Six-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial of i-FACTOR Peptide-Enhanced Bone Graft Versus Local Autograft in Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

Background: Previous analyses of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational Device Exemption study demonstrated the superiority of i-FACTOR compared with local autograft bone in single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) at 12 and 24 months postoperatively in a composite end point of overall success.

Objective: To report the final, 6-year clinical and radiological outcomes of the FDA postapproval study.

Methods: Of the original 319 subjects enrolled in the Investigational Device Exemption study, 220 participated in the postapproval study (106 i-FACTOR and 114 control).

Two-Year Clinical and Radiological Outcomes in Patients With Diabetes Undergoing Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

Study Design: Secondary analysis of data from the multicenter, randomized, parallel-controlled Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational device exemption study.

Objective: Studies on outcomes following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) in individuals with diabetes are scarce. We compared 24-month radiological and clinical outcomes in individuals with and without diabetes undergoing single-level ACDF with either i-FACTOR or local autologous bone.

Genomic Signatures of Reinforcement.

Reinforcement is the process by which selection against hybridization increases reproductive isolation between taxa. Much research has focused on demonstrating the existence of reinforcement, yet relatively little is known about the genetic basis of reinforcement or the evolutionary conditions under which reinforcement can occur. Inspired by reinforcement's characteristic phenotypic pattern of reproductive trait divergence in sympatry but not in allopatry, we discuss whether reinforcement also leaves a distinct genomic pattern.

Hybridization in Plants: Old Ideas, New Techniques.

Hybridization has played an important role in the evolution of many lineages. With the growing availability of genomic tools and advancements in genomic analyses, it is becoming increasingly clear that gene flow between divergent taxa can generate new phenotypic diversity, allow for adaptation to novel environments, and contribute to speciation. Hybridization can have immediate phenotypic consequences through the expression of hybrid vigor.