Coral communities are increasingly found to populate non-reef habitats prone to high environmental variability. Such sites include seagrass meadows, which are generally not considered optimal ...habitats for corals as a result of limited suitable substrate for settlement and substantial diel and seasonal fluctuations in physicochemical conditions relative to neighboring reefs. Interest in understanding the ability of corals to persist in non-reef habitats has grown, however little baseline data exists on community structure and recruitment of scleractinian corals in seagrass meadows. To determine how corals populate seagrass meadows, we surveyed the established and recruited coral community over 25 months within seagrass meadows at Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. Simultaneous surveys of established and recruited coral communities at neighboring back-reef sites were conducted for comparison. To fully understand the amount of environmental variability to which corals in each habitat were exposed, we conducted complementary surveys of physicochemical conditions in both seagrass meadows and back-reefs. Despite overall higher variability in physicochemical conditions, particularly pH, compared to the back-reef, 14 coral taxa were capable of inhabiting seagrass meadows, and multiple coral families were also found to recruit to these sites. However, coral cover and species diversity, richness, and evenness were lower at sites within seagrass meadows compared to back-reef sites. Although questions remain regarding the processes governing recruitment, these results provide evidence that seagrass beds can serve as functional habitats for corals despite high levels of environmental variability and suboptimal conditions compared to neighboring reefs.
Palm weevils,
Rhynchophorus
spp., are destructive pests of native, ornamental, and agricultural palm species. Of the 10 recognized species, two of the most injurious species,
Rhynchophorus ...ferrugineus
and
Rhynchophorus palmarum
, both of which have spread beyond their native range, are the best studied. Due to its greater global spread and damage to edible date industries in the Middle East,
R. ferrugineus
has received more research interest. Integrated pest management programs utilize traps baited with aggregation pheromone, removal of infested palms, and insecticides. However, weevil control is costly, development of resistance to insecticides is problematic, and program efficacy can be impaired because early detection of infestations is difficult. The genome of
R. ferrugineus
has been sequenced, and omics research is providing insight into pheromone communication and changes in volatile and metabolism profiles of weevil-infested palms. We outline how such developments could lead to new control strategies and early detection tools.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Exercise tolerance testing has been proposed as a means of better identifying asymptomatic patients at ...high risk for coronary heart disease events.
To review the evidence on the use of exercise tolerance testing to screen adults with no history of cardiovascular disease for coronary heart disease.
The MEDLINE database from 1966 through February 2003, hand-searching of bibliographies, and expert input.
Eligible studies evaluated the benefits or harms of exercise tolerance testing when added to traditional risk assessment for adults with no known history of cardiovascular events.
One reviewer extracted information from eligible articles into evidence tables, and another reviewer checked the tables. Disagreements were resolved by consensus.
No study has directly examined the effect of screening asymptomatic patients with exercise tolerance testing on coronary heart disease outcomes or risk-reducing behaviors or therapies. Multiple cohort studies demonstrate that screening exercise tolerance testing identifies a small proportion of asymptomatic persons (up to 2.7% of those screened) with severe coronary artery obstruction who may benefit from revascularization. Several large prospective cohort studies, conducted principally in middle-aged men, suggest that exercise tolerance testing can provide independent prognostic information about the risk for future coronary heart disease events (relative risk with abnormal exercise tolerance testing, 2.0 to 5.0). However, when the risk for coronary heart disease events is low, most positive findings will be false and may result in unnecessary further testing or worry. The risk level at which the benefits of additional prognostic information outweigh the harms of false-positive results is unclear and requires further study.
Although screening exercise tolerance testing detects severe coronary artery obstruction in a small proportion of persons screened and can provide independent prognostic information about the risk for coronary heart disease events, the effect of this information on clinical management and disease outcomes in asymptomatic patients is unclear.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening newborns ≥35 weeks’ gestation with total serum bilirubin (TSB) or transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) to detect hyperbilirubinemia. Retrospective ...studies show TcB measurements strongly correlate with TSB; however, few prospective trials document this relationship. Furthermore, Dräger’s newest TcB instrument, JM-105, remains unstudied in the United States. We measure TcB on foreheads and sternums of newborns using JM-105 and Bilichek devices within 30 minutes of TSB measurement. We find best overall TcB/TSB correlation with JM-105 on the sternum (mean TcB-TSB difference: −0.21 ± 1.15 mg/dL). Correlations between paired measurements for TcB on the sternum using JM-105 were 0.93 for all TSB levels (n = 178), 0.82 for TSB > 10 (n = 19), 0.69 for TSB > 12 (n = 11), and 0.52 for TSB > 15 (n = 6). TcB accuracy via JM-105 on the sternum significantly differed among races (P < .001). For 5% of paired measurements, TcB with JM-105 on the sternum underestimated TSB by ≥2 mg/dL, and for <1% by ≥3 mg/dL.
Controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) accelerates development of anti-malarial interventions. So far, CHMI is done by exposure of volunteers to bites of five mosquitoes carrying Plasmodium ...falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ), a technique available in only a few centres worldwide. Mosquito-mediated CHMI is logistically complex, exact PfSPZ dosage is impossible and live mosquito-based interventions are not suitable for further clinical development.
An open-labelled, randomized, dose-finding study in 18-45 year old, healthy, malaria-naïve volunteers was performed to assess if intravenous (IV) injection of 50 to 3,200 aseptic, purified, cryopreserved PfSPZ is safe and achieves infection kinetics comparable to published data of mosquito-mediated CHMI. An independent study site verified the fully infectious dose using direct venous inoculation of PfSPZ. Parasite kinetics were assessed by thick blood smear microscopy and quantitative real time PCR.
IV inoculation with 50, 200, 800, or 3,200 PfSPZ led to parasitaemia in 1/3, 1/3, 7/9, and 9/9 volunteers, respectively. The geometric mean pre-patent period (GMPPP) was 11.2 days (range 10.5-12.5) in the 3,200 PfSPZ IV group. Subsequently, six volunteers received 3,200 PfSPZ by direct venous inoculation at an independent investigational site. All six developed parasitaemia (GMPPP: 11.4 days, range: 10.4-12.3). Inoculation of PfSPZ was safe. Infection rate and pre-patent period depended on dose, and injection of 3,200 PfSPZ led to a GMPPP similar to CHMI with five PfSPZ-infected mosquitoes. The infectious dose of PfSPZ predicted dosage of radiation-attenuated PfSPZ required for successful vaccination.
IV inoculation of PfSPZ is safe, well tolerated and highly reproducible. It shall further accelerate development of anti-malarial interventions through standardization and facilitation of CHMI. Beyond this, rational dose selection for whole PfSPZ-based immunization and complex study designs are now possible.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01624961 and NCT01771848 .
In the rd/rd mouse, photoreceptor degeneration is due to a mutation of the rod-specific enzyme cGMP phosphodiesterase, resulting in permanently
opened cGMP-gated cation channels in the rod outer ...segment membrane that allow Na + and Ca 2+ ions to enter the cell, resulting in possibly toxic levels of Ca 2+ . To identify pathways involved in cell death of the rd/rd rods, we evaluated gene expression in the rd/rd and wild type ( wt ) mouse retina (U74A oligonucleotide arrays (Affymetrix)) over the known time course of photoreceptor degeneration. 181 genes
passed the selection criteria (low standard deviation and high correlation between replicates), falling into six clusters.
For any given pair of genes, an expression profile correlation distance and a semantic distance (one for each class of gene
ontology terms) were established using newly designed software. Gene expression in rd/rd started to deviate from wt by postnatal day 10. The reduction in photoreceptor-specific genes followed the known time course of photoreceptor degeneration.
Likewise the increase in transcription factors and apoptosis- and neuroinflammation-specific genes followed the kinetics of
the rise in intracellular cGMP in the rod photoreceptors. In addition, genes coding for calcium-binding proteins and those
implicated in tissue and vessel remodeling were increased. These results suggest that photoreceptor degeneration in the rd/rd mouse is a process starting with Ca 2+ toxicity followed by secondary insults involving multidestructive pathways such as apoptosis and neuroinflammation, presumably
boosting morphological changes. All of these components need to be addressed if rods are to be successfully protected.
Single-operator peroral cholangioscopy enables direct visualization of duct lesions, biopsy, and therapeutic interventions in the biliary and pancreatic ductal systems. The aim of this study was to ...address the use and outcome of this technology in wider clinical practice.
A nationwide study of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures, with or without cholangioscopy, was conducted. Procedures that were registered in the Swedish Registry for Gallstone Surgery and ERCP (GallRiks), between 2007 and 2012 were included. The primary outcome was ERCP-specific adverse events.
Data from 36 352 ERCP procedures were analyzed, including 408 cholangioscopy procedures. Postprocedural adverse events were more prevalent when cholangioscopy was used (19.1 % vs. 14.0 %). Pancreatitis (7.4 % vs. 3.9 %) and cholangitis (4.4 % vs. 2.7 %) were ERCP-specific adverse events that were elevated in the cholangioscopy group. However, in multivariate analysis, the risks of intraprocedural and postprocedural adverse events were significantly increased in the cholangioscopy group whereas the risks of pancreatitis and cholangitis, when adjusted for confounders, were not.
The single-operator peroral cholangioscopy technique is an advanced technique for intraluminal visual inspection, and for therapeutic intervention of the biliary and pancreatic ducts. However, there is a significantly increased risk of intra- and postprocedural adverse events. Thus, this method should preferably be performed at tertiary referral centers in carefully selected patients.
A classification system for plasmids isolated from enterococci and other Gram-positive bacteria was developed based on 111 published plasmid sequences from enterococci and other Gram-positive ...bacteria; mostly staphylococci. Based on PCR amplification of conserved areas of the replication initiating genes (
rep), alignment of these sequences and using a cutoff value of 80% identity on both protein and DNA level, 19 replicon families (
rep-families) were defined together with several unique sequences. The prevalence of these
rep-families was tested on 79 enterococcal isolates from a collection of isolates of animal and human origin. Difference in prevalence of the designed
rep-families were detected with
rep
9 being most prevalent in
Enterococcus faecalis and
rep
2 in
Enterococcus faecium. In 33% of the tested
E. faecium and 32% of the tested
E. faecalis no positive amplicons were detected. Furthermore, conjugation experiments were performed obtaining 30 transconjugants when selecting for antimicrobial resistance. Among them 19 gave no positive amplicons indicating presence of
rep-families not tested for in this experimental setup.
In the United States, urban population growth, improved living standards, limited development of new water supplies, and dwindling current water supplies are causing the demand for treated municipal ...water to exceed the supply. Although water used to irrigate the residential urban landscape will vary according to factors such as landscape type, management practices, and region, landscape irrigation can vary from 40% to 70% of household use of water. So, the efficient use of irrigation water in urban landscapes must be the primary focus of water conservation. In addition, plants in a typical residential landscape often are given more water than is required to maintain ecosystem services such as carbon regulation, climate control, and preservation of aesthetic appearance. This implies that improvements in the efficiency of landscape irrigation will yield significant water savings. Urban areas across the United States face different water supply and demand issues and a range of factors will affect how water is used in the urban landscape. The purpose of this review is to summarize how irrigation and water application technologies; landscape design and management strategies; the relationship among people, plants, and the urban landscape; the reuse of water resources; economic and noneconomic incentives; and policy and ordinances impact the efficient use of water in the urban landscape.
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