Welcome to PotterCast 297! In this episode:

- What happened in Times Square with Cursed Child, again?

- In How About That: Hagrid in the first few chapters! How he got to Harry, what he knew, what magic he used, and what was really up with the pink umbrella.

- HAGRID CAN SPELL HAPPY BIRTHDAY THANK YOU

- Can you convict an owl of theft?

- In the drums, Frankie has an announcement! 

Don't forget that we have a Patreon where you can get extra (sorting-related!) content!

Produced by Adam Molina // Assoc. Produced by Kylie Madden

Scientists injected CRISPR gene-editing machinery into unfertilized eggs still developing in female lizards’ ovaries.

In 'Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery,' the critic travels to Nordic cities to investigate the society that shaped a global phenomenon.

In an excerpt from "Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery," the essayist Wendy Lasser recommends her favorite writers in the booming genre.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the association between use of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and risk of serious renal events in routine clinical practice.

Attention has been paid to H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) because of its heavy burden on the poultry industry and human mortality. Since an influenza A virus carrying N6 neuraminidase (NA) has never spread in humans, the potential for H5N6 HPAIV to cause disease in humans and the efficacy of antiviral drugs against the virus need to be urgently assessed. We used non-human primates to elucidate the pathogenesis of H5N6 HPAIV as well as to determine the efficacy of antiviral drugs against the virus. H5N6 HPAIV infection led to high fever in cynomolgus macaques. The lung injury caused by the virus was severe with diffuse alveolar damage and neutrophil infiltration. In addition, an increase in IFN-α showed an inverse correlation with virus titers during the infection process. Oseltamivir was effective for reducing H5N6 HPAIV propagation, and continuous treatment with peramivir reduced virus propagation and severity of symptoms in the early stage. This study also showed the pathologically severe lung injury states in the cynomolgus macaques infected with H5N6 HPAIV, even in those that received early antiviral drug treatments, indicating the need for close monitoring and the need for further studies on the virus pathogenicity and new antiviral therapies.

DOVER – Delaware authorities are urging poultry and bird owners to be vigilant in the wake of avian influenza cases reported in Oregon and Washington state. “Though it’s far away at the moment, we know that avian influenza can spread rapidly,” said Delaware State Veterinarian Dr. Heather Hirst, who heads the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s […]

To protect against the spread of avian influenza, the Delaware Department of Agriculture is prohibiting waterfowl entries in the poultry competitions at the Delaware State Fair next month. "This action is being taken out of an abundance of caution to guard against the spread of avian influenza," said Delaware State Veterinarian Dr. Heather Hirst. There have been no East Coast cases of the disease. There are no immediate public health concerns, and poultry and eggs which are properly prepared and cooked are still safe to eat.

Accurate detection of influenza A virus (IAV) is crucial for patient management, infection control, and epidemiological surveillance. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended using the M gene as the diagnostic gene target for reverse-transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). However, M gene RT-PCR has reduced sensitivity for recent IAV due to novel gene mutations. Here, we sought to identify novel diagnostic targets for the molecular detection of IAV using long-read third-generation sequencing. Direct nanopore sequencing from 18 nasopharyngeal specimens and one saliva specimen showed that the 5' and 3' ends of the PB2 gene and the entire NS gene were highly abundant. Primers selected for PB2 and NS genes were well matched with seasonal or avian IAV gene sequences. Our novel PB2 and NS gene real-time RT-PCR assays showed limits of detection similar to or lower than that of M gene RT-PCR and achieved 100% sensitivity and specificity in the detection of A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and A(H7N9) in nasopharyngeal and saliva specimens. For 10 patients with IAV detected by M gene RT-PCR conversion in sequentially collected specimens, NS and/or PB2 gene RT-PCR was positive in 2 (20%) of the initial specimens that were missed by M gene RT-PCR. In conclusion, we have shown that PB2 or NS gene RT-PCRs are suitable alternatives to the recommended M gene RT-PCR for diagnosis of IAV. Long-read nanopore sequencing facilitates the identification of novel diagnostic targets.

Recent progress has been made in identifying genomic regions implicated in trait evolution on a microevolutionary scale in many species, but whether these are relevant over macroevolutionary time remains unclear. Here, we directly address this fundamental question using bird beak shape, a key evolutionary innovation linked to patterns of resource use, divergence, and speciation, as a model trait. We integrate class-wide geometric-morphometric analyses with evolutionary sequence analyses of 10,322 protein-coding genes as well as 229,001 genomic regions spanning 72 species. We identify 1434 protein-coding genes and 39,806 noncoding regions for which molecular rates were significantly related to rates of bill shape evolution. We show that homologs of the identified protein-coding genes as well as genes in close proximity to the identified noncoding regions are involved in craniofacial embryo development in mammals. They are associated with embryonic stem cell pathways, including BMP and Wnt signaling, both of which have repeatedly been implicated in the morphological development of avian beaks. This suggests that identifying genotype-phenotype association on a genome-wide scale over macroevolutionary time is feasible. Although the coding and noncoding gene sets are associated with similar pathways, the actual genes are highly distinct, with significantly reduced overlap between them and bill-related phenotype associations specific to noncoding loci. Evidence for signatures of recent diversifying selection on our identified noncoding loci in Darwin finch populations further suggests that regulatory rather than coding changes are major drivers of morphological diversification over macroevolutionary times.

ES design columnists Att Pynta on mastering clashing prints and colour

David H. Safavian was sentenced today to one year in prison on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements in connection with the investigation into the activities of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

This modern take on the gabled farmhouse includes lots of clever space-saving ideas.

They are so thin that it's hard to believe that they stand up.

Written by one of my favorite bloggers, this new book will inspire and guide readers to instill a love for nature in their children.

Made right in downtown Los Angeles, this prefab unit is made with an innovative recyclable and recycled panel system.

Those hoping to head out to watch bonfire displays across the UK for Guy Fawkes night tomorrow will have to wrap up warm as 1,200 mile-wide freeze is set to blanket some areas.

The WHO has warned that India would likely be hit if a bird-flu pandemic breaks out because India has large numbers of domestic ducks and the country is along major bird migratory routes originating in the East. Abhijit Das notes a few positive elements in India's readiness, but finds that much more is needed to avert disaster.

A locally funded Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) genome sequencing project increases avian data and advances young researcher education Oleksyk, Taras K.; Pombert, Jean-Francois; Siu, Daniel; Mazo-Vargas, Anyimilehidi; Ramos, Brian; Guiblet, Wilfried; Afanador, Yashira; Ruiz-Rodriguez, Christina T.; Nickerson, Michael L.; Logue, David M.; Dean, Michael; Figueroa, Luis; Valentin, Ricardo; Martinez-Cruzado, Juan-Carlos Background: Amazona vittata is a critically endangered Puerto Rican endemic bird, the only surviving native parrot species in the United States territory, and the first parrot in the large Neotropical genus Amazona, to be studied on a genomic scale. Findings: In a unique community-based funded project, DNA from an A. vittata female was sequenced using a HiSeq Illumina platform, resulting in a total of ~42.5 billion nucleotide bases. This provided approximately 26.89x average coverage depth at the completion of this funding phase. Filtering followed by assembly resulted in 259,423 contigs (N50=6,983 bp, longest=75,003 bp), which was further scaffolded into 148,255 fragments (N50=19,470, longest=206,462 bp). This provided ~76% coverage of the genome based on an estimated size of 1.58 Gb. The assembled scaffolds allowed basic genomic annotation and comparative analyses with other available avian whole-genome sequences. Conclusions: The current data represents the first genomic information from and work carried out with a unique source of funding. This analysis further provides a means for directed training of young researchers in genetic and bioinformatics analyses and will facilitate progress towards a full assembly and annotation of the Puerto Rican parrot genome. It also adds extensive genomic data to a new branch of the avian tree, making it useful for comparative analyses with other avian species. Ultimately, the knowledge acquired from these data will contribute to an improved understanding of the overall population health of this species and aid in ongoing and future conservation efforts. Sherpa Romeo green journal. Open access article. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (CC BY 2.0) applies

Browsery TX725.I7 D47 2018

Hayden Library - PT2668.A5 M6713 2016

Malo Bulu, Petrus, author

Durham : Duke University Press, 2020.

Online Resource