Human dispersal of organisms is an important process modifying natural patterns of biodiversity. Such dispersal generates new patterns of genetic diversity that overlie natural phylogeographical signatures, allowing discrimination between alternative dispersal mechanisms. Here we use allele frequency and DNA sequence data to distinguish between alternative scenarios (unassisted range expansion and long range introduction) for the colonization of northern Europe by an oak-feeding gallwasp, Andricus kollari. Native to Mediterranean latitudes from Portugal to Iran, this species became established in northern Europe following human introduction of a host plant, the Turkey oak Quercus cerris. Colonization of northern Europe is possible through three alternative routes: (i) unassisted range expansion from natural populations in the Iberian Peninsula; (ii) unassisted range expansion from natural populations in Italy and Hungary; or (iii) descent from populations imported to the UK as trade goods from the eastern Mediterranean in the 1830s. We show that while populations in France were colonized from sources in Italy and Hungary, populations in the UK and neighbouring parts of coastal northern Europe encompass allozyme and sequence variation absent from the known native range. Further, these populations show demographic signatures expected for large stable populations, rather than signatures of rapid population growth from small numbers of founders. The extent and spatial distribution of genetic diversity in the UK suggests that these A. kollari populations are derived from introductions of large numbers of individuals from each of two genetically divergent centres of diversity in the eastern Mediterranean. The strong spatial patterning in genetic diversity observed between different regions of northern Europe, and between sites in the UK, is compatible with leptokurtic models of population establishment.

The oak gallwasp Andricus coriarius is distributed across the Western Palaearctic from Morocco to Iran. It belongs to a clade of host-alternating Andricus species that requires host oaks in two sections of Quercus subgenus Quercus to complete its lifecycle, a requirement that has restricted the historic distribution and dispersal of members of this clade. Here we present nuclear and mitochondrial sequence evidence from the entire geographic range of A. coriarius to investigate the genetic legacy of longitudinal range expansion. We show A. coriarius as currently understood to be para-or polyphyletic, with three evolutionarily independent (but partially sympatric) lineages that diverged c. 10 million years ago (mya). The similarities in gall structure that have justified recognition of single species to date thus represent either strong conservation of an ancestral state or striking convergence. All three lineages originated in areas to the east of Europe, underlining the significance of Turkey, Iran and the Levant as 'cradles' of gallwasp evolution. One of the three lineages gave rise to all European populations, and range expansion from a putative Eastern origin to the present distribution is predicted to have occurred around 1.6 mya.

Various mental disorders are accompanied by some degree of cognitive impairment. Particularly in neurodegenerative disorders, cognitive impairment is the phenotypical hallmark of the disease. Effective, accurate and timely cognitive assessment is key to early diagnosis of this family of mental disorders. Current standard-of-care techniques for cognitive assessment are primarily paper-based, and need to be administered by a healthcare professional; they are additionally language and education-dependent and typically suffer from a learning bias. These tests are thus not ideal for large-scale pro-active cognitive screening and disease progression monitoring. We developed the Integrated Cognitive Assessment (referred to as CGN_ICA), a 5-minute computerized cognitive assessment tool based on a rapid visual categorization task, in which a series of carefully selected natural images of varied difficulty are presented to participants. Overall 448 participants, across a wide age-range with different levels of education took the CGN_ICA test. We compared participants’ CGN_ICA test results with a variety of standard pen-and-paper tests, such as Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), that are routinely used to assess cognitive performance. CGN_ICA had excellent test-retest reliability, showed convergent validity with the standard-of-care cognitive tests used here, and demonstrated to be suitable for micro-monitoring of cognitive performance.

No abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or Kala-azar is a common parasitic infection among children in Iran. The records of 249 children with VL were evaluated retrospectively. The clinical, hematologic, and bone marrow biopsy findings were studied. In particular, we assessed whether there was an association between bone marrow biopsy findings and prognosis. Five major groups were identified: (1) hypercellular marrow with many Leishman Donovan (LD) bodies, (2) multiple noncaseating granulomas with a few LD bodies, (3) diffuse fibrosis with rare LD bodies, (4) benign lymphoid nodules with many LD bodies, and (5) marrow necrosis with many LD bodies. The patients with hypercellular marrow and benign lymphoid nodules were alive and responded well to glucantime therapy. The patients with marrow fibrosis and marrow necrosis died and were resistant to any type of therapy. Patients with granulomas did not respond to glucantime therapy but responded to amphotericin B. However, less than half of the patients died owing to malnutrition and misdiagnosis. We correlated the bone marrow biopsy findings with the treatment outcomes and prognosis. The outcome was excellent in cases of hypercellular marrow, very poor in cases of fibrosis and necrosis, and intermediate in cases of granulomas. As a result, we believe that bone marrow biopsy findings can be helpful for assessing the prognosis of VL patients.

Splenic aspiration is a safe procedure and is very useful in the diagnosis of parasitic and infectious diseases, especially in endemic countries like Iran.

No abstract

Various mental disorders are accompanied by some degree of cognitive impairment. Particularly in neurodegenerative disorders, cognitive impairment is the phenotypical hallmark of the disease. Effective, accurate and timely cognitive assessment is key to early diagnosis of this family of mental disorders. Current standard-of-care techniques for cognitive assessment are primarily paper-based, and need to be administered by a healthcare professional; they are additionally language and education-dependent and typically suffer from a learning bias. These tests are thus not ideal for large-scale pro-active cognitive screening and disease progression monitoring. We developed the Integrated Cognitive Assessment (ICA), a 5-minute computerized cognitive assessment tool based on a rapid visual categorization task, in which a series of carefully selected natural images of varied difficulty are presented to participants. Overall 448 participants, across a wide age-range with different levels of education took the ICA test. We compared participants' ICA test results with a variety of standard pen-and-paper tests that are routinely used to assess cognitive performance. ICA had excellent test-retest reliability, and was