Intraoperative breast radiotherapy: survival,local control and risk factors for recurrence

BackgroundWhole breast irradiation reduces loco-regional recurrence and risk of death in patients submitted to breast-conserving treatment. Data show that radiation to the index quadrant alone may be enough in selected patients.AimTo report the experience with intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) with Electron-beam Cone in Linear Accelerator (ELIOT) and the results in overall survival, local control and late toxicity of patients submitted to this treatment.Materials and Methods147 patients treated with a median follow up of 6.9 years (0.1?11.5 years). The actuarial local control and overall survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan Meier method. All tests were two-sided and p ? 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOverall survival of the cohort in 5 years, in the median follow up and in 10 years was of 98.3%, 95.1% and 95.1%, respectively, whereas local control in 5 years, in the median follow up and in 10 years was of 96%, 94.9% and 89.5%, respectively. Two risk groups were identified for local recurrence depending on the estrogen or progesterone receptors, axillary or margin status and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p = 0.016).ConclusionsIORT is a safe and effective treatment. Rigorous selection is important to achieve excellent local control results.     

Diversity and trophic structure of insects associated with grains of three maize landraces in San Agustín Loxicha,Oaxaca, Mexico

Diversity and trophic structure of grain insect communities were examined in Olotillo, Nal‐Tel and Comiteco maize landraces cultivated within a milpa agroecosystem by Zapotec ethnic groups in Mexico. Higher insect diversity was expected in Olotillo, whose cultivation comprises a wide variety of agroecosystems, and low insect abundance in Nal‐Tel with small grains and thick testa. Forty Olotillo cobs were collected at low, medium and high elevations, and 40 each of Nal‐Tel at low elevation and Comiteco at high elevation. Cobs were monitored for 30 days under controlled laboratory conditions until all insects emerged. Thickness of testa of 400 grains from each landrace was measured. Community composition and trophic structure were described and standard diversity indices were estimated. A total of 9,708 insects, corresponding to five orders, 24 families and 36 species, were recorded, with six species not previously reported in this region. Insect guilds were composed of 70% phytophages, 22% parasitoids and 8% predators. Species richness was S = 27, 16 and 8 in Olotillo, Comiteco and Nal‐Tel, respectively. Nal‐Tel and Olotillo had the highest diversity index values (H′ = 1.32 and 1.2, respectively) and no significant differences; Comiteco had the lowest value (H′ = 0.65) and differed significantly from the other landraces. Comiteco and Olotillo, which have large grains and thin testa, showed higher insect abundance than Nal‐Tel, which has small grains and thick testa and showed lower abundance. Results support our hypotheses and highlight the role of traditional crop management in insect agrobiodiversity maintenance and conservation.     

Protist Biodiversity and Biogeography in Lakes From Four Brazilian River–Floodplain Systems

The biodiversity and biogeography of protists inhabiting many ecosystems have been intensely studied using different sequencing approaches, but tropical ecosystems are relatively under‐studied. Here, we sampled planktonic waters from 32 lakes associated with four different river–floodplains systems in Brazil, and sequenced the DNA using a metabarcoding approach with general eukaryotic primers. The lakes were dominated by the largely free‐living Discoba (mostly the Euglenida), Ciliophora, and Ochrophyta. There was low community similarity between lakes even within the same river–floodplain. The protists inhabiting these floodplain systems comprise part of the large and relatively undiscovered diversity in the tropics.     

The rate of environmental fluctuations shapes ecological dynamics in a two‐species microbial system

Species interactions change when the external conditions change. How these changes affect microbial community properties is an open question. We address this question using a two‐species consortium in which species interactions change from exploitation to competition depending on the carbon source provided. We built a mathematical model and calibrated it using single‐species growth measurements. This model predicted that low frequencies of change between carbon sources lead to species loss, while intermediate and high frequencies of change maintained both species. We experimentally confirmed these predictions by growing co‐cultures in fluctuating environments. These findings complement more established concepts of a diversity peak at intermediate disturbance frequencies. They also provide a mechanistic understanding for how the dynamics at the community level emerges from single‐species behaviours and interspecific interactions. Our findings suggest that changes in species interactions can profoundly impact the ecological dynamics and properties of microbial systems.     

A methodology for numerically analysing the hepatic artery haemodynamics during B-TACE: a proof of concept

Balloon-occluded transarterial chemoembolisation (B-TACE) is an intraarterial transcatheter treatment for liver cancer. In B-TACE, an artery-occluding microballoon catheter occludes an artery and promotes collateral circulation for drug delivery to tumours. This paper presents a methodology for analysing the haemodynamics during B-TACE, by combining zero-dimensional and three-dimensional modelling tools. As a proof of concept, we apply the methodology to a patient-specific hepatic artery geometry and analyse two catheter locations. Results show that the blood flow redistribution can be predicted in this proof-of-concept study, suggesting that this approach could potentially be used to optimise catheter location.     

Pesticide exposure affects flight dynamics and reduces flight endurance in bumblebees

The emergence of agricultural land use change creates a number of challenges that insect pollinators, such as eusocial bees, must overcome. Resultant fragmentation and loss of suitable foraging habitats, combined with pesticide exposure, may increase demands on foraging, specifically the ability to collect or reach sufficient resources under such stress. Understanding effects that pesticides have on flight performance is therefore vital if we are to assess colony success in these changing landscapes. Neonicotinoids are one of the most widely used classes of pesticide across the globe, and exposure to bees has been associated with reduced foraging efficiency and homing ability. One explanation for these effects could be that elements of flight are being affected, but apart from a couple of studies on the honeybee (Apis mellifera), this has scarcely been tested. Here, we used flight mills to investigate how exposure to a field realistic (10 ppb) acute dose of imidacloprid affected flight performance of a wild insect pollinator—the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris audax. Intriguingly, observations showed exposed workers flew at a significantly higher velocity over the first ¾ km of flight. This apparent hyperactivity, however, may have a cost because exposed workers showed reduced flight distance and duration to around a third of what control workers were capable of achieving. Given that bumblebees are central place foragers, impairment to flight endurance could translate to a decline in potential forage area, decreasing the abundance, diversity, and nutritional quality of available food, while potentially diminishing pollination service capabilities.     

The gap junction protein connexin32 interacts with the Src homology 3/hook domain of discs large homolog 1

Scaffolding of membrane proteins is a common strategy for forming complexes of proteins, including some connexins, within membrane microdomains. Here we describe studies indicating that Cx32 interacts with a PDZ-containing scaffolding protein, Dlgh1 (Discs Large homolog 1). Initial screens of liver lysates using antibody arrays indicated an interaction between Cx32 and Dlgh1 that was confirmed using coimmunoprecipitation studies. Yeast two-hybrid complementation determined that the Cx32 bound via interaction with the SH3/Hook domain of Dlgh1. Confocal microscopy of liver sections revealed that Cx32 and Dlgh1 could colocalize in hepatocyte membranes in wild type mice. Examination of levels and localization of Dlgh1 in livers from Cx32 null mice indicate that, in the absence of Cx32, Dlgh1 was decreased, and the remainder was translocated from the hepatocyte membrane to the nucleus with some remaining in cytoplasmic compartments. This translocation was confirmed by Western blots comparing Dlgh1 levels in nuclear extracts from wild type and Cx32 null murine livers. Using SKHep cells stably transfected with Cx32 under the control of a tet-off promoter, we found that acute removal of Cx32 led to a decrease of membrane-localized Dlgh1 and an increase in the nuclear localization of this tumor suppressor protein. Together, these results suggest that loss of Cx32 alters the levels, localization, and interactions of the tumor suppressor protein Dlgh1, events known in other systems to alter cell cycle and increase tumorigenicity.     

Effect of the inclusion of food waste in pig diets on growth performance, carcass and meat quality

Food waste from fish and fruit shops was used as an alternative to the grain in grower-finisher pig diets. Two diets were formulated on an iso-nutrient basis (14 MJ digestible energy per kg, 160 g crude protein per kg on a dry-matter basis) to contain 0 g of food waste per kg in the control diet and 50 g of fish-shop waste per kg and 120 g of fruit-shop waste per kg in the experimental diet. In the study, 28 pigs per diet (seven pigs per pen) were fed ad libitum from 20 kg to 100 kg, then, they were slaughtered and the carcass characteristics determined. The inclusion of food waste in the diet had no significant effect (P>0.05) on average daily feed intake (2.12 v. 2.20 kg/day), average daily gain (0.74 v. 0.78 kg/day), or gain/feed (0.35 v. 0.35 kg per kg). In the case of the experimental diet, backfat thickness was significantly lower (18.0 v. 21.3 mm, P < 0.01). The results of the taste test indicated that the meat from food waste-fed pigs had acceptable organoleptic quality although a very light aroma to fish was observed in the bacon (P < 0.01).It was concluded that food waste from the fish and fruit shops could be included in grower-finisher pig diets without any detrimental effect on growth performance and only minor effects on carcass characteristics and meat quality.