The morphology of the preimaginal stages of Squamapion elongatum (Germar, 1817) (Coleoptera,Curculionoidea, Apionidae) and notes on its biology

Data on the morphology of the egg, mature larva (L₃) and pupa of Squamapion elongatum (Germar, 1817) are presented. The development cycle of this species lasts 51–54 days: a 12-day egg period, a 30-day larval period, and a 12-day pupal period, on average. The larvae are attacked by parasitic hymenopterans of the superfamily Chalcidoidea.     

Polymorphism of 9p21.3 Locus Is Associated with 5-Year Survival in High-Risk Patients with Myocardial Infarction

Objective

The rs10757278, rs1333049 and rs4977574 are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of chromosome 9p21 locus associated with a prevalence of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Reports concerning their association with long-term outcome after an ACS are equivocal. The aim of our study was to investigate the association of the 9p21.3 locus with 5-year overall mortality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Materials and methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively in 2 independent registries of consecutive patients with STEMI (derivation and validation group). Genotyping was performed with the TaqMan method. The analyzed end-point was total mortality.

Results

The derivation group comprised 589 patients: 25.3% female (n = 149), mean age 62.4±12.0 years, total 5-year mortality 16.6% (n = 98). When all the study group was analyzed, no significant differences in mortality were found between the genotypes. However, in high-risk patients (GRACE risk score ≥155 points, n = 238), homozygotes associated with higher risk for ACS had significantly better 5-year survival compared to other genotypes. The hazard ratio associated with the high-risk genotype (a homozygote of high risk for ACS or a heterozygote) was: HR = 2.2 (1.15–4.2) for the rs10757278 polymorphism, HR = 2.7 (95% CI 1.3–5.4) for the rs4977574 one and HR = 2.3 (1.2–4.5) for the rs1333049 one (Cox proportional hazards model). Survival analysis in the validation group (n = 365) showed a clear trend towards better prognosis in GG homozygotes of the rs10757278 SNP, which confirms our initial results (p = 0.09, log-rank test).

Conclusions

The 9p21.3 locus is associated with 5-year mortality in high-risk patients with STEMI. The genotypes associated with higher risk for ACS show a protective effect in terms of further survival (instead of a deteriorating prognosis, as reported previously). This finding, due to the very high size of the effect, could potentially be applied to clinical practice, if appropriate methods are elaborated.     

Ocular findings in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing haemodialysis

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the ocular findings in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) undergoing haemodialysis (HD). In 64 patients undergoing haemodialysis (30 female and 34 male), aged 24-83 years (mean 58 years) on haemodialysis 1-213 months (mean 47 months) complete ocular examination were performed: visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure (IOP), biomicroscopic examination and fundoscopy. On right eye sixty-nine percent of patents had VA 0.6 or better, and on left eye 84% of patients had VA 0.6 or better. Mean IOP before dialysis was 15 mmHg and after dialysis was 14 mmHg. In 9 patients (14%) we found corneo-conjunctival calcium deposits. No correlation of ocular calcification and parathyroid hormone (PTH) level or calcium and phosphate product were observed. 39 (60%) patients had cataract. Hypertensive vascular changes were seen in 44 (68%) patients and in 6 (7%) patients age-related macular degeneration. Seven patients had diabetes mellitus and in 5 diabetic retinopathy was observed. Patients with CRF or who are receiving HD represent unique group of patients. Pathologic change could be found in many tissue and organs, therefore we suggest ocular examination more frequently in dialysis patients.     

Using numerical approximation as an intermediate step in analytical derivations: some observations from biomechanics

We present four examples to illustrate the use of a type of numerical approximation as an intermediate step in analytical derivation of seemingly complicated biomechanical equations. The method involves examination of curve shapes to elucidate useful underlying trends, which may otherwise be overlooked through consideration of only the equations themselves. Two examples of the method's use are drawn from recently published results in the area of experimental methods in biomechanics of very soft tissues, and two others are taken from our current work on cartilage tissue mechanics. We think that such observations provide a useful means of circumventing complexity issues when deriving models for biomechanical analysis, and further that the method, while simple in concept, could be effective in a range of biomechanics applications.     

Origin of the disjunct tetraploid Cardamine amporitana (Brassicaceae) assessed with nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data

Seventy-four nucleotide sequences from the ITS regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA and 76 from the trnL-trnF spacer of chloroplast DNA were used to address the origin of tetraploid Cardamine amporitana, the conspecifity of central Italian and northeastern Spanish populations, and the possible cause for such geographic disjunction. Because of the complex lineage relationships in Cardamine, the sampling included 22 taxa. In the results, both data sets are highly congruent in supporting a close relationship of C. amporitana to the widespread Eurasian C. amara. Low genetic variability in northeastern Spanish populations of C. amporitana suggests long-distance dispersal from central Italy. The interior position of the single northeastern Spanish haplotype in a statistical parsimony network of trnL-trnF haplotypes however does not support this scenario and invokes other plausible phylogeographic explanations. The disappearance of geographically intermediate populations and genetic impoverishment by migration and isolation, both probably associated with Quaternary climatic oscillations, appears as an alternative hypothesis to explain the phylogeographic pattern. A recent hybridization event is reported between C. amporitana and a diploid from the C. pratensis group in central Italy on the basis of additive polymorphisms in ITS for all the 22 distinguishing nucleotides.