Gene content evolution in the arthropods

Arthropods comprise the largest and most diverse phylum on Earth and play vital roles in nearly every ecosystem. Their diversity stems in part from variations on a conserved body plan, resulting from and recorded in adaptive changes in the genome. Dissection of the genomic record of sequence change enables broad questions regarding genome evolution to be addressed, even across hyper-diverse taxa within arthropods. Using 76 whole genome sequences representing 21 orders spanning more than 500 million years of arthropod evolution, we document changes in gene and protein domain content and provide temporal and phylogenetic context for interpreting these innovations. We identify many novel gene families that arose early in the evolution of arthropods and during the diversification of insects into modern orders. We reveal unexpected variation in patterns of DNA methylation across arthropods and examples of gene family and protein domain evolution coincident with the appearance of notable phenotypic and physiological adaptations such as flight, metamorphosis, sociality, and chemoperception. These analyses demonstrate how large-scale comparative genomics can provide broad new insights into the genotype to phenotype map and generate testable hypotheses about the evolution of animal diversity

“A very orderly retreat”: Democratic transition in East Germany, 1989-90

East Germany's 1989-90 democratisation is among the best known of East European transitions, but does not lend itself to comparative analysis, due to the singular way in which political reform and democratic consolidation were subsumed by Germany's unification process. Yet aspects of East Germany's democratisation have proved amenable to comparative approaches. This article reviews the comparative literature that refers to East Germany, and finds a schism between those who designate East Germany's transition “regime collapse” and others who contend that it exemplifies “transition through extrication”. It inquires into the merits of each position and finds in favour of the latter. Drawing on primary and secondary literature, as well as archival and interview sources, it portrays a communist elite that was, to a large extent, prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and capable of learning from “reference states” such as Poland. Although East Germany was the Soviet state in which the positions of existing elites were most threatened by democratic transition, here too a surprising number succeeded in maintaining their position while filing across the bridge to market society. A concluding section outlines the alchemy through which their bureaucratic power was transmuted into property and influence in the “new Germany”

Relative size underlies alternative morph development in a salamander

Size thresholds commonly underlie the induction of alternative morphological states. However, the respective importance of absolute and relative size to such thresholds remains uncertain. If absolute size governs expression, morph frequency should differ among environments that influence absolute sizes (e.g. resources, competition), and individuals of the same morph should have similar average sizes across environments. If relative size determines expression, the frequency of each morph may not differ among environments, but morphs within each environment should differ in size relative to one another. We tested these predictions in a salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum) that develops into either a terrestrial metamorph or an aquatic paedomorph. To generate size variation within and among environments, we reared individuals in mesocosm ponds across three conspecific densities. We found that morph frequency did not differ among density treatments, and the morphs were not similarly sized within each density treatment. Instead, within each environment, relatively larger individuals became metamorphs and relatively smaller individuals became paedomorphs. Relative size therefore determined morph development, highlighting the importance of an individual’s social context to size-dependent morph induction

Duplicated Hox genes in the spider Cupiennius salei

BACKGROUND: Hox genes are expressed in specific domains along the anterior posterior body axis and define the regional identity. In most animals these genes are organized in a single cluster in the genome and the order of the genes in the cluster is correlated with the anterior to posterior expression of the genes in the embryo. The conserved order of the various Hox gene orthologs in the cluster among most bilaterians implies that such a Hox cluster was present in their last common ancestor. Vertebrates are the only metazoans so far that have been shown to contain duplicated Hox clusters, while all other bilaterians seem to possess only a single cluster. RESULTS: We here show that at least three Hox genes of the spider Cupiennius salei are present as two copies in this spider. In addition to the previously described duplicated Ultrabithorax gene, we here present sequence and expression data of a second Deformed gene, and of two Sex comb reduced genes. In addition, we describe the sequence and expression of the Cupiennius proboscipedia gene. The spider Cupiennius salei is the first chelicerate for which orthologs of all ten classes of arthropod Hox genes have been described. The posterior expression boundary of all anterior Hox genes is at the tagma border of the prosoma and opisthosoma, while the posterior boundary of the posterior Hox genes is at the posterior end of the embryo. CONCLUSION: The presence of at least three duplicated Hox genes points to a major duplication event in the lineage to this spider, perhaps even of the complete Hox cluster as has taken place in the lineage to the vertebrates. The combined data of all Cupiennius Hox genes reveal the existence of two distinct posterior expression boundaries that correspond to morphological tagmata boundaries

Embedding knowledge and value of a brand into sustainability for differentiation

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in the Journal of World Business (under the provisional title "Embedding sustainability into brand knowledge and brand value for brand differentiation"). The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.Organisations offer products to consumers, buyers often question if the product or its production process are linked to the environmental, social or economic challenges being faced by mankind. Inquisitiveness of customers in this direction points towards an opportunity for marketers to create differentiation based on the concerns of brand towards overall issue of sustainability. The authors have synthesized knowledge from various domains with a positivistic approach to understand sustainability from the perspective of branding. Using empirical knowledge this study recommends embedding sustainability into brand knowledge and brand value for creating a differentiation for the brand in a competitive market

Oro-facial filariasis-A systematic review of the literature.

IntroductionFilarial pathogens are described to inhabit and affect subcutaneous and lymphatic tissues of the human host. To date, little is known on how much oral health might be affected by filarial infections, even though involvement of the oro-facial region is pathophysiologically possible. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review of the literature to help reduce the current evidence gap. First, we reviewed the existing literature related to oro-facial filariasis and summarized all confirmed cases in detail. Second, we presented the demographic clinical characteristics of published oro-facial filariasis cases using descriptive statistics.MethodsA comprehensive search was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar to identify scholarly articles on oro-facial filariasis (PROSPERO: CRD42024551237). Clinical trial registries of clinicaltrials.gov and the Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) were checked for ongoing studies on oro-facial filariasis. From clinical articles on filariasis and oro-facial health, patient-specific information was ascertained such as country of diagnosis, age, sex and symptoms of the patient, location of filarial disease manifestation, filarial worm species diagnosis, main clinical diagnosis, as well as main pathology and lastly therapy. Descriptive statistics were computed.ResultsThe systematic search was conducted on 18.06.2024. Initially a total of 1,064 publications was identified. No registered study on oro-facial filariasis was found on large clinical trial registers. After sequentially assessing abstracts and full-texts for eligibility, the analysis population was reduced to 68 articles amounting to 111 cases of oro-facial filariasis. Published articles which were identified and ultimately selected consisted solely of case reports, or case series; not a single epidemiological study was found in the published body of literature. Published data on oro-facial filariasis was identified from as early as 1864 until 2022. The median age of oro-facial filariasis cases was 39 years (range: 1 year to 80 years) and evenly distributed between the two sexes (49% [54/110] female and 51% [56/110]; sex not reported for one case). The vast majority of identified cases was on oro-facial dirofilariasis (92% [102/111]), followed by lymphatic filariasis (2.5% [3/111]), lymphatic filariasis with squamous carcinoma (2.5% [3/111]), and lastly by onchocerciasis (1% [1/111]). Although in 34% (38/111) of articles there was no clear description of the main pathology of oro-facial filariasis, all of the remaining 73 articles described nodules or swellings. Asymptomatic manifestations constituted almost 75% (55/73) and only about 25% (18/73) of articles described a symptomatic case.ConclusionAlthough filarial diseases are to date not generally regarded as being associated with oral health problems this assumption might not be justified. This comprehensive systematic review was conducted to detect and collate all published studies on oro-facial filariasis. The fact that only case reports, or case series were identified suggests that this constitutes a neglected field of research. Cases identified in the published literature indicate that the vast majority of published oro-facial, filarial case reports were cases of dirofilariasis. Among the published studies, oro-facial filariasis manifested exclusively as nodules or swellings in different tissue locations. These nodules and swellings were mostly asymptomatic and therefore, cancer is an important differential diagnosis

Comparative Analysis of Initial Full Blood Count Parameters in Adults Infected With Plasmodium falciparum for Classification of Disease Severity and Previous Exposure Across Endemic (Gabon) and Nonendemic (Germany) Settings

Background: The clinical presentation of individuals infected with Plasmodium falciparum is exceptionally diverse, ranging from asymptomatic parasitemia to life-threatening disease. Frequent previous exposure to Plasmodium spp results in partial protection from severe disease; however, this protection wanes in individuals emigrating from holoendemic regions, and there are currently no reliable biomarkers that accurately indicate this semi-immunity. Methods: Data were analyzed from 1392 adults infected with P falciparum in Gabon and Germany. Full blood count parameters and ratios were evaluated individually and as a combined ensemble-based machine learning classifier to predict disease severity, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe malaria. As a secondary objective, the influence of previous exposure to Plasmodium spp was assessed. Results: Comparing asymptomatic parasitemia with uncomplicated malaria in Gabonese and comparing uncomplicated with severe malaria in German patients revealed significantly lower platelet counts (218 vs 150 ×103/µL, P < .0001; 85 vs 40 ×103/µL, P < .0001, respectively) and higher neutrophil counts (2.32 vs 2.57 ×103/µL, P = .0037; 3.08 vs 4.49 ×103/µL, P < .0001) in those with greater infection severity. The machine learning classifier outperformed single parameters in differentiating infection severity in both comparisons (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.94 and 0.84). Lymphocyte and monocyte counts showed a pattern that follows the level of previous malaria exposure, with lower cell counts in naive vs previously exposed patients, regardless of infection severity. Conclusions: The value of simple full blood count parameters for classification of P falciparum infection severity and previous exposure is considerable. The accuracy can be increased by integrating individual parameters into a joint machine learning model

Exploring the feasibility of general health promotion in UK dental primary care:ENGAGE in Scotland

Introduction: Despite UK dental guidance recommending opportunistic health promotion, it's rare for GDPs to discuss more than oral hygiene with their patients. The ENGAGE intervention incorporates UK guidance and evidence-based behaviour change techniques to motivate patients to make lifestyle changes (reduce smoking, alcohol consumption and/or improve diet). It was designed to take less than five minutes and be delivered during a routine dental check-up, and includes a take-home patient handout signposting to free NHS lifestyle counselling helpline services. Aims To determine the feasibility (patient and GDP acceptance) of implementing ENGAGE in Scottish dental primary care. The overall aim is to examine feasibility UK-wide before testing its effectiveness for influencing patient outcomes in a multi-centre UK trial. Methods Study 1: patient survey: N = 1000 adults from all health boards in Scotland were randomly selected from an NHS data base of medical patients and emailed the study invitation and link to an online questionnaire. Study 2: GDP workshop, audit, survey: N = 50 GDPs across Scotland were invited to participate in the training workshop (limited to the first 20 applicants), implement the intervention with their next 20 adult patients in for a check-up, audit their experience, then complete an online questionnaire. Results Study 1: 200 people completed the survey (52% male; 37% were 55 years or younger; 90% had visited their dentist in the previous 12 months). Less than (&lt;) 15% were asked about their smoking, alcohol intake and/or diet when they last visited their dentist for a check-up; &lt;10% would be embarrassed/offended if their dentist or dental hygienist asked them lifestyle questions during a dental check-up; more than (&gt;) 70% would be reassured by the professionalism of their dentist or dental hygienist if they were asked; &lt;4% would be embarrassed/offended if given a leaflet with NHS helpline information by their dentist. Study 2: N = 18 GDPs from nine out of 14 NHS regional health boards in Scotland delivered the ENGAGE intervention to 335 patients (averaging 18 patients each). N = 17/18 participants agreed that this intervention could be delivered during a check-up, was an improvement on what they currently did and thought that it may make a difference to what their patients thought, felt, and/or did about reducing health risk. Conclusion The ENGAGE intervention is feasible to implement in Scottish dental primary care. Comments from patient and GDP participants will inform its development and further feasibility studies set in other UK regions.</p