Cross-sectional and longitudinal risk of physical impairment in a cohort of postmenopausal women who experience physical and verbal abuse.

BackgroundExposure to interpersonal violence, namely verbal and physical abuse, is a highly prevalent threat to women's health and well-being. Among older, post-menopausal women, several researchers have characterized a possible bi-directional relationship of abuse exposure and diminished physical functioning. However, studies that prospectively examine the relationship between interpersonal abuse exposure and physical functioning across multiple years of observation are lacking. To address this literature gap, we prospectively evaluate the association between abuse exposure and physical functioning in a large, national cohort of post-menopausal women across 12 years of follow-up observation.MethodsMultivariable logistic regression was used to measure the adjusted association between experiencing abuse and physical function score at baseline in 154,902 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) participants. Multilevel modeling, where the trajectories of decline in physical function were modeled as a function of time-varying abuse exposure, was used to evaluate the contribution of abuse to trajectories of physical function scores over time.ResultAbuse was prevalent among WHI participants, with 11 % of our study population reporting baseline exposure. Verbal abuse was the most commonly reported abuse type (10 %), followed by combined physical and verbal abuse (1 %), followed by physical abuse in the absence of verbal abuse (0.2 %). Abuse exposure (all types) was associated with diminished physical functioning, with women exposed to combined physical and verbal abuse presenting baseline physical functioning scores consistent with non-abused women 20 years senior. Results did not reveal a differential rate of decline over time in physical functioning based on abuse exposure.ConclusionsTaken together, our findings suggest a need for increased awareness of the prevalence of abuse exposure among postmenopausal women; they also underscore the importance of clinician's vigilance in their efforts toward the prevention, early detection and effective intervention with abuse exposure, including verbal abuse exposure, in post-menopausal women. Given our findings related to abuse exposure and women's diminished physical functioning at WHI baseline, our work illuminates a need for further study, particularly the investigation of this association in younger, pre-menopausal women so that the temporal ordering if this relationship may be better understood

Desde microorganismos a la macrofauna: un estudio comparativo de las comunidades bentónicas profundas y su respuesta a las variables ambientales a lo largo del talud de Malta (mar Jónico)

A comparative study for abundance, biomass and diversity was carried out for the prokaryote, meiofauna and macrofauna communities at three depth stations (1200, 1800 and 2100 m) along the Malta Escarpment (Mediterranean Sea). Our investigation showed a two-fold increase with depth in prokaryote abundance; the contribution of prokaryote biomass to the total benthic biomass was predominant at all depths. Bacteria were the dominant prokaryote component and Archaea formed a considerable fraction (20%-30%) of the prokaryote assemblages. The meio- and macrofauna abundances and meiofauna biomass did not decrease significantly with depth but macrofauna biomass did. The α diversity did not follow a clear bathymetric trend for both nematode and macrofauna species. Probably because of the large number of eurybathic nematode genera, nor did the turnover diversity in nematode composition change down the depth gradient. Conversely, for the macrofauna there was a perceptible change in community composition between the shallowest station and the two deeper stations. Food availability affected only the macrobenthic component. The increase in the prokaryote organisms with depth and the dominance of nematodes and macrofauna deposit feeders suggest active grazing by the two benthic components on microbes. This would transfer energy to the higher trophic levels through the microbial compartment.Se llevó a cabo un estudio comparativo de las comunidades de procariotas, meiofauna y macrofauna sobre la abundancia, biomasa y diversidad. Fue realizado en tres estaciones en varias profundidades (1200, 1800 y 2100 m) a lo largo del talud de Malta (mar Mediterráneo). Nuestra investigación muestra que, aumentando la profundidad, la abundancia de procariotas se duplica. La contribución de la biomasa procariota al total de la biomasa bentónica predominó en todas las profundidades. Las bacterias eran la fracción procariota dominante y junto con los Archaea representaban al 20-30% del total de procariotas. Por otra parte la abundancia de la meiofauna y macrofauna y la biomasa de la meiofauna no disminuían significativamente con la profundidad, mientras que la biomasa de la macrofauna sí lo hacía. La diversidad α no siguió una tendencia batimétrica muy clara para las especies de los nematodos y macrofauna. Probablemente debido a la gran abundancia de géneros de nematodos eurybatiales, la tasa derenovación de la diversidad en la composición de nematodos tampoco cambió por el gradiente de profundidad. En cambio, para la macrofauna hubo un cambio apreciable en la composición de la comunidad entre la estación más superficial y las dos estaciones más profundas. La disponibilidad de alimentos afectó sólo al componente macrobentónico. El aumento con la profundidad de los organismos procariotas, el dominio de los nematodos y la macrofauna que se alimenta de los materiales depositados sugieren un medio activo para los dos componentes bentónicos microbianos. Esto daría lugar a una transferencia de energía a niveles tróficos superiores a través del compartimento microbiano

Metastasis, an Example of Evolvability

This overview focuses on two different perspectives to analyze the metastatic process taking clear cell renal cell carcinoma as a model, molecular and ecological. On the one hand, genomic analyses have demonstrated up to seven different constrained routes of tumor evolution and two different metastatic patterns. On the other hand, game theory applied to cell encounters within a tumor provides a sociological perspective of the possible behaviors of individuals (cells) in a collectivity. This combined approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the complex rules governing a neoplasm

Multi-benthic size approach to unveil different environmental conditions in a Mediterranean harbor area (Ancona, Adriatic Sea, Italy)

Harbors are hubs of human activity and are subject to the continuous discharge and release of industrial, agricultural, and municipal waste and contaminants. Benthic organisms are largely known to reflect environmental conditions they live in. Despite meio- and macrofauna interacting within the benthic system, they are ecologically distinct components of the benthos and as such may not necessarily respond to environmental conditions and/or disturbances in the same way. However, in a few field studies the spatial patterns of meio- and macrofauna have been simultaneously compared. In the present study, we assess the response and patterns in the abundance, diversity, and distribution of the two benthic size classes to the different environmental conditions they live in (i.e., sediment concentrations of selected trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); organic matter contents and grain size) characterizing the Ancona Harbor (Adriatic Sea). Meio- and macrofauna provided partially similar types of information depending on the indices used (univariate measures or community structure/species composition) and the different ‘response-to-stress’. The community structure (i.e., taxa composition) of both benthic size components clearly showed differences among sampling stations located from inside to outside the harbor, reflecting the marked environmental heterogeneity and disturbance typically characterizing these systems. Notwithstanding, the univariate measures (i.e., meio- and macrofauna total abundance, diversity indices and equitability) didn’t show similar spatial patterns. Meiofauna were likely to be more sensitive to the effects of environmental features and contaminants than macrofauna. Overall, trace metals and PAHs affected the community composition of the two benthic components, but only the meiofauna abundance and diversity were related to the environmental variables considered (i.e., quantity and quality oforganic matter). Our results pinpoint the importance of studying both meio- and macrofauna communities, which could provide greater insight into the processes affecting the investigated area and reveal different aspects of the benthic ecosystems in response to harbor conditions

Surveillance of Influenza and Other Airborne Transmission Viruses during the 2021/2022 Season in Hospitalized Subjects in Tuscany, Italy

Winter in the northern hemisphere is characterized by the circulation of influenza viruses, which cause seasonal epidemics, generally from October to April. Each influenza season has its own pattern, which differs from one year to the next in terms of the first influenza case notification, the period of highest incidence, and the predominant influenza virus subtypes. After the total absence of influenza viruses in the 2020/2021 season, cases of influenza were again recorded in the 2021/2022 season, although they remained below the seasonal average. Moreover, the co-circulation of the influenza virus and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic virus was also reported. In the context of the DRIVE study, oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 129 Tuscan adults hospitalized for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and analyzed by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 and 21 different airborne pathogens, including influenza viruses. In total, 55 subjects tested positive for COVID-19, 9 tested positive for influenza, and 3 tested positive for both SARS-CoV-2 and the A/H3N2 influenza virus. The co-circulation of different viruses in the population requires strengthened surveillance that is no longer restricted to the winter months. Indeed, constant, year-long monitoring of the trends of these viruses is needed, especially in at-risk groups and elderly people

Late Pleistocene pteropods, heteropods and planktonic foraminifera from the Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean

Pteropods and heteropods (holoplanktonic gastropods) are an important component of the modern oceans; however, detailed information on their distribution in the fossil record is often based on poorly preserved specimens. This study presents the micropaleontological analysis of three exceptionally well-preserved Late Pleistocenemarine sediment cores from the eastern Caribbean Sea, westernMediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. This study presents the first stratigraphical record of heteropods in the Caribbean Sea and extends the known zonation of pteropods in the Mediterranean Sea. Distributions of pteropods, heteropods and planktonic foraminifera are presented with abundance and species richness data, as well as stratigraphical dates inferred from the oxygen isotope stratigraphy, argon-argon dating and biostratigraphy. The findings of this study greatly improve our understanding of holoplanktonic gastropod stratigraphy and ecology. Results reveal that the geographical range of heteropods, thought to be restricted to sub-tropical warm waters,may be much greater, including waters of sub-polar temperature. Heteropods were also found to be surprisingly abundant, potentially representing a more important part of the ocean food web than previously thought. Analysis revealed two species of holoplanktonic gastropod that are previously undescribed and indicate that the pteropod Heliconoides mermuysi (Cahuzac and Janssen 2010), known exclusively from the Moulin de Cabanes (Miocene),may have lived in theCaribbean Sea and Indian Ocean as recently as 4 kyr ago. These findings highlight the urgent need for increased research on holoplanktonic gastropods. The threat that current climate change and ocean acidification poses, particularly to the delicately shelled forms, means that some species may become extinct before they have even been fully ‘discovered’

Effects of Heterogeneity on Cancer: A Game Theory Perspective

In this study, we explore interactions between cancer cells by using the hawk–dove game. We analyze the heterogeneity of tumors by considering games with populations composed of 2 or 3 types of cell. We determine what strategies are evolutionarily stable in the 2-type and 3-type population games and what the corresponding expected payoffs are. Our results show that the payoff of the best-off cell in the 2-type population game is higher than that of the best-off cell in the 3-type population game. When these mathematical findings are transferred to the field of oncology they suggest that a tumor with low intratumor heterogeneity pursues a more aggressive course than one with high intratumor heterogeneity. Some histological and genomic data on clear cell renal cell carcinomas is consistent with these results. We underline the importance of identifying intratumor heterogeneity in routine practice and suggest that therapeutic strategies that preserve heterogeneity may be promising as they may slow down cancer growth.Laruelle acknowledges financial support from Grant PID2019-106146GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and by “ERDF, A way of making Europe”and from the Basque Government (Research Group IT1697-22); Rocha acknowledges financial support from the “National Council for Scientific and Technological Development—CNPq”(CNPq funding 307437/2019-1); Inarra acknowledges financial support from Grant PID2019-107539GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” and from the Basque Government (project IT1697-22). Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature

Biostimulation of in situ microbial degradation processes in organically-enriched sediments mitigates the impact of aquaculture

Abstract Fish farm deposition, resulting in organic matter accumulation on bottom sediments, has been identified as among the main phenomena causing negative environmental impacts in aquaculture. An in situ bioremediation treatment was carried out in order to reduce the organic matter accumulation in the fish farm sediments by promoting the natural microbial biodegradation processes. To assess the effect of the treatment, the concentration of organic matter in the sediment and its microbial degradation, as well as the response of the benthic prokaryotic community, were investigated. The results showed a significant effect of the treatment in stimulating microbial degradation rates, and the consequent decrease in the concentration of biochemical components beneath the cages during the treatment. During the bioremediation process, the prokaryotic community in the fish farm sediment responded to the overall improvement of the sediment conditions by showing the decrease of certain anaerobic taxa (e.g. Clostridiales, Acidaminobacteraceae and Caldilinaceae). This suggested that the bioactivator was effective in promoting a shift from an anaerobic to an aerobic metabolism in the prokaryotic community. However, the larger importance of Lachnospiraceae (members of the gut and faecal microbiota of the farmed fishes) in treated compared to non-treated sediments suggested that the bioactivator was not efficient in reducing the accumulation of faecal bacteria from the farmed fishes. Our results indicate that bioremediation is a promising tool to mitigate the aquaculture impact in fish farm sediments, and that further research needs to be oriented to identifying more successful interventions able to specifically target also fish-faeces related microbes