Hybrid Speciation in a Marine Mammal: The Clymene Dolphin (Stenella clymene)

Natural hybridization may result in the exchange of genetic material between divergent lineages and even the formation of new taxa. Many of the Neo-Darwinian architects argued that, particularly for animal clades, natural hybridization was maladaptive. Recent evidence, however, has falsified this hypothesis, instead indicating that this process may lead to increased biodiversity through the formation of new species. Although such cases of hybrid speciation have been described in plants, fish and insects, they are considered exceptionally rare in mammals. Here we present evidence for a marine mammal, Stenella clymene, arising through natural hybridization. We found phylogenetic discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear markers, which, coupled with a pattern of transgressive segregation seen in the morphometric variation of some characters, support a case of hybrid speciation. S. clymene is currently genetically differentiated from its putative parental species, Stenella coerueloalba and Stenella longisrostris, although low levels of introgressive hybridization may be occurring. Although non-reticulate forms of evolution, such as incomplete lineage sorting, could explain our genetic results, we consider that the genetic and morphological evidence taken together argue more convincingly towards a case of hybrid speciation. We anticipate that our study will bring attention to this important aspect of reticulate evolution in non-model mammal species. The study of speciation through hybridization is an excellent opportunity to understand the mechanisms leading to speciation in the context of gene flow.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DAPSONE INDUCED DRESS: A CASE REPORT

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms. is a very dangerous adverse drug effect causing rashes, eosinophilia, and multiple organ damage. Many drugs are implicated in causing DRESS with most common ones being antimicrobials and antiepileptics. Dapsone used in the treatment of Hansen's disease as a first-line agent is known for causing many side effects ranging from nausea, vomiting, insomnia, anaphylaxis, hypersensitivity reactions, rashes, muscle weakness, abdominal pain, and so on. Hence, we report a rare case of dapsone-induced DRESS in a tertiary care hospital in South India.Â

Removal of ecotoxicity of 17α-ethinylestradiol using TAML/peroxide water treatment

17α -ethinylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic oestrogen in oral contraceptives, is one of many pharmaceuticals found in inland waterways worldwide as a result of human consumption and excretion into wastewater treatment systems. At low parts per trillion (ppt), EE2 induces feminisation of male fish, diminishing reproductive success and causing fish population collapse. Intended water quality standards for EE2 set a much needed global precedent. Ozone and activated carbon provide effective wastewater treatments, but their energy intensities and capital/operating costs are formidable barriers to adoption. Here we describe the technical and environmental performance of a fast- developing contender for mitigation of EE2 contamination of wastewater based upon smallmolecule, full-functional peroxidase enzyme replicas called “TAML activators”. From neutral to basic pH, TAML activators with H2O2 efficiently degrade EE2 in pure lab water, municipal effluents and EE2-spiked synthetic urine. TAML/H2O2 treatment curtails estrogenicity in vitro and substantially diminishes fish feminization in vivo. Our results provide a starting point for a future process in which tens of thousands of tonnes of wastewater could be treated per kilogram of catalyst. We suggest TAML/H2O2 is a worthy candidate for exploration as an environmentally compatible, versatile, method for removing EE2 and other pharmaceuticals from municipal wastewaters.Heinz Endowments, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Steinbrenner Institute for a Steinbrenner Doctoral Fellowship. NMR instrumentation at CMU was partially supported by NSF (CHE-0130903 and CHE-1039870)

Nanoscale Origins of the Damage Tolerance of the High-Entropy Alloy CrMnFeCoNi

Damage-tolerance can be an elusive characteristic of structural materials requiring both high strength and ductility, properties that are often mutually exclusive. High-entropy alloys are of interest in this regard. Specifically, the single-phase CrMnFeCoNi alloy displays tensile strength levels of ~1 GPa, excellent ductility (~60-70%) and exceptional fracture toughness (KJIc > 200 MPa/m). Here, through the use of in-situ straining in an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, we report on the salient atomistic to micro-scale mechanisms underlying the origin of these properties. We identify a synergy of multiple deformation mechanisms, rarely achieved in metallic alloys, which generates high strength, work hardening and ductility, including the easy motion of Shockley partials, their interactions to form stacking-fault parallelepipeds, and arrest at planar-slip bands of undissociated dislocations. We further show that crack propagation is impeded by twinned, nano-scale bridges that form between the near-tip crack faces and delay fracture by shielding the crack tip.Comment: 6 figures, 4 figure

First two unrelated cases of isolated sedoheptulokinase deficiency: A benign disorder?

We present the first two reported unrelated patients with an isolated sedoheptulokinase (SHPK) deficiency. The first patient presented with neonatal cholestasis, hypoglycemia, and anemia, while the second patient presented with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, multiple contractures, and dysmorphisms. Both patients had elevated excretion of erythritol and sedoheptulose, and each had a homozygous nonsense mutation in SHPK. SHPK is an enzyme that phosphorylates sedoheptulose to sedoheptulose-7-phosphate, which is an important intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. It is questionable whether SHPK deficiency is a causal factor for the clinical phenotypes of our patients. This study illustrates the necessity of extensive functional and clinical workup for interpreting a novel variant, including nonsense variants

Cognitive Change in a Diverse Group of Individuals Aged 90+: The LifeAfter90 Study

Abstract: Background: The oldest‐old are the fastest growing segment of the elderly population but very little is known about cognition in this age group; particularly in diverse populations. Our goal was to evaluate if domain specific cognitive change was different across different ethnoracial groups in those aged 90+. Method: LifeAfter90 (LA90) is an ongoing cohort of participants aged 90+ who are long‐term members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California participants. Participants (n = 984) were interviewed every 6 months for up to 3.5 years (1‐7 visits). Executive Function (EF) and Verbal Episodic Memory (VEM) were measured every six months using z‐standardized Spanish English Neuropsychological Assessment Scale. Racial/ethnic identify (Asian, Black, Latino, or White participants) was used in linear mixed models with random slopes and intercepts adjusting for baseline age, gender, education, interview mode, and practice effects. Result: Participants were 20% Latino, 23% Black, 24% Asian, 27% White, and 7% other individuals with a mean age of 92.4 (SD = 2.3) and a mean follow up time 1.1 years (Table 1). 39% of the cohort were men, 35% were college educated, and 29% were high school or less educated. Average annual change in EF was ‐0.06 (95% CI: ‐0.12, ‐0.00). Stratified models with Latino as the reference group showed White participants had significantly greater decline in EF (β = ‐0.13; 95%CI:‐0.20,‐0.06), followed by Asian participants (β = ‐0.09; 95%CI:‐0.17,‐0.01). EF scores among Black participants and participants who identified as other declined at a similar rate as Latino participants (β = ‐0.03; 95%CI:‐0.11,‐0.05; β = 0.00; 95%CI:‐0.10, 0.11; respectively) (Table 2: model 2). VEM had an annual change of ‐0.26 (95%CI: ‐0.40, ‐0.13), but there were no significant differences across ethnoracial groups in rate of decline. Conclusion: In this population of individuals aged 90+, decline in EF over the study period varied across ethnoracial group with White participants experiencing the fastest decline and Black, Latino, and other participants experiencing the slowest decline. Continued follow up will identify if there are differences in risk of cognitive impairment in this diverse population of oldest‐old. The results suggest the disparities in cognitive aging for those aged 90+ don’t mirror disparities seen in younger‐elderly ages

Hearing the voices of older adult patients: processes and findings to inform health services research

Background Clinical academic research and service improvement is planned using Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) but older PPIE participants are consulted less often due to the perception that they are vulnerable or hard to engage. Objectives To consult frail older adults about a recently adopted service, discharge to assess (D2A), and to prioritise services improvements and research topics associated with the design and delivery of discharge from hospital. To use successive PPIE processes to enable a permanent PPIE panel to be established. Participants Following guidance from an established hospital PPI panel 27 older adult participants were recruited. Participants from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, affluent and non-affluent areas and varied social circumstances were included. Methods Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted in participants own homes or nearby social venues. Results Priorities for discharge included remaining independent despite often feeling lonely at home; to remain in hospital if needed; and for services to ensure effective communication with families. The main research priority identified was facilitating independence, whilst establishing a permanent PPIE panel involving older adults was viewed favourably. Conclusions Taking a structured approach to PPIE enabled varied older peoples’ voices to express their priorities and concerns into early discharge from hospital, as well as enabling the development of health services research into hospital discharge planning and management. Older people as participants identified research priorities after reflecting on their experiences. Listening and reflection enabled researchers to develop a new “Community PPIE Elders Panel” to create an enduring PPIE infrastructure for frail older housebound people to engage in research design, development and dissemination

Social representations of HIV/AIDS in five Central European and Eastern European countries: A multidimensional analysis

Cognitive processing models of risky sexual behaviour have proliferated in the two decades since the first reporting of HIV/AIDS, but far less attention has been paid to individual and group representations of the epidemic and the relationship between these representations and reported sexual behaviours. In this study, 494 business people and medics from Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Russia sorted free associations around HIV/AIDS in a matrix completion task. Exploratory factor and multidimensional scaling analyses revealed two main dimensions (labelled ‘Sex’ and ‘Deadly disease’), with significant cultural and gender variations along both dimension scores. Possible explanations for these results are discussed in the light of growing concerns over the spread of the epidemic in this region

Assessment of a novel, capsid-modified adenovirus with an improved vascular gene transfer profile

<p>Background: Cardiovascular disorders, including coronary artery bypass graft failure and in-stent restenosis remain significant opportunities for the advancement of novel therapeutics that target neointimal hyperplasia, a characteristic of both pathologies. Gene therapy may provide a successful approach to improve the clinical outcome of these conditions, but would benefit from the development of more efficient vectors for vascular gene delivery. The aim of this study was to assess whether a novel genetically engineered Adenovirus could be utilised to produce enhanced levels of vascular gene expression.</p> <p>Methods: Vascular transduction capacity was assessed in primary human saphenous vein smooth muscle and endothelial cells using vectors expressing the LacZ reporter gene. The therapeutic capacity of the vectors was compared by measuring smooth muscle cell metabolic activity and migration following infection with vectors that over-express the candidate therapeutic gene tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3).</p> <p>Results: Compared to Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5), the novel vector Ad5T*F35++ demonstrated improved binding and transduction of human vascular cells. Ad5T*F35++ mediated expression of TIMP-3 reduced smooth muscle cell metabolic activity and migration in vitro. We also demonstrated that in human serum samples pre-existing neutralising antibodies to Ad5T*F35++ were less prevalent than Ad5 neutralising antibodies.</p> <p>Conclusions: We have developed a novel vector with improved vascular transduction and improved resistance to human serum neutralisation. This may provide a novel vector platform for human vascular gene transfer.</p&gt

Sphenopalatine-sphenopalatine anastomosis: a unique cause of intractable epistaxis, safely treated with microcatheter embolization: a case report

Epistaxis is the most common emergency presenting to the ENT surgeon. Here we present a case of epistaxis arising from the sphenopalatine artery in a patient who had previously had the ipsilateral external carotid artery ligated due to previous epistaxis. On investigation the epistaxis was determined to arise from an anastamosis with the contralateral sphenopalatine artery. The anatomy was demonstrated with angiography and the epistaxis treated using microcatheter embolization. Anatomical variation can be a cause for failure of ligation as a permanent treatment for epistaxis. Embolization is used less frequently for epistaxis control due to concerns about the risks involved, but it can be a valuable treatment option in intractable epistaxis following a failure of arterial ligation