Mitochondrial and nuclear genes suggest that stony corals are monophyletic but most families of stony corals are not (Order Scleractinia, Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria)

Modern hard corals (Class Hexacorallia; Order Scleractinia) are widely studied because of their fundamental role in reef building and their superb fossil record extending back to the Triassic. Nevertheless, interpretations of their evolutionary relationships have been in flux for over a decade. Recent analyses undermine the legitimacy of traditional suborders, families and genera, and suggest that a non-skeletal sister clade (Order Corallimorpharia) might be imbedded within the stony corals. However, these studies either sampled a relatively limited array of taxa or assembled trees from heterogeneous data sets. Here we provide a more comprehensive analysis of Scleractinia (127 species, 75 genera, 17 families) and various outgroups, based on two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome b), with analyses of nuclear genes (ßtubulin, ribosomal DNA) of a subset of taxa to test unexpected relationships. Eleven of 16 families were found to be polyphyletic. Strikingly, over one third of all families as conventionally defined contain representatives from the highly divergent "robust" and "complex" clades. However, the recent suggestion that corallimorpharians are true corals that have lost their skeletons was not upheld. Relationships were supported not only by mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but also often by morphological characters which had been ignored or never noted previously. The concordance of molecular characters and more carefully examined morphological characters suggests a future of greater taxonomic stability, as well as the potential to trace the evolutionary history of this ecologically important group using fossils

Refractory depression – cost-effectiveness of radically open dialectical behaviour therapy: findings of economic evaluation of RefraMED trial

BackgroundRefractory depression is a major contributor to the economic burden of depression. Radically open dialectical behaviour therapy (RO DBT) is an unevaluated new treatment targeting overcontrolled personality, common in refractory depression, but it is not yet known whether the additional expense of RO DBT is good value for money.AimsTo estimate the cost-effectiveness of RO DBT plus treatment as usual (TAU) compared with TAU alone in people with refractory depression (trial registration: ISRCTN85784627).MethodWe undertook a cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomised trial evaluating RO DBT plus TAU versus TAU alone for refractory depression in three UK secondary care centres. Our economic evaluation, 12 months after randomisation, adopted the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS) and personal social services. It evaluated cost-effectiveness by comparing the net cost of RO DBT with the net gain in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), estimated using the EQ-5D-3L measure of health-related quality of life.ResultsThe additional cost of RO DBT plus TAU compared with TAU alone was £7048 and was associated with a difference of 0.032 QALYs, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £220 250 per QALY. This ICER was well above the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) upper threshold of £30 000 per QALY. A cost-effectiveness acceptability curve indicated that RO DBT had a zero probability of being cost-effective compared with TAU at the NICE £30 000 threshold.ConclusionsIn its current resource-intensive form, RO DBT is not a cost-effective use of resources in the UK NHS.Declaration of interestR.H. is co-owner and director of Radically Open Ltd, the RO DBT training and dissemination company. D.K. reports grants outside the submitted work from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). T.L. receives royalties from New Harbinger Publishing for sales of RO DBT treatment manuals, speaking fees from Radically Open Ltd, and a grant outside the submitted work from the Medical Research Council. He was co-director of Radically Open Ltd between November 2014 and May 2015 and is married to Erica Smith-Lynch, the principal shareholder and one of two directors of Radically Open Ltd. H.O'M. reports personal fees outside the submitted work from the Charlie Waller Institute and Improving Access to Psychological Therapy. S.R. provides RO DBT supervision through her company S C Rushbrook Ltd. I.R. reports grants outside the submitted work from NIHR and Health &amp;amp; Care Research Wales. M. Stanton reports personal fees outside the submitted work from British Isles DBT Training, Stanton Psychological Services Ltd and Taylor &amp;amp; Francis. M. Swales reports personal fees outside the submitted work from British Isles DBT Training, Guilford Press, Oxford University Press and Taylor &amp;amp; Francis. B.W. was co-director of Radically Open Ltd between November 2014 and February 2015.</jats:sec

Pleosporales

One hundred and five generic types of Pleosporales are described and illustrated. A brief introduction and detailed history with short notes on morphology, molecular phylogeny as well as a general conclusion of each genus are provided. For those genera where the type or a representative specimen is unavailable, a brief note is given. Altogether 174 genera of Pleosporales are treated. Phaeotrichaceae as well as Kriegeriella, Zeuctomorpha and Muroia are excluded from Pleosporales. Based on the multigene phylogenetic analysis, the suborder Massarineae is emended to accommodate five families, viz. Lentitheciaceae, Massarinaceae, Montagnulaceae, Morosphaeriaceae and Trematosphaeriaceae

Alkali-activation potential of biomass-coal co-fired fly ash

Co-fired fly ash, derived from the co-combustion of coal and biomass, is examined as a potential precursor for geopolymers. Compared to a coal fly ash, two co-fired fly ashes have a lower vitreous content and higher carbon content, primarily due to differing combustion processing variables. As a result, binders produced with these co-fired fly ashes have reduced reaction potential. Nevertheless, compressive strengths are generally highest for all ashes activated with solutions with a molar ratio of SiO₂/(Na₂O + K₂O) = 1, and these mixes reach the highest extent of reaction among those studied. Activation with sodium hydroxide solution forms zeolitic phases for all ashes. The thermal and dilatometric behavior of the coal and co-fired fly ash geopolymers is similar between equivalent mix designs. These results indicate that co-fired fly ashes can be viably used to form alkali-activated geopolymers, which is a new beneficial end-use for these emerging waste materials

Lens epithelial cell apoptosis and intracellular Ca(2+) increase in the presence of xanthurenic acid

BACKGROUND: Xanthurenic acid is an endogenous product of tryptophan degradation by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). We have previously reported that IDO is present in mammalian lenses, and xanthurenic acid is accumulated in the lenses with aging. Here, we studied the involvement of xanthurenic acid in the human lens epithelial cell physiology. METHODS: Human lens epithelial cells primary cultures were used. Control cells, and cells in the presence of xanthurenic acid grow in the dark. Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence studies were performed. RESULTS: In the presence of xanthurenic acid human lens epithelial cells undergo apoptosis-like cell death. In the control cells gelsolin stained the perinuclear region, whereas in the presence of 10 μM xanthurenic acid gelsolin is translocated to the cytoskeleton, but does not lead to cytoskeleton breakdown. In the same condition caspase-3 activation, and DNA fragmentation was observed. At low (5 to 10 μM) of xanthurenic acid concentration, the elongation of the cytoskeleton was associated with migration of mitochondria and cytochrome c release. At higher concentrations xanthurenic acid (20 μM and 40 μM) damaged mitochondria were observed in the perinuclear region, and nuclear DNA cleavage was observed. We observed an induction of calpain Lp 82 and an increase of free Ca(2+) in the cells in a xanthurenic acid concentration-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that xanthurenic acid accumulation in human lens epithelial cells disturbs the normal cell physiology and leads to a cascade of pathological events. Xanthurenic acid induces calpain Lp82 and caspases in the cells growing in the dark and can be involved in senile cataract development

Monitoring of post-match fatigue in professional soccer: Welcome to the real world

Participation in soccer match-play leads to acute and transient subjective, biochemical, metabolic and physical disturbances in players over subsequent hours and days. Inadequate time for rest and regeneration between matches can expose players to the risk of training and competing whilst not entirely recovered. In professional soccer, contemporary competitive schedules can require teams to compete in-excess of 60 matches over the course of the season while periods of fixture congestion occur prompting much attention from researchers and practitioners to the monitoring of fatigue and readiness to play. A comprehensive body of research has investigated post-match acute and residual fatigue responses. Yet the relevance of the research for professional soccer contexts is debatable notably in relation to the study populations and designs employed. Monitoring can indeed be invasive, expensive, time-inefficient and difficult to perform routinely and simultaneously in a large squad of regularly competing players. Uncertainty also exists regarding the meaningfulness and interpretation of changes in fatigue response values and their functional relevance, and practical applicability in the field. The real-world need and cost-benefit of monitoring must be carefully weighed up. In relation to professional soccer contexts, this opinion paper intends to: 1) debate the need for PMF monitoring, 2) critique the real-world relevance of the current research literature, 3) discuss the practical burden relating to measurement tools and protocols and the collection, interpretation and application of data in the field, and, 4) propose future research perspectives

Metabonomic fingerprints of fasting plasma and spot urine reveal human pre-diabetic metabolic traits

Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) which precedes overt type 2 diabetes (T2DM) for decades is associated with multiple metabolic alterations in insulin sensitive tissues. In an UPLC-qTOF-mass spectrometry-driven non-targeted metabonomics approach we investigated plasma as well as spot urine of 51 non-diabetic, overnight fasted individuals aiming to separate subjects with IGT from controls thereby identify pathways affected by the pre-diabetic metabolic state. We could clearly demonstrate that normal glucose tolerant (NGT) and IGT subjects clustered in two distinct groups independent of the investigated metabonome. These findings reflect considerable differences in individual metabolite fingerprints, both in plasma and urine. Pre-diabetes associated alterations in fatty acid-, tryptophan-, uric acid-, bile acid-, and lysophosphatidylcholine-metabolism, as well as the TCA cycle were identified. Of note, individuals with IGT also showed decreased levels of gut flora-associated metabolites namely hippuric acid, methylxanthine, methyluric acid, and 3-hydroxyhippuric acid. The findings of our non-targeted UPLC-qTOF-MS metabonomics analysis in plasma and spot urine of individuals with IGT vs NGT offers novel insights into the metabolic alterations occurring in the long, asymptomatic period preceding the manifestation of T2DM thereby giving prospects for new intervention targets

Ontogeny of Toll-Like Receptor Mediated Cytokine Responses of Human Blood Mononuclear Cells

Newborns and young infants suffer increased infectious morbidity and mortality as compared to older children and adults. Morbidity and mortality due to infection are highest during the first weeks of life, decreasing over several years. Furthermore, most vaccines are not administered around birth, but over the first few years of life. A more complete understanding of the ontogeny of the immune system over the first years of life is thus urgently needed. Here, we applied the most comprehensive analysis focused on the innate immune response following TLR stimulation over the first 2 years of life in the largest such longitudinal cohort studied to-date (35 subjects). We found that innate TLR responses (i) known to support Th17 adaptive immune responses (IL-23, IL-6) peaked around birth and declined over the following 2 years only to increase again by adulthood; (ii) potentially supporting antiviral defense (IFN-α) reached adult level function by 1 year of age; (iii) known to support Th1 type immunity (IL-12p70, IFN-γ) slowly rose from a low at birth but remained far below adult responses even at 2 years of age; (iv) inducing IL-10 production steadily declined from a high around birth to adult levels by 1 or 2 years of age, and; (v) leading to production of TNF-α or IL-1β varied by stimuli. Our data contradict the notion of a linear progression from an ‘immature’ neonatal to a ‘mature’ adult pattern, but instead indicate the existence of qualitative and quantitative age-specific changes in innate immune reactivity in response to TLR stimulation

Prior mucosal exposure to heterologous cells alters the pathogenesis of cell-associated mucosal feline immunodeficiency virus challenge

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several lines of research suggest that exposure to cellular material can alter the susceptibility to infection by HIV-1. Because sexual contact often includes exposure to cellular material, we hypothesized that repeated mucosal exposure to heterologous cells would induce an immune response that would alter the susceptibility to mucosal infection. Using the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) model of HIV-1 mucosal transmission, the cervicovaginal mucosa was exposed once weekly for 12 weeks to 5,000 heterologous cells or media (control) and then cats were vaginally challenged with cell-associated or cell-free FIV.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Exposure to heterologous cells decreased the percentage of lymphocytes in the mucosal and systemic lymph nodes (LN) expressing L-selectin as well as the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T cells. These shifts were associated with enhanced ex-vivo proliferative responses to heterologous cells. Following mucosal challenge with cell-associated, but not cell-free, FIV, proviral burden was reduced by 64% in cats previously exposed to heterologous cells as compared to media exposed controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The pathogenesis and/or the threshold for mucosal infection by infected cells (but not cell-free virus) can be modulated by mucosal exposure to uninfected heterologous cells.</p