Intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma is an extremely rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. We reported a 51-year old woman who presented symptoms of hypercalcemia. 99mTc sestamibi single-photon ...emission computed tomography/computed tomography (CT) revealed a large hypermetabolic nodule in the left thyroid lobe suggestive of hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue. 11C-methionine positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and 18F-fluorocholine PET/CT confirmed the nodule in the left thyroid lobe and also revealed a hypermetabolic activity on the posterior surface of the lower left pole. The patient underwent a total thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy, and a diagnosis of bifocal intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma was confirmed. We present the first reported case of bifocal intrathyroidal carcinoma and discuss the discordant imaging results.
The diversity of plant neighbors commonly results in direct, bottom‐up effects on herbivore ability to locate their host, and in indirect effects on herbivores involving changes in plant traits and a ...top‐down control by their enemies. Yet, the relative contribution of bottom‐up and top‐down forces remains poorly understood. We also lack knowledge on the effect of abiotic constraints such as summer drought on the strength and direction of these effects. We measured leaf damage on pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), alone or associated with birch, pine or both in a long‐term tree diversity experiment (ORPHEE), where half of the plots were irrigated while the other half remained without irrigation and received only rainfall. We tested three mechanisms likely to explain the effects of oak neighbors on herbivory: (1) Direct bottom‐up effects of heterospecific neighbors on oak accessibility to herbivores, (2) indirect bottom‐up effects of neighbors on the expression of leaf traits, and (3) top‐down control of herbivores by predators. Insect herbivory increased during the growth season but was independent of neighbor identity and irrigation. Specific leaf area, leaf toughness, and thickness varied with neighbor identity while leaf dry matter content or C:N ratio did not. When summarized in a principal component analysis (PCA), neighbor identity explained 87% of variability in leaf traits. PCA axes partially predicted herbivory. Despite greater rates of attack on dummy caterpillars in irrigated plots, avian predation, and insect herbivory remained unrelated. Our study suggests that neighbor identity can indirectly influence insect herbivory in mixed forests by modifying leaf traits. However, we found only partial evidence for these trait‐mediated effects and suggest that more attention should be paid to some unmeasured plant traits such as secondary metabolites, including volatile organic compounds, to better anticipate the effects of climate change on plant‐insect interactions in the future.
Using a tree diversity experiment in which we controlled for water supply, we show that oak leaf traits varied with oak neighbors which partially contributed to explain variation in leaf insect herbivory. However, herbivory was independent of water stress or predation wile predation was higher in irrigated plots.
Within the optimal foraging theory framework, parasitoids constitute ideal models to elucidate combined physiological and environmental determinism of foraging behavior between current and future ...fitness gains. Parasitoid females need hosts to lay eggs for their reproduction (immediate gain), but also sugar food resources for their survival (future gain). According to theoretical models and previous empirical studies, fed females should favor host foraging, whereas females with lower energetic reserves should search for food. Surprisingly, the influence of mating status and food quality has not been considered, whereas they may both constitute major factors altering animals’ choices between reproducing and feeding. We tested decision-making on Aphidius rhopalosiphi parasitoid females with different life expectancy levels (as set by recent feeding history) and mating status, using two flower species with contrasted attractiveness and nectar suitability. Interestingly, all fed and unfed females with different expected lifetime levels favored reproduction over nutrition since they are mated. This could be explained by their reproductive status that appeared to be the main determinant of their foraging decisions. For a given expected lifetime, mated females favored more reproduction whereas unmated ones favored food. Physiological status of females (mating and lifetime expectancy) did not interact with flower species on their foraging decisions nor did it modify their preferences, as they always favored the most attractive flower, which does not have the best nectar. These results highlight the need for more empirical studies to evaluate the interactions between different intrinsic factors and to carefully consider the mating status in model assumptions, as it influences foraging behavior between immediate and future fitness gains.
Objective: To compare the amplitude ratio and P-wave latency of cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (c-VEMPs) for bone conduction (BC) and air conduction (AC) stimulation in children with ...otitis media with effusion (OME). Material and methods: This is an observational study of a cohort of 27 children and 46 ears with OME. The c-VEMP amplitude ratio and P-wave latency were compared between BC and AC in children with OME and healthy age-matched children. Results: The c-VEMP response rate in children with OME was 100% when using BC stimulation and 11% when using AC stimulation. The amplitude ratio for BC was significantly higher in the OME group than the age-matched healthy control group (p = 0.004). When focusing on ears with an AC c-VEMP response (n = 5), there was a significant difference in the amplitude ratio between the AC and BC stimulation modes, but there was no significant difference in the AC results between the OME group and the age-matched control group. Conclusions: BC stimulation allows for reliable vestibular otolith testing in children with middle ear effusion. Given the high prevalence of OME in children, clinicians should be aware that recording c-VEMPs with AC stimulation may lead to misinterpretation of otolith dysfunction in pediatric settings.
This review aims to draw attention to the multiple ipsilateral otic capsule dehiscences (OCDs), which may cause therapeutic failure in operated patients. A series of six severely disabled patients ...with symptoms and signs consistent with a superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) diagnosis, confirmed by a high-resolution CT scan, is presented here. Five of the patients underwent surgery, and in four of the cases, the postoperative results were poor and/or disappointing. The ethical principles underlying modern medicine encourage medical staff to learn from past experience even when the results are modest despite the accuracy of the treatment applied to a patient. Consequently, we reviewed the radiological records of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients diagnosed or referred to our center for confirmation over the past 5 years to determine the incidence of multiple OCD in this population. Multiple localizations of suspected OCD in the ipsilateral ear did not appear to be rare and were found in 29 of 157 patients (18.47%) in our retrospective review using high-resolution thin-sliced CT scans. The decision to perform surgery for a documented symptomatic superior SSCD should be made with caution only after ruling out concomitant lesser-known variants of OCD in the ipsilateral ear.
Consequences of inter-annual environmental fluctuations, including those associated with climate change, can have a knock-on effect from individual to community scale. In particular, changes in ...species seasonal phenology can modify the structure and composition of communities, with potential consequences on their functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. In mild climate areas, aphids can be present in cereal fields throughout the winter, which allows aphid parasitoids to remain active. Using a 9-year dataset of aphid-parasitoid winter trophic webs in cereal fields of Western France, we report that the community structure and composition that prevailed before 2011 have recently shifted toward a more diversified community, with the presence of two new braconid parasitoid species (Aphidius ervi and Aphidius avenae), a few hyperparasitoid species and one aphid species (Metopolophium dirhodum). Modifications in minimal winter temperatures and frequency of frost events across the years partially explain observed community changes, although no clear climatic trend can be emphasized. Strong bottom-up effects from the relative abundance of aphid species also determine the relative abundance of parasitoid species each winter. Strong compartmentalization in parasitoid preference for host is reported. We suggest the recent modifications in parasitoid community composition to be linked to shifts in diapause expression (reduction or arrest of the use of winter diapause) and to host availability throughout the year. We highlight the implications for natural biological control in cereal fields. Perspectives are proposed to predict the composition of future host-parasitoid communities in the climate change context.
The maturation of the uncrossed medial olivocochlear (UMOC) efferent remains poorly documented to date. The UMOC efferent system allows listeners to not only detect but also to process, recognize, ...and discriminate auditory stimuli. Its fibers can be explored non-invasively by recording the effect of contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS), resulting in a decrease in the amplitude of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE). The objective of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate how the effectiveness of this system varies with age in healthy subjects aged 8 years to adulthood. For this purpose, 120 right-handed native French-speaking subjects (57 females and 63 males) were divided into five age groups of 24 subjects each: 8y-10y, 10y-11y6m, 11y6m-13y, 13y-17y, and ≥18y. TEOAE amplitudes with and without CAS were recorded. The equivalent attenuation (EA) was calculated, corresponding to the change in TEOAE amplitude equivalent to the effect generated by CAS. General linear models were performed to control for the effect of ear, sex, and age on EA. No sex effect was found. A stronger EA was consistently found regardless of age group in the right ear compared to the left. In contrast to the right ear, for which, on average, EA remained constant across age groups, an increasingly weaker TEOAE suppression effect with age was found in the left ear, reinforcing the asymmetrical functioning of the UMOC efferent system in favor of the right ear in adulthood. Further studies are needed to investigate the lateralization of the UMOC efferent system and its changes over time in cases of atypical or reversed cortical asymmetries, especially in subjects with specific learning disorders.
Dichotic listening is the high-level auditory process which enables the perception of different verbal stimuli delivered simultaneously to the right and left ears (binaural integration), as well as ...the perception of a verbal stimulus presented to one ear while ignoring a different stimulus in the other ear (binaural separation). Deficits in central auditory processing have been reported in children with learning disabilities. The present study aimed to compare dichotic listening performances in right-handed impaired readers (IR) and non-impaired readers (non-IR) according to age. For this, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 120 IR (56 males and 64 females) divided into five age groups and 120 non-IR (63 male and 57 female) matched on chronological age (8 to 9 years; 9 to 10 years; 10 to 12 years; 12 to 18 years; adult). They were tested for binaural integration and binaural separation, allowing for the calculation of dichotic aptitude (DA), ear prevalence (EP), and attentional shift index (ASI). A series of ANOVAs showed an effect of age and of the reading group for all the dichotic-related measures, except for EP. Binaural separation scores were lower in IR who also showed more intrusive responses compared to non-IR. These intrusive responses, which were more frequent on the right ear for IR, decreased with age in both groups. Overall, these results suggest that dichotic listening scores improve with age as the central auditory pathways mature. However, whatever the age, performances are lower in IR than in non-IR. This might be explained by an incomplete maturation of the auditory pathways in IR; an early start for long-term follow-up and auditory training is suggested.
•Climate change is disrupting seasonal rhythms and developmental rate of insects.•Phenological shifts within and among trophic levels are modifying biotic interactions.•Phenological asynchronies ...contribute to insect communities’ restructuration.•Disruption of trophic networks affects ecosystem services such as biological control.
Insect phenology is affected by climate change and main responses are driven by phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary changes. Any modification in seasonal activity in one species can have consequences on interacting species, within and among trophic levels. In this overview, we focus on synchronisation mismatches that can occur between tightly interacting species such as hosts and parasitoids or preys and predators. Asynchronies happen because species from different trophic levels can have different response rates to climate change. We show that insect species alter their seasonal activities by modifying their life-cycle through change in voltinism or by altering their development rate. We expect strong bottom–up effects for phenology adjustments rather than top–down effects within food-webs. Extremely complex outcomes arise from such trophic mismatches, which make consequences at the community or ecosystem levels tricky to predict in a climate change context. We explore a set of potential consequences on population dynamics, conservation of species interactions, with a particular focus on the provision of ecosystem services by predators and parasitoids, such as biological pest control.
•Overall aphid parasitism in cereal crops during winter reaches 60–70%.•Aphid parasitism is higher near mustard flowering cover crops than grassy margins.•Parasitoids guild structure do not change in ...response to adjoining habitat.•Parasitoids use mustard flowering cover crops for feeding.•Change in plant phenology have cascading effect on the higher trophic level.
In agrosystems, the increase in non-crop plant diversity by habitat management in or around arable fields contributes to improved Conservation Biological Control. During winter, plant flower are often used as monospecific ground cover and are expected to die before flowering as a result of recurrent frost events. Decreases in minimal temperature due to climate change offers new possibilities for plants used in such sown cover crops to mature and flowers. Changes in plant phenology thus constitute an important environmental change with expected consequences for ecosystem functioning, such as biological control. In Brittany, where winter agricultural landscape is dominated by a mosaic of cereal and sown cover crops, we assessed the consequences of mustard (Synapis alba) flowering cover crops (MFCC) on aphid parasitism and food web structure in plots adjoining cereal crops, in contrast to plots close to spontaneous non-crop plants (SNCP) of the same field. Overall, aphid parasitism rate at the field scale was strong (60–70%), being 13% higher adjacent to the MFCC than closer to SNCP. In addition, there was no change in food web structure between the two distinct zones, enabling us to hypothesize that MFCC mostly constituted an alimentary patch. The positive effect on parasitism rate was significant but weak, as floral nectar of mustard is known to be of poor quality for parasitoids. Results highlight the potential advantages of adapting practices in response to actual changes in agrosystems. Increase floral diversity in sown cover crops could constitute a complementary method in management programs, by providing more alternative food resources, alternative hosts, and climatic refuge to enhance the Conservation Biological Control of parasitoid populations.
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