ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The Steppengrille (Gryllus spec./assimilis): selective filters and signal mismatch on two time scales.

In Europe, several species of crickets are available commercially as pet food. Here we investigated the calling song and phonotactic selectivity for sound patterns on the short and long time scales for one such a cricket, Gryllus spec., available as "Gryllus assimilis", the Steppengrille, originally from Ecuador. The calling song consisted of short chirps (2-3 pulses, carrier frequency: 5.0 kHz) emitted with a pulse period of 30.2 ms and chirp rate of 0.43 per second. Females exhibited high selectivity on both time scales. The preference for pulse period peaked at 33 ms which was higher then the pulse period produced by males. Two consecutive pulses per chirp at the correct pulse period were already sufficient for positive phonotaxis. The preference for the chirp pattern was limited by selectivity for small chirp duty cycles and for chirp periods between 200 ms and 500 ms. The long chirp period of the songs of males was unattractive to females. On both time scales a mismatch between the song signal of the males and the preference of females was observed. The variability of song parameters as quantified by the coefficient of variation was below 50% for all temporal measures. Hence, there was not a strong indication for directional selection on song parameters by females which could account for the observed mismatch. The divergence of the chirp period and female preference may originate from a founder effect, when the Steppengrille was cultured. Alternatively the mismatch was a result of selection pressures exerted by commercial breeders on low singing activity, to satisfy customers with softly singing crickets. In the latter case the prominent divergence between male song and female preference was the result of domestication and may serve as an example of rapid evolution of song traits in acoustic communication systems

Data from: Phenotypic variation and covariation indicate high evolvability of acoustic communication in crickets

Studying the genetic architecture of sexual traits provides insight into the rate and direction at which traits can respond to selection. Traits associated with few loci and limited genetic and phenotypic constraints tend to evolve at high rates typically observed for secondary sexual characters. Here, we examined the genetic architecture of song traits and female song preferences in the field crickets Gryllus rubens and G. texensis. Song and preference data were collected from both species and interspecific F1 and F2 hybrids. We first analysed phenotypic variation to examine interspecific differentiation and trait distributions in parental and hybrid generations. Then, the relative contribution of additive and additive-dominance variation was estimated. Finally, phenotypic variance-covariance (P) matrices were estimated to evaluate the multivariate phenotype available for selection. Song traits and preferences had unimodal trait distributions and hybrid offspring were intermediate with respect to the parents. We uncovered additive and dominance variation in song traits and preferences. For two song traits we found evidence for X-linked inheritance. On one hand, the observed genetic architecture does not suggest rapid divergence, although sex-linkage may have allowed for somewhat higher evolutionary rates. On the other hand, P matrices revealed that multivariate variation in song traits aligned with major dimensions in song preferences, suggesting a strong selection response. We also found strong covariance between the main traits that are sexually selected and traits that are not directly selected by females, providing an explanation for the striking multivariate divergence in male calling songs despite limited divergence in female preferences

Noise characterization of a multi-channel receiver using a small antenna array with full diversity for robust satellite navigation

The employment of a DMN in small antenna arrays results in an increased antenna noise temperature due to increased ohmic losses. On the other hand, it minimizes the amplifier noise contribution considerably, thus reducing the equivalent system noise temperature. Therefore, the use of a DMN for small antenna arrays displaying full diversity is not only beneficial but necessary for optimizing receiver performance. The analysis sketched here will be extended to null-steering or interferer-cancellation scenarios

Morphological measures of the <i>Steppengrille (G. spec./assimilis)</i>.

<p>n = 20, data as mean and standard deviation.</p

Properties of the chirp filter of females of the <i>Steppengrille G. spec./assimilis</i> in comparison with song data.

<p><b>a</b> Phonotactic response of females to patterns with different chirp periods for sets of stimuli with different chirp durations (CDUR). <b>b</b> Phonotactic response of females to patterns with different duty cycles of the chirp pattern (chirp period was kept constant at 500 ms; the top axis refers to the number of pulses in a stimulus). <b>c</b> Response profile of females for patterns with different combinations of chirp duration and chirp pause on a double logarithmic scale (tested stimuli are indicated by open squares, all stimuli contained pulse periods of 33 ms). <b>d</b> Phonotactic response of females to patterns with different chirp durations, but constant chirp periods of 500 ms (open circles; pulse period was kept constant at 33 ms). Scores of relative phonotaxis in response to different chirp durations without modulation by pulses are shown by open squares. Histogram shows the distribution of chirp durations measured from individual male songs (c.f. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043975#pone-0043975-t002" target="_blank">table 2</a>). The response marked by an asterisk was significantly different from the silent (p<0,05), but not from the continuous tone control. Data is given as mean values and standard deviation. Gray stippled lines in panels <b>a, b, d</b> mark levels of significance, see methods.</p

Properties of the pulse filter of females of <i>Steppengrille G. spec./assimilis</i> in comparison with song data.

<p><b>a</b> Envelope of the song pattern of a male (inset: expanded chirp). <b>b</b> Transfer function of the phonotactic response for females to envelope patterns with different modulation frequencies. Presented stimuli consisted of continuous, sinusoidal modulations (open circles) or groups i.e. chirps of sinusoidal pulses (open squares, presented with a chirp duration of 100 ms and chirp period of 500 ms). Envelopes of all stimuli were filled with a carrier of 5.0 kHz. For comparison the pulse filter of the cricket, <i>G. bimaculatus</i>, is shown (gray line). <b>c</b> Selectivity of females for stimuli with rectangular (open squares) or sinusoidal pulses (open diamonds) presented in chirps as in <b>a</b> (pulse duty cycle of 0.5, chirp duration 100 ms, chirp period: 500 ms; for comparison the pulse filter of the cricket, <i>G. bimaculatus</i>, is also shown (gray line)). Histogram shows the distribution of pulse periods measured from individual male songs (c.f. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043975#pone-0043975-t002" target="_blank">table 2</a>). <b>d</b> Response profile of females for patterns with different combinations of pulse and pause durations (stimuli consisted of chirps of 100 ms duration presented at a chirp period of 500 ms). Open squares indicate test stimuli with rectangular pulses, open circles refer to stimuli with sinusoidal pulses. <b>e</b> Pulse and pause durations (mean and standard deviation) from song patterns of individual males plotted within the response profile shown in <b>d</b>. Response ranges from <b>d</b> are shown for values of relative phonotaxis at 0.25 (blue line) and 0.75 (red line). <b>f</b> Responses of females to pulse patterns with different duty cycles tested with stimuli that contained only 2 (open circles) or 3 pulses per chirp (open squares) presented at a constant pulse period of 33 ms. For comparison responses of <i>G. bimaculatus</i> are indicated (gray line). The distribution of duty cycles measured from individual song data are shown as black bars. <b>g</b> Responses of females to pulse patterns with only 2 (open circles) or 3 pulses per chirp (open squares) presented at different pulse periods. Chirp period was kept constant at 500 ms. Responses to patterns with a constant chirp duration are shown for comparison (black circles, from <b>c</b>). For a pulse period of 25 ms the number of pulses in a chirp (2p, 3p and 4p) are indicated. Data is given as mean values and standard deviation. Gray stippled lines in panels <b>b, c, f, g</b> mark levels of significance, see methods.</p

Spectral and temporal measures of the songs of the <i>Steppengrille (G. spec./assimilis)</i>, data from 34 males.

<p>Values were corrected to a temperature of 25°C.</p><p>Explanation of terms: pdur: pulse duration, ppau: pause duration, pper: pulse period, pDC: pulse duty cycle (pdur/pper), nr,P: number of pulses per chirp, Cdur: chirp duration, Cpau: chirp pause, Cper: chirp period, CDC: chirp duty cycle (Cdur/Cper). CV, inter: coefficient of variation between individuals (sd/mean), CV, intra: mean of coefficient of variation measured for individual males. On average 138 pulses (range: 15–483) and 58 chirps (range: 7–186) were analyzed per individual male song.</p