A homing rescue gene drive with multiplexed gRNAs reaches high frequency in cage populations but generates functional resistance.

CRISPR homing gene drive is a potent technology with considerable potential for managing populations of medically and agriculturally significant insects. It induces a bias in the inheritance of the drive allele in progeny, rapidly spreading the desired gene construct throughout the population. Homing drives operate by Cas9 cleavage followed by homology-directed repair, copying the drive allele to the wild-type chromosome. However, resistance alleles formed by end-joining repair pose a significant obstacle to the spread of the drive. To address this challenge, we create a homing drive targeting the essential but haplosufficient hairy gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Our strategy involves eliminating nonfunctional resistance alleles, which are recessive lethal, while rescuing drive-carrying individuals with a recoded version of hairy. The drive inheritance rate is moderate, and multigenerational cage studies show drive spread to 96%-97% of the population. However, the drive fails to reach the whole population due to the formation of functional resistance alleles, despite use of four gRNAs. These alleles have a large deletion but likely utilize an alternate start codon, and they have a small fitness advantage over the drive. Thus, revised design strategies targeting more essential regions of a target gene may often be necessary to avoid such functional resistance, even when using multiplexed gRNAs. Replacement of the native 3' UTR of the rescue element with a homolog from another species increases drive inheritance by 13%-24%. This was possibly because of reduced homology between the rescue element and nearby native DNA, which could also be an important design consideration for gene drives that utilize rescue elements.

A novel method to quantify breathing effort from respiratory mechanics and esophageal pressure.

Breathing effort is important to quantify to understand mechanisms underlying central and obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory-related arousals, and the timing and effectiveness of invasive or non-invasive mechanically assisted ventilation. Current quantitative methods to evaluate breathing effort rely on inspiratory esophageal or epiglottic pressure swings or changes in diaphragm electromyographic (EMG) activity, where units are problematic to interpret and compare between individuals and to measured ventilation. This paper derives a novel method to quantify breathing effort in units directly comparable to measured ventilation by applying respiratory mechanics first principles to convert continuous transpulmonary pressure measurements into "attempted" airflow expected to have arisen without upper airway obstruction. The method was evaluated using data from eleven subjects undergoing overnight polysomnography, including 6 obese patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), including one who also had frequent central events, and 5 healthy-weight controls. Classic respiratory mechanics showed excellent fits of airflow and volume to transpulmonary pressures during wake periods of stable unobstructed breathing (mean ± SD r² = 0.94 ± 0.03), with significantly higher respiratory system resistance in patients compared to healthy controls (11.2 ± 3.3 vs 7.1 ± 1.9 cmH2O·l-1·sec, P=0.032). Subsequent estimates of attempted airflow from transpulmonary pressure changes clearly highlighted periods of acute and prolonged upper airway obstruction, including within the first few breaths following sleep onset in patients. This novel technique provides unique quantitative insights into the complex and dynamically changing inter-relationships between breathing effort and achieved airflow during periods of obstructed breathing in sleep.

The Structure of Hypersexuality and Its Relation to Impulsivity.

Among the multiple controversies surrounding hypersexuality is the important issue of whether it constitutes a univocal construct. Although an initial study supported its homogeneity, more resent research has identified two separate subcomponents-problematic sexuality and sexual drive. The present survey study addressed this issue in a sample that included both in-person tested college students (n = 69) and online respondents (n = 339). A factor analysis of scales attempting to capture the indicators of each subcomponent of hypersexuality yielded two correlated, but separate factors. Whereas Problematic Sexuality (PS) comprised scales measuring sexual compulsivity, using sex as a coping mechanism, and the negative consequences of sexual behavior, Sexual Drive (SD) was defined by frequent sexual activity, preoccupation with sexual fantasies, a predilection for impersonal sexual behavior, and facile sexual arousal. These two subcomponents of hypersexuality were found to covary with different types of impulsivity, further supporting their discrimination and providing external validation for their differentiation. Contrary to a priori hypotheses, however, PS correlated highly with Callous/Manipulative/Risk-Taking as well as with a predicted Affective Instability/Behavioral Disinhibition factor, suggesting that PS may constitute an equifinality of separate developmental trajectories for those high on both subtypes of hypersexuality.

Synaptic inputs to motor neurons underlying muscle co-activation for functionally different tasks have different spectral characteristics.

The CNS may produce the same endpoint trajectory or torque profile with different muscle activation patterns. What differentiates these patterns is the presence of co-contraction, which does not contribute to effective torque generation but allows to modulate joints' mechanical stiffness. While it has been suggested that the generation of force and the modulation of stiffness rely on separate pathways, a characterization of the differences between the synaptic inputs to motor neurons (MNs) underlying these tasks is still missing. In this study, participants co-activated the same pair of upper-limb muscles, i.e., the biceps brachii and the triceps brachii, to perform two functionally different tasks: limb stiffness modulation or endpoint force generation. Spike trains of MNs were identified through decomposition of High-Density EMGs collected from the two muscles. Cross-correlogram showed a higher synchronization between MNs recruited to modulate stiffness, while cross-muscle coherence analysis revealed peaks in the beta-band, which is commonly ascribed to a cortical origin. These peaks did not appear during the co-activation for force generation, thus suggesting separate cortical inputs for stiffness modulation. Moreover, a within-muscle coherence analysis identified two subsets of MNs that were selectively recruited to generate force or regulate stiffness. This study is the first to highlight different characteristics, and probable different neural origins, of the synaptic inputs driving a pair of muscles under different functional conditions. We suggest that stiffness modulation is driven by cortical inputs which project to a separate set of MNs, supporting the existence of a separate pathway underlying the control of stiffness.

A Methodological Approach for Motor Selection in Dental Impression Material Dispensers Using Experimental and Image Analysis Techniques.

This study presents a methodology to prevent the overdesign of electric dispensers for dental impression materials by analyzing the necessary load and determining the appropriate pressurization speed and drive motor capacity. We derived an equation to calculate the required torque and rotational speed of the motor based on the extrusion load and the speed of the impression material. A specialized load measurement system was developed to measure the load necessary to extrude the impression material. Through experiments and image processing, we measured the radius of curvature of the trajectory of the impression material and correlated it with the pressurization speed. Techniques such as position coordinate plotting, curve fitting, and circle fitting were employed to determine the pressurization speed that aligns with the manufacturer's recommended curvature radius. These findings led to a substantial decrease in the necessary motor torque and rotational speed compared with the current standards. This research provides a systematic approach to sizing drive motors using extrusion load and pressurization speed, aiming to reduce overdesign, power consumption, and the weight and size of the motor and battery, thereby contributing to the development of more efficient and compact dental impression material dispensers.

Motor unit discharge rate modulation during isometric contractions to failure is intensity- and modality-dependent.

The physiological mechanisms determining the progressive decline in the maximal muscle torque production capacity during isometric contractions to task failure are known to depend on task demands. Task-specificity of the associated adjustments in motor unit discharge rate (MUDR), however, remains unclear. This study examined MUDR adjustments during different submaximal isometric knee extension tasks to failure. Participants performed a sustained and an intermittent task at 20% and 50% of maximal voluntary torque (MVT), respectively (Experiment 1). High-density surface EMG signals were recorded from vastus lateralis (VL) and medialis (VM) and decomposed into individual MU discharge timings, with the identified MUs tracked from recruitment to task failure. MUDR was quantified and normalised to intervals of 10% of contraction time (CT). MUDR of both muscles exhibited distinct modulation patterns in each task. During the 20% MVT sustained task, MUDR decreased until ∼50% CT, after which it gradually returned to baseline. Conversely, during the 50% MVT intermittent task, MUDR remained stable until ∼40-50% CT, after which it started to continually increase until task failure. To explore the effect of contraction intensity on the observed patterns, VL and VM MUDR was quantified during sustained contractions at 30% and 50% MVT (Experiment 2). During the 30% MVT sustained task, MUDR remained stable until ∼80-90% CT in both muscles, after which it continually increased until task failure. During the 50% MVT sustained task the increase in MUDR occurred earlier, after ∼70-80% CT. Our results suggest that adjustments in MUDR during submaximal isometric contractions to failure are contraction modality- and intensity-dependent. KEY POINTS: During prolonged muscle contractions a constant motor output can be maintained by recruitment of additional motor units and adjustments in their discharge rate. Whilst contraction-induced decrements in neuromuscular function are known to depend on task demands, task-specificity of motor unit discharge behaviour adjustments is still unclear. In this study, we tracked and compared discharge activity of several concurrently active motor units in the vastii muscles during different submaximal isometric knee extension tasks to failure, including intermittent vs. sustained contraction modalities performed in the same intensity domain (Experiment 1), and two sustained contractions performed at different intensities (Experiment 2). During each task, motor units modulated their discharge rate in a distinct, biphasic manner, with the modulation pattern depending on contraction intensity and modality. These results provide insight into motoneuronal adjustments during contraction tasks posing different demands on the neuromuscular system.

Research on the grasping characteristics of composite-driven double-finger flexible manipulator.

Aiming at the flexible manipulator grasping complex target parts of different shapes, a double-finger flexible manipulator model is proposed. The manipulator is composed of a flexible mechanical finger, a driving component and a position compensation mechanism. It imitates the motion characteristics of human finger joints and follows the principle of double-fingered grasping. According to the structural characteristics of the target contour, the grasping features of the target contour are extracted. Through the motion principle of the flexible manipulator, the kinematic model of the envelope clamping process of the manipulator target is carried out. Finally, the flexible manipulator experimental platform is built to verify the grasping characteristics of the flexible manipulator target. The results show that the manipulator can realize the adaptive grasping of cylinder and cuboid parts, which have high grasping reliability and stability.

[Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Algal Blooms and Its Driving Factors in Chaohu Lake Based on Multi-source Datasets].

Eutrophication and harmful algae blooms are one of the common ecological and environmental problems faced by freshwater lakes all over the world. As a typical inland freshwater lake, Chaohu Lake exhibits a high level of eutrophication and algae blooms year-round and shows a spatiotemporal difference in different regions of the lake. In order to understand the basic regularity of the development and outbreak of algal blooms in Chaohu Lake, the data from the comprehensive water observation platform and remote sensing were integrated to obtain the spatiotemporal distribution of algal blooms from 2015 to 2020. Then, an evaluation model based on Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) was constructed to quantitatively assess the importance and interactions of various environmental factors on algal blooms at different stages. The results indicated that:① The occurrence of algal blooms in Chaohu Lake exhibited significant seasonal variations, with the cyanobacteria beginning to recover in spring and bring about a light degree of algal blooms in the western and coastal areas of Chaohu Lake. The density of cyanobacteria reached its maximum in summer and autumn, accompanied by moderate and severe degrees of algal bloom outbreaks. ② During the non-outbreak period, the variation in the cyanobacteria density was greatly affected by physical and chemical factors, which explained 80.3% of the variance in the change in cyanobacteria density. The high concentrations of dissolved oxygen content in the water column and the weak alkalinity (7.2-7.6) and appropriate water temperature (about 3℃) provided a favorable environmental condition for the breeding and growth of cyanobacteria. In addition, the onset of algal blooms was closely related to the air temperature steadily passing through the threshold. According to the statistics, the date of first outbreak of algal blooms in Chaohu Lake was 11 days or so after the air temperature steadily remained above 7℃. ③ During the outbreak period, the occurrence of algal blooms was influenced by the combination of cyanobacterial biomass and meteorological conditions such as temperature, wind speed, and sunshine duration. The cumulative contribution ratio of the four factors was as high as 95%, and each factor had an optimal interval conductive to the outbreak of algal blooms. Furthermore, the results of multi-factor interaction analysis indicated a larger probability of the outbreak of algal blooms in Chaohu Lake under the combined effect of high cyanobacteria density, suitable temperature, and the breeze. This study analyzed and revealed the spatiotemporal characteristics and the dominant influencing factors of algal blooms in Chaohu Lake at different stages, which could provide the scientific basis for the prediction, early warning, and disposal of algal blooms under the context of climate change.

2D Tellurium Films Based Self-drive Near Infrared Photodetector.

To reduce the amount of energy consumed in integrated circuits, high efficiency with the lowest energy is always expected. Self-drive device is one of the options in the pursuit of low power nanodevices. It is a typical strategy to form an internal electric field by constructing a heterojunction in self-drive semiconductor system. Here, a two-step method is proposed to prepare high quality centimeter-sized 2D tellurium (Te) thin film with hall mobility as high as 37.3 cm2V-1s-1, and the 2D Te film is further assembled with silicon to form a heterojunction for self-drive photodetector, which can realize effective detection from visible to near infrared bands. The photodetectivity of the heterojunctions can reach 1.58 × 1011 Jones under the illumination of 400 nm@ 1.615 mW/cm2 and 2.08 x 108 Jones under the illumination of 1550 nm@ 1.511mW/cm2 without bias. Our experiments demonstrate the potential of 2D tellurium thin films for wide band and near infrared integrated device applications.

What is a B chromosome? Early definitions revisited.

Since the discovery of B chromosomes, multiple different definitions of these selfish genetic elements have been put forth. We reconsidered early definitions in light of recently published studies. While there are many characteristics that vary among different B chromosomes, such as their evolutionary origins, size, segregation behaviors, gene content, and function, there is one defining trait of all B chromosomes: they are nonessential for the organism. The points raised here may be useful for framing future B chromosome studies and help guide the categorization of new chromosomal elements that are uncovered in genomic studies.

NeuroMechanics: Electrophysiological and computational methods to accurately estimate the neural drive to muscles in humans in vivo.

The ultimate neural signal for muscle control is the neural drive sent from the spinal cord to muscles. This neural signal comprises the ensemble of action potentials discharged by the active spinal motoneurons, which is transmitted to the innervated muscle fibres to generate forces. Accurately estimating the neural drive to muscles in humans in vivo is challenging since it requires the identification of the activity of a sample of motor units (MUs) that is representative of the active MU population. Current electrophysiological recordings usually fail in this task by identifying small MU samples with over-representation of higher-threshold with respect to lower-threshold MUs. Here, we describe recent advances in electrophysiological methods that allow the identification of more representative samples of greater numbers of MUs than previously possible. This is obtained with large and very dense arrays of electromyographic electrodes. Moreover, recently developed computational methods of data augmentation further extend experimental MU samples to infer the activity of the full MU pool. In conclusion, the combination of new electrode technologies and computational modelling allows for an accurate estimate of the neural drive to muscles and opens new perspectives in the study of the neural control of movement and in neural interfacing.

Testing the Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the German Version of Gray et al.'s (2003) Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire.

Gray et al.'s (2003) Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (SFQ) is becoming an increasingly used self-report measure of sexual fantasy use. The current study analyzed the factorial structure and construct validity of the behavioral items of the SFQ using a nomological network of other sexuality-related measures in a large German-speaking sample (N = 846). Participants' (27.7% females) mean age was 30.8 years (SD = 11.0). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 65-item scale comprising five-factors, which were termed: normophilic sexual fantasies, sexualized aggression, sexualized submission, submissive courtship, and bodily functions. This German version of the SFQ was found to have high construct validity indicated by its association with other related constructs. Based on these results, we argue that the SFQ is a valid self-report measure that can be used in both research and clinical practice (foremost the factors sexualized aggression and sexualized submission). Suggestions for future research are discussed in light of the results and the study's limitations.

Effect of Fitness-To-Drive and Metacognition on Road Traffic Injury Among Older Taxi Drivers: Hierarchical Modeling.

Age-related cognitive and somatic motor skills changes have been linked to impaired driving abilities. Taxi drivers play an important role in providing public transportation services and security. This study aimed to examine the level of fitness-to-drive (FTD) and identify the predictors of self-reported traffic injury among the older taxi drivers. Taxi drivers 60 years and older in Bangkok and the metropolitan area were enrolled. Hierarchical regression models were carried out to examine the effects of demographics, FTD, and metacognition towards self-reported road traffic injury. Totally, 46.1% of the respondents were classified as at-risk drivers. Drivers with alcohol consumption and low risk perception toward road safety were more likely to experience road traffic injury. Regular assessment of physical and psychometric capacity among older taxi drivers could provide another empirical basis to improve public safety transport.

R2DRV: study protocol for longitudinal assessment of driving after mild TBI in young drivers.

BACKGROUND: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and traffic-related injuries are two major public health problems disproportionately affecting young people. Young drivers, whose driving skills are still developing, are particularly vulnerable to impaired driving due to brain injuries. Despite this, there is a paucity of research on how mTBI impacts driving and when it is safe to return to drive after an mTBI. This paper describes the protocol of the study, R2DRV, Longitudinal Assessment of Driving After Mild TBI in Young Drivers, which examines the trajectory of simulated driving performance and self-reported driving behaviors from acutely post-injury to symptom resolution among young drivers with mTBI compared to matched healthy drivers. Additionally, this study investigates the associations of acute post-injury neurocognitive function and cognitive load with driving among young drivers with and without mTBI. METHODS: A total of 200 young drivers (ages 16 to 24) are enrolled from two study sites, including 100 (50 per site) with a physician-confirmed isolated mTBI, along with 100 (50 per site) healthy drivers without a history of TBI matched 1:1 for age, sex, driving experience, and athlete status. The study assesses primary driving outcomes using two approaches: (1) high-fidelity driving simulators to evaluate driving performance across four experimental study conditions at multiple time points (within 96 h of injury and weekly until symptom resolution or 8 weeks post-injury); (2) daily self-report surveys on real-world driving behaviors completed by all participants. DISCUSSION: This study will fill critical knowledge gaps by longitudinally assessing driving performance and behaviors in young drivers with mTBI, as compared to matched healthy drivers, from acutely post-injury to symptom resolution. The research strategy enables evaluating how increased cognitive load may exacerbate the effects of mTBI on driving, and how post-mTBI neurocognitive deficits may impact the driving ability of young drivers. Findings will be shared through scientific conferences, peer-reviewed journals, and media outreach to care providers and the public.

Sustainable power management in light electric vehicles with hybrid energy storage and machine learning control.

This paper presents a cutting-edge Sustainable Power Management System for Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) using a Hybrid Energy Storage Solution (HESS) integrated with Machine Learning (ML)-enhanced control. The system's central feature is its ability to harness renewable energy sources, such as Photovoltaic (PV) panels and supercapacitors, which overcome traditional battery-dependent constraints. The proposed control algorithm orchestrates power sharing among the battery, supercapacitor, and PV sources, optimizing the utilization of available renewable energy and ensuring stringent voltage regulation of the DC bus. Notably, the ML-based control ensures precise torque and speed regulation, resulting in significantly reduced torque ripple and transient response times. In practical terms, the system maintains the DC bus voltage within a mere 2.7% deviation from the nominal value under various operating conditions, a substantial improvement over existing systems. Furthermore, the supercapacitor excels at managing rapid variations in load power, while the battery adjusts smoothly to meet the demands. Simulation results confirm the system's robust performance. The HESS effectively maintains voltage stability, even under the most challenging conditions. Additionally, its torque response is exceptionally robust, with negligible steady-state torque ripple and fast transient response times. The system also handles speed reversal commands efficiently, a vital feature for real-world applications. By showcasing these capabilities, the paper lays the groundwork for a more sustainable and efficient future for LEVs, suggesting pathways for scalable and advanced electric mobility solutions.

Psychosocial Hazards in the Northern Territory Building and Construction Industry: A Profile of Job Demands and Job Resources in a Jurisdiction and Industry with High Rates of Suicide.

The work environment for building workers in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) is characterised by concerningly high rates of distress and suicide at both a jurisdictional and an industry level. Work-related psychosocial hazards are known antecedents of work-related distress and suicide, and more research is required to understand how these hazards impact workers in this unique building context. This paper examines the unique work environment in the NT building industry by comparing psychosocial hazards in the NT with those in the broader Australian building and construction industry. When comparing 330 NT self-report survey responses about psychosocial hazards in the workplace to 773 broader Australian building industry responses, supervisor task conflict for NT workers was more concerning, at 10.9% higher than the broader Australian cohort. Within the NT sample, comparisons between fly-in and fly-out/drive-in and drive-out (FIFO/DIDO) workers and non-FIFO/DIDO workers were also performed to determine specific local psychosocial hazards. When comparing FIFO/DIDO workers' responses to their NT peers, role overload and supervisor task conflict were significantly higher, and co-worker and supervisor support were lower. In FIFO/DIDO environments, praise and recognition, procedural justice, and change consultation were at concerningly lower averages than the broader NT building and construction industry. These results suggest that the NT building and construction industry, and particularly FIFO/DIDO operations, require greater resourcing, investment, and focus on workplace mental health initiatives to improve the work environment and wellbeing of this workforce and mitigate hazards that can lead to distress and the high rates of occupational suicide found in this jurisdiction and industry.

Was It Just a Dream? Aging and Dreaming the Psychoanalytic Process.

By revisiting the last years of a long psychoanalytic treatment of a female patient, a psychoanalyst reflects on her own development as a clinician and on the changes in her experience of psychoanalytic generativity. An increasing ability to understand patient's shifts between creativity and destructiveness brings about a different understanding of the process of mourning, while the shared aging of the analytic dyad highlights the difficulty of ending an analysis that has become a way of life.

Motor unit modes in the calf muscles during a submaximal isometric contraction are changed by brief stretches.

The purpose of our study was to investigate the influence of a stretch intervention on the common modulation of discharge rate among motor units in the calf muscles during a submaximal isometric contraction. The current report comprises a computational analysis of a motor unit dataset that we published previously (Mazzo et al., 2021). Motor unit activity was recorded from the three main plantar flexor muscles while participants performed an isometric contraction at 10% of the maximal voluntary contraction force before and after each of two interventions. The interventions were a control task (standing balance) and static stretching of the plantar flexor muscles. A factorization analysis on the smoothed discharge rates of the motor units from all three muscles yielded three modes that were independent of the individual muscles. The composition of the modes was not changed by the standing-balance task, whereas the stretching exercise reduced the average correlation in the second mode and increased it in the third mode. A centroid analysis on the correlation values showed that most motor units were associated with two or three modes, which were presumed to indicate shared synaptic inputs. The percentage of motor units adjacent to the seven centroids changed after both interventions: Control intervention, mode 1 decreased and the shared mode 1 + 2 increased; stretch intervention, shared modes either decreased (1 + 2) or increased (1 + 3). These findings indicate that the neuromuscular adjustments during both interventions were sufficient to change the motor unit modes when the same task was performed after each intervention. KEY POINTS: Based on covariation of the discharge rates of motor units in the calf muscles during a submaximal isometric contraction, factor analysis was used to assign the correlated discharge trains to three motor unit modes. The motor unit modes were determined from the combined set of all identified motor units across the three muscles before and after each participant performed a control and a stretch intervention. The composition of the motor unit modes changed after the stretching exercise, but not after the control task (standing balance). A centroid analysis on the distribution of correlation values found that most motor units were associated with a shared centroid and this distribution, presumably reflecting shared synaptic input, changed after both interventions. Our results demonstrate how the distribution of multiple common synaptic inputs to the motor neurons innervating the plantar flexor muscles changes after a brief series of stretches.

Preparation of patterned hydrogels for anti-counterfeiting and directional actuation by shear-induced orientation of cellulose nanocrystals.

Hydrogels with anisotropic structures are of great interest in the fields of bionic actuators, sensing and anti-counterfeiting due to their unique optical and stimulus response properties. Here we report an anisotropic cellulose nanocrystals/polyacrylamide (CNC/PAM) hydrogel with a patterned structure obtained by shear-induced orientation of CNC in precursor solution. Due to the difference in affinity between different slider surfaces and the precursor, patterned structures with different interference colors were realized by adhering the polypropylene (PP) film with a specific pattern to the bottom glass slider, which leads to differences in CNC orientation in different areas. These interfere color patterns can only be observed between crossed polarization, allowing the hydrogel to be used in applications of anti-counterfeiting and information encryption. Moreover, a complex and controllable 3D deformation is realized by introducing "zebra crossing" structure in the hydrogel. The opening and closing processes of flowers are vividly mimicked using the reversible swelling and shrinking properties of hydrogels in water and salt solutions, making the hydrogel promising for soft actuators.

Eating disorder symptom dimensions and protective factors: A structural network analysis study.

Eating Disorders (EDs) and related symptoms pose a substantial public health concern due to their widespread prevalence among both genders and associated negative outcomes, underscoring the need for effective preventive interventions. In this context, deepening our understanding of the interplay between ED symptoms and related protective factors appears crucial. Therefore, this study employed a structural network analysis approach considering both ED symptom dimensions (i.e., drive for thinness, bulimic symptoms, and body dissatisfaction) and related protective factors (i.e., body and functionality appreciation, intuitive eating, and self-esteem) to shed light on how these factors are interrelated. A community sample of 1391 individuals (34.4% men; Mage = 26.4 years) completed a socio-demographic schedule and self-report questionnaires. The network showed that the nodes with the highest positive expected influence were body and functionality appreciation, while those with the highest negative expected influence were eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and unconditional permission to eat (i.e., two components of intuitive eating). Crucially, the most relevant bridges between the conceptual communities "ED symptom dimensions" and "Protective factors" were the negative relations between (a) eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and bulimic symptoms, (b) unconditional permission to eat and drive for thinness, and (c) body appreciation and body dissatisfaction. Finally, age, gender, and body mass index did not moderate any edge in the network. The practical implications of these findings are discussed, especially in terms of preventive interventions for ED symptoms.