The COVID-19 pandemic challenged older adults’ health behaviours, making it even more difficult to engage in healthy diets and physical activity than it had been prepandemic. A resource to promote these could be social support. This study uses data from 136 older adults (Mage = 71.39 years, SD = 5.15, range: 63–87) who reported their daily fruit and vegetable consumption, steps, and health-behaviour-specific support from a close other every evening for up to 10 consecutive days. Findings show that on days when participants reported more emotional support than usual, fruit and vegetable consumption and step counts were higher. Daily instrumental support was positively associated with step counts, only. Participants receiving more overall emotional support across the study period consumed more fruit and vegetables; no parallel person-level association was found for overall steps. There were no significant interactions between dyad type and support links for our outcomes.

This study investigated everyday associations between one key facet of mindfulness (allocating attention to the present moment) and pain. In Study 1, 89 community-dwelling adults (33–88 years; Mage = 68.6) who had experienced a stroke provided 14 daily end-of-day present-moment awareness and pain ratings. In Study 2, 100 adults (50–85 years; Mage = 67.0 years) provided momentary present-moment awareness and pain ratings three times daily for 10 days. Multi-level models showed that higher trait present-moment awareness was linked with lower overall pain (both studies). In Study 1, participants reported less pain on days on which they indicated higher present-moment awareness. In Study 2, only individuals with no post-secondary education reported less pain in moments when they indicated higher present-moment awareness. Findings add to previous research using global retrospective pain measures by showing that present-moment awareness might correlate with reduced pain experiences, assessed close in time to when they occur.

Less is known about the relationship between conduct disorder (CD), callous–unemotional (CU) traits, and positive and negative parenting in youth compared to early childhood. We combined traditional univariate analyses with a novel machine learning classifier (Angle-based Generalized Matrix Learning Vector Quantization) to classify youth (N = 756; 9–18 years) into typically developing (TD) or CD groups with or without elevated CU traits (CD/HCU, CD/LCU, respectively) using youth- and parent-reports of parenting behavior. At the group level, both CD/HCU and CD/LCU were associated with high negative and low positive parenting relative to TD. However, only positive parenting differed between the CD/HCU and CD/LCU groups. In classification analyses, performance was best when distinguishing CD/HCU from TD groups and poorest when distinguishing CD/HCU from CD/LCU groups. Positive and negative parenting were both relevant when distinguishing CD/HCU from TD, negative parenting was most relevant when distinguishing between CD/LCU and TD, and positive parenting was most relevant when distinguishing CD/HCU from CD/LCU groups. These findings suggest that while positive parenting distinguishes between CD/HCU and CD/LCU, negative parenting is associated with both CD subtypes. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple parenting behaviors in CD with varying levels of CU traits in late childhood/adolescence.

This is a retrospective study over a 5-year period. In total, 3139 embryos were individually cryopreserved (Cryotop®) and warmed using the Kitazato vitrification/warming kit. They were classified into three categories based on their expansion degree. Transfer, implantation and pregnancy rates were assessed for each embryo category and compared using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. In total, 1139 couples enrolled in infertility treatment programme benefitted from embryo vitrification at day 5. After warming, embryos belonging to the three categories showed similar success rates. Although there was a trend towards better outcomes when grade 3 embryos were transferred, the differences did not reach statistical significance: implantation rates (n fetal sac/n embryo transferred) grade 1: 21.9%, grade 2: 22.7% and grade 3: 30.3% (=0.19). Pregnancy rate (n clinical pregnancy/n transfer) (21.9%, 22.7%, 30.3%, respectively; P=0.11). Miscarriage rate was not statistically different in the three categories (14.5%, 20.4%, 20%, respectively, P=0.51). Our overall results show that it is worth vitrifying slow kinetics embryos as they provide a non-negligible chance to give rise to a pregnancy.

Here we evaluated the effect of fermented milk supplemented with whey protein (approximately 80 % protein), probiotic (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB12) and pomegranate juice (Punica granatum L.) on the physical performance, intestinal motility and villi structure, inflammatory markers and intestinal microbiota of rats under high-intensity acute exercise. In all, twenty-four Wistar rats were separated into groups: control (Ctrl), supplemented (Supp), exercised (Exe) and exercised and supplemented (Exe+Supp). Rats in the Supp groups received fermented milk during 6 weeks by oral administration. At the end of the supplementation period, the Exe groups were submitted to high-intensity acute exercise on a treadmill. We found that intense acute exercise caused changes in the intestinal villi interspace, changes in the proportion of Lactobacillus species and an increase in Clostridium species, as well as a decrease in intestinal motility. Supplementation increased intestinal motility, and maintained the intestinal villi interspace and the natural microbiota proportions of the exercised rats. Physical performance was not improved by fermented milk supplementation. We conclude that the fermented milk containing whey protein, B. animalis (BB12) and pomegranate juice can re-establish intestinal microbiota and protect the animals from the undesirable effects of intense acute exercise.

Although resource specialization occurs along a continuum, species are often defined as either specialists or generalists. In general, specialists are more prone to extinction than generalists and, thus, are often the first species to be lost when habitats are modified. The two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) and the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) are arboreal herbivores distributed across the Neotropics. The two-toed sloth is considered a generalist while the three-toed sloth is more specialized. Both species inhabit shade-grown agro-ecosystems but, at least at one study site, only the two-toed sloth was viable. To quantify specialization in sloth species and explore how it influences population viability, we characterized the resource use for 68 adult and 12 subadult sloths across 3 y. The two-toed sloth used 14 tree species relatively uniformly across habitats, while the three-toed sloth largely depended on only two species of tree regardless of habitat type. Both species selected for patches of intact tropical forest, strongly avoided monocultures regardless of spatial scale and generally used cocoa similarly in proportion to availability. However, the sloth species differed in their use of cattle pastures, with the two-toed sloth selecting for pastures and the three-toed sloth avoiding them. Overall, the two-toed sloth exhibited greater plasticity in tree and habitat use, which is likely contributing to its enhanced resilience within this modified agro-ecosystem.

Cytoadherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to melanoma cells was analysed using strains or isolates of parasites expressing or not expressing knobs (K+ or K− phenotype) on the erythrocyte surface. Both K+ and K− parasites had the capacity to cytoadhere to melanoma cells. Using a panel of melanoma cell lines with different surface expression of the cytoadherence receptors CD36, thrombospondin and ICAM-1 indicated that CD36 was the major receptor for parasites of both K+ and K− phenotypes. Binding competition experiments between K+ and K−-infected erythrocytes suggested that K+ cytoadherence is of higher affinity than that of K− parasites. However, some K− cytoadherence was also found in isolates containing mixed populations of K+ and K− parasites. The interaction of the two types of infected erythrocytes with melanoma cells also differed ultrastructurally, erythrocytes of K+ phenotype showing intimate interdigitations with microvilli on the melanoma cells, while erythrocytes of K− phenotype displayed more separated interactions with fewer sites of contact and involving only a few melanoma cell microvilli. One and the same infected erythrocyte may co-express the ligand for CD36-mediated cytoadherence and the structures mediating binding of uninfected erythrocytes to form rosettes.

There is a severe shortage of knowledge of bee biogeography. Some former studies have highlighted a link between bee diversity and xeric ecosystems, but we know practically nothing of the macro-ecological factors driving bee diversity. The present study aims to analyse the main macro-ecological factors driving bee species-richness in the Saharan region. Our dataset includes 25,000+ records for localities in Africa, between 37° and 10°N. Maps and GIS were used to get a first overview of the distribution of the studied taxa. Partial least squares analysis (PLS) was used to study the impact of a set of ecological factors on the bee species richness (SR). The mapping highlighted the clustering of the highest bee SR values in some parts of the Saharan area (e.g. Maghreb, western Africa). In Central Sahara, there is an obvious topological coincidence of the high SR, the local mountain chains and the inland waters. The PLS helped to quantify the relationships between bee SR and a set of eco-climatic variables. It also highlighted a residual variance not explained by the considered descriptors. Our results recover the tight link between bee SR and xeric ecosystems. They also suggest that, within these ecosystems, bee SR is driven by an optimum of the energy-water balance (on which adjustment is allowed by the above gradients).

Given that numerous amphibians are suffering population declines, it is becoming increasingly important to examine the relationship between disease and environmental disturbance. Indeed, while many studies relate anthropogenic activity to changes in the parasitism of snails and fishes, little is known of the impact on the parasites of amphibians, particularly from agriculture. For 2 years, the parasite communities of metamorphic northern leopard frogs from 7 agricultural wetlands were compared with those from 2 reference wetlands to study differences in parasite community diversity and abundance of various species under pristine conditions and 3 categories of disturbance: only agricultural landscape, only pesticides, and agricultural landscape with pesticides. Agricultural (and urban) area was negatively related to species richness, and associated with the near absence of adult parasites and species that infect birds or mammals. We suggest that agriculture and urbanization may hinder parasite transmission to frogs by limiting access of other vertebrate hosts of their parasites to wetlands. The only parasite found at all localities was an unidentified echinostome infecting the kidneys. This parasite dominated communities in localities surrounded by the most agricultural land, suggesting generalist parasites may persist in disrupted habitats. Community composition was associated with dissolved organic carbon and conductivity, but few links were found with pesticides. Pollution effects may be masked by a strong impact of land use on parasite transmission.

We report on the current status of radial velocity surveys for white dwarf binaries (double degenerates DDs) including SPY (ESO Supernovae la progenitor survey) recently carried out at the VLT. A large sample of DD will allow us to put strong constraints on the phases of close binary evolution of the progenitor systems and to perform an observational test of the DD scenario for Supernovae of type Ia.

Amorphous irondisilicide thin films were deposited on silicon substrates in a RF sputtering process, followed by rapid thermal crystallization by means of moving the thin film beneath a line-shaped electron beam to form β-FeSi2. Depending on the deposition process parameters, films of a different stoichiometry can be produced. The deviations from the 1:2 stoichiometry, which have been determined by Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), are related to changes in the microstructure (studied by microscopic methods like TEM and AFM), the infrared phonon spectra (measured by FTIR spectroscopy) and the electrical properties of the crystallized films. The microstructure of the iron disilicide thin films is improved when the composition significantly deviates from 2.0, probably due to silicon interstitials in the silicide thin film. Films of different stoichiometry result in p- or n-type thin films with carrier densities below 5×1018cm−3 and hall mobilities up to 180cm 2/Vs. First results show that not only β-FeSi2-siliconheterojunctions as reported before but also pn-β-FeSi2-homojunctions show rectifying behavior. Rapid thermal processing with the line electron beam leads to a further improvement of the film quality when the scan velocity is increased up to the order of several cm/s.