Euceramus transversilineatus (Decapoda: Porcellanidae) living in the mantle lobe of the snail Melongena patula (Gastropoda: Melongenidae) in the south eastern Gulf of California: Inference of a biological association

There are abundant reports of symbiosis wherein crustaceans live inside or on mollusks; however, there are few published records of gastropods hosting decapods. This study examines the biological association between fifteen snails (124.86 ± 19.01) from the species Pacific crown conch Melongena patula and the porcelain crab Euceramus transversilineatus. Morphometric relationships of both invertebrates, as well as some sexual characteristics of the crab were conducted. These invertebrates were sampled in the Navachiste Lagoon, in the south eastern Gulf of California, Sinaloa, Mexico. It was found 86.6% of the snails housed at least a female or a male porcelain crab (17.82 ± 3.27 mm total body length) or a pair of them (heterosexual and same sex) with a sexual proportion of 2M:1F. There were no correlations between any of the crab and snail based on their analyzed morphometric relationships. For the crab males, the measurements of both chelae presented relationships with total body length, carapace length, and abdomen width however, no significant differences were observed between the mean width and chelae length of males, females or between sexes. Of the six females collected, four were gravid. Preliminary observations indicated that the porcelain crab E. transversilineatus is a commensal endosymbiont that coexist in short-term association with M. patula. Their population distribution suggests that E. transversilineatus are polygamous with a promiscuous mating pattern.

PBRM1 loss-of-function mutations and response to immune checkpoint blockade in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

ABSTRACTThe biological role of PBRM1 loss-of-function (LOF) mutations mediating response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains an area of active investigation. A recent study (hereafter, ‘the MSK study’) evaluated this hypothesis in a clinically heterogeneous single institution retrospective ccRCC cohort using targeted sequencing and did not find a univariable statistically significant association for PBRM1 LOF and time-to-treatment failure (TTF), but did report a significant association between continuous tumor mutational burden (TMB) and ICB TTF. We re-analyzed this cohort to (i) match the methodology from previous studies and (ii) account for differences in cohort development, statistical approaches, mutation classifications, and outcome measurements. Univariable analysis of the PBRM1 LOF mutation hypothesis, when performed analogously to prior studies, demonstrated a modest statistically significant association with TTF on ICB (p = 0.047; HR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.49 - 0.99). By contrast, when using the different methodology presented in the MSK study, statistical modeling demonstrated that there was insufficient power to detect this association given the altered classification scheme and modest effect size. In addition, after appropriately normalizing TMB to account for anomalous outliers, TMB was not significantly associated with ICB response in ccRCC. Thus, this study provides further support for the biological association between PBRM1 LOF and favorable clinical outcomes on ICB in specific ccRCC clinical contexts. However, we again strongly caution against interpreting that this PBRM1 biological association, likely one of many modest mediators of tumor-immune-stromal interactions, achieves broadly generalizable predictive biomarker status for ICB in diverse clinical contexts. The PBRM1 LOF biological association has only been shown to be modestly predictive in the post-VEGF TKI ICB-monotherapy ccRCC patient population. Given emerging data about the biological role of PBRM1 in contributing to interwoven immune and angiogenesis programs (among many others), and the rapidly shifting therapeutic combination strategies invoking these processes in ccRCC, focused biological and predictive biomarker analyses in specific clinical settings using appropriately annotated clinical trial cohorts are necessary.

Women scientists and the Freshwater Biological Association, 1929–1950

In the early to mid-twentieth century, women had limited opportunities to develop and practice as scientists and, when they did, were often marked out: regarded as odd or remarkable because they were women with scientific commitment, in contrast to their male counterparts. Opportunities for women in freshwater science arose in Britain in interconnected institutions centred on the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) founded in 1929. Several women scientists, pioneers in their fields, were nurtured by the FBA, such as the early freshwater researchers Penelope Jenkin, Marie Rosenberg and Winifred Frost, the two latter being the FBA's first professional women naturalists. Several universities, such as Queen Mary College, University of London, gave opportunities to women freshwater scientists and had direct links to the FBA. Opportunities also arose for women scientists in British colonies. Other researchers who achieved distinction in their field were also products of the FBA and its imperial and university networks: Rosemary Lowe, Winifred Pennington, Winifred Frost, Carmel Humphries and Maud Godward, for example. We argue that the FBA encouraged scientists in relatively new scientific fields for the most part irrespective of gender. This is notable in a period when women scientists were treated with prejudice in scientific culture generally.

Biological Support to Obesity Paradox in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Review

Obesity is a proven risk factor and a debated prognostic factor in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Termed as an “obesity paradox,” the topic has churned controversies, with a few arguing of no true biological association. Suggesting otherwise, a few studies revealed adiposity-induced altered molecular and transcriptomic signatures, at both the systemic and local (tumor and peritumoral adipose tissue) levels, in RCC patients, favoring the paradox. Summarizing such studies suggests of a considerable biological support to adiposity as a promising prognostic factor in RCC patients, although much needs to be clarified before adopting it as a valuable addition to the existing prognostic model.

The history of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom and the influence of the publication on marine research

The origin and development of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom is described on the occasion of the publication of the 100th volume. Papers in the Journal demonstrate how the techniques and approaches to the study of the marine environment have evolved over the 120 years of publication. The early papers provided a baseline description of the marine environment and of marine communities that allowed the effects of later perturbations of the environment to be determined. Both the early papers and the long time series of records have proved to be particularly relevant as marine scientists try to predict the long-term results of climatic and anthropogenic effects on the marine ecosystem. The Journal has now become increasingly international, with most papers coming from outside Europe.