Habitat Differentiation of Iris Fulva Ker Gawler, Iris Hexagona Walter, and Their Hybrids.

Iris fulva and Iris hexagona have overlapping geographic ranges in Louisiana; in areas of overlap hybrids are fairly common. Iris hexagona occupies the borders of freshwater marshes of southern Louisiana while I. fulva can be found farther north along edges of natural levees, canals and swamps. An area of hybridization (hybrid zone) can be found where bayous penetrate the freshwater marsh. The objective of this research was to investigate some of the factors affecting habitat differentiation of I. fulva, I. hexagona, and their natural hybrids ( Hybrid Purple and Hybrid Red ). A three year field study was conducted to determine the survival, growth, and reproductive characteristics of these taxa. Additionally, three greenhouse experiments were undertaken to examine shade tolerance, competitive ability, and salt tolerance. Results from field data found that hybrids had the highest survival rate while I. fulva had the lowest. Iris hexagona generally had the highest clonal growth rate. Hybrids were generally intermediate morphologically. Iris fulva and I. hexagona were not significantly different in terms of reproductive fitness and both had greater reproductive capacity than the hybrids. The shade tolerance experiment revealed I. fulva to be more tolerant of shading than I. hexagona and the two hybrids. Iris hexagona was greatly affected by all levels of shade. The competition experiment demonstrated that I. fulva was a weaker competitor than either I. hexagona or a natural hybrid. Iris hexagona and the hybrid were equally competitive. Results from the salt tolerance experiment indicated that I. fulva and Hybrid Red were less salt tolerant than I. hexagona and Hybrid Purple. In sum, results indicate that the taxa are segregated across a complex environmental gradient. It is hypothesized that I. fulva with its greater shade tolerance, weaker competitive ability, lesser salt tolerance, and reduced clonal growth is displaced from the marsh by I. hexagona and confined to the bayous and canals. Iris hexagona with its greater clonal growth, competitive ability, and salt tolerance but lesser shade tolerance appears to be best adapted to represent an ecotone between parental habitats where there may be a selective advantage for the intermediate taxon, the hybrid

Comparison of Environmental Assessments of Two Proposed Harbor Expansions on the Mississippi River

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires federally funded projects to be evaluated for environmental impact to determine if a complete environmental impact statement must be prepared. Such an environmental assessment must also be included in any feasibility study for harbor enlargement and bank stabilization measures under the Water Resources Development Act. Population increases, coupled with economic growth from increased agricultural and industrial productivity, have resulted in increased Mississippi River barge transportation needs for Arkansas and Missouri. We report here two such environmental assessments of planned harbor expansions of the New Madrid County and Pemiscot County ports in the Missouri bootheel along the Mississippi River. We evaluated the environmental settings, presence of wetlands, and the presence of hazardous, toxic or radioactive wastes (HTRW) at the two sites. The results of these evaluations were used to determine the possible significant resources and impacts (including endangered species) associated with harbor expansion at the two sites. No significant HTRW were present or likely to be encountered during construction at either site. However, differences in 1) the environmental settings (open high banks vs. bottomland forest), 2) significant resources (historical accounts of least tern colonies at one site), and 3) presence of wetland habitat at one site may preclude or reduce the level of one or both harbor expansions. Careful consideration of possible environmental impacts may help guide the choice of sites for similar harbor expansions in Arkansas

Exploring the Experiences of the Consent Process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Having Cardiac Surgery and Participating in Medical Research: A Study Protocol

Background: Gaining informed consent is a critical step before any medical procedure, and before taking part in medical research. Cultural differences in concepts of health and healing, communication, language, and racism, can play a part in forming barriers to gaining informed consent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, a lack of informed consent can worsen distrust and contribute to continuing health disparities. This protocol describes a study aimed at providing a better understanding of informed consent experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people undergoing heart surgery and participating in research. This will be complemented by comparing those experiences to the ones of the clinicians and researchers who obtain informed consent from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Methods: The study will be conducted at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia and Townsville University Hospital in Queensland. Participants will include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients undergoing cardiac surgery, clinicians of the cardiothoracic surgery team and medical researchers at both hospitals. Yarning will be used as an Indigenous research method to collect meaningful data from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people undergoing cardiac surgery whilst semi-structured interviews will be conducted to explore Clinician’s and researchers’ experiences. Data from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participant will be analysed following a cyclical approach to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices are not lost during data interpretation. Inductive thematic analysis of data will be conducted to yield practical recommendations. Conclusions: We present the protocol of a study that will inform the development of strategies to ensure that informed consent processes are culturally appropriate and guarantee Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s right to self-determination. This will contribute to the provision of culturally safe healthcare services and promote the conduct of medical research that is ethical, safe and benefits Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 environmental contamination in hospital rooms is uncommon using viral culture techniques

We assessed environmental contamination of inpatient rooms housing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in a dedicated COVID-19 unit. Contamination with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was found on 5.5% (19/347) of surfaces via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and 0.3% (1/347) of surfaces via cell culture. Environmental contamination is uncommon in hospitals rooms; RNA presence is not a specific indicator of infectious virus

SARS-CoV-2 Environmental contamination in hospital rooms is uncommon using viral culture techniques

We assessed environmental contamination of inpatient rooms housing COVID-19 patients in a dedicated COVID-19 unit. Contamination with SARS-CoV-2 was found on 5.5% (19/347) of surfaces via RT-PCR and 0.3% (1/347) of surfaces via cell culture. Environmental contamination is uncommon in hospitals rooms; RNA presence is not a specific indicator of infectious virus

NEXMIF encephalopathy:an X-linked disorder with male and female phenotypic patterns

Purpose Pathogenic variants in the X-linked gene NEXMIF (previously KIAA2022) are associated with intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorder, and epilepsy. We aimed to delineate the female and male phenotypic spectrum of NEXMIF encephalopathy. Methods Through an international collaboration, we analyzed the phenotypes and genotypes of 87 patients with NEXMIF encephalopathy. Results Sixty-three females and 24 males (46 new patients) with NEXMIF encephalopathy were studied, with 30 novel variants. Phenotypic features included developmental delay/ID in 86/87 (99%), seizures in 71/86 (83%) and multiple comorbidities. Generalized seizures predominated including myoclonic seizures and absence seizures (both 46/70, 66%), absence with eyelid myoclonia (17/70, 24%), and atonic seizures (30/70, 43%). Males had more severe developmental impairment; females had epilepsy more frequently, and varied from unaffected to severely affected. All NEXMIF pathogenic variants led to a premature stop codon or were deleterious structural variants. Most arose de novo, although X-linked segregation occurred for both sexes. Somatic mosaicism occurred in two males and a family with suspected parental mosaicism. Conclusion NEXMIF encephalopathy is an X-linked, generalized developmental and epileptic encephalopathy characterized by myoclonic-atonic epilepsy overlapping with eyelid myoclonia with absence. Some patients have developmental encephalopathy without epilepsy. Males have more severe developmental impairment. NEXMIF encephalopathy arises due to loss-of-function variants

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

GWAS meta-analysis of over 29,000 people with epilepsy identifies 26 risk loci and subtype-specific genetic architecture

Epilepsy is a highly heritable disorder affecting over 50 million people worldwide, of which about one-third are resistant to current treatments. Here we report a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study including 29,944 cases, stratified into three broad categories and seven subtypes of epilepsy, and 52,538 controls. We identify 26 genome-wide significant loci, 19 of which are specific to genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). We implicate 29 likely causal genes underlying these 26 loci. SNP-based heritability analyses show that common variants explain between 39.6% and 90% of genetic risk for GGE and its subtypes. Subtype analysis revealed markedly different genetic architectures between focal and generalized epilepsies. Gene-set analyses of GGE signals implicate synaptic processes in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the brain. Prioritized candidate genes overlap with monogenic epilepsy genes and with targets of current antiseizure medications. Finally, we leverage our results to identify alternate drugs with predicted efficacy if repurposed for epilepsy treatment