Purpose: Anosmia and dysgeusia (AD) are common among COVID-19 patients. These symptoms are not frequently associated with rhinorrhea or nasal congestion and the underlying mechanism is unclear. Previous reports suggested that Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) signaling plays a role in the modulation of olfaction and geusia. We aimed to assess the correlation between GLP-1 and COVID-19-associated AD. Methods: Blood samples obtained from COVID-19 patients with and without AD were tested for serum GLP-1 levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A second control group comprised of COVID-19-negative volunteers. Results: Forty-nine subjects were included in the study. Nineteen were positive for COVID-19. Of the 19 patients, ten had AD and nine declined such complaints. Age and basic metabolic rate were similar among all study groups. Serum GLP-1 levels were significantly lower among patients with AD as compared with patients without AD and COVID-19-negative individuals (1820 pg/ml vs 3536 pg/ml vs 3014 pg/ml, respectively, p<0.02). Conclusion: COVID-19 patients who reported of AD had lower serum levels of GLP-1 as compared with those lacking AD symptoms and COVID-19-negative individuals. These results suggest that GLP-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. However, further larger scale studies should corroborate our findings

A document by Mohammed Fadel Arandas. Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Mohammed Fadel Arandas. Click on the document to view its contents.

The second wave of COVID-19, which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is rapidly spreading over the world. The mechanism behind the escaping from current antivirals is still not clear, due to the occurrence of continuous variants in SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Brazil is the world’s second most COVID-19-affected country. In the present study, we identified the genomic and proteomic variants of Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 isolates. We identified 16 different genotypic variants were found among the 27 isolates. The genotypes of three isolates such as Bra/1236/2021 (G15), Bra/MASP2C844R2/2020 (G11), and Bra/RJ-DCVN5/2020 (G9) have a unique mutant in NSP4 (S184N), 2’O-Mutase (R216N), membrane protein (A2V) and Envelope protein (V5A). A mutation in RdRp of SARS-CoV-2, particularly the change of Pro to Leu at 323 resulted in the stabilization of the structure in BRA/CD1739-P4/2020. NSP4, NSP5 protein mutants are more virulent in Genotype 15 and 16. A fast protein folding rate changes the structural stability and leads to escape for current antivirals. Thus, our findings help researchers to develop the best potent antivirals based on the new mutant of Brazilian isolates.

Composite trees combine traits from both the rootstock and scion. Dwarfing rootstocks are used to reduce shoot vigor and improve fruit quality and productivity. Although differences in rootstock vigour have been clearly described, the underlying physiological mechanisms regulating scion vigor are not well understood. Plant water status is strongly influenced by stem hydraulic resistance to water movement. In the scion, stomata regulate transpiration rates and are essential to prevent hydraulic failure. Lower stomatal conductance contributes to enriched leaf carbon isotope composition (δ13C). Combined, the effects of increased hydraulic resistance, limited stomatal control, and subsequently, limited gas exchange can affect tree growth. These differences may also correspond to differences in scion vigor. Here, vegetative growth, gas exchange, stem water potential, and leaf δ13C were compared to determine how rootstocks affect scion water relations. B.9 had the lowest shoot vigor compared to the more vigorous rootstock, G.890. Similarly, photosynthetic rates were also lower. Rootstock vigor was closely associated with leaf gas exchange and stem water potential in the scion and were reflected in leaf δ13C signatures. Dwarfing was strongly related to hydraulic limitations induced by rootstock genotype and these changes are distinguishable when measuring leaf and stem δ13C composition.

Vaccination groups all over the globe made a strong coordinated effort to put an end to the current COVID-19 crisis. Since vaccination started first in the UK on 8 th December, 2020 we have sufficient data to analyse and derive useful results. It addressed issues viz. seasonality, indirect consequences of mass vaccination and fast mutation of the virus after mass vaccination. To develop useful timely insights, some similarities between COVID-19 and Flu received attention. Critical and open analyses, balanced discussion in the current crucial stage are desperately needed. Questioning, debating and criticism are always the basis of good science and the main pillars to its advancement. With that objective in mind, it is an effort to explore areas relating to the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines with a pragmatic viewpoint. Policymakers will be greatly benefitted from such analyses. An alternative optimistic pathway is also mentioned which was proposed as early as 17 th March, 2020 and is practically without side effects and no vested interest involved.

ABSTRACT Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease. A new brain-stimulation method, low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFUS), has been shown to improve PD-associated motor symptoms and permeabilize the blood-brain barrier. LIFUS is especially attractive due to its non-invasive nature and represents a treatment option that could be incorporated into the future treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including PD. In this paper, we describe the current state and future outlook of LIFUS for the treatment of PD. We also focus on the stimulation principles that underly the effects of LIFUS during PD treatment. The safety and limitations of LIFUS are also discussed.

Over the past 50 years conservation genetics has developed a substantive toolbox to inform species management. One of the most long-standing tools available to manage genetics - the pedigree - has been widely used to characterize diversity and maximize evolutionary potential in threatened populations. Now, with the ability to use high throughput sequencing (HTS) to estimate relatedness, inbreeding, and genome-wide functional diversity, some have asked whether it is warranted for conservation biologists to continue collecting and collating pedigrees for species management. In this perspective, we argue that pedigrees remain a relevant tool, and when combined with genomic data, create an invaluable resource for conservation genomic management. Genomic data can address pedigree pitfalls (e.g., founder relatedness, missing data, uncertainty), and in return robust pedigrees allow for more nuanced research design, including well-informed sampling strategies and quantitative analyses (e.g., heritability, linkage) to better inform genomic inquiry. We further contend that building and maintaining pedigrees provides an opportunity to strengthen trusted relationships among conservation researchers, practitioners, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. Keywords: conservation genomics, quantitative genetics, pedigree, kinship,ex situ , in situ

Background: Early exposure to allergens through a defect skin barrier has been proposed as a mechanism for inducing sensitization and development of allergic diseases. We hypothesized that early-onset, severe atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with development of aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis. Methods: We included 368 children from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2000 (COPSAC 2000) at-risk mother-child cohort. AD was diagnosed prospectively based on Hanifin&Rajka’s criteria and severity assessed using the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. Early-onset AD was defined as debut ≤1 year, late-onset as debut from 1-6 years. Aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis were diagnosed at ages 6-7 and 12 years. Associations between early-onset and late-onset AD and allergy endpoints were calculated using general estimating equations (GEE) models to compute the overall odds ratios (OR) for both time points. Results: Early-onset AD (yes/no) and severity (SCORAD) were associated with development of aeroallergen sensitization during childhood; GEE OR=1.68 [1.08; 2.62], p=0.02 and 1.08 [1.03; 1.12], p<0.001, whereas late-onset was not; GEE OR=1.65 [0.92; 2.94], p=0.08 and 1.01 [0.97; 1.06], p=0.55. The same trend was seen for allergic rhinitis with significant association between early-onset AD and allergic rhinitis; GEE OR=1.56 [1.01; 2.41], p=0.04 and severity; GEE OR=1.09 [1.05; 1.13], p<0.001, whereas late-onset AD showed no association. The effects on sensitization and rhinitis of early-onset vs. late-onset AD severity were significantly different: p-interaction sensitization=0.03 and p-interaction rhinitis<0.01. Conclusion: Increasing severity of early-onset AD, but not late-onset AD, associates with aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis later in childhood.

Aims: C-reactive protein (CRP) is commonly used for monitoring Surgical Stress Response (SSR) and detecting post-operative infectious complications. However, high CRP values can be associated to patient-related factors independently from complications. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between visceral obesity (VO) and SSR after laparoscopic colorectal resection. Methods: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area was measured at CT images for 357 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colorectal resection at our institution. Post-operative outcomes and CRP values were compared between VO and non-VO groups, defined according to VAT cut-offs. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted for factors affecting SSR. ROC curves were constructed to assess the most appropriate CRP values for identifying infectious complications in the VO and non-VO populations. Results: In the final cohort, 62.2% of patients were classified as VO. No differences were seen in post-operative outcomes and infectious complications. VO was associated with higher CRP values on post-operative day (POD)1, POD2, POD3, and POD5, considering both the overall cohort and patients without infectious complications. A positive correlation was found between VAT and CRP values on all PODs, and VO independently predicted increased CRP on POD1-3 in patients without infectious complications but not in those who developed complications. ROC curves analysis for POD3 CRP showed comparable accuracy for detection of infectious complications in both groups, though the optimal cut-off value was higher in VO group (154 vs. 136 mg/dl). Conclusions: Although VO is not associated to increased complications after laparoscopic colorectal resection, it independently predicts increased SSR risk. To achieve accurate identification of infectious complications, different cut-off values of POD3 CRP shall be used in VO and non-VO patients.

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have an increased risk of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) compared with the general pediatric population. There has been a growing research interest on this field in recent years, yet many questions regarding risk factors and clinical implications of SDB remain unclear. The aim of this review is to provide a concise narrative and systematic synthesis of the available evidence on the epidemiology, clinical presentation, complications and management, of SDB in children with SCD. An electronic search was conducted on studies published from the 1st of January 2000 to the 31st of December 2020 in PubMed/Medline, Scopus and Cochrane databases. All studies focusing on SDB in children with SCD aged from 0 to 20 years were included. Studies were eligible for inclusion if available in the English language. A quantitative synthesis of the included studies was performed. Only studies focusing on specific treatment outcomes were included in a meta-analytic process. A total of 190 papers were initially identified. After screening the title and abstract, 112 articles were evaluated for eligibility. At the end of the selection process, 62 studies were included in the analysis. Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with worse neurological, neurocognitive and cardiological outcomes, whereas the association with frequency or severity of vaso-occlusive pain events and acute chest syndrome was not clarified. Therapeutic interventions like adenotonsillectomy or oxygen supply may result in a significant increase in mean nocturnal oxygen saturation but effective clinical implications remain still unclear.

Background: Treatment of intracranial germ cell tumors (GCTs) involves radiation therapy to the whole ventricle or the whole neuroaxis, but late sequelae are a concern. Therefore, an alternative modality is needed to reduce the overreliance on radiation therapy. Intrathecal methotrexate (IT-MTX) was examined as a partial alternative to radiotherapy. Procedure: Low-risk (LR) patients (germinoma) were treated with four cycles of cisplatin, etoposide, and IT-MTX, while intermediate-risk (IR) (human chorionic gonadotropin [HCG]-producing germinoma) and high-risk (HR) (non-germinomatous GCT) patients were treated with five cycles of cisplatin, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, and IT-MTX. Local irradiation of 24 Gy was performed for the LR and IR patients, while irradiation with 51.2 Gy was performed for the HR cases. For patients with multifocal diseases and/or tumors extending to the 3rd ventricle, whole ventricle irradiation was performed. Results: A total of 57 patients were enrolled, of which three withdrew consent. Thus, 54 patients were included in the outcome analysis. The 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival were 92.0% (standard error 4.4%) and 100%, respectively, for 28 LR and 10 IR patients (median follow-up: 63 months), and 86.7% (8.8%) and 93.3% (6.4%) (median follow-up: 67 months), respectively, for 16 HR patients. The major toxicity was hematological, and most patients experienced grade 4. Conclusion: The toxicity of chemotherapy containing IT-MTX was limited, and the results suggested that this regimen could reduce the need for radiotherapy.

Areas of endemism (AEs) are fundamental entities of analysis in biogeography and a key step for biogeographical regionalization. Even though many studies have contributed to the biogeographical knowledge of southern USA flora, no endemicity analysis (EA) has been conducted that would include a large number of native seed plant species from different families. A new analysis of plant spatial patterns is important as a first step for a future updated floristic regionalization of North America North of Mexico. It has become easier to accomplish owing to the increased availability of large-scale digitized distributional data and statistical methods of biogeographic analysis. Here we identify the AEs in SC/SW USA using digitized plant specimen data available from IDigBio. We built a database with 81,851-specimen point records of 400 selected mostly angiosperm species and applied the NDM/VNDM method of endemicity analysis. We then compare the established 26 AEs in the area of study with the floristic provinces in two comparatively recent regionalization systems of USA. To understand the spatial patterns, we also pay attention to the information on relationships of the endemic species found in phylogenetic literature.

We experienced a case of COVID-19 with hypoxia, which was presumed to be due to the development of ventilation and blood flow imbalance by pulmonary intravascular coagulopathy or hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. Early, short-term combination therapy with remdesivir, nafamostat mesilate and low-dose dexamethasone was extremely effective.

In this study, we evaluated the clinical findings, therapy, and outcomes in a patient with cutaneous anthrax who was co-infected with HSV 1&2 (Herpes Systemic Virus) and S. Pyogenes (Streptococcuspyogenes) at the time of hospitalization.

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a rare anatomical variation of the thoracic and abdominal organs. We report a case of a 93-year-old woman who presented with pneumoperitoneum secondary to stercoral colonic perforation requiring emergent Hartman’s procedure.

A 52-year-old, previously healthy woman, developed SJS, potentially due to a reaction to CT contrast, although still unknown. This developed into Toxic epidermal necrolysis, later unexpected multiorgan failure and Purpura fulminans. Autopsy demonstrates herpes simplex virus in the bladder and lungs on immunohistological staining.

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has quickly become the mainstay of treatment for acute aortic dissection, in particular cases of acute complicated Stanford Type B dissection (co-TBAD). Necessarily, TEVAR carries with it the risk of postoperative complications, including stroke and renal failure. As a result, the management of patients with uncomplicated type B aortic dissection (un-TBAD), which is generally accepted as being less severe, are safely managed via optimal medical therapy (OMT) alone. However, despite OMT, patients with un-TBAD are at substantial risk of severe disease progression requiring delayed intervention. The cost-benefit ratio associated with TEVAR for un-TBAD is therefore of key interest. Howard and colleagues produced a fascinating systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the clinical outcomes of TEVAR for complicated and uncomplicated TBAD. Their data suggests that there is no significant difference in in-hospital mortality or 5-year survival between TEVAR for un-TBAD and co-TBAD, although the 30-day mortality rate appeared to be higher in the co-TBAD cohort. Patients with co-TBAD appeared to also be at a higher risk of postoperative stroke and TEVAR endoleak, while un-TBAD patients were at a higher risk of postoperative renal failure. Further prospective research into these relationships are recommended to fully elucidate the comparative efficacies of TEVAR for un-TBAD and co-TBAD.

Classical swine fever (CSF) is caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and has led to huge ecnomic losses for the pig industry worldwide. Although vaccination and other control measures have been carried out, it is essential to establish a rapid and valid method for CSF vaccination monitoring and clinical diagnosis. CSFV E2 protein has been well-known as a major antigen for antibody detection. It is significant to improve affinity between E2 protein and CSFV antibody for a better performance of detection method. In this study, a recombinant E2 extracellular protein (aa 1-331), which has a native homodimer conformation and has a high affinity with anti-CSFV-E2 monoclonal antibody WH303, was expressed using Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system. A novel immunochromatographic test strip based on the recombinant CSFV E2 protein was developed for CSFV antibody detection. The sensitivity of this strip for detecting CSFV standard positive serum was 1:102400, 4 times higher than that of the previously developed CnC2 test strip. No cross reaction with antibodies of other swine viruses was observed. The detection of clinical swine serum samples (n=138) demonstrated that the agreements of this E2 test strip with three commercial ELISA kits were 88.40% (122/138), 86.23% (119/138), and 96.38% (133/138), respectively. Our data indicated that a novel E2 test strip with higher sensitivity has been developed and can be applied for clinical sample detections, providing a new powerful and simple approach for CSFV antibody monitoring.

This paper is concerned with a nonlocal dispersal susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR) epidemic model adopted with the mass action infection mechanism. We mainly study the existence and non-existence of traveling waves connecting the infection-free equilibrium state and the endemic equilibrium state. The main difficulties lie in the fact that the semiflow generated here does not admit the order-preserving property. Meanwhile, this new model brings some new challenges due to the unboundedness of the nonlinear term. We overcome these difficulties to obtain the boundedness of traveling waves with the speed $c>c_{\min}$ by some analysis techniques firstly and then prove the existence of traveling waves by employing Lyapunov–LaSalle theorem and Lebesgue dominated convergence theorem. By utilizing a approximating method, we study the existence of traveling waves with the critical wave speed $c_{\min}$. Our results on this new model may provide some implications on disease modelling and controls.

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the roles of climate change and human factors on runoff, baseflow, and hydrological drought characteristics at a watershed scale. The novelty of the study is to assess separately the cascading, indirect, accumulative effects of climate change and human factors on hydrological drought, i.e. runoff and baseflow. This involved analyzing change points to divide the available hydrometeorological data into a baseline and a perturbed period. We applied two hydrological models, SWAT and HBV-light, and two nonparametric climate elasticity of runoff to identify the contribution of climate change and human factors in influencing runoff and baseflow processes. The hydrological models were used to simulate naturalized runoff and baseflow during the perturbed period. The temporal variation in the characteristics of the baseflow regime is expressed as baseflow index. Drought indices, standardized runoff index and standardized baseflow index were used as hydrological drought indicators. A significant change in runoff reduction in the Kamienna watershed began in 1982, suggesting that human factors play a dominant role in influencing runoff. In addition, we found that an increase in baseflow and a decrease in hydrological drought events in the 2010s are a positive long-term effect of human factors such as construction of dams in the watershed. Finally, analyses of changes in land cover dynamics in the watershed over the past four decades using satellite imagery are used to confirm the presence of human interventions.

Omphalophlebitis in foals is treated with complete resection of the affected umbilical remnants. When total resection cannot be accomplished, umbilical vein marsupialization can be implemented with minimally reported complications. This case series highlights hernia formation as a potential complication following one-stage umbilical vein marsupialization.

Chemically defined (CD) media are routinely used in the production of biologics in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell culture and provide enhanced raw material control. Nutrient optimized CD media is an important path to increase cell growth and monoclonal antibody (mAb) productivity in recombinant CHO cell lines. However, nutrient optimization efforts for CD media typically rely on multi-factorial and experimental design of experiment (DoE) approaches or complex mathematical models of cellular metabolism or gene expression systems. Moreover, the majority of these efforts are aimed at amino acids since they constitute essential nutrients in CD media as they directly contribute to biomass and protein production. In this study, we demonstrate the utilization of multi-variate data analytics (MVDA) coupled with amino acid stoichiometric balances (SBs) to increased cell growth and mAb productivity in efforts to reduce CD media development efforts. SBs measure the difference between theoretical demand of amino acids and the empirically measured fluxes to identify metabolic states of the cell. When coupled with MVDA, the statistical models were not only able to highlight key amino acids towards cell growth or productivity, but also provided direction on metabolic favorability of the amino acid. Experimental validation of our approach resulted in a 55% increase in total cell growth and about an 80% increase in total mAb productivity. Increased specific consumption of stoichiometrically balanced amino acids and decreased specific consumption of glucose was also observed in optimized CD media suggesting favorable consumption of desired nutrients and a potential for energy redistribution towards increased cellular growth or mAb productivity.

Vaccine mediated immune mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an exceedingly rare. We present a 25-year-old female who developed severe refractory ITP with multiple active bleeding sites post second dose of COVID vaccination. She was treated with a combination of Romiplostim and Mycophenolate mofetil that resulted in rapid platelet count recovery.