Mucinous Colorectal Carcinomas in Biopsies, 1996-2001

Mucinous colorectal carcinomas show some clinicopathological characteristics that are not found in nonmucinous carcinomas. A total of 1451 colorectal carcinomas were analyzed. Carcinomas were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of mucinous content. Then, three independent pathologists reviewed all slides with carcinomas with mucinous content by microscopic morphometry and divided them into two subgroups: mucinous carcinomas (>50% mucin) and colorectal carcinomas with mucin (<50% mucin). The following parameters were analyzed: share of mucinous colorectal cancer and cancer with mucin, sex and age distribution of all three groups of carcinomas, and localization and Dukes stage of mucinous carcinomas and carcinomas with mucin. Mucinous carcinomas were confirmed to have poorer prognosis, predilection for younger age group, higher incidence in the proximal colon, and no male predomination. Colorectal carcinomas with mucin had some characteristics of both mucinous cancer and nonmucinous cancer, and could be positioned somewhere in between these two different groups.Mucinozni adenokarcinomi debelog crijeva se po nekim svojim kliničko-patološkim obilježjima razlikuju od nemucinoznih adenokarcinoma. Napravljena je revizija svih karcinoma debelog crijeva od 1996. do 2001. godine. Karcinome s mucinoznim sadržajem dodatno su pregledala tri neovisna patologa te su podijeljeni u dvije podskupine: mucinozni karcinomi (više od 50% sluzi) i karcinomi s mucinom (manje od 50% sluzi). Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju povećanje udjela karcinoma s mucinoznim sadržajem u ukupnom broju kolorektalnih karcinoma. Predispozicija obolijevanja od karcinoma s mucinoznim sadržajem podjednaka je za oba spola dok su muškarci češće obolijevali od nemucinoznih karcinoma. Usporedba prosječne dobi pokazala je da su bolesnici s mucinoznim karcinomima prosječno mlađi od onih s nemucinoznim i karcinomima s mucinom. Lokalizacija mucinoznih karcinoma i karcinoma s mucinom je bila podjednaka i primjetan je pomak u desni dio kolona. Usporedba Dukesove klasifikacije mucinoznih karcinoma i onih s mucinom pokazala je da se u trenutku dijagnosticiranja većina mucinoznih karcinoma nalazi u Dukesovu stadiju C, za razliku od karcinoma s mucinom kojih je u času dijagnosticiranja bilo podjednako u Dukesovu stadiju A, AC i C bolesti. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da se po nekim svojim obilježjima mucinozni karcinomi razlikuju od nemucinoznih, dok karcinomi s mucinom posjeduju neke osobitosti i jednih i drugih

Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

publishedVersio

Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for health research that would have the potential to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs.MethodsThe Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method was used to identify COVID-19-related research priorities. All ISoGH members were invited to participate. Seventy-nine experts in clinical, translational, and population research contributed 192 research questions for consideration. Fifty-two experts then scored those questions based on five pre-defined criteria that were selected for this exercise: 1) feasibility and answerability; 2) potential for burden reduction; 3) potential for a paradigm shift; 4) potential for translation and implementation; and 5) impact on equity.ResultsAmong the top 10 research priorities, research questions related to vaccination were prominent: health care system access barriers to equitable uptake of COVID-19 vaccination (ranked 1st), determinants of vaccine hesitancy (4th), development and evaluation of effective interventions to decrease vaccine hesitancy (5th), and vaccination impacts on vulnerable population/s (6th). Health care delivery questions also ranked highly, including: effective strategies to manage COVID-19 globally and in LMICs (2nd) and integrating health care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs (3rd). Additionally, the assessment of COVID-19 patients' needs in rural areas of LMICs was ranked 7th, and studying the leading socioeconomic determinants and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs using multi-faceted approaches was ranked 8th. The remaining questions in the top 10 were: clarifying paediatric case-fatality rates (CFR) in LMICs and identifying effective strategies for community engagement against COVID-19 in different LMIC contexts.InterpretationHealth policy and systems research to inform COVID-19 vaccine uptake and equitable access to care are urgently needed, especially for rural, vulnerable, and/or marginalised populations. This research should occur in parallel with studies that will identify approaches to minimise vaccine hesitancy and effectively integrate care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs. ISoGH calls on the funders of health research in LMICs to consider the urgency and priority of this research during the COVID-19 pandemic and support studies that could make a positive difference for the populations of LMICs

Data from: Testing the efficiency of nested barriers to dispersal in the Mediterranean high mountain plant Edraianthus graminifolius (Campanulaceae)

Due to strong spatial heterogeneity and limited Pleistocene glaciation, the Balkan Peninsula is a major European biodiversity hotspot. Surprisingly little, however, is known about patterns and processes of intraspecific diversification of its biota in general and of high altitude species in particular. A well-suited system to test hypotheses with respect to various isolating factors acting at different geographic scales and to explore full-range phylogeographic patterns on the Balkan Peninsula is Edraianthus graminifolius (Campanulaceae), distributed in the western Balkan mountain systems, the southwestern Carpathians and the Apennine Peninsula. To this end, we used a dense population sampling and employed Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers and plastid DNA sequences supplemented by ecological niche modelling. The strongest splits were inferred to separate southern and northern Balkan populations from the central ones, from where range extension occurred to the Carpathians and, in more recent times, once or twice to the Apennine Peninsula. The three genetic groups in the western Balkan Peninsula were remarkably congruent among molecular markers suggesting that the barriers to gene flow acted over long time periods facilitating allopatric differentiation. Each main group of Balkan populations contained genetically and geographically distinct subgroups, which likely are the result of local refugia during warmer periods. Evidently, the topographically highly complex and during the last glacial maximum only locally glaciated Balkan Peninsula is a hotspot of species richness and endemism as well as a sanctuary of intraspecific genetic diversity, even if the underlying causes remain insufficiently understood

Table for translating population numbers used in the sequence alignments and the MCC treefile into the population numbers used in the paper, the AFLP matrix and in GenBank

Table for translating population numbers used in the sequence alignments and the MCC treefile into the population numbers used in the paper, the AFLP matrix and in GenBan

Unmodified alignment of plastid DNA sequences from Edraianthus graminifolius (without gap coding)

Unmodified alignment of plastid DNA sequences (trnGUCC intron to trnGUCC-trnRUCU intergenic spacer, rpl32-trnLUAG intergenic spacer, and trnTUGU- trnLUAA-trnFGAA intergenic spacers) from Edraianthus graminifolius (without gap coding