Search Results (12)

Background: Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadets undergo biannual Field Training Exercises (FTX) that impose substantial physiological demands, necessitating adequate nutritional intake to support performance and recovery. Methods: Energy Expenditure (EE) measured by actigraphy and self-reported nutritional intake (NI) of ROTC Cadets during a Fall FTX were obtained and compared to Military Dietary Reference Intake (MDRI) guidelines. Energy balance and nutrient adequacy were assessed using paired sample t-tests. Results: Cadets demonstrated significant caloric deficits, consuming fewer kilocalories than both their active metabolic rate (t = −12.07, df = 42, p < 0.001) and Low Energy Availability thresholds (t = 6.47, df = 57.54, p < 0.001). Macronutrient analysis revealed widespread deficiencies. Neither male nor female cadets met minimum carbohydrate gram recommendations. Protein intake in grams was significantly below MDRI guidelines for 94% of males (t = −10.03, p < 0.001) and 90% of females (t = −4.62, p = 0.001). Fat intake was generally adequate for all cadets, with 94% of males (t = 6.50, p < 0.001) and 90% of females (t = 4.19, p = 0.002) meeting or exceeding recommended fat intake. Conclusions: These findings underscore the prevalence of under-fueling during FTX and highlight the need for improved nutritional strategies to mitigate energy deficits and support cadet performance and health. Full article

This article examines the effects of maternity leave (Law 1822 of 2017) on the Colombian women’s labor market. Using biannual cohorts during the working life cycle of women (18 to 57 years old) reveals that the law’s implementation reduced the hours worked and the real hourly wage for younger women compared to older women. Average treatment effects show that the difference between the hours worked after 2017 was 0.917 (treatment vs. control), and before, it was 1.714 h worked (treatment vs. control). Differences show a reduction of 41 h per cohort and year (approximately one week worked). Synthetic control analysis shows that young cohort experienced a reduction of 0.007 U$ cents in 2017 and a reduction of 2.2 h worked in 2017. Our results highlight the importance of differential policies related to maternity leave by age (cohort) when analyzing the incorporation of women into the labor market. Full article

Since 2012, the Joint Safety Team (JST) has led initiatives aimed at increasing safety awareness and improving safety culture in research laboratory environments at the University of Minnesota. Specifically, its Analysis and Compliance committee has implemented biannual lab safety walkthroughs and safety surveys to monitor safety culture, sentiments, and compliance. Despite several lab safety teams (LSTs) using similar initiatives, the logistics and effectiveness of these initiatives have yet to be reported. Hence, JST has analyzed the decade of overall lab safety walkthrough scores and scores of individual safety items in the context of the evolution of our rubrics and external factors. Similarly, the changes to the safety survey content have been analyzed to demonstrate the dynamic approach of gauging sentiments towards arising safety issues. Generally, the results suggest that these initiatives improved laboratory safety. Furthermore, safety compliance was observed to vary by semester, with fewer safety issues in the spring semester compared to the fall semester, and to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These observations support the effectiveness of these student-led initiatives, despite the initiatives being designed for internal use. Additionally, the initiative logistics are described to inform LSTs of strategies for creating, sustaining, and improving their own initiatives. Full article

Background: Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD). Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis are at a very high risk of infection from cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation as well as mortality. In the present study, we compared the long-term complications and outcomes between subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) and transvenous ICD (TV-ICD) recipients. Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we analyzed a total of 43 patients with ESRD requiring dialysis who received either a prophylactic S-ICD (26 patients) or a single right ventricular lead TV-ICD (17 patients) at seven experienced centers in Germany. Follow-up was performed bi-annually, at the end of which the data concerning comorbidities and, if applicable, reason for death were checked and confirmed with patients’ general practitioner, nephrologist and cardiologist. Results: The median follow up duration was 95.6 months (range 42.8–126.3 months). Baseline characteristics were without noteworthy significant differences between groups. During follow-up (FU), there were significantly more device-associated infections (HR 8.72, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.18 to 12.85, p < 0.05) and device-associated hospitalizations (HR 10.20, 95% CI 1.22 to 84.61, p < 0.001), as well as a higher cardiovascular mortality (HR 9.17, 95% CI 1.12 to 8.33, p < 0.05), in the TV-ICD group. The number of patients requiring hospitalization for any reason was significantly higher in the TV-ICD group (HR 2.59, 95% CI 1.12 to 6.41, p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in overall mortality (HR 1.92, 95% CI 0.96 to 6.15, p = 0.274). Conclusions: Our data suggest that, in this extended follow-up in seriously compromised renal patients on dialysis, the S-ICD patients have statistically fewer device infections and hospitalizations as well as lower cardiac mortality compared with the TV-ICD cohort. Full article

Flood variability associated with urbanization, ecological change, and climatic change is of increasing economic and social concern in and around Flagstaff, Arizona, where flood hydrology is influenced by a biannual precipitation regime and the relatively unique geologic setting at the edge of the San Francisco Volcanic Field on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. There has been limited long-term gauging of the ephemeral channels draining the developed lands and dry coniferous forests of the region, resulting in a spaciotemporal gap in observation-based assessments of large-scale flooding patterns. We present new data from over 10 years of flood monitoring using a crest stage gauge network, combined with other channel monitoring records from multiple agency sources, to assess inter-decadal patterns of flood change in the area, with a specific emphasis on examining how various controls and disturbances have altered the character and seasonality of peak annual flows. Methods of analysis included the following: using Fisher’s Exact Test to compare the seasonality of flooding between historic data spanning the 1970s and contemporary data obtained since 2010; summarizing GIS-based spatial data and meteorological timeseries to characterize study catchment conditions and changes between flood study periods; and relating spatiotemporal patterns of flood seasonality and occurrences of notably large floods with catchment characteristics and environmental changes. Our results show systematic patterns and changes in Flagstaff-area flood regimes that relate to geologic and topographic controls of the varied catchment systems, and in response to records of climate variations and local catchment disturbances, including urbanization and, especially, high-severity wildfire. For most catchments there has been a shift from predominantly late winter to spring snowmelt floods, or mixed seasonal flood regimes, towards monsoon-dominated flooding, patterns which may relate to observed local warming and precipitation changes. Post-wildfire flooding has produced extreme flood discharges which have likely exceeded historical estimates of flood magnitude over decade-long monitoring periods by one to two orders of magnitude. We advocate for continued monitoring and the expansion of local stream gauge networks to enable seasonal, magnitude-frequency trend analyses, improved climate and environmental change attribution, and to better inform the many planned and ongoing flood mitigation projects being undertaken in the increasingly developed Flagstaff region. Full article

Despite the annual vaccination of livestock against foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), outbreaks of the disease continue to be reported. The effective control of field outbreaks by vaccination requires that the vaccines used are antigenically matched to circulating field FMD viruses. In this study, a vaccine matching analysis was performed using the two-dimensional virus neutralization test (VNT) for three field isolates belonging to the O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2/ANT-10 and O/ME-SA/SA-2018 lineages collected from different FMD outbreaks that occurred within the Abu Dhabi Emirate in 2021 affecting Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), goat, and sheep. In addition, post-vaccination antibodies in sheep and goats were measured using solid-phase competitive ELISA (SPCE) for FMDV serotypes A and O at five months after a single vaccine dose and a further 28 days later after a second dose of the FMD vaccine. An analysis of vaccine matching revealed that five out of the six vaccine strains tested were antigenically matched to the UAE field isolates, with r₁-values ranging between 0.32 and 0.75. These results suggest that the vaccine strains (O-3039 and O1 Manisa) included in the FMD vaccine used in the Abu Dhabi Emirate are likely to provide protection against outbreaks caused by the circulating O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2/ANT-10 and O/ME-SA/SA-2018 lineages. All critical residues at site 1 and site 3 of VP1 were conserved in all isolates, although an analysis of the VP1-encoding sequences revealed 14–16 amino acid substitutions compared to the sequence of the O1 Manisa vaccine strain. This study also reports on the results of post-vaccination monitoring where the immunization coverage rates against FMDV serotypes A and O were 47% and 69% five months after the first dose of the FMD vaccine, and they were increased to 81 and 88%, respectively, 28 days after the second dose of the vaccine. These results reinforce the importance of using a second booster dose to maximize the impact of vaccination. In conclusion, the vaccine strains currently used in Abu Dhabi are antigenically matched to circulating field isolates from two serotype O clades (O/ME-SA/PanAsia-2/ANT-10 sublineage and O/ME-SA/SA-2018 lineage). The bi-annual vaccination schedule for FMD in the Abu Dhabi Emirate has the potential to establish a sufficient herd immunity, especially when complemented by additional biosecurity measures for comprehensive FMD control. These findings are pivotal for the successful implementation of the region’s vaccination-based FMD control policy, showing that high vaccination coverage and the wide-spread use of booster doses in susceptible herds is required to achieve a high level of FMDV-specific antibodies in vaccinated animals. Full article

Sulla is a biannual forage legume cultivated throughout the Mediterranean Basin. It can be severely damaged by powdery mildew, but there is little understanding on its causal species or its host range. The taxonomic characterization of Erysiphe species is mainly based on the examination of chasmothecia morphology, or on the molecular analysis of ITS1 and ITS2 sequences. However, a description of chasmothecia morphology or ITS sequences is not always available to clearly assign a given isolate to an existing or novel Erysiphe species. In an attempt to clarify the identity of the powdery mildew infecting sulla crop we studied the morphology and ITS of nine populations collected over years and countries and compared them with available ITS sequences. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the powdery mildews collected on sulla clustered together with isolates collected on Coronilla varia in an independent clade between the E. guarinonii/E. trifoliorum and E. palczewskii clades, strongly suggesting that all these sequences correspond to the same Erysiphe species. Measurements of conidia and conidial foot cells of the sulla-infecting powdery mildews partially overlap those of other Erysiphe species, although they clearly differentiate from them, supporting the assumption that powdery mildews from sulla belong to a distinct species as observed from the phylogenetic analysis. As far as we know, our study is the first to report the molecular characterization of powdery mildew isolated on plants from the Hedysarum clade. Cross-inoculations confirmed a high specialization of the powdery mildew of sulla, with the sulla’s isolates infecting only the S. coronaria accessions, and none of the accessions from the other legume genera studied. All studied S. coronaria accessions were heavily infected by the sulla isolate but not by any other isolate used. All this points to E. hedysari as the causal agent of the S. coronaria powdery mildew. Full article

As secondary forests become more common around the world, it is essential to understand successional pathways to ensure their proper forest management. Despite optimism about secondary forests in terms of landscape restoration, the influence of invasive species on their development has been poorly explored. Here, forest plots in the Araucaria Forest, Southern Brazil, are used to compare forest dynamics over a 14-year period between unmanaged bamboo forest development (control) and the removal of bamboo. Six control plots (15 × 15 m) were monitored for all adult trees since 2007 alongside six adjacent removal plots; after the initial measurement of the control in 2007, all plots were measured bi-annually from 2010 to 2020. Comparisons were based on tree species diversity, composition, and structure parameters. Removal plots show a trend towards developing a forest composition with more secondary and late successional species while the control plots demonstrate succession restricted to the pioneer trees that regenerated immediately after bamboo die-off (2005–2006). Without the presence of bamboos, removal plots are mirroring the well-known successional pathway typical of the Araucaria Forest. Conversely, bamboos are effectively arresting successional development in the control, resulting in lower levels of diversity and less complex forest structure. For the first time, this study presents a direct analysis of the influence of bamboos on forest succession, providing evidence on which practices to manage bamboo forests can be developed so these secondary forests can fulfill their ecological and economic potential. Full article

The business figures linked to the economy of big companies have shown that large technology platforms are some of the few major beneficiaries of the global economic crisis generated by COVID-19. The study compares biannual results of digital consumption and links user monitoring methods with the realization of qualitative focus groups. It analyses the evolution of the consumption of digital tools (mainly social media) by young university students in Spain between 2019 and 2021. The results of the comparative study show a 36% increase in the time spent using digital applications between the two years studied, as well as a greater concentration of time spent on a few platforms. The qualitative results indicate a self-declaration of addictive dependence on the use of social media; an increasing trend in declaring that youngsters have no interest in stopping their use of these platforms, and a justification that technology companies may not pay the user for the content and data they subsequently use to generate revenue in exchange for personal privacy. This behaviour describes the consolidation of the attention economy concept, which denotates a discursive appropriation of the university students who justify a part of the economic, social, and cultural domination that the technological giants carry out. Full article

Introduction: Silver Diammine Fluoride (SDF) is an emerging caries preventive treatment option that is inexpensive, safe, and easily accessible. The evidence is clear that the use of SDF at concentrations of 38% is effective for arresting caries in primary teeth. However, the determination of an optimal SDF application frequency for a cavitated lesion in pragmatic settings is warranted especially among high dental caries risk groups. Hence, the primary objective of this clinical trial is to compare the effectiveness of annual, bi-annual, and four times a year application of 38% SDF application in arresting active coronal dentinal carious lesions on primary teeth among tribal preschool children aged 2–6 years. Methods and Analysis: This study is designed as a randomized, controlled trial consisting of three parallel arms with an allocation ratio of 1:1:1. The trial will enroll 480 preschool tribal children with a cavitated carious lesion (2–6 years) attending a primary health care Centre in Wayanad district, India. Each arm will receive 38% SDF application on an annual (baseline), bi-annual (baseline and 6 months), and four times a year (baseline, 2nd, 4th, and 8th week), respectively. The analysis will be performed both at the tooth- and person-level. Ethics and Dissemination: This trial will be conducted following the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and local guidelines (Indian Council of Medical Research). The protocol has been approved by Institutional Review Committee (IRB). This trial has been registered prospectively with the Clinical Trial Registry of India [Registration No: CTRI/2020/03/024265]. Full article

Various studies have been conducted on children using the Ellisras Longitudinal Study Survey in South Africa, but none of these has addressed growth variations of children in this rural location. The aim of this paper is to assess the age at peak height velocity using the superimposition by translation and rotation (SITAR) method for both boys and girls in rural South Africa. The study is part of the on-going Ellisras Longitudinal Study, and has employed secondary data during the period from November 1996 to November 2003. The data was collected biannually in May and November each year. The Ellisras study initially followed a cluster sampling method. All participating children underwent a series of anthropometric measurements of height and weight according to the standard procedures recommended by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry. The analysis was done using the SITAR model. Age at peak height velocity for Ellisras rural children was at 14.45 years for boys at 11.82 years for girls. Ellisras rural girls had their age at peak height velocity way earlier than Ellisras rural boys did by an estimated 2.63 years. Ellisras rural children and their growth variations were comparable to other studies. Full article

Older women who routinely drink alcohol may experience health benefits, but they are also at risk for adverse effects. Despite the importance of their drinking patterns, few studies have analyzed longitudinal data on changes in drinking among community-based samples of women ages 50 and older. Reported here are findings from a semi-parametric group-based model that used data from 4,439 randomly sampled U.S. women who enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and completed ≥3 biannual alcohol assessments during 1998–2008. The best-fitting model based on the drinks per day data had four trajectories labeled as “Increasing Drinkers” (5.3% of sample), “Decreasing Drinkers” (5.9%), “Stable Drinkers” (24.2%), and “Non/Infrequent Drinkers” (64.6%). Using group assignments generated by the trajectory model, one adjusted logistic regression analysis contrasted the groups with low alcohol intake in 1998 (Increasing Drinkers and Non/Infrequent Drinkers). In this model, baseline education, physical activity, cigarette smoking, and binge drinking were significant factors. Another analysis compared the groups with higher intake in 1998 (Decreasing Drinkers versus Stable Drinkers). In this comparison, baseline depression, cigarette smoking, binge drinking, and retirement status were significant. Findings underscore the need to periodically counsel all older women on the risks and benefits of alcohol use. Full article