Supracervical hysterectomy versus total abdominal hysterectomy: perceived effects on sexual function

BACKGROUND: Our investigation sought to compare changes in sexual function following supracervical hysterectomy (SCH) and total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH). METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed to identify all patients who underwent supracervical hysterectomy or total abdominal hysterectomy at a tertiary care center. Patients who met criteria for participation were sent a one page confidential, anonymous questionnaire to assess sexual function experienced both pre- and postoperatively. A total of 69 patients in each group were eligible for participation. A multiple logistic regression model was used to analyze measured variables. RESULTS: Forty-eight percent (n = 33) of women undergoing a SCH returned the questionnaire, while 39% (n = 27) of those undergoing a TAH chose to participate. There were no significant demographic differences between the two groups. Patients who underwent TAH reported worse postoperative sexual outcome than SCH patients with respect to intercourse frequency, orgasm frequency and overall sexual satisfaction (P = 0.01, 0.03, and 0.03, respectively). Irrespective of type of hysterectomy, 35% of patients who underwent bilateral salpingoophorectomy (BSO) with hysterectomy experienced worse overall sexual satisfaction compared to 3% of patients who underwent hysterectomy alone (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that TAH patients experienced worse postoperative sexual function than SCH patients with respect to intercourse frequency and overall sexual satisfaction. Irrespective of type of hysterectomy, patients who underwent bilateral salpingoophorectomy experienced worse overall sexual satisfaction

Adjunctive raloxifene treatment improves attention and memory in men and women with schizophrenia

There is increasing clinical and molecular evidence for the role of hormones and specifically estrogen and its receptor in schizophrenia. A selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, stimulates estrogen-like activity in brain and can improve cognition in older adults. The present study tested the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment improved cognition and reduced symptoms in young to middle-age men and women with schizophrenia. Ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into a dual-site, thirteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment in addition to their usual antipsychotic medications. Symptom severity and cognition in the domains of working memory, attention/processing speed, language and verbal memory were assessed at baseline, 6 and 13 weeks. Analyses of the initial 6-week phase of the study using a parallel groups design (with 39 patients receiving placebo and 40 receiving raloxifene) revealed that participants receiving adjunctive raloxifene treatment showed significant improvement relative to placebo in memory and attention/processing speed. There was no reduction in symptom severity with treatment compared with placebo. There were significant carryover effects, suggesting some cognitive benefits are sustained even after raloxifene withdrawal. Analysis of the 13-week crossover data revealed significant improvement with raloxifene only in attention/processing speed. This is the first study to show that daily, oral adjunctive raloxifene treatment at 120 mg per day has beneficial effects on attention/processing speed and memory for both men and women with schizophrenia. Thus, raloxifene may be useful as an adjunctive treatment for cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.TW Weickert, D Weinberg, R Lenroot, SV Catts, R Wells, A Vercammen, M O, Donnell, C Galletly, D Liu, R Balzan, B Short, D Pellen, J Curtis, VJ Carr, J Kulkarni, PR Schofield and CS Weicker

Three Dimensional Visualization and Fractal Analysis of Mosaic Patches in Rat Chimeras: Cell Assortment in Liver, Adrenal Cortex and Cornea

The production of organ parenchyma in a rapid and reproducible manner is critical to normal development. In chimeras produced by the combination of genetically distinguishable tissues, mosaic patterns of cells derived from the combined genotypes can be visualized. These patterns comprise patches of contiguously similar genotypes and are different in different organs but similar in a given organ from individual to individual. Thus, the processes that produce the patterns are regulated and conserved. We have previously established that mosaic patches in multiple tissues are fractal, consistent with an iterative, recursive growth model with simple stereotypical division rules. Fractal dimensions of various tissues are consistent with algorithmic models in which changing a single variable (e.g. daughter cell placement after division) switches the mosaic pattern from islands to stripes of cells. Here we show that the spiral pattern previously observed in mouse cornea can also be visualized in rat chimeras. While it is generally held that the pattern is induced by stem cell division dynamics, there is an unexplained discrepancy in the speed of cellular migration and the emergence of the pattern. We demonstrate in chimeric rat corneas both island and striped patterns exist depending on the age of the animal. The patches that comprise the pattern are fractal, and the fractal dimension changes with the age of the animal and indicates the constraint in patch complexity as the spiral pattern emerges. The spiral patterns are consistent with a loxodrome. Such data are likely to be relevant to growth and cell division in organ systems and will help in understanding how organ parenchyma are generated and maintained from multipotent stem cell populations located in specific topographical locations within the organ. Ultimately, understanding algorithmic growth is likely to be essential in achieving organ regeneration in vivo or in vitro from stem cell populations

Influence of phenological barriers and habitat differentiation on the population genetic structure of the balearic endemic Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris Chodat and R. alaternus L

[EN] Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris, endemic to the Gymnesian Islands, coexists with the related and widespread R. alaternus in Mallorca and Menorca. In both species, the population genetic structure using RAPD, and flowering during a 3-year period to check for possible phenological barriers, were analyzed. Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris showed lower genetic diversity and stronger population structure than R. alaternus, the Cabrera population being less diverse and the most differentiated. Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris flowered one month later, although flowering of both species coincided sporadically. These congeners seem to have diverged through isolation by time and differentiation in habitat. The population genetic structure of R. ludovici-salvatoris could mainly be due to the existence of small populations on the one hand, and a gene flow caused by rare hybridization events on the other, which may also explain the presence of morphologically intermediate individuals in Menorca. The conservation of R. ludovici-salvatoris populations may include population reinforcements and other in situ interventions.Ferriol Molina, M.; Llorens García, L.; Gil, L.; Boira Tortajada, H. (2009). Influence of phenological barriers and habitat differentiation on the population genetic structure of the balearic endemic Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris Chodat and R. alaternus L. Plant Systematics and Evolution. 277(1-2):105-116. doi:10.1007/s00606-008-0110-3S1051162771-2Affre L, Thompson JD, Debussche M (1997) Genetic structure of continental and island populations of the Mediterranean endemic Cyclamen balearicum (Primulaceae). Amer J Bot 84(4): 437–451BOIB (2005) Decreto 75/2005. BOIB 106: 29–32Bolmgren K, Oxelman B (2004) Generic limits in Rhamnus L. s.l. (Rhamnaceae) inferred from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence phylogenies. Taxon 53(2):383–390Bolòs O, Molinier R (1958) Recherches phytosociologiques dans l’île de Majorque. Collectanea Botanica 34:699–865Cardona MA (1979) Consideracions sobre l’endemisme i l’origen de la flora de las Illes Balears. Butlletí del Institut Catalá de Historia Natural 44 (Sec. Bot. 3):7–15Cardona MA, Contandriopoulos J (1979) Endemism and evolution in the islands of the Western Mediterranean. In: Bramwell D (ed) Plants and islands. Academic Press, London, pp 133–169Chodat L (1924) Contributions à la Géo-Botanique de Majorque. PhD Thesis, Université de Genève—Institut de Botanique, SwitzerlandCollins D, Mill RR, Moller M (2003) Species separation of Taxus baccata, T. canadensis, and T. cuspidata (Taxaceae) and origins of their reputed hybrids inferred from RAPD and cpDNA data. Amer J Bot 90(2):175–182Cronk QCB (1997) Islands: stability, diversity, conservation. Biodivers Conserv 6(3):477–493Doyle JJ, Doyle JL (1990) Isolation of plant DNA from fresh tissue. Focus 12:13–15Ducarme V, Wesselingh RA (2005) Detecting hybridization in mixed populations of Rhinanthus minor and Rhinanthus angustifolius. Folia Geobot 40(2/3):151–161Englishloeb GM, Karban R (1992) Consequences of variation in flowering phenology for seed head herbivory and reproductive success in Erigeron glaucus (Compositae). Oecologia 89:588–595Gautier F, Caluzon G, Suk JP, Violanti D (1994) Age et durée de la crise de salinité Messinienne. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de Paris 318:1103–1109Gerard PR, Fernandez-Manjarres JF, Frascaria-Lacoste N (2006) Temporal cline in a hybrid zone population between Fraxinus excelsior L. and Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. Molec Ecol 15:3655–3667Gil L, Llorens L, Tébar FJ, Costa M (1995) La vegetación de la isla de Cabrera. In: Guía de la excursión geobotánica de las XV Jornadas de Fitosociología. Datos sobre la vegetación de Cabrera. Palma de Mallorca: Universitat de les Illes Balears, pp 51–77Gulías J, Flexas J, Abadía A, Medrano H (2002) Photosynthetic responses to water deficit in six Mediterranean sclerophyll species: possible factors explaining the declining distribution of Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris, and endemic Balearic species. Tree Physiol 22:687–697Gulías J, Traveset A, Riera N, Mus M (2004) Critical stages in the recruitment process of Rhamnus alaternus L. Ann Bot 93:723–731Gustafsson S, Sjögren-Gulve P (2002) Genetic diversity in the rare orchid, Gymnadenia odoratissima and a comparison with the more common congener, G. conopsea. Conserv Genet 3:225–234Gustafsson S (2003) Population genetic analyses in the orchid genus Gymnadenia—a conservation genetic perspective. PhD Thesis, Uppsala University, SwedenGustafsson S, Lönn M (2003) Genetic differentiation and habitat preference of flowering-time variants within Gymnadenia conopsea. Heredity 91:284–292Harris W (1996) Genecological aspects of flowering patterns of populations of Kunzea ericoides and K. sinclairii (Myrtaceae). New Zealand J Bot 34:333–354Hendry AP, Dray T (2005) Population structure attributable to reproductive time: isolation by time and adaptation by time. Molec Ecol 14:901–916Hosokawa K, Minami M, Kawahara K, Nakamura I, Shibata T (2000) Discrimination among three species of medicinal Scutellaria plants using RAPD markers. Pl Med 66:270–272Huang Z, Liu L, Zhou T, Ju B (2005) Effects of environmental factors on the population genetic structure in chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar). J Arid Environ 62:427–434Juan A, Crespo MB, Cowan RS, Lexer C, Fay F (2004) Patterns of variability and gene flow in Medicago citrina, an endangered endemic of islands in the western Mediterranean, as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Molec Ecol 13:2679–2690Krijgsman W, Hilgen FJ, Raffi I, Sierro FJ, Wilson DS (1999) Chronology, causes and progression of the Messinian salinity crisis. Nature 400:652–655Lamont BB, He T, Enright NJ, Krauss SL, Miller BP (2003) Anthropogenic disturbance promotes hybridization between Banksia species by altering their biology. J Evol Biol 16:551–557Lennartsson T (1997) Seasonal differentiation—a conservative reproductive barrier in two grassland Gentianella (Gentianaceae) species. Pl Syst Evol 208:45–69Martinez-Solis I, Iranzo J, Estrelles E, Ibars AM (1993) Leaf domatia in the section Alaternus (Miller) DC. of the genus Rhamnus (Rhamnaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 112:311–318McIntosh ME (2002) Flowering phenology and reproductive output in two sister species of Ferocactus (Cactaceae). Pl Ecol 159:1–13Nei M (1973) Analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 70:3321–3323Nei M (1978) Estimation of average heterozigosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics 89:583–590Nei M, Li W (1979) Mathematical model for studying genetic variation in terms of restriction endonucleases. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:5269–5273Nybom H, Bartish IV (2000) Effects of life history traits and sampling strategies on genetic diversity estimates obtained with RAPD markers in plants. Perspect Pl Ecol Evol Syst 3(2):93–114Oostermeijer JGB, Luijten SH, Ellis-Adam AC, den Nijs JCM (2002) Future prospects for the rare, late-flowering Gentianella germanica and Gentianopsis ciliata in Dutch nutrient-poor calcareous grasslands. Biol Conserv 104:339–350Pease CM, Lande R, Bull JJ (1989) A model of population growth, dispersal and evolution in a changing environment. Ecology 70(6):1657–1664Perron M, Gordon AG, Bousquet J (1995) Species-specific RAPD fingerprints for the closely related Picea mariana and P. rubens. Theor Appl Genet 91:142–149Pierce S, Ceriani RM, Villa M, Cerabolini B (2006) Quantifying relative extinction risks and targeting intervention for the orchid flora of a natural park in the European prealps. Conserv Biol 20(6):1804–1810Richardson JE, Fay MF, Cronk QCB, Bowman D, Chase MW (2000) A phylogenetic analysis of Rhamnaceae using rbcL and trnL-F plastid DNA sequences. Amer J Bot 87(9):1309–1324Roselló JA, Sáez L (2000) Index Balearicum: an annotated check-list of the vascular plants described from the Balearic Islands. Collect Bot 25(1):3–203Roselló JA, Cebrián MC, Mayol M (2002) Testing taxonomic and biogeographical relationships in a narrow mediterranean endemic complex (Hippocrepis balearica) using RAPD markers. Ann Bot 89:321–327Sales E, Nebauer SG, Mus M, Segura J (2001) Population genetic study in the Balearic plant species Digitalis minor (Scrophulariaceae) using RAPD markers. Amer J Bot 88(10):1750–1759Sherwin WB, Moritz C (2000) Managing and monitoring genetic erosion. In: Young AG, Clarke GM (eds) Genetics, demography and viability of fragmented populations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 9–34Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical taxonomy. Freeman and Co., San FranciscoTraveset A, Gulías J, Riera N, Mus M (2003) Transition probabilities from pollination to establishment in a rare dioecious shrub species (Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris) in two habitats. J Ecol 91:427–437Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, Valentine DH, Walters SM, Webb DA (eds) (2001) Flora Europaea, vol 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeWright S (1931) Evolution in Mendelian populations. Genetics 16:97–159Zimmerman M (1980a) Reproduction in Polemonium: pre-dispersal seed predation. Ecology 61:502–506Zimmerman M (1980b) Reproduction in Polemonium: competition for pollinators. Ecology 61:497–50

Type II and VI collagen in nasal and articular cartilage and the effect of IL-1α on the distribution of these collagens

The distribution of type II and VI collagen was immunocytochemically investigated in bovine articular and nasal cartilage. Cartilage explants were used either fresh or cultured for up to 4 weeks with or without interleukin 1α (IL-1α). Sections of the explants were incubated with antibodies for both types of collagen. Microscopic analyses revealed that type II collagen was preferentially localized in the interchondron matrix whereas type VI collagen was primarily found in the direct vicinity of the chondrocytes. Treatment of the sections with hyaluronidase greatly enhanced the signal for both types of collagen. Also in sections of explants cultured with IL-1α a higher level of labeling of the collagens was found. This was apparent without any pre-treatment with hyaluronidase. Under the influence of IL-1α the area positive for type VI collagen that surrounded the chondrocytes broadened. Although the two collagens in both types of cartilage were distributed similarly, a remarkable difference was the higher degree of staining of type VI collagen in articular cartilage. Concomitantly we noted that digestion of this type of cartilage hardly occurred in the presence of IL-1α whereas nasal cartilage was almost completely degraded within 18 days of culture. Since type VI collagen is known to be relatively resistant to proteolysis we speculate that the higher level of type VI collagen in articular cartilage is important in protecting cartilage from digestion

Estrogen and Progestogen Correlates of the Structure of Female Copulation Calls in Semi-Free-Ranging Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Females of many Old World primates produce conspicuous vocalizations in combination with copulations. Indirect evidence exists that in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), the structure of these copulation calls is related to changes in reproductive hormone levels. However, the structure of these calls does not vary significantly around the timing of ovulation when estrogen and progestogen levels show marked changes. We here aimed to clarify this paradox by investigating how the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone are related to changes in the acoustic structure of copulation calls. We collected data on semi-free-ranging Barbary macaques in Gibraltar and at La Forêt des Singes in Rocamadour, France. We determined estrogen and progestogen concentrations from fecal samples and combined them with a fine-grained structural analysis of female copulation calls (N = 775 calls of 11 females). Our analysis indicates a time lag of 3 d between changes in fecal hormone levels, adjusted for the excretion lag time, and in the acoustic structure of copulation calls. Specifically, we found that estrogen increased the duration and frequency of the calls, whereas progestogen had an antagonistic effect. Importantly, however, variation in acoustic variables did not track short-term changes such as the peak in estrogen occurring around the timing of ovulation. Taken together, our results help to explain why female Barbary macaque copulation calls are related to changes in hormone levels but fail to indicate the fertile phase