A Tale of Two Sylamores: Understanding Relationships Among Land Use, Nutrients, and Aquatic Communities Across a Subsidy-Stress Gradient

Agricultural land use is known to degrade aquatic systems with high inputs of nutrients, sediments, and pesticides. Increased nutrients can lead to increased algal growth and thus possible hypoxic conditions in slow moving water, while increased sediment loads have been shown to obstruct light and reduce substrate stability. These conditions negatively impact primary producers, macroinvertebrates, and fish. However, small-scale changes in land use can subsidize an aquatic ecosystem instead, where an increase in nutrients allows nutrient-limited biota to flourish, and minor increases in sedimentation may help support populations of collector-filterers. The stimulation in performance caused by small disturbances is part of the subsidy-stress gradient, where increasing perturbation subsidizes an ecosystem until a certain threshold is reached, at which a decline in performance and increased variability starts to occur. The North and South Sylamore watersheds in north Arkansas provide a useful template to investigate the subsidy-stress gradient in relation to land use. North Sylamore flows through the Ozark National Forest and has a heavily forested catchment, while South Sylamore flows through mostly private land, some of which is pasture (23%). Physicochemical, macroinvertebrate, and fish data were collected from multiple sites within each watershed to determine if South Sylamore is exhibiting a response to pasture/agriculture characteristic of a subsidy-stress gradient. Sites within South Sylamore had significantly higher nitrate levels, larger macroinvertebrate populations dominated by collector-filterers, and greater abundance of algivorous fish, suggesting South Sylamore may be subsidized by the surrounding pastoral lands. However, South Sylamore also had a significantly lower proportional abundance of sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa and more unique tolerant fish taxa, suggesting South Sylamore is experiencing stress as well. Habitat quality of South Sylamore could be improved by restoration of trees within the riparian zone. Monitoring aquatic systems for subsidy-stress responses can inform restoration/management decisions and guide intervention prior to watersheds and aquatic communities becoming overly stressed

Functional immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern after fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose or infection in patients with blood cancer

Summary Patients with blood cancer continue to have a greater risk of inadequate immune responses following three COVID-19 vaccine doses and risk of severe COVID-19 disease. In the context of the CAPTURE study (NCT03226886) we report immune responses in 80 patients with blood cancer who received a fourth dose of BNT162b2. We measured neutralising antibody titres (NAbT) using a live virus microneutralization assay against wild-type (WT), Delta, Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 and T cell responses against WT and Omicron BA.1 using an activation-induced marker (AIM) assay. The proportion of patients with detectable NAb titres and T cell responses after the fourth vaccine dose increases compared to those after the third vaccine dose. Patients who received B cell-depleting therapies within 12 months before vaccination have the greatest risk of not having detectable NAbT. In addition, we report immune responses in 57 patients with breakthrough infections after vaccination

Functional antibody and T-cell immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection, including by variants of concern, in patients with cancer: the CAPTURE study

Patients with cancer have higher COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Here we present the prospective CAPTURE study (NCT03226886) integrating longitudinal immune profiling with clinical annotation. Of 357 patients with cancer, 118 were SARS-CoV-2-positive, 94 were symptomatic and 2 patients died of COVID-19. In this cohort, 83% patients had S1-reactive antibodies, 82% had neutralizing antibodies against WT, whereas neutralizing antibody titers (NAbT) against the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants were substantially reduced. Whereas S1-reactive antibody levels decreased in 13% of patients, NAbT remained stable up to 329 days. Patients also had detectable SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells and CD4+ responses correlating with S1-reactive antibody levels, although patients with hematological malignancies had impaired immune responses that were disease and treatment-specific, but presented compensatory cellular responses, further supported by clinical. Overall, these findings advance the understanding of the nature and duration of immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with cancer

Assessment Of Water Quality On Oconee River And Fishing Creek Using Microalgae And Chemical Pollutants

All organisms require access to clean water. There has been a significant effort globally to assess quantities of nutrients, metals, pesticides, etc., which have been documented to increase due to human activities. Heavy metals are threatening to the biota in aquatic environments due to their bioaccumulation within trophic systems and long persistence in nature. Algal composition and abundance are useful water quality tools. Oconee River and its tributary, Fishing Creek, are aquatic environments used for recreation, and public water usage. Water quality was studied based on the correlation of the observed availability of heavy metal pollutants and the abundance of algal groups. Five sites along a three mile stretch of the Oconee River were analyzed above and below the inflow of Fishing creek and the creek itself. Nutrients, metals, and algal biomass were evaluated following standard protocol. Significantly higher conductivity (

Innovation Trends in I4.0 enabled by 5G and Beyond Networks

<p>The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept revolutionizes how processes like quality, productivity, customization, and safety are managed in manufacturing. It has developed alongside 5G technology, and the two influence each other significantly. 5G supports the communication needs of I4.0, while I4.0 is a major sector for 5G growth. This whitepaper offers a comprehensive view of I4.0 design principles, driven by collaboration between I4.0 leaders and contributors to 5G development. It also assesses the applicability of 5G for short and mid-term I4.0 challenges based on input from stakeholders. The report touches on evolving 5G technologies, like Deterministic Networking and Digital Twining, and explores the future of ecosystem dynamics, regulation, and sustainability. Ultimately, it provides valuable insights into the synergy between I4.0 and 5G, drawing from leading 5G-PPP Phase III projects.</p&gt

Neutralising antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination in UK haemodialysis patients.

No abstract available