The Edgbaston Hospital

Abstract Field data collection is a foundation of ecological research, but it can be challenging and error‐prone. Researchers planning and undertaking fieldwork for the first time are especially vulnerable to logistical issues that can be avoided with more guidance. We offer guidelines to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of field data collection. Our guidance takes the prospective field ecologist through five steps: (1) identifying which variables should be recorded (focusing on your scientific question, but considering opportunities for additional data collection); (2) designing the data structure (understanding data structure, assigning useful IDs and avoiding confusing characters); (3) preparing a data collection protocol (building in redundancy, choosing a data collection technology, clean data recording and taking additional notes); (4) undertaking a pilot test (including data collection and digitising, communicating with the team); (5) following the protocol (assigning a decision‐maker, noting any changes, following routines and backing up data). This article is motivated by our own trial‐and‐error experiences and those of our colleagues and students, and a desire to help future researchers to avoid them. Our intention is to streamline the planning and field stages of data collection to avoid common pitfalls, thereby saving money, time and resources and supporting the whole data life cycle. Field data collection occurs across disciplines looking to understand the natural world, and each field excursion poses its own unique challenges. However, these guidelines can be useful as a starter for researchers to support open, reproducible, efficient and effective field data collection.

ABSTRACT O3‐type layered cathodes for sodium‐ion batteries (NIBs) are promising cathodes, yet they are limited by irreversible phase transitions at high voltages, structural strain, and sluggish Na + transport, which compromise their cycling and rate performance. Here, a particle engineering strategy using boron oxide to simultaneously stabilize lattice framework, and regulate the crystal facet exposure is proposed. Boron oxide acts as a dual‐function additive, serving as both a flux that governs anisotropic crystal growth and a dopant that reinforces the metal–oxygen network through strong B─O bonding. This dual role drives the formation of submicron hexagonal platelets with a dominant (003) facet orientation and an enlarged Na‐layer spacing, resulting in fast in‐plane Na⁺ diffusion and exceptional structural integrity. Contrary to the conventional view that (003) planes are electrochemically inactive, controlled exposure of these facets suppresses interfacial degradation while maintaining high‐rate kinetics. The optimized boron‐modified cathode achieves excellent cycling stability, with 82.6% capacity retention after 400 cycles at 2C in full cells, together with superior high‐rate performance (92.0 mAh g −1 at 10C). This work illustrates facet engineering via boron modification as an effective and scalable route to reconcile the long‐standing durability–power trade‐off in O3‐type sodium layered oxides.

Abstract Fluorescence imaging is a cornerstone of preclinical research, yet its utility is hindered by semi‐quantitative limitations due to light scattering. Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) aims to overcome these constraints by generating 3D fluorophore maps through model‐based reconstruction. However, background fluorescence, resulting from non‐specific probe binding and autofluorescence, significantly compromises FMT image quality with severe artifacts. Solution decomposition FMT (SD‐FMT) is introduced, an innovative reconstruction method that employs an advanced prior model to decompose the solution into multiple stochastic components. The reformulated inverse problem is resolved using a hybrid projection method (HPM), ensuring robustness and efficiency. Validated through exhaustive phantom and in vivo proof‐of‐concept studies, SD‐FMT represents a paradigm shift in FMT reconstruction, with significant implications for expanding applications in preclinical research and advancing fluorescence‐guided surgical navigation.

Abstract Long term laboratory-based evolution experiments are a powerful tool that are increasingly being used to study fundamental aspects of evolution and to identify genes that contribute to overall fitness under different conditions. However, even with automation, the time that they take to execute limits the extent to which evolution experiments can be used as part of a high throughput approach to understand the links between genotype and phenotype. Mutations that lead to genetic loss of function are frequently selected for in evolution experiments. Thus in principle these experiments could be done more rapidly by starting not with clonal isolates but with dense transposon libraries that will contain loss of function mutations in all non-essential genes. Here, we test this hypothesis by comparing the results of long term (5 month) evolution experiment, in which E. coli was grown with daily transfers in unbuffered LB starting at pH 4.5, with short term (5 and 10 day) experiments on a high density transposon library in the same strain and under the same conditions. We show that there is very significant overlap in the genes and pathways identified using the two methods. Use of this approach thus has the potential to significantly increase the throughput of laboratory-based evolution and enable rapid testing of a wide range of parameters that may have an impact on evolutionary trajectories. Author summary Understanding how bacterial populations adapt to environmental stress is central to microbiology and evolutionary biology. Laboratory evolution experiments are commonly used to uncover the genetic changes that confer increased fitness, but these experiments are often slow and laborious. In this study, we asked whether the results of long-term adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) could be predicted using a faster method: short-term selection of a dense transposon mutant library, analysed by transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS). We evolved E. coli K-12 MG1655 in unbuffered LB at pH 4.5 for 5 months and compared the mutations that arose to those selected after just 10 days of evolution using a high-density transposon library in the same strain and conditions. We observed significant overlap in the genes identified by both approaches, including independent disruptions in shared regulatory pathways. This suggests that short-term selection on a diverse mutant population can uncover many of the same adaptive changes seen in long-term evolution experiments. We also identified and validated the fitness effects of several mutations uniquely found in the transposon approach. Rather than predicting specific mutations from first principles, this method offers a rapid, empirical means of anticipating which genes are likely to be involved in adaptation under defined conditions, helping to guide further mechanistic studies by offering a powerful shortcut for investigating microbial evolution.

Key content The epidemiology and pathophysiology of AFLP, HELLP syndrome and infectious viral hepatitis in late pregnancy. Clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of these conditions. Complications (maternal and fetal) and how these can be managed. The role of a multidisciplinary team in management. Learning objectives To understand the pathophysiology of acute liver disorders in the third trimester, including the role of genetics. To understand the differences between AFLP, HELLP syndrome and other causes of acute liver disorders in late pregnancy and how their management differs. To understand the Swansea criteria for diagnosis of AFLP and how management within a multidisciplinary team can make a difference between survival and mortality. To provide management guidance to reduce the perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with acute liver disorders, including the need for liver transplantation. To understand the different types of acute viral hepatitis in late pregnancy, the differences between them and how they are managed, including the prevention of maternal‐to‐child transmission. Ethical issues Despite the extensive literature on liver disorders, are obstetricians well trained in recognising these in the third trimester, differentiating between the various types and providing adequate care for affected patients? Where is the ideal place to manage the pregnant woman with a liver disorder that may progress to hepatic failure? Should liver transplantation be an option for women with AFLP or HELLP syndrome who do not meet the transplantation criteria?

This study aims to photograph, design, and digitally document the surviving residential buildings on the island of Halki (Heybeliada), within the Princes’ Islands. This documentation focuses on the architectural, urban, and historical aspects of Halki, highlighting the significant material evidence of the Greek social and economic presence. It also examines the urban cultural heritage as depicted in Turkish literature of that period to understand how Turkish writers perceived and presented Halki, referencing the Princes’ Islands only for background context. The methodology includes the collection of material from residents through bibliographic and field research conducted on Halki. Based on these findings, a mobile augmented reality (AR) application was developed using the TaleBlazer platform, designed specifically for use on Halki. The application provides a virtual tour with multimedia-supported thematic layers of architectural and historical information. Its usability and learnability were evaluated using a questionnaire completed by students. The results showed high usability, user satisfaction, and perceived value of learning, with the majority of results close to a median score of 4 out of 5. The students identified the occurrence of immersive experience, ease of use, and the emotional stimulation created by the integration of spatial storytelling and multimedia. This paper also shows how the convergence of cultural content (history, architecture, and literature) can enhance interpretations and experiences with mobile AR technologies.

A recent meta-analysis of high-quality randomized trials casts doubt on the effectiveness of triclosan-coated sutures in reducing surgical site infection (SSI). This economic analysis is aimed at assessing whether triclosan-coated sutures, compared with uncoated sutures, can reduce costs from a healthcare perspective. This was a model-based economic analysis mainly informed by baseline SSI rates, effect size CIs from a recent meta-analysis of high-quality trials (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.09, p=0.29), and country-specific cost data. This was a worldwide analysis that estimated average cost savings aggregated for high, middle, and low Human Development Index (HDI) countries and country-specific cost savings for the 193 countries on the HDI list. Participants were patients undergoing abdominal surgery. The analysis was informed by baseline SSI rates from an international cohort study (12 539 patients). Results are reported in 2022 US dollars as average cost differences associated with SSI between coated and uncoated sutures. Deterministic sensitivity analyses examined variations in suture cost, hospital stay costs, and effect size, with best and worst-case scenario analyses. SSI-related cost differences per patient ranged from -$466 to $171 in high-HDI, -$23 to $18 in middle-HDI, and -$34 to $22 in low-HDI countries when triclosan-coated sutures were used. The largest potential savings and expenditure occurred in contaminated-dirty wounds. Similar results were observed at the national level in 184 of 193 countries. Best-case to worst-case analyses showed a range of -$533 to $192 in high-HDI, -$57 to $49 in middle-HDI and -$69 to $52 in low-HDI countries. This analysis highlights significant uncertainty regarding cost savings with routine use of triclosan-coated sutures, emphasizing the need for high-quality data and CI-based economic analysis in policy making.

Abstract Inferring general biogeographic patterns in the sub‐Antarctic region has been challenging due to the disparate geological origins of its islands and archipelagos—ranging from Gondwanan fragments to uplifted seafloor and more recently formed volcanic islands—and the remoteness of these island systems, spread around the austral continental landmasses. Here, we conduct phylogenetic reconstruction, divergence time estimation, and Bayesian Island Biogeographic analyses to reconstruct the spatio–temporal colonization histories of seven vascular plant lineages, which are either widespread across the sub‐Antarctic region (Acaena magellanica, Austroblechnum penna‐marina, Azorella selago, Notogrammitis crassior) or restricted to an extremely remote sub‐Antarctic province (Colobanthus kerguelensis, Polystichum marionense, Pringlea antiscorbutica). Our results reveal high biological connectivity within the sub‐Antarctic region, with southern landmasses (Australia, New Zealand, South America) as key sources of sub‐Antarctic plant diversity since the Miocene, supporting long‐distance dispersal as the primary colonization mechanism rather than tectonic vicariance. Despite the geographic isolation of the sub‐Antarctic islands, eastward and westward colonization events have maintained this connectivity, likely facilitated by eastward‐moving marine and wind currents, short‐term weather systems, and/or dispersal by birds. Divergence time estimates indicate that most species diverged within the Plio–Pleistocene, with crown ages predating the Last Glacial Maximum, suggesting that sub‐Antarctic archipelagos acted as refuges for biodiversity. Our findings highlight the role of one of the most remote sub‐Antarctic archipelagos as both a refugium and a source of (re)colonization for continental regions. These results underscore the urgent need for establishing priority conservation plans in the sub‐Antarctic, particularly in the face of climate change.