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The two-layer Shuttleworth–Wallace (SW) evapotranspiration (ET) model has been widely used for predicting ET with good results. Since the SW model has a large number of specific parameters, these parameters have been estimated using a simple non-hierarchical Bayesian (SB) approach. To further improve the performance of the SW model, we aimed to assess parameter estimation using a two-level hierarchical Bayesian (HB) approach that takes into account the variation in observed conditions through the comparison with a traditional one-layer Penman–Monteith (PM) model. The difference between the SB and HB approaches were evaluated using a field-based ET dataset collected from five agricultural fields over three seasons in Myanmar. For a calibration period with large variation in environmental factors, the models with parameters calibrated by the HB approach showed better fitting to observed ET than that with parameters estimated using the SB approach, indicating the potential importance of accounting for seasonal fluctuations and variation in crop growth stages. The validation of parameter estimation showed that the ET estimation of the SW model with calibrated parameters was superior to that of the PM model, and the SW model provided acceptable estimations of ET, with little difference between the SB and HB approaches.

In our search for innovative drugs that could improve periodontal treatment outcomes, autophagy and its anomalies represent a potential target for therapeutic intervention. We sought to identify autophagy defects in murine experimental periodontitis and study the effectiveness of P140, a phosphopeptide known to bind HSPA8 and inhibit its chaperone properties, and that corrects autophagy dysfunctions in several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Experimental periodontitis was induced by placing silk ligature around mandibular first molars. Sick mice were treated intraperitoneally with either P140 or a control, scrambled peptide. After 10 days, mandibles were harvested and bone loss was measured by micro-CT. Immune cells infiltration was studied by histological analyses. Cytokines levels and autophagy-related markers expression were evaluated by qRT-PCR and western blotting. A comparison with non-affected mice revealed significant alterations in the autophagy processes in mandibles of diseased mice, especially in the expression of sequestosome 1/p62, Maplc3b, Atg5, Ulk1, and Lamp2. In vivo, we showed that P140 normalized the dysregulated expression of several autophagy-related genes. In addition, it diminished the infiltration of activated lymphocytes and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Unexpectedly P140 decreased the extent of bone loss affecting the furcation and alveolar areas. Our results indicate that P140, which was safe in clinical trials including hundreds of autoimmune patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, not only decreases the inflammatory effects observed in mandibular tissues of ligation-induced mice but strikingly also contributes to bone preservation. Therefore, the therapeutic peptide P140 could be repositioned as a decisive breakthrough for the future therapeutic management of periodontitis.

Singapore has seen an increase in norovirus outbreaks in preschools from 2019 to 2022 primarily due to person-to-person transmission. This study describes the use of compartmental susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) modelling to simulate the spread of norovirus among preschool children in a classroom setting. Different intervention measures, such as isolation of infected preschoolers, handwashing and surface decontamination were modelled to quantify their effectiveness at reducing the number of children infected. We found that isolation of the sick child was the most effective single intervention to reduce transmission risk, which was 5 times more effective than handwashing. Coupled with handwashing and surface decontamination, transmission risk could be further reduced, close to zero. Findings from our study can be used to reiterate to parents and teachers on the importance of recognizing the symptoms exhibited by their unwell children and refraining from sending them to school, as this action poses a risk of transmitting norovirus to other children. In addition, our findings can be used to educate children and staff in preschools on the importance of practising good personal hygiene and regular environmental cleaning. Through this study, decision makers would be better informed on the effectivness of various risk mitigation measures at reduce the risk of norovirus transmission in preschool settings.

Background While national malaria incidence has been declining in Myanmar, some subregions within the nation continue to have high burdens of malaria morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the malaria situation in one of these regions, Banmauk Township, located near the Myanmar-India border. Our goal was to provide a detailed description of the malaria epidemiology in this township and to provide some evidence-based recommendations to formulate a strategy for reaching the national malaria elimination plan. Banmauk consistently has one of the highest malaria burdens in Myanmar. Methods With the implementation of strengthened malaria control and surveillance activities after the endorsement of a national malaria elimination plan in 2015, detailed incidence data were obtained for 2016–2018 for Banmauk Township. The data include patient demographics, parasite species, disease severity, and disease outcome. Data were analyzed to identify characteristics, trends, distribution, and risk factors. Results During 2016–2018, 2,402 malaria cases were reported, with Plasmodium falciparum accounting for 83.4% of infections. Both P. falciparum and P. vivax were transmitted more frequently during the rainy season (May–October). Despite intensified control, the annual parasite incidence rate (API) in 2017 (11.0) almost doubled that in 2016 (6.5). In total, 2.5% (59/2042) of the cases, of which 54 P. falciparum and 5 P. vivax , were complicated cases, resulting in 5 deaths. Malaria morbidity was high in children < 15 years and accounted for 33.4% of all cases and about 47% of the complicated cases. Older age groups and males living with poor transportation conditions were more likely to test positive especially in rainy and cold seasons. Despite the clear seasonality of malaria, severe cases were found among young children even more common in the dry season, when malaria incidence was low. Conclusions Despite the declining trend, the malaria burden remained high in Banmauk Township. Our study also documented severe cases and deaths from both falciparum and vivax malaria. P. falciparum remained the predominant parasite species, demanding increased efforts to achieve the goal of elimination of P. falciparum by 2025. As P. falciparum cases decreased, the proportion of cases attributable to P. vivax increased. In order to eliminate malaria, it will likely be important to increasingly target this species as well.

Numerous studies have attempted to pinpoint certain traits of rice varieties linked with great ratooning ability that may be used in cultural practice. However, both genetic and environmental variables affect rice's capacity for ratooning. We are able to measure the innovative ratooning ability that affects the decline in ratoon yield using the agronomic features of the main crop and ratoon rice in our global database for a meta‐analysis, drawn from 51 experiments in 14 countries. We discovered that changes in cultivar yield and maturity features, cropping location, and nitrogen fertilizer treatment may all affect a plant's capacity to tiller. On the other hand, the growth duration ratoon ability was less responsive to variations in cultivars and cropping location. We also found that ratooning changes the plant architecture for yield generation from bigger spikelets with fewer panicles to fewer spikelets (dropping 48%) with larger panicles (increasing 19%). We came to the conclusion based on our research that the decreased yield in ratoon crops may be caused by fast ear emergence and aggressive tillering, which negatively influence stem elongation, panicle differentiation, and a lack of nutrition, resulting in fewer spikelets (panicle−1). The present data are thoroughly summarized and analyzed in this research, which also clarifies the lack of knowledge around the characteristics that affect ratoon rice crop production. Core Ideas A comprehensive global quantitative analysis was conducted to assess the ratoon rice's ratooning ability. The tillering–ratooning ability was found to be influenced by variations in genetic and environmental factors. Genetic and environmental variables may have little effect on ratoon crop growth duration. The plant architecture shifts from large spikelets in the main crop to large panicles in the ratoon crop. The accelerated ear emergence could have a detrimental impact on stem elongation during panicle differentiation.

Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a major cause of community-onset, multidrug-resistant extraintestinal infections. The transmission and carriage dynamics associated with E. coli ST131’s global prevalence remain poorly understood. Here, we identify a group of persistent, high-density carriers of E. coli ST131 in the community. In this prospective cohort study in Singapore, we enrolled index patients with prior extraintestinal E. coli infections (17 with ST131, 17 with other sequence types) and their household coresidents. We collected sequential stool samples from 135 human participants and six companion animals and environmental swabs from 34 households. We identified nine carriers that persistently carried E. coli ST131 in high densities (57.79% of E. coli isolates per sample) for a median carriage duration of 86.35 days (80% credible interval (CrI) 30.03 to 188.80). Persistent carriers and their coresidents carried genetically similar E. coli ST131 isolates (median single nucleotide polymorphism distance 2, interquartile range 2 to 7), but persistent carriers harboured greater diversity, suggesting that they were the source of inter-individual transmissions. Our results highlight asymptomatic, persistent carriers as potential reservoirs sustaining community E. coli ST131 transmissions, offering a potential target for public health interventions such as vaccination to limit the spread of multidrug resistance. E. coli sequence type 131 is a significant cause of community-onset infection. Here, the authors perform a prospective household-based cohort study in Singapore including samples from humans, companion animals, the environment, and food, to characterise transmission and carriage dynamics.

The article presents the results of a study of the contact zone of a thin-walled cylindrical shell located between two parallel rigid plates. The shell under consideration was located with various gaps from the rigid plate and was subsequently subjected to internal pressure. In the course of such a study, experimental, numerical and analytical estimates of the contact zone width were obtained depending on the discharge pressure. The obtained numerical and analytical estimates are tested with experiment. To study the width of the contact zone, depending on the gap, a testing workbench was used. The problem of numerical and analytical modelling was solved by the finite element analysis in the Ansys Workbench system. The solution to transcendental equation was found numerically using the Newton-Raphson method. As a result of experimental, numerical and analytical studies, results were obtained for a plane-oval shell with gaps of 0.5 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, depending on the applied pressure.

A deeper understanding of the detailed mechanism of in vivo tissue healing is necessary for the development of novel regenerative therapies. Among several external factors, environmental pH is one of the crucial parameters that greatly affects enzyme activity and cellular biochemical reactions involving tissue repair and homeostasis. In this study, in order to analyze the microenvironmental conditions during bone healing, we first measured the pH in vivo at the bone healing site using a high-resolution fiber optic pH microsensor directly in femur defects and tooth extraction sockets. The pH was shown to decrease from physiological 7.4 to 6.8 during the initial two days of healing (inflammatory phase). In the same initial stages of the inflammatory phase of the bone healing process, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to migrate to the healing site to contribute to tissue repair. Therefore, we investigated the effect of a short-term acidic (pH 6.8) pre-treatment on the stemness of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs). Interestingly, the results showed that pre-treatment of BMSCs with acidic pH enhances the expression of stem cell markers (OCT-4, NANOG, SSEA-4), as well as cell viability and proliferation. On the other hand, acidic pH decreased BMSC migration ability. These results indicate that acidic pH during the initial stages of bone healing is important to enhance the stem cell properties of BMSCs. These findings may enable the development of novel methods for optimization of stem cell function towards tissue engineering or regenerative medicine.

Staphylococcus aureus contamination of food and food contact surfaces is a public health concern given its virulent and antimicrobial-resistant properties worldwide. In this study, a total of 181 MSSA isolates were analyzed for SE genes, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and spa types. Overall, 24.9% of isolates were positive for SE gene detection, with sea being the most prevalent classical SE (18.8%). The most predominant sample sources for SE gene contamination were hand swabs for sea (6/48), meat dishes for seb (3/14) and seafood dishes for sec (2/24). Antimicrobial resistance was also observed at relatively high frequencies for the clinically important antibiotics penicillin G and ampicillin (both 54.7%), followed by tetracycline (14.9%) and azithromycin (8.8%). In addition, characterization of spa types revealed spa type t5078 to be the most predominant (40.3%), with significant associations between spa types t127 and t5521 and the sea gene. This study offers insights into the enterotoxin gene and antimicrobial resistance profiles of S. aureus in cooked or ready-to-eat food to inform future surveillance and epidemiological studies.