Characteristics of snakebite patients due to Naja samarensis in the Philippines: a prospective hospital-based study.

Background: Little is known about snakebites by Naja samarensis, a species unique to the Philippines. The aim here is to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients bitten by this medically important cobra in the Eastern Visayas.

Methods: A hospital-based prospective study analysed the features of snakebite patients attending Eastern Visayas Medical Center between June 2022 and May 2023.

Risk scoring of African swine fever transmission in selected provinces of the Philippines.

Importance: African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious transboundary swine disease that poses a significant threat to the swine industry. As an archipelago, the Philippines has a geographic advantage in reducing ASF transmission risk. However, control efforts remain challenging due to the disease's complex epidemiology, lack of effective treatment, and vaccine availability.

A recent large-scale intraspecific IR expansion and evolutionary dynamics of the plastome of Peucedanum japonicum.

Peucedanum japonicum (PJ), a member of the Apiaceae family, is widely distributed and cultivated in East Asian countries for edible and functional foods. In this study, we compared the plastid genomes (plastomes) and 45S nuclear ribosomal DNA (45S nrDNA) simultaneously from 10 PJ collections. Plastome-based phylogenetic analysis showed that the PJ accessions were monophyletic within the genus Peucedanum.

Assessment of Chicken Fecal Contamination Using Microbial Source Tracking (MST) and Environmental DNA (eDNA) Profiling in Silway River, Philippines.

The Silway River has historically failed to meet safe fecal coliform levels due to improper waste disposal. The river mouth is located in General Santos City, the tuna capital of the Philippines and a leading producer of hogs, cattle, and poultry. The buildup of contaminants due to direct discharge of waste from chicken farms and existing water quality conditions has led to higher fecal matter in the Silway River.

Key concepts and a world-wide look at plant recruitment networks.

Plant-plant interactions are major determinants of the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. There is a long tradition in the study of these interactions, their mechanisms and their consequences using experimental, observational and theoretical approaches. Empirical studies overwhelmingly focus at the level of species pairs or small sets of species.

A sensitive batch detection of using SYBR Green real-time PCR.

(BBTV) is the most destructive viral disease of banana crop in the Philippines. The disease causes heavy damage to important local varieties, 'Lakatan' and 'Cavendish'. Infected planting materials can cause long-term disease transmission causing geographical location to dictate genetic variation among viral strains.

Avenues towards reconciling wild and managed bee proponents.

Bees are crucial for food security and biodiversity. However, managed bees are increasingly considered drivers of wild bee declines, leading to stakeholder conflicts and restrictive policies. We propose avenues to reconcile wild and managed bee proponents and point out knowledge gaps that hinder the development of evidence-based policies.

Screening and Characterization of Sialic Acid-Binding Variable Lymphocyte Receptors from Hagfish.

Sialic acid is a diverse group of monosaccharides often found on the termini of - and -linked glycans as well as being components of glycoconjugates. Hypersialylation has been associated with the progression of chronic inflammation-mediated diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Given its role in infection and disease-related processes, sialic acid is a promising target for therapeutic approaches that utilize carbohydrate-binding molecules.

Assessing the spatial scale of synchrony in forest tree population dynamics.

Populations of forest trees exhibit large temporal fluctuations, but little is known about the synchrony of these fluctuations across space, including their sign, magnitude, causes and characteristic scales. These have important implications for metapopulation persistence and theoretical community ecology. Using data from permanent forest plots spanning local, regional and global spatial scales, we measured spatial synchrony in tree population growth rates over sub-decadal and decadal timescales and explored the relationship of synchrony to geographical distance.

Network transformation-based analysis of biochemical systems.

A dynamical system obtains a wide variety of kinetic realizations, which is advantageous for the analysis of biochemical systems. A reaction network, derived from a dynamical system, may or may not possess some properties needed for a thorough analysis. We improve and extend the work of Johnston and Hong et al.

Predation-driven geographical isolation of broods in periodical cicadas.

Periodical cicadas are remarkable for their incredibly long, prime-numbered life cycles and almost perfectly synchronized mass emergence. Synchronized emergence is a generally localized event, referred to as a "brood". Broods are separated in space and time, or parapatric; adjacent broods emerge on different schedules, whereas some cicadas emerge off schedule, called stragglers.

Building a community-driven bioinformatics platform to facilitate multi-omics research.

Unlabelled: Global changes in cannabis legislation after decades of stringent regulation and heightened demand for its industrial and medicinal applications have spurred recent genetic and genomics research. An international research community emerged and identified the need for a web portal to host cannabis-specific datasets that seamlessly integrates multiple data sources and serves omics-type analyses, fostering information sharing. The Tripal platform was used to host public genome assemblies, gene annotations, quantitative trait loci and genetic maps, gene and protein expression data, metabolic profiles and their sample attributes.

Molecular Characterization of a Clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus from a 2022 Outbreak in Layer Chickens in the Philippines.

H5 subtype high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) viruses continue to devastate the poultry industry and threaten food security and public health. The first outbreak of H5 HPAI in the Philippines was reported in 2017. Since then, H5 HPAI outbreaks have been reported in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Passive immunoprophylaxis with Ccombodies against Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei).

The Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain causing acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) in shrimp secretes toxins A and B (PirA/PirB). These toxins have been implicated in pathogenesis and are targets for developing anti-AHPND therapeutics or prophylactics that include passive immunization. We have previously reported that Ccombodies (recombinant hagfish variable lymphocyte receptor B antibodies; VLRB) targeting PirB conferred protection against V.

CannSeek? Yes we Can! An open-source single nucleotide polymorphism database and analysis portal for .

Unlabelled: A growing interest in uses for food, fiber, and medicine, and recent changes in regulations have spurred numerous genomic studies of this once-prohibited plant. Cannabis research uses Next Generation Sequencing technologies for genomics and transcriptomics. While other crops have genome portals enabling access and analysis of numerous genotyping data from diverse accessions, leading to the discovery of alleles for important traits, this is absent for cannabis.

Variation in Leaf Functional Traits of Ldb and L. Across Five Contrasting Urban Sites in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Amid urbanization, studying leaf functional traits of woody plants in urban environments is essential for understanding how urban green spaces function and how they can be effectively managed sustainably. In this study, we investigated the effects of different growing conditions on the morpho-physiological traits of and across five contrasting urban sites. The leaf area (LA), leaf length (LL), leaf width (LW), leaf biomass (LB), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, leaf water potential at predawn (Ψ) and midday (Ψ), leaf performance index (PI), and phenotypic plasticity index (PPI) were compared across five contrasting urban sites.

Hypertonic Saline Induces Host Protective Immune Responses against Infection in Mice.

Hypertonic saline (HTS) resuscitation can enhance immune responses against various pathogens, however, the effect of HTS on brucellosis is yet to be defined. In this study, we found that HTS inhibited infection in mice by augmenting Th1 immunity. HTS treatment enhanced the serum cytokines production and the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-ĸB) p50 and p65, crucial anti- effectors in splenocytes.

Updated distribution and new emerging populations of F. Seid. (Fabaceae), a critically endangered endemic plant from the Philippines.

Background: F. Seid. is an endemic and threatened tree from the Philippines.

Streamlining of Simple Sequence Repeat Data Mining Methodologies and Pipelines for Crop Scanning.

Genetic markers are powerful tools for understanding genetic diversity and the molecular basis of traits, ushering in a new era of molecular breeding in crops. Over the past 50 years, DNA markers have rapidly changed, moving from hybridization-based and second-generation-based to sequence-based markers. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are the ideal markers in plant breeding, and they have numerous desirable properties, including their repeatability, codominance, multi-allelic nature, and locus specificity.

Intraluminal Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography Application in Dogs and Cats.

Administering intraluminal fluid can improve the acoustic window for the visualization of the lumen and wall layers in the cavitary organs. Microbubbles in ultrasound contrast agents can also be used for intracavitary applications to enhance visualization of the lesion in human patients. However, there was no literature extending the clinical application of intraluminal contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) to patients with naturally occurring diseases in veterinary medicine.

Influence of alkali catalysts on product yield and Si-containing products from hydrothermal liquefaction of corn stover.

This study investigated the effects of different alkali catalysts (KCO, KOH, NaOH, and NaCO) on the yield and composition of biocrude oil and aqueous products obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of corn stover. HTL was performed in a laboratory-scale tubular reactor at 320 °C for 90 min and catalyst loading of 5.0 and 7.

In situ construction of NiCo-layered double hydroxide nanobranches with adjustable layer spacing on micro-sized carbon plate for high-performance supercapacitors.

Binary layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are an emerging class of materials for supercapacitors owing to their tunable topological structure and excellent theoretical energy storage capacity. However, aggregation and restacking cause a decrease in the interlayer distance of LDHs, resulting in a considerable drop in real specific capacitance. To address this, large-sized anions are intercalated into the interlayer space.

Downstream Processing of Crude Ultrasound-Extracted Pectin From Saba Banana ( x (BBB Group) "Saba") Peel.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of pectin from Saba banana ( x (BBB Group) "Saba") peels produced crude pectin that requires further purification. Two downstream processes (alcohol washing (AW) and acid demethylation (AD)) were compared. AW involved gelatinous precipitate washing with 85% alcohol and pressing to squeeze out liquids, while AD involved a sequential AW of the dried pectin with 60% acidified alcohol, and 60% and 95% alcohol solutions.

Deciphering the genetic basis of agronomic, yield, and nutritional traits in rice (Oryza sativa L.) using a saturated GBS-based SNP linkage map.

Developing high-yielding rice varieties that possess favorable agronomic characteristics and enhanced grain Zn content is crucial in ensuring food security and addressing nutritional needs. This research employed ICIM, IM, and multi-parent population QTL mapping methods to identify important genetic regions associated with traits such as DF, PH, NT, NP, PL, YLD, TGW, GL, GW, Zn, and Fe. Two populations of recombinant inbred lines consisting of 373 lines were phenotyped for agronomic, yield and grain micronutrient traits for three seasons at IRRI, and genotyped by sequencing.