Cancer immunologists working in humans often require panels of tumour cell lines expressing different combinations of HLA alleles and other characteristics. Sources of cell lines are usually large cell banks carrying little immunologically relevant information on the available cells and limited numbers of different lines from the same type of tumour. Access to cells with desired combinations of characteristics is, therefore, difficult. Here, we describe an interactive database of a large collection of melanoma cell lines which have been extensively characterised for HLA genotype and surface expression, oncogene and tumour antigen expression, cytokine secretion, surface molecule expression, adhesion to extracellular matrix components, cytokine gene polymorphisms and other factors of interest to immunologists. This enables investigators to search for cells with particular constellations of HLA alleles, tumour antigens, etc., and then request these from the cell bank. This European Searchable Tumour Cell Line and Data Bank (ESTDAB) was established as a Research Infrastructure of the European Commission. For access to the databank and further details, please go to http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/estdab/ .

Martin Gerdin and colleagues argue that disaster health interventions and decision-making can benefit from an evidence-based approach Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

This article reviews research on the development of motor behavior from a developmental systems perspective. We focus on infancy when basic action systems are acquired. Posture provides a stable base for locomotion, manual actions, and facial actions. Experience facilitates improvements in motor behavior and infants accumulate immense amounts of experience with all of their basic action systems. At every point in development, perception guides motor behavior by providing feedback about the results of just prior movements and information about what to do next. Reciprocally, the development of motor behavior provides fodder for perception. More generally, motor development brings about new opportunities for acquiring knowledge about the world, and burgeoning motor skills can instigate cascades of developmental changes in perceptual, cognitive, and social domains. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1430. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1430 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Most of us live blissfully unaware of the orchestrated function that our internal organs conduct. When this peace is interrupted, it is often by routine sensations of hunger and urge. However, for >20% of the global population, chronic visceral pain is an unpleasant and often excruciating reminder of the existence of our internal organs. In many cases, there is no obvious underlying pathological cause of the pain. Accordingly, chronic visceral pain is debilitating, reduces the quality of life of sufferers, and has large concomitant socioeconomic costs. In this review, we highlight key mechanisms underlying chronic abdominal and pelvic pain associated with functional and inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts. This includes how the colon and bladder are innervated by specialized subclasses of spinal afferents, how these afferents become sensitized in highly dynamic signaling environments, and the subsequent development of neuroplasticity within visceral pain pathways. We also highlight key contributing factors, including alterations in commensal bacteria, altered mucosal permeability, epithelial interactions with afferent nerves, alterations in immune or stress responses, and cross talk between these two adjacent organs. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physiology Volume 81 is February 10, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Wietse Tol and colleagues discuss some of the key challenges for implementation of new WHO guidelines for stress-related mental health disorders in low- and middle-income countries. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

BACKGROUND

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and decreased quality of life. Treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or mandibular advancement devices (MADs) is effective for many symptoms of OSA. However, it remains controversial whether treatment with CPAP or MAD also improves depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that examined the effect of CPAP or MADs on depressive symptoms in patients with OSA. We searched Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO from the inception of the databases until August 15, 2014, for relevant articles. In a random effects meta-analysis of 19 identified trials, CPAP treatment resulted in an improvement in depressive symptoms compared to control, but with significant heterogeneity between trials (Q statistic, p<0.001; I(2) = 71.3%, 95% CI: 54%, 82%). CPAP treatment resulted in significantly greater improvement in depressive symptoms in the two trials with a higher burden of depression at baseline (meta-regression, p<0.001). The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) in depressive symptoms with CPAP treatment in these two trial populations with baseline depression was 2.004 (95% CI: 1.387, 2.621), compared to 0.197 (95% CI: 0.059, 0.334) for 15 trials of populations without depression at baseline. Pooled estimates of the treatment effect of CPAP were greater in parallel arm trials than in crossover trials (meta-regression, p = 0.076). Random effects meta-analysis of five trials of MADs showed a significant improvement in depressive symptoms with MADs versus controls: SMD = 0.214 (95% CI: 0.026, 0.401) without significant heterogeneity (I(2) = 0%, 95% CI: 0%, 79%). Studies were limited by the use of depressive symptom scales that have not been validated specifically in people with OSA.

CONCLUSIONS

CPAP and MADs may be useful components of treatment of depressive symptoms in individuals with OSA and depression. The efficacy of CPAP and MADs compared to standard therapies for depression is unknown. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

Small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs (siRNA) and microRNAs (miRNA), are emerging as promising therapeutic drugs against a wide array of diseases. The key obstacle for the successful clinical application of small RNAs is to develop a safe delivery system directed at the target tissues only. Current small RNA transfer techniques use viruses or synthetic agents as delivery vehicles. The replacement of these delivery vehicles with a low toxicity and high target-specific approach is essential for making small RNA therapy feasible. Because exosomes have the intrinsic ability to traverse biological barriers and to naturally transport functional small RNAs between cells, they represent a novel and exciting delivery vehicle for the field of small RNA therapy. As therapeutic delivery agents, exosomes will potentially be better tolerated by the immune system because they are natural nanocarriers derived from endogenous cells. Furthermore, exosomes derived from genetically engineered cells can deliver small RNAs to target tissues and cells. Thus, exosome-based delivery of small RNAs may provide an untapped, effective delivery strategy to overcome impediments such as inefficiency, nonspecificity, and immunogenic reactions. In this review, we briefly describe how exosomal small RNAs function in recipient cells. Furthermore, we provide an update and overview of new findings that reveal the potential applications of exosome-based small RNA delivery as therapeutics in clinical settings. WIREs RNA 2016, 7:758-771. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1363 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most common female cancer in Africa. Receptor-defined subtypes are a major determinant of treatment options and disease outcomes but there is considerable uncertainty regarding the frequency of poor prognosis estrogen receptor (ER) negative subtypes in Africa. We systematically reviewed publications reporting on the frequency of breast cancer receptor-defined subtypes in indigenous populations in Africa.

RESULTS

Medline, Embase, and Global Health were searched for studies published between 1st January 1980 and 15th April 2014. Reported proportions of ER positive (ER+), progesterone receptor positive (PR+), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive (HER2+) disease were extracted and 95% CI calculated. Random effects meta-analyses were used to pool estimates. Fifty-four studies from North Africa (n=12,284 women with breast cancer) and 26 from sub-Saharan Africa (n=4,737) were eligible. There was marked between-study heterogeneity in the ER+ estimates in both regions (I2>90%), with the majority reporting proportions between 0.40 and 0.80 in North Africa and between 0.20 and 0.70 in sub-Saharan Africa. Similarly, large between-study heterogeneity was observed for PR+ and HER2+ estimates (I2>80%, in all instances). Meta-regression analyses showed that the proportion of ER+ disease was 10% (4%-17%) lower for studies based on archived tumor blocks rather than prospectively collected specimens, and 9% (2%-17%) lower for those with ≥ 40% versus those with <40% grade 3 tumors. For prospectively collected samples, the pooled proportions for ER+ and triple negative tumors were 0.59 (0.56-0.62) and 0.21 (0.17-0.25), respectively, regardless of region. Limitations of the study include the lack of standardized procedures across the various studies; the low methodological quality of many studies in terms of the representativeness of their case series and the quality of the procedures for collection, fixation, and receptor testing; and the possibility that women with breast cancer may have contributed to more than one study.

CONCLUSIONS

The published data from the more appropriate prospectively measured specimens are consistent with the majority of breast cancers in Africa being ER+. As no single subtype dominates in the continent availability of receptor testing should be a priority, especially for young women with early stage disease where appropriate receptor-specific treatment modalities offer the greatest potential for reducing years of life lost. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

OBJECTIVE

Percutaneous coronary interventions for bifurcation lesions are often complex and associated with an unsatisfactory result. The aim of this first-in-man, observational study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of a paclitaxel-eluting balloon in these lesions.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight patients presenting significant coronary bifurcational lesions of the left coronary artery were studied. The main branch (MB) and the side branch (SB) were dilated with a drug-eluting balloon (DEB; SeQuent <em>Please</em> balloon catheter , 3 µg paclitaxel/mm2 balloon surface). An open-cell bare-metal stent (BMS; Coroflex) was then deployed in the MB. Only if the SB had a TIMI flow <III and/or a residual stenosis of ≥ 50%, a BMS was implanted in the SB. The procedure was successful in all patients. At nine months, the late lumen loss (LLL) in the MB was 0.38 ± 0.46 mm and 0.21 ± 0.48 mm in the SB resulting in an MLD of 2.2 ± 0.60 mm in the MB and 1.7 ± 0.44 mm in the SB. Three patients had angiographic restenosis and in one a target lesion revascularisation (TLR) was performed. Two patients experienced a late stent thrombosis at six and eight months. No patient died.

CONCLUSIONS

Percutaneous treatment of bifurcation lesions with a drug-eluting balloon resulted in a procedural success of 100%. Follow-up angiography at nine months showed DES-like results in MB and SB. However, when the DEB was used in combination with a BMS (MB), the possibility of late stent thrombosis cannot be ruled out.

BACKGROUND

Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from burning barbecue charcoal reached epidemic levels in Hong Kong and Taiwan within 5 y of the first reported cases in the early 2000s. The objectives of this analysis were to investigate (i) time trends and regional patterns of charcoal-burning suicide throughout East/Southeast Asia during the time period 1995-2011 and (ii) whether any rises in use of this method were associated with increases in overall suicide rates. Sex- and age-specific trends over time were also examined to identify the demographic groups showing the greatest increases in charcoal-burning suicide rates across different countries.

RESULTS

We used data on suicides by gases other than domestic gas for Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore in the years 1995/1996-2011. Similar data for Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand were also extracted but were incomplete. Graphical and joinpoint regression analyses were used to examine time trends in suicide, and negative binomial regression analysis to study sex- and age-specific patterns. In 1995/1996, charcoal-burning suicides accounted for <1% of all suicides in all study countries, except in Japan (5%), but they increased to account for 13%, 24%, 10%, 7%, and 5% of all suicides in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore, respectively, in 2011. Rises were first seen in Hong Kong after 1998 (95% CI 1997-1999), followed by Singapore in 1999 (95% CI 1998-2001), Taiwan in 2000 (95% CI 1999-2001), Japan in 2002 (95% CI 1999-2003), and the Republic of Korea in 2007 (95% CI 2006-2008). No marked increases were seen in Malaysia, the Philippines, or Thailand. There was some evidence that charcoal-burning suicides were associated with an increase in overall suicide rates in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan (for females), but not in Japan (for males), the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. Rates of change in charcoal-burning suicide rate did not differ by sex/age group in Taiwan and Hong Kong but appeared to be greatest in people aged 15-24 y in Japan and people aged 25-64 y in the Republic of Korea. The lack of specific codes for charcoal-burning suicide in the International Classification of Diseases and variations in coding practice in different countries are potential limitations of this study.

CONCLUSIONS

Charcoal-burning suicides increased markedly in some East/Southeast Asian countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore) in the first decade of the 21st century, but such rises were not experienced by all countries in the region. In countries with a rise in charcoal-burning suicide rates, the timing, scale, and sex/age pattern of increases varied by country. Factors underlying these variations require further investigation, but may include differences in culture or in media portrayals of the method. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc20-SPPC), are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc20-SINT). Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

Autologous fat transplantation has gained great recognition in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery. Two main aspects are of predominant importance for progress control after autologous fat transplantation to the breast: quantitative information about the rate of fat survival in terms of effective volume persistence and qualitative information about the breast tissue to exclude potential complications of autologous fat transplantation. There are several tools available for use in evaluating the rate of volume survival. They are extensively compared in this review. The anthropometric method, thermoplastic casts, and Archimedes' principle of water displacement are not up to date anymore because of major drawbacks, first and foremost being reduced reproducibility and exactness. They have been replaced by more exact and reproducible tools such as MRI volumetry or 3D body surface scans. For qualitative and quantitative progress control, MRI volumetry offers all the necessary information: evaluation of fat survival and diagnostically valuable imaging to exclude possible complications of autologous fat transplantation. For frequent follow-up, e.g., monthly volume analysis, repeated MRI exams would not be good for the patient and are not cost effective. In these cases, 3D surface imaging is a good tool and especially helpful in a private practice setting where fast data acquisition is needed. This tool also offers the possibility of simulating the results of autologous fat transplantation.

METHODS

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes are key organizers of chromosome architecture in all kingdoms of life. Despite seemingly divergent functions, such as chromosome segregation, chromosome maintenance, sister chromatid cohesion, and mitotic chromosome compaction, it appears that these complexes function via highly conserved mechanisms and that they represent a novel class of DNA translocases. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genetics, Volume 53 is November 23, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Pain has many valuable functions. It often signals injury or disease, generates a wide range of adaptive behaviors, and promotes healing through rest. Despite these beneficial aspects of pain, there are negative features that challenge our understanding of the puzzle of pain, including persistent phantom limb pain after amputation or total spinal cord transection. Pain is a personal, subjective experience influenced by cultural learning, the meaning of the situation, attention, and other psychological variables. Pain processes do not begin with the stimulation of receptors. Rather, injury or disease produces neural signals that enter an active nervous system that (in the adult organism) is the substrate of past experience, culture, and a host of other environmental and personal factors. These brain processes actively participate in the selection, abstraction, and synthesis of information from the total sensory input. Pain is not simply the end product of a linear sensory transmission system; it is a dynamic process that involves continuous interactions among complex ascending and descending systems. The neuromatrix theory guides us away from the Cartesian concept of pain as a sensation produced by injury, inflammation, or other tissue pathology and toward the concept of pain as a multidimensional experience produced by multiple influences. These influences range from the existing synaptic architecture of the neuromatrix-which is determined by genetic and sensory factors-to influences from within the body and from other areas in the brain. Genetic influences on synaptic architecture may determine-or predispose toward-the development of chronic pain syndromes. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:1-15. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1201 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

African swine fever is a devastating disease that can result in death in almost all infected pigs. The continuing spread of African swine fever from Africa to Europe and recently to the high-pig production countries of China and others in Southeast Asia threatens global pork production and food security. The African swine fever virus is an unusual complex DNA virus and is not related to other viruses. This has presented challenges for vaccine development, and currently none is available. The virus is extremely well adapted to replicate in its hosts in the sylvatic cycle in East and South Africa. Its spread to other regions, with different wildlife hosts, climatic conditions, and pig production systems, has revealed unexpected epidemiological scenarios and different challenges for control. Here we review the epidemiology of African swine fever in these different scenarios and methods used for control. We also discuss progress toward vaccine development and research priorities to better understand this complex disease and improve control. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 8 is February 15, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Photoacoustic imaging combines the high temporal and spatial resolution of ultrasound with the good contrast and spectral tuning of optical imaging. Contrast agents are used in photoacoustic imaging to further increase the contrast and specificity of imaging or to image a specific molecular process, e.g., cell-surface proteins or small molecule biomarkers. Nanoparticle-based contrast agents are important tools in photoacoustic imaging because they offer intense and stable signal and can be targeted to specific molecular processes. In this review, we describe some of the most interesting and recent advances in nanoparticle-based photoacoustic imaging including inorganic nanoparticles, organic/polymeric nanoparticles, nanoparticle coatings, multimodality imaging, as well as emerging topics in the field. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2017, 9:e1404. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1404 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

The insect fat body is analogous to vertebrate adipose tissue and liver. In this review, the new and exciting advancements made in fat body biology in the last decade are summarized. Controlled by hormonal and nutritional signals, insect fat body cells undergo mitosis during embryogenesis, endoreplication during the larval stages, and remodeling during metamorphosis and regulate reproduction in adults. Fat body tissues are major sites for nutrient storage, energy metabolism, innate immunity, and detoxification. Recent studies have revealed that the fat body plays a central role in the integration of hormonal and nutritional signals to regulate larval growth, body size, circadian clock, pupal diapause, longevity, feeding behavior, and courtship behavior, partially by releasing fat body signals to remotely control the brain. In addition, the fat body has emerged as a fascinating model for studying metabolic disorders and immune diseases. Potential future directions for fat body biology are also proposed herein. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology Volume 64 is January 7, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate tensions over food that exist between patients with advanced cancer with cachexia and their families.

METHODS

Heideggerian phenomenologic inquiry using unstructured interviews.

METHODS

A regional cancer center in the United Kingdom.

METHODS

8 patients with advanced cancer living with cachexia and 8 family members.

METHODS

Singular unstructured interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic and interpretative phenomenologic analysis.

METHODS

Cachexia and advanced cancer.

RESULTS

A fine line existed between offering food to a patient and forcing a patient to eat; often, conflict arose as a result. Contributors to that conflict focused on reduced dietary intake by the patient and the reaction to food refusal by the family, which frequently led to patients eating to please.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the anxiety that surrounds eating and the distress it causes to patients and their families. This strain can escalate into arguments over food, causing negative repercussions for patients and their family members.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study to uncover tensions about eating as experienced by patients with advanced cancer and cachexia and their families. Nurses must consider this issue when designing and delivering effective care for this patient population.

BACKGROUND

Many inpatients receive little or no rehabilitation on weekends. Our aim was to determine what effect providing additional Saturday rehabilitation during inpatient rehabilitation had on functional independence, quality of life and length of stay compared to 5 days per week of rehabilitation.

METHODS

This was a multicenter, single-blind (assessors) randomized controlled trial with concealed allocation and 12-month follow-up conducted in two publically funded metropolitan inpatient rehabilitation facilities in Melbourne, Australia. Patients were eligible if they were adults (aged ≥18 years) admitted for rehabilitation for any orthopedic, neurological or other disabling conditions excluding those admitted for slow stream rehabilitation/geriatric evaluation and management. Participants were randomly allocated to usual care Monday to Friday rehabilitation (control) or to Monday to Saturday rehabilitation (intervention). The additional Saturday rehabilitation comprised physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The primary outcomes were functional independence (functional independence measure (FIM); measured on an 18 to 126 point scale), health-related quality of life (EQ-5D utility index; measured on a 0 to 1 scale, and EQ-5D visual analog scale; measured on a 0 to 100 scale), and patient length of stay. Outcome measures were assessed on admission, discharge (primary endpoint), and at 6 and 12 months post discharge.

RESULTS

We randomly assigned 996 adults (mean (SD) age 74 (13) years) to Monday to Saturday rehabilitation (n = 496) or usual care Monday to Friday rehabilitation (n = 500). Relative to admission scores, intervention group participants had higher functional independence (mean difference (MD) 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5 to 4.1, P = 0.01) and health-related quality of life (MD 0.04, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.07, P = 0.009) on discharge and may have had a shorter length of stay by 2 days (95% CI 0 to 4, P = 0.1) when compared to control group participants. Intervention group participants were 17% more likely to have achieved a clinically significant change in functional independence of 22 FIM points or more (risk ratio (RR) 1.17, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.34) and 18% more likely to have achieved a clinically significant change in health-related quality of life (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.34) on discharge compared to the control group. There was some maintenance of effect for functional independence and health-related quality of life at 6-month follow-up but not at 12-month follow-up. There was no difference in the number of adverse events between the groups (incidence rate ratio = 0.81, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.08).

CONCLUSIONS

Providing an additional day of rehabilitation improved functional independence and health-related quality of life at discharge and may have reduced length of stay for patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND

Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12609000973213 Please see related commentary: http://www.biomedcentral.com/10.1186/1741-7015-11-199.

The human brain has the remarkable ability to adapt to changes in its environment by benefiting from its 'plastic' properties. Following brain injury, the amputation of a limb, or the loss of a sensory input such as peripheral blindness, brain circuitry often seems to be able to reorganize itself in order to compensate for the handicap by being recruited to carry out tasks not associated with their prior 'default' functioning. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the brain's remarkable ability to adapt to changes in its environment, particularly when it is faced with a sensory loss. Two excellent models to study this phenomenon are provided by blind and deaf individuals. In both cases, studies have shown that they appear to compensate for the loss of sensory input with enhanced abilities in their remaining senses. These behavioral modifications are often coupled with changes in cerebral processing, generally in the form of crossmodal recruitment of deaffarented primary and secondary sensory areas. We will also discuss the possible mechanisms underlying these changes and whether the functional topography of these regions present in unimpaired individuals is preserved in blindness and deafness. The notion of a critical period for plastic changes will also be discussed and its importance will be shown to be twofold. On the one hand, the functional relevance of crossmodal processing appears to decrease as a function of the age of onset of the deficiency. On the other hand, the more cortical reorganization takes place, the less likely brain areas will be able to process input from its original sensory modality. This is especially important for deaf individuals as auditory input can now be restored thanks to cochlear implants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Until recently, transfer RNAs (tRNAs) were thought to function in protein translation only. However, recent findings demonstrate that both pre- and mature tRNAs can undergo endonucleolytic cleavage by different ribonucleases originating different types of small non-coding RNAs, known as tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs). tRFs are classified according to their origin and are implicated in various cellular processes, namely apoptosis, protein synthesis control, and RNA interference. Although their functions are still poorly understood, their mechanisms of action vary according to the tRF sub-type. Several tRFs have been associated with cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and viral infections and growing evidence shows that they may constitute novel molecular targets for modulating pathological processes. Here, we recapitulate the current knowledge of tRF biology, highlight the known functions and mechanisms of action of the different sub-classes of tRFs and discuss their implications in human disease. WIREs RNA 2017, 8:e1423. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1423 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.