Insectivores gain macronutrients and elements from consuming arthropod prey, but must also deal with indigestible components (i.e., exoskeleton) of prey. For example, avian chicks (e.g. northern bobwhites; Colinus virginianus) have limited gut space, and ingesting prey with relatively higher proportions of indigestible components may impact assimilation efficiency, growth, and survival. The ability of insectivores to choose higher quality prey would depend on prey taxa varying consistently in nutritional content. We tested if there were consistent differences among taxonomic orders of arthropod prey in their macronutrient (protein and lipid), elemental (C and N), and exoskeleton content. We used northern bobwhite chicks as our focal insectivore and focused on their potential prey as a case study. We also tested the influence of indigestible exoskeleton on the measurement of macronutrient content and the ability of elemental content to predict macronutrients. We found large and consistent variation in macronutrient and elemental content within and between arthropod orders. Some orders had consistently high protein content and low exoskeleton content (i.e., Araneae) and are likely higher quality prey for insectivores. Abundant orders common in the diets of insectivores, like Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, had high exoskeleton content and low protein content. We also found support for the ability of elements to predict macronutrients, and found that metabolizable (i.e. exoskeleton removed) elemental content better predicted macronutrient content. A better understanding of arthropod nutrient content is critical for elucidating the role of spatial and temporal variation in prey communities in shaping the growth and survival of insectivores.

Eating Behaviour and Alexithymia

The hyporheic exchange below dune-shaped bedforms has a great impact on the stream environment. One of the most important properties of the hyporheic zone is the residence time distribution (RTD) of flow paths in the sediment domain. Here we evaluate the influence of an impervious layer, at a dimensionless sediment depth of \(d_{b}^{*}=\frac{2\pi d_{b}}{\lambda}\) where \(\lambda\) is the dune wavelength, on the form of the hyporheic exchange RTD. Empirical RTDs were generated, over a range of \(d_{b}^{*\ }\ \)values, from numerical particle tracking experiments in which \(10000\) particles sinusoidally distributed over a flatbed domain were released. These empirical RTDs are best represented by the Gamma, Log-Normal and Fréchet distributions over normalized bed depth of \({0\ <=d}_{b}^{*\ }\leq 1.2\),\({1.2<d}_{b}^{*\ }\leq 3.1\), and \(d_{b}^{*\ }>3.1\), respectively. The depth dependence of the analytical distribution parameters is also presented, together with a set of regression formulae to predict these parameters based on \(d_{b}^{*\ }\)with a high degree of accuracy (\(R^{2}>99.8\%\)). These results contribute to our understanding of the physical and mixing processes underpinning hyporheic exchange in streams and allow for a quick evaluation of its likely impact on nutrient and contaminant processing (e.g., based on the magnitude of the Damköhler number).Keywords: Dunes, bedforms, residence times distribution, sediment depth effect, Hyporheic residence times, analytical representation, two parametric distributions, Damköhler Number.

Soil properties have a significant influence on solutes redistribution in the soil vadose zones. The aim of this study was to assess the relevance of soil properties for solute transport characteristics in degraded wetland soils using 72 undisturbed soil columns from two experimental fields located in Robinia pseudoacacia (CH) and Tamarix chinensis (CL) communities. Combining soil column tracer experiments, all experiments were conducted under the same initial and boundary conditions using Brilliant Blue FCF as a conservative tracer. Solute transport characteristics were described by four measures of dye solution steady infiltration rate of effluents, dye solution concentration of effluents, soil column dye staining patterns, and cumulative dye solution leaching. Numerical modeling by the dual-permeability model in HYDRUS-1D was used to simulate the proportion of cumulative dye solution leaching from soil macropore flow. This study showed that basic soil properties exhibited a significant difference at CH site and at CL site. Dye solution steady infiltration rate of effluents at CH site decreased with soil depth, but increased at first and then decreased with soil depth at CL site. Dye solution concentration of effluents both at CH site and at CL site decreased nonlinearly with soil depth. Soil column dye staining patterns were significantly different among different soil locations, indicating the largest dark blue staining domains from soil depth of 0-10 cm at CH site and 20-40 cm at CL site. The proportion of cumulative dye solution leaching from soil macropore flow was from 37.6 to 61.1% at CH site, whereas from 0 to 99.9% at CL site. Basic soil properties played inconsistent roles in solute transport characteristics. The understanding of soil properties and its correlation with solute transport characteristics is the first step for degraded wetland restoration and development. Some alternative solutions of wetland restoration are proposed for managers.

The use of antioxidants in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cultures to improve monoclonal antibody production has been a topic of great interest. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which antioxidant pathways are regulated in CHO cells and their effect on metabolism are not fully understood. In this work, we investigated how treatment with the antioxidant rosmarinic acid (RA) improved viable cell density and titer in CHO cell cultures, and attempted to explore the underlying mechanism(s) using transcriptomics and metabolomics. In particular, transcriptomics analysis indicated that RA treatment modified gene expression and strongly affected the MAPK and Akt signaling pathways which regulate cell survival and cell death. Moreover, we observed that these effects did not appear related to an intracellular metabolism change. In summary, this integrated ‘omics analysis has important implications for the role of the antioxidant RA in industrial cell culture processes. The current study also represents an example in the industry of how multi-omics can be applied to gain an in‐depth understanding of CHO cell biology and to identify critical pathways that can contribute to cell culture process improvement and cell line engineering.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease caused by skin barrier defects and a misdirected type 2 immune response against antigens. The skin microbiome in AD is characterised by a reduction in microbial diversity with a dominance of staphylococci, including Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). To assess whether S. epidermidis antigens play a role in AD, we studied the immune response against the extracellular serine protease (Esp). Methods: We analyzed the binding of human IgG4 to S. epidermidis extracellular proteins using immunoblotting and mass spectrometry. We then measured serum antibodies specific for recombinant Esp by ELISA in healthy and AD individuals. We also stimulated T cells from AD patients and control subjects with Esp and measured the secreted cytokines. Finally, we analyzed the proteolytic activity of Esp against IL-33 and determined the cleavage sites by mass spectrometry. Results: We identified Esp as the dominant IgG4-binding antigen of S. epidermidis. Esp-specific IgE was present in human serum; AD patients had higher concentrations than controls. The T cell response to Esp in healthy adults was characterized by IL-17, IL-22, IFN-γ, and IL-10, whereas the AD patients’ T cells lacked IL-17 production and released only low amounts of IL-22, IFN-γ, and IL-10. In contrast, Th2 cytokine release was higher in T cells from AD patients than from healthy controls. Mature Esp cleaved and activated the alarmin IL-33. Conclusions: Esp elicits type 2-biased response in AD patients. This suggests that S. epidermidis can aggravate AD through the allergenic properties of Esp.

We describe an unusual case of a young girl presenting with a large vagal schwannoma necessitating a transcervical-mandibulotomy approach for total tumor resection. The presentation is unique due to the size of the lesion, the patient's age, the operative approach, and molecular pathology.

Introduction: The implementation of interdisciplinary care strategies for the follow-up of patients with asthma has proven to be very effective in improving the long-term evolution of these children. Objectives: Describe the clinical, functional and therapeutic characteristics of patients with a diagnosis of uncontrolled severe asthma (UCSA), identify the differences in the characteristics in the management between patients with difficult-to-treat severe asthma (SDCA) and treatment-resistant severe asthma (STRA Materials: Analytical study of serial cases, patients were evaluated for 6 months, patients with UCSA diagnosis were admitted to the Pneumonology Service of the Pediatric Hospital of Córdoba, with ages between 5 and 15 years old. Results: 23 patients entered the study. 47.82% were defined as SDCA and 52.17% STRA. During the first 6 months of the program; hospitalizations were only 4% (p: 0.001). Besides, the number of visits to the emergency room decreased to 39.13% (p: 0.003). Regarding the Inhalation technique, 73.9% (n: 17) presented improvement (p: 0.0001). Only 13% (n = 3) of the patients continued with ACT <20 (p: 0.0001). We found differences in the use of rescue medication (p: 0.003) and greater attendance at Emergency Rooms (p: 0.005), during the 6-month evaluation process, in favor of the group of treatment-resistant asthmatics Conclusion: Implementing this type of interdisciplinary program allowed a marked improvement in all modifiable variables of asthma in patients with SDCA. All this not only leads to improving the management of patients with UCSA.

Background The global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on pregnancy and outcomes. There has been recently some conflicting evidence on the stillbirths during the COVID-19 pandemic. This meta-analysis attempts to resolve this through a systematic approach. Objectives To analyse and determine the impact of COVID-19 on the stillbirth rate. Search strategy We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, ClinicalTrials.gov and Web of Science from inception to 05 March 2021 with no language restriction for this meta-analysis. Selection criteria Publications (a) with stillbirth data on pregnant women with COVID-19 (b) comparing stillbirth rates in pregnant women with and without COVID-19 and (c), comparing stillbirth rates before and during the pandemic. Data collection and Analysis The included studies were all observational studies, and we used the Newcastle Ottawa score for risk of bias. We performed the meta-analysis using Comprehensive meta-analysis software, version 3. Main results A total of 29 studies were included in the meta-analysis; from 17 of these, the SB rate was 7 per 1000 in pregnant women with COVID-19. This rate was much higher (34/1000) in low- and middle-income countries. The odds ratio of stillbirth in pregnant women with COVID-19 compared to those without was 1.89. However, there was no significant difference in population SB rates before and during the pandemic. Conclusions There is some evidence that the stillbirth rate has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is mainly in low- and middle-income countries. Inadequate access to healthcare during the pandemic could be a contributing factor.

Background: Clear cell sarcoma (CCS), epithelioid sarcoma, and synovial sarcoma are rare tumors historically identified as high risk for lymph node metastasis. Nodal metastasis in adults with these subtypes has been described. This study investigates incident nodal metastasis and associated survival in children with these subtypes. Procedure: Using the National Cancer Database (2004-2015), we created a retrospective cohort of 1303 patients (aged ≤25 years) who underwent local control therapy for CCS, epithelioid sarcoma, and synovial sarcoma. Kaplan-Meier curves estimated overall survival (OS) by subtype. Stratifying on subtype, Cox regressions assessed OS by lymph node sampling status and nodal metastasis. Results: There were 103 (7.9%) patients with CCS, 221 (17.0%) with epithelioid sarcoma, and 979 (75.1%) with synovial sarcoma. Lymph node sampling was more frequent in patients with CCS (56.3%) and epithelioid sarcoma (52.5%) versus synovial sarcoma (20.5%, p<0.001). Synovial sarcoma metastasized to lymph nodes less frequently than CCS or epithelioid sarcoma (2.2% vs. 14.6% and 15.0%, p<0.001). Across all subtypes, lymph node metastasis was associated with inferior OS (HR 2.10, CI 1.44-3.07, p<0.001). Lymph node sampling was associated with improved OS in CCS (HR 0.35, CI 0.15-0.78, p=0.010), inferior OS in synovial sarcoma (HR 1.60, CI 1.13- 2.25, p=0.007), and no statistical association with OS in epithelioid sarcoma. Conclusions: Lymph node metastasis is rare in children with synovial sarcoma. Lymph node sampling procedures were not consistently performed for patients with CCS or epithelioid sarcoma, but improved OS supports routine lymph node sampling in children with CCS.

Lymph node harvest is an integral part of Wilms tumor surgery with both SIOP and COG protocols asking for more than 6 lymph nodes to best evaluate for nodal spread and a subsequent need for intensification of treatment. The majority of studies show that in both open and minimally invasive resections the median number of nodes removed is 4. Indocyanine green and near infrared fluorescence may be the key to solving this problem. In adult gynaecology, colorectal and breast cancers, ICG is used to identify sentinel nodes and facilitate nodal harvest. This report describes its use in Wilms tumor

Aim: To conduct the first systematic synthesis of existing evidence reviews on interventions to enhance medication safety in RACS, to establish and compare their effectiveness. Method: This umbrella review included examination of meta-analyses, scoping and systematic reviews. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and The Cochrane library database of Systematic Reviews) were explored for eligible reviews. Those meeting the inclusion criteria were critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Instrument for Systematic reviews and Research Syntheses by two authors. Results: Fourteen reviews covering 166 unique, primary studies were included. Interventions were grouped according to type: medication review (n= 12); staff education (n= 8); multidisciplinary team meetings (n= 6); computerised clinical decision support systems (n= 5); and transferring medicines information between health care settings (n= 1). Most reviews showed mixed evidence to support interventions’ effectiveness, due to the significant heterogeneity between original research studies in respect to sites, samples sizes and intervention periods. However, in all intervention categories, pharmacists’ collaboration with other health care professionals was most beneficial, showing definitive evidence for improving medication safety and quality of prescribing in RACS. The evidence suggests that combining two or more interventions is the most promising approach, despite this presenting implementation barriers in the resource-limited environments of many RACS, and methodological challenges in identifying the precise contribution of individual interventions, when implemented concurrently. Conclusion: Health stakeholders should explore a combination of at least two interventions, such as medication review and staff education, to improve medication safety in RACS.

Aim This Phase I open label study examined pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerability of escalating doses of a combination cannabinoid medication (1:1 ratio THC:CBD) in patients with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) on high dose opioid analgesia. Methods Nine people with CNCP and oral morphine equivalent daily dose of ≥60mg were recruited. Blood concentrations of THC, 11-hydroxytetrahydrocannabinol (OH-THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (COOH-THC) and CBD were assayed weekly. Concentrations were measured after a single dose of 2.5mg THC/2.5mg CBD up to 12.5mg THC/12.5mg CBD on Day 29. Follow-up was on Day 36 after 7 day washout. Secondary outcome data encompassed pain, mood, and sleep parameters. Results The parent THC, CBD, OH-THC, COOH-THC were detected at most time points. In general, the concentration of all analytes increased until 2 hours post-administration, decreasing to approximately pre-dose concentrations by 8 hrs. There was considerable inter- and intra-individual variability. The study medication was well tolerated. Eight participants reported at least one Adverse Event (AE), with a total of 62 AEs; most common were euphoric mood, headache, and agitation, none classified as severe. There was no significant change to pain severity self-ratings, nor use of pain medications. Improvements in pain interference scores, mood, and some sleep parameters were observed. Conclusion The THC:CBD formulation was tolerated well in a CNCP patient group. Between-participant variability supports personalized dosing and “start low-go slow” titration. Improvements in pain, mood, and sleep parameters suggest that on relatively low dosages clinical effects are apparent. To validate and quantify findings a comparison placebo group study is needed.

Discipleship and the Front Page: Public Theology in the Secular Age is an anthology of monographs offered to the general public as a contribution of distinctively Christian thinking about the personal and public implications for following Jesus Christ in “A Secular Age” (Charles Taylor, 2009). The monographs are written by subject matter experts—clergy, and laity; academics and practitioners; theologians representing a variety of traditions within the Church, as well as professionals from business, law, and medicine— with a common mission to leverage their expertise in the service of Christ and His Church. The work is a public theology initiative of the D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership, a ministry and program of Faith for Living, Inc., a North Carolina nonprofit corporation. The collection address four areas of public life: Ideas, Daily Life, the Nation, and Triggers. Each area constitutes a division of the collection. Each of the four divisions contains three issues. The twelve issues represent the twelve chapter chapters in the book.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the degree of hydronephrosis and the presence of microscopic hematuria in patients that presented to the emergency department (ED) with ureteral stones. Methods: The records of patients who presented to our ED due to urolithiasis between January 2017 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients aged 18 years or older who underwent non-contrast computed tomography (CT abdomen/pelvis) and urinalysis (UA) and were diagnosed with ureteral stones were included in the study. Radiology reports were reviewed for stone size, localization, and degree of hydronephrosis. Patients with and without microscopic hematuria and the degree of hydronephrosis were compared. Results: A total of 476 patients were included, which consisted of 391 with microscopic hematuria and 85 without microscopic hematuria. The median stone size was 4.1 mm in the presence of microscopic hematuria and 5.5 mm in the absence of microscopic hematuria. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with the development of hydronephrosis. Stone size [odds ratio (OR):2.15, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.12-4.16, p<0.001), presence of pyuria (OR: 2.58, 95%CI: 1.78-3.48, p<0.001), and absence of microscopic hematuria (OR: 1.31, 95%CI 1.04-2.89, p=0.017) were identified as risk factors for moderate and severe hydronephrosis. Conclusion: We consider that non-contrast CT imaging is necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of emergency cases in which microscopic hematuria is not detected in urinalysis since their stone size may be larger and degree of hydronephrosis may be more severe.

This letter provides a retrospective analysis of our team’s research performed under the DARPA Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) project. We began by exploring salience maps, English sentences, and lists of feature names for explaining the behavior of deep-learning-based discriminative systems, especially visual question answering systems. We demonstrated limited positive effects from statically presenting explanations along with system answers – for example when teaching people to identify bird species. Many XAI performers were getting better results when users interacted with explanations. This motivated us to evolve the notion of explanation as an interactive medium – usually, between humans and AI systems but sometimes within the software system. We realized that interacting via explanations could enable people to task and adapt ML agents. We added affordances for editing explanations and modified the ML system to act in accordance with the edits to produce an interpretable interface to the agent. Through this interface, editing an explanation can adapt a system’s performance to new, modified purposes. This deep tasking, wherein the agent knows its objective and the explanation for that objective will be critical to enable higher levels of autonomy.

An analytical expression for the second virial coefficient based on an exponent-spline-Morse-spline-van der Waals (ESMSV) potential is presented here for use in defining the thermodynamic properties of rare gases. Our method is established based on a series expansion of the exponential function, Meijer function, gamma function, binomial function, and hypergeometric function. Numerical approaches have commonly been used for the evaluation of the second virial coefficient with the ESMSV potential in the literature. The general formula obtained here can be applied to estimate the thermal properties of rare gases. Our results for the second virial coefficient based on the ESMSV potential of He-He, He-Ne, He-Ar, and He-Xe rare gases are compared with numerical calculations and experimental data, and it is shown that our analytical expression can be successfully used for other gases.

Objectives: To study the incidence of rhabdomyolysis (RML) after ascending aortic dissection surgery and to correlate with the outcome especially in terms of renal function. The secondary objective was to pinpoint the perioperative risk factors associated with the development of Rhabdomyolysis and adverse renal outcome after Aortic dissection repair Design: Retrospective single-center study Settings: Tertiary cardiac center Participants: Patients who had undergone ascending aortic dissection repair from 2011-2017. Interventions: Two groups Group 1- with RML creatine kinase (CK) above cut-off levels 2500 U/Liter and Group 2 without RML. The potential determinants of RML and the impact of the same on the patient outcome; especially on postoperative renal function was studied. Measurements and main results: Out of 33 patients studied, 21 patients (64%) developed Rhabdomyolysis (Group RML) and 12 did not (Group non-RML). Demographic and intraoperative factors had no significant impact on the incidence of RML. There was a significantly higher incidence of AKI in the RML group (90%) than in the non-RML group (25%). All 4 patients who went into new post-operative dialysis belonged to the RML group. The peak troponin levels were significantly higher in RML group Conclusion: In this study, we found a high incidence of RML after aortic dissection surgery which paralleled with an adverse renal outcome and need for postoperative dialysis. Identification of risk factors and early intervention might help to mitigate the severity of renal failure. Further large-scale prospective trials are warranted to investigate the predisposing factors and influence of RML on outcome

Background ‘Classical’ echocardiographic signs of Fabry cardiomyopathy (FC), such as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), posterolateral strain deficiency (PLSD) and papillary muscle hypertrophy may have a limited diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice. Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic value of left atrial (LA) strain impairment compared to ‘classical’ echocardiographic findings to discriminate FC. Methods In standard echocardiographic assessments, we retrospectively analyzed the diagnostic value of the “classical” red flags of FC as well as LA strain in 20 FC patients and in 20 subjects with other causes of LVH. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the respective diagnostic accuracy. Results FC was confirmed in 20 patients by genetic testing. In the LVH group, 12 patients were classified by biopsy to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, two had hypertensive heart disease, and six LVH combined with borderline myocarditis. Global and regional left ventricular (LV) strain was not significantly different between groups while LA strain was significantly impaired in FC (Left atrial reservoir strain (LASr) 19.1%±8.4 in FC and 25.6%±8.9 in LVH, p=0.009; left atrial conduction strain (LAScd) -8.4%±4.9 in FC and -15.9%±8.4 in LVH, p<0.01). LAScd, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.81 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66-0.96] showed the highest diagnostic accuracy to discriminate FC. The PLSD pattern showed an AUC of 0.49, quantification of papillary muscle hypertrophy an AUC of 0.47. Conclusion Adding LA strain analysis to a comprehensive echocardiographic work-up of unclear LVH may be helpful to identify FC as a possible cause.

Objective: We developed a research usefulness tool collating published criteria and examined if randomised controlled trials (RCTs) addressing preterm birth were useful. Search Strategy: Cochrane library. Selection Criteria: Published RCTs within 56 preterm birth Cochrane reviews. Data Collection and Analysis: A usefulness tool was developed with eight criteria combining 13 items identified through literature searches and consensus. RCTs were evaluated for compliance with each item by multiple assessors (reviewer agreement 95-98%). Proportions with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated and compared for change over time using ≧ 2010 as a cut-off, with relative risks (RR). Main Results: Among 350 selected RCTs, only 38 (11%, 95% CI 8-15%) met half of the usefulness criteria. Compared to trials before 2010, recent trials used composite or surrogate (less informative) outcomes more often (13% vs 25%, RR 1.87, 95% CI 1.19-2.93). Only 17 trials reflected real life (pragmatism) in design (5%, 95% CI 3-8%), with no improvements over time. No trials reported involvement of mothers to reflect patients’ top priorities in question definition or outcomes selection. Recent trials were more transparent with prospective registration (0.5% vs 28%, RR 58, 95% CI 8-420%), availability of protocol (0.5% vs 15%, RR 32, 95% CI 4-237%) and data sharing statements (2% vs 8%, RR 3, 95% CI 1-10%). Conclusion: Clinical trials in preterm birth lacked many usefulness features, with one tenth of trials meeting half of the items evaluated. Use of informative outcomes, patient centeredness, pragmatism and transparency should be key targets for future research planning.

Objectives: Systolic and diastolic dysfunctions are related to adverse clinical outcomes in patients with sinus rhythm. The aim of this study was to clarify the prognostic significance of systolic and diastolic dysfunctions in patients with chronic persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We evaluated data for 114 consecutive patients with chronic AF who underwent measurement of LVEDP at our hospital between 1 March 2011 and 31 December 2014. In total, 114 consecutive patients with chronic AF were divided into two groups according to the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): LVEF < 50 (reduced ejection fraction, REF group) and LVEF ≥50 (preserved EF, PEF group). The PEF group was further divided into two subgroups according to the left ventricular end-diastolic filling pressure (LVEDP): LVEDP >15 mmHg and LVEDP ≤ 15 mmHg. The 3-year clinical outcomes were compared between the PEF and REF groups and the LVEDP ≥15 mmHg and LVEDP <15 mmHg groups. Results: During the 3-year follow-up period, the rate of heart failure (HF) hospitalisation and incidence of AF with rapid ventricular rhythm (RVR) were higher in the REF group than in the PEF group. Multivariate analysis revealed that REF was the only significant predictor of HF hospitalisation (hazard ratio, 4.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.48–15.02; p=0.009). Conclusions: Our observations during a mid-term follow-up period revealed that systolic dysfunction could be an important predictor of HF hospitalisation in patients with AF. However, elevated LVEDP may not be associated with mid-term adverse clinical outcomes in patients without systolic dysfunction.

This research is about the transfer of heat of a generalized fractional Casson fluid on an unsteady boundary layer which is passing through an infinite oscillating plate, in vertical direction combined with the Newtonian heating. The results are obtained by using modified Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative. The present fluid model, starts with the governing equations which are then converted to a system of partial differential equations(linear) by using some suitable non-dimensional variables. Using the method of integral balance and the Laplace transform technique, an analytical solution is obtained. The velocity and temperature expressions are derived and the effects of modelling parameters re shown in tables and graphs to validate the obtained theoretical results.

Recent research has shown that plants can distinguish genetically-related individuals from strangers (kin recognition) and exhibit more cooperative behaviours towards these more related individuals (kin discrimination). The first evidence for this was found when Cakile edentula plants growing with half-sibs allocated relatively less biomass to roots than plants growing with unrelated individuals, indicating that kin recognition can reduce the intensity of competition (Dudley & File, 2007). Since then, kin discrimination has been shown to result in reduced competition for soil resources (Semchenko, Saar, & Lepik, 2014), light (Crepy & Casal, 2015) and pollinators (Torices, Gómez, & Pannell, 2018). On the other hand, allelopathy, plants producing chemical compounds that negatively affect performance of neighbour plants, has also been widely documented (Inderjit & Duke, 2003) and shown to profoundly affect local species coexistence and plant community structure (Meiners, Kong, Ladwig, Pisula, & Lang, 2012). In crops allelopathy can also be beneficial in suppressing weeds (Macías, Mejías, & Molinillo, 2019). In the current issue, Xu, Cheng, Kong, and Meiners (2021) published the first study to show that kin discrimination can also affect the balance between direct competition for resources and allelopathy, and this together may lead to improved weed suppression in rice.

Background and Purpose: Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) and acute lung injury (ALI) have high morbidity and mortality, with no effective clinically available drugs. Anti-inflammation is effective strategy in the therapy of AKI and ALI. NF-κB is a target for the development of anti‑inflammatory agents. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of 270, self-developed NF-κB inhibitor, in LPS-induced AKI and ALI. Experimental Approach: LPS-induced macrophages were used to examine the anti-inflammation activity of 270. Sepsis-induced AKI and ALI mice models were established by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (10 mg/kg) for 24 h. Oral administration 270 for 14 days before LPS stimulation. Plasma, kidney and lung tissues were collected and used for histopathology, biochemical assay, ELISA, RT-PCR, and western blot analyses. Key Results: In vitro, we showed that 270 suppressed the inflammation response in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages and bone marrow derived macrophages. In vivo, we found that 270 ameliorated LPS-induced AKI and ALI, as evidenced by improving various pathological changes, reducing the expression of pro-inflammation genes, blocking the activation of NF-κB and JNK pathways, attenuating the elevated myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, ameliorating the activated ER stress, reversing the inhibition effect on autophagy in kidney and lung tissues, and alleviating the enhanced plasma level of creatinine (Crea), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and pro-inflammation cytokines. Conclusions and Implications: Our investigations provides evidence that NF-κB inhibitor 270 is a potential drug against LPS-induced AKI and ALI in the future.