This study examines the extent to which interactions among two common alpine/subalpine plant species and their neighbours at the Bogong High Plains in southern Australia are characterized by ...competition or facilitation. The two target species were Celmisia pugioniformis (Asteraceae) and Carex breviculmis (Cyperaceae). Biotic interactions were examined using vegetation removal manipulations over three growing seasons at five sites across the altitudinal range of tall alpine herbfield communities. Observations recorded growth and mortality. Results for C. pugioniformis clearly indicated facilitation as a dominant process across all sites and seasons. Plants that had their neighbours removed tended to perform worse than plants that had their neighbours left intact. Growth observations for Ca. breviculmis were less clear, but again suggested facilitation. Mortality was distinctly higher among Ca. breviculmis individuals that had their neighbours removed relative to those with neighbours left intact. Results collectively suggest the removal of neighbours acts to reduce growth and increase mortality in C. pugioniformis and Ca. breviculmis throughout the altitudinal range of tall alpine herbfields at the Bogong High Plains. Facilitative and competitive interactions need to be recognized in efforts aimed at mitigating climate change‐associated impacts on the ecology of alpine plant communities. The extent to which biotic interactions may exacerbate or buffer abiotic change is difficult to predict, emphasizing the need for ecological monitoring.
The identification and prioritization of natural values and the potential threats to them is an essential part of the management of parks and reserves by Parks Victoria, which regularly explores ...alternative ways to undertake and improve the efficiency of this process. Here we describe an application of ecological risk assessment techniques for identifying and analysing risks to natural values in the mallee national parks of north-western Victoria. Utilizing a workshop setting and multiple assessors, hazards were identified with the aid of a hazard matrix. A modification of the risk analysis protocol from the Australian Standard for Risk Management, AS/NZS 4360, was used to facilitate assessment by multiple participants and to capture the full range of their judgements so as to best characterise threats to natural values. An iterative process provided opportunity to resolve uncertainty due to linguistic ambiguity and vagueness, and genuine differences of opinion that remained were explicitly represented in the final ranking of the hazards. A fault tree was then used to explore the ecological complexities behind one particular issue of concern in the mallee parks.
The identification and prioritization of natural values and the potential threats to them is an essential part of the management of parks and reserves by Parks Victoria, which regularly explores ...alternative ways to undertake and improve the efficiency of this process. Here we describe an application of ecological risk assessment techniques for identifying and analysing risks to natural values in the mallee national parks of north-western Victoria. Utilizing a workshop setting and multiple assessors, hazards were identified with the aid of a hazard matrix. A modification of the risk analysis protocol from the Australian Standard for Risk Management, AS/NZS 4360, was used to facilitate assessment by multiple participants and to capture the full range of their judgements so as to best characterise threats to natural values.
Literature on vaccine effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for children younger than 5 years is limited.
To report the effectiveness of monovalent mRNA vaccines against ...SARS-CoV-2 infection among Singaporean children aged 1 through 4 years during a COVID-19 pandemic wave of the Omicron XBB variant.
This was a population-based cohort study, conducted over a 6-month study period from October 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, after the implementation of community vaccination among all Singaporean children aged 1 through 4 years. The study period was dominated by the Omicron XBB subvariant.
Receipt of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.
Vaccine effectiveness against confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The adjusted incidence rate ratio for confirmed infections using Poisson regression was reported, with the reference group being those who were unvaccinated. Analyses were stratified by prior documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A total of 121 628 children (median IQR age, 3.1 2.2-3.9 years; 61 925 male 50.9%) were included in the study, contributing 21 015 956 person-days of observation. The majority of children (11 294 of 11 705 96.5%) received the mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna). Vaccine effectiveness against confirmed infection was 45.2% (95% CI, 24.7%-60.2%) in partially vaccinated, infection-naive children and 63.3% (95% CI, 40.6%-77.3%) in fully vaccinated, infection-naive children compared with the unvaccinated group. Among previously infected children, vaccine effectiveness against reinfections in those with at least 1 vaccine dose was estimated at 74.6% (95% CI, 38.7%-89.5%).
Study results suggest that completion of a primary mRNA vaccine series provided protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in children aged 1 through 4 years. Although incidence of hospitalization and severe illness is low in this age group, there is potential benefit of vaccination in preventing infection and potential sequelae.
The incidence and associated mortality of major intraoperative rupture (MIOR) in intracranial aneurysm surgery is diverse. One possible reason is that many studies failed to consider and properly ...adjust the factor of surgical experience in the context. We conducted this study to clarify the role of surgical experience on MIOR and associated outcome. 538 consecutive intracranial aneurysm surgeries performed on 501 patients were enrolled in this study. Various potential predictors of MIOR were evaluated with stratified analysis and multivariate logistic regression. The impact of surgical experience and MIOR on outcome was further studied in a logistic regression model with adjustment of each other. The outcome was evaluated using the Glasgow Outcome Scale one year after the surgery. Surgical experience and preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) were identified as independent predictors of MIOR. Experienced neurovascular surgeons encountered fewer cases of MIOR compared to novice neurosurgeons (MIOR, 18/225, 8.0% vs. 50/313, 16.0%, P = 0.009). Inexperience and MIOR were both associated with a worse outcome. Compared to experienced neurovascular surgeons, inexperienced neurosurgeons had a 1.90-fold risk of poor outcome. On the other hand, MIOR resulted in a 3.21-fold risk of unfavorable outcome compared to those without it. Those MIOR cases managed by experienced neurovascular surgeons had a better prognosis compared with those managed by inexperienced neurosurgeons (poor outcome, 4/18, 22% vs. 30/50, 60%, P = 0.013).
Extrapulmonary complications of different organ systems have been increasingly recognized in patients with severe or chronic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, limited information on the ...skeletal complications of COVID-19 is known, even though inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract have been known to perturb bone metabolism and cause pathological bone loss. In this study, we characterize the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on bone metabolism in an established golden Syrian hamster model for COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 causes significant multifocal loss of bone trabeculae in the long bones and lumbar vertebrae of all infected hamsters. Moreover, we show that the bone loss is associated with SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine dysregulation, as the circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines not only upregulate osteoclastic differentiation in bone tissues, but also trigger an amplified pro-inflammatory cascade in the skeletal tissues to augment their pro-osteoclastogenesis effect. Our findings suggest that pathological bone loss may be a neglected complication which warrants more extensive investigations during the long-term follow-up of COVID-19 patients. The benefits of potential prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against pathological bone loss should be further evaluated.
Target-activated chemical probes are important tools in basic biological research and medical diagnosis for monitoring enzyme activities and reactive small molecules. Based on the fluorescence ...turn-on mechanism, they can be divided into two classes: dye-based fluorescent probes and caged-luciferin. In this paper, we introduce a new type of chemical probe in which the fluorescence turn-on is based on controlled streptavidin-biotin binding. Compared to conventional probes, the streptavidin-biotin controlled binding probe has several advantages, such as minimal background at its "OFF" state, multiple signal amplification steps, and unlimited selection of the optimal dyes for detection. To expand the scope, a new synthetic method was developed, through which a wider range of analyte recognition groups can be easily introduced to construct the binding probe. This probe design was successfully applied to image and study secreted peroxynitrite (ONOO
) at the cell surface of macrophages where information on ONOO
is difficult to obtain. As the signals are generated upon the binding of streptavidin to the biotin probe, this highly versatile design can not only be used in fluorescence detection but can also be applied in various other detection modes, such as electrochemical and enzyme-amplified luminescence detection.
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