What are the priorities for research of older people living in their own home, including those living with frailty? A systematic review and content analysis of studies reporting older people's priorities and unmet needs.

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence regarding the needs of older people, including those living with frailty, to inform research priority setting. OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to identify the range of research priorities of community-dwelling older people living in their own home, including those living with frailty. METHODS: Included studies were from economically developed countries and designed to identify the priorities for research or unmet needs of community-dwelling older people. Studies were excluded if they described priorities relating to specific health conditions. Medline, Embase, PsycInfo and CINAHL were searched (January 2010-June 2022), alongside grey literature. Study quality was assessed, but studies were not excluded on the basis of quality. A bespoke data extraction form was used and content analysis undertaken to synthesise findings. RESULTS: Seventy-five reports were included. Seven explicitly aimed to identify the priorities or unmet needs of frail older people; 68 did not specify frailty as a characteristic. Study designs varied, including priority setting exercises, surveys, interviews, focus groups and literature reviews. Identified priorities and unmet needs were organised into themes: prevention and management, improving health and care service provision, improving daily life, meeting carers' needs and planning ahead. DISCUSSION: Many priority areas were raised by older people, carers and health/care professionals, but few were identified explicitly by/for frail older people. An overarching need was identified for tailored, collaborative provision of care and support. CONCLUSION: Review findings provide a valuable resource for researchers and health/care staff wishing to focus their research or service provision on areas of importance for older people.

Life in lockdown: a telephone survey to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on the lives of older people (≥75 years).

BACKGROUND: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the UK government introduced social distancing measures and identified specific populations at high risk from the virus. People ≥70 were deemed 'Clinically Vulnerable'. Distancing measures were introduced to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. However, these may have a negative impact on older people who are vulnerable to social isolation and may have challenges accessing services and provisions. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on the lives of older people. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional telephone survey. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older people, 76-97 years. OUTCOMES: Health anxiety; General health (RAND Short-form 36 Survey); Physical activity; Depression (PHQ-8); Anxiety (GAD-2); Loneliness; Access to services; Challenges, concerns and positive experiences. DATA ANALYSIS: Counts (%), means (SDs). Thematic analysis was used to identify themes from open questions. RESULTS: n = 142. 52% did not worry about their health; 76% rated their health as 'good', 'very good' or 'excellent'; <10% met the criteria indicative of depression (PHQ-8), or anxiety (GAD-2); 42% were less active than before lockdown; and 27% were lonely at least some of the time. Over half of participants identified positive aspects. CONCLUSIONS: Most participants reported good health with low levels of health anxiety, anxiety and depression. Many were able to identify positive aspects to lockdown and may be better equipped to deal with lockdown than anticipated. Strategies may be required to ameliorate the negative impact of loneliness for a minority of older people, and help some resume previous activity levels and pursuits.

Genetic and phenotypic associations between root architecture, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonisation and low phosphate tolerance in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa).

BACKGROUND: Phosphate is an essential plant macronutrient required to achieve maximum crop yield. Roots are able to uptake soil phosphate from the immediate root area, thus creating a nutrient depletion zone. Many plants are able to exploit phosphate from beyond this root nutrient depletion zone through symbiotic association with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). Here we characterise the relationship between root architecture, AMF association and low phosphate tolerance in strawberries. The contrasting root architecture in the parental strawberry cultivars 'Redgauntlet' and 'Hapil' was studied through a mapping population of 168 progeny. Low phosphate tolerance and AMF association was quantified for each genotype to allow assessment of the phenotypic and genotypic relationships between traits. RESULTS: A "phosphate scavenging" root phenotype where individuals exhibit a high proportion of surface lateral roots was associated with a reduction in root system size across genotypes. A genetic correlation between "root system size" traits was observed with a network of pleiotropic QTL found to represent five "root system size" traits. By contrast, average root diameter and the distribution of roots appeared to be under two discrete methods of genetic control. A total of 18 QTL were associated with plant traits, 4 of which were associated with solidity that explained 46% of the observed variation. Investigations into the relationship between AMF association and root architecture found that a higher root density was associated with greater AMF colonisation across genotypes. However, no phenotypic correlation or genotypic association was found between low phosphate tolerance and the propensity for AMF association, nor root architectural traits when plants are grown under optimal nutrient conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the genetic relationships underpinning phosphate capture can inform the breeding of strawberry varieties with better nutrient use efficiency. Solid root systems were associated with greater AMF colonisation. However, low P-tolerance was not phenotypically or genotypically associated with root architecture traits in strawberry plants. Furthermore, a trade-off was observed between root system size and root architecture type, highlighting the energetic costs associated with a "phosphate scavenging" root architecture.

Identification of powdery mildew resistance QTL in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa).

Key Message Powdery mildew resistance in two strawberry mapping populations is controlled by both stable and transient novel QTL of moderate effect. Some low transferability of QTL across wider germplasm was observed. The obligate biotrophic fungus Podosphaera aphanis is the causative agent of powdery mildew on cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa). Genotypes from two bi-parental mapping populations 'Emily' × 'Fenella' and 'Redgauntlet' × 'Hapil' were phenotyped for powdery mildew disease severity in a series of field trials. Here, we report multiple QTL associated with resistance to powdery mildew, identified in ten phenotyping events conducted across different years and locations. Six QTL show a level of stable resistance across multiple phenotyping events; however, many other QTL were represented in a single phenotyping event and therefore must be considered transient. Subsequent screening of identified QTL across a validation set determined whether identified QTL remained closely linked to the associated resistance gene in the wider germplasm. Furthermore, a preliminary association analysis identified a novel conserved locus for further investigation. Our data suggest that resistance is highly complex and that multiple, primarily additive, sources of quantitative resistance to powdery mildew exist across strawberry germplasm. Utilisation of the reported markers in marker-assisted breeding or genomic selection would lead to improved powdery mildew-resistant strawberry cultivars, particularly where the studied parents, progeny and close pedigree material are included in breeding germplasm.

Female nursing partner choice in a population of wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus).

BACKGROUND: Communal nursing in house mice is an example of cooperation where females pool litters in the same nest and indiscriminately nurse own and other offspring despite potential exploitation. The direct fitness benefits associated with communal nursing shown in laboratory studies suggest it to be a selected component of female house mice reproductive behaviour. However, past studies on communal nursing in free-living populations have debated whether it is a consequence of sharing the same nest or an active choice. Here using data from a long-term study of free-living, wild house mice we investigated individual nursing decisions and determined what factors influenced a female's decision to nurse communally. RESULTS: Females chose to nurse solitarily more often than expected by chance, but the likelihood of nursing solitarily decreased when females had more partners available. While finding no influence of pairwise relatedness on partner choice, we observed that females shared their social environment with genetically similar individuals, suggesting a female's home area consisted of related females, possibly facilitating the evolution of cooperation. Within such a home area females were more likely to nest communally when the general relatedness of her available options was relatively high. Females formed communal nests with females that were familiar through previous associations and had young pups of usually less than 5 days old. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that communal nursing was not a by-product of sharing the same nesting sites, but females choose communal nursing partners from a group of genetically similar females, and ultimately the decision may then depend on the pool of options available. Social partner choice proved to be an integrated part of cooperation among females, and might allow females to reduce the conflict over number of offspring in a communal nest and milk investment towards own and other offspring. We suggest that social partner choice may be a general mechanism to stabilize costly cooperation.

Spatial structuring of soil microbial communities in commercial apple orchards.

Characterising spatial microbial community structure is important to understand and explain the consequences of continuous plantation of one crop species on the performance of subsequent crops, especially where this leads to reduced growth vigour and crop yield. We investigated the spatial structure, specifically distance-decay of similarity, of soil bacterial and fungal communities in two long-established orchards with contrasting agronomic characteristics. A spatially explicit sampling strategy was used to collect soil from under recently grubbed rows of apple trees and under the grassed aisles. Amplicon-based metabarcoding technology was used to characterise the soil microbial communities. The results suggested that (1) most of the differences in soil microbial community structure were due to large-scale differences (i.e. between orchards), (2) within-orchard, small-scale (1-5 m) spatial variability was also present, but spatial relationships in microbial community structure differed between orchards and were not predictable, and (3) vegetation type (i.e. trees or grass and their associated management) can significantly alter the structure of soil microbial communities, affecting a large proportion of microbial groups. The discontinuous nature of soil microbial community structure in the tree stations and neighbouring grass aisles within an orchard illustrate the importance of vegetation type and allied weed and nutrient management on soil microbial community structure.

A new three-locus model for rootstock-induced dwarfing in apple revealed by genetic mapping of root bark percentage.

Rootstock-induced dwarfing of apple scions revolutionized global apple production during the twentieth century, leading to the development of modern intensive orchards. A high root bark percentage (the percentage of the whole root area constituted by root cortex) has previously been associated with rootstock-induced dwarfing in apple. In this study, the root bark percentage was measured in a full-sib family of ungrafted apple rootstocks and found to be under the control of three loci. Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for root bark percentage were found to co-localize to the same genomic regions on chromosome 5 and chromosome 11 previously identified as controlling dwarfing, Dw1 and Dw2, respectively. A third QTL was identified on chromosome 13 in a region that has not been previously associated with dwarfing. The development of closely linked sequence-tagged site markers improved the resolution of allelic classes, thereby allowing the detection of dominance and epistatic interactions between loci, with high root bark percentage only occurring in specific allelic combinations. In addition, we report a significant negative correlation between root bark percentage and stem diameter (an indicator of tree vigour), measured on a clonally propagated grafted subset of the mapping population. The demonstrated link between root bark percentage and rootstock-induced dwarfing of the scion leads us to propose a three-locus model that is able to explain levels of dwarfing from the dwarf 'M.27' to the semi-invigorating rootstock 'M.116'. Moreover, we suggest that the QTL on chromosome 13 (Rb3) might be analogous to a third dwarfing QTL, Dw3, which has not previously been identified.

Developing the evidence and associated service models to support older adults living with frailty to manage their pain and to reduce its impact on their lives: protocol for a mixed-method, co-design study (The POPPY Study).

INTRODUCTION: The Pain in Older People with Frailty Study is a mixed-method, co-design study, which aims to develop the content, implementation strategies, service and professional guidance to support older adults with frailty to manage their pain. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study has four phases: Phase 1, research evidence and information synthesis from randomised controlled trials of multicomponent pain management programmes and psychological therapies for community-dwelling older adults. Phase 2, qualitative interviews with 30 community-dwelling older adults (≥75 years) living with frailty and persistent pain, including dyadic interviews with a spouse or unpaid carer. Phase 3, qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals (HCPs) working within various pain service types; 5-8 HCPs per service and up to 12 services including primary care, secondary care, tertiary centres and services with voluntary sector input. Phase 4, co-design workshops with older adults, HCPs and commissioners. Inclusion criteria (Phase 2): community-dwelling older adults (≥75 years) living with frailty and persistent pain. Exclusion criteria (Phase 2): care home residents, a dementia or cancer diagnosis. Cancer survivors, ≥5 years cancer free, and not undergoing active cancer treatment can participate. Analysis for Phase 1 will use narrative synthesis, Phase 2 will use grounded theory analysis and Phase 3 will use thematic analysis. Oversight is provided from a patient and public involvement group and an independent steering committee. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The protocol was approved by Leeds-East Research Ethics Committee on 28 April 2022 (22/YH/0080). Consent is sought if an individual is willing to participate (Phases 2-4) and has capacity. Findings will be disseminated at conferences, in newsletters and journals and to local authorities and charities.

The cost of community research-recruiting community-dwelling participants to a feasibility primary care cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: To support a robust evidence base for the organisation and provision of community-delivered health services for older people, clinical trials need to be designed to account for community-based participant recruitment. There is currently little reported information available on the time and cost of recruiting community-dwelling older people, which makes the completion of cost attribution documentation problematic when applying for research funding. MAIN BODY: We aimed to establish the amount of researcher time it takes to recruit community-dwelling older people to a feasibility primary care cluster randomised controlled trial, including collecting baseline data. The trial was part of a programme of work investigating an intervention to improve the quality of life for older people with frailty. Two researchers conducting home visits to recruit and collect baseline data from participants recorded the time spent on travelling to and from the visit, at the visit itself and any associated administration. The median total researcher activity time per visit was 148 min. We discuss the various elements of recruitment and data collection activity and the factors that impacted the length of time taken, including location, individuals' capacity and cognition, hearing and visual impairment and the desire for social contact. CONCLUSION: Studies cannot reach their recruitment targets if they are unrealistically planned and resourced. We recommend that trials recruiting older people in the community allocate two and a half hours of researcher time per person, on average, for consent, baseline data collection, travel and administration. We acknowledge that a variety of different factors will mean that researcher activity will vary between different community-based trials. Our findings give a good starting point for timing calculations, and evidence on which to base the justification of research activity costings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Personalised care planning for older people with frailty ISRCTN12363970 . 08/11/2018.

Comparison of three anaesthetic protocols in Bennett's wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus).

OBJECTIVE: Investigate physiological and sedative/anaesthetic effects of xylazine, medetomidine or dexmedetomidine combined with ketamine in free-ranging Bennett's wallabies. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical trial. ANIMALS: Twenty-six adult free-ranging Bennett's wallabies. METHODS: Animals were darted intramuscularly with one of three treatments: xylazine and ketamine, 2.0 and 15.0 mg kg(-1), respectively (XK): medetomidine and ketamine 0.1 and 5.0 mg kg(-1) (MK) and dexmedetomidine and ketamine 0.05 and 5.0 mg kg(-1) (DMK). Body weights were estimated. If the animal was still laterally recumbent after 45 minutes of anaesthesia, then an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist, atipamezole, was administered (XK: 0.4 mg kg(-1), MK: 5 mg kg(-1), DMK: 2.5 mg kg(-1)). Heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (f(R)) were recorded at 5-minute intervals and temperature at 10-minute intervals. Venous blood was taken 30 minutes after initial injection. Statistical analysis utilized anova. p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Animals became recumbent rapidly in all groups. XK animals had muscle twitches, responded to external stimuli, and three animals required additional dosing; this was not observed in the MK and DMK groups. HR (mean +/- SD beats minute(-1)) in XK (81 +/- 4) was significantly higher than MK (74 +/- 2) and DMK (67 +/- 4). There were no differences in f(R), temperature, blood-gas and biochemical values between groups. More animals in MK (9/10) and DMK (5/6) needed antagonism of anaesthesia compared with XK (1/10). There were no adverse effects after anaesthesia. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Cardio-respiratory effects were similar in all groups. There were fewer muscle twitches and reactions to external stimuli in MK and DMK. Duration of anaesthesia was shorter in XK; most animals in MK and DMK needed atipamezole to assist recovery. All three treatments provided satisfactory sedation/anaesthesia and are suitable for use in Bennett's wallabies.

Soil microbiome data of two apple orchards in the UK.

The microbial communities in two apple orchards were characterised using amplicon-based metabarcoding. Samples were taken from tree station locations along a linear transect and from adjacent grass aisles, at both orchards. Comparison was made between the communities occurring at tree station locations and the grass aisles, and between orchards. Further discussion of these datasets is given in https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2018.05.015 (Deakin et al., 2018).

Independent living following a 'Do Not Resuscitate' order after subarachnoid haemorrhage.

PURPOSE: The recovery and psychosocial adjustment of a 41-year-old right handed women (K.E.) following subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) with initially poor predicted prognosis is presented. METHOD: A single case report with an early post surgery 'Do Not Resuscitate' order following SAH with a significant period of impaired consciousness is outlined. RESULTS: Following a right frontal craniotomy and clipping of a left distal anterior communicating artery (AcoA) aneurysm, K.E. was unresponsive for 23 days and 'minimally conscious' for a further 5+ weeks post surgery (36 days). At two months post insult, after some neurological improvement, she was transferred for post-acute goal directed neurorehabilitation. At 8 months post insult, after 4 months inpatient and 2 months intensive outpatient neurorehabilitation, K.E. was largely independent, did not require home care services and had made a good psychosocial adjustment to her acquired difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The potential for recovery following a significant period of reduced consciousness after SAH is highlighted despite initially poor prognostic indicators.

Hyperspectral image analysis techniques for the detection and classification of the early onset of plant disease and stress.

This review explores how imaging techniques are being developed with a focus on deployment for crop monitoring methods. Imaging applications are discussed in relation to both field and glasshouse-based plants, and techniques are sectioned into 'healthy and diseased plant classification' with an emphasis on classification accuracy, early detection of stress, and disease severity. A central focus of the review is the use of hyperspectral imaging and how this is being utilised to find additional information about plant health, and the ability to predict onset of disease. A summary of techniques used to detect biotic and abiotic stress in plants is presented, including the level of accuracy associated with each method.

Aryl trihydroxyborates: easily isolated discrete species convenient for direct application in coupling reactions.

A conceptually and practically simple alternative approach to the use of arylboron species as the organometallic component in cross-coupling processes is described whereby trihydroxyborate salts are isolated and directly employed. The protocol derives practical benefit from the ease and convenience of the isolation and subsequent use of the discrete borate salts, eliminates the need for additional base, and aids the use of correct reaction stoichiometry.

Comparative Analysis of Begonia Plastid Genomes and Their Utility for Species-Level Phylogenetics.

Recent, rapid radiations make species-level phylogenetics difficult to resolve. We used a multiplexed, high-throughput sequencing approach to identify informative genomic regions to resolve phylogenetic relationships at low taxonomic levels in Begonia from a survey of sixteen species. A long-range PCR method was used to generate draft plastid genomes to provide a strong phylogenetic backbone, identify fast evolving regions and provide informative molecular markers for species-level phylogenetic studies in Begonia.

Dynamics of estrogen biomarker responses in rainbow trout exposed to 17beta-estradiol and 17alpha-ethinylestradiol.

We have investigated the response dynamics of the estrogen-dependent genes vitellogenin (VTG) and the vitelline envelope proteins (VEPs) as well as circulating VTG in immature female rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to 17beta-estradiol (E2) and 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) for periods of 7 and 14 d. Gene responses were quantified by measurement of messenger RNA (mRNA) in liver extracts using a chemiluminescent hybridization protection assay. Circulating VTG was measured by a homologous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Exposure to both E2 and EE2 induced concentration-dependent increases in all biomarkers. The data presented indicate that VEP genes may be more sensitive to estrogens than the VTG gene. The biomarker lowest-observed-effect concentrations (biomarkerLOEC) in the 14-d study with E2 were 14 ng/L (VTG protein, VTG mRNA, VEPbeta, and VEPgamma) or 4.8 ng/L (VEPalpha). The EE2 was 5- to 66-fold more potent depending on the biomarker studied. In the 7-d study, all biomarkers were elevated after 48-h exposure to E2, with biomarkerLOECs of 30 ng/L (VTG protein, VTG mRNA, and VEPgamma) or 9.7 ng/L (VEPalpha and VEPbeta). Vitellogenin mRNA was induced up to 1,000-fold above baseline, and this translated into an increase of approximately 50,000-fold in circulating VTG. In conclusion, all biomarkers responded to estrogen exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Integrated multilaboratory systems biology reveals differences in protein metabolism between two reference yeast strains.

The field of systems biology is often held back by difficulties in obtaining comprehensive, high-quality, quantitative data sets. In this paper, we undertook an interlaboratory effort to generate such a data set for a very large number of cellular components in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a widely used model organism that is also used in the production of fuels, chemicals, food ingredients and pharmaceuticals. With the current focus on biofuels and sustainability, there is much interest in harnessing this species as a general cell factory. In this study, we characterized two yeast strains, under two standard growth conditions. We ensured the high quality of the experimental data by evaluating a wide range of sampling and analytical techniques. Here we show significant differences in the maximum specific growth rate and biomass yield between the two strains. On the basis of the integrated analysis of the high-throughput data, we hypothesize that differences in phenotype are due to differences in protein metabolism.