Intake of Lycopene and other Carotenoids and Incidence of Uterine Leiomyomata: A Prospective Ultrasound Study

BACKGROUND: Uterine leiomyomata (UL) are the leading indication for hysterectomy in the United States. Dietary supplementation with lycopene was associated with reduced size and incidence of oviduct leiomyoma in the Japanese quail. Two US prospective cohort studies of women reported little association between intake of lycopene, or other carotenoids, and UL incidence. However, these studies relied on self-reported physician-diagnosed UL, which is prone to misclassification. OBJECTIVE: This study examines the association between dietary intake of carotenoids and UL incidence. DESIGN: Data were derived from the Study of the Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids, a prospective cohort study. Women completed self-administered baseline questionnaires on demographic characteristics, reproductive history, and lifestyle, including a 110-item validated food frequency questionnaire, from which dietary intakes of carotenoids-including alpha carotene, beta carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein-zeaxanthin, and lycopene-and vitamin A were estimated. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: One thousand two hundred thirty Black women aged 23 to 35 years who did not have a previous diagnosis of UL, cancer, or autoimmune disease were eligible for enrollment (2010-2012). Participants were residents of the Detroit, MI, metropolitan area. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Transvaginal ultrasound was used to assess UL at baseline and 20, 40, and 60 months of follow-up. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% CIs, adjusted for energy intake, age at menarche, education, body mass index, parity, age at first birth, years since last birth, current use of oral contraceptives or progestin-only injectables, alcohol intake, and cigarette smoking. RESULTS: Among 1,230 women without prevalent UL at baseline, 301 incident UL cases during follow-up were identified. Intakes of lycopene, other carotenoids, and vitamin A were not appreciably associated with UL incidence. Hazard ratios comparing quartiles 2 (2,376 to 3,397 μg/day), 3 (3,398 to 4,817 μg/day), and 4 (≥4,818 μg/day) with quartile 1 (\u3c2,376 μg/day) of lycopene intake were 1.03 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.47), 1.22 (95% CI 0.86 to 1.72), and 0.95 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.36), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings do not support the hypothesis that greater carotenoid intake is associated with reduced UL incidence

A dedicated flavin-dependent monooxygenase catalyzes the hydroxylation of demethoxyubiquinone into ubiquinone (coenzyme Q) in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/i\u3e

Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q) is a vital respiratory cofactor and liposoluble antioxidant. In plants, it is not known how the C-6 hydroxylation of demethoxyubiquinone, the penultimate step in ubiquinone biosynthesis, is catalyzed. The combination of cross-species gene network modeling along with mining of embryo-defective mutant databases of Arabidopsis thaliana identified the embryo lethal locus EMB2421 (At1g24340) as a top candidate for the missing plant demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase. In marked contrast with prototypical eukaryotic demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylases, the catalytic mechanism of which depends on a carboxylatebridged di-iron domain, At1g24340 is homologous to FADdependent oxidoreductases that instead use NAD(P)H as an electron donor. Complementation assays in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli demonstrated that At1g24340 encodes a functional demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase and that the enzyme displays strict specificity for the C-6 position of the benzoquinone ring. Laser-scanning confocal microscopy also showed that GFP-tagged At1g24340 is targeted to mitochondria. Silencing of At1g24340 resulted in 40 to 74% decrease in ubiquinone content and de novo ubiquinone biosynthesis. Consistent with the role of At1g24340 as a benzenoid ring modification enzyme, this metabolic blockage could not be bypassed by supplementation with 4-hydroxybenzoate, the immediate precursor of ubiquinone’s ring. Unlike in yeast, in Arabidopsis overexpression of demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase did not boost ubiquinone content. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that plant demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase is most closely related to prokaryotic monooxygenases that act on halogenated aromatics and likely descends from an event of ho

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Panel 6 : Vaccines

Objective. To review the literature on progress regarding (1) effectiveness of vaccines for prevention of otitis media (OM) and (2) development of vaccine antigens for OM bacterial and viral pathogens. Data Sources. PubMed database of the National Library of Science. Review Methods. We performed literature searches in PubMed for OM pathogens and candidate vaccine antigens, and we restricted the searches to articles in English that were published between July 2011 and June 2015. Panel members reviewed literature in their area of expertise. Conclusions. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are somewhat effective for the prevention of pneumococcal OM, recurrent OM, OM visits, and tympanostomy tube insertions. Widespread use of PCVs has been associated with shifts in pneumococcal serotypes and bacterial pathogens associated with OM, diminishing PCV effectiveness against AOM. The 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine containing Haemophilus influenzae protein D (PHiD-CV) is effective for pneumococcal OM, but results from studies describing the potential impact on OM due to H influenzae have been inconsistent. Progress in vaccine development for H influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and OM-associated respiratory viruses has been limited. Additional research is needed to extend vaccine protection to additional pneumococcal serotypes and other otopathogens. There are likely to be licensure challenges for protein-based vaccines, and data on correlates of protection for OM vaccine antigens are urgently needed. Implications for Practice. OM continues to be a significant health care burden globally. Prevention is preferable to treatment, and vaccine development remains an important goal. As a polymicrobial disease, OM poses significant but not insurmountable challenges for vaccine development.Peer reviewe

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

The Locus of Context Effects on Product Proximity Judgments

Tversky's (Tversky, A., 1977. Features of similarity. Psychological Review 84, 327–352) contrast model of similarity is used to examine the locus of two contextual effects on product judgments. More familiar stimuli may be perceived as more similar as well as more dissimilar than less familiar stimuli. Priming subjects' product knowledge should, meanwhile, increase the similarity of brands but decrease the similarity of categories. We argue that both of these context effects should be more prominent among the moderately proximal stimuli in any given set. Two studies, one examining the similarity/dissimilarity effect and one examining priming effects, support this conclusion. The observed priming effects were also stronger for brands than for categories. Overall these context effects appear more localized than previously assumed.Johnson37_The_locus_of_context_effects.pdf: 108 downloads, before Aug. 1, 2020

Quantification of Environmental DNA (eDNA) Shedding and Decay Rates for Three Marine Fish

Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) to identify macroorganisms and biodiversity has the potential to significantly augment spatial and temporal biological monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Current monitoring methods relying on the physical identification of organisms can be time consuming, expensive, and invasive. Measuring eDNA shed from organisms provides detailed information on the presence and abundance of communities of organisms. However, little is known about eDNA shedding and decay in aquatic environments. In the present study, we designed novel Taqman qPCR assays for three ecologically and economically important marine fish<i>Engraulis mordax</i> (Northern Anchovy), <i>Sardinops sagax</i> (Pacific Sardine), and <i>Scomber japonicas</i> (Pacific Chub Mackerel). We subsequently measured fish eDNA shedding and decay rates in seawater mesocosms. eDNA shedding rates ranged from 165 to 3368 pg of DNA per hour per gram of biomass. First-order decay rate constants ranged from 0.055 to 0.101 per hour. We also examined the size fractionation of eDNA and concluded eDNA is both intra- and extracellular. Finally, we derived a simple mass-balance model to estimate fish abundance from eDNA concentration. The mesocosm-derived shedding and decay rates inform the interpretation of eDNA concentrations measured in environmental samples and future use of eDNA as a monitoring tool