Taken to extremes: Loss of plastid rpl32 in Streptophyta and Cuscuta's unconventional solution for its replacement.

The evolution of plant genomes is riddled with exchanges of genetic material within one plant (endosymbiotic gene transfer/EGT) and between unrelated plants (horizontal gene transfer/HGT). These exchanges have left their marks on plant genomes. Parasitic plants with their special evolutionary niche provide ample examples for these processes because they are under a reduced evolutionary pressure to maintain autotrophy and thus to conserve their plastid genomes.

Arterial to jugular-bulb lactate difference in patients undergoing elective brain tumor craniotomy.

Hyperlactatemia is common during tumor craniotomy, but the underlying pathophysiology is unclear. This study measured simultaneous arterial and jugular-bulb lactate concentrations in patients undergoing brain tumor craniotomy to investigate the hypothesis that hyperlactatemia was associated with a net cerebrovascular lactate input. In 20 patients, arterial and jugular-bulb blood was collected hourly from the start of surgery to 6 h postoperatively for measurement of lactate, glucose, and oxygen concentration.

Continuous infusion of resolvin D2 in combination with Angiotensin-II show contrary effects on blood pressure and intracardiac artery remodeling.

Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) are key effectors of resolution of inflammation. This is highly relevant for cardiac and vessel remodeling, where the net inflammatory response contributes to determine disease outcome. Herein, we used a mice model of angiotensin (Ang)-II-induced hypertension to study the effect of the SPM Resolvin D2 (RvD2), on hypertension and cardiac remodeling.

Parasitic dodder expresses an arsenal of secreted cellulases with multi-substrate specificity during host invasion.

Cuscuta campestris is a common and problematic parasitic plant which relies on haustoria to connect to and siphon nutrients from host plants. Glycoside hydrolase family 9 (GH9) cellulases (EC 3.2.

Experiences and results from using a novel clinical feedback system in routine stoma care nurse follow-up of patients with an ostomy: a longitudinal study.

Background: A faecal or urinary ostomy may be lifesaving. However, it involves significant bodily change, and the adjustment process to life with an ostomy includes a broad spectre of physical and psychosocial challenges. Thus, new interventions are needed to improve adaptation to living with an ostomy.

Impact of hyperoxia and phenylephrine on cerebral oxygenation: An experimental clinical study.

Background: Oxygen supply to the brain is of special importance during intracranial surgery because it may be compromised by intracranial pathology. A high arterial blood pressure (mean arterial pressure above 80 mmHg) and a high arterial oxygen tension (PaO above 12 kPa) is therefore often targeted in these patients, when for example intracranial pressure is increased or when a mass effect on brain tissue from a tumour is present, and it is pursued by administering vasopressors such as phenylephrine and by increasing inspiratory oxygen fraction (FiO ). However, whether these interventions increase cerebral oxygenation remains uncertain.

Dynamic cerebral autoregulation during early orthostatic exercise in patients with severe traumatic brain injury: Further exploratory analyses from a randomized clinical feasibility trial.

In patients with severe traumatic brain injury, there is limited evidence of the clinical effect of early orthostatic exercise, although such exercise may strengthen systemic or cerebral hemodynamic responses to head-up tilt, thereby minimizing orthostatic intolerance. We measured dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) and the occurrence of orthostatic intolerance after four weeks of regular orthostatic exercise by head-up tilt using a tilt table with integrated stepping using the ERIGO® tilt-table and comparing it to standard care. Thirty-four patients with severe traumatic brain injury admitted to a neurocritical care unit were included in this randomized clinical trial.

Obesity-induced alterations in the gut microbiome in female mice fed a high-fat diet are antagonized by dietary supplementation with a novel, wax ester-rich, marine oil.

Dietary supplementation with calanus oil, a novel wax ester-rich marine oil, has been shown to reduce adiposity in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Current evidence suggests that obesity and its comorbidities are intrinsically linked with unfavorable changes in the intestinal microbiome. Thus, in line with its antiobesity effect, we hypothesized that dietary supplementation with calanus oil should counteract the obesity-related deleterious changes in the gut microbiota.

Screening for Cellulolytic Plant Enzymes Using Colorimetric and Fluorescence Methods.

Cellulolytic activity can be measured using a variety of methods, the choice of which depends on the raw material and goals. An inexpensive, rapid, and reliable method, suitable for plants and other sources alike, is based on digestion of the easily degradable soluble cellulose derivative carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). Direct detection of CMC digestion by cellulolytic activity is based on the "negative staining principle," where undigested CMC is stained with appropriate colorimetric or fluorescent stains, while CMC exposed to digestion by cellulase shows a reduction in staining intensity.

A new model of patient-reported outcome monitoring with a clinical feedback system in ostomy care: rationale, description and evaluation protocol.

Background: Living with an ostomy can be challenging and adapting to life with an ostomy can be particularly complex, with regard to both the physical and psychosocial aspects. Follow-up with a stoma care nurse (SCN) is usually performed after surgery to support the adaptation process. In the present paper, we describe a new model of ostomy care, where a clinical feedback system (CFS) is implemented in order to improve the adaption process of patients with an ostomy.

Association between maternal gluten intake and type 1 diabetes in offspring: national prospective cohort study in Denmark.

Objective: To examine the association between prenatal gluten exposure and offspring risk of type 1 diabetes in humans.

Design: National prospective cohort study.

Setting: National health information registries in Denmark.

Chronic Recreational Physical Inactivity and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Risk: Evidence from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium.

Background: Despite a large body of literature evaluating the association between recreational physical activity and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk, the extant evidence is inconclusive, and little is known about the independent association between recreational physical inactivity and EOC risk. We conducted a pooled analysis of nine studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium to investigate the association between chronic recreational physical inactivity and EOC risk.

Methods: In accordance with the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, women reporting no regular, weekly recreational physical activity were classified as inactive.

Getting ready for host invasion: elevated expression and action of xyloglucan endotransglucosylases/hydrolases in developing haustoria of the holoparasitic angiosperm Cuscuta.

Changes in cell walls have been previously observed in the mature infection organ, or haustorium, of the parasitic angiosperm Cuscuta, but are not equally well charted in young haustoria. In this study, we focused on the molecular processes in the early stages of developing haustoria; that is, before the parasite engages in a physiological contact with its host. We describe first the identification of differentially expressed genes in young haustoria whose development was induced by far-red light and tactile stimuli in the absence of a host plant by suppression subtractive hybridization.

Obesity and risk of ovarian cancer subtypes: evidence from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium.

Whilst previous studies have reported that higher BMI increases a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer, associations for the different histological subtypes have not been well defined. As the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically, and classification of ovarian histology has improved in the last decade, we sought to examine the association in a pooled analysis of recent studies participating in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. We evaluated the association between BMI (recent, maximum and in young adulthood) and ovarian cancer risk using original data from 15 case-control studies (13 548 cases and 17 913 controls).

Glycemic index, glycemic load and endometrial cancer risk: results from the Australian National Endometrial Cancer study and an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The relationship between habitual consumption of foods with a high glycemic index (GI) and/or a diet with a high glycemic load (GL) and risk of endometrial cancer is uncertain, and relatively few studies have investigated these associations. The objectives of this study were to examine the association between GI/GL and risk of endometrial cancer using data from an Australian population-based case-control study and systematically review all the available evidence to quantify the magnitude of the association using meta-analysis.

Methods: The case-control study included 1,290 women aged 18-79 years with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed endometrial cancer and 1,436 population controls.

Preferences for CT colonography and colonoscopy as diagnostic tests for colorectal cancer: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: Computed tomography colonography (CTC) is an alternative diagnostic test to colonoscopy for colorectal cancer and polyps. The aim of this study was to determine test characteristics important to patients and to examine trade-offs in attributes that patients are willing to accept in the context of the diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Methods: A discrete choice study was used to assess preferences of patients with clinical indications suspicious of colorectal cancer who experienced both CTC and colonoscopy as part of a diagnostic accuracy study in South Australia.

An immunological study of glycosaminoglycans in the connective tissue of bovine and cod skeletal muscle.

The presence of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was demonstrated in the connective tissue of bovine and cod skeletal muscle by histochemical staining using Alcian blue added MgCl(2) (0.06 M and 0.4 M, respectively).