PRIMARY LANGUAGE, MATERNAL LANGUAGE USE, AND COGNITIVE OUTCOMES AMONG PRESCHOOLERS BORN VERY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

Very low birth weight (VLBW; ≤1500 grams) preschoolers are at risk for cognitive and executive functioning (EF) difficulties. Maternal language quality may impact cognitive development in VLBW children. The aims of this study were to explore differences in maternal language (Spanish, English) and child cognitive abilities, and to explore associations between maternal language use (verbal scaffolding and structuring) and child cognitive abilities in VLBW preschoolers (3.5-4 years). Caregivers reported sociodemographic information. Cognitive abilities were measured using the WPPSI-III (VIQ, PIQ), Bear Dragon, and Gift Delay Peek scores. Results showed English speaking children scored higher on VIQ. For English speaking children, verbal scaffolding was positively correlated with VIQ, and structured statements were negatively associated with PIQ. When controlling for maternal education, the associations remained significant. Findings suggest maternal language use plays an important role in child cognitive development; these associations may vary by language group and be influenced by socioeconomic factors

Bilingualism and executive functioning in children born very low birth weight and normal birth weight

Research has documented an advantage on executive functioning in bilingual compared to monolingual children, suggesting that bilingual children may develop inhibitory control earlier than their monolingual peers. There are no known studies examining the differences between monolingual and bilingual children who were born very low birth weight (VLBW). Children born VLBW are at greater risk for difficulties with attention and inhibition. Executive functioning abilities were measured at 3-4 years and at 5-7 years. Caregivers reported sociodemographic information. Bilingualism was measured by self-report and observation of unstructured mother-child play. Executive functioning abilities were measured using the Bear Dragon (inhibition and working memory 3-4 years), Memory for Location 2 (working memory 3-4 years), Gift Delay (inhibition 3-4 & 5-7 years), WJ-III Memory for Words (working memory 3-4 & 5-7 years), Color Form (inhibition and task switching 5-7 years), and the DCCS (inhibition and task switching 5-7 years). Children born normal birth weight (NBW) performed significantly better on tasks involving working memory (3-4 years), and inhibition (5-7years). Monolingual children born NBW performed better on tasks of working memory (3-4 years) and inhibition (5-7 years) compared to bilingual children born VLBW. Modest evidence for a bilingual (parent reported but not observational) advantage on one of three inhibition tasks (Gift Delay) emerged at school age (5-7 years). Children born NBW performed better on executive functioning measures beginning at the preschool age (3-4 years). Evidence for developmental differences between these groups helps to provide a broader understanding of the development of early executive processes

Coccidioidomycosis in pregnancy: Case report and literature review of associated placental lesions

AbstractBackgroundCoccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection found most commonly in the Southwestern United States, Northwestern Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. Although infection is relatively uncommon during pregnancy, it is imperative to have an index of suspicion in order to diagnose and begin timely treatment to prevent dissemination and dire consequences.Case reportA 33-year-old Hispanic female was evaluated after she was involved in an automobile accident. Radiographic evaluation showed a 3.2×3.2cm cavitary thick-walled lesion. A biopsy was negative for malignancy. Evaluation was positive for coccidioidomycosis by complement fixation reaction. Four months later, the patient presented 7weeks into a pregnancy with massive hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy revealed bleeding from the right upper lobe and emergency embolization was performed. The patient had a spontaneous abortion 9days after admission. The right upper and middle lobes of the lung were resected due to continuous bleeding. A subsequent pregnancy was un-eventful. Coccidioidomycosis titers remained negative throughout the second pregnancy.DiscussionThis case demonstrates the potential for severe pulmonary coccidioidomycosis and vascular strain of pregnancy-associated vascular expansion in the first trimester of pregnancy and the possibility of a favorable pregnancy outcome in subsequent pregnancies after appropriate treatment. The route of feto-maternal transmission and placental lesions in coccidioidomycosis are discussed

ATG8-dependent LMX1B-autophagy crosstalk shapes human midbrain dopaminergic neuronal resilience

The LIM homeodomain transcription factors LMX1A and LMX1B are essential mediators of midbrain dopaminergic neuronal (mDAN) differentiation and survival. Here we show that LMX1A and LMX1B are autophagy transcription factors that provide cellular stress protection. Their suppression dampens the autophagy response, lowers mitochondrial respiration, and elevates mitochondrial ROS, and their inducible overexpression protects against rotenone toxicity in human iPSC-derived mDANs in vitro. Significantly, we show that LMX1A and LMX1B stability is in part regulated by autophagy, and that these transcription factors bind to multiple ATG8 proteins. Binding is dependent on subcellular localization and nutrient status, with LMX1B interacting with LC3B in the nucleus under basal conditions and associating with both cytosolic and nuclear LC3B during nutrient starvation. Crucially, ATG8 binding stimulates LMX1B-mediated transcription for efficient autophagy and cell stress protection, thereby establishing a novel LMX1B-autophagy regulatory axis that contributes to mDAN maintenance and survival in the adult brai

Perioperative Factors Associated With Postoperative Delirium in Patients Undergoing Noncardiac Surgery:An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis

IMPORTANCE: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common and serious complication after surgery. Various predisposing factors are associated with POD, but their magnitude and importance using an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis have not been assessed.OBJECTIVE: To identify perioperative factors associated with POD and assess their relative prognostic value among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery.DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL from inception to May 2020.STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included that (1) enrolled adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, (2) assessed perioperative risk factors for POD, and (3) measured the incidence of delirium (measured using a validated approach). Data were analyzed in 2020.DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Individual patient data were pooled from 21 studies and 1-stage meta-analysis was performed using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression after a multivariable imputation via chained equations model to impute missing data.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The end point of interest was POD diagnosed up to 10 days after a procedure. A wide range of perioperative risk factors was considered as potentially associated with POD.RESULTS: A total of 192 studies met the eligibility criteria, and IPD were acquired from 21 studies that enrolled 8382 patients. Almost 1 in 5 patients developed POD (18%), and an increased risk of POD was associated with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status 4 (odds ratio [OR], 2.43; 95% CI, 1.42-4.14), older age (OR for 65-85 years, 2.67; 95% CI, 2.16-3.29; OR for &gt;85 years, 6.24; 95% CI, 4.65-8.37), low body mass index (OR for body mass index &lt;18.5, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.64-3.09), history of delirium (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 2.69-5.66), preoperative cognitive impairment (OR, 3.99; 95% CI, 2.94-5.43), and preoperative C-reactive protein levels (OR for 5-10 mg/dL, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.59-3.50; OR for &gt;10 mg/dL, 3.56; 95% CI, 2.46-5.17). Completing a college degree or higher was associated with a decreased likelihood of developing POD (OR 0.45; 95% CI, 0.28-0.72).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data, several important factors associated with POD were found that may help identify patients at high risk and may have utility in clinical practice to inform patients and caregivers about the expected risk of developing delirium after surgery. Future studies should explore strategies to reduce delirium after surgery.</p

Assessing changes in global fire regimes

PAGES, Past Global Changes, is funded by the Swiss Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and supported in kind by the University of Bern, Switzerland. Financial support was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation award numbers 1916565, EAR-2011439, and EAR-2012123. Additional support was provided by the Utah Department of Natural Resources Watershed Restoration Initiative. SSS was supported by Brigham Young University Graduate Studies. MS was supported by National Science Centre, Poland (grant no. 2018/31/B/ST10/02498 and 2021/41/B/ST10/00060). JCA was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101026211. PF contributed within the framework of the FCT-funded project no. UIDB/04033/2020. SGAF acknowledges support from Trond Mohn Stiftelse (TMS) and University of Bergen for the startup grant ‘TMS2022STG03’. JMP participation in this research was supported by the Forest Research Centre, a research unit funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P. (FCT), Portugal (UIDB/00239/2020). A.-LD acknowledge PAGES, PICS CNRS 06484 project, CNRS-INSU, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, University of Bordeaux DRI and INQUA for workshop support.Background The global human footprint has fundamentally altered wildfire regimes, creating serious consequences for human health, biodiversity, and climate. However, it remains difficult to project how long-term interactions among land use, management, and climate change will affect fire behavior, representing a key knowledge gap for sustainable management. We used expert assessment to combine opinions about past and future fire regimes from 99 wildfire researchers. We asked for quantitative and qualitative assessments of the frequency, type, and implications of fire regime change from the beginning of the Holocene through the year 2300. Results Respondents indicated some direct human influence on wildfire since at least ~ 12,000 years BP, though natural climate variability remained the dominant driver of fire regime change until around 5,000 years BP, for most study regions. Responses suggested a ten-fold increase in the frequency of fire regime change during the last 250 years compared with the rest of the Holocene, corresponding first with the intensification and extensification of land use and later with anthropogenic climate change. Looking to the future, fire regimes were predicted to intensify, with increases in frequency, severity, and size in all biomes except grassland ecosystems. Fire regimes showed different climate sensitivities across biomes, but the likelihood of fire regime change increased with higher warming scenarios for all biomes. Biodiversity, carbon storage, and other ecosystem services were predicted to decrease for most biomes under higher emission scenarios. We present recommendations for adaptation and mitigation under emerging fire regimes, while recognizing that management options are constrained under higher emission scenarios. Conclusion The influence of humans on wildfire regimes has increased over the last two centuries. The perspective gained from past fires should be considered in land and fire management strategies, but novel fire behavior is likely given the unprecedented human disruption of plant communities, climate, and other factors. Future fire regimes are likely to degrade key ecosystem services, unless climate change is aggressively mitigated. Expert assessment complements empirical data and modeling, providing a broader perspective of fire science to inform decision making and future research priorities.Peer reviewe

All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory: Exploring the Extreme Multimessenger Universe

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) is a probe class mission concept that will provide essential contributions to multimessenger astrophysics in the late 2020s and beyond. AMEGO combines high sensitivity in the 200 keV to 10 GeV energy range with a wide field of view, good spectral resolution, and polarization sensitivity. Therefore, AMEGO is key in the study of multimessenger astrophysical objects that have unique signatures in the gamma-ray regime, such as neutron star mergers, supernovae, and flaring active galactic nuclei. The order-of-magnitude improvement compared to previous MeV missions also enables discoveries of a wide range of phenomena whose energy output peaks in the relatively unexplored medium-energy gamma-ray band

Fruit load modulates flowering-related gene expression in buds of alternate-bearing 'Moncada' mandarin

Background and Aims Gene determination of flowering is the result of complex interactions involving both promoters and inhibitors. In this study, the expression of flowering-related genes at the meristem level in alternate-bearing citrus trees is analysed, together with the interplay between buds and leaves in the determination of flowering. Methods First defruiting experiments were performed to manipulate blossoming intensity in `Moncada¿ mandarin, Citrus clementina. Further defoliation was performed to elucidate the role leaves play in the flowering process. In both cases, the activity of flowering-related genes was investigated at the flower induction (November) and differentiation (February) stages. Key Results Study of the expression pattern of flowering-genes in buds from on (fully loaded) and off (without fruits) trees revealed that homologues of FLOWERING LOCUS T (CiFT), TWIN SISTER OF FT (TSF), APETALA1 (CsAP1) and LEAFY (CsLFY) were negatively affected by fruit load. CiFT and TSF activities showed a marked increase in buds from off trees through the study period (ten-fold in November). By contrast, expression of the homologues of the flowering inhibitors of TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (CsTFL), TERMINAL FLOWER 2 (TFL2) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) was generally lower in off trees. Regarding floral identity genes, the increase in CsAP1 expression in off trees was much greater in buds than in leaves, and significant variations in CsLFY expression (approx. 20 %) were found only in February. Defoliation experiments further revealed that the absence of leaves completely abolished blossoming and severely affected the expression of most of the flowering-related genes, particularly decreasing the activity of floral promoters and of CsAP1 at the induction stage. Conclusions These results suggest that the presence of fruit affects flowering by greatly altering gene-expression not only at the leaf but also at the meristem level. Although leaves are required for flowering to occur, their absence strongly affects the activity of floral promoters and identity genes.This work was supported by a grant from the Instituto Nacional Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain (RTA2009-00147). M. C. Gonzalez was the recipient of a contract by the Fundacion Agroalimed (Conselleria d'Agricultura, Pesca i Alimentacio, Generalitat Valenciana).Muñoz Fambuena, N.; Mesejo Conejos, C.; Gonzalez Más, MC.; Primo-Millo, E.; Agustí Fonfría, M.; Iglesias, DJ. (2012). Fruit load modulates flowering-related gene expression in buds of alternate-bearing 'Moncada' mandarin. Annals of Botany. 110(6):1109-1118. doi:10.1093/aob/mcs190S110911181106Abe, M. (2005). FD, a bZIP Protein Mediating Signals from the Floral Pathway Integrator FT at the Shoot Apex. Science, 309(5737), 1052-1056. doi:10.1126/science.1115983Bustin, S. (2002). Quantification of mRNA using real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR): trends and problems. 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A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges