Incidence and drug treatment of emotional distress after cancer diagnosis : a matched primary care case-control study

Notes This work is published under the standard license to publish agreement. After 12 months the work will become freely available and the license terms will switch to a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A System for the Synchronized Recording of Sonomyography, Electromyography and Joint Angle

Ultrasound and electromyography (EMG) are two of the most commonly used diagnostic tools for the assessment of muscles. Recently, many studies reported the simultaneous collection of EMG signals and ultrasound images, which were normally amplified and digitized by different devices. However, there is lack of a systematic method to synchronize them and no study has reported the effects of ultrasound gel to the EMG signal collection during the simultaneous data collection. In this paper, we introduced a new method to synchronize ultrasound B-scan images, EMG signals, joint angles and other related signals (e.g. force and velocity signals) in real-time. The B-mode ultrasound images were simultaneously captured by the PC together with the surface EMG (SEMG) and the joint angle signal. The deformations of the forearm muscles induced by wrist motions were extracted from a sequence of ultrasound images, named as Sonomyography (SMG). Preliminary experiments demonstrated that the proposed method could reliably collect the synchronized ultrasound images, SEMG signals and joint angle signals in real-time. In addition, the effect of ultrasound gel on the SEMG signals when the EMG electrodes were close to the ultrasound probe was studied. It was found that the SEMG signals were not significantly affected by the amount of the ultrasound gel. The system is being used for the study of contractions of various muscles as well as the muscle fatigue

Dengue-2 Structural Proteins Associate with Human Proteins to Produce a Coagulation and Innate Immune Response Biased Interactome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dengue virus infection is a public health threat to hundreds of millions of individuals in the tropical regions of the globe. Although Dengue infection usually manifests itself in its mildest, though often debilitating clinical form, dengue fever, life-threatening complications commonly arise in the form of hemorrhagic shock and encephalitis. The etiological basis for the virus-induced pathology in general, and the different clinical manifestations in particular, are not well understood. We reasoned that a detailed knowledge of the global biological processes affected by virus entry into a cell might help shed new light on this long-standing problem.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A bacterial two-hybrid screen using DENV2 structural proteins as bait was performed, and the results were used to feed a manually curated, global dengue-human protein interaction network. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment, along with network topology and microarray meta-analysis, were used to generate hypothesis regarding dengue disease biology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Combining bioinformatic tools with two-hybrid technology, we screened human cDNA libraries to catalogue proteins physically interacting with the DENV2 virus structural proteins, Env, cap and PrM. We identified 31 interacting human proteins representing distinct biological processes that are closely related to the major clinical diagnostic feature of dengue infection: haemostatic imbalance. In addition, we found dengue-binding human proteins involved with additional key aspects, previously described as fundamental for virus entry into cells and the innate immune response to infection. Construction of a DENV2-human global protein interaction network revealed interesting biological properties suggested by simple network topology analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our experimental strategy revealed that dengue structural proteins interact with human protein targets involved in the maintenance of blood coagulation and innate anti-viral response processes, and predicts that the interaction of dengue proteins with a proposed human protein interaction network produces a modified biological outcome that may be behind the hallmark pathologies of dengue infection.</p

Function after spinal treatment, exercise and rehabilitation (FASTER): improving the functional outcome of spinal surgery

Background: The life-time incidence of low back pain is high and diagnoses of spinal stenosis and disc prolapse are increasing. Consequently, there is a steady rise in surgical interventions for these conditions. Current evidence suggests that while the success of surgery is incomplete, it is superior to conservative interventions. A recent survey indicates that there are large differences in the type and intensity of rehabilitation, if any, provided after spinal surgery as well as in the restrictions and advice given to patients in the post-operative period. This trial will test the hypothesis that functional outcome following two common spinal operations can be improved by a programme of post-operative rehabilitation that combines professional support and advice with graded active exercise and/or an educational booklet based on evidence-based messages and advice.Methods/Design: The study design is a multi-centre, factorial, randomised controlled trial with patients stratified by surgeon and operative procedure. The trial will compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a rehabilitation programme and an education booklet for the postoperative management of patients undergoing discectomy or lateral nerve root decompression, each compared with "usual care" using a 2 x 2 factorial design. The trial will create 4 sub-groups; rehabilitation-only, booklet-only, rehabilitation-plus-booklet, and usual care only. The trial aims to recruit 344 patients, which equates to 86 patients in each of the four sub-groups. All patients will be assessed for functional ability (through the Oswestry Disability Index - a disease specific functional questionnaire), pain (using visual analogue scales), and satisfaction pre-operatively and then at 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 9 months and 1 year post-operatively. This will be complemented by a formal analysis of cost-effectiveness.Discussion: This trial will determine whether the outcome of spinal surgery can be enhanced by either a postoperative rehabilitation programme or an evidence-based advice booklet or a combination of the two and as such will contribute to our knowledge on how to manage spinal surgery patients in the post-operative period

Snake Cytotoxins Bind to Membranes via Interactions with Phosphatidylserine Head Groups of Lipids

The major representatives of Elapidae snake venom, cytotoxins (CTs), share similar three-fingered fold and exert diverse range of biological activities against various cell types. CT-induced cell death starts from the membrane recognition process, whose molecular details remain unclear. It is known, however, that the presence of anionic lipids in cell membranes is one of the important factors determining CT-membrane binding. In this work, we therefore investigated specific interactions between one of the most abundant of such lipids, phosphatidylserine (PS), and CT 4 of Naja kaouthia using a combined, experimental and modeling, approach. It was shown that incorporation of PS into zwitterionic liposomes greatly increased the membrane-damaging activity of CT 4 measured by the release of the liposome-entrapped calcein fluorescent dye. The CT-induced leakage rate depends on the PS concentration with a maximum at approximately 20% PS. Interestingly, the effects observed for PS were much more pronounced than those measured for another anionic lipid, sulfatide. To delineate the potential PS binding sites on CT 4 and estimate their relative affinities, a series of computer simulations was performed for the systems containing the head group of PS and different spatial models of CT 4 in aqueous solution and in an implicit membrane. This was done using an original hybrid computational protocol implementing docking, Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations. As a result, at least three putative PS-binding sites with different affinities to PS molecule were delineated. Being located in different parts of the CT molecule, these anion-binding sites can potentially facilitate and modulate the multi-step process of the toxin insertion into lipid bilayers. This feature together with the diverse binding affinities of the sites to a wide variety of anionic targets on the membrane surface appears to be functionally meaningful and may adjust CT action against different types of cells

Effects of salinity and drought on growth, ionic relations, compatible solutes and activation of antioxidant systems in oleander (Nerium oleander L.)

[EN] Nerium oleander is an ornamental species of high aesthetic value, grown in arid and semi- arid regions because of its drought tolerance, which is also considered as relatively resistant to salt; yet the biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying oleander¿s stress toler- ance remain largely unknown. To investigate these mechanisms, one-year-old oleander seedlings were exposed to 15 and 30 days of treatment with increasing salt concentratio ns, up to 800 mM NaCl, and to complete withholding of irrigation; growth parameters and bio- chemical markers characteristic of conserved stress-response pathways were then deter- mined in stressed and control plants. Strong water deficit and salt stress both caused inhibition of growth, degradation of photosynthetic pigments, a slight (but statistically signifi- cant) increase in the leaf levels of specific osmolytes, and induction of oxidative stress¿as indicated by the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), a reliable oxidative stress marker ¿accompanied by increases in the levels of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant fla- vonoids and in the specific activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reduc- tase (GR). High salinity, in addition, induced accumulation of Na + and Cl - in roots and leaves and the activation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. Apart from anatomical adaptations that protect oleander from leaf dehydration at moderate levels of stress, our results indicate that tolerance of this species to salinity and water deficit is based on the constitutive accumulation in leaves of high concentratio ns of soluble carbohydrates and, to a lesser extent, of glycine betaine, and in the activation of the aforementioned antiox- idant systems. Moreover, regarding specifically salt stress, mechanisms efficiently blocking transport of toxic ions from the roots to the aerial parts of the plant appear to contribute to a large extent to tolerance in Nerium oleanderThis work was financed by internal funds of the Polytechnic University of Valencia to Monica Boscaiu and Oscar Vicente. Dinesh Kumar’s stay in Valencia was financed by a NAMASTE fellowship from the European Union, and Mohamad Al Hassan was a recipient of an Erasmus Mundus pre-doctoral scholarship financed by the European Commission (Welcome Consortium).Kumar, D.; Al Hassan, M.; Naranjo Olivero, MA.; Agrawal, V.; Boscaiu, M.; Vicente, O. (2017). Effects of salinity and drought on growth, ionic relations, compatible solutes and activation of antioxidant systems in oleander (Nerium oleander L.). PLoS ONE. 12(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185017Se018501712

Microtubule Actin Crosslinking Factor 1 Regulates the Balbiani Body and Animal-Vegetal Polarity of the Zebrafish Oocyte

Although of fundamental importance in developmental biology, the genetic basis for the symmetry breaking events that polarize the vertebrate oocyte and egg are largely unknown. In vertebrates, the first morphological asymmetry in the oocyte is the Balbiani body, a highly conserved, transient structure found in vertebrates and invertebrates including Drosophila, Xenopus, human, and mouse. We report the identification of the zebrafish magellan (mgn) mutant, which exhibits a novel enlarged Balbiani body phenotype and a disruption of oocyte polarity. To determine the molecular identity of the mgn gene, we positionally cloned the gene, employing a novel DNA capture method to target region-specific genomic DNA of 600 kb for massively parallel sequencing. Using this technique, we were able to enrich for the genomic region linked to our mutation within one week and then identify the mutation in mgn using massively parallel sequencing. This is one of the first successful uses of genomic DNA enrichment combined with massively parallel sequencing to determine the molecular identity of a gene associated with a mutant phenotype. We anticipate that the combination of these technologies will have wide applicability for the efficient identification of mutant genes in all organisms. We identified the mutation in mgn as a deletion in the coding sequence of the zebrafish microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (macf1) gene. macf1 is a member of the highly conserved spectraplakin family of cytoskeletal linker proteins, which play diverse roles in polarized cells such as neurons, muscle cells, and epithelial cells. In mgn mutants, the oocyte nucleus is mislocalized; and the Balbiani body, localized mRNAs, and organelles are absent from the periphery of the oocyte, consistent with a function for macf1 in nuclear anchoring and cortical localization. These data provide the first evidence for a role for spectraplakins in polarization of the vertebrate oocyte and egg

Terrestrialization, Miniaturization and Rates of Diversification in African Puddle Frogs (Anura: Phrynobatrachidae)

Terrestrialization, the evolution of non-aquatic oviposition, and miniaturization, the evolution of tiny adult body size, are recurring trends in amphibian evolution, but the relationships among the traits that characterize these phenomena are not well understood. Furthermore, these traits have been identified as possible “key innovations” that are predicted to increase rates of speciation in those lineages in which they evolve. We examine terrestrialization and miniaturization in sub-Saharan puddle frogs (Phrynobatrachidae) in a phylogenetic context to investigate the relationship between adaptation and diversification through time. We use relative dating techniques to ascertain if character trait shifts are associated with increased diversification rates, and we evaluate the likelihood that a single temporal event can explain the evolution of those traits. Results indicate alternate reproductive modes evolved independently in Phrynobatrachus at least seven times, including terrestrial deposition of eggs and terrestrial, non-feeding larvae. These shifts towards alternate reproductive modes are not linked to a common temporal event. Contrary to the “key innovations” hypothesis, clades that exhibit alternate reproductive modes have lower diversification rates than those that deposit eggs aquatically. Adult habitat, pedal webbing and body size have no effect on diversification rates. Though these traits putatively identified as key innovations for Phrynobatrachus do not seem to be associated with increased speciation rates, they may still provide opportunities to extend into new niches, thus increasing overall diversity

Principles of mRNA transport in yeast

mRNA localization and localized translation is a common mechanism by which cellular asymmetry is achieved. In higher eukaryotes the mRNA transport machinery is required for such diverse processes as stem cell division and neuronal plasticity. Because mRNA localization in metazoans is highly complex, studies at the molecular level have proven to be cumbersome. However, active mRNA transport has also been reported in fungi including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Ustilago maydis and Candida albicans, in which these events are less difficult to study. Amongst them, budding yeast S. cerevisiae has yielded mechanistic insights that exceed our understanding of other mRNA localization events to date. In contrast to most reviews, we refrain here from summarizing mRNA localization events from different organisms. Instead we give an in-depth account of ASH1 mRNA localization in budding yeast. This approach is particularly suited to providing a more holistic view of the interconnection between the individual steps of mRNA localization, from transcriptional events to cytoplasmic mRNA transport and localized translation. Because of our advanced mechanistic understanding of mRNA localization in yeast, the present review may also be informative for scientists working, for example, on mRNA localization in embryogenesis or in neurons

RhoGTPase Regulators Orchestrate Distinct Stages of Synaptic Development

Small RhoGTPases regulate changes in post-synaptic spine morphology and density that support learning and memory. They are also major targets of synaptic disorders, including Autism. Here we sought to determine whether upstream RhoGTPase regulators, including GEFs, GAPs, and GDIs, sculpt specific stages of synaptic development. The majority of examined molecules uniquely regulate either early spine precursor formation or later matura- tion. Specifically, an activator of actin polymerization, the Rac1 GEF β-PIX, drives spine pre- cursor formation, whereas both FRABIN, a Cdc42 GEF, and OLIGOPHRENIN-1, a RhoA GAP, regulate spine precursor elongation. However, in later development, a novel Rac1 GAP, ARHGAP23, and RhoGDIs inactivate actomyosin dynamics to stabilize mature synap- ses. Our observations demonstrate that specific combinations of RhoGTPase regulatory pro- teins temporally balance RhoGTPase activity during post-synaptic spine development