Psychological complications in patients with acromegaly: relationships with sex, arthropathy, and quality of life

Current treatment of acromegaly restores a normal life expectancy in most cases. So, the study of persistent complications affecting patients' quality of life (QoL) is of paramount importance, especially motor disability and depression. In a large cohort of acromegalic patients we aimed at establishing the prevalence of depression, to look for clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with it, and to investigate the respective roles (and interactions) of depression and arthropathy in influencing QoL

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Cytokinins Determine Arabidopsis Root-Meristem Size by Controlling Cell Differentiation

Plant postembryonic development takes place in the meristems, where stem cells self-renew and produce daughter cells that differentiate and give rise to different organ structures. For the maintenance of meristems, the rate of differentiation of daughter cells must equal the generation of new cells: How this is achieved is a central question in plant development. In the Arabidopsis root meristem, stem cells surround a small group of organizing cells, the quiescent center. Together they form a stem cell niche [1, 2], whose position and activity depends on the combinatorial action of two sets of genes-PLETHORA1 (PLT1) and PLETHORA2 (PLT2) [3, 4] and SCARECROW (SCR) and SHORTROOT (SHR) [2]-as well as on polar auxin transport. In contrast, the mechanisms controlling meristematic cell differentiation remain unclear. Here, we report that cytokinins control the rate of meristematic cell differentiation and thus determine root-meristem size via a two-component receptor histidine kinase-transcription factor signaling pathway. Analysis of the root meristems of cytokinin mutants, spatial cytokinin depletion, and exogenous cytokinin application indicates that cytokinins act in a restricted region of the root meristem, where they antagonize a non-cell-autonomous cell-division signal, and we provide evidence that this signal is auxin

A Role for the F-Box Protein HAWAIIAN SKIRT in Plant microRNA Function

As regulators of gene expression in multicellular organisms, microRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial for growth and development. Although a plethora of factors involved in their biogenesis and action in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) has been described, these processes and their fine-tuning are not fully understood. Here, we used plants expressing an artificial miRNA target mimic (MIM) to screen for negative regulators of miR156. We identified a new mutant allele of the F-box gene HAWAIIAN SKIRT (HWS; At3G61590), hws-5, as a suppressor of the MIM156-induced developmental and molecular phenotypes. In hws plants, levels of some endogenous miRNAs are increased and their mRNA targets decreased. Plants constitutively expressing full-length HWS-but not a truncated version lacking the F-box domain-display morphological and molecular phenotypes resembling those of mutants defective in miRNA biogenesis and activity. In combination with such mutants, hws loses its delayed floral organ abscission ("skirt") phenotype, suggesting epistasis. Also, the hws transcriptome profile partially resembles those of well-known miRNA mutants hyl1-2, se-3, and ago1-27, pointing to a role in a common pathway. We thus propose HWS as a novel, F-box dependent factor involved in miRNA function

Positional information by differential endocytosis splits auxin response to drive Arabidopsis root meristem growth.

In the Arabidopsis root meristem, polar auxin transport creates a transcriptional auxin response gradient that peaks at the stem cell niche and gradually decreases as stem cell daughters divide and differentiate [1-3]. The amplitude and extent of this gradient are essential for both stem cell maintenance and root meristem growth [4, 5]. To investigate why expression of some auxin-responsive genes, such as the essential root meristem growth regulator BREVIS RADIX (BRX) [6], deviates from this gradient, we combined experimental and computational approaches. We created cellular-level root meristem models that accurately reproduce distribution of nuclear auxin activity and allow dynamic modeling of regulatory processes to guide experimentation. Expression profiles deviating from the auxin gradient could only be modeled after intersection of auxin activity with the observed differential endocytosis pattern and positive autoregulatory feedback through plasma-membrane-to-nucleus transfer of BRX. Because BRX is required for expression of certain auxin response factor targets, our data suggest a cell-type-specific endocytosis-dependent input into transcriptional auxin perception. This input sustains expression of a subset of auxin-responsive genes across the root meristem's division and transition zones and is essential for meristem growth. Thus, the endocytosis pattern provides specific positional information to modulate auxin response

microRNA165 and 166 modulate response of the Arabidopsis root apical meristem to salt stress

Abstract In plants, developmental plasticity allows for the modulation of organ growth in response to environmental cues. Being in contact with soil, roots are the first organ that responds to various types of soil abiotic stress such as high salt concentration. In the root, developmental plasticity relies on changes in the activity of the apical meristem, the region at the tip of the root where a set of self-renewing undifferentiated stem cells sustain growth. Here, we show that salt stress promotes differentiation of root meristem cells via reducing the dosage of the microRNAs miR165 and 166. By means of genetic, molecular and computational analysis, we show that the levels of miR165 and 166 respond to high salt concentration, and that miR165 and 166-dependent PHABULOSA (PHB) modulation is central to the response of root growth to this stress. Specifically, we show that salt-dependent reduction of miR165 and 166 causes a rapid increase in PHB expression and, hence, production of the root meristem pro-differentiation hormone cytokinin. Our data provide direct evidence for how the miRNA-dependent modulation of transcription factor dosage mediates plastic development in plants

Psychological complications in patients with acromegaly: relationships with sex, arthropathy, and quality of life-DATASET

Psychological complications in patients with acromegaly: relationships with sex, arthropathy, and quality of life datase