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We examined the relationship of development, immunocompetence, and tick burdens to neonatal mortality in an overpopulated herd of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during 1990-1992 in northeastern Oklahoma. Risk of mortality to 21 days of age was inversely related to body mass, body mass/length3, delayed hypersensitivity to phytohemagglutinin, and serum concentrations of gamma globulin and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGTP) for young ≤3days old. Serum GGTP and gamma-globulin concentrations were the most significant predictors of mortality to 21 days of age using multivariate-logistic regression. Increased probability of mortality was associated with lower serum gamma globulin and concentrations of GGTP, which suggested that inadequate absorption of colostrum leads to a partial failure in the passive process of transferring immunity from mother to offspring, and predisposes young to mortality agents among high-density herds.

Blood serum was collected between June 1990 and August 1992 from newborn white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fitted with radiocollars. We measured serum concentrations of immunoreactive tumor necrosis factor- alpha (iTNF- alpha ) and immunoreactive interleukin-6 (iIL-6) to relate cytokine expression to probability of mortality during the first 21 days of life. Stepwise logistic regression indicated that iTNF- alpha , hemolytic complement, gamma globulins, gamma glutamyl transferase, and mass/length3 could predict survival of white-tailed deer during the first 21 days of life with 90.9% accuracy. Univariate logistic regression did not show a relationship between serum concentrations of iTNF- alpha or iIL-6 and probability of mortality. However, fawns that died before 21 days of age tended to have greater levels of iTNF- alpha (688.4 plus or minus 168.8 pg/ml) than survivors (412.9 plus or minus 81.2 pg/ml). Although these data suggest that iTNF- alpha may be a useful predictor of stress, additional research is needed to understand response of cytokines to neonatal stress and mortality and to elucidate their utility as indices.

Blood serum was collected between June 1990 and August 1992 from newborn white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fitted with radiocollars. We measured serum concentrations of immunoreactive tumor necrosis factor-α (iTNF-α) and immunoreactive interleukin-6 (iIL-6) to relate cytokine expression to probability of mortality during the first 21 days of life. Stepwise logistic regression indicated that iTNF-α, hemolytic complement, gamma globulins, gamma glutamyl transferase, and mass/length3 could predict survival of white-tailed deer during the first 21 days of life with 90.9% accuracy. Univariate logistic regression did not show a relationship between serum concentrations of iTNF-α or iIL-6 and probability of mortality. However, fawns that died before 21 days of age tended to have greater levels of iTNF-α (688.4 ± 168.8 pg/ml) than survivors (412.9 ± 81.2 pg/ml). Although these data suggest that iTNF-α may be a useful predictor of stress, additional research is needed to understand response of cytokines to neonatal stress and mortality and to elucidate their utility as indices.

We examined development of 60 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns from birth to 31 days postpartum to evaluate morphometric measures for predicting neonatal age. We investigated variations in growth due to gender and maternal nutrition that might affect age prediction. Of 8 morphometric measures examined, hoof growth provided the most reliable and accurate aging model and was least affected by gender or maternal nutrition. Hoof growth was best represented by linear regression, which explained 87% of the variation and classified 74% of the fawns to within 3 days of age. Because maternal nutrition influenced body mass, chest girth, and total body length measures of fawns, aging models based on these variables should be avoided.

Mobile devices offer a scalable opportunity to collect longitudinal data that facilitate advances in mental health treatment to address the burden of mental health conditions in young people. Sharing these data with the research community is critical to gaining maximal value from rich data of this nature. However, the highly personal nature of the data necessitates understanding the conditions under which young people are willing to share them. To answer this question, we developed the MindKind Study, a multinational, mixed methods study that solicits young people’s preferences for how their data are governed and quantifies potential participants’ willingness to join under different conditions. We employed a community-based participatory approach, involving young people as stakeholders and co-researchers. At sites in India, South Africa, and the UK, we enrolled 3575 participants ages 16–24 in the mobile app-mediated quantitative study and 143 participants in the public deliberation-based qualitative study. We found that while youth participants have strong preferences for data governance, these preferences did not translate into (un)willingness to join the smartphone-based study. Participants grappled with the risks and benefits of participation as well as their desire that the “right people” access their data. Throughout the study, we recognized young people’s commitment to finding solutions and co-producing research architectures to allow for more open sharing of mental health data to accelerate and derive maximal benefit from research.

Vedolizumab is increasingly used off-label to treat children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the absence of rigorous clinical trial experience, multicenter observational data are important to establish expectations for efficacy and safety. We examined 1-year outcomes following vedolizumab therapy in a large multicenter pediatric IBD cohort. We performed a retrospective study of 159 pediatric patients (4-17 years old) with IBD [78, Crohn disease (CD); 81, ulcerative colitis/IBD-unspecified (UC/IBD-U)] treated with vedolizumab for 1 year at 8 pediatric medical centers in the United States. Demographics, clinical outcomes, laboratory data, and vedolizumab dosing were recorded. The primary outcome was corticosteroid (CS)-free clinical remission at 1 year. Other measured outcomes were clinical remission at 12 and/or 24 weeks, laboratory outcomes at 1 year, and endoscopy/histology results at 1 year. Among the 159 patients (mean age, 14.5 ± 2.4 years; 86% anti-TNF experienced), 68/159 (43%) achieved CS-free clinical remission at 1 year (CD, 35/78, 45%; UC/IBD-U, 33/81, 40%). Vedolizumab therapy failed and was discontinued in 33/159 (21%) patients prior to 1 year (CD, 18/78, 23%; UC/IBD-U, 15/81, 19%). While week 12 clinical remission was not predictive of 1-year clinical remission in either CD or UC/IBD-U, week 24 clinical remission was predictive of 1-year clinical remission only in CD patients. No infusion reactions or serious side effects were noted. Vedolizumab was safe and effective in this pediatric population with approximately 43% achieving CS-free clinical remission at 1 year. Similar efficacy was noted in both CD and UC.

Introduction Engaging youth in mental health research and intervention design has the potential to improve their relevance and effectiveness. Frameworks like Roger Hart's ladder of participation, Shier's pathways to participation and Lundy's voice and influence model aim to balance power between youth and adults. Hart's Ladder, specifically, is underutilized in global mental health research, presenting new opportunities to examine power dynamics across various contexts. Drawing on Hart's ladder, our study examined youth engagement in mental health research across high‐ and middle‐income countries using Internet‐based technologies, evaluating youth involvement in decision‐making and presenting research stages that illustrate these engagements. Methods We conducted a directed content analysis of youth engagement in the study using primary data from project documents, weekly AirTable updates and discussions and interviews with youth and the research consortium. Using Hart's Ladder as a framework, we describe youth engagement along rungs throughout different research stages: cross‐cutting research process, onboarding, formative research and quantitative and qualitative study designs. Results Youth engagement in the MindKind study fluctuated between Rung 4 (‘Assign, but informed’) and Rung 7 (‘Youth initiated and directed’) on Hart's Ladder. Engagement was minimal in the early project stages as project structures and goals were defined, with some youth feeling that their experiences were underutilized and many decisions being adult‐led. Communication challenges and structural constraints, like tight timelines and limited budget, hindered youth engagement in highest ladder rungs. Despite these obstacles, youth engagement increased, particularly in developing recruitment strategies and in shaping data governance models and the qualitative study design. Youth helped refine research tools and protocols, resulting in moderate to substantial engagement in the later research stages. Conclusion Our findings emphasize the value of youth–adult partnerships, which offer promise in amplifying voices and nurturing skills, leadership and inclusiveness of young people. Youth engagement in project decision‐making progressed from lower to higher rungs on Hart's Ladder over time; however, this was not linear. Effective youth engagement requires dynamic strategies, transparent communication and mutual respect, shaping outcomes that authentically reflect diverse perspectives and mental health experiences. Patient or Public Contribution There was substantial patient and public involvement in this study. This paper reports findings on youth engagement conducted with 35 young people from India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, all of whom had lived experience of mental health challenges. Youth engagement in the MindKind study was coordinated and led by three professional youth advisors (PYAs) in these contexts, who were also young people with lived experience of mental health challenges. Each of the three study sites embedded a full‐time, community‐based PYA within their study team to inform all aspects of the research project, including the development of informational materials and the facilitation of Young People's Advisory Group (YPAG) sessions referenced in this paper. Each PYA also consulted with a site‐specific YPAG that met bi‐monthly throughout the project, shaping the formation of study materials and serving as a test group in both the quantitative and qualitative studies. Youth participants in this study also contributed extensively, engaging in data collection and manuscript writing. The following youth advisory panels members (J.B., L.B., D.O.J., M.V.) and all PYAs (E.B., S.R., R.S.) in the MindKind study contributed to the writing of this manuscript and are acknowledged as co‐authors.

The first measurement of e + e − pair production at mid-rapidity (| η e | < 0.8) in pp collisions at$$ \\sqrt{s}=7 $$s = 7 TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented. The dielectron production is studied as a function of the invariant mass ( m ee < 3.3 GeV/ c 2 ), the pair transverse momentum ( p T,ee < 8 GeV/ c ), and the pair transverse impact parameter (DCA ee ), i.e., the average distance of closest approach of the reconstructed electron and positron tracks to the collision vertex, normalised to its resolution. The results are compared with the expectations from a cocktail of known hadronic sources and are well described when PYTHIA is used to generate the heavy-flavour contributions. In the low-mass region (0.14 < m ee < 1.1 GeV/ c 2 ), prompt and non-prompt e + e − sources can be separated via the DCA ee . In the intermediate-mass region (1.1 < m ee < 2.7 GeV/ c 2 ), a double-differential fit to the data in m ee and p T,ee and a fit of the DCA ee distribution allow the total$$ \\mathrm{c}\\overline{\\mathrm{c}} $$c c ¯ and$$ \\mathrm{b}\\overline{\\mathrm{b}} $$b b ¯ cross sections to be extracted. Two different event generators, PYTHIA and POWHEG, can reproduce the shape of the two-dimensional m ee and p T,ee spectra, as well as the shape of the DCA ee distribution, reasonably well. However, differences in the$$ \\mathrm{c}\\overline{\\mathrm{c}} $$c c ¯ and$$ \\mathrm{b}\\overline{\\mathrm{b}} $$b b ¯ cross sections are observed when using the generators to extrapolate to full phase space. Finally, the ratio of inclusive to decay photons is studied via the measurement of virtual direct photons in the transverse-momentum range 1 < p T < 8 GeV/ c . This is found to be unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties and consistent with expectations from next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamic calculations.

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

Many studies illustrate that physical or psychologic stressors can alter human immune function, which might predispose one to an increased susceptibility to infections. In the present study, we monitored immune responsiveness in 16 first-year medical students (age 23.8 ± 2.2 years) during the first examination session. Baseline blood samples were collected 30 days prior to the first examination session. Subsequently, subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, and blood samples were collected at 24 h (POST24h) or 48 h (POST48h) after an examination. The percentage of CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, CD3+CD45RO+, CD3+CD45RA+, CD3-CD16+56+, CD19+, and CD14+ cells in whole blood was examined to determine changes in circulating immune cell populations. Activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with a mixture of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 4 h was used to assess the distribution of interleukin-2 (IL-2)-secreting or interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-secreting CD4+ and CD8+ cells, as well as IL-1α-secreting CD14+ cells. Activation with a combination of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and LPS was used to assess secretion of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, soluble IL-2 receptor-α (sIL-2Rα), IL-1β, and IL-1R antagonist (IL-1Ra) by PBMC in 48-h cell culture. A significantly higher level of total T cells was found at POST24h, and CD14+ was elevated at both POST24h and POST48h. The percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells significantly declined at POST24 and POST48h. A significant elevation in the percentage of memory T cells was observed at POST48h, whereas the percentage of naive T cells was elevated at POST24h and POST48h. These changes were accompanied by a significant decline in percentage of natural killer(NK) cells 24 h after the examination. The percentage of IL-2-producing CD4+ and CD8+ cells was significantly lower at POST24h, and the percentage of CD8+IFN-γ + cells significantly declined at POST48h. The percentage of CD14+IL-1α + significantly declined at both POST24 and POST48h. A significant decrease was observed in IL-2 secretion 24 h after the examinations, and the secretion of IL-4 and IL-1β significantly declined at POST48h. No changes in IFN-γ, IL-10, sIL-2Rα, and IL-1Ra secretion were observed. We conclude that the stress outcomes of academic examinations in first-year medical students can significantly alter immune cell distribution and in vitro production and secretion of specific cytokines.