The nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology is a fast-developing field that has the potential to improve treatment regimens. The antidiabetic and antioxidant activity of iron oxide nanoparticles was investigated. This work focuses on the environmentally friendly manufacture of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe 2O 3NPs) utilizing a polar extract of the root Azadirachta indica. The size, structural shape, absorption spectrum, and other pertinent characteristics of the produced nanoparticles were evaluated. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks at 231 nm were apparent in the UV-visible spectra, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used for characterization. The antioxidant activity was validated approximately 50% DPPH inhibition, while the antidiabetic effect was approximately 65.26% suppression of α-amylase, surpassing the control’s performance. This biosynthetic approach offers a cost-effective, environmentally benign method with potential applications in various fields.

Purpose: Impact of policies limiting opioid prescribing for acute and post-surgical pain among racially minoritized populations are not well understood. We evaluated the impact of two North Carolina (NC) policies on outpatient opioid prescribing among injury and surgical patients by race, ethnicity, age, and sex. Methods: We conducted controlled and single series interrupted time series using electronic health data from two integrated healthcare systems in NC, among >11 years-old patients having acute injuries and surgery between April 2014 to December 2019. The policy interventions were safe opioid prescribing investigative initiative (SOPI, May 2016) and NC law limiting opioid days’ supply (STOP Act, January 2018). Outcomes included, proportion of patients receiving index opioid prescription after surgery or injury event, receipt of subsequent opioid prescriptions, days’ supply, and milligrams of morphine equivalents (MME). Results: Of the 621,997 surgical and 864,061 injury patients, 69.4% and 19.7%, respectively, received an index opioid analgesic prescription. There were sustained declines in index opioid prescription among post-surgical patients after SOPI [-2.7% per year (-4.6, -0.9)] and STOP act [-4.1% (-5.9, -2.2)], but no change among injury patients. Policy-related opioid prescribing declines were larger among black, native American, and Hispanic post-surgical patients than whites and Asians. Index and subsequent opioid days’ supply showed sustained declines after SOPI and STOP Act among post-surgical patients. There was no policy impact on MME. Conclusions: Policies were associated with reductions in opioid prescribing, particularly in post-surgical patients, however, racialized disparities likely reflect implicit and explicit racialized biases in pain management practices.

This article develops an existence result for a general class of non-linear parabolic partial differential equations. The results are based on standard tools of functional analysis and Sobolev spaces theory. As a key strategy for such a proof, we discretize in the time variable and show the related sequence obtained is uniformly bounded concerning a norm in an appropriate Sobolev space.

Whistling thorn acacia (Acacia drepanolobium) forms monodominant stands in black cotton soils in East Africa arid highlands. The tree defends itself against large mammal herbivore with spinescence and symbiotic ants. While these defences have been extensively studied, little is known about the extent to which A. drepanolobium defence may benefit other plants growing in close association. We examined variation in herbaceous vegetation height, biomass and composition between areas underneath A. drepanolobium canopies and the adjacent matrix in both fenced herbivore exclosures and unfenced areas. In unfenced areas, there was more tall herbaceous vegetation and biomass underneath tree canopies than away tree canopies, while these differences were not significant in fenced exclosures. Both height and biomass of understory vegetation were negatively correlated with A. drepanolobium canopy height. In the fenced herbivore exclosures, there was higher species diversity underneath trees than the surrounding matrix, but these differences was not apparent in the unfenced areas. The differences in herbaceous vegetation composition (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index) between underneath tree and off tree locations were more pronounced in the unfenced areas than within the fenced herbivore exclosures. Our finding suggests that highly defended trees may moderate herbivore effects on herbaceous vegetation. To the extent that herbaceous vegetation underneath trees experiences protection from herbivory, such refugia microhabitats may serve as recolonization nucleus in attempts to restore chronically overgrazed systems.

Analysis of population genetic structure can contribute to our understanding of the ecology and evolution of organisms and inform conservation and resource management policies. Anguilla is a genus of freshwater eels containing 19 taxa (species and subspecies) many of which are experiencing population declines due to overharvesting, habitat degradation, and climate change. As some Anguilla species are important fisheries resources it is essential to determine the genetic structure of species to understand the boundaries of the fisheries stock/management units and help manage them appropriately. We performed a literature review of studies on the genetic structure of taxa in the genus Anguilla and conducted meta-analyses based on the mean and standard deviation of pairwise genetic differentiation values that were extracted from the tables and/or figures of 63 studies. We used subgroups and meta-regression to assess the influence of genetic marker, measure of differentiation, sample size, and sampling range on the degree of genetic differentiation detected. We found overall support for panmixia in Anguilla taxa, except for Anguilla marmorata. However, some taxa remain understudied and may also exhibit population genetic structure. Future studies should focus on filling gaps in sample size and sample representativeness to provide more accurate estimates of population genetic structure and improve our understanding of this enigmatic group.

A document by Javeria Haider. Click on the document to view its contents.

The Magdalena River basin harbors a large biodiversity of vertebrates, with numerous endemic species, many of which are threatened with extinction. Following the same trend as most freshwater ecosystems globally, the Magdalena faces threats from human activities, causing habitat degradation and the decline of its biodiversity. Monitoring the freshwater biodiversity is crucial to detect early impacts and guide conservation actions in this river system, which is of vital ecological importance for Colombia. Here, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, with two primer sets designed to target mitochondrial DNA regions, specifically the 12S ribosomal RNA gene, targeting fish as well as amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals in the Magdalena River. We detected a total of 158 vertebrate taxa, not only aquatic but also terrestrial, arboreal, and aerial. The diversity of these vertebrates increases as the river mouth is approached, accompanied by a change in the composition of the aquatic vertebrate assemblages, with two distinct groups linked to the geomorphology of the lower Magdalena basin. The assemblage was characterized by a high turnover of taxa between the sites closest to the mouth of the river and a marked nesting of taxa when comparing the sites closest to the river mouth with those farther away. We conclude that eDNA metabarcoding allows characterizing vertebrate assemblages in large rivers, assessing conservation status, and elucidating biodiversity patterns with minimal ecosystem disturbance. The information obtained through this approach can contribute to the sustainable management and preservation of vital freshwater ecosystems and their associated biodiversity.

In this paper, a simple procedure is proposed to select the optimum design frequency for the horn antenna design by combining theory and simulation. Horn antennas have been extensively used as directive antennas at microwave frequencies. Relevant applications of horn antennas are feeds for parabolic antennas, short range radars and standard calibration antennas. Common types of horn antennas are conical and pyramidal while the most popular one is the pyramidal horn. The conventional design procedure of pyramidal horn antenna just recommends the design frequency to be chosen near the lower frequency of the operation bandwidth. In this contribution, we study the optimum design frequency for pyramidal horn antenna design and propose both a Matlab code and a closed form formula to obtain this frequency. The proposed formula has been evaluated over several standard horn antennas in different frequency bands. This contribution can be useful for engineers to understand and apply the optimum design frequency for antenna projects.

ABSTRACT Post-translational modifications (PTMs) in Staphylococcus aureus play crucial roles in regulating diverse biological processes, exerting a substantial impact on protein functions within this pathogen. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the overall patterns of three lysine acylation types, identifying 1,249 acetylated sites, 871 succinylated sites and 67 malonylated sites in S. aureus. Further bioinformatic analysis showed that the lysine acetylation and succinylation had a preference for glutamate surrounding the modified lysine residues. Pathway enrichment showed that modified substrates were associated with ribosomes and metabolic functions. Additional functional exploration showed that the lysine succinylation affected the enzymatic activity of glutamyl-tRNA amimide transferases and carbamoyl phosphate synthases were linked to their enzymatic activities. In conclusion, our study enhanced the comprehension of lysine acylations in S. aureus and identified potential targets related with its pathogenicity at PTM level.

Background: Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a challenging malignancy characterized by metastatic tumors with an unidentified primary site, even after extensive pathological and radiographic evaluation. Recent advancements in gene expression profiling and comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) using next-generation sequencing (NGS) have enabled the identification of potential tissue origins, thereby facilitating personalized treatment strategies. Although most cases of CUP present as adenocarcinomas or poorly differentiated tumors, the treatment remains largely empirical, with limited success from molecular tailored therapies. However, advances in tumor DNA sequencing and targeted therapies hold great promise for enhancing patient outcomes. Case: A 72-year-old woman presented with epigastric pain and was diagnosed with a duodenal tumor and gastric ulceration via esophagogastroduodenoscopy. A histological evaluation revealed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the duodenum, and the immunohistochemistry findings supported a pancreatobiliary origin. An endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy confirmed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the duodenum, while a subsequent gastric examination revealed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, suggesting dual malignancies. The patient underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by pancreatoduodenectomy with distal gastrectomy. The CUP was staged as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (pStage IVB), while the gastric cancer as well-differentiated adenocarcinoma (pStage IA). Despite adjuvant TS-1 therapy, lymph node metastasis near the superior mesenteric artery continued to progress. CGP revealed high microsatellite instability and a high tumor mutational burden, along with multiple actionable genetic mutations. Pembrolizumab monotherapy was initiated, leading to complete remission, with no recurrence observed at one year after treatment cessation. Genetic and immunohistochemical investigations have identified microsatellite instability in both CUP and gastric cancer tissues, suggesting a shared origin. Targeted gene sequencing confirmed common genetic variations, ultimately revealing that the CUP originated from gastric cancer cells. Conclusion: This case highlights the critical role of CGP in the diagnosis and treatment of CUP. The use of advanced molecular techniques, including NGS, revealed the gastric origin of CUP and identified actionable biomarkers, leading to successful treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver, with a high mortality rate. Genetic and epigenetic abnormalities are often observed in HCC, and epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, histone alterations, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNA expression play an important role in the development and metastasis of HCC. This article aims to summarize the epigenetic changes involved in the progression of HCC, highlight the epigenetic modifications associated with HCC treatment, and outline the development progress of HCC epigenetic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for a deeper understanding of the epigenetics of HCC, especially the potential value of the combination of immunotherapy in HCC, in order to provide new ideas for clinical physicians to develop rational clinical strategies, improve overall patient survival, and predict treatment outcomes.

Introduction: Hepatitis A (HAV) and E (HEV) remain to pose a substantial global health burden. This study aims to estimate the seroprevalence of anti-HAV IgG and anti-HEV IgG antibodies among blood donors in Paraguay, a region with limited available data on these infections. Material and Methods: A total of 452 serum samples were collected from blood donors across five Paraguayan regions from March to May 2023. Participants completed a questionnaire and underwent eligibility screening. Serum was analyzed for anti-HAV IgG and anti-HEV IgG antibodies using immunoassays, and data were processed in IBM SPSS 23.0, setting statistical significance at p<0.05. Results: Overall, 68.1% of donors tested positive for anti-HAV IgG, with higher prevalence in older age groups (p<0.001) and significant regional differences (p<0.001). Notably, a low seroprevalence was found in the 18-25 age group (36.4%), highlighting a potential gap in immunity. In contrast, anti-HEV IgG was detected in 6.0% of samples, with no significant differences observed across age groups or regions, where prevalence ranged from 0% to 11.1% across different departments. Men exhibited a non-significant trend toward higher anti-HEV IgG seroprevalence compared to women (p=0.082). Conclusions: High anti-HAV IgG seroprevalence in older donors and low coverage among younger adults, suggesting the need to expand HAV vaccination efforts. The relatively low HEV seroprevalence in Paraguay aligns with regional data and may reflect recent introduction or limited transmission of the virus. These results provide a valuable epidemiological baseline for guiding future public health interventions and vaccination strategies in Paraguay.

The interaction between selection and gene flow can determine to what degree populations are able to adapt to local environmental conditions. This presents a particular conundrum in marine systems, as many marine species have high dispersal capacity resulting in nearly panmictic populations. Increasingly, genomic studies find that even in systems with little or no population structure divergence at particular loci may indicate local adaptation in the presence of high gene flow. However we are just beginning to understand which environmental variables might be the strongest drivers of selection in marine systems and the functional outcomes of genetic variants that are candidates for selection. Here, we leverage fine-scale sampling across the California range of the Pacific Purple Urchin (Strongylocentrutus purpuratus), a species with previous evidence of both local adaptation and extremely high gene flow. We find that despite complete absence of neutral population structure, sea surface temperature and tidal height drive genetic differences among populations, suggesting that balanced polymorphisms can lead to adaptation across both large scale (latitudinal) and small scale (subtidal v. intertidal) scales. Further, we find that genes that are expressed at a single tissue or life history stage are more divergent than expected across both latitudinal and tidal height comparisons, suggesting that these genes have specific functions that might generate phenotypic variation important for local adaptation. Together these results suggest that even in panmictic populations genetic variation can be sorted across even small spatial scales, potentially resulting in local adaptation across a complex environmental mosaic.

Background: Following the results of the MANDARA trial, this real-life study aimed at comparing the effectiveness and safety profile of mepolizumab versus benralizumab in a European EGPA cohort. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational comparative study including EGPA patients, who received mepolizumab or benralizumab at the asthma dose. Patients were matched 1:1 by sex, age, BVAS and oral corticosteroid (OCS) dosage at the treatment initiation (T0). Complete response (CR) and partial response (PR), disease activity, OCS, pulmonary parameters, eosinophil count, relapses, and safety outcomes were also compared at 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: Patients treated with mepolizumab or benralizumab (n=88 each) were matched: 57% were females, median age was 54 years (IQR 45-60), median OCS dose 10 (7.5-12.5) and 10 (7-13) mg/day, median BVAS 4 (2-7) and 3 (2-8), respectively. 45.4% of patients in the mepolizumab group and 51.1% in the benralizumab group achieved CR or PR at T3, with CR steadily increasing during follow-up for both treatments. At T12, a higher CR rate was found in the benralizumab group (48.1% vs 32.4%, p=0.005). No differences in BVAS, OCS, and respiratory parameters were observed between groups at the different timepoints. Throughout the follow-up, both treatments reduced eosinophil count, although a deeper reduction was found in the benralizumab group at all timepoints (p<0.0001). Safety profile was comparable between patient groups. Conclusion: Mepolizumab and benralizumab showed comparable overall effectiveness and safety in EGPA. However, benralizumab achieved a higher CR rate at T12, and a deeper peripheral eosinophil reduction.

Water erosion is the main soil degradation process in landscapes under human pressure. The assessment of soil losses according to biophysical factors is the key to understanding erosion processes. This study aimed to assess the biophysical and anthropological factors controlling the change in water soil erosion rates under different morphological units as an indicator of geological evolution, topographic variety, and land use. The revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model was employed to estimate the soil erosion rates and evaluate soil loss. The geographic information system was used to present the spatial distribution of soil erosion and its change induced by geological and morphological factors. Non-parametric multidimensional scaling ordinations were applied to evaluate similarities in soil erosion parameters between six geomorphological units. The analyses showed a clear clustering between morphological units, both in terms of absolute soil loss and in the distribution pattern of erosion rates. The unit, characterized by variable slopes and consisting of basic and acid rocks, has been found to have the highest soil loss rate due to its age. This small unit, along with others of similar size, significantly contributes to the total soil loss. On the other hand, areas of low slope that are conducive to agriculture ranks highest in sediment production. The land use and management factor, particularly the presence of secondary vegetation, supports water erosion. However, the findings indicate that erosional processes in complex landscapes are driven by a combination of this factor, the age of the units, and the high topographic variability.

In this paper, we study the time asymptotic behavior of solutions toward rarefaction wave for the impermeable wall problems of the one-dimensional isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes-Allen-Cahn system with density and phase field variable dependent viscosity on the half line R + = ( 0 , + ∞ ) , which models the motion of a mixture of two viscous compressible fluids. We consider the case when the viscosity coefficient ν ( ρ , χ ) = ρ α χ β and the pressure p ( ρ ) = ρ γ , where ρ= ρ( t,x) is the density of the fluid, χ= χ( t,x) is the phase field variable, and α,β,γ∈R are parameters. Under some suitable assumptions on the boundary data and spatial-asymptotic state of the velocity field, the time asymptotic profile of these problems is the 2-rarefaction wave of the resulting Euler system. By employing the elementary L 2 -energy method, it is shown that this 2-rarefaction wave is time-asymptotically stable provided that the parameters α,β,γ and the initial perturbation satisfy some conditions. Here the initial perturbation for the phase field variable is small, but the initial perturbation for the density and velocity of the fluid, and the strength of the rarefaction wave can be arbitrarily large.

Background: The H1N1 pandemic (H1N1pdm09) lineage of influenza A viruses (IAV) emerged in North America in 2009 and caused a human influenza pandemic. It spread rapidly due to efficient transmission and the limited immunity in humans, replacing the previous human seasonal H1. Human-to-swine transmission of H1N1pdm09 IAV has since contributed to genetic diversity in pigs. While most were not sustained, approximately 160 spillovers persisted in pigs for at least one year and reassorted with other endemic swine IAVs in most cases. Methods: We sought to identify how transmission and reassortment with endemic IAV viruses in swine impact virus traits and zoonotic risk in this study. We conducted a swine pathogenesis and transmission study using four swine H1N1pdm09 viruses derived from different human influenza seasons that had acquired different gene segment combinations after spillovers into swine. To assess antigenic evolution, we compared the selected swine H1N1pdm09 strains against each other and to five human seasonal H1 vaccine strains. Results: Ongoing circulation and reassortment resulted in viruses with variable virulence, shedding, and transmission kinetics. The H1N1pdm09 viruses retained antigenic similarities with the human vaccine strain of the same season of incursion but showed increasing antigenic distances with human seasonal H1N1 vaccine strains from other seasons. Conclusions: Human seasonal H1N1 viruses are capable of replicating and transmitting in swine, and there is potential for these human-to-swine spillovers to reassort with endemic swine IAV. Controlling IAV at the human-swine interface has the benefit of reducing IAV burden in swine and subsequent zoonotic risk.

Sickle cell acute pain crisis increase in frequency with age, and some patients develop chronic pain. Currently there are guidelines for management of acute pain crisis, but not for chronic pain. Chronic pain management defaults to long-term opioid therapy. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, a potent analgesic, with a respiratory ceiling effect. It may provide analgesic benefit and a ‘harms reduction approach’ in the management of chronic pain in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease. Buprenorphine is increasingly used in adult patients with sickle cell disease. We describe the inpatient micro-induction protocol we implemented in our pediatric center.

Jacob Mahlangu

Soybean is vital for global food security, and understanding its response to environmental changes is crucial. We examined the interannual variation in seed traits of 14 short-season soybean cultivars from seven decades (1932-1992) in Eastern Canada, using field trials data from 1993 to 2016. Impacts of growing season weather variables—precipitation, mean maximum temperature (MTemp), and mean maximum vapor pressure deficit (MVPD), as well as historical atmospheric CO 2—on seed yield, protein and oil percentages, carbon isotope discrimination (Δ 13C), nitrogen isotopic composition (δ 15N) were assessed. Seed yield and Δ 13C increased with precipitation but decreased with MTemp and MVPD. Seed carbon percentage and Δ 13C increased with atmospheric CO 2, while seed protein and oil percentages, and δ 15N decreased. Hierarchical partitioning highlighted vulnerability of soybean yield during the early reproductive stages (R1-R3, July) as well as the protein yield during the pod-formation and seed-filling period (R4-R6, August). Historical cultivar selection favored seed and oil yields, but not protein yield, Δ 13C, and δ 15N. Correlations between Δ 13C, δ 15N, and seed yield suggest selecting for higher yield may indirectly reduce water-use efficiency (indicated by higher D 13C) and enhanced biological nitrogen fixation (reflected by lower d 15N).

Upland rice is one of the most important ecotypes growing on dry or rain-fed land and exhibiting better nitrate utilization. However, the differences in nitrogen uptake and the underlying molecular mechanisms between upland and lowland rice remain unknown. In this study, a nitrate transporter gene, OsNPF7.1, was identified by analyzing nitrogen-related gene differences in the genomic and transcriptomic profiles of the two ecotypes within the japonica subspecies. OsNPF7.1 is mainly expressed in the endodermis, xylem parenchyma cells and phloem parenchyma cells and is directly activated by OsNAC42. Ectopic expression of OsNPF7.1 in Xenopus oocytes showed that the gene functions as both a low- and high-affinity NO 3 - transporter. Nitrate uptake and redistribution were impaired in npf7.1 mutants. Grain yields and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) were elevated in OsNPF7.1 overexpression transgenic plants grown under both low and normal nitrogen supply conditions. Moreover, variation in the putative promoter increases OsNPF7.1 expression and affects nitrate acquisition and redistribution in rice. The potential elite haplotype of OsNPF7.1 in upland rice could be beneficial for breeding rice varieties with high NUE.

Introduction :Molecular communication  is a natural communication method used by living organisms (e.g., pheromone communication) and is predicted to become a portable method for future nanodevices.  The concentration of a molecule in the close vicinity of the receiver may be used to sense the transmitter of the molecular bit being sent.  Quantum communication   is based on the transfer of entangled pairs from one location to another, using exchange, repetition, and purification.  Quantum interference or quantum parallelism gives us enormous computational power, especially in source coding, where information about the entire content is needed instead of individual inputs. FRET is a non-radiative energy transfer process between fluorescent molecules based on dipole-dipole interactions of the molecules.  Energy is rapidly transferred from a donor to an acceptor molecule in close proximity, such as 0 to 10 nm, without the emission of a photon.  Low dependence on environmental factors, control of its parameters, and relatively wide transmission range make FRET suitable for high-speed nanoscale communication channels.The TN nanotransmitter and RN electromagnetic receiver must be able to perform  operations such as baseband processing  , frequency conversion, filtering, and amplification of the signals it  sends or those that reach the nanoantenna from free space. Given that the nanoantenna will oscillate at terahertz frequencies,  it is necessary to use FET RF transistors that are capable of operating at this high frequency  . Several transistors have been developed and introduced in this field. At lower frequencies, nanodevices are able to communicate over longer distances, but the efficiency of nanodevices is expected to be very low in this case. Therefore, nanosensors do not communicate at MHz frequencies, and higher energy waves are required to control a large number of nanodevices over a very wide area. For this reason, nanodevices communicate at frequencies of about 1.0 to 10 terahertz. Due to the severe limitations of nanodevices in terms of size and energy, the generation of high-power signals at terahertz frequencies is not practical. Therefore, classical communication patterns based on continuous signal communication cannot be implemented and for WNSNs, short-pulse modulation techniques in the time domain (OOK-TS: Keying Off-On) are used. These techniques are used especially in cases such as extracorporeal disease diagnosis systems and targeted drug delivery in the body as well as the nano-Internet of Things. Waves as information carriers are similar to classical communications.  However, due to the severe shortage of resources and quantum effects of materials, classical methods cannot be directly applied in the nano-domain.  Hence, it is necessary to use new materials and techniques. Quantum Communication in Nanocommunications Quantum communication  is based on the transfer of entangled pairs from one place to another, using exchange, repetition and purification.  Quantum interference or quantum parallelism gives us enormous computational power, especially in source coding, where information about the entire content is needed instead of individual inputs.

Background: It is unclear if maternal and foetal outcomes of pregnant women admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with severe A/H1N1pdm and SARS-CoV-2 infection are different. Methods: Clinical profile, treatment and outcomes were compared between A/H1N1pdm and SARS-CoV-2 infected women. Factors associated with maternal mortality were explored using logistic regression analysis and expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Fifty-six women (A/H1N1pdm=42, SARS-CoV-2=14) were admitted at a median (interquartile) gestational age of 32.3 (27.3-36) weeks. Gestational diabetes (p=0.02), hypothyroidism (p=0.04), hypertension (p=0.09) and infertility treatment (p= 0.09) were more frequent among SARS-CoV-2 than A/H1N1pdm. Time from symptom onset to ICU admission was 4 (3-5) days. Although APACHE-II score was similar in both groups, more patients with A/H1N1pdm were tachycardic (87.8% vs. 21.4%, p=0.001) and had lower median oxygen saturation (89% vs. 94%, p=0.02) at admission. Ventilatory support was required in all A/H1N1pdm patients and 78.6% with SARS-CoV-2 (p=0.013). Ventilation duration was 12 days (4-18) for SARS-CoV-2 and 4 days (2-7) for A/H1N1pdm (p<0.001). Cardiac and renal dysfunction occurred with similar frequency. Maternal mortality was 21.4% in A/H1N1pdm and 28.6% in SARS-CoV-2 (p=0.44). Foetal loss occurred in 26.3% of SARS-CoV-2 and 16.7% of A/H1N1pdm infections (p=0.15). There were 4 neonatal deaths. On multivariate regression analysis, delayed presentation was independently associated (OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.07-3.06) with maternal mortality. Conclusions: Respiratory failure due to A/H1N1pdm and SARS-CoV-2 infections in pregnancy is associated with maternal mortality and foetal loss. Delayed presentation is independently associated with maternal death.

The time step functions as a crucial temporal unit for simulating neuronal dynamics within spiking neural networks, which play a significant role in neuromorphic computing systems. Efficient management of these time steps is vital to ensure model accuracy while optimizing overall system performance. As system scale increases, variations in hardware across subsystems and their asynchronous operations create challenges in achieving effective time step control. To address this issue, this paper proposes an innovative framework for managing time steps in large-scale neuromorphic systems. This framework allows subsystems to dynamically adjust their time step lengths according to computational loads and to perform look-ahead computations. Such a strategy effectively reduces the overhead related to time step synchronization, enhancing system efficiency. Additionally, the paper introduces a safeguard mechanism to ensure the system’s reliability. Experimental results indicate that the proposed framework sustains the correct long-term operation of the system and improves model execution performance by 8.88% to 27.15% when compared to existing methods.