What is "clinical data"? Why and how can they be collected during field surveys on medicinal plants?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: "Reverse pharmacology", also called "bedside-to-bench" or "field to pharmacy" approach, is a research process starting with documentation of clinical outcome as observed by patients with different therapeutic regimens. The treatment most significantly associated with cure is selected for future studies: first, clinical safety and efficacy; then in vivo and vitro studies. Some clinical data, i.e. details on patient status and progress, can be collected during ethnobotanical surveys; they will help clinical researchers and, once effectiveness and safety are established, will also help users of traditional medicine make safer and more effective choices. To gather clinical data successfully, ethnopharmacologists need to be backed by an appropriate team of specialists in medicine and epidemiology. Ethnopharmacologists can also gather important data on traditional medicine safety. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The first step is to create a consensus on the meaning of "clinical data", their interest and importance. An understanding of why "a cure is not a proof of effectiveness" is a starting point to avoid faulty interpretation of the clinical observations. RESULTS: Experience showed that, with the "bedside-to-bench" approach, a treatment derived from traditional recipe can be scientifically validated (in terms of safety and effectiveness) with a cost of less than a million euros, thus providing an end-product that is affordable, available and sustainable. CONCLUSIONS: With rigorous clinical study results, medicinal plant users gain the possibility to refine heath strategies. The field surveyor may gain a better relationship with the population, once she/he is seen as bringing information useful for the quality of care in the community.

La prévention du tabagisme passif [Prevention of air pollution by indoor tobacco smoke in France]

A majority of smokers and non-smokers mind tobacco smoke. Passive smoking causes death by sudden infant death, lung cancer and coronary heart disease. 3000 to 6000 persons are killed every year in France. The lack of implementation of the Evin's law published in 1991 explains why non-smokers are not given the protection they can expect. The trend of scientific knowledge and of French and international public opinions support a growing demand for a complete protection of non-smokers with a total ban of smoking in all public or working places.

The opinion of patients with mental disorder about tobacco and its prohibition in psychiatric hospitalization

Objective: To identify the opinion of patients with mental disorder about tobacco and its prohibition during psychiatric hospitalization. Method: An exploratory study with 96 patients smokers with mental disorders hospitalized in a psychiatric ward of a general hospital. The interviews were conducted individually, using an instrument designed for this study. The content from the interviews was recorded, transcribed and submitted to a thematic content analysis. Results: The patients with mental disorder were identified as perceiving smoking during the psychiatric hospitalization as a help to support the difficulties in socialization and in the lack of activities. The permission for smoking is seen as a signal of respect to their needs. The subjects mentioned to not accept the total smoking prohibition. Conclusion: Tobacco helps to face difficulties and conflicts in the psychiatric hospitalization. There is resistance regarding the possibility to totally withdraw the smoking permission during hospitalization.



Use of medicinal plants by black women: ethnography study in a low-income community

Objective To explore beliefs, values and practices related to the use of medicinal plants among low-income black families. Method The research method was ethnography and the participant observation process was done in a low-income community in the peripheral area of the City of São Paulo. Twenty black women were interviewed. Results Two cultural sub-themes, I do use medicines that I learned to make with my mother and with religious practitioners to care for diseases and Home medicines are to treat problems that are not serious, and the cultural theme I do use home medicines to treat simple diseases because I always have them at my disposal, they are free and I don’t need a medical prescription represent beliefs, values, and practices related to the use of medicinal plants among low-income black families. Conclusion The development of such practices, which can hide ethnic and social vulnerability, reveals the resilience of low-income black women in the process of confronting problems during the health-illness process.

The Alps Vegetation Database - a geo-referenced community-level archive of all terrestrial plants occurring in the Alps.

Mountain ranges are biodiversity hotspots worldwide and provide refuge to many organisms under contemporary climate change. Gathering field information on mountain biodiversity over time is of primary importance to understand the response of biotic communities to climate changes. For plants, several long-term observation sites and networks of mountain biodiversity are emerging worldwide to gather field data and monitor altitudinal range shifts and community composition changes under contemporary climate change. Most of these monitoring sites, however, focus on alpine ecosystems and mountain summits, such as the global observation research initiative in alpine environments (GLORIA). Here we describe the Alps Vegetation Database, a comprehensive community level archive (GIVD ID EU-00-014) which aims at compiling all available geo-referenced vegetation plots from lowland forests to alpine grasslands across the greatest mountain range in Europe: the Alps. This research initiative was funded between 2008 and 2011 by the Danish Council for Independent Research and was part of a larger project to compare cross-scale plant community structure between the Alps and the Scandes. The Alps Vegetation Database currently harbours 35,731 geo-referenced vegetation plots and 5,023 valid taxa across Mediterranean, temperate and alpine environments. The data are mainly used by the main contributors of the Alps Vegetation Database in an ecoinformatics approach to test hypotheses related to plant macroecology and biogeography, but external proposals for joint collaborations are welcome.

A novel bioinformatics pipeline to discover genes related to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis based on their evolutionary conservation pattern among higher plants.

BACKGROUND: Genes involved in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis have been identified primarily by mutant screens, followed by identification of the mutated genes (forward genetics). In addition, a number of AM-related genes has been identified by their AM-related expression patterns, and their function has subsequently been elucidated by knock-down or knock-out approaches (reverse genetics). However, genes that are members of functionally redundant gene families, or genes that have a vital function and therefore result in lethal mutant phenotypes, are difficult to identify. If such genes are constitutively expressed and therefore escape differential expression analyses, they remain elusive. The goal of this study was to systematically search for AM-related genes with a bioinformatics strategy that is insensitive to these problems. The central element of our approach is based on the fact that many AM-related genes are conserved only among AM-competent species. RESULTS: Our approach involves genome-wide comparisons at the proteome level of AM-competent host species with non-mycorrhizal species. Using a clustering method we first established orthologous/paralogous relationships and subsequently identified protein clusters that contain members only of the AM-competent species. Proteins of these clusters were then analyzed in an extended set of 16 plant species and ranked based on their relatedness among AM-competent monocot and dicot species, relative to non-mycorrhizal species. In addition, we combined the information on the protein-coding sequence with gene expression data and with promoter analysis. As a result we present a list of yet uncharacterized proteins that show a strongly AM-related pattern of sequence conservation, indicating that the respective genes may have been under selection for a function in AM. Among the top candidates are three genes that encode a small family of similar receptor-like kinases that are related to the S-locus receptor kinases involved in sporophytic self-incompatibility. CONCLUSIONS: We present a new systematic strategy of gene discovery based on conservation of the protein-coding sequence that complements classical forward and reverse genetics. This strategy can be applied to diverse other biological phenomena if species with established genome sequences fall into distinguished groups that differ in a defined functional trait of interest.

Regulation of phosphate starvation responses in plants: signaling players and cross-talks.

Phosphate (Pi) availability is a major factor limiting growth, development, and productivity of plants. In both ecological and agricultural contexts, plants often grow in soils with low soluble phosphate content. Plants respond to this situation by a series of developmental and metabolic adaptations that are aimed at increasing the acquisition of this vital nutrient from the soil, as well as to sustain plant growth and survival. The development of a comprehensive understanding of how plants sense phosphate deficiency and coordinate the responses via signaling pathways has become of major interest, and a number of signaling players and networks have begun to surface for the regulation of the phosphate-deficiency response. In practice, application of such knowledge to improve plant Pi nutrition is hindered by complex cross-talks, which are emerging in the face of new data, such as the coordination of the phosphate-deficiency signaling networks with those involved with hormones, photo-assimilates (sugar), as well as with the homeostasis of other ions, such as iron. In this review, we focus on these cross-talks and on recent progress in discovering new signaling players involved in the Pi-starvation responses, such as proteins having SPX domains.

Prevalence and factors associated with use of smokeless tobacco in young Swiss men.

BACKGROUND: Smokeless tobacco is of increasing interest to public health researchers and policy makers. This study aims to measure prevalence of smokeless tobacco use (nasal dry snuff, snus and chewing tobacco) among young Swiss men, and to describe its correlates. METHODS: We invited 13 245 young men to participate in this survey on socio-economic and substance use data. Response rate was 45.2%. We included 5720 participants. Descriptive statistics and multivariable-adjusted logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 19.5 years. Self-reported use once a month or more often was 8% for nasal dry snuff, 3% for snus and negligible for chewing tobacco. In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, the odds for nasal dry snuff use increased in non daily smokers [odds ratio (OR) 2.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.90-3.05], compared with non smokers, participants reporting risky weekly drinking volume (OR 3.93, 95% CI 1.86-8.32), compared with abstinents, and binge drinking once a month or more often (OR 7.41, 95% CI 4.11-13.38), compared with never binge drinking. Nasal dry snuff use was positively associated with higher BMI, average or above family income and German language, compared with French, and negatively associated with academic higher education, compared with non higher education, and occasional cannabis use, compared with no cannabis use. Correlates of snus were similar to those of nasal dry snuff. CONCLUSION: One in 12 young Swiss men use nasal dry snuff and 3% use snus. Consumption of smokeless tobacco is associated with a cluster of other risky behaviours, especially binge drinking.

Odontopus brevirostris (Hustache, 1936) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) associated with new host plants belonging to Annona (Annonaceae)

Odontopus brevirostris (Hustache, 1936) feeding on Annona squamosa L., A. cherimola Mill., A. glabra L., and A. muricata L. was observed. The last three host plants are recorded for the first time. The endophitic oviposition occurs in the veins of the ventral surface of the young leaves. The larvae, leaf miners, eat the parenchyma and the adults make small holes in the leaves. The pupation occurs in spherical cocoons protected by a sort of nest (pupation chamber) between the two epidermal layers.

Iowa Biodiesel and Ethanol Processing Plants, January 2006

Maps of Iowa's Biodiesel and Ethanol Processing Plants.