The Evolution of Functionally Redundant Species; Evidence from Beetles

While species fulfill many different roles in ecosystems, it has been suggested that numerous species might actually share the same function in a near neutral way. So-far, however, it is unclear whether such functional redundancy really exists. We scrutinize this question using extensive data on the world’s 4168 species of diving beetles. We show that across the globe these animals have evolved towards a small number of regularly-spaced body sizes, and that locally co-existing species are either very similar in size or differ by at least 35%. Surprisingly, intermediate size differences (10–20%) are rare. As body-size strongly reflects functional aspects such as the food that these generalist predators can eat, these beetles thus form relatively distinct groups of functional look-a-likes. The striking global regularity of these patterns support the idea that a self-organizing process drives such species-rich groups to self-organize evolutionary into clusters where functional redundancy ensures resilience through an insurance effect

Summary report of the Standards, Options and Recommendations for the management of patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma (2000)

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Lung Volume Reduction Coil Treatment vs Usual Care in Patients With Severe Emphysema: The REVOLENS Randomized Clinical Trial:

IMPORTANCE: Therapeutic options for severe emphysema are limited. Lung volume reduction using nitinol coils is a bronchoscopic intervention inducing regional parenchymal volume reduction and restoring lung recoil. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, cost, and cost-effectiveness of nitinol coils in treatment of severe emphysema. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Multicenter 1:1 randomized superiority trial comparing coils with usual care at 10 university hospitals in France. Enrollment of patients with emphysema occurred from March to October 2013, with 12-month follow-up (last follow-up, December 2014). INTERVENTIONS: Patients randomized to usual care (n = 50) received rehabilitation and bronchodilators with or without inhaled corticosteroids and oxygen; those randomized to bilateral coil treatment (n = 50) received usual care plus additional therapy in which approximately 10 coils per lobe were placed in 2 bilateral lobes in 2 procedures. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was improvement of at least 54 m in the 6-minute walk test at 6 months (1-sided hypothesis test). Secondary outcomes included changes at 6 and 12 months in the 6-minute walk test, lung function, quality of life as assessed by St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (range, 0-100; 0 being the best and 100 being the worst quality of life; minimal clinically important difference, ≥4), morbidity, mortality, total cost, and cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: Among 100 patients, 71 men and 29 women (mean age, 62 years) were included. At 6 months, improvement of at least 54 m was observed in 18 patients (36%) in the coil group and 9 patients (18%) in the usual care group, for a between-group difference of 18% (1-sided 95% CI, 4% to ∞; P = .03). Mean between-group differences at 6 and 12 months in the coil and usual care groups were +0.09 L (95% CI, 0.05 L to ∞) (P = .001) and +0.08 L (95% CI, 0.03 L to ∞) (P = .002) for forced expiratory volume in the first second, +21 m (95% CI, -4 m to ∞) (P = .06) and +21 m (95% CI, -5 m to ∞) (P = .12) for 6-minute walk distance, and -13.4 points (95% CI, -8 points to ∞) and -10.6 points (95% CI, -5.8 points to ∞) for St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (1-sided P < .001 for both). Within 12 months, 4 deaths occurred in the coil group and 3 in the usual care group. The mean total 1-year per-patient cost difference between groups was $47,908 (95$47,879-$48,073) (P < .001); the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was$782,598 per additional quality-adjusted life-year. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this preliminary study of patients with severe emphysema followed up for 6 months, bronchoscopic treatment with nitinol coils compared with usual care resulted in improved exercise capacity with high short-term costs. Further investigation is needed to assess durability of benefit and long-term cost implications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01822795.Comment in : *Lung Volume Reduction Coils for Severe Emphysema--Reply. [JAMA. 2016] *Coils implanted into lungs show promise for emphysema. [BMJ. 2016] *Lung Volume Reduction Coils for Severe Emphysema. [JAMA. 2016] *Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction in COPD: Lessons in Implementing Clinically Based Precision Medicine. [JAMA. 2016

Préparation et caractérisation de trioxyde de molybdène très divisé : étude par spectroscopie infrarouge de son interaction avec l'eau

La méthode du réacteur à flamme permet d’obtenir par hydrolyse du dioxydichlorure de molybdène du trioxyde de molybdène très divisé (100 m2g–1). Les petits cristallites ainsi obtenus possèdent la structure orthorhombique. Une variété polymorphique métas- table de cet oxyde peut également être formée sous certaines conditions de préparation. L'étude du solide (I.R.) a montré que l'état de division entraîne des modifications de l'organisation cristalline. De plus la très bonne transmission dans le domaine I.R. (1000-4000 cm–1 ) permet d'étudier les phases adsorbées. Il a notamment été montré que l'eau s'adsorbe à la surface de ces oxydes de façon non dissociative

Bench-test evaluation of spacer devices for fluticasone delivery to infants

International audienceIntroduction. - Use of a spacer device to optimize the delivery of fluticasone to infants with asthma is an important issue and clinicians require guidance around the choice of device. This in vitro study characterizes the particle size and the fluticasone delivery via 9 spacers. Methods. - We used an in vitro infant nasal cast with two different inspiratory flow rates (50 and 100 mL/s). Fluticasone particle size in the aerosol was evaluated by laser diffractometry and tracheal deposition by spectrophotometric assay. Results. - Significant differences in particle size were observed between the 9 spacers (similar D50 but D90 from 5.65 +/- 0.65 to 8.80 +/- 1.35 mu m). A 75% or higher respirable fraction was obtained for only 5 spacers. The 50 mL/s flow rate lead to the best drug delivery. At this flow, OptiChamber (R) (62 +/- 3 %) and Vortex (R) (91 +/- 8.5%) had a tracheal deposition over 50% of the initial dose of fluticasone, although the 7 other spacers exhibited a fluticasone deposition less than 25%. Discussion. - This study shows a wide variation of drug delivery between the 9 spacers studied. We demonstrate that a low inspiratory flow and a spacer showing antistatic properties facilitate drug delivery. (C) 2016 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved