The Niwot Ridge and Green Lakes Valley (NWT) long-term ecological research (LTER) site collects environmental observations spanning both alpine and subalpine regimes. The first observations began in 1952 and have since expanded to nearly 300 available datasets over an area of 99 km2 within the north-central Colorado Rocky Mountains that include hydrological (n = 101), biological (n = 79), biogeochemical (n = 62), and geographical (n = 56) observations. The NWT LTER database is well suited to support hydrologic investigations that require long-term and interdisciplinary data sets. Experimentation and data collection at the NWT LTER are designed to characterize ecological responses of high-mountain environments to changes in climate, nutrients, and water availability. In addition to the continuation of the many legacy NWT datasets, expansion of the breadth and utility of the NWT LTER database is driven by new initiatives including (a) a catchment-scale sensor network of soil moisture, temperature, humidity, and snow-depth observations to understand hydrologic connectivity and (b) snow-albedo alteration experiments using black carbon to evaluate the effects of snow-disappearance on ecosystems. Together, these observational and experimental datasets provide a substantial foundation for hydrologic studies seeking to understand and predict changes to catchment and local-scale process interactions.

In May 2020, Deng et al. (2020) published their article providing the evidence that no SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies were detected in 1,914 samples which excluded the possibility of 35 animal species as intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2 in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. In order to ensure the stability of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in storage serum samples, we strongly suggest that standard serum banks should be established.

This article is devoted to study the nonlinear Schr\”{o}dinger-Poisson system with pure power nonlinearities $$ \left\{\begin{array}{ll} -\Delta u+u+ \phi u=|u|^{p-1}u+|u|^4u, &x\in \mathbb{R}^3, \\[0.3cm] -\Delta\phi= u^2, &x\in \mathbb{R}^3, \end{array} \right. $$ where $4< p<5$. By employing constraint variational method and a variant of the classical deformation lemma, we show the existence of one ground state sign-changing solution with precisely two nodal domains, which complements the recent work of Wang et al. \cite{Wang2019}.

Biological invasions have long fascinated ecologists as they fundamentally alter ecological communities, often in surprising ways. The demography of interacting native and exotic populations are core drivers of invasion impact. Demographic models estimate the strength of species interactions but have several shortcomings, often ignoring positive interactions and focusing only on competition, disregarding individual-level variance in demographic parameters, and focusing on one exotic species at a time. In this study, we investigate the fitness outcomes of eleven native and exotic species from a diverse annual plant community in Western Australia. We use a Bayesian demographic modelling approach that integrates demographic variation. Positive effects of exotic species played an integral role in the invaded community, but demographic variation caused many species interaction outcomes to vary from positive to negative, regardless of abiotic conditions. Our approach reveals variation that could be responsible for the diverse and unexpected impacts of exotic species on recipient communities.

Improving our ability to detect changes in terrestrial and aquatic systems is a grand challenge in the environmental sciences. In a world experiencing increasingly rapid rates of climate change and ecosystem transformation, our ability to understand and predict how, when, where and why changes occur is essential for adapting and mitigating human behaviors. In this context, long-term field research infrastructures have a fundamentally important role to play. For northern boreal landscapes, the Krycklan Catchment Study (KCS) has supported monitoring and research aimed at revealing these changes since it was initiated in 1980. Early studies focused on forest regeneration and microclimatic conditions, nutrient balances and forest hydrology, which included monitoring climate variables, water balance components, and stream water chemistry. The research infrastructure has expanded over the years to encompass a 6790 ha catchment, which currently includes 10 gauged streams, ca. 1000 soil lysimeters, 150 groundwater wells, >500 permanent forest inventory plots, and a 150 meter tall tower (a combined ecosystem-atmosphere station; ICOS, Integrated Carbon Observation System) for measurements of atmospheric gas concentrations and biosphere-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and energy. In addition to field infrastructures, the KCS has also been the focus of numerous high resolution multi-spectral LiDAR measurements. This large collection of equipment and data generation supports a range of disciplinary studies, but more importantly fosters multi-, trans-, and interdisciplinary research opportunities. The KCS attracts a broad collection of scientists, including biogeochemists, ecologists, foresters, geologists, hydrologists, limnologists, soil scientists and social scientists, and many others bringing their knowledge and experience to the site. The combination of long-term monitoring, shorter-term research projects, and large-scale experiments, including manipulations of climate and various forest management practices have contributed much to our understanding of the boreal landscapes functioning, while also supporting the development of models and guidelines for research, policy and management.

The waters downstream from the Gezhouba Dam are the only spawning grounds of the Chinese sturgeon. To optimize the flow conditions in the spawning grounds by controlling the opening mode of the Gezhouba Dam generator units, a mathematical model of the three-dimensional hydrodynamics of the Chinese sturgeon spawning grounds was established in FLOW-3D. The model was verified with velocity measurements, and the results were in good agreement. Additionally, the model was used to invert the flow field of monitoring results from 2016-2019, and it was concluded that the preferred velocity range for the Chinese sturgeon was 0.6-1.5 m/s. The flow fields of different opening modes of the generator units were simulated with the same flow rate, and the results showed that the suitable velocity area was the largest when all units of the Dajiang Plant of the Gezhouba Dam were open and that conditions were especially favourable on the left side. Comparison of the suitable velocity area with different flow rates showed that when the flow rate was less than 12000 m3/s, more than 90% of the area was suitable and that when the flow rate was greater than 12000 m3/s, the suitable area decreased rapidly with increasing flow rate. Moreover, the suitable areas under different opening modes under high-flow conditions were compared, and the results showed that at flow rates of 12000 ~ 15000 m3/s, opening 11~13 units on the left side was best. When the flow rate reached 15000 m3/s, it was best to open all of the units. In this paper, the optimal opening scheme at different flow rates was analysed, and the results provide new ideas for Chinese sturgeon protection and ecosystem protection.

Background Video fluoroscopy swallow studies (VFSS) are considered gold standard for the diagnosis of aspiration in children but require resources and radiation compared to clinical feeding evaluation (CFE). We evaluated their added value for diagnosis, feeding management and clinical status. Methods A retrospective single-center cohort study of children aged 0-18 years, referred for VFSS at a tertiary pediatric hospital. Results 113 children, median age (range) 2.2 years (0.1-17.9) successfully completed VFSS. Forty-six (41%) had oropharyngeal aspiration, 9 (8%) overt alone and 37 (33%) including silent aspirations. Underlying medical conditions included clinically suspected aspiration lung disease (ALD), 87 (77%); neurologic disease, 73 (64%); gastrointestinal disease, 73 (64%) and congenital heart disease, 42 (37%), not mutually exclusive. Those with ALD or cerebral palsy were more likely to have aspiration by VFSS, OR 3.2 and 9.8 respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of CFE for VFSS diagnosis of aspiration were 71% and 84% respectively. Feeding recommendations after VFSS differed significantly from those based on prior CFE, p<0.001: The rate of exclusively orally fed children increased from 65% to 79%, p=0.006 and exclusively enterally fed children from 10% to 14%; p=0.005. During the following year, there were significantly less antibiotic courses, as well as total and respiratory admissions. Conclusions In this population of children with a high prevalence of clinically suspected ALD, VFSS refined diagnosis and altered feeding management compared to CFE, with subsequent clinical improvement.

In this paper, the main work is to study the N-soliton solutions for the derivative nonlinear Schrodinger hierarchy. Then, the matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem is constructed for this integrable hierarchy by analyzing the spectral problem of the Lax pair. Based on the scattering relationship, the N-soliton solutions for this system are given explicitly.

The evolution of individual crystals of ellipsoidal shape in supercooled one-component and binary melts as well as in supersaturated solutions is studied theoretically. The crystal volume growth rate is derived using the prolate ellipsoidal coordinates. We show that this rate is a function of the current crystal volume and supercooling/supersaturation of the ambient liquid. Also, we demonstrate that the particle growth rate increases with increasing the volume of ellipsoidal crystals and supercooling.

We study two problems of determining the kernel of the integral terms in a parabolic integro-differential equation. In the first problem the kernel depends on time t and x = (x₁, …, xn) spatial variables in the multidimensional integro-differential equation of heat conduction. In the second problem the kernel it is determined from one dimensional integro-differential heat equation with a time-variable coefficient of thermal conductivity. In both cases it is supposed that the initial condition for this equation depends on a parameter y = (y₁, …, yn) and the additional condition is given with respect to a solution of direct problem on the hyperplanes x = y. It is shown that if the unknown kernel has the form k(x, t) =∑i=oNai(x)bi(t), then it can be uniquely determined.

In this paper, we deal with the blow-up analysis of the porous media equation system with non-local boundary conditions. By constructing appropriate auxiliary functions and using differential inequality techniques, we show that under certain conditions, the solution will blow-up in finite time. We also draw the upper and lower bounds of blow-up time. In addition, an example is given to verify the obtained results.

We report 2 imported cases of COVID 19 in patients with type 1 diabetes. The viral shedding duration was 18 and 22 days in the two cases. Both patients had maintained correct blood glucose levels without ketoacidosis decompensation with regular medical follow-up by telephone.

Mucinous cystic neoplasm of the liver is a rare slow-growing lesion accounting for less than 5% of all hepatic cystic neoplasms. Differential diagnosis from other cystic lesions remains challenging despite progress achieved in the radiological modalities. Only histopathological examination of the surgical specimen establishes with certainty the diagnosis.

We report a rare percutaneous intervention to the Left Anterior Descending (LAD) and Right Coronary Artery (RCA) bifurcation in a 77 year old with anomalous origin of the RCA from mid LAD and Medina 1,1,1 bifurcation disease. The LAD/RCA bifurcation lesion was successfully treated using Mini crush technique.

Diseases bring about the need for interventions that pinpoint each specific aspect of the illness. Commonly, remission of a complex disease is accomplished by mixing treatments, medications, and therapeutics together in a fashion where they may interact with each other negatively as a systemic heterogeneous mixture. For example, chronic wounds are very localized and have their own complex environment where tissue deconstruction due to high levels of multiple proteases, such as HNE and MMP-2, outweighs tissue reconstruction. This idea leads to the necessity of a protein that contains low diffusivity rates for localized treatment, strength against high concentrations of proteolytic species that lead to degradation of short chain peptides, while encompassing broad inhibitory effects against multiple proteases. Elastin-Like Peptides (ELP’s) are an attractive, thermoresponsive, protein-based drug delivery partner as they contain low diffusivity and serve as a stable architecture for short chain peptide fusion. A novel elastin-like peptide-based protein has been created to target the inhibition of both HNE and MMP-2. As a biologic, this is unique as it is a protein with specific biological activities against multiple proteases, ultimately displaying the potential to mix and match differing biologically active peptides within one amino acid sequence.

Devic’s Optic neuromyelitis (OND) is a rare central nervous system inflammation resulting in optic neuritis and/or myelitis. The discovery of a highly specific serum autoantibody biomarker for the diagnosis has triggered a great interest to conduct further researches regarding this disease. Its association to Tuberculosi (TB) is very rare.

Proposal for safe eradication therapy of Helicobacter pylori in patients with porphyria Tadayuki Takata, MD, PhDa,b*, Yohei Kokudo, MDc, Asahiro Morishita, MD, PhDd, Kodai Kume, MD, PhDb, Tatsuo Yachida, MD, PhDd, Masaki Kamada, MD, PhDc, Hideki Kobara, MD, PhDd, Kazushi Deguchi, MD, PhDb, Tetsuo Touge, MD, PhDe, Hisashi Masugata, MD, PhDa, Tsutomu Masaki, MD, PhDd

We found no significant differences in platelet function in patients with severe HA in prophylactic treatment before and after FVIII infusion. After FVIII administration, patients presented fewer endothelial microvesicles, indicating that the treatment does not increase one of the possible thrombotic risk markers of these patients.

A document by Ying Chui Hong. Click on the document to view its contents.

Sacubitril/valsartan: potential impact of ARNi “beyond the Wall” of ACE2 on treatment and prognosis of heart failure patients with COVID-19Speranza Rubattu 1,2, Giovanna Gallo1, Massimo Volpe 1,21 Cardiology Unit, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy.2 IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (IS), ItalyRunning title: ARNi and COVID-19 in HFrEFTotal word count (excluding references): 835Corresponding address:Speranza Rubattu, M.D.Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine,School of Medicine and Psychology,Sapienza University of Rome;IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (Isernia), Italye-mail: speranzadonatella.rubattu@uniroma1.itFrom the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and of its related COVID-19 outbreak, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), probably the most “unloved and neglected” member of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) family, has attracted increasing attention since it has been shown as the cell receptor through which the virus enters into the cells (Iaccarino, Grassi et al., 2020).The physiological action of ACE2 consists in degrading angiotensin II (Ang II) to angiotensin (1-7), a heptapeptide with a potent vasodilator function through the Mas receptor able to counterbalance the Ang II effects on vasoconstriction, sodium retention, and fibrosis (Gallagher, Ferrario et al., 2014).Previous studies have shown that angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) blockers (ARBs), ACE inhibitors (ACEI) and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA) may up-regulate the expression of ACE2 both in acute and chronic settings of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as hypertension, heart failure (HF) and myocardial infarction (MI) (Gallagher, Ferrario et al., 2014).These data have generated concern during the early phases of the pandemic, since it has been speculated that the increase in ACE2 level may have contributed to disease virulence and to adverse outcomes particularly in those subjects affected by chronic coexisting CVDs who commonly received treatment with RAAS inhibitors and who were characterized by a worse clinical course (Iaccarino, Grassi et al., 2020).On the other hand, it has been observed that the binding between coronavirus and ACE2 leads toACE2 downregulation, resulting in an unopposed production of angiotensin II by ACE, contributing to lung damage as a consequence of AT1R mediated inflammation, fibrosis, thrombosis, vasoconstriction and increased vascular permeability. According to these findings, RAAS inhibitors and in particular ARBs may even protect against COVID-19 acute lung injury (Iaccarino, Grassi et al., 2020). As a matter of fact, epidemiological studies conducted in large populations of COVID-19 patients demonstrated that ARBs or ACEI had no association with a severe or fatal course of the disease (Iaccarino, Grassi et al., 2020).In such a context, natriuretic peptides (NPs), which include atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), along with their N-terminal counterparts, may play an important protective role in COVID-19 disease. NPs are released as a consequence of increased volume overload and myocytes stress and, through their vasorelaxant, diuretic and natriuretic effects, are able to counterbalance RAAS and sympathetic nervous system actions, ultimately regulating blood pressure, electrolytes and water homeostasis (Volpe, Rubattu et al, 2014). At the vascular level, NPs reduce cellular growth and proliferation, preserving endothelial function and integrity as well as vascular tone, and they oppose blood clotting, inflammation, angiogenesis and atherosclerosis progression (Volpe, Rubattu et al, 2014). Besides their well-described systemic haemodynamic and autocrine/paracrine functions within the cardiovascular system, NPs play an important protective role in the lungs. It fact, ANP is able to reduce lung endothelial permeability caused by inflammation and oxidative stress, avoiding the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome and improving arterial oxygenation during mechanical ventilation. According to these evidences, it has been proposed that COVID-19 patients with deficiencies in the NP system, mainly obese and black subjects, may have an increased risk of developing severe lung complications.A bidirectional interaction between ANP and ACE2 has been demonstrated in experimental models. ANP, through cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) production, inhibited the Ang II-mediated decrease of ACE2 mRNA synthesis. On the other hand, Ang-(1-7), the product of ACE2 activity, stimulated ANP secretion (Gallagher, Ferrario et al., 2014).In such a context, a field of great interest is represented by the potential impact on the clinical course of the COVID-19 disease and on its outcome of a treatment with sacubitril/valsartan (S/V), a member of the new pharmacological class of AT1R/neprilysin inhibitors (ARNi) and currently recognized as a cornerstone of the therapeutic management of HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). With regard to the trend of different NPs levels after the initiation of S/V, NT-proBNP level decreases as a consequence of the improvement of cardiac function; BNP level slightly increases due to its relatively low affinity to neprilysin, whereas ANP level consistently and substantially increases, mediating most of the benefits of neprilysin inhibition (Ibrahim, McCarthy et al., 2019).According to these evidences, an approach based on early administration of S/V has been proposed in the therapeutic management of COVID-19 hospitalized patients (Acanfora, Ciccone at al., 2020). This intriguing hypothesis appears devoid of any practical value in non CVD patients, due to the undesirable haemodynamic effects of this drug and to the lack of indication for S/V administration in the absence of HFrEF.In our opinion, a more specific and rational approach to test the expected beneficial role of S/V would be to retrospectively investigate in existing registries of hospitalized COVID-19 patients whether, among subjects affected by HFrEF, those who were treated with S/V presented a lower disease incidence, a better prognosis and clinical course, compared to patients who received other medications, including ACEI/ARBs. A call to action is required to test the potential benefits of S/V in HFrEF patients affected by COVID-19 through new prospective randomized clinical trials.

COVID-19 related pneumonia overlaps with ACS, one of the most common acute presentations in SCD patients.We present a case of 22-year-old SCD patient presented to the emergency department with mild respiratory symptoms turned out to be COVID-19 positive and received red blood cell exchange to avoid the possibility of deterioration.

An 80 year old woman underwent vitrectomy for recurrent uveitis, demonstrating lymphocytic vitreous fluid. Less than a month later skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma. Chemotherapy with SMILE (steroid - dexamethasone, methotrexate, ifosfamide, L-asparaginase, and etoposide) was poorly tolerated despite reduced doses, while pembrolizumab was ineffective.

TAR syndrome is a rare congenital disorder whose genetic bases have remained unclear for many years. It has now been understood that the disease is caused by the compound inheritance of a rare null allele (usually the 1q21.1 deletion) and a low-frequency hypomorphic noncoding single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in RBM8A gene. Nevertheless, only a limited set of variants has been identified so far. A recent report of Boussion et al. described four novel RBM8A noncoding SNPs (i.e., 1) c.205 + 3_205 + 6del, 2) c.206 − 13C>A, 3) c. − 19G>T, and 4) c.*6C>G) increasing the mutational spectrum of TAR syndrome. Here, based on the recently published manuscript by Boussion et al., we report data regarding an additional African TAR patient carrying the 1q21.1q21.2 deletion in trans with the 3’UTR (c.*6C>G) variant. Present data further confirm the pathogenic role of this hypomorphic SNP and highlights its relevance in the African population, leading to advice geneticists to directly search for the c.*6C>G variant in African patients affected by TAR syndrome and carrying the 1q21.1 deletion, shortening the diagnostic time window.

We report the clinical and laboratory coagulation characteristics of 27 pediatric and young adult patients (2 months to 21 years) treated for symptomatic COVID-19 at a children’s hospital in the Bronx, New York between March 1 and May 31, 2020. D-Dimer was > 0.5 ug/mL (upper limit of normal) in 25 (93%) patients at admission; 11 (41%) developed peak D-Dimer > 5 ug/mL during admission. Seven (26%) patients developed venous thromboembolism: three with deep vein thrombosis and four with pulmonary embolism. Requirement of increased ventilatory support was a risk factor for thrombosis (p=0.006). Three of eight (38%) patients on prophylactic anticoagulation developed thrombosis, however no patients developed VTE on low molecular weight heparin prophylaxis titrated to anti-Xa level. Manifestation of COVID-19 disease was severe or critical in 16 (59%) patients. Four (15%) patients died of COVID-19 complications: all had comorbidities. Elevated D-dimer and increased VTE rate were observed in this young cohort, particularly in those with severe respiratory complications suggesting thrombotic coagulopathy. More data is needed to guide thromboprophylaxis in this age group.