The plant cell wall is a plastic structure of variable composition that constitutes the first line of defense against environmental challenges. Lodging and drought are two stressful conditions that severely impact on maize yield. In a previous work, we characterized the cell walls of two maize inbreds susceptible (EA2024) or resistant (B73) to stalk-lodging. Here, we show that drought induces phenotypical, physiological, cell wall, and transcriptional changes with distinct dynamics in the two inbreds, and that B73 is less tolerant than EA2024 to this stress. While in control conditions, stalk of EA2024 had higher levels of cellulose, uronic acids and p-coumarate than B73, upon drought these displayed increased levels of arabinose-enriched polymers, such as pectin-arabinans and arabinogalactan proteins, and a decreased lignin content. By contrast, a deeper rearrangement of cell walls including the modification of lignin composition and an increase of uronic acids was observed in B73. Drought induced higher changes in gene expression in B73 compared to EA2024, particularly in cell wall-related genes, that were altered in an inbred-specific manner. Transcription factor enrichment assays unveiled inbred-specific regulatory networks coordinating cell wall genes expression. Altogether, these findings reveal that B73 and EA2024 inbreds, with opposite stalk-lodging phenotypes, undertake different cell wall modification strategies in response to drought. We propose that the specific cell wall composition that confers lodging resistance to B73 compromises its cell wall plasticity and renders this inbred more susceptible to drought.

Anthropogenic climate change is creating a more flammable future by increasing the number of days when vegetation is dry enough to burn. Indices representing the percent moisture content of dead fine fuels as derived from meteorological data have been used to assess geographic patterns and temporal trends in vegetation flammability. To date, this approach has assumed a single flammability threshold, typically between 8 and 12%, controlling fire potential regardless of the vegetation type or climate domain. Here we investigate geographic variation in fuel moisture levels associated with observed fire activity among ecoregions by analysing global reanalysis data and remotely sensed burnt area products. This geospatial analysis identified a wide range of ecoregion flammability thresholds (EFTs) associated with fire activity, often well above or below the commonly used range of values. Many boreal and temperate forests, for example, can burn with much higher fuel moisture than previously identified; Mediterranean forests, on the other hand, tend to burn with consistently low fuel moisture. Bayesian modelling showed that EFTs are primarily driven by eco-climatological variables, particularly precipitation and temperature. Our analysis also identified complex associations between vegetation structure, fuel types, and climatic conditions highlighting the complexity in vegetation-climate-fire relationships globally. Our study provides a critical, necessary step in understanding and describing global pyrogeography and tracking changes in spatiotemporal fire activity.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes loss of neural connections in the cells, and brain tissue volume. The disease first affects the hippocampus and entorhinal complex, which produce memories, then the cerebral cortex, which controls language, logic, and social conduct. Genetic mutations and environmental factors may cause AD, but the exact reason is unknown. AD is diagnosed using CT scans, MRIs, PET scans, and lumbar punctures to detect brain abnormalities, aberrant protein deposits, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles impede neuronal transmission and function in AD. AD also causes chronic inflammation, blood-brain barrier impairment, brain atrophy, and neuronal death. AD has no cure, and current medications mainly manage symptoms and halt cognitive loss. Genetic, cellular, and molecular pathways are being studied to develop targeted medicines to stop disease progression. Extensive studies have shown that tau tangle accumulation and pathogenic changes to tau protein mechanics are correlated with AD pathogenesis. Thus, investigating the potential for therapies focused on restoring normal tau pathways and preventing tau accumulation is critical. Nanoparticulate drug delivery technologies may improve investigational medicines and lead to AD therapy breakthroughs.

Pediatric cutaneous T-cell lymphoma with γδ immunophenotype is extremely rare. Only a few cases of γδ T-cell neoplasm have been reported in the literature and therefore little is known whether γδ T-cell neoplasms in children are distinct from their adult counterparts with respect to the clinicopathological presentation, behavior and prognosis. In this study, we demonstrate three unique cases with increased γδ T-cells in malignant and non-malignant skin conditions of children. All cases showed an indolent clinical course. Full integration of clinical presentation, morphology, immunophenotype, and genetics supports the correct diagnosis and guides the treatment.

A document by Hiba J. Mustafa. Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Huang Ranran. Click on the document to view its contents.

Genetic studies of Domesticated-Weed-Wild Complexes (DWWC) have typically focused on one-way introgression of crop alleles into wild or weedy populations, with little consideration of the entire natural ecosystem. In Sri Lanka, DWWC is diverse, comprising six evolutionarily discrete groups in the genus Oryza. Using 33 neutral simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci, we characterized six Oryza groups to understand the genetic background and evolution of DWWC components. Our analysis found that Oryza groups have large population sizes and high inter-group long-term gene flows. Asymmetric gene flows were found between wild and weedy rice groups, but the rare alleles shared among DWWC components provide additional evidence for extensive and enduring exchange, highlighting the dynamic nature of this complex genetic admixture among different Oryza lineages. We found high genetic diversity at the population and species levels due to mixed DWWC components over the generations. Weedy rice types exhibit genetic incorporation through admixture from both crop and wild species, highlighting the multi-way genetic transfer in the evolution of weedy rice types. Our findings support the idea that the DWWC is an integrated complex in the Sri Lankan rice ecosystem and that its weedy rice has multiple origins, including de-domestication via feralization of cultivated rice, inter-varietal hybridization among distinct cultivated rice types, adaptation, and invasion of rice cultivation areas by wild Oryza species, and hybridization events between crop and wild rice populations. Abandoned rice domesticates can also evolve into weedy forms with less intimate human relationships and contaminate the rice ecosystem.

RECALCITRANT MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT PSEUDOMONAS KERATITIS WITH SUBSEQUENT TRIPLE PROCEDUREAuthors: Ēriks Elksnis1,2,4, Eva Elksne1,3, Olita Lūse1,2, Juris Vanags1,4, Guna Laganovska1,4Affiliations:Riga Stradins University, Riga, LatviaLatvian American Eye CenterChildren’s Clinical University Hospital, Riga, LatviaPauls Stradins Clinical University HospitalCorrespondence to: Ēriks Elksnis. ORCID 0000-0002-7899-8224Riga Stradins University, Dzirciema street 16, Riga, Latvia. LV1007.Data availability statement : We hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership, including any and all rights incidental thereto, exclusively to the journal, in the event that such work is published by the journalConflict of interest disclosure : Authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.Ethics approval statement : All procedures performed involving this case were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.Consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient to publish this report in accordance with the journal’s patient consent policy.KEY CLINICAL MESSAGERecalcitrant Pseudomona aeruginosa keratitis is a challenging case in ophthalmology and can lead to irreversible blindness if not treated properly and in time.KEYWORDS: Pseudomona aeruginosa, recalcitrant keratitis, penetrating keratoplasty.INTRODUCTIONCorneal opacity is the 5th leading cause of blindness and visual impairment, affecting approximately 6 million people worldwide; additionally, it is responsible for 1.5–2.0 million new cases of monocular blindness per year. Among all etiologies (such as infection, trauma, and inflammation), infectious keratitis (IK) is the main cause of corneal blindness, with an estimated incidence ranging from 2.5–799 per 100,000 population years (Ting et al. 2021).Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa ) is a gram-negative aerobic pathogen that can cause a wide range of infections and is one of the main causative pathogens of bacterial keratitis, especially in contact lens-associated keratitis, potentially leading to sight-threatening complications if not appropriately treated (Hilliam, Kaye & Winstanley 2020).A particular characteristic of multidrug resistant Pseudomonas keratitis is its rapid progression, in which corneal destruction can be completed within 24–48 hours in some of the more virulent bacterial strains (Reynolds & Kollef 2021). Therefore, P. aeruginosa -caused keratitis is often associated with a high-cost long treatment period and poor visual outcomes (Hilliam, Kaye & Winstanley 2020).CASE PRESENTATIONA 60-year-old female presented to a tertiary medical center in May 2021 with progressive vision loss, purulent discharge, photophobia, foreign body sensation, and pain in the left eye (LE).Three weeks prior, the patient developed a foreign body sensation in her LE due to contact lenses remaining unremoved for one night. She had visited her local ophthalmologist and been prescribed topical tobramycin/dexamethasone 3 mg/mL four times daily, cyclopentolate 10 mg/mL twice daily, and dexpenthenolum once daily before bedtime. There was clinical improvement during the first 5 days of therapy; however, severe clinical worsening followed. The patient returned to the outpatient department 8 days after the first consultation, and treatment was changed to topical chloramphenicol/dexamethasone 1 mg/2 mg/mL six times daily, cyclopentolate 10 mg/mL twice daily and oral doxycycline 100 mg twice daily. Despite treatment, the symptoms worsened in the following week.On the presenting day at the tertiary medical center, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/25 in the right eye (RE) and hand-motion (HM) vision in the LE. The RE was unremarkable on initial examination, whereas slit-lamp examination of the LE revealed a massive amount of purulent discharge in the conjunctival fornixes and intense mixed conjunctival injection. A large epithelial defect in the cornea was present, associated with a ring-like stromal infiltrate 3.1 mm in height, which was “soupy” in appearance owing to stromal necrosis. A hypopyon 3.2 mm in height was observed (Figure 1A). Both the lids were swollen and erythematous. As the posterior segment could not be visualized, B-scan ultrasonography of the LE was performed and confirmed a flat retina with no vitritis.Corneal scrapings and cultures were obtained from LE. Cultures were acquired using a sterile cotton-tipped swab and placed in transport medium. The scrapings were placed on a glass slide and, together with the culture, forwarded to a microbiology laboratory.Topical chloramphenicol/dexamethasone was discontinued, and levofloxacin 5 mg/mL eyedrops were initially administered every hour. Additionally, cyclopentolate 10 mg/mL was administered twice daily to control pain and prevent synechia, artificial tear drops were administered to aid wound healing, and oral doxycycline 100 mg twice daily was administered to prevent keratolysis.After 12 hours, the condition worsened; discharge remained in the same amount, however, the hypopyon increased to 5.4 mm in height, with an infiltration spread 360 °around the limbus and significant corneal edema (Figure 1B).Levofloxacin was switched to moxifloxacin 5 mg/mL eye drops every hour. As a result, the amount of purulent discharge reduced, yet the central corneal infiltrate and ulcer remained unchanged, with remarkable stromal necrosis and corneal thinning in the nasal limbs (Figure 1C).On the fourth day from admission, multidrug resistantP.aeruginosa  was isolated from the culture. (Table 1). Based on these results, and after consultation with an infectologist, moxifloxacin was changed to fortified piperacillin 1.5 mg/mL/tazobactam 12 mg/mL eye drops every hour.

A Submandibular Stone of 3 cm Length Obscuring Duct: A Case ReportA Sanjel1, R Subedi1, S Rauniyar1, I Silwal2, P Bidari21. Department of Otolaryngology, 2. Department of AnesthesiaHetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health SciencesDr. Anup Sanjel, MBBS, MS ENT, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences (corresponding author).Dr. Rupak Subedi, MBBS, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences.Dr. Somee Rauniyar, MBBS, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences.Dr. Prashant Bidari, MBBS, MD Anesthesia, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences.Dr. Ishwor Kumar Silwal, MBBS, MD Anesthesia, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences.

In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Salter et al. (2023) discovered that the Cuban Northern Bobwhite subspecies, Colinus virginianus cubanensis (Gould, 1850), is an ancient hybrid population formed due to historical hybridization between lineages from divergent spatiotemporal origins. Slater et al. sequenced genomes extracted from contemporary samples of Northern Bobwhites, as well as historical museum specimens with the oldest specimens dated in 1859. With this data, they reconstructed the evolutionary origin and history of C.v. cubanensis by combining historical literature with demographic modeling. The demographic model revealed the hybrid origin of the C.v. cubanensis from hybridization between divergent lineages. The Bobwhite first arrived in Cuba between the 12th and 16th centuries from Southern Mexico. Then the secondary gene flow from the Southeastern USA occurred between the 18th and 20th centuries (Figure 1). C.v. cubanensis are hybrids with mixed ancestries while possessing unique genetic variants, which confirm the subspecies status. Hybridization can be a creative process generating and maintaining genetic diversity over space and time.

Metabolomics has been increasingly utilized in studying host response to infections and under-standing the progression of multi-system disorders such as COVID-19. The analysis of metabo-lites in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection provides a snapshot of the endogenous host metabo-lism and its role in shaping the interaction with SARS-CoV-2. The current study investigated the metabolic signatures of mortality and severity in COVID-19 patients using a targeted metabo-lomics approach. Blood plasma concentrations were quantified through LC-MS using MxP Quant 500 kit. We utilized Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to investigate the correlation between various metabolic markers and patient outcomes. A comparison of survival rates between individuals with high levels of various metabolites and those with low levels showed statistically significant differences in survival outcomes. We further used four metabolic markers to develop a COVID-19 mortality risk model through the application of multiple machine learning methods. These metabolic predictors can be further validated as potential biomarkers to identify patients at risk of poor outcomes. Finally, integrating machine learning models in metabolome analysis of COVID-19 patients can improve our understanding of disease mortality by providing insight into the relationship between metabolites and survival probability, which can lead to the development of potential therapeutics and clinical risk models.

Nanofiller-doped polymer electrolyte-based electrochemical devices are now emerged as a novel material for electrochemical devices. This paper reports a solid polymer electrolyte film doped with a new nanofiller synthesized by the solution casting technique. Electrical, Optical, and photoelectrochemical characterization are presented in detail. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) shows with the dispersion of nanofillers conductivity increases attains maxima and decreases. The maximum conductivity was at 0.05 wt% nanofiller concentration of 3.25 x 10 -5 S/cm. The calculated ionic transference value was 0.92 which shows the domency of the system as ionic. The linear sweep voltammetry confirms a high electrochemical stability window (ESW) of 4.01V. Sandwitched electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLC) has been developed using carbon-based electrodes and sandwitched nanofiller dispersed polymer electrolyte, showing a high specific capacitance value of ~ 200 F/g.

In last two decades, metallic particles of nano-sizes (~10 -9m) are tested profoundly in volumetric absorption solar collectors (VASC) due to their excellent optical properties and broadband absorption in entire solar spectrum. However, availability, ease to synthesise, toxicity, and non-biodegradable nature of these nanofluids are some of the challenges that still needs attention of scientific community for future commercialisation of this technology. Further, based on literature review, very limited studies are available for understanding the performance of integrated energy storage VASC system using nanofluids. Considering all these issues, a hybrid nanofluid of gold nanoparticles in Azadirachta Indica leaves extract has been synthesised by chemical route. The prepared hybrid nanofluid has shown good absorption in 400-700nm wavelength range and hence high photo-thermal conversion efficiency for VASC. Further, commercial available paraffin wax is used as phase change material (PCM) in thermal energy storage (TES) and further integrated with VASC to analyse thermal performance of system even after sunshine hours. The real-time experiments were conducted using different working fluids and at three mass flow rates i.e. 0.5 lpm, 1 lpm and 2 lpm, respectively during mild winter days under tropical climate of India. The study revealed a photo-thermal efficiency enhancement of about 17.1% when hybrid heat transfer fluid was used in VASC system with TES as compared to base fluid water without TES. Further, a maximum zero loss efficiency of 83.8% was estimated at optimal mass flow rate of 2 lpm for TES integrated VASC system.

Objective: Acute bronchiolitis, primarily caused by Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is the most common cause of hospitalization in young children. Despite international guidelines supporting clinical diagnosis, laboratory evaluations are often conducted with limited validity. We aim to evaluate the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at admission and disease severity in children hospitalized due to RSV bronchiolitis. Study design: This single center retrospective cohort study included children (0-24 months old) who were hospitalized due to RSV bronchiolitis (January 2018 – March 2022) with CRP levels taken upon admission. Clinical data and severity parameters were extracted using MD-clone platform and the clinical research unit at SUMC. Results: 1,874 children (mean age of 6.7 months, 59% males) with a median CRP level of 1.92mg/dL were included. Children with elevated CRP (>1.92mg/dL) were significantly older (5.1 vs. 3.8 months, p<0.001), had higher rates of pneumonia (9.4% vs. 4.3%, p<0.001 ), urinary tract infection (UTI), (2.2% vs. 0.2%, p<0.001), acute otitis media (AOM), (1.7% vs 0.2%, p<0.001), admissions to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) (7.4% vs 3.7%, p<0.001), antibiotic treatment (49.8% vs 37.2%, p<0.001) and longer hospitalizations (3.83 vs 3.31 days, p=0.001). Multivariable analysis predicted increased risk for UTI, PICU admission, pneumonia, and longer hospitalization (relative risk of 11.6, 2.25, 1.98, 1.44, respectively, p<0.001)). CRP thresholds of 3.51, 1.9, and 2.81 mg/dL for PICU admission, UTI, and pneumonia, were calculated using Youden’s index with AUC of 0.72, 0.62, and 0.61, respectively. Conclusions: Elevated CRP levels at admission are associated with increased disease severity and higher complication rates in children hospitalized with RSV bronchiolitis.

Objectives:  Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy which, left untreated, can cause significant foeto-maternal morbidity. Accordingly, the National Institution for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that high-risk women be prescribed daily prophylaxis with 75-150mg aspirin from twelve weeks’ gestation until delivery. NICE stratifies risk using eleven maternal risk factors; however, no secondary research has been published evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of this algorithm. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the sensitivity and specificity of the NICE risk‑stratification algorithm in predicting pre‑eclampsia in pregnant women ≥16 years. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Library and SCOPUS to identify relevant papers with a CBEM Level of Evidence ≤4. A total of twenty eligible studies and 892,061 pregnancies were included in our analyses. The logit-transformed sensitivities and specificities from each study were modelled as a bivariate distribution with random effects in order to generate maximum-likelihood estimates (MLEs) for the overall sensitivity and specificity of the algorithm in predicting pre-eclampsia. Results: MLEs for the NICE algorithm’s sensitivity and specificity were 44.4% (95% CI 33.7-55.5) and 88.3% (95% CI 83.9-91.6), respectively. Significant heterogeneity was exhibited between the sensitivities  (I2=99.8%, 95% CI = 99.54-99.65) and specificities (I2=99.88%, 95% CI = 99.87-99.89) calculated by each of the included studies. Consequently, there is a low degree of certainty in these estimates. Conclusions: The NICE risk‑stratification algorithm performs remarkably poorly when used to predict pre‑eclampsia in any of three gestational categories. Clinicians should advise women that around 1 in 5 high-risk patients and 1 in 25 low-risk patients go on to develop pre‑eclampsia. However, future studies will likely alter the values of these statistics and the confidence therein. Key Words: Pre-eclampsia, High-risk Pregnancy, Sensitivity and Specificity, Predictive Value of Tests, Clinical Decision Rules.

Voice Liveness Detection (VLD) has become one of the hot research topics in the Internet of Things era. Conventional VLD methods are centralized solutions that are trained on abundant data collected from local clients and stored on the server, however, they have the risk of causing data islands and privacy leakage. To address this problem, we propose a novel word-level VLD framework based on asynchronous federated learning (FL) with pop noise, named FL-VLD. Structurally, FL-VLD takes the preprocessed voice for local model training and constructs a global model by only transmitting the learned weights after differential privacy with FL’s central server in an asynchronous manner. In addition, the local network of the framework incorporates the residual network and the spatial grouping enhancement module to optimize the complexity and accuracy of the global model. With the advantage of FL’s distributed structure, FL-VLD solves the data island problem in VLD scenario without threatening users’ privacy. Experimental results on the popular POCO dataset show that our proposal is clearly superior to the traditional centralized methods as well as overperforming other federated schemes in terms of fairness, stability, accuracy, and lightweightness. Further, for attacks involving far-field replay, synthesis, and conversion, FL-VLD has high generalisation capabilities. Finally, the ablation study attests to its efficacy.

Small, fragmented or isolated populations are at risk of population decline due to fitness costs associated with inbreeding and genetic drift. The King Island scrubtit Acanthornis magna greeniana is a critically endangered endemic subspecies of the nominate Tasmanian scrubtit A. m. magna, with an estimated population of <100 individuals persisting in three patches of swamp forest. The Tasmanian scrubtit is widespread in wet forests on mainland Tasmania. We sequenced the scrubtit genome using PacBio HiFi and undertook a population genomics study of the King Island and Tasmanian scrubtit using a double-digest restriction site-associated DNA (ddRAD) dataset of 5,239 SNP loci. The genome was 1.48 Gb long, comprising 1,518 contigs with an N50 of 7.715 Mb. King Island scrubtits formed one of four overall genetic clusters, but separated into three distinct subpopulations when analysed separately. Pairwise FST values were greater among the King Island scrubtit subpopulations than among most Tasmanian scrubtit subpopulations. Genetic diversity was lower and inbreeding coefficients were higher in the King Island scrubtit than all except one of the Tasmanian scrubtit subpopulations. We observed crown baldness in 8/15 King Island scrubtits, but 0/55 Tasmanian scrubtits. Six loci were significantly associated with baldness, including one within the DOCK11 gene which is linked to early feather development. Contemporary gene flow between King Island scrubtit subpopulations is unlikely, with further field monitoring required to quantify the fitness consequences of its small effective size, low genetic diversity and high inbreeding. Evidence-based conservation actions can then be implemented before the taxon goes extinct.

A document by Samuel Speak. Click on the document to view its contents.