We estimate phylogenetic relationships and the biogeographic and pollination history of Costus subgenus Costus (Costaceae) using sequence data from the internal and external transcribed spacer (ITS ...and ETS) regions of 18S-26S nuclear ribosomal DNA. The African members of the subgenus form a series of lineages basal to a monophyletic neotropical species radiation. The neotropical species have large, showy flowers visited by either euglossine bees or hummingbirds. The hummingbird pollination syndrome is supported as a derived character state from the bee pollination syndrome, and we estimate that it has evolved independently seven or more times in the neotropics. A molecular clock approach suggests that diversification of the neotropical clade has been recent and rapid and that it coincides with dramatic climatic and geologic changes, Andean orogeny, and the closing of the Panama isthmus that occurred in the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. We propose a scenario for the diversification of Costus, in which rapid floral adaptation in geographic isolation and range shifts in response to environmental changes contribute to reproductive isolation among close relatives. We suggest that these processes may be common in other recently diversified plant lineages centered in Central America or the Northern Andean phytogeographic region.
Highlights • This study investigates phylogenetic clustering of HCV infection and associated factors in a cohort of street-involved youth. • Of the 65 participants, 14% ( n = 9) were in a cluster or ...pair, with all reporting recent methamphetamine injection. • Methamphetamine injecting is associated with phylogenetic clustering ( P = 0.009). • Results suggest that methamphetamine drug injection may play an important role in networks of HCV transmission.
Although previous studies have demonstrated that patients receiving bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) conduits during coronary artery bypass grafting have better long-term survival than those ...receiving a single internal mammary artery (SIMA), data on risk of repeat revascularization are more limited. In this analysis, we compare the timing, frequency, and type of repeat coronary revascularization among patients receiving BIMA and SIMA.
We conducted a multicenter, retrospective analysis of 47 984 consecutive coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries performed from 1992 to 2014 among 7 medical centers reporting to a prospectively maintained clinical registry. Among the study population, 1482 coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries with BIMA were identified, and 1297 patients receiving BIMA were propensity-matched to 1297 patients receiving SIMA. The primary end point was freedom from repeat coronary revascularization.
The median duration of follow-up was 13.2 (IQR, 7.4-17.7) years. Patients were well matched by age, body mass index, major comorbidities, and cardiac function. There was a higher freedom from repeat revascularization among patients receiving BIMA than among patients receiving SIMA (hazard ratio HR, 0.78 95% CI, 0.65-0.94;
=0.009). Among the matched cohort, 19.4% (n=252) of patients receiving SIMA underwent repeat revascularization, whereas this frequency was 15.1% (n=196) among patients receiving BIMA (
=0.004). The majority of repeat revascularization procedures were percutaneous coronary interventions (94.2%), and this did not differ between groups (
=0.274). Groups also did not differ in the ratio of native versus graft vessel percutaneous coronary intervention (
=0.899), or regarding percutaneous coronary intervention target vessels; the most common targets in both groups were the right coronary (
=0.133) and circumflex arteries (
=0.093). In comparison with SIMA, BIMA grafting was associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality at 12 years of follow-up (HR, 0.79 95% CI, 0.69-0.91;
=0.001), and there was no difference in in-hospital morbidity.
BIMA grafting was associated with a reduced risk of repeat revascularization and an improvement in long-term survival and should be considered more frequently during coronary artery bypass grafting.
Investigating antibody titers in individuals who have been both naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 and vaccinated can provide insight into antibody dynamics and correlates of protection over time.
...Human coronavirus (HCoV) IgG antibodies were measured longitudinally in a prospective cohort of qPCR-confirmed, COVID-19 recovered individuals (k = 57) in British Columbia pre- and post-vaccination. SARS-CoV-2 and endemic HCoV antibodies were measured in serum collected between Nov. 2020 and Sept. 2021 (n = 341). Primary analysis used a linear mixed-effects model to understand the effect of single dose vaccination on antibody concentrations adjusting for biological sex, age, time from infection and vaccination. Secondary analysis investigated the cumulative incidence of high SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG seroreactivity equal to or greater than 5.5 log10 AU/mL up to 105 days post-vaccination. No re-infections were detected in vaccinated participants, post-vaccination by qPCR performed on self-collected nasopharyngeal specimens.
Bivariate analysis (complete data for 42 participants, 270 samples over 472 days) found SARS-CoV-2 spike and RBD antibodies increased 14-56 days post-vaccination (
< 0.001) and vaccination prevented waning (regression coefficient, B = 1.66 95%CI: 1.45-3.46); while decline of nucleocapsid antibodies over time was observed (regression coefficient, B = -0.24 95%CI: -1.2-(-0.12)). A positive association was found between COVID-19 vaccination and endemic human β-coronavirus IgG titer 14-56 days post vaccination (OC43,
= 0.02 & HKU1,
= 0.02). On average, SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG concentration increased in participants who received one vaccine dose by 2.06 log10 AU/mL (95%CI: 1.45-3.46) adjusting for age, biological sex, and time since infection. Cumulative incidence of high SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies (>5.5 log10 AU/mL) was 83% greater in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated individuals.
Our study confirms that vaccination post-SARS-CoV-2 infection provides multiple benefits, such as increasing anti-spike IgG titers and preventing decay up to 85 days post-vaccination.
OBJECTIVE: Substantial evidence from animal models demonstrates that dopamine release in the ventral striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. The authors used 11Craclopride ...bolus-plus-continuous-infusion positron emission tomography (PET) to determine smoking-induced ventral striatum dopamine release in humans. METHOD: Twenty nicotine-dependent smokers (who smoked ≥15 cigarettes day) underwent a 11Craclopride bolus-plus-continuous-infusion PET session. During the session, subjects had a 10-minute break outside the PET apparatus during which 10 subjects smoked a cigarette and 10 did not smoke (as a control condition). RESULTS: The group that smoked had greater reductions in 11Craclopride binding potential in ventral striatum regions of interest than the group that did not smoke, particularly in the left ventral caudate nucleus accumbens and left ventral putamen (range for smoking group=-25.9% to -36.6% reduction). Significant correlations were found between change from before to after the smoking break in craving ratings and change from before to after the break in binding potential for these two regions. CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine-dependent subjects who smoked during a break in PET scanning had greater reductions in 11Craclopride binding potential (an indirect measure of dopamine release) than nicotine-dependent subjects who did not smoke. The magnitude of binding potential changes was comparable to that found in studies that used similar methods to examine the effects of other addictive drugs.
We used a unique combination of techniques to sequence the first complete chloroplast genome of a lycophyte,
Huperzia lucidula. This plant belongs to a significant clade hypothesized to represent the ...sister group to all other vascular plants. We used fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate the organelles, rolling circle amplification (RCA) to amplify the genome, and shotgun sequencing to 8× depth coverage to obtain the complete chloroplast genome sequence. The genome is 154,373 bp, containing inverted repeats of 15,314 bp each, a large single-copy region of 104,088 bp, and a small single-copy region of 19,657 bp. Gene order is more similar to those of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts than to gene order for other vascular plants. For example, the
Huperzia chloroplast genome possesses the bryophyte gene order for a previously characterized 30 kb inversion, thus supporting the hypothesis that lycophytes are sister to all other extant vascular plants. The lycophyte chloroplast genome data also enable a better reconstruction of the basal tracheophyte genome, which is useful for inferring relationships among bryophyte lineages. Several unique characters are observed in
Huperzia, such as movement of the gene
ndhF from the small single copy region into the inverted repeat. We present several analyses of evolutionary relationships among land plants by using nucleotide data, inferred amino acid sequences, and by comparing gene arrangements from chloroplast genomes. The results, while still tentative pending the large number of chloroplast genomes from other key lineages that are soon to be sequenced, are intriguing in themselves, and contribute to a growing comparative database of genomic and morphological data across the green plants.
Abstract In the arid and semi-arid Western U.S., access to water is regulated through a legal system of water rights. Individuals, companies, organizations, municipalities, and tribal entities have ...documents that declare their water rights. State water regulatory agencies collate and maintain these records, which can be used in legal disputes over access to water. While these records are publicly available data in all Western U.S. states, the data have not yet been readily available in digital form from all states. Furthermore, there are many differences in data format, terminology, and definitions between state water regulatory agencies. Here, we have collected water rights data from 11 Western U.S. state agencies, harmonized terminology and use definitions, formatted them for consistency, and tied them to a Western U.S.-wide shapefile of water administrative boundaries.
We examined whether the consumption of pornography affects romantic relationships, with the expectation that higher levels of pornography consumption would correspond to weakened commitment in young ...adult romantic relationships. Study 1 (n == 367) found that higher pornography consumption was related to lower commitment, and Study 2 (n == 34) replicated this finding using observational data. Study 3 (n == 20) participants were randomly assigned to either refrain from viewing pornography or to a self-control task. Those who continued using pornography reported lower levels of commitment than control participants. In Study 4 (n == 67), participants consuming higher levels of pornography flirted more with an extradyadic partner during an online chat. Study 5 (n == 240) found that pornography consumption was positively related to infidelity and this association was mediated by commitment. Overall, a consistent pattern of results was found using a variety of approaches including cross-sectional (Study 1), observational (Study 2), experimental (Study 3), and behavioral (Studies 4 and 5) data.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Abstract Aim To determine the cost-effectiveness, from clinic and patient perspectives, of a computer-based version of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT) as an addition to regular clinical ...practice for substance dependence. Participants, design and measurements This cost-effectiveness study is based on a randomized clinical trial in which 77 individuals seeking treatment for substance dependence at an outpatient community setting were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus biweekly access to computer-based training in CBT (TAU plus CBT4CBT). The primary patient outcome measure was the total number of drug-free specimens provided during treatment. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs) were used to determine the cost-effectiveness of TAU plus CBT4CBT relative to TAU alone. Results are presented from both the clinic and patient perspectives and are shown to be robust to (i) sensitivity analyses and (ii) a secondary objective patient outcome measure. Findings The per patient cost of adding CBT4CBT to standard care was $39 ($27) from the clinic (patient) perspective. From the clinic (patient) perspective, TAU plus CBT4CBT is likely to be cost-effective when the threshold value to decision makers of an additional drug-free specimen is greater than approximately $21 ($15), and TAU alone is likely to be cost-effective when the threshold value is less than approximately $21 ($15). The ICERs for TAU plus CBT4CBT also compare favorably to ICERs reported elsewhere for other empirically validated therapies, including contingency management. Conclusions TAU plus CBT4CBT appears to be a good value from both the clinic and patient perspectives.
Ensuring the reliability and validity of outcome measures used in clinical trials is essential to the success of the trial. The Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) is a multicenter ...clinical trial that is recruiting patients with acute ischemic stroke seen at medical centers across the United States.
This paper describes an approach to train physicians to use three clinical measures: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale, a supplemental motor examination, and the Glasgow Outcome Scale. The program included education, certification, remediation when needed, monitoring, and reliability assessment. The goal was to ensure that interrater assessments were as equivalent to one another as possible.
Of the first 95 clinicians who began the certification process, 75 passed during the first evaluation. Eighteen of the other physicians were able to complete the process after remediation. The intraclass correlations of both the NIH Stroke Scale and supplemental motor examination exceeded 0.95. The kappa values for the Glasgow Outcome Scale were 0.61 and 0.62 for the first and second ratings of the videotape, respectively.
Our experience suggests that a program that includes educational and certification processes can be performed as part of the design of a multicenter clinical trial. The method of providing educational and testing videotapes to each site so that physicians can be trained and certified is an effective, inexpensive, and practical approach for enhancing and certifying the expertise of the large number of physicians involved in a multicenter study.
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