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Climate change is likely to profoundly modulate the burden of infectious diseases. However, attributing health impacts to a changing climate requires being able to associate changes in infectious disease incidence with the potentially complex influences of climate. This aim is further complicated by nonlinear feedbacks inherent in the dynamics of many infections, driven by the processes of immunity and transmission. Here, we detail the mechanisms by which climate drivers can shape infectious disease incidence, from direct effects on vector life history to indirect effects on human susceptibility, and detail the scope of variation available with which to probe these mechanisms. We review approaches used to evaluate and quantify associations between climate and infectious disease incidence, discuss the array of data available to tackle this question, and detail remaining challenges in understanding the implications of climate change for infectious disease incidence. We point to areas where synthesis between approaches used in climate science and infectious disease biology provide potential for progress.

BRCA1-mutated prostate cancer has been shown to be less responsive to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as compared to BRCA2-mutated prostate cancer. The reason for this differential response is not clear. We hypothesized this differential sensitivity to PARP inhibitors may be explained by distinct genomic landscapes of BRCA1 versus BRCA2 co-segregating genes. In a large dataset of 7,707 men with advanced prostate cancer undergoing comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), 614 men harbored BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 alterations. Differences in the genomic landscape of co-segregating genes was investigated by Fisher’s exact test and probabilistic graphical models (PGMs). Results demonstrated that BRCA1 was significantly associated with six other genes, while BRCA2 was not significantly associated with any gene. These findings suggest BRCA2 may be the main driver mutation, while BRCA1 mutations tend to co-segregate with mutations in other molecular pathways contributing to prostate cancer progression. These hypothesis-generating data may explain the differential response to PARP inhibition and guide towards the development of combinatorial drug regimens in those with BRCA1 mutation.

IGF-1 is a critical fetal growth-promoting hormone. Experimental infusion of an IGF-1 analog, human recombinant LR3 IGF-1, into late gestation fetal sheep increased fetal organ growth and skeletal muscle myoblast proliferation. However, LR3 IGF-1 has a low affinity for IGF binding proteins (IGFBP), thus reducing physiologic regulation of IGF-1 bioavailability. The peptide sequences for LR3 IGF-1 and sheep IGF-1 also differ. To overcome these limitations with LR3 IGF-1, we developed an ovine (sheep) specific recombinant IGF-1 (oIGF-1) and tested its effect on growth in fetal sheep. First, we measured in vitro myoblast proliferation in response to oIGF-1. Second, we examined anabolic signaling pathways from serial skeletal muscle biopsies in fetal sheep that received oIGF-1 or saline infusion for 2 hours. Finally, we measured the effect of fetal oIGF-1 infusion versus saline infusion (SAL) for 1 week on fetal body and organ growth, in vivo myoblast proliferation, skeletal muscle fractional protein synthetic rate, IGFBP expression in skeletal muscle and liver, and IGF-1 signaling pathways in skeletal muscle. Using this approach, we showed that oIGF-1 stimulated myoblast proliferation in vitro. When infused for 1 week, oIGF-1 increased organ growth of the heart, kidney, spleen, and adrenal glands and stimulated skeletal myoblast proliferation compared to SAL without increasing muscle fractional synthetic rate or hindlimb muscle mass. Hepatic and muscular gene expression of IGFBPs one to three was similar between oIGF-1 and SAL. We conclude that oIGF-1 promotes tissue and organ-specific growth in the normal sheep fetus.

In subsystem density functional theory (DFT), the bottom-up strategy to approximate the multivariable functional of the non-additive kinetic energy (NAKE) makes it possible to impose exact properties on the corresponding NAKE potential (NAKEP). Such a construction might lead to a non-symmetric and non-homogeneous functional, which excludes the use of such approximations for the evaluation of the total energy. We propose a general formalism to construct a symmetric version based on a perturbation theory approach of the energy expression for the asymmetric part. This strategy is then applied to construct a symmetrized NAKE corresponding to the NAKEP developed recently [Polak et al., J. Chem. Phys. 156, 044103 (2022)], making it possible to evaluate consistently the energy. These functionals were used to evaluate the interaction energy in several model intermolecular complexes using the formal framework of subsystem DFT. The new symmetrized energy expression shows a superior qualitative performance over common decomposable models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable rubric to be used for the evaluation of large ensemble wind band performances. The guiding questions for this study were: (a) what are the psychometric qualities (i.e., reliability and validity) of the scale developed to assess wind band ensemble performance at the high school level? (b) how do the items fit the model and vary in difficulty? (c) how does the structure of the rating scale vary across individual items? and (d) how can the rating scale be transferred into an informative rubric? The primary data analysis tool used in this study was the Multifaceted Rasch Partial Credit Measurement Model. Music content experts (N = 20) were solicited to evaluate 40 wind band performances, each evaluator listening to four. A 4-point Likert-type rating scale (e.g., Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree) was used to evaluate each recorded performance. Results indicated good model data fit and resulted in a final rubric containing 24 items ranging from two to four performance categories. Implications for classroom teaching and consequential validity are discussed.

An effective assessment process can improve student performance, guide instructional decisions, and advocate for a music program. Strategies include designing and administering reliable and valid measures of student learning and using assessments to enhance feedback, longitudinal documentation of assessment results for accountability, and a transparency of assessment processes and findings for increased advocacy. An emerging process of assessment is inherent through the Model Cornerstone Assessments and contributes to an evolving assessment culture within K-12 music education.

The purpose of this study was to build a Random Forest supervised machine learning model in order to predict musical rater-type classifications based upon a Rasch analysis of raters' differential severity/leniency related to item use. Raw scores (N = 1,704) from 142 raters across nine high school solo and ensemble festivals (grades 9-12) were collected using a 29-item Likert-type rating scale embedded within five domains (tone/intonation, n = 6; balance, n = 5; interpretation, n = 6; rhythm, n = 6; and technical accuracy, n = 6). Data were analyzed using a Many Facets Rasch Partial Credit Model. An a priori k-means cluster analysis of 29 differential rater functioning indices produced a discrete feature vector that classified raters into one of three distinct rater-types: (a) syntactical rater-type, (b) expressive rater-type, or (c) mental representation rater-type. Results of the initial Random Forest model resulted in an out-of-bag error rate of 5.05%, indicating that approximately 95% of the raters were correctly classified. After tuning a set of three hyperparameters (n[subscript tree], m[subscript try], and node size), the optimized model demonstrated an improved out-of-bag error rate of 2.02%. Implications for improvements in assessment, research, and rater training in the field of music education are discussed.

Rater-mediated assessments are a common methodology for measuring persons, investigating rater behavior, and/or defining latent constructs. The purpose of this article is to provide a pedagogical framework for examining rater variability in the context of rater-mediated assessments using three distinct models. The first model is the observation model, which includes ecological/environmental considerations for the evaluation system. The second model is the measurement model, which includes the transformation of observed, rater response data to linear measures using a measurement model with specific requirements of rater-invariant measurement in order to examine raters' construct-relevant variability stemming from the evaluative system. The third model is the interaction model, which includes an interaction parameter to allow for the investigation into raters' systematic, construct-irrelevant variability stemming from the evaluative system. Implications for measurement outcomes and validity are discussed.

Reliable interpretation of the changes occurring in the samples during their heating is ensured by using more than one measurement technique. This is related to the necessity of eliminating the uncertainty resulting from the interpretation of data obtained by two or more single techniques based on the study of several samples analyzed at different times. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to briefly characterize thermal analysis techniques coupled to non-thermal techniques, most often spectroscopic or chromatographic. The design of coupled thermogravimetry (TG) with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), TG with mass spectrometry (MS) and TG with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems and the principles of measurement are discussed. Using medicinal substances as examples, the key importance of coupled techniques in pharmaceutical technology is pointed out. They make it possible not only to know precisely the behavior of medicinal substances during heating and to identify volatile degradation products, but also to determine the mechanism of thermal decomposition. The data obtained make it possible to predict the behavior of medicinal substances during the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations and determine their shelf life and storage conditions. Additionally, characterized are design solutions that support the interpretation of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves based on observation of the samples during heating or based on simultaneous registration of FTIR spectra and X-ray diffractograms (XRD). This is important because DSC is an inherently non-specific technique. For this reason, individual phase transitions cannot be distinguished from each other based on DSC curves, and supporting techniques are required to interpret them correctly.

(1) Background: The concentration of amisulpride, an atypical antipsychotic drug, is most often determined in the blood, with many inconveniences. An alternative may be to use saliva as a diagnostic material for this purpose. The development of a method to determine amisulpride in saliva using a small volume of biological material could significantly improve patient comfort during Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM). (2) Methods: Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a method to determine amisulpride in 200 μL of saliva using solid-phase extraction for isolation and liquid chromatography with a diode array detector (LC-DAD) for quantitative analysis. (3) Results: The method was validated by determining its linearity in the concentration range 5–500 ng/mL (R2 > 0.99), and the intra- and inter-day precision expressed as coefficient of variation (CV%) did not exceed 9%. (4) Conclusions: The developed method was used to determine the salivary concentration of amisulpride in patients treated with the studied compound, confirming its usefulness in TDM.

In this work, the resistance of polylactide-based non-wovens produced by solution blow spinning to environmental factors was investigated. An average contact angle of up to 136° was achieved with an average fiber diameter of 340 nm at the optimal material density and nozzle–substrate distance. When exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the polylactide non-wovens rapidly lose their hydrophobic properties due to changes in surface morphology resulting from fiber melting. It was demonstrated that the influence of surface structural features on hydrophobicity is greater than that of the material itself. The stability of the wetting properties under UV irradiation was assessed using the derivative parameters of the Owens–Wendt technique, which can serve as an additional method for estimating surface polarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of extreme water repellency, called the lotus effect, is caused by the formation of a Cassie–Baxter state in which only a small portion of the wetting liquid droplet is in contact with the surface. The rest of the bottom of the droplet is in contact with air pockets. Instrumental methods are often used to determine the textural features that cause this effect—scanning electron and atomic force microscopies, profilometry, etc. However, this result provides only an accurate texture model, not the actual information about the part of the surface that is wetted by the liquid. Here, we show a practical method for estimating the surface fraction of texture that has contact with liquid in a Cassie–Baxter wetting state. The method is performed using a set of ethanol–water mixtures to determine the contact angle of the textured and chemically equivalent flat surfaces of AlSI 304 steel, 7500 aluminum, and siloxane elastomer. We showed that the system of Cassie–Baxter equations can be solved graphically by the wetting diagrams introduced in this paper, returning a value for the texture surface fraction in contact with a liquid. We anticipate that the demonstrated method will be useful for a direct evaluation of the ability of textures to repel liquids, particularly superhydrophobic and superoleophobic materials, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Using a non-human primate (NHP) model of maternal Westernstyle diet (mWSD) feeding during pregnancy and lactation, we previously reported altered offspring beta:alpha cell ratio in vivo and insulin hypersecretion ex vivo. Mitochondria are known to maintain beta-cell function by producing ATP for insulin secretion. In response to nutrient stress, the mitochondrial network within beta cells undergoes morphological changes to maintain respiration and metabolic adaptability. Given that mitochondrial dynamics have also been associated with cellular fate transitions, we assessed whether mWSD exposure was associated with changes in markers of beta-cell maturity and/or mitochondrial morphology that might explain the offspring islet phenotype. Methods: We evaluated the expression of beta-cell identity/maturity markers (NKX6.1, MAFB, UCN3) via florescence microscopy in islets of Japanese macaque pre-adolescent (1 year old) and peri-adolescent (3-year-old) offspring born to dams fed either a control diet or WSD during pregnancy and lactation and weaned onto WSD. Mitochondrial morphology in NHP offspring beta cells was analyzed in 2D by transmission electron microscopy and in 3D using super resolution microscopy to deconvolve the beta-cell mitochondrial network. Results: There was no difference in the percent of beta cells expressing key maturity markers in NHP offspring from WSD-fed dams at 1 or 3 years of age; however, beta cells of WSD-exposed 3 year old offspring showed increased levels of NKX6.1 per beta cell at 3 years of age. Regardless of maternal diet, the beta-cell mitochondrial network was found to be primarily short and fragmented at both ages in NHP; overall mitochondrial volume increased with age. In utero and lactational exposure to maternal WSD consumption may increase mitochondrial fragmentation. Discussion: Despite mWSD consumption having clear developmental effects on offspring beta:alpha cell ratio and insulin secretory response to glucose, this does not appear to be mediated by changes to beta-cell maturity or the beta-cell mitochondrial network. In general, the more fragmented mitochondrial network in NHP beta cells suggests greater ability for metabolic flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]