bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A case report of reversible left ventricular dysfunction due to azathioprine hypersensitivity syndrome
Authors: Lüscher Daniel , Maeder Micha T , Scheler Eva
Published: July 2024

Background

Hypersensitivity reaction is a rare side effect during immunosuppressive treatment with azathioprine (AZA). Some cases of cardiac involvement have already been reported but causality is notoriously difficult to prove.

Case summary

We present the case of a 68-year-old man with two episodes of reversible left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. One month after treatment initiation with AZA, he developed non-specific symptoms, including mild chest pain. In the context of elevated cardiac biomarkers and markers of inflammation, echocardiography showed depressed systolic LV function. Biventricular dysfunction was shown on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), but neither myocardial oedema nor late gadolinium enhancement was documented. There was full recovery of LV function after AZA discontinuation. Very similar clinical course and echocardiography findings were observed early after restarting AZA treatment. After definitive cessation of AZA, systolic LV function recovered again and remained stable throughout long-term follow-up.

Discussion

Hypersensitivity reaction with cardiac involvement due to AZA is rare. The exact mechanisms underlying AZA-related cardiac dysfunction are still not completely understood, and causality is often difficult to prove. However, because of re-exposure to the drug, which, considered retrospectively, was inappropriate, the effect was clearly apparent in our patient. Knowledge of this potentially life-threatening side effect of AZA treatment is important. AZA must be discontinued promptly if there is any evidence of hypersensitivity reaction.
Relative Income and Mental Health in Couples
Authors: Getik Demid
Published: July 2024

The share of couples where the wife outearns the husband is increasing globally. In this paper, I examine how this dynamic affects mental health. Using data on the 2001 marital cohort in Sweden, I show that while mental health is positively associated with own and spousal income, it is negatively linked to the wife’s relative income. In the most conservative specification, the wife starting to earn more increases the likelihood of a mental health diagnosis by 8%–11%. This represents a significant indirect cost of changes in family dynamics.
Diagnostic reliability of monitoring for premature atrial and ventricular complexes
Authors: Måneheim Alexandra , Economou Lundeberg Johan , Persson Anders P , Edegran Albin , Grotek-Cuprjak Agnieszka , Juhlin Tord , Benezet-Mazuecos Juan , Ellenbogen Kenneth A , Engström Gunnar , Healey Jeff S , Johnson Linda S
Published: July 2024

Aims

Short-term ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring is often used to assess premature atrial complex (PAC) and premature ventricular complex (PVC) frequency, but the diagnostic reliability is unknown. The objective of this study was to study the day-to-day variability of PAC and PVC frequency.

Methods and results

We used 14-day full-disclosure mobile cardiac telemetry recordings without atrial fibrillation in 8245 US patients aged 17–103 years to calculate the diagnostic reliability of shorter ambulatory ECG recordings compared with 14-day averages. Over 14 days, 1853 patients had ≥500 PACs/day, 410 patients had ≥5000 PACs/day, and 197 patients had ≥10 000 PACs/day; 1640 patients had ≥500 PVCs/day, 354 patients had ≥5000 PVCs/day, and 175 patients had ≥10 000 PVCs/day. After 3 days, the estimated daily PAC frequency differed by ≥50% from the 14-day mean in 25% of patients; for PVCs, the corresponding duration was 7 days. Ten days of monitoring were needed to estimate PAC and PVC frequency within ±20% of the overall 14-day frequency in 80% of patients. For daily PAC and PVC frequencies ≥10 000, single-day estimation had a specificity of 99.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 99.1–99.5] at a sensitivity of 76.6 (95% CI 70.1–80.4%) for PACs and a 99.6% (95% CI 99.4–99.7%) specificity at 79.4 (95% CI 72.7–85.2) sensitivity for PVCs. After 7 days, the sensitivity increased to 88.8% (95% CI 83.6–92.9) for PACs and 86.9% (95% CI 80.9–91.5%) for PVCs.

Conclusion

While there is substantial daily variability across most PAC and PVC levels, findings of ≥10 000 PACs or PVCs are highly specific and do not need to be confirmed with longer recordings.
Still waters run deep: a unique case of mummification under extreme conditions
Authors: Flouri Despoina E , Kougios Efstratios , Fasoulakis Efthimios , Spanakis Konstantinos , Kranioti Elena F , Papadomanolakis Antonios
Published: July 2024

In rural Crete, Greece, a mummified body was discovered inside a screw-top plastic barrel next to a dry riverbed. Local authorities conducted a field investigation along with a forensic pathologist, and the body was transferred inside the barrel to the Forensic Medicine Unit of the University of Crete for further investigation. Forensic examination included radiographs taken using a portable X-ray machine in situ followed by extraction of the remains, a full-body postmortem computed tomography scan, autopsy, DNA extraction, tissue and biofluid sampling, and histological and toxicological analyses. Two butane camping gases were recovered from inside the barrel. The remains were determined to belong to a middle-aged adult male. The postmortem interval was estimated to be over 4 months. DNA comparison revealed that the body belonged to a 58-year-old man who was reported missing 28 months prior to discovery. Examinations showed no evidence of skeletal or other trauma, and death was attributed to asphyxia due to oxygen deprivation. Careful examination of the barrel, which bore several peculiar modifications, in conjunction with contextual information pertaining to the deceased’s personal life, led to successful case resolution.

Key points
Observations from the seafloor: ultra-low-frequency ambient ocean-bottom nodal seismology at the Amendment field
Authors: Girard A J , Shragge J , Danilouchkine M , Udengaard C , Gerritsen S
Published: July 2024

Large-scale ocean-bottom node (OBN) arrays of 1000s of multicomponent instruments deployed over 1000s of square kilometres have been used successfully for active-source seismic exploration activities including full waveform inversion (FWI) at exploration frequencies above about 2.0 Hz. The analysis of concurrently recorded lower-frequency ambient wavefield data, though, is only just beginning. A key long-term objective of such ambient wavefield analyses is to exploit the sensitivity of sub-2.0 Hz energy to build long-wavelength initial elastic models, thus facilitating FWI applications. However, doing so requires a more detailed understanding of ambient wavefield information recorded on the seafloor, the types, frequency structure and effective source distribution of recorded surface-wave modes, the near-seafloor elastic model structure, and the sensitivity of recorded wave modes to subsurface model structure. To this end, we present a wavefield analysis of low- and ultra-low-frequency ambient data (defined as <1.0 and <0.1 Hz, respectively) acquired on 2712 OBN stations in the Amendment Phase 1 survey covering 2750 km2 of the Gulf of Mexico. After applying ambient data conditioning prior to cross-correlation and seismic cross-coherence interferometry workflows, we demonstrate that the resulting virtual shot gather (VSG) volumes contain evidence for surface-wave and guided P-wave mode propagation between the 0.01 and 1.0 Hz that remains coherent to distances of at least 80 km. Evidence for surface-wave scattering from near-surface salt-body structure between 0.35 and 0.85 Hz is also present in a wide spatial distribution of VSG data. Finally, the interferometric VSG volumes clearly show waveform repetition at 20 s intervals in sub-0.3 Hz surface-wave arrivals, a periodicity consistent with the mean active-source shot interval. This suggests that the dominant contribution of surface-wave energy acquired in this VSG frequency band is likely predominantly related to air-gun excitation rather than by naturally occurring energy sources. Overall, these observations may have important consequences for the early stages of initial model building for elastic FWI analysis.
Slip rates and locking depths of the southern Sumatran Fault Zone revealed by new campaign GPS observations
Authors: Lubis Ashar Muda , Salman Rino , Hermawan Iwan , Bradley Kyle , Feng Lujia , Qiu Qiang , Sahputra Rio , Natawidjaja Danny H , Sieh Kerry , Hill Emma M
Published: July 2024

The Sumatran Fault Zone (SFZ) of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which is broken up into 19 fault segments, accommodates much of the trench-parallel component of the oblique convergence between the Indo-Australian and Sunda plates. To understand the potential hazard of SFZ earthquakes to the local population, we investigate slip rates and locking depths of three SFZ segments in southern Sumatra using previously unpublished data from our Sumatran Fault Monitoring (SuMo) campaign Global Positioning System (GPS) network. We model the GPS data using a 2-D interseismic dislocation model optimized using a Bayesian approach. For the Musi segment of the SFZ, we find that slip rates ranging from 10 to 22 mm yr−1 and locking depths from 1 to 20 km fit the data similarly well, suggesting a lack of resolution for the SuMo network in this segment. For the Manna and Kumering segments where the resolution is better, the estimated slip rates are 18 [12–22, 95 per cent confidence intervals] mm yr−1 and 12 [9–15] mm yr−1, respectively, while the estimated locking depths are 29 [15–47] km and 5 [3–16] km, respectively. The deep locking depth estimated for the Manna segment can be explained by the large station gap in this segment. Considering the uncertainty, all the estimated slip rates from our study remains aligned with the SFZ's average slip rate of ∼15 mm yr−1, which was previously derived using updated geological slip rates and geodetic block modelling of the entire SFZ. Our results support the idea that the forearc sliver west of the SFZ behaves as a rigid microplate.
Anomalously fertile subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the intracontinental Canning Basin, Western Australia
Authors: Moro P S , Aitken A R A , Kohanpour F , Jessell M W
Published: July 2024

Many intracontinental basins form as broad depressions through prolonged, slow subsidence of the continental lithosphere. Such long-lived basins can record lithospheric processes over hundreds of millions of years, serving as important archives of lithospheric evolution. Since continental amalgamation in the Mesoproterozoic, the lithosphere beneath the intracontinental Canning Basin has been subject to several tectonic events, with extensive crustal reworking evidenced through different upper crust data sets. However, knowledge of the structure of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle is lacking. As a consequence, understanding the coupled evolution between surface and deep lithospheric processes, crucial to resolving basin formation, development and survival, remains problematic. Here, we combine geochemical, geophysical and petrophysical data within a thermodynamic modelling framework to determine the thermochemical properties, rheology, density and seismic structure of the lithospheric and sublithospheric mantle beneath the Canning Basin. The results indicate a thick, rigid lithosphere with a maximum thickness of 185 km and strength of ca. 1 × 1013 Pa m, and an anomalously Fe-enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle with a Mg# of 88.6. This mantle structure is not consistent with pre-collisional fragments or a Precambrian collisional setting and may reflect magmatic refertilization during high-volume mafic magmatic events. Potential candidate events are the ∼1070 Ma Warakurna, ∼825 Ma Gairdner and ∼510 Ma Kalkarindji Large Igneous Provinces. The youngest of these is temporally and spatially correlated with and therefore interpreted to have influenced the Canning Basin formation. We propose that refertilization caused a negatively buoyant subcontinental lithospheric mantle and prolonged subsidence and preservation of the basin, while the strong lithosphere ensured lithospheric stability and longevity.
The impact of ambient noise sources in subsurface models estimated from noise correlation waveforms
Authors: Valero Cano Eduardo , Fichtner Andreas , Peter Daniel , Mai P Martin
Published: July 2024

Cross-correlations of seismic ambient noise are frequently used to image Earth structure. Usually, tomographic studies assume that noise sources are uniformly distributed and interpret noise correlations as empirical Green’s functions. However, previous research suggests that this assumption can introduce errors in the estimated models, especially when noise correlation waveforms are inverted. In this paper, we investigate changes in subsurface models inferred from noise correlation waveforms depending on whether the noise source distribution is considered to be uniform. To this end, we set up numerical experiments that mimic a tomographic study in Southern California exploiting ambient noise generated in the Pacific Ocean. Our results show that if the distribution of noise sources is deemed uniform instead of being numerically represented in the wave simulations, the misfit of the estimated models increases. In our experiments, the model misfit increase ranges between 5 and 21 per cent, depending on the heterogeneity of the noise source distribution. This indicates that assuming uniform noise sources introduces source-dependent model errors. Since the location of noise sources may change over time, these errors are also time-dependent. In order to mitigate these errors, it is necessary to account for the noise source distribution. The spatial extent to which noise sources must be considered depends on the propagation distance of the ambient noise wavefield. If only sources near the study area are considered, model errors may arise.
Taking the Pulse of Resilience in Conserving Seagrass Meadows
Authors: Graham Olivia J , Harvell Drew , Christiaen Bart , Gaeckle Jeff , Aoki Lillian R , Ratliff Baylen , Vinton Audrey , Rappazzo Brendan H , Whitman Tina
Published: July 2024

Synopsis

Foundational habitats such as seagrasses and coral reefs are at severe risk globally from climate warming. Infectious disease associated with warming events is both a cause of decline and an indicator of stress in both habitats. Since new approaches are needed to detect refugia and design climate-smart networks of marine protected areas, we test the hypothesis that the health of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in temperate ecosystems can serve as a proxy indicative of higher resilience and help pinpoint refugia. Eelgrass meadows worldwide are at risk from environmental stressors, including climate warming and disease. Disease outbreaks of Labyrinthula zosterae are associated with recent, widespread declines in eelgrass meadows throughout the San Juan Islands, Washington, USA. Machine language learning, drone surveys, and molecular diagnostics reveal climate impacts on seagrass wasting disease prevalence (proportion of infected individuals) and severity (proportion of infected leaf area) from San Diego, California, to Alaska. Given that warmer temperatures favor many pathogens such as L. zosterae, we hypothesize that absent or low disease severity in meadows could indicate eelgrass resilience to climate and pathogenic stressors. Regional surveys showed the San Juan Islands as a hotspot for both high disease prevalence and severity, and surveys throughout the Northeast Pacific indicated higher prevalence and severity in intertidal, rather than subtidal, meadows. Further, among sites with eelgrass declines, losses were more pronounced at sites with shallower eelgrass meadows. We suggest that deeper meadows with the lowest disease severity will be refuges from future warming and pathogenic stressors in the Northeast Pacific. Disease monitoring may be a useful conservation approach for marine foundation species, as low or absent disease severity can pinpoint resilient refugia that should be prioritized for future conservation efforts. Even in declining or at-risk habitats, disease surveys can help identify meadows that may contain especially resilient individuals for future restoration efforts. Our approach of using disease as a pulse point for eelgrass resilience to multiple stressors could be applied to other habitats such as coral reefs to inform conservation and management decisions.
Recent Progress in the Physical Principles of Dynamic Ground Self-Righting
Authors: Li Chen
Published: July 2024

Synopsis

Animals and robots must self-right on the ground after overturning. Biology research has described various strategies and motor patterns in many species. Robotics research has devised many strategies. However, we do not well understand the physical principles of how the need to generate mechanical energy to overcome the potential energy barrier governs behavioral strategies and 3D body rotations given the morphology. Here, I review progress on this which I led studying cockroaches self-righting on level, flat, solid, low-friction ground, by integrating biology experiments, robotic modeling, and physics modeling. Animal experiments using three species (Madagascar hissing, American, and discoid cockroaches) found that ground self-righting is strenuous and often requires multiple attempts to succeed. Two species (American and discoid cockroaches) often self-right dynamically, using kinetic energy to overcome the barrier. All three species use and often stochastically transition across diverse strategies. In these strategies, propelling motions are often accompanied by perturbing motions. All three species often display complex yet stereotyped body rotation. They all roll more in successful attempts than in failed ones, which lowers the barrier, as revealed by a simplistic 3D potential energy landscape of a rigid body self-righting. Experiments of an initial robot self-righting via rotation about a fixed axis revealed that the longer and faster appendages push, the more mechanical energy can be gained to overcome the barrier. However, the cockroaches rarely achieve this. To further understand the physical principles of strenuous ground self-righting, we focused on the discoid cockroach’s leg-assisted winged self-righting. In this strategy, wings propel against the ground to pitch the body up but are unable to overcome the highest pitch barrier. Meanwhile, legs flail in the air to perturb the body sideways to self-right via rolling. Experiments using a refined robot and an evolving 3D potential energy landscape revealed that, although wing propelling cannot generate sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the highest pitch barrier, it reduces the barrier to allow small kinetic energy from the perturbing legs to probabilistically overcome the barrier to self-right via rolling. Thus, only by combining propelling and perturbing can self-righting be achieved when it is so strenuous; this physical constraint leads to the stereotyped body rotation. Finally, multi-body dynamics simulation and template modeling revealed that the animal’s substantial randomness in wing and leg motions helps it, by chance, to find good coordination, which accumulates more mechanical energy to overcome the barrier, thus increasing the likelihood of self-righting.
Field comparison of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) backscatter and aggregation types using NORTEK and SIMRAD echosounders
Authors: Annasawmy Pavanee , Horne John K , Reiss Christian S , Cutter George R , Macaulay Gavin J
Published: July 2024

Temporal distributions of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) density and aggregation types were characterized and compared using Nortek Signature100 and SIMRAD Wideband Autonomous Transceiver (WBAT) upward-looking echosounders. Noise varied between the two echosounders. With the Signature100, it was necessary to correct data for background, transient, and impulse noises, while the WBAT data needed to be corrected for background noise only. For selected regions with no visible backscatter, the signal-to-noise ratio of Sv values (i.e. the ratio between the signal and the background noise level) did not vary between the two echosounders. Surface echo backscatter was similar during similar time periods. Descriptive metrics were used to quantify spatial and temporal krill vertical distributions: volume backscatter, mean depth, center of mass, inertia, equivalent area, aggregation index, and proportion occupied. Krill backscatter density differed between the two instruments but was detected at similar mean depths. Krill aggregations were identified at each mooring location and classified in three types based on morphological characteristics. Each type of aggregation shape differed at the two spatially separated moorings, while the acoustic density of each aggregation type was similar. The Signature100 detected a lower number of krill aggregations (n = 133) compared to the WBAT (n = 707). Although both instruments can be used for autonomous deployment and sampling of krill over extended periods, there is a strong caveat for the use of the Signature100 due to significant differences in noise characteristics and krill detection.
Physical and geochemical responses to bottom trawling on naturally disturbed sediments in the eastern Bering Sea
Authors: Stephens J Drew , McConnaughey Robert A
Published: July 2024

Recent concerns that commercial bottom trawling can contribute to a significant release of sequestered marine carbon have highlighted a need for research in this area. Here, a Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) experimental design was utilized in a previously untrawled area of the eastern Bering Sea. Six pairs of experimental and control corridors were sampled before, after, and 1 year after a trawl disturbance. Each experimental corridor was fished four consecutive times over ∼12 h with a commercial otter trawl. Results were contextualized with minimum detectable effects (MDE), and showed no evidence of a trawl effect on total organic carbon (P = .999, MDE ± 0.05% TOC), total nitrogen (P = .999, MDE ± 0.02% TN), δ13C, and δ15N isotope ratios and sediment size classes. Interannual changes observed in δ15N, sand, silt, and clay are attributed to natural variation. The study suggests that the characteristics of the study site, such as storm disturbances, high sand content, and low carbon content, limited the bottom-trawl effect on sediment composition following this initial trawl disturbance. The findings highlight the importance of site-specific studies that account for local conditions to support best management practices for commercial bottom trawling.
Dispersal and connectivity modelling simulations for invertebrate larvae passing through the Strait of Gibraltar
Authors: Pires Rita F T , Peliz Álvaro , dos Santos Antonina
Published: July 2024

The link between the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea created by the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Iberian and Moroccan coasts marks remarkable transition areas between distinct environments that harbour a diverse mixture of species. The area is interesting regarding marine connectivity and the transport of pelagic invertebrate larvae, crucial knowledge to manage over-exploited populations, and minimize the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities. Biophysical models were developed, combining oceanic and particle-tracking Lagrangian simulations with in situ zooplankton distribution data. The conditions driving the larval exchange between the sub-basins and the connectivity throughout the region were explored, using crustacean decapod larvae as biological references. The potential exchange between both sub-basins was confirmed, although specific larval traits revealed contrasting scenarios. The simulations showed that slope-dwelling and mesopelagic larvae have advantage when crossing from the Alboran into the Atlantic, in comparison with shelf-dwelling and epipelagic larvae. Transport pathways and retention areas were identified, and passive drifts were shown to increase the dispersal range of the simulations. The spatial origin of the larval release, larval duration, vertical distribution, and the interaction of larvae with the oceanic features are presented as the main factors impacting the effective larval input into the Atlantic or Mediterranean basins.
CCR2-dependent placental migration of inflammatory monocytes suppresses abnormal pregnancies caused by Toxoplasma gondii infection
Authors: Kamiyama Naganori , Ueno Mai , Sasaki Yuma , Chalalai Thanyakorn , Sachi Nozomi , Ozaka Sotaro , Soga Yasuhiro , Kagoshima Yomei , Ekronarongchai Supanuch , Okamoto Masaaki , Yamamoto Masahiro , Kobayashi Takashi
Published: July 2024

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes congenital toxoplasmosis, including fetal death, abortion, stillbirth, morphological abnormalities, and premature birth. Primary T. gondii infection in pregnant women results in congenital toxoplasmosis. C–C chemokine receptor (CCR) 2 is reportedly a critical host defense factor against T. gondii infection. However, details of the role of CCR2 in the host immune response to T. gondii in congenital toxoplasmosis remain unclear. Here, we infected pregnant CCR2-deficient mice with T. gondii, resulting in stillbirth, embryonic resorption, fetal morphological abnormalities, and preterm delivery at significantly higher rates than those in pregnant wild-type (WT) mice. Consistent with the severity of abnormal pregnancy, a large area of placental hemorrhage and a large number of T. gondii infections around the hemorrhagic area were observed in the placentas of CCR2-deficient mice. In addition, the accumulation of inflammatory monocytes in the placenta was reduced in CCR2-deficient mice during infection. We further confirmed that the adoptive transfer of inflammatory monocytes collected from WT mice into T. gondii-infected pregnant CCR2-deficient mice effectively suppressed placental damage and abnormal pregnancy. Collectively, CCR2 contributes to pregnancy maintenance by regulating the migration of inflammatory monocytes into the placenta of T. gondii-infected pregnant mice.
Settler Colonialism and Mortal Dangers: Affective Responses to COVID-19 and the 2021 Israeli Bombings among Young Palestinians in Gaza
Authors: Pasquetti Silvia , Repo Jemima , Shoman Hala
Published: July 2024

The article examines the affective dynamics of collective survival and resistance under Israeli settler colonialism in the Gaza Strip. Focusing on Gaza as an under-researched enclave of Israeli settler colonialism, it analyzes how young Palestinians renegotiated their affective bonds in response to two coinciding deadly events: the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Israeli bombings. Theoretically, we extend the politics of emotions and affect to encompass experiences of settler-colonial violence. Drawing on original interviews with Palestinians in Gaza, we trace how affective bonds were impacted among families, friends, and neighbors and, from a transpersonal perspective, across the political community. We show how settler colonialism shaped responses to the pandemic, deepening existing inequalities and causing social frictions. The bombings, by contrast, triggered a unified response of pure terror and universal concern for collective survival. The military targeting of homes was countered by practices of physical and emotional togetherness in the face of death. Overall, our study shows how (i) different kinds of mortal dangers are experienced politically by colonized people, (ii) these experiences are conditioned by collective histories of colonial violence, and that (iii) they constitute expressions of collective affective life, necessary for the preservation of peoplehood amidst colonial oppression.
Chlamydiae as symbionts of photosynthetic dinoflagellates
Authors: Maire Justin , Collingro Astrid , Tandon Kshitij , Jameson Vanta J , Judd Louise M , Horn Matthias , Blackall Linda L , van Oppen Madeleine J H
Published: July 2024

Chlamydiae are ubiquitous intracellular bacteria and infect a wide diversity of eukaryotes, including mammals. However, chlamydiae have never been reported to infect photosynthetic organisms. Here, we describe a novel chlamydial genus and species, Candidatus Algichlamydia australiensis, capable of infecting the photosynthetic dinoflagellate Cladocopium sp. (originally isolated from a scleractinian coral). Algichlamydia australiensis was confirmed to be intracellular by fluorescence in situ hybridization and confocal laser scanning microscopy and temporally stable at the population level by monitoring its relative abundance across four weeks of host growth. Using a combination of short- and long-read sequencing, we recovered a high-quality (completeness 91.73% and contamination 0.27%) metagenome-assembled genome of A. australiensis. Phylogenetic analyses show that this chlamydial taxon represents a new genus and species within the Simkaniaceae family. Algichlamydia australiensis possesses all the hallmark genes for chlamydiae–host interactions, including a complete type III secretion system. In addition, a type IV secretion system is encoded on a plasmid and has previously been observed for only three other chlamydial species. Twenty orthologous groups of genes are unique to A. australiensis, one of which is structurally similar to a protein known from Cyanobacteria and Archaeplastida involved in thylakoid biogenesis and maintenance, hinting at potential chlamydiae interactions with the chloroplasts of Cladocopium cells. Our study shows that chlamydiae infect dinoflagellate symbionts of cnidarians, the first photosynthetic organism reported to harbor chlamydiae, thereby expanding the breadth of chlamydial hosts and providing a new contribution to the discussion around the role of chlamydiae in the establishment of the primary plastid.
Antibiotic use by clinical presentation across all healthcare providers in rural Burkina Faso: a healthcare visit exit survey
Authors: Valia Daniel , Ingelbeen Brecht , Nassa Guétawendé Job Wilfried , Kaboré Bérenger , Kiemdé François , Rouamba Toussaint , Compaoré Adélaïde , Kouanda Juste Stéphane , Robert Annie , Rodriguez-Villalobos Hector , Van Der Sande Marianne A B , Tinto Halidou
Published: July 2024

Background

To guide antibiotic stewardship interventions, understanding for what indications antibiotics are used is essential.

Methods

In rural Burkina Faso, we measured antibiotic dispensing across all healthcare providers. From October 2021 to February 2022, we surveyed patients in Nanoro district, Burkina Faso, following visits to health centres (3), pharmacies (2), informal medicine vendors (5) and inpatients in health centres. We estimated prevalence of antibiotic use and the proportion of Watch group antibiotics by provider type and by clinical presentation, assessing compliance with WHO’s AWaRe Antibiotic Book. We estimated per capita antibiotic use by multiplying prevalence of antibiotic use, mean DDD per adult treatment course, and the rate of healthcare visits per 1000 inhabitants per day, estimated from a prior household survey.

Results

Outpatient antibiotic use was more frequent after health centre visits (54.8%, of which 16.5% Watch, n = 1249) than after visits to pharmacies (26.2%, 16.3% Watch, n = 328) and informal medicine vendors (26.9%, 50.0% Watch, n = 349). The frequency of antibiotic use was highest for bronchitis (79.9% antibiotic use, of which 12.6% Watch), malaria (31.9%, 23.1% Watch), gastroenteritis (76.0%, 31.7% Watch), rhinopharyngitis (40.4%, 8.3% Watch) and undifferentiated fever (77.0%, 44.8% Watch). Compliance with WHO AWaRe guidance could have averted at least 68.4% of all Watch antibiotic use in outpatients at health centres. Community-wide, 2.9 DDD (95% CI 1.9–3.9) were used per 1000 adult inhabitants per day.

Conclusions

Most Watch antibiotic use at community level or primary care deviated from WHO guidance. Antibiotic stewardship should focus on key clinical presentations and include primary care and self-medication.
Analytical and Clinical Validation of a Non-Ristocetin Based VWF Assay on 2 Automated Analyzers in a Large Reference Laboratory
Authors: Kumar Vivek , Goode Debra , Worfolk Laura A , Rhea-McManus Jeanne , Mitsios John V , Wong Edward C C
Published: July 2024

Background

Historically, von Willebrand factor (VWF) activity assays utilized ristocetin despite limitations including poor limits of detection and high imprecision. Newer VWF activity assays such as the INNOVANCE® VWF Ac assay, however, do not rely on ristocetin to measure platelet-dependent VWF function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the analytical and clinical performance of the Siemens Healthineers INNOVANCE VWF Ac Assay on the Siemens BCS® XP and the Sysmex® CS-2500 systems in a large reference laboratory setting.

Methods

Performance indicators for the INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay were the limit of quantitation (LoQ), precision, and method comparison. Method comparison studies were performed using remnant plasma patient samples from routine coagulation tests and analyzed using both the INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay and the Siemens Healthineers ristocetin-dependent BC von Willebrand Reagent.

Results

Evaluation of the INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay on the BCS® XP and CS-2500 systems demonstrated good precision and a lower LoQ compared to the BC von Willebrand Reagent. Method comparisons support the use of the INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay on the BCS® XP and CS-2500 systems to measure platelet-dependent VWF function. The INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay was able to further assist in von Willebrand disease classification in 6/7 (86%) samples when the result was below the LoQ for the BC von Willebrand Reagent (ristocetin cofactor activity).

Conclusions

These data are consistent with the 2021 American Society of Hematology/International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis/National Hemophilia Foundation/World Federation of Hemophilia von Willebrand disease guidelines that suggest using newer assays such as the INNOVANCE VWF Ac assay in place of ristocetin cofactor activity assays.
Differential responses of bell pepper genotypes to indigenous Pseudomonas putida A32 treatment: implications for drought resilience
Authors: Mesaroš Aleksandra , Atanasković Iva , Nedeljković Marija , Stanković Slaviša , Lozo Jelena
Published: July 2024

Aims

This study aimed to evaluate the potential of endophytic plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB), Pseudomonas putida A32, to mitigate drought stress in two bell pepper genotypes, Amfora 19 and Amfora 26, and to assess the genotype-specific responses to bacterial treatment.

Methods and results

The isolate P. putida A32 was selected for its remarkable beneficial properties, exhibiting 13 out of 14 traits tested. Under drought conditions, Amfora 26 showed increased relative water content and decreased H2O2 and malondialdehyde following bacterial treatment, while Amfora 19 exhibited enhanced growth parameters but responded less to bacterial treatment regarding drought parameters. However, Amfora 19 displayed inherent drought tolerance mechanisms, as indicated by lower stress parameters compared to Amfora 26.

Conclusions

The study emphasizes the importance of genotype-specific responses to PGPB treatment and the mechanisms of drought tolerance in peppers. Pseudomonas putida A32 effectively mitigated drought stress in both genotypes, with differential responses influenced by plant genotype. Our study confirmed our initial hypothesis that Amfora 19, as a genotype tolerant to biotic stress, is also more tolerant to abiotic stress. Understanding these interactions is crucial for the development of customized strategies to improve plant productivity and tolerance to drought.
Supplementing a Bacillus-based probiotic to high-risk stocker cattle
Authors: Mackey Shea J , Cooke Reinaldo F , Pickett Autumn T , Cappellozza Bruno I , Harvey Kelsey M , Karisch Brandi B
Published: July 2024

This experiment evaluated the performance, health, and physiological responses of high-risk steers receiving a Bacillus-based probiotic during a 90-d grazing period. A total of 240 Angus-influenced steers were used in this experiment that was replicated over 2 yr (120 steers/year). Each year, steers were obtained from an auction yard and transported to the experimental facility (120 km). Steer body weight (BW) was recorded at arrival (day −1), and this value was averaged with BW recorded on day 0 to represent the initial BW (236.6 ± 1.5 kg). On day 0, steers were ranked by BW and allocated to 1 of 12 pastures with stockpiled native grass (4-ha pastures; 10 steers/pasture). Pastures were randomly assigned to receive daily supplementation with dried distillers’ grains at 1% of BW containing either: 1) Bacillus subtilis + B. licheniformis probiotic (BOV; 2 g/steer daily of Bovacillus; Novonesis, Horsholm, Denmark) or 2) no feed additive (CON). Cattle received treatments from days 0 to 90, in addition to free-choice access to water and mineral + vitamin mix without ionophore. Steers were assessed for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) signs daily. Blood samples were collected and full BW was recorded on days 0, 14, 28, 56, and 90. Shrunk BW was recorded on day 91 after 16 h of feed and water restriction, and a 4% pencil shrink was used to calculate the final BW. Average daily gain (ADG) was calculated based on initial and final BW. No treatment effects were detected (P ≥ 0.73) for steer final BW and ADG. A treatment × day interaction was detected (P ≤ 0.05) for plasma haptoglobin concentration, which was greater for CON steers on days 14 and 28 (P ≤ 0.02). Incidence of BRD signs did not differ (P = 0.97) between treatments (51.7% and 51.3% for BOV and CON, respectively; SEM = 7.70). However, steer mortality + removals for health complications were greater (P = 0.01) in CON compared to BOV (0.00% vs. 5.04%, respectively; SEM = 1.41). Supplementing BOV improved (P ≤ 0.04) total pasture-based liveweight change (643 vs. 502 kg/pasture, respectively; SEM = 45) and final pasture-based total liveweight (3,007 vs. 2,869 kg/pasture, respectively; SEM = 46). Collectively, supplementation with a probiotic based on B. subtilis and B. licheniformis to high-risk stocker cattle did not alleviate the incidence of BRD signs nor improved ADG, but decreased acute-phase protein response, reduced steer mortality + removal, and increased pasture-based productivity during a 90-d grazing period.
Effects of feeding hybrid rye grain as a replacement for barley grain on dry matter intake, ruminal fermentation, and the site and extent of nutrient digestion in finishing beef heifers
Authors: Zhang Fuquan , Carey Rachel E , Brattain Rebecca S , Wehrle Herman , Penner Gregory B
Published: July 2024

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of increasing the inclusion of dry-rolled hybrid rye (HR) as a replacement for dry-rolled barley grain (DRB) on feed intake, ruminal fermentation, and the site and extent of nutrient digestion for finishing cattle. Eight ruminally and duodenally cannulated Hereford-cross heifers were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design with 21-d periods including 15 d of dietary adaptation and 6 d of data and sample collection. Dietary treatments included a control diet with 10.00% grass hay, 85.21% DRB, 4.51% of a vitamin and mineral supplement, and 0.28% of urea on a dry matter (DM) basis. Hybrid rye grain replaced 33%, 67%, or 100% of the DRB. Feed ingredients, feed refusals, ruminal pH, ruminal fluid, duodenal digesta, and fecal samples were collected from days 18 to 21 in each period. Data were analyzed using the Proc Glimmix procedure of SAS 9.4 (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) to evaluate the linear, quadratic, and cubic effects of increasing HR inclusion. Increasing HR inclusion as a substitute for DRB linearly decreased (P < 0.01) DM intake, linearly decreased mean ruminal pH (P < 0.01), and increased the duration (P < 0.01) and area (P = 0.02) that ruminal pH was < 5.5. There were no effects of HR inclusion on total short chain fatty acid and lactic acid concentrations in ruminal fluid. Likewise, the molar proportions of acetate and butyrate were not affected by HR inclusion. Propionate was cubically affected by HR inclusion (P = 0.02). Ruminal ash-free neutral detergent fiber (aNDFom) digestibility linearly increased (P = 0.03) with increasing HR, but there was no effect on ruminal starch digestibility averaging 71.1% (SEM = 3.611). Increasing HR inclusion linearly increased intestinal DM digestibility (% of flow to the duodenum; P = 0.03), tended to linearly increase intestinal digestibility of organic matter (P = 0.08), and tended to quadratically affect intestinal digestibility of aNDFom (P = 0.07). Increasing hybrid rye linearly increased apparent total tract DM, organic matter, crude protein, aNDFom, and starch digestibility (P ≤ 0.05). In addition, increasing HR inclusion linearly increased GE digestibility (P < 0.01) and the DE concentration (P < 0.01). Increasing the inclusion rate of HR grain as a substitute for DRB in finishing diets decreased DMI and increased risk for low ruminal pH, which may be influenced by greater digestible energy concentration arising from greater DM, OM, aNDFom, and starch digestibility.
Are osteoblasts multiple cell types? A new diversity in skeletal stem cells and their derivatives
Authors: Bok Seoyeon , Sun Jun , Greenblatt Matthew B
Published: July 2024

Only in the past decade have skeletal stem cells (SSCs), a cell type displaying formal evidence of stemness and serving as the ultimate origin of mature skeletal cell types such as osteoblasts, been defined. Here, we discuss a pair of recent reports that identify that SSCs do not represent a single cell type, but rather a family of related cells that each have characteristic anatomic locations and distinct functions tailored to the physiology of those sites. The distinct functional properties of these SSCs in turn provide a basis for the diseases of their respective locations. This concept emerges from one report identifying a distinct vertebral skeletal stem cell driving the high rate of breast cancer metastasis to the spine over other skeletal sites and a report identifying 2 SSCs in the calvaria that interact to mediate both physiologic calvarial mineralization and pathologic calvarial suture fusion in craniosynostosis. Despite displaying functional differences, these SSCs are each united by shared features including a shared series of surface markers and parallel differentiation hierarchies. We propose that this diversity at the level of SSCs in turn translates into a similar diversity at the level of mature skeletal cell types, including osteoblasts, with osteoblasts derived from different SSCs each displaying different functional and transcriptional characteristics reflecting their cell of origin. In this model, osteoblasts would represent not a single cell type, but rather a family of related cells each with distinct functions, paralleling the functional diversity in SSCs.
Large-scale heterogeneity gradient drives the structure and biodiversity of branchiopod (Anostraca, Cladocera) egg-banks in the Nebraska Sandhills wetlands, USA
Authors: Mausbach William E , Dzialowski Andrew R
Published: July 2024

Branchiopods use resting eggs to maintain permanent populations in temporally dynamic environments as well as for dispersing to neighboring habitat patches. We used a large-scale longitudinal salinity gradient that overlays the Nebraska Sandhills, USA to determine how changes in metacommunity environmental heterogeneity influences species composition and biodiversity of branchiopod egg banks from freshwater and saline temporary wetlands. We sampled the egg banks of 54 wetlands from three metacommunities across the Nebraska Sandhills (eastern, central, and western) in which the relative abundance and salinity of saline wetlands increased westwards. Salinity had a strong effect on structuring the egg-bank metacommunities with a clear shift in species composition and species richness from the eastern to western metacommunities. Egg-bank alpha richness of the freshwater wetlands and metacommunity gamma richness declined westwards as the abundance of freshwater wetlands decreased relative to the saline wetlands. The low-salinity wetlands represented an intermediate stage between the freshwater and high-salinity wetlands, overlapping in species composition with both habitat types and supporting similar numbers of species as freshwater wetlands. High-salinity wetlands had the lowest alpha richness with only halotolerant and halophilic species.
Two semantic interpretations of probabilities in description logics of typicality
Authors: Lieto Antonio , Pozzato Gian Luca
Published: July 2024

In this work we focus on extensions of Description Logics (DLs) of typicality by means of probabilities. We introduce a novel extension of the logic of typicality $\mathcal{ALC}+\mathbf{T}_{\mathbf{R}}$, able to represent and reason about typical properties and defeasible inheritance in DLs. The novel logic ($\mathcal{ALC}\mathbf{T}^{\textsf{P}}$: Typical $\mathcal{ALC}$ with Probabilities as Proportions) allows inclusions of the form $\mathbf{T}(C) \sqsubseteq ^{p} D$, with probability $p$ representing a proportion, meaning that “all the typical $C$s are $D$s, and the probability that a $C$ element is not a $D$ element is $1-p$”. We also compare and confront this novel logic with a similar one already presented in the literature ($\mathbf{T}^{\textsf{CL}}$, introduced in Lieto and Pozzato (2020, J. Exp. Theor. Artif. Intell., 32, 769–804)), inspired by the DISPONTE semantics and that allows inclusions of the form $p \:: \ \mathbf{T}(C) \sqsubseteq D$ with probability $p$, where $p$ represents a degree of belief, whose meaning is that “we believe with a degree $p$ that typical $C$s’ are also $D$s.”. We then show that the proposed $\mathcal{ALC}\mathbf{T}^{\textsf{P}}$ extension (like the previous $\mathbf{T}^{\textsf{CL}}$) can be applied in order to tackle a specific and challenging problem in the field of common-sense reasoning, namely the combination of prototypical concepts, that have been shown to be problematic to model for other symbolic approaches like fuzzy logic. We show that, for the proposed extension, the complexity of reasoning remains ExpTime-complete as for the underlying standard monotonic DL $\mathcal{ALC}$.
Interrogative logic as underlying logic in scientific practices
Authors: Nepomuceno-Fernández Angel
Published: July 2024

In this paper I propose a version of interrogative logic as a form of representation of the underlying logic of scientific practices—a kind of model-based reasoning, since it takes into account an oracle or model that can be consulted—by means of modified tableaux that can represent a game with two types of moves: logical steps and queries, governed by (modified) tales and a query rule, respectively. In this way, the process of acquiring knowledge is analogous to the justification of a thesis through the method of modified tableaux.