Motor Vehicle Crashes in Diabetic Patients with Tight Glycemic Control: A Population-based Case Control Analysis

Using a population-based case control analysis, Donald Redelmeier and colleagues found that tighter glycemic control, as measured by the HbA1c, is associated with an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash

Coendangered hard-ticks: threatened or threatening?

The overwhelming majority of animal conservation projects are focused on vertebrates, despite most of the species on Earth being invertebrates. Estimates state that about half of all named species of invertebrates are parasitic in at least one stage of their development. The dilemma of viewing parasites as biodiversity or pest has been discussed by several authors. However, ticks were omitted. The latest taxonomic synopses of non-fossil Ixodidae consider valid 700 species. Though, how many of them are still extant is almost impossible to tell, as many of them are known only from type specimens in museums and were never collected since their original description. Moreover, many hosts are endangered and as part of conservation efforts of threatened vertebrates, a common practice is the removal of, and treatment for external parasites, with devastating impact on tick populations. There are several known cases when the host became extinct with subsequent coextinction of their ectoparasites. For our synoptic approach we have used the IUCN status of the host in order to evaluate the status of specifically associated hard-ticks. As a result, we propose a number of 63 coendangered and one extinct hard-tick species. On the other side of the coin, the most important issue regarding tick-host associations is vectorial transmission of microbial pathogens (i.e. viruses, bacteria, protozoans). Tick-borne diseases of threatened vertebrates are sometimes fatal to their hosts. Mortality associated with pathogens acquired from ticks has been documented in several cases, mostly after translocations. Are ticks a real threat to their coendangered host and should they be eliminated? Up to date, there are no reliable proofs that ticks listed by us as coendangered are competent vectors for pathogens of endangered animals

Transcriptome dynamics of a broad host-range cyanophage and its hosts

Cyanobacteria are highly abundant in the oceans and are constantly exposed to lytic viruses. The T4-like cyanomyoviruses are abundant in the marine environment and have broad host-ranges relative to other cyanophages. It is currently unknown whether broad host-range phages specifically tailor their infection program for each host, or employ the same program irrespective of the host infected. Also unknown is how different hosts respond to infection by the same phage. Here we used microarray and RNA-seq analyses to investigate the interaction between the Syn9 T4-like cyanophage and three phylogenetically, ecologically and genomically distinct marine Synechococcus strains: WH7803, WH8102 and WH8109. Strikingly, Syn9 led a nearly identical infection and transcriptional program in all three hosts. Different to previous assumptions for T4-like cyanophages, three temporally regulated gene expression classes were observed. Furthermore, a novel regulatory element controlled early-gene transcription, and host-like promoters drove middle gene transcription, different to the regulatory paradigm for T4. Similar results were found for the P-TIM40 phage during infection of Prochlorococcus NATL2A. Moreover, genomic and metagenomic analyses indicate that these regulatory elements are abundant and conserved among T4-like cyanophages. In contrast to the near-identical transcriptional program employed by Syn9, host responses to infection involved host-specific genes primarily located in hypervariable genomic islands, substantiating islands as a major axis of phage-cyanobacteria interactions. Our findings suggest that the ability of broad host-range phages to infect multiple hosts is more likely dependent on the effectiveness of host defense strategies than on differential tailoring of the infection process by the phage

First Large-Scale DNA Barcoding Assessment of Reptiles in the Biodiversity Hotspot of Madagascar, Based on Newly Designed COI Primers

BACKGROUND: DNA barcoding of non-avian reptiles based on the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene is still in a very early stage, mainly due to technical problems. Using a newly developed set of reptile-specific primers for COI we present the first comprehensive study targeting the entire reptile fauna of the fourth-largest island in the world, the biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Representatives of the majority of Madagascan non-avian reptile species (including Squamata and Testudines) were sampled and successfully DNA barcoded. The new primer pair achieved a constantly high success rate (72.7-100%) for most squamates. More than 250 species of reptiles (out of the 393 described ones; representing around 64% of the known diversity of species) were barcoded. The average interspecific genetic distance within families ranged from a low of 13.4% in the Boidae to a high of 29.8% in the Gekkonidae. Using the average genetic divergence between sister species as a threshold, 41-48 new candidate (undescribed) species were identified. Simulations were used to evaluate the performance of DNA barcoding as a function of completeness of taxon sampling and fragment length. Compared with available multi-gene phylogenies, DNA barcoding correctly assigned most samples to species, genus and family with high confidence and the analysis of fewer taxa resulted in an increased number of well supported lineages. Shorter marker-lengths generally decreased the number of well supported nodes, but even mini-barcodes of 100 bp correctly assigned many samples to genus and family. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The new protocols might help to promote DNA barcoding of reptiles and the established library of reference DNA barcodes will facilitate the molecular identification of Madagascan reptiles. Our results might be useful to easily recognize undescribed diversity (i.e. novel taxa), to resolve taxonomic problems, and to monitor the international pet trade without specialized expert knowledge

All Is Not Loss: Plant Biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Anthropogenic global changes in biodiversity are generally portrayed in terms of massive native species losses or invasions caused by recent human disturbance. Yet these biodiversity changes and others caused directly by human populations and their use of land tend to co-occur as long-term biodiversity change processes in the Anthropocene. Here we explore contemporary anthropogenic global patterns in vascular plant species richness at regional landscape scales by combining spatially explicit models and estimates for native species loss together with gains in exotics caused by species invasions and the introduction of agricultural domesticates and ornamental exotic plants. The patterns thus derived confirm that while native losses are likely significant across at least half of Earth's ice-free land, model predictions indicate that plant species richness has increased overall in most regional landscapes, mostly because species invasions tend to exceed native losses. While global observing systems and models that integrate anthropogenic species loss, introduction and invasion at regional landscape scales remain at an early stage of development, integrating predictions from existing models within a single assessment confirms their vast global extent and significance while revealing novel patterns and their potential drivers. Effective global stewardship of plant biodiversity in the Anthropocene will require integrated frameworks for observing, modeling and forecasting the different forms of anthropogenic biodiversity change processes at regional landscape scales, towards conserving biodiversity within the novel plant communities created and sustained by human systems

Monitoring arthropods in a tropical landscape: relative effects of sampling methods and habitat types on trap catches

To discuss the challenge of monitoring multi-species responses of tropical arthropods to disturbance, we considered a large dataset (4 × 105 individuals; 1,682 morphospecies representing 22 focal taxa) based on the work of parataxonomists to examine the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on arthropods at Gamba, Gabon. Replication included three sites in each of four different stages of forest succession and land use after logging, surveyed during a whole year with four sampling methods: pitfall, Malaise, flight-interception and yellow pan traps. We compared the suitability of each sampling method for biological monitoring and evaluated statistically their reliability for 118 arthropod families. Our results suggest that a range of sampling methods yields more diverse material than any single method operated with high replication. Multivariate analyses indicated that morphospecies composition in trap catches was more strongly influenced by habitat type than by sampling methods. This implies that for multi-species monitoring, differences in trap efficiency between habitats may be neglected, as far as habitat types remain well contrasted. We conclude that for the purpose of monitoring large arthropod assemblages in the long-term, a protocol based on operating a set of different and non-disruptive traps appears superior in design than summing a series of taxa-specific protocols

Reproducibility of Transcranial Doppler ultrasound in the middle cerebral artery

Abstract Background Transcranial Doppler ultrasound remains the only imaging modality that is capable of real-time measurements of blood flow velocity and microembolic signals in the cerebral circulation. We here assessed the repeatability and reproducibility of transcranial Doppler ultrasound in healthy volunteers and patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. Methods Between March and August 2017, we recruited 20 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. In a quiet temperature-controlled room, two 1-h transcranial Doppler measurements of blood flow velocities and microembolic signals were performed sequentially on the same day (within-day repeatability) and a third 7–14 days later (between-day reproducibility). Levels of agreement were assessed by interclass correlation co-efficient. Results In healthy volunteers (31±9 years, 11 male), within-day repeatability of Doppler measurements were 0.880 (95% CI 0.726–0.950) for peak velocity, 0.867 (95% CI 0.700–0.945) for mean velocity, and 0.887 (95% CI 0.741–0.953) for end-diastolic velocity. Between-day reproducibility was similar but lower: 0.777 (95% CI 0.526–0.905), 0.795 (95% CI 0.558–0.913), and 0.674 (95% CI 0.349–0.856) respectively. In patients (72±11 years, 11 male), within-day repeatability of Doppler measurements were higher: 0.926 (95% CI 0.826–0.970) for peak velocity, 0.922 (95% CI 0.817–0.968) for mean velocity, and 0.868 (95% CI 0.701–0.945) for end-diastolic velocity. Similarly, between-day reproducibility revealed lower values: 0.800 (95% CI 0.567–0.915), 0.786 (95% CI 0.542–0.909), and 0.778 (95% CI 0.527–0.905) respectively. In both cohorts, the intra-observer Bland Altman analysis demonstrated acceptable mean measurement differences and limits of agreement between series of middle cerebral artery velocity measurements with very few outliers. In patients, the carotid stenoses were 30–40% (n = 9), 40–50% (n = 6), 50–70% (n = 3) and > 70% (n = 2). No spontaneous embolisation was detected in either of the groups. Conclusions Transcranial Doppler generates reproducible data regarding the middle cerebral artery velocities. However, larger studies are needed to validate its clinical applicability. Trial registration ClinicalTrial.gov (ID NCT 03050567), retrospectively registered on 15/05/2017