Global change drivers such as anthropogenic nutrient inputs simultaneously alter biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functions such as aboveground biomass. These changes are interconnected by complex feedbacks among extinction, colonization, and shifting relative abundance. Here, we use a novel temporal application of the Price equation to quantify the functional contributions of species that are lost, gained, and persist under ambient and experimental nutrient addition in 59 global grasslands. Under ambient conditions, compositional and biomass turnover was high, but species losses (i.e., local extinctions) were balanced by gains (i.e. colonization). There was biomass loss associated with species loss under fertilization. Few species were gained in fertilized conditions over time but those that were, and species that persisted, contributed to net biomass gains, outweighing biomass loss. These components of community change are key to understanding the relationship between change in composition, diversity and functioning.

The c subunits, which constitutes the c-ring apparatus of the F 1F O-ATPase, could be the main components of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP). The well-known modulator of the mPTP formation and opening is the cyclophilin D (CyPD), a peptidyl-prolyl cis- trans isomerase. On the loop, which connects the two hairpin α-helix of c subunit, is present the unique proline residue (Pro 40) that could be a biological target of CyPD. Indeed, the proline cis- trans isomerization might provide the switch that interconverts the open/closed states of the pore by pulling out the c-ring lipid plug.

Introduction: Hematologic complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection are well described in hospitalized adults with correlation to adverse outcomes. Information published in children has been limited. Methods: An international multi-centered retrospective registry was established to collect data on the clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in hospitalized children between February 1, 2020 – May 31, 2021. This sub-study focused on hematologic manifestations. Study variables included patient demographics, comorbidities, clinical presentation, course, laboratory parameters, management, and outcomes. Results: Nine hundred and eighty-five children were enrolled and 915 (93%) had clinical information available; 385 (42%) had symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection upon admission, 288 had MIS-C (31.4%) and 242 (26.4%) had alternate diagnosis with SARS-CoV-2 identified incidentally. During hospitalization, 10 children (1%) experienced a thrombotic event, 16 (1.7%) had hemorrhage and 2 (0.2%) had both thrombotic and hemorrhagic episodes. Significant prothrombotic comorbidities included congenital heart disease (p-value = 0.007), central venous catheter (p = 0.04) in children with primary SARS-CoV-2 infection; and obesity (p-value= 0.002), cytokine storm (p= 0.012) in those with MIS-C. Significant pro- hemorrhagic conditions included age > 10 years (p = 0.04), CVC (p= 0.03) in children with primary SARS-CoV-2infection; and thrombocytopenia (0.001), cytokine storm (0.02) in those with MIS-C. Eleven patients died (1.2 %) with no deaths attributed to thrombosis or hemorrhage Conclusion: Thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications are uncommon in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection and observed with underlying co-morbid conditions. Understanding the complete spectrum of hematologic complications in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection or MIS-C requires ongoing multi-center studies.

Hydropeaking as the most prominent feature of flow alterations resulting from hydropower plants has received attention worldwide. Ramifications of hydropower on the downstream river systems mainly focus on hydrological regimes or long-term water quality changes. Exceptional knowledge is expected on the sub-daily changes of water qualities in the downstream river reach that is affected by the hydropeaking. In this study, we investigate the dynamics of hydropeaking and thermopeaking at the outlet of the Three Gorges Dam TGD using a high temporal resolution dataset, and inspect its association with water chemistry indices. Hourly measurements are analysed for the downstream station Yunchi , and compared with the upstream station Nanjinguan. The results show that along with water temperature, water quality indices such as dissolved oxygen, total Phosphorus, total nitrogen, PH, and electricity conductivity all show evident ‘peaking’ phenomenon in a short time. These divergent variations, however, are not valid for non-hydropeaking affected indicators including turbidity, permanganate index, and ammonia nitrogen. These hydropeaking-induced perturbations are mitigated by the flood control operation from July to September. This study demonstrates that water quality indices are sensitive to hydropeaking and thermopeaking with respect to the magnitude of change and the seasonal component during a year. The results provide additional evidence for the environmental impacts of hydropower regulation on the receiving river reach, and bridge the gap between hydropeaking studies and thermopeaking, and study water qualities variations that were seldom connected from the same temporal perspective in river research.

Pollinators are important both ecologically and economically, with the majority of flowering plants and many of the world's crop species relying on animal pollination---the majority of which is provided by bees. However, documented pollinator population decline threatens ecosystem functioning and human well-being. As such, conservation methods such as augmented pollinator habitat are becoming popular tools to combat pollinator losses. In our study, we evaluate an initiative to plant pollinator habitat at all North Carolina agricultural research stations to ensure that these efforts result in improved bee communities. From 2016 to 2018, we found significant increases in bee abundance and community diversity. These increases depended on the quality of habitat, with plots with higher cover and more plant diversity supporting larger, more diverse bee communities. Although the habitat positively supported bee communities, we found that overall habitat quality degraded over the course of our study. This points to the need of regular upkeep and maintenance of pollinator habitat in order for it to appropriately support bee communities. Future long-term studies on pollinators will be important as natural fluctuations in bee populations may limit findings and many knowledge gaps on native bees still persist.

The vast volume of data that has been generated as a result of the next-generation sequencing revolution is overwhelming to sift through and interpret. Parsing functional vs. non-functional and benign vs. pathogenic variants continues to be a challenge. Out of three billion bases, the genomes of two given individuals will only differ by about 3 million variants (0.1%). Furthermore, only a small fraction of these are biologically-relevant and, of those that are functional, only a handful actually drive disease pathology. While whole genome and exome sequencing have transformed our collective understanding of the role that genetics plays in disease pathogenesis, there are certain conditions and populations for whom DNA-level data has failed to produce a molecular diagnosis. Patients of non-White race/non-European ancestry are disproportionately affected by “variants of unknown/uncertain significance” (VUS). This limits the scope of precision medicine for minority patients and perpetuates health disparities. VUS often include deep intronic and splicing variants which are difficult to interpret in DNA alone. RNA analysis is capable of illuminating the consequences of VUS thereby allowing for their reclassification as pathogenic vs. benign. Here we review the critical role, going forward, of transcriptome analysis for clarifying VUS in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases.

Prandtl's type integro-differential equations with a different coefficient are investigated. Using the methods of the theory of analytic functions and integral transformations, the singular integro-differential equation is reduced to boundary value problems of the theory of analytic functions. Effective solutions of this equation and the corresponding asymptotic estimates are obtained

The existence of chromatic aberrations such as leucism or albinism is the result of inbreeding in isolated populations of wild local fauna and is associated with environmental stressors. This anomaly may reduce survival rates. There are many cases of leucism in wildlife, but overall, it is considered very rare. In neotropical primates, there have been records of leucism but previously, in howler monkeys was unknown. In this article, we report for the first time leucistic young individuals of Mantled howler monkeys Alouatta palliata, subspecies A. p. aequatorialis in an isolated remanent of tropical dry forest in southwestern Ecuador, namely Cerro Blanco Protective Forest. In total, we found two individuals, we named them Albita (a female) and Japu (a male). We also include a spatial analysis of the covert forest loss between 2000 to 2020. The report of individuals with leucism, may imply inbreeding because of isolated populations. Thus, immediate management strategies must be considered to significantly increase connectivity with other populations of howler monkeys.

Trees and shrubs in suburban forest understories can be subject to chronic herbivory from abundant white-tailed deer. An undocumented consequence of this stress may be shifts in secondary metabolite production associated with defense. We aimed to learn whether plants protected from deer exhibited different metabolomic profiles compared to those exposed to deer. We tested the indigenous species Nyssa sylvatica and Lindera benzoin and the invasive, nonindigenous species Rosa multiflora and Euonymus alatus within a suburban forest understory in New Jersey, USA, in unfenced plots and plots fenced for 5.3 years. We did untargeted metabolomics by sampling leaves from three plants of each species per 6-7 fenced and unfenced plots, conducting chloroform-methanol extractions followed by LC-MS/MS, and conducting statistical analysis on Metaboanalyst. We also scored each species for deer browse frequency over eight years, and compared their heights and percent cover between unfenced and fenced plots. The analysis identified 2,333 metabolites. The global metabolome diverged significantly between fenced and unfenced plots pooled across species, but for individual species only N. sylvatica exhibited a significant fencing effect. Nyssa sylvatica was one of the most browsed species and was the only one with both greater cover and height in fenced plots, suggesting greater susceptibility to deer browsing. The metabolites most responsible for the fenced/unfenced divergence also were affected by the species-fencing combination, with increases in certain species but decreases in others. The most significant metabolites that were upregulated in fenced plants include some involved in defense-related metabolic pathways, e.g. monoterpenoid biosynthesis. Further study of more species in multiple sites is needed to learn how common metabolomic responses to deer are among forest species, how the intensity of deer pressure influences the responses, which types of metabolites are most affected, and if there are ecological consequences at the physiological, population, and/or community levels.

Genomic approaches to the study of population demography rely on accurate SNP calling and by-proxy the site frequency spectrum (SFS). Two main questions for the design of such studies remain poorly investigated: do reduced genomic sequencing summary statistics reflect that of whole genome, and how do sequencing strategies and derived summary statistics impact demographic inferences? To address those questions, we applied the ddRAD sequencing approach to 254 individuals and whole genome resequencing approach to 35 mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) individuals across the species range with a known demographic history. We identified SNPs with 5 different variant callers and used ANGSD to estimate the genotype likelihoods (GLs). We tested combinations of SNP filtering by linkage disequilibrium (LD), minor allele frequency (MAF) and the genomic region. We compared the resulting suite of summary statistics reflective of the SFS and quantified the relationship to demographic inferences by estimating the contemporary effective population size (Ne), isolation-by-distance and population structure, FST, and explicit modelling of the demographic history with δaδi. Filtering had a larger effect than sequencing strategy, with the former strongly influencing summary statistics. Estimates of contemporary Ne and isolation-by-distance patterns were largely robust to the choice of sequencing, pipeline, and filtering. Despite the high variance in summary statistics, whole genome and reduced representation approaches were overall similar in supporting a glacial induced vicariance and low Ne in mountain goats. We discuss why whole genome resequencing data is preferable, and reiterate support the use of GLs, in part because it limits user-determined filters.

In this work, we consider a thermoelastic laminated beam with structural damping, where the heat flux is given by Green and Naghdi theories. We establish the well-posedness of the system using semigroup theory. Moreover, under the condition of equal wave speeds, we prove an exponential stability result for the considered system. In the case of lack of exponential stability we show that the solution decays polynomially.

Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis is a growing recognized entity, especially with the increasing use of the valve in vale procedures and the advent of new detection technologies (e.g., 4D CT and 4D echocardiography). However, the optimal management strategy in the acute context is not established. This paper presents a case of early thrombosis following the percutaneous tricuspid valve in vale procedure that was successfully managed with thrombolysis.

The distribution and availability of phosphorus (P) fractions in restored cut slope soil aggregates along altitude gradients were studied. We examined soil aggregates total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP) and phosphorus activation coefficient (PAC), and discovered that there was no significant difference in TP at four altitudes (p> 0.05), but there was a significant difference in AP at 3009 m, 3347 m and 3980 m (p< 0.05). At 3009 m, 3347 m and 3654 m, the AP accumulation in small size aggregates were more advantageous. Overall, PAC dropped steadily as aggregate size increased, as shown by PAC (3654 m)> PAC (3347 m)> PAC (3009 m)> PAC (3980 m) in altitudes. In all particle size soil aggregates, total inorganic phosphorus (TPi) > total organic phosphorus (TPo) > residual phosphorus (R-P) at 3009 m, 3347 m and 3654 m; TPo> TPi> R-P at 3980 m. Through correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis, we concluded that active NaHCO3-Pi was the main AP source. It was suggested that more attention should be paid to the ratio of small particle size aggregates, so as to increase soil AP storage. At low (3009 m) and high altitude (3980 m), inorganic P fertilizer and P activator were added into soil to improve the activation ability of soil P and the AP supply, so as to promote the healthy development of slope soils ecosystem.

In many cases, understanding species level responses to climate change requires understanding variation among individuals in response to such change. For species with strong symbiotic relationships, such as many coral reef species, genetic variation in symbiont responses to temperature may affect the response to increased ocean temperatures. To assess variation among symbiont genotypes, we examined the population dynamics and physiological responses of genotypes of Breviolum antillogorgium in response to increased temperature. We found broad temperature tolerance across genotypes, with all genotypes showing positive growth at 26, 30, and 32 C. Genotypes differed in the magnitude of the response of growth rate and carrying capacity to increasing temperature, suggesting that natural selection could favor different genotypes at different temperatures. However, the historical temperature at which genotypes were reared was not a good predictor of temperature response, suggesting a lack of adaptation to temperature over hundreds of generations. We found increased photosynthetic rates and decreased respiration rates with increasing temperature, and differences in physiology among genotypes, but found no significant differences in the response of different genotypes to temperature. In species with such broad thermal tolerance, selection experiments on symbionts outside of the host may not yield results sufficient for evolutionary rescue from climate change.

The influence of temperature, stirring speed, and excipients on crystal growth kinetics of mesalazine and allopurinol was investigated through experiment and chemical potential gradient model. The results indicated that the Diffusion-Surface Reaction model (DSR (1,2)) showed good performance in modeling API crystal growth kinetics within the ARDs of 4%. Excipients played a crucial role in inhibiting crystal growth in all the systems. It can not only improve the API solubility, but also reduce the crystal growth rate. By comparing diffusion rate and surface-reaction rate constant within the DSR (1,2) model, it was found that the controlling step of mesalazine crystallization was surface-reaction. Allopurinol crystallization was dominated by both surface-reaction and diffusion. Meanwhile, the crystal growth kinetics of mesalazine and allopurinol were predicted successfully with the ARDs of 2.53% and 4.78%. This work provided a mechanistic understanding of polymer influence on the inhibition of API crystal growth.

In this work, based on mathematical model inspired by transition state theory, the group contribution (GC) method is used to predict the viscosity of DESs. The model is constrained by Eyring rate theory and hard sphere free volume theory. A dataset of 2229 experimental measurements of the viscosity of 183 DESs from literature is used for determining the model parameters and subsequent verification of the model. The rules introduced by this model are simple and easy to understand. The results show that the proposed model is able to predict the DESs viscosity with very high accuracy, i.e., with an average absolute relative deviation of 8.12% over the training set and 8.64% over the test set, using only temperature and composition as inputs. The maximum absolute relative deviation is 34.63%. Therefore, the as-proposed model can be considered a highly reliable tool for predicting DESs viscosity when experimental data are absent.

Background: Studies on age-related differences in clinical and laboratory features on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited. We aimed to evaluate the demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings of COVID-19 in children younger than six months old and compare them with older children. Methods: A single-center retrospective study, including 209 confirmed COVID-19 cases, was conducted between March 11, 2020, and September 1, 2021. The case group consisted of 47 patients younger than six months old, and the control group consisted of 162 patients older than six months old. Results: The mean age of the case group was 2.77±1.52 months, and the control group was 101.89±65.77 months. Cough was statistically higher in the control group, poor feeding was higher in the case group (P=.043, .010). The underlying disease ratio was statistically higher in the case group; however, the hospitalization rate was higher in the case group (P=.001, .036). The case group had significantly lower median values of the absolute neutrophil count, hemoglobin, and higher median values of white blood cell, absolute lymphocyte count, platelet than the control group (P<.05). C-reactive protein, fibrinogen values were significantly lower, and procalcitonin, D-dimer, troponin T, N‑terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide significantly higher in the case group (P<.05). Lymphopenia was more common in the control group, whereas neutropenia was more common in the case group (P= .001, .011). Conclusions: We showed that most children younger than six months old had mild and asymptomatic COVID-19; however, the hospitalization rate was higher, and neutropenia was more common than older children.

The number of diagnoses of mental illness has been increasing for years, especially in the wealthy industrialized nations. What continues to be overlooked is the massive influence of the lobby of the psychotherapeutic "industry", which has long and steadily earned good money from hastily misdiagnosed patients. However, this can be a matter of moderate to severe malpractice. 

Background. The use of eliciting doses (EDs) for food allergens is necessary to inform individual dietary advice and food allergen risk-management. The Eliciting Dose 01 (ED01) for milk and egg, calculated from populations of allergic subjects undergoing diagnostic Oral Food Challenges (OFCs), are 0.2 mg total protein. The respective Eliciting Dose 05 (ED05) are 2.4 mg for milk and 2.3 mg for egg. As about 70% children allergic to such foods may tolerate them when baked, we sought to verify the EDs of that subpopulation of milk and egg-allergic children. Methods. We retrospectively assessed consecutive diagnostic OFC for fresh milk and egg between January 2018 and December 2020 in a population of baked food-tolerant children. Results. Among 288 children (median age 56 - IQR 36-92.5 months, 67.1% male) included, 87 (30.2%) returned positive OFC results, 38 with milk and 49 with egg. The most conservative ED01 were 0.3 mg total protein (IQR 0.03-2.9) for milk and 14.4 mg total protein (IQR 3.6-56.9) for egg. The respective ED05 were 4.2 (IQR 0.9-19.6) mg for milk and 87.7 (IQR 43-179) mg for egg. Such thresholds are respectively 1.5 (milk ED01), 1.75 (milk ED05), 72 (egg ED01), and 38.35 (egg ED05) times higher than the currently used thresholds. Conclusions The subpopulation of children allergic to milk and egg, but tolerant to baked proteins, displays higher reactivity thresholds than the general population of children allergic to milk and egg. Their risk stratification, in both individual and population terms, should consider this difference. In baked milk-tolerant children, milk causes reactions at lower doses than egg in our group of egg-tolerant children. This could be associated with the relative harmlessness of egg compared to milk in the determinism of fatal anaphylactic reactions in children

Design plays a key role in human culture. A growing body of evidence suggests that most design builds upon human understanding to expand the market. However, few professionals have given attention to unwitting consequences. Drawing from political, economic and social history, this paper argues that design has been instrumental to capitalist ends, thereby forgoing discipline values. The author conducts a case study and explores counterfactual scripting as a way to reflect on alternate presents. Results portray a discursive provotype and a methodology whereby discussion is encouraged. This paper should be of value to future and experienced practitioners interested in technology, critical design and work ethics.

Hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) consists of left internal thoracic artery (LITA) graft to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and transcatheter revascularization of the non-LAD stenosis in specific settings to achieve complete coronary revascularization. Technique to perform the LITA to LAD graft has ranged from median sternotomy with cardiopulmonary bypass to robotically assisted totally endoscopic coronary bypass surgery using beating heart revascularization.

We report the case of a 42 years old young patient who was examined in the emergency department for epigastric pain lasting for 3 days. The abdominal tomodensitometry allowed to highlight the presence of an intra peritoneal effusion without pneumopertoneum. The patient underwent an exploratory laparoscopy. There was peritoneal toilet

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Portenoy and Foley’s 1986 landmark study “Chronic use of opioid analgesics in non-malignant pain: report of 38 cases” has been reproached for opening the floodgates of opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain and the attendant harms. This influential article has been cited over 500 times in the scientific literature over the last four decades. This study seeks to understand the impact of Portenoy and Foley’s article on subsequent discussions and research about opioids. Methods: We conducted a multi-method bibliometric analysis of all citations of this article from 1986 through 2019 using quantitative relational and qualitative content analysis to determine how uses and interpretations of this case series and associated prescribing guidance have changed over time, in relationship to the evolution of the North American opioid crises. Results: Using time series analysis, we identified three periods with distinct interpretations and uses of the index study. In the first “exploration” period (1986-1996), the index study was well-received by the scientific community and motivated further study of the effects of opioids. In the second “implementation” period (1997-2003, coinciding with the release of OxyContin®), this study was used as evidence to support widespread prescribing of opioid analgesics, even while it was recognized that long-term effects had not yet been evaluated. The third “reassessment” period (2004-2019) focused on how opioid-related harms had been overlooked, and in many cases these harms were directly attributed to this study. Conclusion: These changes in interpretation demonstrate shifting currents of the use and mobilization of evidence regarding pain and opioids, and how these currents both impact and are impacted by clinical practices and major sociohistorical phenomena such as the opioid crisis. Researchers and clinicians must account for these shifting dynamics when developing and interpreting scientific knowledge, including in the form of clinical practice guidelines.

In the present paper, we study the existence of nontrivial solutions of the following one-dimensional fractional Schr\“{o}dinger equation $$ (-\Delta)^{1/2}u+V(x)u=f(x,u), \ \ x\in \R, $$ where $(-\Delta)^{1/2}$ stands for the $1/2$-Laplacian, $V(x)\in \mathcal{C}(\R, (0,+\infty))$, and $f(x,u):\R\times\R\to \R$ is a continuous function with an exponential critical growth. Comparing with the existing works in the field of exponential-critical-growth fractional Schr\”{o}dinger equations, we encounter some new challenges due to the weaker assumptions on the reaction term $f$. By using some sharp energy estimates, we present a detailed analysis of the energy level, which allows us to establish the existence of nontrivial solutions for a wider class of nonlinear terms. Furthermore, we use the non-Nehari manifold method to establish the existence of Nehari-type ground state solutions of the one-dimensional fractional Schr\”{o}dinger equations.