Biotic communities of freshwater marshes and mangroves in relation to saltwater incursions: implications for wetland regulation

An ecosystem-level study was conducted in the Guandu wetlands in subtropical coastal Taiwan to examine how salinity influences the abundance, diversity, and structure of biotic communities. We surveyed eight permanent study sites, spanning freshwater marshes, to the gate on the dyke, and mesohaline mangroves representing a gradient of the extent of saltwater incursions. Analyses of abiotic variables showed that salinity was the primary determining factor for discriminating habitat types in the wetlands, but communities differed in their sensitivity to salinity. The composition of plant and insect communities was most affected by the salinity gradient, suggesting the utility of these communities for ecological monitoring of saltwater incursions. However, spatial changes in communities at higher trophic levels, including macrobenthos, mollusks, fish, and birds, could not be explained simply by the salinity gradient. Instead, changes in these communities were more relevant to the composition of other biotic communities. Our results show that species richness and diversity of plant communities were higher in the marshes than in the mangroves. Nevertheless, insect communities censused in the mangroves had higher diversity, despite lower abundance and species richness. Macrobenthos surveyed in the mangroves showed higher biomass and number of taxa. Mollusks and fish were also more abundant at sites near the gate compared to the marsh sites. This suggests that maintaining a tidal flux by means of gate regulation is necessary for conserving the spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity of coastal wetlands

results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey

Funding Information: MP, KK, and ES contributed equally and are co-first authors. JHS, JASp, and JFS contributed equally and are co-senior authors. The authors thank Berk Degirmenci, Christele Feliix, Shangyi Jin, Candace A Palmerlee, Andrea Peirce, Lisa G Rider, Esra Sari, Robert Tseng, and Leslie Wang for their invaluable contributions to the GRA Vax Survey. MP, KK, ES, SES, and JWL contributed to data collection, data quality control, and data analysis and interpretation. AAA, DA-R, SA, RPB, FB, IB, YPEC, RC, AD-G, ED, KLD, TAG, CLH, RH, BFH, EH, LK, AK, AHJK, DFLL, CL, EFM, BM, SM, MN, ADS, JASi, NS, MFU-G, JW, KJY, and EAZ-T, critically revised the manuscript and provided intellectual content. TTM, CH, MJL, ML, GF, and LT contributed to planning and data collection, reviewed the manuscript, and provided important intellectual content. SB, WC, RG, PMM, PCR, PS, ZSW, and JY contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data. JASp, JFS, and JSH directed the work, designed the data collection methods, and contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data. MP, KK, ES, SES, JWL, SB, WC, RG, PMM, PCR, PS, ZSW, JY, JASp, JFS, and JSH drafted and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and gave final approval of the version to be published. SES, JWL, KK, JFS, and JASp had full access to the data and verify the credibility of the underlying data. All authors have read, revised, and approved this manuscript and take final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. MP reports clinical trials participation with AbbVie and grants from Rheumatology Research Foundation, outside the submitted work. ES is a board member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a patient run, volunteer-based organisation whose activities are primarily supported by independent grants from pharmaceutical companies. JWL has received research grant funding from Pfizer unrelated to this work. SES reports research funding related to clinical trials from AstraZeneca (MANDARA), outside of the submitted work and is supported by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and Vasculitis Foundation outside of the submitted work. DA-R is a scientific advisor for GlaxoSmithKilne unrelated to this work. RC reports speaker fees from Janssen, Roche, Sanofi, and AbbVie, outside of the submitted work. AD-G reports grants from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and Mayo Clinic, outside the submitted work. KLD is an unpaid volunteer president of the Autoinflammatory Alliance and reports grants from Novartis, Sobi, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Horizon Bio, all received by the non-profit organisation outside of the submitted work. CLH received funding under a sponsored research agreement unrelated to the data in the paper from Vifor Pharmaceuticals. RH reports grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingleheim, Johnson and Johnson, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and Union Chimique Belge, all paid to Spondylitis Association of America, consultant fees from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, outside the submitted work. RH also owns stocks (<20 shares and representing <4% of personal investments) in AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Teva, and Union Chimique Belge. AHJK reports personal fees from Exagen Diagnostics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, grants from National Institutes of Health, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and Helmsley Charitable Trust, grants and personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, outside the submitted work. EFM reports personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, and that Liga Portuguesa Contra as Doenças Reumaticas has received grants from AbbVie, Novartis, Lilly Portugal, Amgen Biofarmacêutica, Grünenthal, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Medac and from A Menarini Portugal–Farmacêutica; grants and non-financial support from Pfizer and Grünenthal, outside the submitted work. JASi has received consultant fees from Crealta/Horizon, Medisys, Fidia, PK Med, Two labs, Adept Field Solutions, Clinical Care options, Clearview healthcare partners, Putnam associates, Focus forward, Navigant consulting, Spherix, MedIQ, Jupiter Life Science, United BioMed, Trio Health, Medscape, WebMD, and Practice Point communications; and the National Institutes of Health, and the American College of Rheumatology. JASi owns stock options in TPT Global Tech, Vaxart pharmaceuticals, and Charlotte's Web Holdings and previously owned stock options in Amarin, Viking and Moderna pharmaceuticals. JASi is on the speaker's bureau of Simply Speaking and is a member of the executive of Outcomes Measures in Rheumatology, an organisation that develops outcome measures in rheumatology and receives funding from eight companies . JASi also serves on the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee and is the chair of the Veterans Affairs Rheumatology Field Advisory Committee. JASi is also the editor and the Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group Satellite Center on Network Meta-analysis. MFU-G has received research support from Pfizer and Janssen, unrelated to this work. SB reports non-branded consulting fees from Novartis, AbbVie, Pfizer, and Horizon Pharma, outside the submitted work, and is a Pfizer employee as of September, 2021. RG reports personal fees from AbbVie New Zealand, Cornerstones, Janssen New Zealand, and Novartis, and personal fees and non-financial support Pfizer Australia (all <AU$10,000) outside the submitted work. PMM reports personal fees from AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, and Union Chimique Belge; and grants and personal fees from Orphazyme, outside the submitted work. PCR reports personal fees from AbbVie, Gilead, Lilly, and Roche; grants and personal fees from Novartis, Union Chimique Belge, Janssen, and Pfizer; and non-financial support from Bristol Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. PS reports honoraria from bring the social media editor for the American College of Rheumatology journals, outside the submitted work. ZSW reports grants from NIH, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Principia/Sanofi; and personal fees from Viela Bio and MedPace, outside the submitted work. JY reports personal fees from Pfizer and Eli Lilly, and grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work. CH reports personal fees from AstraZeneca and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work. MJL reports grants from American College of Rheumatology, during the conduct of the study and consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Actelion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Gilead, Johnson and Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Sobi, and Union Chimique Belge, outside the submitted work. JSH reports grants from Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance and Rheumatology Research Alliance, and personal fees from Novartis, Pfizer, and Biogen, outside the submitted work. JASp reports grants from National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and R Bruce and Joan M Mickey Research Scholar Fund; and consulting fees for AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Inova Diagnostics, Optum, and Pfizer, unrelated to this work. JFS received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health unrelated to this work (NIAMS R01 AR077103, and NIAID R01 AI154533). All other authors report no competing interests. This study was funded by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The ACR was not involved in any aspect of study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The views expressed here are those of the authors and participating members of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and do not necessarily represent the views of the ACR, the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, the UK National Health Service, the National Institute for Health Research, or the UK Department of Health, or any other organisation. Researchers interested in performing additional analyses from survey data are invited to submit proposals through the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance at rheumcovid.org . For approved projects, we will provide summary tables and data analyses as requested. We do not currently have institutional review board approval to make the raw data available to other researchers.publishersversionpublishe

Measurement of gamma gamma -> p p-bar production at Belle

A high precision study of the process gamma gamma -> p p-bar has been performed using a data sample of 89/fb collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider. The cross section of p p-bar production has been measured at two-photon center-of-mass (c.m.) energies between 2.025 and 4.0 GeV and in the c.m. angular range of |cos(theta^*)| eta_c -> p p-bar is observed and the product of the two-photon width of the eta_c and its branching ratio to p p-bar is determined.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Fig.1 added, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Memory retrieval improvement by Heteropterys aphrodisiaca in aging rats

Few data exists about the pharmacological properties of Heteropterys aphrodisiaca O. Mach. (Malpighiaceae), which is native to the scrubland regions of Brazil. The present study investigated the effects of oral treatment with H. aphrodisiaca extract (BST0298) on the learning and memory of young (3-6 months) and aged (21-23 months) rats, and compared the in vitro antioxidant activity of three lots collected in different years. An improvement in the number of sessions to learn the task was observed in the left/right discrimination test in aged rats treated for 45 days with 25 mg/kg (7.0 ± 0.5; p=0.005) or 50 mg/kg (7.6 ± 0.6; p=0.012) compared with control old rats (11.0 ± 1.6). On the other hand, pre-treatment did not improve the performance of scopolamine-treated mice in the passive avoidance test. The in vitro malondialdehyde test showed that all three different extracts presented similar antioxidant activity. The flavonoids astilbin, isoastilbin and neoastilbin were isolated from the extract and may contribute to the biological activity. These results suggest that repeated treatment with H. aphrodisiaca improves learning and memory, probably by a non-muscarinic mechanism.Existem poucos dados disponíveis sobre as propriedades farmacológicas da Heteropterys aphrodisiaca O. Mach. (Malpighiaceae), nativa da região do pantanal brasileiro. O presente estudo investigou o efeito do tratamento oral com um extrato de H. aphrodisiaca (BST0298) sobre a memória e aprendizagem de ratos jovens (3-6 meses) e idosos (21-23 meses) e comparou a atividade antioxidante in vitro de três lotes, coletados em diferentes anos. Melhora quanto ao número de sessões necessárias para aprender a tarefa foi observada no teste de discriminação direita/esquerda em ratos idosos tratados por 45 dias com doses de 25 mg/kg (7,0 ± 0,5; p=0,005) e 50 mg/kg (7,6 ± 0,6; p=0,012) comparados com ratos idosos controle (11,0 ± 1,6). Por outro lado, o pré-tratamento com o extrato não melhorou o desempenho de camundongos tratados com escopolamina no teste da esquiva passiva. Em relação à avaliação da atividade antioxidante in vitro pelo teste do malonodialdeído, os três lotes analisados apresentaram atividade antioxidante semelhante. Os flavonóides astilbina, isoastilbina e neoastilbina foram isolados do extrato e podem contribuir para a atividade biológica. Estes resultados sugerem que a administração repetida de H. aphrodisiaca melhora a memória e aprendizagem provavelmente por um mecanismo não muscarínico

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Local Resistance in Early Medieval Chinese Historiography and the Problem of Religious Overinterpretation

Official Chinese historiography is a treasure trove of information on local resistance to the centralised empire in early medieval China (third to sixth century). Sinologists specialised in the study of Chinese religions commonly reconstruct the religious history of the era by interpreting some of these data. In the process, however, the primary purpose of the historiography of local resistance is often overlooked, and historical interpretation easily becomes ‘overinterpretation’—that is, ‘fabricating false intensity’ and ‘seeing intensity everywhere’, as French historian Paul Veyne proposed to define the term. Focusing on a cluster of historical anecdotes collected in the standard histories of the four centuries under consideration, this study discusses the supposedly ‘religious’ nature of some of the data they contain