Tumori maligni delle ghiandole salivari della laringe: un'unica review istituzionale

I tumori a istotipo salivare della laringe sono molto rari, con pochi report in letteratura in merito al loro andamento clinico. Nel presente manoscritto discutiamo un'esperienza di 10 anni presso una singola struttura. Abbiamo condotto una review retrospettiva della casistica di un centro di oncologia della testa e del collo di terzo livello. I pazienti sono stati individuati mediante analisi di un database e sono stati revisionati da un Anatomo Patologo testa collo. I dati inerenti la clinica, le modalità di trattamento e gli esiti sono stati prelevati da archivi elettronici. Sono stati inclusi sei pazienti nello studio, con un range di età dai 44 ai 69 anni. Tutti e sei erano affetti da neoplasie maligne a istotipo salivare della laringe. Gli istotipi includevano: tre carcinomi adenoido-cistici (2 sopraglottico, 1 sottoglottico), un carcinoma mucoepidermoidale (sopraglottico), un carcinoma epiteliale-mioepiteliale (sopraglottico), e un adenocarcinoma (transglottico). Tutti sono stati sottoposti a trattamento chirurgico (2 chirurgie laser, 4 open) e 5 dei 6 pazienti sono stati successivamente sottoposti a terapia adjuvante (4 a radioterapia, 1 a radio-chemioterapia concomitante). Un paziente era fumatore; nessun paziente aveva storia di abuso di alcolici. A un follow-up con mediana di 4,5 anni nessuno dei pazienti ha presentato recidiva o metastasi locali o a distanza. I tumori a istotipo salivare della laringe si presentano solitamente in pazienti della seconda/terza età, e possono essere trattati con successo mediante approcci multimodali, con un ottimo controllo locoregionale di malattia

Genetic Impact of a Severe El Niño Event on Galápagos Marine Iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major source of climatic disturbance, impacting the dynamics of ecosystems worldwide. Recent models predict that human-generated rises in green-house gas levels will cause an increase in the strength and frequency of El Niño warming events in the next several decades, highlighting the need to understand the potential biological consequences of increased ENSO activity. Studies have focused on the ecological and demographic implications of El Niño in a range of organisms, but there have been few systematic attempts to measure the impact of these processes on genetic diversity in populations. Here, we evaluate whether the 1997–1998 El Niño altered the genetic composition of Galápagos marine iguana populations from eleven islands, some of which experienced mortality rates of up to 90% as a result of El Niño warming. Specifically, we measured the temporal variation in microsatellite allele frequencies and mitochondrial DNA diversity (mtDNA) in samples collected before (1991/1993) and after (2004) the El Niño event. Based on microsatellite data, only one island (Marchena) showed signatures of a genetic bottleneck, where the harmonic mean of the effective population size (Ne) was estimated to be less than 50 individuals during the period between samplings. Substantial decreases in mtDNA variation between time points were observed in populations from just two islands (Marchena and Genovesa). Our results suggests that, for the majority of islands, a single, intense El Niño event did not reduce marine iguana populations to the point where substantial neutral genetic diversity was lost. In the case of Marchena, simultaneous changes to both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variation may also be the result of a volcanic eruption on the island in 1991. Therefore, studies that seek to evaluate the genetic impact of El Niño must also consider the confounding or potentially synergistic effect of other environmental and biological forces shaping populations

Lineage diversification and historical demography of a montane bird Garrulax elliotii - implications for the Pleistocene evolutionary history of the eastern Himalayas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pleistocene climate fluctuations have shaped the patterns of genetic diversity observed in many extant species. In montane habitats, species' ranges may have expanded and contracted along an altitudinal gradient in response to environmental fluctuations leading to alternating periods of genetic isolation and connectivity. Because species' responses to climate change are influenced by interactions between species-specific characteristics and local topography, diversification pattern differs between species and locations. The eastern Himalayas is one of the world's most prominent mountain ranges. Its complex topography and environmental heterogeneity present an ideal system in which to study how climatic changes during Pleistocene have influenced species distributions, genetic diversification, and demography. The Elliot's laughing thrush (<it>Garrulax elliotii</it>) is largely restricted to high-elevation shrublands in eastern Himalayas. We used mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites to investigate how genetic diversity in this species was affected by Pleistocene glaciations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mitochondrial data detected two partially sympatric north-eastern and southern lineages. Microsatellite data, however, identified three distinct lineages congruent with the geographically separated southern, northern and eastern eco-subregions of the eastern Himalayas. Geographic breaks occur in steep mountains and deep valleys of the Kangding-Muli-Baoxin Divide. Divergence time estimates and coalescent simulations indicate that lineage diversification occurred on two different geographic and temporal scales; recent divergence, associated with geographic isolation into individual subregions, and historical divergence, associated with displacement into multiple refugia. Despite long-term isolation, genetic admixture among these subregional populations was observed, indicating historic periods of connectivity. The demographic history of <it>Garrulax elliotii </it>shows continuous population growth since late Pleistocene (about 0.125 mya).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While altitude-associated isolation is typical of many species in other montane regions, our results suggest that eco-subregions in the eastern Himalayas exhibiting island-like characteristics appear to have determined the diversification of <it>Garrulax elliotii</it>. During the Pleistocene, these populations became isolated on subregions during interglacial periods but were connected when these expanded to low altitude during cooler periods. The resultant genetic admixture of lineages might obscure pattern of genetic variation. Our results provide new insights into sky island diversification in a previously unstudied region, and further demonstrate that Pleistocene climatic changes can have profound effects on lineage diversification and demography in montane species.</p

The Rodin-Ohno hypothesis that two enzyme superfamilies descended from one ancestral gene: an unlikely scenario for the origins of translation that will not be dismissed

Background Because amino acid activation is rate-limiting for uncatalyzed protein synthesis, it is a key puzzle in understanding the origin of the genetic code. Two unrelated classes (I and II) of contemporary aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS) now translate the code. Observing that codons for the most highly conserved, Class I catalytic peptides, when read in the reverse direction, are very nearly anticodons for Class II defining catalytic peptides, Rodin and Ohno proposed that the two superfamilies descended from opposite strands of the same ancestral gene. This unusual hypothesis languished for a decade, perhaps because it appeared to be unfalsifiable. Results The proposed sense/antisense alignment makes important predictions. Fragments that align in antiparallel orientations, and contain the respective active sites, should catalyze the same two reactions catalyzed by contemporary synthetases. Recent experiments confirmed that prediction. Invariant cores from both classes, called Urzymes after Ur = primitive, authentic, plus enzyme and representing ~20% of the contemporary structures, can be expressed and exhibit high, proportionate rate accelerations for both amino-acid activation and tRNA acylation. A major fraction (60%) of the catalytic rate acceleration by contemporary synthetases resides in segments that align sense/antisense. Bioinformatic evidence for sense/antisense ancestry extends to codons specifying the invariant secondary and tertiary structures outside the active sites of the two synthetase classes. Peptides from a designed, 46-residue gene constrained by Rosetta to encode Class I and II ATP binding sites with fully complementary sequences both accelerate amino acid activation by ATP ~400 fold. Conclusions Biochemical and bioinformatic results substantially enhance the posterior probability that ancestors of the two synthetase classes arose from opposite strands of the same ancestral gene. The remarkable acceleration by short peptides of the rate-limiting step in uncatalyzed protein synthesis, together with the synergy of synthetase Urzymes and their cognate tRNAs, introduce a new paradigm for the origin of protein catalysts, emphasize the potential relevance of an operational RNA code embedded in the tRNA acceptor stems, and challenge the RNA-World hypothesis. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Dr. Paul Schimmel (nominated by Laura Landweber), Dr. Eugene Koonin and Professor David Ardell

Crowdsourcing Peer Review: As We May Do

This paper describes Readersourcing 2.0, an ecosystem providing an implementation of the Readersourcing approach. Readersourcing is proposed as an alternative to the standard peer review activity that aims to exploit the otherwise lost opinions of readers. To achieve this, Readersourcing 2.0 implements two different models based on the so-called codetermination algorithms. We describe the requirements, present the overall architecture, and show how the end-user can interact with the system. Readersourcing 2.0 will be used in the future to study also other topics, like the idea of sheperding the users to achieve a better quality of the reviews and the differences between a review activity carried out with a single-blind or a double-blind approach.Preprint for the IRCDL 2019 conferenc

A smile will go a long long way

Gift of Dr. Mary Jane Esplen.Piano vocal [instrumentation]E flat major [key]Moderato [tempo]Popular song [form/genre]Woman, flowers [illustration]Frederick S. Manning [engraver]Publisher's advertisement on front inside cover & back cover [note