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Human aggression can be differentiated into reactive aggression (RA), displayed in face of a real or perceived threat and associated with high levels of anxiety, and proactive aggression (PA), displayed to achieve a certain goal and linked to lower anxiety levels. To study the origins of these aggression subtypes and their relation to anxiety, we tested if both subtypes can be distinguished in a nonhuman primate species, characterized their occurrence within the study group, and examined the link between aggression subtype and anxiety. Data were collected on 29 individuals of a semi-free ranging group of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) at Affenberg Salem, Germany, via focal animal (303 hr) and event sampling (1,222 agonistic events). Using a priori definitions, each aggressive event was classified as either reactive or proactive. We found both aggression types in our study population as well as individual differences in the proportion at which they occurred. The predominant use of one subtype of aggression was linked to the individual's dominance rank, age and sex, but not related to standard behavioral and physiological measures of anxiety. Our results suggest that reactive and proactive subtypes of aggression also exist in Barbary macaques, indicating a deeper evolutionary history of these aggression types observed in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance ( MGUS) have a higher risk for the development of concomitant primary cancers such as multiple myeloma ( MM) and myelodysplastic syndrome ( MDS). We report the case of patient initially suffering from MGUS of the IgG lambda subtype for more than 10 yr, which evolved to MM and MDS with deletion (5q) with severe pancytopenia. Due to pancytopenia, he received dose-reduced treatment with lenalidomide and dexamethasone. He achieved an ongoing transfusion independency after about 1 month of treatment. Bone marrow taken 14 months after start of treatment showed a complete cytogenetic response of the del(5q) clone and a plasma cell infiltration below 5%. In contrast to the development of MM in MGUS patients, the subsequent occurrence of MDS after diagnosis of MGUS is infrequent. Moreover, the biological association of MDS with MGUS is not sufficiently understood, but the non-treatment-related occurrence supports the pathogenetic role of pre-existing alterations of stem cells. Here, we summarize data on concomitant MDS and MGUS/ MM with particular emphasis on molecular aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major histocompatibility complex ( MHC) plays an important role in the immune response and may thus crucially affect an individual's fitness, relevant also for studies on evolutionary ecology and wildlife conservation. Detailed knowledge on the genomic organization, polymorphism and diversity of the MHC has a narrow taxonomic focus though and among macaques is only available for rhesus and long-tailed macaques-the species most commonly kept for biomedical research. The lack of data on wild populations is largely due to the difficulty of obtaining blood or tissue samples necessary for genotyping approaches. Here, we aimed at analyzing MHC-DRB from non-invasively collected fecal samples in wild Assamese macaques ( Macaca assamensis), utilizing the MHC-DRB-STR ( D6S2878) microsatellite marker. Due to the fecal DNA source incomplete genotypes occurred, which may be improved in the future by method refinement. We detected 28 distinct DRB-STR lengths in 43 individuals with individual genotypes containing 1-9 MHC-DRB-STRs and defined four haplotypes segregating between families in Mendelian fashion. Our results indicate that variability and diversity of MHC-DRB in Assamese macaques is comparable to that of other macaque species and importantly, that fecal samples can be used for non-invasive analysis of MHC genes after refinement of the applied methods, opening a number of opportunities for MHC research on natural populations. Am. J. Primatol. 9999:1-9, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]