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Protein tyrosine phosphatase, nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22), is an archetypal non-HLA autoimmunity gene. It is one of the most prominent genetic contributors to type 1 diabetes mellitus outside the HLA region, and prevalence of its risk variants is subject to enormous geographic variability. Here, we address the genetic background of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus of Armenian descent. Armenia has a population that has been genetically isolated for 3000 years. We hypothesized that two PTPN22 polymorphisms, rs2476601 and rs1310182, are associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus in persons of Armenian descent. In this association study, we genotyped the allelic frequencies of two risk-associated PTPN22 variants in 96 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 100 controls of Armenian descent. We subsequently examined the associations of PTPN22 variants with the manifestation of type 1 diabetes mellitus and its clinical characteristics. We found that the rs2476601 minor allele (c.1858T) frequency in the control population was very low (q = 0.015), and the trend toward increased frequency of c.1858CT heterozygotes among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus was not significant (OR 3.34, 95% CI 0.88-12.75; χ2 test p > 0.05). The control population had a high frequency of the minor allele of rs1310182 (q = 0.375). The frequency of c.2054-852TC heterozygotes was significantly higher among the patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.35-4.24; χ2 test p < 0.001), as was the frequency of the T allele (OR 4.82, 95% CI 2.38-9.76; χ2 test p < 0.001). The rs2476601 c.1858CT genotype and the T allele correlated negatively with the insulin dose needed three to six months after diagnosis. The rs1310182 c.2054-852CC genotype was positively associated with higher HbA1c at diagnosis and 12 months after diagnosis. We have provided the first information on diabetes-associated polymorphisms in PTPN22 in a genetically isolated Armenian population. We found only a limited contribution of the prototypic gain-of-function PTPN22 polymorphism rs2476601. In contrast, we found an unexpectedly close association of type 1 diabetes mellitus with rs1310182.

The mygalomorph spiders of the family Atypidae are among the most archaic spiders. The genus Atypus Latreille, 1804 occurs in Eurasia and northern Africa, with a single enigmatic species, Atypus snetsingeri Sarno, 1973, known only from a small area in southeastern Pennsylvania in eastern USA. A close relationship to European species could be assumed based on geographic proximity, but A. snetsingeri more closely resembled Asian species. This study was undertaken to learn more about the genetics of A. snetsingeri, its habitat requirements and natural history. Molecular markers (CO1 sequences) were compared to available data for other atypids and showed that A. snetsingeri is identical with A. karschi Dönitz, 1887 native to East Asia. Natural history parameters in Pennsylvania were also similar in every respect to A. karschi in Japan, therefore, we propose that the spider is an introduced species and the specific epithet snetsingeri is relegated to a junior synonym of A. karschi. Cytogenetic analysis showed an X0 sex chromosome system (42 chromosomes in females, 41 in males) and we also detected nucleolus organizing regions and heterochromatin, the latter for the first time in the Atypoidea. In Pennsylvania the spider is found in a variety of habitats, from forests to suburban shrubbery, where the above-ground webs are usually attached vertically to trees, shrubs, or walls, although other webs are oriented horizontally near the ground. Prey include millipedes, snails, woodlice, carabid beetles and earthworms. Atypus karschi is the first known case of an introduced purse-web spider. It is rarely noticed but well-established within its range in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Tarantula urticating setae are modified setae located on the abdomen or pedipalps, which represent an effective defensive mechanism against vertebrate or invertebrate predators and intruders. They are also useful taxonomic tools as morphological characters facilitating the classification of New World theraphosid spiders. In the present study, the morphology of urticating setae was studied on 144 taxa of New World theraphosids, including ontogenetic stages in chosen species, except for species with urticating setae of type VII. The typology of urticating setae was revised, and types I, III and IV were redescribed. The urticating setae in spiders with type I setae, which were originally among type III or were considered setae of intermediate morphology between types I and III, are newly considered to be ontogenetic derivatives of type I and are described as subtypes. Setae of intermediate morphology between that of body setae and type II urticating setae that were found in Iridopelma hirsutum and Antillena rickwesti may provide another evidence that type II urticating setae evolved from body setae. It is supposed that the fusion of barbs with the shaft may lead to the morphology of type II setae. As the type II setae of Aviculariinae evolved independently to the UrS of Theraphosinae and both subfamilies represent two non-sister groups, this should explain the differences in the morphology of body setae in Aviculariinae and Theraphosinae. The terminology of "barbs" and "reversed barbs" was revised and redefined, newly emphasizing the real direction of barbs.

The ability of aculeate Hymenoptera to utilize wetlands is poorly understood, and descriptions of their nests and developmental stages are largely absent. Here we present results based on our survey of hymenopterans using galls induced by Lipara spp. flies on common reed Phragmites australis in the years 2015-2016. We studied 20,704 galls, of which 9,446 were longitudinally cut and the brood from them reared in the laboratory, while the remaining 11,258 galls reared in rearing bags also in laboratory conditions. We recorded eight species that were previously not known to nest in reed galls: cuckoo wasps Chrysis rutilans and Trichrysis pumilionis, solitary wasps Stenodynerus chevrieranus and Stenodynerus clypeopictus, and bees Pseudoanthidium tenellum, Stelis punctulatissima, Hylaeus communis and Hylaeus confusus. Forty five species of Hymenoptera: Aculeata are known to be associated with reed galls, of which 36 make their nests there, and the other are six parasitoids of the family Chrysididae and three cuckoo bees of the genus Stelis. Of these species, Pemphredon fabricii and in southern Europe also Heriades rubicola are very common in reed galls, followed by Hylaeus pectoralis and two species of the genus Trypoxylon. We also found new host-parasite associations: Chrysis angustula in nests of Pemphredon fabricii, Chrysis rutilans in nests of Stenodynerus clypeopictus, Trichrysis pumilionis in nests of Trypoxylon deceptorium, and Stelis breviuscula in nests of Heriades rubicola. We provide new descriptions of the nests of seven species nesting in reed galls and morphology of mature larvae of eight species nesting in reed galls and two parasitoids and one nest cleptoparasite. The larvae are usually very similar to those of related species but possess characteristics that make them easy to distinguish from related species. Our results show that common reeds are not only expansive and harmful, but very important for many insect species associated with habitats dominated by this plant species.

Among Accipitriformes sensu stricto, only a few species have been reported to form hybrid zones; these include the red kite Milvus milvus and black kite Milvus migrans migrans. M. milvus is endemic to the western Palearctic and has an estimated total population of 20-24,000 breeding pairs. The species was in decline until the 1970s due to persecution and has declined again since the 1990s due to ingestion of rodenticide-treated baits, illegal poisoning and changes in agricultural practices, particularly in its core range. Whereas F1 M. milvus × M. migr. migrans hybrid offspring have been found, F2 and F3 hybrids have only rarely been reported, with low nesting success rates of F1 hybrids and partial hybrid sterility likely playing a role. Here, we analyzed the mitochondrial (CO1 and CytB) and nuclear (Myc) DNA loci of 184 M. milvus, 124 M. migr. migrans and 3 F1 hybrid individuals collected across central Europe. In agreement with previous studies, we found low heterozygosity in M. milvus regardless of locus. We found that populations of both examined species were characterized by a high gene flow within populations, with all of the major haplotypes distributed across the entire examined area. Few haplotypes displayed statistically significant aggregation in one region over another. We did not find mitochondrial DNA of one species in individuals with the plumage of the other species, except in F1 hybrids, which agrees with Haldane´s Rule. It remains to be investigated by genomic methods whether occasional gene flow occurs through the paternal line, as the examined Myc gene displayed only marginal divergence between M. milvus and M. migr. migrans. The central European population of M. milvus is clearly subject to free intraspecific gene flow, which has direct implications when considering the origin of individuals in M. milvus re-introduction programs.

OBJECTIVE:AIDS-related mortality has changed dramatically with the onset of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which has even allowed compensated HIV-infected patients to withdraw from secondary therapy directed against opportunistic pathogens. However, in recently autopsied HIV-infected patients, we observed that associations with a broad spectrum of pathogens remain, although detailed analyses are lacking. Therefore, we focused on the possible frequency and spectrum shifts in pathogens associated with autopsied HIV-infected patients. DESIGN:We hypothesized that the pathogens frequency and spectrum changes found in HIV-infected patients examined postmortem did not recapitulate the changes found previously in HIV-infected patients examined antemortem in both the pre- and post-HAART eras. Because this is the first comprehensive study originating from Central and Eastern Europe, we also compared our data with those obtained in the West and Southwest Europe, USA and Latin America. METHODS:We performed autopsies on 124 HIV-infected patients who died from AIDS or other co-morbidities in the Czech Republic between 1985 and 2014. The pathological findings were retrieved from the full postmortem examinations and autopsy records. RESULTS:We collected a total of 502 host-pathogen records covering 82 pathogen species, a spectrum that did not change according to patients' therapy or since the onset of the epidemics, which can probably be explained by the fact that even recently deceased patients were usually decompensated (in 95% of the cases, the last available CD4+ cell count was falling below 200 cells*μl-1) regardless of the treatment they received. The newly identified pathogen taxa in HIV-infected patients included Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Aerococcus viridans and Escherichia hermannii. We observed a very limited overlap in both the spectra and frequencies of the pathogen species found postmortem in HIV-infected patients in Europe, the USA and Latin America. CONCLUSIONS:The shifts documented previously in compensated HIV-infected patients examined antemortem in the post-HAART era are not recapitulated in mostly decompensated HIV-infected patients examined postmortem.

Bibliometric indicators increasingly affect careers, funding, and reputation of individuals, their institutions and journals themselves. In contrast to author self-citations, little is known about kinetics of journal self-citations. Here we hypothesized that they may show a generalizable pattern within particular research fields or across multiple fields. We thus analyzed self-cites to 60 journals from three research fields (multidisciplinary sciences, parasitology, and information science). We also hypothesized that the kinetics of journal self-citations and citations received from other journals of the same publisher may differ from foreign citations. We analyzed the journals published the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Nature Publishing Group, and Editura Academiei Române. We found that although the kinetics of journal self-cites is generally faster compared to foreign cites, it shows some field-specific characteristics. Particularly in information science journals, the initial increase in a share of journal self-citations during post-publication year 0 was completely absent. Self-promoting journal self-citations of top-tier journals have rather indirect but negligible direct effects on bibliometric indicators, affecting just the immediacy index and marginally increasing the impact factor itself as long as the affected journals are well established in their fields. In contrast, other forms of journal self-citations and citation stacking may severely affect the impact factor, or other citation-based indices. We identified here a network consisting of three Romanian physics journals Proceedings of the Romanian Academy, Series A, Romanian Journal of Physics, and Romanian Reports in Physics, which displayed low to moderate ratio of journal self-citations, but which multiplied recently their impact factors, and were mutually responsible for 55.9%, 64.7% and 63.3% of citations within the impact factor calculation window to the three journals, respectively. They did not receive nearly any network self-cites prior impact factor calculation window, and their network self-cites decreased sharply after the impact factor calculation window. Journal self-citations and citation stacking requires increased attention and elimination from citation indices.

Wetland species of aculeate Hymenoptera are poorly known, even though many of them may serve as diagnostic or flagship species in nature conservation. Here we examined 6,018 galls induced ≥1 year prior their collection by the chloropid flies Lipara spp. The galls were collected at 34 sites in Central Europe. We examined 1,389 nests (4,513 individuals) of nine species, part of which were parasitized by one dipteran and two chrysidid parasitoid species. We describe the nests of seven dominant species and larvae of four species (Pemphredon fabricii, Trypoxylon deceptorium, Hoplitis leucomelana and Hylaeus pectoralis) and two parasitoids (Trichrysis cyanea and Thyridanthrax fenestratus, both in nests of Pemphredon fabricii and Trypoxylon deceptorium). All the species, but H. pectoralis, preferred robust galls at very thin stalks (induced typically by Lipara lucens) over the narrow galls on thick stalks. The larvae of P. fabricii and T. deceptorium resembled strongly their sibling species (Pemphredon lethifer and Trypoxylon attenuatum sensu lato, respectively). The larvae of T. fenestratus showed features different from those previously described. By hatching set of another 10,583 galls induced by Lipara spp. ≥1 year prior their collection, we obtained 4,469 individuals of 14 nesting hymenopteran species, two cleptoparasites, three chrysidid and one dipteran parasitoid. Of these species, four new nesting species have been recorded for the first time in galls induced by Lipara spp.: Chelostoma campanularum, Heriades rubicola, Pseudoanthidium lituratum and Hylaeus incongruus. We also provide first records of their nest cleptoparasites Stelis breviuscula and Stelis ornatula, and the parasitoid Holopyga fastuosa generosa. Thyridanthrax fenestratus formed strong populations in nests of Pemphredon fabricii and Trypoxylon deceptorium, which are both newly recorded hosts for T. fenestratus. The descriptions provided here allow for the first time to identify the larvae of the most widespread central European aculeate hymenopteran reed gall specialists.

Pimecrolimus (Elidel, SDZ ASM 981) is an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory 33-epichloro-derivative of macrolactam ascomycin, with low potential for affecting systemic immune responses compared with other calcineurin inhibitors, cyclosporin A and tacrolimus. Despite numerous studies focused on the mechanism of pimecrolimus action on mast cells, only the single report has addressed pimecrolimus effects on other typical FcεRI-expressing cells, the basophils. Patients allergic to birch pollen (n = 20), hymenopteran venoms (n = 23) and 10 non-allergic volunteers were examined. Primary human basophils pre-treated or not with 0.5-50 μMol pimecrolimus were exposed to various concentrations of recombinant Bet v 1a allergen, bee or wasp venom extracts and anti-IgE for 20 min, and then examined for the expression of CD45, CD193, CD203c, CD63 and CD164 using flow cytometry. The externalization of basophil activation markers (CD63 and CD164) was equally inhibited through pimecrolimus in cells activated by recombinant pollen allergen, hymenopteran venom extracts and anti-IgE. Although the individual response rate was subject to strong variation, importantly, pre-treatment with pimecrolimus lowered the number of activated basophils in response to any of the stimuli in the basophils from all patients. The inhibition was concentration-dependent; approximately half of the basophils were inhibited in the presence of 2.5 mMol pimecrolimus. Pimecrolimus is a valuable new tool for the inhibition of hyper-reactive basophils in patients with pollen allergy and a history of anaphylactic reactions to bee or wasp venoms. Further research should address short-term use of pimecrolimus in vivo in a wide spectrum of allergic diseases.

BACKGROUND: Publication lag between manuscript submission and its final publication is considered as an important factor affecting the decision to submit, the timeliness of presented data, and the scientometric measures of the particular journal. Dual-format peer-reviewed journals (publishing both print and online editions of their content) adopted a broadly accepted strategy to shorten the publication lag: to publish the accepted manuscripts online ahead of their print editions, which may follow days, but also years later. Effects of this widespread habit on the immediacy index (average number of times an article is cited in the year it is published) calculation were never analyzed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Scopus database (which contains nearly up-to-date documents in press, but does not reveal citations by these documents until they are finalized) was searched for the journals with the highest total counts of articles in press, or highest counts of articles in press appearing online in 2010-2011. Number of citations received by the articles in press available online was found to be nearly equal to citations received within the year when the document was assigned to a journal issue. Thus, online publication of in press articles affects severely the calculation of immediacy index of their source titles, and disadvantages online-only and print-only journals when evaluating them according to the immediacy index and probably also according to the impact factor and similar measures. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Caution should be taken when evaluating dual-format journals supporting long publication lag. Further research should answer the question, on whether the immediacy index should be replaced by an indicator based on the date of first publication (online or in print, whichever comes first) to eliminate the problems analyzed in this report. Information value of immediacy index is further questioned by very high ratio of authors' self-citations among the citation window used for its calculation.