Summary
Several observational studies have assessed the association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and type 2 diabetes mellitus, with inconclusive results. We set out to investigate the ...association between psoriasis, PsA and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Observational studies assessing the relationship between psoriasis or PsA and type 2 diabetes mellitus up to December 2012 were identified by electronic and hand searches in Medline, Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Google Scholar. For each study we collected the first author's last name, publication year, country of origin, study design, characteristics of participants (sample size, age and sex), the variables incorporated into the multivariable analyses, and the odds ratios (ORs) of psoriasis associated with diabetes along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). From the data provided in each article, the crude OR was also calculated. Forty‐four observational studies (in 37 articles) were identified for the final analysis. The pooled OR from random‐effects analysis was determined to be 1·76 (95% CI 1·59–1·96). The highest risk was for patients suffering from PsA (OR 2·18, 95% CI 1·36–3·50). We also observed a dose effect in the risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus, as patients considered as having severe psoriasis had higher risk (OR 2·10, 95% CI 1·73–2·55) than the pooled OR. We perform meta‐regression and sensitivity analyses to explore sources of heterogeneity among the studies and to determine how they would influence the estimates, and found no significant influence in the results of the meta‐analyses. The findings support the association between psoriasis, PsA and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Some caution must be taken in the interpretation of these results because there may be heterogeneity between studies.
What's already known about this topic?
Several observational studies have assessed the association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and type 2 diabetes mellitus, with inconclusive results.
What does this study add?
A systematic review and meta‐analysis including all observational studies up to December 2012.
Investigation of the influence of psoriatic arthritis and the severity of the disease on the risk of diabetes.
Summary
In addition to its well‐documented value in improving the diagnosis of skin tumours, dermoscopy is continually gaining appreciation in the field of general dermatology. Dermoscopy has been ...shown to facilitate the clinical recognition of several inflammatory and infectious diseases, as well as their discrimination from skin tumours. Moreover, recent data indicate that it might also be profitable in assessing the outcome and adverse effects of various treatments. Application of dermoscopy should follow the standard procedure of acquiring information from patient history and clinically evaluating the number, location and morphology of the lesion(s). Four parameters should be assessed when applying dermoscopy in the realm of inflammatory and infectious diseases: (i) morphological vascular patterns; (ii) arrangement of vascular structures; (iii) colours; and (iv) follicular abnormalities, while the presence of other specific features (clues) should also be evaluated. It must be underlined that dermoscopic findings should always be interpreted within the overall clinical context of the patient, integrated with information from the history and the macroscopic examination. With new evidence continuously being gathered, the dermatoscope gradually acquires a role similar to the stethoscope of general practitioners, becoming an irreplaceable clinical tool for dermatologists. In this article, we provide a succinct summary of existing data on dermoscopy in general dermatology. Practical tips are suggested, which can assist clinicians in profitably utilizing and applying the available knowledge in their everyday practice.
What's already known about this topic?
Dermoscopy has well‐documented value in improving the diagnosis of skin tumours.
It is continually gaining appreciation in the field of general dermatology.
What does this study add?
We provide a succinct summary of existing data on dermoscopy in general dermatology.
Practical tips are suggested, which can assist clinicians in profitably utilizing and applying the available knowledge in their everyday practice.
Little is known about the response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to ecosystem development. We use a long‐term soil chronosequence that includes ecosystem progression and retrogression ...to quantify the importance of host plant identity as a factor driving fungal community composition during ecosystem development. We identified arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant species from 50 individual roots from each of 10 sites spanning 5–120 000 yr of ecosystem age using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP), Sanger sequencing and pyrosequencing. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities were highly structured by ecosystem age. There was strong niche differentiation, with different groups of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) being characteristic of early succession, ecosystem progression and ecosystem retrogression. Fungal alpha diversity decreased with ecosystem age, whereas beta diversity was high at early stages and lower in subsequent stages. A total of 39% of the variance in fungal communities was explained by host plant and site age, 29% of which was attributed to host and the interaction between host and site (24% and 5%, respectively). The strong response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to ecosystem development appears to be largely driven by plant host identity, supporting the concept that plant and fungal communities are tightly coupled rather than independently responding to habitat.
The main goal of this paper is to show the advantages of the
multiColl
package in
R
, comparing its results with other existing packages in
R
for the treatment of multicollinearity.
We study the multiphase feedback processes in the central ∼3 kpc of the barred Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5643. We used observations of the cold molecular gas (ALMA CO(2−1) transition) and ionized gas ...(MUSE IFU optical emission lines). We studied different regions along the outflow zone, which extends out to ∼2.3 kpc in the same direction (east-west) as the radio jet, as well as nuclear and circumnuclear regions in the host galaxy disk. The CO(2−1) line profiles of regions in the outflow and spiral arms show two or more different velocity components: one associated with the host galaxy rotation, and the others with out- or inflowing material. In the outflow region, the O
III
λ
5007 Å emission lines have two or more components: the narrow component traces rotation of the gas in the disk, and the others are related to the ionized outflow. The deprojected outflowing velocities of the cold molecular gas (median
V
central
∼ 189 km s
−1
) are generally lower than those of the outflowing ionized gas, which reach deprojected velocities of up to 750 km s
−1
close to the active galactic nucleus (AGN), and their spatial profiles follow those of the ionized phase. This suggests that the outflowing molecular gas in the galaxy disk is being entrained by the AGN wind. We derive molecular and ionized outflow masses of ∼5.2 × 10
7
M
⊙
(
α
CO
Galactic
) and 8.5 × 10
4
M
⊙
and molecular and ionized outflow mass rates of ∼51
M
⊙
yr
−1
(
α
CO
Galactic
) and 0.14
M
⊙
yr
−1
, respectively. This means that the molecular phase dominates the outflow mass and outflow mass rate, while the kinetic power and momentum of the outflow are similar in both phases. However, the wind momentum loads (
Ṗ
out
/
Ṗ
AGN
) for the molecular and ionized outflow phases are ∼27−5 (
α
CO
Galactic
and
α
CO
ULIRGs
) and < 1, which suggests that the molecular phase is not momentum conserving, but the ionized phase most certainly is. The molecular gas content (
M
east
∼ 1.5 × 10
7
M
⊙
;
α
CO
Galactic
) of the eastern spiral arm is approximately 50−70% of the content of the western one. We interpret this as destruction or clearing of the molecular gas produced by the AGN wind impacting in the eastern side of the host galaxy (negative feedback process). The increase in molecular phase momentum implies that part of the kinetic energy from the AGN wind is transmitted to the molecular outflow. This suggests that in Seyfert-like AGN such as NGC 5643, the radiative or quasar and the kinetic or radio AGN feedback modes coexist and may shape the host galaxies even at kiloparsec scales through both positive and (mild) negative feedback.
Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) usually chew their feed before swallowing it. Under rearing condition, this feeding behaviour generates significant feed waste in the form of pellet fragments. The ...study aimed to experimentally quantify feed losses by chewing considering fish weight and the feed pellet size. Gilthead sea bream with a body weight of 28–1019g were fed with differently sized pellets (2–8mm) from a commercial aquafeed gamma. Feed wastes were collected and data were used to create a model able to estimate the waste derived from this particular feeding behaviour. The results pointed to a substantial feed loss, which increased proportionally with fish size as the pellets are larger. Simulations for a complete ongrowing cycle carried out following the aquafeed manufacturer's recommendations with regard to pellet size revealed that feed wastes by chewing represent 8% of the feed delivered. Alternative feeding regimes based on the use of smaller pellets would lead to a significant reduction in losses (up to 50%) through chewing. Improving the feeding strategy would help to minimize waste output, increasing gilthead sea bream aquaculture sustainability.
This study deals with the wastes generated by chewing in the ongrowing of gilthead seabream of different body weight fed with different pellet sizes. This is the only work modelling the losses by chewing phenomenon, also suggesting alternative feeding regimes to improve environmental sustainability of the aquaculture process.
•Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) feed loss by chewing was studied.•A waste model was developed from a wide range of fish body weight and pellet sizes.•Simulations under different feeding regimes were performed.•The manufacturer feeding recommendations caused substantial feed losses.•Alternative feeding regimes may improve feeding conversion rate and reduce wastes.
► Farmed gilthead seabream were administered feeds supplemented with aromatic plant oils and extracts. ► The effects on postmortem quality during storage on ice were assessed. ► Animals fed diets ...with BHT, carvacrol and rosemary showed lower oxidation levels. ► The antibacterial effect of thymol was higher than in the rest of the groups. ► Deterioration in terms of sensory perception was slower with BHT and thymol.
The effect on quality were assessed for gilthead seabream fed five different diets: control (basal diet); BHT (basal diet with 200mgkg−1 of butylated hydroxytoluene); rosemary (basal diet with 600mgkg−1 of rosemary extract –Rosmarinus officinalis); carvacrol (basal diet with 500mgkg−1 of essential oil of Thymbra capitata, carvacrol chemotype); and thymol (basal diet with 500mgg−1 of essential oil of Thymus zygis, subspecies gracilis, thymol chemotype). After 18weeks of experimentation, the animals were stored on ice at 4°C for 0, 7, 14, and 21days. Physical–chemical, microbiological and sensory analyses were carried out at each sampling point to determine the degree of deterioration in the gilthead seabream. Lower indices of oxidation were observed in animals who were administered feeds supplemented with BHT, carvacrol and (to a lesser degree) rosemary. Lower bacteria counts were observed for the BHT and thymol groups, in addition to a slower deterioration in terms of sensory perception. Accordingly, the addition of natural antioxidants to the diet may have an added effect on fish quality, delaying post mortem deterioration.
Background and Purpose
Stress exposure produces excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation, contributing to the cellular damage observed in stress‐related neuropathologies. The endocannabinoids provide a ...homeostatic system, present in stress‐responsive neural circuits. Here, we have assessed the possible regulatory role of cannabinoid CB2 receptors in stress‐induced excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation.
Experimental Approach
We used wild type (WT), transgenic overexpressing CB2 receptors (CB2xP) and CB2 receptor knockout (CB2‐KO) mice exposed to immobilization and acoustic stress (2 h·day−1 for 4 days). The CB2 receptor agonist JWH‐133 was administered daily (2 mg·kg−1, i.p.) to WT and CB2‐KO animals. Glutamate uptake was measured in synaptosomes from frontal cortex; Western blots and RT‐PCR were used to measure proinflammatory cytokines, enzymes and mediators in homogenates of frontal cortex.
Key Results
Increased plasma corticosterone induced by stress was not modified by manipulating CB2 receptors. JWH‐133 treatment or overexpression of CB2 receptors increased control levels of glutamate uptake, which were reduced by stress back to control levels. JWH‐133 prevented the stress‐induced increase in proinflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α and CCL2), in NF‐κB, and in NOS‐2 and COX‐2 and in the consequent cellular oxidative and nitrosative damage (lipid peroxidation). CB2xP mice exhibited anti‐inflammatory or neuroprotective actions similar to those in JWH‐133 pretreated animals. Conversely, lack of CB2 receptors (CB2‐KO mice) exacerbated stress‐induced neuroinflammatory responses and confirmed that effects of JWH‐133 were mediated through CB2 receptors.
Conclusions and Implications
Pharmacological manipulation of CB2 receptors is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of stress‐related pathologies with a neuroinflammatory component, such as depression.
In this work, a dielectric metasurface consisting of hollow dielectric nanocuboids, with ultrahigh quality factor, is theoretically proposed and demonstrated. The variation of the hole size of the ...cuboid allows for the tuning of the resonant anapole mode in the nanoparticles. The metasurface is designed to operate in two complementary modes, namely electromagnetically induced transparency and narrowband selective reflection. Thanks to the non-radiative nature of the anapole resonances, the minimal absorption losses of the dielectric materials, and the near-field coupling among the metasurface nanoparticles, a very high quality factor of Q=2.5×10
is achieved. The resonators are characterized by a simple bulk geometry and the subwavelength dimensions of the metasurface permit operation in the non-diffractive regime. The high quality factors and strong energy confinement of the proposed devices open new avenues of research on light-matter interactions, which may find direct applications, e.g., in non-linear devices, biological sensors, laser cavities, and optical communications.
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