Impact of \u3ci\u3eMecinus Janthinus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on the Growth and Reproduction of \u3ci\u3eLinaria Dalmatica\u3c/i\u3e (Scrophulariaceae)

Dalmatian toadflax, Linaria dalmatica (L.) Mill. (Scrophulariaceae), a native to the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions of Europe and Asia, has invaded over one million hectares in the western United States and Canada, in habitats similar to its native range. Once established, the aggressive vegetative growth of the plant allows it to invade undisturbed habitats where it can out-compete most other vegetation, placing native plant communities at risk. Biological control of L. dalmatica with Mecinus janthinus Thomson (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has shown promise in the field. In both studies reported in this paper, the presence of insect attack reduced L. dalmatica plant growth and reduced plant reproductive potential. In a field sleeve cage study, insect- attacked stems were significantly shorter (18 cm) and had 50-70% fewer fruits and flowers than the control stems at the end of the study period. M. janthinus attacked stems showed little apical growth, fewer fruits and flowers, and lower stem biomass relative to control stems. Similar results were observed in the potted plant study where the influence of the extensive root system of the plant was eliminated. This negative impact by the insect is caused both by adult feeding in the apical portion of the plant and the physical destruction of the plant stem from larvae feeding. The decrease in the insect-attacked stem heights may also have an impact on seed dispersal from the mature reproductive structures. A combination of decreased seed production through M. janthinus biological control and poor seedling competition in the moisture limited sites common to north-central Washington State and other similarly dry habitats may negatively influence L. dalmatica populations more than general models predict

Jasmonate-induced plant defenses and prey availability impact the preference and performance of an omnivorous stink bug, Podisus maculiventris

Many omnivorous insects are important biological control agents, and their success is influenced by both plant resistance and prey availability. The potential impact of these two factors is complicated by the fact that they may not be independent: Resistant plants also often support fewer herbivorous prey. We studied how lifetime development, growth, fecundity and preference of the omnivorous stink bug, Podisus maculiventris, was affected by jasmonate-induced plant defenses and amount of prey available. P. maculiventris survival was 70 % lower on high-resistance (jasmonate-overexpressing) plants compared to low-resistance (jasmonate-insensitive) plants. However, surviving P. maculiventris grew and achieved equal fecundity on low- and high-resistance plants. When given a choice, P. maculiventris preferred low-resistance plants, but did not differentiate between caterpillar prey reared on high- or low-resistance plants. Low prey availability impacted distinct aspects of P. maculiventris performance: Development time was lengthened, and nymphal and adult mass were reduced, but survival was not impacted. We did not detect any interactive effects between plant resistance and prey availability for any measure of P. maculiventris. Thus, we found remarkably compartmentalized impacts of plant resistance and prey availability for this omnivorous insect

Pain threshold, tolerance and catastrophization in women with dyspareunia

This study examined the impact of pain and sexual stimuli on the experience of experimentally induced pain, as well as pain threshold, tolerance and catastrophization levels in women with dyspareunia compared to control women

Predictability of biotic stress structures plant defence evolution

To achieve ecological and reproductive success, plants need to mitigate a multitude of stressors. The stressors encountered by plants are highly dynamic but typically vary predictably due to seasonality or correlations among stressors. As plants face physiological and ecological constraints in responses to stress, it can be beneficial for plants to evolve the ability to incorporate predictable patterns of stress in their life histories. Here, we discuss how plants predict adverse conditions, which plant strategies integrate predictability of biotic stress, and how such strategies can evolve. We propose that plants commonly optimise responses to correlated sequences or combinations of herbivores and pathogens, and that the predictability of these patterns is a key factor governing plant strategies in dynamic environments.</p

A direct comparison of the consequences of plant genotypic and species diversity on communities and ecosystem function

Biodiversity loss is proceeding at an unprecedented rate, yet we lack a thorough understanding of the consequences of losing diversity at different scales. While species diversity is known to impact community and ecosystem processes, genotypic diversity is assumed to have relatively smaller effects. Nonetheless, a few recent studies suggest that genotypic diversity may have quantitatively similar ecological consequences compared to species diversity. Here we show that increasing either genotypic diversity of common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) or species diversity of old?field plant species resulted in nearly equivalent increases (?17%) in aboveground primary production. The predominant mechanism explaining this effect, niche complementarity, was similar for each type of diversity. Arthropod species richness also increased with both types of plant diversity, but the mechanisms leading to this effect differed: abundance?driven accumulation of arthropod species was important in plant genotypic polycultures, whereas resource specialization was important in plant species polycultures. Thus, similar increases in primary productivity differentially impacted higher trophic levels in response to each type of plant diversity. These results highlight important ecological similarities and differences between genotypic and species diversity and suggest that genotypic diversity may play a larger role in community and ecosystem processes than previously realized.The NSF (DEB- 0950231 to A. A. Agrawal and IGERT small grant in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Biocomplexity to S. H. McArt, S. C. Cook-Patton, and A. L. Parachnowitsch) and USDA-NRI (2006-35302-17431 to J. S. Thaler) supported this wor

Proportional fitness loss and the timing of defensive investment: a cohesive framework across animals and plants

The risk of consumption is a pervasive aspect of ecology and recent work has focused on synthesis of consumer–resource interactions (e.g., enemy–victim ecology). Despite this, theories pertaining to the timing and magnitude of defenses in animals and plants have largely developed independently. However, both animals and plants share the common dilemma of uncertainty of attack, can gather information from the environment to predict future attacks and alter their defensive investment accordingly. Here, we present a novel, unifying framework based on the way an organism’s ability to defend itself during an attack can shape their pre-attack investment in defense. This framework provides a useful perspective on the nature of information use and variation in defensive investment across the sequence of attack-related events, both within and among species. It predicts that organisms with greater proportional fitness loss if attacked will gather and respond to risk information earlier in the attack sequence, while those that have lower proportional fitness loss may wait until attack is underway. This framework offers a common platform to compare and discuss consumer effects and provides novel insights into the way risk information can propagate through populations, communities, and ecosystems

Anticoagulant vs. antiplatelet therapy in patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale: an individual participant data meta-analysis

Aims The preferred antithrombotic strategy for secondary prevention in patients with cryptogenic stroke (CS) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) is unknown. We pooled multiple observational studies and used propensity score-based methods to estimate the comparative effectiveness of oral anticoagulation (OAC) compared with antiplatelet therapy (APT). Methods and results Individual participant data from 12 databases of medically treated patients with CS and PFO were analysed with Cox regression models, to estimate database-specific hazard ratios (HRs) comparing OAC with APT, for both the primary composite outcome [recurrent stroke, transient ischaemic attack (TIA), or death] and stroke alone. Propensity scores were applied via inverse probability of treatment weighting to control for confounding. We synthesized database-specific HRs using random-effects meta-analysis models. This analysis included 2385 (OAC = 804and APT = 1581) patients with 227 composite endpoints (stroke/TIA/death). The difference between OAC and APT was not statistically significant for the primary composite outcome [adjusted HR = 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52-1.12] or for the secondary outcome of stroke alone (adjusted HR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.44-1.27). Results were consistent in analyses applying alternative weighting schemes, with the exception that OAC had a statistically significant beneficial effect on the composite outcome in analyses standardized to the patient population who actually received APT (adjusted HR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.99). Subgroup analyses did not detect statistically significant heterogeneity of treatment effects across clinically important patient groups. Conclusion We did not find a statistically significant difference comparing OAC with APT; our results justify randomized trials comparing different antithrombotic approaches in these patient

Bovine Colostrum Supplementation and Bone Health: a Pilot Study

Research has shown the positive effects of some bovine colostrum components in bone cells; for instance, lactoferrin is reported to stimulate osteoblast proliferation and inhibit osteoclast activity in cell cultures. However, whether bovine colostrum as a whole can induce bone mass gains in osteoporotic bones is relatively unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bovine colostrum supplementation in ovariectomized-induced bone loss (OVX) rats. Methods: Twenty-seven-month-old female Wister rats (n=16) were randomly assigned to the following two groups: 1) a healthy control (non-OVX) with no supplementation, and 2) a OVX with bovine colostrum supplementation (0.5g/day; oral consumption). After 5 months supplementation, bone microstructure was scanned using micro-CT (right tibia). Bone formation markers (serum: pre-and post supplementation) were analysed (alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin) by ECLIA. The study was approved by the National Ethics Committee for the Use of Animals in Research (ORBEA). Results: No significant differences were found between groups in serum alkaline phosphatase either before or after supplementation (p>0.05). Serum osteocalcin significantly increased post-supple-mentation in the OVX compared to pre-supplementation (pre: 11.32+/-1.61; post: 12.45+/-1.21μg/L, p0.05). Trabecular bone mineral content (BMC), trabecular thickness, cortical bone mineral density (BMD) and cortical BMC were similar between groups after supplementation (p>0.05). However, OVX group revealed significantly higher trabecular porosity (5.6%, p<0.01), trabecular separation (36.3%, p<0.01), and cortical porosity (8.0%, p<0.01) compared to the healthy control post-supplementation. Conclusion: Bovine colostrum seems to preserve bone mass of OVX by stimulating bone formation. However, these positive effects seem not to be sufficient to restore bone micro-architecture in the OVX group, possibly because the administrated dose of bovine colostrum was not sufficient for OVX to catch-up healthy rats in terms of trabecular and cortical porosity. The potential therapeutic use of bovine colostrum for osteoporosis deserves further investigation

Exploring the Factors Contributing to Sibling Correlations in BMI: A Study Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Understanding the mechanisms contributing to correlated BMI outcomes in a social network such as siblings will help policy makers reduce the burden of disease associated with obesity. There are two potential mechanisms explaining correlated BMI outcomes in a biologically related social network: (i) time constant factors such as genetic heritability and habits formed during childhood and (ii) factors that change over time some of which are dependent on the frequency of interactions between the social network, for example, social norms shaped by the social network's shifting attitudes towards weight and behaviors related to weight, or environmental factors like opportunities for exercise. This study aims to distinguish between time constant factors from factors that are likely to change over time to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms explaining the correlation in sibling BMI. We exploit data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) over 1999–2007 estimating the correlation in BMI for adult siblings who currently live in separate households but grew-up in the same household and adolescent siblings currently living in the same household to isolate the influence of factors that change over time. The findings indicate that time constant factors explain some of the overall correlation in sibling BMI for both cohorts of siblings. Factors that change over time only significantly impact on the overall correlation in BMI for adolescent siblings suggesting if there is a social network influence on correlations in BMI this is facilitated by sharing the same household

Genetic Testing in Parkinson's Disease

Genetic testing for persons with Parkinson's disease is becoming increasingly common. Significant gains have been made regarding genetic testing methods, and testing is becoming more readily available in clinical, research, and direct-to-consumer settings. Although the potential utility of clinical testing is expanding, there are currently no proven gene-targeted therapies, but clinical trials are underway. Furthermore, genetic testing practices vary widely, as do knowledge and attitudes of relevant stakeholders. The specter of testing mandates financial, ethical, and physician engagement, and there is a need for guidelines to help navigate the myriad of challenges. However, to develop guidelines, gaps and controversies need to be clearly identified and analyzed. To this end, we first reviewed recent literature and subsequently identified gaps and controversies, some of which were partially addressed in the literature, but many of which are not well delineated or researched. Key gaps and controversies include: (1) Is genetic testing appropriate in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals without medical actionability? (2) How, if at all, should testing vary based on ethnicity? (3) What are the long-term outcomes of consumer- and research-based genetic testing in presymptomatic PD? (4) What resources are needed for clinical genetic testing, and how is this impacted by models of care and cost-benefit considerations? Addressing these issues will help facilitate the development of consensus and guidelines regarding the approach and access to genetic testing and counseling. This is also needed to guide a multidisciplinary approach that accounts for cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors in developing testing guidelines.</p