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Gaining the ability to fly actively was a ground-breaking moment in insect evolution, providing an unprecedented advantage over other arthropods. Nevertheless, active flight was a costly innovation, requiring the development of wings and flight muscles, the provision of sufficient energetic resources, and a complex flight control system. Although wings, flight muscles, and the energetic budget of insects have been intensively studied in the last decades, almost nothing is known regarding the flight-control devices of many crucial insect groups, especially beetles (Coleoptera). Here, we conducted a phylogenetic-informed analysis of flight-related mechanosensors in 28 species of bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae, Platypodinae), an economically and ecologically important group of insects characterized by striking differences in dispersal abilities. The results indicated that beetle flight apparatus is equipped with different functional types of mechanosensors, including strain- and flow-encoding sensilla. We found a strong effect of allometry on the number of mechanosensors, while no effect of relative wing size (a proxy of flight investment) was identified. Our study constitutes the first step to understanding the drivers and constraints of the evolution of flight-control devices in Coleoptera, including bark beetles. More research, including a quantitative neuroanatomical analysis of beetle wings, should be conducted in the future., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) has become the treatment of choice for most patients. About 5% of them suffer from transient headache episodes (THE) after the procedure, whose etiology is unclear., Aims: To evaluate risk factors for THE occurrence after transcatheter closure of ASD in the pediatric population., Methods: Eight hundred and forty patients, after transcatheter ASD closure with nitinol devices, from a single center, were included in retrospective analysis. THE was defined as occurring up to 24 hours after the procedure. A logistic regression model including age, weight, ASD diameter, device size, presence of nitinol coating on the device, fluoroscopy time, application of balloon calibration, device oversizing, and residual shunt after 24 hours was created to evaluate risk factors for THE occurrence., Results: There were 40 patients with THE (4.8%), 70% female and 30% male. The median age was 13 (7.35-16) years. In patients with headache, balloon calibration (BC) was performed more frequently (82.5% vs. 43.3%; P <0.001). The balloon waist median (interquartile range [IQR]), 19 (16-22) mm vs. 15 mm (12-18) mm (P <0.001), and device size median (IQR), 18 (13.5-22) mm vs. 14 (11-17) mm (P <0.001) were larger, and residual shunt after 24 hours (12.5% vs. 4.9%; P = 0.03) and a year (7.5 vs. 1.0%; P <0.001) were more frequent. ASD size and the prevalence of double/multiple ASD were similar in both groups. Age, BC application, no nickel release protection, duration of fluoroscopy, and device oversizing were predictors of THE (P <0.001)., Conclusions: BC during percutaneous ASD closure and the lack of a protective layer against nickel release on the device are risk factors for headache occurrence in the early postprocedural period.

Introduction: Balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) is a common treatment method of aortic valve (AV) stenosis in neonates. Long-term BAV effects are suboptimal, and their predictors are not well acknowledged., Aim: To identify predictors of suboptimal short- and long-term BAV results., Material and Methods: The study group comprised forty-three neonates (8 females; weight 3.34 ±0.56 kg) who underwent BAV between 1998 and 2021. Seventeen patients (39.53%) had critical AV stenosis. AV was bicuspid in 22 patients, tricuspid in 12, unicuspid in 2, and undefined in 7 patients. The mean balloon/annulus ratio was 0.9 ±0.07. Catheterization, clinical, and follow-up data were analysed., Results: The peak-to-peak gradient decreased from 67.5 ±26.3 to 21.3 ±12.6 mm Hg. Twenty-eight patients (65.1%) had adequate early outcome. Aortic regurgitation (AR) occurred in 13 (30.2%) patients. No predictors of inadequate early outcome were found. Twenty-year survival was 90.7%. Eleven (35.5%) patients underwent reintervention at a median of 12 (1-215) months; BAV in 5 patients, surgical valvuloplasty in 2, Ross operation in 2, AV replacement in 1, and Norwood operation in 1 patient. Fifteen-year freedom from reintervention (FFR) was 48%. Adequate early outcome resulted in higher FFR (71% vs. 22%), and so did no significant AR (60% vs. 30%)., Conclusions: BAV provides satisfying early results. AR remains a significant aftermath of BAV. Risk factors and procedural techniques improving the outcome of BAV are unclear. Further research is needed to improve FFR., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Termedia Sp. z o. o.)

Current regulations require that when seeking approval for new drugs, pharmaceutical companies must demonstrate their short- but not long-term safety and efficacy. Instead, post-approval, clinicians report adverse reactions to regulators, who may issue additional safety warnings. We investigate the incentives this creates for pharmaceutical companies to seek approval for new drugs with unknown long-term effects. We first construct models predicting that (1) long-run effects can be reasonably approximated from observational follow-up of short-term randomized control trials, and (2) companies will trade-off short-term sales against possible later adverse demand effects. We then test whether regulator warnings over diabetic, analgesic, analeptic, or psychoanaleptic drugs sold in the US and UK hospital and retail sectors affect the sales of individual drugs or the share prices of companies that sell them. With some exceptions, we find that pharmaceutical companies generally face no adverse market reaction in sales or share price from newly issued warnings in these four drug categories., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)