The discovery of the use of magnetic navigational information

The magnetic field of the Earth provides animals with various kinds of information. Its use as a compass was discovered in the mid-1960s in birds, when it was first met with considerable skepticism, because it initially proved difficult to obtain evidence for magnetic sensitivity by conditioning experiments. Meanwhile, a magnetic compass was found to be widespread. It has now been demonstrated in members of all vertebrate classes, in mollusks and several arthropod species, in crustaceans as well as in insects. The use of the geomagnetic field as a ‘map’ for determining position, although already considered in the nineteenth century, was demonstrated by magnetically simulating displacements only after 2000, namely when animals, tested in the magnetic field of a distant site, responded as if they were physically displaced to that site and compensated for the displacement. Another use of the magnetic field is that as a ‘sign post’ or trigger: specific magnetic conditions elicit spontaneous responses that are helpful when animals reach the regions where these magnetic characteristics occur. Altogether, the geomagnetic field is a widely used valuable source of navigational information for mobile animals.

The influence of heavy metals on the shape and asymmetry of wings of female Polistes nimpha (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) living on contaminated sites

The aim of the present study was to determine the fluctuating asymmetry of the first pair of wings in females Polistes nimpha (Christ, 1791) living in an environment contaminated with heavy metals. The average concentration of Zn, Cd and Pb in the bodies of the insects varied depending on the distance from the source of contamination, reaching the highest values on the site closest to the source of contamination and the lowest at the most distant site. As a result of the morphometric analyses, significant differences were found in the asymmetry values of the first pair of wings depending on the level of Zn, Cd, Pb accumulated by the wasps. In the case of shape asymmetry, differences were found for all the effects studied (year of capture and site). Significant differences were also found in the size of wings between individuals captured on Sites 1 and 2 and those caught on Site 3. Specimens caught on site characterized by the lowest concentration of heavy metals in the topsoil, proved to be significantly larger than the insects collected on the other sites. There were no differences in the size of individuals between the different years of capture. Based on the results obtained by us, it can be assumed that the wings of P. nimpha females may become a useful object in studying the impact of environmental stress of Zn, Cd and Pb pollution on the symmetry of their wings.

Oropharyngeal adenocarcinoma as a rare presentaton secondary to gastric adenocarcinoma: a case study

<p class="abstract">Adenocarcinoma of oropharynx is a rarely encountered entity. It may be primary or secondary as metastasis from a distant site. Secondary adenocarcinoma of base of tongue is even more uncommon, few cases have been reported in the literature till date including one from stomach as a primary site. We are presenting a case of secondary adenocarcinoma of base of tongue metastasised from stomach after one and half years of successful treatment consisting of surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.</p>

Surgery at primary and metastatic sites for stage IV breast cancer (BC): A National Cancer Database (NCDB) analysis.

1099 Background: There is no clear evidence of a survival benefit of primary tumor resection in patients with stage IV breast cancer (BC). This large study evaluated factors associated with undergoing primary tumor resection, and whether resection at the primary site, or distant site resection (metastasectomy), was associated with better overall survival (OS). Methods: This retrospective analysis of stage IV BC cases used the 2004-2016 National Cancer Database (NCDB) population. To evaluate variables associated with primary tumor resection, we used univariate analyses (chi-squared and Wilcoxon rank-sum test), followed by multivariate logistic regression. Consequently, we conducted multivariate Cox regression survival analyses on the following groups: 1) all stage IV BC patients; 2) a subset of those with only 1 site of metastasis; and 3) another subset with metastasis to > 1 distant site. Results: A total of 54,871 stage IV BC patients were included in this analysis. From this, we analyzed a subset with only 1 distant site involved (n = 30,480) and another subset with multiple secondary sites (n = 17,344). In total, 15,661 patients underwent surgery at the primary site: 11,451 (73.1%) were non-Hispanic white; 2479 (15.8%) were non-Hispanic black; 981 (6.3%) were Hispanic and 484 (3.1%) were Asian. Variables associated with undergoing resection of the primary tumor were: age, race, Charlson/Deyo score, insurance and facility type, involved breast quadrant, receptor status, N-staging, extent of metastasis and year of diagnosis. Survival analysis of all stage IV patients showed that both lumpectomy (HR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.57-0.62, p < 0.0001) and mastectomy (HR 0.62, 95% CI: 0.60-0.64, p < 0.0001) were associated with better OS when compared to no surgery. The statistical effect was larger in the subgroup with metastasis to 1 site, but still significant in the subgroup with multiple metastatic sites. Distant site resection also yielded a survival benefit compared to no metastasectomy across all 3 groups. In the subgroup with metastasis to only 1 site, metastasectomy was associated with better OS when the metastatic site was liver (HR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.43-0.82, p = 0.0018), lung (HR 0.47, 95% CI: 0.37-0.61, p < 0.0001), and brain (HR 0.70, 95% CI: 0.55-0.88, p = 0.0022). Conclusions: Across all 3 patient subgroups, primary tumor resection (lumpectomy or mastectomy) and metastasectomy were associated with improved OS. Additional stratified analysis in the subgroup with only 1 metastatic site showed benefit of metastasectomy when that site was the lung, liver or brain.