Search

To characterize the ocular inflammatory side effects associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) treatment in a Northern California population. Retrospective case series. Patients receiving CPI within an integrated healthcare delivery system. All patients within Kaiser Permanente Northern California receiving CPI between January 1, 2012 and November 1, 2018 were identified. Medical records of those seen in the ophthalmology clinic at least once were retrospectively reviewed. Type and duration of ocular inflammation, indication for and exposure to CPI, time from exposure to diagnosis of ocular inflammation. 31 cases of ocular inflammation were identified in 5061 patients (0.61%) receiving CPI. Mean ± SD age was 67 ± 11.9 (range 38–89). Mean time from exposure to diagnosis was 6.8 ± 5.5 months (range 0.5–17). 87% of cases were bilateral, and 43% of cases were chronic. Average ophthalmology follow-up was 16 ± 18 months (range 0–71). 16/31 (52%) had anterior uveitis, 7/31 (23%) had serous retinal detachment or panuveitis resembling Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, 4/31 (13%) had papillitis, and 6/31 (19%) had diplopia or ocular motility defect. There was one case each (3.2%) of melanoma associated retinopathy, corneal edema, granulomatous lacrimal gland enlargement, and choroidal neovascularization. Ocular inflammation is a rare immune associated side effect of CPI treatment, the most common manifestation of which is anterior uveitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual reproduction in non-vascular plants requires unicellular free-motile sperm to travel from male to female reproductive structures across the terrestrial landscape (1). Recent data suggest that microarthropods can disperse sperm [...]

Spatial segregation of the sexes (SSS) occurs in many dioecious plants, usually along an environmental gradient. However, little data is available on how male and female plants of species with SSS respond to environmental conditions along these gradients. We examined whether male and female plants of Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene, a dioecious grass species that exhibits extreme SSS along a phosphorus gradient, differed in their responses to phosphorus and competition treatments in the greenhouse. We found little evidence that phosphorus plays a role in SSS in D. spicata. However, supporting earlier work, we found that plants subject to inter-sexual competition were significantly more likely to have high root/shoot ratios than plants subject to intra-sexual competition, suggesting that competition is an important driver of SSS in this species. Key words: dioecy, Distichlis spicata, niche partitioning, sex ratio, sexual system, spatial segregation of the sexes. La segregation spatiale des sexes (SSS) existe chez plusieurs plantes dioiques, generalement le long d'un gradient environnemental. Cependant, il existe peu de donnees sur la facon avec laquelle les plantes males et femelles des especes avec SSS reagissent aux conditions du milieu, le long de ces gradients. Les auteurs ont examine comment les plantes males et femelles du Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene, une plante herbacee dioique montrant une SSS extreme le long d'un gradient de phosphore, different dans leurs reactions a des traitements au phosphore et a la competition, en serre. Ils ont obtenu peu de preuve a l'effet que le phosphore jouerait un role dans la SSS chez le D. spicata. Cependant, en accord avec des travaux antecedents, ils ont constate que les plantes soumises a une competition inter- sexuelle ont significativement plus de chance d' avoir des ratios racine/tige plus grands par rapport aux plantes soumises a la competition intra-sexuelle, suggerant que cette competition constitue un important moteur de la SSS chez cette espece. Mots-cles : dioecie, Distichlis spicata, partition de niche, ratio des sexes, systeme sexuel, segregation spatiale des sexes. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction In plants, sexual dimorphism of ecological niche has been well-described among species with separate sexes, and it has been termed spatial segregation of the sexes (SSS; Bierzychudek and Eckhart [...]