The genetic structure of parasites is expected to mirror that of their hosts, as host dispersal is the primary driver to parasite spread. Theileria ( T.) annulata is a tick-borne protozoan parasite that is responsible for bovine theileriosis worldwide. The present study examined analyzed a set of specific micro/mini-satellites and the genetic structure of T. annulata in cattle breeds from Pakistan (Indian sub-continent) compared to that in Oman (Middle East), Tunisia (Africa) and Turkey (Europe). A high level of genetic diversity was observed among T. annulata detected in cattle from Pakistan comparable to that in Oman, Tunisia, and Turkey. T. annulata genotypes from these four countries form genetically distinct groups that are geographically sub-structured and this trend is correlated with geographical distance between these countries. The parasite population in Oman overlapped with that the T. annulata population in Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. The observed pattern of genetic differentiation of T. annulata accords well with that seen among cattle breeds in the Near East - European (Turkey), African (Libya), the Indian-Subcontinent (India) and the Arabian Peninsula. In conclusion, we are reporting dispersal of host affects the genetic structure of T. annulata.

Survival of high risk neuroblastoma patients is increased with the use of dinutuximab beta (DB). This anti-ganglioside 2 antibody promotes neuroblastoma cell killing but has on-target off-tumor nervous system side effects. A patient with high-risk neuroblastoma treated with DB and cis-retinoic acid without interleukin-2 presented with severe encephalopathy. Prompt commencement of acyclovir, steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin infusions proved unsuccessful. Symptomatic improvement concurred with the initiation of high-dose steroid pulses and serial plasmapheresis sessions. Timely management of severe DB neurotoxicity as immune-based encephalomyelitis and prompt initiation of plasmapheresis, if needed, can reverse symptoms and offer long-term recovery of the patients.

Purpose :The success level of hypospadias repair in adults still needs to be established on a more extensive scaled study. Therefore, we conducted this study to document the success level of hypospadias repair in adults. Methods: This study presents the results of 620 adult distal hypospadias patients treated with TIPU operation. A retrospective study was performed for adult patients who underwent TIPU operations from February 2016 to September 2020. Patients who had distal hypospadias after the age of 16 were included in our study. Results: The average operation time was between 35-65 minutes (50 min.). Complications developed in 79 patients. 37 urethral fistulas, 24 meatal stenosis, 11 anastomotic stenosis, 7 had a complete failure. Conclusions: Primary adult distal hypospadias surgery is safe and easy. The complication rates are similar when compared to the pediatric group. As the surgical experience advances, the success of the operation increases in direct proportion. Keywords: Distal hypospadias, TIPU, Adult

Agriculture has attracted eminent researchers during the past few decades owing to revolutionary advancements in the field of data analysis using machine learning and computer vision techniques. The continuous monitoring of plant growth is an important aspect in the field of agriculture and has associated challenges also. The current work aims to define the significance of the pixel-based clustering techniques for analyzing plant growth in terms of height calculation. In the proposed work, pixel-based mapping has implemented its two applications viz. vertical and horizontal scaling for height calculation. Here, vertical mapping implements an image processing technique to monitor the height of a single plant whereas the horizontal mapping technique determines the average volume of the whole field using k-means. During the result analysis, it is observed that the proposed model provides an accuracy of 97.58% outperforming the state-of-the-art models. Another exciting characteristic of the proposed model is that it is hardware-free which further escalates the scope of its implementation in a real-life scenario.

Cellular therapy with regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) has attracted much attention in recent years due to their unique suppression properties. This feature makes them an ideal candidate to treat autoimmune related disorders. In recent years there are many studies that investigated the therapeutic effect of adaptive transfer of Treg in autoimmune disease. However, the results of these studies strongly suggest that antigen-specific Tregs have more superior beneficial effect compared to polyclonal Tregs. So, harnessing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology to create antigen-specific engineered Treg that showed the ability to effectively migrate to damaged tissue and act more specifically to target antigens might hold great hope for treating autoimmune related disorders. In this mini-review, we discuss the potential of CAR-Treg to induce immune tolerance and their potential applications to treat autoimmune related disorders. And then we highlight the major challenges that should be addressed before clinical application.

Background Background: Crocin is a natural ingredient of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) flower. Crocin has been examined for its potential to treat various eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular dystrophies, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. Methods: This review briefly discusses the role of crocin in different eye diseases. The underlying pathophysiological pathways involved in the effect of crocin on ophthalmologic diseases are also reviewed. Results: Preclinical evidence shows the cytoprotective, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and blood flow enhancing effects of crocin in retinal tissue. Crocin also affects the retinal pathologies through activation of PI3K/Akt and inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathways. Clinical evidence suggests that crocin improves outcomes in patients with retinal degenerations, retinal dystrophies, and glaucoma. Conclusion: Crocin can be used as a potential vision supplement in healthy population and patients with eye diseases.

Background: Hyperleukocytosis in pediatric acute leukemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and using leukapheresis (LPH) as management is controversial. Procedure: At our tertiary referral center, pediatric patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia and a leukocyte count of 100k/µL or greater were evaluated and compared based on the use of LPH or not in management. Results: At our institution, LPH was used in 8 of 62 (13%) patients with hyperleukocytosis with minimal complications. Mean leukocyte count in patients who received LPH versus those who did not was 498k/µL and 237k/µL, respectively. Patients who received LPH were more likely to have symptoms of neurologic or pulmonary leukostasis (63% vs 17%, 75% vs 17%, respectively). Conclusions: The addition of LPH did not alter time to chemotherapy or survival outcomes. Leukapheresis was safe and well tolerated at our institution.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality rate has been widely discussed and is considered the primary variable of interest for existing country-level studies, using data from secondary sources (Di Gennaro et al., 2020; Hopman, Allegranzi, & Mehtar, 2020).

UV-B radiation affects plant growth inhibiting cell proliferation. This inhibition is in part controlled by the activity of transcription factors of the E2F family. In particular, the participation of E2Fc and E2Fe in responses to UV-B in Arabidopsis plants was previously reported. However, the contribution of E2Fa and E2Fb in these processes has not been yet investigated. Thus, in this work, we provide evidence that, in Arabidopsis, both E2Fa and E2Fb control leaf size under UV-B conditions without participating in DNA damage repair. On the contrary, in seedlings exposed to UV-B, E2Fa but not E2Fb regulates primary root elongation, cell proliferation and programmed cell death in the meristematic zone. Using e2fa mutants that overexpress E2Fb, we here demonstrate that the role of E2Fa in the roots cannot be replaced by E2Fb. Finally, the results presented show that E2Fa and E2Fb differentially regulate the expression of genes that activate the DNA damage response, both under conditions without UV-B and after exposure. Together, we here show that both E2Fa and E2Fb have different and non-redundant roles in developmental and DNA damage responses in Arabidopsis plants exposed to UV-B radiation.

Cold stress is a major environmental factor affecting plant growth and development. Although some plants have developed resistance to cold stress, the molecular mechanism underlying it is poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify genes conferring cold resistance in cotton. Here, we identified cold tolerance gene in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) using genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 200 cotton accessions collected from different regions. A variant of the gene was also identified. The results of the study showed that GhSAD1HapB improved cold-stress resistance in cotton by increasing abscisic aldehyde (ABAld) and amino acid contents under chilling stress conditions. GhSAD1HapB introduction considerably increased chilling tolerance in Arabidopsis transgenic plants, whereas GhSAD1HapA plants exhibited chilling-sensitive phenotype. Additionally, we found that GhSAD1HapB regulated chilling stress responses in cotton through the activity of c-repeat binding factor, which binds to the promoter region of the gene and regulates the ABA signalling pathway under chilling conditions. Overexpression of GhSAD1HapB induced COR genes expression and improved metabolic profile under cold stress. Collectively, the findings of the study contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanism of GhSAD1 in cold-stress response in cotton. Moreover, GhSAD1 could serve as candidate gene in improving crop stress.

In this paper, we develop a lattice Boltzmann model for a class of 1+1 dimensional nonlinear fuzzy wave-like equations with spatial variable coefficients. By choosing properly the conservation condition between the macroscopic quantity $u_{t}$ and the distribution functions and applying the Chapman-Enskog expansion, the governing equation is recovered correctly from the lattice Boltzmann equation. Moreover, the local equilibrium distribution function is obtained. The results of numerical examples have been compared with the analytical solutions to confirm good accuracy and the equilibrium of our scheme.

In this paper, we consider the quasilinear fractional reaction-diffusion equation with singular potential the existence, decay estimate and long time asymptotic behavior of the global solution and the blowup behavior of the solution are discussed. Because of the non-locality of fractional Laplacian operator, the Caffarelli-Silvestre extension method is used to transform the nonlocal problem into an elliptic problem with dynamic boundary conditions. Firstly, the global existence of the solution is proved under appropriate assumptions, and on this basis, the decay estimate and long time asymptotic behavior of the global solution and the blow-up behavior of the local solution are obtained by using the potential well methods.

In the first part of this work, we develop a novel scheme for solving nonparametric regression problems. That is the approximation of possibly low regular and noised functions from the knowledge of their approximate values given at some random points. Our proposed scheme is based on the use of the pseudo-inverse of a random projection matrix, combined with some specific properties of the Jacobi polynomials system, as well as some properties of positive definite random matrices. This scheme has the advantages to be stable, robust, accurate and fairly fast in terms of execution time. Moreover and unlike most of the existing nonparametric regression estimators, no extra regularization step is required by our proposed estimator. Although, this estimator is initially designed to work with random sampling set of uni-variate i.i.d. random variables following a Beta distribution, we show that it is still work for a wide range of sampling distribution laws. Moreover, we briefly describe how our estimator can be adapted in order to handle the multivariate case of random sampling sets. In the second part of this work, we extend the random pseudo-inverse scheme technique to build a stable and accurate estimator for solving linear functional regression (LFR) problems. A dyadic decomposition approach is used to construct this last stable estimator for the LFR problem. The performance of the two proposed estimators are illustrated by various numerical simulations. In particular, a real dataset is used to illustrate the performance of our nonparametric regression estimator.

It is generally recognized that there is no explicit method that can be A-stable among the linear multi-step methods. However, a novel problem-dependent method is shown to be one-step, explicit, A-stable and second order accurate. To emphasize that the new method can possess the repelling properties of the A-stability and explicit implementation, a variety of first order stiff problems are solved and the results are consistent with the analytical predictions. Since A-stability and second order accuracy allow the use of a large step size and explicit implementation implies no nonlinear iterations, thus it is computationally efficient for solving stiff problems. The trapezoidal method has the same properties except for explicit formulation. It is also adopted in this study for comparison. Numerical tests reveal that the CPU demand for the new method is as small as 1.9%, 1.3%, 1.0% and 0.51% of that consumed by the trapezoidal method for a set of 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 first order ODEs. Consequently, it is computationally much more cheap than the trapezoidal method in the solution of stiff problems.

This paper is concerned with the non-Newtonian fluid equations with the time-fractional derivative of the order $\alpha\in(0,1)$. We first establish existence criterion of weak solutions in the case that the dimension $n=2$ by dint of the classical Faedo-Galerkin approximations method. Then we prove the sufficient condition of optimal pairs.

In this work we include the Caputo fractional derivatives in the first order optimality conditions of Karush-Kuhn-Tucker for the barrier optimization problem to minimize ℓ p − norms for both super-Gaussian ( 1 < p < 2 ) and sub-Gaussian ( 2 < p < ∞ ) cases. The optimality conditions associated with the Newton method provides search directions to the so-called fractional order log barrier interior point method. As a result of this methodology, we apply the fractional order log barrier interior point method to curve fitting data on the mechanical properties of polypropylene composites, and compare it with the standard log barrier interior point method. Numerical experiments show that the fractional order log barrier interior point method can be used without impeding the convergence of the method and, in some cases, presents less residual norm and number of iterations.

The effects of pollen on dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) compounds in throughfall water are not completely understood. We conducted a 7-day leaching experiment with pollen from silver birch (including a sterilized control), European beech, sessile oak, Scots pine, Corsican black pine and Norway spruce using an immersion medium containing nitrate (11.295 mg N l-1). Within 2 hours, pollen released substantial amounts of potassium (K+), phosphate (PO43-) and organic compounds. Solute concentrations of ammonium (NH4+) were built up over time. In treatments with pollen from birch, oak and beech, nitrate (NO3-) concentrations started to decrease after 24–48 hours, while simultaneously nitrite (NO2-) emerged, but part of the inorganic nitrogen could no longer be detected in solution. For birch, sterilisation of the pollen made no difference, indicating that microorganisms on the pollen played no substantial role in the observed N transformations. Conditions in the samples were oxic (1.82–6.12 mg O2 l-1), rendering microbial denitrification unlikely. Our findings revealed that pollen from broadleaved deciduous trees can transform throughfall NO3- into NO2- and likely also nitric oxide (NO), probably through the nitrate reductase pathway. The synthesis of NH4+ might be part of a natural defence mechanism protecting reproductive organs against pathogens during pollination.

Background: Cerebellar infarction in different populations have different characteristics. This study analyzed the correlations between the risk factors, etiology, distribution of blood vessels involved, infarct lesion size and scope, and blood glucose, blood lipids and D-dimer levels. Methods: A total of 83 patients with acute cerebellar infarction were included in this analysis. The NIHSS score and TOAST classification were evaluated independently by double blind. Head CT and MRI examinations were performed and CTA and MRA were carried out subsequently. The levels of blood lipids, blood glucose and D-dimer were analyzed by automatic biochemical analyzer. Results: Carotid atherosclerosis (97.6%), hyperlipidemia (66.3%) and hypertension (77.1%) were the main risk factors for cerebellar infarction in these patients. Ataxia (67.5%) and brainstem syndrome (60.2%) were main clinical manifestations. SAO (43.3%) and LAA (50.6%) accounted for the majority of TOAST classifications. The number of patients with cerebellar infarction caused by SCA stenosis was significantly higher than that caused by other blood supply arteries (P<0.05). CTA and MRA are equivalent in displaying narrow cerebellar artery (P>0.05), but compared with CT, MRI has absolute advantages in displaying the lesions of cerebellar infarction (P<0.05). The serum concentrations of D-dimer, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides are correlated with the patient’s NIHSS scores, TOAST classification and lesion size (P<0.05). Conclusions: The occurrence of cerebellar infarction is directly related to hypertension, hyperlipidemia and carotid atherosclerosis. CTA and MRA are equivalent in showing narrow blood vessels but MRI showed an absolute advantage in showing the lesion of cerebellar infarction compared with CT. The serum concentrations of D-dimer, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides are helpful to the diagnosis and evaluation of cerebellar infarction.

A rigorous multiobjective nonlinear model predictive control is performed on the microbiome dynamic model that takes into account competition, amensalism, parasitism, neutralism, commensalism and cooperation. The optimization language pyomo is used in conjunction with the state of the art global optimization solver BARON. It is demonstrated that when the species that produces the required product is favorable to the other species there is an initial decrease in the required product before an increase happens.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the several physical, cognitive and metabolic factors effecting the gait speed in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without neuropathy. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Seventy-one diabetic individuals were questioned for clinical symtomps of neuropathy and screened with DN4. The mean age of the participants was 55.87±7.74 years and M/F ratio was 14.1/85.9 %. Participants were grouped as slow walkers (SW) and average or brisk walkers (ABW) with a cut-off point of 1 m/s. The groups were compared with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), HbA1c level, fasting glucose, systolic blood pressure, VO2max, percent of muscle mass, percent of lower extremity muscle mass, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and the year of education. A multivariate regression analysis was made to explain the effects of these factors on the gait speed. Results: VO2max (14.49 ± 2.95 vs 16.25 ± 2.94), MMSE (25.01 ± 3.21 vs 27.35 ± 1.97), year of education and sex were significantly different between SW and ABW (p<0.05). Age, sex, and year of education were considered as confounding factors. Among models the combination of factors VO2max, sex, MMSE Score, fasting glucose, systolic blood pressure explained only 24.1 % of the gait speed. MMSE score and VO2max were significantly related to the gait speed. Conclusion: VO2max and MMSE were significantly lower in SW and were independent determinants for the gait speed in diabetic people without neuropathy.

The results from optical microscope and scanning electron microscope found that small rubber particles (SRPs) (1~4 μm) and medium rubber particles (MRPs) (4~7 μm) respectively from E. ulmoides leaves and samaras (collected in October, 2019) accounted for 39%, 53% and 38%, 34%, while the content of the large rubber particles (LRPs) (7~11 μm) were 23% and 13%respectively. Analysis of FAs composition of EuPRs from EuPRs extracted from leaf and samara by GC-MS showed that there was a significant difference of fatty acid composition in different E. ulmoides organs. Among the 35 kinds of FAs determined, three kinds of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) including eleven carbonic (C11:0), thirteen carbonic (C13:0), arachidic acids (C20:0) were uniquely detected in leaf rubber particles (LeRPs), while γ-linolenic acid (C18:3n6) was exclusively found in samara rubber particles (SaRPs) although in very low content, which indicated the γ-linolenic acid might be a constituent of NRCs of rubber chian in SaRPs. Notably, the seven most important FAs in SaRPs accounted for 95.19% of the total FAs, while the counterparts accounted for 89.40%. Synchronously, the molecular weight (Mw) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) were also be analyzed by GPC and the resulted that there were 5 peaks in the mass distribution of rubber molecules in Eucommia rubber particles in leaves, namely P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5, while the samara showed two to three peaks (P1, P2 or/and P3). The D value (MWD, D = Mw/Mn) of gutta-percha from E. ulmoides leaves and samaras were 6.76 and 40.61 respectively, which there was a larger molecular weight difference of gutta-percha molecules from samara EuRPs while there was a smaller one in gutta-percha molecules from leaf EuRPs.

Interrupted Aortic Arch is a rare congenital heart defect due to complete luminal interruption between ascending and descending aorta. IAA in adults is extremely rare and mostly present as systemic hypertension with distal perfusion maintained by large systemic collaterals formed over years. IAA in adults can be either corrected surgically with an interposition graft or can be successfully managed with antihypertensive drugs alone based on clinical presentation. Herein, We present a case with an incidental finding of IAA associated with Coronary Artery Disease and how the selection of conduits for coronary revascularisation is affected in the face of diagnosis of IAA.

The reactions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) and 1,2-ethanediol((CH2OH)2) were characterized at a reliable computational level with large basis sets. The results showed that the channel of hydrogen abstraction from -CH3 group was predominant for the CH3OCH3 + NO2 reaction and the channel of hydrogen abstraction from –CH2 group was predominant for the (CH2OH)2 + NO2 reaction. The reaction rate coefficients were calculated at the canonical variational transition state theory (CVT) with the small curvature tunneling (SCT) correction. The effects of reactant complexes on barrier heights and tunneling factors were considered.

Deep treatment of wastewater containing low concentration rare earth elements (REEs) is significant for environmental remedy and full utilization of resources. Effective extraction of such system at a high phase ratio remains challenging. A new strategy is proposed to perform the highly efficient extraction by using the paramagnetic Janus particle (PJP) as the functional solid surfactant. A larger interface area is provided by forming the emulsion in the presence of PJP, facilitating a faster mass transfer. The ion contained extractant emulsion droplets stabilized with the PJP can be easily collected from the aqueous phase with a magnet. Taking neodymium (Nd3+) contained aqueous solution (100 ppm) as the model of low concentration wastewater, a high extraction efficiency over 99% can be achieved within a short time. The PJP can be easily isolated from the extractant by using a stronger magnet, which can preserve the same capability as the original one.