Developmental Reaction Norms for Water Stressed Seedlings of Succulent Cacti

Succulent cacti are remarkable plants with capabilities to withstand long periods of drought. However, their adult success is contingent on the early seedling stages, when plants are highly susceptible to the environment. To better understand their early coping strategies in a challenging environment, two developmental aspects (anatomy and morphology) in Polaskia chichipe and Echinocactus platyacanthus were studied in the context of developmental reaction norms under drought conditions. The morphology was evaluated using landmark based morphometrics and Principal Component Analysis, which gave three main trends of the variation in each species. The anatomy was quantified as number and area of xylem vessels. The quantitative relationship between morphology and anatomy in early stages of development, as a response to drought was revealed in these two species. Qualitatively, collapsible cells and collapsible parenchyma tissue were observed in seedlings of both species, more often in those subjected to water stress. These tissues were located inside the epidermis, resembling a web of collapsible-cell groups surrounding turgid cells, vascular bundles, and spanned across the pith. Occasionally the groups formed a continuum stretching from the epidermis towards the vasculature. Integrating the morphology and the anatomy in a developmental context as a response to environmental conditions provides a better understanding of the organism's dynamics, adaptation, and plasticity

Immunity against Ixodes scapularis Salivary Proteins Expressed within 24 Hours of Attachment Thwarts Tick Feeding and Impairs Borrelia Transmission

In North America, the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, an obligate haematophagus arthropod, is a vector of several human pathogens including Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent. In this report, we show that the tick salivary gland transcriptome and proteome is dynamic and changes during the process of engorgement. We demonstrate, using a guinea pig model of I. scapularis feeding and B. burgdorferi transmission, that immunity directed against salivary proteins expressed in the first 24 h of tick attachment — and not later — is sufficient to evoke all the hallmarks of acquired tick-immunity, to thwart tick feeding and also to impair Borrelia transmission. Defining this subset of proteins will promote a mechanistic understanding of novel I. scapularis proteins critical for the initiation of tick feeding and for Borrelia transmission

Robotic Patch Repair of the Right Main Bronchus After Removal of a Bronchogenic Cyst

The authors present a case of a 45-year-old woman who received a pericardial patch repair of the right main bronchus intermedius following removal of a bronchogenic cyst, located in the subcarinal area of the airway. To the authors' knowledge, the da Vinci system and robotic surgery have not previously been applied in bronchial patch repairs in the United Kingdom. The cyst in the subcarinal region compressed the right main bronchus and the posterior heart wall, and the patient showed symptoms of dry cough. Computed tomography of the thorax with contrast revealed a 73 x 52 x 51 mm hypodense, homogenous, encapsulated lesion of 40 Hu density and smooth regular margins. The right lower lobe bronchus was repaired with a pericardial patch 2.4 cm in length, V-lock suture, a few tichron sutures, and evicel glue. Histology confirmed that the cyst was benign with no evidence of malignancy. The patient was discharged 2 days postoperatively and made an excellent recovery