Cytopathological evaluations combined RNA and protein analyses on defined cell regions using single frozen tissue block

The co-existence of multiple cell components in tissue samples is the main obstacle for precise molecular evaluation on defined cell types. Based on morphological examination, we developed an efficient approach for paralleled RNA and protein isolations from an identical histological region in frozen tissue section. The RNA and protein samples prepared were sufficient for RT-PCR and Western blot analyses, and the results obtained were well coincident each other as well as with the corresponding parameters revealed from immunohistochemical examinations. By this way, the sampling problem caused by cell-cross contamination can be largely avoided, committing the experimental data more specific to a denned cell type. These novel methods thus allow us to use single tissue block for a comprehensive study by integration of conventional cytological evaluations with nucleic acid and protein analyses.     

Linum persicum: Lignans and placement in Linaceae†

Aryltetralin lignans (podophyllotoxin type) are the main lignan constituents of species belonging to Linum section Syllinum (Linaceae). Linum persicum, a perennial plant native to Iran closely related to L. album, has not yet been studied. To evaluate the lignan profile, fresh plants of L. persicumwere collected and divided into different parts and analyzed by HPLC. The main aryltetralin lignans found inL. persicumplant parts, callus and cell cultures were podophyllotoxin (PTOX), 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin (MPTOX) and - and -peltatin. Furthermore, the systematic relationship between L. persicum and other Linum species are discussed in the light of morphological and phytochemical aspects. Abbreviations: MPTOX – 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin; PTOX – podophyllotoxin; DOP – deoxypodophyllotoxin.     

Mycoflora and ochratoxin-producing strains of Aspergillus section Nigri in wine grapes in Argentina

AIMS: The aims of this work were to evaluate the mycoflora and to identify the species of Aspergillus with the potential to produce ochratoxin A (OA) from different wine grape varieties from Mendoza, Argentina. Likewise, the capacity to produce OA by Aspergillus section Nigri was studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty samples of wine grapes were obtained from a winery of Mendoza province, Argentina. The surface-disinfection method was used for mycoflora determination using the medium dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18). Alternaria, Aspergillus and Penicillium were identified at species level. OA production was tested in 63 strains belonging to section Nigri. Alternaria genus was the most frequent (80% of the samples) followed by Aspergillus (70%). Alternaria alternata was the only specie identified from the Alternaria genus, followed by A. niger var. niger, A. flavus among others. From Penicillium genus, P. crysogenum was the most frequent specie. From 63 strains of Aspergillus section Nigri, 41.3% were OA producers. The levels of produced toxin ranged from 2 to 24.5 ng ml-1 of culture medium. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of ochratoxigenic strains of Nigri section in this substrate suggests that they may be an important source of OA in grapes from tropical and subtropical zones. Therefore, the industry should work further to diminish the growth of these fungi and mycotoxins formation in grapes, with the aim to reduce OA content in wine products. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The wine grape contamination with A. alternata and Aspergillus section Nigri was significant.     

Collapse of morphological species in the wild potato Solanum brevicaule complex (Solanaceae: sect. Petota)

The major cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum, and six other related cultivated species, are hypothesized to have arisen from a group of weedy relatives indigenous to the central Andes of central Peru, Bolivia, and northern Argentina. A major problem hindering investigations of the origins of the cultivated species has been a continuing debate over the species boundaries of their putative progenitors. This study investigated the morphological phenetic species boundaries of these putative progenitors and five cultivated taxa, here collectively referred to as the Solanum brevicaule complex. Two hundred fifteen accessions of 30 taxa in the S. brevicaule complex and 42 accessions of six taxa outside of the complex were assessed for 53 morphological traits in replicate plots in a common garden, resulting in a total of over 81;t3000 data points. Phenetic analyses of these data are unable to support 30 taxa, suggesting instead a single variable complex at best only weakly divided into three widely intergrading sets of populations: (1) Peruvian and geographically adjacent Bolivian accessions (including wild species and all the cultigens), (2) Bolivian and Argentinian accessions and S. verrucosum from Mexico (including only wild species), and (3) the Bolivian and Argentinian wild species S. oplocense. These and other data suggest that Hawkes's 1990 treatment (The Potato: Evolution, Biodiversity, and Genetic Resources, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, DC.) of 232 morphological species is an overestimate for sect. Petota.     

海桑和无瓣海桑叶片结构的比较研究

为了探讨外来植物无瓣海桑的潜在危害,采用石蜡切片法对海桑(Sonneratia caseolaris Engl.)、无瓣海桑(S.apetala B.Ham)叶片进行了解剖学研究。实验结果显示,两种植物的叶片均为等面叶;中脉维管束为周韧维管束;具4级侧脉,第1级侧脉为半周韧维管束;成熟叶片叶肉组织具发达的贮水薄壁细胞,具含单宁成分的薄壁细胞,具晶体细胞和石细胞;盐腺由表皮细胞发育而成,可分为3个发育阶段。作为外来植物的无瓣海桑,其中脉维管束具微弱形成层,叶脉维管组织比海桑更发达;贮藏组织中含单宁细胞、晶体细胞较多;栅栏组织含叶绿体多于海桑等特点,使其比海桑对环境具有更大的适应性。因此,无瓣海桑有可能成为入侵植物。     

Conodont biostratigraphy of Tournaisian shallow-water carbonates in central Guangxi,South China

The conodont faunas of Tournaisian shallow-water carbonates from central Guangxi are described mainly for biostratigraphic purposes. A complete series of samples was collected from the Long’an and Du’an formations in the Long’an section. These formations are characterized by lime-mudstone, skeletal and peloidal wackestone, packstone and grainstone with typical shallow-water biota. Overall, these samples produced 809 identifiable Pl elements, belonging to 50 species in 11 genera, of which one species and one subspecies are new. The fauna enables the establishment of seven biozones (in ascending order): Polygnathus spicatus, Siphonodella homosimplex, S. sinensis, S. dasaibaensis, Polygnathus communis carina Acme, Gnathodus cuneiformis, and P. communis porcatus zones. Based on these new collections from central Guangxi and on data from the literature, a conflated Tournaisian conodont zonation is proposed for shallow-water successions in South China. Most of the conodont zones correlate well with their counterparts recognized in Western Europe, which may be of greater significance in stratigraphic correlation than previously thought.     

Modelling the optimal timing in metabolic pathway activation—Use of Pontryagin's Maximum Principle and role of the Golden section

The time course of enzyme concentrations in metabolic pathways can be predicted on the basis of the optimality criterion of minimizing the time period in which an essential product is generated. This criterion is in line with the widely accepted view that high fitness requires high pathway flux. Here, based on Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, a method is developed to solve the corresponding constrained optimal control problem in an almost exclusively analytical way and, thus, to calculate optimal enzyme profiles, when linear, irreversible rate laws are assumed. Three different problem formulations are considered and the corresponding optimization results are derived. Besides the minimization of transition time, we consider an operation time in which 90% of the substrate has been converted into product. In that case, only the enzyme at the lower end of the pathway rather than all enzymes are active in the last phase. In all cases, biphasic or multiphasic time courses are obtained. The biological meaning of the results in terms of a consecutive just-in-time expression of metabolic genes is discussed. For the special case of two-enzyme systems, the role of the Golden section in the solution is outlined.     

Hormonal concentrations in bitches with primary uterine inertia

Normal labor is accompanied by sequential changes in blood concentrations of prostaglandin F2α (measured as 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α = PGFM), progesterone, estradiol, oxytocin, vasopressin, and of elevated cortisol levels. The aim of this study was to investigate hormone concentrations in dogs diagnosed with primary uterine inertia before and during treatment by cesarian section. The hypothesis was the dogs would have abnormally low plasma concentrations in one or several of the hormones involved in parturition. The study comprised seven bitches with total primary uterine inertia (dystocia group) treated with cesarian section and six healthy bitches (control group) subjected to planned cesarean section. Blood samples were taken before anesthesia, before surgery started, on delivery of the first puppy and on delivery of the last puppy. The progesterone:PGFM ratio in plasma was higher in the dystocia group than in the control group, but the serum estradiol concentration did not differ between groups. The plasma concentrations of oxytocin and vasopressin increased in both groups when the first puppies were delivered, but both hormones were more elevated in the control group than in the dystocia group on delivery of the last puppies. The plasma cortisol concentration increased to the same level in both groups. In conclusion, the ratio between progesterone and PGFM was higher and the oxytocin and vasopressin concentrations lower in the dystocia dogs than in the control dogs. The findings indicate that these hormones are involved in the pathophysiology of total primary uterine inertia in bitches.     

The ethics of cesarean section on maternal request: a feminist critique of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' position on patient-choice surgery

In recent years, the medical establishment has been speaking in favor of women's autonomy in childbirth by advocating cesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR). This paper offers to look at the ethical dimension of CDMR through a feminist critique of the medicalization of childbirth and its influence on present-day medical ethics. I claim that the medicalization of childbirth reflects a sexist bias with regard to conceptions of the body and needs to be used with caution when applied to women's reproductive health. I then use this perspective to critically analyze the position of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) on the ethics of decision-making in patient-choice surgery. I claim that informed consent cannot be meaningfully exercised unless women are made aware of the sexist underpinnings of the medical model of childbirth and its influence on the ethical reasoning of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. I also express concern about the effects of normalizing patient-choice cesarean sections on the choices available to pregnant women using as examples the institutional rules on mandatory cesarean sections for women with a previous cesarean delivery or breech presentation. I conclude with a call for more research into the real cost of convenience in CDMR, particularly as our increasingly strained publicly funded healthcare system would greatly benefit from the de-medicalization of normal body functions rather than an increased dependence on costly surgical technology.     

兔卵巢组织石蜡切片技术的改良

针对常规石蜡切片方法步骤繁多,耗时长,所用的二甲苯试剂对人体健康有较大毒害性的缺陷,探讨提高制作兔卵巢组织石蜡切片质量的方法。试验从脱水和透明环节进行技术改良,用正丁醇与无水乙醇混合剂取代常规的脱水剂和透明剂。该混合剂具有良好的脱水和透明作用。实验结果表明：通过该技术改良,镜下观察组织结构清晰可辨、颜色鲜艳、对比度好、层次分明,组织切片效果良好。试验改良技术的工艺简单,具有质优、省时、快捷和实用性较好等优点,有推广应用价值。