LCA applied to perennial cropping systems: a review focused on the farm stage

International audienc

Antifibrinolytic Role of a Bee Venom Serine Protease Inhibitor That Acts as a Plasmin Inhibitor

Bee venom is a rich source of pharmacologically active substances. In this study, we identified a bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) venom Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor (Bi-KTI) that acts as a plasmin inhibitor. Bi-KTI showed no detectable inhibitory effect on factor Xa, thrombin, or tissue plasminogen activator. In contrast, Bi-KTI strongly inhibited plasmin, indicating that it acts as an antifibrinolytic agent; however, this inhibitory ability was two-fold weaker than that of aprotinin. The fibrin(ogen)olytic activities of B. ignitus venom serine protease (Bi-VSP) and plasmin in the presence of Bi-KTI indicate that Bi-KTI targets plasmin more specifically than Bi-VSP. These findings demonstrate a novel mechanism by which bumblebee venom affects the hemostatic system through the antifibrinolytic activity of Bi-KTI and through Bi-VSP-mediated fibrin(ogen)olytic activities, raising interest in Bi-KTI and Bi-VSP as potential clinical agents

Nasal Transcriptome and Epigenome Analysis Identifies the Pathogenic Features of Aspirin-Exacerbated Respiratory Disease

Dysregulation of the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway is the most widely known pathomechanism of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). This study aimed to perform integrative analysis of transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling with network analysis to determine the novel pathogenic features of AERD. Ten patients with asthma including 5 patients with AERD and another 5 patients with aspirin tolerant asthma (ATA) were enrolled. Nasal scraping was performed and nasal mucosa was used in omics profiling. Peripheral eosinophil counts, sputum eosinophil counts, fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels, and pulmonary function test results were evaluated. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), differentially methylated probes (DMPs) and differentially correlated genes (DCGs) between patients with AERD and those with ATA were analyzed. Network analysis using ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was performed to determine the gene connection network and signaling pathways. In total, 1,736 DEGs, 1,401 DMPs, and 19 pairs for DCGs were identified. Among DCGs, genes related to vesicle transport (e.g., RAB3B and STX2) and sphingolipid dysregulation (e.g., SMPD3) were found to be hypo-methylated and up-regulated in AERD. Using the canonical pathway analysis of IPA with 78 asthma-related DEGs, signaling pathways of T helper cell differentiation/activation and Fcε receptor I were generated. Up-regulation of RORγt and FcER1A were noted in AERD. Gene expression levels of RAB3B, SYNE1, STX2, SMPD3 and RORγt were significantly associated with sputum eosinophil counts. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed and mRNA expression levels of STX2, SMPD3, RORγt, and FcER1A were significantly higher in AERD compared to ATA. Distinct pathogenic features were identified by using integrative multi-omics data analysis in patients with AERD

Police accountability and the Irish law of evidence

"Common law courts have differed on whether and to what extent an exclusionary rule should be used as a tool to impose standards on the police. The Irish courts have pursued an uncompromising approach in this area. Basing themselves on the imperative of upholding the constitutional rights of the accused, they have been willing to exclude relevant and cogent evidence on the basis that it was obtained by the police in breach of those rights. This article locates the Irish constitutional exclusionary rule in the broader context of the role of the law of evidence in police governance. Citing specific examples from the Irish legislation and case law, it shows how recent legislative interventions and some judicial hesitancy have fuelled inconsistent and contradictory trends. It concludes that there is now a pressing need for reflection on the respective roles of the legislature and the courts in this area." [author's abstract

Assessment of possible impact of a health promotion program in Korea from health risk trends in a longitudinally observed cohort

BACKGROUND: Longitudinally observed cohort data can be utilized to assess the potential for health promotion and healthcare planning by comparing the estimated risk factor trends of non-intervened with that of intervened. The paper seeks (1) to estimate a natural transition (patterns of movement between states) of health risk state from a Korean cohort data using a Markov model, (2) to derive an effective and necessary health promotion strategy for the population, and (3) to project a possible impact of an intervention program on health status. METHODS: The observed transition of health risk states in a Korean employee cohort was utilized to estimate the natural flow of aggregated health risk states from eight health risk measures using Markov chain models. In addition, a reinforced transition was simulated, given that a health promotion program was implemented for the cohort, to project a possible impact on improvement of health status. An intervened risk transition was obtained based on age, gender, and baseline risk state, adjusted to match with the Korean cohort, from a simulated random sample of a US employee population, where a health intervention was in place. RESULTS: The estimated natural flow (non-intervened), following Markov chain order 2, showed a decrease in low risk state by 3.1 percentage points in the Korean population while the simulated reinforced transition (intervened) projected an increase in low risk state by 7.5 percentage points. Estimated transitions of risk states demonstrated the necessity of not only the risk reduction but also low risk maintenance. CONCLUSIONS: The frame work of Markov chain efficiently estimated the trend, and captured the tendency in the natural flow. Given only a minimally intense health promotion program, potential risk reduction and low risk maintenance was projected

Clinical findings, viral load, and outcomes of COVID-19: Comparison of patients with negative and positive initial chest computed tomography

Reports detailing the clinical characteristics, viral load, and outcomes of patients with normal initial chest CT findings are lacking. We sought to compare the differences in clinical findings, viral loads, and outcomes between patients with confirmed COVID-19 who initially tested negative on chest CT (CT negative) with patients who tested initially positive on chest CT (CT positive). The clinical data, viral loads, and outcomes of initial CT-positive and CT-negative patients examined between January 2020 and April 2020 were retrospectively compared. The efficacy of viral load (cyclic threshold value [Ct value]) in predicting pneumonia was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC). In total, 128 patients underwent initial chest CT (mean age, 54.3 +/- 19.0 years, 50% male). Of those, 36 were initially CT negative, and 92 were CT positive. The CT-positive patients were significantly older (P < .001) than the CT-negative patients. Only age was significantly associated with the initial presence of pneumonia (odds ratio, 1.060; confidence interval (CI), 1.020-1-102; P = .003). In addition, age (OR, 1.062; CI, 1.014-1.112; P = .011), fever at diagnosis (OR, 6.689; CI, 1.715-26.096; P = .006), and CRP level (OR, 1.393; CI, 1.150-1.687; P = .001) were significantly associated with the need for O2 therapy. Viral load was significantly higher in the CT-positive group than in the CT-negative group (P = .017). The cutoff Ct value for predicting the presence of pneumonia was 27.71. Outcomes including the mean hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, and O2 therapy were significantly worse in the CT-positive group than in the CT-negative group (all P < .05). In conclusion, initially CT-negative patients showed better outcomes than initially CT-positive patients. Age was significantly associated with the initial presence of pneumonia, and viral load may help in predicting the initial presence of pneumonia