Physiological effects of tourism and associated food provisioning in an endangered iguana

© The Author 2013. Deliberately feeding wildlife is an increasingly popular tourism-related activity despite a limited understanding of long-term impacts on the species being fed. As a result, tourist behaviours that may have adverse impacts on imperiled species have often been encouraged without the necessary evaluation or oversight. Here, we report the responses of Northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas (Cyclura cychlura) to human-visitation pressure and associated food provisioning. We compared a variety of blood chemistry parameters of iguanas subjected to supplemental feeding at popular tourist destinations with iguanas occurring on islands where supplemental feeding does not take place. We demonstrate that male and female iguanas inhabiting tourist-visited islands where supplemental feeding occurs do not differ in body condition or baseline stress and stress response (determined by corticosterone levels) compared with iguanas from non-visited islands. Both males and females from tourist-visited sites experienced a greater incidence of endoparasitic infection and atypical loose faeces. Indicators of dietary nutrition, including glucose, potassium, and uric acid values, also differed for both sexes from tourist-visited and unvisited islands. Male iguanas from visited islands differed significantly from those on non-visited islands in calcium, cholesterol, cobalt, copper, magnesium, packed cell volume, selenium, and triglyceride concentrations, whereas female iguanas from visited islands differed significantly in ionized calcium. Although the interpretation of these differences is challenging, chronic biochemical stressors could compromise individual health over time or decrease survivorship during periods of environmental stress. We suggest protocols that can be adopted throughout the region to ensure that supplemental feeding has fewer impacts on these long-lived iguanas

OA06.06 Impact of Systemic Anti-cancer Treatments on Outcomes of COVID-19 in Patients with Thoracic Cancers: CCC19 Registry Analysis

Introduction: Patients with thoracic cancers (TC) have one of the highest rates of mortality among patients with cancer and COVID-19. Data evaluating the impact of recent anti-cancer therapies on COVID-19 outcomes in patients with TC are confined to small heterogenous retrospective studies, with limited follow-up data. We analyzed data from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) (NCT04354701) to examine the impact of recent systemic therapies on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with TC. Methods: The CCC19 registry was queried for adult patients with TC and lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Only patients with data quality scores of 0-4 were included in the analysis. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were need for oxygen supplementation, hospitalization, ICU admission, and mechanical ventilation. The outcomes were further stratified by demographics, smoking history, ECOG PS (0, 1, \u3e2), cancer status (remission, responding/stable, progressing) and type of systemic treatment \u3c3 months prior to COVID-19 (chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy, chemotherapy plus radiation, immunotherapy alone or targeted therapy). Results: From January 2020 to December 2021, 900 patients with thoracic cancer met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 70 years (IQR 62-77), 53% were female, 79% were former or current tobacco users, 56% of patients had ECOG PS of 0 or 1, and 34% of patients had active but stable or responding cancer. Fifty-three percent (N=477) of patients received at least one anti-cancer systemic therapy \u3c3 months prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. Chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy was the most prevalent treatment exposure (51%; N=242). After a median follow-up of 70 days (IQR 28-180), 30-day all-cause mortality was similar in patients who received any systemic cancer treatment versus no cancer treatment (23% and 22% respectively). Patients treated with immunotherapy and targeted therapy had the lowest mortality (15% and 18% respectively), the majority of whom were treated with palliative intent. Similar trends were also noted with secondary outcomes (Table 1). Conclusions: We report one of the largest studies evaluating the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in the context of recent systemic anti-cancer treatments for TC. While continued caution is required when utilizing systemic treatments, delays in treatment may not be justified. The study provides reassuring data that patients receiving immunotherapy or targeted therapy even in the context of palliative treatment appear to have a lower risk for all-cause COVID-19 mortality. Further analysis exploring the prognostic factors associated with poor outcomes in patients with chemoradiation is planned

Coordinated Expression Domains in Mammalian Genomes

Gene order in eukaryotic genomes is not random. Genes showing similar expression (coexpression) patterns are often clustered along the genome. The goal of this study is to characterize coexpression clustering in mammalian genomes and to investigate the underlying mechanisms.We detect clustering of coexpressed genes across multiple scales, from neighboring genes to chromosomal domains that span tens of megabases and, in some cases, entire chromosomes. Coexpression domains may be positively or negatively correlated with other domains, within and between chromosomes. We find that long-range expression domains are associated with gene density, which in turn is related to physical organization of the chromosomes within the nucleus. We show that gene expression changes between healthy and diseased tissue samples occur in a gene density-dependent manner.We demonstrate that coexpression domains exist across multiple scales. We identify potential mechanisms for short-range as well as long-range coexpression domains. We provide evidence that the three-dimensional architecture of the chromosomes may underlie long-range coexpression domains. Chromosome territory reorganization may play a role in common human diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and psoriasis

Identifying Unique Neighborhood Characteristics to Guide Health Planning for Stroke and Heart Attack: Fuzzy Cluster and Discriminant Analyses Approaches

Socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic factors are known determinants of stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) risk. Clustering of these factors in neighborhoods needs to be taken into consideration during planning, prioritization and implementation of health programs intended to reduce disparities. Given the complex and multidimensional nature of these factors, multivariate methods are needed to identify neighborhood clusters of these determinants so as to better understand the unique neighborhood profiles. This information is critical for evidence-based health planning and service provision. Therefore, this study used a robust multivariate approach to classify neighborhoods and identify their socio-demographic characteristics so as to provide information for evidence-based neighborhood health planning for stroke and MI.The study was performed in East Tennessee Appalachia, an area with one of the highest stroke and MI risks in USA. Robust principal component analysis was performed on neighborhood (census tract) socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, obtained from the US Census, to reduce the dimensionality and influence of outliers in the data. Fuzzy cluster analysis was used to classify neighborhoods into Peer Neighborhoods (PNs) based on their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Nearest neighbor discriminant analysis and decision trees were used to validate PNs and determine the characteristics important for discrimination. Stroke and MI mortality risks were compared across PNs. Four distinct PNs were identified and their unique characteristics and potential health needs described. The highest risk of stroke and MI mortality tended to occur in less affluent PNs located in urban areas, while the suburban most affluent PNs had the lowest risk.Implementation of this multivariate strategy provides health planners useful information to better understand and effectively plan for the unique neighborhood health needs and is important in guiding resource allocation, service provision, and policy decisions to address neighborhood health disparities and improve population health

Late Effects in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients with Acquired Severe Aplastic Anemia: A Report from the Late Effects Working Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research

With improvements in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) outcomes for severe aplastic anemia (SAA), there is a growing population of SAA survivors after HCT. However, there is a paucity of information regarding late effects that occur after HCT in SAA survivors. This study describes the malignant and nonmalignant late effects in survivors with SAA after HCT. A descriptive analysis was conducted of 1718 patients post-HCT for acquired SAA between 1995 and 2006 reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). the prevalence and cumulative incidence estimates of late effects are reported for 1-year HCT survivors with SAA. of the HCT recipients, 1176 (68.5%) and 542 (31.5%) patients underwent a matched sibling donor (MSD) or unrelated donor (URD) HCT, respectively. the median age at the time of HCT was 20 years. the median interval from diagnosis to transplantation was 3 months for MSD HCT and 14 months for URD HCT. the median follow-up was 70 months and 67 months for MSD and URD HCT survivors, respectively. Overall survival at I year, 2 years, and 5 years for the entire cohort was 76% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 74-78), 73% (95% CI: 71-75), and 70% (95% CI: 68-72). Among 1-year survivors of MSD HCT, 6% had 1 late effect and 1% had multiple late effects. for 1-year survivors of URD HCT, 13% had 1 late effect and 2% had multiple late effects. Among survivors of MSD HCT, the cumulative incidence estimates of developing late effects were all <3% and did not increase over time. in contrast, for recipients of URD HCT, the cumulative incidence of developing several late effects exceeded 3% by 5 years: gonadal dysfunction 10.5% (95% CI: 7.3-14.3), growth disturbance 7.2% (95% CI: 4.4-10.7), avascular necrosis 6.3% (95% CI: 3.6-9.7), hypothyroidism 5.5% (95% CI: 2.8-9.0), and cataracts 5.1% (95% CI: 2.9-8.0). Our results indicated that all patients undergoing HCT for SAA remain at risk for late effects, must be counseled about, and should be monitored for late effects for the remainder of their lives.Public Health Service Grant from the National Cancer InstituteNational Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesNational Cancer InstituteHealth Resources and Services Administration/Department of Health and Human ServicesOffice of Naval ResearchAllosAmgenAngioblastChildrens Hosp Orange Cty, Dept Hematol, Orange, CA 92668 USACIBMTR Med Coll Wisconsin, Dept Biostat, Milwaukee, WI USAMed Coll Wisconsin, CIBMTR Stat Ctr, Milwaukee, WI 53226 USAKing Faisal Specialist Hosp & Res Ctr, Dept Oncol, Riyadh 11211, Saudi ArabiaNew York Med Coll, Dept Pediat Hematol Oncol & Stem Cell Transplanta, Valhalla, NY 10595 USAStemcyte, Covina, CA USADana Farber Canc Inst, Dept Pediat Oncol, Boston, MA 02115 USAUniv Florida, Dept Hematol Oncol, Gainesville, FL USAPrincess Margaret Hosp, Dept Med, Toronto, ON M4X 1K9, CanadaUniv S Florida, All Childrens Hosp, Dept Pediat Hematol & Oncol, St Petersburg, FL 33701 USAUniv Basel Hosp, Dept Hematol, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandOregon Hlth & Sci Univ, Dept Hematol & Oncol, Portland, OR 97201 USAChildrens Natl Med Ctr, Dept Blood & Marrow Transplantat, Washington, DC 20010 USABaylor Coll Med, Ctr Cell Therapy, Dept Hematol & Oncol, Houston, TX 77030 USAUniv N Carolina Hosp, Dept Pediat, Chapel Hill, NC USAUniv Hosp Case, Med Ctr, Dept Med, Cleveland, OH USAUniv Arkansas Med Sci, Dept Hematol & Oncol, Little Rock, AR 72205 USACincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr, Dept Bone Marrow Transplantat & Immune Deficiency, Cincinnati, OH USATufts Med Ctr, Dept Med & Pediat, Boston, MA USAUniv S Florida, Coll Med, H Lee Moffitt Canc Ctr & Res Inst, Dept Hematol & Oncol, Tampa, FL 33612 USAFlorida Ctr Cellular Therapy, Dept Med, Orlando, FL USAUniv Fed Parana, Dept Bone Marrow Transplantat, BR-80060000 Curitiba, Parana, BrazilVanderbilt Univ, Med Ctr, Dept Med, Nashville, TN USAInst Oncol Pediat, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilFred Hutchinson Canc Res Ctr, Dept Clin Res & Transplantat, Seattle, WA 98104 USAMt Sinai Med Ctr, Dept Bone Marrow & Stem Cell Transplantat, New York, NY 10029 USAUniv N Carolina Hosp, Dept Hematol & Oncol, Chapel Hill, NC USAUniv Manitoba, CancerCare Manitoba, Dept Manitoba Blood & Marrow Transplant Program, Winnipeg, MB, CanadaKarolinska Univ Hosp, Ctr Allogene Stem Cell Transplantat, Dept Pediat, Stockholm, SwedenLouisiana State Univ, Hlth Sci Ctr, Childrens Hosp, Dept Pediat, New Orleans, LA USADept Natl Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis, MN USAPublic Health Service Grant from the National Cancer Institute: U24-CA76518National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: 5U01HL069294Office of Naval Research: N00014-06-1-0704Office of Naval Research: N00014-08-1-0058HHSH234200637015CWeb of Scienc