In this study, I developed a nonlinear mathematical model to explore the dynamics of citizens on electoral lists, as well as the impact of abstainers and voter registration on political electors. The models are analyzed for positive and boundedness, asymptotically stability of abstention-free and abstaining equilibrium points both locally and globally, and sensitivity analysis of model parameters based on the fundamental reproduction number R0. Finally, numerical simulations were carried out using the ODE45 subroutine of MATLAB to interpret using graphs. The findings demonstrate that abstainers have a detrimental impact on voter turnout. Now, is the time to raise voter awareness to educate them about the value of electoral and political involvement, protect them from the harmful effects of abstainers, and reduce the number of those who have registered but have not voted.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice regarding influenza infection among university students in a rural area in Lebanon, and to check their influenza vaccination practices. Methods: A survey was performed on private university students in Bekaa valley, a rural area of Lebanon. An interviewer-administered 4-section questionnaire was used to record sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge about influenza, knowledge about influenza vaccination, and influenza vaccination status. Knowledge scores were set, where knowledgeable respondents were those correctly answering ≥ 50% of knowledge questions about influenza or influenza vaccination. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18. Descriptive analysis with frequency tables was performed. A p-value of 0.05 was set as significant level for analysis. Results: One-hundred twenty-eight students from various schools completed the questionnaire. In knowledge questions, 39% of respondents were not knowledgeable regarding influenza. Females were more knowledgeable regarding influenza than males (p = 0.001, OR = 1.6). Many respondents believed that influenza was not life threating (48%), while 64.8% believed that they do not have enough information regarding influenza. About 58% of the respondents reported being vaccinated, and those were more knowledgeable regarding influenza vaccine (p = 0.047). The most common reason for vaccination was fear of getting influenza (33%). Vaccination significantly correlated with medical provider visit during the last 6 months (p=0.022). Conclusions: This study highlighted a gap of knowledge among university students regarding influenza. Raising awareness about influenza and its vaccination remain essential to in this population.

Objective: To assess the utility of a test-based approach to shorten isolation of healthcare workers with COVID-19 in the setting of the highly transmissible omicron variant Methods: Between December 24th, 2021, to January 5th, 2022 HCWs who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were re-tested at least five days since onset of symptoms. Results: 46 sequential fully COVID-19 vaccinated HCWs who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 underwent follow up testing. All the isolates were confirmed as omicron variants and only 4 (8.7%) were negative 5 days or more since onset of symptoms., Conclusions: Implementation of a test-based strategy is logistically challenging, increases costs and did not lead to shorter isolation in our institution.

Macro-reentrant atrial tachycardias, also called “atypical” atrial flutters resuts from atrial fibrosis or from scars secondary to previous catheter or surgical ablation. 1-2. Previous reports have documented that a dual loop figure-8 reentrant atrial tachycardia can occurr utilizing a common critical isthmus. The present report describes the use of high density mapping with a multielectrode grid catheter that enabled the identification of an isthmus of slow conduction shared by two different reentrant circuits. The first radiofrecuency application regularized the cycle length of the tachycardia that was terminated by interrupting conduction at the isthmus.

Background: Short runs of atrial tachycardias (ATs) and infrequent premature atrial contractions (PACs) are difficult to map and ablate using sequential electrophysiology mapping techniques. The AcQMap mapping system allows for highly accurate mapping of a single atrial activation. Objectives: We aimed to test the value of a novel dipole charge density based high-resolution mapping technique (AcQMap) in the treatment of brief episodes of ATs and PACs. Methods: Data of all patients undergoing catheter ablation (CA) using the AcQMap mapping system were reviewed. Results: Thirty-one out of 219 patients (male n=8; female n=23) had short runs of ATs (n=23) and PACs (n=8). The mean procedural time was 155.3±46.6 min, with a mean radiation dose of 92.0 (IQR 37.0-121.0) mGy. Total radiofrequency application duration 679.0 (IQR 276.5-1085.2) s. Left atrial localization of ATs and PACs were identified in 45.1% of the cases, right atrium localization in 45.1%, and septal origins in 9.8% of the cases. Acute success was achieved in 30/31 (96.8%), and recurrence during the follow-up developed in six patients (19.4%), including 4 patients with PACs and 2 patients with short-lived ATs. One patient presented procedure-related groin hematoma as minor complication. Conclusion: Brief episodes of highly symptomatic ATs and infrequent PACs can be mapped using charge density mapping and successfully ablated with high acute and long-term success rates.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease resulting in airflow obstruction, which in part can become irreversible to conventional therapies, defining the concept of airway remodeling. The introduction of biologics in severe asthma has led in some patients to the complete normalization of previously considered irreversible airflow obstruction. This highlights the need to distinguish a “fixed” bronchial obstruction due to structural changes unresponsive to current therapies, from a “reversible” one as demonstrated by lung function normalization during biological therapies not previously obtained even with high dose systemic glucocorticoids. The mechanisms by which exposure to environmental factors initiates the inflammatory responses that trigger airway remodeling are still incompletely understood. Alarmins represent tissue-derived cytokines that initiate immunologic events leading to inflammatory airway remodeling. Biological therapies can improve airflow obstruction by addressing these airway inflammatory changes. In addition, biologics might prevent and possibly even revert “fixed” remodeling due to structural changes. Hence, it appears clinically important to separate the therapeutic effects (early and late) of biologics as a new paradigm to evaluate the effects of these drugs and future treatments on airway remodeling in severe asthma.

The New Reality is VirtualWilliam L. Carroll, MD*Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU-Langone Medical Center, New York, New York*Correspondence to: William L. Carroll, MD Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU-Langone Medical Center, 560 East First Avenue, Smilow Room 1211, New York, NY, 10016E-mail: William.carroll@nyulangone.orgThe COVID-19 pandemic led to a precipitous and severe disruption to healthcare delivery and consumption worldwide. Ongoing analyses (and debate) about the effectiveness of early response measures will continue, but there is no doubt the pandemic brought about dramatic changes to health care, some of which are likely to last.The health care industry is built on a model of in-person visits between patients and providers, which is reinforced by economic incentives. However, tremendous pressure was put on health care systems to pivot quickly from in-person visits given the explosive spread of COVID-19. Non-essential in-person visits and elective procedures were reduced, or paused, allowing hospitals to marshal capacity for a surge in COVID-19 cases and to mitigate risk of infection to patients and staff. Patients deferred care, in many cases with negative results1. Outpatient in-person volume plummeted over 40%2.In any crisis, opportunities emerge and telehealth visits surged providing a safe alternative to in-person visits3. Telehealth or virtual visits are not novel and has been in place since the mid 1990’s especially for rural care but regulation and reimbursement limited its application4. With changes in payer reimbursement, telehealth visits increased dramatically. Early in the pandemic up to a third of office visits were through virtual care. This trend was most pronounced in primary care and mental health/psychiatry but whether it can be applied safely to patients with complex conditions requiring therapy with medications associated with a narrow therapeutic index like cancer is less certain.In this issue of Pediatric Blood and Cancer Rabinowicz et al, raise the question of how essential are in-person visits during maintenance therapy for B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer5. The authors conducted a retrospective study to determine if an in-person visit was essential to detect an abnormal finding on physical examination especially if it resulted in a change in medical management. They excluded patients during the first three months of maintenance when more frequent laboratory evaluations are needed to titrate medication dosages, when children required intrathecal or intravenous therapy, or when other specialists saw patients. All others could be considered candidates for virtual care delivery. Seventy-five children with 240 routine visits were analyzed. Fourteen were associated with a new abnormal finding and in only six cases was a direct physical examination deemed required for diagnosis. Only three such visits resulted in a change in medical management. Based on these results, the authors argue, justifiably, that there is a large potential for virtual visits during maintenance treatment.The results of this study are not surprising especially as most patients, including the fourteen with new findings on exam in this report, will have symptoms (not analyzed in the study) alerting parents and providers to new medical conditions warranting in-person visits. Most ALL treatment protocols mandate physical examination with routine laboratory monitoring on a monthly basis and it is hard to justify more frequent intervals in the absence of follow up medication adjustments or specific problems. There might a subset of families with particular hardships related to travel where the in-person interval can be extended further. COG protocols now use every 12 week vincristine/decadron pulses with intrathecal methotrexate administration. Home phlebotomy services have been piloted to obtain laboratory blood draws and perform port flushes6. Virtual visits can be used to ascertain any side effects, adjust medications, and emphasize compliance. Another positive aspect of the pandemic is the widespread adaption of at home viral testing and there is no doubt that COVID-19 has changed the future of in-home medical diagnostics.The authors provided a thoughtful, balanced analyses and discussion of the pros, including decreasing the burden of care (e.g. school absences, time off work for parents, and transportation costs) and cons of virtual visits. Two important considerations are warranted when deciding on frequency of virtual vs. in-person visits. First, a “digital divide” is well described where limited access to high-speed internet services, lower socioeconomic status and limited English proficiency are barriers to access. Second, medical monitoring is only one part of a broader strategy in pediatric cancer care to decrease the physical, neuropsychological, educational and financial burden of cancer on children and their families. Thus, children and their families may routinely interact with physicians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, child life therapists, teachers and psychologists as part of a personalized care model during clinic visits. Such multidisciplinary services may be difficult to replicate through virtual care delivery.It is also time to consider other aspects of digital technology that can enhance the health of our patients and their families7. Mobile health is especially attractive as the overwhelming majority of adults and adolescents have access to a smartphone8. Applications such as MyChart (EPIC) allows patients and parents to view their electronic record in real time and interact with providers. Multiple studies have shown that customized, interactive apps can also be used to augment education about disease and management, manage side effects such as nausea and vomiting, and promote medication adherence9,10. It is time to accelerate the implementation of these tools in every day practice.The article by Rabinowicz and colleagues should motivate us to consider implementing and expanding adaptive strategies developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to improve patient care for children and their families with cancer. Virtual visits can never completely replace in-person visits where emotional bonds and trust between providers and patients are required to promote optimal outcomes. However after such relationships are cemented early in treatment virtual visits can reduce the burden of therapy without sacrificing quality.1. Quarello P, Ferrari A, Mascarin M, et al. Diagnostic Delay in Adolescents with Cancer During COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Price for Our Patients to Pay. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2021.2. Dupraz J, Le Pogam MA, Peytremann-Bridevaux I. Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-person outpatient care utilisation: a rapid review. BMJ Open. 2022;12(3):e056086.3. Uscher-Pines L, McCullough C, Dworsky MS, et al. Use of Telehealth Across Pediatric Subspecialties Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e224759.4. Werner RM, Glied SA. Covid-Induced Changes in Health Care Delivery - Can They Last? N Engl J Med. 2021;385(10):868-870.5. Rabinowicz R, Maguire B, Hitzler J, Punnett A. How Essential are In-Person Clinic Visits During Maintenance Treatment of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia? Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2022.6. Sisler I, Cohen D, Skinner LA, Aiken C, Laver J. Feasibility of a Pilot Home Phlebotomy Program for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol.2022;44(1):e185-e187.7. Keesara S, Jonas A, Schulman K. Covid-19 and Health Care’s Digital Revolution. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(23):e82.8. Nievas Soriano BJ, Uribe-Toril J, Ruiz-Real JL, Parron-Carreno T. Pediatric apps: what are they for? A scoping review. Eur J Pediatr. 2022;181(4):1321-1327.9. Heneghan MB, Hussain T, Barrera L, et al. Access to Technology and Preferences for an mHealth Intervention to Promote Medication Adherence in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Approach Leveraging Behavior Change Techniques. J Med Internet Res. 2021;23(2):e24893.10. Semerci R, Akgun Kostak M, Taskin C. The effect of using an interactive mobile application for the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in children: Randomized controlled study. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2022;58:102121.

Background. The recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant exhibits several mutations on the spike protein, enabling it to escape the immunity elicited by natural infection or vaccines. Avidity is the strength of binding between an antibody and its specific epitope. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to its cellular receptor with high affinity, and is the primary target of neutralizing antibodies. Therefore, protective antibodies should show high avidity. This study aimed at investigating the avidity of receptor-binding domain (RBD) binding antibodies and their neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant in COVID-19 patients and vaccinees. Methods. Samples collected from COVID-19 patients and from subjects who received homologous or heterologous vaccination were tested for the avidity of RBD-binding IgG and neutralizing antibodies against the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron variant. Results. In patients, RBD-binding IgG titres against the wild-type virus increased with time, but remained low. High neutralizing titres against the wild-type virus were not matched by high avidity or neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant. Vaccinees showed higher avidity than patients. Two vaccine doses elicited the production of neutralizing antibodies, but low avidity for the wild-type virus; antibody levels against the Omicron variant were even lower. Conversely, 3 doses of vaccine elicited high avidity and high neutralizing antibodies against both the wild-type virus and the Omicron variant. Conclusions. Repeated vaccination increases antibody avidity against the spike protein of the Omicron variant, suggesting that antibodies with high avidity and high neutralizing potential increase cross-protection against variants that carry several mutations on the RBD.

Objective: To verify the evolution of the nutritional status (NS) of children and adolescents with cancer during radiotherapy (RT) treatment and to investigate which factors are associated with nutritional depletion at the end of the treatment. Procedures: Historical cohort with patients between 1 and 19 years, who underwent RT and received nutritional monitoring throughout the treatment. Patients were evaluated at T1 (up to 1 month before RT), T2 (2/3 months after starting RT) and T3 (up to 1 month after RT completion). The evolution of weight, mid-upper arm circumference [MUAC], triceps skinfold thickness [TST], body mass index for age [BMI/A] and weight loss [WL] were verified and considered severe when >5%. Results: A reduction in BMI/A (p<0.001), weight (p 0.001), MUAC (p 0.001) and TST (p 0.005), and an increase in the incidence of thinness (BMI/A <-2) T1: 13.8% and T3: 19% and nutritional risk (BMI/A between <-1 and >-2) - T1: 20.7% and T3: 27.6% was observed in the general sample (n=116). Severe WL occurred in 40.7% of the sample. Irradiation site (p<0.001), chemotherapy [CT] (p 0.001) and CT and sedation (p 0.024) were associated with NS of thinness at T3. However, irradiation site (p 0.006), CT (p 0.002) and previous thinness (p 0.036) where observed for WL>5% (T1 and T3). Conclusions: The malnutrition process occurred in an expressive and significant way, even in the presence of nutritional monitoring. The irradiation site and concomitant chemotherapy were associated with severe WL and thinness at the end of the treatment.

Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) with respiratory distress can lead to fatal outcomes. However, there are a few reports of drug-induced lung injury with diffuse alveolar damage caused by acetaminophen, the most severe type. Here, we describe a fatal case of acetaminophen-induced SJS in a child with irreversible lung lesions.

Anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase(Anti-GAD) are associated with various neurologic condition; but, no meningitis has been reported with it, so far. Evidence demonstrates the associated of autoimmune meningoencephalitis with Covid-19 infection. Here we report a 44-year-old female with progressive loss of consciousness with anti-GAD65 meningoencephalitis after Covid-19 infection.

Background: Allergy to cow epithelium (ACE) is of great importance in professions whit highly exposed to cattle, such as cattle farmers, veterinarians, being a health problem in this population, because it is their main livelihood. Objective: Characterize the main clinical manifestations and define the sensitization profile of the population allergic to cow epithelium treated in our health area. Methods: Retrospective study including a total of 34 patients with clinical diagnosis of ACE, confirmed by skin tests, IgE levels specific to bovine epithelium and specific allergenic conjunctival provocation test. Age distribution, sex, profession, clinical symptoms, specific IgE levels for other mammalian epithelia, pollens, mites and food. immunoblotting was performed with extracts of cow dander, cow milk, cow saliva, cow urine, and bull urine and 17 sera from patients ACE previously untreated. Results: The mean age of the patients was 38 years, with a slight predominance of males, and with a higher incidence in cattle farmers/ farm workers. Rhinoconjunctivitis occurred in 100% of all cases. 35% of the patients were monosensitized to cow epithelium, the most frequent profile was the association between sensitization to cow epithelium and dust mites and/or pollens (41 %). Sera from most ACE patients show a 20 KDa IgE binding band to cow epithelium, cow saliva, and cow and bull urine, which surely corresponds to the major allergen Bos d2 (bovine lipocalin). 70% of ACE patients also detected an IgE reactive band of approximately 25 KDa in cow and bull urine extracts, Research with protein databases led to the identification of the protein band as a Bos Taurus lipocalin (UniProt Protein ID: A0A3Q1LGU7_BOVIN)

In the present research, an advanced decomposition technique based on the Adomian decomposition method is proposed to achieve the highly accurate numerical solution of non-linear initial value problems of Bratu's-type without any linearization, perturbation and discretization. For the completeness of the proposed technique, convergence analysis is also addressed. The reliability, generality and validity of the proposed technique are examined by calculating the absolute errors of some initial value problems of Bratu's type. Moreover, the obtained solutions are compared graphically with the precise solution and also with some existing approaches solutions.

Using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) approach, the electronic structure and photophysical properties of five cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes bearing different substituted acetylacetone moieties have been calculated and investigated. The calculated geometry structure of complex 2 shows a very good agreement with the available experimental data. The HOMO of complex 1 has the different distribution from those of complexes 2–5, that is, residing on the d-orbital of Ir, π-orbital of acac and L ligands. The S0→S1 transition of complex 1 is from HOMO→LUMO and HOMO–1→LUMO, that is, different from those of complexes 2–5. The lowest energy emissions for these complexes from CAM-B3LYP level are localized at 591, 581, 576, 574, and 571, respectively. Complex 4 might possess the largest kr value among these studied complexes. We anticipate that this study can shine some light on Ir(III) emitters in the fabrication of efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

This study addresses the problem of monitoring and forecasting of particulate matter (PM) data. We use hourly PM10 data, collected over a period of 3 months between October 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018, from 40 stations located in the Seoul metropolitan area of South Korea. We model the number of regions corresponding to “bad” or “very bad” categories of the PM10 density, using a hidden Markov model with Poisson state-dependent distribution, since a Poisson-HMM allows for both overdispersion and serial dependence.

This paper presents Annamalai’s binomial theorem, coefficient, identity, and binomial expansion developed by Chinnaraji Annamalai of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Also, an extended geometric series is introduced with innovative summation of single terms and more successive terms of the series in this article. 

In the last few decades, Silchar city and its surrounding areas have witnessed massive population growth due to local and migrated peoples, which led to the rapid transformation of its land use/land cover (LU/LC) pattern. For detailed micro-level LU/LC analysis, very high-resolution satellite data (VHRS) and on-screen visual interpretation techniques were used. The LU/LC classification of the city has been prepared for 2005, 2011 and 2018 with five major and further seventeen sub-classes. The wards of the city were classified into five zones and the Shannon entropy model applied to analyze the degree and trends of urban built-up development. The obtained results indicate that the Silchar city is compact near the center which follows the infill built-up growth trend. However, as the distance has increased from its center the scattering with infill growth pattern was observed. The accuracy assessment techniques are used to validate the results of the classification. The results of this study can provide detailed information for land-use planners, researchers, policy-decision makers, and municipal authorities.

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that originated in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and has since spread worldwide, infecting people and animals. The objective of this study was to implement the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90) and microneutralization (MN) to evaluate the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals. First, a virus was isolated and sequenced, which showed a similarity of 99.9% with the original Wuhan strain. This virus had a titer of 3.55 DICC 50; for the PRNT90, it was adjusted to 30-40 plaque-forming units (PFU) and for the MN, at 100 DICC 50. For both assays, serial double dilutions of the sera were performed from 1:10 to 1:5120. Serum samples from people with negative and positive status were used as controls, as well as samples from companion animals (dogs and cats). In the case of human samples, the titers were from 1:10 to 1:5120 with PRNT and from 1:10 to 1:1280 with MN (r 2 = 0.957). Analysis of animal samples (dogs n = 521 and cats n = 29) revealed 10 positive samples, six from dogs and four from cats. Cats had higher titers than dogs. Titers ranged from 1:80 to 1:320 by MN and from 1:160 to 1:640 by PRNT90 for cats and from 1:10 to 1:40 by MN and from 1:10 to 1:80 PRNT90 for dogs (r 2 = 0.621). In both human and animal samples, the highest titers were observed with the PRNT90 test; however, the MN test is easier to perform than the PRNT90 test, so it is suggested as the test of choice for animal seroprevalence studies.

Disjunct distribution is a key issue in biogeography and ecology, but it is often difficult to determine relative roles of dispersal vs. vicariance in disjunctions. Conandron ramondioides (Gesneriaceae) is a tertiary relict monotypic species distributed disjunctively in mainland China, Taiwan Island and Japan, where is a key region for understanding evolution and diversification of modern angiosperms. Population phylogenetic and phylogeographic structures of a comprehensive sampling of C. ramondioides by ddRAD sequencing were assessed, combined ABC modeling and SDM to infer the effects of multiple glaciation periods and to survey climatic niche differences by checking putative population divergence models and demographic scenarios. We found a very high degree of genetic differentiation among mainland China, Taiwan Island and Japan, with very limited gene flow between regions and a clear Isolation by Distance pattern. Mainland China and Japan clades diverged first from a widespread ancestral population in middle Miocene, followed by a later divergence between mainland China and Taiwan Island clades at early Pliocene. Three current groups have survived in various glacial refugia during LGM, and experienced contraction and/or bottlenecks since their divergence during Quaternary glacial cycles, with strong niche divergence between mainland China + Japan and Taiwan Island ranges. Overall, we verified a predominant role of vicariance in the current disjunction of monotypic genus Conandron. The sharp phylogenetic separation, ecological niche divergences among these three groups and the great number of private alleles in all populations sampled indicate a considerable time of independent evolution, and suggests the need of a taxonomic survey to detect potentially overlooked taxa.

Este conteúdo digital compõe o Giros ObPPP, uma publicação do Observatório de Populações e Políticas Públicas (ObPPP), vinculado ao Depto. C. Soc./ CLCH, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Paraná – Brasil. Trata-se de uma iniciativa de difusão científica e de debate sobre assuntos contemporâneos. Neste número, mobilizamos alguns elementos para refletir sobre os impactos da guerra em curso sobre a dinâmica demográfica da Ucrânia.

Este conteúdo digital compõe o Giros ObPPP, uma publicação do Observatório de Populações e Políticas Públicas (ObPPP), vinculado ao Depto. C. Soc./ CLCH, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Paraná – Brasil. Trata-se de uma iniciativa de difusão científica e de debate sobre assuntos contemporâneos. Neste número, abordaremos a guerra Rússia-Ucrânia e suas implicações para as migrações internacionais na Ucrânia.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest public health threats we face. Approximately 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths are a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States every year.[1] It occurs when bacteria acquire immunity to antibiotic treatments. In response, pharmaceutical companies usually develop new or improved antibiotics. However, as consumers overuse and misuse these treatments, multidrug-resistant bacteria with no effective treatment(s) emerge. Unfortunately, the proliferation of such microbes threatens to return society to pre-antibiotic era health conditions. Fortunately, phage therapy offers a potential solution. Phage therapy uses bacteriophages, viruses that exclusively infect bacteria, to target and kill antibiotic-resistant microbes at infection sites. This paper explores phage therapy and the challenges faced by researchers in developing it. It concludes with a discussion on the importance of phage therapy in the future on a global level. 

Plants respond to cold temperatures through a divergent Ca-signaling network that includes the proteins CBL and CIPK. The Amur grape  ( Vitis  amurensis) is a cold-tolerant wild grape species native to China. Putative CBL and CIPK genes (designated as VaCBLs and VaCIPKs) were surveyed in V.  amurensis. The transcripts of 8 VaCBLs and 19 VaCIPKs encoded in this genome were confirmed. The VaCBLs showed preferential interaction with distinct VaCIPKs in yeast, among which VaCIPK18 physically interacted with all 8 VaCBLs in yeast and in  planta, indicating that VaCIPK18 could function as a node regulator. These multiple interactions of VaCIPK18 were dependent on the C-terminal regulatory domain (NAF). VaCIPK18 was ubiquitously expressed in various tissues and was highly induced by cold, drought, salt, and ABA. Transient expression of a VaCIPK18‐GFP fusion protein in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts indicated its localization in the nucleus and plasma membrane. The NAF domain of VaCIPK18 was required for functional homodimerization in yeast as well as in planta. Over-expression of VaCIPK18 in an Arabidopsis  cipk3 mutant rescued the cold sensitivity, but enhanced cold tolerance in wild-type  Arabidopsis. Thus, our study demonstrates that VaCIPK18 positively regulates cold signaling at least partly through the direct transcriptional control of cold-regulated CBFs and modulation of ROS homeostasis. Moreover, VaCIPK18 was found to interact with VaMYB4a in vivo and in vitro. Our findings provide evidence that VaCIPK18 functions as a key node in the CBL-CIPK network and could interact with VaMYB4a to participate in cold response in grape plants.

The synergistic combination of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and ductile thermoplastic resin has shown large potential in the improvement of fracture resistance for the epoxy matrix composites using the interleaving toughening method in recent years. The hybrid structure of CNTs and thermoplastic resin in interlayers affects directly the interlaminar structure and the resultant crack propagation path of the interleaved composites. In this work, the CNTs and thermoplastic polyetherketone-cardo (PEK-C) were used to prepare the interlayer with different hybrid structures to interleave the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites and the influence of hybrid structure on the interlaminar structure and the fracture toughness was investigated. The results showed that PEK-C/CNT/PEK-C sandwich interlayer produced the best toughening effect in mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (GIC) and the GIC was 446.76 J/m 2, increased by 138.11% compared to blank composites, which benefited from the multilayered structure in the interlaminar region formed during curing process and the resultant tortuous crack propagation.