University of North Carolina at Greensboro

ABSTRACTHumans regularly walk across uneven terrain, which demands reactive control strategies to maintain forward progress and stability. While reactive control during walking has been well described during straight gait, it is unclear how reactive control differs during turning gait. Because turning is asymmetrical, perturbations to the inside and outside limbs may elicit different reactive adjustments. This study investigates how unexpected underfoot perturbations alter stability measures during turning and how individuals alter their foot placement to maintain stability after such perturbations. Seven healthy adults completed walking trials around a circular track while wearing mechanized shoes that pseudo-randomly delivered underfoot perturbations to either the inside or outside limb. We calculated mediolateral margin of stability corrected for centripetal acceleration (ML MoSC), step width and step length from kinematic data. Linear mixed effects models compared the effects of perturbation type (inversion versus eversion) and perturbed limb (inside versus outside) for each outcome measure. ML MoSC was affected by both perturbation type and perturbed limb, with larger changes observed during eversion and outside limb perturbations. Changes to step width and step time during two recovery steps after each perturbation were primarily influenced by the perturbed limb – outside limb perturbations elicited consistent changes during two recovery steps compared with one altered step after inside limb perturbations. Perturbations to the outside limb during turning disrupted gait longer than perturbations to the inside limb. This difference across perturbed limb may indicate that outside steps are more important than inside ones for maintaining and recovering stability during turning.

• An organized system of mutton production might have functioned during this time. • Meat was processed in a standardized way at the household level. • Habits of Western ethnic groups did not affect local animal husbandry and diet. • Fishing predominantly took place in near-shore marine environments and consisted of local species. This study investigates animal husbandry, fishing techniques, diet and their socio-economic implications within the changing political landscape of Late Byzantine Thebes (13 th -15 th centuries CE) through an integrated zooarchaeological approach. It draws evidence from faunal assemblages from 9 refuse pits ( bothroi ) on the Ismenion Hill, an area with some habitation in southeastern Thebes. Results indicate a reliance on caprines—especially sheep—as the dominant livestock, suggesting an organized system of mutton production. Pigs and cattle likely played a supplementary role in inhabitants’ diet and economic activities, at least in the examined households. A portion of the herds were likely in-house stalled while deadstock was processed in a standardized way. Fish remains indicate a marked reliance on aquatic resources from near-shore, coastal marine environments, with a notable abundance of the gilthead seabream ( Sparus aurata ). Furthermore, while Thebes experienced successive foreign rule from the 13 th century onward, continuity in animal exploitation during these times suggests resilience in local foodways. Ismenion Hill residents matched the general trends in animal exploitation and meat consumption seen in other regions of the Greek peninsula since the first centuries of the Byzantine Period. These findings contribute significantly to the underexplored field of Byzantine zooarchaeology and shed light on subsistence strategies in medieval Greece.

Abstract The fundamentals of developmental psychobiology (DPB) include the natural history orientation in research and a historical stance on investigating development. The natural history orientation is reflected in the adoption of the four questions that Nikolaas Tinbergen proposed could be asked about any behavioral pattern (about its phylogeny, adaptiveness, proximate causes, and development), but it must be recognized that these questions reflect the interests/aims of the researcher and not separable causes of behavior. Examining development with a historical stance means that research attention is focused on how developmental abilities and traits emerge from the earlier transactions among physiological, biomechanical, and environmental processes. DPB adopted Theodore Schneirla’s emphasis on examining both the differences and the similarities in behavioral organization across species at different phyletic levels and across functional orders of organization (cellular, organ system, etc.) within an individual. These four fundamentals distinguish DPB from other developmental disciplines that integrate biological and psychological information. As a discipline, DPB more readily aligns with the modern constructs of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis than with the older, but more prevalent, Standard Theory of evolution. DPB also aligns with modern constructs from ecological evolutionary developmental (Eco-Evo-Devo) biology. This alignment also directs attention to the importance of parental care and permits developmental plasticity in morphology and behavior to become the source for adaptation and speciation rather than genetic mutation. Combining Eco-Evo-Devo with developmental psychobiology will improve greatly our understanding of nonhuman and human behavioral/psychological development, with consequential improvements in human health care, animal husbandry, ecological conservation, and human education.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted healthcare systems, placing immense physical, emotional, and organizational strain onfront linenursing staff, including registered nurses and nursing assistants. These professionals faced heightened stress due to increased virus exposure, global personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, and rapidly changing protocols. This study sought to explore the experiences of registered nurses and nursing assistants working in inpatient care during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on workplace stressors and available or recommended resources to mitigate these challenges. Despite extensive documentation of elevated stress and burnout among nurses during COVID-19, little is known about how registered nurses and nursing assistants appraised specific workplace stressors and evaluated the adequacy of available organizational resources during the pandemic. Using a qualitative descriptive design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 registered nurses and six nursing assistants from COVID-19 and non COVIDunits at a large academic medical center. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman's Stress and Coping Model, the analysis identified a range of personal, interpersonal, organizational, and societal stressors. Personal stressors included long work hours, loss of loved ones to COVID-19, and feelings of isolation. Interpersonal stressors involved exposure risk, emotional strain from coworkers' stress, and shifts in bedside roles. Organizational stressors encompassed staffing shortages, changes in protocols, and being called off shifts. Societal stressors included inconsistent public health messaging and concerns about protecting vulnerable family members. Participants emphasized the importance of authentic leadership and nursing-centered delivery of resources in addressing these stressors. Six key resource categories emerged: emotional support, staffing, safety, compensation, communication, and stress management. Findings highlight the critical role of nurse managers, effective communication, and staffing policies in mitigating workplace challenges. While rooted in a U.S. context, these insights may inform strategies to support nursing staff globally in future crises, reinforcing the need for tailored, sustainable approaches tofront linecaregiver well-being.