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Tolstrup Rogers posted an update 8 hours, 47 minutes ago
In the North Atlantic, euphausiids (krill) form a major link between primary production and predators including commercially exploited fish. This basin is warming very rapidly, with species expected to shift northwards following their thermal tolerances. Here we show, however, that there has been a 50% decline in surface krill abundance over the last 60 years that occurred in situ, with no associated range shift. While we relate these changes to the warming climate, our study is the first to document an in situ squeeze on living space within this system. The warmer isotherms are shifting measurably northwards but cooler isotherms have remained relatively static, stalled by the subpolar fronts in the NW Atlantic. Consequently the two temperatures defining the core of krill distribution (7-13 °C) were 8° of latitude apart 60 years ago but are presently only 4° apart. Over the 60 year period the core latitudinal distribution of euphausiids has remained relatively stable so a ‘habitat squeeze’, with loss of 4° of latitude in living space, could explain the decline in krill. This highlights that, as the temperature warms, not all species can track isotherms and shift northward at the same rate with both losers and winners emerging under the ‘Atlantification’ of the sub-Arctic.The composition and function of intestinal microbial communities are important for human health. However, these intestinal floras are sensitive to changes in the environment. Adverse changes to intestinal flora can affect the health of astronauts, resulting in difficulties in implementing space missions. We randomly divided mice into three groups and placed each group in either a normal environment, simulated microgravity environment or a combined effects environment, which included simulated microgravity, low pressure and noise. Fecal samples of the mice were collected for follow-up analysis based on metagenomics technology. With the influence of different space environmental factors, the species composition at the phylum and genus levels were significantly affected by the combined effects environment, especially the abundance of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Furthermore, screening was conducted to identify biomarkers that could be regarded as environmental markers. And there have also been some noticeable changes in the function of intestinal floras. Moreover, the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) was also found to be changed under different environmental conditions, such as bacitracin and vancomycin. The combined effects environment could significantly affect the species composition, function, and the expression of ARGs of intestinal flora of mice which may provide a theoretical basis for space medical supervision and healthcare.Immune dysregulation diseases are characterized by heterogeneous clinical manifestations and may have severe disease courses. The identification of the genetic causes of these diseases therefore has critical clinical implications. We performed whole-exome sequencing of patients with immune dysregulation disorders and identified two patients with previously undescribed mutations in LRRC32, which encodes glycoprotein A repetitions predominant (GARP). These patients were characterized by markedly reduced numbers and frequencies of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs with mutated LRRC32 exhibited strongly diminished cell-surface GARP expression and reduced suppressor function. In a model of conditional Garp deficiency in mice, we confirmed increased susceptibility to inflammatory diseases once GARP expression on Tregs was decreased. Garp deficiency led to an unstable Treg phenotype due to diminished Foxp3 protein acetylation and stability. Our study reinforces the understanding of the immunological mechanisms of immune dysregulation and expands the knowledge on the immunological function of GARP as an important regulator of Treg stability.The cryptic parasite Sparganum proliferum proliferates in humans and invades tissues and organs. Only scattered cases have been reported, but S. proliferum infection is always fatal. However, S. proliferum’s phylogeny and life cycle remain enigmatic. To investigate the phylogenetic relationships between S. proliferum and other cestode species, and to examine the mechanisms underlying pathogenicity, we sequenced the entire genomes of S. proliferum and a closely related non-life-threatening tapeworm Spirometra erinaceieuropaei. Additionally, we performed larvae transcriptome analyses of S. proliferum plerocercoid to identify genes involved in asexual reproduction in the host. The genome sequences confirmed that the S. proliferum has experienced a clearly distinct evolutionary history from S. erinaceieuropaei. Moreover, we found that nonordinal extracellular matrix coordination allows asexual reproduction in the host, and loss of sexual maturity in S. proliferum are responsible for its fatal pathogenicity to humans. Cefodizime mw Our high-quality reference genome sequences should be valuable for future studies of pseudophyllidean tapeworm biology and parasitism.We investigated the effect of visual impairment (VI) on dementia development in a national cohort. In this 12-year nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study, national data were collected from National Health Insurance Cooperation of South Korea from 2002 to 2017, comprising 799,074 subjects selected from the dementia-free cohort representative of the Korean population. Crude hazard ratios (HRs) as well as age- and sex-adjusted HRs and confidence intervals (CIs) for the development of dementia were estimated using multivariable Cox regression models. VI significantly increased the risk of dementia with a HR of 2.726 (95% CI 2.251-3.300, p less then 0.0001) after adjusting for age, sex, and interaction between age, sex, and VI. HR of interaction between VI and age for dementia was 0.539 (95% CI 0.436-0.667, p less then 0.0001). In the sensitivity analysis after adjustment for age, sex, household income level, BMI and other comorbidities, VI showed higher risk for all the type of dementia (p less then 0.0001). In subgroup analysis of VI, young males showed the highest risk for development of dementia with a HR of 2.687 (95% CI 2.219-3.254, p less then 0.0001). VI significantly increased the risk of dementia in the study cohort, and young males with VI appeared to be the most susceptible to the development of dementia.