Prevalence of anti-DFS70 antibodies in patients with and without systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

OBJECTIVES: Autoantibodies to the dense fine speckled 70 (DFS70) antigen are common among antinuclear antibodies (ANA) positive healthy individuals (HI). We assessed the prevalence of anti-DFS70 antibodies in patients with and without ANA-associated rheumatic diseases (AARDs) by two methods: chemiluminescent immunoassay (CIA) and an indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay based on immunoadsorption for DFS70. METHODS: Fifty-one ANA-positive sera samples from patients with confirmed clinical diagnosis of AARD, 92 samples from HI and 85 samples submitted to a reference laboratory for routine ANA testing were evaluated for the presence of anti-DFS70 antibodies. The samples were evaluated by QUANTA Flash DFS70 CIA using BIO-FLASH instrument and by NOVA Lite selected HEp-2 kit on NOVA View - an automated IIF system. Sera with DFS positive pattern were pre-absorbed with highly purified human DFS70 antigen, and then tested again. RESULTS: Twenty-four samples (10.5%) tested by QUANTA Flash DFS70 CIA were positive for anti-DFS70 antibodies. The prevalence of monospecific anti-DFS70 antibodies was significantly higher in healthy subjects than in patients with AARDs (10.9% vs. 1.9%, p=0.02). The frequency of anti-DFS70 antibodies in samples submitted for routine ANA testing was 15.2%. A very good agreement was found between CIA and the DFS pattern identified by the automated HEp-2 IIF (kappa=0.97). In 80% of the samples obtained from patients without AARDs, immunoadsorption effectively inhibited the anti-DFS70 antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: The data confirm that mono-specific anti-DFS70 antibodies are a strong discriminator between ANA positive HI and AARD patients, and their evaluation should be included in ANA testing algorithms.

Exceptionally high levels of total mercury in deep-sea sharks of the Southeastern Mediterranean sea over the last ∼ 40 years.

Deep-sea habitats are currently recognized as a hot spot for mercury (Hg) accumulation from anthropogenic sources, resulting in elevated concentrations of total mercury (THg) in deep-sea megafauna. Among them, deep-sea sharks (Class Chondrichthyes) are characterized by high trophic position and extended longevity and are, therefore, at high risk for mercury contamination. Despite this, sharks are overexploited by fishing activity in increasingly deeper water, worldwide, imposing health risks to human consumption. While it is imperative to better understand long-term mercury contamination in deep-sea megafauna, few historical data sets exist to capture this process. Here we explore four decades (1985-2022) of THg accumulation in five species of deep-sea sharks (G. melastomus, E. spinax, S. rostratus, C. granulosus, and D. licha) of the ultra-oligotrophic Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) sampled during 19 research cruises. We exhibited exceptionally high THg levels (per length/weight), the highest as 16.6 µg g-1 (wet wt.), almost entirely (98.9 %; n = 298 specimens) exceeding the limit for safe consumption (0.3-0.5 µg THg g-1 wet wt.). The maximal THg levels of the long-lived species D. licha and C. granulosus in the SEMS were enriched by a factor of âˆ¼ 7 and >10 compared to counterpart species from other oceanic areas, respectively. We attribute this to the ultra-oligotrophic conditions of the SEMS, which cause slower growth rates and dwarfism in deep-sea sharks, resulting in an extended exposure time to mercury contamination. In the long-lived species, C. granulosus and D. licha, a temporal increase of average THg levels of âˆ¼ 80 % was recorded between 1987-1999 and 2021-2022. This likely reflects the long-term accumulation of historical anthropogenic Hg in deep-sea environments, which is further amplified in marginal seas such as the Mediterranean, impacted by global air pollution crossroads and surrounded by land-based pollution sources. Future consumption of products from deep-sea sharks is potentially high risk to human health.

Accumulation of total mercury in deep-sea sediments and biota across a bathymetric gradient in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea.

This study explores the accumulation of total mercury (THg) in deep-sea sediments and demersal megafauna of the ultra-oligotrophic Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) across bathymetric gradients in the range 35-1900 m, sampled in seven cruises during 2013, 2017-2021, and 2023. Measurements of THg were conducted in surficial (0.0-0.5 cm) and subsurface (9.0-10 cm) sediments, demersal sharks, demersal teleost fish, and benthic crustaceans. Sedimentary organic carbon and biota δ13C and δ15N values were determined to explore possible foraging habitats and dietary sources of THg. The results exhibit an increasing trend of THg in surficial sediments with increasing bottom depth, while in the subsurface, pre-industrial sediments, THg remains lower, slightly increasing with depth. Having no major terrestrial point sources in this area, this increasing trend of THg in surficial sediments across bathymetric gradients is controlled by atmospheric mercury deposition, scavenged by the biological pump, and by lateral transport of particulate Hg in winnowed fine particles from the shelf. Similarly, the THg in benthic crustaceans and demersal fish ranged between 0.02 and 2.71 µg g-1 wet weight (0.06 and 10.8 µg g-1 dry weight) and increased with muscle δ13C as a function of distance offshore, while presenting a low THg-δ15N bio-magnification power. Our results suggest that foraging habitats, longevity, and species-specific depth distribution control their muscle THg bioaccumulation. Despite this complexity, the pooling of THg in megafauna into specific deep zones reflected the trend of increasing anthropogenic THg across bathymetric gradients. Furthermore, many of the biota measurements exceeded safe consumption thresholds for Hg and therefore, should be considered carefully in the development and regulation of deep-sea trawling in this region.

Spatiotemporal distribution of seabed litter in the SE Levantine Basin during 2012-2021.

This study explores the first record of spatiotemporal distributions of macro and micro-litter on the seafloor in the Southeastern (SE) Levantine Basin (LB) during 2012-2021. Macro-litter was surveyed by bottom trawls in water depths of 20-1600 m and micro-litter by sediment box corer/grab at a depths range of 4-1950 m. Maximal macro-litter concentrations were recorded at the upper continental slope (200 m), averaging 4700 ± 3000 items/km2. Plastic bags and packages were the most abundant items (77 ± 9 %) with a maximum of 89 % at 200 m depth, and their size decreased with increasing water depth. Micro-litter debris were found mainly in shelf sediments (≤30 m water depth) with an average concentration of 40 ± 50 items/kg, while shit particles transferred to the deep sea. These findings suggest an extensive distribution of plastic bags and packages in the SE LB, predominantly accumulating in the upper continental slope and deeper, based on their size.

Speech characteristics yield important clues about motor function: Speech variability in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Motor abnormalities are predictive of psychosis onset in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and are tied to its progression. We hypothesize that these motor abnormalities also disrupt their speech production (a highly complex motor behavior) and predict CHR individuals will produce more variable speech than healthy controls, and that this variability will relate to symptom severity, motor measures, and psychosis-risk calculator risk scores. STUDY DESIGN: We measure variability in speech production (variability in consonants, vowels, speech rate, and pausing/timing) in N = 58 CHR participants and N = 67 healthy controls. Three different tasks are used to elicit speech: diadochokinetic speech (rapidly-repeated syllables e.g., papapa…, pataka…), read speech, and spontaneously-generated speech. STUDY RESULTS: Individuals in the CHR group produced more variable consonants and exhibited greater speech rate variability than healthy controls in two of the three speech tasks (diadochokinetic and read speech). While there were no significant correlations between speech measures and remotely-obtained motor measures, symptom severity, or conversion risk scores, these comparisons may be under-powered (in part due to challenges of remote data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic). CONCLUSION: This study provides a thorough and theory-driven first look at how speech production is affected in this at-risk population and speaks to the promise and challenges facing this approach moving forward.