Aim
Studies on latitudinal patterns in plant defence have traditionally overlooked the potential effect that resource availability may have in shaping plant defence. Likewise, latitudinal patterns of ...tolerance traits have rarely been studied, yet they can be a critical component of plant defence. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine latitudinal variation in the production of tolerance and resistance traits against herbivory along a latitudinal range and a natural gradient of resource availability from upwelling conditions.
Location
North America (Canada, USA, Mexico).
Time period
Summer months of 2015.
Major taxa used
The seagrass Zostera marina.
Methods
We conducted experiments simulating macroherbivore (e.g., bird, fish) damage on the seagrass Z. marina at 10 sites across the Eastern Pacific coast (Canada–Mexico) and Quebec and analysed several traits related to resistance and tolerance strategies against herbivory. In addition, we examined the effects of potential seagrass changes in defence strategies by performing a series of feeding experiments with mesoherbivores in a subset of sites.
Results
We found that eelgrass resistance defences did not follow a linear latitudinal pattern but rather followed a bell‐shaped curve which correlated with bottom‐up control. In sites with higher nutrient availability, plants allocated resources to tolerance strategies and had lower resistance traits. Furthermore, seagrasses did not respond linearly to increased herbivory pressure; while they tolerated moderate levels of herbivory, they underwent a significant reduction in tolerance and resistance under high herbivory levels, which also made them more susceptible to consumers in feeding experiments.
Main conclusions
Our results highlight the importance that nutrient availability has in shaping latitudinal patterns of plant defence against herbivory and show how these defences may not respond linearly to increased herbivory pressure in seagrasses.
A Guideline Group (GG) was convened from multiple specialties and patients to develop the first comprehensive schwannomatosis guideline. The GG undertook thorough literature review and wrote ...recommendations for treatment and surveillance. A modified Delphi process was used to gain approval for recommendations which were further altered for maximal consensus. Schwannomatosis is a tumour predisposition syndrome leading to development of multiple benign nerve-sheath non-intra-cutaneous schwannomas that infrequently affect the vestibulocochlear nerves. Two definitive genes (SMARCB1/LZTR1) have been identified on chromosome 22q centromeric to NF2 that cause schwannoma development by a 3-event, 4-hit mechanism leading to complete inactivation of each gene plus NF2. These genes together account for 70-85% of familial schwannomatosis and 30-40% of isolated cases in which there is considerable overlap with mosaic NF2. Craniospinal MRI is generally recommended from symptomatic diagnosis or from age 12-14 if molecularly confirmed in asymptomatic individuals whose relative has schwannomas. Whole-body MRI may also be deployed and can alternate with craniospinal MRI. Ultrasound scans are useful in limbs where typical pain is not associated with palpable lumps. Malignant-Peripheral-Nerve-Sheath-Tumour-MPNST should be suspected in anyone with rapidly growing tumours and/or functional loss especially with SMARCB1-related schwannomatosis. Pain (often intractable to medication) is the most frequent symptom. Surgical removal, the most effective treatment, must be balanced against potential loss of function of adjacent nerves. Assessment of patients' psychosocial needs should be assessed annually as well as review of pain/pain medication. Genetic diagnosis and counselling should be guided ideally by both blood and tumour molecular testing.
Pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with sickness behaviors, a set of behaviors including low mood, which are orchestrated by the brain and described as shift in motivational state. The present ...study investigated the hypothesis that local inflammation is associated with greater subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) activation in persons undergoing chronic stress.
Women undergoing the emotional stress of bereavement had fMRI scans during a grief elicitation task. Local inflammation was measured by salivary concentrations of two markers of pro-inflammatory cytokine activity (e.g., interleukin-1β and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II).
Analyses revealed that both inflammatory markers were positively associated with ventral prefrontal activation (e.g., sACC and orbitofrontal cortex) as well as other regions important in the emotional task such as noun retrieval (e.g., temporal cortex), and visual processing (e.g., cuneus and fusiform gyrus). In separate analyses, the ventral prefrontal activations correlated with free recall of grief-related word stimuli, but not neutral word stimuli.
This is the first study to demonstrate the relationship between emotional processing, regional brain activation and localized inflammation in a chronically stressed population of adults.
The current standard of practice for the detection of osseous metastatic disease is the conventional bone scan of the entire body using technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate (Tc-99m MDP). Although ...Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy is sensitive for the detection of advanced skeletal metastatic lesions, early involvement may be missed because this technique relies on the identification of the osteoblastic reaction of the involved bone rather than the detection the tumor itself. Positron emission tomography (PET) has proven to be the gold standard in metabolic imaging. Fluorine -18 deoxyglucose (FDG) provides a means of quantitating the glucose metabolism, with the amount of tracer accumulation reflecting the glucose metabolism: high-grade malignancies tend to have higher rates of glycolysis than do low-grade malignancies and benign lesions; therefore, high-grade malignancies have greater uptake of FDG than that of low-grade or benign lesions. Positron emission tomography has been shown to be superior to scintigraphy in the detection of metastases because it detects the presence of tumor directly by metabolic activity, rather than indirectly by showing tumor involvement due to increased bone mineral turnover. This has allowed the detection of metastatic foci earlier with PET than with bone scintigraphy. Although the spectrum of PET applications is unknown, it now is approved for the diagnosis, staging and restaging of many common malignancies and has shown efficacy for the detection of osseous metastasis from several malignancies including lung carcinoma, breast carcinoma, and lymphoma.
South African children’s long-term health and well-being is jeopardized during their mothers’ pregnancies by the intersecting epidemics of HIV, alcohol use, low birth weight (LBW; <2,500 g) related ...to poor nutrition, and depressed mood. This research examines these overlapping risk factors among 1,145 pregnant Xhosa women living in 24 township neighborhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Results revealed that 66 % of pregnant women experienced at least one risk factor. In descending order of prevalence, 37 % reported depressed mood, 29 % were HIV+, 25 % used alcohol prior to knowing that they were pregnant, and 15 % had a previous childbirth with a LBW infant. Approximately 27 % of women had more than one risk factor: depressed mood was significantly associated with alcohol use and LBW, with a trend to significance with HIV+. In addition, alcohol use was significantly related to HIV+. These results suggest the importance of intervening across multiple risks to maternal and child health, and particularly with depression and alcohol use, to positively impact multiple maternal and infant outcomes.
Reconstruction after the resection of pelvic tumors is a major challenge. It depends on many factors such as age, activity level, type of tumor, its adjuvant treatment, and the extent of the disease. ...The purpose of the current study was to analyze the functional and oncologic outcomes of patients who had an iliofemoral arthrodesis after resection of a pelvic sarcoma. Between 1981 and 1999, 20 males and 12 females with a mean age of 39.9 years (range, 10-71 years) had an iliofemoral arthrodesis, either as a solid fusion or primary pseudarthrosis, at one institution. The functional outcome was evaluated using the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and the Toronto Extremity Salvage scores. At a mean followup of 97 months (range, 14-226 months), 15 of 32 patients were alive, all without disease. The radiographic union rate was 86%. The mean overall Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and Toronto Extremity Salvage scores were 64% and 48%, respectively. Patients with a primary solid fusion did functionally better compared with patients who had pseudarthrosis (Toronto Extremity Salvage Score, 76%; Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score, 71% versus Toronto Extremity Salvage Score, 52%; Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score, 25%). Biomechanical analysis showed that the loss of motion in the hip is well-compensated. The authors conclude from this series that iliofemoral reconstruction after resection of a pelvic sarcoma provides acceptable and durable long-term results, not only from the oncologic, but also from the functional perspective.
What is “normal” in grief? Arizmendi, Brian J.; O’Connor, Mary-Frances
Australian critical care,
05/2015, Letnik:
28, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Research conducted over the past two decades has revealed that grief, a common phenomenon experienced by many people following the loss of a loved one, is rarely experienced as a steady progression ...from high acuity (intensity) to eventual resolution. Instead of this single “traditional” path, four distinct trajectories are supported by empirical data: resilience, chronic grief, depressed-improved, and chronic depression. Furthermore, a small subset of individuals never fully integrate the loss into their life, and continue to experience severe disruption in daily life many years after the loss event, a phenomenon known as Complicated Grief (CG). Continued empirical research will help further our understanding of the normative grief process and CG as a disorder. This information is crucial for informing clinicians of best practices when attending to those suffering from loss.
Background: Structural abnormalities of the corpus callosum (CC), such as reduced size and increased shape variability, have been documented in individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders ...(FASD). However, the regional specificity of altered CC structure, which may point to the timing of neurodevelopmental disturbances and/or relate to specific functional impairments, remains unclear. Furthermore, associations between facial dysmorphology and callosal structure remain undetermined.
Methods: One hundred and fifty‐three participants (age range 8 to 16) including 82 subjects with FASD and 71 nonexposed controls were included in this study. The structural magnetic resonance imaging data of these subjects was collected at 3 sites (Los Angeles and San Diego, California, and Cape Town, South Africa) and analyzed using classical parcellation schemes, as well as more refined surface‐based geometrical modeling methods, to identify callosal morphological alterations in FASD at high spatial resolution.
Results: Reductions in callosal thickness and area, specifically in the anterior third and the splenium, were observed in FASD compared with nonexposed controls. In addition, reduced CC thickness and area significantly correlated with reduced palpebral fissure length.
Conclusions: Consistent with previous reports, findings suggest an adverse effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on callosal growth and further indicate that fiber pathways connecting frontal and parieto‐occipital regions in each hemisphere may be particularly affected. Significant associations between callosal and facial dysmorphology provide evidence for a concurrent insult to midline facial and brain structural development in FASD.
CHARLES J. FILLMORE Ackerman, Farrell; Kay, Paul; O'Connor, Mary Catherine
Language (Baltimore),
09/2014, Letnik:
90, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
An obituary is presented for Charles J. (Chuck) Fillmore, the 67th president of the Linguistic Society of America, who died on Feb 13, 2014 in San Francisco. Fillmore was one of the world's ...preeminent linguists.
To develop a comprehensive item library of patient-reported, immunotherapy-related adverse events (irAEs) that draws from and expands on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) ...Measurement System.
Literature review and iterative expert input. Based on a literature review of irAEs, we developed a framework of immunotherapy classes and their associated symptoms. Clinical experts then reviewed iterations of symptom summaries and item maps linked to the immunotherapy framework. Experts provided content review and feedback was shared across experts until consensus was reached. The iterative process facilitated creation of a Primary Symptom List associated with immune checkpoint modulators (ICMs), drawn from the larger set of symptoms. Existing FACIT items were mapped to the symptom list, and new items were written as needed to create the item library.
The full item library of irAEs is comprised of 239 items, covering 142 unique symptoms across 75 inflammatory reactions/immune conditions. A subset of 66 items comprises a Primary Symptom List considered most common/relevant to ICM treatment. This includes gastrointestinal, skin, pulmonary, neurologic, musculoskeletal, and multiple miscellaneous and constitutional symptoms.
The FACIT Immunotherapy Item Library is a compilation of 239 self-report items that capture the wide range of AEs experienced by people receiving immune treatments. A subset of 66 items comprises a Primary Symptom List meant for ICM therapy. Use of items selected from this library is encouraged in clinical research and clinical practice evaluation.
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