Cellulitis incidence in a defined population ELLIS SIMONSEN, S. M.; VAN ORMAN, E. R.; HATCH, B. E. ...
Epidemiology and infection,
04/2006, Volume:
134, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A population-based insurance claims database was used to examine cellulitis incidence, anatomical sites of infection, complicating diagnoses, source of health service, and recurrence rates. Insurance ...claim files were searched for cellulitis ICD-9-CM codes 681.0–682.9. Complications of cellulitis including erysipelas, lymphadenitis, lymphangitis, and necrotizing fasciitis were also identified by ICD-9-CM codes. We found a cellulitis incidence rate of 24·6/1000 person-years, with a higher incidence among males and individuals aged 45–64 years. The most common site of infection was the lower extremity (39·9%). The majority of patients were seen in an outpatient setting (73·8%), and most (82·0%) had only one episode of cellulitis during the 5-year period studied. There was a very low incidence of cellulitis complications, including necrotizing fasciitis. Cellulitis is fairly common, usually treated in outpatient settings, and is infrequently complicated by erysipelas, lymphadenitis, lymphangitis, or necrotizing fasciitis.
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Birds parasitized by interspecific brood parasites often adopt defences based on egg recognition but such behaviours are puzzlingly rare in species parasitized by members of the same species. Here I ...show that conspecific egg recognition is frequent, accurate and used in three defences that reduce the high costs of conspecific brood parasitism in American coots. Hosts recognized and rejected many parasitic eggs, reducing the fitness costs of parasitism by half. Recognition without rejection also occurred and some hosts banished parasitic eggs to inferior outer incubation positions. Clutch size comparisons revealed that females combine egg recognition and counting to make clutch size decisions--by counting their own eggs, while ignoring distinctive parasitic eggs, females avoid a maladaptive clutch size reduction. This is clear evidence that female birds use visual rather than tactile cues to regulate their clutch sizes, and provides a rare example of the ecological and evolutionary context of counting in animals.
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1. Longitudinal records of prey selection by 10 adult female sea otters on the Monterey Peninsula, California, from 1983 to 1990 demonstrate extreme inter-individual variation in diet. Variation in ...prey availability cannot explain these differences as the data were obtained from a common spatial-temporal area. 2. Individual dietary patterns persisted throughout our study, thus indicating that they are life-long characteristics. 3. Individual dietary patterns in sea otters appear to be transmitted along matrilines, probably by way of learning during the period of mother-young association. 4. Efficient utilization of different prey types probably requires radically different sensory/motor skills, each of which is difficult to acquire and all of which may exceed the learning and performance capacities of any single individual. This would explain the absence of generalists and inertia against switching, but not the existence of alternative specialists. 5. Such individual variation might arise in a constant environment from frequency-dependent effects, whereby the relative benefit of a given prey specialization depends on the number of other individuals utilizing that prey. Additionally, many of the sea otter's prey fluctuate substantially in abundance through time. This temporal variation, in conjunction with matrilineal transmission of foraging skills, may act to mediate the temporal dynamics of prey specializations. 6. Regardless of the exact cause, such extreme individual variation in diet has broad ramifications for population and community ecology. 7. The published literature indicates that similar patterns occur in many other species.
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The hereditary ataxias are a complex group of neurological disorders characterized by the degeneration of the cerebellum and its associated connections. The molecular mechanisms that trigger the loss ...of Purkinje cells in this group of diseases remain incompletely understood. Here, we report a previously undescribed dominant mouse model of cerebellar ataxia, moonwalker (Mwk), that displays motor and coordination defects and loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Mwk mice harbor a gain-of-function mutation (T635A) in the Trpc3 gene encoding the nonselective transient receptor potential cation channel, type C3 (TRPC3), resulting in altered TRPC3 channel gating. TRPC3 is highly expressed in Purkinje cells during the phase of dendritogenesis. Interestingly, growth and differentiation of Purkinje cell dendritic arbors are profoundly impaired in Mwk mice. Our findings define a previously unknown role for TRPC3 in both dendritic development and survival of Purkinje cells, and provide a unique mechanism underlying cerebellar ataxia.
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ACMG previously developed recommendations for standards for interpretation of sequence variations. We now present the updated revised recommendations. Here, we describe six interpretative categories ...of sequence variations: (1) sequence variation is previously reported and is a recognized cause of the disorder; (2) sequence variation is previously unreported and is of the type which is expected to cause the disorder; (3) sequence variation is previously unreported and is of the type which may or may not be causative of the disorder; (4) sequence variation is previously unreported and is probably not causative of disease; (5) sequence variation is previously reported and is a recognized neutral variant; and (6) sequence variation is previously not known or expected to be causative of disease, but is found to be associated with a clinical presentation. We emphasize the importance of appropriate reporting of sequence variations using standardized terminology and established databases, and of clearly reporting the limitations of sequence-based testing. We discuss follow-up studies that may be used to ascertain the clinical significance of sequence variations, including the use of additional tools (such as predictive software programs) that may be useful in variant classification. As more information becomes available allowing the interpretation of a new sequence variant, it is recommended that the laboratory amend previous reports and provide updated results to the physician. The ACMG strongly recommends that the clinical and technical validation of sequence variation detection be performed in a CLIA-approved laboratory and interpreted by a board-certified clinical molecular geneticist or equivalent.
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Explaining latitudinal patterns in life history traits remains a challenge for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. One such prominent pattern is the latitudinal gradient in clutch size in birds: ...the number of eggs laid in a reproductive bout increases with latitude in many species. One intuitive hypothesis proposes that the longer days at high latitudes during the breeding season allow parents to spend more time foraging each day, which results in greater total food delivery to the brood each day, and hence more offspring produced. This day length hypothesis is virtually untested, although it was proposed nearly 100 years ago. We developed a conceptual framework for distinguishing between the day length hypothesis and the widely accepted alternative hypothesis that attributes the latitudinal gradient in clutch size to increased per capita food resources at higher latitudes. Using this framework to contrast components of reproductive effort and life history patterns in a mid- and high-latitude Tree Swallow (
Tachycineta bicolor
) population provided clear evidence for the day length hypothesis, but little evidence for the alternative. Our findings suggest that the length of an animal's workday may be an important, but unappreciated, component of reproductive effort.
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Coastal wetlands and lagoons are under pressure due to competing demands for freshwater resources and climatic changes, which may increase salinity and cause a loss of ecological functions. These ...pressures are particularly high in Mediterranean regions with high evaporative demand compared to precipitation. To manage such wetlands and maximize their provision of ecosystem services, their hydrologic balance must be quantified. However, multiple channels, diffuse surface water exchanges, and diverse groundwater pathways complicate the quantification of different water balance components. To overcome this difficulty, we developed a mass balance approach based on coupled water and salt balance equations to estimate currently unknown water exchange fluxes through the Gialova lagoon,
southwestern Peloponnese, Greece. Our approach facilitates quantification of both
saline and freshwater exchange fluxes, using measured precipitation, water
depth and salinity, and estimated evaporation rates over a study period of
2 years (2016–2017). While water exchanges were dominated by evaporation
and saline water inputs from the sea during the summer, precipitation and
freshwater inputs were more important during the winter. About 40 % and
60 % of the freshwater inputs were from precipitation and lateral freshwater flows, respectively. Approximately 70 % of the outputs was due
to evaporation, with the remaining 30 % being water flow from the lagoon
to the sea. Under future drier and warmer conditions, salinity in the lagoon is expected to increase, unless freshwater inputs are enhanced by restoring hydrologic connectivity between the lagoon and the surrounding freshwater bodies. This restoration strategy would be fundamental to stabilizing the current wide seasonal fluctuations in salinity and maintain ecosystem functionality but could be challenging to implement due to expected reductions in water availability in the freshwater bodies supporting the lagoon.
Egg-laying organisms should lay, in a reproductive bout, the number of eggs that maximizes fitness. Lack argued 50 years ago that clutch size for most birds is limited by the amount of food parents ...can provide for their offspring. Clutch sizes, however, are often smaller than this 'Lack clutch size', and this fact is the subject of much debate. Here I propose and test a new explanation for this pattern that is based on evidence that conspecific brood parasitism is widespread in birds, specifically when females with their own nests also parasitize conspecific birds. A graphical model of clutch size shows that the trade-offs a brood parasite faces when allocating eggs to her own nest or to nests of other conspecific females can favour a reduction in the parasite's own clutch size. This prediction is supported by a field study of American coots (Fulica americana). Moreover, the cost of receiving parasitic eggs also favours a reduction in clutch size for hosts, introducing a 'game' element to clutch size when parasitic females are themselves parasitized. These results indicate that conspecific brood parasitism should no longer be ignored as a force in clutch-size evolution.
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The theory of sexual selection was developed to explain the evolution of
highly exaggerated sexual ornaments. Now supported by vast
empirical evidence, sexual selection is generally considered
to ...favour individuals with the most extreme trait expression.
Here we describe disruptive selection on a sexual ornament, plumage coloration,
in yearling male lazuli buntings (Passerina amoena). In habitats with
limited good-quality nesting cover, the dullest and the brightest yearlings
were more successful in obtaining high-quality territories, pairing with females
and siring offspring, than yearlings with intermediate plumage. This pattern
reflects the way that territorial adult males vary levels of aggression to
influence the structure of their social neighbourhood. Adult males showed
less aggression towards dull yearlings than intermediate and bright ones,
permitting the dull yearlings to settle on good territories nearby. Fitness
comparisons based on paternity analyses showed that both the adults and dull
yearlings benefited genetically from this arrangement, revealing a rare example
of sexually selected male-male cooperation.
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