The resistance exercise (RE) literature highlights the importance and impact of RE in sports performance, daily life, and clinical outcomes. While RE research dates back to the 19th century, current definitions of what constitutes RE are varied and give rise to questions about the requisites of RE. For example, some definitions refer to movements or muscle contractions against external resistance whereas others consider all re...

Paul Ellenberger’s archives provide insight into the Basotho and San peoples palaeontological knowledge in southern Africa, specifically from Lesotho. For instance, it preserves many published and unpublished accounts of Basotho people discovering dinosaur footprints and bones in Lesotho. Moreover, the Basotho folk tale (a “litsomo” in Sesotho) featuring the voracious monster Kholumolumo is here demonstrably linked to dinosaur...

Purpose Physique athletes engage in rigorous competition preparation involving intense energy restriction and physical training to enhance muscle definition. This study investigates hormonal changes and their physiological and performance impacts during such preparation. Methods Participants included female (10 competing (COMP) and 10 non-dieting controls (CTRL)) and male (13 COMP and 10 CTRL) physique athletes. COMP participa...

The mucosal origin hypothesis of rheumatoid arthritis has renewed the interest in IgA autoantibodies, but their added value over IgG anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) and IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) for modern treatment outcomes remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of IgA-ACPA and IgA-RF for treatment outcomes in an early arthritis population. IgA-ACPA/RF isotypes were measured in baseline sera...

Accessory vessels, including platters, dishes, beakers, flagons, jars, and amphorae, are a common feature of Romano-British burials, raising questions as to their provenance; for example, were such vessels recycled from the domestic sphere or made specially for funerary purposes? Furthermore, uncertainty surrounds their purpose: did they contain foods for the deceased, possibly for their final journey to the underworld? Intere...

We trapped, anesthetized, and fit 16 female feral swine ( Sus scrofa ) with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) to develop predictive summer and winter models for more effective population control efforts. Given the highly diverse habitat and topography in GRSM and the spatial extent of our dataset, we employed Step Selection Function (SSF) to evaluate resource selection at the...

Biological invasions are becoming more prevalent due to the rise of global trade and expansion of urban areas. Ants are among the most prolific invaders with many exhibiting a multiqueen colony structure, dependent colony foundation and reduced internest aggression. Although these characteristics are generally associated with the invasions of exotic ants, they may also facilitate the spread of native ants into novel habitats....

We propose to consider semi-natural habitats—hotspots for biodiversity—being caught in a socio-ecological extinction vortex , similar to the phenomenon described for species threatened with extinction. These habitats are essentially socioecological systems, in which socioeconomic drivers are interlinked with ecological processes. We identify four highly interlinked and mutually reinforcing socio-economic processes, pertaining...