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We discuss the apparent paradox that the energy released in a fission bomb explosion is independent of the energy ϵ liberated by each fissioning nucleus. The paradox is resolved by noting that a larger value of ϵ results in a shorter "burn time"; this stops the chain reaction sooner and results in fewer nuclei being fissioned. Editor's Note: Both awe-inspiring and terrifying, a nuclear explosion is a spectacular display of microscopic physics profoundly affecting the human scale. This paper explores the physics of nuclear explosions and addresses the counter-intuitive fact that the total energy released by a fission bomb is independent of the energy released in a single fission. While this was known to the scientists who developed the atomic bomb, much of their work is classified and their knowledge remains inaccessible to the general public. With only a few historical documents to go on, the authors of this article attempt to recreate a calculation by Manhattan Project scientists and clearly show why the total energy yield is independent of the energy released by each fissioning nucleus. This article will be of interest to readers interested in nuclear physics or in the history of the Manhattan Project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Frisch-Peierls memorandum of March 1940 opened the way to nuclear weapons through its conclusion that the critical mass for an explosive chain reaction in 235U could be as small as 0.6 kg. This gross underestimate was based on the conjecture that the cross section for the fission of 235U with fast neutrons was 10 barns. Though this value turned out to be far too high, it is argued here that the choice made was not unreasonable at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatments for organ‐confined prostate cancer include external beam radiation therapy, radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy/brachytherapy, cryoablation and high‐intensity focused ultrasound. None of these are cancer‐specific and are commonly accompanied by side effects, including urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Moreover, subsequent surgical treatments following biochemical recurrence after these interventions are either limited or affected by the scarring present in the surrounding tissue. Carnosine (β‐alanyl‐L‐histidine) is a histidine‐containing naturally occurring dipeptide which has been shown to have an anti‐tumorigenic role without any detrimental effect on healthy cells; however, its effect on prostate cancer cells has never been investigated. In this study, we investigated the effect of carnosine on cell proliferation and metabolism in both a primary cultured androgen‐resistant human prostate cancer cell line, PC346Flu1 and murine TRAMP‐C1 cells. Our results show that carnosine has a significant dose‐dependent inhibitory effect in vitro on the proliferation of both human (PC346Flu1) and murine (TRAMP‐C1) prostate cancer cells, which was confirmed in 3D‐models of the same cells. Carnosine was also shown to decrease adenosine triphosphate content and reactive species which might have been caused in part by the increase in SIRT3 also shown after carnosine treatment. These encouraging results support the need for further human in vivo work to determine the potential use of carnosine, either alone or, most likely, as an adjunct therapy to surgical or other conventional treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocal communication depends on distinguishing self-generated vocalizations from other sounds. Vocal motor corollary discharge (CD) signals are thought to support this ability by adaptively suppressing auditory cortical responses to auditory feedback. One challenge is that vocalizations, especially those produced during courtship and other social interactions, are accompanied by other movements and are emitted during a state of heightened arousal, factors that could potentially modulate auditory cortical activity. Here, we monitor auditory cortical activity, ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), and other non-vocal courtship behaviors in a head-fixed male mouse while he interacts with a female mouse. This approach reveals a vocalization-specific signature in the auditory cortex that suppresses the activity of USV playback-excited neurons, emerges before vocal onset, and scales with USV band power. Notably, this vocal modulatory signature is also present in the auditory cortex of congenitally deaf mice, revealing an adaptive vocal CD signal that manifests independently of auditory feedback or auditory experience., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Women sex workers face substantial health inequities due to structural barriers including criminalisation and stigma. Stigma has been associated with HIV-related inequities among marginalised populations, however, we know less about the impacts of sex work-specific occupational stigma on HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk among women sex workers. Given these research gaps and the disproportionate burden of stigma faced by sex workers, we evaluated the association between sex work occupational stigma and recent inconsistent condom use with clients, over an 8-year period (2014-2022)., Methods: Baseline and semiannual questionnaire data from a prospective, community-based cohort of sex workers in Vancouver, Canada from September 2014 to February 2022 were used. We employed complete-case bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis using generalised estimating equations to analyse the relationship between sex work occupational stigma and inconsistent condom use for vaginal/anal sex with clients in the past 6 months., Results: Among 574 participants, the cumulative prevalence of inconsistent condom use by clients and sex work occupational stigma in the last 6 months was 32.1% (n=184) and 59.9% (n=344), respectively, over the 8-year period. In adjusted multivariable analysis, exposure to sex work occupational stigma was associated with almost twofold increased odds of recent inconsistent condom use with clients (adjusted OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.03) over the 8-year period., Conclusion: Multilevel interventions addressing the role of occupational stigma are needed for HIV and STI prevention efforts, including scale-up of sex worker-led/delivered sexual health services and structural changes to decriminalise and destigmatise sex work., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 risk mitigation measures have expanded to include increased rules and surveillance in supportive housing. Yet, in the context of the dual public health emergencies of COVID-19 and the unregulated drug toxicity crisis, we have not evaluated the unintended health and social consequences of such measures, especially on criminalized women. In order to address this dearth of evidence, our aim was to assess the association between increased housing rules and surveillance during COVID-19 and (a) nonfatal overdose, and (b) administration of naloxone for overdose reversal among women sex workers who use drugs in Vancouver, BC., Methods: This study is nested within An Evaluation of Sex Workers Health Access (AESHA), a community-based prospective cohort of women sex workers in Metro Vancouver (2010-present). Using cross-sectional data collected during the first year of COVID-19 (April 2020-2021), we developed separate multivariable logistic regression confounder models to examine the independent associations between experiencing increased housing rules and surveillance during COVID-19 on (a) nonfatal overdose, and (b) administration of naloxone for overdose reversal in the last 6 months., Results: Amongst 166 participants, 10.8% reported experiencing a recent non-fatal overdose and 31.3% recently administered naloxone for overdose reversal. 56.6% reported experiencing increased rules and surveillance within their housing during COVID-19. The prevalence of non-fatal overdose and administering naloxone was significantly elevated among those exposed to increased housing rules and surveillance during COVID-19 versus those who were unexposed (83.3% vs. 52.1%; 75.0% vs. 48.2%, respectively). In separate multivariate confounder models, exposure to increased housing rules and surveillance during COVID-19 was independently associated with increased odds of administering naloxone [AOR: 3.66, CI: 1.63-8.21], and marginally associated with non-fatal overdose [AOR: 3.49, CI: 0.92-13.27]., Conclusion: Efforts to prioritize the right to safe, adequate and affordable housing must avoid reinforcing an overly coercive reliance on surveillance measures which, while often well-intended, can negatively shape residents' well-being. Furthermore, public health responses to pandemics must include criminalized populations so that measures do not exacerbate overdose risk. Implementation of a regulated drug supply is recommended, alongside housing policies that promote residents' rights, safety, and health., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The tobacco industry has a long history of circumventing regulations to present their products, inaccurately, as less harmful. Greenwashing (portraying a product as natural/eco-friendly) is increasingly used by tobacco companies and may mislead consumers to believe that certain cigarettes are less harmful than others. This study assesses the effect of some common greenwashing tactics on consumer product perceptions., Methods: We conducted an online experiment with 1,504 participants ages 18-29, randomized to view a cigarette ad manipulated for presence/absence of a combination of 4 different greenwashing techniques: greenwashed ad text, greenwashed ad imagery, recycled paper ad background, and image of greenwashed cigarette pack. Participants rated perceived absolute harm, relative harm to other cigarettes, absolute addictiveness, relative addictiveness, and relative nicotine content., Results: Participants who viewed ads containing greenwashed text were more likely to have inaccurate perceptions about absolute harm (AOR=1.72), relative harm (AOR=3.92), relative addictiveness (AOR=2.93) and nicotine content (AOR=2.08). Participants who viewed ads containing greenwashed imagery were more likely to have inaccurate perceptions of relative harm (AOR=1.55), absolute addictiveness (AOR=1.72), relative addictiveness (AOR=1.60) and nicotine content (AOR=1.48). Forty-two percent of those who saw an ad with all greenwashed features believed the product was less harmful than other cigarettes vs. 2% of those who saw an ad without greenwashed features., Conclusions: We found greenwashed text and imagery produced inaccurate risk perceptions. More active U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement against such greenwashing and new FDA rulemaking to prohibit unnecessary imagery in tobacco advertising and establish plain packaging requirements would help protect consumers and public health., Implications: These findings provide evidence that greenwashing tactics used by the tobacco industry increase inaccurate product risk perceptions. These tactics could be a way for the industry to make implicit modified risk claims, despite applicable U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibitions. Findings from this study support the need for prohibitions on these tactics, and the potential for such prohibitions to help protect public health., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction and Hypothesis: Many patients develop bladder symptoms after radical hysterectomy. This study compared urinary outcomes following radical hysterectomy based on trial of void (TOV) timing (pre-discharge TOV versus post-discharge TOV)., Methods: A retrospective non-inferiority study of patients at two academic tertiary referral centers who underwent radical hysterectomy between January 2010 and January 2020 was carried out. Patients were stratified according to timing of postoperative TOV: either pre-discharge or post-discharge from the hospital. Short-term urinary outcomes (including passing TOV, representation with retention) and long-term de novo urinary dysfunction (defined as irritative voiding symptoms, urgency, frequency, nocturia, stress or urgency incontinence, neurogenic bladder, and/or urinary retention) were extracted from the medical record. We hypothesized that the proportion of patients who failed pre-discharge TOV would be within a 15% non-inferiority margin of post-discharge TOV., Results: A total of 198 patients underwent radical hysterectomy for cervical (118 out of 198; 59.6%), uterine (36 out of 198; 18.2%), and ovarian (29 out of 198; 14.6%) cancer. One hundred and nineteen patients (119 out of 198, 60.1%) underwent pre-discharge TOV, of whom 14 out of 119 (11.8%) failed. Of the post-discharge TOV patients (79 out of 198, 39.9%), 5 out of 79 (6.3%) failed. The proportion of patients who failed a pre-discharge TOV was within the non-inferiority margin (5.4% difference, p = 0.23). A greater proportion of patients in the post-discharge TOV group developed long-term de novo urinary dysfunction (27.2% difference, p = 0.005). Median time to diagnosis of de novo urinary dysfunction was 0.5 years (range 0-9) in the pre-discharge TOV group versus 1.0 year (range 0-6) in the post-discharge TOV group (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: In this study, pre-discharge TOV had non-inferior short-term outcomes and improved long-term outcomes., (© 2024. The International Urogynecological Association.)

Counterfactual theories propose that people's capacity for causal judgment depends on their ability to consider alternative possibilities: The lightning strike caused the forest fire because had it not struck, the forest fire would not have ensued. To accommodate a variety of psychological effects on causal judgment, a range of recent accounts have proposed that people probabilistically sample counterfactual alternatives from which they compute a graded measure of causal strength. While such models successfully describe the influence of the statistical normality (i.e., the base rate) of the candidate and alternate causes on causal judgments, we show that they make further untested predictions about how normality influences people's confidence in their causal judgments. In a large (N = 3,020) sample of participants in a causal judgment task, we found that normality indeed influences people's confidence in their causal judgments and that these influences were predicted by a counterfactual sampling model in which people are more confident in a causal relationship when the effect of the cause is less variable among imagined counterfactual possibilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in the rapid implementation of remote consultations to maintain musculoskeletal physiotherapy services. However, little is known about UK musculoskeletal physiotherapists' experiences of providing services during the COVID-19 pandemic., Objectives: To explore musculoskeletal physiotherapists' experiences of using remote consultations in one area of England during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design: Qualitative study using hermeneutic phenomenology based on the approach of Gadamer., Methods: Semi-structured interviews with twelve musculoskeletal physiotherapists were conducted online using Microsoft Teams. Data were analysed using frameworks based on the philosophical concepts of Gadamer's hermeneutics., Findings: Musculoskeletal physiotherapists' experience of using remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic was framed by three concepts: therapeutic relationship, transformational change, and uncertainty. These concepts are underpinned by four main themes capturing their experiences: (1) Disconnection: Difficulties building a rapport and reduced non-verbal communication affected building an effective therapeutic relationship, (2) Necessity: Transformation of services to remote consultations was positive, although technology and connectivity issues had a negative impact, (3) Loss of control: Diagnostic uncertainty, being unprepared, and experience affected physiotherapists' clinical practice, (4) Protection: Peer support and the use of technology facilitated a feeling of protection for physiotherapists., Conclusion: The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of musculoskeletal physiotherapists' experience of using remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for practice include the need to provide training for all musculoskeletal physiotherapists and undergraduates to enable the effective delivery of remote physiotherapy. Furthermore, digital infrastructure should be optimised to support future delivery of remote musculoskeletal physiotherapy services., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is an aggressive asbestos-associated thoracic malignancy with a median survival of 12-18 months. Due to continued asbestos use in many nations, global incidence is rising. Causes due to non-occupational, environmental exposure are also rising in many countries despite utilisation bans. For many years, platinum--pemetrexed chemotherapy was the solitary licensed therapy, but first-line combination immune checkpoint blockade has recently demonstrated improved outcomes, with both regimes tested in predominantly late-stage cohorts. In the second-line setting, single-agent nivolumab has been shown to extend survival and is now available for routine use in some regions, while second-line chemotherapy has no proven role and opportunities for clinical trials should be maximised in relapsed disease. Surgery for "technically resectable" disease has been offered for decades in many expert centres, but the recent results from the phase III MARS2 trial have challenged this approach. There remains no robustly proven standard of care for early-stage PM. The clinical trial landscape for PM is complex and increasingly diverse, making further development of specialist PM multidisciplinary teams an important priority in all countries. The observation of improving outcomes in centres that have adopted this service model emphasises the importance of high-quality diagnostics and equitable access to therapies and trials. Novel therapies targeting a range of aberrations are being evaluated; however, a better understanding of the molecular drivers and their associated vulnerabilities is required to identify and prioritise treatment targets., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M.D.J. Neilly reports lecture honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. J. Pearson reports lecture honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. A.W. Thu reports lecture honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. C. MacRae reports lecture honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. K.G. Blyth reports grants or contracts from Rocket Medical, and RS Oncology, outside the submitted work; Lecture honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work., (Copyright ©ERS 2024.)

Introduction: Varenicline helps people who smoke quit at rates 2-3 times greater than placebo. Currently in the U.S., varenicline is not available over the counter (OTC). In this study, we assessed the safety and efficacy of 1mg and 0.5mg varenicline as an OTC medication for smoking cessation in comparison to placebo., Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed at two clinical sites in the United States of n=313 people. The treatment period was 12 weeks. During the COVID pandemic, the protocol was modified to allow remote participation; verification of smoking status was via breath carbon monoxide levels for in-person visits and mailed urine cotinine kits for the remote participants., Results: There was no difference in biologically confirmed continuous abstinence by condition between Weeks 8-12; however, the odds of biologically confirmed point prevalence abstinence were higher for those in the 1mg b.i.d. condition than for those in the placebo condition at Week 12 (OR 3.39; 95% CI 1.49, 7.71), and were higher for those assigned to the 1.0mg b.i.d. condition than the 0.5mg b.i.d. condition at Week 12 (OR 2.37; 95% CI 1.11, 5.05). Adverse events were modest, and as expected (vivid dreams and nausea in the medication conditions)., Conclusions: The results are suggestive that varenicline is safe and effective as an OTC medication., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Terms such as 'natural', 'organic' and 'tobacco and water' on cigarette packs may communicate misleading reduced harm messages to consumers. This study describes sales volume and price for brands that used these misleading descriptors in the USA by year, brand and state., Methods: The data come from Information Resources Incorporated sales data collected in 44 US states from January 2018 to January 2023. Trained coders used Universal Product Codes, purchased packs and internet searches to identify cigarettes sold with 'natural', 'organic' and 'tobacco and water' on packs. We report cigarette pack unit sales counts (sales volume) and average price per pack by year, as well as per cent year-over-year change in sales volume and price and annual market share by descriptor terms., Results: Overall, pack sales volume decreased year-over-year from 2019 to 2022. Sales volume for packs with 'natural', 'tobacco and water' and 'organic' decreased less than overall; in some cases, they increased. In 2022, packs with 'natural' accounted for the greatest share of cigarette unit sales (5.42% or 33 605 036 packs), followed by 'tobacco and water' (2.25% or 12 959 905 packs) and 'organic' (0.53% or 4 614 592 packs). Natural American Spirit (NAS) and Winston accounted for most sales with 'natural' and 'tobacco and water'; NAS accounted for nearly all sales with 'organic'. Packs with 'natural', 'tobacco and water' or 'organic' made up the largest portion of sales in western (Oregon, Idaho, California, Colorado and Washington) and northeastern (Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire) US states., Conclusion: Brands using 'natural', 'tobacco and water' and 'organic' on packs increased their market share between 2019 and 2022; in some states, market share was over 10% in 2022. Our findings emphasise the importance of regulating these terms and continually monitoring their population impact., Competing Interests: Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic upended healthcare services and created economic vulnerability for many. Criminalization of sex work meant sex workers were largely ineligible for Canada's government-based financial pandemic relief, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit. Sex workers' loss of income and inability to access financial support services during the pandemic resulted in many unable to pay rent or mortgage, and in need of assistance with basic needs items including food. Little is known about the unique experiences of sex workers who faced challenges in accessing food during the pandemic and its impact on healthcare access. Thus, we aimed to identify the association between pandemic-related challenges accessing food and primary healthcare among sex workers., Methods: Prospective data were drawn from a cohort of women sex workers in Vancouver, Canada (An Evaluation of Sex Workers' Health Access, AESHA; 2010-present). Data were collected via questionnaires administered bi-annually from October 2020-August 2021. We used univariate and multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations to assess the association between pandemic-related challenges accessing food and challenges accessing primary healthcare over the study period., Results: Of 170 participants, 41% experienced pandemic-related challenges in accessing food and 26% reported challenges accessing healthcare. Median age was 45 years (IQR:36-53), 56% were of Indigenous ancestry, 86% experienced intimate partner violence in the last six months, and 62% reported non-injection substance use in the last six months. Experiencing pandemic-related challenges accessing food was positively associated with challenges accessing primary healthcare (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 1.99, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.02-3.88) after adjustment for confounders., Conclusions: Findings provide insight about the potential role community-based healthcare delivery settings (e.g., community clinics) can play in ameliorating access to basic needs such as food among those who are highly marginalized. Future pandemic response efforts should also take the most marginalized populations' needs into consideration by establishing strategies to ensure continuity of essential services providing food and other basic needs. Lastly, policies are needed establishing basic income support and improve access to food resources for marginalized women in times of crisis., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

A factor constraining the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies is limited information on the size and spatial distribution of free-roaming dog populations (FRDPs). The aim of this study was to develop a statistical model to predict the size of free-roaming dog populations and the spatial distribution of free-roaming dogs in urban areas of Nepal, based on real-world dog census data from the Himalayan Animal Rescue Trust (HART) and Animal Nepal. Candidate explanatory variables included proximity to roads, building density, specific building types, human population density and normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI). A multivariable Poisson point process model was developed to estimate dog population size in four study locations in urban Nepal, with building density and distance from nearest retail food establishment or lodgings as explanatory variables. The proposed model accurately predicted, within a 95 % confidence interval, the surveyed FRDP size and spatial distribution for all four study locations. This model is proposed for further testing and refinement in other locations as a decision-support tool alongside observational dog population size estimates, to inform dog health and public health initiatives including rabies elimination efforts to support the 'zero by 30' global mission., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Former Associate Editor, Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology (Mark Stevenson), (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Breakfast is often cited as the most important meal of the day and vital for students' academic functioning at school. Although much research has linked students' breakfast consumption to better achievement, there has been debate about why and how breakfast has academic benefits. The present study of 648 Australian high school students investigated (a) the role of breakfast consumption and breakfast quality in students' self-reported motivation and their achievement in a science test, (b) the role of motivation in mediating the link between breakfast consumption and quality and students' achievement, and (c) the extent to which breakfast consumption effects are moderated by the quality of breakfast (e.g., more vegetables, fruit, dairy/protein, wholegrains, cereals, water; less sugary drinks, processed meat, fast take-away, unhealthy snack foods). Findings indicated that beyond the effects of personal, home, and classroom factors, breakfast consumption predicted higher adaptive motivation (p < .05), breakfast quality predicted lower maladaptive motivation (p < .05), and in turn, students' adaptive (positively, p < .01) and maladaptive (negatively, p < .01) motivation predicted their achievement. Moreover, adaptive motivation significantly mediated the relationship between breakfast consumption and achievement (p < .05). The effect of breakfast consumption was moderated by the quality of breakfast such that consuming a high-quality breakfast in the morning was associated with the highest levels of adaptive motivation (p < .01) and achievement (p < .05) later in the day. Findings have implications for educational practice and policy seeking to promote a healthy start to the school day to optimize students' motivation and achievement., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Intravenous administration of interleukin (IL)-31 in healthy dogs has been used as a model to assess antipruritic drugs. However, there is no known in-depth characterisation of pruritic behaviours, and the repeatability of the IL-31-induced pruritus in the individual dogs is currently unknown., Objectives: To evaluate the immediate/delayed pruritus responses and the pruritic behaviours observed in the IL-31-induced pruritic model in healthy dogs after repeated IL-31 injections., Animals: Fifteen healthy laboratory beagles., Methods: All dogs were video-recorded for 270 min after two intravenous recombinant IL-31 injections (1.75 μg/kg) and vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline, control) injections, respectively; interventions were randomised and performed with a 2 week wash-out period. Two blinded investigators reviewed the pruritic behaviours of all video recordings., Results: Both canine IL-31 (IL-31&#95;01, IL-31&#95;02) injections significantly increased pruritic seconds and categorical minutes ('YES'/'NO' behaviour per discrete 1 min interval) in healthy dogs compared with both vehicle groups (Vehicle&#95;01, Vehicle&#95;02). The second intravenous canine IL-31 (IL-31&#95;02) administered 14 days after the first IL-31 injection induced a significant increase in pruritic seconds (p = 0.021) and not pruritic categorical minutes (p = 0.231). An increase in pruritic seconds was observed in both IL-31 groups in the first 30 min post-administration, while there was no significant difference between IL-31 and vehicle groups., Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: In conclusion, intravenous IL-31 reproducibly induces itch responses in dogs. Future evaluations of the canine IL-31 pruritic model should assess total pruritic behaviours in seconds rather than using a biased 'YES/NO' behaviour per 1 min scoring system., (© 2023 ESVD and ACVD.)

Introduction: Fatigue is an important and distressing symptom for many people living with chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. Many non-pharmacological interventions have been investigated in recent years and some have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing fatigue and fatigue impact, however, there is limited guidance for clinicians to follow regarding the most appropriate management options. The objective of this scoping review is to understand and map the extent of evidence in relation to the factors that relate to the outcome of non-pharmacological interventions on MSK condition-related fatigue across the lifespan., Methods and Analysis: This scoping review will include evidence relating to people of all ages living with chronic MSK conditions who have been offered a non-pharmacological intervention with either the intention or effect of reducing fatigue and its impact. Databases including AMED, PsycINFO, CINAHLPlus, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus will be searched for peer-reviewed primary research studies published after 1 January 2007 in English language. These findings will be used to identify factors associated with successful interventions and to map gaps in knowledge., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval was not required for this review. Findings will be disseminated by journal publications, conference presentations and by communicating with relevant healthcare and charity organisations., Competing Interests: Competing interests: PMM has received consulting/speaker’s fees from Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Orphazyme, Pfizer, Roche and UCB, all unrelated to this project. There are no competing interests in this project., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Mental rotation tasks are frequently used as standard measures of mental imagery. However, aphantasia research has brought such use into question. Here, we assessed a large group of individuals who lack visual imagery (aphantasia) on two mental rotation tasks: a three-dimensional block-shape, and a human manikin rotation task. In both tasks, those with aphantasia had slower, but more accurate responses than controls. Both groups demonstrated classic linear increases in response time and error-rate as functions of angular disparity. In the three-dimensional block-shape rotation task, a within-group speed-accuracy trade-off was found in controls, whereas faster individuals in the aphantasia group were also more accurate. Control participants generally favoured using object-based mental rotation strategies, whereas those with aphantasia favoured analytic strategies. These results suggest that visual imagery is not crucial for successful performance in classical mental rotation tasks, as alternative strategies can be effectively utilised in the absence of holistic mental representations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC), diagnosed before age 50, has been rising in many countries in the past few decades. This study aims to evaluate this trend in Aotearoa New Zealand and assess its impact on Māori., Methods: Crude incidence and age-standardized incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) was analyzed from all new cases from the Aotearoa New Zealand national cancer registry for the period 2000-2020. Trends were estimated by sex, ethnicity, age group and location of cancer and projections made to 2040., Results: Between 2000 and 2020, there were a total of 56,761 cases of CRC diagnosed in Aotearoa New Zealand, 3,702 of these being EOCRC, with age-standardized incidence decreasing significantly (P = 8.2 × 10 - 80 ) from 61.0 to 47.3 cases per 100,000. EOCRC incidence increased on average by 26% per decade (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.26, p = < 0.0001) at all sites (proximal colon, distal colon and rectum), while the incidence in those aged 50-79 years decreased on average by 18% per decade (IRR 0.82, p = < 0.0005), again across all sites. There was no significant average change in CRC incidence in those over 80 years. In Māori, there was no significant change in age-standardized incidence. There was however a significant increase in crude incidence rates (IRR 1.28, p = < 0.0005) driven by significant increases in EOCRC (IRR1.36, p = < 0.0005). By 2040, we predict the incidence of EOCRC will have risen from 8.00 to 14.9 per 100,000 (6.33 to 10.00 per 100,000 in Māori). However, due to the aging population an estimated 43.0% of all CRC cases will be diagnosed in those over 80 years of age (45.9% over 70 years of age in Māori)., Conclusion: The age-standardized incidence of CRC from 2000 to 2020 decreased in Aotearoa New Zealand, but not for Māori. The incidence of EOCRC over the same period continues to rise, and at a faster rate in Māori. However, with the ageing of the population in Aotearoa New Zealand, and for Māori, CRC in the elderly will continue to dominate case numbers., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The inability to visualise was given the name aphantasia in 2015 by Zeman and colleagues. In 2018 we published research showing that fifteen individuals who self-identified as having aphantasia also demonstrated a lack of sensory visual imagery when undergoing the binocular rivalry imagery paradigm, suggesting more than just a metacognitive difference. Here we update these findings with over fifty participants with aphantasia and show that there is evidence for a lack of sensory imagery in aphantasia. How the binocular rivalry paradigm scores relate to the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire (VVIQ) and how aphantasia can be confirmed is discussed., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cognitive neuroscience research on mental imagery has largely focused on the visual imagery modality in unimodal task contexts. Recent studies have uncovered striking individual differences in visual imagery capacity, with some individuals reporting a subjective absence of conscious visual imagery ability altogether ("aphantasia"). However, naturalistic mental imagery is often multi-sensory, and preliminary findings suggest that many individuals with aphantasia also report a subjective lack of mental imagery in other sensory domains (such as auditory or olfactory imagery). In this paper, we perform a series of cluster analyses on the multi-sensory imagery questionnaire scores of two large groups of aphantasic subjects, defining latent sub-groups in this sample population. We demonstrate that aphantasia is a heterogenous phenomenon characterised by dominant sub-groups of individuals with visual aphantasia (those who report selective visual imagery absence) and multi-sensory aphantasia (those who report an inability to generate conscious mental imagery in any sensory modality). We replicate our findings in a second large sample and show that more unique aphantasia sub-types also exist, such as individuals with selectively preserved mental imagery in only one sensory modality (e.g. intact auditory imagery). We outline the implications of our findings for network theories of mental imagery, discussing how unique aphantasia aetiologies with distinct self-report patterns might reveal alterations to various levels of the sensory processing hierarchy implicated in mental imagery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An experimental study was conducted on how polymer density affects the transport and fate of microplastics in aquatic flows. For the first time, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were chemically stained and tested using solute transport techniques and velocities found among rivers in the natural environment (0.016 - 0.361 m/s). The movement of 3D-polymers with densities ranging from 0.9 - 1.4 g/cm³ was quantified in a laboratory flume scaled to simulate open-channel flows in fluvial systems. Except for PP, in most conditions microplastics exhibited similar transport characteristics to solutes regardless of density and established solute transport models were successfully implemented to predict their transport and fate. Mass recoveries and ADE routing model demonstrated microplastic deposition and resuspension was associated with polymer density below critical velocity thresholds ≤ 0.1 m/s. When density becomes the dominant force at these slower velocities, concentrations of denser than water microplastics will be momentarily or permanently deposited in channel beds and microplastics follow the classical Shields sediment transport methodology. This data is the first to provide microplastic suspension and deposition thresholds based on river velocity and polymer density, making a key contribution to research predicting microplastic fate and organismal exposure., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We investigated whether reducing face skin temperature alters arterial blood pressure control and lower body negative pressure (LBNP) tolerance after exercise heat stress. Eight subjects (1 female; age, 27 ± 9 yr) exercised at ∼63% V̇o 2max until core temperature had increased ∼1.5°C before undergoing LBNP to presyncope either with fanning to return face skin temperature to baseline (Δ-5°C, Fan trial) or without (No Fan trial). LBNP tolerance was quantified as cumulative stress index (CSI; mmHg·min). Before LBNP, whole body and face skin temperatures were elevated from baseline in both trials (38.0 ± 0.5°C and 36.3 ± 0.5°C, respectively, both P < 0.001). During LBNP, face skin temperature decreased in the Fan trial (30.9 ± 1.0°C) but was unchanged in the No Fan trial (36.1 ± 0.6°C, between trials P < 0.001). Mean arterial pressure was not different between trials ( P = 0.237) and was similarly reduced at presyncope in both trials (from 82 ± 7 to 67 ± 8 mmHg, P < 0.001). During LBNP, heart rate was attenuated in the Fan trial at Mid LBNP (146 ± 16 vs. 158 ± 12 beats/min, P = 0.036) and at peak heart rate (158 ± 15 vs. 170 ± 15 beats/min; P < 0.001). LBNP tolerance was not different between trials (321 ± 248 vs. 328 ± 115 mmHg·min, P = 0.851). In exercise heat-stressed individuals, lowering face skin temperature to normothermic values suppressed heart rate thereby altering cardiovascular control during a simulated hemorrhagic challenge without reducing tolerance.

Background: Substance use is a complex condition with multidimensional determinants. The present study aims to find the prevalence and determinants of substance use among young people attending primary healthcare centers in India., Methods: A multicentric cross-sectional study was conducted across 15 states in India on 1,630 young people (10-24 years) attending primary health centers. The Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was used to capture data on substance use. The degree of substance involvement was assessed and multivariate regression analysis was conducted to determine the risk factors of substance use., Results: The prevalence of substance use was 32.8%, with a median substance initiation age of 18 years. Among the substance users, 75.5% began before completing adolescence. Tobacco (26.4%), alcohol (26.1%) and cannabis (9.5%) were commonly consumed. Sociodemographic determinants included higher age, male gender, urban residence, positive family history, northeastern state residence and lower socioeconomic class. Over 80% of users had moderate or high involvement., Conclusions: High substance use prevalence among young people in Indian healthcare centers underscores the urgency of targeted intervention. Insights on determinants guide effective prevention strategies for this complex public health issue., Competing Interests: The authors declare none., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: Suicide rates for children and adolescents have been increasing over the past 2 decades. In April 2023, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) convened a two-day workshop to address child and youth suicide., Purpose: The workshop focus was to discuss the state of the science and stimulate a collaborative response between researchers, death investigators, and data collection teams to build a science to service and service to science approach toward understanding - and ultimately preventing - this growing problem of child and youth suicide., Highlights: Topics that meeting participants highlighted as worthy of further consideration for research and practice were: increasing awareness among death investigators, medical examiners, and coroners that child suicide deaths under age 10 years do occur and should be investigated and documented accordingly; emphasizing the value of science based protocols for child and youth death investigations to enhance consistency of approaches; and articulating needs for postvention services to suicide loss survivors., Outcomes: The importance of collecting an accurate and complete cause and manner of death (i.e., unintentional, suicide, homicide, undetermined) among all child decedents, and demographic information such as race, ethnicity, and sexual/gender minority status was underscored as critical for enhanced surveillance. For prevention efforts, approaches to assessing and understanding suicidal thoughts and behaviors among diverse groups of children, and the variability in proximal and distal risk factors are needed to inform opportunities for preventive interventions for diverse communities. The need for consistent measures and processes to improve death investigations, fatality review committees, and coordination between data collection systems and agencies was also raised., Practical Applications: Collaborations among researchers, death investigators, and data collection teams can help to fully describe the child and youth suicide crisis and provide actionable information for new research, and prevention and response efforts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Parent-child interactions are a critical pathway to emotion socialization, with disruption to these processes associated with risk for childhood behavior problems. Using computational linguistics methods, we tested whether (1) play context influenced parent-child socioemotional language, and (2) child conduct problems or callous-unemotional traits were associated with patterns of socioemotional or nonsocial language across contexts. Seventy-nine parent-child dyads (children, 5-6 years old) played a socioemotional skills ("social context") or math ("nonsocial context") game at home. We transcribed and analyzed game play, which had been audio recorded by participants. The social context elicited more socioemotional and cognitive words, while the nonsocial context elicited more mathematical words. The use of socioemotional language by parents and children was more strongly correlated in the social context, but context did not moderate the degree of correlation in cognitive or mathematical word use between parents and children. Children with more conduct problems used fewer socioemotional words in the social context, while children with higher callous-unemotional traits used fewer cognitive words in both contexts. We highlight the role of context in supporting socioemotionally rich parent-child language interactions and provide preliminary evidence for the existence of linguistic markers of child behavior problems. Our results also inform naturalistic assessments of parent-child interactions and home-based interventions for parents and children facing socioemotional or behavioral challenges., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Our study proposes to examine how stress and emotion recognition interact with a history of maltreatment to influence sensitive parenting behaviors. A sample of 58 mothers and their children aged between 2 and 5 years old were recruited. Parents' history of maltreatment was measured using the Child Trauma Questionnaire. An emotion recognition task was performed. Mothers identified the dominant emotion in morphed facial emotion expressions in children. Mothers and children interacted for 15 minutes. Salivary cortisol levels of mothers were collected before and after the interaction. Maternal sensitive behaviors were coded during the interaction using the Coding Interactive Behavior scheme. Results indicate that the severity of childhood maltreatment is related to less sensitive behaviors for mothers with average to good abilities in emotion recognition and lower to average increases in cortisol levels following an interaction with their children. For mothers with higher cortisol levels, there is no association between a history of maltreatment and sensitive behaviors, indicating that higher stress reactivity could act as a protective factor. Our study highlights the complex interaction between individual characteristics and environmental factors when it comes to parenting. These results argue for targeted interventions that address personal trauma.