Latitudinal clines: an evolutionary view on biological rhythms Hut, Roelof A.; Paolucci, Silvia; Dor, Roi ...
Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological sciences/Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences,
08/2013, Letnik:
280, Številka:
1765
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Properties of the circadian and annual timing systems are expected to vary systematically with latitude on the basis of different annual light and temperature patterns at higher latitudes, creating ...specific selection pressures. We review literature with respect to latitudinal clines in circadian phenotypes as well as in polymorphisms of circadian clock genes and their possible association with annual timing. The use of latitudinal (and altitudinal) clines in identifying selective forces acting on biological rhythms is discussed, and we evaluate how these studies can reveal novel molecular and physiological components of these rhythms.
Sense of Coherence in Nurses: A Systematic Review Masanotti, Giuseppe Michele; Paolucci, Silvia; Abbafati, Elia ...
International journal of environmental research and public health,
03/2020, Letnik:
17, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
: Nurses experience high levels of distress due to the nature of their work and workplaces; Antonovsky's salutogenic theory shows that individual and work-related factors can influence human health. ...The aim of this paper is to analyze the possible correlations with different work-related and individual variables, which influence or are influenced by Sense of Coherence (SOC) and verify the possible use of SOC scales to prevent negative health determinants in workplaces.
: Electronic databases were searched with selected studies compared for sample, sample size, study design and basic results. Cross-sectional studies were reviewed for correlations between individual physical and mental health, distress, burnout, job satisfaction and SOC, with intervention studies used to assess the possible impact of training on nurses' SOC.
: The review found several correlations between SOC and different work-related variables; but also with several individual characteristics.
: The review found that SOC was predictor of depressive state, burnout, job dissatisfaction among female nurses; therefore, SOC could be a health promoting resource.
In seasonal environments, organisms synchronize their life cycle with the annual cycle of environmental factors. In many insect species, this includes a diapause response: a timed dormant stage that ...allows to survive harsh winter conditions. Previously, we have shown that larval diapause in the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis is induced by the mother upon exposure to a threshold number of short photoperiods (named switch point) and diapause response follows a latitudinal cline in natural populations. Here, we present a QTL analysis using two lines derived from the extremes of this clinal distribution: a northern line from Oulu, Finland and a southern line from Corsica, France. A genomic region on chromosome 1 and one on chromosome 5 were found to be associated with photoperiodic diapause induction. Interestingly, these regions contain the putative clock genes period, cycle (chromosome 1) and cryptochrome (chromosome 5). An analysis of period polymorphisms in seven European populations showed a clinal distribution of two main haplotypes that correlate with the latitudinal cline for diapause induction.
Introduction
Ipsilateral and contralateral carotid stenosis (ICS, CCS) influence acute ischemic stroke (AIS) severity and prognosis. Few data are available about their impact on reperfusion therapies ...efficacy. Aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of ICS and CCS on the effect of intravenous thrombolysis (IT), mechanical thrombectomy (MT) or both and of antiplatelet therapy (AT).
Methods
We enrolled all the consecutive patients admitted for AIS to our stroke unit and submitted to IT, MT, IT+MT, or AT. We established the presence of a significant ICS or CCS (≥70%) by ultrasound examination or brain angio-CT, or MRI. Clinical and instrumental information were collected; delta National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) from pre-treatment to patients' discharge was employed as the main outcome measure.
Results
In total, 460 subjects were enrolled, 86 with ICS and 38 with CCS. We observed a significant linear trend of delta (NIHSS) between carotid stenosis categories for patients undergoing IT (
p
= 0.011), MT (
p
= 0.046), and MT+IT (
p
= 0.040), but no significant trend among subjects receiving no reperfusion treatments was observed (
p
= 0.174).
Discussion
According to our findings, ICS and CCS negatively influence AIS patients' outcome treated by interventional therapies. ICS might exert an unfavorable effect both by cerebral hypoperfusion and by continuous microembolization toward ischemic area, while CCS is probable involved in reducing the collateral circles effectiveness. The importance of early carotid stenosis detection and treatment should then be reevaluated not only to manage the prevention approaches but also to obtain insights about post-stroke treatment strategies efficacy.
Background: Drug addiction may play an important role in chronic migraine (CM) with medication-overuse headache (MOH). Psychiatric diseases are associated with CM, but data regarding ...obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are lacking. We aimed to establish the prevalence of OCD traits in CM patients with MOH and the impact on onabotulinum toxin A (OBT-A) treatment. Methods: A total of 75 patients with CM and MOH undergoing treatment with OBT-A in our Headache Centre were evaluated. At baseline and after four injection sessions, we assessed the migraine burden and the presence of OCD traits with the Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory—Revised (OCI-R) test. Results: At baseline, 28% of patients had OCI-R scores compatible with borderline OCD aspects, while 22.7% were pathological. An improvement in headache was significantly associated with an increase in the number of subjects with a normal OCI-R score at T0 and T1, whereas patients with a pathological OCI-R score at T0 showed a significantly higher prevalence of CM at T1. Conclusions: Our data showed a significant rate of OCD traits at baseline, which could strengthen the hypothesis of an addictive disorder underlying CM with MOH. OCD traits seem to influence the OBT-A response. An OCD assessment could be useful in improving patients’ selections before starting treatments.
Many physiological processes of living organisms show circadian rhythms, governed by an endogenous clock. This clock has a genetic basis and is entrained by external cues, such as light and ...temperature. Other physiological processes exhibit seasonal rhythms, that are also responsive to light and temperature. We previously reported a natural latitudinal cline of photoperiodic diapause induction in the parasitic wasp
in Europe and a correlated haplotype frequency for the circadian clock gene
(
). To evaluate if this correlation is reflected in circadian behaviour, we investigated the circadian locomotor activity of seven populations from the cline. We found that the proportion of rhythmic males was higher than females in constant darkness, and that mating decreased rhythmicity of both sexes. Only for virgin females, the free running period (
) increased weakly with latitude. Wasps from the most southern locality had an overall shorter free running rhythm and earlier onset, peak, and offset of activity during the 24 h period, than wasps from the northernmost locality. We evaluated this variation in rhythmicity as a function of
haplotype frequencies in the populations and discussed its functional significance in the context of local adaptation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Evolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. ...Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution. The available studies do not allow comparative analyses, due to the different methodologies employed by the authors. However, such an analysis would be useful for research purposes and for the development of appropriate educational policies to address the problem of a lack of evolution acceptance in some countries. In this paper we describe the steps through which we developed a valid and reliable instrument for curricula analysis known as FACE: “Framework to Assess the Coverage of biological Evolution by school curricula.” This framework was developed based on the “Understanding Evolution Conceptual Framework” (UECF). After an initial pilot study, our framework was reformulated based on identified issues and experts’ opinions. To generate validity and reliability evidence in support of the framework, it was applied to four European countries’ curricula. For each country, a team of a minimum of two national and two foreign coders worked independently to assess the curriculum using this framework for content analysis. Reliability evidence was estimated using Krippendorf's alpha and resulted in appropriate values for coding the examined curricula. Some issues that coders faced during the analysis were discussed and, to ensure better reliability for future researchers, additional guidelines and one extra category were included in the framework. The final version of the framework includes six categories and 34 subcategories. FACE is a useful tool for the analysis and the comparison of curricula and school textbooks regarding the coverage of evolution, and such results can guide curricula development.
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