Biological Dissimilarities Research Articles

KADINLARIN YÖNETİMDEKİ BECERİLERİNE İLİŞKİN GEÇMİŞTEN GÜNÜMÜZE BEYİN ARAŞTIRMALARI: KADINLAR YÖNETİMDE HAK ETTİĞİ STATÜYE SAHİP Mİ?

This study aims at to search prominent brain studies that externalised women from communal system and set forth the situations that more women should take the management chair. Firstly, historical definitions that discriminate women and haul them down in brain research, biological dissimilarities in brains according to gender in today's brain research, and the cultural effect shaped by the female brain in co-evolution are analyzed. Brain research in past and today, processes that provide evolution and development, are the basic data investigated. A qualitative study grounds on indirect observation was conducted by probing the data from literature, the continuums and incidents observed in history, and how the continuum was shaped. Events and facts were interpreted and described in their entirety. Brain studies that discriminate against women, the biological and communal act played by women in evolution, development and fitting women at the hub of community and management are the issues that provide clues in the analysis. It is seen how women have been subject to to discrimination with regard to competency in management as a result. As a result it appears that women are the precursor of society and management due to their evolution roles and brain capacity.

Histopathological Evaluation of Right and Left Sided Colorectal Cancer: A Cross-sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital, Assam, India

Introduction: Colorectal cancer is a heterogeneous disease that can develop in any part of the colon including rectum, with significant differences in clinical features and survival of patient in right sided and left sided colorectal carcinoma. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the pathological characteristics of these tumour. Aim: To analyse the pathological features of patients with right and left sided colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based, cross-sectional study conducted in Department of Pathology at Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Assam, India, from July 2019 to June 2020. The study included 35 cases of all endoscopic biopsy specimens and surgically excised large specimens of carcinomatous growths of colon and rectum, whereas carcinoma of appendix was excluded from this study. Special stain like Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) and Alcian Blue, and immunohistochemistry (CK7 and CK20) was done in selected cases. The data is shown in tables and results are expressed in terms of frequency and percentages. Results: Left colon (74.28%) was more commonly involved than right colon (25.72%) and rectum was the most common site (31.43%). The most common gross morphology in right colon was ulcerative growth (16%) and in left colon it was polypoidal growth (28%). On histopathological examination, 27 cases were adenocarcinoma, Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) (six were well differentiated, 20 were moderately differentiated and one was poorly differentiated) and eight cases were mucinous adenocarcinoma. The mean age was 51.54 years with age distribution from 14 years to as old as 80 years. In immunohistochemistry, 9 (90%) cases show CK20 positive/CK7 negative and 1 (10%) case show CK20 positive/CK7 focally positive. Conclusion: Routine microscopic examination of hematoxylin and eosin stained slide was still the commonly performed and vital modality of investigation in majority of the cases. The right and left sided colorectal carcinoma varies according to clinical and pathological features. However, it is still necessary to find other biological dissimilarities of adenocarcinoma located on different sides of colon.

Possible Gender Influence in the Mechanisms Underlying the Oxidative Stress, Inflammatory Response, and the Metabolic Alterations in Patients with Obesity and/or Type 2 Diabetes.

The number of patients afflicted by type 2 diabetes and its morbidities has increased alarmingly, becoming the cause of many deaths. Normally, during nutrient intake, insulin secretion is increased and glucagon secretion is repressed, but when plasma glucose concentration increases, a state of prediabetes occurs. High concentration of plasma glucose breaks the redox balance, inducing an oxidative stress that promotes chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and impaired insulin secretion. In the same context, obesity is one of the most crucial factors inducing insulin resistance, inflammation, and contributing to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Measurements of metabolites like glucose, fructose, amino acids, and lipids exhibit significant predictive associations with type 2 diabetes or a prediabetes state and lead to changes in plasma metabolites that could be selectively affected by gender and age. In terms of gender, women and men have biological dissimilarities that might have an important role for the development, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and relevant hazards in both genders, for type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the present review attempts to analyze the influence of gender on the relationships among inflammatory events, oxidative stress, and metabolic alterations in patients undergoing obesity and/or type 2 diabetes.

Assessing biological dissimilarities between five forest communities

BackgroundDissimilarity in community composition is one of the most fundamental and conspicuous features by which different forest ecosystems may be distinguished. Traditional estimates of community dissimilarity are based on differences in species incidence or abundance (e.g. the Jaccard, Sørensen, and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices). However, community dissimilarity is not only affected by differences in species incidence or abundance, but also by biological heterogeneities among species.MethodsThe objective of this study is to present a new measure of dissimilarity involving the biological heterogeneity among species. The “discriminating Avalanche” introduced in this study, is based on the taxonomic dissimilarity between tree species. The application is demonstrated using observations from five stem-mapped forest plots in China and Mexico. We compared three traditional community dissimilarity indices (Jaccard, Sørensen, and Bray-Curtis) with the “discriminating Avalanche” index, which incorporates information, not only about species frequencies, but also about their taxonomic hierarchies.ResultsDifferent patterns emerged for different measures of community dissimilarity. Compared with the traditional approaches, the discriminating Avalanche values showed a more realistic estimate of community dissimilarities, indicating a greater similarity among communities when species were closely related.ConclusionsTraditional approaches for assessing community dissimilarity disregard the taxonomic hierarchy. In the traditional analysis, the dissimilarity between Pinus cooperi and Pinus durangensis would be the same as the dissimilarity between P. cooperi and Arbutus arizonica. The dissimilarity Avalanche dissimilarity between P. cooperi and P. durangensis is considerably lower than the dissimilarity between P. cooperi and A. arizonica, because the taxonomic hierarchies are incorporated. Therefore, the discriminating Avalanche is a more realistic measure of community dissimilarity. This main result of our study may contribute to improved characterization of community dissimilarities.

The Mantle Cell Lymphoma Response to VCR Protocol Associated with Its Sensitivity to Hypomethylation Regulation-a Collateral Study on VCR Phase I Trial

Introduction:Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a malignancy of monomorphic small to medium-sized B lymphocytes and is considered incurable with standard chemotherapy. Median survival estimates are three to seven years, with even shorter survival times in patients with the blastoid variant and with higher proliferation rates. A number of chemotherapy regimens, both conservative and aggressive, have been employed to treat MCL. Many of these treatments, however, are highly toxic especially in elderly patients or patients with comorbidities. The lack of curative ability and high toxicity of current treatments gives rise to a need for a new regimen. Following a phase I trial utilizing bortezomib, cladribine and rituximab (VCR) (NCT01439750, Blood 2016 128:1792), a series of exploratory assays was utilized to help understand the effectiveness of this combination. It is well documented that cladribine has epigenetic effects and recently, it has been shown that epigenetic modulators play an important role in a variety of cancerous phenotypes. Considering this, we have hypothesized that a positive response to the VCR regimens can be linked to successful hypomethylation regulation of specific genes.Methods:Patients with relapsed or refractory MCL who met specific criteria were eligible to participate in this study. It was a single-arm open-label, investigator initiated phase 1 clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of combination treatment with bortezomib, cladribine, and rituximab. Following the completion of the clinical trial, a DNA methylation assay was performed to assess the biological factors involved in treatment response. Additionally, a cytokine analysis using a magnetic luminex assay was performed to further investigate possible biological dissimilarities that could account for differences in treatment response. The specific genes targeted in the cytokine analysis were PD-L1, CXCL12, IFN-gamma, Il-2, CXCL10, CXCL9, IL-15 and TNF.Results:A principal components analysis of the methylation data revealed that there were significant overall differences in the methylation patterns between patients who responded well and those who responded poorly to treatment. When evaluating genomic regions that differed between groups, it appeared that there was no difference in percentage of hypomethylated regions vs. hypermethylated regions. An analysis of specific genes that have known links to either cancer growth or B-cell production and growth, however, revealed possible targets to show epigenetic differences. Cytokine levels as well as methylation status at the TNF, PD-L1 and CXCL-12 genes were different between the two groups. Those who responded well exhibited significantly decreased methylation percentage at these genes whereas those who responded poorly indicated increased methylation or no change at all.Discussion:Using the methylation and cytokine assay results, we attempted to understand both the positive and negative outcomes of the drug regimen via the patient's genomic response. A previous study done with an ovarian cancer model showed that the TH1 chemokines CXCL-9 and CXCL-10 play a large role in epigenetic tumor modulation [Peng, et al, Nature. 2015, 527 (7577):249-53]. Despite not seeing any significant differences in these particular genes, the methylation changes noted at the CXCL-12 locus indicate a possible mechanism of detecting treatment effectiveness. The CXCR4/CXCL-12 axis plays an important role in cancer cell growth and treatment evasion. Activity in this area shows that the tumor is adapting to treatment, indicating effectiveness as well as a need for further intervention. Changes in the promoter region of PD-L1 and TNF are also possible targets for biomarkers of treatment effectiveness. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum induce different host cell responses at proteome-wide phosphorylation events; a step forward for uncovering the biological differences between these closely related parasites.

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites and tissue cyst-forming Coccidia of the phylum Apicomplexa. There are remarkable similarities between the morphology, genomes and transcriptomes of both parasites. Toxoplasma is zoonotic, with a wide host range and is mainly transmitted horizontally between its definitive host, the cat, and its intermediate hosts. Neospora causes disease within a narrow host range and with reduced virulence potential to the hosts. The dog is the definitive host of Neospora and its epidemiology in cattle mainly depends on vertical transmission. What causes these biological differences is not well understood. Since these parasites secrete an array of secretory proteins, including kinases, during infection to manipulate host cell responses. Host-parasite interactions due to phosphorylation of host cell proteins by T. gondii kinases enhance virulence and maintenance of infection. In this study, proteome-wide phosphorylation events of host cell proteins were investigated in response to infection with T. gondii and N. caninum using phosphoproteomic analyses, followed by pathway analysis on host signalling pathways. A few interesting differences in host responses at both the qualitative and quantitative levels were identified between the two infections; about one third of the phosphoproteomes, approximately 21% of the phospho-motifs and several pathways such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and mTOR pathways of the host cell were found differentially enriched between infection with these parasites. Identifying the differences in host-parasite interactions represents a promising step forward for uncovering the biological dissimilarities between both parasites.

Right- and left-sided colon cancer - clinical and pathological differences of the disease entity in one organ.

IntroductionSome researchers suggest that cancers located in the right vs. the left side of the colon are different and they can be regarded as distinct disease entities. The aim of this study was to analyze differences in clinical, epidemiological and pathological features of patients with right-sided (RCC) and left-sided (LCC) colon cancer.Material and methodsOne thousand two hundred and twenty-four patients were operated on due to colorectal cancer. A group of 477 patients (254 women, mean age 65.5 ±11 for the whole group) with colon cancer was included (212 RCC vs. 265 LCC).ResultsRight colon cancer patients were older (67.8 ±11.3 vs. 63.2 ±11.2; p = 0.0087). Left colon cancer patients underwent surgery for urgent indications more often (17.0% vs. 8.5%; p = 0006). Tumor diameter was greater in the RCC group (55 ±60 mm vs. 38 ±21 mm; p = 0.0003). Total number of removed lymph nodes was higher in the RCC group (11.7 ±6 vs. 8.3 ±5; p = 0.0001). Lymph node ratio was higher in the LCC group (0.45 ±0.28 vs. 0.30 ±0.25; p = 0.0063). We found a strong positive correlation between tumor diameter and the number of removed lymph nodes in the LCC group (r = 0.531).ConclusionsThese differences may result from the fact that RCC patients are diagnosed at an older age. The smaller number of removed lymph nodes in LCC patients may result in incorrect staging. It is still necessary to find other biological dissimilarities of adenocarcinoma located on different sides of the colon.

Inferring the effects of potential dispersal routes on the metacommunity structure of stream insects: as the crow flies, as the fish swims or as the fox runs?

1. Metacommunity research relies largely on proxies for inferring the effect of dispersal on local community structure. Overland and watercourse distances have been typically used as such proxies. A good proxy for dispersal should, however, take into account more complex landscape features that can affect an organism's movement and dispersal. The cost distance approach does just that, allowing determining the path of least resistance across a landscape. 2. Here, we examined the distance decay of assemblage similarity within a subarctic stream insect metacommunity. We tested whether overland, watercourse and cumulative cost distances performed differently as correlates of dissimilarity in assemblage composition between sites. We also investigated the effect of body size and dispersal mode on metacommunity organization. 3. We found that dissimilarities in assemblage composition correlated more strongly with environmental than physical distances between sites. Overland and watercourse distances showed similar correlations to assemblage dissimilarity between sites, being sometimes significantly correlated with biological variation of entire insect communities. In metacommunities deconstructed by body size or dispersal mode, contrary to our expectation, passive dispersers showed a slightly stronger correlation than active dispersers to environmental differences between sites, although passive dispersers also showed a stronger correlation than active dispersers to physical distances between sites. The strength of correlation between environmental distance and biological dissimilarity also varied slightly among the body size classes. 4. After controlling for environmental differences between sites, cumulative cost distances were slightly better correlates of biological dissimilarities than overland or watercourse distances between sites. However, quantitative differences in correlation coefficients were small between different physical distances. 5. Although environmental differences typically override physical distances as determinants of the composition of stream insect assemblages, correlations between environmental distances and biological dissimilarities are typically rather weak. This undetermined variation may be attributable to dispersal processes, which may be captured using better proxies for the process. We suggest that further modifying the measurement of cost distances may be a fruitful avenue, especially if complemented by more direct natural history information on insect dispersal behaviour and distances travelled by them.

Lag, lock, sync, slip: the many ‘phases’ of coupled flagella

In a multitude of life's processes, cilia and flagella are found indispensable. Recently, the biflagellated chlorophyte alga Chlamydomonas has become a model organism for the study of ciliary motility and synchronization. Here, we use high-speed, high-resolution imaging of single pipette-held cells to quantify the rich dynamics exhibited by their flagella. Underlying this variability in behaviour are biological dissimilarities between the two flagella—termed cis and trans, with respect to a unique eyespot. With emphasis on the wild-type, we derive limit cycles and phase parametrizations for self-sustained flagellar oscillations from digitally tracked flagellar waveforms. Characterizing interflagellar phase synchrony via a simple model of coupled oscillators with noise, we find that during the canonical swimming breaststroke the cis flagellum is consistently phase-lagged relative to, while remaining robustly phase-locked with, the trans flagellum. Transient loss of synchrony, or phase slippage, may be triggered stochastically, in which the trans flagellum transitions to a second mode of beating with attenuated beat envelope and increased frequency. Further, exploiting this alga's ability for flagellar regeneration, we mechanically induced removal of one or the other flagellum of the same cell to reveal a striking disparity between the beatings of the cis and trans flagella, in isolation. These results are evaluated in the context of the dynamic coordination of Chlamydomonas flagella.

Dissimilarity of stream insect assemblages: effects of multiple scales and spatial distances

In addition to the effects of environmental conditions, biotic assemblages may exhibit spatial structure depending on the scale of study. We tested whether the dissimilarity of stream insect assemblages is related to two types of spatial distances (stream corridor and overland distance), and evaluated the relative importance of diversity components at multiple spatial scales. Field data included assemblages of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera found in 16 streams in four microbasins. We evaluated the relationship of the dissimilarity of assemblages with the distance types, using Mantel tests. In addition, we evaluated the relationships among the diversity components at multiple spatial scales, using additive partitioning analysis. The biological dissimilarities were correlated only with the geographical distances. Additive partitioning showed that the values of richness observed in the β1 (among Surber), β2 (among riffles), β3 (among streams), and β4 (among microbasins) were higher than those expected. The highest variation of the richness was found in β3 (30.6%). We conclude that stream faunas are distributed in patches all over the studied spatial extent, causing a weak relationship of biological dissimilarity with distance but important beta components when compared to a completely homogenous distribution of the fauna.

Use of generalised dissimilarity modelling to improve the biological discrimination of river and stream classifications

Summary1. Classifications that group rivers and streams with similar ecological characteristics are used increasingly to underpin conservation and resource management planning. Uses include identifying systems that may respond similarly to human activities or management actions, setting guidelines and standards to manage human impacts, interpreting data from inventory (survey) and monitoring, and identifying priority sites for conservation management.2. Traditional approaches to river classification have been based mostly on delineating landscape units (ecoregions), often by grouping adjacent catchments having similar ecological character. However, use of this approach can be complicated by marked local heterogeneity of river systems. Instead, classifications may be more ecologically relevant if individual river or stream segments having similar environmental conditions are grouped together, independent of their geographic locations. The latter approach also allows the use of more rigorous classification procedures, including newly emerging techniques that optimise the ability of a classification to discriminate patterns in parallel sets of biological data.3. Here, we explore the use of one of these newer techniques, generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM), an extension of generalised regression techniques, that defines an optimal set of transformations of candidate environmental predictors to maximise explanation of species turnover in site‐based biological data.4. Using two biological data sets describing the distributions of freshwater fish and macroinvertebrates and a candidate set of functionally relevant environmental variables, we used GDM to identify the variables, weightings and transformations that best explain biological dissimilarities across sites. We then used these as input to a multivariate classification of 567 000 river and stream segments throughout New Zealand. Weightings and transformations of these variables were also specified from the GDM analysis. The matrix of transformed environmental predictors was classified in a two‐stage process, using non‐hierarchical mediod clustering to define an initial set of 400 groups, with relationships between these groups then defined using hierarchical clustering.5. The resulting classification better discriminates sites with similar biological character than previous classifications, particularly at higher levels of classification detail. Key factors contributing to this success include the use of detailed, segment‐specific environmental variables, coherently accounting for the longitudinal connectivity inherent in rivers including its implications for the construction of biologically relevant predictors, and the use of a modelling technique (GDM) designed to specifically analyse biological turnover and its relationships with environment.

Differences in reactivity of confluent and nonconfluent cultures of human endothelial cells toward thrombin-stimulated platelets or heparinized salt solution

This study examined whether nonconfluent endothelial cell cultures reacted differently than confluent ones toward thrombin-stimulated platelets or a heparinized salt solution. The adherence to the endothelial cell cultures of 51Cr-labeled human platelets stimulated at different thrombin concentrations was studied. There was significantly higher adherence of stimulated platelets to nonconfluent cultures compared with confluent ones. This was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, which also revealed a tendency for the platelets to adhere at the cell periphery. Electron microscopy also showed that thrombin-stimulated platelets induced endothelial cell contraction. Part of the peripheral endothelial cell surface toward the bottom of the culture dish was inverted, facing the lumen of the dish. This phenomenon was particularly seen in nonconfluent cultures. When 51Cr-labeled endothelial cultures were incubated with a mildly injurious fluid as heparinized sodium acetate and 20% serum, at 20 degrees C for 30 min, the nonconfluent cultures showed significantly more cell detachment and release of 51Cr than the confluent ones. We conclude that under the conditions of the present experiments there are differences in the reactivity of confluent and nonconfluent endothelial cell cultures. These differences probably reflect biological dissimilarities. In experiments where properties of cultured endothelium are studied, care should be taken that the degree of confluency is standardized.