Spatiotemporal-social association predicts immunological similarity in rewilded mice

Environmental influences on immune phenotypes are well-documented, but our understanding of which elements of the environment affect immune systems, and how, remains vague. Behaviors, including socializing with others, are central to an individual's interaction with its environment. We therefore tracked behavior of rewilded laboratory mice of three inbred strains in outdoor enclosures and examined contributions of behavior, including associations measured from spatiotemporal co-occurrences, to immune phenotypes. We found extensive variation in individual and social behavior among and within mouse strains upon rewilding. In addition, we found that the more associated two individuals were, the more similar their immune phenotypes were. Spatiotemporal association was particularly predictive of similar memory T and B cell profiles and was more influential than sibling relationships or shared infection status. These results highlight the importance of shared spatiotemporal activity patterns and/or social networks for immune phenotype and suggest potential immunological correlates of social life.

Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Use Their Legs to Sense DEET on Contact

DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the most effective and widely used insect repellent, but its mechanism of action is both complex and controversial [1]. DEET acts on insect smell [2-6] and taste [7-11], and its olfactory mode of action requires the odorant co-receptor orco [2, 3, 6]. We previously observed that orco mutant female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are strongly attracted to humans even in the presence of DEET, but they are rapidly repelled after contacting DEET-treated skin [6]. DEET inhibits food ingestion by Drosophila melanogaster flies, and this repellency is mediated by bitter taste neurons in the proboscis [9]. Similar neurons were identified in the mosquito proboscis, leading to the hypothesis that DEET repels on contact by activating an aversive bitter taste pathway [10]. To understand the basis of DEET contact chemorepellency, we carried out behavioral experiments and discovered that DEET acts by three distinct mechanisms: smell, ingestion, and contact. Like bitter tastants, DEET is a feeding deterrent when ingested, but its bitterness per se does not fully explain DEET contact chemorepellency. Mosquitoes blood fed on human arms treated with high concentrations of bitters, but rapidly avoided DEET-treated skin and did not blood feed. Insects detect tastants both through their proboscis and legs. We show that DEET contact chemorepellency is mediated exclusively by the tarsal segments of the legs and not the proboscis. This work establishes mosquito legs as the behaviorally relevant contact sensors of DEET. These results will inform the search for molecular mechanisms mediating DEET contact chemorepellency and novel contact-based insect repellents.

A natural variant and engineered mutation in a GPCR promote DEET resistance in C. elegans

DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a synthetic chemical identified by the US Department of Agriculture in 1946 in a screen for repellents to protect soldiers from mosquito-borne diseases^1,2. Since its discovery, DEET has become the world's most widely used arthropod repellent and is effective against invertebrates separated by millions of years of evolution-including biting flies³, honeybees⁴, ticks⁵, and land leeches³. In insects, DEET acts on the olfactory system^5-12 and requires the olfactory receptor co-receptor Orco^7,9-12, but exactly how it works remains controversial¹³. Here we show that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is sensitive to DEET and use this genetically tractable animal to study the mechanism of action of this chemical. We found that DEET is not a volatile repellent, but instead interferes selectively with chemotaxis to a variety of attractant and repellent molecules. In a forward genetic screen for DEET-resistant worms, we identified a gene that encodes a single G protein-coupled receptor, str-217, which is expressed in a single pair of chemosensory neurons that are responsive to DEET, called ADL neurons. Mis-expression of str-217 in another chemosensory neuron conferred responses to DEET. Engineered str-217 mutants, and a wild isolate of C. elegans that carries a str-217 deletion, are resistant to DEET. We found that DEET can interfere with behaviour by inducing an increase in average pause length during locomotion, and show that this increase in pausing requires both str-217 and ADL neurons. Finally, we demonstrated that ADL neurons are activated by DEET and that optogenetic activation of ADL neurons increased average pause length. This is consistent with the 'confusant' hypothesis, which proposes that DEET is not a simple repellent but that it instead modulates multiple olfactory pathways to scramble behavioural responses^10,11. Our results suggest a consistent motif in the effectiveness of DEET across widely divergent taxa: an effect on multiple chemosensory neurons that disrupts the pairing between odorant stimulus and behavioural response.

The treatment of pelvic soft tissue radiation necrosis with hyperbaric oxygen

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the therapeutic effects of hyperbaric oxygen on radiation-induced soft tissue necrosis in patients who previously received treatment for a gynecologic malignancy.

STUDY DESIGN

Fourteen patients whose necrotic wounds failed to heal after 3 months of conservative therapy were enrolled in a prospective observational study. Outcome of hyperbaric oxygen treatment was measured by resolution of necrosis.

RESULTS

Fourteen patients underwent 15 courses of hyperbaric oxygen treatments. All those with radiation necrosis of the vagina alone or in association with rectovaginal fistula had complete resolution of necrosis with hyperbaric oxygen. Only one treatment failure occurred.

CONCLUSION

Hyperbaric oxygen is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated treatment for radiation-induced soft tissue necrosis.

Evaluation of pretreatment transvaginal ultrasonography in the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of pretreatment assessment with ultrasonography in patients with endometrial carcinoma.

STUDY DESIGN

Fifty patients with endometrial carcinoma diagnosed by endometrial biopsy or curettage were studied before hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and selected lymph node sampling. Ultrasonographic criteria for determination of tumor grade, depth of myometrial invasion, uterine volume, and tumor volume were established. Tumor grade was compared with preoperative and postoperative pathologic diagnoses, depth of invasion was compared with postoperative pathologic evaluation, and uterine volume and tumor volume were compared with postoperative evaluation of tumor grade and depth of invasion. Data were analyzed by chi 2 testing, and, where appropriate, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the ultrasonographic measurements were determined.

RESULTS

The following statistically significant correlations (p less than or equal to 0.05) were found. Ultrasonography predicted tumor grade as accurately as preoperative pathologic evaluation did. Depth of invasion less than or equal to 50% or greater than 50% significantly correlated. Uterine volume less than or equal to 200 ml predicted less than or equal to 50% depth of invasion 28 of 32 times. Uterine volume greater than 500 ml was noted in six cases; five of these had grade 2 or 3 tumor and four had depth of invasion greater than 50%. Tumor volume less than or equal to 20 ml predicted a grade 1 tumor in 25 of 39 cases and depth of invasion less than or equal to 50% in 34 of 39 cases. Tumor volume greater than 20 ml correlated with a grade 2 or 3 tumor in 11 of 11 cases and a depth of invasion greater than 50% in seven of 11 cases. In 25 grade 1 tumors diagnosed postoperatively by pathologic study, none was associated with a tumor volume greater than 20 ml.

CONCLUSION

Pretreatment ultrasonographic measurements should be of value in the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma.

Postcesarean endometritis: a brief review and comparison of three antibiotic regimens

Three different antibiotic regimens (trospectomycin plus azteonam, clindamycin plus azteonam, and triple antibiotics-ampicillin plus clindamycin plus gentamicin) were all effective in treating patients with postcesarean endometritis. Patients are frequently cured clinically despite the fact that the offending organisms may be isolated in post-treatment cultures. Treatment of postcesarean endometritis without obtaining endometrial cultures is acceptable gynecologic practice. Obtaining post-treatment cultures is clearly not cost effective nor clinically beneficial. Drug treatment efficacy should be evaluated by clinical response. This communication is the first to report the new antibiotic, trospectomycin, in the treatment of postcesarean endometritis. Further clinical trials are currently underway.

Single-center comparison of results of 1000 prenatal diagnoses with chorionic villus sampling and 1000 diagnoses with amniocentesis

Large multicenter studies have confirmed the safety and accuracy of chorionic villus sampling as a prenatal genetic diagnostic procedure, but there have been few single-center evaluations. We report our experience with 1000 consecutive chorionic villus sampling procedures compared with 1000 consecutive amniocentesis procedures during the same period. The procedures were performed by the same genetic counselors, sonographers, obstetricians, and laboratory personnel. Indications for referral, demographic characteristics of patients, numbers of attempts per patient, fetal loss rates, laboratory results, and evaluation of accuracy are included. Analysis of all data suggests that chorionic villus sampling is a safe and accurate alternative to amniocentesis in our community-based teaching hospital.

Reliability of gynecologic sonographic diagnosis, 1978-1984

The indications for gynecologic ultrasonography, as well as the reliability of sonographic diagnoses in gynecologic patients, remain controversial. In an effort to evaluate the reliability of the gynecologic sonographic diagnoses rendered at this institution, we analyzed 900 patients available for follow-up. The referral diagnosis was confirmed in 331 patients (36.8%). In 531 patients (59%), sonography established the diagnosis. Thirty-eight (4.2%) of the diagnoses rendered did not reveal the actual status of the patient and were deemed to be "misleading." Twenty-one of the misleading diagnoses involved the attempted diagnosis of pregnancy at less than 5 weeks' menstrual age. Sonography correctly identified 353 of 370 patients with normal pelvic anatomy. Specific clinical settings in which gynecologic sonography could be beneficial are presented.

The results of one thousand consecutive prenatal diagnoses

From 1976 to 1982, prenatal diagnosis was performed on more than 1,000 patients at the Richland Memorial Hospital. This report analyzes the experience of our unit with the first 1,000 consecutive studies. The integration of geneticist and clinician is stressed. A total of 77.7% of referrals were because of maternal age with the next most common indication being a prior child with a neural tube defect. There were 18 chromosomal abnormalities discovered, and no cases of open neural tube defect were detected. In all cases of elective termination of pregnancy in which follow-up was possible, the diagnosed abnormality was confirmed.