It is a challenge for shape grammars to incorporate spatial hierarchy and interior connectivity of buildings in early design stages. To resolve this difficulty, we developed a bi‐directional ...procedural model: the forward process constructs the derivation tree with production rules, while the backward process realizes the tree with shapes in a stepwise manner (from leaves to the root). Each inverse‐derivation step involves essential geometric‐topological reasoning. With this bi‐directional framework, design constraints and objectives are encoded in the grammar‐shape translation. We conducted two applications. The first employs geometric primitives as terminals and the other uses previous designs as terminals. Both approaches lead to consistent interior connectivity and a rich spatial hierarchy. The results imply that bespoke geometric‐topological processing helps shape grammar to create plausible, novel compositions. Our model is more productive than hand‐coded shape grammars, while it is less computation‐intensive than evolutionary treatment of shape grammars.
It is a challenge for shape grammars to incorporate spatial hierarchy and interior connectivity of buildings in early design stages. To resolve this difficulty, we developed a bi‐directional procedural model: the forward process constructs the derivation tree with production rules, while the backward process realizes the tree with shapes in a stepwise manner (from leaves to the root). Each inverse‐derivation step involves essential geometric‐topological reasoning. With this bi‐directional framework, design constraints and objectives are encoded in the grammar‐shape translation.
Background
Sarcopenia is an age-related disease, which is characterized by a decline in muscle mass and function. It is one of the most important health issues in the elderly and often leads to a ...high rate and variety of adverse outcomes.
Objectives
To evaluate the screening accuracy of SARC-F for sarcopenia in the elderly.
Design
We conducted a meta-analysis using articles available in 6 databases including PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL), China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), and Wanfang databases from inception to May 2020. Participants: Adults aged 60 years and older.
Measurements
Sarcopenia was defined by EWGSOP2, EWGSOP, AWGS, FNIH and IWGS. Two authors independently extracted data based on predefined criteria. Where data were available we calculated pooled summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and their 95% confidence interval (CI) based on different criteria using the hierarchical logistic regression modeling including bivariate modeling and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) modeling.
Results
We included 20 studies, with the prevalence of sarcopenia ranging from 6.42% to 21.56%. The number of the literatures using EWGSOP, EWGSOP2, AWGS, IWGS and FNIH as diagnostic criteria was 13, 4, 13, 8, 7, respectively. Bivariate analysis yielded a pooled sensitivity of 32% (95%CI: 19%–47%), 77% (95%CI: 49%–92%), 27% (95%CI: 16%–42%), 39% (95%CI: 27%–52%), 35% (95%CI: 23%–49%) and a pooled specificity of 86% (95%CI:77%–92%), 63% (95%CI: 43%–79%), 91% (95%CI: 85%–95%), 86% (95%CI: 76%–92%), 89% (95%CI: 81%–93%), respectively. The area under the HSROC curve were 0.68 (95%CI: 0.64–0.72), 0.75 (95%CI: 0.71–0.78), 0.73 (95%CI: 0.69–0.77), 0.67 (95%CI: 0.62–0.71), 0.70 (95%CI: 0.65–0.73), respectively.
Conclusions
The screening accuracy of SARC-F was various based on different diagnostic criteria. There were some limitations for SARC-F, however, considering the higher practicability and specificity for screening sarcopenia in practice, SARC-F was still an effective screening tool for sarcopenia in the elderly. And the screening accuracy of SARC-F needs further exploration when EWGSOP2 is applied as diagnostic criteria and geriatric inpatients are the target participants.
Coronaviruses infect animals and humans causing a wide range of diseases. The diversity of coronaviruses in many mammalian species is contributed by relatively high mutation and recombination rates ...during replication. This dynamic nature of coronaviruses may facilitate cross-species transmission and shifts in tissue or cell tropism in a host, resulting in substantial change in virulence. Feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) causes inapparent or mild enteritis in cats, but a highly fatal disease, called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), can arise through mutation of FECV to FIP virus (FIPV). The pathogenesis of FIP is intimately associated with immune responses and involves depletion of T cells, features shared by some other coronaviruses like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. The increasing risks of highly virulent coronavirus infections in humans or animals call for effective antiviral drugs, but no such measures are yet available. Previously, we have reported the inhibitors that target 3C-like protease (3CLpro) with broad-spectrum activity against important human and animal coronaviruses. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of our 3CLpro inhibitor in laboratory cats with FIP. Experimental FIP is 100% fatal once certain clinical and laboratory signs become apparent. We found that antiviral treatment led to full recovery of cats when treatment was started at a stage of disease that would be otherwise fatal if left untreated. Antiviral treatment was associated with a rapid improvement in fever, ascites, lymphopenia and gross signs of illness and cats returned to normal health within 20 days or less of treatment. Significant reduction in viral titers was also observed in cats. These results indicate that continuous virus replication is required for progression of immune-mediated inflammatory disease of FIP. These findings may provide important insights into devising therapeutic strategies and selection of antiviral compounds for further development for important coronaviruses in animals and humans.
To report the 5-year risk and to identify risk factors for the development of a seminal acute or progressive clinical event in a multi-national cohort of asymptomatic subjects meeting 2009 RIS ...Criteria.
Retrospectively identified RIS subjects from 22 databases within 5 countries were evaluated. Time to the first clinical event related to demyelination (acute or 12-month progression of neurological deficits) was compared across different groups by univariate and multivariate analyses utilizing a Cox regression model.
Data were available in 451 RIS subjects (F: 354 (78.5%)). The mean age at from the time of the first brain MRI revealing anomalies suggestive of MS was 37.2 years (y) (median: 37.1 y, range: 11-74 y) with mean clinical follow-up time of 4.4 y (median: 2.8 y, range: 0.01-21.1 y). Clinical events were identified in 34% (standard error=3%) of individuals within a 5-year period from the first brain MRI study. Of those who developed symptoms, 9.6% fulfilled criteria for primary progressive MS. In the multivariate model, age hazard ratio (HR): 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-0.99); p=0.03, sex (male) HR: 1.93 (1.24-2.99); p=0.004, and lesions within the cervical or thoracic spinal cord HR: 3.08 (2.06-4.62); p=<0.001 were identified as significant predictors for the development of a first clinical event.
These data provide supportive evidence that a meaningful number of RIS subjects evolve to a first clinical symptom. An age <37 y, male sex, and spinal cord involvement appear to be the most important independent predictors of symptom onset.
Proteomics, the temporal study of proteins expressed by an organism, is a powerful technique that can reveal how organisms respond to biological perturbations, such as disease and environmental ...stress. Yet, the use of proteomics for addressing ecological questions has been limited, partly due to inadequate protocols for the sampling and preparation of animal tissues from the field. Although RNAlater is an ideal alternative to freezing for tissue preservation in transcriptomics studies, its suitability for the field could be more broadly examined. Moreover, existing protocols require samples to be preserved immediately to maintain protein integrity, yet the effects of delays in preservation on proteomic analyses have not been thoroughly tested. Hence, we optimised a proteomic workflow for wild-caught samples. First, we conducted a preliminary in-lab test using SDS-PAGE analysis on aquaria-reared Octopus berrima confirming that RNAlater can effectively preserve proteins up to 6 h after incubation, supporting its use in the field. Subsequently, we collected arm tips from wild-caught Octopus berrima and preserved them in homemade RNAlater immediately, 3 h, and 6 h after euthanasia. Processed tissue samples were analysed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to ascertain protein differences between time delay in tissue preservation, as well as the influence of sex, tissue type, and tissue homogenisation methods. Over 3500 proteins were identified from all tissues, with bioinformatic analysis revealing protein abundances were largely consistent regardless of sample treatment. However, nearly 10% additional proteins were detected from tissues homogenised with metal beads compared to liquid nitrogen methods, indicating the beads were more efficient at extracting proteins. Our optimised workflow demonstrates that sampling non-model organisms from remote field sites is achievable and can facilitate extensive proteomic coverage without compromising protein integrity.
The objective of the study was to improve the understanding of antibiotic resistance (AR) ecology through characterization of antibiotic-resistant commensal isolates associated with an aquaculture ...production system. A total of 4767 isolates non-susceptible to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (Sul/Tri), tetracycline (Tet), erythromycin (Erm), or cefotaxime (Ctx), originated from fish, feed, and environmental samples of an aquaculture farm with no known history of antibiotic applications were examined. Close to 80% of the isolates exhibited multi-drug resistance in media containing the corresponding antibiotics, and representative AR genes were detected in various isolates by PCR, with feed isolates had the highest positive rate detected. Identified AR gene carriers involved 18 bacterial genera. Selected AR genes led to acquired resistance in other bacteria by transformation. The AR traits in many isolates were stable in the absence of selective pressure. AR-rich feed and possibly environmental factors may contribute to AR in the aquaculture ecosystem. For minimum inhibitory concentration test, brain heart infusion medium was found more suitable for majority of the bacteria examined than cation-adjusted Mueller Hinton broth, with latter being the recommended medium for clinical isolates by standard protocol. The data indicated a need to update the methodology due to genetic diversity of microbiota for better understanding of the AR ecology.
Microbiota transplant is becoming a popular process to restore or initiate “healthy” gut microbiota and immunity. But, the potential risks of the related practices need to be carefully evaluated. ...This study retrospectively examined the resistomes of donated fecal microbiota for treating intestinal disorders, vaginal microbiota of pregnant women, and infant fecal microbiota from rural and urban communities, as well as the impact of transplants on the fecal resistome of human and animal recipients. Antibiotic resistance (AR) genes were found to be abundant in all donor microbiota. An overall surge of resistomes with higher prevalence and abundance of AR genes was observed in the feces of all transplanted gnotobiotic pigs as well as in the feces of infant subjects, compared to those in donor fecal and maternal vaginal microbiota. Surprisingly, transplants using rural Amish microbiota led to more instead of less AR genes in the fecal microbiota of gnotobiotic pigs than did transplants using urban microbiota. New AR gene subtypes undetected originally also appeared in gnotobiotic pigs, in Crohn’s Disease (CD) patients after transplant, and in feces of infant subjects. The data illustrated the key role of the host gastrointestinal tract system in amplifying the ever-increasing AR gene pool, even without antibiotic exposure. The data further suggest that the current approaches of microbiota transplant can introduce significant health risk factor(s) to the recipients, and newborn human and animal hosts with naïve gut microbiota were especially susceptible. Given the illustrated public health risks of microbiota transplant, minimizing massive and unnecessary damages to gut microbiota by oral antibiotics and other gut impacting drugs becomes important. Since eliminating risk factors including AR bacteria and opportunistic pathogens directly from donor microbiota is still difficult to achieve, developing microbial cocktails with defined organisms and functions has further become an urgent need, should microbiota transplantation become necessary.
Global warming is one of the most significant and widespread effects of climate change. While early life stages are particularly vulnerable to increasing temperatures, little is known about the ...molecular processes that underpin their capacity to adapt to temperature change during early development. Using a quantitative proteomics approach, we investigated the effects of thermal stress on octopus embryos. We exposed Octopus berrima embryos to different temperature treatments (control 19°C, current summer temperature 22°C, or future projected summer temperature 25°C) until hatching. By comparing their protein expression levels, we found that future projected temperatures significantly reduced levels of key eye proteins such as S‐crystallin and retinol dehydrogenase 12, suggesting the embryonic octopuses had impaired vision at elevated temperature. We also found that this was coupled with a cellular stress response that included a significant elevation of proteins involved in molecular chaperoning and redox regulation. Energy resources were also redirected away from non‐essential processes such as growth and digestion. These findings, taken together with the high embryonic mortality observed under the highest temperature, identify critical physiological functions of embryonic octopuses that may be impaired under future warming conditions. Our findings demonstrate the severity of the thermal impacts on the early life stages of octopuses as demonstrated by quantitative proteome changes that affect vision, protein chaperoning, redox regulation and energy metabolism as critical physiological functions that underlie the responses to thermal stress.
The early life stages of species are especially sensitive to environmental stressors including the current human‐driven rise in global temperatures. As proteins play crucial roles in regulating normal physiological functions, analysing changes in protein abundance in response to thermal stress can offer valuable insights into a species' ability to adapt or succumb to these environmental challenges. Using a proteomic approach, we show how temperature increase impacts key eye proteins in octopus embryos, as well as other biochemical processes underpinning survival, demonstrating the potential vulnerability of octopuses to future ocean conditions.
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