Aim The unique aquatic Pontocaspian (PC) biota of the Black Sea Basin (BSB) is in decline. Lack of detailed knowledge on the status and trends of species, populations and communities hampers a thorough risk assessment and precludes effective conservation. This paper aims to review PC biodiversity trends using endemic molluscs as a model group. We aim to assess changes in PC habitats, community structure and species distribution over the past century and to identify direct anthropogenic threats. Location Black Sea Basin (Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia). Methods Presence/absence data of target mollusc species was assembled from literature, reports and personal observations. PC biodiversity trends in the NW BSB coastal regions were established by comparing 20th and 21st century occurrences. Direct drivers of habitat and biodiversity change were identified and documented. Results A very strong decline of PC species and communities during the past century is driven by a) damming of rivers, b) habitat modifications negatively affecting salinity gradients, c) pollution and eutrophication, d) invasive alien species and e) climate change. Four out of 10 studied regions, namely, the Danube Delta – Razim Lake system, Dniester Liman, Dnieper-South Bug Estuary and Taganrog Bay-Don Delta contain the entire spectrum of ecological conditions to support PC communities and still host threatened endemic PC mollusc species. Distribution data is incomplete, but the scale of deterioration of PC species and communities is evident from the assembled data, as are major direct threats. Main conclusions PC biodiversity in the BSB is profoundly affected by human activities. Standardised observation and collection data as well as precise definition of PC biota and habitats are necessary for targeted conservation actions. This study will help to set the research and policy agenda required to improve data collection to accommodate effective conservation of the unique PC biota.

Lignin is one of the world’s most abundant organic polymers, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate lactonase (LigI) catalyzes the hydrolysis of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC) in the degradation of lignin. The pH has profound effects on enzyme catalysis and therefore we studied this in the context of LigI. We found that changes of the pH mostly affects surface residues, while the residues at the active site are more subject to changes of the surrounding microenvironment. In accordance with this, a high pH facilitates the deprotonation of the substrate. Detailed free energy calculations by the empirical valence bond (EVB) approach revealed that the overall hydrolysis reaction is more likely when the three active site histidines (His31, His33 and His180) are protonated at the ɛ site, however, protonation at the δ site may be favored during specific steps of reaction. Our studies have uncovered the determinant role of the protonation state of the active site residues His31, His33 and His180 in the hydrolysis of PDC.

We investigate the drying process of monodisperse colloidal film over a wide range of Péclet number (Pe) by using the Brownian dynamics simulation. We analyze the detailed process in three aspects; accumulation front, normal stress, and microstructure. The evolution of particle distribution is quantified by tracking the accumulation front. The accumulated particles contribute to the continuous increase of the normal stress at the interface. At the substrate, the normal stress first stays constant and then increases as the accumulation front touches the substrate. We quantitatively analyze the stress development by a scaled normal stress difference between the two boundaries. At all tested Pe, the stress difference increases to the maximum, followed by a decrease during drying. Interestingly, a mismatch is observed between the stress difference maximum and the initial stress increase at the substrate. The microstructural analysis reveals that this mismatch is related to the microstructural development at the substrate.

Objective Determination of lactate in fetal scalp blood (FBS) during labor has been studied since the 1970s. The internationally accepted cut-off of >4.8mmol/L indicating fetal acidaemia is exclusive for the point-of-care device (POC) LactateProTM, which is no longer in production. The aim of this study was to present a new cut-off for scalp lactate based on neonatal outcomes with the use of StatstripLactate®/StatstripXpress® Lactate system, the only POC lactate meter designed for hospital use. Design Observational Study Setting January 2016 to March 2020 labouring women with an indication for FBS were prospectively included from seven Swedish and one Australian delivery unit. Population Inclusion criteria: singleton pregnancy, vertex presentation, ≥35+0 gestational weeks. Method Based on the optimal correlation between FBS lactate and cord pH/lactate, only cases with ≤25 minutes from FBS to delivery were included in the final calculations. Main outcome measures Metabolic acidosis in cord blood was defined as pH <7.05 plus BDecf >10 mmol/L and/or lactate >10 mmol/L. Results 3334 women were enrolled of which 799 were delivered within 25 minutes. The areas under the ROC curves (AUC) and corresponding optimal lactate cut-off values were as follows; metabolic acidosis AUC 0.87(95% CI:0.77-0.97), cut-off 5.7mmol/L; pH <7.0 AUC 0.83(95% CI:0.68-0.97), cut-off 4.6mmol/L; pH <7.05 plus BD ≥12mmol/L AUC 0.97(95% CI:0.92-1), cut-off 5.8mmol/L; Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes AUC 0.74(95% CI:0.63-0.86), cut-off 5.2mmol/L; and pH <7.10 plus composite neonatal outcome AUC 0.76(95% CI:0.67-0.85), cut-off 4.8mmol/L. Conclusions Suggested intervention threshold for fetal acidemia is scalp lactate of 5.2mmol/L using the StatstripLactate®/StatstripXpress®.

Key points • SARS-CoV-2 is a possible cause of acute severe tracheitis in laryngectomees. • In our series, the clinical picture was characterized by a hemorrhagic tracheitis with a slow resolution pattern. • We observed a histological pattern of erosive inflammation of the respiratory epithelium. • Planned tracheo-bronchoscopy and tracheal toilettes are recommended to prevent critical obstruction of the airway, which can be fatal in patients with associated impairment of lung function caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. • The present cases highlight the need for close interdisciplinary working and communication in the management of airway complications of COVID-19 infection.

We herein describe an ingenious centrifugal microfluidic system to accomplish a fully automated serial dilution. The liquid flow on the disc was automatically regulated by utilizing ferrowax microvalves systematically integrated into the channels within the specially designed metering structure. By opening the differently positioned microvalves through irradiation of IR laser to allow metering, the same amount of diluent was serially eluted to the dilution chamber from the same diluent chamber. After dilution, the diluted samples were automatically delivered to the respective final product chambers by appropriately opening or closing the microvalves in the connecting channels, followed by rotating the disc. Based on this unique design principle, six consecutive two-fold and ten-fold dilutions were successfully achieved, yielding excellent accuracy in a wide dynamic range up to six orders of magnitude. Very importantly, the overall serial dilution process, including the diluent addition, mixing, and product transfer steps, was completed very rapidly within five minutes, due to the minimized procedures enabled by the automated actuation of the ferrowax microvalves at the rationally designed positions. The centrifugal microfluidic system would serve as a powerful elemental tool to realize the fully automated diagnostic microsystem involving the serial dilution process.

This work is an extension of applying a previously developed fracture mechanics cracking damage model to predict the fatigue lifetime of un-notched round specimens made of a ferrite-pearlite 0.4C-70/30 carbon steel in some cases of variable amplitude loading VAL. The model simulates the collective behavior of growing short fatigue cracks originating from the specimen surface roughness. Material grains of different phases, sizes and strengths are randomly distributed over the minimum circumference. Possible activities of surface cracks are predicted against loading cycles. Relevant published experimental data were utilized for comparison. The present predictions are in agreement with the corresponding experimental results.

In this paper a new interpretation and modification of the SWT function in terms of the total damaging energy density is proposed and discussed. The total damaging energy density is the sum of the damaging part of the strain energy density and complementary energy density corresponding to the first quadrant in damaging σD-εD axes. For cyclic loading with positive mean stress (σm≥0) the proposed function reduces to the original SWT formulation. For cyclic loading with negative mean stress (σm<0) the maximum stress is augmented by 1/3 of absolute value of the mean stress. The proposed approach shows a consistent correlation of the mean stress effects for both positive and negative mean stresses.

Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the etiological factors and their effects on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with iatrogenic ureteral injury (IUI). Material and Method Twenty-seven patients who underwent surgery because of IUI were evaluated between January 2011 and April 2018. Patients were classified according to the time of diagnosis and the need for reoperation after the urologic intervention. The IUI cases detected during gynecological surgery were called ‘perioperative’ IUI, and those diagnosed late as ‘postoperative’ (delayed) IUI. The IUI type was categorized as ‘cold transection’ due to surgical dissection or ligation and ‘thermal injury’ if it depended on any energy-based surgical device. Results Postoperative diagnosed cases consisted of exclusively after laparoscopic surgery (p=.025). Patients with thermal injury to the ureter were mostly diagnosed postoperatively (p= .021). Patients who underwent endourological intervention, 31.25% (N = 5/16) were diagnosed during gynecologic surgery, and 68.75% (n = 11/16) were diagnosed postoperatively. For open reconstructive surgery, these rates were observed to be 72.72% (n = 8/11) and 27.28% (n = 3/11), respectively (p=.034). IUI was due to thermal injury in all patients who developed complications after the urological intervention (p = .046), and the first urological intervention was endoscopic double loop stenting (p = .005). One of these patients was diagnosed in the perioperative period and seven in the postoperatively (p = .016). Conclusion Treatment success rates are low in patients who underwent endourological intervention after thermal IUI. Therefore, surgical techniques in which the traumatic ureter segment is excised should be preferred to avoid complications. Key Words Ureter, Iatrogenic, Thermal Injury, Iatrogenic Ureteral Injury, Endourological Intervention.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the clinical efficiency of Narrow Band-Ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy and methotrexate (MTX) therapy and their effects on serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in patients with cutaneous lichen planus (CLP). Methods: The present cohort study was carried out on 60 patients with CLP who attended the Out-patient Clinics of the Dermatology, Department, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University between May 2018 and December 2019.The included patients were indiscriminately classified into two treatment groups; group A (30 patients), received NB-UVB phototherapy for three months and group B (30 patients), received MTX therapy for three months. All the patients were assessed clinically and TNF-α before and after treatments. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of treatment regard clinical improvement after treatment (P=0.149). Regarding levels of TNF-α, there was a statistically significant difference between the two treatment groups after treatment (P=0.024). There was a statistically significant reduction in TNF-α level after treatment in the MTX group. Conclusion: This study concluded that NB-UVB phototherapy and MTX therapy were clinically effective in the treatment of patients with CLP. MTX therapy was more efficient in the reduction of TNF-α level than NB-UVB phototherapy in patients with CLP.

To predict the fractured rock failure under deep triaxial stress in advance, the true triaxial tests were carried out using thermal infrared monitoring and acoustic emission (AE). This paper proposes “infrared temperature jumping rate (ITJR)” to reflect the “jumpiness” of the temperature field matrix, and establishes an infrared advance prediction method. The results show that the high temperature area will converge and expand gradually, and cracks propagate along a certain direction. In the sudden temperature reduction area, the rock stripping is easy to occur. At the boundary between high-low temperature areas, it is easy to produce breakage cracks and form rock spalling. In the short quiet period, the rock gradually gathers strain energy, which will be released in the fracture period. By comparing the time of AE sudden increase with the time of ITJR mutation, it shows that the method has a good advance prediction effect for rock fracture.

Background: Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) is characterized by acute and reversible left ventricular dysfunction with apical ballooning arising during acute stress situations. Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) is one of the known triggers to TTS, however, the impact of TTS on in-hospital outcomes of AIS remains unexplored. Methods: We utilized data from the National Inpatient Sample (2007-2014) and using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes to identify admissions for AIS with TTS and evaluated the temporal trends, baseline characteristics, in-hospital complications, length of stay (LOS) and all-cause mortality. Survey multivariable logistic regression was used to compute adjusted Odds Ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: An estimated 2,242 (0.4%) TTS cases were identified among AIS hospitalizations (N=43,92,471). The frequency of TTS was higher in elderly, whites and females (82.2%). After adjustment for confounders, TTS incidence in AIS was associated with higher odds of in-hospital complications including cardiogenic shock (OR8.84, CI:4.07-19.17, p<0.001), cardiac arrest (OR3.17, CI:1.57-6.42, p=0.001), and venous thromboembolism (OR1.68, CI:1.14-2.47, p=0.008). Moreover, AIS hospitalizations with TTS showed higher odds of developing respiratory failure (OR3.13, CI:2.42-4.05, p<0.001) and required mechanical ventilation/intubation (OR4.09, CI:3.14-5.32, p<0.001) more frequently compared to non-TTS cohort. The AIS-TTS cohort had longer LOS (8.59 vs 5.22 days) and the mortality was doubled (10.2% vs 5.1% p<0.001) compared to those without TTS. Conclusion: The prevalence of TTS in AIS remained ~20 times higher than the general inpatient population and it predisposed AIS patients to worse inpatient outcomes. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of TTS on long-term outcomes in AIS.

Aims: To assess the effect of oral anticoagulant (OAC) administration on incidence of dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with Systematic review and meta-analysis in according with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols. Methods: We systematically searched the electronic databases including Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane library, and ClinicalTrails.gov for relevant articles. The primary outcome was the incidence of dementia. The adjusted risk ratio (RR), odds ratio, or hazard ratio were extracted and pooled by the random-effects models. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the setting observational window. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, while publication bias was assessed by the Begg’s and Egger’s tests. Results: Nine studies included in this review (2 prospective and 7 retrospective observational studies, including 613,920 patients). The results presented the significant association between OAC therapy and the reduced risk of dementia compared with no treatment (RR [95%CI] =0.72 [0.60, 0.86], I2=97.2%; P =0.000). In the subgroup analysis, the pooled RR became statistically non-significant (including four studies, RR [95%CI] =0.75 [0.51, 1.10], I2=98.8%; P =0.000). There is no significant risk of bias and publication bias. Conclusions: This study indicated the protective effect of OAC therapy for dementia in patients with AF. However, the results are limited because of high heterogeneity, inconsistent direction of effect in subgroup analysis. Further prospective well-designed study is needed with longer follow-up duration in younger patients.

Understanding the neutral (demographic) and adaptive processes leading to the differentiation of species and populations is a critical component of evolutionary and conservation biology. In this context, recently diverged taxa represent a unique opportunity to study the process of genetic differentiation. Northern and southern Idaho ground squirrels (Urocitellus brunneus – NIDGS, and U. endemicus - SIDGS, respectively) are a recently diverged pair of sister species that have undergone dramatic declines in the last 50 years and are currently found in metapopulations across restricted spatial areas with distinct environmental pressures. Here we genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from buccal swabs with restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq). With these data we evaluated neutral genetic structure at both the inter- and intra-specific level, and identified putatively adaptive SNPs using population structure outlier and genotype-environment association (GEA) analyses. At the interspecific level, we found a clear separation between NIDGS and SIDGS, and evidence for adaptive differentiation relating to differences in hibernation. At the intraspecific level, we identified 3 Evolutionarily Significant Units for NIDGS and 2 for SIDGS plus multiple Management and Adaptive Units. Elevation appears to be the main driver of adaptive differentiation in NIDGS, while neutral variation patterns match and extend that identified in previous studies using microsatellite markers. For SIDGS, neutral substructure generally reflected the effect of natural geographic barriers, while adaptive variation reflected differences in land cover and temperature. These results clearly highlight the roles of neutral and adaptive processes for understanding species and population differentiation, which can have important conservation implications in threatened species.

Temperature is an important climatic factor that shapes the distribution of eurythermal species. Thermal adaptation of species is important to both evolutionary biology and climate-change biology because it frequently leads to latitudinal gradients of various phenotypes among populations. Spotted sea bass (Lateolabrax maculatus) has a broad latitudinal distribution range along the marginal seas of the Northwest Pacific, providing an excellent teleost model for climate adaptation studies. We generated over 8.57 million SNP loci using whole genome re-sequencing from 100 samples collected at 14 geographic loci. We built the phylogeographic structure and demographic history of L. maculatus and determined sea surface temperature as the key environmental factor and major driving force for genetic divergence and local adaptation. We also identified distinct selective signatures and functional genes underlying adaptive mechanisms and ecological tradeoffs in the southernmost and northernmost populations inhabiting distinct climatic and latitudinal zones. The results offer an opportunity to better understand the genetic basis of the phenotypic variation in eurythermal fishes inhabiting different climatic regions.

Suitable conditions for high-value compounds hyperaccumulation are the most challenging approach in Arthrospira platensis. In the current study, the co-production of specialty pigments and high-value metabolites was investigated with a varying concentration of well-known and candidate metabolic stressors in Arthrospira platensis. Supplementing Arthrospira platensis with a minimum of 0.50% of Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and a maximum of 2% of aspartate (ASP) increased Phycocyanin productivity by 83.36 and 64.77 percent, respectively. However, a maximum of 1.50% of MSG and a minimum of 0.50% ASP increased carotenoid content by 188.80 and 68.97 percent, respectively. These observations, coupled with those showing supplemented ASP stimulate unsaturated fatty acid accumulation, possibly through enhanced de novo biosynthesis, and essential amino acid biosynthesis to a greater extent in Arthrospira platensis. A network correlation analysis also indicated the distinct metabolite abundance and the corresponding associated metabolic networks linked to pigment production in Arthrospira platensis.

Measuring the concentration and viability of yeast cells is an important and fundamental procedure in scientific research and industrial fermentation. In consideration of the drawbacks of manual cell counting, large quantities of yeast cells require methods that provide easy, objective, and reproducible high-throughput calculations, especially for samples in complicated backgrounds. To answer this challenge, we explored and developed an easy-to-use yeast cell counting pipeline that combined the machine learning-based ilastik tool with the freeware ImageJ, as well as a conventional photomicroscope. Briefly, learning from labels provided by the user, ilastik performs segmentation and classification automatically in batch processing mode for large numbers of images and thus discriminates yeast cells from complex backgrounds. The files processed through ilastik can be recognized by ImageJ, which can set up customizable parameters based on cell size, perimeter, roundness and so on. In this work, we programmed an ImageJ macro, “Yeast Counter”, to compute the numeric results of yeast cells for automatic batch processing. Taking the yeast Cryptococccus deneoformans as an example, we observed that the customizable software algorithm for yeast counting with ilastik and ImageJ reduced inter-operator errors significantly and achieved accurate and objective results in the spotting test, while manual counting with a haemocytometer exhibited some errors between repeats and required more time. In summary, a convenient, rapid, reproducible and extremely low-cost method to count yeast cells is described here that can be applied to multiple kinds of yeasts in genetics, cell biology and industrial fermentation.

Background: Sinoatrial node dysfunction and atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently coexist and interact with each other, often to initiate and perpetuate each other. Objective: To determine the effect of AF on the incidence and risk of sick sinus syndrome (SSS). Methods: The association of incident AF with the development of incident SSS was assessed from 2004 to 2013 in 302,229 SSS- and pacemaker-free participants aged ≥60 years in the Korea National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort. Results: During an observation period of 1,854,800 person-years, incident AF was observed in a total of 12,797 participants (0.69%/year). The incidence of SSS was 0.2 and 3.4 per 1000 person-years in the incident AF and the propensity score matched no-AF groups, respectively. After adjustment, the risk of SSS caused by incident AF was significantly increased, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 13.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.4–21.4). This finding was consistently observed after censoring for heart failure (HR, 16.0; 95% CI: 9.2–28.0) or heart failure/myocardial infarction (HR, 16.6; 95% CI: 9.3-29.7). Incident AF also was associated with an increased risk of pacemaker implantation related with both SSS (HR, 21.8; 95% CI: 8.7–18.4) and atrioventricular (AV) block (HR, 9.5; 95% CI: 4.9–18.4). These results were consistent regardless of sex and comorbidities. Conclusion: Incident AF was associated with more than ten times increased risk of SSS in an elderly population regardless of comorbidities. Risk of pacemaker implantations related with both sinus node dysfunction and AV block were increased in elderly population with incident AF.

Food-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Cambodia. The control program for FMD has relied on vaccination, with poor vaccination uptake by smallholder farmers an increasing concern. A study to improve the understanding of farmer knowledge, attitudes and practices of FMD and FMD vaccination was conducted in two Cambodian provinces. The aim was to identify opportunities to improve the disease control programs provided by both the government and private sectors. The survey comprised 300 smallholder farmers using a one-on-one interview technique. Results identified that over two-thirds of the respondent farmers had not vaccinated their cattle over two years. Of those who did, most cattle were vaccinated either once a year or once every three years. A booster had never been administered. FMD outbreaks occurred every year during the study period, with a morbidity rate of over 30%. Isolation of first infected cattle from the household herd was not practiced, with treatment identified as the first preference intervention. Farmers often assisted other farmers to restrain and treat infected cattle both before (57%) and after (43%) their own cattle were infected. This indicated that most farmers did not practice basic biosecurity measures and chose to report FMD outbreaks to the village animal health workers (VAHW), friends, neighbors, and relatives in preference to government officials. It was concluded that poor knowledge of disease transmission and biosecurity, with low FMD vaccination coverage and a focus on treatment, contribute to regular FMD outbreaks in these communities. Improvement of FMD control requires the cooperation of villagers, VAHWs, and village leaders in disease reporting, with either improved funding of government vaccination services or private FMD vaccination service. Training programs for farmers on disease transmission, and the importance of biosecurity and vaccination, including information on the cost-benefits of treatment versus full fee bi-annual FMD vaccination, are required.

Background: The detection rate of congenital heart defects is barely acceptable. Since 2016, the French National Conference on Obstetrical and Foetal Ultrasound updated its recommendations by the inclusion of an examination of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Objectives: This study aimed on the one hand to evaluate the practices related to the realization of the LVOT in the setting of fetal echocardiography in low-risk populations, and on the other hand to study the possible modifications of the practices secondary to the introduction of quality criteria. Study Design: We conducted a multicentric, retrospective and prospective, descriptive, longitudinal study divided into three distinct periods: before 2016, in 2017, and in 2020. Seven quality criteria were investigated and rated from 0 to 1 for LVOT screening. Files were randomly selected from three centers, then average total and specific scores were calculated. Results: LVOT images were present in ultrasound reports in more than 93% of cases. Before 2016, the average quality score was 5.49/7 (95% CI: 5.36-5.62), in 2017 5.91/7 (95% CI: 5.80-6.03), and in 2020 5.70/7 (95% CI: 5.58-5.82) for the three centers. There was no significant difference following the introduction of the quality criteria; 2017 vs. 2020, p = 0.054. Kappa coefficients of the inter- and intra-operator variables were all within 0.601 and 1. Conclusion: Left ventricular outflow tract images were present in most of ultrasound reports. The introduction of the proposed quality criteria is not associated with a significant change in practice.

Plexiform schwannoma mainly presented as an asymptomatic nodule located on the head, neck, or upper extremities. The presentation of this tumor on the dorsum of the foot is very rare. Herein, we report a rare case of pretty large plexiform schwannoma on the toe of a male patient.

Forest transition theory posits that socioeconomic development in a country or region may cause its forestland to shift from net loss to net gain. However, forest transition may also occur under various policies, resulting in forest gains in some regions but deforestation in other regions. We used the telecoupling framework to address this crucially important issue that has rarely been examined. Using time series satellite images and statistical yearbook data from 2000 to 2020, this study seeks to understand land use change patterns, the corresponding regional spillover effects, and driving forces behind such patterns in Zhejiang Province, China. The results show that large-scale continuous deforestation has taken place since 2000, causing a total loss of forestland by 186,014 ha. In parallel with this forest loss and a slight decrease in arable land, urban construction land has soared by 169.45%. We found that developed municipalities such as Hangzhou witnessed increases in urban land at the expense of large-scale deforestation in underdeveloped municipalities such as Lishui. We believe that this cross-region land change pattern may arise from the Balance of Arable Land System (BALS) policy that seeks to achieve a goal of no net loss of cropland. Whatever land use policy—such as the BALS policy—must strike a good balance between competitive land uses that have different objectives such as residents’ living, ecology, and production. In addition to enriching the forest transition theory, this study provides a solid basis for future land use decisions in developing regions or countries.

The present paper investigates the variability in the static and cyclic properties of two nominally identical supplies of the aeronautical Al grade 7075-T6. Samples were extracted from extruded bars of 15 mm and 60 mm diameter and with slightly different chemical composition. Noticeable differences were found in tensile strength, total elongation, low- and high-cycle fatigue strength, despite the nearly identical hardness value. The diverse mechanical behavior has been imputed to different extrusion ratio and therefore work hardening along with a more or less fine distribution of precipitates and dispersoids. The high-cycle fatigue strength was found to be in direct correlation with the monotonic yield strength and the size of the largest intermetallic precipitate. A simple equation based on Murakami sqrt(area) parameter is proposed to predict the fatigue endurance. Tensile tests and microstructural analyses are recommended instead of conventional hardness tests to have a tighter quality control on the mechanical properties of semifinished products.

Research data derived from observational studies are accumulating quickly in the field of allergy and immunology and a large amount of observational studies are published every year. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the adherence to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist by papers published in the three European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology journals, during the period 2009-2018. To this end, we conducted a bibliographic study of up to eight randomly selected papers per year per Journal. Our literature search resulted in 223 papers. Among those, 80, 80 and 63 records were from Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Allergy and Clinical and Translational Allergy, respectively; the latter was published only from 2011 on. Prospective, case-control, and cross-sectional designs were described in 88, 43, and 92 papers, respectively. Full reporting of all STROBE items was present in 47.4%, 45.6%, and 41.2% for the cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies, respectively. Generally, no time trend in adherence of reporting STROBE items was observed, apart from reporting funding, which increased from 60% in 2009/2010 to more than 90% in 2018. We identified a cluster of STROBE items with low proportions of full reporting constituted by the items on reporting study design in the title and methods, variables types along with their measurement/assessment, bias and confounding, study size, and grouping of variables. It appears that the STROBE checklist is a suitable tool in observational allergy epidemiology. However, adherence to the STROBE checklist appeared suboptimal.