Case series, chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy: mind the family history!

Background Cardiotoxicity presenting as cardiomyopathy is a common side effect in cancer treatment especially with anthracyclines. The role of genetic predisposition is still being investigated.Case summary Four unrelated patients with a familial burden for cardiac disease, who developed cardiomyopathy after anthracycline treatment are presented. Case 1 received chemotherapy for breast cancer and developed a dilated left ventricle just after treatment. Her father had died unexpectedly while being screened for heart transplant. Case 2 was known with a family history of sudden cardiac death prior to her breast cancer diagnosis. She received anthracycline-containing chemotherapy treatment twice in 5 years due to recurrence of breast cancer. During that period, two brothers developed a cardiomyopathy. Eighteen years later, a genetic predisposition for cardiomyopathy was ascertained and at screening an asymptomatic non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy was established. Case 3 was diagnosed with a dilated cardiomyopathy 1 year after chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. Her mother had developed a dilated cardiomyopathy several years before. Case 4 received chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and developed dilated cardiomyopathy 1 year later. His brother died from congestive heart failure which he developed after chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and a grandmother had died suddenly during child delivery. In all four cases, genetic screening showed (likely) pathogenic variants in cardiomyopathy-associated genes.Discussion Current guidelines recommend cardiac evaluation in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy based on the presence of cardiovascular risk factors at the start of treatment. This series emphasizes the importance of including a thorough family history in this process.Experimentele farmacotherapi

Pelagic seabirds as biomonitors of persistent organic pollutants in the Southwestern Atlantic

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are accumulated through time and can exert different effect on ecosystems. POPs and Chlorpyrifos, a current use pesticide, were assessed in body feathers of males and females of Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris, BBA) and Cape petrels (Daption capense, CAP) during their non-breeding seasons at the Patagonian Shelf, Argentina. Chlorpyrifos showed the highest values among all pollutants in both species (49.56–84.88 ng g−1), resulting from current agricultural practices. The pattern OCPs > PCBs > PBDEs was observed in both species, and CAP showed higher concentrations than BBA probably as a consequence of higher lipid mobilization and pollutants availability during dispersion. Non-significant differences between sexes about POPs levels were found; however a slight tendency was observed, females>males in CAP, and males>females in BBA. More attention and further studies are needed to understand seabirds' physiology and its relationship with the pollutants distribution in their tissues and considering breeding season.Fil: Quadri Adrogué, Agustina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Marinas. Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología; ArgentinaFil: Miglioranza, Karina Silvia Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Marinas. Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Copello, Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Favero, Marco. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Seco Pon, Juan Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin

Perspectives and challenges for the use of radar in biological conservation

Radar is at the forefront for the study of broad-scale aerial movements of birds, bats and insects and related issues in biological conservation. Radar techniques are especially useful for investigating species which fly at high altitudes, in darkness, or which are too small for applying electronic tags. Here, we present an overview of radar applications in biological conservation and highlight its future possibilities. Depending on the type of radar, information can be gathered on local- to continental-scale movements of airborne organisms and their behaviour. Such data can quantify flyway usage, biomass and nutrient transport (bioflow), population sizes, dynamics and distributions, times and dimensions of movements, areas and times of mass emergence and swarming, habitat use and activity ranges. Radar also captures behavioural responses to anthropogenic disturbances, artificial light and man-made structures. Weather surveillance and other long-range radar networks allow spatially broad overviews of important stopover areas, songbird mass roosts and emergences from bat caves. Mobile radars, including repurposed marine radars and commercially dedicated ‘bird radars’, offer the ability to track and monitor the local movements of individuals or groups of flying animals. Harmonic radar techniques have been used for tracking short-range movements of insects and other small animals of conservation interest. However, a major challenge in aeroecology is determining the taxonomic identity of the targets, which often requires ancillary data obtained from other methods. Radar data have become a global source of information on ecosystem structure, composition, services and function and will play an increasing role in the monitoring and conservation of flying animals and threatened habitats worldwide

Using technology to improve the management of development impacts on biodiversity

Funder: The research was funded through a long‐term collaboration between Conservational International and Chevron.Abstract: The mitigation hierarchy (MH) is a prominent tool to help businesses achieve no net loss or net gain outcomes for biodiversity. Technological innovations offer benefits for business biodiversity management, yet the range and continued evolution of technologies creates a complex landscape that can be difficult to navigate. Using literature review, online surveys, and semi‐structured interviews, we assess technologies that can improve application of the MH. We identify six categories (mobile survey, fixed survey, remote sensing, blockchain, data analysis, and enabling technologies) with high feasibility and/or relevance to (i) aid direct implementation of mitigation measures and (ii) enhance biodiversity surveys and monitoring, which feed into the design of interventions including avoidance and minimization measures. At the interface between development and biodiversity impacts, opportunities lie in businesses investing in technologies, capitalizing on synergies between technology groups, collaborating with conservation organizations to enhance institutional capacity, and developing practical solutions suited for widespread use

De invloed van verschillende beheersmaatregelen op de kweldervegetatie van Schiermonnikoog

In het zomerseizoen 1981 is onderzoek gedaan naar de effecten van verschillende beheersmaatregelen op de vegetatie. Het onderzoek had betrekking op een maaibeheer, beweiding door pinken en een maaibeheer met nabeweiding door schapen. De onderzoeksgebieden zijn beschreven m.b.v. een landschapskartering op vegetatiekundige grondslag. Deze karteringsmethode is ontleend aan Doing(1974). De landschapseenheden zijn gevormd op grond van geomorfologie, bodemopbouw, waterhuishouding, vegetatiesamenstelling en -hoogte. Uit bet onderzoek bleek, dat de onderzoeksgebieden geomorfologisch in drieën te delen waren: dekzanden, oeverwallen en veengronden. Binnen deze geomorfologische eenheden waren de verschillen in bodemopbouw en waterhuishouding gering. Hieruit wordt geconcludeerd dat de verschillen in vegetatiesamenstelling en -hoogte binnen de geomorfologische eenheden, waarschijnlijk veroorzaakt worden door verschillen in voorgeschiedenis en beheer. De vegetatie op de veengronden was vnl. in te delen bij het Calthion palustris. Bij een maaibeheer kan deze vegetatie zich ontwikkelen naar een goed ontwikkelde Calthion palustris vegetatie. Op plaatsen waar verrijking optreedt, vindt óf een ontwikkeling naar een Filipendulion plaats (droge plaatsen), óf een ontwikkeling naar een Magnocaricion (natte plaatsen). Bij beweiding treedt meer variatie in de vegetatie op dan bij een maaibeheer: a) de verschillen in vegetatiehoogte waren groter, b) de vegetatie-eenheden vormen een meer bemeste vorm van het Calthion palustris. Een maaibeheer met nabeweiding en een beweidingsbeheer, lijken een vergelijkbaar effect op de vegetatie te hebben. De vegetatie op de oeverwallen behoort tot de verruigde vormen van het Calthion palustris en het Cynosurion cristati. Bij het huidige beheer zullen deze vegetaties zich kunnen handhaven. De vegetatie op de dekzanden behoort vnl. tot het Agropyro- Rumicion crispi. Deze 'bemeste' vegetaties zullen zich waarschijnlijk kunnen handhaven, omdat de pinken een voorkeur voor deze dekzanden vertonen en hier het grootste deel van hun mest deponeren.