Ariel - Volume 7 Number 2

Editors Mark Dembert Frank Chervanek John Lammie Jim Burke Curt Cumming

A clinical evaluation of the Wesley-Jessen astigmatic hydrophilic Dura-Soft contact lens (Phemecol)

Fifteen patients were fit with the Dura-Soft™ (Phemecol) hydrophilic astigmatic contact lenses. Due to length of time to receive the lenses only three patients were considered full time wearers at the time of publication. One patient was taken off the study due to physiological incompatibility to the lens. Of the thirty lenses ordered, sixteen were reordered. Stx were changed for spherical power, three for cylinder power, three for cylinder axis, three were ordered flatter than verified basecurve, twelve were ordered steeper than verified basecurve, and for twelve lenses the prism component was changed. Many of the new lenses ordered required more than one lens variable changed

Phosphonopeptides Revisited, in an Era of Increasing Antimicrobial Resistance

Given the increase in resistance to antibacterial agents, there is an urgent need for the development of new agents with novel modes of action. As an interim solution, it is also prudent to reinvestigate old or abandoned antibacterial compounds to assess their efficacy in the context of widespread resistance to conventional agents. In the 1970s, much work was performed on the development of peptide mimetics, exemplified by the phosphonopeptide, alafosfalin. We investigated the activity of alafosfalin, di-alanyl fosfalin and β-chloro-L-alanyl-β-chloro-L-alanine against 297 bacterial isolates, including carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) (n = 128), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (n = 37) and glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) (n = 43). The interaction of alafosfalin with meropenem was also examined against 20 isolates of CPE. The MIC50 and MIC90 of alafosfalin for CPE were 1 mg/L and 4 mg/L, respectively and alafosfalin acted synergistically when combined with meropenem against 16 of 20 isolates of CPE. Di-alanyl fosfalin showed potent activity against glycopeptide-resistant isolates of Enterococcus faecalis (MIC90; 0.5 mg/L) and Enterococcus faecium (MIC90; 2 mg/L). Alafosfalin was only moderately active against MRSA (MIC90; 8 mg/L), whereas β-chloro-L-alanyl-β-chloro-L-alanine was slightly more active (MIC90; 4 mg/L). This study shows that phosphonopeptides, including alafosfalin, may have a therapeutic role to play in an era of increasing antibacterial resistance

Biogeography of a plant invasion: drivers of latitudinal variation in enemy release

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aim: The relationship between herbivory and latitude may differ between native and invasive plant taxa, which can generate biogeographical heterogeneity in the strength of enemy release. Our aim was to compare latitudinal gradients in herbivory between native and invasive plants and investigate whether gradients are driven by local adaptation or phenotypic plasticity. Location: North America. Methods: Using sympatric native and invasive lineages of the wetland grass Phragmites australis and the specialist gall-fly Lipara rufitarsis, we conducted a field survey to examine whether the relationship between herbivory (the proportion of stems galled) and latitude was parallel between lineages. In a subsequent common garden experiment, we assessed whether latitudinal gradients in herbivory were genetically based or driven by phenotypic plasticity. Results: In the field, L. rufitarsis herbivory on the native P. australis lineage increased from 27% of stems galled in southern populations (36.5°) to 37% in northern populations (43.6°), whereas there was no relationship for the invasive lineage. Similar relationships were evident in the common garden experiment, indicating a genetic basis to latitudinal variation in herbivory. Moreover, the invasive lineage suffered five times less herbivory than the native lineage on average, supporting the enemy release hypothesis. However, a genetic basis to this pattern was absent in the common garden experiment, suggesting that local environmental conditions were responsible for the enemy release observed in nature. Specifically, stem height, diameter and density during the L. rufitarsis oviposition period appeared to be important drivers of herbivory. Main conclusions: Non-parallel gradients in herbivory may help explain the equivocal results of other studies that examine enemy release and biotic resistance at local scales, and can be an important mechanism promoting biogeographical variation in invasion success. We suggest that these latitudinal patterns in herbivory and other species interactions are likely to be a common phenomenon across a range of invaded systems

A Molecular Phylogeny for the Leaf-Roller Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and Its Implications for Classification and Life History Evolution

Tortricidae, one of the largest families of microlepidopterans, comprise about 10,000 described species worldwide, including important pests, biological control agents and experimental models. Understanding of tortricid phylogeny, the basis for a predictive classification, is currently provisional. We present the first detailed molecular estimate of relationships across the tribes and subfamilies of Tortricidae, assess its concordance with previous morphological evidence, and re-examine postulated evolutionary trends in host plant use and biogeography.We sequenced up to five nuclear genes (6,633 bp) in each of 52 tortricids spanning all three subfamilies and 19 of the 22 tribes, plus up to 14 additional genes, for a total of 14,826 bp, in 29 of those taxa plus all 14 outgroup taxa. Maximum likelihood analyses yield trees that, within Tortricidae, differ little among data sets and character treatments and are nearly always strongly supported at all levels of divergence. Support for several nodes was greatly increased by the additional 14 genes sequenced in just 29 of 52 tortricids, with no evidence of phylogenetic artifacts from deliberately incomplete gene sampling. There is strong support for the monophyly of Tortricinae and of Olethreutinae, and for grouping of these to the exclusion of Chlidanotinae. Relationships among tribes are robustly resolved in Tortricinae and mostly so in Olethreutinae. Feeding habit (internal versus external) is strongly conserved on the phylogeny. Within Tortricinae, a clade characterized by eggs being deposited in large clusters, in contrast to singly or in small batches, has markedly elevated incidence of polyphagous species. The five earliest-branching tortricid lineages are all species-poor tribes with mainly southern/tropical distributions, consistent with a hypothesized Gondwanan origin for the family.We present the first robustly supported phylogeny for Tortricidae, and a revised classification in which all of the sampled tribes are now monophyletic

Primary Meningeal Rhabdomyosarcoma

Primary meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare primary brain malignancy, with scant case reports. While most reports of primary intracranial rhabdomyosarcoma occur in pediatric patients, a handful of cases in adult patients have been reported in the medical literature. We report the case of a 44-year-old male who developed primary meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma. After developing episodes of right lower extremity weakness, word finding difficulty, and headaches, a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a vertex lesion with radiographic appearance of a meningeal-derived tumor. Subtotal surgical resection was performed due to sagittal sinus invasion and initial pathology was interpreted as an anaplastic meningioma. Re-review of pathology demonstrated rhabdomyosarcoma negative for alveolar translocation t(2;13). Staging studies revealed no evidence of disseminated disease. He was treated with stereotactic radiotherapy with concurrent temozolamide to be followed by vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) systemic therapy

Caffeine for reducing bird damage to newly seeded rice

The economic impact of blackbirds can be severe to rice producers in the United States. One approach to managing this damage is the application of bird-deterrent chemical to the crop. Previous pilot trials suggested that caffeine offered potential as a safe, economical bird repellent. In this study, cage feeding trials with female red-winged blackbirds and male brown-headed cowbirds confirmed that a treatment rate of 2500 ppm caffeine on rice seed reduced consumption as much as 76%. Trials with mixed species blackbird flocks in a 0.2-ha flight pen resulted in just 4% loss of caffeine-treated rice compared to 43% loss of untreated rice. Field trials of a 10,000 ppm caffeine treatment in Louisiana revealed 490% of caffeine-treated rice seed remained unconsumed on days 2 and 3 of the study whereas blackbirds consumed 480% of the untreated seed. As a rice seed treatment to deter blackbirds, caffeine appears to be effective, economical and environmentally safe, although additional aquatic toxicity testing is desirable. Improvements in formulation will be needed to make the compound practical for general agricultural spray applications and to extend the adherence of caffeine to rice seeds in field conditions