Structural Variables Research Articles

An integrative framework to combine migratory connectivity and demographic data

Abstract Migratory species experience various conditions and events throughout their annual cycle that influence their spatial and demographic dynamics. To understand these dynamics, it is essential to describe the origin and destination of individuals. Migratory connectivity, which is defined as the geographic linkage between populations across the annual cycle, is increasingly incorporated in population models to relate population trends to environmental variables at different stages of the cycle. However, such information on migratory movements is obtained independently from the study of population dynamics despite the interaction between both processes. Expanding on the growing use of integrated modelling approaches, we developed an integrated framework that allows the sharing of information between migratory connectivity and population data. We first assembled an integrated migratory connectivity model and an integrated population model to join the analysis of GPS, live‐reencounter, dead‐recovery, capture–mark–recapture, and population count data within a unified framework. Based on simulated data, we assessed the ability of the resulting integrated connectivity and population model to produce unbiased and precise connectivity and demographic estimates. We then applied the same assessment to real data using the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) as a case study. On simulated data, the integrated connectivity and population model estimated connectivity and survival parameters with no bias and similar precision to the connectivity model alone. However, it outperformed the population model in estimating fecundity in the absence of explicit productivity data. When applied to the Eurasian Curlew, the integrated connectivity and population model produced overall similar migratory connectivity and more accurate demographic estimates than the connectivity model alone, consistent with previous studies. Additionally, the model was able to estimate fecundity, whereas the data were too sparse for the population model alone to disentangle juvenile survival and fecundity. The sharing of information between migratory connectivity and population data improved the estimation of demographic parameters by the population model and improved connectivity parameter estimates when data were scarce. This flexible framework can be generalised to include diverse data on migration movements, population structure, individual heterogeneity or environmental variables, allowing further investigation of the interaction between migration patterns and population dynamics.

Extendable Synthesis of Organic Cations for In Situ Construction of Hybrid Metal Halides with Near‐Unity Photoluminescence and Strong Second Harmonic Generation

The A‐site organic components of organic‐inorganic hybrid metal halides (OIHMHs) significantly impact their crystal structure and optoelectronic properties. However, chemical modification of A‐site cations has been mostly limited to commercial organic precursors, which restricts the structural variability of OIHMHs for optimal functionalities. Herein we have proposed an extendable synthesis approach to the direct procurability of various organic cations with desireable structures for the in situ construction of a library of OIHMH materials. The template condensation reaction between dimethyl sulfoxide and acetone derivatives yields A‐site organic cations with exquisite control of modularization and regioselectivity within the OIHMH crystallization system. The as‐fabricated OIHMHs demonstrated highly efficient linear optical photoluminescence or nonlinear optical second harmonic generation, promising potential applications in photonic devices. This in situ synthetic strategy offers a structural extension of OIHMHs and establishes a fundamental methodological platform for screening functional OIHMH materials.

Brain state forecasting for precise brain stimulation: Current approaches and future perspectives.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has the potential to yield insights into cortical functions and improve the treatment of neurological and psychiatric conditions. However, its reliability is hindered by a low reproducibility of results. Among other factors, such low reproducibility is due to structural and functional variability between individual brains. Informing stimulation protocols with individual neuroimaging data could mitigate this issue, ensuring accurate targeting of structural brain areas and functional brain states in a subject-by-subject fashion. However, this process poses a set of theoretical and technical challenges. We focus on the problem of online functional targeting, which requires collecting electroencephalography (EEG) data, extracting brain states, and using them to trigger TMS in real time. This stream of operations introduces hardware and software delays in the real time set-up, such that brain states of interest may vanish before TMS delivery. To compensate for delays, it is necessary to process the EEG signal in real time, forecast it, and instruct TMS devices to target forecasted - rather than measured - brain states. Recently, this approach has been adopted successfully in a number of studies, opening interesting opportunities for personalised brain stimulation treatments. However, little has been done to explore and overcome the limitations of current forecasting methods. After reviewing the state of the art in brain state-dependent stimulation, we will discuss two broad classes of forecasting methods and their suitability for application to EEG time series. Subsequently, we will review the evidence in favour of data-driven forecasting and discuss its potential contributions to TMS methodology and the scientific understanding of brain dynamics, highlighting the transformative potential of big open datasets.

Optimization of TMS target engagement: current state and future perspectives

Neuromodulation is based on the principle that brain stimulation produces plastic changes in cerebral circuitry. Given the intersubject structural and functional variability, neuromodulation has a personalized effect in the brain. Moreover, because of cerebral dominance and interhemispheric functional and structural differences in the same individual, the characterization of specific brain circuitries involved is currently not feasible. This notion is extremely important for neuromodulation treatments applied in neuropsychiatry. Specifically, the efficacy of the neuromodulation treatments is critically dependent on the anatomical precision of the brain target and the circuitry which has been affected by the TMS intervention. Furthermore, for a complete understanding of how the brain behaves under stimulation, the characterization of its neurophysiological response is necessary as well. This goal can be achieved with TMS–EEG guided by current multimodal neuroimaging techniques in real time, namely MRI-based anatomical segmentation and diffusion MRI-based tractographic analysis.

Synthesis and Antimycobacterial Assays of Some New Ethambutol Analogs

Ethambutol (EMB) is a first-line anti-tuberculosis drug that is also considered in treatment regimens for infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). EMB targets the arabinosyl transferases EmbCAB, which are important for the synthesis of cell wall constituents. To further explore and narrow down the structural variability of EMB, we synthesized three series of new EMB analogs. We tested their activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium intracellulare. Only analogs that very closely resembled EMB showed comparable antimycobacterial activity.

Dragons in Action: Psychological Barriers as Mediators of the Relationship Between Environmental Value Orientation and Pro‐Environmental Behaviour

ABSTRACTThis study investigates to what extent the ‘green gap,’ that is, the disconnection between environmental values and pro‐environmental behaviour, can be explained by various perceived psychological barriers. A large representative sample of Slovak participants (N = 1233) filled in several measures of environmental value orientation, perceived psychological barriers and self‐reported pro‐environmental behaviour. The parallel mediation models revealed that environmental value orientation predicts engagement in pro‐environmental behaviour, and this relationship is partially mediated by certain psychological barriers, yet the role of the specific barriers varied substantially with different types of behaviour. Overall, however, the explained variance in pro‐environmental behaviour was relatively modest (up to 31%), suggesting the presence of other important social, psychological, and structural variables as predictors in this regard. Our findings emphasize the intricate role of psychological barriers and demographic factors in shaping environmental actions. Understanding these complexities can help design targeted interventions to bridge the ‘green gap’ effectively.

Intrinsic Mechanical Effects on the Activation of Carbon Catalysts.

The mechanical effects on carbon-based metal-free catalysts (C-MFCs) have rarely been explored, despite the global interest in C-MFCs as substitutes for noble metal catalysts. Stress is ubiquitous, whereas its dedicated study is severely restricted due to its frequent entanglement with other structural variables, such as dopants, defects, and interfaces in catalysis. Herein, we report a proof-of-concept study by establishing a platform to continuously apply strain to a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) lamina, simultaneously collecting electrochemical signals. Notably, we establish, for the first time, the correlation between the surface strain of graphitic carbon and its activation effect on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Our results indicate that while in-plane and edge carbon sites in HOPG could not be further activated by applying tensile strain, a strong and repeatable dependence of catalytic activity on tensile strain was observed when the structure incorporated in-plane defects, leading to a significant ∼35.0% improvement in ORR current density with the application of ∼0.6% tensile strain. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations reveal that appropriate strain on specific defects can optimize the adsorption of reaction intermediates, and the Stone-Wales defect on graphene is correlated with the observed mechanical effect. This work elucidates fundamental principles of strain effects on the catalytic activity of graphitic carbon toward ORR and may lay the groundwork for the development of carbon-based mechano-electrocatalysis.

Tactical flight optimizer: a novel optimization technique tested on mathematical, mechanical, and structural optimization problems

Abstract The current study presents a novel gradient-free metaheuristic search algorithm named Tactical Flight Optimizer (TFO), tailored to meet the growing need for high-performance optimization techniques in solving complex engineering and mathematical problems. The main contribution of this study is the development of a method that simulates tactical air combat formations, offering a sophisticated alternative to conventional search algorithms. In the proposed method, the location of each agent is updated based on a resultant vector derived from three updating vectors. The updating vectors incorporate total information stored by the agents in each iteration. Consequently, the navigation process is guided by a more logical mechanism rather than a simple random process. The search performance of the TFO is initially benchmarked by solving a set of constrained mathematical functions. Subsequently, it is evaluated by addressing a suite of constrained mechanical and structural problems, containing both discrete and continuous decision variables. The obtained results are compared with five other well-stablished metaheuristic techniques. Acquired numerical results indicate that the TFO algorithm can provide promising results in solving both mathematical and engineering problems in terms of computational cost, accuracy, and stability.

Relationships between structural stigma, societal stigma, and minority stress among gender minority people

Structural stigma towards gender minority (GM; people whose current gender does not align with sex assigned at birth) people is an important contributor to minority stress (i.e., stress experienced due to one’s marginalized GM identity), although existing variables are unclear in their inclusion of social norms, or societal stigma, as a key component of the construct. We examined potential variables representing structural stigma, including variables that are inclusive of societal stigma, to identify those that most strongly relate to minority stress outcomes. We tested variables identified in the literature as measures of structural stigma inclusive of societal stigma (LGBT + Business Climate Index, state voting behaviors, and Google Trends search data), the most commonly used structural stigma variable (State Policy Environment Tally), and proxy variables (region, population density) for comparison. The relationships between structural stigma and minority stress model outcomes were tested in a sample of GM participants from The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study (N = 2,094) 2019 Annual Questionnaire using a structural equation model (SEM). Lower structural stigma (i.e., higher LGBT Business Climate Index) was associated with lower experienced stigma (β= -0.260, p < .01) and lower anticipated stigma (β= -0.433, p < .001). Greater conservative voting behavior was associated with less experienced stigma (β= -0.103, p < .01). Living in a more densely populated county was also associated with lower anticipated stigma (β=-0.108, p < .001) and greater identity outness (β = 0.053, p < .05). Two of the identified structural stigma variables that were inclusive of societal stigma (i.e., LGBT + Business Climate Index, conservative voting behaviors) and one proxy variable (population density) were associated with minority stress outcomes. However, the most commonly used variable for structural stigma (State Policy Environment Tally) was not associated with any outcomes. The State LGBT + Business Climate Index showed the most promise for use as a structural stigma variable in future research. The application of this variable should be investigated further to explore its association with health outcomes and to inform efforts to reduce health equity barriers experienced by GM people through addressing structural stigma in a manner inclusive of societal stigma.

Value creation in the green dynamic marketing capability: The role of organizational learning and green innovation

The global agreement on environmentally friendly policies puts pressure on businesses to implement good practices to increase legitimacy in a competitive environment. This research aims to examine business dynamic capabilities and value creation processes through the concept of green dynamic marketing capabilities. This concept addresses the ability of businesses to absorb, manage information and accumulate new knowledge that fuels innovative endeavors. The dynamic capability view and customer value theory are integrated to theoretically explain the value creation process of market-orientated innovative products. A total of 58 global companies in Clean200 were sampled. A quantitative approach was conducted to measure the effect of organizational learning (environment management team, environment management training, environment supply chain management) on green innovation (environmental innovation score, eco design product). The results showed that the contribution of Model-1 (0.473 or 47.3%) explained the effect of organizational learning on environmental innovation score, respectively on the variables of environment management team (2.859/0.005), environment management training (−2.971/0.003), and environment supply chain management (7.786/0.000). The contribution of Model-2 (0.448/44.8%) explains the effect of organizational learning on eco-design product, respectively on the variables of environment management team (4.280/0.000), environment management training (−6.401/0.000), and environment supply chain management (7.910/0.000). Model-3 tested the structural association variables in organizational learning and green innovation. A significant influence can be seen with a probability value smaller than 0.05. This research shows that the concept of green dynamic marketing capabilities can be used to explain the ability of businesses in response to the pressure of green global norms through the development of organizational learning towards creation of green innovation product that has impact on market performance. The implication of this research is the creation of new mindset in which green global norms challenge becomes an opportunity for businesses to improve competitiveness.

Natural Cyclic Peptides: Synthetic Strategies and Biomedical Applications.

Natural cyclic peptides, a diverse class of bioactive compounds, have been isolated from various natural sources and are renowned for their extensive structural variability and broad spectrum of medicinal properties. Over 40 cyclic peptides or their derivatives are currently approved as medicines, underscoring their significant therapeutic potential. These compounds are employed in diverse roles, including antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics, immune modulators, and anti-inflammatory agents. Their unique ability to combine high specificity with desirable pharmacokinetic properties makes them valuable tools in addressing unmet medical needs, such as combating drug-resistant pathogens and targeting challenging biological pathways. Due to the typically low concentrations of cyclic peptides in nature, effective synthetic strategies are indispensable for their acquisition, characterization, and biological evaluation. Cyclization, a critical step in their synthesis, enhances metabolic stability, bioavailability, and receptor binding affinity. Advances in synthetic methodologies-such as solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), chemoenzymatic approaches, and orthogonal protection strategies-have transformed cyclic peptide production, enabling greater structural complexity and precision. This review compiles recent progress in the total synthesis and biological evaluation of natural cyclic peptides from 2017 onward, categorized by cyclization strategies: head-to-tail; head-to-side-chain; tail-to-side-chain; and side-chain-to-side-chain strategies. Each account includes retrosynthetic analyses, synthetic advancements, and biological data to illustrate their therapeutic relevance and innovative methodologies. Looking ahead, the future of cyclic peptides in drug discovery is bright. Emerging trends, including integrating computational tools for rational design, novel cyclization techniques to improve pharmacokinetic profiles, and interdisciplinary collaboration among chemists, biologists, and computational scientists, promise to expand the scope of cyclic peptide-based therapeutics. These advancements can potentially address complex diseases and advance the broader field of biological drug development.

Microstructural and functional connectivity changes of decision-related brain networks in end-stage kidney disease patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

We aimed to explore changes in decision-related brain microstructure, brain functional activities, and functional connectivity, and their correlations with cognitive function in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Furthermore, the impact of dialysis on these changes was examined. Thirty ESKD patients undergoing PD, 20 chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5 patients without dialysis (predialysis CKD stage 5), and 30 healthy controls (HC) were recruited for the study. Various assessments have been conducted, including neuropsychological scale testing, decision-related behavioral tests, voxel-based morphometry, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to the HC group, PD patients showed decreased functional activation and gray matter volume in multiple decision-related brain areas, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (p < 0.05, false discovery rate-corrected). The default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SAN) were the primary brain regions that showed decreased functional connectivity to the vmPFC and ACC. Additionally, compared to the predialysis group, the PD group showed enhanced brain activation in decision-related brain regions such as the ACC, vmPFC, and insula. Though PD and predialysis CKD stage 5 patients performed poorly in the neuropsychological and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), there was no significant difference between the two groups. The structure and function variabilities of the vmPFC were correlated with IGT and Montreal Cognitive Assessment score, and the activation of OFC was negatively associated with blood creatinine, cystatin, and parathyroid hormone levels. In summary, PD can change the structure and function of decision-related brain circuits (vmPFC-OFC-ACC) and reduce integration within DMN and SAN, which is correlated with cognitive function and clinical features. Moreover, our findings may suggest the comparable capability of PD in preserving one's cognitive function and disease progression. Multimodal neuroimaging based on structure and function can provide more objective information for the early diagnosis and intervention of cognitive impairment in ESKD patients.

Structure of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gB in post-fusion conformation.

Discovered in 1994 in lesions of an AIDS patient, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a member of the gammaherpesvirus subfamily of the Herpesviridae family, which contains a total of nine that infect humans. These viruses all contain a large envelope glycoprotein, glycoprotein B (gB), that is required for viral fusion with host cell membrane to initial infection. Although the atomic structures of five other human herpesviruses in their postfusion conformation and one in its prefusion conformation are known, the atomic structure of KSHV gB has not been reported. Here, we report the first structure of the KSHV gB ectodomain determined by single-particle cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM). Despite a similar global fold between herpesvirus gB, KSHV gB possesses local differences not shared by its relatives in other herpesviruses. The glycosylation sites of gB are arranged in belts down the symmetry axis with distinct localization compared to that of other herpesviruses, which occludes certain antibody binding sites. An extended glycan chain observed in domain I (DI), located proximal to the host membrane, may suggest its possible role in host cell attachment. Local flexibility of domain IV (DIV) governed by molecular hinges at its interdomain junctions identifies a means for enabling conformational change. A mutation in the domain III (DIII) central helix disrupts incorporation of gB into KSHV virions despite adoption of a canonical fold in vitro. Taken together, this study reveals mechanisms of structural variability of herpesvirus fusion protein gB and informs its folding and immunogenicity.IMPORTANCEIn 1994, a cancer-causing virus was discovered in lesions of AIDS patients, which was later named Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). As the latest discovered human herpesvirus, KSHV has been classified into the gammaherpesvirus subfamily of the Herpesviridae. In this study, we have expressed KSHV gB and employed cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) to determine its first structure. Importantly, our structure resolves some glycans beyond the first sugar moiety. These glycans are arranged in a pattern unique to KSHV, which impacts the antigenicity of KSHV gB. Our structure also reveals conformational flexibility caused by molecular hinges between domains that provide clues into the mechanism behind the drastic change between prefusion and postfusion states.

An explorative qualitative study of barriers to the use of health and mental health services among migrant female sex workers in Germany and needs for action.

Migrant female sex workers (MFSWs) can be exposed to various health risks due to their occupation, including mental and physical health, substance use, and experience of violence. However, they face substantial barriers to accessing healthcare services. The inadequate access to medical care for migrant female sex workers poses a challenge to the German healthcare system. This qualitative study aimed to identify and analyze the barriers to the use of health and mental health services by migrant female sex workers in Berlin and what should be done to improve the access to healthcare and to make it easier to use health and mental health services for migrant female sex workers. The data collected can be used to derive overarching recommendations and strategies for action. Semi-structured, guided interviews were conducted with 10 migrant female sex workers in Berlin, Germany. The interviews were audio recorded, and the content of the transcribed interviews was analyzed. A structuring qualitative content analysis, according to Kuckartz, with deductive-inductive category formation was conducted in MAXQDA 2022. Barriers were analyzed at three levels: patient, provider, and system. The patient level was related to the patient characteristics: social structure variables, health beliefs and attitudes, personal enabling resources, community enabling resources, perceived illness, and personal health practices. The provider level was related to the provider characteristics: skills and attitudes. The system level was related to the system characteristics: the organization of the healthcare system on local and national levels. Moreover, needs for actions were identified, which can be used for deriving recommendations for the improvement of healthcare situation of migrant sex workers living in Berlin. Health services and future intervention studies should consider barriers identified in this study to improve the health services utilization and health of sex workers as part of the effort to protect the right of humans to health.

Examining the Impact of Capital Structure on the Profitability of the Saudi Banking Sector: A Panel Least Squares (PLS) Approach

This study examines the influence of capital structure and other financial variables on the profitability of Saudi Arabia's banking sector during the period 2010 to 2021. The author used a panel least squares (PLS) model, utilizing 96 observations derived from eight banks. Debt to Asset Ratio (DAR), Debt to Equity Ratio (DER), Financial Leverage (FL), Net Income (NI), Interest Expended to Interest Earned (IEIE), and Interest Income to Total Fund (IITF) are some of the independent variables that affect Rate of Return on Assets (ROA). The findings reveal that DAR positively impacts profitability and reflects effective debt utilization within assets, while DER negatively affects profitability due to the risks of excessive reliance on equity-financed debt. FL also has a strong positive influence, emphasizing the importance of leverage, and NI, though marginally impactful, contributes positively. IEIE shows a slight positive effect, indicating the need for efficient cost management, whereas IITF exhibits a negative but insignificant relationship, suggesting inefficiencies in interest income during the period. The model explains 83.1% of the variation in ROA, emphasizing the collective relevance of these factors. The study underscores the importance of balanced debt and equity management, efficient use of financial instruments, and cost optimization to enhance profitability and sustain financial stability in Saudi banks.

Implementation of the Electronic Identity Card (e-KTP) Issuance Policy in Bolaang Mongondow Regency

The national population administration policy that has been determined (formulation) by the government, especially the service policy for issuing Electronic Identity Cards (e-KTP) for Indonesian citizens and foreigners residing in Indonesia must be implemented properly and by the implementor. The implementor who is given the task and responsibility is the population and civil registry office. This research was conducted with the aim of analyzing and explaining the implementation of population administration order policies, especially the issuance of electronic identity cards which are focused on aspects or variables of communication, resources, disposition, and organizational structure at the Population and Civil Registration Office of Bolaang Mongondow Regency. This research uses a naturalistic (qualitative) approach. Informants who were used as data sources were determined purposively (purposive sampling) and snowball sampling. Data collection techniques were interviews, observations, and documents. Data analysis is an interactive qualitative analysis with data analysis activities, namely data reduction, data display, and conclution drawing / verification The results showed that the implementation of the Electronic Identity Card (e-KTP) issuance service policy for Indonesian citizens and foreigners residing in Indonesia as the focus and sub-focus of the research has not been implemented as it should. For this reason, it is recommended that the various variables that are the focus and sub-focus of this research as variables that determine the implementation of public policy need to be optimized both in terms of quantity and qualit.

Load-Bearing Wing Structures Inspired by Natural Cellular Materials

Abstract This paper presents the optimization frameworks for designing cellular internal structures of an aircraft wing subjected to aerodynamic loads. Inspired by natural cellular materials, this study employs lattice and foam cells as the internal structures of the aircraft wing. The distribution of the cell materials is optimized by minimizing the mass and maximizing the stiffness while avoiding the global buckling of the wing. The optimization variables for the lattice structure are the cell size distribution field and the strut radii (or cell face thicknesses). Various weighting factor combinations are applied to the two competing objectives to obtain the optimal solution, considering different priorities of reducing mass or increasing stiffness. The results demonstrate that the wings with optimized cellular internal structures have higher structural efficiency than the reference wings with uniform cellular internal structures. The optimized wings also achieve higher structural efficiency than conventional wing designs when requiring heavy loading or a balanced trade-off between load-bearing capacity and mass.

Season and Flow Drive Productivity of a Regulated River

Flow regimes of river ecosystems worldwide have undergone substantial changes because of water resource development, altering the way in which organic matter is generated and cycled throughout entire river catchments. Flow–ecology studies have focused on structural variables measured at small spatial scales. This creates a challenging mismatch when applying adaptive flow management for ecosystem functioning at a catchment or regional scale. Here, we sought to inform flow management by evaluating the drivers of ecosystem metabolism in a regulated river and assessing our ability to predict metabolism at unmonitored locations. We estimated rates of ecosystem metabolism from high-frequency monitoring of dissolved oxygen concentration at eight sites on the Lachlan River of Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin. We then applied a spatio-temporal stream network model to predict metabolism at unmonitored locations using only remotely sensed and gauging station predictor variables. Gross primary productivity (GPP) was higher at sites with lower mean annual discharge, and strong seasonal patterns in rates of productivity tended to be disrupted by rising flows. Similarly, ecosystem respiration (ER) was higher at sites with lower mean annual discharge and lower annual flow variation, but increased slightly in response to higher daily flows. Predictions at validation sites were generally accurate, albeit with substantial site-to-site variation. Our results suggest that flow changes may have altered metabolic rates from conditions prior to water abstraction and dam construction. These findings will assist in managing flows for ecosystem function outcomes and support extrapolation from monitored sites to the broad scales required for evaluating catchment-scale outcomes of river management.

Beyond the Toll-Like Receptor 4. Structure-Dependent Lipopolysaccharide Recognition Systems: How far are we?

With an enormous potential in immunology and vaccinology, lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are among the most extensively studied bacteria-derived molecules. LPS centered studies are countless, and their results reverberate in all areas of the life sciences, including chemistry, biology, genetics, biophysics, and medicine. Most of these research activities are focused on the LPS-induced immune response activation by means of Myeloid Differentiation protein-2/Toll Like Receptor 4 (MD-2/TLR4) complex, which currently is the most largely explored LPS sensing pathway. However, the enormous structural variability of LPS allows interactions with numerous other receptors involved in a wide range of equally important immunological scenarios. In this review, we explore these additional LPS recognition systems, which operate within interconnected signaling cascades, highlighting their role in maintaining physiological homeostasis and their involvement in the development of severe human diseases. Understanding these pathways, their interconnections, and the crosstalk between them and TLR4/MD-2 is essential for guiding the development of pharmacologically active molecules that could specifically modulate the inflammatory response, paving the way to new strategies for combating immune-mediated diseases and resistant infections.

It's all about scale: The landscape effect on avian haemosporidians.

Environmental characteristics drastically shape the host-parasite associations under natural conditions. This is the case of parasites such as avian haemosporidians which naturally infect birds and are transmitted by insect vectors. Landscape characteristics are known to determine the epidemiology of transmission of these parasites in the wild, but the strength of these factors may differ at different spatial scales. We studied the effects of the landscape structure and environmental variables on the prevalence and richness of lineages of avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) infecting birds in a highly diverse area of Antioquia, Colombia. We screened blood samples from 678 individuals across 90 bird species for number of infections, prevalence and richness of haemosporidian lineages in sites surrounding three hydroelectric dams. We obtained environmental and landscape structure variables around the bird sampling points at different spatial scales (from 50 to 500m radii, every 50m) and selected the most important ones. We modelled the relationships between parasite infection variables and landscape structural and environmental characteristics. Effects of landscape structure on variables reflecting haemosporidian infections varied according to the selected scale of analyses. The scale of the effect of landscape structure was larger for the number of infections and prevalence (Average=350 and 425m radius) than for lineage richness (Average=Plasmodium 219m, Haemoproteus 244m). Agricultural patch density notably increased number of infection rates (pseudo-R2=0.68). The number of infections and the richness of Haemoproteus lineages correlated with agricultural connectivity at larger scales (500m). Haemosporidian prevalence was primarily linked with proportion forest and agricultural covers. Haemoproteus richness was influenced by connectivity and NDVI - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (pseudo-R2=0.83), while Plasmodium richness was affected by anthropogenic density, edge density, forest proportion, and temperature (pseudo-R2=0.79). Changes in parasite infection and prevalence remain difficult to predict, as each parasite-host system is susceptible to many unaccounted variables. This study found that transformed landscapes, particularly density of anthropogenic and agricultural patches nearby increases haemosporidian parasites at different scales. These findings underscore the complex interplay between landscape structure and haemosporidian infections in avian hosts in tropical ecosystems.