Long-term laboratory culture causes contrasting shifts in tolerance to two marine pollutants in copepods of the genus Tigriopus.

Organismal chemical tolerance is often used to assess ecological risk and monitor water quality, yet tolerance can differ between field- and lab-raised organisms. In this study, we examined how tolerance to copper (Cu) and tributyltin oxide (TBTO) in two species of marine copepods, Tigriopus japonicus and T. californicus, changed across generations under benign laboratory culture (in the absence of pre-exposure to chemicals). Both copepod species exhibited similar chemical-specific changes in tolerance, with laboratory maintenance resulting in increased Cu tolerance and decreased TBTO tolerance. To assess potential factors underlying these patterns, chemical tolerance was measured in conjunction with candidate environmental variables (temperature, UV radiation, diet type, and starvation). The largest chemical-specific effect was found for starvation, which decreased TBTO tolerance but had no effect on Cu tolerance. Understanding how chemical-specific tolerance can change in the laboratory will be critical in strengthening bioassays and their applications for environmental protection and chemical management.

Evolution of sinonasal symptoms and mucosal healing after minimally invasive pituitary surgery.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive pituitary surgery (MIPS) via endoscopy has become widely accepted as the surgical paradigm of choice for pituitary pathology. The objective of the current study was to analyze the evolution of symptom scores and mucosal healing after MIPS. METHODS: The 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores and objective endoscopic data of 52 patients were reviewed in a longitudinal manner. Scaled averages of the SNOT-22 and endoscopic scores from different time points were compared with baseline scores by using nonparametric testing. The time to baseline for endoscopic examinations was also analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: The rhinologic symptoms subdomain of the SNOT-22 scores showed statistically significant worsening between baseline and 2 weeks after surgery (p = 0.03). Follow-up SNOT-22 scores after 2 weeks showed no significant differences compared with baseline scores, with an overall trend toward improvement in patient symptoms during the subsequent period. Similar analysis for the endoscopic data illustrated statistically significant differences from the baseline scores up to 16 weeks after surgery. The overall trend showed a worsened endoscopic examination, initially with a spike at ∼8 to 10 weeks (p = 0.03) and with a subsequent return to baseline. The Kaplan-Meier estimate curve demonstrated a median time to return to baseline endoscopy at 18.9 weeks (95% confidence interval, 14.9-38.3 weeks). CONCLUSION: The longitudinal data exhibited subjective improvement of patient outcomes based on SNOT-22 scores within 2-4 weeks after MIPS. However, the objective endoscopic data revealed a lag in improvement of the examination, typically at 16-20 weeks, which underscores ongoing careful endoscopic assessment and management to ensure proper mucosal healing beyond just subjective symptoms as the gauge to postoperative recovery.