Without urgent treatment, the risk of major stroke in the week after a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke can be as high as 10%. Some studies have shown that immediate medical treatment with antiplatelet agents and statins, as well as blood-pressure control, reduces that risk by 70 to…
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Among patients with an acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), the risk of a subsequent ischemic stroke is approximately 5 to 10% in the first few months. Aspirin has been used to prevent a stroke in these patients, and two trials have shown that the combination of aspirin and…
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
The continuing spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What physicians need to know about transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19 is the subject of ongoing updates from infectious disease experts at the Journal. In this audio interview conducted…
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Foreword. This Journal feature begins with a case vignette highlighting a common clinical problem. Evidence supporting various strategies is then presented, followed by a review of formal guidelines, when they exist. The article ends with the author’s clinical recommendations. Stage. A 62-year-old,…
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Introduction: Swallowing and voice alterations may manifest in patients with thyroid disease, especially after thyroidectomy. Objective: To identify the prevalence of patients with complaints of swallowing disorders after thyroidectomy and to evaluate patients’ perceptions regarding swallowing before and after the procedure. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was performed with 26 consecutive patients undergoing a private service thyroidectomy, in which the presence of swallowing dysfunction...
08:18
During a range expansion, deleterious mutations can "surf" on the colonisation front. The resultant decrease in fitness is known as expansion load. An Allee effect is known to reduce the loss of genetic diversity of expanding populations, by changing the nature of the expansion from "pulled" to "pushed". We study the impact of an Allee effect on the formation of an expansion load with a new model, in which individuals have the genetic structure of a Muller's ratchet. A key feature of Muller's ratchet...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Quantum biology seeks to explain biological phenomena via quantum mechanisms, such as enzyme reaction rates via tunneling and photosynthesis energy efficiency via coherent superposition of states. However, less effort has been devoted to study the role of quantum mechanisms in biological evolution. In this paper, we used transcription factor networks with two and four different phenotypes, and used classical random walks (CRW) and quantum walks (QW) to compare network search behavior and efficiency...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Eukaryogenesis is one of the most enigmatic evolutionary transitions, during which simple prokaryotic cells gave rise to complex eukaryotic cells. While evolutionary intermediates are lacking, gene duplications allow us to elucidate the order of events by which eukaryotes originated. Here we use a phylogenomics approach to reconstruct successive steps during eukaryogenesis. We found that gene duplications roughly doubled the proto-eukaryotic genome, with families inherited from the Asgard archaea-related...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
The malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum is one of the most widespread species of avian malaria. As is the case in its human counterparts, bird Plasmodium undergoes a complex life cycle infecting two hosts: the arthropod vector and the vertebrate host. In this study, we examine the transcriptome of P. relictum (SGS1) during crucial timepoints within its natural vector, Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus. Differential gene-expression analyses identified genes linked to the parasites life-stages at: i)...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Genomic prediction, the technique whereby an individual's genetic component of their phenotype is estimated from its genome, has revolutionised animal and plant breeding and medical genetics. However, despite being first introduced nearly two decades ago, it has hardly been adopted by the evolutionary genetics community studying wild organisms. Here, genomic prediction is performed on eight traits in a wild population of Soay sheep. The population has been the focus of a > 30 year evolutionary...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Gene tree discordance in large genomic datasets can be caused by evolutionary processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization, as well as model violation, and errors in data processing, orthology inference, and gene tree estimation. Species tree methods that identify and accommodate all sources of conflict are not available, but a combination of multiple approaches can help tease apart alternative sources of conflict. Here, using a phylotranscriptomic analysis in combination with reference...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Animals display remarkable diversity in rest and activity patterns that are regulated by endogenous foraging strategies, social behaviors, and predator avoidance. Alteration in the circadian timing of activity or the duration of rest-wake cycles provide a central mechanism for animals to exploit novel niches. The diversity of the 3000+ cichlid species throughout the world provides a unique opportunity to examine variation in locomotor activity and rest. Lake Malawi alone is home to over 500 species...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
The prisoners dilemma (PD) game offers a simple paradigm of competition between two players who can either cooperate or defect. Since defection is a strict Nash equilibrium, it is an asymptotically stable state of the replicator dynamical system that uses the PD payoff matrix to define the fitness landscape of two interacting evolving populations. The dilemma arises from the fact that the average payoff of this asymptotically stable state is sub-optimal. Coaxing the players to cooperate would result...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Colouration plays a key role in the ecology of many species, influencing how an organism interacts with its environment, other species and conspecifics. Guppies are sexually dimorphic, with males displaying sexually selected colouration resulting from female preference. Previous work has suggested that much of guppy colour pattern variation is Y-linked. However, it remains unclear how many individual colour patterns are Y-linked in natural populations as much of the previous work has focused on phenotypes...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
Extinction has increased as human activities impact ecosystems. Conservation assessments for the IUCN red list are a fundamental tool in aiding the prevention of further extinction, yet, relatively few species have been thoroughly assessed. To increase the efficiency of assessments, novel approaches are needed to highlight threatened species that are currently data deficient. Many Madagascan plant species currently have extremely narrow ranges, but this may not have always been the case. To assess...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 03:00
In many organisms, dispersal varies with the local population density. Such patterns of density-dependent dispersal (DDD) are expected to shape the dynamics, spatial spread and invasiveness of populations. Despite their ecological importance, empirical evidence for the evolution of DDD patterns remains extremely scarce. This is especially relevant because rapid evolution of dispersal traits has now been empirically confirmed in several taxa. Changes in DDD of dispersing populations could help clarify...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
Humans are sexually dimorphic: on average men significantly differ from women in body build and composition, craniofacial structure, and voice pitch, likely mediated in part by developmental testosterone exposure. Hypotheses which attempt to explain the evolution of dimorphism in humans assume that more masculine men have historically achieved greater biological fitness. This may be because: more masculine men out-compete other men for mates; women preferentially select masculine men (e.g. due to...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
Model-based approaches to species delimitation are constrained by computational capacities as well as frequently violated algorithmic assumptions applied to biologically complex systems. An alternate approach employs machine learning to derive species limits without explicitly defining an underlying species model. Herein, we demonstrate the capacity of these approaches to identify phylogenomically relevant groups in North American box turtles (Terrapene spp.). We invoked several machine learning-based...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
Bacteria are the most abundant and metabolically diverse cellular lifeforms on Earth. A rooted bacterial phylogeny provides a framework to interpret this diversity and to understand the nature of early life. Inferring the position of the bacterial root is complicated by incomplete taxon sampling and the long branch to the archaeal outgroup. To circumvent these limitations, we model bacterial genome evolution at the level of gene duplication, transfer and loss events, allowing outgroup-free inference...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
In presence of rapid environmental changes, it is of particular importance to assess the adaptive potential of populations, which is mostly determined by the additive genetic variation (VA) in fitness. In this study we used Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetles) to investigate its adaptive potential in three new environmental conditions (Dry, Hot, Hot-Dry). We tested for potential constraints that might limit adaptation, including negative genetic covariance between female and male fitness. Based...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
Cellular quiescence and cell cycle re-entry regulate vital biological processes such as cellular development and tissue homeostasis, and are controlled by precise regulation of gene expression. The roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) during these processes remain to be elucidated. By performing genome-wide transcriptome analyses, we identify differential expression of several hundreds of lncRNAs, including a significant number of the less-characterized class of microRNA-host-gene (MIRHG) lncRNAs...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 21:16
Journal of Neurotrauma, Ahead of Print.
Tue Jul 14, 2020 10:00
Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly used in clinical and academic plastic surgery, but interpretation of PROMs is not always straightforward. Similarly, other clinical outcome data may also be challenging to interpret. Poor interpretation of data risks drawing incorrect conclusions about a person's health status, or the effectiveness of a treatment. This article provides an overview of clinical data interpretation, particularly for those who wish to understand or use PROMs...
06:11
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday's logic.” – Peter Drucker1
06:11
The USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) in Corvallis, Oregon, maintains one of the world's largest and most diverse living Pyrus collection. A thorough genetic characterization of this germplasm will provide relevant information to optimize the conservation strategy of pear biodiversity, support the use of this germplasm in breeding, and increase our knowledge of Pyrus taxonomy, evolution, and domestication. In the last two decades simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have been used...
00:25
Abstract Proteins MiaA and MiaB catalyze sequential isopentenylation and methylthiolation, respectively, of adenosine residue in 37th position of tRNAXXA. The mia mutations were recently shown by us to affect secondary metabolism and morphology of Streptomyces. However, it remained unknown as to whether both or one of the aforementioned modifications is critical for colony development and antibiotic production. Here, we addressed this issue through analysis of Streptomyces albus...
03:00
Purpose of review Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a rare chronic self-limiting allergic inflammatory disease of the ocular surface mostly affecting young boys in their first decade of life. In the last few years a new clinical entity of VKC has been described: adult VKC. Two variants have been identified according to clinical onset: early (childhood VKC persisting beyond puberty) and late onset (arising de novo in adults) adult VKC. Several epidemiologic studies on VKC have been published...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 03:00
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:46
SUMMARY:The thalamus consists of several functionally distinct nuclei, some of which serve as targets for functional neurosurgery. Visualization of such nuclei is a major challenge due to their low signal contrast on conventional imaging. We introduce MR susceptibility imaging with a short TE, leveraging susceptibility differences among thalamic nuclei, to automatically delineate 15 thalamic subregions. The technique has the potential to enable direct targeting of thalamic nuclei for functional neurosurgical...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:42
SUMMARY:Malignant epithelioid glioneuronal tumor is a rare high-grade, aggressive brain tumor that shows both glial and neuronal differentiation on histopathology but is not included in the current World Health Organization classification. The neuroimaging appearance is variable but may be secondary to the size of the mass and/or location of the tumor. In our series, all epithelioid glioneuronal tumors were encountered in the supratentorial space and included pineal, temporal, and extratemporal lobar...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:37
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Tentorial sinus venous channels within the tentorium cerebelli connecting various cerebellar and supratentorial veins, as well as the basal vein, to adjacent venous sinuses are a well-recognized entity. Also well-known are "dural lakes" at the vertex. However, the presence of similar channels in the supratentorial dura, serving as recipients of the Labbe, superficial temporal, and lateral and medial parieto-occipital veins, among others, appears to be underappreciated. Also...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:33
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Previous studies have suggested that increased mortality and disability in patients with brain tumor are associated with peritumoral brain edema. However, the mechanism of peritumoral brain edema in brain tumors is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Piezo1 overexpression on peritumoral brain edema in glioblastomas.MATERIALS AND METHODS:The Piezo1 expression in cell lines and paired samples was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:31
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Phase imaging helps determine a lesion’s susceptibility. However, various inhomogenous phase patterns could be observed in the serial phase images of a lesion and render image interpretation challenging. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of differentiating cerebral microbleeds and calcifications from phase patterns in axial locations.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This study retrospectively enrolled 31 consecutive patients undergoing both CT and MR imaging for acute infarction exhibiting...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:30
SUMMARY:Spinal CSF–venous fistulas are a cause of spontaneous intracranial hypotension that can be difficult to detect on imaging. We describe how the respiratory phase affects the visibility of CSF–venous fistulas during myelography.
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:29
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:27
Grason-Stadler (GSI) has released a new clinical evoked potential (EP) / otoacoustic emissions (OAE) device, the GSI Audera Pro™, which performs all standard evoked potential tests. Depending on the modality license, auditory steady state responses (AASR) and OAE can also be performed. The Audera Pro is the next generation of the well-known GSI Audera™, and comes with significant updates to support the demands of any busy audiology practice. Some of the featured new tests include: P300/MMN, ASSR...
Thu Jul 16, 2020 17:05
The Hearing Network Alliance (HNA), an American Association of Payers, Administrators, and Networks (AAPAN) alliance organization, launched a streamlined credentialing process to reduce the cost and effort required for hearing care providers to manage credentialing with the hearing health care networks in which they participate. Initially, five hearing health care networks have agreed to utilize the new process for primary source verification."We have heard many times from providers that the credentialing...
Wed Jul 15, 2020 14:13
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