Keynote Address: Rev. Mark Massa

Rev. Mark S. Massa, S.J., is the dean and professor of Church history at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He was invited to give a keynote to begin the third Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference (CHEC), cosponsored by Boston College and Fordham University. Fr. Massa’s address posed critical questions about whether Catholic identity and Catholic Intellectual Tradition are still the focal points for academic excellence in Catholic schools. This question was continually revisited throughout the conference

Spatial distribution of demersal fishery resources, environmental factors and fishing activities in GSA 15 (Malta Island)

The FAO–MedSudMed Regional Project has promoted research on the improvement of knowledge on fishery ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management of living marine resources in the central Mediterranean (Straits of Sicily). A pilot study focused on the waters around the Maltese Islands (GSA 15), with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the spatial distribution of the different life stages of exploitable demersal fishes in relation to the type and distribution of fishing, as well as to the oceanographic factors characteristic of the area of study. Critical zones for their role in the ecology of the main demersal fishery target species were investigated using species abundance data disaggregated by life stage. Spatial analysis and the application of GIS techniques allowed the identification of preferred habitats (e.g. nursery, feeding and spawning areas) for Merluccius merluccius, Mullus barbatus, Parapenaeus longirostris, Raja clavata and Raja miraletus. The impact of fishing on these species was assessed, particularly in terms of fish assemblages. The transport paths of early life stages were also hypothesized on the basis of oceanographic factors typical of the area. The results revealed that the spatial distribution of the main fishery resources overlaps the limits of the current GSAs. The analysis of oceanographic factors showed that some fishery resources are sustained by young individuals transported from adjacent GSAs. The results also demonstrated that the spatial distribution of the main demersal fishery resources in the Mediterranean GSA 15 straddle other GSAs, in particular as concerns nursery and spawning areas, indicating that some fishery resources are shared. This implies that harmonized fishery management should be applied over a larger area than is implied by the GSA concept. Finally, the study showed how data provided by different methods could be integrated to enhance the available scientific information in a data-limited situation.peer-reviewe

Conventional heart failure therapy in cardiac ATTR amyloidosis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aims of this study were to assess prescription patterns, dosages, discontinuation rates and association with prognosis of conventional heart failure (HF) medications in patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients diagnosed with ATTR-CA at the National Amyloidosis Centre between 2000-2022 identified 2371 patients with ATTR-CA. RESULTS: Prescription of HF medications was greater among patients with a more severe cardiac phenotype, comprising beta-blockers in 55.4%, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi)/angiotensin-II receptor blockers (ARB) in 57.4%, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) in 39.0% of cases. During a median follow-up of 27.8 months (IQR 10.6-51.3), 21.7% had beta-blockers discontinued, and 32.9% had ACEi/ARB discontinued. In contrast, only 7.5% had MRAs discontinued. Propensity score-matched analysis demonstrated that treatment with MRAs was independently associated with a reduced risk of mortality in the overall population (HR 0.77 [95% CI 0.66-0.89], P40% (HR 0.75 [95% CI 0.63-0.90], P=0.002); and treatment with low-dose beta-blockers was independently associated with a reduced risk of mortality in a pre-specified subgroup of patients with a LVEF ≤40% (HR 0.61 [95% CI 0.45-0.83], P=0.002). No convincing differences were found for treatment with ACEi/ARBs. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional HF medications are currently not widely prescribed in ATTR-CA, and those that received medication had more severe cardiac disease. Beta-blockers and ACEi/ARBs were often discontinued, but low-dose beta-blockers were associated with reduced risk of mortality in patients with a LVEF ≤40%. In contrast, MRAs were rarely discontinued and were associated with reduced risk of mortality in the overall population; but these findings require confirmation in prospective randomized controlled trials

Lectins offer new perspectives in the development of macrophage-targeted therapies for COPD/emphysema

We have previously shown that the defective ability of alveolar macrophages (AM) to phagocytose apoptotic cells (‘efferocytosis’) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema (COPD) could be therapeutically improved using the C-type lectin, mannose binding lectin (MBL), although the exact mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. An S-type lectin, galectin-3, is also known to regulate macrophage phenotype and function, via interaction with its receptor CD98. We hypothesized that defective expression of galectin/CD98 would be associated with defective efferocytosis in COPD and that mechanisms would include effects on cytoskeletal remodeling and macrophage phenotype and glutathione (GSH) availability. Galectin-3 was measured by ELISA in BAL from controls, smokers and current/ex-smokers with COPD. CD98 was measured on AM using flow cytometry. We assessed the effects of galectin-3 on efferocytosis, CD98, GSH, actin polymerisation, rac activation, and the involvement of PI3K (using β-actin probing and wortmannin inhibition) in vitro using human AM and/or MH-S macrophage cell line. Significant decreases in BAL galectin-3 and AM CD98 were observed in BAL from both current- and ex-smoker COPD subjects vs controls. Galectin 3 increased efferocytosis via an increase in active GTP bound Rac1. This was confirmed with β-actin probing and the role of PI3K was confirmed using wortmannin inhibition. The increased efferocytosis was associated with increases in available glutathione and expression of CD98. We provide evidence for a role of airway lectins in the failed efferocytosis in COPD, supporting their further investigation as potential macrophage-targeted therapies.Violet R. Mukaro, Johan Bylund, Greg Hodge, Mark Holmes, Hubertus Jersmann, Paul N. Reynolds, Sandra Hodg

Phylogenomic analysis sheds light on the evolutionary pathways towards acoustic communication in Orthoptera

Acoustic communication is enabled by the evolution of specialised hearing and sound producing organs. In this study, we performed a large-scale macroevolutionary study to understand how both hearing and sound production evolved and affected diversification in the insect order Orthoptera, which includes many familiar singing insects, such as crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers. Using phylogenomic data, we firmly establish phylogenetic relationships among the major lineages and divergence time estimates within Orthoptera, as well as the lineage-specific and dynamic patterns of evolution for hearing and sound producing organs. In the suborder Ensifera, we infer that forewing-based stridulation and tibial tympanal ears co-evolved, but in the suborder Caelifera, abdominal tympanal ears first evolved in a non-sexual context, and later co-opted for sexual signalling when sound producing organs evolved. However, we find little evidence that the evolution of hearing and sound producing organs increased diversification rates in those lineages with known acoustic communication

Measurement of the inclusive isolated-photon cross section in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV using 36 fb−1 of ATLAS data

The differential cross section for isolated-photon production in pp collisions is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb. The differential cross section is presented as a function of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The differential cross section as a function of the absolute value of the photon pseudorapidity is also presented in different regions of photon transverse energy. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Jetphox and Sherpa as well as next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Nnlojet are compared with the measurement, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The predictions provide a good description of the data within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Interaction of climate change with effects of conspecific and heterospecific density on reproduction

We studied the relationship between temperature and the coexistence of great titParus majorand blue titCyanistes caeruleus, breeding in 75 study plots across Europe and North Africa. We expected an advance in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer springs as a general response to climate warming and a delay in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer winters due to density-dependent effects. As expected, as spring temperature increases laying date advances and as winter temperature increases clutch size is reduced in both species. Density of great tit affected the relationship between winter temperature and laying date in great and blue tit. Specifically, as density of great tit increased and temperature in winter increased both species started to reproduce later. Density of blue tit affected the relationship between spring temperature and blue and great tit laying date. Thus, both species start to reproduce earlier with increasing spring temperature as density of blue tit increases, which was not an expected outcome, since we expected that increasing spring temperature should advance laying date, while increasing density should delay it cancelling each other out. Climate warming and its interaction with density affects clutch size of great tits but not of blue tits. As predicted, great tit clutch size is reduced more with density of blue tits as temperature in winter increases. The relationship between spring temperature and density on clutch size of great tits depends on whether the increase is in density of great tit or blue tit. Therefore, an increase in temperature negatively affected the coexistence of blue and great tits differently in both species. Thus, blue tit clutch size was unaffected by the interaction effect of density with temperature, while great tit clutch size was affected in multiple ways by these interactions terms.Peer reviewe