Background: Attitudes toward aging influence many health outcomes, yet their relationship with cognition and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains unknown. To better understand their impact on cognition and AD risk, we examined whether positive attitudes predict better cognition and diminished risk on AD biomarkers. Methods: A subsample of older adults with a family history of AD (n=54; women=39) from the McGill PREVENT-AD cohort participated in this study. Participants completed the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ-24), providing three scores: psychosocial loss, psychological growth and physical change. Participants underwent cognitive testing (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, RAVLT; Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System-Color Word Interference Test, D-KEFS-CWIT), and AD blood-based biomarker assessments (p-tau217, Aβ42/40). Regression models tested associations, adjusting for covariates (age, sex, education, depression, APOE4), and were Bonferroni corrected. Results: Positive attitudes were associated with better recall and recognition (RAVLT) and improved word reading, colour naming, switching, and inhibition (D-KEFS-CWIT) (p<0.00077), while negative attitudes showed the opposite pattern. Negative attitudes were correlated with lower Aβ42/40 ratios, while positive attitudes were linked to lower p-tau217 (p<0.0167). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that positive attitudes predict better cognition and a lower risk profile for AD biomarkers, suggesting that life outlook may be an early disease feature or a risk factor.

From early on, infants show a preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS), and exposure to IDS has been correlated with language outcome measures such as vocabulary. The present multi-laboratory study explores this issue by investigating whether there is a link between early preference for IDS and later vocabulary size. Infants’ preference for IDS was tested as part of the ManyBabies 1 project, and follow-up CDI data were collected from a subsample of this dataset at 18 and 24 months. A total of 341 (18 months) and 327 (24 months) infants were tested across 21 laboratories. In neither preregistered analyses with North American and UK English, nor exploratory analyses with a larger sample did we find evidence for a relation between IDS preference and later vocabulary. We discuss implications of this finding in light of recent work suggesting that IDS preference measured in the laboratory has low test-retest reliability.

The extremely toxic protein, ricin, is derived from castor beans and is a potential terrorist weapon. Adsorption to clays might minimize the environmental persistence and toxic effects of this toxin. Ricin adsorption to clay minerals was measured using batch adsorption isotherms. Enzyme-linked immunoassay methods were used to quantify aqueous ricin concentrations. Montmorillonite, sepiolite and palygorskite effectively adsorbed ricin from aqueous solutions and yielded mostly Langmuir-type isotherms. The monolayer adsorption capacity from a Langmuir equation fit at pH 7 was 444 g ricin/kg for montmorillonite (SWy-2), but was only 5.6 g ricin/kg for kaolinite (KGa-1b). Monolayer capacities for sepiolite (SepSp-1) and palygorskite (PFl-1) at pH 7 were 59.2 and 58.1 g ricin/kg. The high-charge montmorillonite (SAz-1) effectively adsorbed ricin at pH 7, but yielded a linear isotherm with K = 5530 L/kg. At pH 5, both montmorillonites (SWy-2 and SAz-1) yielded Langmuir-type isotherms with monolayer capacities of 694 and 641 g ricin/kg. Clay samples with higher cation exchange capacities generally adsorbed more ricin, but adsorption also followed specific surface area. X-ray diffraction of <2 μm SWy-2 treated with 470 g ricin/kg indicated expansion up to 34.6 Å at buffered pHs of 4 and 7, but not at pH 10. Furthermore, ricin adsorption was greatest at pH 4 and 7, but minimal at pH 10. Treatment with 1.41 kg of purified ricin/kg clay at pH 5 yielded a 35.3 Å peak and adsorption of ~1.2 kg ricin/kg. Similar treatment with lower-purity ricin yielded less expansion and lower adsorption. The 35.3 Å peak interpreted either as a d002 or d001 reflection indicates a 70.6 Å or a 35.3 Å ricin/SWy-2 complex. This implies that adsorption and air drying have compressed interlayer ricin molecules by 18 to 65%. Effective ricin adsorption by montmorillonite suggests that it could be used to minimize the toxic effects of dispersed ricin.

We present and evaluate the prospects for detecting coherent radio counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events using Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) triggered observations. The MWA rapid-response system, combined with its buffering mode ($\sim$4 min negative latency), enables us to catch any radio signals produced from seconds prior to hours after a binary neutron star (BNS) merger. The large field of view of the MWA ($\sim$$1\,000\,\textrm{deg}^2$ at 120 MHz) and its location under the high sensitivity sky region of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) detector network, forecast a high chance of being on-target for a GW event. We consider three observing configurations for the MWA to follow up GW BNS merger events, including a single dipole per tile, the full array, and four sub-arrays. We then perform a population synthesis of BNS systems to predict the radio detectable fraction of GW events using these configurations. We find that the configuration with four sub-arrays is the best compromise between sky coverage and sensitivity as it is capable of placing meaningful constraints on the radio emission from 12.6% of GW BNS detections. Based on the timescales of four BNS merger coherent radio emission models, we propose an observing strategy that involves triggering the buffering mode to target coherent signals emitted prior to, during or shortly following the merger, which is then followed by continued recording for up to three hours to target later time post-merger emission. We expect MWA to trigger on $\sim$$5-22$ BNS merger events during the LVK O4 observing run, which could potentially result in two detections of predicted coherent emission.

Changes in abundance and distribution of marine top predators can indicate environmental change or anthropogenic pressure requiring management response. Here, we used an extensive dataset (21 years) to conduct a spatial and temporal analysis of grey seal strandings in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, close to the southern edge of the breeding range of the species. A total of 2007 strandings were reported from 2000 to 2020, increasing by 474% from 35 to 201 individuals per year during this period. The continued rise in strandings was consistent across all life stages and timeframes (5, 10 and 20 years), underpinning the suggestion of increasing abundance in the region. The observed seasonality differed by life stage, coinciding with the increased presence of animals near the coast for key life phases such as breeding, moulting and pupping. Strandings are widely distributed across the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; however, most strandings were recorded on the north coast of Cornwall (70%) where major pupping and haul out sites are found. Despite hosting several pupping and haul out sites, a small proportion was recorded on the Isles of Scilly (5%) where it is thought that strandings are particularly underreported. Describing baselines in magnitude of strandings and life-stage compositions across space and time allows future deviations in frequency, demographic composition or spatial distribution to be detected and investigated. We demonstrate the utility of long-term citizen science data to provide valuable and cost-effective information on the distribution and abundance of a highly mobile marine mammal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has been a leader in weed science research covering topics ranging from the development and use of integrated weed management (IWM) tactics to basic mechanistic studies, including biotic resistance of desirable plant communities and herbicide resistance. ARS weed scientists have worked in agricultural and natural ecosystems, including agronomic and horticultural crops, pastures, forests, wild lands, aquatic habitats, wetlands, and riparian areas. Through strong partnerships with academia, state agencies, private industry, and numerous federal programs, ARS weed scientists have made contributions to discoveries in the newest fields of robotics and genetics, as well as the traditional and fundamental subjects of weed–crop competition and physiology and integration of weed control tactics and practices. Weed science at ARS is often overshadowed by other research topics; thus, few are aware of the long history of ARS weed science and its important contributions. This review is the result of a symposium held at the Weed Science Society of America’s 62nd Annual Meeting in 2022 that included 10 separate presentations in a virtual Weed Science Webinar Series. The overarching themes of management tactics (IWM, biological control, and automation), basic mechanisms (competition, invasive plant genetics, and herbicide resistance), and ecosystem impacts (invasive plant spread, climate change, conservation, and restoration) represent core ARS weed science research that is dynamic and efficacious and has been a significant component of the agency’s national and international efforts. This review highlights current studies and future directions that exemplify the science and collaborative relationships both within and outside ARS. Given the constraints of weeds and invasive plants on all aspects of food, feed, and fiber systems, there is an acknowledged need to face new challenges, including agriculture and natural resources sustainability, economic resilience and reliability, and societal health and well-being.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, navigating the implementation of public health measures in a politically charged environment for a large state entity was challenging. However, Louisiana State University (LSU) leadership developed and deployed an effective, multi-layered mitigation plan and successfully opened in-person learning while managing cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the fourth surge. We describe the plan to provide a framework for other institutions during this and future responses. The goals were 3-fold: maintain a quality learning environment, mitigate risk to the campus community, and ensure that LSU operations did not contribute to health-care stress. As of September 2022, LSU has achieved high compliance with interventions and relatively low virus activity on campus compared with peer institutions. This university model can serve as a template for similar implementation plans in the context of complex socio-political and economic considerations.

Over the last 25 years, radiowave detection of neutrino-generated signals, using cold polar ice as the neutrino target, has emerged as perhaps the most promising technique for detection of extragalactic ultra-high energy neutrinos (corresponding to neutrino energies in excess of 0.01 Joules, or 1017 electron volts). During the summer of 2021 and in tandem with the initial deployment of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G), we conducted radioglaciological measurements at Summit Station, Greenland to refine our understanding of the ice target. We report the result of one such measurement, the radio-frequency electric field attenuation length $L_\alpha$. We find an approximately linear dependence of $L_\alpha$ on frequency with the best fit of the average field attenuation for the upper 1500 m of ice: $\langle L_\alpha \rangle = ( ( 1154 \pm 121) - ( 0.81 \pm 0.14) \, ( \nu /{\rm MHz}) ) \,{\rm m}$ for frequencies ν ∈ [145 − 350] MHz.