Animals with dependent and vulnerable young need to decide where to raise their offspring to minimize ill effects of weather, competition, parasitism, and predation. These decisions have critical fitness consequences through impacting the survival of both adults and juveniles. Birds routinely place their nest in specific sites, allowing species to be broadly classified based on nest location (e.g., ground- or tree-nesting). However, from 2018–2020 we observed 24 American robin (Turdus migratorius) nests placed not on their species-typical arboreal substrates or human-made structures but on the ground at a predator-rich commercial arbor in Illinois, U.S.A. This behavior does not appear to be in response to competition and did not affect nest daily survival rate but was restricted to the early half of the breeding season. We hypothesize that ground-nesting may be an adaptive response to avoid exposure and colder temperatures at sites above the ground early in the breeding season or a non-adaptive consequence of latent robin nest-placement flexibility.

Brain mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) mediate effects of aldosterone in relation to salt homeostasis, and of glucocorticoid stress hormones corticosteroids in the context of stress adaptation. Brain stem MRs respond to aldosterone, while forebrain MRs mediate rapid and delayed MR-mediated glucocorticoids effects in conjunction with the glucocorticoid receptor. MR-mediated effects depend on gender, genetic variations and environmental influences. Disturbed MR activity by chronic stress or in certain (endocrine) diseases can cause deleterious effects on affective state, cognitive and behavioural function in susceptible individuals. High MR activation may have protective effects in healthy individuals, whereas dysregulated high MR activity during a stress response would require treatment with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs). Here, we discuss recent pharmacological and genetic developments, from the molecular underpinnings of MR signaling and function, to pharmacological interventions in the clinic. Improved understanding of MR dependent pathways will help to improve glucocorticoid therapy, unwanted side effects and psychiatric symptoms.

The development of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies has greatly improved our capacity to identify fungi and unveil their ecological roles across a variety of ecosystems. Here we provide an overview about current best practices in metabarcoding analysis of fungal communities, from experimental design through molecular and computational analyses. By re-analysing published datasets, we find that operational taxonomic units (OTUs) outperform amplified sequence variants (ASVs) in recovering fungal diversity, which is particularly evident for long markers. Additionally, analysis of the full-length ITS region allows more accurate taxonomic placement of fungi and other eukaryotes compared with the ITS2 subregion. We conclude that metabarcoding analyses of fungi are especially promising for co-analyses with the functional metagenomic or transcriptomic data, integrating fungi in the entire microbiome, recovery of novel fungal lineages and ancient organisms as well as barcoding of old specimens including type material.

Groundwater plays a crucial role in sustaining global food security but is being over-exploited in many basins of the world. Despite its importance and finite availability, local-scale monitoring of groundwater withdrawals required for sustainable water management practices is not carried out in most countries, including the United States. In this study, we combine publicly available datasets into a machine learning framework for estimating groundwater withdrawals over the state of Arizona. Here we include evapotranspiration, precipitation, crop coefficients, land use, well density, and watershed stress metrics for our predictions. We employ random forests to predict groundwater withdrawals from 2002-2020 at a 2 km spatial resolution using in-situ groundwater withdrawal data available for Arizona Active Management Areas (AMA) and Irrigation Non-Expansion Areas (INA) from 2002-2009 for training and 2010-2020 for validating the model respectively. The results show high training (R2≈ 0.86) and good testing (R2≈ 0.69) scores with normalized mean absolute error (NMAE) ≈ 0.64 and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) ≈ 2.36 for the AMA/INA region. Using this method, we spatially extrapolate the existing groundwater withdrawal estimates to the entire state and observe the co-occurrence of both groundwater withdrawals and land subsidence in South-Central and Southern Arizona. Our model predicts groundwater withdrawals in regions where production wells are present on agricultural lands and subsidence is observed from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), but withdrawals are not monitored. By performing a comparative analysis over these regions using the predicted groundwater withdrawals and InSAR-based land subsidence estimates, we observe a varying degree of subsidence for similar volumes of withdrawals in different basins. The performance of our model on validation datasets and its favorable comparison with independent water use proxies such as InSAR demonstrate the effectiveness and extensibility of our combined remote sensing and machine learning-based approach.

Land-use intensification is the main factor for the catastrophic decline of insect pollinators. However, land-use intensification includes multiple processes that act across various scales and should affect pollinator guilds differently depending on their ecology. We aimed to reveal how two main pollinator guilds, wild bees (specialists) and hoverflies (generalists), respond to different land-use intensification measures, i.e. arable field cover (AFC), landscape heterogeneity (LH) and functional flower composition of local plant communities as a measure of habitat quality. We sampled wild bees and hoverflies on 22 dry grassland sites within a highly intensified landscape (NE Germany) within three campaigns using pan traps. We estimated AFC and LH on consecutive radii (60-3000m) around the dry grassland sites and estimated the local functional flower composition. Wild bee species richness and abundance was positively affected by LH and negatively by AFC at small scales (140-400m). In contrast, hoverflies were positively affected by AFC and negatively by LH at larger scales (500-3000m), where both landscape parameters were negatively correlated to each other. At small spatial scales, though, LH had a positive effect on hoverflies abundance. Functional flower diversity had no positive effect on pollinators, but conspicuous flowers seem to attract abundance of both guilds. In conclusion, landscape parameters contrarily affect two pollinator guilds at different scales. The correlation of landscape parameters may influence the observed relationships between landscape parameters and pollinators. Hence, effects of land-use intensification seems to be highly landscape-specific.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been considered to be important regulators of gene expression in a range of biological processes in plants. A large number of lncRNAs have been identified in plants. However, most of their biological functions still remain to be determined. Here, we identified total 3 004 lncRNAs in cassava under normal or cold-treated conditions from Iso-seq data. We further characterized a lincRNA, CRIR1, as a novel positive regulator of the plant response to cold stress. CRIR1 can be significantly induced by cold treatment. Overexpression of CRIR1 in cassava enhanced the cold tolerance of transgenic plants. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated that CRIR1 regulates a range of cold stress-related genes in a CBF-independent pathway. We further found that CRIR1 RNA can interact with MeCSP5, a homolog of the cold shock protein that acts as RNA chaperones, indicating that CRIR1 may recruit MeCSP5 to improve the translation efficiency of mRNA. In summary, our study greatly extends the repertoire of lncRNAs in plants as well as its responding to cold stress. Moreover, it reveals a sophisticated mechanism by which CRIR1 regulates plant cold stress response by modulating the expression of stress-responsive genes and increasing the translational yield.

‘Fluvial’, excerpt from ‘Dorset Waterbodies’, a new landscape ecopoem by Helen Moore

During the European emergence of Schmallenberg virus (SBV) in 2011, examination of Culicoides spp. showed that SBV infected midges were present across Denmark. However, SBV associated malformations in ruminant species have not been reported in Denmark. In April 2021, seven calves with severe congenital generalized arthrogryposis and reduced body weight originating from a narrow region of the Jutlandic peninsula were submitted for examination. Analysis of fetal brain tissue for SBV viral RNA and pleural effusion for fetal anti-SBV antibodies identified SBV as the cause of the congenital syndrome. Backwards calculation from the calving dates indicated the occurrence of an unnoticed emergence of SBV in Denmark from early August 2020 and during the late summer and autumn. As SBV associated malformations may lead to dystocia urging for fetotomy or Cesarean section, veterinarians performing obstetric intervention are first line personnel in recognition of SBV emergence in domestic ruminants.

Silphium integrifolium Michx. (Silflower) has been a promising subject for domestication as a perennial oilseed crop. This work was carried out to investigate the seed processing aspect of this effort. Selected physical properties of the seed were evaluated, seed milling to obtain enriched kernel fraction was conducted, and initial characterization of the seed protein was performed. There was wide variation in flat seed length (11.54 to 20.75 mm), width (4.61 to 11.76 mm), and thickness (0.92 to 1.63 mm). The thousand seed weight was 23.8 g but the tapped bulk density was only 189.58 g/L due to the presence of wing around the seed’s periphery. The kernel accounted for 56.14% of the seed weight and contained 31.00% oil. An enriched kernel fraction with 79.6% purity was obtained by roller-milling, sifting, and air classification. Linoleic (62.3%) and oleic (19.62%) acids were the major fatty acids in the oil. The defatted enriched kernel fraction contained 63.41% crude protein. Globulin, glutelin, albumin, and prolamin accounted for 55.63%, 19.28%, 16.38%, and 8.71% of the soluble proteins, respectively. At an extraction pH of 9, protein solubility was 62%. Maximum solubility (70%) was obtained at pH 10 while minimum solubility of 9% occurred between pH 4 and 5.5. Aside from the oil, the dehulling of silflower seeds also produced a high-protein defatted meal, which may be used as is or as a starting material for enriching the protein further into a protein isolate.

Psychological and psychosocial issues are more prominent issues of an individual in any disease, which could further deteriorate patients’ condition and hamper their quality of life. However, in treating SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, those patients’ mental, social, and emotional aspects are still overlooked.

Abstract The primary diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the uterine cervix is extremely rare. In the present study, we described two cases of DLBCL of the uterine cervix in reproductive-aged women complaining of postcoital bleeding, recurrent vaginal discharge, and abnormal uterine bleeding.

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is part of Severe cutaneous adverse reactions. Allopurinol, an uric acid-lowering drug, had been incriminated in several cases of Allopurinol-induced Dress syndrome.Through this paper, we present a case of Allopurinol-induced DRESS syndrome with initial oral mucosal involvement.

Reproductive isolation between geographically separated populations is generally considered the most common form of speciation. However, speciation may also occur in the absence of geographic barriers due phenotypic and genotypic factors such as chemical cue divergence, mating signal divergence and mitonuclear conflict. Here we performed an integrative study based on two genome-wide techniques, 3RAD and ultraconserved elements, coupled with cuticular hydrocarbon and mtDNA sequence data, to assess the species limits within the E. ruidum species-complex, a widespread and conspicuous group of Neotropical ants for which heteroplasmy has been recently discovered in some populations from southeast Mexico. Our analyses indicate the existence of at least five distinct species in this complex, two widely distributed along the Neotropics and three that are restricted to southeast Mexico and that apparently have high levels of heteroplasmy. We found that species boundaries in the complex did not coincide with geographic barriers. We therefore consider possible roles of alternative drivers that may have promoted the observed patterns of speciation, including mitonuclear incompatibility, cuticular hydrocarbon differentiation, and colony structure. Our study highlights the importance of simultaneously assessing different sources of evidence to disentangle the species limits of taxa with complicated evolutionary histories.

Digital point-occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and other data providers enable a wide range of research in macroecology and biogeography. However, data errors may hamper immediate use. Manual data cleaning is time-consuming and often unfeasible, given that the databases may contain thousands or millions of records. Automated data cleaning pipelines are therefore of high importance. Taking North American Ephedra as a model, we examined how different data cleaning pipelines (using, e.g., the GBIF web application, and four different R packages) affect downstream species distribution models (SDMs). We also assessed how data differed from expert data. From 13,889 North American Ephedra observations in GBIF, the pipelines removed 31.7% to 62.7% false positives, invalid coordinates, and duplicates, leading to datasets between 9,484 (GBIF application) and 5,196 records (manual-guided filtering). The expert data consisted of 704 records, comparable to data from field studies. Although differences in the absolute numbers of records were relatively large, species richness models based on stacked SDMs (S-SDM) from pipeline and expert data were strongly correlated (mean Pearson's r across the pipelines: 0.9986, versus the expert data: 0.9173). Our results suggest that all R package-based pipelines reliably identified invalid coordinates. In contrast, the GBIF-filtered data still contained both spatial and taxonomic errors. Major drawbacks emerge from the fact that no pipeline fully discovered misidentified specimens without the assistance of taxonomic expert knowledge. We conclude that application-filtered GBIF data will still need additional review to achieve higher spatial data quality. Achieving high-quality taxonomic data will require extra effort, probably by thoroughly analyzing the data for misidentified taxa, supported by experts.

A document by F. Javier Aoiz. Click on the document to view its contents.

Detergent-mediated virus inactivation (VI) provides a valuable orthogonal strategy for viral clearance particularly for next generation continuous manufacturing. Furthermore, there exists an industry-wide need to replace the conventionally employed detergent, Triton X-100, with eco-friendly alternatives. This study provides a systematic approach to screen detergents as VI agents through the study of VI of three different enveloped viruses for monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins. We investigated three major aspects of VI namely, the impact of VI agent on the therapeutic quality attributes, clearance of the VI agent and other impurities through subsequent chromatographic steps and lastly the efficacy of VI for the said detergent. Several quality attributes such as charge variance, oxidation, deamidation, glycosylation and aggregation were investigated. Aggregation was a key indicator of stability. Experimental and modeling data was used to decipher the mechanism and kinetics of aggregation for pH sensitive molecules by exploring worst case VI conditions. We found product aggregation and its kinetics to be driven by extrinsic factors such as detergent and protein concentration. Aggregation was also impacted by initial aggregation level as well as intrinsic factors such as the protein sequence and detergent hydrophobicity and critical micelle concentration (CMC). VI efficiency was dependent on the virus tested, duration of incubation as well as detergent CMC and concentration. Dodecyl maltopyranoside (DDM) was found to be a promising candidate for potential application in VI. Knowledge gained here on factors driving product stability and VI provides valuable insight to design, standardize and optimize conditions (concentration, duration of inactivation) for screening of detergent-mediated VI.

The recent revolution in shale gas has presented opportunities for distributed manufacturing of key commodity chemicals, such as methanol, from methane. However, the conventional methane-to-methanol process is energy intensive which negatively affects the profitability and sustainability. We report an intensified process configuration that is both economically attractive and environmentally sustainable. This flowsheet is systematically discovered using the building block-based representation and optimization methodology. The new process configuration utilizes membrane-assisted reactive separations and can have as much as 190% higher total annual profit compared to a conventional configuration. Additionally, it has 57% less CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Such drastic improvement highlights the advantages of building block-based computer-aided process intensification method.

Bleeding Control Strategies In Coronary Artery Bypass SurgeryFatih Avni Bayraktara MD, Mehmet Senel Bademcia MD, Cemal Kocaaslana MD, Ahmet Oztekina MD, and Ebuzer AydinaMD.a Istanbul Medeniyet University, Medicine Faculty, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul, TurkeyCorresponding Author: Fatih Avni Bayraktar, M.D, Assist.Prof.Post Publication Corresponding Author: Fatih Avni Bayraktar,M.D, Assist.Prof.Istanbul Medeniyet University Medicine Faculty, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery.Address: Dr. Erkin St. No:12 Kadikoy, Istanbul, 34722, Turkey.Mail address: [email protected] Editor;We read with interest the article entitled “Factors associated with excessive bleeding following elective on‐pump coronary artery bypass grafting” by Bastopcu et al (1).In this retrospective study, the authors focused on preoperative and operative factors affecting excessive bleeding after on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Some points in the article caught our attention. Inherited bleeding disorders need pre-planning in the preoperative and operative period of cardiac surgery (2). Were the bleeding disorders questioned, while taking the anamnesis of the included patients?Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common complications after coronary artery bypass surgery (3). Anticoagulant therapy is inevitable in patients with atrial fibrillation. Patients with anticoagulation therapy due to atrial fibrillation or any other cause is not mentioned in the text which may be associated with postoperative bleeding.And finally, when the current literature is reviewed, it is seen that the use of peroperative tranexamic acid has a reducing effect on bleeding after coronary bypass surgery. (4). In this study, did the authors use tranexamic acid? We congratulate the authors about their manuscript. We look forward to hear the authors’ opinions on these matters.Bastopcu M, Özhan A, Erdoğan SB, Kehlibar T. Factors associated with excessive bleeding following elective on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. J Card Surg . 2021;36(4):1277-1281.Bhave P, McGiffin D, Shaw J, et al. Guide to performing cardiac surgery in patients with hereditary bleeding disorders. J Card Surg . 2015;30(1):61-69.Eikelboom R, Sanjanwala R, Le ML, Yamashita MH, Arora RC. Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Ann Thorac Surg . 2021;111(2):544-554.Boer C, Meesters MI, Milojevic M, et al. Task Force on Patient Blood Management for Adult Cardiac Surgery of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) and the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology (EACTA). 2017 EACTS/EACTA Guidelines on patient blood management for adult cardiac surgery. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth . 2018;32(1):88-120.