The Earliest Evidence of Holometabolan Insect Pupation in Conifer Wood

Background: The pre-Jurassic record of terrestrial wood borings is poorly resolved, despite body fossil evidence of insect diversification among xylophilic clades starting in the late Paleozoic. Detailed analysis of borings in petrified wood provides direct evidence of wood utilization by invertebrate animals, which typically comprises feeding behaviors.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings: We describe a U-shaped boring in petrified wood from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of southern Utah that demonstrates a strong linkage between insect ontogeny and conifer wood resources. Xylokrypta durossi new ichnogenus and ichnospecies is a large excavation in wood that is backfilled with partially digested xylem, creating a secluded chamber. The tracemaker exited the chamber by way of a small vertical shaft. This sequence of behaviors is most consistent with the entrance of a larva followed by pupal quiescence and adult emergence — hallmarks of holometabolous insect ontogeny. Among the known body fossil record of Triassic insects, cupedid beetles (Coleoptera: Archostemata) are deemed the most plausible tracemakers of Xylokrypta, based on their body size and modern xylobiotic lifestyle.\ud \ud Conclusions/Significance: This oldest record of pupation in fossil wood provides an alternative interpretation to borings once regarded as evidence for Triassic bees. Instead Xylokrypta suggests that early archostematan beetles were leaders in exploiting wood substrates well before modern clades of xylophages arose in the late Mesozoic

Interferon and Biologic Signatures in Dermatomyositis Skin: Specificity and Heterogeneity across Diseases

BACKGROUND: Dermatomyositis (DM) is an autoimmune disease that mainly affects the skin, muscle, and lung. The pathogenesis of skin inflammation in DM is not well understood. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: We analyzed genome-wide expression data in DM skin and compared them to those from healthy controls. We observed a robust upregulation of interferon (IFN)-inducible genes in DM skin, as well as several other gene modules pertaining to inflammation, complement activation, and epidermal activation and differentiation. The interferon (IFN)-inducible genes within the DM signature were present not only in DM and lupus, but also cutaneous herpes simplex-2 infection and to a lesser degree, psoriasis. This IFN signature was absent or weakly present in atopic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, acne vulgaris, systemic sclerosis, and localized scleroderma/morphea. We observed that the IFN signature in DM skin appears to be more closely related to type I than type II IFN based on in vitro IFN stimulation expression signatures. However, quantitation of IFN mRNAs in DM skin shows that the majority of known type I IFNs, as well as IFN g, are overexpressed in DM skin. In addition, both IFN-beta and IFN-gamma (but not other type I IFN) transcript levels were highly correlated with the degree of the in vivo IFN transcriptional response in DM skin. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: As in the blood and muscle, DM skin is characterized by an overwhelming presence of an IFN signature, although it is difficult to conclusively define this response as type I or type II. Understanding the significance of the IFN signature in this wide array of inflammatory diseases will be furthered by identification of the nature of the cells that both produce and respond to IFN, as well as which IFN subtype is biologically active in each diseased tissue

Survival among older adults with kidney failure is better in the first three years with chronic dialysis treatment than not

Comparisons of survival between dialysis and nondialysis care for older adults with kidney failure have been limited to those managed by nephrologists, and are vulnerable to lead and immortal time biases. So we compared time to all-cause mortality among older adults with kidney failure treated vs. not treated with chronic dialysis. Our retrospective cohort study used linked administrative and laboratory data to identify adults aged 65 or more years of age in Alberta, Canada, with kidney failure (2002-2012), defined by two or more consecutive outpatient estimated glomerular filtration rates less than 10 mL/min/1.73m2, spanning 90 or more days. We used marginal structural Cox models to assess the association between receipt of dialysis and all-cause mortality by allowing control for both time-varying and baseline confounders. Overall, 838 patients met inclusion criteria (mean age 79.1; 48.6% male; mean estimated glomerular filtration rate 7.8 mL/min/1.73m2). Dialysis treatment (vs. no dialysis) was associated with a significantly lower risk of death for the first three years of follow-up (hazard ratio 0.59 [95% confidence interval 0.46-0.77]), but not thereafter (1.22 [0.69-2.17]). However, dialysis was associated with a significantly higher risk of hospitalization (1.40 [1.16-1.69]). Thus, among older adults with kidney failure, treatment with dialysis was associated with longer survival up to three years after reaching kidney failure, though with a higher risk of hospital admissions. These findings may assist shared decision-making about treatment of kidney failure

Points to consider in cardiovascular disease risk management among patients with rheumatoid arthritis living in South Africa, an unequal middle income country

ABSTRACT: Background: It is plausible that optimal cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk management differs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from low or middle income compared to high income populations. This study aimed at producing evidence-based points to consider for CVD prevention in South African RA patients. Methods: Five rheumatologists, one cardiologist and one epidemiologist with experience in CVD risk management in RA patients, as well as two patient representatives, two health professionals and one radiologist, one rheumatology fellow and 11 rheumatologists that treat RA patients regularly contributed. Systematic literature searches were performed and the level of evidence was determined according to standard guidelines. Results: Eighteen points to consider were formulated. These were grouped into 6 categories that comprised overall CVD risk assessment and management (n=4), and specific interventions aimed at reducing CVD risk including RA control with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, glucocorticoids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (n=3), lipid lowering agents (n=8), antihypertensive drugs (n=1), low dose aspirin (n=1) and lifestyle modification (n=1). Each point to consider differs partially or completely from recommendations previously reported for CVD risk management in RA patients from high income populations. Currently recommended CVD risk calculators do not reliably identify South African black RA patients with very high-risk atherosclerosis as represented by carotid artery plaque presence on ultrasound. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that optimal cardiovascular risk management likely differs substantially in RA patients from low or middle income compared to high income populations. There is an urgent need for future multicentre longitudinal studies on CVD risk in black African patients with RA.The first meeting held amongst local Rheumatologists was funded by the South African Arthritis and Rheumatology Association. The studies by Professor González-Gay have been supported by grants from “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias” PI06/0024, PS09/00748, PI12/00060, PI15/00525, PI18/00043, and RD12/0009/0013 and RD16/0012 (RIER) from “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (ISCIII) (Spain), co-funded by FEDER funds

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

A survey for variable young stars with small telescopes – VIII. Properties of 1687 Gaia selected members in 21 nearby clusters

The Hunting Outbursting Young Stars (HOYS) project performs long-term, optical, multi-filter, high cadence monitoring of 25 nearby young clusters and star forming regions. Utilising Gaia DR3 data we have identified about 17000 potential young stellar members in 45 coherent astrometric groups in these fields. Twenty one of them are clear young groups or clusters of stars within one kiloparsec and they contain 9143 Gaia selected potential members. The cluster distances, proper motions and membership numbers are determined. We analyse long term (≈ 7 yr) V, R, and I-band light curves from HOYS for 1687 of the potential cluster members. One quarter of the stars are variable in all three optical filters, and two thirds of these have light curves that are symmetric around the mean. Light curves affected by obscuration from circumstellar materials are more common than those affected by accretion bursts, by a factor of 2 – 4. The variability fraction in the clusters ranges from 10 to almost 100 percent, and correlates positively with the fraction of stars with detectable inner disks, indicating that a lot of variability is driven by the disk. About one in six variables shows detectable periodicity, mostly caused by magnetic spots. Two thirds of the periodic variables with disk excess emission are slow rotators, and amongst the stars without disk excess two thirds are fast rotators – in agreement with rotation being slowed down by the presence of a disk

A survey for variable young stars with small telescopes: VIII — Properties of 1687 Gaia selected members in 21 nearby clusters

The Hunting Outbursting Young Stars (HOYS) project performs long-term, optical, multi- filter, high cadence monitoring of 25 nearby young clusters and star forming regions. Utilising Gaia DR3 data we have identified about 17000 potential young stellar members in 45 coherent astrometric groups in these fields. Twenty one of them are clear young groups or clusters of stars within one kiloparsec and they contain 9143 Gaia selected potential members. The cluster distances, proper motions and membership numbers are determined. We analyse long term ( 7 yr) V, R, and I-band light curves from HOYS for 1687 of the potential cluster members. One quarter of the stars are variable in all three optical filters, and two thirds of these have light curves that are symmetric around the mean. Light curves affected by obscuration from circumstellar materials are more common than those affected by accretion bursts, by a factor of 2 – 4. The variability fraction in the clusters ranges from 10 to almost 100 percent, and correlates positively with the fraction of stars with detectable inner disks, indicating that a lot of variability is driven by the disk. About one in six variables shows detectable periodicity, mostly caused by magnetic spots. Two thirds of the periodic variables with disk excess emission are slow rotators, and amongst the stars without disk excess two thirds are fast rotators – in agreement with rotation being slowed down by the presence of a disk

The discovery, distribution, and evolution of viruses associated with drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster is a valuable invertebrate model for viral infection and antiviral immunity, and is a focus for studies of insect-virus coevolution. Here we use a metagenomic approach to identify more than 20 previously undetected RNA viruses and a DNA virus associated with wild D. melanogaster. These viruses not only include distant relatives of known insect pathogens, but also novel groups of insect-infecting viruses. By sequencing virus-derived small RNAs we show that the viruses represent active infections of Drosophila. We find that the RNA viruses differ in the number and properties of their small RNAs, and we detect both siRNAs and a novel miRNA from the DNA virus. Analysis of small RNAs also allows us to identify putative viral sequences that lack detectable sequence similarity to known viruses. By surveying >2000 individually collected wild adult Drosophila we show that more than 30% of D. melanogaster carry a detectable virus, and more than 6% carry multiple viruses. However, despite a high prevalence of the Wolbachia endosymbiont—which is known to be protective against virus infections in Drosophila—we were unable to detect any relationship between the presence of Wolbachia and the presence of any virus. Using publicly available RNA-seq datasets we show that the community of viruses in Drosophila laboratories is very different from that seen in the wild, but that some of the newly discovered viruses are nevertheless widespread in laboratory lines and are ubiquitous in cell culture. By sequencing viruses from individual wild-collected flies we show that some viruses are shared between D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Our results provide an essential evolutionary and ecological context for host-virus interaction in Drosophila, and the newly reported viral sequences will help develop D. melanogaster further as a model for molecular and evolutionary virus research

Declining use of orthopedic surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? Results of a long-term, population-based assessment

Objective. To describe the use of orthopedic surgery, including joint replacement surgery, in a well-defined, population-based cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to identify characteristics that predict such use.Methods. A retrospective medical record review was performed of cases of RA incident in Rochester, Minnesota, during the years 1955-1995. All joint surgeries were recorded.Results. of the total 609 RA incident cases, 242 patients underwent 1 or more (maximum of 20/patient) surgical procedures involving joints during their followup. Overall, this RA cohort had 7.4 surgeries per 100 person-years of followup; the cumulative incidence for joint surgery for RA-related joint disease at 30 years was 33.7% +/- SEM 3.8%. the risk of having a disease-related joint surgery for RA is increased in patients who are women, younger, positive for rheumatoid factor, and have rheumatoid nodules. When adjusted for duration of followup, patients with RA diagnosed after 1985 were significantly less likely to have undergone joint surgery for RA (P < 0.001). Survival of patients who underwent total joint arthroplasty was similar to those who did not.Conclusion. Reconstructive surgeries are common in RA, although. patients diagnosed after 1985 are less likely to require joint surgery. These findings may reflect trends in medical disease management and have importance for health care resource utilization planning.Mayo Clin & Mayo Fdn, Div Rheumatol, Rochester, MN 55905 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc