Peer Community Journal

According to sexual selection theory, males should benefit more from mating with multiple partners than females do, as male investment into offspring production is typically lower. For females, empirical evidence indeed often shows diminishing returns or even costs of mating multiply. For males, the assumption often seems to be "the more, the better" - i.e., a steady increase of male reproductive success with mate number - but experimental tests of it are rare. Here we used a laboratory experiment with Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata), known for being promiscuous, to assess how pairing males weekly with 4 vs. 7 females affects both sexes reproductive performance (n = 32 polygynous males and 170 monogamous females). Increased polygyny delayed females reproductive onset by 9% and tripled their risk of reproductive failure. High-polygyny males fathered offspring with 49% more females and had 73% higher daily reproductive output. Yet, they needed 19% longer to initiate pregnancy, and only accumulated more offspring than low-polygyny males after two months. This study suggests that male mating performance is not unlimited. Especially when high extrinsic mortality selects for fast reproduction, less polygyny might be advantageous, and the strength of sexual selection perhaps more similar between the sexes than often assumed.

Alleles with opposing effects on fitness characters are said to exhibit selectional antagonistic pleiotropy (broadly construed so that effects are not necessarily confined to the same individual). A number of theoretical investigations considered the case where a pair of alleles at a locus influences two fitness components and derived the conditions giving rise to stable polymorphism under various assumptions about the mode of trait-interaction. Strikingly, many of these analyses concluded that the potential for maintaining polymorphism is strongly constrained by the joint influence of two factors: (1) the prevalence of weak selection coefficients over coefficients of large magnitude, and (2) the absence of beneficial dominance reversals (where the deleterious effects of each allele are partially or completely masked in the heterozygous genotype). Consequently, the conclusion that selective polymorphism is unlikely to be maintained by intralocus mechanisms of antagonistic pleiotropy has achieved widespread acceptance. Here we argue that such conclusions do not apply to any of the following models of antagonism: (i) additive trait-interaction, (ii) multiplicative trait-interaction, (iii) bivoltine selection, (iv) soft selection, (v) hard selection, and (vi) sexual antagonism. We demonstrate that the parameter space giving rise to stable allelic variation is quite large throughout, and moreover, the plenitude of suitable parameters neither depends on the strength of selection nor requires dominance reversal. Dominance coefficients associated with stringent conditions for stable polymorphism are shown to be atypical as compared to all feasible parameters, and best regarded as an outcome of adherence to a special relation: dominance with a constant magnitude and direction, which includes the case of additive allelic effects at a locus. Properties of single-locus equilibria (heterozygosity, allele frequency differentiation) are investigated, as well as the contribution of dominance schemes to the genetic variance in fitness characters in populations at multilocus linkage equilibrium. Author summaryAllelic variants at a locus with opposing effects on multiple fitness components (antagonistic fitness pleiotropy) have long been appreciated as a possible source of balancing selection. The prevalence of polymorphism owing to this form of natural selection, however, has been doubted on theoretical grounds due to the fact that standard assumptions of genetic models (namely, constant magnitudes for the dominance coefficients) are hardly conducive to the maintenance of polymorphism. The major exception to this conclusion lies with schemes that exhibit dominance reversal (where the direction of dominance for antagonistic alleles flips across fitness components). Here we conduct a geometric analysis of the space of polymorphism-promoting dominance parameters and conclude that the conditions for maintaining balanced alleles is unrestrictive, with non-reversals playing an underappreciated role.

Objectives: To determine the impact of discharge home on physical activity and sedentary behaviour following orthopaedic trauma. Design: Observational study. Setting: Acute hospital. Participants: Between October 2022 and January 2024, 31 adult orthopaedic trauma patients were recruited during hospital admission. Participants had either an isolated hip fracture or multi-trauma (i.e., a lower limb fracture, with an upper limb and/or spinal fracture). Interventions: Participants wore two activity monitors (activPAL3 and ActiGraphGT3x) during the final days of an acute hospital admission and the first five days at home. An interrupted time series analysis evaluated changes physical activity variables during the hospital to home transition. Participants were analysed individually using mixed-effects linear regression allowing the intercept to vary by participant. Main outcome measures: Primary outcome was daily steps; secondary outcomes included sedentary time and other activity measures. Results: Daily steps (mean +- SD) were higher at home (4552.4 +- 2639.5) compared to hospital (2597.8 +- 1450.8). Modelled results indicated a 27% increase in daily steps following hospital discharge (exp(beta946;): 1.27, 95% CI: 1.01,1.59, p=0.039) and a sustained improvement at home. No significant differences were observed between hip fracture and multi-trauma participants. Conclusion: Participants recovering from orthopaedic trauma showed a significant increase in daily step count upon discharge home from hospital, highlighting the positive impact of the home environment on activity levels. Further research is warranted to assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve activity levels in hospital (e.g., early intensive therapy) and at home (e.g., immediate home-based physiotherapy) in individuals following orthopaedic trauma.

The effects of the selection of livestock type (e.g., sheep or cattle) and grazing intensity on the soil seed bank of sand grasslands of conservation interest were studied. 25 grazed grassland sites classified into four grazing intensity categories were studied. The soil seed bank was analysed by seedling emergence; germinated seedlings were classified into morpho-functional, social behaviour type (SBT) and CSR strategy groups. The following hypotheses were tested: i) Diversity and density of soil seed banks are lower in sheep-grazed sites than in cattle-grazed ones. ii) The species composition, diversity, and density of the soil seed banks are more strongly affected by grazing intensity than by the livestock type. iii) Leaf traits, SBT and CSR strategy composition are highly affected both by livestock type and grazing intensity. The main effect of livestock type only affected seed bank density, while that of grazing intensity had a significant effect on most of the variables. Most of the studied variables were affected by the interaction of grazing intensity and livestock type. Total seed bank density was lower at all grazing intensity levels in sheep-grazed sites than in cattle-grazed ones, especially close to frequently visited places. We found that sheep grazing sustained a much lower total seed bank density and lower density of species of natural and semi-natural habitats regardless to the grazing intensity. Thus, livestock type must be carefully selected and high-intensity sheep grazing should be avoided in the long-run when managing sand grasslands. HighlightsO_LIThe soil seed banks of sheep and cattle grazed sand grassland were studied C_LIO_LIEffect of grazing intensity found the most important driver of seed bank diversity and density C_LIO_LIThe total soil seed bank density was higher in cattle than sheep grazed sites C_LIO_LIBoth intensity and livestock type must be considered in the grassland management planning C_LIO_LIHigh intensity sheep grazing should be avoided in sand grassland management C_LI

Sleeping and feeding are crucial for survival of any animal. In case of large predators, knowing where these activities occur can help us understand their behavioural adaptations for coexisting with people and could help mitigating human-carnivore conflicts. Leopard (Panthera pardus) is an elusive and highly adaptable large felid that mostly lives outside protected areas and can survive also in close proximity to humans. However, most leopard research in Africa has been conducted in protected areas and we poorly understand leopards habitat selection while resting and hunting. To shed light on their coexistence with humans, we investigated habitat features influencing leopard selection of resting and kill sites on farmlands in central Namibia, using generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) under a use-availability study design and blinded field-sampling. Leopards primarily selected resting sites that were located in mountainous, steep, rugged terrain and sites with good concealment while kill sites were selected in mountainous habitats. Human infrastructure did not affect leopard resting and kill site selection. Thus, the capacity of leopards to perform essential life-supporting behaviours while coexisting with people appears to be primarily driven by their ability to remain concealed, rather than spatially avoiding humans.

While pregnancy intentions are increasingly recognised as complex and dynamic, unexpected pregnancies are often studied cross-sectionally, and a life course perspective is lacking. This study aimed to explore the salient themes and patterns in 1) the life course trajectories of individuals experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and 2) the transition surrounding an unexpected pregnancy. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 22 individuals (15 women and 7 men) experiencing unexpected pregnancies. Two interviews were held: during pregnancy and six months after childbirth. The respondents' life course trajectories were mapped using visual timelines and the transition was explored using Schlossberg's transition theory. Interviews were thematically analysed in an iterative process: applying open coding to three interviews followed by thematic coding and comparison of themes within and across life course trajectories. Life course trajectories varied considerably, distinguished by the absence or presence of critical life events, with patterns characterised by clustering life events within the domains of family, mental health or frequent residential mobility. The transition process of unexpected pregnancy was characterised by three patterns of adjustment - shift (instant adjustment), spark (triggered adjustment) and unfolding (ambiguous adjustment) - in which respectively, all life course trajectories, trajectories with clustering of life events and mainly stable trajectories were present. This study contributes to the literature through the unfolding pattern, showing that adjustment to unexpected pregnancy may be an ambiguous process that is not finished when the baby has arrived, especially if individuals have strong aspirations in light of a relatively stable life course.

The geographical and familial origins of Christopher Columbus have remained a subject of intense historiographical debate for over five centuries. Despite numerous hypotheses, empirical genetic evidence capable of resolving his ancestral history or place of birth has been absent from the literature until now. This study presents the third stage of the first forensic genetic analysis performed on skeletal remains belonging to several direct descendants of Columbus, spanning the 16th to 18th centuries. By applying Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) to analyse autosomal, X- and Y- chromosome DNA markers, and integrating the results with multidisciplinary evidence from historical, genealogical, archaeological, and anthropological research implicated in this project, the identification of several individuals founded in the Crypt of Santa Maria de Gracia located in Gelves (Sevilla, Spain) has been achieved. The analysis of their biological relatedness enabled the reconstruction of kinship networks among the individuals interred in the crypt, which, when interpreted in the context of documented genealogical lineages, provides indirect but consistent evidence pointing toward the debated origin of the discoverer.

The growth of cultures and formation of mucilage blooms in reaction to salt stress of cyanobacterial cultures are investigated with a focus on the influence of pH. In non-buffered medium, cultures show their pH increasing from 6.5 just after inoculation, up to 11 during the exponential phase. We record the time-evolution of concentration and pH, with different initial OD0. In a second set of experiments, we extract the doubling time of the unbuffered cultures in comparison with those inoculated in pH-buffered BG11 media at four different pH from 6.3 to 10.5 : in the most acid media, all cultures die or grow very slowly. At pH = 10.5, we obtain the fastest growth for all four strains, allowing to qualify these cyanobacteria as being alkaliphiles, though for all strains with comparable initial OD0, the doubling time is shorter for unbuffered cultures. Following a previous study [31]), we finally investigate the influence of pH on mucilage formation and biomass uplift induced by salt stress, involving EPS floculation by cations. Our results show that operating in buffered media significantly influences the mucilage formation, though the observed regimes cannot be simply correlated to the pH value.

Mosquitoes in urban environments are considered unpleasant by citizens, and they can represent serious health risks as disease vectors. Invasive Aedes species are continuously spreading in Europe and have been increasingly reported from urban settlements. Some of these mosquito species have been associated with small artificial habitats. Therefore, their presence may also be expected in small plastic garden ponds, which are numerous in urban settings across many parts of Europe. Here, we aimed to determine whether urban waters host a high occurrence of mosquitoes and to identify the potential abiotic, biotic and landscape drivers of mosquito presence and abundance in urban ponds. We sampled 53 urban ponds in the city of Budapest (Hungary) of both natural and anthropogenic origin, and 40 garden ponds, which cover both highly urbanised areas and those with high green index in the suburbs. We collected data on macroinvertebrate communities, pond management, physico-chemical parameters, and pond characteristics (mainly morphology and vegetation cover) measured in situ. Two different mosquito detection techniques were used: dip-net sampling and eDNA. While only one invasive species (Aedes koreicus) was detected, occurring in a single pond, several other species were present, including potential malaria vectors increasingly reported from urban environments: the Anopheles maculipennis complex, An. claviger and An. plumbeus. Fish presence was negatively associated with both the presence and abundance of mosquitoes, regardless of pond type. Contrary to expectations, urbanisation did not play a major role in explaining mosquito presence or abundance. These results highlight the importance of local pond characteristics, and particularly the role of fish presence, in regulating mosquito populations in ponds in the urban landscape, although the broader ecological effects of fish on pond communities should also be considered.

Capturing and handling wild animals is essential for ecological and evolutionary research, yet their effects on physiology, behaviour, and reproductive success remain poorly understood. We investigated short- and longer-term consequences of a capture-handling-restraint protocol in wild great tits (Parus major) over three breeding seasons. To assess short-term responses, we measured circulating corticosterone, a metabolic hormone that responds to unpredictable challenges, and automatically recorded provisioning behaviour. We also explored whether environmental and individual traits were related to provisioning latency (i.e., time to resume provisioning after capture). To evaluate longer-term effects, we monitored provisioning in the days following capture and related it to reproductive success (fledgling number and body condition). We predicted that longer handling would increase stress-induced corticosterone and provisioning latency, that these variables would be positively correlated, and that higher corticosterone and longer latencies would be associated with lower reproductive success. After capture, great tits showed elevated corticosterone and delayed provisioning. Contrary to our predictions, handling duration was negatively associated with stress-induced corticosterone in males (but not females) and did not affect provisioning latency. Provisioning latency was unrelated to corticosterone, environmental, or individual variables. Following capture, parents resumed provisioning, and short-term responses had little influence on reproductive success. We show that parental behaviour and physiology are affected by capture restraint protocols on the short term, but offspring condition and survival are not. However, these results should be interpreted cautiously, as our study lacks an uncaptured control group. Our findings highlight that evaluating welfare impacts requires rigorous study design incorporating both immediate and longer-term behavioural and fitness effects.

BackgroundThe virulence-persistence trade-off is considered a fundamental organizing principle of Listeria monocytogenes population biology: hypervirulent clonal complexes dominate clinical cases but are rarely found in processing environments, while hypovirulent lineages dominate industrial niches but are underrepresented in severe disease. However, whether this dichotomy operates as an absolute paradigm has not been quantitatively evaluated at the population scale. Here we develop a multi-dimensional genomic scoring approach that simultaneously quantifies virulence potential (V), environmental persistence capacity (P), clonal epidemiological context (C), and antimicrobial resistance (R) across 903 genomes from four independent datasets spanning five countries, and apply it to test the universality of the trade-off and to characterize the ecological strategies of L. monocytogenes at the population level. MethodsThe scoring approach integrates four components into a composite 0-100 score through empirically calibrated weights (V: 30%, P: 40%, C: 20%, R: 10%). Validation employed 903 L. monocytogenes genomes from four public BioProjects: longitudinal industrial surveillance in Norway (Fagerlund et al. 2022, n = 513, PRJNA689484), retail environments in the United States (Stasiewicz et al. 2015, n = 191, PRJNA245909), clinical-environmental context in China (Wang et al. 2021, n = 151, PRJNA759341), and meat processing in Poland (Kurpas et al. 2020, n = 48, PRJNA629756). ResultsThe composite score achieved excellent discriminatory performance for identifying persistent clones (AUC = 0.933; 95% CI: 0.910-0.954) with perfect specificity (1.000; zero false positives). The inverse V-P correlation was statistically significant across all four datasets (Spearman {rho} from -0.144 to -0.713; p < 0.01), providing the first cross-dataset quantitative confirmation of the trade-off. However, simultaneous evaluation of V-P profiles at the population scale revealed that the species does not conform to a binary dichotomy but rather exhibits three quantitatively distinguishable ecological strategies, for which we propose a functional trophic taxonomy: nosotrophic lineages (22.7%; V > 65, P < 35), specialized in the pathogenic niche; saprotrophic lineages (5.8%; V < 30, P > 45), with irreversible virulence attenuation and industrial specialization; and, as the central finding, amphitrophic lineages (39.1%; V [&ge;] 35, P [&ge;] 40), which simultaneously retain functional inlA and stress tolerance determinants (SSI-1) without detectable genomic sacrifice. The three strategies differed significantly (Kruskal-Wallis H = 138.7; p = 7.6 x 10-3{superscript 1}). The correspondence between trophic strategy and CC was predominant but not absolute, demonstrating that this phenotypic classification captures intra-CC functional heterogeneity inaccessible through conventional typing. Furthermore, comparison between genome-based and surveillance-informed classifications revealed that 60 hypervirulent isolates (CC1/CC14), genetically classified as nosotrophic, persisted for up to 8 years in industrial facilities despite lacking any recognized persistence markers -- indicating that their prolonged survival reflects environmental opportunity rather than intrinsic genomic adaptation. ConclusionsMulti-dimensional genomic profiling reveals that the virulence-persistence trade-off, while statistically robust, does not operate as an absolute paradigm. The amphitrophic strategy -- documented here for the first time as a quantitatively distinguishable category encompassing 39.1% of the analyzed population -- challenges the prevailing dichotomous model and identifies a previously unrecognized combined ecological niche. The ability to discriminate between genome-encoded persistence capacity and environmentally facilitated persistence provides a biological framework for understanding the ecological determinants of L. monocytogenes population dynamics in anthropogenic environments.

Climate change and anthropogenic pressures are reshaping marine food webs, altering prey availability and affecting top predators. The European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis), a coastal demersal seabird, provides a valuable model for examining environmentally mediated dietary variation, given its trophic plasticity and capacity to adjust prey use according to local availability, while also allowing assessment of potential demographic consequences. This study investigated spatial and temporal variation in diet at two Portuguese colonies (Berlengas and Arrabida) between 2016 and 2024 and assessed long-term reproductive productivity at Berlengas. A total of 468 regurgitated pellets were analysed, and diet composition was quantified using the Index of Relative Importance (IRI). Generalised additive models were applied to assess environmental, spatial, and period-specific effects on diet composition, while reproductive productivity was modelled in relation to prey biomass. Diet variation was primarily explained by environmental predictors, including sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration, and zooplankton, whereas year per se had no significant effect, indicating environmentally mediated bottom-up effects. Spatial differences between colonies reflected contrasting prey field structures, and period-specific patterns suggested increased specialisation during breeding. Higher biomass of sandeels (Ammodytidae) was positively associated with reproductive output, whereas shifts toward lower-energy prey were associated with reduced productivity. These findings demonstrate that environmentally driven dietary change has measurable demographic consequences, underscoring the importance of bottom-up processes in shaping seabird population dynamics and informing conservation strategies under ongoing climate change.

The Allee effect is a phenomenon where individual fitness is reduced in small populations, for example because of mate-finding difficulties or increased predation. Allee effects matter in conservation biology because they can drive small populations to extinction. The severity of Allee effects can depend on traits such as mate-search rate and defense against predators. Many natural populations exhibit considerable intraspecific trait variation (ITV) in such traits, but most studies so far assume these traits to be constant. Thus the impact of ITV on populations with Allee effect is largely unknown. Here we create two individual-based stochastic models that simulate a small population experiencing either a mate-finding Allee effect or a predator-driven Allee effect. We analyze how ITV, trait inheritance, and mutation affect the proportion of surviving populations. Under the mate-finding Allee effect, higher ITV hindered population survival and increased Allee thresholds. This can be explained by Jensens inequality and the negative curvature of the mate-finding function. Under the predator-driven Allee effect, ITV effects were weak, but higher mutation standard deviations were beneficial, likely because they provided more substrate for selection to act on. We thus recommend to take into account ITV when dealing with threatened populations with an Allee effect.

Paleobiologists commonly use genera as a proxy for species in biodiversity studies. However, a lingering concern is that patterns among genera might not always faithfully reflect patterns among species. To date, the concern has focused chiefly on measured patterns of richness over time and on implied origination and extinction rates. However, similar issues might arise for studies of morphological disparity. Moreover, there potentially are additional implications of disparity patterns among species versus those among genera concerning the range of observable anatomical characters and whether disparity within genera is comparable to disparity among genera. If clades have some relatively slowly changing characters that workers have used to denote different genera, then we would expect to see congeneric species to cluster in morphospace; however, if such characters are rare, then within-genus disparity might approach among-genus disparity. Here, we use genus-level and species-level disparity patterns among acanthoceratid ammonoids from the Late Cretaceous. In particular, we examine whether these different level imply different evolutionary dynamics over a major ecological event (Ocean Anoxic Event 2) and how disparity within genera (i.e., among congeneric species) compares to disparity among genera. We find genus-level disparity somewhat inflates early acanthoceratid disparity but implies similar patterns over the OAE2. We also find that within-genus disparity is slightly lower than among-genus, but not hugely so. The combined results suggest that acanthoceratoid shell anatomy does not really show "genus" level characters, even if congeneric species do tend to be more similar to each other than to species in other genera. Thus, this might provide more of a warning for other types of studies using anatomical data (e.g., phylogenetic studies) than for disparity studies. Non-technical SummaryMany paleobiologists use genera to examine scientific questions. This leads to questions over whether this broader approach misses important species-level patterns. This study uses acanthoceratid ammonoids from the Late Cretaceous to examine disparity patterns at both the genus-level and the species-level. We specifically examine the disparity at both levels of this group over a time of high stress for this group, Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2). Our results show that genus-level disparity slightly exaggerates early acanthoceratid disparity but lowers to a similar pattern to the species-level disparity during OAE2. Within-genus disparity is shown to be slightly lower than among-genus, but not enough to be startling. Together, these results indicate that while some species within the same genus tend to be more alike to each other than those in other genera, there isnt a set of true "genus" level characters. This outcome leads to a warning against using anatomical data in phylogenetic studies, but less so for disparity studies.

Introduction : The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but laboratory-based and rapid or point-of-care (POC) testing are often unavailable and unaffordable, especially in low-resource settings, leading to empiric (usually antibiotic) treatment. Community pharmacies (CPs) are often the first point of contact for persons with symptoms of STIs, where pharmacists dispense treatment without diagnostic testing or prescriptions. This study evaluated clients, providers, and policymakers perspectives on POC testing for STIs in CPs for targeted treatment. Methods : We nested a qualitative study into a study of participants seeking both STI and non-STI treatments in CPs. They were tested for HIV, syphilis, trichomonas, chlamydia, and gonorrhea using both rapid POC tests and a central reference lab. A purposive sample of 50 participants from September 2020 to June 2022 consented to participate in in-depth and key informant interviews. Data were analyzed thematically using an inductive approach. Results: Clients (n=35), health care providers (n=9), and policy makers (n=6) highlighted the benefits of POC tests for HIV and STIs at CPs, including affordability, accessibility, and ensuring convenience. The impact of POC testing for STI diagnosis and treatment was promoting behavioral change, rapid results turnaround time, leading to faster treatment access compared to conventional laboratory methods, and supporting sustainable antimicrobial resistance (AMR) control. Barriers to POC testing included a lack of awareness among clients and health workers, inadequate privacy and space, long wait times, unclear self-sample collection instructions, stigma around HIV testing, and reluctance to test for STIs beyond HIV. To address these, participant recommendations included raising STI awareness, providing more explanation of test results, increasing test access, addressing stigma, provider training, and ensuring a sustainable supply chain for testing kits. Conclusions : POC testing for STIs and HIV in CP settings was found to be highly acceptable to both pharmacy clients and providers. Integrating POC testing in CPs could be beneficial for national STI management programs. If the existing barriers are addressed, POC tests could improve accessibility to STI diagnostics and facilitate better linkage to care.

Introducing cognitive enrichment from an early age has the potential to enhance an animals capacity to learn both simple and complex tasks, promote neural plasticity, and support cognitive development. This is applicable for young cattle who are at a critical stage in their development and could benefit from the influence cognitive enrichment has on their behavioral expression. This study aims to explore the effects cognitive enrichment has on weaned dairy calves through analyzing behavioral measures of voluntary participation and short-term behavioral reactions to enrichment exposure. Our study involved a total of five pairs of weaned calves (n=8 treatment; n=2 control). The treatment groups were presented with three variations of a puzzle box, each equipped with unique challenges that offer different solutions (push, slide, pull). These boxes were provided to the calves twice daily over the span of nine days in an isolated corridor located behind their pen. We hypothesized that motivated calves would consistently engage with cognitive enrichment voluntarily over time and express directed natural behaviors, reflecting sustained participation across repeated trials. Results demonstrated that calves consistently visited the cognitive enrichment area across trials, with an average latency of 75.7 {+/-} 47.0s from the pen to the enrichment. Secondly, the calves spent a significant proportion of trial time within the enrichment area at 65% (870.1 {+/-} 21s). Lastly, all calves expressed a broad range of behaviors in line with their natural exploration within the enrichment area, while the puzzle box treatment groups expressed higher durations of behavioral expressions when compared to the control (F=11.7, p<0.0001). Combined, these results indicate the calves motivations to voluntarily participate in a cognitive challenge. While these are promising findings for cognitive enrichment and its applicability to dairy calves, further work is needed to understand broader parameters. Specifically, how can social dynamics influence enrichment interaction in groups, how can this type of enrichment be implemented on farms, and what are the long-term effects to providing cognitive enrichment in the early stages of development.

Phylogenetic networks are widespread representations of evolutionary histories for taxa that undergo hybridization or Lateral-Gene Transfer (LGT) events. There are now many tools to reconstruct such networks, but no clearly established metric to compare them. Such metrics are needed, for example, to evaluate predictions against a simulated ground truth. Despite years of effort in developing metrics, known dissimilarity measures either do not distinguish all pairs of different networks, or are extremely difficult to compute. Since it appears challenging, if not impossible, to create the ideal metric for all classes of networks, it may be relevant to design them for specialized applications. In this article, we introduce a metric on LGT networks, which consist of trees with additional arcs that represent lateral gene transfer events. Our metric is based on edit operations, namely the addition/removal of transfer arcs, and the contraction/expansion of arcs of the base tree, allowing it to connect the space of all LGT networks. We show that it is linear-time computable if the order of transfers along a branch is unconstrained but NP-hard otherwise, in which case we provide a fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm in the level. We implemented our algorithms and demonstrate their applicability on three numerical experiments. Full online versionhttps://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.20.689557

The effects of specific footwear features on biomechanical parameters are often confounded by simultaneous changes in other shoe conditions, making it difficult to identify the isolated effect of material and design properties on relevant biomechanical outcomes. This study aimed to propose a tool, namely the Modular Footwear Setup (MFS), to assess the effects of midsole modifications on lower limb joint kinematics and in-shoe plantar pressure. The MFS uses a micro-hook-and-loop fastening system and a custom alignment device to enable fast, strong, and reliable midsole attachment/detachment to/from the upper. Accuracy and repeatability of the MFS in replicating the biomechanical outcomes of a control shoe featuring the same upper and midsole were tested in 10 healthy participants (5M,5F; age=33.2{+/-}9.2 yrs; BMI=21.5{+/-}2.8 kg/m2). Participants were asked to walk wearing both the MFS and the standard control shoe in three sessions. Kinematics of lower limb joints were measured via inertial measurement units, while capacitive pressure insoles were used to measure in-shoe plantar pressure. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the repeatability of kinematic and pressure measurements between sessions. Statistical Parametric Mapping analysis did not identify significant differences in joint kinematics between conditions. While the MFS exhibited slightly lower peak pressure at the rearfoot, pressure parameters were not statistically different in the other foot regions. The MFS demonstrated good-to-excellent inter-session repeatability (ICC 0.84-0.97) for peak and mean pressure. Participants reported similar levels of comfort and stability in both shoes. The findings of the present study suggest the MFS has the potential to be a reliable and accurate tool for evaluating the effect of midsole features on relevant biomechanical parameters. This modular approach may improve data-driven footwear design by providing a consistent platform for testing the effects of midsole designs and materials across various applications, including therapeutic, safety, and athletic shoes.

Due to long co-evolutionary histories, many zoonotic pathogens are thought to exert little or no negative effects on their wildlife reservoir hosts. However, there remains a lack of rigorous investigations in natural settings. We conducted a 3-year factorial field experiment to investigate how survival of the Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) reservoir, the bank vole, is impacted by PUUV infection, nematode infections, and food availability. We hypothesized that PUUV would not impact survival, but that coinfection with nematodes would negatively impact survival, and that increased food availability would mitigate the negative effects of coinfection. Surprisingly, we demonstrated that PUUV infected voles had substantially reduced survival when compared to uninfected voles, and this strong negative effect manifested in young voles. Nematode removal increased survival of young voles and food supplementation interacted with movement rather than survival. Our results provide empirical evidence in a natural system for infection reducing survival of its reservoir host.

Background/Objective: The Network Pain Rehabilitation Limburg (NPRL) was established to provide integrated, biopsychosocial-based rehabilitation care for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, emphasizing the delivery of appropriate care by the right person at the right place and cost. This study examines the perceived interprofessional collaboration practice (ICP) and work satisfaction among primary care healthcare professionals engaged in NPRL. Patients and Methods: A mixed-methods approach involved seven general practitioners (GPs), twenty-four therapists (physiotherapists and occupational therapists), and five mental health practice nurses in eleven semi-structured focus groups and one interview conducted from 2017 to 2020. The Interprofessional Collaboration Attainment Survey quantitatively measured healthcare professionals' ICP abilities before and after NPRL participation. Qualitative analysis, structured around existing ICP frameworks and the Quadruple Aim, was based on interview data. Results: Findings revealed stable ICP and work satisfaction, with discussions focusing on transitioning to a biopsychosocial perspective on chronic pain and its implications, along with concerns about GP burden and insurer reimbursement issues. Significant enhancements were noted in communication and team functioning (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall, healthcare professionals reported positive experiences with NPRL's integrated approach, showcasing dedication to providing rehabilitation care for chronic musculoskeletal pain in primary care. Recommendations for improving ICP included advocating for a broader societal biopsychosocial view of chronic pain, introducing case managers in primary care to support GPs, and exploring alternative reimbursement models with insurers. However, significant transformations to impact work satisfaction and ICP may necessitate more time and consideration.