This article introduces the new module Gender in Contemporary Europe: Rethinking Equality and the Backlash developed for Round 11 of the European Social Survey (ESS). The module represents the first large-scale, cross-national effort to comprehensively map contemporary gender attitudes using both established and innovative measures. It captures five interrelated contemporary concepts that have rarely been included in prior cross-national surveys available for public use: gender identity, sexism (hostile, benevolent, and modern), perceived and experienced gender discrimination, the salience of gender equality as a social value, and support for gender equality policies. Pretesting and cognitive interviews conducted across a group of participating countries highlighted both the value and the complexity of measuring gender-related constructs, particularly in relation to translation challenges, perceived item bias, and social desirability effects. As we introduce the new data set, we highlight four critical challenges for gender research: bias, gendered translation, response bias, and cross-national measures of sexism. We also provide details on how the module development tackled each of these.

Building on research on cultural threat‐induced polarization, we investigate the effect of the individual‐level salience of cultural threats on polarization between social liberals and conservatives. In a unique survey experiment conducted with 129,000 respondents nested in 208 regions in 27 European Union (EU) member states, we manipulate the presence of two cultural threats, women's rights, and refugee immigration, to test their polarizing effects on social liberals’ and social conservatives’ support for traditional values. We find that priming the threat of refugee immigration polarizes conservatives and liberals equally. Yet, introducing the salience of women's rights leads to lower preferences for traditional values, particularly among more liberal respondents. Our findings demonstrate: 1) the study of backlash should distinguish individuals by their predisposition to backlash, rather than studying the population as a whole; and 2) social conservatives’ backlash should be studied conjointly with social liberals’ counter‐reactions to backlash. Future research may investigate why different cultural threats provoke different reactions.

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.

Background: The selection of agent for antimicrobial prophylaxis for urological procedures is guided by the results of urine cultures taken prior to the day of surgery, which can lead to variability. National society guidance recommends single-dose antimicrobial prophylaxis immediately before urologic surgery; however, significant heterogeneity remains among practicing urologists with regards to pre-treating (or post-treating) bacteriuria identified on preoperative urine culture as well as choice of antimicrobial administered. As part of an institutional quality improvement initiative, we endeavored to optimize antimicrobial selection and duration of therapy through the use of a dedicated preoperative urine culture paired with recommendations. Method: This was a single-center, prospective study of urological surgeries. A dedicated preoperative urine culture was created in partnership with our institution’s microbiology lab and antimicrobial stewardship program intended solely for the selection of preoperative prophylaxis. Antibiotic stewardship program members reviewed these urine cultures and provided recommendations to urologic surgeons. Primary outcome was postoperative infectious complication within 90 days, with sub-analyses performed for stone and prosthetic cases, which carry higher infectious complication risks. Result: The preoperative urine culture was ordered prior to 381 urology cases from 9/27/23-4/15/24. There were 41 (10.8%) infectious postoperative complications. 64/381 (16.8%) patients received pretreatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria at the surgeon’s discretion, deviating from protocol recommendations for single-dose prophylaxis. Similarly, 44/381 (11.5%) patients received postoperative antimicrobials off-protocol per surgeon discretion. There was no statistically significant difference in infectious postoperative complication rates among patients who received pretreatment (15.6%, n=10/64) versus those who did not (9.8%, n=31/317 [p=0.18]), nor in those who received postoperative antimicrobials (13.6% (n=6/44) versus not (10.4%, n=35/337 [p=0.44]). Subgroup analyses of patients with nephrolithiasis or prosthetic material showed no benefit with supplemental antimicrobials. There were 294 total days of therapy in cases with guidance-based prophylaxis (n=294), and 611 days for pre- and/or post-treated cases (n=87), representing an excess of 524 days of antimicrobial therapy. Conclusion: We implemented a specific antimicrobial stewardship initiative linking a urine culture ordering process to succinct evidence-based advice. Deviation from advice did not result in improved outcomes but did result in excess antimicrobial days. Subgroup analysis also suggested single-dose prophylaxis is appropriate for patients considered higher risk for infectious complications. These findings support the recommendation from the American Urological Association that a single dose of antimicrobial prophylaxis is sufficient for the majority of urologic cases and demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach to ability to safely implement such practice.

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.

Image analysis techniques provide objective and reproducible statistics for interpreting microscopy data. At higher dimensions, three-dimensional (3D) volumetric and spatiotemporal data highlight additional properties and behaviors beyond the static 2D focal plane. However, increased dimensionality carries increased complexity, and existing techniques for general segmentation of 3D data are either primitive, or highly specialized to specific biological structures. Borrowing from the principles of 2D topological data analysis (TDA), we formulate a 3D segmentation algorithm that implements persistent homology to identify variations in image intensity. From this, we derive two separate variants applicable to spatial and spatiotemporal data, respectively. We demonstrate that this analysis yields both sensitive and specific results on simulated data and can distinguish prominent biological structures in fluorescence microscopy images, regardless of their shape. Furthermore, we highlight the efficacy of temporal TDA in tracking cell lineage and the frequency of cell and organelle replication.

Older adults living in residential care often experience challenges in sustaining meaningful social relationships, which can result in compromised health and well-being. Online social networking has the potential to mitigate this problem, but few studies have investigated its implementation and its effectiveness in maintaining or enhancing well-being. This pilot study used a cluster-randomized pre–post design to examine the feasibility of implementing a 12-week group-based technology-training intervention for older adults (n = 48) living in residential care by exploring how cognitive health, mental health, and confidence in technology were impacted. Analysis of variance revealed significant increases in life satisfaction, positive attitudes toward computer use, and self-perceived competence among participants who received the intervention, but increased depressive symptoms for the control group. These findings suggest that, despite challenges in implementing the intervention in residential care, group-based technology training may enhance confidence among older adults while maintaining or enhancing mental health.

The hawksbill sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricata is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and its population has declined by over 80% in the last century. The Eastern Pacific population is one of the most threatened hawksbill populations globally. Western Mexico is the northern distribution limit for hawksbill sea turtles in the Eastern Pacific and recent research indicates that the Mexican Pacific portion of the population is a separate management unit because of the restricted movements of these turtles. Here we use the most complete database of sighting records in the north-west Pacific of Mexico to identify sites where hawksbill turtles are present. We also develop a conservation index to determine the conservation status of hawksbill turtle sites. Our results demonstrate the importance of this region for juveniles and the relevance of rocky reefs and mangrove estuaries as habitats for hawksbill turtles. We identified 52 sites with records of hawksbill turtles. Most of these sites (71%) are not protected; however, sites with high conservation value included islands and coastal sites along the Baja California peninsula that are established as marine protected areas. Reefs and mangrove estuaries relevant for hawksbill turtles are probably also significant fish nursery areas that are important for local fishing communities, creating opportunities for conservation strategies that combine science, local engagement and policy to benefit both local fishing communities and hawksbill sea turtle conservation.

Based on an analysis of relevant laws and policies, regulator data portals, and information requests, we find that clinical data, including clinical study reports, submitted to the European Medicines Agency and Health Canada to support approval of medicines are routinely made publicly available.

Astrochemical models treat dust surfaces as ice covered. We investigate the effects of implementing increased bare dust binding energies of CO and S-bearing species on the chemistry in the outflows of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We demonstrate the potential for improving agreement with observations in the outflow of IK Tau.

Increasing the binding energies to measured and computationally derived values in high mass-loss AGB outflows increased the production of daughter species. Switching from a high binding energy on bare dust to weaker binding to ice, the gas phase abundance increased at a radius in agreement with observations of IK Tau, suggesting that displacement of bound species could contribute to this observational puzzle. Using a strong binding to bare dust, a gas phase increase was not observed, however parent species concentrations had to be increased by around a factor of four to explain observed concentrations.

Background: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is commonly used for the treatment of noninvasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Following a report from 2 facilities of increased trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance among MRSA infections, we assessed changes in resistance nationally and by state. Methods: We reviewed antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) data for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole among S. aureus isolates associated with surgical site infections (SSIs), central-line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) from acute-care hospitals reported to the NHSN Device and Procedure Module from 2012 to 2018. We compared the pooled mean percentage of isolates nonsusceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in 2012 and 2018, stratified by MRSA and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Among MRSA isolates, we compared the percentage nonsusceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole by healthcare-associated infection (HAI) type and state in 2012 and 2018. States with ≥20 MRSA isolates with AST reported each year were included in the state-level analysis. Results: Overall, 36,587 MRSA isolates and 46,824 MSSA isolates were reported from 2012 to 2018. Moreover, >80% of MRSA and MSSA isolates had trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole AST reported each year. Nationally, the percentage of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole nonsusceptible among MRSA isolates was 3.9% in 2012 compared to 6.5% in 2018 (P < .001), but it was unchanged among MSSA isolates during the same period (1.1% in 2012 vs 1.4% in 2018; P = .08). Among MRSA surgical site infections (SSIs), the proportion of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole nonsusceptible isolates was 3.1% in 2012 versus 6.1% in 2018 (P < .001) but did not change significantly for CLABSIs or CAUTIs (Fig. 1). Among the 32 states that met the inclusion criteria, there were no significant decreases, whereas 4 (12.5%) showed significant increases in the percentage of MRSA that were trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole nonsusceptible in 2018 compared to 2012: New Jersey (2.4% in 2012 vs 19.3% in 2018; P <.001); Florida (9.1% in 2012 vs 22.4% in 2018; P < .001); Maryland (0.0% in 2012 vs 10.9% in 2018; P < .01); and Pennsylvania (1.7% in 2012 vs 6.5% in 2018; P < .001). Conclusions: Nationally, there was a modest but significant increase in the percentage of MRSA HAI isolates nonsusceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in 2018 compared to 2012; however, 3 of 4 states with significant increases in nonsusceptibility had substantial, potentially clinically relevant increases (>10%). Ongoing characterization of MRSA isolates from Florida and New Jersey may provide insight into the underlying cause of these shifting patterns in trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance among MRSA. Healthcare personnel should select appropriate antibiotic regimens based on local resistance patterns, should monitor patients for treatment failure, and should report changes in resistance to the appropriate public health department.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

High-resolution Chirp sub-bottom data were obtained offshore from the Northern Channel Islands (NCI), California, to image submerged paleoshorelines and assess local uplift rates. Although modern bathymetry is often used for modeling paleoshorelines, Chirp data image paleoshorelines buried beneath sediment that obscures their seafloor expression. The NCI were a unified landmass during the last glacial maximum (LGM; ~20 ka), when eustatic sea level was ~120 m lower than present. We identified seven paleoshorelines, ranging from ~28 to 104 m in depth, across this now-submerged LGM platform. Paleoshoreline depths were compared to local sea-level curves to estimate ages, which suggest that some were reoccupied over multiple sea-level cycles. Additionally, previous studies determined conflicting uplift rates for the NCI, ranging from 0.16 to 1.5 m/ka. Our results suggest that a rate on the lower end of this range better fits the observed submerged paleoshorelines. Using the uplift rate of ~0.16 m/ka, we estimate that paleoshorelines formed during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3, the LGM, and the Younger Dryas stade are preserved on the NCI platform. These results help clarify uplift rates for the NCI and illustrate the importance of sub-bottom data for mapping submerged paleoshorelines.