Maximum body mass index before onset of type 2 diabetes is independently associated with advanced diabetic complications

IntroductionThe maximum body mass index (BMI) before onset of type 2 diabetes (MBBO) might be used to estimate a patient’s insulin secretion capacity. There have been few factors that can predict future diabetic complications at the time of diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to clarify the clinical usefulness of MBBO for predicting the development of advanced diabetic microvascular complications.Research design and methodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study. Of 1304 consecutively admitted patients with type 2 diabetes, we enrolled 435 patients for whom we could confirm their MBBO. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine whether MBBO or BMI on admission was associated with advanced diabetic retinopathy or nephropathy. To evaluate the predictive performance of these indexes, we performed cross-validation in various models with MBBO or BMI and evaluated the areas under the curve (AUCs) yielded by these analyses.ResultsUnivariate analyses suggested that MBBO was associated with advanced retinopathy and nephropathy, while BMI on admission was associated only with advanced nephropathy. In multivariate analyses, MBBO was significantly associated with advanced complications, while BMI on admission was not. For advanced diabetic retinopathy, the AUCs were 0.70–0.72, and for advanced nephropathy, the AUCs were 0.81–0.83. When comparing the AUCs among models, the models with MBBO sustained high predictive performance for diabetic complications.ConclusionsMBBO was independently associated with advanced diabetic complications, while BMI on admission was not. Diabetic microvascular complications in patients with high MBBO could progress more rapidly. At the time of the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, MBBO would enable us to predict the progress of diabetic complications.

A new species of the Genus Pelodiscus Fitzinger, 1835 (Testudines: Trionychidae) from Huangshan, Anhui, China

A new species of the soft-shelled turtle genus Pelodiscus is described based on seven specimens from Huangshan, southern Anhui Province, China. The new species, Pelodiscus huangshanensis sp. nov., is distinguished from other species in the genus Pelodiscus by the following characteristics: (1) Small size (maximum carapace length of 101.16 mm and maximum body length of 190 mm); (2) keel high; (3) tiny yellowish-white spots on the throat; (4) no black pinstripes around the eyes; (5) white longitudinal bands on both sides of the neck in juveniles, absent in adults; (6) plastron yellowish-white, and only a dark patch on each side of the armpit; (7) many tubercles on the dorsal surface, but indistinct in the center; and (8) entoplastron “⌒” shaped. The phylogenetic relationships of the species in Pelodiscus were reconstructed using the sequences of cytochrome b (cyt b) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) genes. The new species formed a monophyletic clade with strong support. The uncorrected pairwise distances between the new species and other representatives of Pelodiscus ranged from 5.4% to 9.2% for cyt b and 4.1% to 7.6% for ND4. The new species brings the number of species of the genus Pelodiscus to six; five species are distributed in China, with three species endemic to China.

Prognostic Predictors For COVID-19 in Daily Clinical Practice in Japan: a Propensity Score-Matched Case-Control Study

Introduction: Blood tests and computed tomography (CT) findings at diagnosis are widely used in daily clinical practice and can offer useful prognostic factors for coronavirus disease 2019.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 66 patients who underwent a blood test and CT between January 1 and May 31, 2020, and performed a propensity score-matched case-control study. Cases and controls were a severe respiratory failure group (non-rebreather mask, nasal high-flow, positive-pressure ventilation) and a non-severe respiratory failure group, matched at a ratio of 1:3 by propensity scores constructed by age, sex, and medical history. We compared groups for maximum body temperature up to diagnosis, laboratory findings, and CT findings in the matched cohort. Two-tailed P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Nine cases and 27 controls were included in the matched cohort. Significant differences were seen in maximum body temperature up to diagnosis (p=0.0043), the number of shaded lobes (p=0.0434), amount of ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the total lung field (p=0.0071), amounts of GGO (p=0.0001), and consolidation (p=0.0036) in the upper lung field, and pleural effusion (p=0.0117).Conclusions: Fever and CT findings (such as GGO and consolidation) may be prognostic indicators that can be easily measured at diagnosis.

Egg Incubation Mechanics of Giant Birds

Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to conduct mechanical analyses on eggshells of giant birds, and relate this to the evolution and reproductive behavior of avian species. We aim to (1) investigate mechanical characteristics of eggshell structures of various ratite species, enabling comparisons between species with or without reversed sexual size dimorphism (RSSD); (2) quantify the safety margin provided by RSSD; (3) determine whether the Williams’ egg can have been incubated by an extinct giant bird Genyornis newtoni; (4) determine the theoretical maximum body mass for contact incubation. We use a dimensionless number C to quantify relative shell stiffness with respect to the egg size, allowing for comparison across wide body masses. We find that RSSD in moas significantly increases the safety margin of contact incubation by the lighter males. However, their safety margins are still smaller than those of the moa species without RSSD. Two different strategies were adopted by giant birds—one is RSSD and thinner shells, represented by some moa species; the other is no RSSD and regular shells, represented by the giant elephant bird. Finally, we predicted that the upper limit of body mass for contact incubation was 2000 kg.

The metabolic pace of life histories across fishes

All life acquires energy through metabolic processes and that energy is subsequently allocated to life-sustaining functions such as survival, growth and reproduction. Thus, it has long been assumed that metabolic rate is related to the life history of an organism. Indeed, metabolic rate is commonly believed to set the pace of life by determining where an organism is situated along a fast–slow life-history continuum. However, empirical evidence of a direct interspecific relationship between metabolic rate and life histories is lacking, especially for ectothermic organisms. Here, we ask whether three life-history traits—maximum body mass, generation length and growth performance—explain variation in resting metabolic rate (RMR) across fishes. We found that growth performance, which accounts for the trade-off between growth rate and maximum body size, explained variation in RMR, yet maximum body mass and generation length did not. Our results suggest that measures of life history that encompass trade-offs between life-history traits, rather than traits in isolation, explain variation in RMR across fishes. Ultimately, understanding the relationship between metabolic rate and life history is crucial to metabolic ecology and has the potential to improve prediction of the ecological risk of data-poor species.

A new species of tadpole-goby, Benthophilus persicus sp. nov. (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the southern Caspian Sea

A new gobiid species, Benthophilus persicus sp. nov., is described from the southern Caspian Sea, Iran. The new species is diagnosed by the following character states: dermal fold on cheek well-developed, large, rectangular; chin barbel 1/3–2/3 of eye diameter; maximum body width 15.1–22.9% of standard length; mouth width, 36.3–55.8% of head length; second dorsal fin I+7–8; origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin; dermal tubercles present on body, clearly larger than granules, with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute angle, always less than right angle; dorsal row of tubercles complete, 22–29; ventral row of tubercles 22–25; ventrolateral row of tubercles absent; tubercles not present on temporal and occipital head regions; granules not present on flanks; transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b; anterior interorbital transversal row pa with one or two papillae and anterior interorbital transversal papilla row pp with two or three papillae; body with 20–22 transversal ltm rows starting anteriorly behind pectoral axilla and alternating anteriorly with three longitudinal llm rows.

Risk stratification scores for hospitalization duration and disease progression in moderate and severe patients with COVID-19

Background During outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), healthcare providers are facing critical clinical decisions based on the prognosis of patients. Decision support tools of risk stratification are needed to predict outcomes in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19. Methods This retrospective cohort study recruited 2425 patients with moderate or severe COVID-19. A logistic regression model was used to select and estimate the factors independently associated with outcomes. Simplified risk stratification score systems were constructed to predict outcomes in moderate and severe patients with COVID-19, and their performances were evaluated by discrimination and calibration. Results We constructed two risk stratification score systems, named as STPCAL (including significant factors in the prediction model: number of clinical symptoms, the maximum body temperature during hospitalization, platelet count, C-reactive protein, albumin and lactate dehydrogenase) and TRPNCLP (including maximum body temperature during hospitalization, history of respiratory diseases, platelet count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase, and prothrombin time), to predict hospitalization duration for moderate patients and disease progression for severe patients, respectively. According to STPCAL score, moderate patients were classified into three risk categories for a longer hospital duration: low (Score 0–1, median = 8 days, with less than 20.0% probabilities), intermediate (Score 2–6, median = 13 days, with 30.0–78.9% probabilities), high (Score 7–9, median = 19 days, with more than 86.5% probabilities). Severe patients were stratified into three risk categories for disease progression: low risk (Score 0–5, with less than 12.7% probabilities), intermediate risk (Score 6–11, with 18.6–69.1% probabilities), and high risk (Score 12–16, with more than 77.9% probabilities) by TRPNCLP score. The two risk scores performed well with good discrimination and calibration. Conclusions Two easy-to-use risk stratification score systems were built to predict the outcomes in COVID-19 patients with different clinical types. Identifying high risk patients with longer stay or poor prognosis could assist healthcare providers in triaging patients when allocating limited healthcare during COVID-19 outbreak.

Morphobiological characteristics and taxonomic status of weather loaches (Misgurnus) in the Pad Bolshaya (Middle Amur River)

Morphological signs (32 plastic and 7 meristic) and biological parameters (size, weight, age and sexual structure, fecundity) are considered for weather loaches of gen. Misgurnus inhabiting the Pad Bolshaya (Jewish Autonomous oblast), with the body length Ad 60.2-182.4 mm, body weigh 2.3-55.3 g, age 1-8 years and sex ratio about 1 : 1 (53 % males, 47 % females). Sexual dimorphism is found for antedorsal, anteventral and ventroanal distances, tail fin base length, base length and height of pectoral, pelvic and anal fins, and maximum body height. Ontogenetic variability of morphological indices in dependence on body length is detected for 26 of 32 plastic signs, whereas the dependence of anteanal, antedorsal, pectoventral, and anteventral distances, and maximum and minimum body height on the body length is not statistically significant. Males grow slower than females. Age of puberty is 4-6 years, mean individual absolute fecundity is 7409 eggs. The analysis concluded that the weather loaches Misgurnus in the Pad Bolshaya belonged to the species Misgurnus nikolskyi (Vasil’eva, 2001).