The mevalonate (MVA) pathway is an essential metabolic pathway that uses acetyl-CoA to produce sterols and isoprenoids that are integral to tumour growth and progression. In recent years, many ...oncogenic signalling pathways have been shown to increase the activity and/or the expression of MVA pathway enzymes. This Review summarizes recent advances and discusses unique opportunities for immediately targeting this metabolic vulnerability in cancer with agents that have been approved for other therapeutic uses, such as the statin family of drugs, to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network (TSSMN) is a collaborative effort of leading journals in cardiothoracic surgery to highlight publications via social media. This study aims to evaluate the ...1-year results of a prospective randomized social media trial to determine the effect of tweeting on subsequent citations and nontraditional bibliometrics.
A total of 112 representative original articles were randomized 1:1 to be tweeted via TSSMN or a control (non-tweeted) group. Measured endpoints included citations at 1 year compared with baseline, as well as article-level metrics (Altmetric score) and Twitter analytics. Independent predictors of citations were identified through univariable and multivariable regression analyses.
When compared with control articles, tweeted articles achieved significantly greater increase in Altmetric scores (Tweeted 9.4 ± 5.8 vs Non-tweeted 1.0 ± 1.8, P < .001), Altmetric score percentiles relative to articles of similar age from each respective journal (Tweeted 76.0 ± 9.1 percentile vs Non-tweeted 13.8 ± 22.7 percentile, P < .001), with greater change in citations at 1 year (Tweeted +3.1 ± 2.4 vs Non-Tweeted +0.7 ± 1.3, P < .001). Multivariable analysis showed that independent predictors of citations were randomization to tweeting (odds ratio OR 9.50; 95% confidence interval CI 3.30-27.35, P < .001), Altmetric score (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.15-1.50, P < .001), open-access status (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.21-1.78, P < .001), and exposure to a larger number of Twitter followers as quantified by impressions (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.10-1.49, P < .001).
One-year follow-up of this TSSMN prospective randomized trial importantly demonstrates that tweeting results in significantly more article citations over time, highlighting the durable scholarly impact of social media activity.
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Coastal wetlands are one of the most valuable ecosystems; however, they have an uncertain future when faced with increasing sea-level rise (SLR) and both human-induced and environmental stressors. To ...better understand future marsh resiliency, we examined above- and belowground biomass, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) tissue content and sediment characteristics along a coastal elevation gradient at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR). Vegetation and sediment characteristics were compared across several marsh types, and data was used to make updated predictions using the marsh equilibrium model (MEM). Standing and total biomass increased from 869 g/m
2
and 4250 g/m
2
respectively at low marsh sites to 2197 g/m
2
and 6789 g/m
2
at high marsh sites. N/P ratios increased from 10.25 to 20.43 from the low to high marsh, largely driven by decreasing P content in tissues.
Spartina alterniflora
and
Juncus roemerianus
biomass and tissue nutrient content were lower than other marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Juncus roemerianus
total biomass was around 50% of other coastal Mississippi locations. A meteorologically driven tidal regime and no major freshwater inflow could cause a lack of nutrient and sediment delivery to the marsh surface stunting total biomass and reducing accretion. Under various SLR rate scenarios, the MEM estimates that coastal wetlands at GNDNERR will undergo substantial changes within the next 50–100 years. The lack of nutrient and sediment delivery means that preserving coastal wetlands at GNDNERR will depend on aiding landward marsh migration.
The Thoracic Surgery Social Media Network (TSSMN) represents a collaborative effort of leading journals in cardiothoracic surgery to highlight publications via social media, specifically Twitter. We ...conducted a prospective randomized trial to determine the effect of scheduled tweeting on nontraditional bibliometrics of dissemination.
A total of 112 representative original articles (2017-2018) were selected and randomized 1:1 to an intervention group to be tweeted via TSSMN or a control (non-tweeted) group. Four articles per day were tweeted by TSSMN delegates for 14 days. Primary endpoints included change in article-level metrics (Altmetric) score pre-tweet and post-tweet compared with the control group. Secondary endpoints included change in Twitter analytics day 1 post-tweet and day 7 post-tweet for each article compared with baseline.
Tweeting via TSSMN significantly improved article Altmetric scores (pre-tweet 1 vs post-tweet 8; P < .001), Mendeley reads (pre-tweet 1 vs post-tweet 3; P < .001), and Twitter impressions (day 1 post-tweet 1599 vs day 7 post-tweet 2296; P < .001). Subgroup analysis demonstrates that incorporating photos into the tweets trended toward increased link clicks to the full-text article (P = .08) whereas tweeting at 1 pm Eastern Standard Time and 9 pm Eastern Standard Time generated the highest and lowest audience reach (P = .022), respectively. Articles published in adult cardiac surgery achieved the highest change in Altmetric score (P = .028) and Mendeley reads (P = .028), and were more likely to be retweeted (P = .042) than were those published on education, general thoracic surgery, and congenital surgery.
Social media highlights of scholarly literature via TSSMN Twitter activity improves article Altmetric scores, Mendeley reads, and Twitter analytics, with dissemination to a greater audience.
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Cancers express high levels of fatty acid synthase (FAS) from which they derive fatty acids for membrane biosynthesis to sustain cell proliferation. How cancer cells coordinate de novo lipogenesis ...and proliferation has not been investigated. Transcription factors Sp1, Sp3 and Sp4 are overexpressed in a variety of cancers and regulate gene expression by interacting with GC‐rich Sp1 binding sites. Genes encoding FAS and cell cycle proteins such as CDC25A contain Sp1 binding sites in their promoters. We demonstrate by RNA interference that Sp1, Sp3 and Sp4 all play a role in regulating CDC25A expression and proliferation in human breast cancer cells. Only Sp1, however, also regulates FAS. Furthermore, mithramycin, which blocks Sp1 binding sites, decreased proliferation, inhibited CDC25A and FAS expression and reduced binding of Sp1 to the promoters of these genes as assessed by ChIP assays. Conversely, 17β‐estradiol (E2) increased proliferation and CDC25A and FAS expression along with increased binding of Sp1 to the promoters of the 2 genes. In addition, we showed that the expression of sterol regulatory element‐binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c), the only transcription factor that has been shown to regulate genes of lipogenic enzymes in cancer cells, is also regulated by Sp1. Finally, we demonstrated that Sp1 plays a role in sustaining proliferation and FAS expression in colon as well as prostate cancer cells. Overall, these observations suggest that Sp1 coordinately regulates de novo lipogenesis and proliferation in cancer cells.
•Summarizes empirical results of research on forest birds and fragmentation.•Compiled list describing forest remnant, residential area use by 219 bird species.•Interior-forest specialists use urban ...forests and neighborhoods during migration.•Stressed importance of preserving small forest fragments when developing land.•Results can be used to assess impacts of different city development scenarios.
Urban decision-makers typically cannot utilize empirical bird studies to create bird-friendly landscape designs because academic results are often in a format that is not easily transferable to planning. We report on the results of three systematic reviews of peer reviewed literature regarding bird occurrence in forests, forest fragments, and tree canopy in and around North American cities. Note that our reviews focused on occurrence and did not evaluate species fitness or abundance. We synthesized findings from 48 studies to create a list of 219 forest dwelling species; and for each species, we identified whether the species utilized or did not utilize forest fragments during the breeding season; whether migrant species utilized forest fragments as stopover sites during the migration season; and whether the species utilized residential areas with trees during the breeding and migration seasons. We found that some interior-forest specialists, which generally require large tracts of forest to breed successfully, use small urban and rural forest fragments as well as tree canopy within suburban residential areas as stopover sites during migration seasons. This supports previous literature findings that habitat requirements for migrants, including interior-forest specialists, may differ between breeding and migration seasons. The synthesized bird list will allow built environment professionals to identify bird species that can and cannot use treed habitat in fragmented rural and urban landscapes, and we have created a planning tool for conserving avian habitat.
1. Populations of introduced species are often thought to perform differently, or experience different population dynamics, in their introduced range compared to their native habitat. Differences ...between habitats in climate, competition or natural enemies may result in populations with varying density dependence and population dynamics. 2. We examined the long-term population dynamics of the invasive common wasp, Vespula vulgaris, in its native range in England and its invaded range in New Zealand. We used 39 years of wasp density data from four sites in England, and 23 years of data from six sites in New Zealand. Wasp population time series was examined using partial rate correlation functions. Gompertz population models and multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models were fitted, incorporating climatic variation. 3. Gompertz models successfully explained 59-66% of the variation in wasp abundance between years. Density dependence in wasp populations appeared to act similarly in both the native and invaded range, with wasp abundance in the previous year as the most important variable in predicting intrinsic rate of increase (r). No evidence of cyclic population dynamics was observed. 4. Both the Gompertz and MARSS models highlighted the role of weather conditions in each country as significant predictors of annual wasp abundance. The temporal evolution of wasp populations at all sites was best modelled jointly using a single latent dynamic factor for local trends, with the inclusion of a latent spring weather covariate. That same parsimonious multivariate model structure was optimal in both the native and invaded range. 5. Density dependence is overwhelmingly important in predicting wasp densities and 'wasp years' in both the native and invaded range. Spring weather conditions in both countries have a major influence, probably through their impact on wasp colony initiation and early development. The population dynamics in the native range and invaded range show no evidence of cyclic boom-and-bust dynamics. Invasive species may not exhibit different population dynamics despite considerable variation in abundances throughout their distribution.
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