Faculty Perspective Regarding Practical Experience of Adapted Physical Education for Undergraduate Students.

Preparing future physical education professionals to teach adapted physical education (APE) is a responsibility of physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Furthermore, there is limited literature on practicum and/or field experiences as a part of APE courses from the perspective of faculty members. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore faculty views in relation to the practical experiences in undergraduate APE courses. Structured interviews were conducted with faculty members of higher education institutions in the U.S. There were five study participants in this study. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. The findings included three subthemes: (a) quality of quantity, (b) need for diversity in practical experiences, and (c) practical experience pertaining to APE courses. Practical experience in APE courses is an integral part of professional preparation for undergraduate students in kinesiology programs. There are no exact criteria for requirements across the states; however, students could maximize their learning by engaging in diverse APE practicum settings. The instructor of APE courses should provide clear guidelines and feedback for students. Instructors of APE courses must also consider the institutional and environmental context prior to planning and implementing practical experiences to provide successful learning experiences for students.

In Silico Prediction of Andrographolide Dosage Regimens for COVID-19 Treatment.

Andrographolide (APE) has been used for COVID-19 treatment in various clinical settings in South-East Asia due to its benefits on reduction of viral clearance and prevention of disease progression. However, the limitation of APE clinical use is the high incidence of adverse events. The objective of this study was to find the optimal dosage regimens of APE for COVID-19 treatment. The whole-body physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models were constructed using data from the published articles and validated against clinical observations. The inhibitory effect of APE was determined for the potency of drug efficacy. For prevention of pneumonia, multiple oral doses such as 120[Formula: see text]mg for three doses, followed by 60[Formula: see text]mg three times daily for 4 consecutive days, or 200[Formula: see text]mg intravenous infusion at the rate of 20 mg/h once daily is advised in patients with mild COVID-19. For prevention of pneumonia and reduction of viral clearance time, the recommended dosage regimen is 500[Formula: see text]mg intravenous infusion at the rate of 25[Formula: see text]mg/h once daily in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. One hundred virtual populations (50 males and 50 females) were simulated for oral and intravenous infusion formulations of APE. The eligible PBPK/PD models successfully predicted optimal dosage regimens and formulations of APE for prevention of disease progression and/or reduction of viral clearance time. Additionally, APE should be co-administered with other antiviral drugs to enhance therapeutic efficacy for COVID-19 treatment.

Genomics: Infectious Disease and Host-Pathogen Interaction.

Infectious diseases, which are caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, pose a serious threat to humans, animals, and plants [...].

Molecular diversity and phenotypic pleiotropy of ancient genomic regulatory loci derived from human endogenous retrovirus type H (HERVH) promoter LTR7 and HERVK promoter LTR5_Hs and their contemporary impacts on pathophysiology of Modern Humans.

Timelines of population-level effects of viruses on humans varied from the evolutionary scale of million years to contemporary spread of viral infections. Correspondingly, these events are exemplified by: (i) emergence of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) from ancient germline infections leading to stable integration of viral genomes into human chromosomes; and (ii) wide-spread viral infections reaching a global pandemic state such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite significant efforts, understanding of HERV's roles in governance of genomic regulatory networks, their impacts on primate evolution and development of human-specific physiological and pathological phenotypic traits remains limited. Remarkably, present analyses revealed that expression of a dominant majority of genes (1696 of 1944 genes; 87%) constituting high-confidence down-steam regulatory targets of defined HERV loci was significantly altered in cells infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, a pathogen causing the global COVID-19 pandemic. This study focused on defined sub-sets of DNA sequences derived from HERVs that are expressed at specific stages of human preimplantation embryogenesis and exert regulatory actions essential for self-renewal and pluripotency. Evolutionary histories of LTR7/HERVH and LTR5_Hs/HERVK were charted based on evidence of the earliest presence and expansion of highly conserved (HC) LTR sequences. Sequence conservation analyses of most recent releases 17 primate species' genomes revealed that LTR7/HERVH have entered germlines of primates in Africa after the separation of the New World Monkey lineage, while LTR5_Hs/HERVK successfully colonized primates' germlines after the segregation of Gibbons' species. Subsequently, both LTR7 and LTR5_Hs undergo a marked ~ fourfold-fivefold expansion in genomes of Great Apes. Timelines of quantitative expansion of both LTR7 and LTR5_Hs loci during evolution of Great Apes appear to replicate the consensus evolutionary sequence of increasing cognitive and behavioral complexities of non-human primates, which seems particularly striking for LTR7 loci and 11 distinct LTR7 subfamilies. Consistent with previous reports, identified in this study, 351 human-specific (HS) insertions of LTR7 (175 loci) and LTR5_Hs (176 loci) regulatory sequences have been linked to genes implicated in establishment and maintenance of naïve and primed pluripotent states and preimplantation embryogenesis phenotypes. Unexpectedly, HS-LTRs manifest regulatory connectivity to genes encoding markers of 12 distinct cells' populations of fetal gonads, as well as genes implicated in physiology and pathology of human spermatogenesis, including Y-linked spermatogenic failure, oligo- and azoospermia. Granular interrogations of genes linked with 11 distinct LTR7 subfamilies revealed that mammalian offspring survival (MOS) genes seem to remain one of consistent regulatory targets throughout ~ 30 MYA of the divergent evolution of LTR7 loci. Differential GSEA of MOS versus non-MOS genes identified clearly discernable dominant enrichment patterns of phenotypic traits affected by MOS genes linked with LTR7 (562 MOS genes) and LTR5_Hs (126 MOS genes) regulatory loci across the large panel of genomics and proteomics databases reflecting a broad spectrum of human physiological and pathological traits. GSEA of LTR7-linked MOS genes identified more than 2200 significantly enriched records of human common and rare diseases and gene signatures of 466 significantly enriched records of Human Phenotype Ontology traits, including Autosomal Dominant (92 genes) and Autosomal Recessive (93 genes) Inheritance. LTR7 regulatory elements appear linked with genes implicated in functional and morphological features of central nervous system, including synaptic transmission and protein-protein interactions at synapses, as well as gene signatures differentially regulated in cells of distinct neurodevelopmental stages and morphologically diverse cell types residing and functioning in human brain. These include Neural Stem/Precursor cells, Radial Glia cells, Bergman Glia cells, Pyramidal cells, Tanycytes, Immature neurons, Interneurons, Trigeminal neurons, GABAergic neurons, and Glutamatergic neurons. GSEA of LTR7-linked genes identified significantly enriched gene sets encoding markers of more than 80 specialized types of neurons and markers of 521 human brain regions, most prominently, subiculum and dentate gyrus. Identification and characterization of 1944 genes comprising high-confidence down-steam regulatory targets of LTR7 and/or LTR5_Hs loci validated and extended these observations by documenting marked enrichments for genes implicated in neoplasm metastasis, intellectual disability, autism, multiple cancer types, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and other brain disorders. Overall, genes representing down-stream regulatory targets of ancient retroviral LTRs exert the apparently cooperative and exceedingly broad phenotypic impacts on human physiology and pathology. This is exemplified by altered expression of 93% high-confidence LTR targets in cells infected by contemporary viruses, revealing a convergence of virus-inflicted aberrations on genomic regulatory circuitry governed by ancient retroviral LTR elements and interference with human cells' differentiation programs.

An expanded "staying alive" theory (SAT) underplays complexity in Homo sapiens.

The target article takes myriad human female patterns and aligns them as a unit emerging from an expanded version of "staying alive" theory (SAT). Females and males do differ, however, to treat the complexity of human response to threats as an explicit, evolved sexually dimorphic package is not reflective of current knowledge regarding health, sex/gender, and behavior in Homo sapiens.

Reverse-zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 lineage alpha (B.1.1.7) to great apes and exotic felids in a zoo in the Czech Republic.

We report an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 lineage alpha in gorillas and felid species in a zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. The course of illness and clinical signs are described, as are the results of characterization of these particular SARS-CoV-2 variants by next-generation sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The putative transmission routes are also discussed.

Clinical perspectives on nasopharyngeal morphology in humans.

The nasopharynx is an integral component of the upper aerodigestive tract, whose morphologic features share an intimate relationship with a vast array of clinical, functional, and quality of life conditions related to contemporary humans. Its composite architecture and central location amidst the nasal cavity, pharyngotympanic tube, palate, and skull base bears implications for basic physiologic functions including breathing, vocalization, and alimentation. Over the course of evolution, morphological modifications of nasopharyngeal anatomy have occurred in genus Homo which serve to distinguish the human upper aerodigestive tract from that of other mammals. Understanding of these adaptive changes from both a comparative anatomy and clinical perspective offers insight into the unique blueprint which underpins many clinical pathologies currently encountered by anthropologists, scientists, and otorhinolaryngologists alike. This discussion intends to familiarize readers with the fundamental role that nasopharyngeal morphology plays in upper aerodigestive tract conditions, with consideration of its newfound clinical relevance in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mitigating Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gorilla Conservation: Lessons From Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda.

The COVID-19 pandemic, affecting all countries, with millions of cases and deaths, and economic disruptions due to lockdowns, also threatens the health and conservation of endangered mountain gorillas. For example, increased poaching due to absence of tourism income, led to the killing on 1st June 2020 of a gorilla by a hungry community member hunting duiker and bush pigs. Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a grassroots NGO and non-profit founded in 2003 promotes biodiversity conservation by enabling people to co-exist with wildlife through integrated programs that improve animal health, community health, and livelihoods in and around Africa's protected areas and wildlife rich habitats. Through these programs, we have helped to mitigate these impacts. CTPH worked with Uganda Wildlife Authority and other NGOs to improve great ape viewing guidelines and prevent transmission of COVID-19 between people and gorillas. Park staff, Gorilla Guardians herding gorillas from community land to the park and Village Health and Conservation Teams were trained to put on protective face masks, enforce hand hygiene and a 10-meter great ape viewing distance. To reduce the communities' need to poach, CTPH found a UK-based distributor, for its Gorilla Conservation Coffee social enterprise enabling coffee farmers to earn revenue in the absence of tourism and provided fast growing seedlings to reduce hunger in vulnerable community members. Lessons learned show the need to support non-tourism dependent community livelihoods, and more responsible tourism to the great apes, which CTPH is advocating to governments, donors and tour companies through an Africa CSO Biodiversity Alliance policy brief.

A great ape perspective on the origins and evolution of human viruses.

Over the last two decades, the viromes of our closest relatives, the African great apes (AGA), have been intensively studied. Comparative approaches have unveiled diverse evolutionary patterns, highlighting both stable host-virus associations over extended evolutionary timescales and much more recent viral emergence events. In this chapter, we summarize these findings and outline how they have shed a new light on the origins and evolution of many human-infecting viruses. We also show how this knowledge can be used to better understand the evolution of human health in relation to viral infections.

Endangered mountain gorillas and COVID-19: One health lessons for prevention and preparedness during a global pandemic.

The world's 1063 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) live in two subpopulations at the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. The majority of mountain gorillas are human-habituated to facilitate tourism and research, which brings mountain gorillas into close proximity of people daily. Wild great apes are proven to be susceptible to human pathogens, including viruses that have caused fatal respiratory disease in mountain gorillas (e.g., human metapneumovirus1 ). This is the result of the close genetic relatedness of humans and gorillas as species, and the structural and genetic similarity in molecular receptors that allow viruses to infect cells2 . At the time of writing, there is no evidence that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), has infected a mountain gorilla. However, due to the significant potential for human-to-gorilla transmission, mountain gorilla range States took immediate steps to minimize the COVID-19 threat. These actions included a combination of preventive practice around gorillas and other great apes (e.g., mandatory face mask use, increased "social" minimum distancing from gorillas) as well as human public health measures (e.g., daily health/fever screenings, COVID-19 screening, and quarantines). Minimization of the COVID-19 threat also required socioeconomic decision-making and political will, as all gorilla tourism was suspended by late March 2020 and guidelines developed for tourism reopening. A consortium that collaborates and coordinates on mountain gorilla management and conservation, working within an intergovernmental institutional framework, took a multifaceted One Health approach to address the COVID-19 threat to mountain gorillas by developing a phased contingency plan for prevention and response. The aim of this paper is to describe how range States and partners achieved this collaborative planning effort, with intent that this real-world experience will inform similar actions at other great ape sites.

New insights into human immunity from ancient genomics.

Population genetic studies have clearly indicated that immunity and host defense are among the functions most frequently subject to natural selection, and increased our understanding of the biological relevance of the corresponding genes and their contribution to variable immune traits and diseases. Herein, we will focus on some recently studied forms of human adaptation to infectious agents, including hybridization with now-extinct hominins, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, and admixture between modern human populations. These studies, which are partly enabled by the technological advances in the sequencing of DNA from ancient remains, provide new insight into the sources of immune response variation in contemporary humans, such as the recently reported link between Neanderthal heritage and susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease. Furthermore, ancient DNA analyses, in both humans and pathogens, allow to measure the action of natural selection on immune genes across time and to reconstruct the impact of past epidemics on the evolution of human immunity.

[A poisoned gift]. / Un cadeau empoisonné - Chroniques génomiques.

GWAS analysis of severe Covid patients implicates a major locus on chromosome 3. The corresponding 50 kb segment appears to originate from Neanderthal/Sapiens crossings, raising interesting evolutionary questions.