The self-assembly approach was used for amine decoration of core/shell Fe3O4@Au with 4-aminothiphenol. This structure was used for covalent immobilization of lipase using a Ugi 4-component reaction. The amine group on the structure and carboxylic group from lipase can react in the Ugi reaction and a firm and stable covalent bond creates between enzyme and support. The synthesized structure was fully characterized and its activity was explored in different situations. The results displayed the pH and temperature stability of immobilized lipase compared to free lipase in a wide range of pH and temperature. Also after 60 days, it showed excellent activity while residual activity for the free enzyme was only 10%. The synthesized structure was conveniently separated using an external magnetic field and reused 6 times without losing the activity of the immobilized enzyme.

Climate effects habitat and define species physiology. Climatic regimes were different in past and adaptability of different species varied. Climate change causes certain stress on animal, recorded as Enamel Hypoplasia (EH). Proboscideans, the mega herbivores were extensively represented in the Siwaliks of Pakistan between Middle Miocene to Pleistocene (~15.2 – ~1.0Ma). The study is carried out on 15 species from 9 genera and 4 families using 319 teeth from 266 individual quarries. Our results revealed 20.06% (64/319) teeth infected by EH. Family Deinotheriidae faced higher stress during the terminal of middle Miocene (EH 25%). Dental structure indicate that this family preferred soft vegetation like C3 plants and failed to survive in grassland ecology at the onset of Late Miocene (~10-9 Ma). Gomphotheriids (EH 21.05%) and Stegodontids (EH 23.40%) survived through warm and dry climatic conditions of the Late Miocene, but could not survive the cool and dry climate of Plio-Pleistocene where grasslands were abundant with less browsing activity. Family Elephantidae (EH 8.75%) was successful in drier conditions, and utilized the exclusive C4 diet in open grasslands as efficient grazers, indicated by their tooth morphology. Elephantids were dominant of the proboscideans in open grassland and drier climate during Plio-Pleistocene in Indian subcontinent. We assume that change in the Siwalik climate was governed by microclimate as in the present day Siwaliks grasslands are widely distributed at low altitudes with lower mean annual precipitation and forestlands still persist in Myanmar and Nepal which receives more rainfall and have lower mean annual temperature.

Microdeletions and gross deletions are important causes (~20%) of human inherited disease. Their genomic locations are strongly influenced by the local DNA sequence environment. Yet no systematic study has examined the generative mechanisms. Here, we obtained 42,098 pathogenic microdeletions and gross deletions from the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) that together form a continuum of germline deletions ranging in size from 1 bp to 28,394,429 bp. We analyzed the sequence within 1-kb of the breakpoint junctions and found the frequencies of non-B DNA-forming repeats, GC content, and the presence of seven of 78 specific sequence motifs in the vicinity of pathogenic deletions correlated with deletion length for deletions of length ≤30 bp. Furthermore, we found the repeats of DR, GQ, and STR appear to be important for the formation of longer deletions (>30 bp) but not for the formation of shorter deletions (≤30 bp) and significantly (Chi-square test P-value < 2E-16) more microhomologies were identified in flanking short deletions than long deletions (length >30 bp). We provide evidence to support a functional distinction between microdeletions and gross deletions. A deletion length cut-off of 25-30 bp may serve as an objective means to functionally distinguish microdeletions from gross deletions.

Runs of long homozygous stretches (ROH) are considered to be the result of consanguinity and usually contain recessive deleterious disease causing mutations (Szpiech et al., 2013). Several algorithms have been developed to detect ROHs. Here, we developed a simple, alternative strategy by examining X chromosome non-pseudoautosomal region to detect the ROHs from next generation sequencing data utilizing the genotype probabilities and the Hidden Markov Model algorithm as a tool, namely ROHMM. It is implemented purely in java and contains both command-line and a graphical user interface. We tested ROHMM on simulated data as well as real population data from 1000G Project and a clinical sample. Our results have shown that ROHMM can perform robustly producing highly accurate homozygosity estimations under all conditions thereby meeting and even exceeding the performance of its natural competitors.

The dilution effect was originally proposed to describe the negative effect of increased host diversity on parasite abundance; with greater host diversity, parasite levels per host are predicted to be lower due to a higher probability of dispersing parasites encountering non-competent hosts. Dilution effects could also occur in many mutualisms if dispersing symbionts encounter hosts that vary in their competency. The introduction of non-native hosts can change community competency of a local group of host species. Crayfish introductions are occurring world-wide and these introductions are likely disrupting native crayfish-symbiont systems. Branchiobdellidan symbionts declined on native Cambarus crayfish occurring in the presence and absence of non-native Faxonius crayfish in the New River, USA. We performed an experiment investigating the effect of host density (1 vs 2 native hosts) and host diversity (1 native host and 1 introduced host) on branchiobdellidan abundance. The introduced F. cristavarius is a non-competent host for these worms. Six C. ingens were stocked on a C. chasmodactylus in each treatment and worm numbers were followed over 34 days. Worm numbers decreased over time on C. chasmodactylus alone and in the treatment in which a C. chasmodactylus was paired with an F. cristavarius. Worm numbers remained highest in the 2 C. chasmodactylus treatment . There was no significant effect of host diversity on worm reproduction. Crayfish invasions may have negative effects on mutualistic symbionts depending on the competence of introduced hosts. Loss of native symbionts is one of the potential hidden, negative effects of invasions on native freshwater diversity.

The number of individuals of species within communities varies, but estimating abundance, given incomplete and biased sampling, is challenging. Here, we describe a new occupancy model in a hierarchical Bayesian framework with random effects, where multi-species occupancy and detection are modeled as a means to estimate relative species abundance and relative population densities. The modelling framework is suited for occupancy data for temporal samples of fossil communities with repeated sampling including multiple species with similar preservation potential. We demonstrate our modelling framework using a fossil community of benthic organisms to estimate changing relative species abundance dynamics and relative population densities of focal species in 9 (geological) time-intervals over 2.3 million years. We also explored potential explanatory factors (paleoenvironmental proxies) and temporal autocorrelation that could provide extra information on unsampled time-intervals. The modelling framework is applicable across a wide range of questions on species-level dynamics in (palaeo)ecological community settings.

Plant competition experiments commonly suggest that larger species have an advantage, especially in light acquisition. However, within crowded natural vegetation, where competition evidently impacts fitness, most resident species are relatively small. It remains unclear, therefore, whether the size-advantage observed in controlled experiments is realized in habitats under intensive competition. We tested for evidence of a size-advantage in competition for light in an old-field plant community composed of herbaceous perennial species. We investigated whether larger species contributed to reduced light penetration (i.e., greater shading), and examined the impact of shade on smaller species by testing whether their abundance and richness were lower in plots with less light penetration. Light penetration in plots ranged from 0.3-72.4%. Plots with greater mean species height had significantly lower light penetration. Plots with lower light penetration had significantly lower small species abundance and richness. However, the impact of shade on small species abundance and richness was relatively small (R2 values between 8% and 15%) and depended on how we defined “small species”. Significant effects were more common when analyses focused on individuals that reached reproduction; focusing on only flowering plants can clarify patterns. Our results confirm that light penetration in herbaceous vegetation can be comparable to levels seen in forests, that plots with taller species cast more shade, and that smaller species are less abundant and diverse in plots where light penetration is low. However, variation in mean plot height explained less than 10% of variation in light penetration, and light penetration explained 5-15% of variation in small species abundance and richness. Coupled with the fact that reproductive small species were present even within the most heavily shaded plots, our results suggest that any advantage in light competition by large species is limited. One explanation is that some small species in these communities are shade tolerant.

In the present paper the representation, in different domains, of analytic functions by complex conformable fractional derivative bases (CCFDB) and complex conformable fractional integral bases (CCFIB) in Frechet space are investigated . Theorems are proved to show that such representation is possible in closed disks, open disks, open regions surrounding closed disks, at the origin and for all entire functions. Also, some results concerning the growth order and type of CCFDB and CCFIB are determined. Moreover the T-property of CCFDB and CCFIB are dis- cussed. The obtained results recover some known results when alpha = 1. Finally, some applications to the CCFDB and CCFIB of Bernoulli, Euler, Bessel and Chebyshev polynomials have been studied.

The performance of advanced controllers depends on the selection of several tuning parameters that can affect the closed-loop control performance and constraint satisfaction in highly nonlinear and nonconvex ways. There has been a significant interest in auto-tuning of complex control structures using Bayesian optimization (BO). However, an open challenge is how to deal with uncertainties in the closed-loop system that cannot be attributed to a lumped, small-scale noise term. This paper develops an adversarially robust BO (ARBO) method that is suited to auto-tuning problems with significant time-invariant uncertainties in a plant simulator. ARBO uses a Gaussian process model that jointly describes the effect of the tuning parameters and uncertainties on the closed-loop performance. ARBO uses an alternating confidence-bound procedure to simultaneously select the next candidate tuning and uncertainty realizations, implying only one expensive closed-loop simulation is needed at each iteration. The advantages of ARBO are demonstrated on two case studies.

Defensins are key components of both innate and adaptive immune responses to pathogens. Cryptdins are mouse alpha-defensins that are secreted from Paneth cells in the small intestine and have disulfide-stabilised structures and antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The folding and three-dimensional structures of alpha-defensins are thought to depend on a conserved glycine residue that forms a β-bulge. Here we investigated the role of this conserved glycine at position 19 of cryptdin-4 (Crp4) in terms of the folding, structure and stability. A Crp4 variant with D-Ala at position 19 folded efficiently, was stabilised by a large number of hydrogen bonds, and resisted proteolysis in simulated intestinal fluid. Although a variant with L-Ala at position 19 was able to adopt the correct fold, it showed less efficient folding and was degraded more rapidly than the D-Ala variant. These results demonstrate the key role that glycine residues can have in folding of bioactive peptides and can provide insights to guide design of stable antimicrobial peptides that fold efficiently.

In Africa, agriculture is largely based on low-input and small-holder farming systems that use little inorganic fertilizers and have limited access to irrigation and mechanization. Improving agricultural practices and developing new cultivars adapted to these low-input environments, where production already suffers from climate change, is a major priority for ensuring food security in the future. Root traits improving water and nutrient uptake could represent a solution toward achieving these goals. In this review, we illustrate how breeding for specific root traits could improve crop adaptation and resilience in Africa using three case studies covering very contrasted low-input agroecosystems. First, we review how targeted changes in root system architecture allowed a dramatic increase in common bean yield in low input agroecosystems of South East Africa. We next discuss how root traits could be targeted to improve the productivity and resilience of dryland cereals in the face of climate change and soil degradation. Finally, we evaluate how root traits could be mobilized to develop water-saving rice agroecosystems for West Africa. We conclude with a discussion on how to prioritize target root traits, how they could be validated and made available to breeders and farmers through participatory approaches.

The aim of the present paper is to describe and discuss how recent theories about translation, bridging medical and humanistic understandings of knowledge translation, in the medical humanities (Kristeva et al 2018) can bring about a new understanding of health literacy in the context of patient education. We argue that knowledge translation must be understood as a simultaneous interrogation of the patient’s and the health care providers co-construction of new and shared meanings that can create realities with medical consequences. To illustrate our points, we will describe the case of Jim, a kidney transplant recipient who received standard patient education, but lost the graft (the new kidney). If we apply Kristeva’s view onto this context, graft function is not merely a biology but a complex bio-cultural fact. In this perspective, graft function is seen as a phenomenon that embraces translation between health as a biomedical phenomenon and healing as lived experience, and that opens for shared meaning -making processes between the patient and the health care provider. In Jim’s case this means that we need to rethink the approach to patient education in a way that encourage the patient’s idiosyncratic way of thinking and experiencing – and transform health information into a means for sustaining Jim’s particular life – not life ‘in general’. The patient education program did not take into consideration the singularities of Jim’s biographical temporality, with its changes in everyday life, priorities, attitudes and values. The arguments are generic and could be applied to other contexts.

Scoring docking solutions is a difficult task, and many methods have been developed for this purpose. In docking, only a handful of the hundreds of thousands of models generated by docking algorithms are acceptable, causing difficulties when developing scoring functions. Today’s best scoring functions can significantly increase the number of top-ranked models but still fails for most targets. Here, we examine the possibility of utilising predicted residues on a protein-protein interface to score docking models generated during the scan stage of a docking algorithm. Many methods have been developed to infer the portions of a protein surface that interact with another protein, but most have not been benchmarked using docking algorithms. Different interface prediction methods are systematically tested for scoring >300.000 low-resolution rigid-body template free docking decoys. Overall we find that BIPSPI is the best method to identify interface amino acids and score docking solutions. Further, using BIPSPI provides better docking results than state of the art scoring functions, with >12% of first ranked docking models being acceptable. Additional experiments indicated precision as a high-importance metric when estimating interface prediction quality, focusing on docking constraints production. We also discussed several limitations for the adoption of interface predictions as constraints in a docking protocol.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pericardial adhesions have been associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and surgical difficulty. Barriers exist to limit adhesion formation, yet little is known about their use in cardiac surgery. The study presented here provides the first major systematic review of adhesion barriers in cardiac surgery. METHODS: Scopus and PubMed were assessed on November 20, 2020. Inclusion criteria were clinical studies on human subjects, and exclusion criteria were studies not published in English and case reports. Risk of bias was evaluated with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Barrier safety and efficacy data were assessed with Excel and GraphPad Prism 5. RESULTS: 25 studies were identified with a total of 13 barriers and 2,928 patients. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was the most frequently evaluated barrier (13 studies, 67% of patients) with an infection rate of 1.14%, bleeding event rate of 0.75%, mortality rate of 1.22%, adhesion formation rate of 37.31%, and standardized tenacity score of 26.50. Several barriers had improved safety and efficacy. In particular, Cova CARD had an infection rate of 0.00%, a bleeding event rate of 0.00%, and a tenacity score of 15.00. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the data varied considerably in terms of study design and reporting bias. The amount of data was also limited for the non-PTFE studies. PTFE has historically been effective in preventing adhesions. More recent barriers may be superior, yet the current data is non-confirmatory. No ideal adhesion barrier currently exists, and future barriers must focus on the requirements unique to operating in and around the heart.

Mural aortic thrombus is a rare pathology that is more frequently seen in severe atherosclerotic aortic walls, in aneurysms and acute aortic syndrome(1). However this can be found in patients without aortic disease, and be responsible for systemic or cerebral emboli. A 54-year-old male was admitted to our institution for syncope and aphasia, he was found in the street with ethylic intoxication. After neurological examination mixed type aphasia was observed, cerebral and supra aortic arteries CT angiography were performed. Cerebral CT showed focal filling defect of left middle cerebral artery. Supra aortic arteries CT angiography was completed with toracoabdominal CT because massive ascending and arch thrombus was found. The thrombus measured 130 x 33 x 15 mm (Figures 1A and 1B and 1C), and covered from mid ascending aorta to 40 mm distal to the ostium of left subclavian artery. The patient was referred to our unit for urgent surgical treatment. Surgery was performed throw median sterntomy, cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermic arrest and anterograde cerebral perfusion via right axillary artery. Longitudinal aortotomy was made and 140 x 30 x 15 mm thrombus (Figure 2), attached to posterior mid ascending aorta, was found and resected, the aortic wall did not show any abnormality. The patient had an eventful recovery and was discharged 9 days later with oral anticoagulation and aspirin.

Objective: Vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) has been suggested to be associated with an increased risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury (compared with primiparous women who birth vaginally). However, prior studies have been small, or used outdated methodology. We set out to validate whether the risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury among women having their first VBAC is greater than that among primiparous women having a vaginal birth. Design: State-wide retrospective cohort study. Setting: Victoria, Australia. Population: All births (455,000) between 2009-2014. Methods: The risk of severe perineal injury between first vaginal birth and first vaginal birth after previous caesarean section was compared, after adjustment for potential confounding variables. Covariates were examined using logistic regression for categorical data and Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous data. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation; the analysis was performed using regression adjustment and Stata v16 multiple imputation and teffects suites. Results: Women having a VBAC (n=5,429) were significantly more likely than primiparous women (n=123,353) to sustain a 3rd or 4th degree tear during vaginal birth (7.1 vs 5.7%, p<0.001). After adjustment for mode of birth, body mass index, maternal age, infant birthweight, episiotomy and epidural, there was a 21% increased risk of severe perineal injury (relative risk 1.21 (95%CI 1.07 – 1.38)). Conclusions: Women having their first vaginal birth after caesarean section have a significant increased risk of sustaining a 3rd or 4th degree tear, compared with primiparous women having a vaginal birth. Patient counselling and professional guidelines should reflect this increased risk.

A document by Irtiza Sheikh. Click on the document to view its contents.

Title PageTitle: Self-resolving flare of psoriasis after COVID-19 vaccinationArticle Type : Clinical ImagesAuthor Names : Ikwinder Kaur MD1; Pankaj Bansal MD2Corresponding Author : Pankaj Bansal MD, Department of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic Health System, Eau Claire, WI 54702.Bansal.pankaj@mayo.eduORCID ID0000-0001-6315-68791: Department of Internal Medicine, Rutgers/ Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, NJ 077402: Department of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic Health System, Eau Claire, WI 54702FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENTWe confirm that the authors have no financial disclosures, competing interests and conflict of interest. The study has not received any financial support or other benefits from commercial sources for the work reported on in the manuscript.

Ever since the adoption of the newest heart allocation system in the Fall of 2018, clinicians have grappled with the safest method of utilizing temporary mechanical circulatory support to get patients successfully to transplantation. In unique patients that do not have a durable left ventricular assist device as a therapeutic option and have not had a full work-up for transplantation consideration, the establishment of ambulatory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is an attractive solution.

To date, few studies have assessed the impact of forest conversion or seasonal changes on soil microbial community assembly. To fill this research gap, 16S rRNA and ITS gene sequences were used to evaluate the effects of forest conversion and seasonal changes on the assembly of bacterial and fungal communities using 260 soil samples collected from tropical rainforest and rubber plantation sites across Hainan Island, South China. A majority (~60%) of observed OTUs conformed with neutral model expectations, indicating that neutral processes were important for the assembly of soil microbial communities. For bacterial communities, the NST (normalized stochasticity ratio) was higher in the tropical rainforest (0.746 in the dry season, 0.684 in the rainy season) versus rubber plantation sites (0.647, 0.584), regardless of season. Thus, forest conversion decreased the importance of stochasticity for soil bacterial community assembly. For fungal communities, rubber plantation communities showed greater stochasticity (NST = 0.578) than rainforest communities (NST = 0.388) in the dry season, but the reverse was true in the rainy season (NST = 0.852 for rubber plantations; NST = 0.978 for rainforest). Both the NST results and structural equation modeling showed that bacterial communities were more stochastic in the dry season, while fungal communities were more stochastic in the rainy season; the effects of seasonal changes on assembly therefore differed between bacterial and fungal communities. More importantly, forest conversion did not have a direct impact on the assembly of bacterial or fungal communities, but exerted indirect effects via soil pH and soil AK.

Rhizosphere microorganisms are thought to play a crucial role in the promotion of plant growth and health. Carex praeclara and Leymus secalinus are dominant plant species that have colonized the desertification land of Alpine wetland grasslands in Zoige. There is a lack of comprehensive research on their rhizosphere microbes. In this study, we used deep shotgun metagenomic sequencing to analyze the microbial community and functional composition of the rhizosphere and corresponding non-rhizosphere soils of C. praeclara and L. secalinus. The microbial diversity and structure exhibited a remarkable difference among the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere samples, and the predominant taxa included Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi in all the samples. Genes that were over-represented include those involved in the acquisition of nutrients, stress responses, transposable elements and plant growth promotion suggest that the interactions between microbe-plant and microbe-microbe are more intense in the rhizosphere soil. The relative abundances of pivotal genes that participate in microbial nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) transformation were higher in the rhizosphere soil than in the non-rhizosphere soil, indicating the enhancement of potential soil N- and P-cycling in the plant rhizosphere. Our findings provide valuable information on the structure and function of the microbial communities of the C. praeclara and L. secalinus rhizospheres and lay a foundation for the further use of C. praeclara and L. secalinus to increase vegetation coverage, improve soil properties and restore the ecological function of degraded alpine sandy land.

The design of structures for a long time use represents a big challenge in the rock mechanics and tunneling works. The water supply of the Pirtaghi Dam reservoir-pumping power plant in Iran is provided by the twin tunnels. Since the Pirtaghi dam site is located in an earthquake-prone area, it will probably experience earthquakes in its lifetime. So, in this project, the steady-state of the support system of the twin tunnels of the water supply of the Pirtaghi power plant under likely earthquake and static loading is evaluated by a 3D numerical modeling. The results show that the system is capable to guarantee stability against seismic loads.

Aim To assess the correlation between atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Methodology This is a sub study of the second National Diabetes Survey of Pakistan (NDSP) 2016–2017, an epidemiological survey including people of > 20 years of age and both genders in all four provinces of Pakistan. Out of 213 clusters, twenty-seven clusters were selected from all over the Pakistan. Households were identified and selected members of every 10th household were counseled to come to the campsite after observing an overnight fast. Standardized techniques were used for measuring height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Standard methods were used for analyzing biochemical parameters including oral glucose tolerance test, lipid profile and various lipid derived parameter/ratios were calculated. The AIP was calculated by using formula log10 (TG/HDL) for all survey participants. Statistical analyses were conducted by using statistical package for social sciences, version 20. Results A total of 7351 people (2877 males and 4201females) were selected for this sub-analysis after fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Overall AIP score was calculated as 0.74±0.31 and according to the AIP risk categorization, the majority 6996 (95.2%) fell in the high-risk category of developing CVD, whereas 258(3.5%) were in moderate and only 97(1.3%) people were found in low-risk category. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed male gender and diabetes as risk factor for developing CVD based on AIP score. Furthermore, various lipid derived parameters LDL-C and HDL-C, TG and HDL-C, lipoprotein combined index (LCI) were shown strong correlation with AIP. Conclusion The significant association between AIP and CVD risk factors exists and high levels of AIP in Pakistani population may be an alarming sign in developing cardiovascular disease.

A document by Marzieh Heidari. Click on the document to view its contents.