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This work analyzes spontaneous cooperation between children who participated in Automata for STEM, European Union funded Erasmus+ project workshops. Taking into account the characteristics of automata, that involve a narrative part and a mechanism, the project used them to implement contextualized and interdisciplinary STEM activities. The pedagogical method involved the presentation of automata, and children being challenged to plan and construct their own. Although no cooperative learning strategies were imposed during the workshops, this research aimed to identify types of spontaneous cooperation that could emerge among children. Data was gathered through participant observation and a questionnaire. Core dimensions of spontaneous cooperation were identified as well as specific dimensions, pointing to a divergent type, characterized by involvement between pairs of children in different projects, and to another type, convergent, involving work between pairs of children in the same project. Spontaneous cooperation also varied according to the children's age or the workshop structure. During workshops with children aged 6-7 years, the class teacher was present and provided guidance, the children were seated in pairs or in a presentation arrangement. During workshops for older children of 8-9 years of age, there was less guidance and the class teacher sometimes was not even in the room the children worked at round tables.

Background: Few studies have found long-term effects of early musical environmental enrichment in the NICU on preterm infant's development. This study examines how early music enrichment affects emotional development and effortful control abilities in 12- and 24-month-old very preterm (VPT) infants. Methods: One hundred nineteen newborns were recruited, including 83 VPTs and 36 full-term (FT) infants. The VPT infants were randomly assigned to the music intervention (44 VPT-Music) or control (39 VPT-control) groups. VPTMusic infants listened specifically designed music intervention from the 33rd week of gestation until hospital discharge. At 12 and 24 months, children were clinically evaluated using the Bayley-III Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery, and at 24 months, with 3 additional episodes of the Effortful Control Battery. Results and discussion: Our analysis showed that during a fear eliciting task, the VPT-Music group expressed lower level of fear reactivity and higher positive motor actions than VPT-controls and FT infants. At 24 months, the VPT-music group had lower scores for negative motor actions in the joy task, compared to both VPT-control and FT groups. In addition, both FT and VPT-music had higher scores of sustained attention compared to VPT-controls, but the contrasts were not significant. No significant effects on mental, language and motor outcomes were identified and for all three dimensions of the ECBQ. Conclusion: The present study suggests that an early music intervention in the NICU might influence preterm children's emotional processing at 12 and 24 months. Limitations and suggestions for future research are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Male germ cells share a common origin across animal species, therefore they likely retain a conserved genetic program that defines their cellular identity. However, the unique evolutionary dynamics of male germ cells coupled with their widespread leaky transcription pose significant obstacles to the identification of the core spermatogenic program. Through network analysis of the spermatocyte transcriptome of vertebrate and invertebrate species, we describe the conserved evolutionary origin of metazoan male germ cells at the molecular level. We estimate the average functional requirement of a metazoan male germ cell to correspond to the expression of approximately 10,000 protein- coding genes, a third of which defines a genetic scaffold of deeply conserved genes that has been retained throughout evolution. Such scaffold contains a set of 79 functional associations between 104 gene expression regulators that represent a core component of the conserved genetic program of metazoan spermatogenesis. By genetically interfering with the acquisition and maintenance of male germ cell identity, we uncover 161 previously unknown spermatogenesis genes and three new potential genetic causes of human infertility. These findings emphasize the importance of evolutionary history on human reproductive disease and establish a cross- species analytical pipeline that can be repurposed to other cell types and pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: At the end of life, the prevalence of delirium and pain is high. Current therapy is not satisfactory. Dexmedetomidine could be useful in the control of delirium and pain but is not approved outside of intensive care setting. Our objectives are to evaluate existing evidence in the literature that assessed the efficacy of dexmedetomidine in pain and delirium control and its safety in palliative care patients outside intensive care units. This systematic review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO and included a risk of bias assessment. Methods: PubMed and SCOPUS were examined for literature published until 2023. Experimental, cohort, cross-sectional, case–control studies, and case series/reports were included if they evaluate the use of dexmedetomidine in delirium and/or pain management in hospitalized palliative care adult patients. Studies were excluded if they were carried out in intensive care units. Results: Of the initial 529 records, 14 were included. Although only two studies were randomized trials, most were small and only one had low risk of bias. In most case reports and in the two retrospective cohort studies, dexmedetomidine appears to be a better option for these symptoms, although differences were not significant in the randomized trials. Discussion: Dexmedetomidine seems to be a promising option for refractory pain and delirium and may contribute to a reduction in opioid administration to control pain. This is the first systematic review of dexmedetomidine in palliative care. Quality evidence is limited, but clinical properties of dexmedetomidine justify the conduction of controlled trials in palliative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the electric vehicle market and the ongoing demand for lithium (Li), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) for batteries production requires secondary sources for obtaining these elements. The recycling of Li‐ion batteries involves hydrometallurgical processes with potential environmental implications, hence there is an urgent need for sustainable and more efficient recycling methods. Functionalized colloidal magnetic nanomaterials have gained interest as sorbents as they can selectively bind and remove metal species from waters, allowing their easy recovery through magnetic separation. This work addresses the preparation and evaluation of silica‐coated magnetite nanoparticles (NPs), as alternative materials to recover Co and Ni from aqueous media, after their surface modification with 1‐methyl‐3‐propylimidazolium chloride. The magnetic nanosorbents were fully characterized and the influence of solution pH and amount of ILs on the NPs surface was evaluated. Our research allows us to conclude that IL functionalized magnetic nanoparticles can be explored as an alternative to hydrometallurgical processes for the separation of Co and Ni from alkaline lixiviates of spent lithium‐ion battery (LIB) powders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TEM00-mode operation is a requirement in many laser-based applications due to the small divergence and high-power density of the emitted laser beam. A solar laser scheme was designed and numerically studied with the goal of increasing the solar-to-laser power conversion efficiency in the TEM00-mode operation. The collection and primary concentration of sunlight was performed via twelve sets of folding mirrors and Fresnel lenses, toward a laser head composed of a fused silica torus volume and seven Ce:Nd:YAG rods, in a side-pump configuration. With this scheme, TEM00-mode laser power totaling 212.39 W could potentially be produced from seven beams, with six of them being 32.60 W each and with M x 2 = 1.00,   M y 2 = 1.01 quality factors. Notably, 35.40 W/m2 collection efficiency and, most importantly, 3.73% solar-to-laser power conversion efficiency were numerically achieved. The latter efficiency value represents a 1.81-time improvement over the experimental record, established with a prototype that had a single Ce:Nd:YAG rod in an end-side pump configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current scenario of antifouling (AF) strategies to prevent the natural process of marine biofouling is based in the use of antifouling paints containing different active ingredients, believed to be harmful to the marine environment. Compounds called booster biocides are being used with copper as an alternative to the traditionally used tributyltin (TBT); however, some of them were recently found to accumulate in coastal waters at levels that are deleterious for marine organisms. More ecological alternatives were pursued, some of them based on the marine organism mechanisms' production of specialized metabolites with AF activity. However, despite the investment in research on AF natural products and their synthetic analogues, many studies showed that natural AF alternatives do not perform as well as the traditional metal-based ones. In the search for AF agents with better performance and to understand which molecular motifs were responsible for the AF activity of natural compounds, synthetic analogues were produced and investigated for structure–AF activity relationship studies. This review is a comprehensive compilation of AF compounds synthesized in the last two decades with highlights on the data concerning their structure–activity relationship, providing a chemical toolbox for researchers to develop efficient nature-inspired AF agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]