performances compared to individual feature sources. Furthermore, incorporating features from both tumor volume and peritumor region is beneficial. Especially random forest and support vector machine classifiers, often combined with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and/or synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE), did show high area under the curve (AUC) values and accuracies in existing studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fewer than 5 % of soft tissue sarcomas arise in the foot and ankle. It can be difficult to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions which leads to a delay in diagnosis. Initial inappropriate procedures limit options for limb salvage and increasing rates of local recurrence. Our aim is to improve understanding of the presentation and management of these rare tumors to reduce delays in diagnosis and decrease the occurrence of inappropriate or unwarranted procedures. A prospectively maintained database of 376 new referrals to the West of Scotland regional musculoskeletal oncology service for soft tissue lesions of the foot, ankle, and lower leg over a 10-year period was analysed retrospectively. An assessment was made of patient demographics, presentation, anatomical location, diagnosis, classification, management, and outcomes for all patients. Of all new referrals, 53.5 % were diagnosed with primary benign soft tissue tumors and 16 % with primary malignant soft tissue tumors. The most common primary benign tumor in our population was schwannoma (15.9 %) and primary malignant tumor was undifferentiated sarcoma (26.7 %). In the foot alone, soft tissue sarcomas most commonly occurred in the forefoot (44.4 %). The most common presenting complaints were rest pain and focal swelling. Symptoms were present for on average 7 months prior to referral. Death from disease in sarcomas was 41.7 % over a 10 year follow up period, higher than other body areas. Soft tissue sarcomas in the foot and ankle remain a diagnostic challenge. Local biopsies should only be performed following discussion with an oncology surgeon. We have provided a management protocol in order to reduce the number of inappropriate procedures performed in this group and expedite referral to specialist centres, optimising clinical outcomes and reducing the cost of litigation to healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osseous tumors of the foot and ankle are rarely encountered in general orthopaedic practice and represent only 3 % of osseous neoplasms. It can be difficult to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions, leading to misdiagnosis. Delays in diagnosis are the main cause of litigation in sarcoma of the extremities. Poor understanding of how sarcomas present in this region can lead to inappropriate initial procedures, limiting options for limb salvage and increasing rates of local recurrence. Our aim is to improve understanding of these rare tumors to reduce misdiagnosis and decrease the occurrence of inappropriate or unwarranted procedures. We retrospectively analysed a prospectively maintained database of 288 new referrals to the West of Scotland regional musculoskeletal oncology service for osseous lesions of the foot, ankle and lower leg over a 10-year period. An analysis of patient demographics, presentation, anatomical location, diagnosis, classification, management and outcomes was performed. Of all new referrals, 52.4 % were diagnosed with primary benign osseous tumors, 8.7 % with primary malignant osseous tumors, 9.7 % with metastatic osseous lesions, and 29.2 % pseudotumors. The most common primary benign tumor in our population was osteoid osteoma (18.5 %), primary malignant tumor was osteosarcoma (32 %) and metastatic osseous lesions were from small cell lung cancer primary (14.3 %). In the foot and ankle, malignant bone tumors most commonly presented in the distal tibia and fibula (20 %). Rest pain was the most common symptom at presentation in all groups, followed by swelling. The average duration of symptoms was 5 months for malignant lesions before primary referral. Bone tumors in the foot and ankle remain a diagnostic challenge. We hope to have increased understanding of these rare lesions and have recommended a management protocol in order to reduce the number of inappropriate procedures performed, optimising clinical outcomes and reducing the cost of litigation to healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the effect of various biologic adjuvants on the polarization of macrophages in an in vitro model for rotator cuff tears. Tissue was harvested from 6 patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. An in vitro model of the supraspinatus and subacromial bursa was created and treated with control, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), autologous activated serum (AAS), or a combination of PRP+AAS. The effect of treatment on macrophage polarization between M1 proinflammatory macrophages or M2 anti-inflammatory macrophages was measured using gene expression, protein expression, flow cytometry, and nitric oxide production. Tendon and bursa treated with PRP, AAS, and PRP+AAS significantly decreased the gene expression of M1 markers interleukin (IL)-12 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha while significantly increasing the expression of M2 markers arginase, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-β (P <.05) compared with treatment with control. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis of protein production demonstrated that, compared with control, coculture treated with PRP, AAS, and PRP+AAS significantly decreased markers of M1-macrophages (IL-6, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) while significantly increasing the expression of markers of M2-macrophages (arginase, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-beta) (P <.05). Flow cytometry analysis of surface markers demonstrated that compared with control, tendon and bursa treated with PRP, AAS, and PRP+AAS significantly decreased markers of M1-macrophages (CD80, CD86, CD64, CD16) while significantly increasing the expression of markers of M2-macrophages (CD163 and CD206) (P <.05). Treatment of the coculture with PRP, AAS, and PRP+AAS consistently demonstrated a decrease in nitric oxide production (P <.05) compared with control. AAS and PRP+AAS demonstrated an increased macrophage shift to M2 compared with PRP alone, whereas there was not as uniform of a shift when comparing PRP+AAS with AAS alone. In an in vitro model of rotator cuff tears, the treatment of supraspinatus tendon and subacromial bursa with PRP, AAS, and PRP+AAS demonstrated an increase in markers of anti-inflammatory M2-macrophages and a concomitant decrease in markers of proinflammatory M1-macrophages. AAS and PRP+AAS contributed to a large shift to macrophage polarization to the anti-inflammatory M2 compared with PRP. The mechanism of biologic adjuvant effects on the rotator cuff remains poorly understood. This study suggests that they may contribute to polarization of macrophages for their proinflammatory (M1) state to the anti-inflammatory (M2) state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. We hypothesized that a senescent phenotype instigated by uremic toxins could account for early vascular aging (EVA) and vascular dysfunctions of microvasculature in end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients which ultimately lead to increased cardiovascular complication. To test this hypothesis, we utilized both in vivo, and ex vivo approaches to study endothelial and smooth muscle function and structure, and characterized markers related to EVA in 82 ESKD patients (eGFR <15 ml/min) and 70 non-CKD controls. In vivo measurement revealed no major difference in endothelial function between ESKD and control group, aside from higher stiffness detected in the microcirculation of ESKD participants. In contrast, ex vivo measurements revealed a notable change in the contribution of endothelium-derived factors and increased stiffness in ESKD patients vs. controls. In support, we demonstrated that ex vivo exposure of arteries to uremic toxins such as Trimethylamine N-oxide, Phenylacetylglutamine, or extracellular vesicles from CKD patients impaired endothelial function via diminishing the contribution of endothelium-derived relaxing factors such as nitric oxide and endothelium derived hyperpolarizing factor. Uremic arteries displayed elevated expression of senescence markers (p21CIP1, p16INK4a, and SA-β-gal), calcification marker (RUNX2), and reduced expression of Ki67, sirtuin1, Nrf2, and MHY11 markers, indicating the accumulation of senescent cells and EVA phenotype. Correspondingly, treating uremic vessel rings ex vivo with senolytic agents (Dasatinib + Quercetin) effectively reduced the senescence-associated secretory phenotype and changed the origin of extracellular vesicles. Notably, sex differences exist for certain abnormalities suggesting the importance of biological sex in the pathogenesis of vascular complications. In conclusion, the uremic microvasculature is characterized by a "senescence signature", which may contribute to EVA and cardiovascular complications in ESKD patients and could be alleviated by treatment with senolytic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart ports, utilizing advanced and hybrid technologies, are gaining increasing attention for application in the maritime industry, with driver assistance and autonomous driving being pivotal in container-terminal operations. This study introduces a novel approach for enhancing object detection and distance estimation, focusing principally on decision support for reach stacker container handlers in port terminals by integrating generative and deep learning models. The EfficientDet model, enriched with integrated k-means clustering, is developed to detect and classify objects using a practical dataset of labeled images based on visual features. Moreover, generative models, specifically the diffusion model and generative adversarial network, are utilized to generate depth scenes for estimating object distances. Experimental results indicate that the proposed approach yields superior object detection and distance estimation outcomes in port terminal operations, characterized by high accuracy and reduced computational cost. The proposed method exhibits potential for application across various industries, including transportation, logistics, and security, where precise object detection and distance estimation are vital for efficient and secure operations. • Computer vision technique assists safe operations of a reach stacker in port terminals. • GAN and diffusion models generate depth frames without costly stereo cameras. • Adversarial environments in a dataset improve the robustness of the detection model. • With distance estimation, a depth frame supports a 3D map for remote surveillance. • A novel algorithm with computer vision and machine learning guarantees accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncountability of $\mathbb {R}$ is one of its most basic properties, known far outside of mathematics. Cantor's 1874 proof of the uncountability of $\mathbb {R}$ even appears in the very first paper on set theory, i.e., a historical milestone. In this paper, we study the uncountability of ${\mathbb R}$ in Kohlenbach's higher - order Reverse Mathematics (RM for short), in the guise of the following principle: $$\begin{align*}\mathit{for \ a \ countable \ set } \ A\subset \mathbb{R}, \mathit{\ there \ exists } \ y\in \mathbb{R}\setminus A. \end{align*}$$ An important conceptual observation is that the usual definition of countable set—based on injections or bijections to ${\mathbb N}$ —does not seem suitable for the RM-study of mainstream mathematics; we also propose a suitable (equivalent over strong systems) alternative definition of countable set, namely union over ${\mathbb N}$ of finite sets ; the latter is known from the literature and closer to how countable sets occur 'in the wild'. We identify a considerable number of theorems that are equivalent to the centred theorem based on our alternative definition. Perhaps surprisingly, our equivalent theorems involve most basic properties of the Riemann integral, regulated or bounded variation functions, Blumberg's theorem, and Volterra's early work circa 1881. Our equivalences are also robust , promoting the uncountability of ${\mathbb R}$ to the status of 'big' system in RM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was to assess the concentrations of Pb, Hg, Cd, As, Cr, Zn and the potential human health risk associated with consuming contaminated gills, muscles, liver and, gonads of silver catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) reaped from Great Kwa River, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) after mixed acid digestion. The results showed that Mean concentrations of lead in the muscles, liver, gills, gonads (sperm and ovary) of C. nigrodigitatus range between 0.050±0.022 mg/kg to 0.242±0.027 mg/kg. The difference in lead content of C. nigrodigitatus organs was significant (p ≤ 0.05) and displayed the trend: gills > liver = muscles > gonads (sperm) = gonads (ovary). Cadmium, mercury and arsenic concentrations were not detected in the organs. Arsenic was only detected in the liver and gills of C.nigrodigitatus. The Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) were compared to determine the safe levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, Zinc and arsenic that can be obtained from the consumption of C. nigrodigitatus sampled from the River. With the exception of zinc, all of the metals' average EDIs were below the suggested daily consumption threshold. For every metal in the research, the average Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) was less than 1.00. Findings suggest that there is little risk of cancer from lead, arsenic, and cadmium in C. nigrodigitatus, therefore continuous monitoring of these metals in the study area is necessary to ensure the good quality of the aquatic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many recent efforts focus on promoting neglected and underutilized species (NUS) for improved nutrition, but consumption depends on various factors. Objective: With this in mind, this study aims to understand the factors associated with the consumption patterns of Adansonia digitata, Ocimum gratissimum, Vigna radiata, and Moringa oleifera by households in Atacora, northern Benin. Methods: To achieve this, a food consumption survey was carried out in 3 communes. Two villages per commune were randomly selected to carry out the food consumption frequencies of households through a 7-day recall for periods of abundance and scarcity. A multinomial regression model was used to explain the consumption frequency of species depending on socio-demographic factors and seasonality. Results: Different parts of these different species targeted were used in various forms to prepare sauces, porridges, juices, etc. Baobab- and moringa-based foods appeared to be the most widely consumed foods, regardless of the season. Even though fresh moringa leaves sauce and baobab seeds sauce were consumed mostly in periods of scarcity. The probability of rarely consuming foods made from these species was lower for households living in Toucoutouna and Tanguiéta compared to Natitingou. Furthermore, the consumption of these foods was usually higher for mothers who were students, hairdressers or seamstresses compared to housewives (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The consumption patterns then vary from species to species and are influenced by demographic factors such as household location and mother's occupation. Promoting NUS among the population is essential to increase awareness of their nutritional importance and improve their consumption. Plain language title: Factors Affecting Consumption of Neglected and Underutilized Species in Atacora, Northern Benin Plain language summary : In recent years, many efforts have been made to improve the use of neglected and under-utilized plant species in food production. It should be noted that these plant species make a significant contribution to the supply of elements essential for good nutrition. However, several factors can influence their consumption by households. This study therefore aims to understand the factors associated with the dietary habits of neglected species such as Adansonia digitata, Ocimum gratissimum, Vigna radiata, and Moringa oleifera by households in Atacora, northern Benin. A survey of their eating habits was carried out in 3 communes in the Atacora department. Two villages per commune were randomly selected to carry out this household survey over the last 7 days for periods of food abundance and scarcity. The various target species' leaves, fruits, kernels, and seeds were used in various forms to prepare sauces, porridges, juices, etc. Mainly baobab- and moringa-based foods seem to be widely consumed whatever the season. Indeed, baobab seed sauce, baobab leaves sauce and fresh moringa leaves sauce were mainly consumed in times of food scarcity while fresh baobab leaves sauce was predominantly consumed during abundance. Households living in Toucoutouna consume less food made from these species, unlike those living in Tanguiéta. Moreover, consumption of these foods for 5 or more days a week was higher for mothers who were students, hairdressers or seamstresses than for housewives. It is therefore essential to promote neglected and under-utilized species among the population to increase awareness of their nutritional importance and improve their consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover crop mixtures are popular among farmers because they can provide a broader range of ecosystem services than monocultures. However, designing effective cover crop mixtures is difficult because differences in competitiveness among species can cause uneven growth within mixtures, reducing benefits from the suppressed species. The Cover Crop Challenge is an experiential learning activity where students explore and evaluate cover crop mixtures. It was implemented in a multi‐university course composed of six universities across the Eastern and Midwestern United States in 2022 and 2023. A survey of students from the multi‐university course revealed that 97% of respondents (n = 78) thought the Cover Crop Challenge was a valuable activity. Students reported that the activity enhanced their understanding of ecological, agronomic, and economic principles related to cover cropping and that they appreciated the opportunity to collect their own data in a hands‐on environment. Additionally, there were positive correlations between student value in the Cover Crop Challenge and their perceived accomplishment of course‐wide learning objectives related to cover cropping. Consequently, the Cover Crop Challenge addresses common barriers farmers face when using cover crops, providing students with valuable insights beyond the classroom.Core Ideas: A hands‐on laboratory activity helped students explore and evaluate cover crop mixtures.Students evaluated biomass production, costs, and ecosystem services of mixtures in field and greenhouse settings.The activity was done in a multi‐university course for 2 years, and students were surveyed to assess learning.Students valued the activity because it increased their knowledge of cover crop costs, benefits, and management.The activity provided students with applied skills outside of the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of interaction effects are of great interest because they identify crucial interplay between predictors in explaining outcomes. Previous work has considered several potential sources of statistical bias and substantive misinterpretation in the study of interactions, but less attention has been devoted to the role of the outcome variable in such research. Here, we consider bias and false discovery associated with estimates of interaction parameters as a function of the distributional and metric properties of the outcome variable. We begin by illustrating that, for a variety of noncontinuously distributed outcomes (i.e., binary and count outcomes), attempts to use the linear model for recovery leads to catastrophic levels of bias and false discovery. Next, focusing on transformations of normally distributed variables (i.e., censoring and noninterval scaling), we show that linear models again produce spurious interaction effects. We provide explanations offering geometric and algebraic intuition as to why interactions are a challenge for these incorrectly specified models. In light of these findings, we make two specific recommendations. First, a careful consideration of the outcome's distributional properties should be a standard component of interaction studies. Second, researchers should approach research focusing on interactions with heightened levels of scrutiny. There is great scientific interest in the degree to which responses to some common stimulus vary across people. Many tests of such variation involve the statistical analysis of interaction terms. We use a variety of evidence (geometric, algebraic, simulation) to argue that incorrect inferences may be made in many cases if details of the outcome variable are not closely monitored. In particular, we show that false positives will result in many cases if a model is not well-suited to the nature of the outcome variable. We offer illustrations from the literature of places where such confusion can occur. We believe that an increased understanding of this problem would lead to improved scientific inquiry and more efficient use of research funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flamingos in managed care are vulnerable to inflammatory states, including pododermatitis, trauma, and capture myopathy. Fatty acids are an important component of well-balanced nutrition and crucial to endogenous immune responses associated with these conditions, yet fatty acids have not been assessed in flamingos. This study reported complete whole blood circulating fatty acid profiles in two flamingo species in managed care receiving different diets. Whole blood from Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) (n=16) and Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) (n=17) was collected during routine exams and prepared on blood spot cards for complete fatty acid profile analysis in which 24 individual fatty acids, nine fatty acids groups, and four calculated parameters were quantifiable. Non-parametric statistical analysis compared profiles between species, and between sex of Chilean flamingos. The median ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids was 5.64. Chilean flamingos had significantly (P<0.05) higher percentages of 11 individual fatty acids, total polyunsaturated and highly unsaturated fatty acids, total omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4w6)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5w3) ratio, and total EPA + DHA, whereas Caribbean flamingos had significantly (P<0.05) higher percentages of eight individual fatty acids, and total saturated fatty acids. Male Chilean flamingos had significantly (P<0.05) higher percentages of AA, EPA, and total polyunsaturated fatty acids, whereas females had significantly (P<0.05) higher oleic acid (18:1w9), total monounsaturated fatty acids, and total omega-9 fatty acids. Differences reported are highly attributable to variability in diet, although differences in fatty acid synthesizing pathways and hormonal influences may also play a role. This novel fatty acid data set in healthy flamingos is a valuable reference for complete health evaluations in managed care settings. Further comparisons with controlled diets and inclusion of free-ranging animals may enhance clinical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years Christian institutions in the West have observably supported and maintained kataphatic approaches to faith formation. Respectively, many schools have neglected apophatic considerations when teaching principles and approaches within emerging adult faith formation. Layered into this predicament is the strong inclination of predominantly kataphatic learning contexts to use increasing digital forms of instruction. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating reliance on digital technology in college classrooms has only exacerbated this dilemma. As a result, apophatic attentions, which tend to move away from trending pedagogical approaches and subsequent outcomes, remain formidable. The following paper employs a 14-year case review of students' spiritual type similarities and differences at a private Christian university in the U.S. The review's theoretical and phenomenological framework utilizes spiritual typologies associated with apophatic and kataphatic nomenclature found in the "Circle of Sensibility" and espoused by spiritual type theorists. The data supports the theory of a general dividing line between approaches to Christian spirituality between apophatic and kataphatic taxonomical constructs. Additionally, perhaps most notably, this paper looks at digital distraction in current academic, spiritual formation contexts as a critical explanation for the lack of apophatic emphases. Digital distraction, in other words, undercuts the power of apophatic teaching. Based on the findings, recommendations for incorporating complementary kataphatic and apophatic approaches in spiritual formation coursework are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology (IT) professionals are a strategic human resource for enabling competitive advantage through the application of data and technologies. Yet, it remains a challenge for organizations to retain top IT talent as the business context and the nature of work change. Retention strategies that have worked with other business professionals have faced limited success with IT talent, leading some scholars to ask whether the latter are unique in terms of culture, personality, and tools. This study seeks to address this question by (1) undertaking a meta-analysis of studies investigating the turnover intentions of IT professionals, and by (2) conducting a second-order meta-analysis to compare findings between IT and non-IT professionals. The meta-analytic findings identify new antecedents more recently examined in information systems (IS) research while confirming enduring relationships between antecedents and turnover intention. The second-order meta-analysis provides intriguing findings regarding the potential uniqueness of IT professionals. We provide an integrative discussion on the state of turnover intention research within the IS discipline, start a dialog on interdisciplinary comparisons, and offer a forwardlooking agenda for future research. We conclude by calling on scholars to revitalize turnover intention research within the IS field by moving toward fresh theories, fresh constructs, and fresh approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]