In order to accurately predict creep deformation and damage evolution of nickel-based superalloy GH4169, a novel damage constitutive model, which can be called TTC CDM-based model, was proposed based on TTC relations and continuum damage mechanics (CDM). The stress and temperature dependence of constants were all determined in the novel model, which overcame the weakness of the traditional CDM-based model and made the model have the satisfactory abilities of interpolation and extrapolation. Microstructural study has revealed that the creep fracture mode gradually converts from intergranular brittle fracture to transgranular ductile fracture as the stress decreases. And the critical conditions were identified. It was determined that the novel model accurately predicted the minimum creep rate, rupture time, creep deformation and damage evolution process of GH4169. Furthermore, the nonlinear creep damage accumulation effect was also revealed by the novel model, i.e. the total creep life of GH4169 will be reduced if high stress or high temperature condition was applied first, which was consistent with previous experimental results of variable creep load.

Population genomic studies are increasing in the last decade, showing great potential to understand the evolutionary patterns in a great variety of organisms, mostly relying on RAD sequencing techniques to obtain reduced representations of the genomes. Among them, 2b-RAD can provide further secondary reduction to adjust study costs by using base-selective adaptors, although its impact on genotyping is unknown. Here we provide empirical comparisons on genotyping and genetic differentiation when using fully degenerate and base-selective adaptors and assess the impact of missing data. We built libraries with the two types of adaptors for the same individuals and generated independent and combined datasets with different missingness filters according to their presence (100%, 75% and 50%). Exploring locus-by-locus, we found 92% of identical genotypes between both libraries of the same individual when using loci present in 100% of the samples, which decreased to 35% when working with loci present in at least 50% of them. We show that missing data is a major source of individual genetic differentiation. The loci discordant by genotyping were in low frequency (7.67%) in all filtered files. Only 0.96% were directly attributable to base-selective adaptors, and 6.44% underestimated heterozygosity in NN libraries, of which ca. 70% had <10 reads per locus indicating that sufficient read depth should be ensured for a correct genotyping. Our work confirms that 2b-RAD libraries using base-selective adaptors are a robust tool to use in population genomics of species with large genome sizes.

Kikuchi disease is an uncommon, self-limited disease that mimics malignant lymphoma and tubercular lymphadenitis in presentation but with an excellent prognosis. We present a case of a 20-year-old Asian female with swelling at the angle of the mandible along with fever as a result of Kikuchi disease.

Schwannoma is a benign tumour originating from Schwann cells in the peripheral nerve sheath. Schwannoma can occur in the head and neck area but rarely occurs in nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. No race or gender predilection. Often occurred at 6-78 years with highest incidence in 2nd and 4th decade

Sarcoptic mange, a disease caused by the burrowing mite Sarcoptes scabiei, is globally endemic and an emerging threat to wildlife. Although many studies have shown that wildlife diseases play key roles in biodiversity conservation, knowledge about sarcoptic mange is still insufficient. In this study, we aim to improve the understanding of the impacts of sarcoptic mange on wildlife populations, the mechanisms involved in its ecoepidemiology, and the associated risks to public and ecosystem health by investigating mass death events in gorals and serows in the Qinling Mountains. We conducted interviews with practitioners and local people in the central Qinling Mountains. From the same locations, we collected 24 cutaneous samples from various animals and surveillance data from infrared cameras. Pathological, parasitological and microbiological examinations of the samples were performed. Mite-induced cutaneous lesions, mites and eggs were observed in samples from dead gorals and one dead serow, but not in other species. Molecular analysis confirmed the mites to be S. scabiei that originated from rabbits. The data obtained from the interviews and infrared cameras indicated that the death of wildlife was related to sarcoptic mange infection and that there had been a decrease in the goral population since the outbreak of the disease. We confirmed that sarcoptic mange was the major cause of the mass death events and may have spread from the western to eastern Qinling Mountains. Based on our findings, we propose several protection strategies to help preserve biodiversity in the Qinling Mountains.

Background: Irinotecan and temozolmide achieve objective responses in patients with Ewing sarcoma which recurrences after initial therapy. Optional dose schedules have not been defined. Procedure: We reviewed published series of patients treated with irinotecan and temozolomide for Ewing sarcoma which recurred after initial therapy. We compared objective response rates for patients who received 5 day irinotecan treatment schedules to response rates for patients who achieved 10 day irinotecan treatment schedules. Results: Among 94 patients treated with a 10 day irinotecan schedule there were 48 objective responses (51%). Among 218 patients treated with a 5 day irinotecan schedule there were 65 responses (30%). Conclusion: When we use irinotecan to treat Ewing sarcoma we should administer 10 days of treatment.

As non-vascular plants, which lack lignin for protection, bryophytes support themselves in harsh environment by producing various chemicals. In response to cold stress, lipids play a crucial role in cell adaptation and energy storage. Specifically, bryophytes survive at low temperatures by producing very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (vl-PUFAs). However, a systematic knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the cold acclimation of bryophytes is limited. To overcome this obstacle, we performed lipid profiling using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) of two moss species ( Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Physcomitrium patens) cultivated at standard condition compared to those cultivated at cold stressed condition. The potential biomarkers were identified by multivariate statistical analysis in each species. In B. pseudotriquetrum, we found that the phospholipids and glycolipids increased significantly under cold stress, while storage lipids decreased. The accumulation of the lipids with high unsaturation degrees (i.e. at least one fatty acyl chain contains more than two double bonds) mostly appear in phospholipids and glycolipids. However, this trend cannot be observed in P. patens. This suggests that different moss species may undergo a different lipid metabolic pathway of cold adaptation. Our findings present a deeper understanding of how mosses are adapted to cold temperature and provide a basis for future studies.

This study presents a system using an image processing technique that evaluates the pavement condition from an image. Pavement condition evaluation is an integral part of roads and highway maintenance works, which mostly depends on human inspection. Although recently some researches have been conducted on road condition detection with image processing, these researches used huge databases and deep CNNs that require expansive computer and longer training time, which limits the use of deep CNN in practical problems where huge database collection is not possible always. To solve this problem, in this study, transfer learning in deep CNN is applied and with only 195 images in each category, pre-trained VGG-16 and Inception-ResNet v2 models are used for pavement condition evaluation. VGG-16 achieved more than 90% prediction accuracy, while Inception-ResNet v2 achieved more than 85% prediction accuracy. Moreover, to validate the performance, both models have been tested with random images collected from Google. Evaluating pavement conditions this way would reduce the need for human inspection. Finally, the outcome of the study shows that the transfer learning approach could be useful in research areas, especially in civil engineering, where image data is insufficient.

Brassica crops include various edible vegetable and plant oil crops, and their production is limited by low temperature. The key regulators of low-temperature resistance in Brassica remain largely unexplored. To identify post-transcriptional regulators of plant response to low temperature, we performed small RNA profiling, and found that 16 known miRNAs responded to cold treatment in Brassica rapa. The cold response of seven of those miRNAs were further confirmed by qRT-PCR and/or northern blotting analyses. In parallel, a genome-wide association study of 220 accessions of Brassica napus identified four candidate MIRNA genes, all of which were cold-responsive, at the loci associated with low temperature resistance. Specifically, these large-scale data analyses revealed a link between miR1885 and the plant response to low temperature in both B. rapa and B. napus. Using 5′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends approach, we validated that miR1885 can cleave its putative target gene transcripts, Bn.TIR.A09 and Bn.TNL.A03, in B. napus. Furthermore, overexpression of miR1885 in B. napus decreased the mRNA abundance of Bn.TIR.A09 and Bn.TNL.A03 and resulted in increased sensitivity to low temperature. Knocking down of miR1885 in B. napus led to increased mRNA abundance of its targets and improved rapeseed tolerance to low temperature. Together, our results suggested that the loci of miR1885 and its targets could be potential candidates for the molecular breeding of low temperature-tolerant Brassica crops.

We present the rare case of a 71 year old man with intracranial primary dural Hodgkin lymphoma (PDHL). He underwent subtotal resection of the mass, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and consolidative radiotherapy, with no recurrence at 5 years follow up.

Left atrial ball thrombus is a rare complication of rheumatic mitral stenosis. We report on a patient with a left atrial ball thrombus combined with rheumatic mitral stenosis, which was detected during echocardiographic in the context of an etiological assessment of an ischemic stroke

Insects often harbor heritable symbionts that provide defense against specialized natural enemies, yet little is known about symbiont protection when hosts face simultaneous threats. In pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), the facultative endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa confers protection against the parasitoid, Aphidius ervi, and Regiella insecticola protects against aphid-specific fungal pathogens, including Pandora neoaphidis. Here we investigated whether these two common aphid symbionts protect against a specialized virus A. pisum virus (APV), and whether their anti-fungal and anti-parasitoid services are impacted by APV infection. We found that APV imposed large fitness costs on symbiont-free aphids and these costs were elevated in aphids housing H. defensa. In contrast, APV titers were significantly reduced and costs to APV infection were largely eliminated in aphids with R. insecticola. To our knowledge, R. insecticola is the first aphid symbiont shown to protect against a viral pathogen, and only the second arthropod symbiont reported to do so. In contrast, APV infection did not impact the protective services either R. insecticola or H. defensa. To better understand APV biology, we produced five genomes and examined transmission routes. We found that moderate rates of vertical transmission, combined with horizontal transfer through food plants, were the major route of APV spread, although lateral transfer by parasitoids also occurred. Transmission was unaffected by facultative symbionts. In summary, the presence and species identity of facultative symbionts resulted in highly divergent outcomes for aphids infected with APV, while not impacting defensive services that target other enemies. These findings add to the diverse phenotypes conferred by aphid symbionts, and to the growing body of work highlighting extensive variation in symbiont-mediated interactions.

Ecological speciation within the mormyrid genus Campylomormyrus resulted in sympatric species exhibiting divergence in their feeding apparatus and electric organ discharge (EOD). This study provides direct evidence to support the suggested ecological speciation scenario that Campylomormyrus radiation is caused by an adaptation to different food sources. We performed diet assessment of sympatric Campylomormyrus species with markedly different snout morphologies and EODs using hybrid capture/NGS DNA metabarcoding of their stomach contents. Our approach allowed for high taxonomic resolution of prey items, including benthic invertebrates, allochthonous invertebrates, and vegetation. Comparisons of the diet compositions using quantitative measures and diet overlap indices revealed that all species are able to exploit multiple food niches in their habitats, i.e. fauna at the bottom, the water surface, and the water column. The major part of the diet is larvae of aquatic insects, such as dipterans, coleopterans, and trichopterans, known to occur in holes and interstitial spaces of the substrate. The results showed that different snout morphologies and the associated divergence in the EOD translate into different prey spectra. This suggests that the diversification in EOD and the morphology of the feeding apparatus is under functional adaptation.

Urethral duplication is uncommon with few cases reported in the literature. We report a case in which a patient presented with discharge from proximal part of penis since childhood and recent history of infection. The diagnosis of pre-pubic sinus was made and complete excision of the sinus tract was done.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have occurred more frequently and emerged increasing hazard ways in recent years. This study firstly combined both short-read and long-read metabarcoding analyses for marine phytoplankton community and HAB species identification in the coastal waters of the Beibu Gulf. Short-read metabarcoding showed that the phytoplankton in the sea area had high levels of biodiversity, with Dinophyceae dominating, especially Gymnodiniales, and multiple small-size phytoplankton were also identified, which complements the previous lack of understanding phytoplankton of both small-size and those unstable after fixation. Of the top 20 phytoplankton genera identified, 15 were HAB-forming genera, which account for 47.3%-71.5% of the relative abundance of phytoplankton. Based on long-read metabarcoding it further revealed that a total of 147 OTUs (PID>97%) belonging to phytoplankton were identified at the species level, including 118 species. Among them, 37 species belonged to HAB-forming species, and 98 species were reported for the first time in the Beibu Gulf. Contrast of the two metabarcoding methods at the class level, they both showed a predominance of Dinophyceae, and both included high abundances of Bacillariophyceae, Prasinophyceae and Prymnesiophyceae, but the relative contents of the classes varied. Notably, the results of the two metabarcoding methods were quite different below the genus level. High abundance and diversity of HAB species were mainly due to the special life history and multiple nutritional modes, which provided a basis for preventing the potential impact of HAB species on the aquaculture and even nuclear power plants safety in the Beibu Gulf.

A set of new rasagiline derivatives is presented. They were designed to be antioxidant compounds with the potential to be used for treating neurodegenerative disorders. They are expected to be multifunctional molecules that can help reduce oxidative stress, which is thought to contribute to neurodegenerative disorders. The CADMA-Chem computational protocol was used to produce rasagiline derivatives and to evaluate their likeliness as oral drugs and antioxidants. Three of them were identified as the most promising ones. They are proposed to be better free radical scavengers than rasagiline. In addition, they are expected to keep the parent's molecule neuroprotective capability. Hopefully, the results presented here would promote further experimental and theoretical investigations on these compounds.

A document by Hui Peng. Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Hui Peng. Click on the document to view its contents.

Our understanding of the hydrological processes in cocoa agroforests is extremely limited. Most work has focused on characterising throughfall and transpiration processes under various management approaches and climate change scenarios. However, little is currently understood about the soil hydrological processes which serve as a link to throughfall and transpiration. We monitored the soil properties, soil water repellency and hydraulic conductivity in a 5, 12 and >30 year old cocoa plantation in the wet and dry seasons. During the wet season repellent conditions were absent in all stands while the hydraulic conductivity showed no significant differences among them. This suggests that stand age has little effect on water movement during the wet period. During the dry season, the soil at the 5 and 12 year old stands became extremely repellent and was twice as severe as that of the >30 year old plantation. It was expected that the extreme repellency in the younger stands would reduce infiltration rates; however, higher rates were recorded in the 5 and 12 year old stands. This was likely due to the combination of a repellent soil matrix and the presence of large, deep soil cracks which enhanced preferential flow. As the repellency was not significantly correlated with soil properties, we hypothesised that the high grass/sedge cover and temperatures in the 5 and 12 year old stands enhanced it. While further research is needed to investigate the role that grass and sedges play in developing repellent conditions, managing their cover may prove beneficial for the growth and survival of young cocoa trees.

Title: Atopic sensitization in childhood depends on the type of green area around the home in infancy Tiia Voor1,2*, Meelis Pärtel3*, Aleksandr Peet1,2, Liisa Saare1,2, Heikki Hyöty4,5, Mikael Knip6,7, John Davison3, Martin Zobel3#, Vallo Tillmann1,2#1 Children´s Clinic of Tartu University Hospital, Estonia2 Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia3 Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia4 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Finland5 Fimlab Laboratories, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere, Finland6 Pediatric Research Center, New Children’s Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland7 Research Program for Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandTo the editor,The prevalence of allergy has increased worldwide (1) and a green environment is essential in developing immune responses and may protect against allergy (2, 3). However, previous studies have not distinguished the effects of different green area types.Here we tested how the type and spatial scale of green area around the infancy home are associated with atopic sensitization up to the age of 9 years.The study group comprised 280 children from the Estonian DIABIMMUNE project birth cohort (4) whose sera were measured for different allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies at the ages 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 9 years. Subjects were divided into 3 groups by sIgE results. 86 children who had at least one sIgE ≥0.7 kU/L were categorized into the group of definite atopic sensitization (Group I); 44 children had some sIgE between 0.35-0.69 kU/L and were classified as uncertain sensitization (Group II); 150 children had all measured sIgE below 0.35 KU/L, and they formed the control group (Group III). The types of surrounding green areas during the first six months of life were obtained from digital maps of Estonia. The land was divided into agricultural fields, forests, grasslands and wetlands (Figure 1A).The combination of various green area types at a radius of 1-10 km around homes in infancy was related to signs of atopy by ordinal regressions, and model weights were compared.This is the first study addressing the correlation between the land-use intensity around child homes and the development of atopic sensitization. A model with the green areas within 8 km had the highest protective weight (Fig. 1B). Among the various types of green areas, the impact of forests was the largest (Fig. 1C), but the best model also included grasslands and wetlands. Agricultural fields had an impact only at 1-2 km scales, and their weight declined strongly at larger scales (Table 1). We used the best model (area of forest, grasslands and wetlands within 8 km) and examined how it predicts atopic sensitization groups (Fig. 1D). The model predicted a decrease in Group I and an increase in control Group III. The uncertain Group II showed a slightly decreasing tendency. The protective effect of forests, grasslands and wetlands against sensitization was evident for both inhaled and food allergens.The world is urbanizing, and the isolation of humans from biodiverse green areas leads to reduced contact with beneficial environmental microbes (5). Ruokalainen et al (2) showed that the greenness around homes was negatively associated with the risk of atopy in children. Contact with natural soil enriched microbiota enhanced immune regulation and may reduce the risk of development of immune-mediated diseases (6). Our results reveal considerable differences in how various green area types might prevent atopic sensitization. The area of biodiverse land (forests, grasslands, wetlands) showed a strong protective effect, while the agricultural land did not. The positive effect of forests, grasslands and wetlands became clearer with increasing spatial scale. The relatively large distance of influence indicates that the biodiversity of beneficial microbes might need a large area.Our study has some limitations. First, we could not study the microbiota of the participants and determine whether the spatial environmental model explained microbiota composition. Secondly, we studied only atopic sensitization and did not diagnose allergic disease. This was because the data were collected using questionnaires completed by parents and were of variable quality.In conclusion, the current results indicate that biodiverse land – such as forests, grasslands, and wetlands – around homes during infancy elicits a strong protective effect against the development of atopy later in childhood. At the same time, intensive croplands have only a very weak effect.

Background: Recognition of specific allergens triggering immune response is key for the appropriate prescription of allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT). This study aimed at evaluating the impact of using the commercially available microarray ImmunoCAP TM ISAC 112 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) on the etiological diagnosis and SIT prescription compared to the conventional diagnostic methods in patients with allergic rhinitis/rhinoconjunctivitis and/or asthma. Methods: 300 patients with respiratory allergic disease, sensitized to three or more pollen aeroallergens from different species, as assessed by skin prick-test (SPT) and specific IgE assays (sIgE), were included in this multicentric, prospective observational study. SPT and a blood test were performed to all patients. Total serum IgE, sIgE (ImmunoCAP TM) for allergens found positive in the SPT and sIgE allergen components (ImmunoCAP TM ISAC 112) were measured. Results: According to SPT results, the most prevalent pollen sensitizers in our population were Olea europaea followed by grass, Platanus acerifolia and Parietaria judaica. The molecular diagnosis (MD) revealed Ole e 1 as the most prevalent pollen sensitizer, followed by Cup a 1, Phl p 1, Cyn d 1, Par j 2, Pla a 1, 2, and 3 and Phl p 5. Immunotherapy prescription changed, due to MD testing, in 51% of the cases, with an increase of prescription of SIT from 39% to 65%. Conclusion: The identification of the allergen eliciting the respiratory disease is essential for a correct immunotherapy prescription. The advances in allergen characterization using methods such as the commercial microarray ImmunoCAP TM ISAC 112 can help clinicians to improve SIT prescription.

The two cases we present are the first to demonstrate novel manifestations of COVID-19- related interaction between the liver and the immune system in pediatric patients. Written informed consent was obtained from the parent/guardian to publish this report in accordance with the journal’s patient consent policy.

In this paper, general one-dimensional difference equations (DE) are studied. In fact, the asymptotic behaviour of such DE's will be studied via an algebraic closed-form condition plus a linear DE. Some examples are presented including the Collatz sequence, proving the existence of at most one invariant set surrounding the number 1: {1, 2, 4}. Some conclusions will be also depicted.

Objective To explore whether a previous late miscarriage(LM) has a prognostic impact on the subsequent pregnancy outcomes in in-vitro fertilization(IVF) women. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Reproductive medicine centre at a tertiary hospital Population 1072 infertile women who had a LM following first embryo transfer. Methods Women were grouped by the causes of LM, 458 women with unexplained factor(unLM), 146 women with fetal factor(feLM), 412 women with cervical factor(ceLM), 56 women with trauma factor(trLM). Subgroup analysis and binary logistic regression were performed to evaluate the associations between LMs with different causes and subsequent pregnancy outcomes. Main outcome measures The frequency of live birth and miscarriage following the subsequent embryo transfer after LM. Results Compared with general IVF population, the early miscarriage rate was significantly higher in unLM group(8.28% vs. 13.47%,P=0.003, rate ratio(RR)=1.725,95% confidence interval(CI)1.204-2.470). Further, women with a unLM or ceLM had a dramatically elevated risk of recurrent LM(for unLM:4.24% vs. 9.43%,P=0.000,RR=2.348,95%CI 1.527-3.610; for ceLM: 4.24% vs. 15.53%,P=0.000,RR=4.147,95%CI 2.836-6.064) and a consequently reduced frequency of live birth(for unLM: 49.96% vs. 43.01%,P=0.005, RR=0.756,95%CI 0.622-0.918; for ceLM: 49.96% vs. 38.59%,P=0.000,RR=0.629,95%CI 0.512-0.774). Conclusions Only one previous LM resulted from unexplained factor or cervical factor was significantly associated with a higher risk of miscarriage and a lower live birth rate after the subsequent embryo transfer. Keywords Late Miscarriage/Live Birth/Early Miscarriage/Cervical Incompetence/In Vitro Fertilization Tweetable abstract Women who had a LM for unexplained factor or cervical factor following the first embryo transfer had a significantly poor pregnancy prognosis after the subsequent transfer.