A limited transpiration rate under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) could be used to conserve soil water for later use under drought conditions. Many crops show this behavior either as limited ...transpiration or decreases in stomatal conductance. However, little work has been done in Phaseolus. Four experiments evaluated stomatal closure across a range of VPD for well-watered plants, each experiment using varying combinations of genotypes of common (15), lima (6) and tepary beans (7 genotypes). A two-year experiment found genotypic variation in average stomatal conductance, but genotypes only had 14% stomatal closure between a VPD of 1–4kPa. In comparison, soybean, which is known to close stomata, had a 40% decrease for similar conditions in Davis, CA, USA. In a second field experiment and outdoor pot experiments, genotypes from the three species displayed, on average, a 34, 50–45% increase in stomatal conductance with increasing VPD. Six genotypes were statistically indistinguishable from a 40% decrease, but all had low probability (p<0.21) of having 40% closure, and some showed little closure in other experiments. The VPD range measured in this study was large relative to the range for hot, arid California, thus the results are generalizable: most Phaseolus beans are not expected to have appreciable stomatal closure under well-watered conditions. Thus, there is limited evidence that Phaseolus has somegenetic diversity in stomatal responses to VPD, relative to that shown in other species. However, there was constitutive genetic variation in species and genotypic stomatal conductance under low VPD conditions.
To determine if screening with an ultrasound A-scan and prophylactic treatment of primary angle closure (PAC) with laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) can reduce the incidence of primary angle closure ...glaucoma (PACG) in Mongolia.
A single-masked randomised controlled trial was initiated in 1999. 4725 volunteer Mongolian participants ≥ 50 years old from the capital Ulaanbaatar or the rural province of Bayankhongor were recruited, of which 128 were excluded with glaucoma. 4597 were randomly allocated to the control, no-screening arm or screening with ultrasound central anterior chamber depth (cACD), with the cut-off set at < 2.53 mm. 685 screen-positive participants were examined and angle closure was identified by gonioscopy in 160, of which 156 were treated with prophylactic LPI. Primary outcome of incident PACG was determined using both structural and functional evidence from objective grading of paired disc photographs from baseline and follow-up, objective grading of follow-up visual fields and clinical examination.
Six years later, 801 (17.42%) participants were known to have died, and a further 2047 (53.92%) were traced and underwent full ophthalmic examination. In an intention to treat analysis using available data, PACG was diagnosed in 33 participants (1.61%, 95% CI 1.11% to 2.25%), of which 19 were in the screened group and 14 in the non-screened group (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.65 to 2.60, p = 0.47), indicating no difference between groups.
We were not able to identify a reduction in the 6 year incidence of PACG after screening with cACD < 2.53 mm and prophylactic treatment of PAC.
Ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration play a critical role in the evaluation of thyroid nodules. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) was developed to ...facilitate communication among cytopathologists, radiologists, and referring physicians. The reporting scheme has rapidly become one of the most important contributions to thyroid nodule management. In this article, we review the significance of the TBSRTC categories and their implications in stratifying risk in the management of thyroid nodules.
Knowledge of TBSRTC will allow the radiologist to better understand the criteria for thyroid nodule specimen adequacy, the components of risk stratification, and the standard terminology used for effective communication between patients and clinicians.
Abstract
Background
The Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Patient-Reported Outcome (RANO-PRO) working group aims to provide guidance on the use of PROs in brain tumor patients. PRO measures ...should be of high quality, both in terms of relevance and other measurement properties. This systematic review aimed to identify PRO measures that have been used in brain tumor studies to date.
Methods
A systematic literature search for articles published up to June 25, 2020 was conducted in several electronic databases. Pre-specified inclusion criteria were used to identify studies using PRO measures assessing symptoms, (instrumental) activities of daily living (I)ADL or health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult patients with glioma, meningioma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, or brain metastasis.
Results
A total of 215 different PRO measures were identified in 571 published and 194 unpublished studies. The identified PRO measures include brain tumor-specific, cancer-specific, and generic instruments, as well as instruments designed for other indications or multi- or single-item study-specific questionnaires. The most frequently used instruments were the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BN20 (n = 286 and n = 247), and the FACT-Br (n = 167), however, the majority of the instruments were used only once or twice (150/215).
Conclusion
Many different PRO measures assessing symptoms, (I)ADL or HRQoL have been used in brain tumor studies to date. Future research should clarify whether these instruments or their scales/items exhibit good content validity and other measurement properties for use in brain tumor patients.
Nature Communications 6 Article number: 7481 (2015); Published 26 June 2015; Updated 5 February 2016 The financial support for the work described in this Article was not fully acknowledged. The ...Acknowledgements should have included the following: This work was supported in part by a grant to H.J.G.,B.
Several guidelines for patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A (MEN2A) take into account genotype and family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) disease aggressiveness. We sought to ...determine if an association exists independent of genotype, which could provide important information for counseling MEN2A patients in management of their MTC. Pedigrees of patients with ≥5 family members with MEN2A were retrospectively reviewed. Analysis was performed among kindreds with the most frequently observed codon mutation (
RET
634). Familial MTC disease aggressiveness was evaluated using: (1) mean age at diagnosis of MTC, (2) current mean age of carriers without MTC, (3) proportion of kindred with MTC with metastatic disease at diagnosis, (4) proportion of kindred with MTC with metastasis/death from MTC as worst outcome, and (5) proportion of kindred with disease progression. 170 affected patients from 12 different MEN2A kindreds met inclusion criteria. The number of affected family members available for study per kindred ranged from 8 to 43 individuals. A difference in mean age of MTC diagnosis was found in screened patients (
p
= 0.01); mean age of MTC-free patients did not differ (
p
= 0.93). No differences were noted among kindreds in disease stage at presentation, worst outcome, or progression; marked variation in these measures was noted within families. In conclusion, a difference in age of MTC diagnosis among different
RET
634 kindreds was identified. In contrast, notable intra-familial variability in disease aggressiveness was observed. Based on these findings, we recommend counseling patients with codon 634 mutations that their MTC disease course cannot be predicted by that of their relatives.
Despite chronic therapies, atrial fibrillation (AF) leads to rapid ventricular rates (RVR) often requiring intravenous treatments. Etripamil is a fast-acting, calcium-channel blocker administered ...intranasally affecting the atrioventricular node within minutes.
Reduction of Ventricular Rate in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation evaluated the efficacy and safety of etripamil for the reduction of ventricular rate (VR) in patients presenting urgently with AF-RVR (VR ≥110 beats per minute bpm), was randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and conducted in Canada and the Netherlands. Patients presenting urgently with AF-RVR were randomized (1:1, etripamil nasal spray 70 mg: placebo nasal spray). The primary objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of etripamil in reducing VR in AF-RVR within 60 minutes of treatment. Secondary objectives assessed achievement of VR <100 bpm, reduction by ≥10% and ≥20%, relief of symptoms and treatment effectiveness; adverse events; and additional measures to 360 minutes.
Sixty-nine patients were randomized, 56 dosed with etripamil (n=27) or placebo (n=29). The median age was 65 years; 39% were female patients; proportions of AF types were similar between groups. The difference of mean maximum reductions in VR over 60 minutes, etripamil versus placebo, adjusting for baseline VR, was -29.91 bpm (95% CI, -40.31 to -19.52;
<0.0001). VR reductions persisted up to 150 minutes. Significantly greater proportions of patients receiving etripamil achieved VR reductions <100 bpm (with longer median duration <100 bpm), or VR reduction by ≥10% or ≥20%, versus placebo. VR reduction ≥20% occurred in 66.7% of patients in the etripamil arm and no patients in placebo. Using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication-9, there was significant improvement in satisfaction on symptom relief and treatment effectiveness with etripamil versus placebo. Serious adverse events were rare; 1 patient in the etripamil arm experienced transient severe bradycardia and syncope, assessed as due to hypervagotonia.
Intranasal etripamil 70 mg reduced VR and improved symptom relief and treatment satisfaction. These data support further development of self-administered etripamil for the treatment of AF-RVR.
URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique Identifier: NCT04467905.
An overview of Ensembl Birney, Ewan; Andrews, T Daniel; Bevan, Paul ...
Genome research,
05/2004, Volume:
14, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Ensembl (http://www.ensembl.org/) is a bioinformatics project to organize biological information around the sequences of large genomes. It is a comprehensive source of stable automatic annotation of ...individual genomes, and of the synteny and orthology relationships between them. It is also a framework for integration of any biological data that can be mapped onto features derived from the genomic sequence. Ensembl is available as an interactive Web site, a set of flat files, and as a complete, portable open source software system for handling genomes. All data are provided without restriction, and code is freely available. Ensembl's aims are to continue to "widen" this biological integration to include other model organisms relevant to understanding human biology as they become available; to "deepen" this integration to provide an ever more seamless linkage between equivalent components in different species; and to provide further classification of functional elements in the genome that have been previously elusive.
The majority of ancient DNA studies on human specimens have utilised teeth and bone as a source of genetic material. In this study the levels of endogenous contamination (i.e. present within the ...sample prior to sampling for the DNA analysis) are assessed within human bone and teeth specimens sampled from the cemetery of Santa Lucia alle Malve, Matera, Italy. This site is of exceptional interest, because the samples have been assayed for 18 measures of biochemical and physical preservation, and it is the only one identified in a study of more than 107 animal and 154 human bones from 43 sites across Europe, where a significant number of human bones was well preserved. The findings demonstrate several important issues: (a) although teeth are more resilient to contamination than bone, both are readily contaminated (presumably through handling or washing), and (b) once contaminated in this way, both are difficult (if not impossible) to decontaminate. Furthermore, although assessed on
bone samples, several of the specific biochemical and physical characteristics that describe overall sample preservation, levels of microbial attack and related increases in sample porosity directly correlate with the presence of observable contamination in both
bone and
teeth samples from individual samples. While we can only speculate on the cause of this relationship, we posit that they provide useful guides for the assessment of whether samples are likely to be contaminated or not.
PDF
