Patterns of morphological and physiological traits of epiphytes within trees and between elevations in subtropical Australian rainforest

Taxonomically dissimilar epiphyte species can have comparable morphological and physiological traits in similar environmental conditions. However, the degree of trait similarity has not been examined in a comparison of bryophytic and vascular epiphytes across elevational and tree gradients. We assess whether epiphyte species that occupy comparable realised niche spaces within host tree and landscape scale gradients have similarities in taxonomy, morphology or physiology. Vascular and moss epiphytes were surveyed within four height zones at five elevations (300-1100 m asl) in the sub-tropical rainforest of Australia. Epiphyte species distributions were agglomeratively classified using Ward’s method. Chi square tests were used to test for differences in the incidences of taxonomic groups, life forms, leaf thickness, photosynthetic pathways and other drought resistant morphologies between these distributional groups. These traits were also tested for correlation with light and humidity. Six groups were identified based on distribution. Vascular epiphytes with CAM, thickened leaves and other drought-mitigating morphologies were common in the groups that occupied the most xeric situations. All drought resistant traits were associated with high light and low humidity. Vascular species with few to no drought-mitigating characteristics were common in groups that occupied moister situations. Moss morphology was less congruent with environmental conditions than vascular plant morphology, suggesting that moss life forms are responding to a different scale of environmental variation

Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)

PMCID: PMC3728352This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Estimating survival in patients with gastrointestinal cancers and brain metastases: An update of the graded prognostic assessment for gastrointestinal cancers (GI-GPA).

BackgroundPatients with gastrointestinal cancers and brain metastases (BM) represent a unique and heterogeneous population. Our group previously published the Diagnosis-Specific Graded Prognostic Assessment (DS-GPA) for patients with GI cancers (GI-GPA) (1985-2007, n = 209). The purpose of this study is to update the GI-GPA based on a larger contemporary database.MethodsAn IRB-approved consortium database analysis was performed using a multi-institutional (18), multi-national (3) cohort of 792 patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, with newly-diagnosed BM diagnosed between 1/1/2006 and 12/31/2017. Survival was measured from date of first treatment for BM. Multiple Cox regression was used to select and weight prognostic factors in proportion to their hazard ratios. These factors were incorporated into the updated GI-GPA.ResultsMedian survival (MS) varied widely by primary site and other prognostic factors. Four significant factors (KPS, age, extracranial metastases and number of BM) were used to formulate the updated GI-GPA. Overall MS for this cohort remains poor; 8 months. MS by GPA was 3, 7, 11 and 17 months for GPA 0-1, 1.5-2, 2.5-3.0 and 3.5-4.0, respectively. >30% present in the worst prognostic group (GI-GPA of ≤1.0).ConclusionsBrain metastases are not uncommon in GI cancer patients and MS varies widely among them. This updated GI-GPA index improves our ability to estimate survival for these patients and will be useful for therapy selection, end-of-life decision-making and stratification for future clinical trials. A user-friendly, free, on-line app to calculate the GPA score and estimate survival for an individual patient is available at brainmetgpa.com

A Method of Drusen Measurement Based on the Geometry of Fundus Reflectance

BACKGROUND: The hallmarks of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, are the subretinal deposits known as drusen. Drusen identification and measurement play a key role in clinical studies of this disease. Current manual methods of drusen measurement are laborious and subjective. Our purpose was to expedite clinical research with an accurate, reliable digital method. METHODS: An interactive semi-automated procedure was developed to level the macular background reflectance for the purpose of morphometric analysis of drusen. 12 color fundus photographs of patients with age-related macular degeneration and drusen were analyzed. After digitizing the photographs, the underlying background pattern in the green channel was leveled by an algorithm based on the elliptically concentric geometry of the reflectance in the normal macula: the gray scale values of all structures within defined elliptical boundaries were raised sequentially until a uniform background was obtained. Segmentation of drusen and area measurements in the central and middle subfields (1000 μm and 3000 μm diameters) were performed by uniform thresholds. Two observers using this interactive semi-automated software measured each image digitally. The mean digital measurements were compared to independent stereo fundus gradings by two expert graders (stereo Grader 1 estimated the drusen percentage in each of the 24 regions as falling into one of four standard broad ranges; stereo Grader 2 estimated drusen percentages in 1% to 5% intervals). RESULTS: The mean digital area measurements had a median standard deviation of 1.9%. The mean digital area measurements agreed with stereo Grader 1 in 22/24 cases. The 95% limits of agreement between the mean digital area measurements and the more precise stereo gradings of Grader 2 were -6.4 % to +6.8 % in the central subfield and -6.0 % to +4.5 % in the middle subfield. The mean absolute differences between the digital and stereo gradings 2 were 2.8 +/- 3.4% in the central subfield and 2.2 +/- 2.7% in the middle subfield. CONCLUSIONS: Semi-automated, supervised drusen measurements may be done reproducibly and accurately with adaptations of commercial software. This technique for macular image analysis has potential for use in clinical research

The relationship between priestly motivational styles and personal wellbeing in ministry : exploring the connection between religious orientation and purpose in life among Catholic priests serving in Italy

This study examines the association between priestly motivation (accessed via the psychological notion of religious orientation) and personal wellbeing (accessed via the psychological notion of purpose in life) among a sample of 155 Catholic priests serving in Italy. The data confirm a positive association between intrinsic religious orientation and purpose in life, but a negative association between quest religious orientation and purpose in life. These findings are discussed in light of the expectations placed on Catholic priests by the Church and by society

Severe traumatic injury during long duration spaceflight: Light years beyond ATLS

Traumatic injury strikes unexpectedly among the healthiest members of the human population, and has been an inevitable companion of exploration throughout history. In space flight beyond the Earth's orbit, NASA considers trauma to be the highest level of concern regarding the probable incidence versus impact on mission and health. Because of limited resources, medical care will have to focus on the conditions most likely to occur, as well as those with the most significant impact on the crew and mission. Although the relative risk of disabling injuries is significantly higher than traumatic deaths on earth, either issue would have catastrophic implications during space flight. As a result this review focuses on serious life-threatening injuries during space flight as determined by a NASA consensus conference attended by experts in all aspects of injury and space flight

Preparation, structural characterisation and antibacterial properties of Ga-doped sol-gel phosphate-based glass

A sol-gel preparation of Ga-doped phosphate-based glass with potential application in antimicrobial devices has been developed. Samples of composition (CaO)(0.30)(Na2O)(0.20-x) (Ga2O3) (x) (P2O5)(0.50) where x = 0 and 0.03 were prepared, and the structure and properties of the gallium-doped sample compared with those of the sample containing no gallium. Analysis of the P-31 MAS NMR data demonstrated that addition of gallium to the sol-gel reaction increases the connectivity of the phosphate network at the expense of hydroxyl groups. This premise is supported by the results of the elemental analysis, which showed that the gallium-free sample contains significantly more hydrogen and by FTIR spectroscopy, which revealed a higher concentration of -OH groups in that sample. Ga K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray absorption near-edge structure data revealed that the gallium ions are coordinated by six oxygen atoms. In agreement with the X-ray absorption data, the high-energy XRD results also suggest that the Ga3+ ions are octahedrally coordinated with respect to oxygen. Antimicrobial studies demonstrated that the sample containing Ga3+ ions had significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus compared to the control

A clinician’s guide to management of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome in critically ill patients

This article is one of ten reviews selected from the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2020. Other selected articles can be found online at . Further information about the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine is available from http://www.springer.com/series/8901

Vascular Imaging With 18^{18}F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Is Influenced by Hypoxia

This study was funded by a programme grant (RG/10/007/28300) from the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Dr. Joshi was supported by a BHF Clinical Research Training Fellowship (FS/12/29/29463), a British Atherosclerosis Society Binks Trust Travel Award, and a Raymond and Beverly Sackler PhD Studentship. Dr. Manavaki is funded by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. Dr. Rudd is partially supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the BHF, The Wellcome Trust, and the EPSRC Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Imaging in Healthcare