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Introduction. Body armour, whilst improving wearer survivability, can negatively impact physical performance and increase injury risk. These impacts may differ between male and female personnel due to the generic design of armour systems. The aim of this study was to assess sex-specific differences in comfort when wearing military (MBA) and law enforcement (LEBA) body armour. Methods. Using a prospective, within-subjects, repeated measures, randomized cross-over design, 10 police officers (female=6: male=4) wore each set of body armour. After completing a variety of tasks, officers provided feedback on a subjective mannequin sketch and provided free text comments. Results. The heavier MBA received more negative comments than LEBA. The majority of negative comments by female officers referred to: (a) discomfort around the throat and shoulders, particularly when seated (six comments), (b) the vest compressing the utility belt or holster (six comments); (c) compression of the stomach and back (two comments); (d) restrictions in breathing and range of motion (four comments), (e) reduced ability to perform tasks (two comments); and (f) ill-fitting design (two comments). In comparison, male officers reported: (a) discomfort around the shoulders and abdomen (five comments), particularly when seated (three of the five comments); and (b) hip discomfort (e.g., pinching) (two comments). Conclusion. Comfort and fit of body armour should not be considered the same between males and females. Industries need to consider these sex-specific differences in their research and design. Agencies should investigate potential differences between sexes and between systems when purchasing such systems.

The Global North has dominated the planning theories for decades to resolve planning problems globally. These Northern theories were not feasible for most problems in the Global South, as the continued use of Northern theories maintains the inequalities of disjointed and divided cities caused by colonialism. However, as this approach is inappropriate and inadequate, planning theories require decolonization from the continued focus on the Global North in order to reflect the realities of the South. This paper contributes to the scholarship of decolonization in planning by investigating how planning academics and professionals in South Africa view the progress made in the decolonization of planning theories for inclusion and equity.

Understanding climate change impacts on the Cape Floristic Region requires improved knowledge of plant physiological responses to the environment. Studies examining physiological responses of mountain fynbos have consisted of campaign-based measurements, capturing snapshots of plant water relations and photosynthesis. We examine conclusions drawn from prior studies by tracking in situ physiological responses of three species, representing dominant growth forms (proteoid, ericoid, restioid), over 2 years using miniature continuous sap flow technology, long-term observations of leaf/culm water potential and gas exchange, and xylem vulnerability to embolism. We observed considerable inter-specific variation in the timing and extent of seasonal declines in productivity. Shallow-rooted Erica monsoniana exhibited steep within-season declines in sap flow and water potentials, and pronounced inter-annual variability in total daily sap flux (Js). Protea repens showed steady reductions in Js across both years, despite deeper roots and less negative water potentials. Cannomois congesta-a shallow-rooted restioid-was least negatively impacted. Following rehydrating rain at the end of summer, gas exchange recovery was lower in the drier year compared with the normal year, but did not differ between species. Loss of function in the drier year was partially accounted for by loss of xylem transport capacity in Erica and Cannomois, but not Protea. Hitherto unseen water use patterns, including inter-annual variability of gas exchange associated with contrasting water uptake properties, reveal that species use different mechanisms to cope with summer dry periods. Revealing physiological responses of key growth forms enhances predictions of plant function within mountain fynbos under future conditions.

It is known that children with special educational needs (i.e., with physical and or cognitive disabilities, and or conduct or social-emotional disorders) are more at risk for problems resulting from media use at home. Yet, how professionals in special needs education (SNE) deal with these media related problems by their students at school has received little attention. To fill this gap 19 professionals affiliated to 3 primary SNE-schools in the Netherlands were interviewed. At these SNE-schools that addressed children between 4 to 12 years old requiring additional support and adaptive pedagogical methods we explored (a) which online risks and benefits professionals encounter from the kind of media their students use, (b) which children are deemed most vulnerable, (c) how professionals deal with students’ online problems when they manifest themselves in school, and (d) what professionals need to address these situations effectively. Qualitative content analysis using Boeije’s approach of open, axial, and selective coding was applied to the interview data and revealed that, in accordance with former research, the interviewed professionals mainly saw problems like compulsive gaming, watching and playing (too) violent movies and games, and online arguing and bullying. To a lesser extent their SNE-students also received or sent sexual messages or materials. These problems were typically associated with the students’ gender, social-emotional or cognitive limitations and conduct disorders. Moreover, professionals also mentioned that the absence of consistent and involved parenting at home highly contributed to children’s problematic media use. Professionals found it difficult to solve or prevent problem-related media use that often had started outside of the school. They lacked knowledge about children and media-effects, appropriate media-literacy lessons, structural support from the schools’ management, and knowledge how to involve parents. A customized approach that goes beyond the school borders apparently is needed.

Processed foods often include food additives such as xanthan gum, a complex polysaccharide with unique rheological properties, that has established widespread use as a stabilizer and thickening agent. Xanthan gums chemical structure is distinct from those of host and dietary polysaccharides that are more commonly expected to transit the gastrointestinal tract, and little is known about its direct interaction with the gut microbiota, which plays a central role in digestion of other dietary fibre polysaccharides. Here we show that the ability to digest xanthan gum is common in human gut microbiomes from industrialized countries and appears contingent on a single uncultured bacterium in the family Ruminococcaceae. Our data reveal that this primary degrader cleaves the xanthan gum backbone before processing the released oligosaccharides using additional enzymes. Some individuals harbour Bacteroides intestinalis that is incapable of consuming polymeric xanthan gum but grows on oligosaccharide products generated by the Ruminococcaceae. Feeding xanthan gum to germfree mice colonized with a human microbiota containing the uncultured Ruminococcaceae supports the idea that the additive xanthan gum can drive expansion of the primary degrader Ruminococcaceae, along with exogenously introduced B. intestinalis. Our work demonstrates the existence of a potential xanthan gum food chain involving at least two members of different phyla of gut bacteria and provides an initial framework for understanding how widespread consumption of a recently introduced food additive influences human microbiomes.

The Global North has dominated the planning theories for decades to resolve planning problems globally. These Northern theories were not feasible for most problems in the Global South, as the continued use of Northern theories maintains the inequalities of disjointed and divided cities caused by colonialism. However, as this approach is inappropriate and inadequate, planning theories require decolonization from the continued focus on the Global North in order to reflect the realities of the South. This paper contributes to the scholarship of decolonization in planning by investigating how planning academics and professionals in South Africa view the progress made in the decolonization of planning theories for inclusion and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Squamous cell lung cancer (SQLC) is the second most common lung cancer subtype and among the cancers with the worst prognosis (1). Unfortunately, genetically activated kinase targets that provide [...], The discovery of frequent 8p11-p12 amplifications in squamous cell lung cancer (SQLC) has fueled hopes that FGFR1, located inside this amplicon, might be a therapeutic target. In a clinical trial, only 11% of patients with 8p11 amplification (detected by FISH) responded to FGFR kinase inhibitor treatment. To understand the mechanism of FGFR1 dependency, we performed deep genomic characterization of 52 SQLCs with 8p11-p12 amplification, including 10 tumors obtained from patients who had been treated with FGFR inhibitors. We discovered somatically altered variants of FGFR1 with deletion of exons 1-8 that resulted from intragenic tail-to-tail rearrangements. These ectodomain-deficient FGFR1 variants ([DELTA]EC-FGFR1) were expressed in the affected tumors and were tumorigenic in both in vitro and in vivo models of lung cancer. Mechanistically, breakage-fusion-bridges were the source of 8p11-p12 amplification, resulting from frequent head-to-head and tail-to-tail rearrangements. Generally, tail-to-tail rearrangements within or in close proximity upstream of FGFR1 were associated with FGFR1 dependency. Thus, the genomic events shaping the architecture of the 8p11-p12 amplicon provide a mechanistic explanation for the emergence of FGFR1-driven SQLC. Specifically, we believe that FGFR1 ectodomain-deficient and FGFRI-centered amplifications caused by tail-to-tail rearrangements are a novel somatic genomic event that might be predictive of therapeutically relevant FGFR1 dependency.

Background: Traditional undergraduate college students in the United States are in the age range that experiences the highest rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and are vulnerable to contracting STIs. Increasing condom use among college students is a prevention strategy to reduce the spread of STIs. Aim: The purpose of this systematic review of the literature was to identify behavioral interventions that increased condom use behaviors and/or intentions among college students. Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed in systematically searching, extracting, appraising, and synthesizing the evidence. A quality assessment was also conducted with the tool provided by the Effective Public Health Practice Project. Results: The initial search yielded 715 records. After critical appraisal, seven articles remained for review. Discussion: Four of the interventions were developed using the three constructs of the information, motivation, and behavioral skills model, and all four found significant increases in condom use or condom use intentions. Additionally, interventions that included modules to increase self-efficacy for condom use, taught participants where to get condoms and how to negotiate condom use with partners, or elicited positive associations (feels) toward condoms saw increased condom use or intention to use condoms.

Objective The statistical analysis typically used to compare pain before and after interventions assumes that scores are normally distributed. The present study evaluates whether numeric rating scale (NRS) scores, specifically NRS-11 scores, are indeed normally distributed in a clinically relevant cohort of adults with chronic axial spine pain before and after analgesic intervention. Methods Retrospective review from 4 academic medical centers of prospectively collected data from a uniform pain diary administered to consecutive patients after they had undergone medial branch blocks. The pain diary assessed NRS-11 scores immediately before injection and at 12 different time points after injection up to 48 hours. D'Agostino–Pearson tests were used to test normality at all time points. Results One hundred fifty pain diaries were reviewed, and despite normally distributed pre-injection NRS-11 scores (K 2 = 0.655, P  = .72), all post-injection NRS-11 data were not normally distributed (K 2 = 9.70– 17.62, P  = .0001–.008). Conclusions Although the results of parametric analyses of NRS-11 scores are commonly reported in pain research, some properties of the NRS-11 do not satisfy the assumptions required for these analyses. The data demonstrate non-normal distributions in post-intervention NRS-11 scores, thereby violating a key requisite for parametric analysis. We urge pain researchers to consider appropriate statistical analysis and reporting for non-normally distributed NRS-11 scores to ensure accurate interpretation and communication of these data. Practicing pain physicians should similarly recognize that parametric post-intervention pain score statistics might not accurately describe the data and should expect articles to utilize measures of normality to justify the selected statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abnormally expanded GGGGCC repeat in C9ORF72 is the most frequent causal mutation associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Both gain-of-function (gf) and loss-of-function (lf) mechanisms have been involved in C9ORF72 related ALS/FTLD. The gf mechanism of C9ORF72 has been studied in various animal models but not in C. elegans. In the present study, we described mutant C9ORF72 modeling in C. elegans and report the finding of two suppressor genes. We made transgenes containing 9 or 29 repeats of GGGGCC in C9ORF72, driven by either the hsp-16 promoters or the unc-119 promoter. Transgenic worms were made to carry such transgenes. Phenotypic analysis of those animals revealed that Phsp-16::(G4C2)29::GFP transgenic animals (EAB 135) displayed severe paralysis by the second day of adulthood, followed by lethality, which phenotypes were less severe in Phsp-16::(G4C2)9::GFP transgenic animals (EAB242), and absent in control strains expressing empty vectors. Suppressor genes of this locomotor phenotype were pursued by introducing mutations with ethyl methanesulfonate in EAB135, screening mutant strains that moved faster than EAB135 by a food-ring assay, identifying mutations by whole-genome sequencing and testing the underlying mechanism of the suppressor genes either by employing RNA interference studies or C. elegans genetics. Three mutant strains, EAB164, EAB165 and EAB167, were identified. Eight suppressor genes carrying nonsense/canonical splicing site mutations were confirmed, among which a nonsense mutation of F57A10.2/VAMP was found in all three mutant strains, and a nonsense mutation of acp-4/ACP2 was only found in EAB164. Knock down/out of those two genes in EAB135 animals by feeding RNAi/introducing a known acp-4 null allele phenocopied the suppression of the C9ORF72 variant related movement defect in the mutant strains. Translational conformation in a mammalian system is required, but our worm data suggest that altering acp-4/ACP2 encoding lysosomal acid phosphatase may provide a potential therapeutic method of reducing acp-4/ACP2 levels, as opposed or complementary to directly reducing C9ORF72, to relieve C9ORF72-ALS phenotypes. It also suggests that the C9ORF72-ALS/FTLD may share a pathophysiologic mechanism with vesicle-associated membrane protein-associated protein B, a homolog of F57A10.2/VAMP, which is a proven ALS8 gene.