Distribution of Taxus globosa (Taxaceae) in Mexico: Ecological niche modeling, effects of land use change and conservation

Taxus globose is a gymnosperm inhabiting Mexican and northern Central American temperate forests, and it has been considered as threatened by Mexican and international conservancy agencies. In Mexico, habitat loss is one of the main threats for most of the cloud forest species including this taxon, being human-induced land use change a key issue. We obtained the potential distribution of this species through Maxent algorithm based on 73 herbarium records. Also the modification of vegetation cover for three time periods (1976, 1996 y 2000) was analyzed upon the potential distribution of this species. The known and potential geographical distribution was evaluated in relation to the current Mexican National System of Natural Protected Areas at federal level (ANPs) and Mexican Priority Regions for Conservation (RTPs), in order to determine the role of these areas in its conservation and management. Potential distribution models show an important reduction (until 84 %) of the distribution area related with land use change. This species is scarcely represented in the ANPs, because less than 10 % of its potential distribution occurs within these areas of federal protection. This approach represents an important tool in biogeography and conservation, as well as in other areas of biology, due to its predictive ability. Our results highlight the urgency to preserve the remaining Mexican temperate forest patches, mainly cloud forest ones, to guarantee the existence of this species

Common variants in Alzheimer’s disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores

Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer’s disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer’s disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease

Consensus guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with pancreatic cancer in Spain

The management of patients with pancreatic cancer has advanced over the last few years. We convey a multidisciplinary group of experts in an attempt to stablish practical guidelines for the diagnoses, staging and management of these patients. This paper summarizes the main conclusions of the working group. Patients with suspected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma should be rapidly evaluated and referred to high-volume centers. Multidisciplinary supervision is critical for proper diagnoses, staging and to frame a treatment plan. Surgical resection together with chemotherapy offers the highest chance for cure in early stage disease. Patients with advanced disease should be classified in treatment groups to guide systemic treatment. New chemotherapeutic regimens have resulted in improved survival. Symptomatic management is critical in this disease. Enrollment in a clinical trial is, in general, recommended