Background: Although many women report sexual dysfunction in the postpartum period, controversial research has been reported the relationship between delivery mode and sexual function. Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the sexual function after childbirth and identify the difference of sexual function in women with elective cesarean section and spontaneous vaginal delivery. Search Strategy: Studies were found by searching in Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar databases and considering the references of the related papers. Selection Criteria: All observational studies in English that reported the mean and SD of score of sexual function and its domains based on the mode of delivery were included in this meta-analysis. Data Collection and Analysis: Finally, 17 articles with a total population of 3410 were included in the meta-analysis. Random effect model was used to combine the results of included studies on female sexual function and its subdomains. Main Result: The subgroup analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the mean score of sexual function and subdomain among the three delivery groups(P>0.05). However, the mean score of sexual function was significantly differed in the term of time elapsed since delivery (P = 0.04) and studied country (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The result indicated that the mode of delivery are not associated with the female sexual function. As a result, women’s preference for cesarean section to avoid possible impairment of sexual function has gone almost under-questioned.

Intelligence in its decisions is a trait that we have grown to expect from a cyber-physical system. In particular that it makes the right choices at runtime, i.e., those that allow it fulfill its tasks, even in case of faults or unexpected interactions with its environment. Analyzing how to continuously achieve the currently desired (and possibly continuously changing) goals and adapting its behavior to reach these goals is undoubtedly a serious challenge. This becomes even more challenging if the atomic actions a system can implement become unreliable due to faulty components or some exogenous event out of its control. In this paper, we propose a solution for the presented challenge. In particular, we show how to adopt a light-weight diagnosis concept to cope with such situations. The approach is based on rules coupled with means for rule selection that are based on previous information regarding the success or failure of rule executions. We furthermore present a Java-based framework of the light-weight diagnosis concept, and discuss the results obtained from an experimental evaluation considering several application scenarios. At the end, we present a qualitative comparison with other related approaches that should help the reader decide which approach works best for them.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the difference in left ventricular (LV) global and regional myocardial (MW) of strength athletes with different heart rates (HR) through non-invasive LV pressure-strain loop (PSL) and further address the effect of athlete’s heart rate variability on the LV systolic function. Methods: Fifty young professional wrestlers were collected randomly and divided into two groups in accordance with their different HR: the low HR (45~60 bpm, n 1=25) and the high HR (60~80 bpm, n 2=25). Thirty individuals with gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers served as controls ( n 3=30). Global and regional MW parameters were evaluated using LV-PSL derived from speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and brachial artery pressure, and then compared between the above three groups. Results: The indicators of global and regional MW did statistically significantly differ between the athlete and control groups. Peak strain dispersion (PSD) and global myocardial wasted work (GWW) increased while global myocardial work efficiency (GWE) reduced in LHR and HHR groups compared with the control group, and global myocardial work index (GWI), global myocardial constructive work (GCW), global longitudinal strain (GLS) decreased in LHR group ( P＜0.05). In comparison to the LHR group, GWI, GCW, GWW, PSD increased in HHR group and GWE reduced ( P＜0.05). According to the regional MW analysis, the mean regional myocardial work index (RMWI) increasing gradually from basal to apical levels were similar across the three groups and regional myocardial work efficiency (RMWE) did not. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the HR, posterior wall thickness (PWT), interventricular septal thickness (IVST), GLS, and PSD were correlated with GWE ( b’= -0.247, -0.390, -0.370, 0.340, and -0.554, respectively, P＜0.05). Conclusions: The LV contractile performance was more impaired in young strength athletes with high heart rates and PSL can be used to assess LV GMW and RMW quantitatively and accurately in reflecting LV systolic function.

World Health Organization Global Air Quality Guideline Recommendations: Executive SummaryAnna Goshua1, Cezmi Akdis2, Kari C. Nadeau3,4 1Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA2Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), University Zurich, Davos, Switzerland3Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA4Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USACorresponding Author: Kari C. Nadeau, Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Email: knadeau@stanford.eduConflict of Interest: Dr Cezmi Akdis reports research grants from Allergopharma, Idorsia, Swiss National Science Foundation, Christine Kühne-Center for Allergy Research and Education, European Commission’s Horison’s 2020 Framework Programme “Cure”, Novartis Research Institutes, Astra Zeneca, research grants and advisory board from Glaxo Smith-Kline, Sanofi/Regeneron, Scibase, Novartis, and is Editor-in-Chief of Allergy. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.Text Word Count: 1243Abstract Word Count: 147Figure/Table Count: 2Reference Count: 9

Herein an assessment of several Long Range Corrected (LRC) Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods for the calculation of reduction potentials of the ([Ni(X2C2H2)2]n/[Ni(X2C2H2)2]n-1), and ([Ni(X2C2H2)(N2C2H4)]n/[Ni(X2C2H2)(N2C2H4)]n-1) and (where X= S or Se and n = 0, or -1) redox couples was done. From the results the values of ω that provide best agreement with CCSD(T) for the tested LRC DFT methods are 0.05 bohr-1, 0.15 bohr-1, 0.05 bohr-1, and 0.20 bohr-1 for ω-B97XD, LC-BLYP, CAM-B3LYP, and ω-B97, respectively. With these values the unsigned average in error was 0.12 V with a standard deviation of 0.13 V for ω-B97XD. For LC-BLYP, CAM-B3LYP, and ω-B97 the unsigned averages in relative errors were 0.12 V, 0.11 V, and 0.13 V, respectively, with respective standard deviations of 0.11 V, 0.12 V and 0.13 V.

Lianas combine large leaf areas with slender stems, features that require an efficient vascular system. The only extant member of the Austrobaileyaceae is an endemic twining liana of the tropical Australian forests with well-known xylem hydraulics, but the vascular phloem continuum aboveground remains understudied. Microscopy analysis across leaf veins and stems of A. scandens revealed a low foliar xylem to phloem ratio, with isodiametric vascular elements along the midrib, but tapered across vein orders. Small sieve plate pore radii increased from 0.08 µm in minor veins to 0.12 µm in the petiole, but only to 0.20 µm at the stem base, tens of meters away. In searcher branches, phloem conduits contained a pectin-rich wall and simple plates, whereas in twinning stems, conduits connected through highly-angled-densely populated sieve plates. Twisted and elongated stems of A. scandens display a high hydraulic resistance of phloem conduits, which decreases from leaves to stems, efficiently delivering photoassimilate from sources under Münch predictions. Sink strength of a continuously growing canopy might be stronger than in self-supporting understory plants, favoring resource allocation to aerial organs in angiosperms that colonized the vertical niche.

Background and purpose: Increasing evidence suggests that ferroptosis plays a key role in the pathophysiology of acute kidney injury induced by cisplatin. The Nrf2 signaling pathway regulates oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation and positively regulates cisplatin-induced AKI (CI-AKI). However, Nrf2 and its activator leonurine on ferroptosis after CI-AKI remain unclear. Experimental Approach: The anti-ferroptotic effects of Nrf2 and its activator leonurine were assessed using a mouse model of cisplatin-induced AKI. In vitro, the potential effects of leonurine on erastin- and RSL3-induced HK-2 human PTEC ferroptosis were examined. Key Results: As expected, Nrf2 deletion induced ferroptosis-related protein expression and iron accumulation in vivo, further aggravating CI-AKI. The Nrf2 activator leonurine prevented iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation and inhibited ferroptosis in vitro, while these effects were abolished in siNrf2-treated cells. Moreover, leonurine potently ameliorated cisplatin-induced renal damage, as indicated by the assessment of SCr, BUN, KIM-1, and NGAL. Importantly, leonurine activated the Nrf2 antioxidative signaling pathway and prohibited changes in ferroptosis-related morphological and biochemical indicators, such as the MDA level, SOD and GSH depletion and GPX4 and xCT downregulation, in CI-AKI. Moreover, Nrf2 KO mice were more susceptible to ferroptosis after CI-AKI than control mice, and the protective effects of leonurine on AKI and ferroptosis were largely abolished in Nrf2 KO mice. Conclusion and Implications: These data suggest that the renal protective effects of Nrf2 and its activator leonurine on CI-AKI are achieved at least partially by inhibiting lipid peroxide-mediated ferroptosis and highlight the potential of leonurine as a CI-AKI treatment.

Treatment of recurrent ruptured aneurysms incorporating a branch vessel arising from the dome is challenging. Here, we attempted horizontal stent-assisted coil embolisation via a retrograde route from the contralateral internal carotid artery to treat a small ruptured posterior communicating artery aneurysm incorporating a foetal variant posterior cerebral artery after clipping.

In-depth information about the transformation of biomass during gasification is the key to the sustainable development of this technology. This study elucidated the evolution of physico-chemical properties of macadamia husk throughout relevant industrial gasification conditions. The technical characteristics combined with high kinetics highlighted the suitability of this feedstock for gasification. Non-porous chars with very low surface areas were observed throughout the conversion, which minimizes the potential to use the residues after gasification as adsorbents. Nevertheless, multiple carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups were present on the char surface. Moreover, an extraordinarily high K content was detected (up to 86 wt% of the char’s total inorganic elements) and evenly distributed on the char surface. Such results consolidated the idea of combining the production of energy and cheap bio-fertilizers using the gasification of macadamia husk. The resulting database offered interesting hints for the development of zero-waste energy production systems with biomass gasification.

We report data on pediatric post-COVID syndrome from a Czech multicentric observational study. We enrolled children aged 2-18 years with persisting respiratory symptoms (cough, dyspnoea, chest pain) more than twelve weeks after COVID-19. Medical history, physical examination, lung function testing, chest X-ray and blood tests were performed. In 39 enrolled children, dominant reported symptoms were exercise-induced dyspnoea and cough. On lung function testing, we found abnormal results in less than 15% of children and on imaging in less than 20%. From the analysis of enrolled subjects, we identified four possible post-COVID subgroups: “standard”, “asthmatic”, “sporty” and “polymorphous”. Complete remission of tracked symptoms occurred within a median of 4 months in followed subjects

L’inquinamento atmosferico può essere definito come la presenza in aria di una o più sostanze in concentrazione tale da avere la potenzialità di produrre un effetto avverso. Concorrono all’inquinamento  fattori, quali l’antropizzazione del territorio, le interazioni chimico-fisiche che avvengono tra sostanze in atmosfera e le condizioni meteorologiche. Per far fronte alla tutela della qualità dell’aria sono stati introdotti degli Strumenti legislativi che pongono limiti alle emissioni nazionali, alle concentrazioni degli inquinanti in aria e obbligano Stati, Regioni e Province autonome a predisporre Piani per il risanamento dell’aria in caso di non conformità con i parametri prestabiliti. La valutazione della qualità dell’aria è effettuata attraverso le reti di monitoraggio, ossia punti di misura dislocati sul territorio secondo criteri e metodi definiti. L’obiettivo del presente studio è l’analisi approfondita dei dati di qualità dell’aria per la valutazione degli effetti delle differenti misure restrittive attuate per far fronte all’emergenza sanitaria da Sars-CoV-2. Nello specifico, le analisi sono state condotte mediante il confronto dei dati di qualità dell’aria dell’anno 2020 rispetto all’anno 2019 registrati nelle Regioni Campania, Emilia-Romagna e Piemonte. I risultati hanno consentito di confermare come, generalmente, il lockdown abbia contribuito ad una significativa riduzione in termini di concentrazioni di ossidi di azoto.

Components of carotid atherosclerotic plaque can be analysed preoperatively by non-invasive advanced imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 protein (MMP-9), which has a potential role in remodelling of atherosclerotic plaques, can be analysed immunohistochemically. The aim of the present prospective pilot study is to analyse histological characteristics and expression of MMP-9 in carotid plaques of patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and to investigate the correlation with preoperative clinical symptoms and MRI features. Preoperative clinical assessment, MRI imaging, postoperative histological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed. Fifteen patients with symptomatic (7/15; 47%) and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis undergoing CEA were included. Among symptomatic patients, 5 (71%) had recent stroke and 2 (29%) had recent transient ischaemic attack with a median timing of 6 weeks (IQR:1, 18) before the surgery. Both groups did not significantly differ in respect to preoperative characteristics. Prevalence of unstable plaque was higher in symptomatic than asymptomatic patients, although it was not significant (63% vs. 37%, p=0.077). The expression of MMP-9 in CD68 cells within the plaque by semiquantitative analysis was found to be significantly higher in symptomatic as compared to asymptomatic patients (86% vs. 25% with the highest expression, p=0.014). The average microvascular density was found to be higher and lipid core area larger among both symptomatic patients and unstable carotid plaque specimens, although this did not reach statistical significance (p=0.064 and p=0.132, p=0.360 and p=0.569, respectively). Our results demonstrate that MRI is reliable in classifying carotid lesions and differentiating unstable from stable plaques. We have also shown that the expression of MMP-9 is significantly higher among symptomatic patients undergoing CEA. Trial Registration: This study has been registered at the ISRCTN registry (ID ISRCTN46536832), isrctn.org Identifier: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN46536832 Keywords: atherosclerosis, carotid endarterectomy, unstable plaque, magnetic resonance imaging, matrix metalloproteinase.

Commercial hair perming uses strong reducing agents and is harmful to hair fiber’s quality even human health. In this study, tyrosine is adopted as a cross-linking agent between thiols as the shape-changing of hair involves breakage of disulfide bonds and the rearrangement of new bonds between keratin molecules. To investigate the mechanism of the cross-linking, bovine serum albumin (BSA) is used as a model protein. Molecular dynamics simulations give an insight on Cys solvent accessibility and protein stability for the wild type BSA and a designed BSA presenting the three broken disulfide bonds. A new cross-linked peptide, NECFLSHK-Tyrosine-Tyrosine-GACLLPK, inter- or intra- BSA monomers is formed, whose reactive cysteine residues are Cys-101 and Cys-176. Moreover, curling of Asian hair is conducted using tyrosine as a perming agent by laccase-assisted reaction. The optimized operational conditions are hair with cysteine pre-treatment (50.0 mM) followed by grafting with 3.0 mM tyrosine. The reshaped hair performed a better perming performance than commercial perming product before washing, although a lower perming efficiency after washing, however without strength loss and could be easily accomplished with a blow-drier. Hence, this new methodology may lead to the development of a gentle and user-friendly approach in the hair care industry.

Bioconversion process with a single target product often lacks economic competitiveness owing to incomplete use of raw material and high costs of downstream processing (DSP). Here, we show with the microbial conversion of crude glycerol that an integrated strain engineering and catalytic conversion of the so-called byproducts can greatly improve DSP and the process economy. Specifically, Clostridium pasteurianum was first adapted to increased concentration of crude glycerol in a novel automatic laboratory evolution system. At m3 scale bioreactor the strain achieved a simultaneous production of 1,3-propanediol (PDO), acetic and butyric acids at 81.21, 18.72 and 11.09 g/L within only 19 h, respectively, representing the most efficient fermentation of crude glycerol to targeted products. A heterogeneous catalytic step was developed and integrated into the DSP process to obtain high-value methyl esters from acetic and butyric acids at high yields. The co-production of the esters also greatly simplified the recovery of PDO. For example, a cosmetic grade PDO (96% PDO) was easily obtained by a simple single-stage distillation process (with an overall yield more than 77%). This integrated approach provides an industrially attractive route for a complete use of the raw material with the simultaneous production of three appealing products which greatly improve the process economy and ecology.

Soil–rock mixtures are widely encountered in geotechnical engineering projects. The instability and failure mechanism of grap-graded soil–rock mixtures under rainfall conditions has always been the focus of geological disaster research. To deeply explore the mechanism of seepage deformation of soil–rock mixtures, an indoor physical permeability test that considers soil–rock mixtures with different fine contents was conducted, and a particle-scale numerical simulation test of the permeability evolution was carried out using the coupling model of PFC3D and ABAQUS. The test results showed that the spatial distribution of fine particle loss along the height direction could be divided into three areas: top loss, middle uniform, and bottom loss area. The “island” effect of coarse particles, which is caused by excessive fine content and makes the fine particles bear more load, was eliminated with the loss of fine particles. In this preset working condition of coarse and fine particle diameters, setting FC to 35% may be the best way to fill the voids between the coarse particles. Particle migration leads to a change in the load-bearing skeleton structure, thereby causing seepage deformation. Therefore, the particle-scale numerical test method can better reproduce the seepage deformation process of grap-graded soil–rock mixtures.

Identification, source tracking, and surveillance of food pathogens is a crucial factor for the food-producing industry. Over the last decade, the techniques used for this have moved from conventional enrichment methods, through species-specific detection by PCR to sequencing-based methods, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) being the ultimate method. However, using WGS requires the right infrastructure, high computational power, and bioinformatics expertise. Therefore, there is a need for faster, more cost-effective, and more user-friendly methods. A newly developed method, ON-rep-seq, combines the classical rep-PCR method with nanopore sequencing, resulting in a highly discriminating set of sequences that can be used for species identification and also strain discrimination. This study is essentially a real industry case from a salmon processing plant. Twenty Listeria monocytogenes isolates were analyzed both by ON-rep-seq and WGS to identify and differentiate putative L. monocytogenes from a routine sampling of processing equipment and products, and finally, compare the strain-level discriminatory power of ON-rep-seq to different analyzing levels delivered from the WGS data. The analyses revealed that among the isolates tested there were three different strains. The isolates of the most frequently detected strain (n=15) were all detected in the problematic area in the processing plant. The strain level discrimination done by ON-rep-seq was in full accordance with the interpretation of WGS data. Our findings also demonstrate that ON-rep-seq may serve as a primary screening method alternative to WGS for identification and strain-level differentiation for surveillance of potential pathogens in a food-producing environment.

In this study, the δD and δ18O values of 162 precipitation samples (including 33 typhoon-related precipitation samples), collected in Xiamen, Southeast China coast, during June 2018 to August 2019, were investigated and analyzed. The results show that there are obvious seasonal variations in the δD and δ18O, which are mainly controlled by the East Asia Monsoon with significant influence of typhoon events in summer. The influence of moisture sources on δ18O values overrides the influence of precipitation fractionation process on δ18O values which leads to an inverse temperature effect in the study area. In comparison to the seasonal scale, the synoptic time-series variation of δD and δ18O is much more complicated. In general, there are three types of isotopic variations in the normal precipitation processes, which are obviously affected by re-evaporation processes and continuing equilibrium fractionation during condensation. The local meteorological parameters during normal precipitation, which mainly control the re-evaporation process, are the dominant factors for the variation patterns of δD and δ18O, whereas moisture sources control the overall isotope values of precipitation. The differences between the time-series of normal and typhoon-related precipitation are mainly controlled by the changes of physical processes and meteorologic parameters during the precipitation process. However, due to the unique atmospheric structure and dynamic processes of typhoons, the δD and δ18O of typhoon-related precipitation changes in stages gradually as the distance between the typhoon’s center and the study area changes. The uniformity of typhoon structure leads to a similar staged changes in different typhoon-related precipitation. The moisture source trajectory of typhoon-related precipitation shows a clear spiral structure (except for typhoon Yutu), and the moisture sources at different heights control the δD and δ18O values of typhoon-related precipitation. This study is important for quantifying the global changes of typhoon processes and paleotempestology studies.

Silk is a fibrous protein, has been a part of human lives for centuries and was used as suture and textile material. Silk is mainly produced by members of certain arthropods such as spiders, butterflies, mites, and moths. However, recent biotechnological advances have revolutionized silk as a biomaterial for various applications ranging from diverse sensors to robust fibers. The biocompatibility, mechanical resilience, and biodegradability of the material make it a suitable candidate for biomaterials. Silk can also be easily converted into several morphological forms, including fibers, films, sponges, and hydrogels. Provided these abilities, silk has received excellent traction from scientists worldwide for various developments, one of them being its use as a bio-sensor. The diversity of silk materials offers various options, giving scientists the freedom to choose from and personalize them as per their needs. In this review, we foremost look upon the composition, production, properties, and various morphologies of silk. The numerous applications of silk and its derivatives for fabricating biosensors to detect small molecules, macromolecules, and cells have been explored comprehensively. Also, the data from various globally developed sensors using silk have been described into organized tables for each category of molecules, along with their important analytical details.

Le emissioni di gas climalteranti in atmosfera hanno subito un incremento nel tempo dovuto principalmente all’aumento demografico e ai processi di industrializzazione. Esse contribuiscono all’effetto serra quindi all’aumento delle temperature. La CO2 è il principale gas climalterante, oggi si stima una concentrazione di circa 410 ppm ed entro la fine del secolo  può superare 550 ppm con un aumento della temperatura media globale superiore a 2 °C. Bisogna intervenire con tecnologie in grado di ridurre le concentrazioni di CO2 nelle emissioni. L’attività di ricerca si è focalizzata sull’ottimizzazione di una tecnologia innovativa per la cattura di CO2 ed il simultaneo recupero di biomassa. Il sistema, brevettato dal gruppo di Ingegneria Sanitaria Ambientale (SEED) dell’Università degli Studi di Salerno, prevede l’impiego di microrganismi fotosintetici in grado di fissare CO2. È stato predisposto il funzionamento in parallelo di due fotobioreattori algali, ognuno sottoposto ad una diversa lunghezze d’onda, bianca e viola. Risultati migliori, in termini di efficienza di cattura e produzione di biomassa, si sono ottenuti con lunghezza d’onda viola.

1. Brood parasites interact with their hosts for exploitation of host parental abilities and the associated resources. This results in coevolutionary interactions of hosts and parasites. 2. A prime example of such a common specialist brood parasite is the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus and its host races. Hosts use their cognitive abilities to identify parasites and vice versa for their ability to discriminate among potential hosts. 3. We predicted that parasites with relatively large brains for their body size should be more successful at avoiding their hosts, and that hosts with small brains for their body size should more often be exploited by parasites. We also predicted that hosts with relatively large eyes for their body size would have superior discriminatory abilities allowing for superior discrimination against brood parasites. Finally, we predicted that visual ability of specific cuckoo hosts would have evolved exaggerated visual ability as estimated from the relative size of their optic tectum would have resulted in such hosts being more successful as reflected by their higher rate of parasitism. 4. Interspecific variation in size of brain, eye, optic tectum, telencephalon and cerebellum were consistent with these predictions.

L'inquinamento prodotto dall'industria tessile ha un impatto enorme sul pianeta. I capi di abbigliamento sono probabilmente il bene più comune che le persone acquistano nel mondo e il numero medio di capi acquistati ogni anno è cresciuto esponenzialmente. I problemi principali causati dall'industria tessile includono l'inquinamento delle acque, l'inquinamento atmosferico e l'inquinamento derivante dalla produzione di rifiuti solidi. Un nuovo approccio alla produzione, consumo e smaltimento dei prodotti di abbigliamento è diventato assolutamente necessario. La moda sostenibile risulta l'alternativa a quella moda che ormai conosciamo come fast fashion, un sistema moda che ha ridotto i costi ei tempi di produzione al minimo, sfornando nuovi capi d'abbigliamento di tendenza ogni due se non addirittura ogni settimana. Gli obiettivi di questo lavoro sono stati rivolti alla verifica delle politiche di sostenibilità delle aziende di moda attraverso l'analisi dei dati presenti all'interno dei loro annuali rapporti di sostenibilità.

High-throughput sequencing for analysis of environmental microbial diversity has evolved vastly over the last decade. Currently the go-to method for microbial eukaryotes is short-read metabarcoding of variable regions of the 18S rRNA gene with <500 bp amplicons. However, there is a growing interest in long-read sequencing of amplicons covering the rRNA operon for improving taxonomic resolution. For both methods, the choice of primers is crucial. It determines if community members are covered, if they can be identified at a satisfactory taxonomic level, and if the obtained community profile is representative. Here, we designed new primers targeting 18S and 28S rRNA based on 177,934 and 21,072 database sequences, respectively. The primers were evaluated in silico along with published primers on reference sequence databases and marine metagenomics datasets. We further evaluated a subset of the primers for short- and long-read sequencing on environmental samples in vitro and compared the obtained community profile with primer-unbiased metagenomic sequencing. Of the short-read pairs, a new V6-V8 pair and the V4_Balzano pair used with a simplified PCR protocol provided good results in silico and in vitro. Fewer differences were observed between the long-read primer pairs. The long-read amplicons and ITS1 alone provided higher taxonomic resolution than V4. Together, our results represent a reference and guide for selection of robust primers for research on and environmental monitoring of microbial eukaryotes.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, which has had a negative impact worldwide. Our aim was to describe clinical findings and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection and Covid-19 disease cared for at a large pediatric tertiary care hospital during the first year of the pandemic. Methods: Patients aged 1 month to 18 years who were diagnosed as having COVID-19 between March 2020 and April 2021 were included. The files of patients diagnosed with covid-19 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: 467 children were included in the study. There were 34 (7.3%) patients under one year of age, 111 (23.8%) between 1-5 years, 98 (30.4%) between 5-10 years, 142 (30.4%) between 11-15 years, and 82 (17.6%) age over 15 years. Fever (88.2%), vomiting (32.4%), and diarrhea (29.4%) in patients aged under 1 year, sore throat (36.6%) in patients aged 11-15 years, and dysgeusia (11%), anosmia (14.6%), headache (18.3%), malaise (40.8%), myalgia (28%), and dyspnea (17.1%) in those aged over 15 years of age were found significantly more common compared with the other age groups (p<0.05). Thirty-five (7.5%) patients were asymptomatic, 365 (78.1%) had mild disease, 35 (7.5%) were moderate, 27 (5.8%) were severe, and five (1.07%) were critical. Leukocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ferritin, and C-reactive protein values were significantly higher in hospitalized patients. Four patients died during the study period (0.8%, 4/467). Conclusion: While SARS-CoV-2 infection may be asymptomatic and Covid-19 disease usually has a mild clinical course, some children have severe disease or mortality.

The circadian rhythm is an adaptive biological process, allows organisms to anticipate daily environmental changes and implement appropriate strategies. Circadian rhythms play a crucial role in the health and survival of organisms. However, little is known concerning how intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect animal daily rhythms in the field, especially in nocturnal animals. Here, we investigated the emergence and return times of Vesperilio sinensis, and also integrated environmental conditions (temperature, humidity and light intensity) and biotic factors (reproductive status and predation risk) to determine causes of variation in the activity rhythms of the bats. We found that variation in the first emergence time, the mid-emergence time, and the final return time were distinct. The results demonstrated that the emergence and return times of bats were affected by light intensity, reproductive status, and predation risk in a relatively complex pattern. Light intensity had the greatest contribution to activity rhythms. Moreover, we first investigated the effects of actual predators on the activity rhythms of bats; the results showed that the mid-emergence time of bats was earlier as predators were hunting, but the final return time was later when predators were present. This challenges the traditional view that high predation risk leads to later emergence and earlier return. Finally, our results also highlighted the importance of higher energy demands during the lactation period in bats to variation in activity rhythms. These results improve our understanding of the patterns and causes of variation in activity rhythms in bats and other nocturnal animals.