Search

Our understanding of the moon as it was regarded in ancient Egypt from the Old Kingdom to the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods is based mostly on texts and images from temples, but also on stelae, coffins, and papyri. Just as Conceptual Metaphor Theory provides a theoretical background for research on the moon in ancient Egypt, a basic knowledge of astronomical facts is essential for our understanding of the sources and of how the moon was conceptualized anciently. The conceptualizations can be categorized into those concerning astronomical properties of the celestial body (its shape, luminosity, motion, constellations), those in which the moon takes on anthropomorphic (man, child, eye, leg, arm) and zoomorphic (bull, ibis, baboon) forms, and those that have a socio-political background, concerning the reign of the pharaoh, the measuring and conception of time, and the maintenance of the cosmos (maat) as a whole.

Before 2022, the primary mode for monkeypox virus (MPXV) transmission was known to be zoonotic, and only limited human-to-human transmission was documented (2,2). Human MPXV infections resulting in mpox disease [...]

As institutions of higher education evolve and adapt to meet the increasing needs of their communities, faculty are faced with the choice of where and how to employ their time and expertise. To advance and encourage partnerships between institutions and their communities, academic reward structures must be designed in ways that support those who choose to leverage their expertise, resources, and time to engage with community in meaningful and mutually beneficial ways. This dissertation (Wendling, 2022) contributes to the growing body of higher education community engagement literature by investigating how school- and department-level promotion and tenure committees not only define and understand faculty's engaged research, but how they evaluate it. Specifically, this dissertation explored what goes into making evaluative decisions, if and how committees utilize tools for evaluation, and how evaluative decisions are made.

To advance and encourage partnerships between institutions and their greater communities, academic reward structures must be designed in ways that support those who choose to leverage their expertise, resources, and time to engage with community in meaningful and mutually beneficial ways. This study investigates how school- and department-level promotion and tenure committees define, understand, and "evaluate" faculty's engaged research. Specifically, this study explored what goes into making evaluative decisions and how evaluative decisions are made (e.g., how review committees define and categorize faculty's engaged research, what metrics are used to assess it). In this single case multi-site qualitative study 12 participants across five R1 institutions classified as "engaged" by the Carnegie Foundation participated in semi-structured interviews. All participants were tenured, engaged scholars with experience serving on a school- and/or department-level promotion and tenure review committee. Findings demonstrate that review committees struggle to define, categorize, and evaluate community engaged research in promotion and tenure, as they are forced to exclusively rely on a traditional set of metrics to evaluate the engaged work of their peers. Though universities are making strides to institutionalize engagement, appropriate recognition of engaged research within promotion and tenure is not yet a reality.

Objetivo: Criar ícones como artifício facilitador para interpretação e comunicação da tarefa realizada por idosos no preenchimento de diário de atividades físicas. Método: A amostra foi composta por 30 idosas, participantes de um programa de atividades físicas. O método utilizado foi o de reconhecimento de 50 figuras com pontuação do número de acertos. Para oferecer uma comunicação eficiente e direta, foram escolhidas as atividades que mais evidenciaram o comportamento dos idosos e o ambiente da prática da atividade física. O critério adotado para seleção dos ícones foi a proporção de acertos: ≥ 0,80, figura aprovada; entre 0,70 e 0,79, figura que precisa de modificações; ≤ 0,70, figura que precisa ser refeita. Resultados: Observou-se que cinco das figuras teriam de ser refeitas e oito precisariam ser melhoradas em relação a contraste e profundidade; as demais (37 figuras) obtiveram a proporção de acertos esperados (> 0,8000). Conclusões: Formas gráficas sintéticas com conteúdo de informação amplo foram, em parte, responsáveis pelo desvio na interpretação, como também a deterioração da visão normal causada pelas modificações fisiológicas do envelhecimento. As imagens tiveram seu tamanho ligeiramente ampliado e determinadas partes dos gráficos foram evidenciadas para conduzir a interpretação correta. Observou-se que os ícones se tornam uma ferramenta de comunicação eficiente que minimiza dificuldades na compreensão para o preenchimento do diário de atividade física por idosos.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is zoonotic and capable of infecting many mammal species. However, whether common companion animals are susceptible to MPXV infection is unclear. During July 2022–March 2023, we collected animal and environmental swab samples within homes of confirmed human mpox case-patients and tested for MPXV and human DNA by PCR. We also used ELISA for orthopoxvirus antibody detection. Overall, 12% (22/191) of animal and 25% (14/56) of environmental swab samples from 4 households, including samples from 4 dogs and 1 cat, were positive for MPXV DNA, but we did not detect viable MPXV or orthopoxvirus antibodies. Among MPXV PCR-positive swab samples, 82% from animals and 93% from environment amplified human DNA with a statistically significant correlation in observed cycle threshold values. Our findings demonstrate likely DNA contamination from the human mpox cases. Despite the high likelihood for exposure, we found no indications that companion animals were infected with MPXV.

Higher education must move beyond statements of solidarity towards action to support antiracist work at institutions. Although these statements of support are laudable, it can be challenging to successfully operationalize antiracism across all levels of an institution (individuals, activities/programs, courses, units, and entire institutions) and with all stakeholders (faculty, staff, students, and community partners). We suggest that community engagement is a key overlooked strategy and method for advancing antiracist agendas within institutions. Examples of how antiracist work actually manifests through community-university partnerships can help identify successful outcomes of antiracist practices and policies. This article will share findings from a series of dialogues engaging over 250 participants about the intersection of engagement and antiracism, and share a call to develop a set of metrics to assess and measure antiracism in higher education community engagement.

Abstract Introduction The therapeutic arsenal for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is gradually being expanded, but the use of these targeted treatments must be optimal. Our objective was to guide the choice of targeted therapy to use as first-line treatment in a patient with PsA in whom methotrexate (MTX) has failed. Methods We searched for literature data in PubMed with the appropriate keywords for the six points of our argument: (1) the tolerance of MTX; (2) the efficacy of targeted therapies combined with MTX vs monotherapy; (3) immunogenicity of anti-tumor necrosis alpha (TNFα) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs); (4) immunogenicity of anti-interleukin (IL)-17, anti-IL-12/23, and anti-IL-23 mAbs; (5) the therapeutic maintenance of anti-TNFα mAbs when combined or not with MTX; (6) the therapeutic maintenance of anti-IL-17 vs anti-TNFα mAbs as first-line targeted therapy. Results The proposed rational strategy is as follows: in case of initiation of an anti-TNFα agent, maintaining treatment with MTX seems preferable, even in the absence of evidence of the superior efficacy of the combination, to avoid immunization and reduced therapeutic maintenance; in case of initiation of anti-IL-17, anti-IL-12/23, anti-IL-23 agents, or Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, again in the absence of evidence of the superior efficacy of the combination, discontinuing MTX therapy may be possible, at least in two steps, after verifying the efficacy of the targeted therapy initiated on the joints and skin. Conclusion We have data from the literature to guide the choice of targeted therapy to use as first-line treatment in a patient with PsA in whom MTX has failed.

There is a need to help farmers make decisions to maximize crop yields. Many studies have emerged in recent years using deep learning on remotely sensed images to detect plant diseases, which can be caused by multiple factors such as environmental conditions, genetics or pathogens. This problem can be considered as an anomaly detection task. However, these approaches are often limited by the availability of annotated data or prior knowledge of the existence of an anomaly. In many cases, it is not possible to obtain this information. In this work, we propose an approach that can detect plant anomalies without prior knowledge of their existence, thus overcoming these limitations. To this end, we train a model on an auxiliary prediction task using a dataset composed of samples of normal and abnormal plants. Our proposed method studies the distribution of heatmaps retrieved from an explainability model. Based on the assumptions that the model trained on the auxiliary task is able to extract important plant characteristics, we propose to study how closely the heatmap of a new observation follows the heatmap distribution of a normal dataset. Through the proposed a contrario approach, we derive a score indicating potential anomalies.Experiments show that our approach outperforms reference approaches such as f-AnoGAN and OCSVM on the GrowliFlower and PlantDoc datasets and has competitive performances on the PlantVillage dataset, while not requiring the prior knowledge on the existence of anomalies.

Introduction Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by inflammatory low back pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are recommended as a first treatment in axSpA. In case of inadequate response to NSAIDs, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) should be introduced according to the recommendations of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology. Until 2015, only bDMARD was recommended for axSpA in case of failure to anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF). The 2022 Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS)-EULAR recommendation proposed to start an alternative bDMARD but without advocating a switch in mode of action as proposed in rheumatoid arthritis. Since 2015, the inhibition of interleukin (IL)-17 has demonstrated efficacy in axSpA. Then, we designed a randomised multicentre clinical trial to identify the more effective treatment after a first anti-TNF failure in axSpA, comparing an anti-IL-17 to a second anti-TNF.Methods and analysis The ROC-SpA (Rotation Or Change of biotherapy after first anti-TNF treatment failure in axSpA patients) study is a prospective, randomised, multicentre, superiority open-label phase IV trial comparing an anti-IL-17 strategy (secukinumab or ixekizumab) to a second TNF blocker in a 1:1 ratio. Patients with an active axSpA (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index >4 or ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS) >3.5) with inadequate 3 months response to a first anti-TNF and with a stable dose of conventional synthetic DMARDs, oral corticosteroids and/or NSAIDs for at least 1 month are included in 31 hospital centres in France and Monaco. The primary outcome is the ASAS40 response at week 24. The secondary outcomes are ASAS40 at weeks 12 and 52, other clinical scores (ASAS20, partial remission rate, ASDAS major improvement rate) at weeks 12, 24 and 52 with the drugs and anti-drugs concentrations at baseline, weeks 12, 24 and 52. The primary analysis is performed at the end of the study according to the intent-to-treat principle.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the committee for the protection of persons (Comité de protection des personnes Ouest IV #12/18_1, 6 February 2018) and registered in ClinicalTrials.gov and in EudraCT. Results of this study, whether positive or negative, will be presented at national and international congresses, to national axSpA patient associations and published in a peer-reviewed journal. It could also impact the international recommendation to manage patients with axSpA.Trial registration number NCT03445845 and EudraCT2017-004700-22.

ObjectivesTo investigate factors associated with severe COVID-19 in people with psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).MethodsDemographic data, clinical characteristics and COVID-19 outcome severity of adults with PsO, PsA and axSpA were obtained from two international physician-reported registries. A three-point ordinal COVID-19 severity scale was defined: no hospitalisation, hospitalisation (and no death) and death. ORs were estimated using multivariable ordinal logistic regression.ResultsOf 5045 cases, 18.3% had PsO, 45.5% PsA and 36.3% axSpA. Most (83.6%) were not hospitalised, 14.6% were hospitalised and 1.8% died. Older age was non-linearly associated with COVID-19 severity. Male sex (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.83), cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, metabolic and cancer comorbidities (ORs 1.25-2.89), moderate/high disease activity and/or glucocorticoid use (ORs 1.39-2.23, vs remission/low disease activity and no glucocorticoids) were associated with increased odds of severe COVID-19. Later pandemic time periods (ORs 0.42-0.52, vs until 15 June 2020), PsO (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.65, vs PsA) and baseline exposure to TNFi, IL17i and IL-23i/IL-12+23i (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.73; OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.87; OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.98; respectively; vs no disease-modifying antirheumatic drug) were associated with reduced odds of severe COVID-19.ConclusionOlder age, male sex, comorbidity burden, higher disease activity and glucocorticoid intake were associated with more severe COVID-19. Later pandemic time periods, PsO and exposure to TNFi, IL17i and IL-23i/IL-12+23i were associated with less severe COVID-19. These findings will enable risk stratification and inform management decisions for patients with PsO, PsA and axSpA during COVID-19 waves or similar future respiratory pandemics.

Background Inception cohorts aim to describe chronic diseases from diagnosis and over years of follow-up. Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) diagnosis might be challenging during the first years of the disease. Thus, identifying the features that will be associated with a confirmed diagnosis over time is key.Objectives To assess the frequency and the predisposing factors for a change of an initial diagnosis in an inception axSpA cohort.Methods DESIR is an ongoing national multicentre inception axSpA cohort with currently 12.5 years of follow-up. At the entry visit and confirmed at each visit, the diagnosis of axSpA was based on the opinion of the treating rheumatologist. Follow-up was interrupted in case of a change in this initial diagnosis. Multiple imputation was used to estimate the probability of a change in the initial diagnosis of axSpA for each patient lost to follow-up. Factors predisposing to an unchanged diagnosis of axSpA were then assessed using a multivariate logistic regression model on the imputed data sets.Results Of the 708 patients included, over 10 years of follow-up, 45 (6.4%) were excluded due to a diagnosis change and 300 (42.4%) patients were lost to follow-up. Based on the imputation of these 300 patients, a change in their initial axSpA diagnosis was estimated in 42 (14.0%). Factors predisposing to an unchanged initial axSpA diagnosis during follow-up were (ORs (95% CIs)): radiographic sacroiliitis: 17.0 (4.1 to 71.0); psoriasis: 5.3 (2.0 to 14.3); CRP≥6 mg/L: 2.7 (1.3 to 5.3); good NSAID response: 2.5 (1.5 to 4.2); HLA B27+: 2.0 (1.3 to 3.3); anterior chest wall pain: 2.0 (1.2 to 3.3) and female sex: 1.9 (1.2 to 3.0).Conclusion These data suggest that a change in diagnosis in recent onset axSpA exists, but is not frequent, and is less likely to occur in the presence of objective features at baseline.

IntroductionCashew nut contains bioactive compounds that modulate satiety and food intake, but its effects on body fat during energy restriction remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the effects of cashew nut and cashew nut oil on body fat (primary outcome) as well as adiposity, cardiometabolic and liver function markers (secondary outcomes).Materials and methodsAn eight-week (8-wk) randomized controlled-feeding study involved 68 adults with overweight/obesity (40 women, BMI: 33 ± 4 kg/m2). Participants were randomly assigned to one of the energy-restricted (−500 kcal/d) groups: control (CT, free-nuts), cashew nut (CN, 30 g/d), or cashew nut oil (OL, 30 mL/d). Body weight, body composition, and blood collection were assessed at the baseline and endpoint of the study.ResultsAfter 8-wk, all groups reduced significantly body fat (CT: −3.1 ± 2.8 kg; CN: −3.3 ± 2.7 kg; OL: −1.8 ± 2.6 kg), body weight (CT: −4.2 ± 3.8 kg; CN: −3.9 ± 3.1 kg; OL: −3.4 ± 2.4 kg), waist (CT: −5.1 ± 4.6 cm; CN: −3.9 ± 3.9 cm; OL: −3.7 ± 5.3 cm) and hip circumferences (CT: −2.9 ± 3.0 cm; CN: −2.7 ± 3.1 cm; OL: −2.9 ± 2.3 cm). CN-group reduced liver enzymes (AST: −3.1 ± 5.3 U/L; ALT: −6.0 ± 9.9 U/L), while the OL-group reduced LDL-c (−11.5 ± 21.8 mg/dL) and atherogenic index (−0.2 ± 0.5). Both intervention groups decreased neck circumference (CN: −1.0 ± 1.2 cm; OL: −0.5 ± 1.2 cm) and apo B (CN: −6.6 ± 10.7 mg/dL; OL: −7.0 ± 15.3 mg/dL).ConclusionAfter an 8-wk energy-restricted intervention, all groups reduced body fat (kg), weight, and some others adiposity indicators, with no different effect of cashew nut or cashew nut oil. However, participants in the intervention groups experienced additional reductions in atherogenic marker, liver function biomarkers, and cardiovascular risk factors (neck circumference and apo B levels), with these effects observed across the OL group, CN group, and both intervention groups, respectively.Clinical trial registration:https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-8xzkyp2, identifier 8xzkyp2.

ABSTRACT Coppicing technique is recognized as an effective method for inducing epicormic sprouts and promoting reinvigoration in Brazilian native tree species. However, there remains a knowledge gap regarding efficient reinvigoration techniques for vegetative rescue of paricá trees. This study aimed to evaluate the coppicing technique’s efficacy in inducing epicormic sprouts in paricá trees, considering different seasons and stump heights. A 2x3 factorial experimental design was employed, encompassing two seasons (rainy and dry) and three stump heights (0 = root collar; 10 cm above root collar; 30 cm above root collar). Stumps were monitored over a 90-day period. Results showed that all stumps remained viable, with significant differences observed in sprouting frequency between the rainy and dry seasons at 15 and 30 days, favoring the former. Furthermore, the number of sprouts per stump varied significantly across seasons at 15, 30, and 45 days, with higher counts recorded during the rainy season. Notably, the high percentage of stumps producing sprouts underscores the species’ robust response capacity. Additionally, the occurrence of two sprouts per stump suggests a species-specific trait at these stump heights. Evaluation of sprout length and circumference revealed significant differences between seasons, with greater growth observed during the rainy season. These findings are crucial for informing management decisions related to epicormic sprout development through the coppicing technique in paricá trees. Overall, the results indicate the technique’s potential to induce epicormic sprouts across all seasons and stump heights evaluated, with superior outcomes observed during the rainy season.

Environment and population are closely linked, but their interactions remain challenging to assess. To fill this gap, modeling the environment at a fine resolution brings a significant value, if combined with population-based studies. This is particularly challenging in regions where the availability of both population and environmental data are limited. In low- and middle-income countries, many demographic and health data are from nationally representative household surveys, which now provide approximate geolocations of the sampled households. In parallel, freely available remote sensing data, due to their high spatial and temporal resolution, make it possible to capture the local environment at any time. This study aims to correlate standard demographic and health information with a high-resolution environment characterization derived from satellite data, encompassing both rural and urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. We use the malaria indicator survey conducted in 2017–2018 in Burkina Faso. We first present a deep semisupervised domain adaptation strategy based on the intertropical climatic characteristics of the country for precisely mapping local climate zones (LCZs). This strategy models seasonal variations through contrastive learning to extract useful information for the mapping process. We then use this high-resolution LCZ map to characterize, in four groups, the immediate environment of the sampled households. We find a significant association between these local environments and malaria among households' children. Going beyond the traditional dichotomous urban/rural characterization, our results provide interesting insights for public health. This innovative method offers new avenues for exploring population and environment interactions, especially in the growing climate change concern.

RESUMO A maioria das plantas arbóreas sofre mudanças morfológicas, fisiológicas e bioquímicas durante a transição da fase juvenil para a adulta, principalmente, com relação ao potencial de clonagem, vigor de crescimento e resistência a doenças. A carência de estudos científicos sobre o tema em nível de plantas lenhosas, principalmente em termos de espécies florestais tropicais, tem dificultado os avanços da propagação vegetativa na silvicultura clonal intensiva. No presente trabalho, os principais conceitos sobre a aplicabilidade da juvenilidade, maturação e do rejuvenescimento de plantas, com enfoque especial em espécies florestais são descritos e discutidos.

Cashew nuts can contribute to improving intestinal permeability and inflammation as they contain essential nutrients and bioactive compounds, but no clinical trials have evaluated these potential effects. This randomized trial aimed to assess the effects of cashew nuts and their oil on intestinal permeability and inflammatory markers. Sixty-four adults with overweight or obesity were allocated into three groups receiving energy restriction (−500 kcal/day): control (CT, free nuts), cashew nuts (CN, 30 g/day), or cashew nut oil (OL, 30 mL/day). Urine lactulose and mannitol, plasma zonulin and the lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), plasma interleukins (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12p70), and C-reactive proteins were analyzed. Energy restriction reduced body fat and other indicators of adiposity without differences between the groups. Only the control group increased LBPs after an 8-week intervention. There were no statistically significant differences found between the groups in terms of intestinal permeability and inflammatory markers. In conclusion, incorporating cashew nuts or cashew nut oil into an energy-restricted 8-week dietary intervention did not change intestinal permeability and inflammatory markers. As studies evaluating cashew nuts on these markers remain scarce, further research is needed, perhaps with a longer study period and a higher concentration of cashew nuts and oil.