The North American distributional potential of the recently invaded tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, was estimated using occurrence data from its geographic range in other parts of the world and ...relevant climatic data sets. Several hundred candidate models were built using a correlative maximum entropy approach, and best-fitting models were selected based on statistical significance, predictive ability, and complexity. The median of the best-fitting models indicates a broad potential distribution for this species, but restricted to three sectors-the southeastern United States, the Pacific Northwest, and central and southern Mexico.
The epidemiology of invasive fungal disease (IFD) due to filamentous fungi other than Aspergillus may be changing. We analysed clinical, microbiological and outcome data in Australian patients to ...determine the predisposing factors and identify determinants of mortality. Proven and probable non-Aspergillus mould infections (defined according to modified European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group criteria) from 2004 to 2012 were evaluated in a multicentre study. Variables associated with infection and mortality were determined. Of 162 episodes of non-Aspergillus IFD, 145 (89.5%) were proven infections and 17 (10.5%) were probable infections. The pathogens included 29 fungal species/species complexes; mucormycetes (45.7%) and Scedosporium species (33.3%) were most common. The commonest comorbidities were haematological malignancies (HMs) (46.3%) diabetes mellitus (23.5%), and chronic pulmonary disease (16%); antecedent trauma was present in 21% of cases. Twenty-five (15.4%) patients had no immunocompromised status or comorbidity, and were more likely to have acquired infection following major trauma (p <0.01); 61 (37.7%) of cases affected patients without HMs or transplantation. Antifungal therapy was administered to 93.2% of patients (median 68 days, interquartile range 19–275), and adjunctive surgery was performed in 58.6%. The all-cause 90-day mortality was 44.4%; HMs and intensive-care admission were the strongest predictors of death (both p <0.001). Survival varied by fungal group, with the risk of death being significantly lower in patients with dematiaceous mould infections than in patients with other non-Aspergillus mould infections. Non-Aspergillus IFD affected diverse patient groups, including non-immunocompromised hosts and those outside traditional risk groups; therefore, definitions of IFD in these patients are required. Given the high mortality, increased recognition of infections and accurate identification of the causative agent are required.
People with epilepsy (PWE) have a higher risk of mortality in comparison with the general population. This in part reflects intrinsic factors or associated comorbidities, but poor adherence to ...anti‐epileptic drugs (AED) has also been shown to contribute to increased risk of death and increased utilization of unscheduled care. The aim of this review was to determine the prevalence of non‐adherence to AED in PWE, evaluate whether specific clinical and demographic features can allow clinicians to identify those at highest risk and identify the methods and techniques that can be used to improve adherence in clinical settings. We identified relevant studies for the prevalence of medication non‐adherence in PWE by searching MEDLINE (1946–7 Dec 2015), EMBASE (1947–7 Dec 2015) and Cochrane Library (1946–7 Dec 2015) as per predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We included 17 research studies from our review of the medical literature to determine the prevalence of medication non‐adherence in epilepsy. The prevalence of significant medication non‐adherence in epilepsy has been reported to vary between 26% and 79%. This variation partly reflects the differences in defining what clinically significant medication adherence is, the methods used to estimate the scale of the problem and the underlying population heterogeneity. A number of clinical and demographic features have been associated with poor adherence allowing clinicians to identify those at greatest risk. Educating patients and their carers about the risks associated with poor adherence, certain behavioural interventions and simplifying their drug regimens have been shown to improve adherence.
The few genetically informative studies to examine post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD), all of which are based on a male veteran sample, suggest that the co-morbidity ...between PTSD and AD may be attributable in part to overlapping genetic influences, but this issue has yet to be addressed in females.MethodData were derived from an all-female twin sample (n=3768) ranging in age from 18 to 29 years. A trivariate genetic model that included trauma exposure as a separate phenotype was fitted to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to PTSD and the degree to which they overlap with those that contribute to AD, after accounting for potential confounding effects of heritable influences on trauma exposure.
Additive genetic influences (A) accounted for 72% of the variance in PTSD; individual-specific environmental (E) factors accounted for the remainder. An AE model also provided the best fit for AD, for which heritability was estimated to be 71%. The genetic correlation between PTSD and AD was 0.54.
The heritability estimate for PTSD in our sample is higher than estimates reported in earlier studies based almost exclusively on an all-male sample in which combat exposure was the precipitating traumatic event. However, our findings are consistent with the absence of evidence for shared environmental influences on PTSD and, most importantly, the substantial overlap in genetic influences on PTSD and AD reported in these investigations. Additional research addressing potential distinctions by gender in the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences on PTSD is merited.
Significance The chemical dialog through which a host promotes long-term symbioses with particular microbial partners remains largely unexplored, especially within complex consortia like the human ...microbiota. Natural, monospecific associations, including that between bobtail squid and Vibrio fischeri , have proved useful for discovering shared strategies, such as rhythmic microbial signaling and symbiosis-induced development, subsequently found in mammalian associations. Here, we demonstrate that symbiont metabolism is driven by a diel provision of a squid-derived glycan, resulting in tissue acidification. This event alters bacterial physiology, favoring the cyclic production of bioluminescence, the functional basis of the symbiosis. More generally, studies of this association can help reveal mechanisms by which other hosts modulate the chemistry of symbiosis to regulate microbial community function.
Glycans have emerged as critical determinants of immune maturation, microbial nutrition, and host health in diverse symbioses. In this study, we asked how cyclic delivery of a single host-derived glycan contributes to the dynamic stability of the mutualism between the squid Euprymna scolopes and its specific, bioluminescent symbiont, Vibrio fischeri . V. fischeri colonizes the crypts of a host organ that is used for behavioral light production. E. scolopes synthesizes the polymeric glycan chitin in macrophage-like immune cells called hemocytes. We show here that, just before dusk, hemocytes migrate from the vasculature into the symbiotic crypts, where they lyse and release particulate chitin, a behavior that is established only in the mature symbiosis. Diel transcriptional rhythms in both partners further indicate that the chitin is provided and metabolized only at night. A V. fischeri mutant defective in chitin catabolism was able to maintain a normal symbiont population level, but only until the symbiotic organ reached maturity (∼4 wk after colonization); this result provided a direct link between chitin utilization and symbiont persistence. Finally, catabolism of chitin by the symbionts was also specifically required for a periodic acidification of the adult crypts each night. This acidification, which increases the level of oxygen available to the symbionts, enhances their capacity to produce bioluminescence at night. We propose that other animal hosts may similarly regulate the activities of epithelium-associated microbial communities through the strategic provision of specific nutrients, whose catabolism modulates conditions like pH or anoxia in their symbionts’ habitat.
Summary
We studied the Euprymna scolopes–Vibrio fischeri symbiosis to characterize, in vivo and in real time, the transition between the bacterial partner's free‐living and symbiotic life styles. ...Previous studies using high inocula demonstrated that environmental V. fischeri cells aggregate during a 3 h period in host‐shed mucus along the light organ's superficial ciliated epithelia. Under lower inoculum conditions, similar to the levels of symbiont cells in the environment, this interaction induces haemocyte trafficking into these tissues. Here, in experiments simulating natural conditions, microscopy revealed that at 3 h following first exposure, only ∼ 5 V. fischeri cells aggregated on the organ surface. These cells associated with host cilia and induced haemocyte trafficking. Symbiont viability was essential and mutants defective in symbiosis initiation and/or production of certain surface features, including the Mam7 protein, which is implicated in host cell attachment of V. cholerae, associated normally with host cilia. Studies with exopolysaccharide mutants, which are defective in aggregation, suggest a two‐step process of V. fischeri cell engagement: association with host cilia followed by aggregation, i.e. host cell–symbiont interaction with subsequent symbiont–symbiont cell interaction. Taken together, these data provide a new model of early partner engagement, a complex model of host–symbiont interaction with exquisite sensitivity.
The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is an ambitious 5-year effort to characterize brain connectivity and function and their variability in healthy adults. This review summarizes the data acquisition ...plans being implemented by a consortium of HCP investigators who will study a population of 1200 subjects (twins and their non-twin siblings) using multiple imaging modalities along with extensive behavioral and genetic data. The imaging modalities will include diffusion imaging (dMRI), resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI), task-evoked fMRI (T-fMRI), T1- and T2-weighted MRI for structural and myelin mapping, plus combined magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (MEG/EEG). Given the importance of obtaining the best possible data quality, we discuss the efforts underway during the first two years of the grant (Phase I) to refine and optimize many aspects of HCP data acquisition, including a new 7T scanner, a customized 3T scanner, and improved MR pulse sequences.
To date, there has been a lack of evidence-based guidance on the frequency of visual field examinations required to identify clinically meaningful rates of change in glaucoma. The objective of this ...perspective is to provide practical recommendations for this purpose. The primary emphasis is on the period of time and number of examinations required to measure various rates of change in mean deviation (MD) with adequate statistical power. Empirical data were used to obtain variability estimates of MD while statistical modelling techniques derived the required time periods to detect change with various degrees of visual field variability. We provide the frequency of examinations per year required to detect different amounts of change in 2, 3 and 5 years. For instance, three examinations per year are required to identify an overall change in MD of 4 dB over 2 years in a patient with average visual field variability. Recommendations on other issues such as examination type, strategy and quality are also made.
Otoliths are calcium carbonate components of the stato-acoustical organ responsible for hearing and maintenance of the body balance in teleost fish. During their formation, control over, e.g., ...morphology and carbonate polymorph is influenced by complex insoluble collagen-like protein and soluble non-collagenous protein assemblages; many of these proteins are incorporated into their aragonite crystal structure. However, in the fossil record these proteins are considered lost through diagenetic processes, hampering studies of past biomineralization mechanisms. Here we report the presence of 11 fish-specific proteins (and several isoforms) in Miocene (ca. 14.8-14.6 Ma) phycid hake otoliths. These fossil otoliths were preserved in water-impermeable clays and exhibit microscopic and crystallographic features indistinguishable from modern representatives, consistent with an exceptionally pristine state of preservation. Indeed, these fossil otoliths retain ca. 10% of the proteins sequenced from modern counterparts, including proteins specific to inner ear development, such as otolin-1-like proteins involved in the arrangement of the otoliths into the sensory epithelium and otogelin/otogelin-like proteins that are located in the acellular membranes of the inner ear in modern fish. The specificity of these proteins excludes the possibility of external contamination. Identification of a fraction of identical proteins in modern and fossil phycid hake otoliths implies a highly conserved inner ear biomineralization process through time.
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