Primates are traditionally considered to have a poor sense of smell. However, olfaction is important for non-human primates as demonstrated by conspicuous scent-marking behaviours in lemurs. We studied two family groups (N=4) of crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) housed at Colchester and Twycross zoos (UK) by combining behavioural observations and chemical analyses of scent-marks. We recorded observations of olfactory behaviours for 201 h using instantaneous scan sampling. We investigated the volatile compounds of ano-genital odour secretions using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Males scent-marked most frequently, displaying ano-genital marking for allomarking, head marking for countermarking and wrist marking in specific areas of the enclosure. Females displayed ano-genital marking predominantly on feeding devices. We detected a total of 38 volatile components in all male ano-genital scent-marks and 26 in all female samples of ano-genital odour secretions, including a series of esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, terpenes, volatile fatty acids and hydrocarbons that have been identified in odour profiles of other primates. In conclusion, we found sexual dimorphism in crowned lemurs. Male head and wrist marking behaviours might play defensive territorial functions, while ano-genital marking would be related to socio-sexual communication as chemical mate-guarding. Female ano-genital marking might be involved in resource defense.

Nutritional limitations may shape populations and communities of organisms. This phenomenon is often studied by treating populations and communities as pools of homogenous individuals with average nutritional optima and experiencing average constraints and trade-offs that influence their fitness in a standardized way. However, populations and communities consist of individuals belonging to different sexes, each with specific nutritional demands and limitations. Taking this into account, we used the ecological stoichiometry framework to study sexual differences in the stoichiometric phenotypes, reflecting stoichiometric niches, of four spider taxa differing in hunting mode. The species and sexes differed fundamentally in their elemental phenotypes, including elements beyond those most commonly studied (C, N and P). Both species and sexes were distinguished by the C:N ratio and concentrations of Cu, K and Zn. Species additionally differed in concentrations of Na, Mg and Mn. Phosphorous was not involved in this differentiation. Sexual dimorphism in spiders’ elemental phenotypes, related to differences in their stoichiometric niches, suggests different nutritional optima and differences in nutritional limitation experienced by different sexes and species. This may influence the structure and functioning of spider populations and communities.

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has revealed sexual dimorphism in brain stiffness in healthy individuals and multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In the animal model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), we showed previously that inflammation-induced brain softening was associated with alterations of the extracellular matrix (ECM). However, it remained unclear whether the brain ECM presents sex-specific properties that can be visualized by MRE. Therefore, we aimed here at quantifying sexual dimorphism in brain viscoelasticity in association with ECM changes in healthy and inflamed brains. Multifrequency MRE was applied to the midbrain of healthy and EAE mice of both sexes to quantitatively map regional stiffness. To define differences in brain ECM composition, gene expression of the key basement membrane components laminin (Lama4, Lama5), collagen (Col4a1, Col1a1) and fibronectin (Fn1) was investigated by RT-qPCR. We showed that the healthy male cortex expressed less Lama4, Lama5, Col4a1 but more Fn1 (all p < 0.05) than the healthy female cortex, which was associated with 9% softer properties (p = 0.044) in that region. At peak EAE, cortical softening was similar in both sexes compared to healthy tissue, with an 8% difference remaining between males and females during EAE (p < 0.001). Cortical Lama4, Lama5 and Col4a1 expression increased 2 to 3-fold in EAE in both sexes while Fn1 decreased only in males (all p < 0.05). No significant sex differences in stiffness were detected in other brain regions. In conclusion, sexual dimorphism in the ECM composition of cortical tissue in the mouse brain is reflected by in vivo stiffness measured with MRE and should be considered in future studies by sex-specific reference values.

Toxocara canis is a helminth parasite with importance in public and veterinary health. Although different studies have evaluated the immune response, to date there are no studies where it is analyzed from the point of view of sexual dimorphism. At 7 days of infection, female rats had a higher number of larvae in the liver, while male rats had them in the lungs. The percentages of immune cells were evaluated, and in most cases, no significant differences were observed. Regarding the cytokines production, infection can generate a decrease in Th1 such as IL-1β in both sexes and IL-6 only in females. In the case of Th2, IL-4 increases only in infected males and IL-5 increases in males and decreases in females due to the effect of infection. IL-10 also decreases in both sexes as a consequence of the infection and TGF-β only in females. Finally, the infection generates the production of antibody against the parasite, however, their quantity is lower in females. Thus, this study demonstrates that Toxocara canis infection is dimorphic and affects females more than males. This is due to a polarization of the inadequate immune response, which is reflected as a higher parasite load in this sex.

The interaction of the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems is crucial in the maintenance of homeostasis in vertebrates, and vital in mammals. The spleen is a key organ that regulates the neuroimmunoendocrine system. The Taenia crassiceps mouse system is an excellent experimental model to study the complex host-parasite relationship, particularly sex-associated susceptibility to infection. The aim of the present study was to determine the changes in neurotransmitters, cytokines, sex steroids, and sex-steroid receptors in the spleen of cysticercus-infected male and female mice, and the association of these different components with whole parasite counts. We found that parasite load was higher in female in comparison to male mice. The levels of the neurotransmitter epinephrine were significantly decreased in infected male animals. The expression of IL-2 and IL-4 in the spleen was markedly increased in infected mice; however, the expression of Interleukin (IL)-10 and Interferon (IFN)-γ decreased. We also observed sex-associated differences between non-infected and infected mice. Interestingly, the data show that estradiol levels increased in infected males but decreased in females. Our studies provide evidence that infection leads to changes on neuroimmunoendocrine molecules in the spleen during infection. These changes are dimorphic and impact the establishment, growth, and reproduction of T. crassiceps. Our findings support the key role of the neuroimmune network in determining sex-associated susceptibility to the helminth parasite.

The seed habit is the most complex and successful method of sexual reproduction in vascular plants. It represents a remarkable moment in the evolution of plants that afterwards spread on land. In particular, seed size had a pivotal role as for evolutionary success and agronomic trait, especially in the field of crop domestication. Given that crop seeds constitute one of the primary products for consumption, it follows that seed size represents a fundamental determinant of crop yield. This adaptative feature is strictly controlled by genetic traits from both maternal and zygotic tissues, although seed development and growth are also affected by environmental cues. Despite being a highly exploited topic for both basic and applied research, there are still many issues to be elucidated as for developmental biology as well as for agronomic science. This review addresses a number of open questions related to cues that influence seed growth and size, and how developmental processes are influenced by them. Besides, new insights on the genetic-molecular control of this adaptive trait are presented.

The existence of multiple copies of genes is a well-known phenomenon. A gene family is a set of sufficiently similar genes, formed by gene duplication. In earlier works conducted on limited number of completely sequenced and annotated genomes it was found that size of gene family and size of genome are positively correlated. Additionally, it was found that several atypical microbes deviated from the observed general trend. In this study, we reexamined these associations on a larger dataset consisting of 1484 prokaryotic genomes and using several ranking approaches. We applied ranking methods in such a way that genomes with lower number of paralogs would have lower rank. Until now only simple ranking methods were used; we applied the Kemeny optimal aggregation approach as well. Regression and correlation analysis were utilized in order to accurately quantify and characterize the relationships between measures of paralog indices and genome size. In addition, boxplot analysis was employed as a method for outlier detection. We found that, in general, all paralog indexes positively correlate with an increase of genome size. As expected, different groups of atypical prokaryotic genomes were found for different types of paralog quantities.

The prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse in school sport, specifically from coaches to their athletes remains a concerning and pervasive issue. In an attempt to better understand and prevent specific coach-behaviours associated with such sexual misconduct, researchers have developed the Sexual Violence Questionaire in Sport. While the reliability of this measurement tool has been tested in anglo-saxon cultural contexts, it is not known whether the questionnaire is applicable to other cultural contexts. A sample of 146 (52 female, 94 male) Bachelor students from a university in the Basque Country participated in this cross cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was administered twice over a two-week period to assess test-retest reliability. The internal consistency of the Sexual Violence Questionaire in Sport was high, with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.891 for perceptions and 0.813 for experiences across all participants. Gender-specific analysis showed similar reliability, with females having slightly lower alpha values for perceptions. Significant differences between test and retest were found (10 from perceptions 2 from experiences). However, Cohen’s Kappa analysis showed significant agreement across all items. In conclusion, the study highlights the questionnaire’s overall reliability and suggests its effectiveness as a tool for measuring sexual violence in sports within the Spanish context. Nonetheless, the findings of this study underscore the need for further research to enhance the instrument's stability and to better understand gender differences in perceptions and experiences of sexual violence in sports contexts.

Concretizing the mechanisms of Bergmann rule, we found saw-tooth pattern in body size variation in ground beetle Pterostichus oblongopunctatus. We sampled beetles in 2010 – 2018 at the forest undisturbed plots on the broad territory in Russia. Investigating regions covered territory, extending to 3 degrees latitude and 19 degrees longitude. We measured six traits in every of 3294 caught individual. ANOVA showed that latitude, and sex affected significantly body size of the species studied. Mean values of each trait changed significantly from one studied region to another in females and males as well. Sexual size dimorphism in species was female-biased. We performed models in R to estimate the steepness of body size variation in both sexes. In overwhelming majority of cases that parameter was equal in both sexes. So the hypothesis, that male′s variation is steeper in latitude gradient was not confirmed.

Background: Sexual dysfunction is the most common side effect encountered by cervical cancer patients during and after treatment, and rehabilitation strategies are needed to improve their quality of life. A variety of rehabilitation strategies have been reported in previous studies, varying by country, race and even continent. However, the common rehabilitation strategies used by cervical cancer survivors in Tanzania and their outcomes are unknown. The study aimed to unfold sexual rehabilitation strategies and outcome practiced by cervical cancer survivors who experienced sexual dysfunction during and after treatment in North-western Tanzania. Methods: Descriptive qualitative study were employed. Phenomenology study design used with a sample of 7 participants and data corrected via in-depth interview guided by 11 questions. Audiotaped and transcribed to get main themes and sub themes through deductive analysis. Results: Most participants reported inability to achieve an orgasm and low libido and dyspareunia after treatment. Most participants were eagerly to have their sexual activity recovered. However, they were not familiar with any rehabilitation strategy after the experience of sexual dysfunction. Even though, some of the participants attempted various interventions, but all were unsatisfactory leading to a significant decline in sexual interest and activity. Conclusion: Cervical cancer survivors are not familiar with any sexual rehabilitation strategies. Health education concerning various sexual rehabilitation strategies should be provided to survivors during and even after treatment.

Objectives: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) negatively affects the quality of life and sexual function in women. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) therapy in reducing SUI symptoms and its impact on sexual function. Methods: Thirty-four women with SUI were enrolled and underwent a single RF treatment session using the Viveve® System (Viveve Medical Inc., USA) with parameters of 90 J/cm² and 220 pulses per hour. Assessments at baseline and 6 months post-treatment included perineal ultrasound and personal interviews to evaluate lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual function. Urodynamic studies, voiding diaries, and questionnaires such as the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Overactive Bladder Symp-tom Score (OABSS), Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), Incontinence Impact Question-naire-7 (IIQ-7), and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) measured outcomes. Results: RF therapy significantly improved sexual function, with higher FSFI scores in all domains except pain at 6 months. SUI symptoms were significantly re-duced, as indicated by improved scores on OABSS, UDI-6, IIQ-7, and ICIQ-SF, alongside better voiding diary results. Anatomical changes included reduced bladder neck mobility, decreased vaginal width, and a reduced rotation angle of the proximal urethra. Conclusions: RF therapy is effective and safe for treating mild to moderate SUI and enhances sexual function, potentially due to changes in vaginal topography. These results suggest RF therapy as a viable non-surgical op-tion for managing SUI and improving sexual health.

This study investigates the impact of specimen size on the mechanical properties of wood, specifically focusing on compression strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson's ratio. Compression tests were conducted using three different specimen sizes (20mm×20mm×30mm, 40mm×40mm×60mm, 60mm×90mm×90mm) in the longitudinal, radial, and tangential directions. Mechanical parameters, failure mechanisms, load-displacement curves, and stress-strain relationships were systematically analyzed for each size. The study also evaluated the influence of specimen size on the accuracy of finite element numerical simulations by utilizing the obtained mechanical parameters. The results reveal a significant correlation between compressive strength and specimen size, indicating a decrease in compressive strength with increasing specimen size. Conversely, elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio exhibit less sensitivity to variations in specimen size. Notably, parameters derived from small-sized specimens (20mm×20mm×30mm) exhibited substantial errors, while those obtained from medium-sized (40mm×40mm×60mm) and large-sized specimens (60mm×90mm×90mm) demonstrated greater reliability, providing precise results in finite element numerical simulations.

The goal of this study is to better understand the relation between the practice of Mindfulness and the sexual activity, sexual satisfaction and erotic fantasies of Spanish-speaking participants. This research focuses on the comparison between people who practice Mindfulness versus naïve people, and explores the practice of Mindfulness and its relation with the following variables about sexuality: body awareness and bodily dissociation, personal sexual satisfaction, partner and relationship-related satisfaction, desire, subjective sexual arousal, genital arousal, orgasm, pain, attitudes towards sexual fantasies and types of sexual fantasies. The sample consisted of 106 selected adults, 32 men and 72 women, who completed six measures on an online survey platform: a) Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), b) Scale of Body Connection (SBC), c) New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS), d) Scale of Sexual Activity in Women (SSA-W) and Men (SSA-M), e) Hurlbert Index of Sexual Fantasy (HISF), f) Wilson's Sex Fantasy Questionnaire. In the MAAS, Body Awareness subscale (SBC), NSSS, SSA-W and SSA-M, HISF and intimate fantasies subscale (Wilson’s questionnaire), people in the Mindfulness condition showed higher scores and these differences were statistically significant. These results may have relevant implications in the sexuality of clinical and non-clinical samples.

The implementation of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is changing the scenario in the surgical treatment of early-stage cervical cancer and the oncologic safety of replacing bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy with SLN biopsy is currently under investigation. One of the undisputed values of SLN biopsy is its diagnostic accuracy in detecting low-volume metastases (LVM) via pathologic ultrastaging. In early-stage cervical cancer, the reported incidence of LVM ranges from 4 to 20%. The prognostic impact and the role of adjuvant treatment in patients with LVM is still unclear. Some non-prespecified analyses in prospective studies showed no impact on the oncologic outcomes compared to node-negative disease. However, the heterogeneity of the studies, the differences in the disease stage and the use of adjuvant treatment, and the concomitant pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND) make any conclusion on this topic hard. Current guidelines suggest considering micrometastasis (MIC) as a node-positive disease, while isolated tumor cells (ITC) as a node-negative disease, with a low level of evidence. This review aims to highlight the unanswered questions about the definition, identification, prognostic and therapeutic role of LVM and underline the present and future challenges we are facing. We hope this review will guide further research, giving robust evidence on LVM and their impact on clinical practice.

Female sexual functioning and satisfaction are impaired by the presence of sexual difficulties. Current study aims to analyze the differences on sexual satisfaction in women according to types of sexual problems (absence of sexual problems, self-perceived and assessed by the FSFI cut-off). A total of 329 women answered to a specific question about presence of self-perceived sexual problems, the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women, and the Female Sexual Functioning Index. Main findings revealed that sexually health women had better levels of sexual satisfaction when compared to women who self-report sexual difficulties and women who scored clinical levels in FSFI. Also, women who scored clinical levels in FSFI scored lower on sexual satisfaction compared to women who self-report sexual difficulties. Female sexual satisfaction was negatively affected by sexual difficulties assessed according to the FSFI cut-off. Although with lower impact, self-perceived sexual problems also affect negatively sexual satisfaction in women.

Ultrasound (US) scans of the inferior vena cava (IVC) provide useful information on the volume status of a patient. However, their investigation is user-dependent and prone to measurement errors. An important technical problem is the objective difficulty in studying a very compliant blood vessel like IVC, which makes large respirophasic movements and shows a complicated three dimensional geometry. Using bi-dimensional (2D) B-mode views either in long or short axis has improved the characterization of IVC dynamics compared to a measurement along a single direction (M-mode). However, specific movements of the IVC can challenge also the information provided by these 2D sections. Thus, these two orthogonal views, provided by an US system in X-plane, are here integrated by an innovative method. It is tested on simulated videos of the IVC performing complicated movements, that are compensated by the new method, overcoming the biased measurements provided by 2D scans. The method is then applied on example experimental data.

Child and adolescent sexual abuse (CSA) is an international public health problem. Despite the importance of the CSA, there is no consensus definition, and the lack of consensus is related to difficulties in conducting prevalence studies, as well as research in other areas. To establish a consensual definition, legal aspects such as the age of sexual consent and the difference in age or power between victim and aggressor, aspects related to sexual freedom and sexual indemnity must be considered. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to analyze the age of sexual consent in the legal systems of Spanish-speaking countries and to examine whether the Romeo and Juliet clause is established. To achieve the proposed aims, we employed the legal interpretation method, and we analyzed the current Criminal Codes of the 21 Spanish-speaking countries. From the results, it is found that the age of sexual consent varies between countries, establishing valid sexual consent between 13 and 18 years. In addition, only six countries have the Romeo and Juliet clause that protects sexual freedom in adolescents. Finally, we discussed the lack of consensus on the age of sexual consent and the limitations presented by the Romeo and Juliet clause.

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), each sensor node can estimate the global parameter from the local data in distributed manner. This paper proposed a robust diffusion estimation algorithm based on minimum error entropy criterion with self-adjusting step-size, which are referred to as diffusion MEE-SAS (DMEE-SAS) algorithm. The DMEE-SAS algorithm has fast speed of convergence and is robust against non-Gaussian noise in the measurements. The detailed performance analysis of the DMEE-SAS algorithm is performed. By combining the DMEE-SAS with diffusion minimum error entropy (DMEE) algorithms, an Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm is proposed, in non-stationary environment where tracking is very important. The Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm can avoid insensitivity of the DMEE-SAS algorithm due to the small effective step-size near the optimal estimator, and obtain a fast convergence speed. Numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness and advantages of these proposed algorithms.

As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management pro-cesses becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The research addresses the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. Findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent man-agement process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, further declining in planning. A positive cor-relation between company size and adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irre-spective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavors. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the in-fluence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes.

This paper presents design and optimization of a small-size electromagnetic induction heating control system powered by a 3.7V-900mAh lithium battery and featuring an LC series resonant full bridge inverter circuit, which can be used in small size materials heating applications, such as micro medical devices. The effects of resonant capacitance, inductor wire diameter, heating tube material and wall thickness are studied to maximize the heating rate of the workpiece and meantime reduce the temperature rise of the NMOS transistor. The optimal circuit configuration meeting the design requirements was finally identified via comparing the operational parameters and NMOS transistor loss under different circuit conditions. The validation experiments were conducted on a designed electromagnetic induction smoking devices. The results indicate that under an output current of 4.6A, the heating tube can reach up to the temperature target of 250℃ within 11 seconds, and all NMOS transistors stay below 50°C in a 5 minutes heating process.

Design process can be divided into stages of analysis and synthesis. This paper presents the application of the object-oriented technique to the synthesis as well as theoretical considerations concerning to design of gear size ranges. The synthesis consists in composition (aggregation) of single details into units – according to the rule: “from details up to general view”. The basics of the object-oriented synthesis were formulated. Furthermore, the consecutive stages of synthesis were formulated. The interactions between these stages were discussed. Some aspects were described in details e.g.: creation of interfaces for performance of the embodiment phase the designed artefact via CAD system drawing with specification (dimensions are still parametrically set). The final step of the procedure is creation of so called substantial (concrete) form of artifacts i.e. final assignment of dimensions which stored in the special data base. The final stage of the design process is issuing of technical documentation (technical drawings) created automatically via CAD system. The considerations are terminated by the list of advantages connected with the object-oriented approach to design (in comparison to the traditional way).

Quantitative determination of the critical size of inclined coal pillar in old goaf water affected area is of great significance for water damage prevention and safe mining. The critical size of inclined waterproof coal pillar is derived by using theoretical analysis, numerical calculation and field engineering practice for the stability of the waterproof coal pillar in old goaf water affected area of 1303 working face of Dananhu I mine in Xinjiang region. Firstly, a force model of inclined waterproof coal pillar was established to reveal the law that the critical size of the coal pillar increases with the increase of coal seam inclination under the action of asymmetric load. Then, numerical simulation was applied to reveal the dynamic evolution process of plastic deformation-destabilization-destruction of section coal pillar under the influence of mining and single-side water pressure, and the critical size of waterproof coal pillar in study area was determined to be 19.09m. Finally, measures such as pumping and pressure relief and slurry reinforcement were adopted to reduce the deformation rate of the roadway on side of waterproof coal pillar, which ensured the stability of the coal pillar and roadway and the safe recovery of the working face.

This study introduces a novel predictive model for atomization droplet size, developed through comprehensive data collected under elevated temperature and pressure conditions using a twin swirl airblast nozzle. The model, grounded in flow instability theory, has been meticulously parameterized using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Through rigorous analysis, including analysis of variance (ANOVA), the model has demonstrated robust reliability and precision, with a maximum relative error of 19.3% and an average relative error of 6.8%. Compared to the classical atomization model by Rizkalla and Lefebvre, this model leverages theoretical insights and incorporates a range of interacting variables, enhancing its applicability and accuracy. Spearman correlation analysis reveals that air pressure and the air pressure drop ratio significantly negatively impact droplet size, whereas the fuel-air ratio (FAR) shows a positive correlation. Experimental validation at ambient conditions shows that the model is applicable with a reliability threshold of ≥0.13 and highlight the predominance of the pressure swirl mechanism over aerodynamic atomization at higher fuel flow rates (q > 1.25 kg/h). This research effectively bridges theoretical and practical perspectives, offering critical insights for the optimization of airblast nozzle design.

The Japanese Genji firefly Nipponoluciola cruciata is famous for geographic variation in flash pattern. Such geographic variation has also been well studied in terms of ecology and molecular phylogeny. However, there are very few studies on geographic variation in morphology of this species. This study focused on morphological characteristics of males of this species in Yamanashi and Gunma Prefectures separated by the Kanto Mountains in central Japan. Previous studies have shown that this species in the two prefectures exhibits different genetic features as well as different flash patterns. This study aimed to explore morphological characteristics of males of this species and performed multivariate analysis using measurements previously published in the literature. As a result, allometric analysis between body length and elytra width suggested that this species exhibits different allometric patterns between the two prefectures. Moreover, cluster analysis of measurements of genitalia suggested that this species is completely separated into two different groups between the two prefectures. These results suggest the importance of further morphological studies to clarify the divergence of this species.

Background: Previous study of sexual minorities has documented both instability in the sex of sex partners and incongruity among all three dimensions of sexual orientation (attraction, behavior and identification), but no attempt has been made to relate the two. How, if at all, does past change affect present incongruity? This study attempts, for the first time, to examine this question. Method: Using a representative probability sample of the British population (n = 15,162), the current dimensions of sexual orientation were compared across changes in sex partner type—opposite-sex only (O/Sex), same-sex only (S/Sex), or both opposite-sex and same-sex (B/Sex)— over three time periods—before 5 years ago (Time 1), 5 years to 1 year ago (Time 2), and the past year (Time 3)—for the nonheterosexual population. Differences and trends in population-weighted percentage frequencies stratified by sex were assessed by t-test or inspection of 95% confidence intervals. Results: Overall incongruity and instability were high: 74% of men and 85% of women did not report congruent lifetime sexual attraction, behavior and identification; of persons reporting any same-sex sex partners at Time 1, 82% reported a different partner type at Time 3. Most change (80% for women, 84% for men) involved a single partner type transition (transience) rather than multiple changes (fluidity) and movement toward increased heterosexual orientation (69%; 65% to O/Sex partners. From Time 1 to Time 3, 19% of persons with S/Sex partners moved to O/Sex partners; 0.1% of persons with O/Sex partners moved to S/Sex partners. Instability moderately reduced already high incongruity for the majority moving toward increased heterosexual orientation, but increased already low incongruity for the minority moving toward increased same-sex orientation. Among presently S/Sex partnered persons (comprising 12% of sexual minorities), incongruity was reported by 1.4% of persons with stable partnership history and 11% of persons with unstable partnership history (p=.0052). For all except presently S/Sex partnered persons (comprising 88% of sexual minorities), incongruity was reported by 97% of persons with stable partnership history and 86% of persons with unstable partnership history (p=.0000). Conclusion: For most sexual minority persons, partner type instability contributed to a modest reduction of high sexual minority orientation incongruity after moving toward increased heterosexual practice. Among current S/Sex partnered persons, however, instability strongly increased incongruity between identification and behavior or attraction. These results are consistent with minority stress theory but inconsistent with homosexual immutability, and counsel caution regarding legal restrictions on support for sexual minority persons moving toward increased heterosexual partnership.

The achievement of size uniformity and monodispersity in perovskite quantum dots (QDs) requires the implementation of precise temperature control and the establishment of optimal reaction conditions. Nevertheless, the accurate control of a range of reaction variables represents a considerable challenge. This study addresses the aforementioned challenge by employing manganese (Mn) doping to achieve size uniformity in CsPbBr₃ perovskite QDs without the necessity for precise control of the reaction conditions. By optimizing the Mn:Pb ratio, it is possible to successfully dope CsPbBr₃ QDs with appropriate concentrations of Mn²⁺ and achieve a uniform size distribution. The spectroscopic measurements on single QDs indicate that the appropriate Mn²⁺ concentrations can result in a narrower spectral linewidth, a longer photoluminescence (PL) lifetime, and a reduced biexciton Auger recombination rate, thus positively affecting the PL properties. This study not only simplifies the size control of perovskite QDs, but also demonstrates the potential of Mn-doped CsPbBr₃ QDs for narrow linewidth light-emitting diode applications.

Design process can be divided into stages of analysis and synthesis. This paper presents the application of the object-oriented technique to the analysis as well as theoretical considerations concerning to design of gear size ranges. This analysis consists in decomposition of the designed artefact (a gear) according to the rule “from general to details view”. The basics of the object-oriented analysis were formulated. Furthermore, design phases and the objects related to theses phases were discussed. The following models have been considered: hierarchical model, entity-relationship model, data-flow model and object model. Analysis is additionally connected with interactions between particular design phases.

This study presents a reproducible and scalable method for synthesizing silica nanoparticles (SNPs) with controlled sizes below 200 nm, achieved by systematically varying three key reaction parameters: ammonium hydroxide concentration, water concentration, and temperature. SNPs with high monodispersity and controlled dimensions were produced by optimizing these factors. The results indicated a direct correlation between ammonium hydroxide concentration and particle size, while higher temperatures resulted in smaller particles with increased polydispersity. Water concentration also influenced particle size, with a quadratic relationship observed. This method provides a robust approach for tailoring SNP sizes, with significant implications for biomedical applications, particularly in drug delivery and diagnostics. Using eco-friendly solvents such as ethanol further enhances the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of the process.

To facilitate the computation of the uniaxial compressive strength value of the cemented paste backfill under the condition of high sand-cement ratio, and to analyze the size effect of the cemented paste backfill with high sand-cement ratio under varied aspect ratios, the cemented paste backfill specimens with sand-cement ratios of 8:1-24:1 and aspect ratios of 0.5, 1, and 2 were prepared. Through response surface experiments and finite element analysis, the influence of three aspect ratios on the cemented paste backfill strength was explored, and the failure characteristics and size effect mechanisms of cemented paste backfill with various aspect ratios were analyzed. The model of strength conversion between cemented paste backfill with different aspect ratios was established. The results show that the compressive strength of the cemented paste backfill decreases with the increase of the aspect ratio under the same mass concentration and sand-cement ratio. When the aspect ratio is 0.5 and 1, the splitting failure is the main factor; when the aspect ratio is 2, the shearing failure is the main factor. The three-dimensional stress caused by the end effect of the cemented paste backfill is the main reason for the high strength when the aspect ratio is 0.5. Due to the one-dimensional stress zone generated in the middle of the cemented paste backfill with an aspect ratio of 2 in the laboratory, its strength value is closer to the actual uniaxial compressive strength value of the cemented paste backfill. The strength values of the cemented paste backfill with aspect ratios of 0.5 and 1 were higher than the actual uniaxial compressive strength values in the laboratory. The rationality of the theoretical analysis was verified by the ABAQUS analysis results. According to the experimental results, a strength conversion model between different aspect ratios is established, which can provide a reference for the design of the uniaxial compressive strength of the cemented paste backfill.

Orodispersible film (ODF) is one of the novel formulations that have been currently made available that disintegrates rapidly in the mouth without the requisite for water and offer several benefits over conventional oral solid dosage formulations. This delivery system serves as a discreet and convenient mode of administration, especially in patients who have dysphagia, fluid restriction, being beneficial to pediatric, geriatric, and bedridden patients. A novel sildenafil ODF containing sildenafil citrate is formulated to be used in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED). This review discusses the advantages of ODF in improving compliance and satisfaction in these patients and describes the bioequivalence and stability studies of sildenafil ODF. This formulation offers unique benefit to patients with ED by improving their acceptance, compliance, and respecting their privacy. Moreover, the comparison of pharmacokinetic parameters between the sildenafil ODF administered with and without water and the conventional film-coated tablet were similar. It also demonstrated reliable performance that yielded a consistent product, meeting all specifications at release and after three weeks of storage under stressed conditions (60oC). Sildenafil ODF warrants improved ease of intake, taste, portability, storage, and compliance among ED patients, making it the potential most preferred formulation and drug of choice.

We aimed to investigate the relationship between membrane material and development of membrane fouling in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) using membranes with different pore sizes and hydrophilicities. Batch filtration tests were performed using submerged single hollow fiber membrane ultrafiltration (UF) modules with different polymeric membrane materials including cellulose acetate (CA), polyethersulfone (PES), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with activated sludge taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The three UF hollow fiber membranes were prepared by a non-solvent-induced phase separation method and had similar water permeabilities and pore sizes. The results revealed that transmembrane pressure (TMP) increased more sharply for the hydrophobic PVDF membrane than for the hydrophilic CA membrane in batch filtration tests, even when membranes with similar permeabilities and pore sizes were used. PVDF hollow fiber membranes with smaller pores had greater fouling propensity than those with larger pores. In contrast, CA hollow fiber membranes showed good mitigation of membrane fouling regardless of pore size. The results obtained in this study suggest that the surface hydrophilicity and pore size of UF membranes clearly affect the fouling properties in MBR operation when using activated sludge.

This paper presents a compact wideband circularly polarized cross dipole antenna with low-pass filter response. It consists of two pairs of folded crossed dipole arms printed separately on both sides of the top substrate, and the two dipole arms on the same surface are connected by an annular phase-shifting delay line to generate circular polarization. A bent metal square ring and four small metal square rings around the cross dipoles are employed to introduce new resonant frequencies, effectively extending the impedance and axial ratio bandwidth. Four square patches printed on the middle substrate are connected to the ground plane by the vertical metal plates, in order to reduce the antenna height. Thus, a compact wideband circularly polarized antenna is realized. In addition, a transmission zero can be introduced at the upper frequency stopband by the bent metal square rings, without using extra filter circuits. For verification, the proposed model is implemented and tested. The overall size of the model is 90mm×90mm×33mm(0.37λ0×0.37λ0×0.14λ0, λ0 denotes the center operating frequency). The measured impedance bandwidth and 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth are 53.3% and 41%, respectively. More than 15 dB upper-band radiation suppression level is realized, indicating a good low-pass filter response.

This study aimed to investigate sex differences in the functional movement in the adolescent period. Seven hundred and thirty adolescents (365 boys) aged 16–17 years participated in the study. The participants performed standardized Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS™) protocol and a t-test was used to examine sex differences in the total functional movement screen score while the chi-square test was used to determine sex differences in the proportion of dysfunctional movement and movement asymmetries within the individual FMS tests. Girls demonstrated a higher total FMS™ score compared to boys (12.7 ± 2.3 and 12.2 ± 2.4, respectively; F=8.26, p=0.0054). Also, sex differences were present in several individual functional movement patterns where boys demonstrated a higher prevalence of dysfunctional movement compared to girls in patterns that challenge mobility and flexibility of the body, while girls underperformed in tests that have higher demands for upper-body strength and abdominal stabilization. Findings of this study suggest that sex dimorphism exists in functional movement patterns in the period of mid-adolescence. The results of this research need to be considered while using FMS™ as a screening tool as well as the reference standard for exercise intervention among the secondary school-aged population.

Jamaica has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rate and therefore identifying the context of adolescent sexual and reproductive health is important, especially since there is paucity of research on preadolescents in the Jamaican context. The study was a nationally representative cross-sectional, interviewer administered, school-based survey of 10 -15 year olds. Summary statistics of the demographics and bivariate analyses were performed to assess the association of sexual initiation and given risk and resiliency factors. 1,422(47.4%) males, 1,581 (52.6%) females, mean age (SD) 12.5 (1.6) years were surveyed. Mean age of first sex was 11.0 (±2.5) years. Factors significantly with sexual initiation were, female sex (OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.12-0.23), caring relationships inside the home (OR 0.85; 95%CI 0.83-0.97) rare church attendance (OR1.36; 95%CI1.0-1.8), age (OR 1.75; 95%CI1.6-1.9) and community disorganization (OR 1.02 95% CI 1.01-1.07). Sexual initiation of early adolescents is positively influenced by environmental factors such as family connectedness and religious involvement. The negative correlates are societal risk factors such as community disorganization. Empowerment through learned sexual negotiation skills, should be incorporated into the education programme of pre-adolescents to facilitate adolescents embracing their intrinsic power to delay sexual debut and if sexually active to insist on condom use.

In the context of evolving perceptions of sexuality, particularly within the realm of health and disability, this study investigates the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) on female sexual function and quality of life. A quantitative study involving 130 female MS patients aged 35 to 50 was conducted, employing measures such as The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-19 (MSISQ-19), and The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Results indicate a significant association between greater sexual dysfunction and poorer quality of sex life, alongside the correlation of increased fatigue with diminished sexual satisfaction. Factors such as education level, time of diagnosis, and treatment regimen also influenced outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of supportive interventions, including counseling, to enhance the quality of sex life for women with disabilities, particularly those with MS.

Ferritin is an indirect marker for total body iron stores. Comparison of the ferritin concentrations in the meconium with the concentrations of proteins regulating iron metabolism could aid better understanding of principles behind the adjustment between the fetal iron pool and newborn body size. Ferritin, transferrin, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, lactoferrin, myeloperoxidase, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and calprotectin concentrations were measured by ELISA in meconium samples from 122 neonates. The neonates were classified according to the meconium ferritin tertiles and the values were collated with the meconium concentrations of other proteins and newborn body weight and length measurements. Increasing ferritin concentrations in meconium in consecutive tertiles (p < 0.05) were parallel to increased NGAL concentrations (p < 0.05). The interrelationships between the meconium concentrations of transferrin, haptoglobin and NGAL as well as between myeloperoxidase, calprotectin and lactoferrin are maintained in all subsequent tertiles of ferritin concentrations, (p < 0.05). In contrast to ferritin, increasing meconium NGAL concentrations in consecutive tertiles were linked to increased concentrations of transferrin, haptoglobin, lactoferrin and myeloperoxidase (p < 0.05) and of calprotectin, ferritin and ceruloplasmin (p < 0.1). Meconium ceruloplasmin concentrations correlate exclusively with neutrophil granule proteins, i.e. myeloperoxidase, NGAL, lactoferrin and calprotectin (p < 0.05). Meconium ferritin concentrations negatively correlates with birth weight (r= -0.20) and length (r= -0.31) of neonates, whereas NGAL concentrations just with birth length (r= -0.26). The remaining proteins did not show such relationships with the size of the newborn. High meconium concentrations of both ferritin and NGAL may specifically characterize neonates of smaller size. High meconium concentrations of both ferritin and NGAL may specifically characterize neonates with lower body measurements. Correlations between meconium transferrin, haptoglobin and NGAL may confirm the interrelationships of these proteins for proper iron control and transport in the intrauterine environment. Meconium ceruloplasmin concentrations may reflect the control of neutrophil activity in utero.

This study delves into the complex interplay among attachment styles, hypersexuality, and sexual and couple satisfaction in emerging adults within the Mexican population. Despite established correlations between anxious and avoidant attachment styles and emotion dysregulation and hypersexuality, the roles of sexual and couple satisfaction in this context have remained relatively unexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how these variables interact and contribute to psychological distress and sexual risk behaviors. Data analysis on 214 emerging adults, utilizing the Experiences in Close Relationships scale, Couple Satisfaction Index, Sexual Satisfaction Scale, SCL-90, and SAST-R, revealed a significant association between risky sexual behaviors—such as a higher number of sexual partners, drug and alcohol use during sexual activity, and lack of sexual protection—and heightened levels of hypersexuality. Notably, individuals with hypersexual tendencies reported diminished levels of sexual satisfaction but elevated levels of couple satisfaction. Avoidant attachment emerged as the attachment style most strongly correlated with early sexual experiences. Moreover, the abbreviated versions of the Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI-4) and the Experiences in Close Relationships scale (ECR-8) exhibited commendable psychometric properties, enhancing their applicability for research and clinical purposes. This research furnishes valuable insights into the complex dynamics among attachment styles, hypersexuality, and couple and sexual satisfaction, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to foster healthier sexual and relationship behaviors among emerging adults.

Although researchers have proposed various indentation size effect (ISE) models, these models often involve different form and number of parameters that can make our wonder which is the best in existed ISE models. Three types of ISE test data, namely, normal ISE, reverse ISE and transition of normal to reverse ISE, are used to evaluate the sixteen ISE models. The comparatively study indicates that H-J, N-G-Fs, N-G-H, N-G-A and N-G-Qs models can accurately predict the normal ISE. The reason for this is that the friction stress that is not related to dislocation activities or the indentation size effect of plastic zone has been introduced into these models. Therefore, these two factors should be considered in future ISE models. The sixteen ISE models are originally proposed to describe the normal ISE of different materials. However, to our surprise, some of these models are able to capture the reverse ISE and the transition of normal to reverse ISE of different materials. The determination coefficients (DC) of the sixteen ISE models are also determined for different materials. For reverse ISE, the highest DC value for NiCSi, TC4 and PED Ni are given by the EXP, N-G-Fs and N-G-A models, respectively. For the transition of normal to reverse ISE, the N-G-YC, N-G-Fs, and N-G-H models produce the maximum DC for ZrO2, Cu and Y2O3-ZrO2, respectively. Moreover, the mean DC of the N-G-Fs model is the maximum among the sixteen ISE models, followed by the N-G-H model, but they cannot accurately predict the reverse ISE. Therefore, the N-G-Fs and N-G-H models should be further modified to accurately predict the reverse ISE.

Predicting the thermophysical properties of designed materials at the nanoscale is crucial. However, this remains a significant challenge despite numerous efforts by researchers and scientists. This paper presents a unified thermodynamic model to study the size and shape-dependent cohesive energy and the melting temperature of semiconductor nanosolids, including InSb, ZnSe, CdS, and CdSe. The model provides insight into the thermal stability of nanosolid materials by considering the combined impact of size, shape, and packing density. The finding indicates that smaller nanoparticles exhibit a lower cohesive energy than larger ones. Our unified thermodynamic model yields results consistent with experimental values and demonstrates a closer agreement than those from the universal liquid drop model of size-dependent cohesive energy, which includes a shape factor of α = 2/3 for nanowires. According to the results, the melting temperature of nanoparticles drops as their size decreases. Below a diameter of 5 nm, this trend becomes more noticeable. In the nano-scale domain, the nanoparticle's shape also matters greatly. In particular, compared to tetrahedral nanoparticles, nanowires show a lesser reduction in melting temperature. Also, up to a diameter of roughly 10 nm, the melting temperatures of these nanoparticles rise with particle size. The search results show that, especially in the < 5 nm size range, the size and shape of nanoparticles significantly affect their melting point. The models accurately predict the relationship between particle size and melting point for various semiconductor nanomaterials, aligning with experimental findings. Interestingly, the information indicates a potential preference for these nanomaterials to form nanowire structures in the < 5 nm size range. Our research offers helpful insights into the thermophysical properties of these semiconducting materials, which may have significant implications for their use in a diversity of technological applications.

(1) Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) and female sexual health are two important areas for women’s quality of life and research, and they are closely related. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature to explore the association between PWB and sexual health in women. (2) Methods: This review was carried out following PRISMA. The inclusion criteria were studies with samples of adult women, that evaluated and associated sexual functioning and mental health. Scientific articles were identified on Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO (PsycInfo, PsycArticles, and Psicodoc), ProQuest, and PubMed. The search was limited to years between 2010 and 2023. (3) Results: 14 selected articles were analyzed, in which population samples and variables related to mental and sexual health were examined. 42.9% of the studies included clinical samples, 71.4% focused on anxiety and depression as main mental health variables, and 50% examined female sexual functioning as a sexual health variable. (4) Conclusions: This review provides more up-to-date information about valuable insights into the possible determinants of female sexual health. The association between PWB and female sexual health has been demonstrated.

Phytoplankton guilds are commonly characterised by dominance effects, while the main contribution to biological diversity is given by rare species. Here, we analysed the influence of rare species on taxonomic and functional diversity, described by taxa richness and composition, cell size and size abundance relationships in phytoplankton guilds. We explore these relationships at global and regional scales by analysing phytoplankton guilds from five biogeographical regions: Northern Atlantic Ocean (Scotland), South-Western Atlantic Ocean (Brazil), South-Western Pacific Ocean (Australia), Indo-Pacific Ocean (Maldives) and Mediterranean Sea (Greece and Turkey). We have comparatively analysed the phytoplankton taxonomic diversity of the whole dataset and with the datasets obtained by progressively subtracting taxa occurring in the last 1%, 5%, 10% and 25% of both numerical abundance and overall biomass. Globally 306 taxa were identified across five ecoregions with only 27 taxa accounting for the 75% of overall numerical abundance and biomass; almost the 50% of taxa were lost on every step. The removal of 1% most rare taxa significantly affected the phytoplankton size-abundance relationships and body-size structure, strongly impacting on small taxa. The progressive removal of additional rare taxa did not further affect phytoplankton size-abundance relationships and size structure.

In order to investigate the size distributions and seasonal variations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC and EC), the carbonaceous species were collected and then analyzed by using a 9-stage Anderson-type aerosol sampler and DRI Model 2001A Thermal/Optical Carbon Analyzer on the typical industrial city Nanjing in Yangtze River Delta, China in the summer, autumn and winter of 2013 and spring of 2014. OC, EC, SOC and POC exhibited obvious seasonal variations, with the highest level in winter (39.1±14.0, 5.7±2.1, 23.6±11.7 and 14.1±5.7 μg•m^-3) and the lowest level in summer (20.6±6.7, 3.3±2.0, 12.2±3.8 and 8.4±4.1 μg•m^-3), and were mainly centralized in PM_1.1 in four seasons. The concentrations of OC in PM_1.1 varied in the order of winter > autumn > spring > summer, while EC ranked in the order of autumn > winter > summer > spring. In the PM_1.1-2.1 and PM_2.1-10, the concentrations of OC and EC decreased in the sequence of winter > spring > autumn > summer. The size spectra of OC, EC and SOC had bimodal distributions in four seasons, except for EC with four peaks in summer. The size spectra of POC varied greatly with seasons, exhibiting bimodal distribution in winter, trimodal distribution in spring and summer, and four peaks in autumn. The OC/EC ratios were 7.0, 6.3, 7.6 and 6.9 in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively, which demonstrated the abundance of secondary organic aerosols in Nanjing. The sources of carbonaceous aerosol varied significantly with seasons, and were dominated by vehicle exhaust, coal and biomass burning in PM_2.1, and dominant by dust, coal and biomass burning in PM_2.1-10.

The air is not the same as thousands and hundreds of years ago. In the air, suspended particles originate from natural phenomena like dust storms or volcanic activities, as well as anthropogenic pollutants such as fuel engine exhaust and everyday activities at home. The total particles in the air can be classified by sizes, such as PM10, PM2.5 or ultrafine particles. However, there are many other important factors in addition to the particle size, influencing the particle behavior and affecting our health. The surface area, chemical and biological composition, aspect ratio, and the charge are all factors characteristic of particles. OoC microfluidic chips are very useful for the pollutant toxicity measurements on various body tissues. A better understanding of pollutants will help to trace these to the potential sources. The data from the on-the-ground and satellite monitoring can be integrated into models, helping to predict and prevent pollution exposure.

The epigenetic modifications control the pathogenicity of human pathogenic fungi, which have been poorly studied in Mucorales; causative agents of mucormycosis. This order belongs to a group referred to as early-diverging fungi that are characterized by high levels of N6-methyldeoxyadenine (6mA) in their genome with dense 6mA clusters associated with actively expressed genes. AlkB enzymes can act as demethylases of 6mA in DNA, with the most remarkable eukaryotic examples being mammalian ALKBH1 and Caenorhabditis elegans NMAD-1. Mucor lusitanicus (formerly M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus) genome contains one gene, dmt1, and two genes, dmt2 and dmt3, encoding proteins homologs to C. elegans NMAD-1 and ALKBH1, respectively. The function of the three genes was analyzed by the generation of single and double deletion mutants for each gene. Multiple processes were studied in the mutants, but defects were only found in single and double deletion mutants for dmt1. In contrast to the wild-type strain, dmt1 mutants showed an increase of 6mA levels during the dimorphic transition, suggesting that 6mA regulates dimorphism in M. lusitanicus. Furthermore, the spores of dmt1 mutants challenged with macrophages underwent a reduction of polar growth, suggesting that 6mA also has a role during the spore-macrophage interaction that could be important in the infection process.

It was the aim of this study to provide a more precise timeframe of development of the gonads and genital ducts in the equine fetus around the time of sexual differentiation. This included the identification and localisation of the primordial germ cell population. Equine fetuses between 45 and 60 days of gestation were evaluated using a combination of micro-computed tomography scanning, immunohistochemistry, and multiplex immunofluorescence. Fetal gonads increased in size by 23-fold from 45 to 60 days of gestation, paralleled by a greater increase in metanephros volume. Signs of mesonephros atrophy were detected during this time. Tubular structures of the fetal testes were present from day 50 onwards, whereas cell clusters dominated in the fetal ovary. The genital ducts were well-differentiated and presented a lumen in all samples. No sign of mesonephric or paramesonephric duct degeneration was detected. Expression of AMH was strong in the fetal testes but absent in ovaries. Irrespective of sex, primordial germ cells selectively expressed LIN28. Migration of primordial germ cells from the mesonephros to the gonad was detected at 45 days, but not at 60 days of development. Their number and distribution within the gonad were influenced (p&lt;0.05) by fetal sex. Most primordial germ cells (86.8 ± 3.2% in females and 84.6 ± 4.7% in males) were characterized as pluripotent according to co-localization with CD117. However, only a very small percentage of primordial germ cells was proliferating (7.5 ± 1.7% in females and 3.2 ± 1.2% in males) based on co-localization with Ki67. It can be concluded that gonadal sexual differentiation in the horse occurs asynchronously with regard to sex but already before 45 days of gestation.

Stimulation of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) has shown beneficial effects in several acute inflammatory disease models. This study aims to examine whether treatment with the selective α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 can dampen inflammation and thereby improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction in mice. The possible anti-inflammatory properties of α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 were tested in vivo using the air pouch model and in a permanent occlusion model of acute myocardial infarction in mice. Hematology parameters and cytokine levels were determined. Infarct size and cardiac function were assessed via echocardiography 24 h and one week after the infarction. Treatment with α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 decreased 12 (CCL27, CXCL5, IL6, CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL1, CCL2, MIP1a, MIP2, CXCL16, CXCL12 and CCL25) out of 33 cytokines in the air pouch model of acute inflammation. However, α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 did not alter infarct size, ejection fraction, cardiac output or stroke volume at 24 h nor at 7 days after the myocardial infarction compared with control mice. In conclusion, despite promising immunomodulatory effects in the acute inflammatory air pouch model, α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 did not affect infarct size or cardiac function after a permanent occlusion model of acute myocardial infarction in mice. Consequently, this study does not strengthen the hypothesis that stimulation of the α7nAChR is a future treatment strategy for acute myocardial infarction when reperfusion is lacking. However, whether other agonists of the α7nAChR can have different effects remains to be investigated.

This study explores female university students' attitudes and concerns toward pornography, based on their experience watching it and on sexual encounters with men. It used a qualitative descriptive design. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 participants between March and April 2020. Thematic data analysis was performed using COREQ reporting guidelines. Three themes emerged from the data: 1) the sexual learning process, 2) the role of pornography in women’s sexuality, and 3) sexual experiences. Participants reported how they learned about sexuality and how pornography influenced sexual experiences. Self-esteem issues and societal norms regarding hair removal, and difficulty saying “no” to unwanted or humiliating sexual practices were found. Young women were not comfortable with women’s representations in mainstream pornography. They blame pornography for negative sexual experiences and claim it influences them and young men. Participants usually assumed submissive roles during sex and permitted aggressive sexual behaviors. The study reveals valuable information on how young women learn about sex, difficulty in refusing unwanted sexual activities, and even aggressive practices. Sexual education programs should include assertiveness training to improve sexual health, consent, and well-being.

In agriculture, soil-borne fungal pathogens, especially Fusarium oxysporum strains, are posing a serious threat to efforts to achieve global food security. In the search for safer agrochemicals, silica nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) have recently been proposed as a new tool to alleviate pathogen damage including Fusarium wilt. Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs), a unique class of SiO2NPs, have been widely accepted as a desired pesticide carrier. However, their role in enhancing the disease resistance and the specific mechanism remain unknown. In this study, three sizes of HMSNs (19, 96 and 406 nm as HMSNs–19, HMSNs–96 and HMSNs–406, respectively) were synthesized and characterized to determine their effects on seed germination, seedling growth, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseolus (FOP) suppression in cowpea roots by foliar spray using phenotypes, fresh biomass and disease progression as indicators. The results revealed that three HMSNs exhibited no adverse impacts on seed germination and tended to improve plant growth. Also, they exert their FOP suppression with a size- and concentration-dependent manner. HMSNs–406 possessed the best control effect at a concentration of 1000 mg/L showing an upto 40.00% decline in the disease severity. The Si(OH)4 control was also effective on FOP suppression at a lower concentration of 100 mg/L, whereas its higher concentrations exhibited obviously adverse impacts on FOP control, seed germination and plant growth. Moreover, we conformed that HMSNs posed their Fusarium wilt suppression in cowpea plant by activating SA (salicylic acid)-dependent SAR (systemic acquired resistance) responses rather than directly suppressing FOP. A higher level of SA content and elevated expression of its maker genes of PR-1 and PR-5 in HMSNs–406 treated cowpea roots provided substantial evidences of this mode of action. Other resistance-related genes, as well as defense-responsive enzymes, were also involved in the HMSNs-activated SAR pathway. Overall, for the first time, our results extended a new role of HMSNs as a potent elicitor to serve as a versatile alternative for plant disease protection of low cost, highly efficiency and sustainability.

Background: Producing, distributing or discussing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) is often committed through the dark web in order to remain hidden from search engines and regular users. Additionally, on the dark web, the CSAM creators employ various techniques to avoid detection and conceal their activities. The large volume of CSAM on the dark web presents a global social problem and poses a significant challenge for helplines, hotlines and law enforcement agencies. Objective: Identifying CSAM discussions on the dark web and uncovering associated metadata insights into characteristics, behaviours and motivation of CSAM creators. Participants and Setting: We have conducted an analysis of more than 353,000 posts generated by 35,400 distinct users and written in 118 different languages across eight dark web forums in 2022. Out of these, approximately 221,000 posts were written in English and contributed by around 29,500 unique users. Method: We propose a CSAM detection intelligence system. The system uses a manually labelled dataset to train, evaluate and select an efficient CSAM classification model. Once we identify CSAM creators and victims through CSAM posts on the dark web, we proceed to analyze, visualize and uncover information concerning the behaviors of CSAM creators and victims. Result: The CSAM classifier, based on Support Vector Machine model, exhibited good performance, achieving the highest precision of 92.3\%, accuracy of 87.6\% and recall of 84.2\%. Its prediction time is fast, taking only 0.3 milliseconds to process a single post on our laptop. While, the Naive Bayes combination is the best in term of recall, achieving 89\%, and its prediction time is just 0.1 microseconds per post. Across the eight forums in 2022, our Support Vector Machine model detected around 63,000 English CSAM posts and identified near 10,500 English CSAM creators. The analysis of metadata of CSAM posts revealed meaningful information about CSAM creators and their victims, such as: (1) the ages and nationalities of the victims typically mentioned by CSAM creators, (2) forum topics where the CSAM creators assign their posts, and (3) online platforms preferred by CSAM creators for sharing or uploading CSAM. Conclusion: Our CSAM detection system exhibits high performance in precision, recall, and accuracy in real-time when classifying CSAM and non-CSAM posts. Additionally, it can extract and visualize valuable and unique insights about CSAM creators and victims by employing advanced statistical methods. These insights prove beneficial to our partners, i.e. national hotlines and child agencies.

Child sexual abuse inflicts lifelong devastating consequences for victims and is an ongoing social concern. In most countries, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) distribution is illegal. As a result, there are many research papers in the literature which proposed technologies to detect and investigate CSAM. In this survey, a comprehensive search of the peer-reviewed journal and conference paper databases (including preprints) is conducted to identify high-quality literature. We use the PRISMA methodology to refine our search space to 2,761 papers published by Springer, Elsevier, IEEE and ACM. After iterative reviews of title, abstract and full text for relevance to our topics, 43 papers are included for full review. Our paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of the tasks of the current research and how the papers use techniques and datasets to solve their tasks and evaluate their models. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to focus exclusively on online CSAM detection and prevention with no geographic boundaries, and the first survey to review papers published after 2018. It can be used by researchers to identify gaps in knowledge and relevant publicly available datasets that may be useful for their research.

Monkeypox is a rare disease which is rising nowadays in different countries since the first case in the UK was diagnosed on May 6, 2022, by the United Kingdom (UK) Health Security Agency. Then more than 12,500 cases were identified in over 68 countries up to July 18, 2022. In endemic areas, the monkeypox virus (MPXV) is commonly transmitted through zoonosis, while in non-endemic regions, it is spread through human-to-human transmission. Symptoms can include flu-like symptoms, rash, or sores in hands, feet, genitalia, or anus. In addition, people who did not take the smallpox vaccine were more liable to be affected than others. The exact pathogenesis and mechanisms are still unclear; however, most identified cases are reported in men who have sex with other men (MSM). According to the CDC, transmission can happen with any sexual or non-sexual contact with the infected person. However, a recent pooled meta-analysis reported that sexual contact is involved in more than 91% of the cases. Also, it is the first time that semen analysis for many patients has shown positive monkeypox virus DNA. Therefore, in this review, we will describe transmission methods for MPXV while focusing mainly on potential sexual transmission and associated sexually transmitted infections. We will also highlight the preventive measures that can limit the spread of the diseases in this regard.

Inequalities between men and women in the workplace are reflected in professional sports, specifically in football refereeing. This phenomenon sometimes becomes sexual harassment, since it is a stereotypically considered male profession, in which women are a minority. In order to measure that behaviour, it is necessary to count on valid and reliable tools. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the factorial structure and the discriminant and convergent validity of the ‘sexual experiences questionnaire’, version of the Department of Defence (SEQ-DoD). Eighty-nine male football referees and ninety-four female football referees, with a mean age of 23.30 ± 4.85 years, participated in this studio conducted in Andalusia, Spain. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed using the robust maximum-likelihood estimation method. Goodness of fit was assessed and the factorial invariance was calculated to determine the stability of the model. Subsequently, the validity was confirmed. The results corroborated the validity and reliability of the questionnaire adapted to the population studied. Therefore it can be used as a research instrument.

Apomictic plants (reproducing via asexual seeds), unlike sexual individuals, avoid meiosis and egg cell fertilization. Consequently, apomixis is very important for fixing maternal genotypes in the next plant generations. Despite the progress in the study of apomixis, molecular and genetic regulation of the latter remains poorly understood. So far APOLLO (Aspartate Glutamate Aspartate Aspartate histidine exonuclease) is one of the very few described genes associated with apomixis in Boechera species. The centromere-specific histone H3 variant encoded by CENH3 gene is essential for cell division. Mutations in CENH3 disrupt chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis since the attachment of spindle microtubules to a mutated form of the CENH3 histone fails. This paper presents in silico characteristic of APOLLO and CENH3 genes, which may affect apomixis. Also, we characterize the structure of CENH3, study expression levels of APOLLO and CENH3 in gynoecium/siliques of the natural diploid apomictic and sexual Boechera species at the stages of before and after fertilization. While CENH3 was a single copy gene in all Boechera species, the APOLLO gene have several polymorphic alleles associated with sexual and apomictic reproduction in the Boechera genera. Expression of the APOLLO apo-allele during meiosis was upregulated in gynoecium of apomict B. divaricarpa downregulating after meiosis until 4th day after pollination (DAP). On the 5th DAP, expression in apomictic siliques increased again. In sexual B. stricta gynoecium and siliques APOLLO apo-allele did not express. Expression of the APOLLO sex-allele during and after meiosis in gynoecium of sexual plants was several times higher than that in apomictic gynoecium. However, after pollination the sex-allele was downregulated in sexual siliques to the level of apomicts and increased sharply on the 5th DAP, while in apomictic siliques it almost did not express. At the meiotic stage, the expression level of CENH3 in the gynoecium of apomicts was two times lower than that of the sexual Boechera, decreasing in both species after meiosis and keep remaining very low in siliques of both species for several days after artificial pollination until the 4th DAP, when the expression level raised in sexual B. stricta siliques exceeding 5 times the level in apomictic B. divaricarpa siliques. We also discuss polymorphism and phylogeny of the APOLLO and CENH3 genes.

This research mapped significant social networks of victims of childhood sexual abuse, identifying relationships between childhood trauma and social bonds in adult life. Ten adult women, aged between 20 and 40 years, in psychiatric care for the consequences of trauma suffered in childhood participated in the research. For data collection, the map of significant social networks was used and analyzed through the structure, functions and attributes of the bonds. The network is composed of people from the Friendship, Family, Community, Work/Study and Health Teams group. The networks of friendships, family, co-workers or studies play a predominant role of emotional support, while the Health Teams also offer emotional support, but primarily provide clinical support in overcoming trauma and its consequences. The network of relationships has specific functions that maintain psychosocial integrity and help women to overcome the abuse suffered.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent condition characterized by manifestations that can influence self-image and potentially result in psychological distress; however, data from literature on sexual function (SF) in PCOS women are contradictory. We aimed to evaluate sexual dysfunction (SD) in PCOS women by carrying out a systematic review and meta-analysis, using the gold-standard assessment tool SD-diagnosis (Female Sexual Function Index:FSFI). Seven databases were analyzed until August-2023; study quality was assessed by risk of bias and Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Our analysis encompassed 25 case-control studies (9933 women). PCOS group presented significantly lower scores in arousal (MD= -0.36 CI95%-0.60;-0.11), lubrication (MD= -0.52 CI95%-0.75;-0.28), orgasm (MD= -0.39 CI95%-0.57;-0.20), satisfaction (MD= -0.32 CI95%-0.50;-0.14) and pain subdomains (MD= -0.46 CI95%-0.75;-0.16), as in overall FSFI score (MD= -2.27 CI95%-3.23;-1.31). Overweight/obese (OW/O) patients exhibited significantly higher overall FSFI than OW/O controls (MD=1.98 CI95%0.68;3.27), particularly in lubrication (MD= -0.34), orgasm (MD= -0.26) and satisfaction (MD= -0.25) subdomains. These findings offer insights regarding SD in PCOS women and emphasize the need to incorporate SF assessment into multidisciplinary care. By this way, PCOS can be also considered a gateway diagnosis to other long-term consequences. Further research should focus on controlling variables, as ethnicity, culture, religion and economic disparities.

Vitamin D deficiencies are very common in pregnant women, raising concerns about adverse health outcomes in children. This issue has hardly been studied in multiple pregnancies, the prevalence of which has been steadily increasing. Therefore, our study investigated the relationship between newborns’ anthropometric parameters and the concentration of 25(OH)D in maternal blood of women with twin pregnancies and umbilical cord blood. The study included 50 women who gave birth after the 36th week of twin gestation. 25(OH)D was determined in maternal blood collected during the antenatal period and in the umbilical cord blood of 100 newborns. Anthropometric parameters of the newborns (birth weight, length, head and chest circumference) were obtained from hospital records. Data on nutrition and lifestyle during pregnancy were collected from the patients during an interview conducted by a dietitian. No relationship between maternal and neonatal cord blood vitamin D concentrations and any of the anthropometric parameters of the newborns was found. However, only 6% of the mothers and 13% of the newborns had vitamin D deficiency (≤20 ng/mL). The type of pregnancy and maternal height were the main factors associated with neonatal size. Newborns from dichorionic pregnancies were on average 202 g heavier (p

HIV incidence remains alarmingly high among female sex workers (FSWs) in low- and middle-income countries, with Uganda being no exception. The elevated risk of HIV transmission among this vulnerable population can be attributed to a complex interplay of factors, including engaging in sexual activities with multiple partners, inconsistent condom usage, substance use, and structural barriers, such as legal criminalization and pervasive stigmatization by healthcare providers. To combat this epidemic, various HIV prevention interventions have been devised, targeting these multi-faceted challenges. This study involved conducting focus groups among FSWs and healthcare providers in Uganda, with the overarching objective of informing the development of a tailored HIV prevention intervention aimed squarely at FSWs. Through these discussions, valuable insights were gained into FSWs’ perceptions of their HIV risk, their attitudes regarding HIV prevention strategies, and their recommendations regarding the content and delivery of future interventions.

Background/aim: Sexual harassment has become a serious social and public health problem in adolescence, causing adverse effects on mental health. Nevertheless, some behaviours arise that, due to their characteristics, might be misinterpreted as sexual harassment. A field study, a survey with a non-probabilistic accidental sampling, was designed in order to estimate the prevalence of sexual harassment victimization in the Spanish adolescent population, as well as to quantify the harms. Method: 1028 Spanish adolescents, 54.3% females and 45.7% males, aged 13-17 years (M = 15.21, SD = 1.03), responded to a diagnostic measure of sexual harassment victimization and an inventory measure of internalizing and externalizing Mental Health Problems (MHPs). Results: The results showed a significant prevalence of diagnosed sexual harassment victimization of school-aged adolescents, 24.1%, 95% [.215, 267], with adverse effects on internalizing and externalizing MHPs. As for the internalizing MHPs, the results showed moderate adverse effects on depression, anxiety, somatic burns, posttraumatic symptoms, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms; and mild adverse effects on social anxiety. With regard to externalizing MHPs, the results revealed moderate adverse effects on hyperactivity-impulsivity, anger control and antisocial behaviour; and mild adverse effects on attention problems, aggression and defiant behaviour. In addition, it was corroborated that sexual harassment victimization affects adolescent females to a greater extent, with the effect being significantly greater in internalizing than in externalizing MHPs. Conclusions: The results obtained are discussed and future lines of research and intervention are proposed to promote the implementation of prevention and intervention programs that address this phenomenon and, in turn, improve the physical, psychological, and social well-being of adolescents.

Introduction: Since its discovery in late 2019, the novel coronavirus (SARSCOVID-2) that causes COVID-19 has spread fast, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to designate the disease a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020.The epidemic has profoundly altered the preexisting global sexual and reproductive health landscape .The virus’s load has put ordinary services in jeopardy and harmed other health priorities. This encompasses both the provision and the supply of contraceptives, sexual health, new born and maternal health services. This Scoping review therefore mapped the availability evidence on the impact and effects of the COVID-19 disease outbreak on sexual and reproductive health. Methods: The methodological framework by Arksey and O’Malley guided this scoping review. A literature search was conducted from the following databases: Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, WOS, and AJOL. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist were used to document the review process. The Strobe critical review checklist was used to determine the quality of the included studies. Results:19 studies were reviewed, out of which 4 were cross sectional studies, 1 was an observational study, 1 was a descriptive analytical study and the rest were qualitative studies .Majority of the studies showed evidence on the impact of COVID-19 and family planning service, maternal and child services, and three studies reported on COVID-19 and sexual behaviour. Five of the nineteen included studies reported on the impact of COVID-19 and family planning service. Conclusion: This scoping review has granted the assessment of the impact of novel SARS-CoV-2 on Sexual and reproductive health services with regards to sexual behaviour, family planning and maternal, neonatal and child health. From the 18 articles identified and reviewed, the overall responses stipulated a significant reduction in client’s utilization of services due to challenges experiences in service implementation such as stock outs. In addition, low demand for reproductive health services by clients due to restrictions imposed on the movements of people to curb the spread of the virus. It is therefore important that Governments and relevant stakeholders in Maternal and Sexual Reproductive Health prioritize development of policies and practices that protect women from the impacts of the pandemic. Furthermore, regular audits to detect trends in MSRH are necessary to inform on going mitigation efforts.

A testable theoretical model is presented, proposing which brain parts and mechanisms are responsible for the nature and the nurture components of all human sexual orientations. The model integrates observations from humans and a wide range of animals. If validated, the model would provide a proximate explanation of the biological substrates of all sexual orientations. The basic assumptions of the model are: (1) Children learn automatically and subconsciously in non-sexual conditioning experiences cues for recognizing sexual mates. That skill emerges at puberty. (2) Adults in the child’s surroundings act as innocuous, unaware role-models that provide the learned cues for recognizing mates. (3) Voices of men and women serve as the innate, primary unconditioned stimuli (US) in that learning process. (4) The hypothalamus is the main area that elicits the signals of the unconditioned responses (UR). Those signals trigger the learning of the associated conditioned stimuli (CS) broadcasted by the role-models. (5) The amygdala, base nuclei of the Stria Terminalis (bnST) and hypothalamus play in humans similar roles to those they play in the other species. (6) The human medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) plays the roles played by the olfactory bulbs in rodents. (7) Detectors of innate primary US and activators of the unconditioned sexual responses (UR) are located in the MGN, Amygdala, bnST and Hypothalamus Axis (MASHA). The learned conditioned stimuli (CS) are recorded in the MASHA and in cortical areas. (8) The innate US-UR connections vary across three groups of children. In the first group, only men’s voices trigger the UR. In the second group, only women’s voices trigger the UR, and in a third group each voice can trigger the UR. That determines the learned cues. The first group will be attracted at puberty only to men, the second only to women, and the third group to both.

With the advance of generative AI, the text-to-image (T2I) model has the ability to generate various contents. However, the generated contents cannot be fully controlled. There is a potential risk that text-to-image model can generate unsafe images with uncomfortable contents. In our work, we focus on eliminating the NSFW (not safe for work) content generation from text-to-image model while maintaining the high quality of generated images by fine-tuning the pretrained diffusion model via reinforcement learning by optimizing the well-designed content-safe reward function. The proposed method leverages a customized reward function consisting of the CLIP (Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training) and nudity rewards to prune the nudity contents that adhere to the pretrained model and keep the corresponding semantic meaning on the safe side. In this way, the text-to-image model is robust to unsafe adversarial prompts since unsafe visual representations are mitigated from latent space. Extensive experiments conducted on different datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in alleviating unsafe content generation while preserving the high-fidelity of benign images as well as images generated by unsafe prompts. Our method surpasses existing state-of-the-art (SOTA) baseline methods and achieves better performance on sexual content removal (14.5% higher than SafeGen) and image quality retention. In terms of robustness, our method outperforms Safe Latent Diffusion and SafeGen under the SOTA black-box attacking model SneakyPrompt by approximately 2x and 5.6x, respectively. Furthermore, our constructed method can be a benchmark for other methods aiming for anti-NSFW generation, high-level prompt-image safe alignment.

Migratory movements are a political, social and public health issue on a global scale. Access to sexual and reproductive health services for irregular migrant women (IMW) is a public health issue. The aim of this study is to identify qualitative evidence on IMW's experiences of sexual and reproductive health care in emergency and primary care settings. Methods: meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Synthesis includes assembling and categorising findings based on the simili-arty in meaning. The search was conducted between January 2010 and June 2022 using PubMed, WOS and CINAHL databases. Results: of 131 articles found in the initial search, only 9 articles met the criteria and were included in the review. Four main themes were established: (1) The need to focus emergency care on sexual and reproductive health, (2) Unsatisfactory clinical experiences, (3) Forced reproduction, (4) Alternating between formal and informal healthcare services. Con-clusions: IMW’s attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health are influenced by culture, ed-ucational level, fear, barriers and the attitude of healthcare providers. Healthcare institutions need to be aware of the IMW’s experiences to understand the specific difficulties they face. IMW call for socially and culturally sensitive health care, cultural mediators, improved communication and safe environments that ensure confidentiality.

The bloom-forming toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella was first detected in Southern Chile (39.5–55°S) 50 years ago and is responsible for most of the area’s cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Given the complex life history of A. catenella, which includes benthic sexual cysts, in this study we examined the potential link between latitude, toxicity, and sexual compatibility. Nine clones isolated from Chilean Patagonia were used in self- and out-crosses in all possible combinations (n=45). The effect of latitude on toxicity, reproductive success indexes, and cyst production was also determined. Although the toxin profiles were similar for all strains, consisting of C1, C2, GTX4, GTX1, GTX3, and NeoSTX, a latitudinal gradient was determined for their proportions (%) and content per cell (pg cell⁻¹), with the more toxic strains occurring in the north (−40.6°S). Reproductive success also showed a latitudinal tendency and was lower in the north. None of the self-crosses yielded resting cysts. Rather, the production of resting cysts was highest in pairings of clones separated by distances of 1000–1650km. Our results contribute to a better understanding of PSP outbreaks in the region and demonstrate the importance of resting cysts in fueling new toxic events. They also provide additional evidence that the introduction of strains from neighboring regions is a cause for concern.

The forest regeneration phase in Sweden commonly involves mechanical soil preparation followed by planting of Scots pine or Norway spruce seedlings. The prepared soil offers planting positions with different properties, including decreased damage by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.). Nitrogen fertilization can be applied at the time of planting to aid establishment of the seedlings. In this study we compared the effect of organic nitrogen-fertilization for different planting positions, and seedling sizes on early survival and growth of Scots pine and Norway spruce seedlings. The main planting positions were capped mound, hinge, and mineral soil. Seedlings planted close to organic material were categorized as “low quality positions”, since proximity to organic material increase pine weevil attraction. Higher mortality rates related to pine weevil damage were recorded for seedlings planted in the low-quality positions, regardless of seedling size or N-fertilization. Pine weevil attack rates increased with increasing seedling size. Growth was in general lowest in mineral soil positions. The effect of organic N-fertilization on growth was positive for spruce regardless of planting positions and seedling size, while depending on planting position and seedling size for pine, indicating that effects of organic N-fertilization depend on seedling species, -size and planting position.

Complex-structured polymeric microparticles hold significant promise as advance in next-generation medicine mostly due to demand from developing targeted drug delivery. However, the conventional methods for producing these microparticles of defined size, shape and sophisticated composition often face challenges in scalability, reliance on specialized components such as micro-patterned templates, or have limited control over particle size distribution and cargo release kinetics. In this study, we introduce a novel and reliably scalable approach for manufacturing microparticles of defined structures and sizes with variable parameters. The concept behind this method involves the deposition of a specific number of polymer layers on a substrate with low surface energy. Each layer can serve as either the carrier for cargo or a programmable shell-former with predefined permeability. Subsequently, this layered structure is precisely cut into desired-sized blanks using a laser. The manufacturing process is completed by applying of heat to the substrate what results on sealing the edges of the blanks. The combination of the high surface tension of the molten polymer and the low surface energy of the substrate enables the formation of discrete particles, each possessing semi-spherical or other designed geometries determined by their internal composition. Such anisotropic microparticles are envisaged versatile applications.

Asphaltene precipitation and deposition pose significant operational challenges in both reservoirs and surface facilities by inducing formation damage. To understand the kinetics involved in asphaltene particle nucleation, growth, and aggregation, this study employed confocal microscopy and centrifuge-based methods under a unified set of experimental parameters. The acquired time-resolved particle size images were analyzed using MIPAR image processing software, while asphaltene mass yield was quantitatively evaluated through centrifugation. Experimental conditions were varied to study the effects of heptane concentration, asphaltene concentration, and shear rate. Notably, this investigation introduces, for the first time, the parameter of particle count as an additional variable influencing asphaltene mass production. This study aims to discern how particle count correlates with asphaltene mass yield over time. Results indicate that the minimum mean particle diameter was observed to be 2 microns, which progressively grew up to 80 microns. The mean particle diameter exhibited a positive correlation with both asphaltene concentration and shear rate, whereas an inverse correlation was seen with heptane concentration. Furthermore, the asphaltene mass yield was found to increase with greater asphaltene and heptane concentrations, as well as with higher shear rates. The relationship between mean particle diameter and mass yield was found to be nonlinear. In the early stages, a higher prevalence of small particles contributed to a greater total particle count, while at later stages, particle aggregation led to the formation of larger particles that influenced the overall asphaltene mass. The insights gained from understanding the relationship between particle diameter, count, and mass yield are crucial for advancing the fundamental science of asphaltene precipitation and deposition. These findings may also guide future research that relies solely on particle counts for assessing asphaltene deposition.

Polymeric particles made up of biodegradable and biocompatible polymers such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) are promising tools for several biomedical applications including drug delivery. Particular emphasis is placed on the size and surface functionality of these systems as they are regarded as the main protagonists in dictating the particle behavior in vitro and in vivo. Current methods of manufacturing polymeric drug carriers offer a wide range of achievable particle sizes, however, they are unlikely to accurately control the size while maintaining the same production method and particle uniformity, as well as final production yield. Microfluidics technology has emerged as an efficient tool to manufacture particles in a highly controllable manner. Here, we report on tuning the size of PLGA particles at diameters ranging from sub-micron to microns using a single microfluidics device, and demonstrate how particle size influences the release characteristics, cellular uptake and in vivo clearance of these particles. Highly controlled production of PLGA particles with ~100 nm, ~200 nm and >1000 nm diameter is achieved through modification of flow and formulation parameters. Efficiency of particle uptake by dendritic cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells isolated from mice is strongly correlated with particle size and is most efficient for ~100 nm particles. Particles systemically administered to mice mainly accumulate in liver and ~100 nm particles are cleared slower. Our study shows the direct relation between the particle size varied through microfluidics and the pharmacokinetics behavior of particles, which provides a further step towards the establishment of a customizable production process to generate tailor-made nanomedicines.

Human number understanding is thought to rely on the analogue number system (ANS), working according to Weber’s law. We propose an alternative account, suggesting that symbolic mathematical knowledge is based on a discrete semantic system (DSS), a representation that stores values in a semantic network, similar to the mental lexicon or to a conceptual network. Here, focusing on the phenomena of numerical distance and size effects in comparison tasks, first we discuss how a DSS model could explain these numerical effects. Second, we demonstrate that DSS model can give quantitatively as appropriate a description of the effects as the ANS model. Finally, we show that symbolic numerical size effect is mainly influenced by the frequency of the symbols, and not by the ratios of their values. This last result suggests that numerical distance and size effects cannot be caused by the ANS, while the DSS model might be the alternative approach that can explain the frequency-based size effect.

The Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the Core GPM satellite provides spaceborne 3-dimensional observations of the precipitation field and surface rainfall rate with quasi global coverage. The present study evaluates the behavior of liquid precipitation intensity, radar reflectivity factor (ZKu and ZKa) and Drop Size Distribution (DSD) parameters (weighted mean diameter Dm and intercept parameter Nw) of the GPM DPR derived products version 07 from 2014 to 2023. Observations from seven Parsivel disdrometers located in different topographic zones in the Western Mediterranean are taken as ground reference. Four matching techniques between satellite estimates and ground level observations were tested, and best results were found for the so-called optimal comparison approach. Overall, GPM DPR products capture well the variability of the observed DSD at different rainfall intensities. However, overestimation of the mean Dm and underestimation of the mean Nw are observed, being much more sensitive to errors in drop diameters larger than 1.5 mm. Moreover, lowest errors were found for radar reflectivity factor and Dm, and highest for Nw and rainfall rate. In addition, the GPM DPR convective and stratiform classification was tested and it was found a substantial overestimation of stratiform cases compared to disdrometer observations.

This study describes a comparative in vitro study of the toxicity behavior of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and micro-sized particles. The study aimed to understand the impact of particle size on ZnO toxicity by characterizing the particles in different media, including cell culture media, human plasma, and protein solutions (bovine serum albumin and fibrinogen). The study used various techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to characterize the particles and their interactions with proteins. Hemolytic activity, coagulation time, and cell viability assays were used to assess ZnO toxicity. The results highlight the complex interactions between ZnO NPs and biological systems, including their aggregation behavior, hemolytic activity, protein corona formation, coagulation effects, and cytotoxicity. Moreover, the study indicates that ZnO nanoparticles are not more toxic than micro-sized particles, and the 50 nm particles resulted in general the least toxic. Furthermore, the study found that at low concentrations, no acute toxicity was observed. Overall, this study provides important insights into the toxicity behavior of ZnO particles and highlights that no direct relationship between nanometer size and toxicity can be directly attributed.

Previous research showed that intersex people face specific challenges in their sexual development, including uncertainties or confusion about their gender, a negative genital self-image, and hesitance to engage in romantic and sexual relationships. However, in-depth knowledge of a central period of this development, adolescence, is missing. In our qualitative study, we explore which factors influence the relational and sexual development of intersex youth and what elements contribute to a positive development. We interviewed eighteen intersex persons aged 18-38. We identified three main themes: (1) intersex experiences, (2) the described sexual and relational life course, and (3) factors influencing a positive development. Our findings show that intersex youth face many obstacles to their relational and sexual development, many of which related to healthcare. However, their life stories also illuminate how healthcare professionals but also parents, friends, partners, teachers and others can make a substantial difference in intersex lives by breaking normative, binary thinking on sex and gender.

The biology of sexual orientations has intrigued people for generations. Many models have been providing insights to that topic, but there are still unanswered questions. In humans, sexual orientation has a learned component. Humans have to learn cues by which they identify the sex of their mates, and cues of the emotional messages that those mates broadcast. Many of those cues depend on arbitrary societal conventions. The cues are learned automatically and subconsciously during childhood, based on non-sexual experiences. When sexual orientation emerges at puberty, the youngsters cannot tell how and when they have acquired it. A model that deals with those phenomena is presented. A basic tenet of the model is that a sexual orientation is determined by the innate wirings of the brain. The model describes how the brain learns cues for identifying the sex of the mate, and cues for identifying emotional messages that the mate broadcasts. The learning mechanism is conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus is human voice. The unconditioned responses are the triggers of the physical and emotional manifestations of sexual activity. The model suggests that innate connections from auditory detectors of men’s and women’s voice onto brain centers that trigger sexual activities, such as the hypothalamus, determine the sexual orientation that emerges at puberty. Innate connections from those auditory centers to emotional centers, such as the amygdala, determine the learned emotional cues. It is also proposed that during evolution, the roles of the chemosensory system in identifying mates were taken over by the auditory system.

Sexual education is a part of the teaching-learning process that addresses cognitive, psychological, physical and social aspects of sexuality. The purpose of sexual education is to provide people with knowledge, abilities, attitudes and values that will help them to have good sexual health, well-being and dignity. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences and opinions of primary school teachers regarding Sexual Education in school. A descriptive qualitative study was designed based on content analysis. Twelve open-ended interviews with primary school teachers were carried out, followed by inductive data analysis using ATLAS.ti software. Two key themes emerged from the analysis: ‘In search of a comprehensive approach to Sexual Education’ and ‘Barriers to Sexual Education in schools: From the lack of training to fear of the families’. We conclude that despite the efforts to implement a comprehensive approach to Sexual Education that recognises sexuality as a right, primary school teachers face difficulties in delivering Sexual Education in schools due to a lack of training and the fear that parents will reject their children being spoken to about sexuality.

Mate choice that is based on behavioural traits is a common feature in the animal kingdom. Using the Trinidadian guppy, a species with mutual mate choice, we investigated whether males use female swimming activity – a behavioural trait known to differ consistently among individuals in many species – as a trait relevant for their mate choice. In a first experiment, we assessed male and female activity in an open field test alone (two repeated measures) and afterwards in heterosexual pairs (two repeated measures). In these pairs, we simultaneously assessed males’ mating efforts by counting number of sexual behaviours (courtship displays and copulation). Male and female guppies showed consistent individual differences in their swimming activity when tested both alone and in a pair, and these differences were maintained across both test situations. When controlling for male swimming behaviour and both male and female body size, males performed more courtship displays towards females with higher swimming activity. In a second experiment, we tested for a directional male preference for swimming activity by presenting males video animations of low and high active females in a dichotomous choice test. In congruence with experiment 1, we found males to spend significantly more time in association with the high active female stimulus. Both experiments thus point towards a directional male preference for higher activity levels in females. We discuss the adaptive significance of this preference as activity patterns might indicate individual female quality, health or reproductive state while, mechanistically, females that are more active might be more detectable to males as well.

Introduction: Laeverin is an extravillous trophoblast marker playing a significant role in the trophoblast migration. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the amniotic and serum laeverin concentrations at 16-22 weeks of gestation and the fetal and placental ultrasound measurements in healthy, unaffected pregnancies. Materials and methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Pregnant women with singleton pregnancies undergoing amniocentesis were recruited consecutively. Fetal structural malformations and/or aneuploidy were exclusion criteria. Fetal biometric parameters and placental growth/perfusion were measured in 44 high-risk pregnancies who had no pregnancy complication and any other chronic disease. Maternal serum and amniotic levels of laeverin were essayed with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Serum laeverin levels are decreasing slightly with the maternal age in mid-gestation. Serum laeverin level correlated negatively slightly with head size of the fetus with the gestational length at delivery (β=-0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.03-0.01), while the amniotic laeverin level correlated strongly with the abdominal circumference of the fetus (β=-0.64, 95% CI: -0.03-0.01). Furthermore, laeverin level in the amnion correlated moderately and positively with the placental volume (β=0.46, 95% CI: 0.01-0.08). Conclusions: Laeverin levels detected in the serum and in the amniotic fluid denotes the fetoplacental growth in uncomplicated high-risk pregnancies.

The fast spread of COVID-19 constitutes a worldwide challenge to the public health, educational, and trade systems, affecting the overall wellbeing of human societies. The high transmission and mortality rates of this virus, and the unavailability of a vaccine or treatment, resulted in the decision of multiple governments to enact measures of social distancing. Thus, it is of general interest to consider the validity of the proposal for keeping a social distancing of at least 2 m from other persons to avoid the spread of COVID-19. The exposure to the bioaerosol can result in the deposition of the pathogen in the respiratory tract of the host causing disease and an immunological response. In the atmospheric context, the work evaluates the effect of aerodynamic diameter (size) of particles in carrying RNA copies of the novel coronavirus. A SARS-CoV-2 carrier person talking, sneezing, or coughing at distance of 2 m can still provide a pathogenic bioaerosol load with submicron particles that remain viable in air for up to 3 hours for exposure of healthy persons near and far from the source in a stagnant environment. The deposited bioaerosol creates contaminated surfaces, which if touched can act as a path to introduce the pathogen by mouth, nose, or eyes and cause disease.

We investigate the physics of a medium-size quantum particle' gases, of the order of hundreds or thousands of fermions/bosons (far below the thermodynamic limit $N \, \rightarrow \, 10^{24}$). Appeal to microcanonical ensemble becomes then unavoidable. The so-called statistical complexity is our protagonist. Interesting facts are uncovered, both for fermions and bosons, yielded by statistical quantifiers.

Background. Depression and anxiety and its association with sexual orientation in Latvia is un-derstudied. Outcomes. Kinsey scale, primary outcomes for mental health disturbances were defined as per-son`s subjective feeling of depression and anxiety. Materials and Methods. Participants aged 18-30 year old (n=503) was asked to do a self-administered anonymous web-based survey regarding social and family status, sexual iden-tification and behaviour, violence experience and mental health information. To describe person`s sexual orientation Kinsey scale was used. Prevalence of depression and anxiety, univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed to measure relations between investigated fac-tors. Results. A total of 503 participants (i.e., 365 females, 133 males, 5 others) were included in the study. Mean (SD) age of participants was 23.0 (3.7) years. Mean (SD) value on the Kinsey scale was 1.4 (1.8) and median (IQR) value was 1.0 (0-2.0) where 1 is defined as ‘mostly heterosexual, only slightly homosexual’ person and 2 is ‘mostly heterosexual, but more than slightly homosexual’. Prevalence of persons reported violence experience was 20.3%, anxiety 56.3% and depression 37.6%. Logistic regression analysis showed that experience of violence was associated with higher odds of developing anxiety and depression (OR: 2.6 [95% CI: 1.7-4.0] and 2.4 [95% CI: 1.5-3.9], respectively). Being in relationship was associated with higher odds of developing anxiety (OR: 2.8[95% CI: 1.3-6.3]). Male sex and income 1001-2000 euros a month were associated with lower odds of developing anxiety (OR: 0.4 [95% CI: 0.2-0.5] and aOR: 0.3 [95% CI: 0.1-0.8], respectively). Sexual orientation showed no significant value in association with anxiety and depression (OR: 1.1 [95% CI: 1.0-1.2] and OR: 1.1 [95% CI: 1.02-1.2], respectively). Conclusions. In our study, the significant factors for developing depression and anxiety were experiencing violence, being female, being in a relationship, and having no income, while sexual orientation showed no significance in relation to depression and anxiety.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape the structure and composition of gut microbiota in a host. The disorder of gut microbiota may trigger various host diseases. Here, we collected fecal samples from wild-caught Japanese geckos (Gekko japonicus) and captive conspecifics fed with mealworms (mealworm-fed geckos) and fruit flies (fly-fed geckos), aiming to examine dietary and sexual correlates of gut microbiota. We used the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology to determine the composition of gut microbiota. The dominant phyla with a mean relative abundance higher than 10% were Verrucomicrobiota, Bacteroidota and Firmicutes. Gut microbial community richness was higher in mealworm-fed geckos than in fly-fed and wild geckos, and community diversity was higher in mealworm-fed geckos than in wild geckos. Neither alpha nor beta diversity of gut microbiota differed among wild, mealworm-fed and fly-fed geckos. The beta rather than alpha diversity of gut microbiota was sex-dependent. Based on the relative abundance of gut bacteria and its gene functions, we concluded that gut microbiota contributed more significantly to the host’s metabolic and immune functions. Higher diversity of gut microbiota in mealworm-fed geckos could result from higher chitin contents of insects of the order Coleoptera. This study not only provides basic information about the gut microbiota of G. japonicus, but also shows that gut microbiota correlates with dietary habit and sex in the species.

Sexual Issues played a significant role in Judaism’s engagement with its Greco-Roman world. This paper will examine that engagement in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman era to the end of the first century CE. In part sexual issues were a key element of demarcation between Jews and the wider community, alongside such matters as circumcision, food laws, sabbath keeping and idolatry. Jewish writers, such as Philo of Alexandria, make much of the alleged sexual profligacy of their Gentile contemporaries, not least in association with wild drunken parties, same-sex relations and pederasty. Jews, including the emerging Christian movement, claimed the moral high ground. In part, however, matters of sexuality were also areas where intercultural influence is evident, such as in the shift in Jewish tradition from polygyny to monogyny, but also in the way Jewish and Christian writers adapted the suspicion and sometimes rejection of passions characteristic of some popular philosophies of their day, seeing them as allies in their moral crusade.

Cotton seeds as the main by-product of cotton are not only an important raw material for edible oil and feed but also a source of biofuel. The quality of cotton seeds directly affects cotton planting and is closely related to the yield and fiber quality. However, the molecular mechanism governing cotton seed size remains largely unexplored. This study investigates the regulatory mechanisms of cotton seed size by focusing on two cotton genotypes, N10 and N12, which exhibit notable phenotypic variations across multiple environments. Developing seeds were sampled at various stages (5, 20, 30, and 35 DAP) and subjected to RNA-seq. The temporal pattern clustering and WGCNA on differentially expressed genes identified 413 candidate genes, including these related to sugar metabolism that were significantly enriched in transcriptional regulation. A genetic transformation experiment indicated that the overexpression of the GhUXS5 gene encoding UDP-glucuronate decarboxylase 5 significantly increased seed size, suggesting an important role of GhUXS5 in regulating cotton seed size. This discovery provides crucial insights into the molecular mechanisms controlling cotton seed size, helping to unravel the complex regulatory network and offering new strategies and targets for cotton breeding to enhance the economic value of cotton seeds and overall cotton yield.

The accurate assessment of wound size is a critical step in advanced wound care management. This study aims to introduce and validate a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technique for measuring wound size. Twenty-eight wounds treated from December 2022 to April 2023 at the Chunganam National University Hospital were analyzed. All wounds were measured using three techniques; conventional ruler methods, the LiDAR technique, and ImageJ analysis. Correlation analysis, linear regression, and Bland-Altman plot analysis were conducted to validate the accuracy of the newly introduced method. The measurement results (Mean ± Standard deviation) obtained using the Ruler method, LiDAR technique, and ImageJ analysis were 112.99 ± 110.07 cm², 73.59 ± 72.97 cm², and 74.29 ± 72.15 cm², respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was higher in the LiDAR application (0.995) than the conventional ruler methods (Mean difference; -5.0000 cm2), as was the degree of agreement (Mean difference; 38.6933 cm2). Wound size measurement using LiDAR is a simple and reliable method that allows practitioners to conveniently assess wounds with a flattened and irregular shape. However, non-flattened wounds cannot be assessed owing to the technical limitations of LiDAR.

Although some alternative metrics have been proposed in classical gravity, the singularity problem remains unresolved perfectly. To satisfy the super-gravitational requirement of a black hole without singularities, we propose some possible finite-size structure to avoid the confused one. In this research, the degenerate Fermi electron gas is first used to reveal that the Fermi electron gas cannot shrink to a point regardless of how much energy it obtains; therefore, the singularity existing at the center becomes very unreasonable. To avoid these problems, a finite-size nucleus of the black hole is proposed and explained by the behaviors of the Fermi electron gas and Fermi neutron gas for this finite-size nuclear model. We construct the Kerr-Newman black hole by using a non-rotating but charged finite-size nucleus, a compact-like star, which is surrounded by counter-rotating and corotating electrons. Based on this model, the super-gravity the same as the one from a black hole is presented, and the speed of light observed at far-away places can be nonzero at the event horizon.

The Finite size Lyapunov exponent (FSLE) has been used extensively since the late 1990’s to diagnose turbulent regimes from Lagrangian experiments and to detect Lagrangian coherent structures in geophysical flows and two-dimensional turbulence. Historically, the FSLE was defined in terms of its computational method rather than via a mathematical formulation, and the behavior of the FSLE in the turbulent inertial ranges is based primarily on scaling arguments. Here we propose an exact definition of the FSLE based on conditional averaging of the finite amplitude growth rate (FAGR) of the particle pair separation. With this new definition, we show that the FSLE is a close proxy for the inverse structural time, a concept introduced a decade before the FSLE. The (in)dependence of the FSLE on initial conditions is also discussed, as well as the links between the FAGR and other relevant Lagrangian metrics, such as the finite time Lyapunov exponent and the second order velocity structure function.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is today’s buzzword—and not only in commercial production. One of the AM techniques produces 3D objects with complex geometry using a laser beam. The relationship between the morphology of individual powder particles and the printing process has not been adequately documented yet. This article presents a detailed microscopic analysis of virgin and reused powder particles of maraging steel. Metallographic observation was performed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Detailed analyses of individual particles were carried out using SEM with a focused ion beam (FIB) milling capability. Analyses of elemental distribution and phase distribution were performed using EDS and EBSD, respectively. The findings have led to a better understanding and prediction of defects in additive-manufactured products.

There are no studies that quantitatively compare life histories among scorpion species. Statistical procedures applied to 94 scorpion species indicate that those with larger bodies do not necessarily have larger litters or longer life cycles, opposite to some theoretical predictions.

In this paper we show that the Schwarzschild radius can be extracted easily from any gravitationally-linked phenomena without having knowledge of the Newton gravitational constant or the mass size of the gravitational object. Further, the Schwarzschild radius can be used to predict any gravity phenomena accurately, again without knowledge of the Newton gravitational constant and also without knowledge of the size of the mass, although this may seem surprising at first. Hidden within the Schwarzschild radius are the mass of the gravitational object, the Planck mass (their relative mass), and the Planck length. We do not claim to have all the answers, but this seems to indicate that gravity is quantized, even at a cosmological scale, and this quantization is directly linked to the Planck units. This also supports our view that the Newton gravitational constant is a universal composite constant of the form $G=\frac{l_p^2{c}^3}{\hslash }$ , rather than relying on the Planck units as a function of G. This does not mean that Newton’s gravitational constant is not a universal constant, but that it is instead a composite universal constant that depends on the Planck length, the speed of light, and the Planck constant. Further, $\frac{G\times 1\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{weight}\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{unit}}{c^2}=\frac{G}{c^2}$ is the Schwarzschild radius off one weight unit. So G is only needed when we want to use gravity to find the weight of an object, such as weighing the Earth. This is, to our knowledge, the first paper that shows how a long series of major gravity predictions and measurements can be completed without any knowledge of the mass size of the object, or Newton’s gravitational constant. As a minimum we think it provides an interesting new angle for evaluating existing gravity theories, and it may even give us a small hint on how to combine quantum gravity with Newton and Einstein gravity.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the intensity of the annual sexual behavior (SB) of Boer bucks under tropical conditions in southern Mexico. For one year, 16 extensively grazing males were evaluated for SB individually with estrogenized goats. From the beginning of the experiment and every 30 days, body weight (BW), body condition (BC), testicular circumference (TC), odor intensity (OI) and SB (nudging, ano-genital sniffing, flehmen, mounting attempts, mounts with intromission, and self-urination) were recorded. The bucks showed a more intense SB during the months of November to May than during the months of June to October (p < 0.05). Greater frequency was found for nudging, ano-genital sniffing, mounting attempts, and self-urination in the months of November to May (p < 0.001). BW was lower during the months of January to August than in the months of September to December (p < 0.05). On the other hand, TC increased from October to December (p < 0.05). Similarly, the OI in males varied over time (time effect; p < 0.001). In fact, an increased odor was found from October to December. The conclusions were that breed male goats from the tropics of Guerrero have a more intense SB during the months of November to May, which corresponds to the time of the year when forage availability is the greatest.

Among the components of a healthy life, sexuality is an essential part, contributing not only to psychophysical well-being, but also to the social well-being of women and, consequently to their quality of life. A poorly investigated standpoint is the acceptability of a contraceptive method, not only in terms of tolerability and metabolic neutrality, but also concerning the impact that it can have on sexual life. In this context, we will provide an overview of the different methods of contraception and their effects on female sexuality from the biological changes, to organic, social, and psychological factors, which can all shape sexuality.A MEDLINE/PUBMED review of the literature between 2010 and 2021 was conducted using the following key words/phrases: hormonal contraception, contraceptives, female sexual function, libido, sexual arousal and desire, and sexual pain. Recent studies have supported the effects of contraceptives on women’s sexuality, describing a variety of positive and negative events on several domains of the sexual function (desire, arous-al, orgasm, pain, enjoyment). However, satisfaction with sexual activity depends on factors that extend beyond sexual functioning alone. A more holistic approach is needed to better under-stand the multitude of factors linked to women’s sexuality and contraception. Contraceptive counselling must necessarily consider these important elements since they are closely related to good compliance.

The study of eco-evolutionary feedbacks is in clear recent expansion. However, most studies concern predator-prey and host-parasite interactions, while the analysis of eco-evolutionary feedbacks involving sexual interactions is lagging behind. This is at odds with the potential of these interactions to engage in such processes. Indeed, there is now ample evidence that sexual selection is affected by ecological change. There is also evidence that sexual selection traits evolve rapidly, which may modify the ecological context of species, and thus the selection pressures they will be exposed to. Here, we first set a clear distinction between processes in which ecology drives evolution and those in which the contemporary evolution of populations may change their ecology, depending on which traits act as drivers and objects of change. We then review evidence for these processes and discuss examples of closed eco-evolutionary feedbacks in an attempt to understand how we can tear this loop apart. We suggest that a better understanding of eco-evolutionary feedbacks of sexual selection may help us understand the effects of sexual selection on the rate of adaptation, speciation, and extinction, and thus foster future research in this area.

Our study aimed to identify predictors for the effectiveness of tumor regression in lung cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant treatment and cancer resections. Patients admitted between 2016 and 2022 were included in the study. Based on the histology of the tumor, patients were categorized into lung adenocarcinoma group (LUAD), and squamous cell carcinoma group (SQCA). Ninety-five patients with non-small cell lung cancer were included in the study. Fifty-eight (61.1%) and 37 (38.9%) patients were included in the LUAD and SQCA groups, respectively. Nine (9.5%), 56 (58.9%), and 30 (31.6%) patients were categorized with a tumor regression score of I, II, and III respectively. In multivariable analyses, histology of the primary tumor (SQCA), lymph node size in the preoperative CT scan (>1.7cm) and absolute tumor size reduction after neoadjuvant treatment (>2.6 cm) independently predict effectiveness of tumor regression (OR, [95% Confidence interval, p-value] of 6.88 [2.40-19.77, p70 years, extended resection >one lobe, and tumor recurrence or metastasis were identified as significant independent predictors of reduced overall survival. Assessment of tumor size before and after neoadjuvant treatment might help to identify high-risk patients with decreased survival and to improve patient management and care.

The results of the study of the influence of the size of cylindrical samples of A5N aluminum on the time and rate of their cooling are presented. According to experimental data, the temperature dependence of the heat transfer coefficient for pure metals is calculated. It revealed that the process of cooling of the aluminium and its alloys has a relaxation behavior. It has found that the main mechanisms of natural air cooling are convection heat transfer and radiation. The characteristic cooling time due to radiation is less than due to convection. The contribution of thermal radiation is noticeable at high temperatures. It was found that the characteristic times of cooling due to radiation and convection increase with increase in volume to area ratio of the sample.

The angular diameter is the angle subtended by a generic object – an apple or a star – to the eye of an observer, and it describes how large the object appears from a given viewpoint. The angular diameter represents a powerful tool for distance calculations starting from a directly measurable information and it finds application in several contexts varying from cosmography to architecture. In this article, the author proposes a novel equation to calculate the apparent diameter of whatever object. This equation defines the relationship between the object’s apparent diameter with respect to the travelled distance starting from the initial distance R₀ at which the observed object is located. Based on the preliminary tests conducted, the model seems to faithfully portray this relation with respect to measured values, also at the astronomical scale, thus considering the Earth-Moon distance, where, the absolute error detected is about 0.56%. Tests highlight also a dependency between the results accuracy and the measurement conditions suggesting a high level of sensibility linked to the initial magnification effect produced by the retina or the artificial lens employed.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has become a major strategy to derive novel lead candidates for various therapeutic targets, as it promises efficient exploration of chemical space by employing fragment-sized (MW < 300) compounds. One of the first challenges in implementing a FBDD approach is the design of a fragment library, and more specifically, the choice of its size and individual members. A diverse set of fragments is required to maximise the chances of discovering novel hit compounds. However, the exact diversity of a certain collection of fragments remains underdefined, which hinders direct comparisons among different selections of fragments. Based on structural fingerprints, we herein introduced quantitative metrics for the structural diversity of fragment libraries. Structures of commercially available fragments were retrieved from the ZINC database, from which libraries with sizes ranging from 100 to 100,000 compounds were selected. The selected libraries were evaluated and compared quantitatively, resulting in interesting size-diversity relationships. Our results demonstrated that while library size does matter for its diversity, there exists an optimal size for structural diversity. It is also suggested that such quantitative measures can guide the design of diverse fragment libraries under different circumstances.

Hyperglycemia has been associated with increased inflammatory indexes and larger infarct sizes in patients with obstructive acute myocardial infarction (obs-AMI). In contrast, no studies have explored these correlations in non-obstructive acute myocardial infarction (MINOCA). We investigated the relationship between hyperglycemia, inflammation and infarct size in a cohort of AMI patients that included MINOCA. Patients with AMI undergoing coronary angiography between 2016 and 2020 were enrolled. The following inflammatory markers were evaluated: C-reactive protein, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-platelet ratio (NPR). Myocardial infarct size was measured by peak high sensitivity troponin I (Hs-TnI) levels, left-ventricular-end-diastolic-volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The final study population consisted of 2450 patients with obs-AMI and 239 with MINOCA. Hyperglycemia was more prevalent among obs-AMI cases. In all hyperglycemic patients - obs-AMI and MINOCA - NLR, NPR, and LPR were markedly altered. Hyperglycemic obs-AMI subjects exhibited a higher Hs-TnI, a larger LVEDV and a lower LVEF compared to normoglycemic ones. Conversely, MINOCA patients showed similar myocardial damage, irrespective of glycemia. Our data confirm the association of hyperglycemic obs-AMI with elevated inflammatory markers and larger infarct sizes. MINOCA patients exhibited modest myocardial damage, regardless of admission glucose levels.

Various crystallite size estimation methods were used to analyze X-ray diffractograms of spherical cerium dioxide and donut-like titanium dioxide anatase nanoparticles aiming to evaluate their reliability and limitations. The microstructural parameters were estimated from Scherrer, Monshi, Williamson-Hall, and their variants: i) uniform deformation model, ii) uniform strain deformation model, and iii) uniform deformation energy density model, and also size-strain plot, and Halder-Wagner method. For that, and improved systematic Matlab code was developed to estimate the crystallite sizes and strain, and the linear regression analysis was used to compare all the models based on the coefficient of determination, where the Halder Wagner method gave the highest value (close to 1). Therefore, being the best candidate to fit the X-ray Diffraction data of metal-oxide nanoparticles. Advanced Rietveld was introduced for comparison purposes. Refined microstructural parameters were obtained from a nanostructured 40.5 nm Lanthanum hexaboride nanoparticles and correlated with the above estimation methods and transmission electron microscopy images. In addition, electron density modelling was also studied for final refined nanostructures, and μ-Raman spectra were recorded for each material estimating the mean crystallite size and comparing by means of a phonon confinement model.

This paper investigates the influence of sample size and layer height on the elastic modulus of samples 3D printed by fused filament fabrication (FFF). Cubic samples of different sizes from either a stiff thermoplastic polymer (polycarbonate (PC)) or a soft polymer (thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)) were printed at three different layer heights: 0.1 mm, 0.2 mm, and 0.4 mm. The samples were imaged using micro-computed tomography to visualize porosity and tested under compression. The results indicate that the elastic modulus of TPU varied with sample size, demonstrating size effects due to high porosity. In contrast, PC samples had a low void volume fraction and did not demonstrate statistically significant size effects on the elastic modulus. The variations in elastic modulus due to layer height were statistically significant for both materials. The highest elastic modulus was observed at 0.2 mm layer height for both materials across different sample sizes, which can be attributed to low void volume fractions. The study develops process-structure-property relations for PC and TPU samples manufactured by FFF. It provides new insights into the design guidelines for FFF based on the size effects. The results indicate that variations in mechanical properties due to size effects must be considered during the design stage for TPU to accurately predict the material’s behavior. Additionally, the locations of the printed parts that are subjected to higher loads should be printed closer to the heated print bed due to the lower void volume fraction observed in the section of the samples printed adjacent to the heated print bed.

Pyrolyzed waste biomass, or biochar, has been suggested as a means to increase plant growth and to mitigate soil salinization, which is a widespread agricultural issue and can reach extreme levels in urban soils impacted by de-icing salts. Soil mixing is enhanced by reduced biochar particle size; however, biochar properties vary with particle size and recent studies suggest that plant growth responses may be maximized at intermediate particle sizes. We examined the responses of two plant species (cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti)) to biochar amendments that spanned a wide range of particle sizes obtained by sieving, with and without de-icing salt additions. The smallest size fractions of biochar reduced plant growth relative to unamended controls. Plant biomass production was generally maximized at intermediate biochar particle size treatments, with particles sizes of 0.5-2.0 mm showing the best response. Mitigation of salt effects was also improved at intermediate biochar particle sizes in this particles size range. Our results emphasize the importance of optimizing biochar particle size to best enhance plant responses to biochar, with particular reference to saline soils.

Aortic rupture is known as one of the potential causes of sudden cardiac death in athletes. Nevertheless, adaptation strategies for aortic root dilation in athletes vary. The purpose of this study was to investigate aortic root adaptation to physical workload and to determine if aortic root’s and left ventricle sizes are contingent upon the physical workload. Echocardiography was applied to 151 subjects to measure the aortic root at aortic valve annulus (AA) and at sinus of Valsalva (VS). 122 were athletes (41 females and 81 males) and 29 were non-athletes (14 females and 15 males). Of the 41 female athletes, 32 were endurance athletes, and 9 strength athletes. From 81 male athletes, 56 were endurance athletes, and 25 were strength athletes. AA and VS mean values for the body surface area were presented as rAA and rVS. Left ventricle (LV) meaures incuded LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), interventricular septum thickness in diastole (IVSTd), LV posterior wall thickness in diastole (LVPWTd), LV mass (LVM), LV mass index, LV end-diastolic diameter index (LVEDDI). Results indicated that VS was higher in female athletes (28.9±2.36mm) than in non-athletes (27.19±2.87mm, p=0.03). On the other hand, rAA was higher in strength athletes (12.19±1.48mm/m2) than in endurance athletes (11.12±0.99mm/m2, p=0.04). Additionally, rVS and rAA were higher in female strength athletes (17.19±1.78mm/m2, 12.19±1.48mm/m2) than female basketball players (15.49±1.08mm/m2, p=0.03, 10.75±1.06 mm/m2, p=0.02). Statistically significant positive moderate correlations were found between VS and LVEDD, LVM, IVSTd, LVPWTd, rVS and LVEDDI parameters in all athletes. The diameter of Valsalva sinus was greater in female athletes compared to non-athletes. The rAA mean value for body surface area was greater in female athletes practising strength sports as compared to their counterparts who were practising endurance sports. The diameter of the aortic root at sinuses positively correlated with the LV size in all athletes. Trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03656861, September 3, 2018 (retrospectively registered).

This in-depth review navigates the intricate relationship between gender, hormonal influences, and the progression of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), highlighting the limited literature on this crucial topic. The study explores the impact of female sex hormones on liver and renal manifestations, uncovering gender-specific differences in disease progression. Actually hormonal therapy in women with ADPKD remains a challenging issue and is a source of concern regarding its potential impact on disease outcomes, particularly at the hepatic level. Notably, women with ADPKD exhibit a slower renal disease progression compared to men, attributed to hormonal dynamics. The review sheds light on the role of estrogen in regulating pathways of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, revealing its complex interplay and implications for cardiovascular and renal health. Therapeutic considerations for fertile women with ADPKD, including contraception options, are discussed, emphasizing the necessity for personalized approaches. In the postmenopausal phase, the review evaluates the role of hormonal replacement therapy, considering its potential benefits and risks in the context of ADPKD. The review concludes by underscoring the imperative need for tailored treatment approaches for ADPKD patients, considering individual risks and benefits. The scarcity of literature underlines the call for further research to enhance our understanding of optimal hormonal therapies in the context of ADPKD, ultimately paving the way for innovative and personalized therapeutic interventions.