Effects of genetically modified maize events expressing Cry34Ab1, Cry35Ab1, Cry1F, and CP4 EPSPS proteins on arthropod complex food webs

Four genetically modified (GM) maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids (coleopteran resistant, coleopteran and lepidopteran resistant, lepidopteran resistant and herbicide tolerant, coleopteran and herbicide tolerant) and its non-GM control maize stands were tested to compare the functional diversity of arthropods and to determine whether genetic modifications alter the structure of arthropods food webs. A total number of 399,239 arthropod individuals were used for analyses. The trophic groups' number and the links between them indicated that neither the higher magnitude of Bt toxins (included resistance against insect, and against both insects and glyphosate) nor the extra glyphosate treatment changed the structure of food webs. However, differences in the average trophic links/trophic groups were detected between GM and non-GM food webs for herbivore groups and plants. Also, differences in characteristic path lengths between GM and non-GM food webs for herbivores were observed. Food webs parameterized based on 2-year in-field assessments, and their properties can be considered a useful and simple tool to evaluate the effects of Bt toxins on non-target organisms.

Controlled trial of the effectiveness of community rehabilitation for patients with schizophrenia in Shanghai, China

Background

The ‘Sunshine Soul Park’ is a network of social welfare institutions that provides communitybased rehabilitation services for individuals with mental illness.

Aims

Assess the effectiveness of the rehabilitation services provided at the ‘Sunshine Soul Park’ on the psychotic symptoms and social functioning of individuals with schizophrenia and, based on these findings, provide a theoretical model of community-based rehabilitation.

Methods

Sixty individuals with schizophrenia in the Huangpu District of Shanghai volunteered for the rehabilitation training program provided at six ‘Sunshine Soul Park’ community centers that involves day treatment, medication monitoring, biweekly rehabilitation training, and other recreational, social, and intellectual activities. A matched control group was recruited from individuals with schizophrenia registered on the Huangpu District registry of the ‘Severe Mental Illness Prevention and Rehabilitation System’. All participants continued their medication without change for the full year of follow-up. Both groups were assessed at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months after enrollment using the Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire (ITAQ), Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS), Generic Quality of Life Inventory-74 (GQOLI-74), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Results

In the intervention group the ITAQ, SDSS, GQOLI-74, and PANSS scores showed statistically significant improvement compared to baseline at each follow-up assessment. Moreover, the trend in improvement in the interventions group is significantly faster than that in the control group.

Conclusions

The ‘Sunshine Soul Park’ rehabilitation training program enhances patients’ knowledge about their disorder and improves their social functioning and quality of life. Further studies to assess methods for up-scaling this intervention to other areas of China are warranted.

Cortical Brain Connectivity and B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Patients With Congestive Heart Failure

The brain has a high level of complexity and needs continuous oxygen supply. So it is clear that any pathological condition, or physiological (aging) change, in the cardiovascular system affects functioning of the central nervous system. We evaluated linear aspects of the relationship between the slowness of cortical rhythms, as revealed by the modulation of a graph connectivity parameter, and congestive heart failure (CHF), as a reflection of neurodegenerative processes. Eyes-closed resting electroencephalographic (EEG) data of 10 patients with CHF were recorded by 19 electrodes positioned according the international 10-20 system. Graph theory function (normalized characteristic path length λ) was applied to the undirected and weighted networks obtained by lagged linear coherence evaluated by eLORETA software, therefore getting rid of volumetric propagation influences. The EEG frequency bands of interest were: delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha 1 (8-10.5 Hz), alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta 1 (13-20 Hz), beta 2 (20-30 Hz), and gamma (30-40 Hz). The analysis between B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) values and λ showed positive correlation in delta, associated with a negative correlation in alpha 2 band. Namely, the higher the severity of the disease (as revealed by the BNP vales), the higher the λ in delta, and lower in alpha 2 band. Results suggest that delta and alpha λ indices are good markers of the severity of CHF.

Abnormal inter- and intra-hemispheric integration in male paranoid schizophrenia: a graph-theoretical analysis

BACKGROUND

The human brain is a complex network of regions that are structurally interconnected by white matter (WM) tracts. Schizophrenia (SZ) can be conceptualized as a disconnection syndrome characterized by widespread disconnections in WM pathways.

AIMS

To assess whether or not anatomical disconnections are associated with disruption of the topological properties of inter- and intra-hemispheric networks in SZ.

METHODS

We acquired the diffusion tensor imaging data from 24 male patients with paranoid SZ during an acute phase of their illness and from 24 healthy age-matched male controls. The brain FA-weighted (fractional anisotropy-weighted) structural networks were constructed and the inter- and intra-hemispheric integration was assessed by estimating the average characteristic path lengths (CPLs) between and within the left and right hemisphere networks.

RESULTS

The mean CPLs for all 18 inter-and intra-hemispheric CPLs assessed were longer in the SZ patient group than in the control group, but only some of these differences were significantly different: the CPLs for the overall inter-hemispheric and the left and right intra-hemispheric networks; the CPLs for the interhemisphere subnetworks of the frontal lobes, temporal lobes, and subcortical structures; and the CPL for the intra- frontal subnetwork in the right hemisphere. Among the 24 patients, the CPL of the inter-frontal subnetwork was positively associated with negative symptom severity, but this was the only significant result among 72 assessed correlations, so it may be a statistical artifact.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the integrity of intra- and inter-hemispheric WM tracts is disrupted in males with paranoid SZ, supporting the brain network disconnection model (i.e., the (')connectivity hypothesis(')) of schizophrenia. Larger studies with less narrowly defined samples of individuals with schizophrenia are needed to confirm these results.

Aberrant cerebral network topology and mild cognitive impairment in early Parkinson's disease

The aim of this study was to assess whether mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with disruption in large-scale structural networks in newly diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Graph theoretical analyses were applied to 3T MRI data from 123 PD patients and 56 controls from the Parkinson's progression markers initiative (PPMI). Thirty-three patients were classified as having Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) using the Movement Disorders Society Task Force criteria, while the remaining 90 PD patients were classified as cognitively normal (PD-CN). Global measures (clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, global efficiency, small-worldness) and regional measures (regional clustering coefficient, regional efficiency, hubs) were assessed in the structural networks that were constructed based on cortical thickness and subcortical volume data. PD-MCI patients showed a marked reduction in the average correlation strength between cortical and subcortical regions compared with controls. These patients had a larger characteristic path length and reduced global efficiency in addition to a lower regional efficiency in frontal and parietal regions compared with PD-CN patients and controls. A reorganization of the highly connected regions in the network was observed in both groups of patients. This study shows that the earliest stages of cognitive decline in PD are associated with a disruption in the large-scale coordination of the brain network and with a decrease of the efficiency of parallel information processing. These changes are likely to signal further cognitive decline and provide support to the role of aberrant network topology in cognitive impairment in patients with early PD.

Residue centrality, functionally important residues, and active site shape: analysis of enzyme and non-enzyme families

The representation of protein structures as small-world networks facilitates the search for topological determinants, which may relate to functionally important residues. Here, we aimed to investigate the performance of residue centrality, viewed as a family fold characteristic, in identifying functionally important residues in protein families. Our study is based on 46 families, including 29 enzyme and 17 non-enzyme families. A total of 80% of these central positions corresponded to active site residues or residues in direct contact with these sites. For enzyme families, this percentage increased to 91%, while for non-enzyme families the percentage decreased substantially to 48%. A total of 70% of these central positions are located in catalytic sites in the enzyme families, 64% are in hetero-atom binding sites in those families binding hetero-atoms, and only 16% belong to protein-protein interfaces in families with protein-protein interaction data. These differences reflect the active site shape: enzyme active sites locate in surface clefts, hetero-atom binding residues are in deep cavities, while protein-protein interactions involve a more planar configuration. On the other hand, not all surface cavities or clefts are comprised of central residues. Thus, closeness centrality identifies functionally important residues in enzymes. While here we focus on binding sites, we expect to identify key residues for the integration and transmission of the information to the rest of the protein, reflecting the relationship between fold and function. Residue centrality is more conserved than the protein sequence, emphasizing the robustness of protein structures.