Drawing a line:Grasses and boundaries

Delineation between distinct populations of cells is essential for organ development. Boundary formation is necessary for the maintenance of pluripotent meristematic cells in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) and differentiation of developing organs. Boundaries form between the meristem and organs, as well as between organs and within organs. Much of the research into the boundary gene regulatory network (GRN) has been carried out in the eudicot model Arabidopsis thaliana. This work has identified a dynamic network of hormone and gene interactions. Comparisons with other eudicot models, like tomato and pea, have shown key conserved nodes in the GRN and species-specific alterations, including the recruitment of the boundary GRN in leaf margin development. How boundaries are defined in monocots, and in particular the grass family which contains many of the world’s staple food crops, is not clear. In this study, we review knowledge of the grass boundary GRN during vegetative development. We particularly focus on the development of a grass-specific within-organ boundary, the ligule, which directly impacts leaf architecture. We also consider how genome engineering and the use of natural diversity could be leveraged to influence key agronomic traits relative to leaf and plant architecture in the future, which is guided by knowledge of boundary GRNs

Technologies used to facilitate remote rehabilitation of adults with deconditioning, musculoskeletal conditions, stroke, or traumatic brain injury: an umbrella review

Objective: The objective of this review was to provide an overview of technologies (devices, tools, or software applications) used to facilitate remote rehabilitation of adults with deconditioning, musculoskeletal conditions, stroke, or traumatic brain injury, and to summarize the quantitative evidence of their efficacy. Introduction: Health care providers are considering how to meet longer-term rehabilitation needs of people whose health or level of activity and participation has been impacted directly or indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Demands on rehabilitation services are increasing, driving a need for more services to be delivered in homes and communities. This review will identify the effectiveness of health care technologies to facilitate remote rehabilitation. Inclusion criteria: This review included quantitative systematic reviews where participants were adults requiring rehabilitation for musculoskeletal conditions, stroke, or traumatic brain injury, or older adults requiring rehabilitation for deconditioning. Interventions included a technology and focused on recovery or rehabilitation with one of the following primary outcomes: physical activity levels, balance and/or gait, physical performance (mobility), or functional performance. Secondary outcomes included levels of pain, cognitive function, health-related quality of life, and adverse effects. Methods: Five databases were searched from 2016 to 2020 to identify English-language publications. Critical appraisal of five systematic reviews was conducted independently by two reviewers. Data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers. Data were summarized using a tabular format with supporting text. Results: Despite the large number of systematic reviews found in the initial search, only five met the inclusion criteria. Of these, each explored a different technology, including wearable activity trackers, computer-based activities, non-immersive virtual reality, mobile apps, web-based rehabilitation interventions, and electronic health-based interventions (web-based or app-based with a wearable activity tracker). Computer-based activities were beneficial for improving cognitive function but showed no benefit on quality of life in post-stroke rehabilitation. Interventions that included wearable activity trackers showed mixed findings for increasing levels of physical activity for community-dwelling older adults with deconditioning. Mobile apps were beneficial for increasing levels of physical activity and physical or functional performance for post-stroke rehabilitation. Web-based rehabilitation that contained a variety of components to support home exercise was not effective in improving physical performance or QoL, reducing pain, or increasing levels of physical activity among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. Electronic health-based interventions (web-based or app-based with a wearable activity tracker) were effective in improving physical performance and reducing pain in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. Therapy in the form of screen-based, non-immersive virtual reality could be successfully transferred to the home environment for improving the balance/gait of individuals with stroke. Conclusions: The small number of heterogeneous systematic reviews included in this umbrella review and the very low quality of evidence, mostly from single small primary studies, make it difficult to draw overall conclusions that differ from the original review findings. This highlights a paucity of strong, high-quality evidence underpinning technologies that can be used to facilitate remote rehabilitation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

A review of wildland fire spread modelling, 1990-present 2: Empirical and quasi-empirical models

In recent years, advances in computational power and spatial data analysis (GIS, remote sensing, etc) have led to an increase in attempts to model the spread and behaviour of wildland fires across the landscape. This series of review papers endeavours to critically and comprehensively review all types of surface fire spread models developed since 1990. This paper reviews models of an empirical or quasi-empirical nature. These models are based solely on the statistical analysis of experimentally obtained data with or without some physical framework for the basis of the relations. Other papers in the series review models of a physical or quasi-physical nature, and mathematical analogues and simulation models. The main relations of empirical models are that of wind speed and fuel moisture content with rate of forward spread. Comparisons are made of the different functional relationships selected by various authors for these variables.Comment: 22 pages + 7 pages references + 2 pages tables + 2 pages figures. Submitted to International Journal of Wildland Fir

Energy cost and return for hunting in African wild dogs and Cheetahs

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are reported to hunt with energetically costly long chase distances. We used high-resolution GPS and inertial technology to record 1,119 high-speed chases of all members of a pack of six adult African wild dogs in northern Botswana. Dogs performed multiple short, high-speed, mostly unsuccessful chases to capture prey, while cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) undertook even shorter, higher-speed hunts. We used an energy balance model to show that the energy return from group hunting and feeding substantially outweighs the cost of multiple short chases, which indicates that African wild dogs are more energetically robust than previously believed. Comparison with cheetah illustrates the trade-off between sheer athleticism and high individual kill rate characteristic of cheetahs, and the energetic robustness of frequent opportunistic group hunting and feeding by African wild dogs

Alterations in glutamatergic signaling contribute to the decline of circadian photoentrainment in aged mice

Robust physiological circadian rhythms form an integral part of well-being. The aging process has been found to negatively impact systems that drive circadian physiology, typically manifesting as symptoms associated with abnormal/disrupted sleeping patterns. Here, we investigated the age-related decline in light-driven circadian entrainment in male C57BL/6J mice. We compared light-driven resetting of circadian behavioral activity in young (1e2 months) and old (14e18 months) mice and explored alterations in the glutamatergic pathway at the level of the circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Aged animals showed a significant reduction in sensitivity to behavioral phase resetting by light. We show that this change was through alterations in N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) signaling at the SCN, where NMDA, a glutamatergic agonist, was less potent in inducing clock resetting. Finally, we show that this shift in NMDA sensitivity was through the reduced SCN expression of this receptor’s NR2B subunit. Only in young animals did an NR2B antagonist attenuate behavioral resetting. These results can help target treatments that aim to improve both physiological and behavioral circadian entrainment in aged populations

Risk factors for race-day fatality in flat racing Thoroughbreds in Great Britain (2000 to 2013)

A key focus of the racing industry is to reduce the number of race-day events where horses die suddenly or are euthanased due to catastrophic injury. The objective of this study was therefore to determine risk factors for race-day fatalities in Thoroughbred racehorses, using a cohort of all horses participating in flat racing in Great Britain between 2000 and 2013. Horse-, race- and course-level data were collected and combined with all race-day fatalities, recorded by racecourse veterinarians in a central database. Associations between exposure variables and fatality were assessed using logistic regression analyses for (1) all starts in the dataset and (2) starts made on turf surfaces only. There were 806,764 starts in total, of which 548,571 were on turf surfaces. A total of 610 fatalities were recorded; 377 (61.8%) on turf. In both regression models, increased firmness of the going, increasing racing distance, increasing average horse performance, first year of racing and wearing eye cover for the first time all increased the odds of fatality. Generally, the odds of fatality also increased with increasing horse age whereas increasing number of previous starts reduced fatality odds. In the ‘all starts’ model, horses racing in an auction race were at 1.46 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–2.01) times the odds of fatality compared with horses not racing in this race type. In the turf starts model, horses racing in Group 1 races were at 3.19 (95% CI 1.71–5.93) times the odds of fatality compared with horses not racing in this race type. Identification of novel risk factors including wearing eye cover and race type will help to inform strategies to further reduce the rate of fatality in flat racing horses, enhancing horse and jockey welfare and safety

Crisis responses for children and young people: an evidence synthesis of effectiveness, experiences and service organisation (CAMH-Crisis)

Background Mental health care for children and young people is a rising concern, with one in six children aged 5–19 years in England having a probable diagnosable mental disorder. Care for children and young people in crisis is known to be delivered by multiple agencies using a range of approaches. Objectives The review objectives of this study were to critically appraise, synthesise and present the best-available international evidence related to crisis services for children and young people aged 5–25 years, specifically looking at the organisation of crisis services across education, health, social care and the third sector, and the experiences and perceptions of young people, families and staff, to determine the effectiveness of current models and the goals of crisis intervention. Methods All relevant English-language international evidence specifically relating to the provision and receipt of crisis support for children and young people aged 5–25 years, from January 1995 to January 2021, was sought. Comprehensive searches were conducted across 17 databases and supplementary searching was undertaken to identify grey literature. Two team members appraised all the retrieved research reports (except grey literature) using critical appraisal checklists. A separate analysis was conducted for each objective. Confidence in research findings was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation and the Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research approaches. Findings One hundred and thirty-eight reports were used to inform this evidence synthesis, including 39 descriptive accounts of the organisation of crisis services (across 36 reports), 42 research studies (across 48 reports) and 54 grey literature documents. The organisation of crisis services has been categorised as follows: triage/assessment only, digitally mediated support approaches, and intervention approaches and models. When looking at experiences of crisis care, the following four themes were identified: (1) barriers to and facilitators of seeking and accessing appropriate support; (2) what children and young people want from crisis services; (3) children’s, young people’s and families’ experiences of crisis services; and (4) service provision. In determining effectiveness, the findings are summarised by type of service and were generated from single heterogenous studies. The goals of a crisis service should be to (1) keep children and young people in their home environment as an alternative to admission; (2) assess need and plan; (3) improve children’s and young people’s and/or their families’ engagement with community treatment; (4) link children and young people and/or their families to additional mental health services, as necessary; (5) provide peer support; (6) stabilise and manage the present crisis over the immediate period; and (7) train and/or supervise staff. The key limitation of this review was that much of the literature was drawn from the USA. Owing to the differences between USA and UK in terms of commissioning and delivering services, approaches to crisis care operating in the USA may not be directly applicable to the UK