Trauma-Associated Tinnitus: Audiological, Demographic and Clinical Characteristics

Background: Tinnitus can result from different etiologies. Frequently, patients report the development of tinnitus after traumatic injuries. However, to which extent this specific etiologic factor plays a role for the phenomenology of tinnitus is still incompletely understood. Additionally, it remains a matter of debate whether the etiology of tinnitus constitutes a relevant criterion for defining tinnitus subtypes. Objective: By investigating a worldwide sample of tinnitus patients derived from the Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) Database, we aimed to identify differences in demographic, clinical and audiological characteristics between tinnitus patients with and without preceding trauma. Materials: A total of 1,604 patients were investigated. Assessment included demographic data, tinnitus related clinical data, audiological data, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, the Tinnitus Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, various numeric tinnitus rating scales, and the World Health Organisation Quality of Life Scale (WHOQoL). Results: Our data clearly indicate differences between tinnitus patients with and without trauma at tinnitus onset. Patients suffering from trauma-associated tinnitus suffer from a higher mental burden than tinnitus patients presenting with phantom perceptions based on other or unknown etiologic factors. This is especially the case for patients with whiplash and head trauma. Patients with posttraumatic noise-related tinnitus experience more frequently hyperacousis, were younger, had longer tinnitus duration, and were more frequently of male gender. Conclusions: Trauma before tinnitus onset seems to represent a relevant criterion for subtypization of tinnitus. Patients with posttraumatic tinnitus may require specific diagnostic and therapeutic management. A more systematic and - at best - standardized assessment for hearing related sequelae of trauma is needed for a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and for developing more tailored treatment approaches as well.Fil: Kreuzer, Peter M.. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Landgrebe, Michael. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Schecklmann, Martin. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Staudinger, Susanne. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Langguth, Berthold. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Vielsmeier, Veronika. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Kleinjung, Tobias. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Lehner, Astrid. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Poeppl, Timm B.. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Figueiredo, Ricardo. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Azevedo, Andréia. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Binetti, Ana Carolina. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Elgoyhen, Ana Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Rates, Marcelo. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Coelho, Claudia. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Vanneste, Sven. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: de Ridder, Dirk. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: van de Heyning, Paul. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Zeman, Florian. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Mohr, Markus. The TRI Database Study Group; AlemaniaFil: Koller, Michael. The TRI Database Study Group; Alemani

Trophic dynamics of methylmercury and trace elements in a remote Amazonian Lake.

peer reviewedInformation on pollutant trophodynamics can be crucial for public health, as contaminated food consumption may lead to deleterious effects. This study was performed in Puruzinho Lake, a remote body of water in the Brazilian Amazon from which a riparian human population obtains an important part of its animal protein intake. Samples from 92 individuals, comprising 13 species and four trophic guilds (iliophagous, planktivorous, omnivorous, and piscivorous fish) were analysed for the determination of trace elements (Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Ca, Sr, Cd, Sn, Tl and Pb) and methylmercury concentrations. Samples from the same individuals had already been analysed for stable isotope (SI) measurements (δ13C and δ15N) in a previous investigation and the SI data have been statistically treated with those generated in this study for the evaluation of trophic dynamics of contaminants. Methylmercury was the only analyte that biomagnified, presenting TMF values of 4.65 and 4.55 for total and resident ichthyofauna, respectively. Trace elements presented either trophic dilution or independence from the trophic position, constituting a behaviour that was coherent with that found in the scientific literature. The similarity between Ni behaviour through the trophic web to that of essential elements contributes to the discussion on the essentiality of this metal to fish. Considering the Non-cancer Risk Assessment, the calculated Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values were higher than 1.0 for all analysed individuals for methylmercury, as well as for only one individual for nickel. No other analyte rendered THQ values higher than 1.0.14. Life below wate

Purification of a lectin from Cratylia mollis crude extract seed by a single step PEG/phosphate aqueous two-phase system

The partitioning and purification of lectins from the crude extract of Cratylia mollis seeds (Cramoll 1,4) was investigated in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). A factorial design model (24) was used to evaluate the influence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) molar mass (15008000g/mol), PEG concentration (12.517.5% w/w), phosphate (1015% w/w) concentration, and pH (68) on the differential partitioning, purification factor, and yield of the lectin. Polymer and salt concentration were the most important variables affecting partition of lectin and used to find optimum purification factor by experimental BoxBehnken design together with the response surface methodology (RSM). ATPS showed best conditions composed by 13.9% PEG1500, 15.3% phosphate buffer at pH 6, which ensured purification factor of 4.70. Sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed a single band of protein with 26.1kDa. Furthermore, results demonstrated a thermostable lectin presenting activity until 60°C and lost hemagglutinating activity at 80°C. According to the obtained data it can be inferred that the ATPS optimization using RSM approach can be applied for recovery and purification of lectins.We are grateful to the following bodies for the grants awarded: CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Level Personnel Superior); FACEPE (Pernambuco Science and Technology Foundation): Researcher's scholarship grant: BFP-0017-5.05/18 CNPq (National Council for Scientific Development and Technological) process: 427153/2016-6 and we also thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions as these helped us to improve the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Snake Venom Disintegrins and Cell Migration

Cell migration is a key process for the defense of pluricellular organisms against pathogens, and it involves a set of surface receptors acting in an ordered fashion to contribute directionality to the movement. Among these receptors are the integrins, which connect the cell cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix components, thus playing a central role in cell migration. Integrin clustering at focal adhesions drives actin polymerization along the cell leading edge, resulting in polarity of cell movement. Therefore, small integrin-binding proteins such as the snake venom disintegrins that inhibit integrin-mediated cell adhesion are expected to inhibit cell migration. Here we review the current knowledge on disintegrin and disintegrin-like protein effects on cell migration and their potential use as pharmacological tools in anti-inflammatory therapy as well as in inhibition of metastatic invasion

A comprehensive assessment of the transcriptome of cork oak (Quercus suber) through EST sequencing

Background: Cork oak (Quercus suber) is one of the rare trees with the ability to produce cork, a material widely used to make wine bottle stoppers, flooring and insulation materials, among many other uses. The molecular mechanisms of cork formation are still poorly understood, in great part due to the difficulty in studying a species with a long life-cycle and for which there is scarce molecular/genomic information. Cork oak forests are of great ecological importance and represent a major economic and social resource in Southern Europe and Northern Africa. However, global warming is threatening the cork oak forests by imposing thermal, hydric and many types of novel biotic stresses. Despite the economic and social value of the Q. suber species, few genomic resources have been developed, useful for biotechnological applications and improved forest management. Results: We generated in excess of 7 million sequence reads, by pyrosequencing 21 normalized cDNA libraries derived from multiple Q. suber tissues and organs, developmental stages and physiological conditions. We deployed a stringent sequence processing and assembly pipeline that resulted in the identification of ~159,000 unigenes. These were annotated according to their similarity to known plant genes, to known Interpro domains, GO classes and E.C. numbers. The phylogenetic extent of this ESTs set was investigated, and we found that cork oak revealed a significant new gene space that is not covered by other model species or EST sequencing projects. The raw data, as well as the full annotated assembly, are now available to the community in a dedicated web portal at http://www.corkoakdb.org. Conclusions: This genomic resource represents the first trancriptome study in a cork producing species. It can be explored to develop new tools and approaches to understand stress responses and developmental processes in forest trees, as well as the molecular cascades underlying cork differentiation and disease response.Peer Reviewe

Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important predictor of aboveground biomass (−9.1 megagrams of carbon per hectare per degree Celsius), primarily by reducing woody productivity, and has a greater impact per °C in the hottest forests (>32.2°C). Our results nevertheless reveal greater thermal resilience than observations of short-term variation imply. To realize the long-term climate adaptation potential of tropical forests requires both protecting them and stabilizing Earth’s climate

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio