Can Metal Nanoparticles Be a Threat to Microbial Decomposers of Plant Litter in Streams?

The extensive use of nanometal-based products increases the chance of their release into aquatic environments, raising the question whether they can pose a risk to aquatic biota and the associated ecological processes. Aquatic microbes, namely fungi and bacteria, play a key role in forested streams by decomposing plant litter from terrestrial vegetation. Here, we investigated the effects of nanocopper oxide and nanosilver on leaf litter decomposition by aquatic microbes, and the results were compared with the impacts of their ionic precursors. Alder leaves were immersed in a stream of Northwest Portugal to allow microbial colonization before being exposed in microcosms to increased nominal concentrations of nanometals (CuO, 100, 200 and 500 ppm; Ag, 100 and 300 ppm) and ionic metals (Cu²⁺ in CuCl₂, 10, 20 and 30 ppm; Ag⁺ in AgNO₃, 5 and 20 ppm) for 21 days. Results showed that rates of leaf decomposition decreased with exposure to nano- and ionic metals. Nano- and ionic metals inhibited bacterial biomass (from 68.6% to 96.5% of control) more than fungal biomass (from 28.5% to 82.9% of control). The exposure to increased concentrations of nano- and ionic metals decreased fungal sporulation rates from 91.0% to 99.4%. These effects were accompanied by shifts in the structure of fungal and bacterial communities based on DNA fingerprints and fungal spore morphology. The impacts of metal nanoparticles on leaf decomposition by aquatic microbes were less pronounced compared to their ionic forms, despite metal ions were applied at one order of magnitude lower concentrations. Overall, results indicate that the increased release of nanometals to the environment may affect aquatic microbial communities with impacts on organic matter decomposition in streams.     

Can Deviations in Immune and Cytological Status Always Be Assigned to Pathology?

The pathological or physiological nature of deviations in the immune and cytological parameters is discussed by the example of pilot examinations of children from different age groups in the town of Klimovsk.     

Can Inferred Provenance and Its Visualisation Be Used to Detect Erroneous Annotation? A Case Study Using UniProtKB

A constant influx of new data poses a challenge in keeping the annotation in biological databases current. Most biological databases contain significant quantities of textual annotation, which often contains the richest source of knowledge. Many databases reuse existing knowledge; during the curation process annotations are often propagated between entries. However, this is often not made explicit. Therefore, it can be hard, potentially impossible, for a reader to identify where an annotation originated from. Within this work we attempt to identify annotation provenance and track its subsequent propagation. Specifically, we exploit annotation reuse within the UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB), at the level of individual sentences. We describe a visualisation approach for the provenance and propagation of sentences in UniProtKB which enables a large-scale statistical analysis. Initially levels of sentence reuse within UniProtKB were analysed, showing that reuse is heavily prevalent, which enables the tracking of provenance and propagation. By analysing sentences throughout UniProtKB, a number of interesting propagation patterns were identified, covering over sentences. Over sentences remain in the database after they have been removed from the entries where they originally occurred. Analysing a subset of these sentences suggest that approximately are erroneous, whilst appear to be inconsistent. These results suggest that being able to visualise sentence propagation and provenance can aid in the determination of the accuracy and quality of textual annotation.Source code and supplementary data are available from the authors website at http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/m.j.bell1/sentence_analysis/.     

Can Cereal Products Be an Essential Source of Ca,Mg and K in the Deficient Diets of Poles?

Biological Trace Element Research - The studies aimed to evaluate the significance of cereal products as an essential source of Ca, Mg and K in the diets of Poles. The study covered 226 groups of...     

Can Cone Scales and Bark of Aleppo Pine Be Used in the Biomonitoring of Some Heavy Metals?

The highest levels of Pb in soils and needles were detected in the Lisbon Botanical Garden, reflecting the intense car circulation since the end of the late nineteenth century, and the presence of tetraethyl lead in petrol. Levels of Pb in Aleppo bark were at or above the threshold values for plant tissues as defined by the UN-ECE/EC (>4–30 μg/g). Nickel was easily washed by distilled water from the bark, indicating a predominant adsorption due to atmospheric deposition, while only Pb was water-extracted from cone scales, but no more than 0.88 μg/g (4.3% of the total). If we take into account the dry weight of each cone, we can assess the amount of extractable lead present in a given time (ranges between 3.0 and 15.5 μg), although its eventual transfer to the ground through rainfall will be hampered by the cone architecture. The average levels of total Pb in the cones (12.7–35.4 μg/g) fall within the range defined by the UN-ECE/EC, generally; only the reference value is below 4 μg/g. Due to the high capabilities of allocating Pb inside the structure and through adsorption, Aleppo bark and cones can be very interesting tools in the monitoring of Pb.     

Can Evidence from Genome-Wide Association Studies and Positive Natural Selection Surveys Be Used to Evaluate the Thrifty Gene Hypothesis in East Asians?

Body fat deposition and distribution differ between East Asians and Europeans, and for the same level of obesity, East Asians are at higher risks of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and other metabolic disorders. This observation has prompted the reclassifications of body mass index thresholds for the definitions of “overweight” and “obese” in East Asians. However, the question remains over what evolutionary mechanisms have driven the differences in adiposity morphology between two population groups that shared a common ancestor less than 80,000 years ago. The Thrifty Gene hypothesis has been suggested as a possible explanation, where genetic factors that allowed for efficient food-energy conversion and storage are evolutionarily favoured by conferring increased chances of survival and fertility. Here, we leveraged on the existing findings from genome-wide association studies and large-scale surveys of positive natural selection to evaluate whether there is currently any evidence to support the Thrifty Gene hypothesis. We first assess whether the existing genetic associations with obesity and T2D are located in genomic regions that are reported to be under positive selection, and if so, whether the risk alleles sit on the extended haplotype forms. In addition, we interrogate whether these risk alleles are the derived forms that differ from the ancestral alleles, and whether there is significant evidence of population differentiation at these SNPs between East Asian and European populations. Our systematic survey did not yield conclusive evidence to support the Thrifty Gene hypothesis as a possible explanation for the differences observed between East Asians and Europeans.     

Can the American Thyroid Association,K-Tirads,and Acr-Tirads Ultrasound Classification Systems Be Used to Predict Malignancy in Bethesda Category IV Nodules?

Objective: Management of thyroid nodules with Bethesda category III and IV cytology on fine needle aspiration (FNA) is challenging as they cannot be adequately classified as benign or malignant. Ultrasound (US) patterns have demonstrated the utility in evaluating the risk of malignancy (ROM) of Bethesda category III nodules. This study aims to evaluate the value of 3 well-established US grading systems (American Thyroid Association [ATA], Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System [Korean-TIRADS], and The American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System [ACR-TIRADS]) in determining ROM in Bethesda category IV nodules.Methods: Ninety-two patients with 92 surgically resected thyroid nodules who had Bethesda category IV cytology on FNA were identified. Nodule images were retrospectively graded using the 3 systems in a blinded manner. Associations between US risk category and malignant pathology for each system were analyzed.Results: Of the 92 nodules, 56 (61%) were benign and 36 (39%) were malignant. Forty-seven per cent of ATA high risk nodules, 53% of K-TIRADS category 5 nodules, and 50% of ACR-TIRADS category 5 nodules were malignant. The ATA high-risk category had 25% sensitivity, 82% specificity, 47% positive predictive value (PPV) for malignancy. K-TIRADS category 5 had 25% sensitivity, 85% specificity, 53% PPV for malignancy. ACR-TIRADS category 5 had 25% sensitivity, 84% specificity, 50% PPV for malignancy. None of the 3 grading systems yielded a statistically significant correlation between US risk category and the ROM (P = .30, .72, .28).Conclusion: The ATA, Korean-TIRADS, and ACR-TIRADS classification systems are not helpful in stratifying ROM in patients with Bethesda category IV nodules. Clinicians should be cautious of using ultra-sound alone when deciding between therapeutic options for patients with Bethesda category IV thyroid nodules.     

Can Body Condition and Somatic Indices be Used to Evaluate Metal-Induced Stress in Wild Small Mammals?

Wildlife is exposed to natural (e.g., food availability and quality, parasitism) and anthropogenic stressors (e.g., habitat fragmentation, toxicants). Individual variables (e.g., age, gender) affect behaviour and physiology of animals. Together, these parameters can create both great inter-individual variations in health indicators and interpretation difficulties. We investigated the relevance of body condition and somatic indices (liver, kidneys) as indicators of health status in wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus, n = 560) captured along a metal pollution gradient in four landscape types (30 sampling squares 500-m sided). The indices were calculated using a recently proposed standard major axis regression instead of an ordinary least square regression. After considering age and gender for the body condition index, no landscape type influence was detected in the indices. However, important index variability was observed between sampling squares; this effect was included as a random effect in linear models. After integrating all individual and environmental variables that may affect the indices, cadmium (Cd) concentrations in both the liver and kidneys were negatively related to body condition and liver indices only for individuals from highly contaminated sites. Lead in the liver was negatively related to the liver index, and Cd in kidneys was positively linked to the kidney index, potentially suggesting metal-induced stress. However, interpretation of these indices as a wildlife ecotoxicology tool should be performed with caution due to the sensitivity of potentially confounding variables (e.g., individual factors and environmental parameters).     

Can the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale - Self-Report Version Be Used to Differentiate Clinical and Non-Clinical SAD Groups among Brazilians?

Background

The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) was the first evaluation instrument developed for screening for the signs and symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and is currently still the most used worldwide. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of the LSAS - self-report version (LSAS-SR) to discriminate different Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) clinical groups.

Method

The sample was composed of Brazilians university students, allocated into three different groups, i.e., cases (C=118), non-cases (NC=95) and subclinical cases (SC=39). To achieve the aim, calculations of the ROC Curve and ANOVA were performed.

Results

The results found were excellent regardless of the technique used, highlighting the discriminatory capacity of the LSAS-SR. The score equal to or greater than 32 is suggested as a cutoff score for the Brazilian population, since this presented balance between the standards evaluated and the ability to differentiate both clinical and subclinical SAD cases from non-cases.

Conclusion

Despite the specific sample used in this study being composed only of university students, the use of the LSAS-SR can be indicated, in the Brazilian setting, for SAD screening in both clinical and research contexts.     

Pattern of Statin Use in Southern Italian Primary Care: Can Prescription Databases Be Used for Monitoring Long-Term Adherence to the Treatment?

Objectives

We sought to evaluate the prescribing pattern of statins according to national and regional health policy interventions and to assess specifically the adherence to the therapy in outpatient setting in Southern Italy.

Methods

A population-based study was performed on persons ≥15 years old, living in the catchment area of Caserta (Southern Italy), and registered in Arianna database between 2004 and 2010. Prevalence and incidence of new treatments with statins were calculated for each year and stratified by drug. Adherence to therapy was measured by Medication Possession Ratio. Sub-analyses by individual compound and type of cardiovascular prevention were performed.

Results

From 2004 to 2010, the one-year prevalence of statin use increased from 44.9/1,000 inhabitants to 79.8/1,000, respectively, consistently with the incidence of new use from 16.2/1,000 to 19.5/1,000, except a slight decrease after criteria reimbursement revision on 2005 (13.3/1,000). The incidence of new treatments decreased for atorvastatin, and increased for simvastatin over the study years. Overall, 43% of new users were still highly adherent to the treatment (MPR≥80%) after six months, while 26% after 4-years of follow-up. As compared with highly adherent patients, the probability to be non-adherent (MPR≤25%) at 4-years of follow-up was 26% higher for women than for men (full adj. odds ratio: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10–1.45), and 64% higher in patients who started on primary rather than on secondary prevention (1.64; 1.29–2.07).

Conclusions

Prevalence and incidence of statin use increased consistently with health policy interventions. Only one-fourth of patients who newly initiated a statin were adherent to the treatment after 4-year of follow-up. Since the benefits of statins in terms of cardiovascular outcome and costs are associated with their chronic use, the identification of patient-related predictors of non-adherence such as gender, primary prevention could be suitable for physicians to improve the patients'' compliance.     

Can Biomethane Potential (BMP) Be Predicted from Other Variables Such As Biochemical Composition in Lignocellulosic Biomass and Related Organic Residues?

The potential of methane production by anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass depends not only on the availability of the resources in the considered territory, but also on their physico-chemical characteristics. Relevant methods of characterization are, therefore, needed to select and possibly combine the most appropriate biomass substrates in order to optimize energy recovery through anaerobic digestion processes. The objective of the present study was to determine whether biomethane potential of such substrates could be predicted from a limited number of variables more rapidly or determined more easily. A set of 36 biomass substrates and organic residues from a variety of origins was analyzed for total and easily hydrosoluble organic matter fractions (volatile solid, VS and soluble chemical oxygen demand, SCOD), neutral detergent soluble fraction (SOL), hemicelluloses (HEM), cellulose (CELL), and lignin-like residual fractions (RES). Bioreactivity of all samples was also measured by experimental assays (biochemical oxygen demand, BOD and biochemical methane potential, BMP). The whole set of data thereby obtained was analyzed statistically considering one dependent variable (BMP), and six independent variables (SCOD, SOL, HEM, CELL, RES, and BOD). Partial least square (PLS) analysis revealed very clearly a positive correlation between BMP and BOD, which were both anti-correlated with RES. On the other hand, no correlations were observed between BMP, SCOD, HEM, and CELL contents. PLS analysis showed that BMP was significantly correlated to the six independent variables. The most influential variables were found to be RES and BOD, and a polynomial model was successfully validated for the prediction of BMP from RES and BOD.     

Can Patient Safety Incident Reports Be Used to Compare Hospital Safety? Results from a Quantitative Analysis of the English National Reporting and Learning System Data

Background

The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) collects reports about patient safety incidents in England. Government regulators use NRLS data to assess the safety of hospitals. This study aims to examine whether annual hospital incident reporting rates can be used as a surrogate indicator of individual hospital safety. Secondly assesses which hospital characteristics are correlated with high incident reporting rates and whether a high reporting hospital is safer than those lower reporting hospitals. Finally, it assesses which health-care professionals report more incidents of patient harm, which report more near miss incidents and what hospital factors encourage reporting. These findings may suggest methods for increasing the utility of reporting systems.

Methods

This study used a mix methods approach for assessing NRLS data. The data were investigated using Pareto analysis and regression models to establish which patients are most vulnerable to reported harm. Hospital factors were correlated with institutional reporting rates over one year to examine what factors influenced reporting. Staff survey findings regarding hospital safety culture were correlated with reported rates of incidents causing harm; no harm and death to understand what barriers influence error disclosure.

Findings

5,879,954 incident reports were collected from acute hospitals over the decade. 70.3% of incidents produced no harm to the patient and 0.9% were judged by the reporter to have caused severe harm or death. Obstetrics and Gynaecology reported the most no harm events [OR 1.61(95%CI: 1.12 to 2.27), p<0.01] and pharmacy was the hospital location where most near-misses were captured [OR 3.03(95%CI: 2.04 to 4.55), p<0.01]. Clinicians were significantly more likely to report death than other staff [OR 3.04(95%CI: 2.43 to 3.80) p<0.01]. A higher ratio of clinicians to beds correlated with reduced rate of harm reported [RR = -1.78(95%Cl: -3.33 to -0.23), p = 0.03]. Litigation claims per bed were significantly negatively associated with incident reports. Patient satisfaction and mortality outcomes were not significantly associated with reporting rates. Staff survey responses revealed that keeping reports confidential, keeping staff informed about incidents and giving feedback on safety initiatives increased reporting rates [r = 0.26 (p<0.01), r = 0.17 (p = 0.04), r = 0.23 (p = 0.01), r = 0.20 (p = 0.02)].

Conclusion

The NRLS is the largest patient safety reporting system in the world. This study did not demonstrate many hospital characteristics to significantly influence overall reporting rate. There were no association between size of hospital, number of staff, mortality outcomes or patient satisfaction outcomes and incident reporting rate. The study did show that hospitals where staff reported more incidents had reduced litigation claims and when clinician staffing is increased fewer incidents reporting patient harm are reported, whilst near misses remain the same. Certain specialties report more near misses than others, and doctors report more harm incidents than near misses. Staff survey results showed that open environments and reduced fear of punitive response increases incident reporting. We suggest that reporting rates should not be used to assess hospital safety. Different healthcare professionals focus on different types of safety incidents and focusing on these areas whilst creating a responsive, confidential learning environment will increase staff engagement with error disclosure.     

Can Ca2+ Fluxes to the Root Xylem Be Sustained by Ca2+-ATPases in Exodermal and Endodermal Plasma Membranes?

The pathway of Ca2+ movement from the soil solution into the root stele has been a subject of controversy. If transport through the endodermis is assumed to be through the cytoplasm, the limiting factor is believed to be the active pumping of Ca2+ from the cytoplasm into the stele apoplast through the plasma membrane lying on the stele side of the Casparian band. By analogy, for similar transport through the exodermis, the limiting step would be the active pumping into the apoplast on the central cortical side of the layer. Such effluxes are mediated by Ca2+-ATPases. To assess whether or not known Ca2+ fluxes to the stele in onion (Allium cepa) roots could be supported by Ca2+-ATPases, the percentages of total membrane protein particles required to effect the transport were calculated using measured values of membrane surface areas, an animal literature value for Ca2+-ATPase V(max), plant literature values for Ca2+-ATPase K(m), and protein densities of relevant membranes. Effects of a putative symplastic movement of Ca2+ from the exo- or endodermis into the next cell layer, which would increase the surface areas available for pumping, were also considered. Depending on the assumptions applied, densities of Ca2+ pumps, calculated as a percentage of total membrane protein particles, varied tremendously between three and 1,600 for the endodermis, and between 0.94 and 1,900 for the exodermis. On the basis of the data, the possibility of Ca2+ transport through the cytoplasm and membranes of the exodermis and endodermis cannot be discounted. Thus, it is premature to assign an entirely apoplastic pathway for Ca2+ movement from the soil solution to the tracheary elements of the xylem. To verify any conclusion with certainty, more detailed data are required for the characteristics of exo- and endodermal Ca2+-ATPases.