As invasive species spread, the ability of local communities to resist invasion depends on the strength of biotic interactions. Evolutionarily unused to the invader, native predators or herbivores may be initially wary of consuming newcomers, allowing them to proliferate. However, these relationships may be highly dynamic, and novel consumer-resource interactions could form as familiarity grows. Here, we explore the development of effective biotic resistance towards a highly invasive alga using multiple space-for-time approaches. We show that the principal native Mediterranean herbivore learns to consume the invader within less than a decade. At recently invaded sites, the herbivore actively avoided the alga, shifting to distinct preference and high consumptions at older sites. This rapid strengthening of the interaction contributed to the eventual collapse of the alga after an initial dominance. Therefore, our results stress the importance of conserving key native populations to allow communities to develop effective resistance mechanisms against invaders.

This study followed an interdisciplinary mixed approach that consisted of social research methods and geospatial technology to investigate the livestock mobility of four pastoralists groups from Sudan and two Ethiopian pastoralist groups who fled to Sudan due to the conflict in the Tigray region. The study area is a shared borderland located between the two countries and is part of Gadarif State in Sudan and the Tigray and Amhara regions in Ethiopia. The findings of the study showed that there are diverse types of pastoral mobility, ranging from short and circular movement to wide and directional type of mobility in response to seasonal climatic factors, the spread of mechanized farming and the eruption of insecurity events. Despite facing numerous challenges including the governments' opposition to cross border movement and the prevalence of looting and rustling, trans-boundary mobility is practiced by most pastoralist groups in the borderland. The current ongoing conflict in the Tigary region forced many Ethiopian pastoralists to flee to Sudan with their animals, and they have had to cope with this situation by reducing the number of heads they own and limit their mobility to a more confined area. Despite competing claims by both governments, there is a pressing need for a cooperative land management policy that applies soft border arrangements that incorporate customary land use rights for pastoralists from both sides, instead of the hardline border policies currently in place.

Hydatidiform moles (HMs) are abnormal conceptions with unique genetic bases and excessive placenta. Overlapping ultrasonographical and histological manifestations of molar and non-molar gestations and HMs subtypes makes accurate diagnosis challenging. Currently, immunohistochemical analysis of p57 and molecular genotyping have greatly improved the diagnostic accuracy, but they still have limitations. The differential expression of molecular biomarkers may be valuable for distinguishing among the subtypes of HMs and their mimics. Thus, biomarkers may be the key to refining HMs diagnosis. In this review, we provide a critical overview of the recent literature about potential diagnostic biomarkers and their subclassifications.

Muchos lagos alrededor del mundo están entrado en nuevos estados y experimentando alteraciones en el ciclo biogeoquímico debido a factores de estrés antropogénicos locales. En los trópicos, puede ser difícil comprender los factores que impulsan estos cambios debido a la falta de condiciones históricas documentadas o a la ausencia de un monitoreo continuo que pueda distinguir entre la variación intra e inter-anual. En los últimos cuarenta años (1980-2020), el Lago de Yojoa (Honduras) ha experimentado un mayor desarrollo de la cuenca hidrográfica, así como la introducción de una gran cantidad de granjas de tilapia en jaulas, esto ha provocado una drástica reducción de la claridad estacional del agua, un aumento del estado trófico y una alteración de la dinámica de los nutrientes, lo que ha hecho que el Lago de Yojoa pase de ser un ecosistema oligotrófico (de baja productividad) a uno mesotrófico (de productividad moderada). Para evaluar los cambios que se han producido en el Lago de Yojoa, así como los posibles impulsores de estos, se comparó la profundidad Secchi (claridad del agua), el nitrógeno inorgánico disuelto (DIN) y las concentraciones de fósforo total (TP). Esto se hizo con intervalos semi mensuales continuos para los tres años entre 1979-1983 y de nuevo a intervalos continuos de 16 días para 2018-2020. Entre esos dos periodos se observó la pérdida de una fase de agua clara que antes se producía en los meses en los que la columna de agua estaba totalmente mezclada. Los picos estacionales de DIN coinciden con la mezcla, lo que sugiere una mayor acumulación de amonio en el hipolimnion (la capa inferior de un lago estratificado) durante la estratificación, y la liberación al epilimnion (la capa superior de un lago estratificado) con la mezcla se mantiene una alta abundancia de algas y, posteriormente, una baja profundidad Secchi durante lo que antes era la fase de agua clara. Esta interacción de la carga de nutrientes y el régimen de estratificación monomíctica del Lago de Yojoa ilustra un fenómeno importante en la forma en que la estructura física de la columna de agua y los nutrientes interactúan en los lagos monomícticos tropicales. Este trabajo demuestra la necesidad de considerar la dinámica de los nutrientes en los hipolimnios anóxicos cálidos, y no sólo las concentraciones de nutrientes en el agua superficial, para entender el cambio ambiental en estos ecosistemas que son socialmente importantes, pero poco estudiados.

This is an invited editorial of an article to be published in the Jouranl of Cardiac Surgery

A potential immunological silver bullet for COVID-19: the trivalent chimpanzee adenoviral serotype-68 vector (Tri:ChAd)

Introduction and objective Drugs are a frequent cause of severe anaphylactic reactions. Clinical epidemiology of drug-induced anaphylaxis (DIA) supports the identification of the most frequent eliciting drug groups, risk factors, symptoms and treatment procedures. Our aim was to analyze data to promote better recognition and long-term management of affected individuals. Methods Data from the European Anaphylaxis Registry (2007-2019) with 1,815 cases of drug-induced anaphylaxis were analyzed regarding demographics, elicitors, symptoms, comorbidities, and treatment. Results The most frequent eliciting groups of drugs were analgesics (41.27%) – with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) being the most common subgroup (65.42%) – antibiotics (33.17%), local anesthetics (7.38%) and radiocontrast media (5.18%). Adrenaline was used more often in patients with DIA (23.20%) than in anaphylaxis due to other causes (17.82%). The majority of events occurred in female patients (65.34%), although they were admitted to hospital (29.01%) or an intensive care unit (ICU) (9.61%) less often. Skin symptoms were most common (84.02%), while gastrointestinal symptoms were reported less frequently (30.25%). Compared to other anaphylactic reactions in the registry (food/insects) severe reactions occurred significantly more often in DIA (5.62% vs. 1.67%). Hospitalization (31.63%) and ICU admission rates (11.85%) were significantly higher in DIA than anaphylactic reactions to other elicitors (27.58% and 5.45%). Conclusions DIA affects middle aged females more frequently and is more severe in elderly males in the sample observed. Analgesics and antibiotics are the leading causes of DIA. Adrenaline was rarely administered to patients, even though it is recommended by guidelines.

Analyzing the relationship between public social attention and teaching research on professional academic platforms can provide a reference for identifying and extracting hot topics in academic literature. As a subject with equal emphasis on theory and practice, information technology is critical for students to develop information emotion and morality. Therefore, based on the CNKI database and Baidu Index from 2011 to 2021, this paper analyzes the complex correlation and dynamic characteristics between public attention and teaching research from the perspective of “high school information technology” by using the methods of keyword word frequency analysis、pearson correlation coefficient and LOOCV cross-validation. The results show that: 1) The hot topics in the field of high school information technology mainly focus on seven words in recent ten years; 2) From the perspective of “high school information technology,” there is a strong correlation between public attention and teaching research, and the research points of professional academic literature tend to be more and more hot issues of public concern; 3) The focus of attention on high school information technology is gradually shifting; 4) The volume of teaching research literature with the theme of “high school information technology” will grow slowly in the next 2-3 years. Therefore, it is necessary to fully explore the critical points within the subject of information technology, break the limited diversification of the subject research, expand the research space of the subject field, and improve the quality and quantity of literature research.

Background: World-wide incidence and prevalence of both asthma and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in children has been increasing in past decades. Association between the two diseases has been found in some but not other studies. Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis to verify such an association, and bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis to examine the potential cause-effect relationships. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Embase and Web of Science) were searched from their inception to February 1, 2021. Pooled hazard ratios (HR) or odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals, were calculated. Associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms with childhood asthma and T1DM were selected based on genome-wide association studies. The outcome datasets were obtained from FinnGen study. We used the inverse variance-weighted, weighted median and MR-Egger methods to estimate causal effects. To assess robustness and horizontal pleiotropy, MR-Egger regression and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier test was conducted. Results: In meta-analysis, childhood asthma was associated with an increased risk of T1DM (HR=1.30, 95% CI 1.05-1.61, P=0.014), whereas T1DM was not associated with the risk of asthma (HR=0.98, 95% CI 0.64-1.51, P=0.941; OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.65-1.08, P=0.168). MR analysis indicated increased genetic risk of T1DM in children with asthma (OR=1.308; 95% CI 1.030-1.661; P =0.028). Analysis using the IVW method indicated not associated between T1DM and genetic risk of asthma (OR=1.027, 95%CI 0.970-1.089, P=0.358). Conclusion: Both meta-analysis and MR study suggested that childhood asthma was a risk factor for T1DM. No epidemiological or genetic evidence for an association of T1DM with asthma incidence. Further studies could be carried out to leverage this newfound insight into better clinical and experimental research in asthma and T1DM. Further studies could be carried out to leverage this newfound insight into better clinical and experimental research in asthma and T1DM.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) are at higher risk of malignant lymphomas, particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare form of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In adults, about twenty cases have been reported. Malignancy in pediatric-onset patients with SLE has been less extensively studied.

A novel coronavirus causing the severe and fatal respiratory syndrome was identified in China, is now producing outbreaks in more than two hundred countries around the world, and became pandemic by the time. In this article, a modified version of the well-known mathematical epidemic model Susceptible (S)- Infected (I)- Recovered (R) is used to analyze the epidemic’s course of COVID-19 in eight different countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). To achieve this goal, the parameters of the SIR model are identified by using publicly available data for the corresponding countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Based on the prediction model we estimated the epidemic trend of COVID-19 outbreak in SAARC countries for 20 days, 90 days, and 180 days respectively. An SML (short-mid-long) term prediction model has been designed to understand the early dynamics of the COVID-19 Epidemic in the southeast Asian region. The maximum and minimum basic reproduction numbers (R0 = 1.33 and 1.07) for SAARC countries are predicted to be in Pakistan and Bhutan. We equate simulation results with real data in the SAARC countries on the COVID-19 outbreak, and model potential countermeasure implementation scenarios. Our results should provide policymakers with a method for evaluating the impacts of possible interventions, including lockdown and social distancing, as well as testing and contact tracking.

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 pandemic may affect susceptible populations such as people with Down's syndrome. People with Down's syndrome are more likely to get infections that cause respiratory problems and auto-inflammation. They also have many comorbidities linked to a worse prognosis compared to the general population.

Members of the Fusarium solani species complex are common in the environment and are known pathogens of plants and animals, including humans. Some species have been shown to possess opportunistic nutritional modes as both endophytes and entomopathogens, even conferring a protective service against herbivory for their host plants. The Fusaria are also notorious for the production of bioactive metabolites of industrial, agricultural and medicinal interest. Here we present the first report of F. solani causing entomopathogenic infection of a carpenter ant queen (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), an important pest in the agriculture industry and a species capable of costly structural damage to homes. This report expands the known invertebrate host range of the F. solani species complex to include the Hymenoptera.

A document by Aarne Mämmelä . Click on the document to view its contents.

Objective Describe changes over time regarding mode of birth and perinatal outcomes in women with one previous caesarean section in the Netherlands over the past 20 years. Design Population-based study. Setting Nationwide. Population All women with one previous caesarean section and no previous vaginal birth, who gave birth to a term singleton in cephalic presentation between 2000 and 2019 (n=143,308). Methods Analysis of Dutch perinatal registry data. Main outcome measures Primary: mode of birth per year, intended vaginal birth versus planned caesarean section. Secondary: failed versus successful vaginal birth in case of intended vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC), and adverse perinatal outcome (perinatal mortality up to 28 days, low Apgar score at 5 minutes, asphyxia, and NICU admission >24 hours). Results A decrease of 21.5% was seen in women with one previous caesarean section intending VBAC in a subsequent pregnancy, from 77.2% in 2000 to 55.7% in 2019, with a marked acceleration from 2009 onwards. The VBAC success rate dropped gradually, from 71.0% to 65.3%. Overall caesarean section rate (planned and unplanned) increased from 45.1% to 63.6%. Adverse perinatal outcomes were higher in women intending VBAC compared to planned caesarean section. However, after an initial decrease, perinatal mortality remained stable from 2009 onwards with only a minimal difference between both modes of birth. Conclusions In the Netherlands, the proportion of women intending VBAC after a previous caesarean section has decreased markedly, particularly from 2009 onwards. This decrease was not accompanied by a synchronous decrease in perinatal mortality after that year.

Ameloblastoma is a benign jaw tumor that can grow to a very huge size with high rate of recurrence. The large tumours pose a challenge during resection and reconstructive surgery. We present a massive ameloblastoma of the mandible that was surgically treated with the aid of 3D printed model.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize clinical management of deliveries resulting in neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. DESIGN: Retrospective case series SETTING: Three academic referral medical centers in the United States POPULATION: All neonates ≥35 weeks’ gestation with HIE based on cord blood pH<7.0, base deficit of ≥12.0mmol/L, along with relevant radiological, laboratory, and clinical findings. METHODS: Clinical management was characterized based on whether (i)delivery occurred within 120 minutes of presentation, (ii)delivery occurred due to a sentinel event such as cord prolapse or uterine rupture, and (iii)the fetal heart rate tracing(FHR) demonstrated variability, accelerations, or both upon presentation and in the half hour before delivery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Relationship of mode of delivery to FHR tracing characteristics at delivery. Obstetric outcomes, labour course and management were analysed. RESULTS: Of 144,904 deliveries, 102 maternal-newborn dyads met criteria. Of these, 19 delivered within 120 of minutes of presentation and four further women experienced a sentinel event. Of the remaining 79, 66(84%) had a FHR tracing on presentation that demonstrated variability, accelerations or both. Of these 66 cases, 27 had a fetal heart tracing that demonstrated variability, accelerations or both in the 30 minutes preceding delivery. CONCLUSION: Approximately two-thirds of cases of HIE occurred in cases where the FHR tracing initially demonstrated variability, accelerations, or both, without a sentinel event and without a condition requiring delivery within 120 minutes of presentation. Of these >40% had variability, accelerations, or both in the half hour before delivery. This suggests additional insights are required to prevent some cases of HIE.

Allergic reaction of leech bite is frequently reported due to complication of leech therapy and also unwanted leech infestation. The study pointed out hazards of leech bites and proposed preventative measures such as using gloves and boots while labors work on the farm

We report on a child with prenatal findings of increased nuchal translucency, polydramnios, ascites and overgrowth. At birth she presented length >97° centile, minor facial anomalies, megalencephaly and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Whole Exome Sequencing showed a pathogenic variant in the NRAS gene, but no mutations were found in PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway genes.

COVID-19 is a multi-system disorder. Bell's palsy is a lower motor neuron lesion that is uncommon after COVID-19 or related vaccinations. We documented two incidences of Bell's palsy in this study, one after she was exposed to COVID-19 and the other after he was exposed to AstraZeneca Vaccine.

Here we report a familial case exhibiting features of hyper IgE syndrome (HIES) in a family with known consanguinity and likely autosomal recessive inheritance. While the patient exhibited scoliosis, no other significant findings observed.

Flux balance analysis is currently the standard method to compute metabolic fluxes in genome-scale networks. Several variations employing diverse objective functions and/or constraints have been published. Here we propose a hybrid semi-parametric version of flux balance analysis that combines mechanistic-level constraints (parametric) with empirical constraints (non-parametric), at the genome-scale. A CHO dataset with 27 measured exchange fluxes obtained from 21 reactor experiments served to evaluate the method. The reduced CHO genome-scale model comprehended 686 metabolites, 788 reactions and 210 degrees of freedom. The experimental flux dataset could be compressed to 6 principal components retaining 93.7% of explained variance. The conjugation of both types of constraints is coded as a linear program with comparable computational cost as standard flux balance analysis. The hybrid flux balance analysis showed a significant reduction in the specific growth rate prediction error in comparison to the non-hybrid version. The hybrid method was eventually used to design a metabolically efficient feed to extend cell expansion from 9.87 Mcell/ml to 22.48 Mcell/ml at the point of induction with minimal accumulation of byproducts. It is concluded that the predictive advantage of the hybrid method resulted from the statistical abstraction of regulatory mechanisms, which were absent in the standard flux balance analysis.

A document by Muhammad Haris Farooq. Click on the document to view its contents.

Understanding the heterogeneity of “mitral atresia” with patent aortic root