Despite debilitating consequences, cancer-associated malnutrition often goes under-detected due to the lack of a standardised diagnostic tool (1). The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria was established in 2018 in order to standardise the diagnosis of malnutrition globally (2). The aim of this study was to determine the association between GLIM-diagnosed malnutrition and overall survival in a large cohort of patients with mixed-cancer types. This is the first study to stratify patients according to treatment intent and is one of the largest studies to identify reduced muscle mass using gold-standard CT analysis of body composition.

Patients receiving anti-cancer treatment for solid tumours were enrolled in a cross-sectional study to examine nutritional status between 2011-2016. The GLIM criteria was retrospectively applied. CT images at the third lumbar vertebrae (L3) were used to quantify skeletal muscle index and categorised according to previously published cut-points. Survival analysis was carried out using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox-Regression.

Of 1405 patients enrolled, 52.5% were male. Mean age was 62 years (SD:12 years). The most common cancer diagnosis was gastrointestinal (44.5%) and 60.3% had metastatic disease. In total, 40.4% of participants were diagnosed with GLIM-malnutrition (14.8% had stage 1 moderate and 25.6% had stage 2 severe malnutrition). Median follow-up time was 102.4 months (95% CI 99.6–105.2 months). Median survival for those without malnutrition was 30.4 months (95% CI 23.5–37.2 months), versus 11.0 months (95% CI 6.6 – 15.4 months p<0.001) for those with stage 1 moderate and 10.0 months (95% CI 8.1–11.9 months p<0.001) for stage 2 severe malnutrition. Multivariate-analysis (controlling for gender, age, cancer site, GLIM-malnutrition and treatment intent) demonstrated a hazard ratio (HR) of death of 1.499 (95% CI 1.233–1.822, p<0.001) for stage 1 moderate and HR 1.548 (1.322–1.800, p<0.001) for stage 2 severe-malnutrition. The prevalence of stage 2 severe malnutrition was significantly higher in the palliative cohort (receiving supportive measures) (32.7%) when compared to patients being treated with curative intent (18.2%, p=0.004).

This study is one of the largest studies to date which uses CT analysis to accurately identify reduced muscle mass and confirms that the GLIM criteria can be used to predict overall survival in a large mixed-cancer cohort. These findings suggest that malnutrition, regardless of GLIM severity ranking has a significant impact on overall survival. Future research should focus on determining oncology specific cut-points for the GLIM criteria.

Iron deficiency has been associated with heart failure severity and mortality in children and adults. Intravenous iron therapy has been associated with improved outcomes for adults with heart failure. However, little is known about its impact and safety in children. We performed a single-centre review of all intravenous iron sucrose infusions prescribed to hospitalised patients ≤ 21 years of age with a primary cardiac diagnosis from 2020 to 2022. Ninety-one children (median age 6 years, weight 18 kg) received 339 iron sucrose infusions with a median dose of 6.5 mg/kg [5.1 mg/kg, 7.0 mg/kg]. At initial infusion, the majority (n = 63, 69%) had CHD, 70 patients (77%) were being managed by the advanced cardiac therapy team for heart failure, 13 (14%) were listed for heart transplant, 32 (35%) were on at least one vasoactive infusion, and 5 (6%) were supported with a ventricular assist device. Twenty infusions (6%) were associated with 27 possible infusion-related adverse events in 15 patients. There were no episodes of anaphylaxis or life-threatening adverse events. The most common adverse events were hypotension (n = 12), fever (n = 5), tachycardia (n = 3), and nausea/vomiting (n = 3). Eight of 20 infusion-related adverse events required intervention, and two infusions were associated with escalation in a patient’s level of care. Following intravenous iron repletion, patients’ serum iron, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, and haemoglobin increased (p < 0.05 for all). In children hospitalised with cardiac disease, intravenous iron sucrose repletion is safe and may improve haemoglobin and iron parameters, including transferrin saturation and ferritin levels.

Plasmodium simium, a parasite of platyrrhine monkeys, is known to cause human malaria outbreaks in Southeast Brazil. It has been hypothesized that, upon the introduction of Plasmodium vivax into the Americas at the time of the European colonization, the human parasite adapted to neotropical anophelines of the Kerteszia subgenus and to local monkeys, along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, to give rise to a sister species, P. simium. Here, to obtain new insights into the origins and adaptation of P. simium to new hosts, we analysed whole-genome sequence (WGS) data from 31 P. simium isolates together with a global sequence dataset of 1086 P. vivax isolates. Population genomic analyses revealed that P. simium comprises a discrete parasite lineage with greatest genetic similarity to P. vivax populations from Latin America – especially those from the Amazon Basin of Brazil – and to ancient European P. vivax isolates, consistent with Brazil as the most likely birthplace of the species. We show that P. simium displays half the amount of nucleotide diversity of P. vivax from Latin America, as expected from its recent origin. We identified pairs of sympatric P. simium isolates from monkeys and from humans as closely related as meiotic half-siblings, revealing ongoing zoonotic transmission of P. simium. Most critically, we show that P. simium currently causes most, and possibly all, malarial infections usually attributed to P. vivax along the Serra do Mar Mountain Range of Southeast Brazil.

Enlist E3® soybean is resistant to 2,4-D, glyphosate, and glufosinate, allowing postemergence applications of these herbicides sequentially or as tank mixes. The objectives of this experiment were to evaluate the effect of postemergence herbicide application timing and sequence with or without a preemergence application of micro-encapsulated acetochlor on waterhemp and common lambsquarters control, soybean yield, and economic returns. Field experiments were conducted in Rosemount and Franklin, Minnesota, in 2021 and 2022. Site, herbicide application timing, and sequence influenced weed control, yield, and profitability. In Rosemount, preemergence followed by (fb) two-pass postemergence programs, including 2,4-D + glyphosate applied at mid-postemergence with or without S-metolachlor, resulted in ≥95% waterhemp control at 28 d after late postemergence application. In Franklin, where weed density was lower, two-pass postemergence programs, regardless of preemergence application that included at least one application of 2,4-D + glyphosate (with or without S-metolachlor), provided ≥97% control of waterhemp and common lambsquarters at 28 d after late postemergence. The level of control was comparable to that of a preemergence herbicide fb a mid-postemergence application of 2,4-D + glyphosate + S-metolachlor at that site. In Rosemount, including acetochlor as the preemergence herbicide in the preemergence fb postemergence programs improved soybean yield by 32% and partial returns by US$384.50 ha−1 compared to postemergence herbicides–only programs. In contrast, the preemergence application did not affect yield or profitability in Franklin. The highest soybean yield (2,925.7 kg ha−1) in Rosemount resulted after glufosinate was applied early postemergence fb 2,4-D + glyphosate applied mid-postemergence. This yield was comparable to that of glufosinate applied early postemergence fb 2,4-D + glyphosate + S-metolachlor applied mid-postemergence and the two-pass glufosinate (early postemergence fb mid-postemergence) program, highlighting the importance of early season weed control. In Franklin, 2,4-D + glyphosate + S-metolachlor (applied mid-postemergence) fb glufosinate (applied late postemergence) provided a yield that was similar to the aforementioned programs at that site.

For multi-scale differential equations (or fast–slow equations), one often encounters problems in which a key system parameter slowly passes through a bifurcation. In this article, we show that a pair of prototypical reaction–diffusion equations in two space dimensions can exhibit delayed Hopf bifurcations. Solutions that approach attracting/stable states before the instantaneous Hopf point stay near these states for long, spatially dependent times after these states have become repelling/unstable. We use the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation and the Brusselator models as prototypes. We show that there exist two-dimensional spatio-temporal buffer surfaces and memory surfaces in the three-dimensional space-time. We derive asymptotic formulas for them for the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation and show numerically that they exist also for the Brusselator model. At each point in the domain, these surfaces determine how long the delay in the loss of stability lasts, that is, to leading order when the spatially dependent onset of the post-Hopf oscillations occurs. Also, the onset of the oscillations in these partial differential equations is a hard onset.

Herbaceous perennials must annually rebuild the aboveground photosynthetic architecture from carbohydrates stored in crowns, rhizomes, and roots. Knowledge of carbohydrate utilization and storage can inform management decisions and improve control outcomes for invasive perennials. We monitored the nonstructural carbohydrates in a population of the hybrid Bohemian knotweed [Polygonum ×bohemicum (J. Chrtek & Chrtková) Zika & Jacobson [cuspidatum × sachalinense]; syn.: Fallopia ×bohemica (Chrtek and Chrtková) J.P. Bailey] and in Japanese knotweed [Polygonum cuspidatum Siebold & Zucc.; syn.: Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr.]. Carbohydrate storage in crowns followed seasonal patterns typical of perennial herbaceous dicots corresponding to key phenological events. Starch was consistently the highest nonstructural carbohydrate present. Sucrose levels did not show a consistent inverse relationship with starch levels. Lateral distribution of starch in rhizomes and, more broadly, total nonstructural carbohydrates sampled before dormancy break showed higher levels in rhizomes compared with crowns. Total nonstructural carbohydrate levels in crowns reached seasonal lows at an estimated 22.6% of crown dry weight after accumulating 1,453.8 growing degree days (GDD) by the end of June, mainly due to depleted levels of stored starch, with the estimated minimum of 12.3% reached by 1,220.3 GDD accumulated by mid-June. Depletion corresponded to rapid development of vegetative canopy before entering the reproductive phase in August. Maximum starch accumulation in crowns followed complete senescence of aboveground tissues by mid- to late October. Removal of aboveground shoot biomass in late June to early July with removal of vegetation regrowth in early September before senescence would optimize the use of time and labor to deplete carbohydrate reserves. Additionally, foliar-applied systemic herbicide translocation to belowground tissue should be maximized with applications in late August through early fall to optimize downward translocation with assimilate movement to rebuild underground storage reserves. Fall applications should be made before loss of healthy leaf tissue, with the window for control typically ending by late September in Minnesota.

Glufosinate serves as both a primary herbicide option and a complement to glyphosate and other postemergence herbicides for managing herbicide-resistant weed species. Enhancing broadleaf weed control with glufosinate through effective mixtures may mitigate further herbicide resistance evolution in soybean and other glufosinate-resistant cropping systems. Two field experiments were conducted in 2020 and 2021 at four locations in Wisconsin (Arlington, Brooklyn, Janesville, and Lancaster) and one in Illinois (Macomb) to evaluate the effects of postemergence-applied glufosinate mixed with inhibitors of protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) (flumiclorac-pentyl, fluthiacet-methyl, fomesafen, and lactofen; Group 14 herbicides), bentazon (a Group 6 herbicide), and 2,4-D (a Group 4 herbicide) on waterhemp control, soybean phytotoxicity, and yield. The experiments were established in a randomized, complete block design with four replications. The first experiment focused on soybean phytotoxicity 14 d after treatment (DAT) and yield in the absence of weed competition. All treatments received a preemergence herbicide, with postemergence herbicide applications occurring between the V3 and V6 soybean growth stages, depending on the site-year. The second experiment evaluated the effect of herbicide treatments on waterhemp control 14 DAT and on soybean yield. Lactofen, applied alone or with glufosinate, produced the greatest phytotoxicity to soybean at 14 DAT, but this injury did not translate into yield loss. Mixing glufosinate with 2,4-D, bentazon, and PPO-inhibitor herbicides did not increase waterhemp control, nor did it affect soybean yield compared to when glufosinate was applied alone, but it may be an effective practice to reduce selection pressure for glufosinate-resistant waterhemp.

The extent to which legislators pursue their privately held preferences in office has important implications for representative democracy and is exceedingly difficult to measure. Many models of legislative decision-making tacitly assume that members are willing and able to carry out the wishes of their constituents so as to maximize their reelection prospects and, in so doing, relegate their personal preferences. This project explores this assumption by examining the role that members’ place of birth plays in shaping legislative behavior, apart from other politically relevant factors like partisanship. We find that birthplace exerts an independent influence on members’ voting behavior. Using a variety of geographic measures, we find that members who are born in close proximity to one another tend to exhibit similar patterns in roll call voting, even when accounting for partisanship, constituency attributes, and a variety of other determinants of voting. We also demonstrate in a secondary analysis that the agricultural composition of members’ birthplace influences their support for agricultural protection. Our findings suggest that members’ personal history shapes the representational relationship they have with their constituents.

The stellar age and mass of galaxies have been suggested as the primary determinants for the dynamical state of galaxies, with environment seemingly playing no or only a very minor role. We use a sample of 77 galaxies at intermediate redshift ($z\sim0.3$) in the Middle-Ages Galaxies Properties with Integral field spectroscopy (MAGPI) Survey to study the subtle impact of environment on galaxy dynamics. We use a combination of statistical techniques (simple and partial correlations and principal component analysis) to isolate the contribution of environment on galaxy dynamics, while explicitly accounting for known factors such as stellar age, star formation histories, and stellar masses. We consider these dynamical parameters: high-order kinematics of the line-of-sight velocity distribution (parametrised by the Gauss-Hermite coefficients $h_3$ and $h_4$), kinematic asymmetries $V_{\textrm{asym}}$ derived using kinemetry, and the observational spin parameter proxy $\lambda_{R_e}$. Of these, the mean $h_4$ is the only parameter found to have a significant correlation with environment as parametrised by group dynamical mass. This correlation exists even after accounting for age and stellar mass trends. We also find that satellite and central galaxies exhibit distinct dynamical behaviours, suggesting they are dynamically distinct classes. Finally, we confirm that variations in the spin parameter $\lambda_{R_e}$ are most strongly (anti-)correlated with age as seen in local studies, and show that this dependence is well-established by $z\sim0.3$.

We present a 1000 km transect of phase-sensitive radar measurements of ice thickness, basal reflection strength, basal melting and ice-column deformation across the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS). Measurements were gathered at varying intervals in austral summer between 2015 and 2020, connecting the grounding line with the distant ice shelf front. We identified changing basal reflection strengths revealing a variety of basal conditions influenced by ice flow and by ice–ocean interaction at the ice base. Reflection strength is lower across the central RIS, while strong reflections in the near-front and near-grounding line regions correspond with higher basal melt rates, up to 0.47 ± 0.02 m a−1 in the north. Melting from atmospherically warmed surface water extends 150–170 km south of the RIS front. Melt rates up to 0.29 ± 0.03 m a−1 and 0.15 ± 0.03 m a−1 are observed near the grounding lines of the Whillans and Kamb Ice Stream, respectively. Although troublesome to compare directly, our surface-based observations generally agree with the basal melt pattern provided by satellite-based methods but provide a distinctly smoother pattern. Our work delivers a precise measurement of basal melt rates across the RIS, a rare insight that also provides an early 21st-century baseline.