We report the case of a 75-year-old man who underwent high-resolution manometry (HRM) testing for solid food dysphagia after an unrevealing upper endoscopy and biopsies. A barium esophagogram confirmed nonspecific motility disorder. A subsequent HRM study was performed, but when all swallow studies were noted to fail, and the manometric images revealed a butterfly wings appearance, it was found that the manometry catheter was actually coiled and folded back cephalad. As there are only a few other case reports with similar presentations, we believe this case would serve as a good reminder for clinicians to practice caution when cannulating the manometry catheter.

Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are one of the most studied, diverse, and widespread animal groups, making them an ideal model for climate change research. They are a particularly informative model for studying the effects of climate change on species ecology because they are ectotherms that thermoregulate with a suite of physiological, behavioural, and phenotypic traits. While some species have been negatively impacted by climatic disturbances, others have prospered, largely in accordance with their diversity in life-history traits. Here we take advantage of a large repertoire of studies on butterflies and moths to provide a review of the many ways in which climate change is impacting insects, animals, and ecosystems. By studying these climate-based impacts on ecological processes of Lepidoptera, we propose appropriate strategies for species conservation and habitat management broadly across animals.

Color is an important communication channel for day-flying butterflies. Chemical (pigmentary) coloration is often supplemented by physical color generated by photonic nanostructures. These nanoarchitectures - which are characteristic for a given species - exhibit wavelength ranges in which light propagation is forbidden. The photonic nanoarchitectures are located in the lumen of the wing scales and are developed individually by each scale during metamorphosis. This self-assembly process is governed by the genes in the nucleus of the scale producing cell. It is crucial to establish well-defined measurement methods for the unambiguous characterization and comparison of colors generated in such a complex manner. Owing to the intricate architecture ordered at multiple levels (from centimeters to tens of nanometers), the precise quantitative determination of butterfly wing coloration is not trivial. In this paper, we present an overview of several optical spectroscopy measurement methods and illustrate techniques for processing the obtained data, using the species Polyommatus bellargus as a test case, the males of which exhibit a variation in their blue structural color that is easily recognizable to the naked eye. The benefits and drawbacks of these optical methods are discussed and compared. Furthermore, the origin of the color differences is explained in relation to differences in the wing scale nanomorphology revealed by electron microscopy. This in turn is tentatively associated with the unusually large genetic drift reported for this species in the literature.

Butterfly glioblastoma (bGBM) is a malignant glioma that crosses the corpus callous with bilateral cerebral hemisphere involvement. Literature reports are scarce and highlight a dismal prognosis with limited successful treatment options. We describe a patient who survived more than five years from the initial diagnosis. A 44-year-old woman presented to the emergency room for evaluation one day after a motor vehicle collision at the insistence of her husband, with four weeks of confusion, behavioral changes, and increased fatigue. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed an enhancing, heterogeneous mass with significant necrosis, centered in the septum pellucidum and corpus callosum with intraventricular extension. She underwent a stereotactic biopsy of the lesion. Pathology was consistent with glioblastoma, WHO grade IV. She underwent standard radiation treatment and adjuvant temozolomide, demonstrating a near-complete disappearance of the tumor on imaging for the subsequent two years. Upon recurrence, she underwent additional chemotherapy with limited response. A repeat biopsy was positive for a BRAF mutation and she was treated with lomustine. After two cycles, she developed thrombocytopenia and shortly after elected to discontinue treatment. She succumbed to the progression of disease five years and two months after the initial presentation. bGBMs are uncommon and highly aggressive brain tumors. A tailored treatment protocol may improve survival. This case marks an unusually long survival of a patient with bGBM and may prompt further research to better understand the behavior of these tumors and how to improve treatment response and survival.

To evaluate the effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the surrounding area, we studied the pale grass blue butterfly Zizeeria maha, the most common butterfly in Japan. We here review our important findings and their implications. We found forewing size reduction, growth retardation, high mortality rates, and high abnormality rates in the field and reared samples. The abnormality rates observed in September 2011 were higher than those observed in May 2011 in almost all localities, implying transgenerational accumulation of genetic damage. Some of the abnormal traits in the F1 generation were inherited by the F2 generation. In a particular cross, the F2 abnormality rate scored 57%. The forewing size reduction and high mortality and abnormality rates were reproduced in external and internal exposure experiments conducted in our laboratory using Okinawa larvae. We observed the possible real-time evolution of radiation resistance in the Fukushima butterflies, which, in retrospect, indicates that field sampling attempts at the very early stages of such accidents are required to understand the ecodynamics of polluted regions. We propose, as the postulates of pollutant-induced biological impacts, that the collection of phenotypic data from the field and their relevant reproduction in the laboratory should be the basis of experimental design to demonstrate the biological effects of environmental pollutants and to investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for these effects.

In this paper, two methods for assessing the degree of melanization of pupal exuviae from the butterfly Heliconius erato phyllis, Fabricius 1775 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Heliconiini) are compared. In the first method, which was qualitative, the exuviae were classified by scoring the degree of melanization, whereas in the second method, which was quantitative, the exuviae were classified by optical density followed by analysis with appropriate software. The heritability (h(2)) of the degree of melanization was estimated by regression and analysis of variance. The estimates of h (2) were similar with both methods, indicating that the qualitative method could be particularly suitable for field work. The low estimates obtained for heritability may have resulted from the small sample size (n = 7-18 broods, including the parents) or from the allocation-priority hypothesis in which pupal color would be a lower priority trait compared to morphological traits and adequate larval development.