Seropositivity is associated with insulin resistance in patients with early inflammatory polyarthritis: results from the Norfolk Arthritis Register (NOAR): an observational study

Introduction  

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in patients with inflammatory polyarthritis (IP), especially in seropositive disease. In established rheumatoid arthritis (RA), insulin resistance (IR) is increased and associated with CVD. We investigated factors associated with IR in an inception cohort of patients with early IP.     

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: Feral pigs as vectors of soil‐borne pathogens

Invasive soil‐borne pathogens are a major threat to forest ecosystems worldwide. The newly discovered soil pathogen, Phytophthora ‘taxon Agathis’ (PTA), is a serious threat to endemic kauri (Agathis australis: Araucariaceae) in New Zealand. This study examined the potential for feral pigs to act as vectors of PTA. We investigated whether snouts and trotters of feral pigs carry soil contaminated with PTA, and using these results determined the probability that feral pigs act as a vector. We screened the soil on trotters and snouts from 457 pigs for PTA using various baiting techniques and molecular testing. This study detected 19 species of plant pathogens in the soil on pig trotters and snouts, including a different Phytophthora species (Phytophthora cinnamomi). However, no PTA was isolated from the samples. A positive control experiment showed a test sensitivity of 0–3% for the baiting methods and the data obtained were used in a Bayesian probability modelling approach. This showed a posterior probability of 35–90% (dependent on test sensitivity scores and design prevalence) that pigs do vector PTA and estimated that a sample size of over 1000 trotters would be required to prove a negative result. We conclude that feral pigs cannot be ruled out as a vector of soil‐based plant pathogens and that there is still a high probability that feral pigs do vector PTA, despite our negative results. We also highlight the need to develop a more sensitive test for PTA in small soil samples associated with pigs due to unreliable detection rates using the current method.     

Speciation mirrors geomorphology and palaeoclimatic history in African laminate-toothed rats (Muridae: Otomyini) of the Otomys denti and Otomys lacustris species-complexes in the 'Montane Circle' of East Africa

We adopted an integrated systematic approach to delimit evolutionary species and describe phylogeographic, morphometric and ecological relationships in Otomys denti (from the Albertine Rift, Southern Rift in Malawi and the northern Eastern Arc Mountains) and Otomys lacustris (from the Southern Rift in Tanzania and Zambia, and the southern Eastern Arc Mountains). Molecular [cytochrome (cyt) b sequences, 1143 bp, N  = 18], craniometric (classical, N  = 100 and geometric, N  = 60) and ecological (Partial Least Squares regression of shape and ecogeographic variables) approaches show a profound, parallel disjunction between two groups: (1) Eastern Arc and Southern Rift (including the Malawi Rift) ( O. lacustris and Otomys denti sungae ) and (2) Albertine Rift ( Otomys denti denti and Otomys denti kempi ) taxa. Within both groups, cyt b sequences or craniometric analysis provided evidence for the differentiation of both southern and northern Eastern Arc from Southern Rift lineages (across the so-called Makambako Gap). Within the Albertine Rift ( denti – kempi ) lineage, populations from individual mountain ranges differed significantly in skull shape (but not size), but were similar genetically. Over-reliance in the past on very few morphological characters (e.g. number of molar laminae) and a polytypic species concept has obscured phylogenetic relationships and species discrimination in this group. We recognize at least three species in this group, and distinct lineages within two of these species. Each species or lineage was endemic to one of three regions: the Albertine Rift, the Malawi Rift or the Eastern Arc. Our result echo conclusions of recent studies of other mammalian and bird taxa and reflect the geomorphology and palaeoclimatic history of the region.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 96 , 913–941.     

The circadian clock‐associated gene gigantea1 affects maize developmental transitions

The circadian clock is an internal timing mechanism that allows plants to make developmental decisions in accordance with environmental conditions. In model plants, circadian clock‐associated gigantea (gi) genes are directly involved in control of growth and developmental transitions. The maize gigantea1 (gi1) gene is the more highly expressed of the two gi homeologs, and its function is uncharacterized. To understand the role of gi1 in the regulatory networks of the maize circadian clock system, gi1 mutants were evaluated for changes in flowering time, phase change and growth control. When grown in long‐day (LD) photoperiods, gi1 mutants flowered earlier than non‐mutant plants, but this difference was not apparent in short‐day (SD) photoperiods. Therefore, gi1 participates in a pathway that suppresses flowering in LD photoperiods, but not in SD. Part of the underlying cause of early flowering was up‐regulated expression of the FT‐like floral activator gene zea mays centroradialis8 (zcn8) and the CONSTANS‐like flowering regulatory gene constans of zea mays1 (conz1). gi1 mutants also underwent vegetative phase change earlier and grew taller than non‐mutant plants. These findings indicate gi1 has a repressive function in multiple regulatory pathways that govern maize growth and development.     

Digestive cell and tentacle number in freshly detached buds of Hydra viridis

Buds were collected from hydras fed four days a week on different schedules. Independent of schedule, parents produced the same number of buds per week, but significant differences appeared in the number of buds detaching on particular days, and in the number of digestive cells present in the buds. Groups of buds collected from parents fed the same number of days (from one to three) during the previous four days contained statistically indistinguishable numbers of digestive cells despite the order or sequence of days on which feedings occurred. The number of digestive cells in all the freshly detached buds collected here can be accounted for by the growth of a bud primordium over a four day period of bud development and growth. Such a primordium would have about 3,600 digestive cells and grow at the rate of 0.33 cells per cell per day of feeding. The numbers of tentacles found on freshly detached buds are correlated with the number of feeding days and digestive cells present in the bud. Tentacles, therefore, may also form from primordia consisting originally of a specific number of cells.     

Drinking: Anthropological Approaches

Drinking: Anthropological Approaches . Igor de Garine and Valeria de Garine. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001. 248 pp.