Discover and publish cutting edge, open research.

Nick K. Jones1,2*, Lucy Rivett1,2*, Chris Workman3, Mark Ferris3, Ashley Shaw1, Cambridge COVID-19 Collaboration1,4, Paul J. Lehner1,4, Rob Howes5, Giles Wright3, Nicholas J. Matheson1,4,6¶, Michael P. Weekes1,7¶1 Cambridge University NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK2 Clinical Microbiology & Public Health Laboratory, Public Health England, Cambridge, UK3 Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK4 Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK5 Cambridge COVID-19 Testing Centre and AstraZeneca, Anne Mclaren Building, Cambridge, UK6 NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, UK7 Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK*Joint first authorship¶Joint last authorshipCorrespondence: mpw1001@cam.ac.ukThe UK has initiated mass COVID-19 immunisation, with healthcare workers (HCWs) given early priority because of the potential for workplace exposure and risk of onward transmission to patients. The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended maximising the number of people vaccinated with first doses at the expense of early booster vaccinations, based on single dose efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 disease.1-3At the time of writing, three COVID-19 vaccines have been granted emergency use authorisation in the UK, including the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech). A vital outstanding question is whether this vaccine prevents or promotes asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, rather than symptomatic COVID-19 disease, because sub-clinical infection following vaccination could continue to drive transmission. This is especially important because many UK HCWs have received this vaccine, and nosocomial COVID-19 infection has been a persistent problem.Through the implementation of a 24 h-turnaround PCR-based comprehensive HCW screening programme at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHNFT), we previously demonstrated the frequent presence of pauci- and asymptomatic infection amongst HCWs during the UK’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.4 Here, we evaluate the effect of first-dose BNT162b2 vaccination on test positivity rates and cycle threshold (Ct) values in the asymptomatic arm of our programme, which now offers weekly screening to all staff.Vaccination of HCWs at CUHNFT began on 8th December 2020, with mass vaccination from 8th January 2021. Here, we analyse data from the two weeks spanning 18thto 31st January 2021, during which: (a) the prevalence of COVID-19 amongst HCWs remained approximately constant; and (b) we screened comparable numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated HCWs. Over this period, 4,408 (week 1) and 4,411 (week 2) PCR tests were performed from individuals reporting well to work. We stratified HCWs <12 days or > 12 days post-vaccination because this was the point at which protection against symptomatic infection began to appear in phase III clinical trial.226/3,252 (0·80%) tests from unvaccinated HCWs were positive (Ct<36), compared to 13/3,535 (0·37%) from HCWs <12 days post-vaccination and 4/1,989 (0·20%) tests from HCWs ≥12 days post-vaccination (p=0·023 and p=0·004, respectively; Fisher’s exact test, Figure). This suggests a four-fold decrease in the risk of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst HCWs ≥12 days post-vaccination, compared to unvaccinated HCWs, with an intermediate effect amongst HCWs <12 days post-vaccination.A marked reduction in infections was also seen when analyses were repeated with: (a) inclusion of HCWs testing positive through both the symptomatic and asymptomatic arms of the programme (56/3,282 (1·71%) unvaccinated vs 8/1,997 (0·40%) ≥12 days post-vaccination, 4·3-fold reduction, p=0·00001); (b) inclusion of PCR tests which were positive at the limit of detection (Ct>36, 42/3,268 (1·29%) vs 15/2,000 (0·75%), 1·7-fold reduction, p=0·075); and (c) extension of the period of analysis to include six weeks from December 28th to February 7th 2021 (113/14,083 (0·80%) vs 5/4,872 (0·10%), 7·8-fold reduction, p=1x10-9). In addition, the median Ct value of positive tests showed a non-significant trend towards increase between unvaccinated HCWs and HCWs > 12 days post-vaccination (23·3 to 30·3, Figure), suggesting that samples from vaccinated individuals had lower viral loads.We therefore provide real-world evidence for a high level of protection against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection after a single dose of BNT162b2 vaccine, at a time of predominant transmission of the UK COVID-19 variant of concern 202012/01 (lineage B.1.1.7), and amongst a population with a relatively low frequency of prior infection (7.2% antibody positive).5This work was funded by a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellowship to MPW (108070/Z/15/Z), a Wellcome Principal Research Fellowship to PJL (210688/Z/18/Z), and an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship (MR/P008801/1) and NHSBT workpackage (WPA15-02) to NJM. Funding was also received from Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. We also acknowledge contributions from all staff at CUHNFT Occupational Health and Wellbeing and the Cambridge COVID-19 Testing Centre.

Scene flow tracks the three-dimensional (3D) motion of each point in adjacent point clouds. It provides fundamental 3D motion perception for autonomous driving and server robot. Although the Red Green Blue Depth (RGBD) camera or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) capture discrete 3D points in space, the objects and motions usually are continuous in the macro world. That is, the objects keep themselves consistent as they flow from the current frame to the next frame. Based on this insight, the Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) is utilized to self-learn 3D scene flow with no need for ground truth. The fake point cloud of the second frame is synthesized from the predicted scene flow and the point cloud of the first frame. The adversarial training of the generator and discriminator is realized through synthesizing indistinguishable fake point cloud and discriminating the real point cloud and the synthesized fake point cloud. The experiments on Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Toyota Technological Institute (KITTI) scene flow dataset show that our method realizes promising results without ground truth. Just as human, the proposed method can identify the similar local structures of two adjacent frames even without knowing the ground truth scene flow. Then, the local correspondence can be correctly estimated, and further the scene flow is correctly estimated.   Corresponding author(s) Email: wanghesheng@sjtu.edu.cn

Leukocyte differential test is a widely performed clinical procedure for screening infectious diseases. Existing hematology analyzers require labor-intensive work and a panel of expensive reagents. Here we report an artificial-intelligence enabled reagent-free imaging hematology analyzer (AIRFIHA) modality that can accurately classify subpopulations of leukocytes with minimal sample preparation. AIRFIHA is realized through training a two-step residual neural network using label-free images of isolated leukocytes acquired from a custom-built quantitative phase microscope. By leveraging the rich information contained in quantitative phase images, we not only achieved high accuracy in differentiating B and T lymphocytes, but also classified CD4 and CD8 cells, therefore outperforming the classification accuracy of most current hematology analyzers. We validated the performance of AIRFIHA in a randomly selected test set and cross-validated it across all blood donors. Owing to its easy operation, low cost, and accurate discerning capability of complex leukocyte subpopulations, we envision AIRFIHA is clinically translatable and can also be deployed in resource-limited settings, e.g., during pandemic situations for the rapid screening of infectious diseases.  Corresponding author(s) Email:    rjzhou@cuhk.edu.hk,  rishikesh.pandey@uconn.edu

Tam Hunt [1], Jonathan SchoolerUniversity of California Santa Barbara Synchronization, harmonization, vibrations, or simply resonance in its most general sense seems to have an integral relationship with consciousness itself. One of the possible “neural correlates of consciousness” in mammalian brains is a combination of gamma, beta and theta synchrony. More broadly, we see similar kinds of resonance patterns in living and non-living structures of many types. What clues can resonance provide about the nature of consciousness more generally? This paper provides an overview of resonating structures in the fields of neuroscience, biology and physics and attempts to coalesce these data into a solution to what we see as the “easy part” of the Hard Problem, which is generally known as the “combination problem” or the “binding problem.” The combination problem asks: how do micro-conscious entities combine into a higher-level macro-consciousness? The proposed solution in the context of mammalian consciousness suggests that a shared resonance is what allows different parts of the brain to achieve a phase transition in the speed and bandwidth of information flows between the constituent parts. This phase transition allows for richer varieties of consciousness to arise, with the character and content of that consciousness in each moment determined by the particular set of constituent neurons. We also offer more general insights into the ontology of consciousness and suggest that consciousness manifests as a relatively smooth continuum of increasing richness in all physical processes, distinguishing our view from emergentist materialism. We refer to this approach as a (general) resonance theory of consciousness and offer some responses to Chalmers’ questions about the different kinds of “combination problem.”  At the heart of the universe is a steady, insistent beat: the sound of cycles in sync…. [T]hese feats of synchrony occur spontaneously, almost as if nature has an eerie yearning for order. Steven Strogatz, Sync: How Order Emerges From Chaos in the Universe, Nature and Daily Life (2003) If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.Nikola Tesla (1942) I.               Introduction Is there an “easy part” and a “hard part” to the Hard Problem of consciousness? In this paper, we suggest that there is. The harder part is arriving at a philosophical position with respect to the relationship of matter and mind. This paper is about the “easy part” of the Hard Problem but we address the “hard part” briefly in this introduction.  We have both arrived, after much deliberation, at the position of panpsychism or panexperientialism (all matter has at least some associated mind/experience and vice versa). This is the view that all things and processes have both mental and physical aspects. Matter and mind are two sides of the same coin.  Panpsychism is one of many possible approaches that addresses the “hard part” of the Hard Problem. We adopt this position for all the reasons various authors have listed (Chalmers 1996, Griffin 1997, Hunt 2011, Goff 2017). This first step is particularly powerful if we adopt the Whiteheadian version of panpsychism (Whitehead 1929).  Reaching a position on this fundamental question of how mind relates to matter must be based on a “weight of plausibility” approach, rather than on definitive evidence, because establishing definitive evidence with respect to the presence of mind/experience is difficult. We must generally rely on examining various “behavioral correlates of consciousness” in judging whether entities other than ourselves are conscious – even with respect to other humans—since the only consciousness we can know with certainty is our own. Positing that matter and mind are two sides of the same coin explains the problem of consciousness insofar as it avoids the problems of emergence because under this approach consciousness doesn’t emerge. Consciousness is, rather, always present, at some level, even in the simplest of processes, but it “complexifies” as matter complexifies, and vice versa. Consciousness starts very simple and becomes more complex and rich under the right conditions, which in our proposed framework rely on resonance mechanisms. Matter and mind are two sides of the coin. Neither is primary; they are coequal.  We acknowledge the challenges of adopting this perspective, but encourage readers to consider the many compelling reasons to consider it that are reviewed elsewhere (Chalmers 1996, Griffin 1998, Hunt 2011, Goff 2017, Schooler, Schooler, & Hunt, 2011; Schooler, 2015).  Taking a position on the overarching ontology is the first step in addressing the Hard Problem. But this leads to the related questions: at what level of organization does consciousness reside in any particular process? Is a rock conscious? A chair? An ant? A bacterium? Or are only the smaller constituents, such as atoms or molecules, of these entities conscious? And if there is some degree of consciousness even in atoms and molecules, as panpsychism suggests (albeit of a very rudimentary nature, an important point to remember), how do these micro-conscious entities combine into the higher-level and obvious consciousness we witness in entities like humans and other mammals?  This set of questions is known as the “combination problem,” another now-classic problem in the philosophy of mind, and is what we describe here as the “easy part” of the Hard Problem. Our characterization of this part of the problem as “easy”[2] is, of course, more than a little tongue in cheek. The authors have discussed frequently with each other what part of the Hard Problem should be labeled the easier part and which the harder part. Regardless of the labels we choose, however, this paper focuses on our suggested solution to the combination problem.  Various solutions to the combination problem have been proposed but none have gained widespread acceptance. This paper further elaborates a proposed solution to the combination problem that we first described in Hunt 2011 and Schooler, Hunt, and Schooler 2011. The proposed solution rests on the idea of resonance, a shared vibratory frequency, which can also be called synchrony or field coherence. We will generally use resonance and “sync,” short for synchrony, interchangeably in this paper. We describe the approach as a general resonance theory of consciousness or just “general resonance theory” (GRT). GRT is a field theory of consciousness wherein the various specific fields associated with matter and energy are the seat of conscious awareness.  A summary of our approach appears in Appendix 1.  All things in our universe are constantly in motion, in process. Even objects that appear to be stationary are in fact vibrating, oscillating, resonating, at specific frequencies. So all things are actually processes. Resonance is a specific type of motion, characterized by synchronized oscillation between two states.  An interesting phenomenon occurs when different vibrating processes come into proximity: they will often start vibrating together at the same frequency. They “sync up,” sometimes in ways that can seem mysterious, and allow for richer and faster information and energy flows (Figure 1 offers a schematic). Examining this phenomenon leads to potentially deep insights about the nature of consciousness in both the human/mammalian context but also at a deeper ontological level.

Cannabis sativa is an extraordinarily versatile species. Hemp and its cousin marijuana, both C. sativa, have been used for millennia as a source of fibre, oil and for medicinal, spiritual and recreational purposes. Because the consumption of Cannabis can have psychoactive effects, the plant has been widely banned throughout the last century. In the past decade, evidence of its medicinal properties did lead to the relaxation of legislation in many countries around the world. Consequently, the genetics and development of Cannabis as well as Cannabis-derived products are the subject of renewed attention.Here, we review the biology of C. sativa, including recent insights from taxonomy, morphology and genomics, with an emphasis on the genetics of cannabinoid synthesis. Because the female Cannabis flower is of special interest as the site of cannabinoid synthesis, we explore flower development, flowering time well as the species’ unique sex determination system in detail. Furthermore, we outline the tremendous medicinal, engineering, and environmental opportunities that Cannabis bears. Together, the picture emerges that our understanding of Cannabis biology currently progresses at an unusual speed. A future challenge will be to preserve the multi-purpose nature of Cannabis, and to harness its medicinal properties and sustainability advantages simultaneously.

Quantum chemistry must evolve if it wants to fully leverage the benefits of the internet age, where the world wide web offers a vast tapestry of tools that enable users to communicate and interact with complex data at the speed and convenience of a button press. The Open Chemistry project has developed an open source framework that offers an end-to-end solution for producing, sharing, and visualizing quantum chemical data interactively on the web using an array of modern tools and approaches. These tools build on some of the best open source community projects such as Jupyter for interactive online notebooks, coupled with 3D accelerated visualization, state-of-the-art computational chemistry codes including NWChem and Psi4 and emerging machine learning and data mining tools such as ChemML and ANI. They offer flexible formats to import and export data, along with approaches to compare computational and experimental data.

This paper responds to one by Graham Martin and colleagues, who offered a critique of my previous publications on masks for the lay public in the Covid-19 pandemic. I address their charges that my co-authors and I had misapplied the precautionary principle; drawn conclusions that were not supported by empirical research; and failed to take account of potential harms. But before that, I remind Martin et al that the evidence on mask wearing goes beyond the contested trials and observational studies they place centre stage. I set out some key findings from basic science, epidemiology, mathematical modelling, case studies and natural experiments, and use this rich and diverse body of evidence as the backdrop for my rebuttal of their narrowly-framed objections. I challenge my critics’ apparent assumption that a particular kind of systematic review should be valorised over narrative and real-world evidence, since stories are crucial to both our scientific understanding and our moral imagination. I conclude by thanking my academic adversaries for the intellectual sparring match, but exhort them to remember our professional accountability to a society in crisis. It is time to lay straw men to rest and engage, scientifically and morally, with the dreadful tragedy that is unfolding across the world.

This Supporting information includes interactive plots, videos, and data captured while performing evaluation and validation experiments for our paper. 

The construct of wellbeing has been criticised as a neoliberal construction of western individualism that ignores wider systemic issues including increasing burden of chronic disease, widening inequality, concerns over environmental degradation and anthropogenic climate change. While these criticisms overlook recent developments, there remains a need for biopsychosocial models that extend theoretical grounding beyond individual wellbeing, incorporating overlapping contextual issues relating to community and environment. Our first GENIAL model \cite{Kemp_2017} provided a more expansive view of pathways to longevity in the context of individual health and wellbeing, emphasising bidirectional links to positive social ties and the impact of sociocultural factors. In this paper, we build on these ideas and propose GENIAL 2.0, focusing on intersecting individual-community-environmental contributions to health and wellbeing, and laying an evidence-based, theoretical framework on which future research and innovative therapeutic innovations could be based. We suggest that our transdisciplinary model of wellbeing - focusing on individual, community and environmental contributions to personal wellbeing - will help to move the research field forward. In reconceptualising wellbeing, GENIAL 2.0 bridges the gap between psychological science and population health health systems, and presents opportunities for enhancing the health and wellbeing of people living with chronic conditions. Implications for future generations including the very survival of our species are discussed.  

Floral plantings are promoted to foster ecological intensification of agriculture through provisioning of ecosystem services. However, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different floral plantings, their characteristics and consequences for crop yield across global regions is lacking. Here we quantified the impacts of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control and pollination services in adjacent crops using a global dataset of 529 sites. Flower strips, but not hedgerows, enhanced pest control services in adjacent fields by 16% on average. However, effects on crop pollination and yield were more variable. Our synthesis identifies several important drivers of variability in effectiveness of plantings: pollination services declined exponentially with distance from plantings, and perennial and older flower strips with higher flowering plant diversity enhanced pollination more effectively. These findings provide promising pathways to optimize floral plantings to more effectively contribute to ecosystem service delivery and ecological intensification of agriculture in the future.

Researchers' ability to accurately screen fossil and subfossil specimens for preservation of DNA and protein sequences remains limited. Thermal exposure and geologic age are usable proxies for sequence preservation on a broad scale but are of nominal use for specimens of similar depositional environments. Cell and tissue biomolecular histology is thus proposed as a novel proxy for determining sequence preservation potential of ancient specimens with improved accuracy. Biomolecular histology as a proxy is hypothesized to elucidate why fossils/subfossils of some depositional environments preserve sequences while others do not and to facilitate selection of ancient specimens for use in molecular studies.

IntroductionConsistent with World Health Organization (WHO) advice [1], UK Infection Protection Control guidance recommends that healthcare workers (HCWs) caring for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should use fluid resistant surgical masks type IIR (FRSMs) as respiratory protective equipment (RPE), unless aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) are being undertaken or are likely, when a filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirator should be used [2]. In a recent update, an FFP3 respirator is recommended if “an unacceptable risk of transmission remains following rigorous application of the hierarchy of control” [3]. Conversely, guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that HCWs caring for patients with COVID-19 should use an N95 or higher level respirator [4]. WHO guidance suggests that a respirator, such as FFP3, may be used for HCWs in the absence of AGPs if availability or cost is not an issue [1].A recent systematic review undertaken for PHE concluded that: “patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection who are breathing, talking or coughing generate both respiratory droplets and aerosols, but FRSM (and where required, eye protection) are considered to provide adequate staff protection” [5]. Nevertheless, FFP3 respirators are more effective in preventing aerosol transmission than FRSMs, and observational data suggests that they may improve protection for HCWs [6]. It has therefore been suggested that respirators should be considered as a means of affording the best available protection [7], and some organisations have decided to provide FFP3 (or equivalent) respirators to HCWs caring for COVID-19 patients, despite a lack of mandate from local or national guidelines [8].Data from the HCW testing programme at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHNFT) during the first wave of the UK severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic indicated a higher incidence of infection amongst HCWs caring for patients with COVID-19, compared with those who did not [9]. Subsequent studies have confirmed this observation [10, 11]. This disparity persisted at CUHNFT in December 2020, despite control measures consistent with PHE guidance and audits indicating good compliance. The CUHNFT infection control committee therefore implemented a change of RPE for staff on “red” (COVID-19) wards from FRSMs to FFP3 respirators. In this study, we analyse the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs before and after this transition.

The way in which biological motion is processed, globally or locally, may depend upon the observer’s perceptual skill or experience with the stimulus. Skilled athletes with extensive perceptual experience observing sport-specific movements use globally distributed motion information across an opponent’s body to anticipate actions, while less skilled athletes focus on single-reliable kinematic cues. Published reports have demonstrated that attention can be primed globally or locally before perceptual tasks, and such an intervention could highlight motion processing mechanisms used by skilled and less skilled observers. In this study, we investigate skill-differences in biological motion processing using attentional priming. Skilled (N = 16) and less skilled (N = 16) players anticipated temporally occluded videos of beach volleyball attacks while being primed using a Navon matching task. EEG at parietal regions was measured to index global or local attention. Skilled players were more accurate than less skilled players across occlusion intervals and priming conditions. Global priming resulted in better performance for both skill groups. Skilled players showed significantly reduced alpha and beta power in the right compared to left parietal region, but brain activity was not affected by priming interventions. Our findings highlight the importance of right parietal dominance for skilled performers, which may be functional for inhibiting left hemispheric local processing or enhancing visual spatial attention for dynamic visual scenes. Further work is needed to systematically determine the function of this pattern of brain activity during skilled anticipation in other contexts.

Abstract Aim: We aim to compare nephrotoxic spectrum of IOCM and that of LOCM in a more intensive and comprehensive perspective using the real-world database. Methos: This is an observational, retrospective, pharmacovigilance study based on Vigibase. 7 products (iodixanol, iohexol, iopamidol, iopromide, iobitridol, ioversol and iomeprol) of ICM were included. Variable matching method was used for deduplication procedure. Two data mining method, reporting odds ratio (ROR) and bayesian confidence propagation neural networks of information components (IC) were used to detect signals for the full database, gender stratums (male and female), age stratum (0 to 64 years, 65 to 74 years and 75 or more years) and pooled analysis of total renal adverse events (AEs). Package ‘base’, ‘utils’ and ‘pheatmap’ of R language (version 4.1.2) were used to perform analysis and plot figures. Results: We got 2703 ICSRs and 3155 renal AE reports. The five most frequently reported were acute kidney injury, renal failure, renal impairment azotaemia and anuria. All ICM had highest signal value detected in age ≥75 years. Iodaxinal and iohexol had most signals detected. In pooled analysis of renal AEs, no signals detected for iopamidol, iomeprol and iopromide in the full database stratum. Conclusion: No evidence approved IOCM has safer nephrotoxicity than LOCM. CIN spectrum varies a lot within LOCM. Regarding to the whole population, not all products of ICM, such as iopamidol, iomeprol and iopromide, is likely to cause CIN.

Potato peel waste (PPW), a zero-value byproduct generated from potato processing, is a promising fermentation substrate due to its large quantity of starch, non-starch polysaccharide, lignin, protein, and lipid. Rhizopus oryzae is a filamentous fungus that is mainly known as a lactic acid producer and can ferment various agro-wastes. This study aimed to use R. oryzae for the fermentation of PPW. A series of batch fermentations were conducted to investigate the effects of different PPW loading rates (2 – 8%) and particle sizes (0 – 4mm). Under an initial PPW loading rate of 8% and particle size of 1 – 2mm, the maximum ethanol (23.9 mL/L) and lactic acid (2.60 mL/L) concentrations, the highest ethanol (11.93 mL/L•day) and lactic acid (1.56 mL/L•day) maximum production rates were obtained. Under these conditions, the yield of ethanol and lactic acid were 298 mL/mgPPW and 33 mL/mgPPW, respectively. R. oryzae was shown to utilize PPW as a substrate to produce value-added bioproducts such as ethanol (major product) and lactic acid.

Human activities are breaking down geographic barriers to species dispersal, providing previously isolated taxa with unprecedented new opportunities for hybridization. Empirical studies on the effects of neophytes on hybridization and on the evolutionary consequences of these processes remain, however, scarce. Here we integrated Kew’s Plants of the World Online database with the Global Naturalized Alien Flora database to study the spatial and taxonomic overlap of hybrids and neophytes. Using the largest dated plant phylogeny to date, we compared diversification rates of genera containing hybrids and neophytes to genera containing neither. In addition, we used the well-studied hybrid flora of Britain to ask whether hybrids are adapted to anthropogenic disturbance and occur in habitats with a higher human footprint than their native and neophyte parents. Overall, we document positive ties between contemporary biodiversity redistribution and hybridization. Neophyte incidence was positively related to hybrid incidence both spatially (across countries) and taxonomically (across genera). Diversification rates were nearly three times higher in genera with both hybrids and neophytes than in genera containing neither. Hybrids occurred, on average, in areas with a higher human footprint than their parents, with little evidence that hybrids threaten native species throughout their range in more native habitats. Together, our results suggest species naturalizations and hybridizations need not have only negative evolutionary outcomes. Against a backdrop of rapid global change, anthropogenic hybridization may promote recombination of genetic variation and help conserve genetic diversity in disturbed environments.

Parentage analyses via molecular markers have revealed multiple paternity within the broods of polytocous species, reshaping our understanding of animal behavior, ecology, and evolution. In a meta-analysis of multiple paternity in bird and mammal species, we conducted a literature search and found 138 bird and 64 mammal populations with microsatellite DNA paternity results. Bird populations averaged 19.5% multiple paternity and mammals more than twice that level (46.1%). We used a Bayesian approach to construct a null model for how multiple paternity should behave at random among species, under the assumption that all mated males have equal likelihood of siring success, given mean brood size and mean number of sires. We compared the differences between the null model and actual probabilities of multiple paternity. While a few bird populations fell close to the null model, most did not, averaging 34.0-percentage points below null model predictions; mammals had an average probability of multiple paternity 13.6-percentage points below the null model. Differences between bird and mammal species were also subjected to comparative phylogenetic analyses that generally confirmed our analyses that did not adjust for estimated historical relationships. Birds exhibited extremely low probabilities of multiple paternity, not only compared to mammals, but relative to other major animal taxa. The generally low probability of multiple paternity in birds might be produced by a variety of factors, including behaviors that reflect sexual selection (extreme mate guarding or unifocal female choice) and sperm competition (e.g., precedence effects favoring fertilization by early or late matings).

Coagulation factors used in prophylactic treatment of patients with clotting disorders are associated with significant costs to health care systems. These products have complex pharmacokinetic profiles subject to large inter-individual variation making their efficient use challenging. Prior to this project, pharmacists were not involved as part of the Hemophilia care teams across Canada. The purpose of this pilot project was to determine whether employment of a pharmacist with expertise and a focus on plasma protein and related products including hemophilia treatments, would be an effective strategy to reduce costs associated with clotting factor prophylaxis regimens and identify the pharmacist’s activities associated with this new role. A cost-minimization analysis was conducted to compare the addition of a pharmacist to the care team of the Hemophilia Treatment Centre (HTC) at a pediatric hospital serving 500,000 children and youth. The analysis was performed from the perspective of the formulary manager, Canadian Blood Services, over a 1-year period including 9 months of interventions. The pharmacist performed 18 therapeutic optimizations on 14 patients with moderate to severe hemophilia A or B, and 1 von Willebrand patient, aged 3 to 18 years old. As a result of the pharmacist’s intervention, clotting factor treatment costs extrapolated over one year were reduced by 20.5% for these patients. This represents a net savings of $225K CAD/year, or $12.5K CAD/optimization/year. The addition of a pharmacist to the HTC to manage recombinant and plasma-derived coagulation factors can optimise the treatment plan and significantly reduce the costs of managing patients with hemophilia.

Persistent volcanic activity is thought to be linked to degassing, but volatile transport at depth cannot be observed directly. Instead, we rely on indirect constraints such as CO2-H2O concentrations in melt inclusions trapped at different depth, but this data is rarely straight-forward to interpret. In this study, we develop a multiscale model of conduit flow during passive degassing to identify how flow behavior in the conduit is reflected in melt-inclusion data and surface gas flux. During the approximately steady flow likely characteristic of passive-degassing episodes, variability in degassing arises primarily from two processes, the mixing of volatile-poor and volatile-rich magma and variations in CO2 influx from depth. To quantify how conduit-flow conditions alter mixing efficiency, we first model bidirectional flow in a conduit segment at the scale of tens of meters while fully resolving the ascent dynamics of intermediate-size bubbles at the scale of centimeters. We focus specifically on intermediate-size bubbles, because these are small enough not to generate explosive behavior, but large enough to alter the degree of magma mixing. We then use a system-scale volatile-concentration model to evaluate the joint effect of magma mixing and CO2 influx on volatile concentrations profiles against observations for Stromboli and Mount Erebus. We find that the two processes have distinct observational signatures, suggesting that tracking them jointly could help identify changes in conduit flow and advance our understanding of eruptive regimes.

Although adequately detailed kerosene chemical-combustion Arrhenius reaction-rate suites were not readily available for combustion modeling until ca. the 1990’s (e.g., Marinov [1998]), it was already known from mass-spectrometer measurements during the early Apollo era that fuel-rich liquid oxygen + kerosene (RP-1) gas generators yield large quantities (e.g., several percent of total fuel flows) of complex hydrocarbons such as benzene, butadiene, toluene, anthracene, fluoranthene, etc. (Thompson [1966]), which are formed concomitantly with soot (Pugmire [2001]). By the 1960’s, virtually every fuel-oxidizer combination for liquid-fueled rocket engines had been tested, and the impact of gas phase combustion-efficiency governing the rocket-nozzle efficiency factor had been empirically well-determined (Clark [1972]). Up until relatively recently, spacelaunch and orbital-transfer engines were increasingly designed for high efficiency, to maximize orbital parameters while minimizing fuels and structural masses: Preburners and high-energy atomization have been used to pre-gasify fuels to increase (gas-phase) combustion efficiency, decreasing the yield of complex/aromatic hydrocarbons (which limit rocket-nozzle efficiency and overall engine efficiency) in hydrocarbon-fueled engine exhausts, thereby maximizing system launch and orbital-maneuver capability (Clark; Sutton; Sutton/Yang). The combustion community has been aware that the choice of Arrhenius reaction-rate suite is critical to computer engine-model outputs. Specific combustion suites are required to estimate the yield of high-molecular-weight/reactive/toxic hydrocarbons in the rocket engine combustion chamber, nonetheless such GIGO errors can be seen in recent documents. Low-efficiency launch vehicles also need larger fuels loads to achieve the same launched mass, further increasing the yield of complex hydrocarbons and radicals deposited by low-efficiency rocket engines along launch trajectories and into the stratospheric ozone layer, the mesosphere, and above. With increasing launch rates from low-efficiency systems, these persistent (Ross/Sheaffer [2014]; Sheaffer [2016]), reactive chemical species must have a growing impact on critical, poorly-understood upper-atmosphere chemistry systems.

Static features of the executive control network (ECN), dorsal attention network (DAN), default mode network (DMN), and salience network (SN) have displayed dysfunction in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, research on the dynamic brain function of these networks in ASD is rare. In this study, co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis was performed on the whole cortex to study dynamic dysfunction in ASD using a large multisite resting-state fMRI dataset (295 ASDs, 446 healthy controls). Eight transient network states (TNSs) were defined, the dwell time, persistence, and transitions of each TNS were calculated to evaluate dynamic brain function. Using hierarchical clustering, the eight TNSs were divided into three clusters: ‘DMN activating’, ‘SN activating’, and ‘ECN and DAN activating’. We found ‘ASD-biased’ DMN and SN TNSs, which showed larger dwell time and longer persistence in ASD group than healthy control (CON) group. More transition within ‘ASD-biased’ TNSs were found in ASD group. Dwell time of the ‘ASD-biased’ ‘SN activating’ TNS was significantly correlated with social deficits only in the ASD group. Our results imply the dynamic dysfunction of ASD does not come from the occurrence of DMN, ECN, or SN, but comes from the atypical co-activation patterns within them. Our results also indicate people with ASD have stronger negative connectivity between DMN and ECN in childhood. This connection dosen’t change significantly with age in ASD group, but is supposed to increase with age until adulthood as the growth trajectory in healthy inviduals, which implies the early overgrowth of ASD children.

Systemic-Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis with unusual Cutaneous Manifestation and peripheral eosinophilia: Case ReportAuthor details:Albraa Babiker Mohammed Alameen, MBBS, Omdurman Islamic University, Faculty of Medicine. (Author) Anas Babiker Mohammed Elamin, MBBS, University of Khartoum, Faculty of Medicine. (Co-Author) AbstractIntroduction: Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) is unique subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with very special clinical manifestations, complications and management options. The simultaneous presentation of tinea capitis has not been reported in the context of Systemic-Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis before.The case: in march 2021 a 5-years old Sudanese male presented to Ahmed Gasim Hospital with fever and bilateral ankle arthritis in a background of extensive scalp lesions which were scaly, itchy and associated with hair loss. On examination: his weight was 15 kg (on the 5thcentile). There was cervical lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly and swelling and tenderness in both ankle joints with restriction of movements. Complete blood counts revealed leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, mild eosinophilia and microcytic hypochromic anaemia. Anti-dsDNA antibody was 45 IU/ml (positive), ANA profile was 0,8 Ratio (Equivocal), CRP was 34.4 mg/l, HDL was very high, these results support the diagnosis of SoJIA in a background of a kerion. Patient received: antibiotic, systemic antifungal, Corticosteroids, Hydroxychloroquine, Calcium and Vitamin D to which he achieved good results.Consent:Witten informed consent was obtained from patient’s parent to publish this report in accordance with the journal’s patient consent policy.Keywords: Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis; Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis; Tinea capitis; eosinophilia; case report.IntroductionJuvenile idiopathic arthritis is a group of arthritis that occur before 16 years and last more than 6 weeks after exclusion of other aetiologies which is classified according to the International league of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) into 3 subtypes according to the clinical manifestations, complications and therapeutic options.(1–3) Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) is a very special subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that is characterized by fever which has a characteristic one or two spikes (>39°C) per day.(4) Also more than 80% of patients of this disease has a transient salmon-coloured macular or maculopapular rash that that accompanies the fever. They may have also myalgias and tenosynovitis and arthritis which may be oligoarticular to polyarticular.(3) The widely affected joints include wrists, knee, and ankles; but any joint can be affected, even the temporomandibular joints(5), cervical spine(6), hips(7), and the small joints of the hand and feet. SoJIA may present as painless lymphadenopathy (25%) hepatomegaly, splenomegaly or pericarditis which may be complicated by cardiac tamponade (3,4) There is no specific laboratory features that distinguishes SoJIA from other conditions, but the pattern of laboratory abnormalities may support the diagnosis, for examples; microcytic hypochromic anaemia, neutrophilic leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, high ESR, high CRP, high serum ferritin, low serum albumin, mildly elevated AST, high D-dimer and negative autoantibodies.(3) The treatment of JIA as whole focuses on suppressing inflammation, preserving functions, and preventing deformity and blindness.(8) the currently available drugs include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), Systemic corticosteroids and Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).(3,9,10) Eosinophil cells were associated with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and asthma exacerbation due to fungal antigens.(11) Moreover, a case report of kerion associated eosinophilia was described in which a dermatophytid reaction was thought to be the cause which responded to corticosteroid and antifungal.(12) 2 Case reports of 2 patients with systemic lupus erythromatosis in which tinea capitis was disseminated, one of them was using steroid the other was not.(13,14) and this is the first report related to juvenile idiopathic arthritis.Case reportHistory In March 2021; a 5-years old Sudanese male from Algazira, center of Sudan presented with bilateral ankle swelling, bilateral knee and hip pain and fever which started 1 month prior to presentation. His mother was also concerned about scales and hair loss all over the scalp which started 2 months prior to presentation. His symptoms started insidiously with the fever mainly at night and relieved by antipyretics. He had anorexia and weight loss but neither abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, upper respiratory tract symptoms, headache nor history of trauma. He had a past history of right knee swelling which was resolved spontaneously. He had no family history of autoimmune disease or malignancy and not exposed to any medications.ExaminationOn examination the patient was ill but not pale, jaundiced or cyanosed. His weight was 15 Kg (along the 5th centile) (fig. 1). The scalp had white-yellow scales with some swelling, hair loss and dried pus over some areas of the scalp (Fig. 2). There were Bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy which were non-tender, discrete and maximum diameter was 1×1 cm. Both ankle joints were Swollen (fig. 3),and tender to palpation and there was restriction of movements. Other joint examinations were normal. Abdominal examination revealed palpable liver which was 4 cm below the costal margin and palpable paraaortic lymph nodes.InvestigationsComplete blood count and peripheral blood picture revealed leucocytosis (WBCS=13.4*\(10^{3}\) which is high), neutrophil% = 49%, lymphocyte% = 38%, monocyte% = 5% and eosinophil% = 8% (mild eosinophilia) Thrombocytosis (614*\(10^{3}\)) and mild hypochromia (Hb=10.3 g/dl, MCV=71.8 fl, MCH=22.3 pg, MCHC=31.1 g/dl) were also present. Anti-dsDNA antibody was 45 IU/ml (positive). ANA profile was 0.8 Ratio (Equivocal). CRP was 34.4 mg/l (high) and ESR = 49 mm/hr. LDH was very high. Patient was treated with: Methylprednisolone 30mg/kg/day for 3 days. Followed by oral prednisone 1mg/kg/day. Hydroxychloroquine tabs 5mg/kg/day. Griseofulvin syrup 7.3mg/kg/day. Antibiotic Calcium and vitamin D. After 1 month of treatment follow-up the patient was improved and we refer him to the ophthalmologist for slit lamp examination.Discussion In this case the full detailed history and proper clinical examination in addition to laboratory findings are in favour of the diagnosis of systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis. This case may show that, musculoskeletal manifestations may be present earlier than any other symptoms. Also, we noticed that in the lipid profile the HDL was very high but serum ferritin and ESR was normal, a complicating macrophage activation syndrome was putted in mind and then excluded.(15,16) Does tinea capitis occur more extensively in this patient due to the disease itself we don’t know fully but in a previous case report to a patient with systemic lupus erythromatosis in which disseminated infection occurred simultaneously at the time of the diagnosis before even the use of corticosteroid.(13) in that case the causative agent was Microsporum gypseum but unfortunately in our case the diagnosis was made clinically only and microbiological consultation was not ordered due to financial problems but what make our case unique is its association with systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis and not Systemic lupus erythromatosis even before the start of immunosuppressive therapy.(13,14) Mild peripheral eosinophilia explanation in our case was challenging; whether it is related to a dermatophytid reaction with no obvious morbilliform or lichenoid lesions or due to other causes that are not typical with the present history such as drug tubulointerstitial nephritis or any other occult helminthic infection. But according to the other laboratory and history points the later causes were excluded and we left with the occult dermatophytid reaction which was consistent with the same observation from another case report of kerion due to T. tonsurans with 21% eosinophil in the complete which was reduced to 6% one month later after oral griseofulvin and corticosteroid were used.(12) but unlike that case in which the patient was 45 year old female with a clear medical background unlike our case. But this may point to the fact that complete blood count is not routinely ordered in tinea capitis and eosinophilia may be underreported if we associate this to the fact that eosinophil recognizes ß-glucan of the fungal cell wall and react to it by releasing its granules and this area is an area of investigation in the future.(11)Conclusion:Physicians should be alert to the presentation of systemic-onset JIA in our country in order to make prompt diagnosis and treatment decisions as early as possible. Careful follow-up of prolonged febrile patients with arthritis of unknown origin is important to reaching the diagnosis early and initiating treatment.Conflict of interest:NO conflict of interest.Recommendations:Further studies about the eosinophil count and its role in tinea capitis and systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis.Further studies about the immune response against fungi in the setting of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.Multidisciplinary team consultation (rheumatologist, ophthalmologist, orthopaedics and paediatrician) in case of SoJIA.Educate the patients about the disease and its complications, which are important to monitor the disease and long-term morbidity and mortality.References:1. Ravelli A MA. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Lancet. 2007;369:767–78.2. Petty RE, Southwood TR MP. International League of Associations for Rheumatology classification of juvenile idiopathic arthritis second revision, Edmonton, 2001. J Rheumatol. 2004;31((2)):390–2.3. Lee, Jennifer JY and RS. “Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.” Pediatr Clin. 2018;(65.4):691–709.4. Calabro JJ, Holgerson WB SG. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: a general review and report of 100 patients observed for 15 years. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 1976;5(3):257–98.5. Ringold S CR. The temporomandibular joint in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: frequently used and frequently arthritic. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2009;7(1):11.6. Ornilla E, Ansell BM SA. Cervical spine involvement in patients with chronic arthritis undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Ann Rheum Dis. 1972;31:364–8.7. Modesto C, Woo P, García-Consuegra J, Merino R, García-Granero M, Arnal C, et al. Systemic onset juvenile chronic arthritis, polyarticular pattern and hip involvement as markers for a bad prognosis. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2001;19(2):211–7.8. Nelson essentials of pediatrics, 7th edition.9. Guzman J, Oen K, Tucker LB, Huber AM, Shiff N, Boire G, et al. The outcomes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children managed with contemporary treatments: results from the ReACCh-Out cohort. Ann Rheum Dis. 2015 Oct;74(10):1854–60.10. Horneff G, Schulz AC, Klotsche J, Hospach A, Minden K, Foeldvari I, et al. Experience with etanercept, tocilizumab and interleukin-1 inhibitors in systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients from the BIKER registry. Arthritis Res Ther. 2017 Nov;19(1):256.11. Manuscript A. NIH Public Access. 2009;181(4):2907–15.12. Martin ES, Elewski BE. bacterial pyoderma. 2003;177–9.13. Sanusi T, Gong J, Wang X, Zhao M, Zhao Y, An X, et al. Disseminated Favus Caused by Microsporum gypseum in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. 2016;(c):270–1.14. Feng J, Liu F, Wu F, Deng Q De. Tinea Infection with Scutula-like Lesions Caused by Microsporum Gypseum in a SLE Patient : Case Report and Literature Review. 2013;255–8.15. Cortis E, Insalaco A. Macrophage activation syndrome in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 2006 Jul;95(452):38–41.16. Ravelli, A., Magni-Manzoni, S., Pistorio, A. et al. Preliminary diagnostic guidelines for macrophage acti- vation syndrome complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. J Pediatr. 2004;12.016(146):598–604.17. Colella, M. , Buttaro, G. , Masi, L. , Palma, E. , Amelio, R. and Vallone A. The difficult management of systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Level of serum ferritin as aspecific diagnostic finding. Open J Pediatr. 2012;2:53–5.18. Jandus, P., Wang, W., Seitz, M. et al. High serum ferritin in adult-onset still’s disease. International Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2010;1:81–3.19. Meijvis, H., Endeman, A.B.M., Geers, E.J. and Borg EJ. Extremely high serum ferritin levels as diagnostic tool in adult-onset still’s disease. Netherl J Med. 2007;65:212–4.

Background and purpose: Myricetin (3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one) is a polyhydroxyfavonol compound widely found in nature has been shown to possess anticancer effects in various cancers. Despite its efficacy, poor water solubility and low oral bioavailability hinders its therapeutic application. To overcome these limitations, Nanoemulsion (NE) emerged as a promising approach that combines the advantages of NE into a single delivery system. The present study aimed to investigate the advantage of myricetin loaded NE over and above native Myricetin. Experimental Approach: The nano-emulsion was formulated using Capryol 90 as oil, Tween 20 as a surfactant, and Transcutol HP as a co-surfactant. Further comparative analysis of Myricetin and nano-emulsified Myricetin (Myr-NE) were carried out in triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells for anticancer activity. Key results: The optimized Myr-NE had a zeta potential of -6.35±0.3, an average particle size of 89.32±2.8 nm, PDI of 0.105±0.02, and a spherical shape as confirmed in transmission electron microscopy. Diffusion-dominant drug release was observed with 95.49±2.84 % Drug release for 24hrs, 2-fold higher than Myr-suspension. When nano-emulsified, Myricetin exhibited efficient inhibition of cell proliferation, clonogenicity, and increased apoptosis with IC50 of 37 µM, a dose ~2.5 fold lower than native Myricetin. Mechanistic insights reveal that Myr-NE induced more ROS generation and considerably inhibited AKT and mTOR activation, leading to enhanced anticancer activity. Conclusions & Implications: In conclusion, these findings suggest that the therapeutic efficacy of Myricetin significantly improved through a novel Myr-NE formulation which may be a promising therapeutic approach for treating TNBC.

Ecological or reproductive barriers can maintain species by preventing introgression in closely related taxa when their distributions overlap. In sympatry, sister-taxa may have greater genetic divergence than comparing the sister-taxa in allopatric parts of their range. When analyzing populations within a species, this may translate to greater genetic divergence between sympatry and allopatry. This genetic differentiation can be caused by either genetic drift or natural selection, depending on the evolutionary history of secondary contact. To identify a selective process, it is critical to find genes responsible for maintaining species barriers in sympatry. Here, we examined the role of natural selection in genetic differentiation within two recently diverged rockfish species, Sebastes diaconus and Sebastes mystinus. These species overlap along over 400 km of coastline in the eastern Pacific, with no evidence of hybridization. We found evidence of geographic genetic differentiation across a large span of the S. diaconus range, but not within S. mystinus. For both species, we identified outlier loci associated with regions of the genome under directional selection in allopatric versus sympatric populations. We also found signals of directional selection in shared genomic regions of both species, suggesting the evolutionary process of reinforcement maintained species boundaries once the two species were in secondary contact.