Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from ...6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale.
Bioremediation protocols Sheehan, David
Methods in biotechnology (USA),
1997, 1997., Volume:
2, Issue:
2
eBook, Book
Pt.1. Overview -- Uses of bacteria in bioremediation --Granular sludge consortia for bioremediation -- Pt.2. Protocols -- Screening of bacterial products for their crude oil biodegradation ...effectiveness -- Measurement of biosurfactant-enchanced solubilization and biodegradation of hydrocarbons -- Immobilization of bacteria in macro- and microparticles --Immunobilization and evaluation of bacterial cells in bioreactors -- Immobilization of yeast and algal cells for bioremediation of heavy metals --Enumeration of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria -- Molecular methods for the detection of methanotrophs -- Measurement of mutagenic activity in contaminated soils --Conjugation-mediated gene transfer in bacterial strains to be used for bioremediation -- Analysis of pentachlorophenol in soils for use in bioremediation studies -- Generation of species specific DNA probes for the lignin peroxidase genes of white rot fungi -- Biodegradation of nitroaromatics by microbes -- The determination of trace elments in biological and environmental samples using atomic absorption spectroscopy -- Quantifying organic and inorganic tin compounds in environmental samples --Protocol for determining bioavailability and biodegradation kinetics of organic soil pollutants in soil systems to enhance bioremediation of polluted soil sites -- Methods for evaluation of PCB dechlorination in sediments -- Pt.3. Case studies -- Evaluation of PCB dechlorintion in sediments -- Microbial degradation of alkenylbenzenes --Heavy metal bioremediation of soil -- Application of bioavailability and biokinetics protocol to phenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminants in soil and development of bioavailability and biokinetic models for soiil systems -- Appendix: glossary of abbreviations and acronyms
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FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Abstract Background This report was produced for the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care to provide guidelines on screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with ultrasound scan. Purpose ...The aim of this systematic review is to examine the evidence on benefits and harms of AAA screening. Search strategy This systematic review considered studies from the most recent United States Preventive Services Task Force review on AAA screening and passed through the screening process with citations identified in our search up to April 2015 (PROSPERO Registration #CRD42015019047). Results For benefits of one-time AAA screening in men compared with controls, pooled analyses from four randomized controlled trials with moderate quality evidence showed significant reductions in AAA-related mortality and AAA rupture rate up to 13 to 15 years of follow-up with 42% reduction (risk ratio RR, 0.58; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.39-0.88; number needed to screen = 212) and 38% reduction (RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.45-0.86; number needed to screen = 200), respectively. The effect of on all-cause mortality was marginally significant for longer follow-up. The Chichester trial examined the benefits of one-time AAA screening in women and found no significant differences between screening and control arms for up to 10 years of follow-up (RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.72-1.07). For consequences of one-time AAA screening in men compared with controls, there was a significant increase in the total number of AAA-related procedures over a follow-up of 13 to 15 years (2.16 times more likely) compared with controls. For harms of one-time AAA screening, no significant differences were observed in 30-day postoperative mortality for elective and emergency operations with compared control groups. Evidence from the Multicenter Aneurysm Screening Study trial using 13-year follow-up data showed that one-time AAA screening with ultrasound scan was potentially associated with an overdiagnosis of 45% (95% CI, 42%-47%) among screen-detected men. Conclusions Population-based screening for AAA with ultrasound scan in asymptomatic men aged 65 years and older showed statistically significant reductions in AAA-related mortality and rupture and, hence, avoids unnecessary AAA-related deaths. The current evidence showed no benefit of one-time AAA screening in woman. Limited evidence is available on the benefits of repeat AAA screening and targeted screening approaches based on risk factors for AAA. Future research should explore the differential benefits of AAA screening based on risk factors that increase risk for developing AAA.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in asymptomatic adults. Data Sources The search was conducted in Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library. A ...targeted search of PubMed was conducted for on topic RCTs. Results Meta-analysis across four RCTs for guaiac fecal occult blood testing (gFOBT) and flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening showed a reduction of 18% RR 0.82 (95% CI 0.73-0.92) and 26% RR 0.74 (95% CI 0.67-0.83) in CRC mortality for screening group as compared to controls respectively. The number needed to screen (NNS) were 377 (95% CI 249-887) and 864 (95% CI 672-1,266) for gFOBT and FS screening respectively. A reduction of 8% and 27% in incidence of late stage CRC was also observed for gFOBT and FS screening respectively, but both had no significant effect on all-cause mortality. A single RCT found that screening with immunochemical fecal occult blood test (iFOBT) had no significant impact on CRC mortality RR 0.88 (95% CI 0.72-1.07). Screening with FS has potential harms such as perforation, both major and minor bleeding, and death from the procedure or from follow-up colonoscopy. Conclusion gFOBT and FS screening reduce CRC mortality and incidence of late stage disease. The absolute effect and NNS were much more favorable for older adults (≥ 60 years) suggesting a targeted screening approach may avoid exposing younger adults to harms of CRC screening which are unlikely to derive any significant benefit. Although there is insufficient RCT evidence on the impact of iFOBT on mortality outcomes; as compared to gFOBT, this test showed higher sensitivity and comparable specificity indicating the need to update and re-evaluate the evidence in light of future high quality research. Methods for this systematic review have been published with PROSPERO 2014: CRD42014009777.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Study of life history strategies may help predict the performance of microorganisms in nature by organizing the complexity of microbial communities into groups of organisms with similar strategies. ...Here, we tested the extent that one common application of life history theory, the copiotroph-oligotroph framework, could predict the relative population growth rate of bacterial taxa in soils from four different ecosystems. We measured the change of in situ relative growth rate to added glucose and ammonium using both
O-H
O and
C quantitative stable isotope probing to test whether bacterial taxa sorted into copiotrophic and oligotrophic groups. We saw considerable overlap in nutrient responses across most bacteria regardless of phyla, with many taxa growing slowly and few taxa that grew quickly. To define plausible life history boundaries based on in situ relative growth rates, we applied Gaussian mixture models to organisms' joint
O-
C signatures and found that across experimental replicates, few taxa could consistently be assigned as copiotrophs, despite their potential for fast growth. When life history classifications were assigned based on average relative growth rate at varying taxonomic levels, finer resolutions (e.g., genus level) were significantly more effective in capturing changes in nutrient response than broad taxonomic resolution (e.g., phylum level). Our results demonstrate the difficulty in generalizing bacterial life history strategies to broad lineages, and even to single organisms across a range of soils and experimental conditions. We conclude that there is a continued need for the direct measurement of microbial communities in soil to advance ecologically realistic frameworks.
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NUK, SBMB, SBNM, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract only
298
Background: A comprehensive chemotherapy informed consent process improves shared decision-making. Additionally, the Oncology Care Model (OCM) emphasizes providing patients with a ...documented care plan that contains the 13 components in the Institute of Medicine Care Management Plan. Within our health system, we incorporated the care plan into our existing chemotherapy consent process and utilized technology to increase compliance and reduce administrative burden. Methods: Our 2 phase PDSA included: 1) updating our existing paper chemotherapy form with the 13 components of the IOM care plan and then 2) piloting an electronic version of the chemotherapy consent form. We updated our new chemotherapy consent with the addition of Prognosis, Expected Response to Treatment, Potential Effect on Quality of Life, Potential Benefits/Goals of Treatment, and added more options for potential side effects/harm. Given the increased administrative burden, we created and piloted the use of an electronic version of the consent form in our breast oncology program. Results: Baseline, monthly random chart audit of 20-40 patients revealed compliance with completing every question of the paper chemotherapy consent at 30% of all patients receiving IV chemotherapy at our cancer center that month- 7/2018. When the new chemotherapy consent incorporating the IOM elements was rolled out, compliance initially rose to 50% (8/2018), however the following months dropped to 10-20% (9-11/2018) and then back up to 41% briefly (12/2018). The results were low and inconsistent. A pareto chart confirmed that redundancy and too many questions were the reasons for under-completion. By auto-populating fields for certain questions on the paper consent, compliance increased to 75% (2/2019). Finally within our breast cancer pilot group our compliance rose to 100% (3-4/2019), by converting to an electronic form with the maximum options for auto-population and drop-down selections for certain fields. Conclusions: Incorporating regulatory requirements into an existing workflow can reduce administrative burden. The use of innovative technology can further increase clinician and OCM compliance while delivering value to patients.
Background
The balance between production, clearance, and toxicity of Ab peptides is central to AD pathobiology. Though highly variable in terms of age of symptom onset (AAO), hundreds of pathogenic ...variants in Presenilin‐1 (PSEN1) cause autosomal dominant forms of AD (ADAD). PSEN1 forms the catalytic core of the γ‐secretase complex and thereby directly mediates the production of longer, aggregation‐prone Aβ peptides relative to shorter, non‐aggregating peptides. We hypothesized that the broad AAO and biomarker heterogeneity seen across ADAD would be predictable based on mutation‐specific differences in γ‐secretase function, as measured by a ratio of production of shorter vs. longer Aβ species.
Methods
Aβ‐37, 38, 40, 42, and 43 production was quantified from 162 unique PSEN1 variants expressed in HEK293 cells engineered to lack endogenous wild‐type PSEN1/2 (Figure 1). Prediction of AAO was carried out in 107 PSEN1 variants (characterized by Liu et al, 2022) and then replicated with a set 55 unique PSEN1 variants represented in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN; n = 190 corresponding variant carriers with detailed cognitive and biomarker data; Figure 2).
Results
Mutation‐level variations in Aβ production, including a novel composite representing γ‐secretase function (lower score = less g‐processivity), from the cellular model were highly predictive of actual AAO across the 162 mutants examined (Non‐DIAN variants N = 107: r = 0.71, p <2.2e‐16; DIAN variants N = 55: r = 0.61, p = 6.10e‐07). Our cell‐based γ‐secretase function composite was strongly associated with cerebral PiB‐PET β‐amyloid burden (BSE = ‐0.030.01, p = 4.06e‐07), MRI gray matter volume (BSE = 44.226.4, p = 5.15e‐01), cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42/40 (BSE = 6.3e‐041.5e‐04, p = 4.46e‐05) and phosphorylated tau‐217 (BSE = ‐0.010.002, p = 1.98e‐05), Clinical Dementia Rating®‐ Sum of Boxes (BSE = ‐0.070.02, p = 4.86e‐05), and Mini‐Mental State Exam (BSE = 0.11.03, p = 2.17e‐04).
Conclusions
Biochemical variations in γ‐secretase function across PSEN1 pathogenic variants broadly predicted the cross‐sectional clinical, cognitive, and biomarker course of ADAD, including AAO. These findings elucidate the critical link between γ‐secretase function, Aβ production, and severity of AD. The novel approach designed here also represents a tool to account for heterogeneity in ADAD clinical trials and to assess the pathogenicity of PSEN1 variants of unknown significance or with limited family history.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Disease‐modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) are likely most beneficial when initiated in the pre‐symptomatic phase. To track success of such interventions fluid biomarkers ...became instrumental, with neurofilament light chain (NfL) showing particular promise. We previously reported that serum NfL increases in pre‐symptomatic phases of familial (autosomal‐dominantly inherited) AD (fAD) and that within‐person rate‐of‐change in NfL is an earlier predictor of fAD symptom onset compared to cross‐sectional levels. The aim of the study at hand was to extend these initial findings in a larger cohort.
Method
Participants enrolled in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) with matched cross‐sectional and longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF; n = 962) as well as plasma (n = 1294) samples were used. NfL measurements have been performed on the SIMOA platform using commercially available assay‐kits. To investigate the influence of physiological factors independent from AD, we first analyzed whether age and body mass index (BMI) could account for observed variation in inter‐individual CSF and plasma NfL levels considering non‐carrier family‐members (NC) as a healthy control group. Next, utilizing estimated years to symptom onset (EYO) and previously published methods (Preische et al., 2019), we determined the point in disease course when baseline and longitudinal CSF and plasma NfL concentrations started to increase in mutation carriers (MC) relative to NC, after adjusting for age and BMI.
Result
Our results reveal a tight correlation of CSF and blood NfL values within MC as well as NC (figure 1A‐B). However, within NC, after correction for age and BMI, some unexplained variability remained (figure 1C). Further, a decrease of the NfL plasma/CSF ratio over age was found after correcting for BMI (figure 1D). The discrimination of MC from NC was equally good for plasma compared to CSF, being possible on the group level as early as around ‐15 to almost ‐20 EYO depending on the modelling (figure 2).
Conclusion
Our results support plasma equivalently to CSF NfL as a clinically useful biomarker to longitudinally track neurodegeneration in fAD. The systemic factors influencing physiological NfL values in blood should be investigated in future studies to further improve interpretation of this biomarker.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Objective To test the overall effectiveness of a simplified search strategy (SSS) for updating systematic reviews. Methods We identified nine systematic reviews undertaken by our research ...group for which both comprehensive and simplified search strategy (SSS) updates were performed. Three relevant performance measures were estimated i.e. sensitivity, precision and number needed to read (NNR). Results The update reference searches for all nine included systematic reviews identified a total of 55,099 citations that were screened resulting in final inclusion of 163 RCTs. As compared to reference search, the simplified search strategy (SSS) resulted in 8,239 hits and had a median sensitivity of 83.3%, while precision and number needed to read (NNR) were 4.5 times better. During analysis, we found that the simplified search strategy (SSS) performed better for clinically focused topics, with a median sensitivity of 100% and precision and number needed to read (NNR) 6 times better the reference searches. For broader topics the sensitivity of the simplified search strategy (SSS) was 80% while precision and number needed to read (NNR) were 5.4 times better as compared to reference search. Conclusion Simplified search strategy (SSS) performed well for clinically-focused topics and, with a median sensitivity of 100%, could be a viable alternative to a conventional comprehensive search strategy for updating this type of systematic reviews particularly considering the budget constraints and the volume of new literature being published. For broader topics 80% sensitivity is likely to be considered too low for a systematic review update in most cases, although it might be acceptable if updating a scoping or rapid review.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract Background Obesity is a major public health issue. This review updates the evidence on the effectiveness of behavioural and pharmacologie treatments for overweight and obesity in adults. ...Methods We updated the search conducted in a previous review. Randomized trials of primary care-relevant behavioural (diet, exercise and lifestyle) and pharmacologic (orlistat and metformin) with or without behavioural treatments in overweight and obese adults were included if 12-month, postbaseline data were provided for weight outcomes. Studies reporting harms were included regardless of design. Data were extracted and pooled wherever possible for 5 weight outcomes, 6 secondary health outcomes and 4 adverse events categories. Results We identified 68 studies: most consisted of short-term (≤ 12 mo) treatments using diet (n = 8), exercise (n = 4), diet and exercise (n = 10), lifestyle (n = 19), orlistat (n = 25) or metformin (n = 4). Compared with the control groups, intervention participants had a greater mean weight loss of -3.02 kg (95% confidence interval CI -3.52 to -2.52), a greater reduction in waist circumference of -2.78 cm (95% CI -3.34 to -2.22) and a greater reduction in body mass index of -1.11 kg/m (95% CI -1.39 to -0.84). The relative risk for loss of ≥ 5% body weight was 1.77 (95% CI 1.58 to 1.99; number needed to treat 5, 95% CI 4 to 7), and the relative risk for loss of ≥ 10% body weight was 1.91 (95% CI 1.69 to 2.16; number needed to treat 9, 95% CI 7 to 12). Incidence of type 2 diabetes was lower among prediabetic intervention participants (relative risk 0.62, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.77; number needed to treat 17, 95% CI 13 to 29). With prevalence rates for type 2 diabetes on the rise, weight loss coupled with a reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes could potentially have a significant benefit on population health and a possible reduction in need for drug treatments for glycemic control. Interprétation There is moderate quality evidence that behavioural and pharmacologic plus behavioural treatments for overweight and obesity in adults lead to clinically important reductions in weight and incidence of type 2 diabetes in prediabetic populations. Registration: PROSPERO no. CRD42012002753
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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