In this article, the novel numerical solutions for nonlinear conformable fractional Kuramoto-Sivashinsky are investigated by using two novel methods, called conformable q-homotopy analysis transform method (Cq-HATM) and conformable homotopy perturbation Elzaki transform method (CHPETM). The proposed method is the combination of q-homotopy analysis transform method and conformable derivative. The numerical simulations have been conducted in order to verify the proposed methods are effective and reliable. The comparison between the obtained solutions with the exact solutions demonstrates that, both the novel techniques are simple, power and effective to solve nonlinear conformable fractional problems.

Anthropogenic changes have altered the historical distributions of many North American taxa. As environments shift, ecological and evolutionary processes can combine in complex ways to either stimulate or inhibit range expansion. Here we examine the role of evolution in a rapid range expansion whose ecological context has been well-documented, Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna). Previous work suggests that the C. anna range expansion is the result of an ecological release facilitated by human-mediated environmental changes, where access to new food sources have allowed further filling of the abiotic niche. We examine the role of gene flow and adaptation during range expansion from their native California north into Canada and east into New Mexico and Texas, USA. Using low coverage whole genome sequencing we found high genetic diversity, low divergence, and little evidence of selection on the northern and eastern expansion fronts. Additionally, there are few (if any) limits to gene flow across the native and expanded range. The lack of selective signals between core and expanded ranges could reflect i) an absence of novel selection pressure in the extended range (supporting the ecological release hypothesis), ii) swamping of adaptive variation due to high gene flow, or iii) limitations of genome scans for detecting small shifts in allele frequencies across many loci. Nevertheless, our results provide an example where strong selection is not apparent during a rapid, contemporary range shift.

A 72-year-old female with frequent palpitation was referred for radiofrequency ablation. The baseline 12-lead electrocardiogram and echocardiography results were normal. At baseline, the atrio-His (AH) and His-ventricular (HV) intervals were 90 and 41 ms, respectively. Dual atrioventricular (AV) nodal physiology or ventriculoatrial (VA) conduction was not observed during programmed atrial and ventricular stimulation. After isoproterenol infusion, VA conduction became decremental and concentric, with the earliest atrial activation seen at the His bundle (HB) region during ventricular pacing. A supraventricular tachycardia with a long RP interval (SVT) was induced by atrial extra-stimulation, without any jump-up in the AH interval. During the SVT, the AH and HV intervals were 180 and 180 ms, respectively, and the earliest atrial activation was recorded in the HB region (Figure 1A). During the SVT, transient 2:1AV conduction was observed (Figure 1B). Ventricular overdrive pacing at a pacing cycle length (CL) of 360 ms was performed during the SVT with a CL of 390ms (Figures 2A and B). Based on these observations, what is the mechanism of this tachycardia?

Background: Surgical management of coexisting cardiac disease and extra-cranial carotid artery disease is a controversial area of debate. Thus, in this challenging scenario, risk stratification may play a key role in surgical decision making. Aim: To report the results of single stage coronary/valve surgery (CVS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA), and to identify predictive factors associated with 30-day mortality. Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective study of prospectively maintained data from three academic tertiary referral hospitals. For this study, only patients treated with single stage CVS, meaning coronary artery bypass surgery or valve surgery, and CEA between March 1, 2000 and March 30 , 2020, were included. Primary outcome measure of interest was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were neurologic events rate, and a composite endpoint of postoperative stroke/death rate. Results: During the study period, there were 386 patients who underwent the following procedures: CEA with isolated coronary-artery bypass graft in 243 (63%) cases, with isolated valve surgery in 40 (10.4%), and combination of coronary artery bypass grafting and valve surgery in 103 (26.7%). Postoperative neurologic event rate was 2.6% (n = 10) which includes 5 (1.3%) TIAs and 5 (1.3%) strokes (major n = 3, minor n = 2). The 30-day mortality rate was 3.9% (n = 15). Predictors of 30-day mortality included preoperative left heart insufficiency (OR: 5.44, 95%CI: 1.63-18.17, p = 0.006), and postoperative stroke (OR: 197.11, 95%CI: 18.28-2124.93, p < 0.001). No predictor for postoperative stroke and for composite endpoint was identified. Conclusions: Considering that postoperative stroke rate and mortality was acceptably low, single stage approach is an effective option in such selected high-risk patients.

The operational conditions in next generation power plants and other high temperature applications such as turbine blades in jet engines demand the component to perform under extreme conditions where metallic materials show time dependent deformation under cyclic loading conditions. Under creep-fatigue loading condition, the crack tip is exposed to both time dependent and independent plastic deformation. Conventional crack characterizing parameters such as (C t ) , avg has shown good correlation with dominant damage based crack velocity, (d a/d t ) avg . However, the true definition or prediction of crack driving forces under such scenario are vague due to limited theoretical validity of the conventional crack tip characterizing parameters, such as J or C t. In this work, the concept of configurational forces are applied for the first time to understand the creep-fatigue crack growth behaviour. The crack growth is simulated using node-release technique and the configurational forces are calculated using post processing the finite element results for calculation of dJ/dt.

The use of T cells is increasing both in healthcare and in research yet the preservation methodologies for longer periods of times are yet to be optimized. In order to overcome these issues, we have optimized a protocol in sample handling and preservation of T cells in order to perform a successful donor homologous co-culture with DCs and preserve these cells for subsequent testing. This method will help in saving time and effort as well as the ease of use for experiments requiring use of T cells in mono or co-cultures. Handling and preservation of T cells using our methodology showed stability and viability of these cells in co-cultures. Data showed viability of >93% before and after liquid nitrogen preservation. Moreover, preserved cells had no unspecific activation which can be seen in unchanged expression of the T cell activation marker CD25. T cell proliferation profile showed that preserved T cells used in DC-T cell co-cultures (LPS stimulated DCs) had the ability to interact and proliferate indicating potency of these cells. This provides evidence of the efficiency of our handling and preservation methodology in maintaining cell viability and stability. Preserving donor T cells would facilitate reuse of these cells in donor homologous co-cultures reducing inconvenience of multiple donations of fresh blood and provides accessibility of the same population of T cells for experiments that requires repetition, commercial availability of the cells or for preservation of cells for clinical therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor T cells.

Increasing complexity of riverine management is driving the need for more participatory approaches in which a wide range of stakeholders inform management actions. The foundational conditions of successful stakeholder engagement in participatory riverine management include the stakeholders’ familiarity with, trustworthiness of, shared vision with, and perceived competence of agencies involved in riverine management. We employ an embedded experimental mixed-methods approach to gain insight into two key stakeholder group’s (agricultural producers and non-farm households) perceptions of foundational conditions of successful stakeholder engagement in participatory riverine management in watersheds of two geographically and regulatorily disparate states. Overall, ratings for familiarity were often contrary to ratings of other three conditions. Contrary to previous research our findings suggest that familiarity does not necessarily lead to stakeholder perceived trustworthiness, shared vision, and competence of those involved in riverine management. These findings are important for participatory processes; for example, trust and shared vision without familiarity may inhibit the active involvement of diverse stakeholders in participatory processes that is needed for improving management of complex riverine systems. Our findings suggest agencies and groups involved in riverine management prioritize developing stronger relationships with agricultural producers to improve on these foundational conditions. Agencies and groups involved in riverine management rated low on familiarity should consider campaigns to increase stakeholders’ familiarity with them to leverage the generally high ratings on the other three foundational conditions. Future research should explore these contrary findings and their relationships to active involvement in participatory riverine management.

Introduction: The risk of typical atrial flutter (AFL) is increased proportionately to right atrial (RA) size or right atrial scarring that results in reduced conduction velocity. These characteristics result in propagation of a flutter wave by ensuring the macro re-entrant wave front does not meet its refractory tail. The time taken to traverse the circuit would take account of both of these characteristics and may provide a novel marker of propensity to develop AFL. Our goal was to investigate right atrial collision time (RACT) as a marker of existing or future typical AFL. Methods: This single centre, prospective study recruited consecutive typical AFL ablation patients that were in sinus rhythm. Controls were consecutive electrophysiology study patients >18 years of age. While pacing the coronary sinus (CS) ostium at 600 ms, a local activation time map was created to locate the latest collision point on the anterolateral right atrial wall. This RACT is a measure of conduction velocity and distance from CS to a collision point on the lateral right atrial wall. Results: 98 patients were included in the analysis, 41 with atrial flutter and 57 controls. Patients with atrial flutter were older, 64.7 ± 9.7 vs 52.4 ± 16.8 years (<0.001) and more often male (34/41vs 31/57 (0.003)). The AFL group mean RACT (132.6±17.3 ms) was significantly longer than that of controls (99.1±11.6 ms) (p<0.001). A RACT cut-off of 115.5 ms had a sensitivity and specificity of 92.7% and 93.0% respectively for diagnosis of atrial flutter. An ROC curve indicated an AUC of 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93-1.0, p<0.01). Conclusion: RACT is a novel and promising marker of propensity for typical AFL. This data will inform larger prospective studies. The ability to predict AFL would be of significant clinical value to guide anticoagulation and ablation decisions.

Analyzing the dynamics of landscape connectivity is of great significance for biodiversity conservation, but the description of multiple ecological processes and the depth of coupling requires to be strengthen. Taking the grassland of Poyang Lake as a case, based on the integrated perspective of habitat and biology, comprehensively considering the ecological process of water level change and species diffusion, this study firstly analyzed the changes of landscape connectivity of grassland with different water levels and diffusion distances by using the graph-based connectivity indices. then, landscape pattern indices were applied to analyze the dynamics of landscape pattern of grassland and further study the effects of landscape pattern on connectivity. The results showed as follows: (1) From the perspective of habitat, grassland connectivity showed a sharp decrease with the increase of water level. From the perspective of ecology, the species diffusion distance had an absolutely positive impact on landscape connectivity. With the increase of diffusion distance, grassland connectivity increased significantly. (2) The dynamics of landscape pattern of grassland showed that with the increase of water level, the patch area shrank, the patch shape tended to be simple, the patch density decreased and the patch fragmentation aggravated. (3) The correlation results between landscape pattern and connectivity indicated that F had a significant positive relationship with PD, ED, PC had a strong significant positive relationship with LPI, COHESION, and NC had a negative relationship with LPI, ED, COHESION. This study provides theoretical guidance for the conservation and management of grassland in Poyang Lake.

This is a report of the management of failed regenerative endodontic treatment of a necrotic immature molar. Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and bioceramic-based root canal sealers yielded satisfactory outcomes in terms of lesion healing. Little is known about the biological and clinical aspects of regenerative endodontic treatment.

We present a case of a 60-year-old female with a history of liver cirrhosis, alcohol abuse, and chronic venous insufficiency who presented with maggot-infested wounds on her legs, bilateral buttocks, and groin area. Two sets of blood cultures grew Wohlfahrtiimonas chtiniclastica. She underwent wound debridement and treatment with cefazolin.

Studies have shown that fluvoxamine can be useful in preventing the spread of Covid-19 disease (in the early stages of the disease) by strengthening the body’s immune system. For this purpose, in this work, the structural and electronic properties of fluvoxamine drug were investigated using quantum theory of atom in molecule (QTAIM) and Density-functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP-DFT/6-311G+ (at presence of water as solvent and the CPCM model) computational level. Also, in order to improve the electronic/pharmaceutical properties, the effect of electron donor/acceptor groups of NO2 and NH2 on fluvoxamine was studied. According to the results, electronic properties changed significantly in the presence of the NO2 group. So that (in the presence of NO2) cohesive energy, energy gap, dipole moment, adsorption energy, antioxidant properties, and recovery time improved by 20%, 70%, 84%, 48%, 48%, and 46% respectively. Although the electronic properties were improved in the presence of the NH2 group, the effect of the NO2 functional group was more noticeable. Therefore, it is expected that the presence of the NO2 electron-acceptor electron group will improve its medicinal function by changing the electronic properties of the drug fluvoxamine.

Background: Lynch syndrome LS is a life-threatening condition caused by heterozygous mutations in mismatch repair genes (MMR). People with this syndrome are at increased risk of developing different types of cancers, such as colorectal carcinomas, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancers. Case Report: The present case report discusses the case of a 36-year-old non-diabetic non-alcoholic female who came to the oncology department with a known history of Lynch syndrome. The patient had a significant past medical history. In 2003, she was diagnosed with left colon cancer for which she had left hemicolectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. In 2004, she developed duodenal cancer for which she had Whipple surgery. Then, she developed ovarian cancer on both sides, which was also treated by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. After that, she developed uterine cancer, treated by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. The patient had a total colectomy and she underwent two ileostomy procedures. In 2014, immunohistochemistry testing confirmed the diagnosis that she was suffering from Lynch syndrome. Additionally, cancer sequencing panel testing in 2016 and MSH testing in 2018 further confirmed the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome as only the loss of nuclear expression of the PMS2 gene was revealed. Then in 2018, she developed a peritoneal metastasis of ovarian origin. This was the first time she started Pembrolizumab immunotherapy, that was finished at the end of 2019. One intriguing fact is that all her diseases cleared up and she continues to live normal life four years after stopping immunotherapy and she is in complete remission. Also, all her tumor markers have dropped down and normalized. Conclusion: Carrying the PMS2 germline mutation confers an extraordinarily high risk of developing LS-associated cancers. To decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with LS-related cancers, intensive clinical monitoring, pembrolizumab therapy, and preventive surgeries are strongly advised.

Background: Metastasis of the Central Nervous System (CNS) is one of the frequently occurring complications of advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and has been observed in 24-44% of patients. Patients suffering from NSCLC along with CNS metastases have a generally poor prognosis. Case Report: A 57-year-old nonalcoholic, non-diabetic, heavy smoker male patient was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) (Adenocarcinoma), PD-L1 expression 80% with liver, spleen, and brain metastases. In June 2016, the patient was diagnosed with Stage III-A EGFR wild right-sided lung adenocarcinoma (T4N0M0), for which he underwent Curative Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy in Jordan, followed by two cycles of Etoposide plus CDDP (Cisplatin). In February 2017, the patient came to the hospital with the chief complaint of massive hemoptysis. His CT scan showed an appearance in keeping with the right upper-lobe cavitating tumor with possible contralateral lung, splenic, and hepatic metastases. The patient was offered pneumonectomy but refused it. Interventional radiology (IR) tumor embolization of the apical and posterior (A1 and A2) branches of the right superior pulmonary artery with no procedural complication was performed to stop the bleeding. Case Study Chelal et al.; IJMPCR, 15(4): 56-65, 2022; Article no.IJMPCR.91592 57 At the end of that same month, on February 28, 2017, he presented to emergency with seizures, for which a contrast CT scan showed two enhancing lesions, one of the left parietal lobe posteriorly 1.8 cm with marked white matter oedema causing a mass effect and the effacement of the posterior horn of the left lateral ventricle. The second is a small ring-enhancing deposit of the right occipital lobe 6 mm with surrounding oedema. The liver biopsy failed to show any malignancy. After the MDT discussion, the largest lesion in the brain was removed and a small lesion was kept. The left occipital metastasis was resected and was found to be a metastatic adenocarcinoma of lung origin. It was positive for TTF-1 and positive for Moc 31. P63 and CK5/6 were negative (no squamous component is seen). No brain radiotherapy was offered. First-line palliative Nivolumab was started on March 20, 2017. Nivolumab first proved to be highly successful against brain metastases. However, it was discontinued as the patient developed myelitis after seven months of continuous treatment. After the discontinuation and improvement of myelitis symptoms, Nivolumab was resumed. The amazing thing about this treatment approach was that his disease was completely cleared up and he had been in complete remission for five years. Additionally, all of his tumor indicators had decreased and normalized. Conclusion: Our case report demonstrated a full response to first-line Nivolumab in a patient with PD-L1-positive NSCLC having visceral and brain metastases. However, our patient suffered from myelitis, which may have been a Nivolumab-related adverse event. The important point is that he has been achieving a durable complete response for nearly 5 years, so are we talking about the certain biology of a tumor that can be cured by immunotherapy?

A 22 year old adult male shifted from Congo 2 months ago presented to the Emergency Department with complaints of having a fever for the last three weeks. The fever was associated with chills and sweating, and occasional dizziness. Two weeks later, the man developed a cough, which was productive and caused him to develop shortness of breath with its onset. The patient's overall condition rendered him appetite less, with a poor-quality oral intake of food and fluids. His COVID19 PCR came out negative, and he had no contact with a positive patient.Further history revealed that the patient had developed Malaria a long time ago and was prophylactically treated for it. He is a non-smoker yet occasionally drinks alcohol. His chest x-ray revealed patchy consolidations in the middle and lower zones of the left lung, whereas the chest CT revealed mediastinal lymphadenopathy and air bronchograms. His sputum for AFB and Rapid

One of the common questions for patients with a history of cardiovascular disease is whether it is safe for them to fast during Ramadan. Yet, studies on the effects of Ramadan fasting on blood lipids, blood pressure, anthropometric parameters and other cardiovascular risk factors are scarce, and have given inconclusive results. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on cardiovascular risk factors including biochemical indices, blood pressure and main anthropometric parameters. This Prospective observational study was conducted at the CCU (Coronary care unit) and medical wards of Madinat Zayed hospital one of Al Dhafra hospitals, under Seha Abu Dhabi. Fifty-Six diabetic patients admitted with cardiovascular events including 48 males and 8 females with a previous history of cardiovascular event completed the study. Their age ranged between 32 and 91 years with a mean of 54.0 ± 10 years. A non-significant slight biochemical modification with regard to the metabolic profile pre, during and post-Ramadan period was reported: eGFR, total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL were increased yet, triglycerides and creatinine were non-significantly lower during Ramadan. Findings also showed a non-significant decrease in the post Ramadan blood pressure values which could be attributed to the metabolic switch.

A 30-year-old male patient presented with a mixed complaint. He initially had developed complaints of backache two months ago. This pain was accompanied by the formation of two lumps in the back in the upper and lower regions. However, this was not the reason behind him presenting to the hospital. He complained of hoarseness of the voice, which seemed to have no background. The man is neither an alcoholic nor a smoker. He has no significant medical or surgical history. His work history also remains unrelated to the hoarseness of his voice, as he is not required to speak loudly, which is typically linked to over exertion of the vocal cords. Upon examination, it was learned that the two lumps that the patient had initially observed had grown in number. Now, there were several lumps on his back and shoulder regions. When this particular observation, coupled with the hoarseness of voice, was investigated via diagnostic imaging techniques such as X-ray, CT, and MRI, it was discovered that the patient was suffering from Grade IV Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. The cancer had progressed significantly as there was numerous organ involvement observed. The liver, adrenal glands, lungs, subcutaneous tissues, and muscles were all seen to be involved. Along with this, he had also developed bilateral deep vein thrombosis on both his lower limbs. Although the patient had no significant symptoms that could have forced an earlier diagnosis, it was evident that the carcinoma was pancreato-biliary in origin. Case Study Chelal et al.; JCTI, 12(3): 22-29, 2022; Article no.JCTI.89111 23 The patient is now undergoing his chemotherapy, and so far, he has shown a remarkable 'partial' response to his treatment cycles. Therefore, a good prognosis is hoped if the progress remains the same over time. This case study aims to reflect on all the possible angles of this patient's presentation. It is also the utmost priority to correlate and investigate the link of his hoarseness with his actual cancer. This case study will guide future physicians and clinicians who will come across confusing cases such as these to reach a conclusive diagnosis. Had it not been for the advanced diagnostic imaging technologies available within reach of both the hospital and the patient, the patient undoubtedly would have only been treated for his hoarseness, leaving the actual disease unchecked, undiagnosed, and untreated.

Laparoscopic surgery has been around in the general surgery world for a long time. It has revolutionized how conventional surgeries used to be carried out. Performing laparoscopic surgery , there is a faster recovery time, complications are less likely, and a significantly lower bleeding and hemorrhage-related risk in these patients. However, some surgeries are still carried out in the traditional 'open 'way. One major reason for this is the lack of skilled professionals available to carry out such complicated cases alone or the fact that some surgeries provide better access to the surgeons when carried out traditionally. This case study revolves around two patients, both of which presented with situs inversus. Situs inversus is a congenital condition where the majority or all of the organs present in the chest and abdomen mirror their normal physiological positions, that is, they are present in the opposite direction of where they normally should be. Since the condition revolves mainly around the 'position 'of the major body organs and does not usually involve any defect or malfunctioning in their ' function', it is usually seen that the affected people are capable of living on their own, without any complications affecting their lives. However, this was not the case with both of the patients that are being discussed in this case study. Both of them developed cholelithiasis. Their case was already bound to face complications owing to their condition-situs inversus. But, due to the presence of efficient and skilled surgeons working on the case, it was seen that laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed on both of these patients. Whether this surgery was carried out successfully or led to further complications is the focus of this paper. Along with that, this study also aims to revolve to look at the diagnostic measures that led to effectively diagnosing the condition in these patients affected by situs inversus. Case Study

the creative commons attribution noncommercial License. This allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Abstract A 47 years old man presented to the hospital department with pain in his anterior neck region. The pain was also present when the patient swallowed food. Along with this pain, the patient also complained of suffering from low-grade fever, myalgia, and fatigue. Before coming to the hospital, the patient had taken NSAIDs for 5 days straight, but with no effect on his pain and other conditions except for temporary relief. Then 4 days back, he went to a private hospital where his lab investigations were ordered. The patient came in positive for hyperthyroidism. The medicines prescribed by that hospital setting were of no use and again, did not help in reducing his symptoms. Along with the usual lab investigations and the thyroid profile ordered for this patient, his general physical examination was performed. The patient was afebrile at the time of examination, he had no fine or shaking tremors in his hands. Yet, there was a visible diffuse swelling noticed on his neck, which was very much consistent with the findings of goitre. Apart from this, no cervical lymphadenopathy was appreciated. No other abnormality was detected in the rest of the examination. The patient's CBC report was normal as well.

A 38-year-old male presented with a complaint of upper GIT bleeding. The patient is an alcoholic and a smoker for the last 5 years. The patient had vomited blood for the last three days. Endoscopy, Biopsy, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and CT scan of abdomen and pelvis with IV contrast were recommended. After initial examination and reports, the patient was diagnosed with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor was found that was spindle cell type, unifocal and low grade with mitotic speed of 2-3 /5 mm2.The tumor originated in the gastric submucosa and spread to the pericolic fat omentum. The tumor was large, being 9.5cm cm and 6.5 x 5.5 cm in greatest dimension measurements. The tumor measured more than 5 cm, but was less than 10 cm in diameter. The overlying gastric mucosa showed focal mild chronic inflammation. Heliobacter pylori and focal intestinal metaplasia was noted. As a treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumor, surgery was recommended to remove the large exophytic gastric mass. After surgery, heterologous fragments were received. The mass of the tumor was 0.8cm with a mitotic rate of 2-3 /5 mm2 per 10 high-power fields (HPF). The examination and diagnosis also included some special studies such as immunohistochemistry assay. However, no mutational analysis test was performed. Immunohistochemistry assay was positive for C-KIT (CD117), CD34 and DOG1.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of central nervous system that commonly affects young adults. Although ocular movement disturbances are commonly encountered in multiple sclerosis, bilateral horizontal gaze palsy is quite rare. We present a case of young woman presented with dizziness, intractable vomiting and visual disturbances for one week, on examination found to have complete bilateral horizontal gaze palsy while vertical gaze was intact. Brain MRI showed a small lesion in posterior part of medial pontine tegmentum bilaterally which was responsible for patient`s symptoms. She received five doses of one-gram methylprednisolone, her symptoms gradually improved over one week after treatment.

A document by Ashraf ALAkkad. Click on the document to view its contents.

Terrestrial resource pulses can significantly affect the community dynamics of freshwater ecosystems. Previously, its effect on the river community is considered to be stronger in summer, while weaker in winter when terrestrial invertebrates are less abundant. The movement of the terrestrial earthworms are triggered in winter, so they may be supplied to winter rivers as terrestrial resource pulse, but little is known about it. Here, we report that the massive numbers of the terrestrial earthworms were supplied intensively to an upstream of the small river in early winter. In particular, we found large numbers of Megascolecidae earthworms were supplied in an upstream of the small river in Northern Japan. Furthermore, we observed that supplied earthworms were consumed by salmonid fish species (masu salmon, white spotted char and rainbow trout) and aquatic invertebrates (gammarid amphipod, planarian flatworm and stonefly larvae). These findings suggests that the terrestrial earthworms may play a key role in ecosystem functioning in winter when severe and other resources are scarce.

For many years, mechanistic studies of root pressure and xylem exudation in decapitated plants have focused on the uptake of mineral nutrients from the soil and the resulting osmotic potential and influx of water into the xylem. Theoretical considerations and published evidence of downward water flow through the phloem into the apoplast of root tips in intact (non-decapitated) plants support an old concept that phloem sap flow may contribute significantly to root pressure and upward xylem flow (i.e. a “push-pull” effect). Phloem loading and osmotic influx of water into leaf sieve tubes at night may contribute to negative predawn water potentials.