Tree diversity enhances predation by birds but not by arthropods across climate gradients.

Tree diversity can promote both predator abundance and diversity. However, whether this translates into increased predation and top-down control of herbivores across predator taxonomic groups and contrasting environmental conditions remains unresolved. We used a global network of tree diversity experiments (TreeDivNet) spread across three continents and three biomes to test the effects of tree species richness on predation across varying climatic conditions of temperature and precipitation.

Advanced Breast Cancer Guidelines in Latin America: Assessment, Adaptation, and Implementation of Fifth Advanced Breast Cancer Consensus Guidelines.

Purpose: As the fifth international consensus on advanced breast cancer (ABC5) established guidelines for the management of this disease, the aim of this article was to present the applicability of the consensus recommendations and to generate knowledge to improve access.

Methods: Sixty-one recommendation statements were selected and discussed by 15 breast cancer experts from Latin America (LA). After the discussion, the level of consensus was determined through a vote.

Lichens as Bioindicators of Global Change Drivers.

In recent decades, the scientific community has put the spotlight on the severe impacts that environmental stressors are producing on ecosystem functioning worldwide [...

Latitudinal variation in the functional response of Quercus suber seedlings to extreme drought.

Many plant species are being threatened by increasingly drought conditions due to current climate change at planetary scale. This global trend is leading to the scientific community to investigate the potential role of local adaptations through intraspecific differences in functional traits that may boost conservation strategies by modulating the plant responses to reduced water availability. We assessed under controlled conditions the effect of four different drought intensities on the survival time and morphological traits of Quercus suber seedlings collected from nine populations covering the complete latitudinal distribution of the species.

Non-Toxic Increases in Nitrogen Availability Can Improve the Ability of the Soil Lichen to Cope with Environmental Changes.

Climate change and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on drylands are greatly threatening these especially vulnerable areas. Soil biocrust-forming lichens in drylands can provide early indicators of these disturbances and play a pivotal role, as they contribute to key ecosystem services. In this study, we explored the effects of different long-term water availability regimes simulating climate changes and their interaction with N addition on the physiological response of the soil lichen .

The probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus mimics the dark-driven regulation of appetite markers and melatonin receptors' expression in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae: Understanding the role of the gut microbiome.

The use of probiotics has been recently considered a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent pathologies such as obesity; however, the specific mechanisms of action by which probiotics exert their beneficial effects on metabolic health remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the short-term effects of a probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus supplementation (PROB) on appetite regulation, growth-related markers, and microbiota diversity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae, compared to a group subjected to a constant darkness photoperiod (DARK), as well as to evaluate the effects of both treatments on melatonin receptors' expression. After a 24 h treatment, both PROB and DARK conditions caused a significant increase in leptin a expression.

Resilience of Epiphytic Lichens to Combined Effects of Increasing Nitrogen and Solar Radiation.

Lichens are classified into different functional groups depending on their ecological and physiological response to a given environmental stressor. However, knowledge on lichen response to the synergistic effect of multiple environmental factors is extremely scarce, although vital to get a comprehensive understanding of the effects of global change. We exposed six lichen species belonging to different functional groups to the combined effects of two nitrogen (N) doses and direct sunlight involving both high temperatures and ultraviolet (UV) radiation for 58 days.

Algorithm for antinuclear antibodies in subjects with clinical suspicion of autoimmune diseases.

Objectives: Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are fundamental in the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). Different assays for ANA screening are available, such as indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cells and Multiplex fluorescent immunoassay (MFI). This study aimed to clarify the importance of ANA detected only by IIF in the future development of SARDs and to recommend a laboratory algorithm that integrates the available diagnostic approaches to optimise the diagnosis of ANA IIF+MFI- subjects.

Improving agricultural water use efficiency with biochar - A synthesis of biochar effects on water storage and fluxes across scales.

There is an urgent need to develop agricultural methods that balance water supply and demand while at the same time improve resilience to climate variability. A promising instrument to address this need is biochar - a charcoal made from pyrolyzed organic material. However, it is often unclear how, if at all, biochar improves soil water availability, plant water consumption rates and crop yields.

A survey of the clinicopathological and molecular characteristics of patients with suspected Lynch syndrome in Latin America.

Background: Genetic counselling and testing for Lynch syndrome (LS) have recently been introduced in several Latin America countries. We aimed to characterize the clinical, molecular and mismatch repair (MMR) variants spectrum of patients with suspected LS in Latin America.

Methods: Eleven LS hereditary cancer registries and 34 published LS databases were used to identify unrelated families that fulfilled the Amsterdam II (AMSII) criteria and/or the Bethesda guidelines or suggestive of a dominant colorectal (CRC) inheritance syndrome.

Incidence of thromboembolic events in asymptomatic carriers of IgA anti ß2 glycoprotein-I antibodies.

Background: The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is defined by simultaneous presence of vascular clinical events and antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). The aPL considered as diagnostics are lupus anticoagulant and antibodies anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-ß2 glycoprotein-I (aB2GP1). During recent years, IgA aB2GP1 antibodies have been associated with thrombotic events both in patients positive, and mainly negative for other aPL, however its value as a pro-thrombotic risk-factor in asymptomatic patients has not been well defined.

Ecological impacts of atmospheric pollution and interactions with climate change in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mediterranean Basin: Current research and future directions.

Mediterranean Basin ecosystems, their unique biodiversity, and the key services they provide are currently at risk due to air pollution and climate change, yet only a limited number of isolated and geographically-restricted studies have addressed this topic, often with contrasting results. Particularities of air pollution in this region include high O levels due to high air temperatures and solar radiation, the stability of air masses, and dominance of dry over wet nitrogen deposition. Moreover, the unique abiotic and biotic factors (e.

Contrasting effects of nitrogen addition on soil respiration in two Mediterranean ecosystems.

Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is known to alter ecosystem carbon source-sink dynamics through changes in soil CO fluxes. However, a limited number of experiments have been conducted to assess the effects of realistic N deposition in the Mediterranean Basin, and none of them have explored the effects of N addition on soil respiration (R ). To fill this gap, we assessed the effects of N supply on R dynamics in the following two Mediterranean sites: Capo Caccia (Italy), where 30 kg ha year was supplied for 3 years, and El Regajal (Spain), where plots were treated with 10, 20, or 50 kg N ha year for 8 years.

PI3K p85 β regulatory subunit deficiency does not affect NK cell differentiation and increases NKG2D-mediated activation.

Activation of NK cells depends on a balance between activating and inhibitory signals. Class Ia PI3K are heterodimeric proteins with a catalytic and a regulatory subunit and have a central role in cell signaling by associating with tyrosine kinase receptors to trigger signaling cascades. The regulatory p85 subunit participates in signaling through NKG2D, one of the main activating receptors on NK cells, via its interaction with the adaptor protein DAP10.

Temporal dynamic of parasite-mediated linkages between the forest canopy and soil processes and the microbial community.

Parasitic plants are important drivers of community and ecosystem properties. In this study, we identify different mechanisms by which mistletoe (Viscum album subsp. austriacum) can affect soil chemical and biological properties at different temporal stages of parasitism.

Circulating Immune Complexes of IgA Bound to Beta 2 Glycoprotein are Strongly Associated with the Occurrence of Acute Thrombotic Events.

Aim: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is characterized by recurrent thrombosis and/or gestational morbidity in patients with antiphospholipid autoantibodies (aPL). Over recent years, IgA anti-beta2-glycoprotein I (B2GPI) antibodies (IgA aB2GPI) have reached similar clinical relevance as IgG or IgM isotypes. We recently described the presence of immune complexes of IgA bounded to B2GPI (B2A-CIC) in the blood of patients with antecedents of APS symptomalology.

Nitrogen supply modulates the effect of changes in drying-rewetting frequency on soil C and N cycling and greenhouse gas exchange.

Climate change and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition are two of the most important global change drivers. However, the interactions of these drivers have not been well studied. We aimed to assess how the combined effect of soil N additions and more frequent soil drying-rewetting events affects carbon (C) and N cycling, soil:atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange, and functional microbial diversity.

Ecological functioning in grass-shrub Mediterranean ecosystems measured by eddy covariance.

Climate change may alter ecosystem functioning, as assessed via the net carbon (C) exchange (NEE) with the atmosphere, composed of the biological processes photosynthesis (GPP) and respiration (R(eco)). In addition, in semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems, a significant fraction of respired CO2 is stored in the vadose zone and emitted afterwards by subsoil ventilation (VE), contributing also to NEE. Such conditions complicate the prediction of NEE for future change scenarios.

Isolated IgA anti- β2 glycoprotein I antibodies in patients with clinical criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome.

Seronegative antiphospholipid syndrome (SNAPS) is an autoimmune disease present in patients with clinical manifestations highly suggestive of Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) but with persistently negative consensus antiphospholipid antibodies (a-PL). IgA anti-β 2 Glycoprotein I (aB2-GPI) antibodies are associated with APS. However, they are not currently considered to be laboratory criteria due to the heterogeneity of published works and the use of poor standardized diagnostic systems.

Local and remote sustained trigger point therapy for exacerbations of chronic low back pain. A randomized, double-blind, controlled, multicenter trial.

Study Design: A randomized, double-blind, controlled, multicenter trial was conducted.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of neuroreflexotherapy in the management of low back pain.

Summary And Background Data: Neuroreflexotherapy consists of temporary implantation of epidermal devices in trigger points in the back and referred tender points in the ear.

Clonally expanded lymphocytes in the minor salivary glands of Sjögren's syndrome patients without lymphoproliferative disease.

Objective: To determine whether clonally expanded B cells are present in the early infiltrates of minor labial salivary glands (LSG) of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients.

Methods: Available paraffin-embedded LSG biopsies from 14 patients with primary SS were studied. DNA from LSG tissue was amplified by a polymerase chain reaction directed toward rearranged immunoglobulin gene DNA.