In this study, we proposed an alternative analytical procedure for appraising the fugacity coefficient for gases using second virial coefficient with Lennard-Jones (12-6) potential. The present research is more efficient for determining of the fugacity coefficient of gases in wide ranges temperature and pressure ranges and related thermodynamic properties which is the novelty of this study. The fugacity coefficient for gases , , and has calculated in the temperature range from 30 K to 1000 K and pressure range from 0.1 atm to 200 atm by using the obtained analytical formula. To our knowledge, this work offers the first approximation to the evaluation of the fugacity coefficient for gases for and by second virial coefficients. The results obtained using the analytical formula of the fugacity coefficient is in good agreement with literature.

Introduction Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) management is controversial. Systemic steroids as treatment is the most recommended. British society of otology advised caution when prescribing systemic steroids during COVID-19 crisis. As a result, intratympanic steroids (ITS), seem to offer an alternative. Methods: Number of performed MRI scans for investigation of SSNHL between 01/01/2019 and 31/12/2019. This was used as a surrogate measure, reflecting the number of patients with SSNHL over that 12 months period. All patients who were diagnosed and treated for SSNHL between the 16th of March 2020 and the 8th of July 2020 were included in this study. Clinical outcomes included time interval between onset of SSNHL and start of treatment, response to treatment and side effects Results: In 2019, only 10 scan s for SSNHL were done. Twelve patients presented with SSNHL during 4 months of COVID-19 crisis (16 weeks). Three patients had dead ear on presentation with almost no response to steroids. Conclusion The prevalence of SSNHL in time of COVID-19 pandemic appears to be higher than that before the pandemic. ITS appears to be a safe, feasible and relatively effective method of SSNHL treatment during COVID-19 pandemic. Shared decision-making with the patient is central to any intervention, especially with lack of robust evidence.

Background: Specific details about cardiovascular complications, especially arrhythmias, related to COVID-19 are not well described. Objective: We sought to evaluate the incidence and predictive factors of cardiovascular complications and new-onset arrhythmias in Black and White hospitalized COVID-19 patients and determine the impact of new-onset arrhythmia on outcomes. Methods: We collected and analyzed baseline demographic and clinical data from COVID-19 patients hospitalized at the Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, between March 1st and May 1st, 2020. Results: Among 310 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the mean age was 61.4 ± 16.5 years, with 58,7% females, and 67% Black patients. Black patients were more likely to be younger, have diabetes and obesity . The incidence of cardiac complications was 20%, with 9% of patients having new-onset arrhythmia. There was no significant difference in cardiovascular outcomes between Black and White patients. D-dimer levels positively correlated with cardiac and new-onset arrhythmic event . New onset atrial arrhythmias predicted in-hospital mortality (OR=2.99 95% CI [1.35;6.63], p=0.007), a longer intensive care unit length of stay (mean of 6.14 days, 95% CI [2.51;9.77], p=0.001) and mechanical ventilation duration(mean of 9.08 days, 95% CI [3.75;14.40], p=0.001). Conclusion: Our results indicate that new onset atrial arrhythmias are commonly encountered in COVID-19 patients and can predict in-hospital mortality. Early elevation in D-dimer in COVID-19 patients is a significant predictor of new onset arrhythmias. Our finding suggest continuous rhythm monitoring should be adopted in this patient population during hospitalization to better risk stratify hospitalized patients and prompt earlier intervention.

This study presents a novel model to predict gas-water two-phase transport behaviors in shale microfractures by incorporating a mobile water film with varying thickness according to the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory as well as multiple fluid transport mechanisms (i.e., real gas transport controlled by the Knudsen number and water slippage). This model is implemented in real shale microfractures via digital-core imaging. A gas-water displacement process is modelled by the invasion percolation theory, while a local multiphase distribution is determined by combining disjoining pressure with capillary force. Key findings reveal that gas relative permeability (RP) decreases by 17% and water RP enhances by 33.5%, when the mean aperture decreases from 1.67 to 0.0418μm. Neglecting water film brings a decrease in water RP and an overestimation of gas transport ability. Moreover, two critical microfracture apertures are determined, which enhances an understanding of the water film impact on gas-water transport properties in application.

Calciphylaxis creates a challenge in anticoagulation therapy for patients with mechanical heart valves and ESRD as warfarin cannot be used. We describe our approach in using enoxaparin as an alternative for anticoagulation in a patient with a mechanical heart valve and ESRD who developed calciphylaxis from warfarin.

In this report we reported the sero-prevalence of West Nile virus among the resident and migratory wild birds from different locations of Bangladesh. 48 birds (48/888, 5.4%, CI 0.04-0.07) were found sero-positive for WNV antibody.

Rationale, aims and objectives: A considerable amount of primary health care (PHC) clients comes in with medically unexplained complaints, leading to frequent consultations and high usage of services and health care costs. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of somatic symptom disorder among PHC attendees and to explore its relation with other mental disorders and risk factors. Methods: A cross sectional design was used to interview 400 attendees at five PHC centers in Nablus district, during Sept to Dec, 2019. Men and women age over 18 years old, without psychiatric diagnosis were invited to participate in the study. The Somatization scale of the Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire was used to assess somatic symptom disorders. It is a valid tool to be used in PHC setting. Chi-squared test and multivariable logistic regression were used to explore determinant variables. Results: A high prevalence of somatic symptom disorder was seen in the sample [32.5% (95%CI= 27.9%-37.1%)]. The most prevalent symptoms were painful muscles (61.5%) followed by back pain (52.3%). Somatic symptom disorder was found to be associated with: Female gender [P =0.015 adjusted OR = 2.2 (95% CI= 1.3-4)], chronic diseases [P =0.027 adjusted OR = 2 (95%CI=1.1-3.6)], depression [P <0.001 adjusted OR = 3.2 (95%CI= 2.0-5.3)], and anxiety [P=0.032 adjusted OR = 3.0 (95%CI= 1.6-5.5)]. Additionally, attendees with high somatization were found to have significantly higher frequency of doctors visit [P=0.005 adjusted OR = 2.2 (95%CI= 1.3-4.0)] Conclusions: The prevalence of somatization among PHC attendees in Palestine is high. It is significantly higher among females, patients with chronic diseases, clients with anxiety and depressive disorders and patients with frequent doctors’ visits. Painful muscles and back pain are the most common symptom presented by patients, and this could be used initially by PHC physicians as a signal to consider for screening.

Variation in solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation induces a wide-range of plant responses from the cellular to whole-plant scale. We demonstrate here for the first time that partial stomatal closure caused by UV exposure significantly increases leaf temperature independently of any increase in incident energy on the leaves. Significant leaf warming in response to UV radiation was consistent in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. ) across different experimental approaches. Exposure to UV radiation significantly decreased stomatal conductance and increased leaf temperature by up to 2°C in field experiments where solar UV was attenuated using filters. Smaller but significant increases in leaf temperature due to decreases in stomatal conductance occurred in multi-day controlled environment (CE) growth room experiments and in short-term (< 2 hours) irradiance response experiments, both using fluorescent lamps to provide UV treatments. We show that leaf warming due to partial stomatal closure is independent of any direct warming effects of UV manipulations. We discuss the implications of UV-induced warming both for crop production and understanding broader plant and ecosystem responses to UV radiation.

The interesting report by Karagianni P et al on the finding of increased DNA methylation of H19 locus imprinting control region in saliva samples of Sjögren’s syndrome patients correlating with low complement C4 levels, may offer insights into how C4 level may be regulated in serpinopathies such as C1-inhibitor deficiency. An undetectable or low C4 level in patients with severe angioedema is a feature of C1-inhibitor deficiency (hereditary angioedema (HAE) type I with low to absent function and antigenic levels; HAE type II with point mutations in SERPING1 gene that affect the reactive centre loop affecting protein function only). However, C4 levels do not always clinically correlate with disease activity, and up to 6% patients do not have known mutations in the SERPING1 gene.

A document by Denis Cozzi, written on Authorea.

Recent research has demonstrated that synthetic methanotroph-photoautotroph cocultures offer a highly promising route to convert biogas into value-added products. However, there is a lack of techniques for fast and accurate characterization of cocultures, such as determining the individual biomass concentration of each organism in real-time. To address this unsolved challenge, we propose an experimental-computational protocol for fast, easy and accurate quantitative characterization of the methanotroph-photoautotroph cocultures. Besides determining the individual biomass concentration of each organism in the coculture, the protocol can also obtain the individual consumption and production rates of O2 and CO2 for the methanotroph and photoautotroph, respectively. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed protocol was demonstrated using two model coculture pairs, Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20ZR - Synechococcus sp. PCC7002 that prefers high pH high salt condition, and Methylococcus capsulatus - Chlorella sorokiniana that prefers low salt and neutral pH medium. The performance of the proposed protocol was compared with a flow cytometry based cell counting approach. The experimental results show that the proposed protocol is much easier to carry out and delivers faster and more accurate results in measuring individual biomass concentration than the cell counting approach without requiring any special equipment.

Plants can absorb water through their leaf surfaces, a phenomenon commonly referred to as foliar water uptake (FWU). Despite the physiological importance of FWU, the pathways and mechanisms underlying the process are not well known. Using a novel experimental approach, we parsed out the contribution of the stomata and the cuticle to FWU in two species with Mediterranean (Prunus dulcis) and temperate (Pyrus communis) origin. The hydraulic parameters of FWU were derived by analyzing mass and water potential changes of leaves placed in a fog chamber. Leaves were previously treated with abscisic acid to force stomata to remain closed, with fusicoccin to remain open, and with water (control). Leaves with open stomata rehydrated two times faster than leaves with closed stomata and attained three to four times higher maximum fluxes and hydraulic conductance. Based on FWU rates, we propose that rehydration through stomata occurs primarily via diffusion of water vapor rather than in liquid form even when leaf surfaces are covered with a water film. We discuss the potential mechanisms of FWU and the significance of both stomatal and cuticular pathways for plant productivity and survival.

We present a novel case of an urticaria multiforme-type drug reaction to the new cystic fibrosis medication Trikafta (elexacaftor + tezacaftor + ivacaftor). Equipped with this information, clinicians may be more prepared to counsel and treat patients if they experience similar symptoms after beginning Trikafta.

Background: From sepsis to COVID-19-induced multi-organ failure, inflammation and immune system activation play an important role. It has been argued that inflammation and over-activation of the immune system could be mediating a pro-oxidant microenvironment that can induce cytotoxic effects that potentiate tissue damage favoring organic deterioration. Aims: To investigate whether induction of oxidative stress by COVID-19 infection could inhibit mitochondrial function and cause cellular damage in leukocytes. Methods: We evaluated plasma levels of nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide and protein carbonylation using spectrophotometry, in addition to evaluating mitochondrial function and cell death by fluorescence microscopy and leukocyte morphology, in COVID-19 patients at two time points: viremia and severe sepsis with multi-organ failure. Results: COVID-19 induces increased oxidative stress markers that activate cellular damage processes. In the viremia stage, was observe with an increase in peroxide (28.9%), nitric oxide (370.3%) and carbonylated proteins (61.8%), which was correlated with an increase in inhibition of mitochondrial function (66%), early apoptosis (212%) necrosis (405%), and leukocytes-reactivity. The severe sepsis stage with multi-organ failure also showed a further increase in levels of peroxide (46.4%) with a slight decrease in nitric oxide (216.2%) but with more carbonylated proteins (102%), regarding what was observe in viremia. This oxidative process was correlate with less inhibition of mitochondrial function (32.4%) and an increase in late apoptosis (463%), and morphology changes evidencing damage in the leukocytes. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 induced damage promotes levels of oxidative stress markers and mitochondrial dysfunction that potentiate morphological changes and cell death in leukocytes. These cellular effects could be integrating into the physiopathology of COVID- 19. These processes explain the rapid changes in the immune system, and that present an initial over-activation and early massive death due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, promoting endothelial-alveolar damage that would cause multi-organ failure.

This paper is devoted to study the global attractors of the periodic initial value problem for Landau--Lifshitz--Bloch--Maxwell system. Fist we give the global existence of the smooth solution for this system. Then, we prove the existence of global attractors, the Hausdorff dimension and fractal dimension have been estimated.

In this paper, the nonlinear static analysis of Timoshenko nanobeams consisting of bi-directional functionally graded material (BFGM) with immovable ends is investigated. The scratching in the FG nanobeam mid-plane, is the source of nonlinearity of the bending problems . The non-local theory is used to investigate the nonlinear static deflection of nanobeam. In order to simplify the formulation, the problem formulas is derived according to the physical middle surface. The Hamilton principle is employed to determine governing partial differential equations as well as boundary conditions. Moreover, the differential quadrature method (DQM) and direct iterative method are applied to solve governing equations. Present results for nonlinear static deflection were compared with previously published results in order to validate the present formulation. The impacts of the nonlocal factors, beam length and material property gradient on the nonlinear static deflection of BFG nanobeams are investigated. It is observed that these parameters are vital in the value of the nonlinear static deflection of the BFG nanobeam.

{\bf Abstract.} In this paper, we study the generalized quasilinear Schr\”{o}dinger equation \begin{equation*} -\text{div}(g^2(u)\nabla u)+g(u)g’(u)|\nabla u|^2+V(x)u=(I_{\alpha}\ast|u|^{p})|u|^{p-2}u,\ \ \ x\in\R^N, \end{equation*} where $N\geq3$, $0<\alpha

Aim: To investigate the mean thrombocyte volume (MPV) in asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19. Methods: The study included 55 children infected with COVID-19 and 60 healthy children for the comparison of leukocyte and thrombocyte count, MPV, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Demographic data and clinical findings of all the cases were recorded, including age, gender, weight, temperature, cough, shortness of breath and contact history. Results: The MPV values were determined to be statistically significantly high (p<0.001) and the lymphocyte values were significantly low (p:0.002) in the asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19 compared to the healthy control children. No difference was determined between the groups in respect of CRP level, leukocyte and thrombocyte counts (p>0.05). The optimal cutoff point for MPV was determined as 8.74 fl (Area under the curve-AUC:0.932) with 81.82% sensitivity and 95% specificity for the determination of children infected with COVID-19. A cutoff value of <2.12/mm3 for lymphocytes (AUC:0.670) was determined with 49.09% sensitivity and 86.67% specificity for the prediction of COVID-19. Based on the ROC analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of MPV was determined to be higher than that of lymphocyte levels. Conclusion: The results of this study that MPV levels are significantly high in asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19 demonstrate that this is an important predictive value and has better predictive capacity than lymphocyte values. The evaluation of MPV and lymphocyte levels together could increase diagnostic success in asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.

Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Ambrosia trifida are two species of very harmful and invasive plants of the same genus. However, it remains unclear why A. artemisiifolia is more widely distributed than A. trifida worldwide. Distribution and abundance of these two species were surveyed and measured from 2010 to 2017 in the Yili Valley, Xinjiang, China. Soil temperature and humidity, main companion species, the biological characteristics in farmland ecotone, residential area, roadside and grassland, and water demand of the two species were determined and studied from 2017 to 2018. The area occupied by A. artemisiifolia in the Yili Valley was more extensive than that of A. trifida, while the abundance of A. artemisiifolia in grassland was less than that of A. trifida at eight years after invasion. The interspecific competitive ability of two species were stronger than those of companion species in farmland ecotone, residential, and roadside. In addition, A. trifida had greater interspecific competitive ability than other plant species in grassland. The seed size and seed weight of A. trifida were five times or eight times those of A.artemisiifolia. When comparing the changes under simulated annual precipitation of 840 mm versus 280 mm, the seed yield per m2 of A. trifida decreased from 50,185 to 19, while that of A. artemisiifolia decreased from 15,579 to 530. The differences in the distribution of the two species are mainly due to differences in interspecific competitive ability, seed size, and water dependence. The two species have stronger interspecific competitive ability than that of companion species, but A. artemisiifolia has a smaller seed size and stronger drought tolerance, which allows A. artemisiifolia to spread farther than A. trifida. The reason for wider distribution of A. trifida in grassland is that A. trifida has stronger interspecific competitive ability than A. artemisiifolia under sufficient water.

Salts in the root zone have high spatial variability, changes rapidly and adversely affects soil quality and crop productivity. Rapid detection of electrical conductivity (EC) using visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) and midinfrared (MIR) spectroscopy can alleviate the adverse effects on soil and plant, which through conventional method is time consuming. Soils were collected from the Indo-Gangetic plains and analyzed for EC using conventional, Vis-NIR, MIR spectroscopy and there was wide variation in EC measured by the conventional method. The spectral regions in 460-500 and 1890-1906 nm in the Vis-NIR region and 4200-4310, 5275-5280, 6660-6670, 7305-7310 and 8290-8300 nm in the MIR region were sensitive to detection of EC. Partial least square regression (PLSR) outperformed random forest regression (RF), support vector regression (SVR), and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) both in Vis-NIR and MIR region during calibration. The ratio of performance deviation (RPD), coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the validation dataset were used to assess the prediction accuracy and the predictive performance of PLSR (2.44, 0.84, 0.21), RF (1.95, 0.81, 0.20), SVR (2.09, 0.78, 0.22) and MARS (1.81, 0.73, 0.27) models. PLSR model performed very well in the Vis-NIR range; however, in the MIR range, RF (1.43, 0.52, 0.20), followed by PLSR (1.40, 0.55, 0.35), performed better than SVR (1.39, 0.53, 0.35) and MARS (1.29, 0.44, 0.37). Vis-NIR spectroscopy with PLSR algorithm predicted EC better than MIR spectroscopy and would be the method of choice for rapid estimation and prediction of EC in the study region.

Severe COVID-19 is a multisystem inflammatory disorder and knowledge and experience with severe acute respiratory failure in infected patients has grown considerably since reports of the first few cases. Little is known about the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the heart, and there has been a suggestion from published literature that fulminant cardiac failure with or without respiratory failure may occur several weeks following infection. A young man presented after a recent viral illness. He was found to be in severe cardiogenic shock and was implanted with an emergency biventricular assist device, which also incorporated an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator. He stabilised soon thereafter and despite an intracerebral haemorrhage, which resolved, and bleeding into the trachea following percutaneous tracheostomy, he survived to explant and was successfully stepped down to a rehabilitation unit on postoperative day 50. He tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies when the test became available on postoperative day 33. We envisage there will be many more such presentations of acute COVID-19-associated cardiogenic shock and we recommend clinicians consider this diagnosis when presented with an acutely unwell patient with an unclear diagnosis, following a viral illness. These patients should be discussed as early as possible with a transplant/mechanical circulatory support team.

Plants are exposed to a wide range of temperatures during their life cycle and need to continuously adapt. These adaptations need to deal with temperature changes on a daily and seasonal level and with temperatures affected by climate change, and need to take into account that different organs have different optimal temperature ranges. Increasing global temperatures impact crop performance, and several physiological and developmental responses to increased temperature have been described that allow to mitigate this. In this review, we assess various developmental, physiological and biochemical responses of crops to high temperature, focusing on knowledge gained from both monocots (e.g. wheat, barley, maize, rice) and dicots (e.g. soybean or tomato). We outline several outstanding questions where crop research can exploit knowledge from model plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, and we highlight that studying molecular mechanisms directly in relevant crops is essential.

Long-term experimental watershed studies have significantly influenced our global understanding of hydrological processes. The discovery and characterization of how stream water quantity and quality respond to a changing environment (e.g., land use change and acidic deposition) has only been possible due to the establishment of catchments devoted to long-term study. One such catchment is the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) located in the headwaters of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, a region that provides essential freshwater ecosystem services to eastern and mid-western USA communities. Established in 1934, the FEF is among the earliest experimental watershed studies in the Eastern USA that continues to address emergent challenges to forest ecosystems, including climate change and other threats to forest health. This data note summarizes some of the seminal findings from more than 50 years of hydrologic research in the FEF. During the first few decades, research at the FEF focused on the relationship between forest management and hydrological processes – especially those related to the overall water balance. Later, research efforts included the examination of interactions between hydrology and soil erosion, biogeochemistry, N-saturation, and acid deposition. Hydro-climatologic and water quality datasets from long-term measurements and data from short-duration studies are publicly available to provide new insights and foster collaborations that will continue to advance our understanding of hydrology in forested headwater catchments. As a result of its rich history of research and abundance of long-term data, the FEF is uniquely positioned to continue to advance understanding of forest ecosystems in a time of unprecedented change.

Finite element simulations of bonded repair technology can greatly reduce the cost of repairing ageing and damaged aircraft structures. In this study, finite element simulation and analysis are performed for several bonded repair techniques of damaged aircraft structures with cracks. The simulations start from fatigue damage accumulation, crack initiation, crack repair, to fatigue crack re-initiation until structural failure. The effectiveness of bonded repair techniques is assessed by comparing the service lives of no repair, patch-bonded repair (live repair), stop-drill repair, and damage removal repair. It is found that the load attraction by repair patch can greatly sustain fatigue crack growth, leading to more than at least 2 times longer service life before the skin structure needs to be replaced. Damage removal bonded repair can further extend service life by more than 20 times comparing to no repair, benefiting from the fatigue damage tolerant service life extension. Along with the service life comparison, we also established a simulation framework that lays out the groundwork to perform aerostructure bonded repair effectiveness evaluation. The results demonstrate that finite element analysis can be efficiently used to simulate the various forms of bonded repairs and effectively evaluate fatigue crack growth and service life with structural damage. Such a rigorous simulation framework enables the future design of new repair techniques for aircraft structures.