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PubMed2000

A two-fold difference in the age-adjusted prevalences of Parkinson's disease between the island of Als and the Faroe Islands.

With the aim of comparing the previously found high prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) in the Faroe Islands with the prevalence of PD in an area of Denmark, we used the same case-finding methods for case ascertainment and the same strict criteria to diagnose PD on the island of Als. During the last year before the prevalence date (1 January 1998), we found in various registries from pharmacies, hospital, private neurologist and general practitioners 121 patients with suspected Parkinsonism out of 56,839 inhabitants on the island of Als. After exclusion of those who had other diseases, a total of 79 patients were left for further examinations. Among these we found 58 with PD. The overall prevalence of PD was estimated to be 102.0 and the age-adjusted prevalence to be 98.3 per 100,000 persons compared with 187.6 and 209.0 in the Faroe Islands. Compared with the previous results from the Faroe Islands (prevalence date 1 July 1995) we found an even lower mean age at onset of PD symptoms and at onset of treatment, a lower proportion of definite PD and a lower average dose of levodopa. We therefore conclude that the two-fold higher prevalence in the Faroe Islands than on the island of Als was not due to an early diagnosis and a higher ascertainment of cases with mild PD, which was suggested as being one possible explanation for our previous finding of a high prevalence of PD in the Faroe Islands.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2004

The rotating island pedicle flap: an aesthetic and functional improvement on the subcutaneous island pedicle flap.

BACKGROUND: The subcutaneous island pedicle flap is a useful closure in many areas on the face, particularly the cheek and upper lip. One disadvantage can be that the advancing edge of the flap leaves a scar at right angles to the local lines of relaxed skin tension. Tension on free edges such as the lid can also be a problem, but may be mitigated by incorporating an element of rotation into the closure. A variation on the subcutaneous island pedicle flap is described to help avoid the problems of the subcutaneous island pedicle flap while retaining its strengths. OBJECTIVE: Our experience with more than 120 rotating island pedicle flaps over 10 years is described to demonstrate the versatility of this subcutaneous island pedicle flap for facial and reconstructive surgery. METHODS: The technique is described and seven representative cases are presented with photographs. RESULTS: The flap is simple to perform, has minimal complications, and has good cosmetic results. Temporary alteration of sensation in the flap skin is a possible complication and can be largely avoided with a bipedicled dissection technique. CONCLUSION: Our experience shows the rotating island pedicle flap to be versatile, reliable, and aesthetic island pedicle flap for skin cancer surgery both on and off the face and a practical modification of the subcutaneous island pedicle flap.

Facial Neoplasms↗
PubMed2006

Training competent and effective Primary Health Care Workers to fill a void in the outer islands health service delivery of the Marshall Islands of Micronesia.

BACKGROUND: Human resources for health are non-existent in many parts of the world and the outer islands of Marshall Islands in Micronesia are prime examples. While the more populated islands with hospital facilities are often successful in recruiting qualified health professionals from overseas, the outer islands generally have very limited health resources, and are thus less successful. In an attempt to provide reasonable health services to these islands, indigenous people were trained as Health Assistants (HA) to service their local communities. In an effort to remedy the effectiveness of health care delivery to these islands, a program to train mid-level health care workers (Hospital Assistants) was developed and implemented by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the hospital in Majuro, the capital city of the Marshall Islands. METHODS: A physician instructor with experience and expertise in primary health care in these regions conducted the program. The curriculum included training in basic health science, essentials of endemic disorders and their clinical management appropriate to the outer islands. Emphasis was given to prevention and health promotion as well as to the curative aspects. For clinical observation, the candidates were assigned to clinical departments of the Majuro hospital for 1 year during their training, as assistants to the nursing staff. This paper discusses the details of the training, the modalities used to groom the candidates, and an assessment of the ultimate effectiveness of the program. RESULTS: Out of 16 boys who began training, 14 candidates were successful in completing the program. In 1998 a similar program was conducted exclusively for women under the auspices of Asian Development Bank funding, hence women were not part of this program. CONCLUSION: For developing countries of the Pacific, appropriately trained human resources are an essential component of economic progress, and the health workforce is an important part of human resources for sustainable progress and development.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Addressing the cancer control needs of Pacific Islanders: experience of the Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network.

PURPOSE: This paper describes the accomplishments of the Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network (PICCN). PICCN's objectives fall under two broad categories: increasing cancer awareness and enhancing cancer control research among Samoans, Tongans, and Chamorros. METHODS: PICCN established an infrastructure for addressing the goals that include the University of California, Irvine; the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center; and community-based organizations (CBOs) in areas where large numbers of Pacific Islanders live. Activities that increase cancer awareness include assessing existing cancer education materials, developing new culturally-sensitive materials, and distributing the materials in a culturally-sensitive manner. Activities that enhance cancer control research include training Pacific Islander investigators and providing them with mentors to help with the development of research projects. RESULTS: During the four project years, PICCN has conducted more than 180 cancer awareness activities in its six study sites: Carson, CA; San Mateo, CA; San Diego, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; American Samoa; and Guam. PICCN members have also participated in conferences and lead discussions about the importance of clinical trials for Pacific Islanders. In addition, the Network has trained nine Pacific Islander investigators (three individuals from each ethnic group) in its cancer control academy. Finally, PICCN investigators are conducting pilot research projects that will answer important questions regarding the cancer control needs of these Pacific Islanders and set the stage for interventions aimed at addressing the needs. CONCLUSION: PICCN is advancing the national goal of eliminating cancer-related health disparities through its cancer awareness and research activities for Pacific Islanders.

American Samoa↗
PubMed2006

Testing phylogeographic predictions on an active volcanic island: Brachyderes rugatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on La Palma (Canary Islands).

Volcanic islands with well-characterized geological histories can provide ideal templates for generating and testing phylogeographic predictions. Many studies have sought to utilize these to investigate patterns of colonization and speciation within groups of closely related species across a number of islands. Here we focus attention within a single volcanic island with a well-characterized geological history to develop and test phylogeographic predictions. We develop phylogeographic predictions within the island of La Palma of the Canary Islands and test these using 69 haplotypes from 570 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase II sequence data for 138 individuals of Brachyderes rugatus rugatus, a local endemic subspecies of curculionid beetle occurring throughout the island in the forests of Pinus canariensis. Although geological data do provide some explanatory power for the phylogeographic patterns found, our network-based analyses reveal a more complicated phylogeographic history than initial predictions generated from data on the geological history of the island. Reciprocal illumination of geological and phylogeographic history is also demonstrated with previous geological speculation gaining phylogeographic corroboration from our analyses.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Expression islands clustered on the symbiosis island of the Mesorhizobium loti genome.

Rhizobia are symbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria that are associated with host legumes. The establishment of rhizobial symbiosis requires signal exchanges between partners in microaerobic environments that result in mutualism for the two partners. We developed a macroarray for Mesorhizobium loti MAFF303099, a microsymbiont of the model legume Lotus japonicus, and monitored the transcriptional dynamics of the bacterium during symbiosis, microaerobiosis, and starvation. Global transcriptional profiling demonstrated that the clusters of genes within the symbiosis island (611 kb), a transmissible region distinct from other chromosomal regions, are collectively expressed during symbiosis, whereas genes outside the island are downregulated. This finding implies that the huge symbiosis island functions as clustered expression islands to support symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Interestingly, most transposase genes on the symbiosis island were highly upregulated in bacteroids, as were nif, fix, fdx, and rpoN. The genome region containing the fixNOPQ genes outside the symbiosis island was markedly upregulated as another expression island under both microaerobic and symbiotic conditions. The symbiosis profiling data suggested that there was activation of amino acid metabolism, as well as nif-fix gene expression. In contrast, genes for cell wall synthesis, cell division, DNA replication, and flagella were strongly repressed in differentiated bacteroids. A highly upregulated gene in bacteroids, mlr5932 (encoding 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase), was disrupted and was confirmed to be involved in nodulation enhancement, indicating that disruption of highly expressed genes is a useful strategy for exploring novel gene functions in symbiosis.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed2002

A cautionary tale on ancient migration detection: mitochondrial DNA variation in Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands.

Over the past decade, the origin of the first Malayo-Polynesian settlers of the island Pacific has become a contentious issue in molecular anthropology as well as in archaeology and historical linguistics. Whether the descendants of the ancestral Malayo-Polynesian speakers moved rapidly through Indonesia and Island Melanesia in a few hundred years, or whether they were the product of considerable intermingling within the more westerly part of the latter region, it is widely accepted that they were the first humans to colonize the distant Pacific islands beyond the central Solomon Islands approximately 3,000 years ago. The Santa Cruz Islands in the Eastern Solomons would have most likely been the first in Remote Oceania to be colonized by them. Archaeologically, the first Oceanic Austronesian settlement of this region appears to have been overlain by various later influences from groups farther west in a complex manner. Molecular anthropologists have tended to equate the spread of various Austronesian-speaking groups with a particular mitochondrial variant (a 9-base-pair [bp] deletion with specific D-loop variants). We have shown before that this is an oversimplified picture, and assumed that the Santa Cruz situation, with its series of intrusions, would be informative as to the power of mitochondrial DNA haplotype interpretations. In the Santa Cruz Islands, the 9-bp deletion is associated with a small number of very closely related hypervariable D-loop haplotypes resulting in a star-shaped Bandelt median network, suggesting a recent population expansion. This network is similar to Polynesian median networks. In a pairwise mismatch comparison, the Santa Cruz haplotypes have a bimodal distribution, with the first cluster being composed almost entirely of the 9-bp-deleted haplotypes-again attesting to their recent origins. Conversely, the nondeleted haplogroups bear signatures of more ancient origins within the general region. Therefore, while the profiles of the two sets of haplotypes indicate very distinctive origins in different populations with divergent expansion histories, the sequence of their introduction into the Santa Cruz Islands clearly does not follow simply.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗
PubMed2003

Phylogenetic relationships between the tideland snails Batillaria flectosiphonata in the Ryukyu Islands and B. multiformis in the Japanese Islands.

Phylogenetic relationships between two sibling species of Japanese tideland snails, namely, Batillaria multiformis from the Japanese Islands and B. flectosiphonata from the Ryukyu Islands, were analyzed on the basis of the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome oxidase I. Populations of B. multiformis were genetically distinct from those of B. flectosiphonata with the exception of a population from Amami-Oshima Island, which corresponded to the boundary between the distributions of these two species. Individuals with the mitochondrial gene of B. multiformis and those with the mitochondrial gene of B. flectosiphonata were collected from the same tidal flat on Amami-Oshima Island. All the snails with the mitochondrial gene of B. multiformis could be divided into two genetically distinct groups but there was no geographical structure to the distribution of these two groups. Individual populations of B. flectosiphonata in the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama insular groups each consisted exclusively of a unique set of haplotypes, with the exception of a population at a northern site on Okinawajima Island, which included a few individuals with sequences related to those of individuals in the Amami insular group. All individuals from South Ryukyu formed a well-supported monophyletic group, while the monophyly of individuals from Central Ryukyu was not supported. The monophyly of B. multiformis was clearly demonstrated but there was no evidence to support that of B. flectosiphonata. Batillaria multiformis might have been derived from immigrants from the Ryukyu Islands, which became isolated and diverged genetically on the Japanese Islands.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Pathogens of house mice on arid Boullanger Island and subantarctic Macquarie Island, Australia.

Studies on island populations of house mice (Mus domesticus) and their viruses reveal insights into viral persistence in isolated communities. We surveyed the ectoparasites, endoparasites, and antiviral antibodies for 11 murine viruses and two bacteria of house mice inhabiting two islands off Australia. House mice on Boullanger Island were seropositive to two viruses, murine cytomegalovirus and epizootic diarrhea of infant mice. On subantarctic Macquarie Island, house mice were seropositive for five viruses: murine cytomegalovirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, mouse parvovirus, epizootic diarrhea of infant mice, and Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus. The diversity of antiviral antibodies was lower among populations of house mice on islands than those inhabiting mainland Australia. The decreased diversity of viruses in island populations of house mice may be a function of which agent the founder mice transfer to the island and related to the low densities which the host population may periodically reach over time.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

No man is an island; no island is an island: does the immune network extend beyond the limits of skin?

Now that we are moving towards a post-antibiotic era, it may be necessary to reevaluate our concept of immunology. A long-standing handicap may be that, thus far, we have focused exclusively on the individual and his own immune machinery. A search for community interactions, also involving microflora, may provide clues for our survival under the extremely unhygienic conditions of the past as well as the present. Among the many adverse factors, could there also be hidden beneficial effects as well? If so, the development of such factors to therapeutic significance would be a worthwhile challenge. Diverse historical chronicles and a certain resistance shown by infants in shanty towns, after the maternal immune protection has faded and until their own immune system is fully developed, led us to postulate that adaptation is a prerequisite for any subject in order to benefit from unhygienic crowded conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Breeding birds on small islands: island biogeography or optimal foraging?

1. We test MacArthur and Wilson's theory about the biogeography of communities on isolated habitat patches using bird breeding records from 16 small islands off the coasts of Britain and Ireland. 2. A traditional examination of patterns of species richness on these islands suggests that area and habitat diversity are important predictors, but that isolation and latitude have a negligible impact in this system. 3. Unlike traditional studies, we directly examine the fundamental processes of colonization and local extinction (cessation of breeding), rather than higher-order phenomena such as species richness. 4. We find that many of MacArthur and Wilson's predictions hold: colonization probability is lower on more isolated islands, and extinction probability is lower on larger islands and those with a greater diversity of habitats. 5. We also find an unexpected pattern: extinction probability is much lower on more isolated islands. This is the strongest relationship in these data, and isolation is the best single predictor of colonization and extinction. 6. Our results show that examination of species richness alone is misleading. Isolation has a strong effect on both of the dynamic processes that underlie richness, and in this system, the reductions in both colonization and extinction probability seen on more distant islands have opposing influences on species richness, and largely cancel each other out. 7. We suggest that an appropriate model for this system might be optimal foraging theory, which predicts that organisms will stay longer in a resource patch if the distance to a neighbouring patch is large. If nest sites and food are the resources in this system, then optimal foraging theory predicts the pattern we observe. 8. We advance the hypothesis that there is a class of spatial systems, defined by their scale and by the taxon under consideration, at which decision-making processes are a key driver of the spatiotemporal dynamics. The appropriate theory for such systems will be a hybrid of concepts from biogeography/metapopulation theory and behavioural ecology.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Intersectional gene flow between insular endemics of Ilex (Aquifoliaceae) on the Bonin Islands and the Ryukyu Islands.

Hybridization and introgression play important roles in plant evolution, and their occurrence on the oceanic islands provides good examples of plant speciation and diversification. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and trnL (UAA) 3'exon-trnF (GAA) intergenic spacer (IGS) sequences of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), and the sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA were examined to investigate the occurrence of gene transfer in Ilex species on the Bonin Islands and the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. A gene phylogeny for the plastid genome is in agreement with the morphologically based taxonomy, whereas the nuclear genome phylogeny clusters putatively unrelated endemics both on the Bonin and the Ryukyu Islands. Intersectional hybridization and nuclear gene flow were independently observed in insular endemics of Ilex on both sets of islands without evidence of plastid introgression. Gene flow observed in these island systems can be explained by ecological features of insular endemics, i.e., limits of distribution range or sympatric distribution in a small land area.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Patterns of formation of island fauna of Rhopalocera (Lepidoptera, Diurna) at the northern forest boundary in the region of Pleistocene continental glaciation (by the example of White Sea islands)].

Patterns of formation of island Rhopalocera fauna at the northern forest boundary in the region of Valdai inland ice were analyzed by the example of White Sea islands. The ecotone effect, typical for northernmost taiga and forest-tundra and introducing the transitional Rhopalocera fauna in near-tundra forest between the boreal and hypoarctic zones, was not observed on the White Sea islands. Island isolation provided for the absence of some Arctic species, entering near-tundra forest from the North, in the island fauna. Island Rhopalocera faunas represent poor variants of the northern taiga fauna lacking some polyzonal and temperate species and having a reduced set of Arctic boreal species.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2001

West Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Balearic islands, Sardinia) and the Basque population: contribution of HLA class I molecular markers to their evolutionary history.

The genetic structure of Balearic islands (Corsica and Sardinia), situated on the same trans-Mediterranean maritime routes and having very similar histories, were compared and their position among the neighbouring Caucasian populations was inferred. For this purpose, three HLA loci (HLA-A, -B and -Cw) were typed at the DNA level in these populations and the allelic and haplotypic frequencies were estimated. Because previous studies have shown common genetic features in the Sardinians and Basques, HLA-Cw molecular typing was also performed in a sample of French Basques in order to establish the haplotypic structure of this population for a more accurate comparison with the three others. By its allelic composition, the Corsican population has an intermediate position between the two other islander populations. Its close relationship with the Sardinian population, however, was clearly revealed by the phylogenetic analysis which also suggests a proximity with eastern Mediterranean peoples, whereas the Balearic islands are more narrowly related to Spain and western Europe. Peculiarities were observed in the distributions of some common haplotypes in the populations of the islands that confirm the results of the phylogenetic analysis and could be related to their history. Noteworthy is the presence of the HLA-A30-Cw*0501-B18 haplotype at frequencies approximately 2% in Corsica and the Balearic islands, yet the estimated frequencies of this haplotype are much lower than in the Sardinian and Basque populations.

Evolution, Molecular↗
PubMed2005

Methylated-CpG island recovery assay: a new technique for the rapid detection of methylated-CpG islands in cancer.

Hypermethylation of CpG islands is a phenomenon commonly observed during the development and progression of human tumors. Detection of methylated-CpG islands in easily accessible biological materials such as serum has the potential to be useful for the early diagnosis of cancer. Most currently used methods for detecting methylated-CpG islands are based on sodium bisulfite conversion of genomic DNA, followed by PCR reactions. Here we describe a method, methylated-CpG island recovery assay (MIRA) that does not depend on the use of sodium bisulfite but has similar sensitivity and specificity as bisulfite-based approaches. Methyl-CpG-binding domain proteins, such as methyl-CpG-binding domain protein-2 (MBD2), have the capacity to bind specifically to methylated DNA sequences. In the MIRA procedure, sonicated genomic DNA isolated from cells or tissue is incubated with a matrix containing glutathione-S-transferase-MBD2b in the presence of methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 3-like-1, a binding partner of MBD2 that increases the affinity of MBD2 for methylated DNA. Specifically bound DNA is eluted from the matrix and gene-specific PCR reactions are performed to detect CpG island methylation. Methylation can be detected using 1 ng of DNA or 3000 cells. MIRA is a specific and sensitive, but not laborious, technique that can be clinically useful in the detection and diagnosis of any DNA methylation-associated disease, including cancer.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Human enzyme polymorphism in the Canary Islands. V. Western Islands.

Autochthonous human samples of the three westernmost islands of the Canarian Archipelago, La Palma, Gomera, and Hierro, have been analyzed for eight red cell polymorphic enzymes. Only a small intra and inter-insular differentiation exists among these three islands. However, a marked heterogeneity is found when all seven islands of the Archipelago are compared by Nei's genetic distances [1972]. Nevertheless, there is no correlation between genetic and geographic distances. Historical factors could explain the frequency similarities of some distant islands. The rare variant GD*A+Negroid allele, and the endemic GD*Gc allele, previously found in other islands, have also been detected in this survey.

Alleles↗