While flowering plants have diversified in virtually every terrestrial clime, climate constrains the distribution of individual lineages. Overcoming climatic constraints may be associated with diverse evolutionary phenomena including whole genome duplication (WGD), gene-tree conflict, and life-history changes. Climatic shifts may also have facilitated increases in flowering plant diversification rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis retrospective study assessed maxillary premolar and molar teeth and identified roots with incomplete apical bone coverage using cone beam computed tomography in 161 dogs. The associated dorsal anatomic sites that the roots communicated with were the ventral nasal meatus, maxillary recess, infraorbital canal, and pterygopalatine fossa. The study found that all roots of the maxillary premolar and molar teeth have the potential for incomplete apical bone coverage, with 26.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dynamic and complex health systems require innovative and adaptive solutions to support patient safety and achieve equitable health outcomes for Indigenous populations. Understanding the ways by which Indigenous (and specifically Māori) nurse practitioners (NPs) practice patient safety is key to enhancing Indigenous health outcomes in predominantly westernized healthcare systems.
Aim: To describe Māori NPs perspectives on patient safety when caring for Māori and understand how Māori NPs deliver safe health care.
Bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) are hematophagous ectoparasites of bats characterized by viviparous pupiparity and generally high host specificity. Nycteribiid bat flies are wingless, morphologically constrained, and are most diverse in the Eastern Hemisphere. Africa hosts approximately 22% of global bat biodiversity and nearly one-third of all African bat species occur in Kenya, one of Africa's most bat-rich countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis involves the deposition of insoluble monoclonal AL protein fibrils in the extracellular space of different organs leading to dysfunction and death. Development of methods to efficiently express and purify AL proteins with acceptable standards of homogeneity and structural integrity has become critical to understand the in vitro and in vivo aspects of AL protein aggregation, and thus the disease progression. In this study, we report the biophysical characterization of His-tagged and untagged versions of AL full-length (FL) κI and λ6 subgroup proteins and their mutants expressed from the Expi293F human cell line.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSummary: Primary hyperparathyroidism most commonly presents with hypercalcaemia. Rarely, parathyroid apoplexy or haemorrhage mimicking a thyroid bleeding cyst is the first presentation of a parathyroid adenoma. A woman presented with a sudden-onset painful 'goitre'.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile sex differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been identified in areas such as neurocognitive functioning, behavior patterns, and diagnostic criteria, less work has focused on differences within females referred for ASD evaluation, including those who did not go on to receive a diagnosis. This study examined psychological and behavioral characteristics and co-occurring and differential DSM-5 diagnoses between pediatric female participants who received an ASD diagnosis (ASD+) and those who did not (ASD-). Data on cognitive functioning, adaptive functioning, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and ADOS-2 scores were analyzed among 137 3- to 20-year-old patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba that acts as an opportunistic pathogen for humans and is the pathogenic agent of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). A. castellanii may present as proliferative and infective trophozoites or as resistant cysts during their life cycle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne mechanism proposed to explain high species diversity in tropical systems is strong negative conspecific density dependence (CDD), which reduces recruitment of juveniles in proximity to conspecific adult plants. Although evidence shows that plant-specific soil pathogens can drive negative CDD, trees also form key mutualisms with mycorrhizal fungi, which may counteract these effects. Across 43 large-scale forest plots worldwide, we tested whether ectomycorrhizal tree species exhibit weaker negative CDD than arbuscular mycorrhizal tree species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper describes and illustrates five new species of (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) associated with tropical American bat flies (Diptera, Streblidae). These are sp. nov.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiet analysis is a vital tool for understanding trophic interactions and is frequently used to inform conservation and management. Molecular approaches can identify diet items that are impossible to distinguish using more traditional visual-based methods. Yet, our understanding of how different variables, such as predator species or prey ration size, influence molecular diet analysis is still incomplete.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Ionic transport in is the object of intense studies. expresses a Fe-reductase (TcFR) and a Fe transporter (TcIT). We investigated the effect of Fe depletion and Fe supplementation on different structures and functions of epimastigotes in culture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe retrospectively evaluated how accurately preoperative imaging localizes parathyroid adenoma in superior versus inferior parathyroids. Over 6 years, 104 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism underwent parathyroid surgery in a single centre. Of these, 103 underwent ultrasound, 97 [Tc]pertechnetate/MIBI SPECT/CT and 30 [F]fluorocholine (FCH) PET/CT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe angiosperm family Primulaceae is morphologically diverse and distributed nearly worldwide. However, phylogenetic uncertainty has obstructed the identification of major morphological and biogeographic transitions within the clade. We used target capture sequencing with the Angiosperms353 probes, taxon-sampling encompassing nearly all genera of the family, tree-based sequence curation, and multiple phylogenetic approaches to investigate the major clades of Primulaceae and their relationship to other Ericales.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn addition to their standard inorganic phosphate (Pi) nutritional function, Pi transporters have additional roles in several cells, including Pi sensing (the so-called transceptor) and a crucial role in Pi metabolism, where they control several phenotypes, such as virulence in pathogens and tumour aggressiveness in cancer cells. Thus, intracellular Pi concentration should be tightly regulated by the fine control of intake and storage in organelles. Pi transporters are classified into two groups: the Pi transporter (PiT) family, also known as the Pi:Na symporter family; and the Pi:H symporter (PHS) family.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiofilm formation is an adaptive resistance mechanism that pathogens employ to survive in the presence of antimicrobials. is an infectious Gram-negative bacterium whose biofilm allows it to withstand antimicrobial attack and threaten human health. Chronic wound healing is often impeded by infections and the associated biofilms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLight Chain (AL) Amyloidosis is a plasma cell dyscrasia producing amyloidogenic light chains (LC) that misfold and form amyloid deposits that cause damage in vital organs, primarily the heart and kidneys. Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) are nanoparticles produced by renal epithelial cells throughout the nephron. We previously showed that uEVs from active renal AL amyloidosis patients contain LC oligomers that are large (>250kDa), resistant to heat and chemical denaturation, but of low abundance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate preoperative imaging modalities for localization of parathyroid adenomas with a view to enable minimally invasive parathyroidectomy and in particular, to consider the contribution of F-fluorocholine-PET/CT. 104 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, who underwent parathyroid surgery in a single centre during a 6-year period were included. Of these, 103 underwent ultrasound, 97 Tc-Pertechnetate/SestaMIBI-SPECT, 20 MRI and 30 F-fluorocholine-PET/CT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelehealth is a promising modality for Part C early intervention (EI), services typically implemented face-to-face in home and community settings. Barriers to telehealth in EI reported prior to COVID-19 included lack of training and access to reliable internet. The abrupt telehealth shift at the onset of the pandemic did not permit a phased adoption approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuitable habitat fragment size, isolation, and distance from a source are important variables influencing community composition of plants and animals, but the role of these environmental factors in determining composition and variation of host-associated microbial communities is poorly known. In parasite-associated microbial communities, it is hypothesized that evolution and ecology of an arthropod parasite will influence its microbiome more than broader environmental factors, but this hypothesis has not been extensively tested. To examine the influence of the broader environment on the parasite microbiome, we applied high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA to characterize the microbiome of 222 obligate ectoparasitic bat flies (Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) collected from 155 bats (representing six species) from ten habitat fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiardia duodenalis is a flagellated protozoan that inhabits vertebrate host intestines, causing the disease known as giardiasis. Similar to other parasites, G. duodenalis must take advantage of environmental resources to survive, such as inorganic phosphate (P) availability.
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