PURPOSE The self-reported functional status (sr-FS) of prostate cancer (PCa) patients varies substantially between patients and health-care providers before treatment. Information about this issue is important for evaluating comparisons between health-care providers and to assist in treatment decision-making. There have been few reports on correlates of pretherapeutic sr-FS. The objective of the article, therefore, is to describe clinical and sociodemographic correlates of pretherapeutic sr-FS, based on a subset of the TrueNTH Global Registry, a prospective cohort study. METHODS A total of 3094 PCa patients receiving local treatment in 44 PCa centers in Germany were recruited between July 2016 and April 2018. Multilevel regression models were applied to predict five pretherapeutic sr-FS (EPIC-26) scores based on clinical characteristics (standard set suggested by the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement), sociodemographic characteristics, and center characteristics. RESULTS Impaired pretherapeutic sr-FS tended to be associated with lower educational level and poorer disease characteristics-except for "urinary incontinence" which was only associated with age. Notably, age was a risk factor ("urinary incontinence," "urinary irritative/obstructive," "sexual") as well as a protective factor ("hormonal") for pretherapeutic sr-FS. Pretherapeutic sr-FS varies little across centers. CONCLUSIONS Pretherapeutic sr-FS varies by clinical patient characteristics and age as well as by socioeconomic status. The findings point out the benefit of collecting and considering socioeconomic information in addition to clinical and demographic patient characteristics for treatment decision-making and fair comparisons between health-care providers.Drug testing in hair can complement conventional blood and urine analysis as it enlarges the window of detection and may allow a differentiation of heavy from moderate or rare use. Databases of drug concentrations in biological matrices are a valuable support in interpreting analytical results. In forensic toxicology, several databases exist especially for blood/serum samples. In the present paper, the concentration distributions of more than 100 legal and illegal drugs such as narcotic drugs, opioids, antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and major metabolites detected in authentic Caucasian hair samples in our laboratory are summarized. Depending on availability, the proximal sections of 1-6 cm in length were analyzed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry following extraction of the finely chopped specimens by ultrasound in methanol. The data may present a helpful basis also for other laboratories for an initial evaluation of their results. However, these statistical data should not be used uncritically without including the circumstances of the particular case and the analytical procedures used. In addition, each laboratory in charge of interpreting results from hair analysis should balance own results as far as available with this data base.Large-scale studies on community ecology are highly desirable but often difficult to accomplish due to the considerable investment of time, labor and, money required to characterize richness, abundance, relatedness, and interactions. Nonetheless, such large-scale perspectives are necessary for understanding the composition, dynamics, and resilience of biological communities. Small invertebrates play a central role in ecosystems, occupying critical positions in the food web and performing a broad variety of ecological functions. However, it has been particularly difficult to adequately characterize communities of these animals because of their exceptionally high diversity and abundance. Spiders in particular fulfill key roles as both predator and prey in terrestrial food webs and are hence an important focus of ecological studies. selleck inhibitor In recent years, large-scale community analyses have benefitted tremendously from advances in DNA barcoding technology. High-throughput sequencing (HTS), particularly DNA metabarcoding, enables community-wide analyses of diversity and interactions at unprecedented scales and at a fraction of the cost that was previously possible. Here, we review the current state of the application of these technologies to the analysis of spider communities. We discuss amplicon-based DNA barcoding and metabarcoding for the analysis of community diversity and molecular gut content analysis for assessing predator-prey relationships. We also highlight applications of the third generation sequencing technology for long read and portable DNA barcoding. We then address the development of theoretical frameworks for community-level studies, and finally highlight critical gaps and future directions for DNA analysis of spider communities.Anterior patterning in animals is based on a gene regulatory network, which comprises highly conserved transcription factors like six3, pax6 and otx. More recently, foxQ2 was found to be an ancestral component of this network but its regulatory interactions showed evolutionary differences. In most animals, foxQ2 is a downstream target of six3 and knockdown leads to mild or no epidermal phenotypes. In contrast, in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, foxQ2 gained a more prominent role in patterning leading to strong epidermal and brain phenotypes and being required for six3 expression. However, it has remained unclear which of these novel aspects were insect or arthropod specific. Here, we study expression and RNAi phenotype of the single foxQ2 ortholog of the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. We find early anterior expression similar to the one of insects. Further, we show an epidermal phenotype in the labrum similar to the insect phenotype. However, our data indicate that foxQ2 is positioned downstream of six3 like in other animals but unlike insects. Hence, the epidermal and neural pattering function of foxQ2 is ancestral for arthropods while the upstream role of foxQ2 may have evolved in the lineage leading to the insects.PURPOSE This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the moderating role of lifestyle, age, and years working in shifts and, shift work and being overweight. METHODS Cross-sectional data were used of 2569 shift and 4848 non-shift production workers who participated between 2013 and 2018 in an occupational health check. Overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) was calculated using measured weight and height; lifestyle was assessed by questionnaires. Multiple-adjusted logistic regression with interaction terms between shift work and potential moderators assessed multiplicative interaction; the relative excess risk due to interaction assessed additive interaction (synergism). RESULTS Shift work was significantly related to being overweight (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.33 1.76). The strength of this association did not differ by level of sleep quality, fruit and vegetable intake, and physical activity (p ≥ 0.05). Additive and multiplicative interaction by smoking status was present (p  less then  0.01), with a stronger relationship between shift work and being overweight among non-smokers compared to smokers.