Spatial variogram estimation from temporally aggregated seabird count data

Seabird abundance is an important indicator for assessing impact of human activities on the marine environment. However, data collection at sea is time consuming and surveys are carried out over several consecutive days for efficiency reasons. This study investigates the validity of aggregating those data over time to estimate a spatial variogram that is representative for spatial correlation in species abundance. For this purpose we simulate four-day surveys of seabird count data that contain spatial and temporal correlation arising from temporal changes in the spatial pattern of environmental conditions. Estimates of the aggregated spatial variogram are compared to a variogram that would arise when data were collected over a single day. The study reveals that, under changing environmental conditions over surveys days, aggregating data over a four-day survey increases both the non-spatial variation in the data and the scale of spatial correlation in seabird data. Next, the effect of using an aggregated variogram on the statistical power to test the significance of an impact is investigated. The impact concerns a case of establishing an offshore wind farm resulting in seabird displacement. The study shows that both overestimation and underestimation of statistical power occurs, with power estimates differing up to a factor of two. We conclude that the spatial variation in seabird abundance can be misrepresented by using temporally aggregated data. In impact studies, such misrepresentation can lead to erroneous assessments of the ability to detect impact

Benign Lesions in Mucosa Adjacent to Intestinal-Type Sinonasal Adenocarcinoma

Occupational exposure to wood dust is a strong risk factor for the development of intestinal-type sinonasal adenocarcinoma (ITAC); however, knowledge on possible precursor lesions or biomarkers is limited. Fifty-one samples of tumor-adjacent mucosa and 19 control samples of mucosa from the unaffected fossa of ITAC patients were evaluated for histological changes and p53 protein expression. Mild dysplasia was observed in 14%, cuboidal metaplasia in 57%, intestinal metaplasia in 8%, squamous metaplasia in 24%, and cylindrocellular hyperplasia in 53% of cases. P53 immunopositivity was generally weak occurring most frequently in squamous metaplasia. Wood dust etiology did not appear of influence on the histological changes, but p53 showed a tendency for higher positivity. Dysplasia adjacent to tumor was indicative of subsequent development of recurrence. In conclusion, precursor lesions do occur in mucosa adjacent to ITAC. This is clinically important, because it may justify the screening of high-risk individuals such as woodworkers

Relative stability of ploidy in a marine Synechococcus across various growth conditions

Marine picocyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus are ubiquitous phototrophs in oceanic systems. Consistent with these organisms occupying vast tracts of the nutrient impoverished ocean, most marine Synechococcus so far studied are monoploid, i.e., contain a single chromosome copy. The exception is the oligoploid strain Synechococcus sp. WH7803, which on average possesses around 4 chromosome copies. Here, we set out to understand the role of resource availability (through nutrient deplete growth) and physical stressors (UV, exposure to low and high temperature) in regulating ploidy level in this strain. Using qPCR to assay ploidy status we demonstrate the relative stability of chromosome copy number in Synechococcus sp. WH7803. Such robustness in maintaining an oligoploid status even under nutrient and physical stress is indicative of a fundamental role, perhaps facilitating recombination of damaged DNA regions as a result of prolonged exposure to oxidative stress, or allowing added flexibility in gene expression via possessing multiple alleles

Efficient and effective assessment of deficits and their neural bases in stroke aphasia

ObjectiveMulti-assessment batteries are necessary for diagnosing and quantifying the multifaceted deficits observed post-stroke. Extensive batteries are thorough but impractically long for clinical settings or large-scale research studies. Clinically-targeted “shallow” batteries superficially cover a wide range of language skills relatively quickly but can struggle to identify mild deficits or quantify the impairment level. Our aim was to compare these batteries across a large group of chronic stroke aphasia and to test a novel data-driven reduced version of an extensive battery that maintained sensitivity to mild impairment, ability to grade deficits and the underlying component structure.MethodsWe tested 75 chronic left-sided stroke participants, spanning global to mild aphasia. The underlying structure of these three batteries was analysed using cross-validation and principal component analysis, in addition to univariate and multivariate lesion-symptom mapping.ResultsThis revealed a four-factor solution for the extensive and data-reduced batteries, identifying phonology, semantic skills, fluency and executive function in contrast to a two-factor solution using the shallow battery (language severity and cognitive severity). Lesion symptom mapping using participants’ factor scores identified convergent neural structures for phonology (superior temporal gyrus), semantics (inferior temporal gyrus), speech fluency (precentral gyrus) and executive function (lateral occipitotemporal cortex). The two shallow battery components converged with the phonology and executive function clusters. In addition, we show that multivariate models could predict the component scores using neural data, however not for every component.ConclusionsOverall, the data-driven battery appears to be an effective way to save time yet retain maintained sensitivity to mild impairment, ability to grade deficits and the underlying component structure observed in post-stroke aphasia

Auditory beat perception is related to speech output fluency in post-stroke aphasia

Aphasia affects at least one third of stroke survivors, and there is increasing awareness that more fundamental deficits in auditory processing might contribute to impaired language performance in such individuals. We performed a comprehensive battery of psychoacoustic tasks assessing the perception of tone pairs and sequences across the domains of pitch, rhythm and timbre in 17 individuals with post-stroke aphasia and 17 controls. At the level of individual differences we demonstrated a correlation between metrical pattern (beat) perception and speech output fluency with strong effect (Spearman’s rho = 0.72). This dissociated from more basic auditory timing perception, which did not correlate with output fluency. This was also specific in terms of the language and cognitive measures, amongst which phonological, semantic and executive function did not correlate with beat detection. We interpret the data in terms of a requirement for the analysis of the metrical structure of sound to construct fluent output, with both being a function of higher-order “temporal scaffolding”. The beat perception task herein allows measurement of timing analysis without any need to account for motor output deficit, and could be a potential clinical tool to examine this. This work suggests strategies to improve fluency after stroke by training in metrical pattern perception

Effect of ABCB1 and ABCC3 Polymorphisms on Osteosarcoma Survival after Chemotherapy: A Pharmacogenetic Study

Standard treatment for osteosarcoma patients consists of a combination of cisplatin, adriamycin, and methotrexate before surgical resection of the primary tumour, followed by postoperative chemotherapy including vincristine and cyclophosphamide. Unfortunately, many patients still relapse or suffer adverse events. We examined whether common germline polymorphisms in chemotherapeutic transporter and metabolic pathway genes of the drugs used in standard osteosarcoma treatment may predict treatment response. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study we screened 102 osteosarcoma patients for 346 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2 Copy Number Variants (CNVs) in 24 genes involved in the metabolism or transport of cisplatin, adriamycin, methotrexate, vincristine, and cyclophosphamide. We studied the association of the genotypes with tumour response and overall survival. We found that four SNPs in two ATP-binding cassette genes were significantly associated with overall survival: rs4148416 in ABCC3 (per-allele HR = 8.14, 95%CI = 2.73-20.2, p-value = 5.1x10(-)(5)), and three SNPs in ABCB1, rs4148737 (per-allele HR = 3.66, 95%CI = 1.85-6.11, p-value = 6.9x10(-)(5)), rs1128503 and rs10276036 (r(2) = 1, per-allele HR = 0.24, 95%CI = 0.11-0.47 p-value = 7.9x10(-)(5)). Associations with these SNPs remained statistically significant after correction for multiple testing (all corrected p-values [permutation test] </= 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that these polymorphisms may affect osteosarcoma treatment efficacy. If these associations are independently validated, these variants could be used as genetic predictors of clinical outcome in the treatment of osteosarcoma, helping in the design of individualized therapy

Comparing short and long batteries to assess deficits and their neural bases in stroke aphasia

Multiple language assessments are necessary for diagnosing, characterising and quantifying the multifaceted deficits observed in many patients’ post-stroke. Current language batteries, however, tend to be an imperfect trade-off between time and sensitivity of assessment. There have hitherto been two main types of battery. Extensive batteries provide thorough information but are impractically long for application in clinical settings or large-scale research studies. Clinically-targeted batteries tend to provide superficial information about a large number of language skills in a relatively short period of time by reducing the depth of each test but, consequently, can struggle to identify mild deficits, qualify the level of each impairment or reveal the underlying component structure. In the current study, we compared these batteries across a large group of individuals with chronic stroke aphasia to determine their utility. In addition, we developed a data-driven reduced version of an extensive battery that maintained sensitivity to mild impairment, ability to grade deficits and the component structure. The underlying structure of these three language batteries (extensive, shallow and data-reduced) was analysed using cross-validation analysis and principal component analysis. This revealed a four-factor solution for the extensive and data-reduced batteries, identifying phonology, semantic skills, fluency and executive function in contrast to a two-factor solution using the shallow battery (phonological/language severity and cognitive severity). Lesion symptom mapping using participants’ factor scores identified convergent neural structures based on existing language models for phonology (superior temporal gyrus), semantics (inferior temporal gyrus), speech fluency (precentral gyrus) and executive function (lateral occipitotemporal cortex) based on the extensive and data-reduced batteries. The two components in the shallow battery converged with the phonology and executive function clusters. In addition, we show that multivariate prediction models could be utilised to predict the component scores using neural data, however not for every component score within every test battery. Overall, the data-reduced battery appears to be an effective way to save assessment time yet retain the underlying structure of language and cognitive deficits observed in post stroke aphasia

El impacto de la pandemia del COVID-19 en la educación médica: adaptabilidad y experiencia con enseñanza a distancia de la Sociedad Médica Peruano Americana

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on medical care and medical education in Peru.&nbsp; In response, the Peruvian American Medical Society (PAMS), a charitable medical organization based in the USA, pursued its medical and educational missions in Peru by adopting virtual learning technology. We developed closer collaborative relationships with several medical schools and the Peruvian Association of Medical Schools (ASPEFAM) while offering a faculty panel of twenty-four members to provide lectures and multidisciplinary webinars in Spanish. We conducted 19 webinars including COVID -19 and non-COVID-19 related topics that over the last two years attracted 14,489 participants from 23 countries. They were the foundation for twenty publications in Peruvian medical journals. Our clinical investigations competition was positively received as was our pilot project on research mentorship. The COVID -19 pandemic had a positive effect on the educational mission of PAMS in Peru.La pandemia del COVID-19 tuvo un impacto significativo en el cuidado y la educación médicos en el Perú. En respuesta, la Sociedad Médica Peruano Americana (PAMS), una organización médica benéfica con sede en los EE. UU., adoptó sus misiones médicas y educativas en Perú usando estrategias virtuales. Desarrollamos colaboración con varias facultades de medicina y la Asociación Peruana de Facultades de Medicina (ASPEFAM) y ofrecimos un panel de veinte y cuatro miembros para brindar conferencias y seminarios multidisciplinarios en español. Hicimos 19 seminarios, incluyendo temas relacionados y no relacionados al COVID-19, que en los últimos dos años atrajo a 14 489 participantes de 23 países. Ellas fueron la base de 20 publicaciones en revistas médicas peruanas. Nuestro concurso de investigaciones clínicas y nuestro proyecto piloto de mentoría de investigación fueron recibidos positivamente. La pandemia del COVID-19 tuvo un efecto positivo en la misión educativa de PAMS en Perú

Physiological and public health basis for assessing micronutrient requirements in children and adolescents. The EURRECA network

This paper provides an overview of the current knowledge relating to the nutritional requirements and corresponding recommended nutrient intake values of children and adolescents for micronutrients and specificities related to these requirements in the course of childhood and adolescence in Europe. Aspects that can influence micronutrient requirements, such as physiological requirements and bioavailability of the nutrients in the organism, are discussed. The methodology used to obtain the data and also the main knowledge gaps regarding these concepts are emphasized. Methodological critical points in achieving the data and physiological aspects of children and adolescents are important in order to standardize the reference values for micronutrients among Europe for these stages of life

Development of Cancer Surveillance Guidelines in Ataxia Telangiectasia: A Delphi-Based Consensus Survey of International Experts

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a multiorgan disorder with increased vulnerability to cancer. Despite this increased cancer risk, there are no widely accepted guidelines for cancer surveillance in people affected by A-T. We aimed to understand the current international practice regarding cancer surveillance in A-T and agreed-upon approaches to develop cancer surveillance in A-T. DESIGN/METHODS: We used a consensus development method, the e-Delphi technique, comprising three rounds. Round 1 consisted of a Delphi questionnaire and a survey that collected the details of respondents\u27 professional background, experience, and current practice of cancer surveillance in A-T. Rounds 2 and 3 were designed based on previous rounds and modified according to the comments made by the panellists. The pre-specified consensus threshold was ≥75% agreement. RESULTS: Thirty-five expert panellists from 13 countries completed the study. The survey indicated that the current practice of cancer surveillance varies widely between experts and centres\u27. Consensus was reached that evidence-based guidelines are needed for cancer surveillance in people with A-T, with separate recommendations for adults and children. Statements relating to the tests that should be included, the age for starting and stopping cancer surveillance and the optimal surveillance interval were also agreed upon, although in some areas, the consensus was that further research is needed. CONCLUSION: The international expert consensus statement confirms the need for evidence-based cancer surveillance guidelines in A-T, highlights key features that the guidelines should include, and identifies areas of uncertainty in the expert community. This elucidates current knowledge gaps and will inform the design of future clinical trials