Metformin reduces SARS-CoV-2 in a Phase 3 Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial.

Current antiviral treatment options for SARS-CoV-2 infections are not available globally, cannot be used with many medications, and are limited to virus-specific targets. Biophysical modeling of SARS-CoV-2 replication predicted that protein translation is an especially attractive target for antiviral therapy. Literature review identified metformin, widely known as a treatment for diabetes, as a potential suppressor of protein translation via targeting of the host mTor pathway.

A rapid, cost-effective tailed amplicon method for sequencing SARS-CoV-2.

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to an urgent need for scalable methods for clinical diagnostics and viral tracking. Next generation sequencing technologies have enabled large-scale genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 as thousands of isolates are being sequenced around the world and deposited in public data repositories. A number of methods using both short- and long-read technologies are currently being applied for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing, including amplicon approaches, metagenomic methods, and sequence capture or enrichment methods.

Ancient DNA reveals the timing and persistence of organellar genetic bottlenecks over 3,000 years of sunflower domestication and improvement.

Here, we report a comprehensive paleogenomic study of archaeological and ethnographic sunflower remains that provides significant new insights into the process of domestication of this important crop. DNA from both ancient and historic contexts yielded high proportions of endogenous DNA, and although archaeological DNA was found to be highly degraded, it still provided sufficient coverage to analyze genetic changes over time. Shotgun sequencing data from specimens from the Eden's Bluff archaeological site in Arkansas yielded organellar DNA sequence from specimens up to 3,100 years old.

Response to joint selection on germination and flowering phenology depends on the direction of selection.

Flowering and germination time are components of phenology, a complex phenotype that incorporates a number of traits. In natural populations, selection is likely to occur on multiple components of phenology at once. However, we have little knowledge of how joint selection on several phenological traits influences evolutionary response.

Transitions in photoperiodic flowering are common and involve few loci in wild sunflowers (Helianthus; Asteraceae).

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Premise Of The Study: Evolutionary changes in how flowering time responds to photoperiod cues have been instrumental in expanding the geographic range of agricultural production for many crop species. Locally adaptive natural variation in photoperiod response present in wild relatives of crop plants could be leveraged to further improve the present and future climatic ranges of cultivation or to increase region-specific yields. Previous work has demonstrated ample variability in photoperiod response among wild populations of the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus.

The Embryonic Transcriptome of the Red-Eared Slider Turtle (Trachemys scripta).

The bony shell of the turtle is an evolutionary novelty not found in any other group of animals, however, research into its formation has suggested that it has evolved through modification of conserved developmental mechanisms. Although these mechanisms have been extensively characterized in model organisms, the tools for characterizing them in non-model organisms such as turtles have been limited by a lack of genomic resources. We have used a next generation sequencing approach to generate and assemble a transcriptome from stage 14 and 17 Trachemys scripta embryos, stages during which important events in shell development are known to take place.

A comparison of Japanese and Australian consumers' sensory perceptions of beef.

This paper presents a comparison of Japanese and Australian consumer sensory responses to beef, based on Meat Standards Australia methodology. Japanese and Australian consumers evaluated paired beef samples according to four sensory traits, and the weighted results were combined to produce a Meat Quality score (MQ4). The consumers also categorized the beef samples to one of four grades (unsatisfactory, good everyday, better than everyday and premium).

Japanese consumer categorisation of beef into quality grades, based on Meat Standards Australia methodology.

The objective was to evaluate the sensory categorisation of beef by Japanese consumers, based on Meat Standards Australia methodology. Various cuts of beef, with a wide range of quality (from Australian and Japanese cattle) and three cooking methods (grill, yakiniku, shabu shabu), were evaluated by 1620 Japanese consumers in Tokyo and Osaka. Consumers rated each sample for four sensory attributes (tenderness, juiciness, flavor and overall satisfaction), then selected one of four grades (unsatisfactory/2-star, good everyday/3-star, better than everyday/4-star, and premium quality/5-star), based on the quality of the beef within each cooking method.

Delirium in the elderly. A survey of environmental policies and procedures in Melbourne hospitals.

This study aimed to review the presence of policies for management of behavioural symptoms and physical restraints, the availability of delirium management protocols and educational programs, and accessibility of a physical environment appropriate for the management of delirium in Melbourne hospitals. A structured survey tool was developed, and 70 Melbourne hospitals were surveyed seeking responses from a senior member of the nursing staff. Overall, 90% of Melbourne hospitals responded to the survey.

The minimum capture proportion for reliable estimation in capture-recapture models.

We derive estimates of the minimum capture proportion required to obtain a reliable estimate of the population size for several continuous and discrete-time capture-recapture models. The models considered are M(0), M(t), M(b), M(h), M(ht), and M(tb) in the notation of Otis et al., (1978, Wildlife Monograph62, 1-135).

A unified likelihood-based approach for estimating population size in continuous-time capture-recapture experiments with frailty.

A unified likelihood-based approach is proposed to estimate population size for a continuous-time closed capture-recapture experiment with frailty. The frailty model allows the capture intensity to vary with individual heterogeneity, time, and behavioral response. The individual heterogeneity effect is modeled as being gamma distributed.

Estimation of vaccine efficacy and the vaccination threshold.

This paper considers the effect of imperfect vaccination in a susceptible-infected-removal (SIR) epidemic model. The minimum proportion of the population that needs to be vaccinated to prevent a major epidemic depends on the vaccine efficacy and the basic reproductive rate for the SIR model, allowing for imperfect and variable vaccination. Martingale theory is used to derive estimates and associated standard errors for these parameters.