Bathycranium: synonymised with Syntormon, distinction between Parasyntormon and Syntormon discussed and S. bicolorellus and S. luteicornis (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) redescribed

It is demonstrated that there is no valid basis on which to sustain the monotypic genus Bathycranium Strobl and concluded that Bathycranium should be recognised as a junior synonym of Syntormon Loew (new status). The species Syntormon bicolorellus Zetterstedt (new combination) falls into a natural grouping of Syntormon species with downcurved facial hairs in females. This species and S. luteicornis Parent are redescribed. Distinctions between Syntormonand Parasyntormon are discussed

Developing European conservation and mitigation tools for pollination services: approaches of the STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) project

Pollinating insects form a key component of European biodiversity, and provide a vital ecosystem service to crops and wild plants. There is growing evidence of declines in both wild and domesticated pollinators, and parallel declines in plants relying upon them. The STEP project (Status and Trends of European Pollinators, 2010-2015, www.stepproject.net) is documenting critical elements in the nature and extent of these declines, examining key functional traits associated with pollination deficits, and developing a Red List for some European pollinator groups. Together these activities are laying the groundwork for future pollinator monitoring programmes. STEP is also assessing the relative importance of potential drivers of pollinator declines, including climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, agrochemicals, pathogens, alien species, light pollution, and their interactions. We are measuring the ecological and economic impacts of declining pollinator services and floral resources, including effects on wild plant populations, crop production and human nutrition. STEP is reviewing existing and potential mitigation options, and providing novel tests of their effectiveness across Europe. Our work is building upon existing and newly developed datasets and models, complemented by spatially-replicated campaigns of field research to fill gaps in current knowledge. Findings are being integrated into a policy-relevant framework to create evidence-based decision support tools. STEP is establishing communication links to a wide range of stakeholders across Europe and beyond, including policy makers, beekeepers, farmers, academics and the general public. Taken together, the STEP research programme aims to improve our understanding of the nature, causes, consequences and potential mitigation of declines in pollination services at local, national, continental and global scales

Some recommendations for developing multidimensional computerized adaptive tests for patient-reported outcomes

PURPOSE: Multidimensional item response theory and computerized adaptive testing (CAT) are increasingly used in mental health, quality of life (QoL), and patient-reported outcome measurement. Although multidimensional assessment techniques hold promises, they are more challenging in their application than unidimensional ones. The authors comment on minimal standards when developing multidimensional CATs. METHODS: Prompted by pioneering papers published in QLR, the authors reflect on existing guidance and discussions from different psychometric communities, including guidelines developed for unidimensional CATs in the PROMIS project. RESULTS: The commentary focuses on two key topics: (1) the design, evaluation, and calibration of multidimensional item banks and (2) how to study the efficiency and precision of a multidimensional item bank. The authors suggest that the development of a carefully designed and calibrated item bank encompasses a construction phase and a psychometric phase. With respect to efficiency and precision, item banks should be large enough to provide adequate precision over the full range of the latent constructs. Therefore CAT performance should be studied as a function of the latent constructs and with reference to relevant benchmarks. Solutions are also suggested for simulation studies using real data, which often result in too optimistic evaluations of an item bank's efficiency and precision. DISCUSSION: Multidimensional CAT applications are promising but complex statistical assessment tools which necessitate detailed theoretical frameworks and methodological scrutiny when testing their appropriateness for practical applications. The authors advise researchers to evaluate item banks with a broad set of methods, describe their choices in detail, and substantiate their approach for validation

Increasing uptake of self-management education programmes for type 2 diabetes in primary care: the Embedding research programme including an RCT

Background Self-management education and support programmes help people with type 2 diabetes to manage their diabetes better. However, most people do not attend these programmes. Objective Increase type 2 diabetes self-management programme attendance. Design Workstream 1: develop intervention (mixed methods). Workstream 2: refine intervention and trial design (feasibility study). Workstream 3: evaluate effectiveness (18-month wait-list cluster randomised controlled trial with ethnography component; baseline: months −3 to 0; step one: months 1–9; step two: months 10–18; minimum clinically significant difference in glycated haemoglobin: 1.1 mmol/mol; target sample size: 66 practices). Workstream 4: health economics analysis; 12-month observational follow-up of trial population; qualitative substudy. Setting Primary care practices and providers of self-management programmes (East Midlands, Thames Valley and South Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber). Participants Workstream 1: 103 stakeholders. Workstream 2: 6 practices. Workstreams 3–4: 64 practices (92,977 people with type 2 diabetes). Qualitative substudy: 30 participants. Intervention Embedding Package (marketing strategy for self-management programmes; user-friendly referral pathway; new/amended professional roles; resources toolkit) delivered through an online portal for practices and providers (‘toolkit’; 88 live accounts; average of 19 page views/week); people working with practices and providers to embed self-management programmes into routine practice (‘embedders’). Additionally, a patient digital support programme (MyDESMOND) was developed. The comparator was usual care. Main outcome measures Patient-level glycated haemoglobin (primary outcome, continuous, mmol/mol) and referrals to, and attendance at, self-management programmes (main secondary outcomes; binary yes/no variables) compared between control (wait-list: baseline and step one; immediate: baseline) and intervention (wait-list: step two; immediate: steps one and two) conditions. Data sources Existing interviews, published literature, workshops, patient-level practice data, patient self-completed questionnaire, patient-level provider data, ethnographic data and one-to-one interviews. Results Workstreams 1 and 2: intervention and trial successfully developed then refined. Workstream 3: glycated haemoglobin was not significantly different (p = 0.503) between intervention and control conditions (adjusted mean difference −0.10 mmol/mol, 95% confidence interval −0.38 to 0.18; −0.01%, 95% confidence interval −0.03% to 0.02%). Both patient-level referral to, and attendance at, structured self-management education programmes were lower or similar during the intervention than control conditions. There was no significant difference in most other secondary outcomes. Prespecified analyses indicated that glycated haemoglobin was statistically significantly lower (p = 0.004) among ethnic minority individuals during intervention than control conditions (−0.64 mmol/mol, 95% confidence interval −1.08 to −0.20; −0.06%, 95% confidence interval −0.10 to −0.02). This difference was not clinically significant and self-management programme attendance did not improve. Ethnography analyses found that the intervention’s attractiveness and usefulness were not self-evident to practices and providers, much of the activity was led by the embedders, and embedders covering multiple localities were not best placed to adapt the intervention to local contexts. Workstream 4: the intervention cost £0.52 per patient. There was no evidence of a difference in costs (−£33, 95% confidence interval −£2195 to +£2171) or quality-adjusted life-years (+0.002, 95% confidence interval −0.100 to +0.098) in the base-case analysis. The trial plus 12-month observational follow-up data showed that glycated haemoglobin was statistically significantly lower (−0.56 mmol/mol, 95% confidence interval −0.71 to −0.42; −0.05, 95% confidence interval −0.06% to −0.04%; p < 0.001) and self-management programme attendance higher (adjusted odds ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.25; p = 0.017) in intervention than control conditions, although it should be noted that the difference was not clinically significant. The qualitative substudy indicated that virtual programmes have a place in future self-management programme delivery, with highly positive feedback, particularly around financial and logistical benefits. Limitations The COVID-19 pandemic affected this research. A delayed start to the feasibility study prevented all learnings being taken into the wait-list trial, particularly around implementing the intervention at provider, not practice level. Practice engagement with the intervention was limited and variable. National Health Service commissioning restructures in England meant that, for many localities, changes to the provision of diabetes self-management programme commissioning included funding and capacity to co-ordinate and promote uptake in a similar way to the Embedding Package. With the wait-list design, a proxy primary outcome for self-management programme attendance was used, which may have affected the sensitivity of results. Finally, baseline structured self-management education programme attendance was higher than expected, and data sources were between 39% and 66% complete. Conclusions There were difficulties implementing the intervention, which probably contributed to the trial showing that, overall, the Embedding Package was unlikely to have affected glycated haemoglobin, self-management programme referrals and attendance or most other secondary outcomes. Future work Focus should be on which organisation(s)/role(s) can best drive change around embedding type 2 diabetes self-management programmes into routine care, and the role of blended face-to-face and virtual programmes. Trial registration This trial is registered as Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN23474120. Funding This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research programme (NIHR award ref: RP-PG-1212-20004) and is published in full in Programme Grants for Applied Research; Vol. 13, No. 2. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information

Central role of the exchange factor GEF-H1 in TNF-α–induced sequential activation of Rac, ADAM17/TACE, and RhoA in tubular epithelial cells

Transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a key step in mediating RhoA activation and cytoskeleton and junction remodeling in the tubular epithelium. In this study we explore the mechanisms underlying TNF-α–induced EGFR activation. We show that TNF-α stimulates the TNF-α convertase enzyme (TACE/a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17), leading to activation of the EGFR/ERK pathway. TACE activation requires the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38, which is activated through the small GTPase Rac. TNF-α stimulates both Rac and RhoA through the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF)-H1 but by different mechanisms. EGFR- and ERK-dependent phosphorylation at the T678 site of GEF-H1 is a prerequisite for RhoA activation only, whereas both Rac and RhoA activation require GEF-H1 phosphorylation on S885. Of interest, GEF-H1-mediated Rac activation is upstream from the TACE/EGFR/ERK pathway and regulates T678 phosphorylation. We also show that TNF-α enhances epithelial wound healing through TACE, ERK, and GEF-H1. Taken together, our findings can explain the mechanisms leading to hierarchical activation of Rac and RhoA by TNF-α through a single GEF. This mechanism could coordinate GEF functions and fine-tune Rac and RhoA activation in epithelial cells, thereby promoting complex functions such as sheet migration

Living with diabetes: rationale, study design and baseline characteristics for an Australian prospective cohort study

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major global public health threat. In Australia, as elsewhere, it is responsible for a sizeable portion of the overall burden of disease, and significant costs. The psychological and social impact of diabetes on individuals with the disease can be severe, and if not adequately addressed, can lead to the worsening of the overall disease picture. The Living With Diabetes Study aims to contribute to a holistic understanding of the psychological and social aspects of diabetes mellitus

Effect of 6 months of hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery in adults with type 1 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial protocol

INTRODUCTION: Manual determination of insulin dosing largely fails to optimise glucose control in type 1 diabetes. Automated insulin delivery via closed-loop systems has improved glucose control in short-term studies. The objective of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of 6 months\u27 closed-loop compared with manually determined insulin dosing on time-in-target glucose range in adults with type 1 diabetes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This open-label, seven-centre, randomised controlled parallel group clinical trial will compare home-based hybrid closed-loop versus standard diabetes therapy in Australia. Adults aged &ge;25 years with type 1 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy (via multiple daily injections or insulin pump, total enrolment target n=120) will undertake a run-in period including diabetes and carbohydrate-counting education, clinical optimisation and baseline data collection. Participants will then be randomised 1:1 either to 26 weeks of MiniMed 670G hybrid closed-loop system therapy (Medtronic, Northridge, CA, USA) or continuation of their current diabetes therapy. The hybrid closed-loop system delivers insulin automatically to address basal requirements and correct to target glucose level, while bolus doses for meals require user initiation and carbohydrate estimation. Analysis will be intention to treat, with the primary outcome time in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) target range (3.9-10.0&thinsp;mmol/L) during the final 3 weeks of intervention. Secondary outcomes include: other CGM parameters, HbA1c, severe hypoglycaemia, psychosocial well-being, sleep, cognition, electrocardiography, costs, quality of life, biomarkers of vascular health and hybrid closed-loop system performance. Semistructured interviews will assess the expectations and experiences of a subgroup of hybrid closed-loop users. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has Human Research Ethics Committee approval. The study will be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice. Results will be disseminated at scientific conferences and via peer-reviewed publications

Fauna Europaea: Diptera -Brachycera

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Pape, T., Beuk, P., Pont, A. C., Shatalkin, A. I., Ozerov, A. L., Woźnica, A. J., ... de Jong, Y. (2015). Fauna Europaea: 3, [e4187]. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.3.e4187 General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Abstract Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant multicellular European terrestrial and freshwater animals and their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (east of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region). The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing taxonomic specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many user communities in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. The Diptera-Brachycera is one of the 58 Fauna Europaea major taxonomic groups, and data have been compiled by a network of 55 specialists. Within the two-winged insects (Diptera), the Brachycera constitute a monophyletic group, which is generally given rank of suborder. The Brachycera may be classified into the probably paraphyletic &apos;lower brachyceran grade&apos; and the monophyletic Eremoneura. The latter contains the Empidoidea, the Apystomyioidea with a single Nearctic species, and the Cyclorrhapha, which in turn is divided into the paraphyletic &apos;aschizan grade&apos; and the monophyletic Schizophora. The latter is traditionally divided into the paraphyletic &apos;acalyptrate grade&apos; and the monophyletic Calyptratae. Our knowledge of the European fauna of Diptera-Brachycera varies tremendously among families, from the reasonably well known hoverflies (Syrphidae) to the extremely poorly known scuttle flies (Phoridae). There has been a steady growth in our knowledge of European Diptera for the last two centuries, with no apparent slow down, but there is a shift towards a larger fraction of the new species being found among the families of the nematoceran grade (lower Diptera), which due to a larger number of small-sized species may be considered as taxonomically more challenging. Most of Europe is highly industrialised and has a high human population density, and the more fertile habitats are extensively cultivated. This has undoubtedly increased the extinction risk for numerous species of brachyceran flies, yet with the recent re-discovery of Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer), there are no known cases of extinction at a European level. However, few national Red Lists have extensive information on Diptera. For the Diptera-Brachycera, data from 96 families containing 11,751 species are included in this paper