Small dung beetles of Colombia (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea Aphodiinae) I: Preliminary catalog and key for registered species

Los escarabajos Aphodiinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), en su mayoría de hábitos saprófagos, constituyen un grupo de amplia distribución mundial; relativamente diverso en los trópicos, pero poco conocido y estudiado por sus hábitos crípticos y su compleja taxonomía. Objetivo: Inventariar las especies colombianas y aportar claves taxonómicas de los registros encontrados en la literatura del grupo. Metodología: Para el primer caso (catálogo) fueron consultadas múltiples fuentes bibliográficas, en menor grado algunas especies y registros fueron estudiados en la colección del primer autor (Colección Familia Pardo-LocarnoCFPL-COL). Posteriormente se elaboró una clave taxonómica. Resultados: Los resultados abarcaron 20 géneros y 56 especies de Aphodiinae para Colombia; aportando una clave a nivel de tribus, géneros y especies. Conclusiones: Los resultados permiten inferir que el grupo podría estar poco muestreado y por lo mismo, ser mucho más diverso de lo que aquí se anota; igualmente se espera que nuevos estudios precisen los mapas de distribución de las especies, los cuales ahora se observan muy fragmentarios.The Small Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), mostly saprophagous habits, are a group of wide global distribution, relatively diverse in the tropics, although they are little known and studied for their cryptic habits and complex taxonomy. Given the above and with a view to promoting its study, this research was proposed, inventory the Colombian species and provide taxonomic keys of the records found in the literature of the group. For the first case (catalog), multiple bibliographic sources were consulted, to a lesser degree some species and records were studied in the collection of the first author (Colección Familia Pardo-Locarno-CFPL-COL). Followed by the above, a taxonomic key was elaborated. The results covered 20 genera and 56 species of Aphodiinae for Colombia, providing a key at the level of tribes, genera and species. These results allow us to infer that the group could be poorly sampled and, therefore, be much more diverse than what is noted here, it is also expected that new studies will specify the distribution maps of the species, which are now very fragmentary

A multilingual key to the genera and subgenera of the subfamily Scarabaeinae of the New World (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Presented is a multilingual (English, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French) key to the 119 currently recognized genera and subgenera of scarabaeine dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) occurring in the New World. Also included are illustrations of representative species of all taxa included in the key as well as supplementary references to studies at the species level.Fil: Vaz de Mello, Fernando Z.. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso; BrasilFil: Edmonds, W. D.. No especifica;Fil: Ocampo, Federico Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Schoolmeesters, Paul. No especifica

3D virtual pre-operative planning may reduce the incidence of dorsal screw penetration in volar plating of intra-articular distal radius fractures

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of three-dimensional virtual pre-operative planning (3DVP) on the incidence of dorsal screw penetration after volar plating of distal radius fractures. Methods: A cross-sectional diagnostic imaging study was performed. Twenty out of 50 patients were randomly selected from our index prospective cohort (IPC): a prior study evaluating dorsal tangential views (DTVs) in reducing dorsal screw penetration in internal fixation of intra-articular distal radius fractures using post-operative CT scans to quantify screw protrusion. Pre-operative CTs from this cohort were now used for 3DVP by three experienced orthopaedic trauma surgeons (supplementary video). 3DVP was compared with the corresponding post-operative CT for assessing screw lengths and incidence of dorsal penetration. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to compare screw lengths and the Fishers’ exact for incidence of penetration. Results: Three surgeons performed 3DVP for 20 distal radius fractures and virtually applied 60 volar plates and 273 screws. Median screw length was shorter in the 3DVP when compared to IPC: 18 mm (range, 12–22) versus 20 mm (range, 14–26) (p < 0.001). The number of penetrating screws was 5% (13/273 screws) in the 3DVP group compared to 11% (10/91 screws) in the IPC (p = 0.047). Corresponding to a reduction in incidence of at least one dorsally penetrating screw in 40% of patients in the IPC group, to 18% in the 3DVP group (p = 0.069). Conclusion: Three-Dimensional Virtual Pre-Operative Planning (3DVP) may reduce the incidence of dorsally penetrating screws in patients treated with volar plating for intra-articular distal radius fractures. Level of evidence: II, diagnostic imaging study

A new Aphodius species of the subgenus Sinaphodius from Nepal (Coleoptera, Aphodiidae, Aphodiinae)

Volume: 27Start Page: 141End Page: 14

3D virtual pre-operative planning may reduce the incidence of dorsal screw penetration in volar plating of intra-articular distal radius fractures

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of three-dimensional virtual pre-operative planning (3DVP) on the incidence of dorsal screw penetration after volar plating of distal radius fractures. Methods: A cross-sectional diagnostic imaging study was performed. Twenty out of 50 patients were randomly selected from our index prospective cohort (IPC): a prior study evaluating dorsal tangential views (DTVs) in reducing dorsal screw penetration in internal fixation of intra-articular distal radius fractures using post-operative CT scans to quantify screw protrusion. Pre-operative CTs from this cohort were now used for 3DVP by three experienced orthopaedic trauma surgeons (supplementary video). 3DVP was compared with the corresponding post-operative CT for assessing screw lengths and incidence of dorsal penetration. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to compare screw lengths and the Fishers’ exact for incidence of penetration. Results: Three surgeons performed 3DVP for 20 distal radius fractures and virtually applied 60 volar plates and 273 screws. Median screw length was shorter in the 3DVP when compared to IPC: 18 mm (range, 12–22) versus 20 mm (range, 14–26) (p < 0.001). The number of penetrating screws was 5% (13/273 screws) in the 3DVP group compared to 11% (10/91 screws) in the IPC (p = 0.047). Corresponding to a reduction in incidence of at least one dorsally penetrating screw in 40% of patients in the IPC group, to 18% in the 3DVP group (p = 0.069). Conclusion: Three-Dimensional Virtual Pre-Operative Planning (3DVP) may reduce the incidence of dorsally penetrating screws in patients treated with volar plating for intra-articular distal radius fractures. Level of evidence: II, diagnostic imaging study

Evaluating the Utility of Bi-functional Degrader Molecules for Selective Inhibition of PDE4 In Acrodysostosis Type2

Background: Acrodysostosis Type 2 (ACRDYS2) is a rare autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia associated with intellectual disability and gain-of-function mutations in the phosphodiesterase type 4D gene (PDE4D) which, in turn, leads to a paucity of intracellular cAMP due to increased PDE4D activity. This increased PDE4 activity may be due to a greater existence of a mutant monomeric form of PDE4D. To date, the clinical use of PDE4 inhibitors in ACRDYS2 has been hampered by the possibility of off-target effects as there are 25 different PDE4 isoforms in humans. Aim: To explore the utility of novel bi-functional PDE4 degrader compounds in ACRDYS2. Methods: As PDE4 inhibitors act on all PDE4 isoforms as their catalytic sites are almost identical, a novel PDE4 bi-functional degrader was created by targeting the E3 ligase Cereblon to PDE4. To ensure selectivity, a PDE4 inhibitor was used to deliver the PROTAC complex and the ability of this complex to silence wild type and ACRDYS2 mutants of PDE4 isoforms was studied in over-expression studies using transiently transfected human embryonic kidney cells (HEK). Results: The bi-functional degraders did not affect over-expressed, dimerised PDE4 longforms as they are sterically hindered from reaching their docking site within the PDE4 structure, however they degraded short-forms and mutated long-forms that cannot dimerise. The PDE4 degraders were effective at 10nM and worked well after 6 hours. Many of the ACRDYS2 mutations occur in the regions of the PDE4D enzyme that act as protein-protein interaction docking domains, which are vital for dimer formation. We have shown that our PDE4 degraders can target certain Acrodysostosis PDE4D mutants (e.g. T577A, PDE4D4), showing significant reductions in PDE4D protein expression via enhanced degradation. This degradation is channelled via the ubiquitin-proteosome system as it can be reversed using a proteosome inhibitor (Bortezomib). PDE4 proteolysis was induced by low nanomolar concentrations of the PDE4 degraders and was long lasting (no compensatory increases in PDE4 protein expression observed 96 hours after removal of degraders). Conclusion: Our innovative approach represents an exciting novel therapeutic strategy for ACRDYS2 and possibly other cAMP-related developmental conditions