Successful pancreatoduodenectomy of de novo duodenal malignancy after orthotopic liver transplantation: A case report

IntroductionLiver transplantation is a risk factor for premalignant and malignant changes of the duodenum. De novo duodenal malignancy is seldom reported after liver transplantation.Case ReportThe present study reports a case of an asymptomatic 67-year-old male patient who underwent liver transplantation more than 10 years ago and subsequently developed duodenal malignancy. Endoscopic biopsy of the de novo duodenal malignancy indicated duodenal carcinoma and pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) was performed. The patient was successfully discharged 12 days after the surgery. A metastatic lesion occurred at the right seventh rib 14 months after the pancreatoduodenectomy. Postoperative pathological examination indicated hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this case type has not been previously reported. The present study sheds light on the development, the treatment, the prognosis, and the management of a new type of de novo duodenal malignancy

Dysregulation of respiratory center drive (P0.1) and muscle strength in patients with early stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease

Objective: The goal of this study is to evaluate pulmonary function and respiratory center drive in patients with early-stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) to facilitate early diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Methods: 43 IPD patients (Hoehn and Yahr scale of 1) and 41 matched healthy individuals (e.g., age, sex, height, weight, BMI) were enrolled in this study. Motor status was evaluated using the Movement Disorders Society-Unified PD Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). Pulmonary function and respiratory center drive were measured using pulmonary function tests (PFT). All IPD patients were also subjected to a series of neuropsychological tests, including Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQ), REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Screening Questionnaire (RBDSQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: IPD patients and healthy individuals have similar forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1), forced expiratory volume in 1s/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCOcSB). Reduced respiratory muscle strength, maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) and maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax) was seen in IPD patients (p = 0.000 and p = 0.002, respectively). Importantly, the airway occlusion pressure after 0.1 s (P0.1) and respiratory center output were notably higher in IPD patients (p = 0.000) with a remarkable separation of measured values compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that abnormal pulmonary function is present in early stage IPD patients as evidenced by significant changes in PImax, PEmax, and P0.1. Most importantly, P0.1 may have the potential to assist with the identification of IPD in the early stage

Data from: Seeing is believing? comparing plant-herbivore networks constructed by field co-occurrence and DNA barcoding methods for gaining insights into network structures

Plant-herbivore interaction networks provide information about community organization. Two methods are currently used to document pairwise interactions among plants and insect herbivores. One is the traditional method that collects plant-herbivore interaction data by field observation of insect occurrence on host plants. The other is the increasing application of newly developed molecular techniques based on DNA barcodes to the analysis of gut contents. The second method is more appealing because it documents realized interactions. To construct complete networks, each technique of network construction is urgent to be assessed. We addressed this question by comparing the effectiveness and reliability of the two methods in constructing plant-Lepidoptera larval network in a 50 ha subtropical forest in China. Our results showed that the accuracy of diet identification by observation method increased with the number of observed insect occurrences on food plants. In contrast, the molecular method using three plant DNA markers were able to identify food residues for 35.6% larvae and correctly resolved 77.3% plant (diet) species. Network analysis showed molecular networks had three-fold more unique host plant species but fewer links than the traditional networks had. The molecular method detected plants that were not sampled by the traditional method, e.g., bamboos, bryophytes and lianas in the diets of insect herbivores. The two networks also possessed significantly different structural properties. Our study indicates the traditional observation of co-occurrence is inadequate, while molecular method can provide higher species resolution of ecological interactions

Link similarity and dissimilarity identified by molecular and observation method

Link similarities and dissimilarities for 795 Lepidoptera larvae identified by the molecular method and the traditional observation method, respectively

Two new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Heterochelamon Türkay & Dai, 1997 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamidae) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China

Naruse, Tohru, Zhu, Chunchao, Zhou, Xianmin (2013): Two new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Heterochelamon Türkay & Dai, 1997 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamidae) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. Zootaxa 3647 (4): 567-576, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3647.4.

Plant-Lepidoptera larval interaction matrix constructed by molecular method

In this interaction matrix, 239 Lepidoptera species associated with 102 plant species/species complexes

Taxonomic labels of 406 Lepidoptera species

This file describes Genbank accession ID and taxonomic label of each Lepidoptera species

Plant functional traits and abundance jointly shape keystone plant species in a plant–ectomycorrhizal fungus network

Abstract Keystone species are more important than others for community dynamics and stability. Keystone species can be identified and evaluated by their centrality (i.e., a relative ranking of the topological positional importance of a species) in ecological networks. Studies of node centrality of plant–fungus bipartite networks, for example, have identified the keystone species that are important for maintaining network structure and stability. However, the underlying drivers of the importance of species in a network have rarely been examined. We assessed the centrality (degree, closeness, and betweenness) of plant and fungal species in a plant–ectomycorrhizal fungus network in a subtropical forest in southern China. Based on the phylogenies of plants and fungi and plant traits, we explored ecological factors that led to a species taking a central position or not. We found one plant species (Ternstroemia gymnanthera) and four species of ectomycorrhizal fungi (Russula citrina, Scleroderma sp., and two Cenococcum sp.) were characterized by the highest centrality of degree, closeness, and betweenness among the bipartite network nodes and thus played key roles in maintaining network structure. Centrality for fungi (not for plants) was phylogenetically constrained. Plant traits and abundance together explained 46.36%, 46.0%, and 43.7% of variation in the centrality of degree, closeness, and betweenness of plant species in the bipartite network, respectively. When plant or fungal species were sequentially removed on the order of higher to lower centrality, network was less stable than randomly removed. We suggest that abundance and traits determine the positional importance of plant species in a network. This work helps understand how plant–fungus association networks will respond to species extinction and changes in species abundance and functional traits due to habitat fragmentation and human activities

PD-L1 Expression and CD8+ T Cell Infiltration Predict a Favorable Prognosis in Advanced Gastric Cancer

Advanced gastric cancer (AGC) has high morbidity and mortality in East Asia, and it is urgent to explore new treatments to improve patient prognosis. Programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have exhibited remarkable activity in clinical trials and were approved by the FDA for clinical therapy in several types of tumors. Here, we evaluated PD-L1 expression and T cell infiltration in AGC. Positive tumor PD-L1 expression was detected in 171 AGCs (33.60%) out of 509 AGCs. PD-L1 expression was positively correlated with CD8+ T cell infiltration. Then, PD-L1 and CD8A mRNA expression was analyzed using gastric cancer data from the TCGA database, confirming a positive correlation. Patient survival was assessed according to PD-L1 status and the T cell infiltration density. PD-L1 expression and a high density of CD8+ T cells in AGCs were associated with improved prognosis, whereas no significant difference was noted between PD-1 and CD3 expression. In contrast, a high density of FOXP3+ T cells in AGCs indicated a poor prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that CD8+ T cell density acts as an independent predictor of overall survival (OS) in AGC patients. Taken together, this study further highlights targets for immune checkpoint-based therapy in AGC

The complete mitochondrial genome of Aparapotamon similium (Decapoda: Brachyura), an endemic to China

In this study, we first obtained the complete mitochondrial genome of Aparapoamon similium (Decapoda: Brachyura). The complete mitochondrial genome is 19,236 bp in length and includes 37 typical genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs genes, 2 rRNAs genes, and 1 putative control region). The whole mitochondrial genome is characterized by the apparent AT bias (72.82%). BI and ML phylogenetic analysis based on 67 mitochondrial genomes of Brachyura species show a highly similar topology structure with high bootstrap supported. The results reveal the close relationship between A. similium and Potamiscus motuoense. This study would establish a solid data foundation for further diversification studies