Recent occurrence of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, in Waikato lakes of New Zealand.

Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii is a toxin-producing species of cyanobacteria that in autumn 2003 was recorded for the first time in three shallow (max. depth ≤5 m) Waikato lakes and a hydro-electric dam on the Waikato River, New Zealand. It formed water blooms at densities >100 000 cells/ml in Lakes Waahi and Whangape. Net rates of population growth >0.2 day-1 were recorded for C. raciborskii in Lakes Ngaroto, Waahi, and Karapiro, based on comparisons of low numbers (detection of cells/ml) from initial samples and its presence at bloom densities (>15 000 cells/ml) in the subsequent sample "x"-"y" days later. C. raciborskii may be well adapted to rapid proliferation in the Waikato lakes, which are eutrophic to hypertrophic, with high light attenuation, and where nitrogen (N) fixation may provide it with a competitive advantage over non-nitrogen fixing algae under N-limited conditions

Latent class cluster analysis of symptom ratings identifies distinct subgroups within the clinical high risk for psychosis syndrome

© 2017 The clinical-high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) syndrome is heterogeneous in terms of clinical presentation and outcomes. Identifying more homogenous subtypes of the syndrome may help clarify its etiology and improve the prediction of psychotic illness. This study applied latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) to symptom ratings from the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Studies 1 and 2 (NAPLS 1 and 2). These analyses produced evidence for three to five subgroups within the CHR-P syndrome. Differences in negative and disorganized symptoms distinguished among the subgroups. Subgroup membership was found to predict conversion to psychosis. The authors contrast the methods employed within this study with previous attempts to identify more homogenous subgroups of CHR-P individuals and discuss how these results could be tested in future samples of CHR-P individuals

Asteroid Confusions with Extremely Large Telescopes

Asteroids can be considered as sources of contamination of point sources and also sources of confusion noise, depending whether their presence is detected in the image or their flux is under the detection limit. We estimate that at low ecliptic latitudes, ~10,000--20,000 asteroids/sq. degree will be detected with an E-ELT like telescope, while by the end of Spitzer and Herschel missions, infrared space observatories will provide ~100,000 serendipitous asteroid detections. The detection and identification of asteroids is therefore an important step in survey astronomy.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Earth, Moon and Planets, ELT Conference (Elba, 2009 Sept.) S

Latent class cluster analysis of symptom ratings identifies distinct subgroups within the clinical high risk for psychosis syndrome

The clinical-high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) syndrome is heterogeneous in terms of clinical presentation and outcomes. Identifying more homogenous subtypes of the syndrome may help clarify its etiology and improve the prediction of psychotic illness. This study applied latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) to symptom ratings from the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Studies 1 and 2 (NAPLS 1 and 2). These analyses produced evidence for three to five subgroups within the CHR-P syndrome. Differences in negative and disorganized symptoms distinguished among the subgroups. Subgroup membership was found to predict conversion to psychosis. The authors contrast the methods employed within this study with previous attempts to identify more homogenous subgroups of CHR-P individuals and discuss how these results could be tested in future samples of CHR-P individuals

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease