Perception of unfamiliar caregivers during sickness - Using the new Caregiver Perception Task (CgPT) during experimental endotoxemia.

Social withdrawal is a well-established part of sickness behavior, but in some contexts sick animals might gain from keeping close instead of keeping away. For instance, sick individuals are more willing to be near known individuals who can provide care and safety (close others) compared to when healthy. Yet, interactions with some strangers might also be beneficial (i.e., healthcare professionals), but it is not known how sickness interplay with social behavior towards such individuals. Here, we assessed if sickness affects perception of caregivers, and developed a new task, the Caregiver Perception Task (CgPT). Twenty-six participants performed the CgPT, once after an injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 0.8 ng/kg body weight, n = 24), and once after an injection of saline (n = 25), one hour and forty-five minutes post-injection. During the task, participants watched short video clips of three types of caregivers: a healthcare professional taking care of a sick individual, a healthcare professional not taking care of a sick individual, and a non-healthcare professional taking care of their sick adult child or partner. After each video clip, the likability, trustworthiness, professionalism, and willingness to interact with and receive care from the caregiver were rated on visual analogue scales. Results showed that participants injected with saline rated healthcare professionals who did not take care of a sick individual less positively on all aspects compared to healthcare professionals who took care of a sick individual. Moreover, compared to saline, LPS increased the participants' willingness to receive care from healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals providing care, but not from healthcare professionals not providing care. Thus, our results indicate that sick individuals may approach unknown individuals with potential to provide care and support.

The walking sick: Perception of experimental sickness from biological motion.

Identification of sick conspecifics allows for avoidance of infectious threats, and is therefore an important behavioral defense against diseases. Here, we investigated if humans can identify sick individuals solely from biological motion and posture (using point-light displays). Additionally, we sought to determine which movements and sickness parameters would predict such detection. We collected video clips and derived point-light displays (one stride presented in a loop) of sick walkers (injected with lipopolysaccharide at 2.0 ng/kg body weight) and the same walkers when healthy (injected with saline). We then presented these displays to two groups, one group classified each walker as sick or healthy (study 1, n = 106), and the other group scored the walkers' health on a visual analogue scale (study 2, n = 106). The raters were able to identify sick individuals above chance, and rated sick walkers as having worse health, both from observing video clips and point-light displays. Furthermore, both sickness detection and worse apparent health were predicted by inflammation-induced increase in rigidity and slower walking, but not other cues. Altogether, these findings indicate that biological motion can serve as a sickness cue, possibly allowing humans to identify sick conspecifics from a distance, and thereby allowing for disease avoidance.

SID: a new carbohydrate blood group system based on a well-characterized but still mysterious antigen of great pathophysiologic interest.

The high-prevalence blood group antigen, Sda, had been puzzling blood bankers and transfusionists for at least a decade when it was reported in 1967. The characteristic mix of agglutinates and free red blood cells (RBCs), caused by anti-Sda, is seen with the RBCs from 90 percent of individuals of European descent. However, only 2-4 percent of individuals are truly Sd(a-) and may produce anti-Sda. The antibodies, generally considered insignificant, may cause hemolytic transfusion reactions with high-expressing Sd(a+) RBCs (e.g., the unusual Cad phenotype, which can also be polyagglutinable). The Sda glycan, GalNAcß1-4(NeuAcα2-3)Gal-R, is produced in the gastrointestinal and urinary systems, while its origin on RBCs is more controversial. According to current theory, Sda is likely to be passively adsorbed in low amounts, except in Cad individuals, where it has been found on erythroid proteins and at higher levels. The long-standing hypothesis that B4GALNT2 encodes the Sda synthase was confirmed in 2019, since homozygosity for a variant allele with rs7224888:C produces a non-functional enzyme associated with most cases of the Sd(a-) phenotype. Thereby, the SID blood group system was acknowledged as number 038 by the International Society of Blood Transfusion. Although the genetic background of Sd(a-) was settled, questions remain. The genetic background of the Cad phenotype has not yet been determined, and the source of the RBC-carried Sda is unknown. Furthermore, the interest of Sda stretches beyond transfusion medicine. Some tantalizing examples are lowered antigen levels in malignant tissue compared with normal tissue and interference with infectious agents like Escherichia coli, influenza virus, and malaria parasites.

Yes, MAM: how the cancer-related EMP3 protein became a regulator of erythropoiesis and the key protein underlying a new blood group system.

The MAM blood group system (International Society of Blood Transfusion [ISBT] 041) consists of one high-prevalence antigen to date, first detected in a 31-year-old woman during her third pregnancy. Epithelial membrane protein 3 (EMP3) was recently identified as the gene coding the MAM antigen. Six unique genetic variants have been described in EMP3 in 11 MAM- individuals. EMP3 is an 18-kDa glycoprotein with a large extracellular domain containing at least one N-glycosylation site. The normal function of EMP3 is still unclear, but ex vivo culture of erythropoietic progenitor cells from MAM- individuals shows an increased yield of reticulocytes, suggesting that EMP3 acts as a brake during normal erythropoiesis. EMP3 is abundant on different cell types, including many epithelial tissues and blood cells. Interestingly, EMP3 expression has been suggested as a prognostic marker for a number of cancer types, both for good and poor prognoses. EMP3 may act as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene in different cancer contexts. The protein appears to interact with other cell surface receptors and affects the downstream signaling and function of these proteins. MAM- red blood cells express low levels of CD44 and, consequently, the antigens of the Indian blood group system are only weakly expressed. Clinically, the MAM blood group antigen is important with regard to blood transfusion and pregnancy. Anti-MAM can cause severe hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn in some pregnancies but have little to no effect in other pregnancies. Cases are typically not detected until problems occur during pregnancy, making the availability of compatible blood a challenge.

Individual telomere dynamics and their links to life history in a viviparous lizard.

Emerging patterns suggest telomere dynamics and life history are fundamentally linked in endotherms through life-history traits that mediate the processes underlying telomere attrition. Unlike endotherms, ectotherms maintain the ability to lengthen somatic telomeres throughout life and the link between life-history strategies and ectotherm telomere dynamics is unknown. In a well-characterized model system (Niveoscincus ocellatus), we used long-term longitudinal data to study telomere dynamics across climatically divergent populations. We found longer telomeres in individuals from the cool highlands than those from the warm lowlands at birth and as adults. The key determinant of adult telomere length across populations was telomere length at birth, with population-specific effects of age and growth on adult telomere length. The reproductive effort had no proximate effect on telomere length in either population. Maternal factors influenced telomere length at birth in the warm lowlands but not the cool highlands. Our results demonstrate that life-history traits can have pervasive and context-dependent effects on telomere dynamics in ectotherms both within and between populations. We argue that these telomere dynamics may reflect the populations' different life histories, with the slow-growing cool highland population investing more into telomere lengthening compared to the earlier-maturing warm lowland population.

Low sun exposure habits is associated with a dose-dependent increased risk of hypertension: a report from the large MISS cohort.

In prospective observational cohort studies, increasing sun exposure habits have been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality. Our aim was to assess possible observational mechanisms for this phenomenon. A written questionnaire was answered by 23,593 women in the year 2000 regarding risk factors for melanoma, including factors of possible interest for hypertension, such as detailed sun exposure habits, hypertension, marital status, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, exercise, and chronic high stress. Hypertension was measured by the proxy "use of hypertension medication" 2005-2007, and high stress by "need of anti-depressive medication". Sun exposure habits was assessed by the number of `yes' to the following questions; Do you sunbath during summer?, During winter vacation?, Do you travel south to sunbath?, Or do you use sun bed? Women answering 'yes' on one or two questions had moderate and those answering 'yes' on three or four as having greatest sun exposure. The main outcome was the risk of hypertension by sun exposure habits adjusted for confounding. As compared to those women with the greatest sun exposure, women with low and moderate sun exposure were at 41% and 15% higher odds of hypertension (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.3‒1.6, p < 0.001 and OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.1‒1.2, p < 0.001), respectively. There was a strong age-related increased risk of hypertension. Other risk factors for hypertension were lack of exercise (OR 1.36), a non-fair phenotype (OR 1.08), chronic high stress level (OR 1.8), and lack of university education (OR 1.3). We conclude that in our observational design sun exposure was associated with a dose-dependent reduced risk of hypertension, which might partly explain the fewer deaths of cardiovascular disease with increasing sun exposure.

Transcriptomes from German shepherd dogs reveal differences in immune activity between atopic dermatitis affected and control skin.

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is an inflammatory and pruritic allergic skin disease with both genetic and environmental risk factors described. We performed mRNA sequencing of non-lesional axillary skin biopsies from nine German shepherd dogs. Obtained RNA sequences were mapped to the dog genome (CanFam3.1) and a high-quality skin transcriptome was generated with 23,510 expressed gene transcripts. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were defined by comparing three controls to five treated CAD cases. Using a leave-one-out analysis, we identified seven DEGs: five known to encode proteins with functions related to an activated immune system (CD209, CLEC4G, LOC102156842 (lipopolysaccharide-binding protein-like), LOC480601 (regakine-1-like), LOC479668 (haptoglobin-like)), one (OBP) encoding an odorant-binding protein potentially connected to rhinitis, and the last (LOC607095) encoding a novel long non-coding RNA. Furthermore, high mRNA expression of inflammatory genes was found in axillary skin from an untreated mild CAD case compared with healthy skin. In conclusion, we define genes with different expression patterns in CAD case skin helping us understand post-treatment atopic skin. Further studies in larger sample sets are warranted to confirm and to transfer these results into clinical practice.

Biological motion during inflammation in humans.

Biological motion is a powerful perceptual cue that can reveal important information about the inner state of an individual. Activation of inflammatory processes likely leads to changes in gait, posture, and mobility patterns, but the specific characteristics of inflammation-related biological motion have not been characterized. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inflammation on gait and motion in humans. Systemic inflammation was induced in 19 healthy volunteers with an intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (2 ng/kg body weight). Biological motion parameters (walking speed, stride length and time, arm, leg, head, and shoulder angles) were assessed during a walking paradigm and the timed-up-and-go test. Cytokine concentrations, body temperature, and sickness symptoms were measured. During inflammation, compared to placebo, participants exhibited shorter, slower, and wider strides, less arm extension, less knee flexion, and a more downward-tilting head while walking. They were also slower and took a shorter first step in the timed-up-and-go test. Higher interleukin-6 concentrations, stronger sickness symptoms, and lower body temperature predicted the inflammation-related alterations in biological motion. These findings show that biological motion contains clear information about the inflammatory status of an individual, and may be used by peers or artificial intelligence to recognize that someone is sick or contagious.

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 levels are increased in early-pregnancy gestational diabetes: a novel biomarker for early risk estimation.

AIM: To determine whether pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 levels are increased in early pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes and whether gestation age influences levels. The possible use of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 as a pre-screening biomarker to reduce the need for performing oral glucose tolerance tests in pregnant women was also investigated. METHODS: Pregnant women were diagnosed with gestational diabetes in early pregnancy after a 2-hour 75 g oral glucose tolerance test in the catchment area of Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden during 2011-2015 (n = 99). Age- and BMI-matched pregnant women without diabetes were recruited at similar gestational ages from maternal healthcare centres in the same geographical area during 2014-2015 to act as controls (n = 100). Circulating pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 was analysed in participant serum using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS: Circulating pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 was increased in women diagnosed with gestational diabetes [13.5 (9.58-18.8) ng/ml] compared with controls [8.11 (5.74-11.3) ng/ml; P < 0.001]. Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 was associated with gestational diabetes independent of age, BMI, C-peptide and adiponectin (P < 0.001). Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 as a pre-screening biomarker to identify women at a decreased risk of gestational diabetes resulted in a negative predictive value of 99.7%, with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 30% at a cut-off level of 6 ng/ml. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to show increased pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 levels in gestational diabetes. Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 also shows promise as a pre-screening biomarker with the potential to reduce the need for performing oral glucose tolerance tests in early pregnancy. Future prospective cohort studies in a larger group of both high- and low-risk women are, however, needed to further confirm this observation.

The cost of childhood atopic dermatitis in a multi-ethnic Asian population: a cost-of-illness study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood atopic dermatitis can often have a negative impact on quality of life for affected children and their caregivers. The condition contributes to increased healthcare costs and can pose heavy economic burdens on healthcare systems and societies. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive estimate of the economic burden of childhood atopic dermatitis in a Singaporean sample and to investigate associated factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional cost-of-illness study applied a societal perspective. Data was collected between December 2016 and December 2017 in Singapore. Caregivers to children below 16 years of age with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of atopic dermatitis were recruited and sociodemographics, clinical characteristics, health service utilization data and time spent on caregiving were collected from all eligible participants. RESULTS: The average annual cost per child with atopic dermatitis was estimated at U.S. dollars (USD) 7943 (mild USD 6651, moderate USD 7935 and severe USD 14 335) in 2017 prices. The major cost was for informal caregiving (46% of the total cost) followed by out-of-pocket expenses (37%). Healthcare utilization contributed to 17% of the total cost of which 43% was for medications. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood atopic dermatitis imposes substantial costs with a large proportion arising from informal caregiving and out-of-pocket expenses. The costs related to atopic dermatitis are also strongly related to disease severity. This information is important for policy makers and other health planners when considering how to better support affected families. What's already known about the topic? Childhood atopic dermatitis is a costly disease for society. However, comprehensive cost estimations are lacking. Previous cost studies are old, based on small sample sizes or are healthcare-setting specific. What does this study add? This study comprises a health economic evaluation assessing different levels of care and includes various categories of costs. The result showed that informal caregiving was the most prominent cost for children with atopic dermatitis.

Tail loss and telomeres: consequences of large-scale tissue regeneration in a terrestrial ectotherm.

Large-scale tissue regeneration has potential consequences for telomere length through increases in cell division and changes in metabolism which increase the potential for oxidative stress damage to telomeres. The effects of regeneration on telomere dynamics have been studied in fish and marine invertebrates, but the literature is scarce for terrestrial species. We experimentally induced tail autotomy in a lizard ( Niveoscincus ocellatus) and assessed relative telomere length (RTL) in blood samples before and after partial tail regeneration while concurrently measuring reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. The change in ROS levels was a significant explanatory variable for the change in RTL over the 60-day experiment. At the average value of ROS change, the mean RTL increased significantly in the control group (intact tails), but there was no such evidence in the regenerating group. By contrast, ROS levels decreased significantly in the regenerating group, but there was no such evidence in the control group. Combined, these results suggest that tail regeneration following autotomy involves a response to oxidative stress and this potentially comes at a cost to telomere repair. This change in telomere maintenance demonstrates a potential long-term cost of tail regeneration beyond the regrowth of tissue itself.

Temperature and telomeres: thermal treatment influences telomere dynamics through a complex interplay of cellular processes in a cold-climate skink.

Telomere dynamics vary fundamentally between endothermic populations and species as a result of differences in life history, yet we know little about these patterns in ectotherms. In ectotherms, the relationships between climate, metabolism and life history suggest that telomere attrition should be higher at relatively high environmental temperatures compared to relatively low environmental temperatures, but these effects may vary between populations due to local adaptation. To address this hypothesis, we sampled reactive oxygen species (ROS) and telomere length of lizards from warm lowland and cool highland populations of a climatically widespread lizard species that we exposed to hot or cold basking treatments. The hot treatment increased relative telomere length compared to the cold treatment independent of climatic origin or ROS levels. Lizards from the cool highland region had lower ROS levels than those from the warm lowland region. Within the highland lizards, ROS increased more in the cold basking treatment than the hot basking treatment. These results are in the opposite direction to those predicted, suggesting that the relationships between temperature, metabolism, ROS and telomere dynamics are not straightforward. Future work incorporating detailed understanding of the thermal reaction norms of these and other linked traits is needed to fully understand these processes.

Multiple miscarriages in two sisters of Thai origin with the rare Pk phenotype caused by a novel nonsense mutation at the B3GALNT1 locus.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the genetic background underlying the Pk phenotype in two Thai sisters suffering from multiple spontaneous abortions. BACKGROUND: The P antigen is carried by globoside, an abundant glycosphingolipid in the red blood cell (RBC) membrane. Inactivating mutations in the 3-ß-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase gene (B3GALNT1) give rise to the rare Pk phenotype, which lack the P and PX2 antigens. Consequently, naturally occurring anti-P may cause recurrent miscarriages following the cytotoxic attack of the globoside-rich fetal portion of the placenta. METHODS/MATERIALS: P/P1/PX2/Pk antigens on RBCs and their corresponding antibodies were detected by haemagglutination and flow cytometry. The B3GALNT1 coding region was sequenced, and an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed. RESULTS: The two sisters had suffered 8 and 11 miscarriages, most of which occurred in the first trimester. Anti-P and anti-PX2 were identified in their plasmas, and the RBCs typed as P-PX2-Pk +, i.e. had the Pk phenotype. Sequencing revealed homozygosity for a nonsense mutation, c.420T>G, in B3GALNT1. This substitution introduces a premature stop codon, p.Tyr140Ter, which is predicted to abolish enzymatic activity. Screening of 384 Thai donors indicated an allele frequency of 0·13%. CONCLUSION: We describe a novel nonsense mutation (c.420T>G) in B3GALNT1 (GLOB*01N·13), which was added to the 12 alleles already known in the GLOB system.

Worse health status, sleeping problems, and anxiety in 16-year-old students are associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain at three-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is common in adolescents, and it has been shown that adolescents with pain may become young adults with pain. Pain often coincides with psychosomatic symptoms in adults, but little is known about longitudinal associations and predictors of pain in adolescents. The aim was to investigate chronic musculoskeletal pain and its associations with health status, sleeping problems, stress, anxiety, depression, and physical activity in 16-year-old students at baseline, and to identify risk factors using a three-year follow-up. METHODS: This was a longitudinal study of 256 students attending a Swedish upper secondary school. Questionnaires regarding chronic musculoskeletal pain and distribution of pain (mannequin), health status (EQ-5D-3 L), sleeping problems (Uppsala Sleep Inventory), stress symptoms (single-item question), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) were issued at baseline and follow-up. Student's t-test and chi2 test were used for descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used to study associations between chronic pain and independent variables. RESULTS: Fifty-two out of 221 students at baseline (23.5%) and 39 out of 154 students at follow-up (25.3%) were categorized as having chronic musculoskeletal pain. Chronic musculoskeletal pain at follow-up was separately associated with reporting of an EQ-5D value below median (OR 4.06, 95% CI 1.83-9.01), severe sleeping problems (OR 3.63, 95% CI 1.69-7.82), and possible anxiety (OR 4.19, 95% CI 1.74-10.11) or probable anxiety (OR 3.82, 95% CI 1.17-12.48) at baseline. Similar results were found for associations between chronic musculoskeletal pain and independent variables at baseline. In multiple logistic regression analysis, chronic musculoskeletal pain at baseline was a predictor of chronic musculoskeletal pain at follow-up (OR 2.99, 95% CI 1.09-8.24, R2 = 0.240). CONCLUSION: Chronic musculoskeletal pain at baseline was the most important predictor for reporting chronic musculoskeletal pain at the three-year follow-up, but a worse health status, severe sleeping problems, and anxiety also predicted persistence or development of chronic musculoskeletal pain over time. Interventions should be introduced early on by the school health services to promote student health.

A Novel Method for Classification of Running Fatigue Using Change-Point Segmentation.

Blood lactate accumulation is a crucial fatigue indicator during sports training. Previous studies have predicted cycling fatigue using surface-electromyography (sEMG) to non-invasively estimate lactate concentration in blood. This study used sEMG to predict muscle fatigue while running and proposes a novel method for the automatic classification of running fatigue based on sEMG. Data were acquired from 12 runners during an incremental treadmill running-test using sEMG sensors placed on the vastus-lateralis, vastus-medialis, biceps-femoris, semitendinosus, and gastrocnemius muscles of the right and left legs. Blood lactate samples of each runner were collected every two minutes during the test. A change-point segmentation algorithm labeled each sample with a class of fatigue level as (1) aerobic, (2) anaerobic, or (3) recovery. Three separate random forest models were trained to classify fatigue using 36 frequency, 51 time-domain, and 36 time-event sEMG features. The models were optimized using a forward sequential feature elimination algorithm. Results showed that the random forest trained using distributive power frequency of the sEMG signal of the vastus-lateralis muscle alone could classify fatigue with high accuracy. Importantly for this feature, group-mean ranks were significantly different (p < 0.01) between fatigue classes. Findings support using this model for monitoring fatigue levels during running.

Seasonal shifts along the oviparity-viviparity continuum in a cold-climate lizard population.

Squamate embryos require weeks of high temperature to complete development, with the result that cool climatic areas are dominated by viviparous taxa (in which gravid females can sun-bask to keep embryos warm) rather than oviparous taxa (which rely on warm soil to incubate their eggs). How, then, can some oviparous taxa reproduce successfully in cool climates - especially late in summer, when soil temperatures are falling? Near the northern limit of their distribution (in Sweden), sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) shift tactics seasonally, such that the eggs in late clutches complete development more quickly (when incubated at a standard temperature) than do those of early clutches. That acceleration is achieved by a reduction in egg size and by an increase in the duration of uterine retention of eggs (especially, after cool weather). Our results clarify the ability of oviparous reptiles to reproduce successfully in cool climates and suggest a novel advantage to reptilian viviparity in such conditions: by maintaining high body temperatures, viviparous females may escape the need to reduce offspring size in late-season litters.

Thorough analysis of unorthodox ABO deletions called by the 1000 Genomes project.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: ABO remains the clinically most important blood group system, but despite earlier extensive research, significant findings are still being made. The vast majority of catalogued ABO null alleles are based on the c.261delG polymorphism. Apart from c.802G>A, other mechanisms for O alleles are rare. While analysing the data set from the 1000 Genomes (1000G) project, we encountered two previously uncharacterized deletions, which needed further exploration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Erythrogene database, complemented with bioinformatics software, was used to analyse ABO in 2504 individuals from 1000G. DNA samples from selected 1000G donors and African blood donors were examined by allele-specific PCR and Sanger sequencing to characterize predicted deletions. RESULTS: A 5821-bp deletion encompassing exons 5-7 was called in twenty 1000G individuals, predominantly Africans. This allele was confirmed and its exact deletion point defined by bioinformatic analyses and in vitro experiments. A PCR assay was developed, and screening of African samples revealed three donors heterozygous for this deletion, which was thereby phenotypically established as an O allele. Analysis of upstream genetic markers indicated an ancestral origin from ABO*O.01.02. We estimate this deletion as the 3rd most common mechanism behind O alleles. A 24-bp deletion was called in nine individuals and showed greater diversity regarding ethnic distribution and allelic background. It could neither be confirmed by in silico nor in vitro experiments. CONCLUSION: A previously uncharacterized ABO deletion among Africans was comprehensively mapped and a genotyping strategy devised. The false prediction of another deletion emphasizes the need for cautious interpretation of NGS data and calls for strict validation routines.

Sexual coloration and sperm performance in the Australian painted dragon lizard, Ctenophorus pictus.

Theory predicts trade-offs between pre- and post-copulatory sexually selected traits. This relationship may be mediated by the degree to which males are able to monopolize access to females, as this will place an upper limit on the strength of post-copulatory selection. Furthermore, traits that aid in mate monopolization may be costly to maintain and may limit investment in post-copulatory traits, such as sperm performance. Australian painted dragons are polymorphic for the presence or absence of a yellow gular patch ('bibs'), which may aid them to monopolize access to females. Previous work has shown that there are physiological costs of carrying this bib (greater loss of body condition in the wild). Here, we show that male painted dragons use this bright yellow bib as both an inter- and intrasexual signal, and we assess whether this signal is traded off against sperm performance within the same individuals. We found no relationship between aspects of bib colour and sperm swimming velocity or percentage of motile sperm and suggest that the bib polymorphism may be maintained by complex interactions between physiological or life-history traits including other sperm or ejaculate traits and environmental influences.

A and B antigen levels acquired by group O donor-derived erythrocytes following ABO-non-identical transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: ABO-incompatible haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) presents a challenge to blood component transfusion. The aim of this study was to investigate the weak blood group A or B antigen expression by donor-derived group O red blood cells (RBC) observed following transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible HSCT. In addition, in vitro experiments were performed to elucidate possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sensitive flow cytometry assay for the semi-quantification of RBC A/B antigen levels was used to assess patient samples and evaluate in vitro experiments. RESULTS: Analysis of blood samples from patients, originally typed as A, B and AB but recently transplanted or transfused with cells from group O donors, revealed the A antigen expression on donor-derived RBC, ranging from very low levels in non-secretor individuals to almost subgroup Ax -like profiles in group A secretors. The B antigen expression was less readily detectable. In vitro experiments, in which group O donor RBC were incubated with (i) group A/B secretor/non-secretor donor plasma or (ii) group A/B donor RBC in the absence of plasma, supported the proposed adsorption of A/B antigen-bearing glycolipids from secretor plasma but also indicated a secretor-independent mechanism for A/B antigen acquisition as well as direct cell-to-cell transfer of ABO antigens. CONCLUSION: The in vivo conversion of donor-derived blood group O RBC to ABO subgroup-like RBC after transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible HSCT raises the question of appropriate component selection. Based on these data, AB plasma should be transfused following ABO-incompatible HSCT.

Health status, physical activity, and orthorexia nervosa: A comparison between exercise science students and business students.

Orthorexia nervosa is described as an exaggerated fixation on healthy food. It is unclear whether students in health-oriented academic programs, highly focused on physical exercise, are more prone to develop orthorexia nervosa than students in other educational areas. The aim was to compare health status, physical activity, and frequency of orthorexia nervosa between university students enrolled in an exercise science program (n = 118) or a business program (n = 89). The students completed the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and ORTO-15, which defines orthorexia nervosa as a sensitive and obsessive behavior towards healthy nutrition. The SF-36 showed that exercise science students scored worse than business students regarding bodily pain (72.8 vs. 82.5; p = 0.001), but better regarding general health (83.1 vs. 77.1; p = 0.006). Of 188 students, 144 (76.6%) had an ORTO-15 score indicating orthorexia nervosa, with a higher proportion in exercise science students than in business students (84.5% vs. 65.4%; p = 0.002). Orthorexia nervosa in combination with a high level of physical activity was most often seen in men in exercise science studies and less often in women in business studies (45.1% vs. 8.3%; p < 0.000). A high degree of self-reporting of pain and orthorexia nervosa in exercise science students may cause problems in the future, since they are expected to coach others in healthy living. Our findings may be valuable in the development of health-oriented academic programs and within student healthcare services.