Over the twentieth century, various types of synthetic fibers were invented, mass-produced, and widely distributed across the globe. This article analyzes the political power that was exercised to generate this innovation in musical instrument industries. Synthetics also contributed to the growth of the global garment, textile, sporting goods, and military industries, among many others. This article specifically discusses the politics behind the transition from the use of silk to nylon during the World War II and Cold War eras. Modern cultural industry's tendency in the mid- to late twentieth century to favor synthetic and other “man-made” fibers over natural ones was importantly shaped by political-economic—and political-ecological—conflicts between the United States and Japan, especially during World War II. These conflicts prepared the ground for the rise of global capitalism's synthetic regime.

The maternal restraint stress animal model is based on a long-term stress paradigm administered to pregnant maternal animals, and these offspring have been shown to exhibit a variety of biochemical defects including obesity. This study aimed to investigate whether maternal restraint stress affects obesity-associated changes in offspring intestinal microbiota and the adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

Pregnant mice were subjected to restraint stress three times daily from gestational Day12 to delivery. Changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota of mothers (during pregnancy and lactation) and their lactating offspring exposed to maternal restraint stress were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. Maternal stress altered the maternal microbiota, with reduced Bacteroidetes and increased Firmicutes. While similar trends were observed in offspring, these changes were not statistically significant. However, maternal stress notably reduced microbial diversity in the offspring’s intestinal microbiota. Bone marrow-derived MSCs from offspring at weaning were analyzed for adipogenic transcription factors and hormone receptor expression using quantitative PCR. Maternal stress enhanced the adipogenic phenotype of offspring MSCs, as evidenced by increased expression of adipogenic markers (PPARγ, leptin receptor) and a reduced osteogenic phenotype. In vitro induction further confirmed the higher adipocyte differentiation potential in stressed offspring MSCs compared to controls.

Our results revealed that maternal restraint stress altered the maternal intestinal microbiota, leading to reduced microbial diversity in offspring, predisposing their MSCs toward an adipocyte phenotype. These finding suggest that modulating the intestinal microbiota of stressed pregnant women may improve the susceptibility to obesity in their children.

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.

We join a growing body of literature suggesting that the languages people speak influence their decision-making. We tested whether dropping the first-person pronoun “I” affects pro-social behavior in a dictator game-like setting. To this end, we conducted an online randomized, incentivized experiment with a socially representative sample of 2000 Japanese respondents. We provide compelling causal evidence that pronoun dropping reduces pro-sociality. Given that our results provide little empirical support for previous research findings linking first-person pronoun use and lower pro-sociality, we prescribe caution in using languages as a proxy for culture in several cross-country empirical studies in economics.

In the last decades, research from cognitive science, clinical psychology, psychiatry, and social neuroscience has provided mounting evidence that several social cognitive abilities are impaired in people with schizophrenia and contribute to functional difficulties and poor clinical outcomes. Social dysfunction is a hallmark of the illness, and yet, social cognition is seldom assessed in clinical practice or targeted for treatment. In this article, 17 international experts, from three different continents and six countries with expertise in social cognition and social neuroscience in schizophrenia, convened several meetings to provide clinicians with a summary of the most recent international research on social cognition evaluation and treatment in schizophrenia, and to lay out primary recommendations and procedures that can be integrated into their practice. Given that many extant measures used to assess social cognition have been developed in North America or Western Europe, this article is also a call for researchers and clinicians to validate instruments internationally and we provide preliminary guidance for the adaptation and use of social cognitive measures in clinical and research evaluations internationally. This effort will assist promoting scientific rigor, enhanced clinical practice, and will help propel international scientific research and collaboration and patient care.

This case is a 4-month-old patient with Kawasaki disease who showed coronary artery lesions after a disease relapse. Following the guidelines from the Randomised Controlled Trial to Assess Immunoglobulin plus Steroid Efficacy, the patient initially saw an improvement in symptoms. However, a relapse occurred despite low levels of C-reactive protein, leading to significant coronary artery growth. Treatment with a third dose of intravenous immunoglobulin and cyclosporine led to a slow reduction in the size of the coronary artery abnormalities. This case highlights the difficulty in monitoring Kawasaki disease progression through clinical symptoms and C-reactive protein levels alone. We also emphasise the necessity of echocardiographic monitoring in patients receiving anti-inflammatory treatments, including steroids, because coronary artery problems can arise or continue without the usual signs of Kawasaki disease or increased C-reactive protein levels.

Coronary artery compression by a dilated pulmonary artery is a rare complication in patients with tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve. We present a case in which this condition manifested at two months of age, with ventricular fibrillation as the initial symptom of myocardial ischaemia. It is important to recognise that this potentially fatal complication can occur in early infancy.

Mental health services in Japan are fully integrated into the broader healthcare system, and patients have access to a wide range of services and specialists. In addition, psychiatry services are part of comprehensive mental healthcare that provides social support to address the whole person's needs. However, there are still challenges in the mental health system in Japan, including overuse of hospital beds and coercive practices such as involuntary admission, restraint and seclusion. This article will explore the current state of mental health services, the challenges the country still faces and the efforts being made to address these challenges.

This paper focuses on people's attitudes towards democracy and authoritarian regimes in Myanmar and whether the extent to which they prefer democracy is moderated by the severity of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. If people view the authoritarian regime's capacity to take swift action favourably, their opposition to it may be lower. We explored this hypothesis by conducting a survey of 756 individuals in Myanmar in June 2022 that incorporated a vignette experiment. A hypothetical scenario of Myanmar society in 2023 was presented with a two-by-two design – the conditions of the government (election is restored or not) and the pandemic situation (good or bad) were randomly varied, and the respondents were asked to report their favourability of the hypothetical scenario. The results reveal: (1) regardless of the pandemic condition, respondents prefer democracy to authoritarian regimes by a wide margin; and (2) the extent to which democracy is preferred is lower when the COVID-19 condition is more severe. Similar results were obtained from supplementary analyses using a conjoint experiment.

The current study aimed to investigate the effects of ageing on oral immunity using β-defensin (DEFB) 1/2 as a marker and evaluate the effects of curcumin (CUR) on these processes. The study sample included thirty male C57BL/6J mice divided into three groups based on the treatment method used. The young control (YC) and old control (OC) groups received 0·5 % methylcellulose-400 (CUR vehicle) orally for 5 days, whereas the CUR group of older mice received a CUR solution suspended in 0·5 % methylcellulose-400 (dose: 3·0 mg/kg body). DEFB1/2 and immune indicator levels were measured in the saliva and salivary glands post-treatment. The saliva volume and protein content were significantly reduced in the OC group compared with the YC group. CUR administration restored these parameters, decreased DEFB1 expression in the salivary gland and increased DEFB1/2 secretion and DEFB2 expression. These findings were supported by epigenetic gene regulation and partial cytokine activation from changes in WD40 repeat protein 5, TNF alpha and IL-1beta. CUR can partially restore age-related changes in oral immune responses and promote oral health, thereby preventing frailty in the older population through a nutritional therapeutic pathway.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Our objective is to develop a Telenephrology dashboard for the 150,000 Veterans that obtain care through the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Our goal is to create a comprehensive and user-friendly tool for monitoring kidney health and facilitating remote nephrology consultations. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We structured our intervention according to the five stages of human-centered design: (1) Empathize, (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype and (5) Test. During the empathy stage, the principal investigator spent 10 hours immersed in the clinical setting observing how nephrologists approach a remote nephrology consultation. These observations were augmented by unstructured interviews with clinicians and patients to better understand the process and dynamics. Following this, a rapid ideation workshop was convened to generate creative solutions that balance technical requirements with the needs of clinicians and patients. These led to rapid prototyping and testing to identify what elements of the prototypes worked and which needed improvement. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Through the empathy and define stages, three needs were identified: (1) clarity in visualizing data, (2) accuracy of information, and (3) balancing standardization with individualization. During the rapid ideation workshop, the concept of a four-frame dashboard was settled upon. This led to the creation of five prototypes, which were tested. These were reconciled and modified to make a final product. This final product, the Telenephrology Dashboard, contains 5 elements that support nephrologists and supporting staff: (1) a graph of kidney function over time, (2) tables synthesizing lab data, (3) options to drill down events to specific times, (4) customization of views, and (5) integration of kidney disease progression models. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: A Telenephrology dashboard was created to facilitate remote nephrology consultations through a Human-Centered Design process. Our next steps include determining if this dashboard may improve end-user satisfaction, referring clinician satisfaction, access to specialist care, and patient outcomes.

The dissolution behavior of five noncrystalline oxides, montmorillonite, kaolinite, chlorite, and sepiolite in a basic tiron solution was studied at pH 10.5 and 80°C. The results show that for montmorillonite the concentrations of Al and Fe ions dissolved in the treating solution were diminished because of cation-exchange reactions of the sample in the suspension. To explain these observations, a mass-balance equation for the specified cation in solution was formulated, which consisted of both a dissolution term and an ion-exchange term. The several parameters of this differential equation were fitted to allow the calculated results to represent the experimental findings. Using these values, an equation lacking an ion-exchange term was also solved numerically. Thus, a dissolution curve was described, which would have been obtained had no cation exchange taken place. From these equations, the error resulted from the cation-exchange capacity of samples in chemical dissolution methods can be evaluated. According to this estimation, and assuming the value for a 1-hr treatment, an error of about 15% was determined for the amount of noncrystalline components contained in the specimen in this investigation.

Monitoring herbicide-resistant weeds makes it possible to study the evolution and spread of resistance, which provides important information for their management. The objective of this study was to map fleabane accessions in the states of Paraná (PR) and Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil, to identify herbicide-resistant accessions and their response to soybean preplant chemical burndown management strategies. Fleabane seeds were collected in agricultural areas in PR and MS in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Initial screening was performed for glyphosate, chlorimuron, paraquat, 2,4-D, saflufenacil, and glufosinate efficacy. Subsequently, dose-response experiments were conducted. Field experiments were carried out in three locations, where accessions of multiple herbicide–resistant Sumatran fleabane were identified. Herbicides were used in single or sequential applications at three plant heights (<5 cm, 5 to 10 cm, and >10 cm). After preliminary screening, accessions were classified as putative resistant (<80% control for all four replicates), segregated (<80% control for one to three replicates), or susceptible (>80% control for all four replicates). There was no evidence of resistance to glufosinate or saflufenacil in any of the 461 accessions, while 65 demonstrated possible resistance or segregation to glyphosate only, 235 to glyphosate + chlorimuron, 79 to glyphosate + chlorimuron + paraquat, 59 to glyphosate + chlorimuron + 2,4-D, and 23 with four-way resistance (glyphosate, chlorimuron, paraquat, and 2,4-D). Of these 23 accessions, seven were analyzed using dose-response curves (F2 generation), all from PR, confirming four-way resistance to glyphosate, chlorimuron, paraquat, and 2,4-D. To control resistant Sumatran fleabane, an application should prioritize smaller plants. Despite resistance to 2,4-D, double mixtures containing this herbicide were among the most effective treatments in plants <5 cm in height. If a sequential application is needed for plants >5 cm in height, we recommend glyphosate + synthetic auxin followed by glufosinate or glyphosate + saflufenacil.

Smectites synthesized from experiments at 5.5 GPa and 1500°C are of high quality, crystals are large at >10 μm, and the 2:1 layers may have a homogeneous charge distribution. Smectite was exchanged with various cations (Na+, Li+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) and the hydration behavior of each sample was observed by an in situ powder X-ray diffraction method under precisely controlled relative humidity (RH). The smectite showed distinct stepwise (discontinuous) hydration versus RH. During the transition between two hydration states, the coexistence of the two states was observed. Randomly interstratified structures with one and two planes of H2O are time-dependent phenomena and relate to hydration and dehydration processes.

The effect of cooling rate on the formation of smectite crystals with high crystallinity was investigated using two different types of high-pressure and high-temperature apparatus, a modified belt type and a uniaxial split-sphere type. The cooling rate was changed after a treatment of the sample at 5.5 GPa and 1500°C. Smectite crystals were obtained at faster cooling rate, coexisting with coesite, kyanite, jadeite, corundum and/or glass. In the slowly cooled process, no smectite crystals were obtained but coesite, kyanite, jadeite and clinoenstatite were formed. These results indicate that smectite crystals are formed metastably during the quenching of the high-pressure and high-temperature hydrous silicate melt.

Hydration behavior of Na-smectite crystals synthesized at a pressure of 5.5 GPa and temperatures of 1400°–1500°C was examined by X-ray powder diffraction at various relative humidities (RH) in the range of 0–100%. The basal spacing of the Na-smectite crystal increased stepwise with increase in RH. The reflections observed were only normal reflections of a single or dual hydration states of smectite. No irrational, intermediate, or asymmetrical reflections were observed. The simple hydration behavior, not known for natural smectite with fine particle sizes and low crystallinity, indicates that the Na-smectite crystals are as perfect as common inorganic crystals with an ordered structure.