Diversity of Zoanthids (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) on Hawaiian Seamounts: Description of the Hawaiian Gold Coral and Additional Zoanthids

The Hawaiian gold coral has a history of exploitation from the deep slopes and seamounts of the Hawaiian Islands as one of the precious corals commercialised in the jewellery industry. Due to its peculiar characteristic of building a scleroproteic skeleton, this zoanthid has been referred as Gerardia sp. (a junior synonym of Savalia Nardo, 1844) but never formally described or examined by taxonomists despite its commercial interest. While collection of Hawaiian gold coral is now regulated, globally seamounts habitats are increasingly threatened by a variety of anthropogenic impacts. However, impact assessment studies and conservation measures cannot be taken without consistent knowledge of the biodiversity of such environments. Recently, multiple samples of octocoral-associated zoanthids were collected from the deep slopes of the islands and seamounts of the Hawaiian Archipelago. The molecular and morphological examination of these zoanthids revealed the presence of at least five different species including the gold coral. Among these only the gold coral appeared to create its own skeleton, two other species are simply using the octocoral as substrate, and the situation is not clear for the final two species. Phylogenetically, all these species appear related to zoanthids of the genus Savalia as well as to the octocoral-associated zoanthid Corallizoanthus tsukaharai, suggesting a common ancestor to all octocoral-associated zoanthids. The diversity of zoanthids described or observed during this study is comparable to levels of diversity found in shallow water tropical coral reefs. Such unexpected species diversity is symptomatic of the lack of biological exploration and taxonomic studies of the diversity of seamount hexacorals

Tau PET correlates with different Alzheimer's disease-related features compared to CSF and plasma p-tau biomarkers

PET, CSF and plasma biomarkers of tau pathology may be differentially associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related demographic, cognitive, genetic and neuroimaging markers. We examined 771 participants with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment or dementia from BioFINDER-2 (n = 400) and ADNI (n = 371). All had tau-PET ([18F]RO948 in BioFINDER-2, [18F]flortaucipir in ADNI) and CSF p-tau181 biomarkers available. Plasma p-tau181 and plasma/CSF p-tau217 were available in BioFINDER-2 only. Concordance between PET, CSF and plasma tau biomarkers ranged between 66 and 95%. Across the whole group, ridge regression models showed that increased CSF and plasma p-tau181 and p-tau217 levels were independently of tau PET associated with higher age, and APOEɛ4-carriership and Aβ-positivity, while increased tau-PET signal in the temporal cortex was associated with worse cognitive performance and reduced cortical thickness. We conclude that biofluid and neuroimaging markers of tau pathology convey partly independent information, with CSF and plasma p-tau181 and p-tau217 levels being more tightly linked with early markers of AD (especially Aβ-pathology), while tau-PET shows the strongest associations with cognitive and neurodegenerative markers of disease progression

Relevance of biomarkers across different neurodegenerative

Background: The panel of fluid- and imaging-based biomarkers available for neurodegenerative disease research is growing and has the potential to close important gaps in research and the clinic. With this growth and increasing use, appropriate implementation and interpretation are paramount. Various biomarkers feature nuanced differences in strengths, limitations, and biases that must be considered when investigating disease etiology and clinical utility. For example, neuropathological investigations of Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis can fall in disagreement with conclusions reached by biomarker-based investigations. Considering the varied strengths, limitations, and biases of different research methodologies and approaches may help harmonize disciplines within the neurodegenerative disease field. Purpose of review: Along with separate review articles covering fluid and imaging biomarkers in this issue of Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, we present the result of a discussion from the 2019 Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Diseases course at the University College London. Here, we discuss themes of biomarker use in neurodegenerative disease research, commenting on appropriate use, interpretation, and considerations for implementation across different neurodegenerative diseases. We also draw attention to areas where biomarker use can be combined with other disciplines to understand issues of pathophysiology and etiology underlying dementia. Lastly, we highlight novel modalities that have been proposed in the landscape of neurodegenerative disease research and care

Postpartum consultation: Occurrence, requirements and expectations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As a matter of routine, midwives in Sweden have spoken with women about their experiences of labour in a so-called 'postpartum consultation'. However, the possibility of offering women this kind of consultation today is reduced due to shortage of both time and resources. The aim of this study was to explore the occurrence, women's requirements of, and experiences of a postpartum consultation, and to identify expectations from women who wanted but did not have a consultation with the midwife assisting during labour.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All Swedish speaking women who gave birth to a live born child at a University Hospital in western Sweden were consecutively included for a phone interview over a three-week period. An additional phone interview was conducted with the women who did not have a postpartum consultation, but who wanted to talk with the midwife assisting during labour. Data from the interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 150 interviewed women, 56% (n = 84) had a postpartum consultation of which 61.9% (n = 52) had this with the midwife assisting during labour. Twenty of the 28 women who did not have a consultation with anyone still desired to talk with the midwife assisting during labour. Of these, 19 were interviewed. The content the women wanted to talk about was summarized in four categories: to understand the course of events during labour; to put into words, feelings about undignified management; to describe own behaviour and feelings, and to describe own fear.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The survey shows that the frequency of postpartum consultation is decreasing, that the majority of women who give birth today still require it, but only about half of them receive it. It is crucial to develop a plan for these consultations that meets both the women's needs and the organization within current maternity care.</p

Genetics of circulating inflammatory proteins identifies drivers of immune-mediated disease risk and therapeutic targets

Circulating proteins have important functions in inflammation and a broad range of diseases. To identify genetic influences on inflammation-related proteins, we conducted a genome-wide protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) study of 91 plasma proteins measured using the Olink Target platform in 14,824 participants. We identified 180 pQTLs (59 cis, 121 trans). Integration of pQTL data with eQTL and disease genome-wide association studies provided insight into pathogenesis, implicating lymphotoxin-alpha in multiple sclerosis. Using Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess causality in disease etiology, we identified both shared and distinct effects of specific proteins across immune-mediated diseases, including directionally discordant effects of CD40 on risk of rheumatoid arthritis versus multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. MR implicated CXCL5 in the etiology of ulcerative colitis (UC) and we show elevated gut CXCL5 transcript expression in patients with UC. These results identify targets of existing drugs and provide a powerful resource to facilitate future drug target prioritization. Here the authors identify genetic effectors of the level of inflammation-related plasma proteins and use Mendelian randomization to identify proteins that contribute to immune-mediated disease risk

Absorbing customer knowledge: how customer involvement enables service design success

Customers are a knowledge resource outside of the firm that can be utilized for new service success by involving them in the design process. However, existing research on the impact of customer involvement (CI) is inconclusive. Knowledge about customers’ needs and on how best to serve these needs (articulated in the service concept) is best obtained from customers themselves. However, codesign runs the risk of losing control of the service concept. This research argues that of the processes of external knowledge, acquisition (via CI), customer knowledge assimilation, and concept transformation form a capability that enables the firm to exploit customer knowledge in the form of a successful new service. Data from a survey of 126 new service projects show that the impact of CI on new service success is fully mediated by customer knowledge assimilation (the deep understanding of customers’ latent needs) and concept transformation (the modification of the service concept due to customer insights). However, its impact is more nuanced. CI exhibits an “∩”-shaped relationship with transformation, indicating there is a limit to the beneficial effect of CI. Its relationship with assimilation is “U” shaped, suggesting a problem with cognitive inertia where initial learnings are ignored. Customer knowledge assimilation directly impacts success, while concept transformation only helps success in the presence of resource slack. An evolving new service design is only beneficial if the firm has the flexibility to adapt to change

Correction to: Relevance of biomarkers across different neurodegenerative diseases

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article

Correction to: Relevance of biomarkers across different neurodegenerative diseases.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article