The Romans were among the first societies to extensively exploit fish resources, establishing large-scale salting and preservation plants where small pelagic fish were fermented to produce sauces such as garum. Here, the authors demonstrate that, despite being crushed and exposed to acidic conditions, usable DNA can be recovered from ichthyological residues at the bottom of fish-salting vats. At third-century AD Adro Vello (O Grove), Galicia, they confirm the use of European sardines (Sardina pilchardus) and move beyond morphology to explore population range and admixture and reveal the potential of this overlooked archaeological resource.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) poses significant health risks and is prevalent in children and adolescents in India. This study aimed to determine the effect of seasonal variation and availability of vitamin A-rich (VA-rich) foods on serum retinol in adolescents. Data on serum retinol levels from adolescents (n 2297, mean age 14 years) from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (2016–2018) in India were analysed, with VAD defined as serum retinol < 0·7 µmol/L. Five states were selected based on a comparable under-five mortality rate and the seasonal spread of the data collection period. Dietary data from adolescents and children ≤ 4 years old were used to assess VA-rich food consumption. A linear mixed model framework was employed to analyse the relationship between serum retinol, month of the year and VA-rich food consumption, with a priori ranking to control for multiple hypothesis testing. Consumption of VA-rich foods, particularly fruits and vegetables/roots and tubers, showed seasonal patterns, with higher consumption during summer and monsoon months. Significant associations were found between serum retinol concentrations and age, month of sampling, consumption of VA-rich foods and fish. VAD prevalence was lowest in August, coinciding with higher consumption of VA-rich fruits and foods. Findings highlight the importance of considering seasonality in assessing VAD prevalence and careful interpretation of survey findings. Intentional design, analysis and reporting of surveys to capture seasonal variation is crucial for accurate assessment and interpretation of VAD prevalence, including during monitoring and evaluation of programmes, and to ensure that public health strategies are appropriately informed.

Recent changes to US research funding are having far-reaching consequences that imperil the integrity of science and the provision of care to vulnerable populations. Resisting these changes, the BJPsych Portfolio reaffirms its commitment to publishing mental science and advancing psychiatric knowledge that improves the mental health of one and all.

We examined theoretically, experimentally and numerically the origin of the acoustothermal effect using a standing surface acoustic wave-actuated sessile water droplet system. Despite a wealth of experimental studies and a few recent theoretical explorations, a profound understanding of the acoustothermal mechanism remains elusive. This study bridges the existing knowledge gap by pinpointing the fundamental causes of acoustothermal heating. Theory broadly applicable to any acoustofluidic system at arbitrary Reynolds numbers, going beyond the regular perturbation analysis, is presented. Relevant parameters responsible for the phenomenon are identified and an exact closed-form expression delineating the underlining mechanism is presented. We also examined the impact of viscosity on acoustothermal phenomena by modelling temperature profiles in sessile glycerol–water droplets, underscoring its crucial role in modulating the acoustic field and shaping the resulting acoustothermal profile. Furthermore, an analogy between the acoustothermal effect and the electromagnetic heating is drawn, thereby deepening the understanding of the acoustothermal process.

The path navigation of robot in an entirely known space is presented by various researchers in the recent times. The navigational complexity arises when a robot moves in a completely unknown and complex environment from one defined start to a designated desired location. As the success of the nature-inspired algorithms in the unclear navigational problem is better, therefore, an improved butterfly optimization algorithm (IBOA) to determine the optimal feasible path for a humanoid robot navigating through a platform cluttered with both known and unfamiliar barriers is presented in this study. The BOA is inspired by the food-gathering habits of butterflies, where the sense of smell is the vital parameter in the global optimal search. However, the performance of this technique in the complex environment is poor, as a result, the chances of being trapped in local minima are more. Hence, the BOA is improved by using a nonlinear weight reduction strategy in updating the position of the butterflies in every iteration. The simulation is carried out in the Webots platform by considering variable-legged robot, NAO, in an unfamiliar environment. The outcomes derived from the simulation and real assessments demonstrate the potential of the proposed technique and compare with other existing algorithms, which highlights the potential and efficacy of the proposed IBOA algorithm.

The stars of the Milky Way carry the chemical history of our Galaxy in their atmospheres as they journey through its vast expanse. Like barcodes, we can extract the chemical fingerprints of stars from high-resolution spectroscopy. The fourth data release (DR4) of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) Survey, based on a decade of observations, provides the chemical abundances of up to 32 elements for 917 588 stars that also have exquisite astrometric data from the Gaia satellite. For the first time, these elements include life-essential nitrogen to complement carbon, and oxygen as well as more measurements of rare-earth elements critical to modern-life electronics, offering unparalleled insights into the chemical composition of the Milky Way. For this release, we use neural networks to simultaneously fit stellar parameters and abundances across the whole wavelength range, leveraging synthetic grids computed with Spectroscopy Made Easy. These grids account for atomic line formation in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium for 14 elements. In a two-iteration process, we first fit stellar labels to all 1 085 520 spectra, then co-add repeated observations and refine these labels using astrometric data from Gaia and 2MASS photometry, improving the accuracy and precision of stellar parameters and abundances. Our validation thoroughly assesses the reliability of spectroscopic measurements and highlights key caveats. GALAH DR4 represents yet another milestone in Galactic archaeology, combining detailed chemical compositions from multiple nucleosynthetic channels with kinematic information and age estimates. The resulting dataset, covering nearly a million stars, opens new avenues for understanding not only the chemical and dynamical history of the Milky Way but also the broader questions of the origin of elements and the evolution of planets, stars, and galaxies.

Here, we present a comprehensive morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis of Clinostomum sp. (Digenea: Clinostomidae) metacercariae parasitizing two freshwater fish species from Southeast Brazil: Serrasalmus spilopleura (piranha) and Callichthys callichthys (tambuatá). The morphological examination revealed distinct characteristics of metacercariae in each host. Using the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene barcode region, we obtained DNA sequences that allowed for accurate phylogenetic placement. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Clinostomum sp. HM41 (metacercariae), isolated from S. spilopleura, exhibited 86% similarity to Ithyoclinostomum yamagutii, while Clinostomum sp. HM125 (metacercariae), from C. callichthys, showed 98.7% similarity to Clinostomum sp. Cr_Ha1. The phylogenetic trees constructed through Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood methods indicated high biodiversity within the Clinostomum genus and strong support for distinct lineages. These findings enhance our understanding of the diversity and ecological distribution of Clinostomum species in South American freshwater environments.

Background: Most people living with dementia rely on their family members for the care and support they need. However, unpaid care can lead to multiple negative impacts on the wellbeing and mental health of carers.

Objectives: The Objectives of this study was to evaluate the effects of iSupport-Brasil (an online, psychoeducational program) on perceptions of burden and on the mental health of informal caregivers of people living with dementia.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was carried out from January 2023 to April 2024 in Brazil. A total of 162 individuals were randomly allocated to an intervention group (IG) (n = 77) or a control group (CG) (n = 85). The IG had free access to the iSupport-Brasil platform for three months. Simultaneously, the CG participants were provided with a link to access the Brazilian Alzheimer’s Association website and a copy of the “Care Guide for Older People”, published by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were carried out using measures of burden (a single-item Burden Scale and the Zarit Burden Interview – ZBI), and of anxiety and depressive symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - HADS).

Results: Based on an intention-to-treat analysis, a reduction in anxiety symptoms was observed for the IG (p = 0.02). Based on a per-protocol analysis, significant reductions in burden (p <0.01) and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01) were found for the IG. No significant effects were found for depressive symptoms, although scores decreased. For the CG, the regression model indicated that, on average, burden and depressive symptoms worsened somewhat, but this result was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The iSupport-Brasil program was effective in reducing perceptions of burden and anxiety symptoms among informal caregivers in Brazil. Therefore, we recommended that informal caregivers of people living with dementia use this program to help them broaden their interpersonal coping strategies and improve their emotional health, in addition to using mainstream long-term care support services.

Background: The Cognitive Domains and Functional Assessment Questionnaire (CDFAQ) assess cognitive and functional decline based on the DSM-5 criteria for Neurocognitive Disorders. Its accuracy has been assessed and was translated and validated into English. The informant version (CDFAQ-IV) is a 30-item questionnaire that assesses six cognitive domains with 5 items each: Complex Attention (CA), Executive Functions (EF), Learning and

Memory (LM), Language (L), Perceptual-Motor (PM) and Social Cognition. The development of CDFAQ-IV was based on theDSM-5 cognitive domains, but its factor analysis has not been done yet.

Objectives: To perform a Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the CDFAQ-IV to assess the six-factor cognitive domain model.

Methods: Older adults and their informants were invited to participate in this study. The CDFAQ-IV was applied in 292 older adults’ informants. We used the JASP for a Confirmatory Factor Analysis based on Lavaan R Packages. The confirmatory factor analysis was chosen to manual six-factor model. This study was approved by the ethics committee of UFMG.

Results: Concerning model fitness in the confirmatory factor analysis the X2 was significant (p < .001), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) was .059 (accepted < .08) and the goodness of fit index (GFI) .984 (accepted > .9). However, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was marginal to the accepted fitness .066 (accepted < .06) and the comparative fit index CFI was .839 under the accepted cutoff (accepted > .9).

Conclusions: The six-factor model of the showed a good fit for three parameters, marginal for one and negative for the CFI. These results point to a convergence of the questionnaire and factors the DSM-5 cognitive domains. These are still preliminary results and we aim to increase our sample to further assess the confirmatory factor analysis.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened biomes globally. Data from monitoring programs are necessary to evaluate the conservation status of species, prioritise conservation actions and to evaluate the effectiveness of these actions. Birds are particularly well represented in citizen-collected datasets that are used worldwide in ecological and conservation studies. Here, we analyse presence-only data from three online citizen science datasets of Atlantic Forest endemic bird species to evaluate whether the representation of these species was correlated with their global threat status, range and estimated abundance. We conclude that even though species are over- and under-represented with regard to their presumed abundance, data collected by citizen scientists can be used to infer species distribution and, to a lesser degree, species abundance. This pattern holds true for species across global threat status.

Information related to the climate, sowing time, harvest, and crop development is essential for defining appropriate strategies for agricultural activities, which helps both producers and responsible bodies. Paraná, the second largest soybean producer in Brazil, has high climatic variability, which greatly influences planting, harvesting, and crop productivity periods. Therefore, the objective of this study was to regionalize the state of Paraná, considering decennial metrics associated with climate variables and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) during the soybean cycle. Individual and global analyses of these metrics were conducted performed using multivariate techniques. These analyses were carried out in agricultural scenarios with low, medium, and high precipitation, corresponding to harvest years 2011/2012, 2013/2014, and 2015/2016, respectively. The results obtained from the scores of the retained factors and the cluster analysis were the profile of the groups, with Group 1 presenting more favourable climatic and agronomic conditions for the development of soybean crops for the three harvest years. The opposite occurred for Groups 2 (2011/2012 and 2013/2014) and Group 3 (2015/2016). During the soybean reproductive phases (R2 – R5), precipitation values were inadequate, especially for Group 2 (2011/2012 and 2013/2014) with high water deficit, resulting in a drop in soybean productivity. The climatic and agronomic regionalization of Paraná made it possible to identify the regions most suitable for growing soybeans, the effect of climatic conditions on phenological stages, and the variability of soybean productivity in the three harvest years.

We present the Sydney Radio Star Catalogue, a new catalogue of stars detected at megahertz to gigahertz radio frequencies. It consists of 839 unique stars with 3 405 radio detections, more than doubling the previously known number of radio stars. We have included stars from large area searches for radio stars found using circular polarisation searches, cross-matching, variability searches, and proper motion searches as well as presenting hundreds of newly detected stars from our search of Australian SKA Pathfinder observations. The focus of this first version of the catalogue is on objects detected in surveys using SKA precursor and pathfinder instruments; however, we will expand this scope in future versions. The 839 objects in the Sydney Radio Star Catalogue are distributed across the whole sky and range from ultracool dwarfs to Wolf-Rayet stars. We demonstrate that the radio luminosities of cool dwarfs are lower than the radio luminosities of more evolved sub-giant and giant stars. We use X-ray detections of 530 radio stars by the eROSITA soft X-ray instrument onboard the Spectrum Roentgen Gamma spacecraft to show that almost all of the radio stars in the catalogue are over-luminous in the radio, indicating that the majority of stars at these radio frequencies are coherent radio emitters. The Sydney Radio Star Catalogue can be found in Vizier or at https://radiostars.org.

Dioctophyme renale, the giant kidney worm, is a nematode related to Trichuris sp and is distributed worldwide. These parasites locate in the kidney of their definitive hosts (mainly belonging to the order Carnivora) and have an indirect life cycle with an annelid as the main intermediate host. Humans are rarely affected, but in those that are, 1 or both kidneys are destroyed. In South America, D. renale is widespread in riparian regions where changing climatic conditions, environmental degradation, and compromised sanitation are increasing the risk of distribution of this parasite, including humans. Here, we provide the descriptions of the genetic diversity of the parasite in the region by analysing 73 adult D. renale samples collected from domestic and wild carnivores. The most common hosts were (Canis lupus familiaris) and maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus Fam. Canidae) among domestic and wild carnivores, respectively. This work shows the descriptions of the genetic diversity of this parasite complementing molecular methods and classical and probabilistic phylogeography. Our results strongly suggest that this parasite has been present on the continent long enough to develop local genetic variants. Also, the phylogenies show transmission between localities and bidirectional transmission between domestic and wild species. We now have new tools to understand the ecological dynamics of this parasite such as molecular markers to study its genetic diversity as well as for identification and reporting in cryptic cases.

Control over the legislative messaging agenda has important political, electoral and policy consequences. Existing models of congressional agenda-setting suggest that national polarization drives the agenda. At the same time, models of home style and formal models of leadership hypothesize that legislators shift their messaging as they balance coordination and information problems. We say the coordination problem dominates when conditions incentivize legislators to agree on the same message rather than fail to reach consensus. Conversely, the information problem is said to dominate in circumstances where legislators prefer to say nothing at all rather than reach consensus on the wrong political message. Formal theories predict that when coordination problems are pressing, legislative members follow the policy positions of party leaders. When their party’s information problem is acute, party members instead rely on the wisdom of the caucus to set the party’s agenda. To test these theories, we analyze the Twitter accounts of U.S. House members with a Joint Sentiment Topic model, generating a new understanding of House leadership power. Our analyses reveal complex leader-follower relationships. Party leaders possess the power to substantially affect the propensity of rank-and-file members to discuss topics, especially when the coordination problem dominates; these effects are pronounced even when coordination problems are pressing. That said, when the underlying politics are unclear, rank-and-file members exert influence on the discussion of a topic because the information problem is more acute. At the same time and for these uncertain topics, leadership influence decreases, consistent with theory. We show these results are robust to the underlying dynamics of contemporary political discussion and context, including leading explanations for party leadership power, such as national polarization.

Rhabdias are lung-dwelling parasites of anurans and some reptiles. Currently, 93 species are known to exist worldwide. The identification of Rhabdias species is based mainly on morphological traits of hermaphroditic females that generally have a very conserved morphology. However, different approaches, such as the combination of morphological, molecular, and ecological data, have provided advances in identifying and delimiting rhabdiasid species. Here, we describe a new species of Rhabdias from the south of Brazil, with morphological and molecular data. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having an elongated body, evident cephalic dilation, larger buccal capsule, and large esophagus. In addition to morphological characteristics, we observed significant genetic divergence among the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence of the new species and the closest available sequence, Rhabdias fuelleborni (10.24%–10.87%). Furthermore, phylogenetic reconstructions based on the COI gene indicated that the new species represents a different lineage, constituting an outgroup of the species complexes Rhabdias cf. stenocephala and Rhabdias fuelleborni with Rhabdias sp. 4. Thus, Rhabdias megacephala is the 24th nominal species of the Neotropical region, the 14th Brazilian, and the fourth species described from south of Brazil.

The occurrence of dyslipidaemia, which is an established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, has been attributed to multiple factors including genetic and environmental factors. We used a genetic risk score (GRS) to assess the interactions between genetic variants and dietary factors on lipid-related traits in a cross-sectional study of 190 Brazilians (mean age: 21 ± 2 years). Dietary intake was assessed by a trained nutritionist using three 24-h dietary recalls. The high GRS was significantly associated with increased concentration of TAG (beta = 0·10 mg/dl, 95 % CI 0·05–0·16; P < 0·001), LDL-cholesterol (beta = 0·07 mg/dl, 95 % CI 0·04, 0·11; P < 0·0001), total cholesterol (beta = 0·05 mg/dl, 95 % CI: 0·03, 0·07; P < 0·0001) and the ratio of TAG to HDL-cholesterol (beta = 0·09 mg/dl, 95 % CI: 0·03, 0·15; P = 0·002). Significant interactions were found between the high GRS and total fat intake on TAG:HDL-cholesterol ratio (Pinteraction = 0·03) and between the high GRS and SFA intake on TAG:HDL-cholesterol ratio (Pinteraction = 0·03). A high intake of total fat (>31·5 % of energy) and SFA (>8·6 % of energy) was associated with higher TAG:HDL-cholesterol ratio in individuals with the high GRS (beta = 0·14, 95 % CI: 0·06, 0·23; P < 0·001 for total fat intake; beta = 0·13, 95 % CI: 0·05, 0·22; P = 0·003 for SFA intake). Our study provides evidence that the genetic risk of high TAG:HDL-cholesterol ratio might be modulated by dietary fat intake in Brazilians, and these individuals might benefit from limiting their intake of total fat and SFA.