Weak Effect of Gypsy Retrotransposon Bursts on Sonneratia alba Salt Stress Gene Expression

Transposable elements (TEs) are an important source of genetic diversity and can be co-opted for the regulation of host genes. However, to what extent the pervasive TE colonization of plant genomes has contributed to stress adaptation remains controversial. Plants inhabiting harsh environments in nature provide a unique opportunity to answer this question. We compared TE compositions and their evolutionary dynamics in the genomes of two mangrove species: the pioneer Sonneratia alba and its less salt-tolerant relative S. caseolaris. Age distribution, strength of purifying selection and the removal rate of LTR (long terminal repeat) retrotransposons were estimated. Phylogenetic analysis of LTR retrotransposons and their distribution in the genome of S. alba were surveyed. Small RNA sequencing and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing was conducted using leaves of S. alba. Expression pattern of LTR retrotransposons and their nearby genes were examined using RNA-seq data of S. alba under different salt treatments. S. alba possesses more TEs than S. caseolaris. Particularly, many more young Gypsy LTR retrotransposons have accumulated in S. alba than in S. caseolaris despite an increase in purifying selection against TE insertions. The top two most abundant Gypsy families in S. alba preferentially insert in gene-poor regions. They are under relaxed epigenetic repression, probably due to the presence of CHROMO domains in their 3′-ends. Although a considerable number of TEs in S. alba showed differential expression under salt stress, only four copies were significantly correlated with their nearby genes in expression levels. One such TE-gene pair involves Abscisic acid 8'-hydroxylase 3 functioning in abscisic acid catabolism. This study sheds light on the evolutionary dynamics and potential function of TEs in an extremophile. Our results suggest that the conclusion on co-option of TEs should be cautious even though activation of TEs by stress might be prevalent.

Outcome of acute kidney injuries following chronic kidney disease: A systematic review in Nawaz Sharif kidney hospital Swat

Background: Acute kidney injury may increase the risk for CKD and end-stage renal disease. In an attempt to summarize the literature and provide more compelling evidence, we conducted a systematic review comparing the risk for CKD (chronic kidney disease), AKI (Acute kidney injury), Acute gastroententeritis, postnatal AKI, Acute MI (myocardial infarction), AKI 2ndry to chemotherapy, AKI 2ndry to abstractive Nephropathy, AKI 2ndry to sepsis, AKI 2ndry to Drugs (NSAIDS and ARBS), AKI 2ndry to AGN (acute Glomerulonephritis), AKI 2ndry to Rhabdomyolysis, and lest AKI 2ndry to Malaria, death in patients with AKI,HD, CKD (chronic kidney disease). There have been several important developments in the literature recently regarding the association between acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). First, when the National Kidney Foundation promulgated their highly influential Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative CKD guidelines in 2002, six chapters were devoted to the complications associated with decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) including hypertension, anemia, nutritional status, bone disease/disorders of calcium, and phosphorus metabolism, neuropathy Objective: To study the outcomecute kidney injury following chronic kidney disease; systematic review. Methods: This was a prospective observational study from January 2018 to December 2020. Patients visiting department of Nephrology Nawaz Sharif Kidney center Swat, number of patients included study 351. All ages and both sexes were considered. Patients treated elsewhere or who has undergone in this study. Complete medical history, detailed examination like age, sex, diagnosis, and outcome, of AKI, examination under microscope and investigations, and necessary blood investigations were carried out. Results: Three fifty one (351) patients were included in this study. The age distribution showed (75%) patients between 40-95 years and 25(25%) between 32-39 years. Mean age was 43 years with Standard Deviation of ± 35.66. Among 351 patients 162 (45%) patients were male and 189 (55%) patients were female. Duration of symptoms in 24(17%) was <4 months and 112(75%) had >4 months, with mean of 4 months and SD ± 2.315. Total 351 participants AKI 45(12%) postnatal AKI 33(9%) Acute MI 18(6%) AKI 2ndry chemotherapy 15(5.72%) AKI 2ndry to abstractive Nephropathy 55 (14%) AKI 2ndry to sepsis 63 (17%) AKI 2ndry to Drugs (NSAIDS and ARBS) 54 (14%) CKD (chronic kidney disease) 48 (15%) AKI 2ndry to Rhabdomylysis 18(6%) Conclusions: The study concludes that the acute kidney injury following CKD systematic reviewing among patients presenting with AKI,CHD ,AKI sepsis, ,AKI Drugs(NSIAD) in local hospital settings This can be reduced with proper health education in general public regarding prevention of the disease and hence its complications.

Opposing trends in survival and recruitment slow the recovery of a historically overexploited fishery

Quantifying temporal variation in demographic rates is a central goal of population ecology. In this study, we analyzed a multidecadal age-structured time series of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) abundance in Lake Mývatn, Iceland, to infer the time-varying demographic response of the population to reduced harvest in the wake of the fishery's collapse. Our analysis shows that while survival probability of adults increased following the alleviation of harvesting pressure, per capita recruitment consistently declined over most of the study period, until the final three years when it began to increase. The countervailing demographic trends resulted in only limited directional change in the total population size and population growth rate. Rather, the population dynamics were dominated by large interannual variability and a shift towards an older age distribution. Our results are indicative of a slow recovery of the population after its collapse, despite the rising number of adults following relaxed harvest. This underscores the potential for heterogeneous demographic responses to management efforts due to the complex ecological context in which such efforts take place.

Apparent stability masks underlying change in a mule deer herd with unmanaged chronic wasting disease

The contagious prion disease “chronic wasting disease” (CWD) infects mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and related species. Unchecked epidemics raise ecological, socioeconomic, and public health concerns. Prion infection shortens a deer’s lifespan, and when prevalence (proportion of adults infected) becomes sufficiently high CWD can affect herd dynamics. Understanding population responses over time is key to forecasting long-term impacts. Here we describe unexpected stability in prevalence and abundance in a mule deer herd where CWD has been left unmanaged. High apparent prevalence (~30%) since at least 2005 likely drove observed changes in the proportion and age distribution of wild-type native prion protein (PRNP) gene homozygotes among deer sampled. Predation by mountain lions (Puma concolor) may be helping keep CWD in check. Despite stable appearances, prion disease nonetheless impairs adult survival and likely resilience in this deer herd, limiting its potential for growth despite refuge from hunter harvest and favorable habitat and winter conditions.

Cancer types with high numbers of driver events are largely preventable

There is a long-standing debate on whether cancer is predominantly driven by extrinsic risk factors such as smoking, or by intrinsic processes such as errors in DNA replication. We have previously shown that the number of rate-limiting driver events per tumor can be estimated from the age distribution of cancer incidence using the gamma/Erlang probability distribution. Here, we show that this number strongly correlates with the proportion of cancer cases attributable to modifiable risk factors for all cancer types except the ones inducible by infection or ultraviolet radiation. The correlation was confirmed for three countries, three corresponding incidence databases and risk estimation studies, as well as for both sexes: USA, males (r = 0.80, P = 0.002), females (r = 0.81, P = 0.0003); England, males (r = 0.90, P < 0.0001), females (r = 0.67, P = 0.002); Australia, males (r = 0.90, P = 0.0004), females (r = 0.68, P = 0.01). Hence, this study suggests that the more driver events a cancer type requires, the more of its cases are due to preventable anthropogenic risk factors.

Development of the simulation-based German albuminuria screening model (S-GASM) for estimating the cost-effectiveness of albuminuria screening in Germany

Background Chronic kidney disease is often asymptomatic in its early stages but constitutes a severe burden for patients and causes major healthcare systems costs worldwide. While models for assessing the cost-effectiveness of screening were proposed in the past, they often presented only a limited view. This study aimed to develop a simulation-based German Albuminuria Screening Model (S-GASM) and present some initial applications. Methods The model consists of an individual-based simulation of disease progression, considering age, gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, albuminuria, glomerular filtration rate, and quality of life, furthermore, costs of testing, therapy, and renal replacement therapy with parameters based on published evidence. Selected screening scenarios were compared in a cost-effectiveness analysis. Results Compared to no testing, a simulation of 10 million individuals with a current age distribution of the adult German population and a follow-up until death or the age of 90 shows that a testing of all individuals with diabetes every two years leads to a reduction of the lifetime prevalence of renal replacement therapy from 2.5% to 2.3%. The undiscounted costs of this intervention would be 1164.10 € / QALY (quality-adjusted life year). Considering saved costs for renal replacement therapy, the overall undiscounted costs would be—12581.95 € / QALY. Testing all individuals with diabetes or hypertension and screening the general population reduced the lifetime prevalence even further (to 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively). Both scenarios were cost-saving (undiscounted, - 7127.10 €/QALY and—5439.23 €/QALY). Conclusions The S-GASM can be used for the comparison of various albuminuria testing strategies. The exemplary analysis demonstrates cost savings through albuminuria testing for individuals with diabetes, diabetes or hypertension, and for population-wide screening.

Exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic environment and generosity

We report data from an online experiment which allows us to study how generosity changed over a 6-day period during the initial explosive growth of the COVID-19 pandemic in Andalusia, Spain, while the country was under a strict lockdown. Participants ( n = 969) could donate a fraction of a €100 prize to an unknown charity. Our data are particularly rich in the age distribution and we complement them with daily public information about COVID-19-related deaths, infections and hospital admissions. We find correlational evidence that donations decreased in the period under study, particularly among older individuals. Our analysis of the mechanisms behind the detected decrease in generosity suggests that expectations about others' behaviour, perceived mortality risk and (alarming) information play a key—but independent—role for behavioural adaptation. These results indicate that social behaviour is quickly adjusted in response to the pandemic environment, possibly reflecting some form of selective prosociality.

Histomorphological spectrum of ovarian tumors - A tertiary care center experience

Background: Ovarian tumors are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with variable clinical, morphological, and histological features. Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death in females. Aims and Objectives: (1) To study and characterize the ovarian tumors based on gross and histopathological features. (2) To study prevalence and age distribution of various ovarian tumors. (3) To study the clinical features in patients with ovarian tumors. (4)To compare the frequency of benign and malignant neoplasms of the ovary with other studies. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in Upgraded Department of Pathology, Modern Government maternity hospital, and Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana from March 2018 to February 2021. A total of 200 ovarian tumors were studied. Results: Out of 200 ovarian tumors, 132 were benign, seven were borderline and 61 were malignant. The surface epithelial tumors were the most common tumors accounting for 159cases (79.5%), germ cell tumors were seen in 27 cases (13.5%), sex-cord stromal tumors formed 10 cases (5%), and metastasis in 4 cases (2%). Conclusion: Ovary is a common site of tumors in the female genital tract and usually presents with a variety of clinocomorphological and histological features. Benign are the most common, of these surface epithelial tumors are the commonest, affects mainly reproductive age group.

Deviation in the Age Structure of Mortality as an Indicator of COVID-19 Pandemic Severity

Objectives. To test whether distortions in the age distribution of deaths can track pandemic activity. Methods. We compared weekly distributions of all-cause deaths by age during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States from March to December 2020 with corresponding prepandemic weekly baseline distributions derived from data for 2015 to 2019. We measured distortions via Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K-S) and χ2 goodness-of-fit statistics as well as deaths among individuals aged 65 years or older as a percentage of total deaths (PERC65+). We computed bivariate correlations between these measures and the number of recorded COVID-19 deaths for the corresponding weeks. Results. Elevated COVID-19-associated fatalities were accompanied by greater distortions in the age structure of mortality. Distortions in the age distribution of weekly US COVID-19 deaths in 2020 relative to earlier years were highly correlated with COVID fatalities (K-S: r = 0.71, P < .001; χ2: r = 0.90, P < .001; PERC65+: r = 0.85, P < .001). Conclusions. A population-representative sample of age-at-death data can serve as a useful means of pandemic activity surveillance when precise cause-of-death data are incomplete, inaccurate, or unavailable, as is often the case in low-resource environments. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):165–168. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306567 )

Analysis of Transmission of Hepatitis C Viruses: Dental vs. Surgical Procedures

Objectives: The primary purpose of the present study is to evaluate the cause of HCV transmission either by dental or surgical procedures in Pakistan. It will reveal the standards of current practices and knowledge of surgical instrument sterilization in Pakistan. Methods:The contemporary study design was cross-sectional. A total of 7097 patients were included in the study that was the confirmed cases of Hepatitis C from four districts of Punjab, Pakistan, during the period of three years from Jul 1, 2018, to Jun 30, 2021. The ANN model simulates a discrete Pareto distribution; descriptive statistics were applied by using SPSS 23.Results:In age distribution, most patients were aged 26-37 from the 2020- 2021 year of study with 45.6%age. The total mean ± SD was 2.42 ± .935 with 0.000P-values. Results show that high-risk variables are strongly associated with the surgical history, such as sector analysis (public and private) with 0.000 P-values. Analysis of these variables indicated that inquiry about surgical instruments sterilization and age groups(100%)were the most vital variable in the ANN model. Pareto distribution values of surgical procedures that are transmitting hepatitis C viruses more than the dental procedures. Conclusion: Surgical procedures are high transmission source of hepatitis C viruses than dental procedures. Clinical Significance: More care should be taken, and more severe sterilization measures should be taken to prevent the transmission of hepatitis C infection, especially in dental and general surgery procedures in Pakistan.