SARS COV-2 and its related disease COVID 19 has led to a major global pandemic and in absence of no known effective therapeutic agents against it, virus is having a free run. Sequence analyses, homology modelling and docking have suggested potential drugs which can be used against this virus. Sofosubivir is a direct-acting antiviral agent with NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitory activity used in management of Hepatitis-C infection. This drug has potential role in managing this viral disease. Safety and efficacy of this drug is already established in patients of Hepatitis-C where it is given for long periods of time. Favourable pharmacokinetic profile of this drug also favors it use in this infection. This report summarises information available which can be explored further in clinical trials.

Aim: Till date, no proven treatment exists for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), though different types of treatment modalities are being practiced around the world. Small-scale convalescent plasma (CP) therapies from COVID-19 recovered donors have shown favorable results with fewer adverse consequences. In this systematic review, we aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of CP as a therapy for COVID-19. Methods: The English language databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were searched upto 22 May 2020. Eligibility for inclusion, risk of bias assessment, and data extraction from the included studies was determined and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: A total of 12 studies were selected for review. The overall risks of bias was high. The results revealed that the initiation of CP therapy during the early stages of viremia was significant in a safety and efficacy viewpoint. The patients were also receiving concomitant drugs and other supportive therapies in 10 studies. Viral loads were documented to decrease and become negative in 8 studies within 3-26 days post-transfusion. The improvement in clinical symptoms following CP therapy was demonstrated in 9 studies. Most of the patients experienced very few adverse effects. There were a total of 622 mortalities out of 5079 patients in total studies. Conclusions: The rational practice of CP therapy based on a risk-benefit judgment can prove to be an efficacious therapeutic option until the approval of any therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent(s), though substantial randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are necessary to validate the effectiveness of such therapy.

Aims: The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of oral alendronate for individuals with osteoporosis. We also assessed the impact of medication compliance and persistence on economic outcomes of alendronate, and potential economic evaluations of persistence-enhancing interventions. Methods: We constructed an individual-level state-transition model to project health outcomes and costs of oral alendronate for Chinese postmenopausal osteoporotic women. The impact of medication compliance and persistence on economic evaluation was addressed in various scenario analyses. Model inputs were derived from clinical trials and published sources where available. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the impact of uncertainties and assumptions on the cost-effectiveness results. Results: Compared to no treatment, alendronate treatment was associated with an additional 0.052 QALYs at an additional cost of USD 738, which yielded an ICER of USD 14,192.308/QALY. The ICER for the different scenarios (full compliance, full persistence, both full persistence and full compliance) were USD 4933.333/QALY, USD 3006.84/QALY and USD 2019.822/QALY, respectively. One-way sensitivity analysis showed the ICER was most sensitive to variations in time horizon and residual effect. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis demonstrated that, at a willingness-to-pay of USD 29,340/QALY, the probability that oral alendronate therapy will be cost-effective is approximate 80%. Conclusions: The findings support the view that oral alendronate is cost-effective for the treatment of osteoporotic fractures in Chinese postmenopausal women. Medication persistence is found to have a greater impact on cost-effectiveness than compliance, and interventions to improve persistence to be an efficient use of resources.

Introduction: COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019 ), an acute respiratory disease caused by Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is declared to be a public health emergency of international concern by WHO and declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Health care workers on the frontlines are vulnerable to infection and heavy stress. Objective : Assessment of psychological status in Health care workers in Department of OBG and its allied branches at RLJH and Research centre during COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: The study population included Health care workers in Department of OBG and its allied branches at RLJH. The study tool included questionnaire of 2 sections with 40 questions filled by staff mentioned above and stress levels were evaluated accordingly. Results: A total of 271 participants involved in this study completed the questionnaire which included various factors causing stress and also factors that helped to reduce stress. Conclusion: Covid- 19 outbreak was a stressful experience for healthcare workers. The preventive measures implemented by our Hospital administration as described in our study were useful to reduce stress among them. The experience of Healthcare workers can be enhanced by hospitals on targeting the present aspects in this study during future outbreaks.

Thrombosis contributes to one in four deaths worldwide and is the cause of a large proportion of mortality and morbidity. A reliable and rapid diagnosis of thrombosis will allow for immediate therapy, thereby providing significant benefits to patients. Molecular imaging is a fast-growing and captivating area of research, in both preclinical and clinical applications. Major advances have been achieved by improvements in three central areas of molecular imaging: 1) Better markers for diseases, with increased sensitivity and selectivity; 2) Optimised contrast agents with improved signal to noise ratio; 3) Progress in scanner technologies with higher sensitivity and resolution. Clinically available imaging modalities used for molecular imaging include, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, as well as nuclear imaging, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). In the preclinical imaging field, optical (fluorescence and bioluminescent) molecular imaging has provided new mechanistic insights in the pathology of thrombembolic diseases. Overall, the advances in molecular imaging, driven by the collaboration of various scientific disciplines, have substantially contributed to an improved understanding of thrombotic disease, and raises the exciting prospect of earlier diagnosis and individualised therapy for cardiovascular diseases. As such, these advances hold significant promise to be translated to clinical practice and ultimately to reduce mortality and morbidity in patients with thromboembolic diseases.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been highly epidemic in the whole world now. Asymptomatic transmission of severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)might pose challenges for disease control. Little information on its characteristics of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers is available. This study aimed to clarify the clinical feature and follow-up data of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers, We hope the information would help the management of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. Methods: This retrospective study included all asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers inThe First People’s Hospital of Yueyang(Hunan,China) and Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital (Changsha, China) between January 22 and March 26, 2020. The epidemiology ,clinical characteristic,laboratory data,chest CT and follow-up data of these cases were investigated. Results: 24 asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers were enrolled inThe First People’s Hospital of Yueyang and Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital between Jan 22, 2020 and Mar 26, 2020 . All patients had history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. During the whole disease course, patients had no symptoms and most of laboratory findings were normal. The median period from contact to diagnosis was 9.6days(1-38days). The median period from diagnosis to discharge was 14.4 days (6-24 days). Following after discharge,all patients continued to be asymptomatic.5(20.83%) patients were admitted again because their specimens(4 throat swab and 1 feces) showed re-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 PCR. The re-positive time away from diagnosis(day) was from 23-53 days; the time from re-positive to re-negative RT-PCR of SARS-CoV-2 was 3-11 days. Conclusion: Asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers have favorable outcomes and should be closely monitored. We suggested post-discharge surveillance of them.

With the pandemic emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the exposure of cell substrates used for manufacturing of medicines has become a possibility. Cell lines used in biomanufacturing were thus evaluated for their SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility, and the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in culture supernatants was tested by routine adventitious virus testing of fermenter harvest.

Backround and Purpose. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are the most commonly used medication in the world. They are prescribed as an effective treatment choice for gastrointestinal system diseases linked to hyperacidity, especially. Many publications in recent times have reported significant side effects. However, there are insufficient studies about the topic of the mechanism for these side effects. Experimental Approach. Rats were divided into 3 groups of control, a group administered H2 receptor blockers and a group administered PPI (n: 8). Medications were administered for 30 days intraperitoneal. After 30 days, rats were euthanized and lung tissue was obtained. Lung were stained for immunohistochemical Catalase, Superoxide Dismutase, Glutation Peroxidase, Myeloperoxidase and toluidine blue and investigated with a light microscope. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate lung tissues and neutrophil leukocytes. Additionally, lung tissue had biochemical H2O2 levels researched. Key Results. H2O2 amounts, produced by lysosomes with important duties for neutrophil functions in lung tissues, were found to be statistically significantly reduced in the group administered PPI. Results of investigations of preparates obtained with immunohistochemical staining observed increases in antioxidant amounts in the PPI group. Investigation with TEM identified more inflammation findings in the lung tissue from the group administered PPI compared to the control group and the group administered H2 receptors. Conclusion and Implications. In conclusion, we identified long-term PPI use disrupts neutrophil leukocyte functions in lung. All clinicians should be much more careful about PPI use.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the second pandemic after Influenza A (H1N1) for the 21st century. With increasing morbidity, it is emerging to become one of the worst health crises in human history. Extraordinary measures since emergence of COVID-19 has highlighted several personages with remarkable contribution in the global war waged against COVID-19, together with front-line workers (public health and enforcement personnel) who first-handedly are round-the-clock with neutralizing and containing COVID-19 chains

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which originated in China, is the cause of the global pandemic Coronavirus Disease 19 (Covid-19). To date, there is no widely available vaccine or treatment, hence containment strategies are currently centred around measures ameliorating human transmission via social distancing and quarantine. Due to the magnitude of the pandemic, elective operative work had been halted within cardiac surgery at our institution and protocols adapted to facilitate safe operating and discharge of surgical patients. With rapidly emerging data on the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, we present 2 in-patient cases at our institution with prolonged viral shedding detected on real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) oropharyngeal swabs; one asymptomatic, and another pauci-symptomatic. These cases highlight the need for further research into the duration of viral shedding and the viability of SARS-CoV-2, especially with respect to viral transmission, over a drawn-out period.

Surfactin, a kind of cyclic lipopeptide synthesized by non-ribosome peptide synthases (NRPS) in Bacillus spp. strain, has attracted a great deal of attention owing to its surface activity. It has broad prospect of application in petroleum extraction, daily chemical, and clinical treatment. To further improve the yield of surfactin, numerous studies have focused on clarifying its metabolic network. Herein, this review summarized essential modules in the metabolic network of surfactin, including surfactin synthase, precursor supply, efflux pump system, quorum sensing system, and biofilm formation. Furthermore, essential genes proved by omics analysis and gene editing were emphasized. This review aims to help understanding the intricate metabolic network of surfactin and lay a foundation for reconstructing surfactin-overproduced in whole system level.

A 68-year-old male presented with flu-like symptoms, fatigue, history of obesity, hypertension, type II diabetes and chronic smoking. Chest radiography revealed right basal opacity consisting of infiltrate. With respiratory failure, orotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation were performed. Patient presented gas exchange alteration. Real-time PCR detected SARS-CoV-2. Treatment with liponavir/ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine was started. Because of poor acoustic window, speckle-tracking transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed, detecting deterioration in global longitudinal strain. On day 15, the patient suffered bacteraemic sepsis at endovascular focus with Serratia marcescens and multiorgan failure. TEE-guided haemodynamic monitoring was repeated showing global longitudinal strain improvement.

Electrospray scanning mobility particle sizer (ES-SMPS) is an electrophoretic method for size characterization of nanoparticles (NPs) and its population in biological samples such as macromolecules and virus is growing. To ensure the measurement precision and accuracy, especially for the sub-10 nm measurement, size calibration of ES-SMPS system is necessary. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are commonly chosen as the reference materials (RMs) while the surfactants preventing NP aggregate coat among NP surface lead to the measurement uncertainty in ES-SMPS. In this paper, both AuNPs and self-disperse biological macromolecules, bio-NPs, were selected for the evaluation of their suitability as RMs for ES-SMPS. Two methods including centrifugation and heating were used for the surfactant removal from AuNPs suspension while the results showed little influence of the centrifugal and thermal treatments on the accuracy improvement of AuNPs, where more than 22% difference from the nominal diameter remained in AuNPs. In the case of bio-NPs, bovine serum albumin (BSA), ubiquitin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein(HDL) were suspended in electrolyte. BSA and ubiquitin presented good disperse and repeatable size compared to literature, high stability at time intervals, and consequently were suggested as ideal sub-10 nm RM for ES-SMPS calibration.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disorder which affects about 80% of the population above 65 years revealing radiographic evidence of OA. Recently, more and more researches have been conducted on the molecular mechanism of OA to find target treatments. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play a key role in genome regulation. Nucleolar GTP-binding Protein 3 (GNL3) is abundantly expressed in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and correlates with chondrocytes differentiation. Here we report the transcriptome study of GNL3, which regulates transcription in osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to analyze the global transcription level in HeLa cells. The results showed that the expression of IL24 and PTN was down-regulated when GNL3 was knocked down. Likewise, in the lesions of osteoarthritis, the expression level of GNL3, IL24 and PTN gene were significantly up-regulated compared with the control group. IL24 contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis by inducing bone cells apoptosis at the joint, and PTN contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis by promoting angiogenesis. This study aimed to assess the association between GNL3 and both of these two downstream genes as a potential biomarker for investigating the development of OA.

General theory predicts that ecological specialization should be rare in marine ecosystems, given that barriers to dispersal are less effective in the vastness of the sea compared to terrestrial settings. This paradigm, however, hardly fits with classical theories of local adaptation, leaving the question open of as to how marine diversity could originate at a restricted spatial scale. We tackled this so-called “Marine Speciation Paradox” by investigating how local specialization could arise in a widely distributed marine species, the seaweed pipefish Syngnathus schlegeli. We integrated morphological, genomic, and niche-based evidences to unravel geographical structuring in S. schlegeli populations. We revealed the existence of a north-to-south phenotypic gradient in eye size among S. schlegeli populations. This morphological differentiation was paralleled by genetic divergence, with South China Sea populations emerging as relatively independent. The north-to-south phylogeographical structuring was further corroborated by ecological analyses. We observed high niche differentiation among northern, central, and southern populations, resulting from both niche expansion and niche shift processes. Projected habitat suitability onto the Last Glacial Maximum revealed the existence of historical barriers to dispersal between the South and East China seas. We showed that the effect of this historical segregation, in concert with niche-driven ecological differentiation, lead to establishment of three distinct clades across the widely distributed marine pipefish. Ultimately, our study demonstrates that even the sea environment maintains the potential for adaptive radiation and ecological specialization, suggesting that ‘marine speciation’ may actually be far from being ‘paradoxical’.

Case one had the aspect of an ivory C5 vertebra. Bone metastasis was suspected but scintigraphy showed the characteristic “bullhead” appearance. Case two had an MRI simulating infectious spondylodiscitis but scintigraphy confirmed SAPHO. Case three had the aspect of vertebral metastasis but scintigraphy eliminated malignancy and confirmed SAPHO.

Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome is an autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized by binocular anterior segment development defects and systemic dysplasia. In our study, a Chinese Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome pedigree was analyzed. After obtaining consent from the subjects, ophthalmic examinations were performed, and blood samples were collected. Then, the causative gene was identified by targeted next-generation sequencing, and candidate mutations were verified by Sanger sequencing. Pathogenicity analysis and conservative analysis were performed on the mutant gene to evaluate its pathogenicity, and SWISS-MODEL was used to construct the three-dimensional structure of the FOXC1 region to predict the effect of mutations on the structure of the FOXC1 protein. Optimistically, a novel heterozygous, deleterious variant of the FOXC1 gene, c.246C>A(p.S82R), was successfully identified in this Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome pedigree, which cosegregated with the clinical phenotype. This variant resulted in the mutation of amino acid 82 from serine to arginine. The evolution of serine(s) in different species was highly conserved. This mutation led to a change in the three-dimensional structure of the protein, which was pathogenic. The discovery of these new mutation sites further expands its mutation spectrum. Our understanding of Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome will facilitate the development of methods for the diagnosis, prevention and genetic counseling of this disease.

To the EditorAt present, strict food avoidance is the only standard treatment for food anaphylaxis. Incidental exposure, cross-contamination, incomplete adherence, nutrient and psychological deprivations in parallel to significant quality of life impairment of the patient and his/her family led to many attempts to find alternative therapies, including oral immunotherapy (OIT) that showed promising clinical implications [1]. During OIT, gradually increasing doses from very small amounts are given to the patient at specified intervals until a predetermined final dose is reached (build-up phase). If the patient reaches this final dose, he/she has to take this maintenance continuously in a regular daily schedule (maintenance phase). An allergic reaction as mild as local pruritus of the lips or as severe as anaphylaxis is the main limitation of both phases. The primary consequence during OIT is the reduction of anaphylaxis risk in accidental exposures and the second consequence is the achievement of permanent tolerance (PT)[2].During desensitization, unresponsiveness is accessible as long as the patient adheres to the instructions, while during PT, unresponsiveness is independent of adherence to the schedule. Natural tolerance (NT) is seen in infants with food allergy and develops with increasing the age but inducible permanent tolerance (IPT) is seen in some patients doing OIT [2, 3]. Currently, not only the immunologic mechanisms or prognostic factors in success or failure of OIT and the achievement of PT are not fully understood but also it is not clear that inducible permanent tolerance really works like natural tolerance? How can we say to a patient with food anaphylaxis that he/she is definitely cured? Therefore, we designed this study to assess the possible reactions of patients with anaphylaxis after the achievement of PT.This prospective cohort study was conducted on patients with cow’s milk anaphylaxis who underwent OIT in the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran [4]. All of the participants or their parents signed written informed consent form and the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences approved this study (IR.IUMS.FMD.REC.1397.333). Twenty-one patients who met the inclusion criteria, including cow’s milk anaphylaxis, successful OIT with more than 48 months of the maintenance phase, complete adherence to maintenance phase protocol were allocated to this study. After 4 weeks of complete dairy avoidance, they underwent a standard oral food challenge (OFC) [5]. Eight out of 21 individuals who could pass the OFC were diagnosed as PT and approved for this study.In the first week, they were asked to take a double and triple amount of the maintenance dose in the hospital. All of them consumed this amount of milk without any reaction and then they were asked to take any amount of cow’s milk or dairy products regardless of timing similar to non-allergic individuals. They were given a 24-hour contact number to report any symptoms immediately, and we followed them weekly by phone for 6 months. Any kind of reactions, the severity of symptoms, type of relieving drug, the interval of usage, amount of milk consumption, and the existence of aggravating factors such as exercise, fever, and infection was monitored. All of them showed a significant decrease in specific IgE and IgG4 to cow’s milk before and after the OIT. Seven of eight participants showed some reactions after cow’s milk consumption. Reactions were mild and only oral antihistamines were used for treating the reactions. All of the symptoms were appeared along with exacerbating factors. Cow’s milk consumption without aggravating factors was safe independent of the amount and interval of the consumption. Exercise in the first hour after drinking milk was the most common trigger in our participants. Data are shown in table 1.We conducted a prospective cohort study in cow’s milk anaphylactic patients with successful OIT. Out of 21 patients, only 8 cases passed the OFC after 4 weeks of cessation of dairy consumption and were diagnosed as PT state [2]. There are two different definitions in OIT. Desensitization refers to a temporary state of unresponsiveness of the adaptive immune system to a specific antigen, which is dependent on continuous use of the predetermined amount of that food, while permanent tolerance is defined as persistent unresponsiveness of the adaptive immune system to that antigen, irrespective of amount and consumption continuity [2, 3]. It is estimated that about 30 to 90% of individual who undergo OIT are able to achieve desensitization state [2, 6] but the rate of PT is unknown and is reported between 28 to 36 % in limited trials [3, 6], it is suggested longer maintenance phase and higher amount of daily use may have some role in PT development [2].In this study, 8 of 21 (38%) patients developed PT. The success rate of PT induction was not our aim. We wanted to provide more information about possible reactions related to milk ingestion after PT achievement. The main question was: Can we really give assurance to patients with anaphylaxis that they are completely safe in the exposure to the culprit food, regardless of the dose and continuity of consumption? To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to follow these individuals after PT development; however, Nowak-Wegrzyn A and Deborah M [2, 7] also asked this question without a clear response. Allergic reactions are the main side effects during OIT in both escalation and maintenance phases. It is important to consider that in the maintenance phase of desensitization, patients may show severe reactions to previously tolerated doses in association with exercise, viral infection, dosing on an empty stomach, menses, and asthma exacerbation. It is hypothesized that these factors may increase intestinal permeability, thereby leading to loss of protection to the previously tolerated dose, even when the maintenance dose has been achieved regularly [2]. Interestingly, our study showed these factors could affect the unresponsiveness state even when PT has developed; however, none of our patients showed severe reactions. The present study showed the dose and continuous consumption of food allergen were not involved in the reaction after PT development but aggravating factors are still important.Signature1-Saba Arshi, MD, associate professor of allergy & clinical immunology, Allergy department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,2- Fatemeh Alizadeh, MD, pediatrician, pediatric department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,3-Mohammad Nabavi, MD, associate professor of allergy & clinical immunology, Allergy department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,4- Mohammad Hasan Bemanian, MD, associate professor of allergy & clinical immunology, Allergy department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,5-Sima Shokri, MD, assistant professor of allergy & clinical immunology, Allergy department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,6-Majid KhoshMirsafa, Phd, assistant professor of immunology, Immunolgy department, medical school, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran7-Farhad Seif, Phd, assistant professor of immunology, department of allergy & immunology, Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research, Tehran, Iran8- Morteza Fallahpour, MD, assistant professor of allergy & clinical immunology, Allergy department, Rasoul e Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,

Flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) belongs to the frugivorous bats, which play a crucial role in maintaining proper functioning of an ecosystem and conservation of environment. Bats are well known carriers of pathogenic viruses such as BatCov RaTG13 from the coronavirus family that share 90.55% with SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen causing recent global pandemic coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). However, bats’ possible role as a carrier of pathogenic bacteria is less explored. Here, using metagenomic analysis through high-throughput sequencing, we explored the gut microbiome composition of different island populations on the east and west coasts of Peninsula Malaysia. The 16S rRNA gene in samples from Redang Island, Langkawi Island, Pangkor Island and Tinggi Island was amplified. Bacterial community composition and structure were analyzed with α and β diversity metrics. In contrast to recent studies of host-microbe associations in other mammals, we found no correlation between host phylogeny and bacterial community dissimilarity across four island populations. Our analyses suggest that the significant linear relationship between Redang Island and Langkawi Island implies high bacteria diversity which supporting latitudinal correlation. We found geographic locality is a strong predictor of microbial community composition and observed a positive correlation between ecological features and bacterial richness.

The isosteric heat of adsorption is an important thermodynamic property used to characterise and optimise adsorption processes. In this work, analytic expressions for isosteric heats of adsorption are derived for a collection of commonly used isotherm models and a two-dimensional molecular equation of state based on the SAFT-VR approach. The use of these expressions is presented with an example of adsorption of nitrous oxide, N₂O, on biochar, which is a waste biomass charcoal that exhibits high adsorption potential. The results show that accurate fitting of the adsorption isotherms leads to consistent results obtained with different approaches, however, the predicted isosteric heat of adsorption exhibits strong variations in the regions where experimental data is insufficient such in the region of low pressure/low coverage. Convergence on the prediction of the isosteric heat of adsorption by the different models is only observed in the region where no extrapolation of experimental data is needed.

 Diverse hypotheses exist to explain allergic and autoimmune diseases. There are 3 factors common to most, if not all, of these diseases: 1. Microbial imbalances, microbial triggers and/or infections, 2. Allergy/hypersensitivity to food and/or environmental substances and 3. Stress. The post-hunter-gatherer era microbe hypersensitivity-enhanced colonization/infection (PHMHEC) hypothesis presented here proposes that these factors are part of a phenomenon that involves an extension of the altered microbiota hypothesis, which is the current leading hypothesis to explain the increase in allergic and autoimmune diseases in the last 75 years in association with westernization. The category of post-hunter-gatherer era microbes (PHM), as defined here, includes many microbes that are encountered much more frequently since humans ceased to live as nomadic hunter-gatherers and began living an agricultural or urban lifestyle. The microbial communities (microbiotas) that humans have been exposed to have changed as human activities have changed. It is postulated that the most intense and rapid changes in these microbiotas have occurred in recent decades in association with westernization. Human genetic makeup evolved largely during the 200 million years during which humans and their mammalian ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers or gatherers. It is proposed here that environmental microbes commonly encountered in association with that lifestyle in a pre-agricultural age would be the most coevolved with the human immune system, and thus the immune system would generally respond to these microbes without leading to debilitating chronic disease. In contrast, according to the PHMHEC hypothesis, at least some of the microbes newly encountered or encountered at higher levels during the post-hunter-gatherer era, the PHM, would be more likely to evade the immune system and/or cause hypersensitivity reactions. A mechanism called hypersensitivity-enhanced colonization/infection (HEC) is postulated to be one means by which low abundance microbes cause disease. Microbes sometimes cause hypersensitivity reactions in a manner that increases their virulence, and these reactions could be enhanced by increased exposure to similar or identical microbes in the environment. Slight differences between antigens of environmental and colonizing microbes could make the colonizing microbes even more difficult for the immune system to effectively target. Multiple secondary opportunistic infections resulting from PHM-induced immune dysregulation/suppression could exacerbate disease processes. Vulnerability to more severe acute infections (e.g., severe COVID-19) could also be increased. The long-term colonization/infection of multiple PHM and accompanying hypersensitivity reactions could contribute to physiological and psychological stress and tax the immune system and other systems of the body and be an underlying factor leading to many allergic, autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. The united holobiont disease hypothesis, which is analogous to the united airway disease hypothesis, is discussed, as well as the view that the concept of sterile inflammation needs revision and perhaps should be replaced with “inflammation without apparent infection” (IWAI) in light of the potential role of low abundance microbes. The relationship between the PHMHEC hypothesis and other hypotheses is discussed for a variety of diseases, ending with a discussion of implications for research and treatment.

Most herbivorous insects are diet specialists in spite of the apparent advantages of being a generalist. This conundrum might be explained by fitness trade-offs on alternative host plants, yet evidence of such trade-offs has been elusive. Another hypothesis is that specialization is non-adaptive, evolving through neutral population genetic processes and within the bounds of historical constraints. Here we report on a striking lack of evidence for the adaptiveness of specificity in tropical canopy communities of armored scale insects. We show that specialists abound and that host-use is phylogenetically conservative, but in comparison to generalists, specialists occur on fewer of their potential hosts, and are no more abundant where they do occur. Of course local communities might not reflect regional diversity patterns. But based on our samples, comprising hundreds of species of hosts and armored scale insects at two widely separated sites, host-use specialists do not appear to outperform generalists.

The Material failure can be classified into several types failure including fatigue which is also classified into plain fatigue and fretting fatigue. Many studies were carried out to understand the behavior of the material under the condition of one those two types only. None of the previous studies considered testing the material under a combination between plain and fretting fatigue where most of the components in engineering and industrial application subjected to. This study is directed to that end. Five tests were conducted with different ratio between the plain and fretting fatigue. When half of the whole fretting fatigue life was applied initially and then followed by the plain fatigue cycles until a failure, the plain fatigue was found to have no impact on the material life comparing to fretting fatigue. This shows that most of the fretting fatigue life is expended in the crack initiation. The ratio between the plain fatigue and the fretting fatigue has significant effect on fatigue life. If this ratio decreases the effect of the fretting fatigue increases that results in reduction of the fatigue life. This study was done under constant contact load, so it is recommended to investigate the material under combination between plain and fretting fatigue with variable contact load

Real-time acoustic emission (AE) monitoring combined with post-test 3D computed tomography (CT) technique was employed to reveal the fracture evolution behaviors of pre-flawed granite. Results show that the dynamic loading frequency impacts the strength, deformation, AE pattern, rock bridge fracturing and fatigue life of the granite samples. The accumulative AE count/energy increases with increasing loading frequency. In addition, AE spectral frequency analysis reveals six kinds of crack type, and the proportion of high frequency-high amplitude signal decreases indicating that large-scaled cracks are prone to form under high loading frequency. By post-test CT scanning visualization of the rock bridge segment, the most striking finding is that complex crack network forms under high loading frequency. The flaws are easy to be communicated for rock that subjected to low dynamic loading frequency conditions. It is suggested that deterioration of the rock bridge is strongly impacted by the dynamic loading frequency.