Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Under the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 Parties committed to reporting the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on processes contributing to genetic diversity conservation: maintaining genetically distinct populations and ensuring populations are large enough to maintain genetic diversity. The major advantage of these indicators is that they can be estimated with or without DNA-based data. However, demonstrating their feasibility requires addressing the methodological challenges of using data gathered from diverse sources, across diverse taxonomic groups, and for countries of varying socio-economic status and biodiversity levels. Here, we assess the genetic indicators for 919 taxa, representing 5271 populations across nine countries, including megadiverse countries and developing economies. Eighty-three percent of the taxa assessed had data available to calculate at least one indicator. Our results show that although the majority of species maintain most populations, 58% of species have populations too small to maintain genetic diversity. Moreover, genetic indicator values suggest that IUCN Red List status and other initiatives fail to assess genetic status, highlighting the critical importance of genetic indicators.

Conserving Evolutionary Potential: Combining Landscape Genomics with Established Methods to Inform Plant Conservation.

Biodiversity conservation requires conserving evolutionary potential-the capacity for wild populations to adapt. Understanding genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics is critical for informing conservation decisions that enhance adaptability and persistence under environmental change. We review how emerging landscape genomic methods provide plant conservation programs with insights into evolutionary dynamics, including local adaptation and its environmental drivers. Landscape genomic approaches that explore relationships between genomic variation and environments complement rather than replace established population genomic and common garden approaches for assessing adaptive phenotypic variation, population structure, gene flow, and demography. Collectively, these approaches inform conservation actions, including genetic rescue, maladaptation prediction, and assisted gene flow. The greatest on-the-ground impacts from such studies will be realized when conservation practitioners are actively engaged in research and monitoring. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics shaping the genetic diversity of wild plant populations will inform plant conservation decisions that enhance the adaptability and persistence of species in an uncertain future.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) Extracts Inhibit the Growth of Fungal Isolates Associated with American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.).

American ginseng, a highly valuable crop in North America, is susceptible to various diseases caused by fungal pathogens, including Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., and Pestalotiopsis spp. The development of alternative control strategies that use botanicals to control fungal pathogens in American ginseng is desired as it provides multiple benefits. In this study, we isolated and identified three fungal isolates, Alternaria panax, Fusarium sporotrichioides, and Pestalotiopsis nanjingensis, from diseased American ginseng plants. Ethanolic and aqueous extracts from the roots and leaves of goldenseal were prepared, and the major alkaloid constituents were assessed via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Next, the antifungal effects of goldenseal extracts were tested against these three fungal pathogens. Goldenseal root ethanolic extracts exhibited the most potent inhibition against fungal growth, while goldenseal root aqueous extracts and leaf ethanolic extracts showed only moderate inhibition. At 2% (m/v) concentration, goldenseal root ethanolic extracts showed an inhibition rate of 86.0%, 94.9%, and 39.1% against A. panax, F. sporotrichioides, and P. nanjingensis, respectively. The effect of goldenseal root ethanolic extracts on the mycelial morphology of fungal isolates was studied via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mycelia of the pathogens treated with the goldenseal root ethanolic extract displayed considerable morphological alterations. This study suggests that goldenseal extracts have the potential to be used as a botanical fungicide to control plant fungal diseases caused by A. panax, F. sporotrichioides, or P. nanjingensis.

The eco-evolutionary risks of not changing seed provenancing practices in changing environments.

Sourcing seed from local populations has been the long-standing default for native restoration plantings for numerous eco-evolutionary reasons. However, rapidly changing environments are revealing risks associated with both non-local and local provenancing. As alternative strategies gain interest, we argue to progress seed sourcing discussions towards developing risk-based decision-making that weighs the risks of changing and not changing in a changing environment, transcending historic default positions and local versus non-local debates.

The locus coeruleus as a global model failure system.

Predictive processing models posit that brains constantly attempt to predict their sensory inputs. Prediction errors signal when these predictions are incorrect and are thought to be instructive signals that drive corrective plasticity. Recent findings support the idea that the locus coeruleus (LC) - a brain-wide neuromodulatory system - signals several types of prediction error. I discuss how these findings support models proposing that the LC signals global model failures: instances where predictions about the world are strongly violated. Focusing on the cortex, I explore the utility of this signal in learning rate control, how the LC circuit may compute the signal, and how this view may aid our understanding of neurodivergence.

Angiographic and Procedural Characteristics in Frail Older Patients with Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Angiographic and procedural characteristics stratified by frailty status are not known in older patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS). We evaluated angiographic and procedural characteristics in older adults with NSTEACS by frailty category, as well as associations of baseline and residual SYNTAX scores with long-term outcomes. Methods: In this study, 271 NSTEACS patients aged ≥75 years underwent coronary angiography. Frailty was assessed using the Fried criteria. Angiographic analysis was performed using QAngio® XA Medis in a core laboratory. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) consisted of all-cause mortality, MI, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, repeat unplanned revascularisation and significant bleeding. Results: Mean (±SD) patient age was 80.5 ± 4.9 years. Compared with robust patients, patients with frailty had more severe culprit lesion calcification (OR 5.40; 95% CI [1.75-16.8]; p=0.03). In addition, patients with frailty had a smaller mean improvement in culprit lesion stenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (50.6%; 95% CI [45.7-55.6]) than robust patients (58.6%; 95% CI [53.5-63.7]; p=0.042). There was no association between frailty phenotype and completeness of revascularisation (OR 0.83; 95% CI [0.36-1.93]; p=0.67). A high baseline SYNTAX score (≥33) was associated with adjusted (age and sex) 5-year MACE (HR 1.40; 95% CI [1.08-1.81]; p=0.01), as was a high residual SYNTAX score (≥8; adjusted HR 1.22; 95% CI [1.00-1.49]; p=0.047). Conclusion: Frail adults presenting with NSTEACS have more severe culprit lesion calcification. Frail adults were just as likely as robust patients to receive complete revascularisation. Baseline and residual SYNTAX score were associated with MACE at 5 years.

The locus coeruleus broadcasts prediction errors across the cortex to promote sensorimotor plasticity.

Prediction errors are differences between expected and actual sensory input and are thought to be key computational signals that drive learning related plasticity. One way that prediction errors could drive learning is by activating neuromodulatory systems to gate plasticity. The catecholaminergic locus coeruleus (LC) is a major neuromodulatory system involved in neuronal plasticity in the cortex. Using two-photon calcium imaging in mice exploring a virtual environment, we found that the activity of LC axons in the cortex correlated with the magnitude of unsigned visuomotor prediction errors. LC response profiles were similar in both motor and visual cortical areas, indicating that LC axons broadcast prediction errors throughout the dorsal cortex. While imaging calcium activity in layer 2/3 of the primary visual cortex, we found that optogenetic stimulation of LC axons facilitated learning of a stimulus-specific suppression of visual responses during locomotion. This plasticity - induced by minutes of LC stimulation - recapitulated the effect of visuomotor learning on a scale that is normally observed during visuomotor development across days. We conclude that prediction errors drive LC activity, and that LC activity facilitates sensorimotor plasticity in the cortex, consistent with a role in modulating learning rates.

The Impact of an Electromagnetic Seed Localization Device Versus Wire Localization on Breast-Conserving Surgery: A Matched-Pair Analysis.

BACKGROUND: For breast-conserving surgery (BCS), several alternatives to wire localization (WL) have been developed. The newest, electromagnetic seed localization (ESL), provides three-dimensional navigation using the electrosurgical tool. This study assessed operative times, specimen volumes, margin positivity, and re-excision rates for ESL and WL. METHODS: Patients who had ESL-guided breast-conserving surgery between August 2020 and August 2021 were reviewed and matched one-to-one with patients who had WL based on surgeon, procedure type, and pathology. Variables were compared between ESL and WL using Wilcoxon rank-sum and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: The study matched 97 patients who underwent excisional biopsy (n = 20) or partial mastectomy with (n = 53) or without (n = 24) sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using ESL. The median operative time for ESL versus WL for lumpectomy was 66 versus 69 min with SLNB (p = 0.76) and 40 versus 34.5 min without SLNB (p = 0.17). The median specimen volume was 36 cm3 using ESL versus 55 cm3 using WL (p = 0.001). For the patients with measurable tumor volume, excess tissue was greater using WL versus ESL (median, 73.2 vs. 52.5 cm3; p = 0.017). The margins were positive for 10 (10 %) of the 97 ESL patients and 18 (19 %) of the 97 WL patients (p = 0.17). In the ESL group, 6 (6 %) of the 97 patients had a subsequent re-excision compared with 13 (13 %) of the 97 WL patients (p = 0.15). CONCLUSIONS: Despite similar operative times, ESL is superior to WL, as evidenced by decreased specimen volume and excess tissue excised. Although the difference was not statistically significant, ESL resulted in fewer positive margins and re-excisions than WL. Further studies are needed to confirm that ESL is the most advantageous of the two methods.

Locomotion-induced gain of visual responses cannot explain visuomotor mismatch responses in layer 2/3 of primary visual cortex.

The aim of this work is to provide a comment on a recent paper by Muzzu and Saleem (2021), which claims that visuomotor mismatch responses in mouse visual cortex can be explained by a locomotion-induced gain of visual halt responses. Our primary concern is that without directly comparing these responses with mismatch responses, the claim that one response can explain the other appears difficult to uphold, more so because previous work finds that a uniform locomotion-induced gain cannot explain mismatch responses. To support these arguments, we analyze layer 2/3 calcium imaging datasets and show that coupling between visual flow and locomotion greatly enhances mismatch responses in an experience-dependent manner compared with halts in non-coupled visual flow. This is consistent with mismatch responses representing visuomotor prediction errors. Thus, we conclude that while feature selectivity might contribute to mismatch responses in mouse visual cortex, it cannot explain these responses.

Improved Overall Well-Being After Breast Conserving Therapy Using Three-Dimensional Bioabsorbable Markers and Tissue Rearrangement, a Single Institution's Preliminary Experience.

Tissue rearrangement (TR) is a basic oncoplastic technique to reshape the breast after breast conserving therapy (BCT). Tissue rearrangement can be combined with three-dimensional bioabsorbable markers (3DBM) as an easily adaptable technique to provide volume replacement and focused radiation. Since 3DBM can take time for absorption and symptoms related to its use have not been fully assessed, we evaluate patient's overall satisfaction and well-being after TR with 3DBM is performed. We surveyed patients receiving BCT with adjuvant radiotherapy using BREAST-QTM BCT satisfaction and physical well-being surveys comparing patients receiving BCT alone to BCT with TR and/or 3DBM. Of 68 patients, 56 underwent BCT alone, 10 had BCT with TR + 3DBM, and 2 had BCT with TR. No significant difference was seen in physical well-being (P = .39), while overall satisfaction was significantly improved following TR + 3DBM (P = .0088). In summary, TR with use of 3DBM provides basic oncoplastic options to improve patient satisfaction without significantly changing symptoms.

Aggression Is Associated With Social Adaptive Functioning in Children With ASD and Anxiety.

Social adaptive functioning is notably compromised and may be further impaired by aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the association between aggressive behavior and social adaptive skills in children with ASD and the contribution of aggressive behavior to social adaptive skills in a combined sample of children with and without ASD. Participants consisted of children, ages 8 to 15 years, with ASD (n = 52) and who were typically developing (n = 29). Results indicate that aggressive behavior is negatively associated with social adaptive skills in children with ASD and that it contributes to reduced social adaptive functioning above and beyond ASD diagnosis. Findings underscore the importance of considering the role of aggressive behavior when evaluating and promoting social functioning in children with ASD.

Dietary Intakes, Knowledge, and Perceptions of Semi-professional Rugby Athletes in Scotland.

Background: Adequate nutritional intake plays a pivotal role in optimizing performance, recovery, and body composition goals. This study aimed to investigate the dietary intakes (DIs); nutritional knowledge (NK); and attitudes, perceptions, and challenges (APC) of semiprofessional rugby players in Scotland. Methods: Dietary intakes and NK of 24 male semiprofessional rugby players of a Super6 club were evaluated using validated questionnaires. Players were categorized as having good or poor NK according to NK scores. Diet-related APCs were assessed using researcher-developed questionnaires and 1-1 semi-structured interviews. Results: Mean ± SD total NK% was poor, 53.7 ± 11.9%. The 'Good' NK group scored significantly higher in the Weight Management (p = 0.014), Macronutrients (p < 0.001), Micronutrients (p = 0.001), and Sports Nutrition (p < 0.001) sections. Mean DIs from food sources were 26.3 ± 9.2 kcal/kg/day energy, 1.4 ± 0.4 g/kg/day protein, and 21.7 ± 10.1 g/day fibre. Median (25th,75th) carbohydrate intake was 3.0 (2.0, 3.0) g/kg/day, and 6.3 (2.3, 10.6) units/week alcohol. Mean ± SD fat and saturated fat (SFA) % total energy intake (EI) were 36.2 ± 3.7% and 12.8 ± 1.9%, respectively, and SFA %EI exceeded recommendations (p < 0.001). The 'Good' NK group had significantly higher intakes of all macronutrients (p < 0.05). Total NK% positively correlated with intakes of meat (r = 0.556, p = 0.011), cereals (r = 0.458, p = 0.042), dietary fat (r = 0.477, p = 0.034), vegetables (r = 0.487, p = 0.030), and alcoholic beverages (r = 0.541, p = 0.014). Supplement use was 68%. Players felt diet affected performance (94%) but 31% of them were unaware of any specific nutritional strategies. A healthy diet was perceived to be 'balanced' with 'variety from all food groups. Lack of time for preparation was described as the main barrier to healthy eating. Conclusions: Overall, players had poor NK, their fibre and carbohydrate intake was suboptimal, whereas saturated fat intake exceeded recommendations. Many lacked awareness of current sports nutrition guidelines. Further nutrition education may be needed to improve diet quality and aid performance goals.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) augmentation in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A phase III, 20-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Preliminary evidence has suggested that adjunctive N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant precursor to glutathione, may reduce symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We conducted a 20-week, multi-site, randomized controlled trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of the adjunctive use of NAC in OCD. METHODS: The study was a phase III, 20-week, double-blind, randomized controlled trial across multiple sites in Australia investigating 2 g to 4 g per day of NAC (titrated according to response) in 98 participants with DSM-5 diagnosed OCD. Data were analysed using linear mixed effects models for the 89 participants who attended at least one follow-up visit. RESULTS: A modified intention-to-treat analysis of the primary outcome found no evidence that NAC reduced symptoms of OCD measured on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, relative to placebo (mean difference at week 20 = 0.53, 95% compatibility interval = -2.18, 3.23; p = 0.70; favouring placebo). There was also no evidence that NAC, compared to placebo, improved outcomes on the secondary measures including anxiety, depression, quality of life, functioning, or clinician/participant impression. NAC was well-tolerated with only mild gastrointestinal adverse events associated with the treatment. CONCLUSION: We found no evidence supporting the efficacy of the adjunctive use of NAC in OCD.

Recognizing Resilience: Exploring the Impacts of COVID-19 on Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

This study explores self-reported impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on several facets of IPV survivor well-being, such as mental health, economic stability, food security, and resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with survivors of IPV. Qualitative data were collected on variables related to mental health, economic stability, food security, and resilience. The findings of this study suggest that while survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face a variety of challenges posed by COVID-19 (e.g., employment, income, etc.), they identify themselves as resilient. Our findings also show that while survivors of have faced setbacks due to COVID-19, variables such as mental health and well-being have improved. Our findings suggest that while the pandemic has certainly impacted survivors, and included setbacks or delays, survivors have seen improvements in several areas. Our data suggest that these improvements, in the face of difficulties, is because of the overwhelming resilience of survivors.

Increased amygdala and decreased frontolimbic r esting- s tate functional connectivity in children with aggressive behavior.

Childhood maladaptive aggression is associated with disrupted functional connectivity within amygdala-prefrontal circuitry. In this study, neural correlates of childhood aggression were probed using the intrinsic connectivity distribution, a voxel-wise metric of global resting-state brain connectivity. This sample included 38 children with aggressive behavior (26 boys, 12 girls) ages 8-16 years and 21 healthy controls (14 boys, 6 girls) matched for age and IQ. Functional MRI data were acquired during resting state, and differential patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity were tested in a priori regions of interest implicated in the pathophysiology of aggressive behavior. Next, correlational analyses tested for associations between functional connectivity and severity of aggression measured by the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire in children with aggression. Children with aggressive behavior showed increased global connectivity in the bilateral amygdala relative to controls. Greater severity of aggressive behavior was associated with decreasing global connectivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Follow-up seed analysis revealed that aggression was also positively correlated with left amygdala connectivity with the dorsal anterior cingulate, ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical regions. These results highlight the potential role of connectivity of the amygdala and medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices in modulating the severity of aggressive behavior in treatment-seeking children.

Optimized protocol for in vivo whole-cell recordings in head-fixed, awake behaving mice.

This protocol describes stable in vivo recordings of neuronal membrane potential in awake behaving, head-fixed mice. Previous protocols often highlight the need to minimize animal movements by anesthesia or restraint. This protocol is optimized to minimize brain movements during animal motion and has been used to record neurons in the olfactory bulb and visual cortex during active licking and locomotion behaviors. Under optimal conditions, success rates lie between 30% and 50% (recordings per microelectrode), with durations of up to 30 min. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Jordan et al. (2018) and Jordan and Keller (2020).

Regarding the F-word: The effects of data filtering on inferred genotype-environment associations.

Genotype-environment association (GEA) methods have become part of the standard landscape genomics toolkit, yet, we know little about how to best filter genotype-by-sequencing data to provide robust inferences for environmental adaptation. In many cases, default filtering thresholds for minor allele frequency and missing data are applied regardless of sample size, having unknown impacts on the results, negatively affecting management strategies. Here, we investigate the effects of filtering on GEA results and the potential implications for assessment of adaptation to environment. We use empirical and simulated data sets derived from two widespread tree species to assess the effects of filtering on GEA outputs. Critically, we find that the level of filtering of missing data and minor allele frequency affect the identification of true positives. Even slight adjustments to these thresholds can change the rate of true positive detection. Using conservative thresholds for missing data and minor allele frequency substantially reduces the size of the data set, lessening the power to detect adaptive variants (i.e., simulated true positives) with strong and weak strengths of selection. Regardless, strength of selection was a good predictor for GEA detection, but even some SNPs under strong selection went undetected. False positive rates varied depending on the species and GEA method, and filtering significantly impacted the predictions of adaptive capacity in downstream analyses. We make several recommendations regarding filtering for GEA methods. Ultimately, there is no filtering panacea, but some choices are better than others, depending on the study system, availability of genomic resources, and desired objectives.