Diets low in diverse fibre-rich plant foods contribute to the rise of chronic disease. The BIOME study (NCT06231706; 6-week parallel randomised controlled trial) in 399 adults (35–65 years; BMI 18·5–40 kg/m2; fibre intake < 20 g/d) investigated a whole-food plant blend containing > 30 ingredients, rich in (poly)phenols, fibre and micronutrients. Participants were randomised (1:1:1) to the blend (30 g/d), an isoenergetic control (bread croutons, 28 g/d) or probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus, 15bn CFU/d). Analysts were blinded to allocation. The primary outcome was change in ‘favourable’ and ‘unfavourable’ gut microbiome species (ZOE Microbiome Health Ranking 2025); secondary outcomes included blood metabolites, symptoms, stool output, anthropometry, hunger, sleep, energy and mood. A crossover sub-study explored postprandial glucose, hunger and mood. Of 349 participants analysed (fifty excluded), self-reported adherence was > 98 %. The 30+ plant blend resulted in more species changing relative abundance at 6 weeks v. control (57 v. 14 species-level genome bins (SGB), P < 0·001) and probiotic (57 v. 4 SGB, P < 0·001). There were no significant between-group differences in microbiome health ranks of significantly changing species (increasing or decreasing). Blend participants self-reported reduced indigestion, constipation, heartburn and flatulence and increased energy v. control (all P < 0·05). Six related but no serious adverse events occurred. In the sub-study, adding the blend to a high-carbohydrate meal (v. meal alone) reduced hunger, increased fullness and energy (3-h incremental AUC, all P < 0·05), with no effect on postprandial glucose. This 30+ plant blend represents a simple strategy to modify gut microbiome composition and benefit gastrointestinal symptoms in healthy adults.

Despite rapid growth, digital mental health tools rarely deliver meaningful clinical impact. Psychiatrists’ attitudes to technology and private–industry partnerships are key. To embed safe, effective technologies into real-world psychiatric care, a shift from proliferation to precision is required. Co-production, equity, implementation science and academia–industry–clinical partnerships need emphasis.

Psychiatry emphasises leadership development, but neglects the equally universal and essential role of followership. Although most clinicians spend more time as followers than leaders, literature overwhelmingly favours leadership. Drawing on healthcare, socio-religious traditions and management science, the authors reframe followership as an active, values-driven role grounded in trust, motivation and moral courage rather than passive compliance. This editorial argues that effective followership is active, ethical and courageous. Nurturing good followers in mental health services is essential for good patient care, organisational integrity and sustainable leadership. Cultivating active followership strengthens safeguarding, transparency and organisational legitimacy. The editorial calls for psychiatry and mental health services to explicitly teach and value followership alongside leadership, promoting shared vision, psychological safety and accountable decision-making to improve patient care and professional culture.

The Russia-Ukraine war generates fear, depression, loneliness, burnout and substance misuse among civilians. Our study examines mental health among Ukrainian university female students during 3 years of war. A total of 3,467 students were surveyed on three occasions: August to October 2022 (T1, n = 1,416), March to July 2023 (T2, n = 747) and September to November 2024 (T3, n = 1,304). The respondent’s average age was 19.3 years, 25.3% identified as secular and 36.9% were married/partnered. The respondents included 81.2% who were not relocated, 10.7% who were internally displaced and 8.1% who were refugees. Valid and reliable survey instruments were used to gather data. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows a significant decrease in fear of war, depression and burnout in 2023 compared to 2022; however, there was a marked increase in 2024. Regardless of the survey period, one-way ANOVA shows a significant difference in fear of war and burnout scores associated with depression and loneliness levels. Stepwise regression analysis shows fear of war, depression and loneliness associated with burnout. This study provides usable information for mental health services planning and intervention purposes associated with young women affected by war in Ukraine. Additionally, it has relevance for training to address client and service personnel needs, for academic curriculum development and course instruction, and as a reference source for mental health personnel addressing student needs.

Paleontology provides insights into the history of the planet, from the origins of life billions of years ago to the biotic changes of the Recent. The scope of paleontological research is as vast as it is varied, and the field is constantly evolving. In an effort to identify “Big Questions” in paleontology, experts from around the world came together to build a list of priority questions the field can address in the years ahead. The 89 questions presented herein (grouped within 11 themes) represent contributions from nearly 200 international scientists. These questions touch on common themes including biodiversity drivers and patterns, integrating data types across spatiotemporal scales, applying paleontological data to contemporary biodiversity and climate issues, and effectively utilizing innovative methods and technology for new paleontological insights. In addition to these theoretical questions, discussions touch upon structural concerns within the field, advocating for an increased valuation of specimen-based research, protection of natural heritage sites, and the importance of collections infrastructure, along with a stronger emphasis on human diversity, equity, and inclusion. These questions offer a starting point—an initial nucleus of consensus that paleontologists can expand on—for engaging in discussions, securing funding, advocating for museums, and fostering continued growth in shared research directions.

The NHS 2025 Health Plan aims for radical reform but overlooks people with intellectual disability. This editorial highlights critical omissions in policy, services, research and rights protections. Without intentional inclusion, digital and community shifts risk deepening inequality. True progress demands co-produced strategies to ensure equitable care for this vulnerable population.

The next-generation radio astronomy instruments are providing a massive increase in sensitivity and coverage, largely through increasing the number of stations in the array and the frequency span sampled. The two primary problems encountered when processing the resultant avalanche of data are the need for abundant storage and the constraints imposed by I/O, as I/O bandwidths drop significantly on cold storage. An example of this is the data deluge expected from the SKA Telescopes of more than 60 PB per day, all to be stored on the buffer filesystem. While compressing the data is an obvious solution, the impacts on the final data products are hard to predict. In this paper, we chose an error-controlled compressor – MGARD – and applied it to simulated SKA-Mid and real pathfinder visibility data, in noise-free and noise-dominated regimes. As the data have an implicit error level in the system temperature, using an error bound in compression provides a natural metric for compression. MGARD ensures the compression incurred errors adhere to the user-prescribed tolerance. To measure the degradation of images reconstructed using the lossy compressed data, we proposed a list of diagnostic measures, exploring the trade-off between these error bounds and the corresponding compression ratios, as well as the impact on science quality derived from the lossy compressed data products through a series of experiments. We studied the global and local impacts on the output images for continuum and spectral line examples. We found relative error bounds of as much as 10%, which provide compression ratios of about 20, have a limited impact on the continuum imaging as the increased noise is less than the image RMS, whereas a 1% error bound (compression ratio of 8) introduces an increase in noise of about an order of magnitude less than the image RMS. For extremely sensitive observations and for very precious data, we would recommend a $0.1\%$ error bound with compression ratios of about 4. These have noise impacts two orders of magnitude less than the image RMS levels. At these levels, the limits are due to instabilities in the deconvolution methods. We compared the results to the alternative compression tool DYSCO, in both the impacts on the images and in the relative flexibility. MGARD provides better compression for similar error bounds and has a host of potentially powerful additional features.

This study aims to discern similarities and differences associated with the impact of war on Ukrainian and Israeli women. We hypothesize that country affiliation significantly determines their mental health and psycho-emotional well-being. A total of 1,071 Ukrainian (N = 601) and Israeli (N = 470) women were surveyed online from September to December 2022 in Ukraine and November 2023 to March 2024 in Israel. Valid and reliable survey instruments were used to gather data about the fear of war, depression, loneliness, suicidal ideation and substance misuse. Fear of war and depression were higher among Israeli respondents. However, Ukrainian women reported more loneliness, substance use and psycho-emotional deterioration. Respondents from both countries did not show a different level of suicidal ideation. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results show fear of war associated with country and depression; and depression linked to country and increased alcohol use, especially among Ukrainian respondents. Comparative results partially confirm the study hypothesis. The impact of the war on Ukrainian and Israeli women has similar effects; however, differences exist that may be attributed to culture and adaptation to war length. Further research, including uniform data collection and analysis, is needed to determine the impact of war on women as well as their familial and work-related responsibilities that tend to increase during such conditions.

Most people with mental illness in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) do not receive biomedical treatment, though many seek care from traditional healers and faith healers. We conducted a qualitative study in Buyende District, Uganda, using framework analysis. Data collection included interviews with 24 traditional healers, 20 faith healers, and 23 biomedical providers, plus 4 focus group discussions. Interviews explored treatment approaches, provider relationships, and collaboration potential until theoretical saturation was reached. Three main themes emerged: (1) Biomedical providers’ perspectives on traditional and faith healers; (2) Traditional and faith healers’ views on biomedical providers; and (3) Collaboration opportunities and barriers. Biomedical providers viewed faith healers positively but traditional healers as potentially harmful. Traditional and faith healers valued biomedical approaches while feeling variably accepted. Interest in collaboration existed across groups but was complicated by power dynamics, economic concerns, and differing mental illness conceptualizations. Traditional healers and faith healers routinely referred patients to biomedical providers, though reciprocal referrals were rare. The study reveals distinct dynamics among providers in rural Uganda, with historical colonial influences continuing to shape relationships and highlighting the need for integrated, contextually appropriate mental healthcare systems.

In November 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance, entitled ‘Baroness Hollins’ Final Report: My Heart Breaks – Solitary Confinement in Hospital Has no Therapeutic Benefit for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People’. The report's commendable analysis of the problems and identification of the areas where practice should be improved is unfortunately not matched by many of its recommendations, which appear to be contrary to evidence-based approaches. The concerns are wide-ranging, from the use of the term ‘solitary confinement’ for current long-term segregation (LTS) and seclusion, to presumption that all LTS and seclusion is bad, to holding clinicians (mainly psychiatrists) responsible for events beyond their locus of control. Importantly, there is a no guidance on how to practically deliver the recommendations in an evidence-based manner. This Feature critically appraises the report, to provide a comprehensive summary outlining potential positive impacts, identifying specific concerns and reflecting on best practice going forward.

We use a combination of primary and secondary data to investigate and quantify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the California specialty crop sector. We demonstrate that the specialty crop sector was highly resilient during the pandemic and aftermath in terms of output. For many crops, production fell somewhat between 2019 and 2021, but not to an extent that is outside of normal annual variation for fruits and vegetables. However, prices increased dramatically for many commodities. Contrary to conventional wisdom, most input costs did not surge during the pandemic, and some fell. But both the primary and secondary data identify labor and truck transportation as the major issues facing producers and driving up prices. Trade associations played a vital role in disseminating solutions to growers throughout the pandemic.

Fast and efficient identification is critical for reducing the likelihood of weed establishment and for appropriately managing established weeds. Traditional identification tools require either knowledge of technical morphological terminology or time-consuming image matching by the user. In recent years, deep learning computer vision models have become mature enough to enable automatic identification. The major remaining bottlenecks are the availability of a sufficient number of high-quality, reliably identified training images and the user-friendly, mobile operationalization of the technology. Here, we present the first weed identification and reporting app and website for all of Australia. It includes an image classification model covering more than 400 species of weeds and some Australian native relatives, with a focus on emerging biosecurity threats and spreading weeds that can still be eradicated or contained. It links the user to additional information provided by state and territory governments, flags species that are locally reportable or notifiable, and allows the creation of observation records in a central database. State and local weed officers can create notification profiles to be alerted of relevant weed observations in their area. We discuss the background of the WeedScan project, the approach taken in design and software development, the photo library used for training the WeedScan image classifier, the model itself and its accuracy, and technical challenges and how these were overcome.

Conservation aquaculture, defined as cultivating aquatic organisms to manage or replenish natural populations, has been advocated as a strategy to enhance fisheries production and help restore declining populations. Culture is especially compelling for species in steep decline and for which there is established methodology. The queen conch Aliger gigas is an example of a species with widely overexploited populations, with attempts to culture the species commercially ongoing for > 40 years. However, hatchery-releases have shown low survival from post-settlement to near maturity, leading to low conservation aquaculture potential. When this is viewed alongside large-scale fishery extractions, it is apparent that it is not commercially feasible to replace wild harvest nor ecologically feasible to replenish queen conch populations using existing aquaculture approaches. An age-based mortality model estimates the magnitude of culture required to replace a single adult of reproductive age. Extrapolations from catch–weight relationships highlight the scale of facilities and costs required to partially offset the harvest in a typical Caribbean fishery. Estimates of reproduction to achieve replacement suggest a greater yield from properly protecting natural breeding aggregations. Queen conch aquaculture is useful for scientific inquiry, community engagement and education, but not for stock enhancement or population restoration without more practical and cost-efficient options. Therefore, protecting breeding aggregations should be prioritized for the ecological viability of the species, as well as for its economic value for the people and industries that rely upon it.