Migratory species depend on a suite of interconnected sites. Threats to unprotected links in these chains of sites are driving rapid population declines of migrants around the world, yet the extent ...to which different parts of the annual cycle are protected remains unknown. We show that just 9% of 1451 migratory birds are adequately covered by protected areas across all stages of their annual cycle, in comparison with 45% of nonmigratory birds. This discrepancy is driven by protected area placement that does not cover the full annual cycle of migratory species, indicating that global efforts toward coordinated conservation planning for migrants are yet to bear fruit. Better-targeted investment and enhanced coordination among countries are needed to conserve migratory species throughout their migratory cycle.
Purpose
Knowledge regarding patients’ clinical condition at severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection is sparse. Data in the international, multicenter Lean European Open ...Survey on SARS-CoV-2-Infected Patients (LEOSS) cohort study may enhance the understanding of COVID-19.
Methods
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, enrolled in the LEOSS cohort study between March 16, 2020, and May 14, 2020, were analyzed. Associations between baseline characteristics and clinical stages at diagnosis (uncomplicated vs. complicated) were assessed using logistic regression models.
Results
We included 2155 patients, 59.7% (1,287/2,155) were male; the most common age category was 66–85 years (39.6%; 500/2,155). The primary COVID-19 diagnosis was made in 35.0% (755/2,155) during complicated clinical stages. A significant univariate association between age; sex; body mass index; smoking; diabetes; cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and kidney diseases; ACE inhibitor therapy; statin intake and an increased risk for complicated clinical stages of COVID-19 at diagnosis was found. Multivariable analysis revealed that advanced age 46–65 years: adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.73, 95% CI 1.25–2.42,
p
= 0.001; 66–85 years: aOR 1.93, 95% CI 1.36–2.74,
p
< 0.001; > 85 years: aOR 2.38, 95% CI 1.49–3.81,
p
< 0.001 vs. individuals aged 26–45 years, male sex (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.01–1.50,
p
= 0.040), cardiovascular disease (aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.09–1.72,
p
= 0.007), and diabetes (aOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.04–1.69,
p
= 0.023) were associated with complicated stages of COVID-19 at diagnosis.
Conclusion
The LEOSS cohort identified age, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and male sex as risk factors for complicated disease stages at SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, thus confirming previous data. Further data regarding outcomes of the natural course of COVID-19 and the influence of treatment are required.
•Immunodeficient mice have a suppressed glial response after facial nerve axotomy.•Neuroprotective WT CD4+ T cells regulate the glial microenvironment.•Intrinsic motoneuron regeneration response is ...independent of immune status.•mSOD1 whole splenocytes induce cell death pathways after axotomy.•New role proposed for the immune system in neurodegenerative diseases.
When facial nerve axotomy (FNA) is performed on immunodeficient recombinase activating gene-2 knockout (RAG-2−/−) mice, there is greater facial motoneuron (FMN) death relative to wild type (WT) mice. Reconstituting RAG-2−/− mice with whole splenocytes rescues FMN survival after FNA, and CD4+ T cells specifically drive immune-mediated neuroprotection. Evidence suggests that immunodysregulation may contribute to motoneuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Immunoreconstitution of RAG-2−/− mice with lymphocytes from the mutant superoxide dismutase (mSOD1) mouse model of ALS revealed that the mSOD1 whole splenocyte environment suppresses mSOD1 CD4+ T cell-mediated neuroprotection after FNA. The objective of the current study was to characterize the effect of CD4+ T cells on the central molecular response to FNA and then identify if mSOD1 whole splenocytes blocked these regulatory pathways.
Gene expression profiles of the axotomized facial motor nucleus were assessed from RAG-2−/− mice immunoreconstituted with either CD4+ T cells or whole splenocytes from WT or mSOD1 donors. The findings indicate that immunodeficient mice have suppressed glial activation after axotomy, and cell transfer of WT CD4+ T cells rescues microenvironment responses. Additionally, mSOD1 whole splenocyte recipients exhibit an increased astrocyte activation response to FNA. In RAG-2−/− + mSOD1 whole splenocyte mice, an elevation of motoneuron-specific Fas cell death pathways is also observed. Altogether, these findings suggest that mSOD1 whole splenocytes do not suppress mSOD1 CD4+ T cell regulation of the microenvironment, and instead, mSOD1 whole splenocytes may promote motoneuron death by either promoting a neurotoxic astrocyte phenotype or inducing Fas-mediated cell death pathways. This study demonstrates that peripheral immune status significantly affects central responses to nerve injury. Future studies will elucidate the mechanisms by which mSOD1 whole splenocytes promote cell death and if inhibiting this mechanism can preserve motoneuron survival in injury and disease.
Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) is calculated to be the dominant neutrino scattering channel for neutrinos of energy Eν<100 MeV. We report a limit for this process from data ...collected in an engineering run of the 29 kg CENNS-10 liquid argon detector located 27.5 m from the pion decay-at-rest neutrino source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) with 4.2×1022 protons on target. The dataset provided constraints on beam-related backgrounds critical for future measurements and yielded <7.4 candidate CEvNS events which implies a cross section for the process, averaged over the SNS pion decay-at-rest flux, of <3.4×10−39 cm2, a limit within twice the Standard Model prediction. This is the first limit on CEvNS from an argon nucleus and confirms the earlier CsINa nonstandard neutrino interaction constraints from the collaboration. This run demonstrated the feasibility of the ongoing experimental effort to detect CEvNS with liquid argon.
We consider the potential for a 10 kg undoped cryogenic CsI detector operating at the Spallation Neutron Source to measure coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and its sensitivity to discover ...new physics beyond the standard model (BSM). Through a combination of increased event rate, lower threshold, and good timing resolution, such a detector would significantly improve on past measurements. We considered tests of several BSM scenarios such as neutrino nonstandard interactions and accelerator-produced dark matter. This detector’s performance was also studied for relevant questions in nuclear physics and neutrino astronomy, namely the weak charge distribution of Cs and I nuclei and detection of neutrinos from a core-collapse supernova.
Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Adaptive management has a long history in the natural resource management literature, but despite this, few practitioners have developed adaptive strategies to conserve threatened species. Active ...adaptive management provides a framework for valuing learning by measuring the degree to which it improves long-run management outcomes. The challenge of an active adaptive approach is to find the correct balance between gaining knowledge to improve management in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge. We develop and analyze a framework for active adaptive management of a threatened species. Our case study concerns a novel facial tumor disease affecting the Australian threatened species
Sarcophilus harrisii
: the Tasmanian devil. We use stochastic dynamic programming with Bayesian updating to identify the management strategy that maximizes the Tasmanian devil population growth rate, taking into account improvements to management through learning to better understand disease latency and the relative effectiveness of three competing management options. Exactly which management action we choose each year is driven by the credibility of competing hypotheses about disease latency and by the population growth rate predicted by each hypothesis under the competing management actions. We discover that the optimal combination of management actions depends on the number of sites available and the time remaining to implement management. Our approach to active adaptive management provides a framework to identify the optimal amount of effort to invest in learning to achieve long-run conservation objectives.
Somatic sensation is defined by the existence of a diversity of primary sensory neurons with unique biological features and response profiles to external and internal stimuli. However, there is no ...coherent picture about how this diversity of cell states is transcriptionally generated. Here, we use deep single cell analysis to resolve fate splits and molecular biasing processes during sensory neurogenesis in mice. Our results identify a complex series of successive and specific transcriptional changes in post-mitotic neurons that delineate hierarchical regulatory states leading to the generation of the main sensory neuron classes. In addition, our analysis identifies previously undetected early gene modules expressed long before fate determination although being clearly associated with defined sensory subtypes. Overall, the early diversity of sensory neurons is generated through successive bi-potential intermediates in which synchronization of relevant gene modules and concurrent repression of competing fate programs precede cell fate stabilization and final commitment.
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