Trends in the consumption of opioids for the treatment of severe pain in Europe, 1990-2016.

Background: Over the last decades, consumption of opioids for the treatment of pain increased steadily in the United States, Australia, and a few European countries. To date, no study has analysed time trends in opioid consumption across Europe.

Methods: We analysed data provided by International Narcotics Control Boards on the consumption of fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone and pethidine in 40 European countries over the last decade.

Use of and barriers to access to opioid analgesics: a worldwide, regional, and national study.

Background: Despite opioid analgesics being essential for pain relief, use has been inadequate in many countries. We aim to provide up-to-date worldwide, regional, and national data for changes in opioid analgesic use, and to analyse the relation of impediments to use of these medicines.

Methods: We calculated defined daily doses for statistical purposes (S-DDD) per million inhabitants per day of opioid analgesics worldwide and for regions and countries from 2001 to 2013, and we used generalised estimating equation analysis to assess longitudinal change in use.

DLX3 regulates bone mass by targeting genes supporting osteoblast differentiation and mineral homeostasis in vivo.

Human mutations and in vitro studies indicate that DLX3 has a crucial function in bone development, however, the in vivo role of DLX3 in endochondral ossification has not been established. Here, we identify DLX3 as a central attenuator of adult bone mass in the appendicular skeleton. Dynamic bone formation, histologic and micro-computed tomography analyses demonstrate that in vivo DLX3 conditional loss of function in mesenchymal cells (Prx1-Cre) and osteoblasts (OCN-Cre) results in increased bone mass accrual observed as early as 2 weeks that remains elevated throughout the lifespan owing to increased osteoblast activity and increased expression of bone matrix genes.

Life cycle completion of parasite Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Apicomplexa: Lecudinidae) in non-native host Ochlerotatus japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Lien and Levine), a protist gut parasite of Aedes albopictus (Skuse), is not known to complete its life cycle within the potential competitor species, Ochlerotatus japonicus (Theobald). In a laboratory cross infection study we demonstrated that A. taiwanensis completed its life cycle within Oc.

APOBEC3 versus Retroviruses, Immunity versus Invasion: Clash of the Titans.

Since the identification of APOBEC3G (A3G) as a potent restriction factor of HIV-1, a tremendous amount of effort has led to a broadened understanding of both A3G and the APOBEC3 (A3) family to which it belongs. In spite of the fine-tuned viral counterattack to A3 activity, in the form of the HIV-1 Vif protein, enthusiasm for leveraging the Vif : A3G axis as a point of clinical intervention remains high. In an impressive explosion of information over the last decade, additional A3 family members have been identified as antiviral proteins, mechanistic details of the restrictive capacity of these proteins have been elucidated, structure-function studies have revealed important molecular details of the Vif : A3G interaction, and clinical cohorts have been scrutinized for correlations between A3 expression and function and viral pathogenesis.