Thoracic cord compression caused by disk herniation in Scheuermann’s disease: A case report and review of the literature

We present the case of a 14-year-old male with Scheuermann’s disease and significant neurological deficit due to thoracic disk herniation at the apex of kyphosis. He was treated with an anterior decompression, anterior and posterior fusion in the same setting using plate, cage and a segmental instrumentation system. The patient had an excellent outcome with complete neurological recovery

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Influenza A viruses alter the stability and antiviral contribution of host E3-ubiquitin ligase Mdm2 during the time-course of infection

International audienceThe interplay between influenza A viruses (IAV) and the p53 pathway has been reported in several studies, highlighting the antiviral contribution of p53. Here, we investigated the impact of IAV on the E3-ubiquitin ligase Mdm2, a major regulator of p53, and observed that IAV targets Mdm2, notably via its non-structural protein (NS1), therefore altering Mdm2 stability, p53/Mdm2 interaction and regulatory loop during the time-course of infection. This study also highlights a new antiviral facet of Mdm2 possibly increasing the list of its many p53-independent functions. Altogether, our work contributes to better understand the mechanisms underlining the complex interactions between IAV and the p53 pathway, for which both NS1 and Mdm2 arise as key players

Surgical outcome after spinal fractures in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ankylosing spondylitis is a rheumatic disease in which spinal and sacroiliac joints are mainly affected. There is a gradual bone formation in the spinal ligaments and ankylosis of the spinal diarthroses which lead to stiffness of the spine.</p> <p>The diffuse paraspinal ossification and inflammatory osteitis of advanced Ankylosing spondylitis creates a fused, brittle spine that is susceptible to fracture. The aim of this study is to present the surgical experience of spinal fractures occurring in patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis and to highlight the difficulties that exist as far as both diagnosis and surgical management are concerned.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis were operated due to a spinal fracture. The fracture was located at the cervical spine in 7 cases, at the thoracic spine in 9, at the thoracolumbar junction in 3 and at the lumbar spine in one case. Neurological defects were revealed in 10 patients. In four of them, neurological signs were progressively developed after a time period of 4 to 15 days. The initial radiological study was negative for a spinal fracture in twelve patients. Every patient was assessed at the time of admission and daily until the day of surgery, then postoperatively upon discharge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Combined anterior and posterior approaches were performed in three patients with only posterior approaches performed on the rest. Spinal fusion was seen in 100% of the cases. No intra-operative complications occurred. There was one case in which superficial wound inflammation occurred. Loosening of posterior screws without loss of stability appeared in two patients with cervical injuries.</p> <p>Frankel neurological classification was used in order to evaluate the neurological status of the patients. There was statistically significant improvement of Frankel neurological classification between the preoperative and postoperative evaluation. 35% of patients showed improvement due to the operation performed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The operative treatment of these injuries is useful and effective. It usually succeeds the improvement of the patients' neurological status. Taking into consideration the cardiovascular problems that these patients have, anterior and posterior stabilization aren't always possible. In these cases, posterior approach can be performed and give excellent results, while total operation time, blood loss and other possible complications are decreased.</p

A computational study on outliers in world music

The comparative analysis of world music cultures has been the focus of several ethnomusicological studies in the last century. With the advances of Music Information Retrieval and the increased accessibility of sound archives, large-scale analysis of world music with computational tools is today feasible. We investigate music similarity in a corpus of 8200 recordings of folk and traditional music from 137 countries around the world. In particular, we aim to identify music recordings that are most distinct compared to the rest of our corpus. We refer to these recordings as ‘outliers’. We use signal processing tools to extract music information from audio recordings, data mining to quantify similarity and detect outliers, and spatial statistics to account for geographical correlation. Our findings suggest that Botswana is the country with the most distinct recordings in the corpus and China is the country with the most distinct recordings when considering spatial correlation. Our analysis includes a comparison of musical attributes and styles that contribute to the ‘uniqueness’ of the music of each country

Pantropical variability in tree crown allometry

Aim: Tree crowns determine light interception, carbon and water exchange. Thus, understanding the factors causing tree crown allometry to vary at the tree and stand level matters greatly for the development of future vegetation modelling and for the calibration of remote sensing products. Nevertheless, we know little about large‐scale variation and determinants in tropical tree crown allometry. In this study, we explored the continental variation in scaling exponents of site‐specific crown allometry and assessed their relationships with environmental and stand‐level variables in the tropics. / Location: Global tropics. / Time period: Early 21st century. / Major taxa studied: Woody plants. / Methods: Using a dataset of 87,737 trees distributed among 245 forest and savanna sites across the tropics, we fitted site‐specific allometric relationships between crown dimensions (crown depth, diameter and volume) and stem diameter using power‐law models. Stand‐level and environmental drivers of crown allometric relationships were assessed at pantropical and continental scales. / Results: The scaling exponents of allometric relationships between stem diameter and crown dimensions were higher in savannas than in forests. We identified that continental crown models were better than pantropical crown models and that continental differences in crown allometric relationships were driven by both stand‐level (wood density) and environmental (precipitation, cation exchange capacity and soil texture) variables for both tropical biomes. For a given diameter, forest trees from Asia and savanna trees from Australia had smaller crown dimensions than trees in Africa and America, with crown volumes for some Asian forest trees being smaller than those of trees in African forests. / Main conclusions: Our results provide new insight into geographical variability, with large continental differences in tropical tree crown allometry that were driven by stand‐level and environmental variables. They have implications for the assessment of ecosystem function and for the monitoring of woody biomass by remote sensing techniques in the global tropics

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

This article has 730 authors, of which I have only listed the lead author and myself as a representative of University of HelsinkiPlant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.Peer reviewe

Cognitive Neuropsychology of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Advances in the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have dramatically improved survival rates over the past 10 years, but HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remain highly prevalent and continue to represent a significant public health problem. This review provides an update on the nature, extent, and diagnosis of HAND. Particular emphasis is placed on critically evaluating research within the realm of cognitive neuropsychology that aims to elucidate the component processes of HAND across the domains of executive functions, motor skills, speeded information processing, episodic memory, attention/working memory, language, and visuoperception. In addition to clarifying the cognitive mechanisms of HAND (e.g., impaired cognitive control), the cognitive neuropsychology approach may enhance the ecological validity of neuroAIDS research and inform the development of much needed novel, targeted cognitive and behavioral therapies

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives