University of St Andrews

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyze patient’s emotional expressions during the consultations and the responses of their oncologists to these expressions. Methods: The study employed a mixed-method, observational, descriptive, and explanatory design. A total of 31adult patients at different clinical stages, undergoing cancer treatment and 8 oncologists were included. Thirty-one routine outpatient oncology consultations were analyzed, after being transcribed and coded, using the Portuguese version of the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). Results: The oncologists elicited and recognized patients’ emotional concerns, but they did not explore them in a way that encouraged patients to continue verbalizing their feelings. Oncologists provided more directive and guidance-oriented responses, focusing on cues related to physical pain and symptoms. Multilevel logistic regression analysis modeled the probability of oncologists’ responses showing reduction of space in relation to patients’ emotional cues/concerns, controlling for clustering and patients’ clinical and socio-demographic variables. The type of cue and treatment influenced the oncologists’ responses. Conclusions: Communication skills training focused on the ability to better explore patients’ emotions may help oncologists to provide more explicit and empathetic responses that validate the emotional content expressed during consultations. Practice Implications: Oncologists do not use the same responses as a standard with patients, thus adjusting them individually.

Individuals vary in their stress-coping styles, characterized by specific behavioural and physiological traits that influence their response to stressors. Theory suggests that these traits are linked to underlying metabolic mechanisms that affect energy management strategies. Despite the potential of this powerful comparative approach, few studies have explored how stress-coping styles relate to energy management strategies. Using heart rate telemetry data from a large, capital-breeding pinniped, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), we sought to investigate the relationship that stress-coping styles (via individual resting heart rate variability, rHRV) may have on energy management strategies. Background energy expenditures, a proxy for metabolic rate and other background processes, and daily energy expenditures were found to be individually repeatable in grey seal mothers across successive breeding seasons. Proactive individuals (low rHRV) exhibited consistently higher background and daily energy expenditures than reactive females (high rHRV). However, reactive phenotypes were more variable overall in energy management strategy, highlighting greater flexibility in their energy management strategy. Our results highlight key energetic trade-offs associated with stress-coping styles in grey seal mothers during this short but critical life-history stage; proactive individuals tended to exhibit a single pattern of energy management, expending greater energy while incurring greater risk of over-spending, than those with a more reactive phenotype.

Organic biluminescence, the simultaneous emission from both the singlet and triplet excited state manifolds, is a rare and incompletely understood emission process. However, biluminescent compounds have wide‐reaching applications, such as in sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and optoelectronics, owing to the complex interplay of excited states having distinct spectral profiles and lifetimes. Herein, the biluminescence of a family of polycyclic aromatic heterocycles known as nitrogen‐containing indolocarbazoles (NICz) is described. As 1 wt.% doped films in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), these compounds exhibit dual fluorescence/room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with λPL in the near‐UV (≈375 nm) and green (≈500 nm), respectively, and remarkably long phosphorescence lifetimes extending into the multi‐second regime. This RTP is shown to persist even at doping concentrations as low as 0.1 wt.%. Additionally, two of the emitters exhibit multi‐resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF)/RTP biluminescence, which, to the best of knowledge, would be the first examples of such behavior. Finally, insight is provided into the dependence of these competing emission pathways on the temperature and concentration, with supporting wavefunction‐based computations.

The postliberal genealogies of John Milbank, Brad Gregory, and Patrick Deneen refuse to disaggregate liberalism and thus denounce it wholesale. Likewise, these narratives are not sufficiently ambivalent in describing both modern liberalism and pre-modern politics. I respond to these narratives by disaggregating liberalism into various forms. I note how a certain version of political liberalism, rooted in the freedom of conscience, has important precedents in pre-modern Christianity. In view of this, I defend the plausibility of a historical interpretation positing a more positive, yet nonetheless ambivalent relation between important trends in Christianity and versions of modern liberalism, thereby calling into question the indiscriminate denunciation of liberalism posited as the ‘moral’ of these postliberal narratives.

INTRODUCTION Sleep dysfunction in those at higher risk of dementia may be associated with early structural changes to the hypothalamus. METHODS We used multivariate regression to analyze self‐reported sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) from cognitively healthy participants in the PREVENT Dementia and Alzheimer's and Families (ALFA) studies (n = 1939), stratified by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype as homozygotes, heterozygotes, and non‐carriers. FreeSurfer was used to extract hypothalamic subunit volumes from T1‐weighted magnetic resonance images. RESULTS APOE ε4 homozygotes had a larger anterior–superior hypothalamus compared to heterozygotes and non‐carriers, an effect which was driven by younger people in the cohort. APOE ε4 carriers had a higher PSQI global score after age 55, and smaller anterior–superior and tubular–superior subunits were associated with more sleep disturbances. Sleep duration and efficiency worsened with age, but only in participants with a small anterior–inferior hypothalamus. DISCUSSION This suggests that aging and APOE ε4 are associated with hypothalamic changes, highlighting mechanisms linking sleep dysfunction to dementia. Highlights Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 homozygotes ha a larger anterior–superior hypothalamus. APOE ε4 carriers have worse sleep, but only after age 55. Worse sleep in APOE ε4 carriers was associated with smaller hypothalamic subunits. Higher age was associated with worse sleep in people with a small hypothalamus.

Ecology has yet to embrace causal inference, yet most questions in ecology are causal. Despite the common use of terms that imply causation, such as “shapes”, “drives”, or “impacts”, many studies shy away from directly acknowledging their causal ambitions. This avoidance not only obscures the true intent of research but also underpins a broader challenge within the field's approach to science. Ecology relies heavily on observational data, and so the necessity for robust causal inference becomes paramount. However, causal methods are also needed for non‐randomised experiments. We critique the predominance in ecology of scientifically empty statistical procedures that lack scientific clarity and value. We advocate for a shift towards explicit causal inference, arguing that understanding causality is not confined to randomised controlled trials but can also be enriched through observational data when paired with rigorous causal inference methodologies. This paper elucidates the common pitfalls in ecological studies, such as throwing all variables into an analysis, use of the Akaike information criterion (AIC) for model selection, the “Table 2 fallacy” and the misuse of controls: all of which can lead to misleading scientific understanding. The good news is that causal inference is not primarily a statistical problem, but rather a scientific one that is accessible to all ecologists. We can achieve reasonable progress by continuing to use the standard statistical toolbox based around regression models, familiar to many ecologists, paired with causal diagrams. For regression, causal inference is about understanding what we should condition on (good controls) and what we should not condition on (bad controls). We provide not only a critique but a constructive guide, aiming to demystify causal inference and encourage its adoption in ecological studies using familiar approaches. By doing so, we seek to elevate the quality and impact of ecological research, moving beyond routine convenient statistical procedures and towards a more scientifically sound and insightful understanding of ecology.

Plain Language Summary The tropical intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) exerts profound impacts on global weather and climate changes on various spatial and temporal scales. Based on their precipitation characteristics, the large‐scale precipitation tracking (LPT) method has been proposed to identify the ISO events. Using the LPT method, a spectrum of ISO modes, including eastward propagating, westward propagating, and stationary oscillating ISO modes, is revealed during boreal winter. Among all ISO modes, the eastward propagating ISO mode is most frequent, while the westward propagating and stationary oscillating modes occur with equal frequency. A pentad average statistical analysis further shows that the occurrences of the three types of ISO modes are suppressed from each other. At initial pentads, the horizontal advection of column‐integrated moist static energy (MSE) exhibits consistent east‐west differences with MSE tendency anomalies and aids the propagation of the ISO events. Further synthesis analyses suggest that background vertical zonal wind shear anomalies are the key factor affecting whether the ISO propagates or not. Using an intermediate atmospheric model, the strengthened easterly (westerly) wind shear is proved to suppress the eastward (westward) propagation of the ISO convection over the tropical Indo‐Pacific Oceans.

Men’s gender roles have changed dramatically over the past few decades. We examined whether the evaluation of this discontinuity in men’s gender roles predicts cis men's attitudes toward gender equality, and whether nostalgic reverie for traditional gender relations mediates this association. Support was found for our hypothesized mediation model across three studies (and an internal meta-analysis of the main effects) conducted in two different countries (United Kingdom and United States): one correlational (N = 333) and two experimental (Ns = 368 and 432, respectively). Specifically, when discontinuity in men’s gender roles (measured or manipulated) was perceived to be negative relative to positive, men expressed greater nostalgia for traditional gender relations, which reduced support for gender equality. Results not only address a gap in understanding the factors that shape men’s attitudes towards gender equality but also inform the development of interventions that promote gender equality and challenge traditional gender roles and gender stereotypes.

This article explores the consistency of John Witherspoon’s ethics between Scotland and America by comparing Witherspoon’s (in)famous satire of moderatism, Ecclesiastical Characteristics: Or, the Arcana of Church Policy (Glasgow, 1753), with Witherspoon’s ‘Lectures on Moral Philosophy’, delivered at Princeton from 1769. In doing so, it is the first article to draw attention to, and to assess, the fundamental role that ‘Sir Isaac Newton’s bulldog’, Samuel Clarke, plays in both the Scottish Arcana and American ‘Lectures’. Although scholars frequently debate whether there are ‘two Witherspoons’ – not least because Witherspoon’s American ‘Lectures’ seem to borrow so heavily from his nemesis in Scotland, Francis Hutcheson – it is argued here that Witherspoon’s ethics are consistently Clarkean as opposed to Hutchesonian, in Scotland and America. By investigating the constancy of Witherspoon’s ethics, as underpinned by his consistent use of Clarke, in both the Arcana and ‘Lectures on Moral Philosophy’, this article claims that Clarke’s ethical rationalism and Newtonianism are the key to interpreting Witherspoon’s position on ‘Ethics’ in the ‘Lectures’, as well as appreciating the moral philosophical subtlety of his satirical language in the Arcana.

Zeolites with high framework Si/Al ratios are of interest for industrial applications due to their hydrothermal stability. They are usually synthesized in the presence of pre‐prepared organic structure directing agents (OSDAs). The high silica ERS‐7 zeolite (topology type ESV) can be crystallized using N,N‐dimethylpyrrolidinium (dmpyrr) that is formed in situ via cyclization of N,N,N’,N’‐tetramethyl‐1,4‐diaminobutane (tmdab) when a cationic polymer is also present. The in situ generation of dmpyrr is demonstrated by solid‐state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and supported by both chemical analyses and comparative syntheses using pre‐prepared dmpyrr. The cationic polymer inhibits the crystallization of mordenite, which is otherwise observed to be the favored product. The ERS‐7 prepared via in situ dmpyrr synthesis (Si/Al = 14) is characterized by PXRD and solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. The CO2 adsorption seen for the H‐ and Na‐forms indicates interactions with accessible Na⁺ cations. The synthetic studies indicate the potential for in situ generation of OSDAs to reduce the need for extended OSDA syntheses.

Bayesian networks (BNs) have been used for reconstructing interactions from biological data, in disciplines ranging from molecular biology to ecology and neuroscience. BNs learn conditional dependencies between variables, which best ‘explain’ the data, represented as a directed graph which approximates the relationships between variables. In the 2000s, BNs were a popular method that promised an approach capable of inferring biological networks from data. Here, we review the use of BNs applied to biological data over the past two decades and evaluate their efficacy. We find that BNs are successful in inferring biological networks, frequently identifying novel interactions or network components missed by previous analyses. We suggest that as false positive results are underreported, it is difficult to assess the accuracy of BNs in inferring biological networks. BN learning appears most successful for small numbers of variables with high-quality datasets that either discretize the data into few states or include perturbative data. We suggest that BNs have failed to live up to the promise of the 2000s but that this is most likely due to experimental constraints on datasets, and the success of BNs at inferring networks in a variety of biological contexts suggests they are a powerful tool for biologists.

Background The overall quantity of screen time has been associated with short sleep duration and increasingly sedentary lifestyles, leading to adiposity. The aim of this research was to explore which components of screen time usage are shared determinants of poor sleep and higher adiposity in adolescents, using data from the Teen Sleep Well Study. Methods A cross-sectional study of adolescents aged 11–14 years in Fife, Scotland was conducted. Sleep was measured objectively using the Actigraph GT3X-BT and subjectively using validated questionnaires. Adiposity was assessed using body fat percentage (BF%) and obesity was measured using body mass index percentile (BMIp). Four components of screen time were addressed using questionnaires: the timing of screen time, quantity of screen time, location of screen time, and screen time addiction. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests such as Pearson correlation tables, and adjusted regression analyses were used. Mediation analyses explored wellbeing as a factor in the association between screen time and sleep and obesity. Results Sixty-two participants (33 female/29 male, mean age 12.2 ± 1.1 years, mean BMIp 60.3 ± 32.1) completed the study. Excessive screen time pre-sleep (30 min before sleep) and post-sleep (first 30 min after waking), excessive screen time on a weekend, and screen time addiction were shared determinants of higher adiposity, a later chronotype (evening-preference) and poor sleep outcomes: poor sleep habits, increased insomnia symptoms (IS) and increased sleep onset variability. Mediation analyses confirmed that adolescent wellbeing mediated the association between pre-sleep screen time and IS (36.3%) and BF% (21.9%), post-sleep screen time and IS (37.7%) and BF% (30.4%), videogaming addiction and IS (31.9%) and BF% (34.6%), social media addiction and IS (35.0%) and BF% (17.4%), mobile phone addiction and IS (34.0%) and BF% (10.6%), weekday screen time and IS (58.1%) and BF% (39.8%), and weekend screen time and IS (51.4%) and BF% (38.0%). Conclusions These screen time behaviours, alongside wellbeing should be considered in multi-component health-promoting interventions aimed at improving adolescent sleep and reducing obesity risk. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to clarify the directionality of these associations and determine the effectiveness of interventions that target both screen time behaviours and wellbeing.

The mechanism of Ru‐catalyzed N‐directed C‐H ortho‐arylation with haloarenes has been under intense scrutiny over the last decade, with conflicting proposals concerning the relevance of various catalytic intermediates and the nature of the key steps. This work presents experimental and computational studies that address these long‐standing questions. Stoichiometric, catalytic, and mechanistic kinetic studies, supported by DFT calculations, reveal that bis‐cyclometallated ruthenium species are key intermediates in these reactions. These studies also show that oxidative addition with bromoarenes proceeds via a concerted oxidative addition pathway, as demonstrated by DFT and experimental kinetic orders. Bromoarene activation does not proceed at mono‐cyclometalated species. In the catalytic process, zero order kinetics are observed on both reaction substrates, an observation that is rationalized by DFT calculations which predict a rate‐limiting step within the product‐release stage. These results showcase how detailed experimental and DFT studies can combine to probe mechanistic questions, as well as resolving opposing views around the mechanism of these Ru‐catalyzed arylations that form the basis of promising mild C─H functionalizations.

A binary star is a close pair of stars orbiting around their common centre of mass. It is of interest to astronomers whether the planes of binary star orbits have a common alignment. Observations are often limited by an ambiguity: the direction of the orbital pole (the directed normal to the orbital plane) cannot be distinguished from its reflection in the plane of the sky. Tests of uniformity are presented here that are modifications of Sobolev tests on the sphere. These tests allow also for possible selection effects, in which binary stars may be more or less likely to be detected depending on the inclinations of their orbits as seen from the Earth. Modified Rayleigh and Giné tests are applied to data from a standard catalogue of orbits of visual binary stars. Despite the wide scattering of orbital poles, there is consistent evidence of a lack of uniformity, and some evidence of a common alignment of orbits of binaries that are more than 20 parsecs from the Sun.

Aim Halting widespread biodiversity loss will require detailed information on species' trends and the habitat conditions correlated with population declines. However, constraints on conventional monitoring programs and commonplace approaches for trend estimation can make it difficult to obtain such information across species' ranges. Here, we demonstrate how recent developments in machine learning and model interpretation, combined with data sources derived from participatory science, enable landscape‐scale inferences on the habitat correlates of population trends across broad spatial extents. Location Worldwide, with a case study in the western United States. Methods We used interpretable machine learning to understand the relationships between land cover and spatially explicit bird population trends. Using a case study with three passerine birds in the western U.S. and spatially explicit trends derived from eBird data, we explore the potential impacts of simulated land cover modification while evaluating potential co‐benefits among species. Results Our analysis revealed complex, non‐linear relationships between land cover variables and species' population trends as well as substantial interspecific variation in those relationships. Areas with the most positive impacts from a simulated land cover modification overlapped for two species, but these changes had little effect on the third species. Main Conclusions This framework can help conservation practitioners identify important relationships between species trends and habitat while also highlighting areas where potential modifications to the landscape could bring the biggest benefits. The analysis is transferable to hundreds of species worldwide with spatially explicit trend estimates, allowing inference across multiple species at scales that are tractable for management to combat species declines.

Sustainable management of crustacean fisheries requires accurate and timely data for population modelling, but many stocks are data deficient. To address this challenge, a novel device using Class 3R 660 nm diode lasers and Artificial Intelligence algorithms for automated data collection is under development. Whilst the safe use of Class 3R lasers is prescribed for the human eye, equivalent knowledge is required to ensure that lasers of this Class can be used without causing ocular damage to crustaceans. Some countries recognise crustaceans as sentient, thus ocular impacts that could compromise welfare and impair the subsequent survival of sampled specimens could be deemed unacceptable. This study investigates the impact of a prototype laser scanning system on the compound eyes of the white-legged prawn, Litopenaeus vannamei. Histological analysis in a controlled laboratory revealed a correlation between laser exposure and markers of ocular tissue damage, suggesting potential cumulative effects associated with repeated exposure. However, there was indication of pre-existing, underlying baseline alterations in some markers, possibly associated with senescence. Further, observations indicated minimal immediate behavioural effects following single scans, though care is warranted in extrapolating these findings to natural populations and different species under commercial conditions. In an operational context, specimens would only be subjected to a single exposure with a conveyor speed four times faster than that used experimentally, which equates to ~0.05 mW total laser energy. The estimated exposure for a single scan used experimentally was ~0.19 mW. At this level, there is no clear evidence of ocular tissue damage. However, fewer than five repeated exposures at the 6.7 cm/s conveyor speed used experimentally, may result in observable changes in some ocular tissue underscoring the need for cautious protocol development. This research highlights potential biological markers for evaluating photothermal damage in crustacean eyes, which could be used in future studies covering a broader range of commercially significant species.

Stereoelectronic effects governing Mn‐catalysed hydrogenation reactions have been deconvoluted through the analysis of a series of in silico catalyst modifications using DFT (PBE0‐D3PCM(EtOH)/def2‐TZVP//RI‐BP86PCM(EtOH)/def2‐SVP level of theory). Computations were performed on the Mn‐catalysed reduction of indanone based on a catalyst from the Clarke group, consisting of a tridentate ligand with pyridine, amine and phosphine donors and a ferrocenyl linker in the backbone. Enantioselectivity enhancements were found through two pathways; firstly, with the stabilisation of aromatic substrates by means of an extended π‐system, enhancing π‐stacking non‐covalent interactions; secondly, by the introduction of steric bulk around the active site to destabilise one of the diastereomeric hydride transfer transition states. Electronic effects were differentiated from sterics by modification of the phenyl groups at the phosphine, trans‐ to the metal‐hydride bond. While electron‐withdrawing groups increased the thermodynamic driving force, the highest activity is predicted with electron‐donating groups due to the improved basicity of the nitrogen lone pair, required for the initiation of hydrogen activation. Based on these observations, promising routes for synthetic catalyst design may involve donating groups which improve activity, coupled with enantiodiscrimination via steric bulk as a more general strategy than being limited to π‐containing substrates.