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Demand for fresh‐cut fruit and vegetables is increasing, in the face of global population growth and new interest in plant‐based diets. At the same time, year‐round supply across the world of popular vegetables means that post‐harvest losses, which can be significant, need to be minimized in the face of complex global supply chains and markets. Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) is harvested before physiological maturity when the kernel has high water and sugar concentrations making it a very perishable fresh produce and effective post‐harvest handling essential to reduce losses and ensure quality. Taste, aroma and colour are the main customer‐appreciated characteristics, hence the most important to preserve. Among the sweet corn post‐harvest disorders, loss of sweetness, dehydration, fungal growth and post‐cooking browning are the biggest issues impacting sweet corn quality, leading to post‐harvest losses. The critical factor driving these losses in sweet corn is temperature. Sweet corn is not a chilling sensitive product and has high sugar content. For this reason, temperatures as close as 0°C and the appropriate use of packaging films to create an altered gas composition with high CO2 and low O2 concentrations can significantly prevent post‐harvest decay. The use of low temperatures and effective choice of appropriate packaging films can control sweet corn respiration rates and prevent microorganism growth, subsequently delaying quality loss. This comprehensive review assembles a description of the most customer‐appreciated sweet corn characteristics. And it describes the major sweet corn post‐harvest challenges and provides a summary of four approaches to improve post‐harvest quality in this popular fresh‐cut vegetable. Sweet corn is harvested before physiological maturity when the kernel has high water and sugar concentrations making it a very perishable fresh produce and effective post‐harvest handling essential to reduce losses and ensure quality. This comprehensive review assembles a description of the most customer‐appreciated sweet corn characteristics, and it describes the major sweet corn post‐harvest challenges and provides a summary of four approaches to improve post‐harvest quality in this popular fresh‐cut vegetable. Summary of the fresh‐cut sweet corn production and some of the most important factors and common post‐harvest disorders. Preharvest factors are not considered in this review.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Small-Sided Games (SSG) vs. Interval Training (IT) in soccer training on aerobic fitness and physical enjoyment in youth elite soccer players during the last 8 weeks of the season. Seventeen U-16 male soccer players (age = 15.5 ± 0.6 years, and 8.5 years of experience) of a Spanish First Division club academy were randomized to 2 different groups for 6 weeks: SSG group (n = 9) and IT group (n = 8). In addition to the usual technical and tactical sessions and competitive games, the SSG group performed 11 sessions with different SSGs, whereas the IT group performed the same number of sessions of IT. Players were tested before and after the 6-week training intervention with a continuous maximal multistage running field test and the counter movement jump test (CMJ). At the end of the study, players answered the physical activity enjoyment scale (PACES). During the study, heart rate (HR) and session perceived effort (sRPE) were assessed. SSGs were as effective as IT in maintaining the aerobic fitness in elite young soccer players during the last weeks of the season. Players in the SSG group declared a greater physical enjoyment than IT (P = 0.006; ES = 1.86 ± 1.07). Coaches could use SSG training during the last weeks of the season as an option without fear of losing aerobic fitness while promoting high physical enjoyment.

The 2015–2016 Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in the Americas revealed the ability of ZIKV from the Asian lineage to cause birth defects, generically called congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Notwithstanding the long circulation history of Asian ZIKV, no ZIKV-associated CZS cases were reported prior to the outbreaks in French Polynesia (2013) and Brazil (2015). Whether the sudden emergence of CZS resulted from an evolutionary event of Asian ZIKV has remained unclear. We performed a comparative analysis of the pathogenicity of pre-epidemic and epidemic Asian ZIKV strains in mouse embryonic brains using a female immunocompetent intraplacental infection mouse model. All studied Asian ZIKV strains are neurovirulent, but pre-epidemic strains are consistently more pathogenic in the embryos than their epidemic equivalents. Pathogenicity is not directly linked to viral replication. By contrast, an influx of macrophages/microglial cells is noted in infected fetal brains for both pre-epidemic and epidemic ZIKV strains. Moreover, all tested ZIKV strains trigger an immunological response, whereby the intensity of the response differs between strains, and with epidemic ZIKV strains generally mounting a more attenuated immunostimulatory response. Our study reveals that Asian ZIKV strains evolved towards pathogenic attenuation, potentially resulting in CZS emergence in neonates rather than premature death in utero. During the 2015–2016 outbreak, Zika virus infection was linked to birth defects. Here, the authors show that epidemic strains cause less severe disease in mouse embryos than pre-epidemic strains and conclude that less severe disease leads to higher fetal survival rates but results in noticeable birth defects.

Between 1967 and 1971, the Chilean government nationalized its large-scale copper mining industry. While this process is widely considered successful given the demonstrated long-term state capacity to profitably operate the assets, the discussion on its net financial convenience has usually been disregarded. Aiming to improve the understanding of this case of resource nationalism, this paper follows two complementary approaches. First, we provide a systematic review of the historical background, development, and short-term impact of the Chilean nationalization, consolidating at the same time the available financial data on fiscal inflows and outflows as part of this process. Secondly, we perform an ex-post NPV assessment using a 10% discount rate over the annual cash flows that the government has perceived from the nationalized mining operations from 1967 to 2022 and compare it with a hypothetical counterfactual scenario in which these mines would have remained privately owned. This yields a higher NPV of the Nationalization compared to the counterfactual. Considering that discount rates above 11.1% or operational cost reductions by 4.5% indicate a net financial loss, the results suggest that, purely from a financial perspective, the nationalization process was marginally positive for the government. We expect that this analysis provides support for a thoughtful mineral policy that contributes to sustainable human and economic development in resource-rich countries.

The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is commonly assessed on chest radiography for detection of cardiac chamber enlargement, but the traditional cutpoint of 0.5 has low specificity. We sought to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of new measurement techniques for the detection of cardiac enlargement on chest radiographs. We obtained retrospective cross-sectional data on consecutive patients who underwent both chest radiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within a 14-day interval between 2006 and 2016 at a large academic hospital network. We established the presence of cardiac chamber enlargement using cardiac MRI as the reference standard. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of different techniques for measuring heart size and CTR on frontal chest radiographs. Of 152 patients included, 81 (53%) were men and the mean age was 52 years. Maximum heart diameter had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for detection of cardiac enlargement (0.827, 95% confidence interval 0.760–0.894). In the subgroup of posteroanterior chest radiography studies (n = 101), a CTR cutpoint of 0.50 had only moderate sensitivity (72%) and specificity (72%). In men, a maximum heart diameter cutpoint of 15 cm had a sensitivity of 86% and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.24, and a cutpoint of 19 cm had a specificity of 100% and a positive likelihood ratio of infinity. In women, a maximum heart diameter cutpoint of 13 cm had a sensitivity of 91% and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.15, and a cutpoint of 17 cm had a specificity of 91% and a positive likelihood ratio of 3.5. A traditional CTR cutpoint of 0.5 has limited diagnostic value. Simple heart diameter measurements have higher diagnostic performance measures than CTR.

Face processing is a key ability facilitating social cognition. Only a few studies explored how nature and nurture shape face processing ontogeny at the behavioral and neural level. Also, very little is known about the contributions of nature and nurture to the establishment of white matter fibers supporting this specific human ability. The main purpose of this study was to assess genetic and environmental influences on white matter bundles connecting atlas-defined and functionally-defined face-responsive areas in the brain. Diffusion weighted images from 408 twins (monozygotic = 264, dizygotic = 144) were obtained from the WU-Minn Human Connectome Project. Fractional anisotropy – a widely used measure of fiber quality – of seven white matter tracts in the face network and ten global white matter tracts was analyzed by means of Structural Equation Modeling for twin data. Results revealed small and moderate genetic effects on face network fiber quality in addition to their shared variance with global brain white matter integrity. Furthermore, a theoretically expected common latent factor accounted for limited genetic and larger environmental variance in multiple face network fibers. The findings suggest that both genetic and environmental factors explain individual differences in fiber quality within the face network, as compared with much larger genetic effects on global brain white matter quality. In addition to heritability, individual-specific environmental influences on the face processing brain network are large, a finding that suggests to connect nature and nurture views on this remarkably specific human ability.

Measures implemented to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 have resulted in a decrease in physical activity (PA) while sedentary behaviour increased. The aim of the present study was to explore associations between PA and mental health in Austria during COVID-19 social restrictions. In this web-based cross-sectional study (April–May 2020) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sitting time, and time spent outdoors were self-reported before and during self-isolation. Mental well-being was assessed with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and the Beck depression and anxiety inventories. The majority of the participants (n = 652) were female (72.4%), with a mean age of 36.0 years and a standard deviation (SD) of 14.4. Moreover, 76.5% took part in ≥30 min/day of MVPA, 53.5% sat ≥10 h/day, and 66.1% spent ≥60 min/day outdoors during self-isolation. Thirty-eight point five percent reported high mental well-being, 40.5% reported depressive symptoms, and 33.9% anxiety symptoms. Participating in higher levels of MVPA was associated with higher mental well-being (odds ratio = OR: 3.92; 95% confidence interval = 95%CI: 1.51–10.15), less depressive symptoms (OR: 0.44; 95%CI: 0.29–0.66) and anxiety symptoms (OR = 0.62; 95%CI: 0.41–0.94), and less loneliness (OR: 0.46; 95%CI: 0.31–0.69). Participants sitting <10 h/day had higher odds of mental well-being (OR: 3.58; 95%CI: 1.13–11.35). Comparable results were found for spending ≥60 min/day outdoors. Maintaining one’s MVPA levels was associated with higher mental well-being (OR = 8.61, 95%CI: 2.68–27.62). In conclusion, results show a positive association between PA, time spent outdoors and mental well-being during COVID-19 social restrictions. Interventions aiming to increase PA might mitigate negative effects of such restrictions.

To be useful for real-world applications, the results of ecological forecasts must be accompanied by estimates of uncertainty, i.e., measures of how reliable predictions are likely to be. In spread forecasting for invasive species, pervasive unknowns in invasion systems present many potential sources of uncertainty, from initial conditions to the structure of process-based models. Each relevant source must be integrated to accurately account for uncertainty in predictions that inform decision-making. However, the extent to which uncertainty from multiple sources is represented in spread predictions has not been documented. We conducted a literature review and used the standards outlined by the Ecological Forecasting Initiative to assess and summarize current practices in describing, modeling, propagating (i.e., feeding forward), and partitioning (i.e., quantifying the contribution of each source to overall variance) multiple sources of uncertainty in dynamic, spatially interactive forecasts of invasions. We found that 29% of these predictions report uncertainty, and many discuss sources of uncertainty that are not propagated to predictions and therefore underestimate total uncertainty. Many predictions presented uncertainty using “scenarios”, rather than communicating a full range of plausible values. Further, uncertainty partitioning in invasion forecasts is still very limited, possibly due to computational and methodological challenges associated with partitioning uncertainty for dynamic, geospatial predictions. We highlight challenges central to quantifying uncertainty in invasion systems, including poorly measured initial conditions, information gaps from the transnational nature of emerging invasions, mismatched spatial and temporal scales of drivers and modeled processes, and the computational complexity of geospatial data, and the tradeoffs relevant to invasion modelers seeking to quantify uncertainty in their forecasts.

We evaluated the associations of handgrip strength and cognitive function in cancer survivors ≥ 60 years old using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Data in two waves of NHANES (2011-2014) were aggregated. Handgrip strength in kilogram (kg) was defined as the maximum value achieved using either hand. Two cognitive function tests were conducted among adults 60 years and older. The Animal Fluency Test (AFT) examines categorical verbal fluency (a component of executive function), and the Digital Symbol Substitution test (DSST) assesses processing speed, sustained attention, and working memory. Survey analysis procedures were used to account for the complex sampling design of the NHANES. Multiple linear regression models were used to estimate associations of handgrip strength with cognitive test scores, adjusting for confounders (age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, smoking status, depressive symptoms and leisure time physical activity). Among 383 cancer survivors (58.5% women, mean age = 70.9 years, mean BMI = 29.3 kg/m2), prevalent cancer types were breast (22.9%), prostate (16.4%), colon (6.9%) and cervix (6.2%). In women, each increase in kg of handgrip strength was associated with 0.20 (95% CI: 0.08 to 0.33) higher score on AFT and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.30 to 1.35) higher score on DSST. In men, we observed an inverted U-shape association where cognitive function peaked at handgrip strength of 40-42 kg. Handgrip strength, a modifiable factor, appears to be associated with aspects of cognitive functions in cancer survivors. Prospective studies are needed to address their causal relationship.

As fossil-based resource depletion intensifies and the use of lignocellulosic biomass gains more and more momentum for the development of biorefineries, the production of furans has received a great deal of attention considering their outstanding synthetic possibilities. The production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is quite established in the recent scientific literature, with a large number of studies having been published in the last few years. Lately, there has been a growing interest in the synthesis of 5-chloromethylfurfural (CMF) as a novel building block of similar molecular structure to that of HMF. CMF has some advantages, such as its production taking place at milder reaction conditions, a lower polarity that enables easier separation with the aid of organic media, and the presence of chlorine as a better leaving group in synthesis. Precisely the latter aspect has given rise to several interesting products to be obtained therefrom, including 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, and 5-methylfurfural, to name a few. This work covers the most relevant aspects related to the production of CMF and an array of synthetic possibilities. Through varied catalysts and reaction conditions, value-added products can be obtained from this chemical, thus highlighting the advances in the production and use of this chemical in recent years.