(c) 2012 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Conjugative plasmids are key agents of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) that accelerate bacterial adaptation by vectoring ecologically important traits between strains and species. However, although many conjugative plasmids carry beneficial traits, all plasmids exert physiological costs-of-carriage on bacteria. The existence of conjugative plasmids, therefore, presents Selleck Alisertib a paradox because non-beneficial plasmids should be lost to purifying

selection, whereas beneficial genes carried on plasmids should be integrated into the bacterial chromosome. Several ecological solutions to the paradox have been proposed, but none account for co-adaptation of bacteria and conjugative plasmids. Drawing upon evidence from experimental evolution, we argue that HGT via conjugation can only be fully understood in a coevolutionary framework.”
“Objective: To assess the robustness of the association between intelligence quotient (IQ) and mortality in older adults and to examine whether or not the association can be explained by more specific cognitive processes, including individual differences Selleck KU-60019 in executive functioning. Methods: We examined the associations among Full Scale IQ, individual IQ subtest scores, and

10-year mortality among older community-dwelling, adult participants in the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, who were verified as disease and cognitive-impairment free at baseline via comprehensive medical and neurological evaluation (n = 516). Survival analysis including Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine mortality risk as a function of Full Scale IQ and its specific subcomponents. Results: An inverse association was found between IQ and mortality, but this did not survive adjustment for demographics and education. The association between IQ and mortality seemed to be predominantly check details accounted for by performance on one specific IQ subtest that taps executive processes (i.e., Digit Symbol

(DS)). Performance on this subtest uniquely and robustly predicted mortality in both unadjusted and adjusted models, such that a 1-standard deviation difference in performance was associated with a 28% change in risk of mortality over the 10-year follow-up interval in adjusted models. Conclusions: The association between IQ and mortality in older adults may be predominantly attributable to individual differences in DS performance.”
“Introduction: Anastomotic pseudoaneurysms and true para-anastomotic aneurysms after initial open abdominal aortic prosthetic reconstruction often need reintervention because they are at risk for rupture. However, open surgical reinterventions are technically challenging procedures with high mortality and morbidity rates.