Reproductive biology of dry grassland specialist Ranunculus illyricus L. and Its implications for conservation

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Ranunculus illyricus—Illyrian buttercup—is threatened with extinction in many countries and measures should be taken to protect it. In order to increase the effectiveness of such measures, it is necessary to know the methods of propagation and to evaluate their efficiency. R. illyricus reproduces generatively by seed and vegetatively by clusters of progeny tubers. The method and potential of vegetative propagation are described here for the first time and compared with the potential and actual effectiveness of generative propagation. Both the generative and vegetative propagation methods should be used to strengthen existing populations and create replacements. ABSTRACT: Ranunculus illyricus, a component of xerothermic grasslands, is a declining species and deserves active conservation treatments in many countries preceded by studies on the biology of its reproduction. So far, our knowledge of R. illyricus, a species with two modes of reproduction, has been fragmentary. The purpose of the studies presented here was to describe the annual development cycle of R. illyricus with particular emphasis on the production of underground tuber clusters that serve as vegetative propagation. Based on three-year-long observations in an ex situ collection, the efficiency of vegetative propagation was estimated and compared with the efficiency of generative propagation. It was found that in 3 years the best clones could produce up to 57 progeny clusters followed by flowering specimens in the first season. Meanwhile, the high potential for generative reproduction was suppressed by many limitations including fruit setting, the germination capacity of seeds, seedling survival rate, and additionally, the first flowering plant was observed only in the third year. It seems that the efficiency of vegetative propagation of this species can be higher than the efficiency of generative propagation. Moreover, vegets bloomed in the first year after emergence, whereas the first plant of generative origin was observed to bloom only after 3 years. A large proportion of individuals of vegetative origin can negatively affect the genetic diversity of the population but their survival rate against competing plants is higher. To enhance the existing populations or to create new ones, it would be best to use plants derived from clonal propagation of genets carried out in ex situ conditions

Conservation of Primula farinosa in Poland with respect to the genetic structure of populations

The bird’s-eye primrose (Primula farinosa L.) is an endangered species in Poland. The sole remaining, and critically endangered, population of approximately 300 flowering plants is located in the Beskid Sądecki Mountains (Jaworki, Poland). The genetic investigation was performed using highly variable microsatellite markers on a total of four populations: the Polish population and its three nearest known Slovak counterparts. We hypothesize that the Polish population is a relic of the previously much wider Central European mountain/lowland range and is thus genetically distinct from the rest of the Slovak stock. Clarification of this issue is needed before active protection interventions such as artificial supplementation can be carried out. Our results, particularly those from STRUCTURE Bayesian clustering, showed clear population structure within the dataset: all three Slovak populations were dominated by one genetic group, while the Polish population comprised mostly individuals dominated by the second genetic group. Only limited gene flow was observed between the Polish and Slovak populations. This demonstrates the distinct genetic makeup of the Jaworki population, which is probably the result of prolonged isolation from the rest of the P. farinosa range and admixture of genes from various lineages. Their origin could be determined by including plant material from the rest of the P. farinosa range, i.e., Scandinavian, Baltic, and Alpine/Carpathian locations, in a future study. The immediate practical application of our results is the recommendation that all supplementation interventions to the Jaworki population must be limited to plants produced from locally collected seeds

Can ceylon leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica L.) acclimate to lead toxicity? - studies of photosynthetic apparatus efficiency

Ceylon leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica) is ornamental plant known for its pharmacological properties arising from the abundant production of various secondary metabolites. It often grows in lead polluted areas. The aim of presented study was to evaluate the survival strategy of P. zeylanica to lead toxicity via photosynthetic apparatus acclimatization. Shoots of P. zeylanica were cultivated on media with different Pb concentrations (0.0, 0.05, and 0.1 g Pb∙l−1). After a four-week culture, the efficiency of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants was evaluated by Chl a fluorescence measurement, photosynthetic pigment, and Lhcb1, PsbA, PsbO, and RuBisCo protein accumulation, antioxidant enzymes activity, and chloroplast ultrastructure observation. Plants from lower Pb concentration revealed no changes in photosynthetic pigments content and light-harvesting complex (LHCII) size, as well as no limitation on the donor side of Photosystem II Reaction Centre (PSII RC). However, the activity and content of antioxidant enzymes indicated a high risk of limitation on the acceptor side of Photosystem I. In turn, plants from 0.1 g Pb∙l−1 showed a significant decrease in pigments content, LHCII size, the amount of active PSII RC, oxygen-evolving complex activity, and significant remodeling of chloroplast ultrastructure indicated limitation of PSII RC donor side. Obtained results indicate that P. zeylanica plants acclimate to lead toxicity by Pb accumulation in roots and, depending on Pb concentration, by adjusting their photosynthetic apparatus via the activation of alternative (cyclic and pseudocyclic) electron transport pathways

Writing in Richardson variant of progressive supranuclear palsy in comparison to progressive non-fluent aphasia

Background The overlap between progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) is being increasingly recognized. In this paper descriptive writing in patients with Richardson syndrome of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP-RS) is compared to writing samples from patients with PNFA. Methods Twenty-seven patients participated in the study: 17 with the clinical diagnosis of PSP-RS and 10 with PNFA. Untimed written picture description was administered during neuropsychological assessment and subsequently scored by two raters blinded to the clinical diagnosis. Lexical and syntactic content, as well as writing errors (e.g. omission and perseverative errors) were analyzed. Results In patients with PSP-RS both letter and diacritic mark omission errors were very frequent. Micrographia was present in 8 cases (47%) in PSP-RS group and in one case (10%) with PNFA. Perseverative errors did not differentiate between the groups. Conclusions As omission errors predominate in writing of patients with PSP-RS, writing seems to be compromised mainly because of oculomotor deficits, that may alter visual feedback while writing

Otępienie z ciałami Lewy’ego — jak rozpoznawać?, jak leczyć?

Ustalenie rozpoznania klinicznego otępienia z ciałami Lewy’ego (DLB, dementia with Lewy bodies) wymaga współpracy neurologa z psychiatrą, neuropsychologiem, neuroradiologiem i specjalistą medycyny nuklearnej. W DLB objawy psychotyczne i zaburzenia poznawcze zazwyczaj poprzedzają wystąpienie objawów zespołu parkinsonowskiego, choć możliwe jest równoczesne wystąpienie wszystkich charakterystycznych objawów. Wśród objawów neuropsychiatrycznych dominują omamy wzrokowe. Częściej niż w innych chorobach w DLB występują objawy zespołu błędnego rozpoznawania (pacjent prowadzi rozmowę z lustrem, telewizorem, nie rozpoznaje bliskich osób itp.) oraz zaburzenia zachowania w fazie snu REM. W obrazie neuropsychologicznym choroby obserwuje się fluktuacje stanu poznawczego, zaburzenia wzrokowo-przestrzenne, deficyty uwagi i funkcji wykonawczych. Zespół parkinsonowski, który może się pojawić późno w przebiegu choroby, charakteryzuje się przede wszystkim spowolnieniem ruchowym, zaburzeniami postawy i sztywnością mięśniową. Ewentualne drżenie ma charakter symetryczny i pozycyjny. Leczenie objawów psychotycznych wymaga szczególnej ostrożności ze względu na nadwrażliwość na leki neuroleptyczne

Afazja pierwotna postępująca — zastosowanie nowych kryteriów diagnostycznych w praktyce klinicznej

Celem pracy jest prezentacja aktualnych kryteriów diagnostycznych afazji pierwotnej postępującej (PPA, primary progressive aphasia) oraz wskazanie na możliwość ich zastosowania w praktyce klinicznej. Zgodnie z nowymi kryteriami w PPA wyróżnia się trzy warianty: z zaburzoną płynnością mowy/agramatyzmem, semantyczny oraz logopeniczny. Dwa pierwsze warianty wpisują się w spektrum otępienia czołowo-skroniowego (FTD, fronto-temporal dementia) czy też zespołu Picka, natomiast wariant logopeniczny wiąże się zazwyczaj z chorobą Alzheimera (AD, Alzheimer’s disease). U pacjentów z PPA przez pierwsze 2 lata choroby obserwuje się względnie wybiórcze problemy językowe, natomiast po tym okresie do zaburzeń językowych mogą dołączyć się inne deficyty. Zgodnie z nowymi kryteriami rozpoznanie PPA można ustalić na poziomie klinicznym (I), z potwierdzeniem w badaniu neuroobrazowym (II) oraz z potwierdzeniem w badaniu genetycznym lub histopatologicznym (III). Jako ilustrację kliniczną przedstawiono opis przypadku pacjentki z PPA z zaburzoną płynnością mow

Assessment of Olfactory Function in MAPTAssociated Neurodegenerative Disease Reveals Odor-Identification Irreproducibility as a Non-Disease-Specific, General Characteristic of Olfactory Dysfunction

Olfactory dysfunction is associated with normal aging, multiple neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and other diseases such as diabetes, sleep apnea and the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis. The wide spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders associated with olfactory dysfunction suggests different, potentially overlapping, underlying pathophysiologies. Studying olfactory dysfunction in presymptomatic carriers of mutations known to cause familial parkinsonism provides unique opportunities to understand the role of genetic factors, delineate the salient characteristics of the onset of olfactory dysfunction, and understand when it starts relative to motor and cognitive symptoms. We evaluated olfactory dysfunction in 28 carriers of two MAPT mutations (p.N279K, p.P301L), which cause frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism, using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test. Olfactory dysfunction in carriers does not appear to be allele specific, but is strongly age-dependent and precedes symptomatic onset. Severe olfactory dysfunction, however, is not a fully penetrant trait at the time of symptom onset. Principal component analysis revealed that olfactory dysfunction is not odor-class specific, even though individual odor responses cluster kindred members according to genetic and disease status. Strikingly, carriers with incipient olfactory dysfunction show poor inter-test consistency among the sets of odors identified incorrectly in successive replicate tests, even before severe olfactory dysfunction appears. Furthermore, when 78 individuals without neurodegenerative disease and 14 individuals with sporadic Parkinson’s disease were evaluated twice at a one-year interval using the Brief Smell Identification Test, the majority also showed inconsistency in the sets of odors they identified incorrectly, independent of age and cognitive status. While these findings may reflect the limitations of these tests used and the sample sizes, olfactory dysfunction appears to be associated with the inability to identify odors reliably and consistently, not with the loss of an ability to identify specific odors. Irreproducibility in odor identification appears to be a non-disease-specific, general feature of olfactory dysfunction that is accelerated or accentuated in neurodegenerative disease. It may reflect a fundamental organizational principle of the olfactory system, which is more “error-prone” than other sensory systems

Actual status and future directions of cardiac telerehabilitation

Telerehabilitation (TR) was developed to achieve the same results as would be achieved by the standard rehabilitation process and to overcome potential geographical barriers and staff deficiencies. This is especially relevant in periodic crisis situations, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. Proper execution of TR strategy requires both well-educated staff and dedicated equipment. Various studies have shown that TR may have similar effects to traditional rehabilitation in terms of clinical outcomes and may also reduce total healthcare costs per participant, including rehospitalization costs. However, as with any method, TR has its advantages and disadvantages, including a lack of direct contact or prerequisite, rudimentary ability of the patients to handle mobile devices, among other competencies. Herein, is a discussion of the current status of TR, focusing primarily on cardiac TR, describing some technical/organizational and legal aspects, highlighting the indications, examining cost-effectiveness, as well as outlining possible future directions

Zalecenia Polskiej Grupy Szpiczakowej dotyczące rozpoznawania i leczenia szpiczaka plazmocytowego oraz innych dyskrazji plazmocytowych na rok 2018/2019

Liczba chorych na szpiczaka plazmocytowego zwiększa się, co jest skutkiem zarówno skuteczniejszej diagnostyki, jak również istotnego przedłużania przeżycia chorych. Zawdzięczamy to dostępności nowych leków w pierwszej i kolejnych liniach leczenia, zmianie koncepcji leczenia i przedłużaniu czasu trwania leczenia, stosując leczenie konsolidujące oraz podtrzymujące do progresji choroby. Poza zmianą koncepcji leczenia, zmienia się obecnie również kryterium czasu rozpoczęcia terapii uwzględniające biomarkery aktywności choroby oraz dużą uwagę przywiązuje się optymalizacji leczenia w oparciu o dowody pochodzące z badań klinicznych. W artykule tym przedstawiono także zalecenia dotyczące rozpoznania i leczenia makroglobulinemii Waldenströma i innych dyskrazji plazmocytowych