Anthropogenic sources of underwater sound can modify how sediment-dwelling invertebrates mediate ecosystem properties

Coastal and shelf environments support high levels of biodiversity that are vital in mediating ecosystem processes, but they are also subject to noise associated with mounting levels of offshore human activity. This has the potential to alter the way in which species interact with their environment, compromising the mediation of important ecosystem properties. Here, we show that exposure to underwater broadband sound fields that resemble offshore shipping and construction activity can alter sediment-dwelling invertebrate contributions to fluid and particle transport - key processes in mediating benthic nutrient cycling. Despite high levels of intra-specific variability in physiological response, we find that changes in the behaviour of some functionally important species can be dependent on the class of broadband sound (continuous or impulsive). Our study provides evidence that exposing coastal environments to anthropogenic sound fields is likely to have much wider ecosystem consequences than are presently acknowledge

Structured States of Disordered Proteins from Genomic Sequences

Protein flexibility ranges from simple hinge movements to functional disorder. Around half of all human proteins contain apparently disordered regions with little 3D or functional information, and many of these proteins are associated with disease. Building on the evolutionary couplings approach previously successful in predicting 3D states of ordered proteins and RNA, we developed a method to predict the potential for ordered states for all apparently disordered proteins with sufficiently rich evolutionary information. The approach is highly accurate (79%) for residue interactions as tested in more than 60 known disordered regions captured in a bound or specific condition. Assessing the potential for structure of more than 1,000 apparently disordered regions of human proteins reveals a continuum of structural order with at least 50% with clear propensity for three-or two-dimensional states. Co-evolutionary constraints reveal hitherto unseen structures of functional importance in apparently disordered proteins. Keywords: Evolutionary couplings disorder; conformational flexibility; statistical physics; maximum entropy; EVfold; bioinformatics; computational biology; structure predictionNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01GM081871

School-based educational intervention to improve children’s oral health-related knowledge

Objective. To evaluate a brief oral health promotion intervention delivered in schools by a primary care dental practice, aimed at changing oral health care knowledge and oral health–related behaviors in children. Design. Cohort study with pretest–posttest design. Setting. Three primary schools. Participants. One hundred and fifty children (aged 9-12 years). Intervention. Children received a 60-minute theory-driven classroom-based interactive educational session delivered by a dental care professional and received take-home literature on oral health. Main Outcome Measures. All children completed a questionnaire on oral health–related knowledge and self-reported oral health–related behaviors before, immediately after, and 6 weeks following the intervention. Results. Children’s dental knowledge significantly improved following the intervention, with improvement evident at immediate follow-up and maintained 6 weeks later. Significantly more children reported using dental floss 6 weeks after the intervention compared with baseline. No significant differences were detected in toothbrushing or dietary behaviors. Conclusions. School-based preventative oral health education delivered by primary care dental practices can generate short-term improvements in children’s knowledge of oral health and some aspects of oral hygiene behavior. Future research should engage parents/carers and include objective clinical and behavioral outcomes in controlled study designs

Protocol for surgical and non-surgical treatment for metacarpal shaft fractures in adults: an observational feasibility study

Introduction Metacarpal shaft fractures (MSF) are common traumatic hand injuries that usually affect young people of working age. They place a significant burden on healthcare resources and society, however there is a lack of evidence to guide their treatment. Identifying the most beneficial and cost-efficient treatment will ensure optimisation of care and provide economic value for the NHS. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial comparing surgical and non-surgical treatment for MSF in adultsMethods and analysis This is a multi-centre prospective cohort study, with a nested qualitative study consisting of patient interviews and focus groups, and an embedded factorial randomised sub-study evaluating the use of text messages to maximise data collection and participant retention. The outcomes of interest include; eligibility; recruitment and retention rates; completion of follow-up; evaluation of primary outcome measures; calculation of the minimal clinically important difference for selected outcome measures; and establishing the feasibility of data collection methods and appropriate time-points for use in a future trial. Data will be captured using a secure online data management system. Data analyses will be descriptive and a thematic inductive analysis will be used for qualitative data. Minimum clinically important effects for each PROM will be estimated using anchor-based responsiveness statistics and distribution-based methods.Ethics and dissemination This study has received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee and the Health Research Authority (REC reference 20/EE/0124). Results will be made available to patients, clinicians, researchers and the funder via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Social media platforms, local media and feedback from the Patient Advisory Group will be used to maximise circulation of findings to patients and the public

Wide-range continuous tuning of the thermal conductivity of La0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ\rm La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}CoO_{3-\delta} films via room-temperature ion-gel gating

Solid-state control of the thermal conductivity of materials is of exceptional interest for novel devices such as thermal diodes and switches. Here, we demonstrate the ability to continuously tune the thermal conductivity of nanoscale films of $\rm La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}CoO_{3-\delta}$ (LSCO) by a factor of over 5, via a room-temperature electrolyte-gate-induced non-volatile topotactic phase transformation from perovskite (with $\delta \approx 0.1$) to an oxygen-vacancy-ordered brownmillerite phase (with $\delta=0.5$), accompanied by a metal-insulator transition. Combining time-domain thermoreflectance and electronic transport measurements, model analyses based on molecular dynamics and Boltzmann transport, and structural characterization by X-ray diffraction, we uncover and deconvolve the effects of these transitions on heat carriers, including electrons and lattice vibrations. The wide-range continuous tunability of LSCO thermal conductivity enabled by low-voltage (below 4 V) room-temperature electrolyte gating opens the door to non-volatile dynamic control of thermal transport in perovskite-based functional materials, for thermal regulation and management in device applications

Potential resolution to the doping puzzle in iron pyrite: Carrier type determination by Hall effect and thermopower

Pyrite FeS2 has outstanding potential as an earth-abundant, low-cost, nontoxic photovoltaic, but underperforms dramatically in solar cells. While the full reasons for this are not clear, one certain factor is the inability to understand and control doping in FeS2. This is exemplified by the widely accepted but unexplained observation that unintentionally doped FeS2 single crystals are predominantly n type, whereas thin films are p type. Here we provide a potential resolution to this “doping puzzle,” arrived at via Hall effect, thermopower, and resistivity measurements on a large set of FeS2 single crystals and films that span five orders of magnitude in mobility. The results reveal three main findings. First, in addition to crystals, the highest mobility thin films in this study are shown to be definitively n type, from both Hall effect and thermopower. Second, as mobility decreases an apparent crossover to p type occurs, first in thermopower, then in Hall measurements. This can be understood, however, in terms of the crossover from diffusive to hopping transport that is clearly reflected in resistivity. Third, universal behavior is found for both crystals and films, suggesting a common n dopant, possibly sulfur vacancies. We thus argue that n-type doping is facile in FeS2 films, that apparent p-type behavior in low mobility samples can be an artifact of hopping, and that the prevailing notion of predominantly p-type films must be revised. These conclusions have deep implications, both for interpretation of prior work on FeS2 solar cells and for the design of future studies