Drosophila melanogaster as a model for lead neurotoxicology and toxicogenomics research

Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model animal for studying the neurotoxicology of lead. It has been known since ancient Roman times that long-term exposure to low levels of lead results in behavioral abnormalities, such as what is now known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Because lead alters mechanisms that underlie developmental neuronal plasticity, chronic exposure of children, even at blood lead levels below the current CDC community action level (10 μg/dl), can result in reduced cognitive ability, increased likelihood of delinquency, behaviors associated with ADHD, changes in activity level, altered sensory function, delayed onset of sexual maturity in girls, and changes in immune function. In order to better understand how lead affects neuronal plasticity, we will describe recent findings from a Drosophila behavioral genetics laboratory, a Drosophila neurophysiology laboratory, and a Drosophila quantitative genetics laboratory who have joined forces to study the effects of lead on the Drosophila nervous system. Studying the effects of lead on Drosophila nervous system development will give us a better understanding of the mechanisms of Pb neurotoxicity in the developing human nervous system

Atypical mature T-cell neoplasms: The relevance of the role of flow cytometry

Lymphoproliferative disorders are a heterogeneous group of malignant clonal proliferations of lymphocytes whose diagnosis remains challenging, despite diagnostic criteria are now well established, due to their heterogeneity in clinical presentation and immunophenotypic profile. Lymphoid T-cell disorders are more rarely seen than B-cell entities and more difficult to diagnose for the absence of a specific immunophenotypic signature. Flow cytometry is a useful tool in diagnosing T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders since it is not only able to better characterize T-cell neoplasms but also to resolve some very complicated cases, in particular those in which a small size population of neoplastic cells is available for the analysis. Here, we report three patients with mature T-cell neoplasms with atypical clinical and biological features in which analysis of peripheral blood and bone marrow specimens by means of multicolor flow cytometry was very useful to identify and characterize three rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders, such as angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified and T-cell prolym-phocytic leukemia. The aim of this case series report is not only to describe three rare cases of lymphoproliferative neoplasms but also to raise awareness that a fast, highly sensitive, and reproducible procedure, such as flow cytometry immunophenotyping, can have a determinant diagnostic role in these patients

Natural Variation in Decision-Making Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

There has been considerable recent interest in using Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the molecular basis of decision-making behavior. Deciding where to place eggs is likely one of the most important decisions for a female fly, as eggs are vulnerable and larvae have limited motility. Here, we show that many natural genotypes of D. melanogaster prefer to lay eggs near nutritious substrate, rather than in nutritious substrate. These preferences are highly polymorphic in both degree and direction, with considerable heritability (0.488) and evolvability

A pan-European epidemiological study reveals honey bee colony survival depends on beekeeper education and disease control

Reports of honey bee population decline has spurred many national efforts to understand the extent of the problem and to identify causative or associated factors. However, our collective understanding of the factors has been hampered by a lack of joined up trans-national effort. Moreover, the impacts of beekeeper knowledge and beekeeping management practices have often been overlooked, despite honey bees being a managed pollinator. Here, we established a standardised active monitoring network for 5 798 apiaries over two consecutive years to quantify honey bee colony mortality across 17 European countries. Our data demonstrate that overwinter losses ranged between 2% and 32%, and that high summer losses were likely to follow high winter losses. Multivariate Poisson regression models revealed that hobbyist beekeepers with small apiaries and little experience in beekeeping had double the winter mortality rate when compared to professional beekeepers. Furthermore, honey bees kept by professional beekeepers never showed signs of disease, unlike apiaries from hobbyist beekeepers that had symptoms of bacterial infection and heavy Varroa infestation. Our data highlight beekeeper background and apicultural practices as major drivers of honey bee colony losses. The benefits of conducting trans-national monitoring schemes and improving beekeeper training are discussed

Benefits of decreasing the uncertainty in the current bridge inspection practice

Numerous bridges worldwide have surpassed their service-life. To ensure the user safety, visual inspections are commonly carried out with the consequent assignment of Defect Grades. On their basis, simplified risk evaluations and maintenance intervention prioritization are formulated. Per the inherent nature of visual inspections, these ones include two kinds of uncertainty: interpretation-related and representation-related one. If to attempt to reduce their influence in the inspective process, the former, being an intrinsic feature of inspections performed by humans, could not be tackled. The latter, instead, can be decreased on the basis of a novel semantics-based inspective methodology. On the grounds of a large set of real-life inspections outputs, the present article measures the inspection quality improvement following said uncertainty reduction. This was achieved through the Expected Utility Theory in terms of utility and costs. On the grounds of these two, a novel Uncertainty-induced Cost curve allows the assessment of the cost evolution as a function of the weight of the representation-related uncertainty. The proposed semantics-based inspective methodology represents an improvement over the current-day directly assigned condition grading one, thus improving the efficiency of structural reliability assessments. This leads to an improved prioritization of bridge maintenance interventions and to an increased user safety

Usability, Perceived Usefulness, and Shared Decision-Making Features of the AFib 2gether Mobile App: Protocol for a Single-Arm Intervention Study

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that atrial fibrillation (AF) affects between 2.7 million and 6.1 million people in the United States. Those who have AF tend to have a much higher stroke risk than others. Although most individuals with AF benefit from anticoagulation (AC) therapy, a significant majority are hesitant to start it. To add, providers often struggle in helping patients negotiate the decision to start AC therapy. To assist in the communication between patients and providers regarding preferences and knowledge about AC therapy, different strategies are being used to try and solve this problem. In this research study, we will have patients and providers utilize the AFib 2gether app with hopes that it will create a platform for shared decision making regarding the prevention of stroke in patients with AF receiving AC therapy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to measure several outcomes related to encounters between patients and their cardiology providers where AFib 2gether is used. These outcomes include usability and perceived usefulness of the app from the perspective of patients and providers. In addition, we will assess the extent and nature of shared decision making. METHODS: Eligible patients and providers will evaluate the AFib 2gether mobile app for usability and perceived usefulness in facilitating shared decision making regarding understanding the patient\u27s risk of stroke and whether or not to start AC therapy. Both patients and providers will review the app and complete multiple questionnaires about the usability and perceived usefulness of the mobile app in a clinical setting. We will also audio-record a subset of encounters to assess for evidence of shared decision making. RESULTS: Enrollment in the AFib 2gether shared decision-making study is still ongoing for both patients and providers. The first participant enrolled on November 22, 2019. Analysis and publishing of results are expected to be completed in spring 2021. CONCLUSIONS: The AFib 2gether app emerged from a desire to increase the ability of patients and providers to engage in shared decision making around understanding the risk of stroke and AC therapy. We anticipate that the AFib 2gether mobile app will facilitate patient discussion with their cardiologist and other providers. Additionally, we hope the study will help us identify barriers that providers face when placing patients on AC therapy. We aim to demonstrate the usability and perceived usefulness of the app with a future goal of testing the value of our approach in a larger sample of patients and providers at multiple medical centers across the country. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04118270; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04118270. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/21986