The impacts of alien species on river bioassessment.

The extent of alien taxa impacts on river ecosystem health is unclear, but their frequency continues to rise. We investigated 1) the prevalence of including alien taxa in common bioindicators used in river bioassessment, 2) the effect of alien taxa on the richness and abundance of natives, and 3) whether including alien taxa in bioassessment tools increased their sensitivity to river degradation. In the 17 countries analyzed fish represented the greatest number of alien species (1726), followed by macrophytes (925), macroinvertebrates (556), and diatoms (7).

Development of a prognostic signature for overall survival using peripheral blood biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Background: We previously reported in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), pretreatment higher lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and absolute (abx) neutrophils as well as lower percent (%) lymphocytes correlated with worse overall survival (OS). In this study we aimed to develop a prognostic signature for HNSCC treated with ICIs using these peripheral blood biomarkers (PBBMs).

Methods: Adults with R/M HNSCC treated with ICIs at our institution from 08/2012 to 03/2021 with pretreatment PBBMs were included.

Host-associated helminth diversity and microbiome composition contribute to anti-pathogen defences in tropical frogs impacted by forest fragmentation.

Habitat fragmentation can negatively impact wildlife populations by simplification of ecological interactions, but little is known about how these impacts extend to host-associated symbiotic communities. The symbiotic communities of amphibians play important roles in anti-pathogen defences, particularly against the amphibian chytrid fungus (). In this study, we analyse the role of macroparasitic helminth communities in concert with microbial communities in defending the host against infection within the context of forest fragmentation.

Do Methodological Differences in Experiments with Stream Shredders Imply Variability in Outputs? A Microcosm Approach.

Experiments are useful scientific tools for testing hypotheses by manipulating variables of interest while controlling for other factors that can bias or confuse the results and their interpretation. To ensures accuracy and reproducibility, experiments must have transparent and repeatable methodologies. Due to the importance of shredder invertebrates in organic matter processing, carbon cycling, and nutrient cycling, we tested experimentally the effect of different methodological approaches in microcosm experiments on the consumption and survival of shredders.

Diversity and Evolution of Frog Visual Opsins: Spectral Tuning and Adaptation to Distinct Light Environments.

Visual systems adapt to different light environments through several avenues including optical changes to the eye and neurological changes in how light signals are processed and interpreted. Spectral sensitivity can evolve via changes to visual pigments housed in the retinal photoreceptors through gene duplication and loss, differential and coexpression, and sequence evolution. Frogs provide an excellent, yet understudied, system for visual evolution research due to their diversity of ecologies (including biphasic aquatic-terrestrial life cycles) that we hypothesize imposed different selective pressures leading to adaptive evolution of the visual system, notably the opsins that encode the protein component of the visual pigments responsible for the first step in visual perception.

Linking microbiome and stress hormone responses in wild tropical treefrogs across continuous and fragmented forests.

The amphibian skin microbiome is an important component of anti-pathogen defense, but the impact of environmental change on the link between microbiome composition and host stress remains unclear. In this study, we used radiotelemetry and host translocation to track microbiome composition and function, pathogen infection, and host stress over time across natural movement paths for the forest-associated treefrog, Boana faber. We found a negative correlation between cortisol levels and putative microbiome function for frogs translocated to forest fragments, indicating strong integration of host stress response and anti-pathogen potential of the microbiome.

G6PDH as a key immunometabolic and redox trigger in arthropods.

The enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) plays crucial roles in glucose homeostasis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), being also involved in redox metabolism. The PPP is an important metabolic pathway that produces ribose and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which are essential for several physiologic and biochemical processes, such as the synthesis of fatty acids and nucleic acids. As a rate-limiting step in PPP, G6PDH is a highly conserved enzyme and its deficiency can lead to severe consequences for the organism, in particular for cell growth.

Rate of Pathogenic Germline Variants in Patients With Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Germline genetic testing (GGT) is now recommended for all patients diagnosed with ovarian or pancreatic cancer and for a large proportion of patients based solely on a diagnosis of colorectal or breast cancer. However, GGT is not yet recommended for all patients diagnosed with lung cancer (LC), primarily because of a lack of evidence that supports a significant frequency of identifying pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in these patients. This study characterizes GGT results in a cohort of patients with LC.

Seasonal distribution of Calliphoridae and Mesenbrinellidae (Diptera) associated with the decomposition of a clothed animal model in a forest reserve in the Central Amazon.

We evaluated the effects of seasonality on the richness and abundance of dipterans of the families Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae associated with the decomposition of a clothed Large White swine Sus scrofa domesticus(Artiodactyla: Suidae) carcass. Experiments were carried out in less rainy, rainy, and intermediate periods between 2010 and 2011 at Reserva Florestal Ducke, Manaus, Amazonas. Two pig carcasses, each weighing approximately 40 kg, were used in each period.

Family Matters: Germline Testing in Thoracic Cancers.

Most thoracic cancers arise via a series of stepwise somatic alterations driven by a well-defined carcinogen (ie, tobacco or asbestos for lung cancer and mesothelioma, respectively). A small proportion can emerge on a background of pathogenic germline variants (PGVs), which have the property of heritability. In general, PGVs may be initially suspected on the basis of the presence of specific clinical features.

Peripheral lymphocytes and lactate dehydrogenase correlate with response and survival in head and neck cancers treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Background: Little is known regarding associations between peripheral blood biomarkers (PBBMs) and survival, response, and toxicity in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (R/M HNSCC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Methods: In this single-institution retrospective cohort study, a dataset of patients with R/M HNSCC treated with ICIs between 08/2012-03/2021 was established, including demographic and clinicopathologic characteristics. Pretreatment PBBMs were collected and evaluated for associations with grade ≥3 adverse events (G ≥ 3AE) by CTCAEv5, objective response (ORR) by RECIST 1.

Do microplastics and climate change negatively affect shredder invertebrates from an amazon stream? An ecosystem functioning perspective.

Pollution and climate change are among the main threats to the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems in the 21st century. We experimentally tested the effects of microplastic and climate change (i.e.

Habitat split as a driver of disease in amphibians.

Anthropogenic habitat disturbance is fundamentally altering patterns of disease transmission and immunity across the vertebrate tree of life. Most studies linking anthropogenic habitat change and disease focus on habitat loss and fragmentation, but these processes often lead to a third process that is equally important: habitat split. Defined as spatial separation between the multiple classes of natural habitat that many vertebrate species require to complete their life cycles, habitat split has been linked to population declines in vertebrates, e.

An alternative approach for the surgical correction of unilateral crossbite.

This case report aims to describe a modified surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion technique to treat an asymmetrical posterior crossbite with no mandibular shift without causing an interincisal diastema. A clinical patient with an asymmetrical crossbite, large tooth-size-arch length, and Bolton discrepancy is used to illustrate the modified technique. Instead of traditional osteotomies, in this technique, the osteotomy is done between the maxillary right canine and lateral incisor (connecting the piriform aperture to the alveolar process) along with a unilateral LeFort I osteotomy.

Low microbiome diversity in threatened amphibians from two biodiversity hotspots.

Microbial diversity positively influences community resilience of the host microbiome. However, extinction risk factors such as habitat specialization, narrow environmental tolerances, and exposure to anthropogenic disturbance may homogenize host-associated microbial communities critical for stress responses including disease defense. In a dataset containing 43 threatened and 90 non-threatened amphibian species across two biodiversity hotspots (Brazil's Atlantic Forest and Madagascar), we found that threatened host species carried lower skin bacterial diversity, after accounting for key environmental and host factors.

Quality of Life and Sexual Satisfaction in Women with Breast Cancer Undergoing a Surgical Treatment and in Their Male Partners.

This study aimed to determine the quality of life and sexual satisfaction in a sample of 389 women with breast cancer who underwent a surgical treatment and 366 men who were these women's partners. The sample was recruited from the Portuguese League Against Cancer by 10 trained psychologists who assessed the quality of life and sexual satisfaction of the participants. Data on the sociodemographic variables, diagnosis and treatment in the female participants, relationship with their partner, anxiety and depression, and body image were also collected.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and peripheral blood biomarkers correlate with survival outcomes but not response among head and neck and salivary cancer treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat.

Background: Associations between peripheral blood biomarkers and oncologic outcomes were explored in recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HN) and salivary gland cancer (SGC) treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat on a phase II trial (NCT02538510).

Experimental Design: Twenty-five HN and 25 SGCs were treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat. Baseline peripheral blood was available in 21 HN and 20 SGCs and evaluated for associations with grade ≥3 adverse events (G ≥ 3AE) by CTCAEv4, objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS).

Fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages reveal extensive degradation of the world's rivers.

Rivers suffer from multiple stressors acting simultaneously on their biota, but the consequences are poorly quantified at the global scale. We evaluated the biological condition of rivers globally, including the largest proportion of countries from the Global South published to date. We gathered macroinvertebrate- and fish-based assessments from 72,275 and 37,676 sites, respectively, from 64 study regions across six continents and 45 nations.

Inhibition of LSD1 with Bomedemstat Sensitizes Small Cell Lung Cancer to Immune Checkpoint Blockade and T-Cell Killing.

Purpose: The addition of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) to platinum/etoposide chemotherapy changed the standard of care for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatment. However, ICB addition only modestly improved clinical outcomes, likely reflecting the high prevalence of an immunologically "cold" tumor microenvironment in SCLC, despite high mutational burden. Nevertheless, some patients clearly benefit from ICB and recent reports have associated clinical responses to ICB in SCLC with (i) decreased neuroendocrine characteristics and (ii) activation of NOTCH signaling.

Signatures of functional bacteriome structure in a tropical direct-developing amphibian species.

Background: Host microbiomes may differ under the same environmental conditions and these differences may influence susceptibility to infection. Amphibians are ideal for comparing microbiomes in the context of disease defense because hundreds of species face infection with the skin-invading microbe Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and species richness of host communities, including their skin bacteria (bacteriome), may be exceptionally high. We conducted a landscape-scale Bd survey of six co-occurring amphibian species in Brazil's Atlantic Forest.

NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES: A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics.

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data.

Prognostic Value of Early Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography Response Imaging and Peripheral Immunologic Biomarkers: Substudy of a Phase II Trial of Risk-Adaptive Chemoradiation for Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: We sought to examine the prognostic value of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging during chemoradiation for unresectable non-small cell lung cancer for survival and hypothesized that tumor PET response is correlated with peripheral T-cell function.

Methods And Materials: Forty-five patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer version 7 stage IIB-IIIB non-small cell lung cancer enrolled in a phase II trial and received platinum-doublet chemotherapy concurrent with 6 weeks of radiation (NCT02773238). Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET was performed before treatment start and after 24 Gy of radiation (week 3).

Performance status (PS) as a predictor of poor response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer (RMHNSCC) patients.

Background: Anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) represent an established standard-of-care for patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RMHNSCC). Landmark studies excluded patients with ECOG performance status (PS) ≥2; the benefit of ICI in this population is therefore unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed RMHNSCC patients who received 1+ dose of ICI at our institution between 2013 and 2019.

Impact of Diagnostic Delays on Lung Cancer Survival Outcomes: A Population Study of the US SEER-Medicare Database.

Purpose: Time from diagnosis to treatment has been associated with worse survival outcomes in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, little is known about the impact of delay in time to diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate the impact of time from radiographic suspicion to histologic diagnosis on survival outcomes using the US SEER-Medicare population database.

Loads of continuous mechanics for uprighting the second molar on the second molar and premolar.

Introduction: This paper aims to evaluate the effect of tube height on uprighting a mandibular second molar with a continuous arch, specifically the main effects on the molar tube and the side effects on the second premolar bracket.

Methods: Slot brackets (0.18-in) and tubes were passively bonded from the left second molar to the right second premolar of the patient's cast and fixed to an orthodontic force tester.