Pathogenesis of SIVmac251 after atraumatic inoculation of the rectal mucosa in rhesus monkeys

Intrarectal inoculation of rhesus monkeys with low doses of SIV_mac led to a prolonged clinical and virological latency that was not observed for high intrarectal doses or for intravenous inoculation. Animals infected intrarectally with low virus doses remained negative for serum antibody responses to SIV for at least one year even though they readily transferred SIV to naive recipients via transfusion of whole blood.     

Rat epididymis-specific sperm maturation antigens. I. Evidence that the 26 kD 4E9 antigen found on rat caudal epididymal sperm tail is derived from a protein secreted by the epididymis

Monoclonal antibody 4E9, which was raised against a partially purified detergent extract of rat caudal epididymal sperm, recognizes the tail of sperm from the cauda, but not from caput epididymidis, as well as epithelial cells in a restricted region of the distal caput/corpus epididymidis and proteins in epididymal fluid from corpus and cauda epididymidis. The antigen is apparently a glycoprotein, since it is retained on a Ricinus communis agglutinin l lectin column. Epididymal fluid antigens have apparent M_rS of 38–26 kD, whereas the memrane-associated form of the molecule has an M_r of 26 kD. Immunocytochemical data and Western immunoblot data suggest that the membrane antigen is derived from the fluid antigen, which, in turn, is secrteted by the epididymal epithelium. Characterization of the membrane antigen indicates that it is tightly associated with the sperm surface, behaving as though it is an integral membrane protein. The antigen persists on ejaculated sperm. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The role of growth factors in gastrointestinal cell proliferation.

The epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is in a state of continuous cell renewal, and the proliferating and differentiating/differentiated cell populations are spatially clearly demarcated. Members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family of peptides, the trefoil peptides and enteroglucagon appear to be the most important enterotrophic molecules for both normal cell renewal and healing after cell damage. Transforming growth factor-a (TGF-a) appears to be the primary physiological ligand for the EGF receptor (EGFR), promoting normal cell renewal, and TGF-a/EGFR are part of an autocrine loop in many intestinal cancers. In response to damage, a differentiating cell lineage arises from adjacent epithelium secreting EGF, TGF-a and trefoil peptides; this may be viewed as part of a ‘repair kit’ in damaged endodermally-derived tissue.     

Prediction of near-term climate change impacts on UK wheat quality and the potential for adaptation through plant breeding

Wheat is a major crop worldwide, mainly cultivated for human consumption and animal feed. Grain quality is paramount in determining its value and downstream use. While we know that climate change threatens global crop yields, a better understanding of impacts on wheat end-use quality is also critical. Combining quantitative genetics with climate model outputs, we investigated UK-wide trends in genotypic adaptation for wheat quality traits. In our approach, we augmented genomic prediction models with environmental characterisation of field trials to predict trait values and climate effects in historical field trial data between 2001 and 2020. Addition of environmental covariates, such as temperature and rainfall, successfully enabled prediction of genotype by environment interactions (G × E), and increased prediction accuracy of most traits for new genotypes in new year cross validation. We then extended predictions from these models to much larger numbers of simulated environments using climate scenarios projected under Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 for 2050–2069. We found geographically varying climate change impacts on wheat quality due to contrasting associations between specific weather covariables and quality traits across the UK. Notably, negative impacts on quality traits were predicted in the East of the UK due to increased summer temperatures while the climate in the North and South-west may become more favourable with increased summer temperatures. Furthermore, by projecting 167,040 simulated future genotype–environment combinations, we found only limited potential for breeding to exploit predictable G × E to mitigate year-to-year environmental variability for most traits except Hagberg falling number. This suggests low adaptability of current UK wheat germplasm across future UK climates. More generally, approaches demonstrated here will be critical to enable adaptation of global crops to near-term climate change.     

Diagnostic dilatation and curettage: is it used appropriately?

OBJECTIVE--To determine patterns of use of dilatation and curettage in Britain as compared with those in the United States; to examine variations in utilisation rates within one regional health authority. DESIGN--Analysis of routinely collected hospital inpatient statistics. SETTING--Statistics for England, Scotland, and the United States; local statistics for Oxford region. SUBJECTS--All inpatient episodes in which dilatation and curettage was performed but excluding those related to pregnancy. RESULTS--Dilatation and curettage rates remained stable in Britain between 1977 and 1990, whereas in the United States they declined dramatically. In 1989-90 the rate was 71.1 per 10,000 women in England as compared with only 10.8 per 10,000 in America. In 1989, 6936 women underwent diagnostic dilatation and curettage in the Oxford region, making it the most common elective operation. A total of 2726 (39%) of these women were under 40. There was a more than twofold variation in usage of the procedure among district health authorities within the region and even greater variation in rates in women under 40. The proportion of patients treated as day cases in the district general hospitals ranged from 22% to 82%. CONCLUSIONS--Dilatation and curettage may frequently be used inappropriately. The considerable variations in usage of dilatation and curettage internationally and nationally indicate differences in clinical perception of its appropriateness. This makes it suitable for audit. In developing guidelines it will be important to agree on the most appropriate patients and the relative merits of alternative methods of endometrial sampling. Probably this could result in considerable cost savings at no risk and possibly some benefit to patients.     

Cavity-nesting birds are limited by nesting habitat in Neotropical agricultural landscapes

Most studies comparing biodiversity between natural and human-modified landscapes focus on patterns in species occurrence or abundance, but do not consider how different habitat types meet species' breeding requirements. Organisms that use or nest in tree cavities may be especially threatened by habitat conversion due to the loss of their nesting sites. Although cavity-nesting bird diversity is highest in the tropics, little is known about how tropical birds use cavities, how agriculture affects their reproductive biology, and how effective nest boxes could be as a conservation strategy in tropical agriculture. Here, we explored how habitat conversion from tropical forests to pasture affects the abundance, nesting habitat availability, and nest success of cavity-nesting birds in Northwest Ecuador. We conducted bird surveys and measured natural cavity availability and use in forest and agriculture. We also added artificial nest boxes to forest and agriculture to see whether cavity limitation in agriculture would elicit higher use of artificial nest boxes. We found evidence of cavity limitation in agriculture—there were many more natural cavities in forest than in agriculture, as well as more avian use of nest boxes placed in agriculture as compared to forest. Our results suggest that it is important to retain remnant trees in tropical agriculture to provide critical nesting habitat for birds. In addition, adding nest boxes to tropical agricultural systems could be a good conservation strategy for certain species, including insectivores that could provide pest-control services to farmers. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.     

Mapping of the human homologs of the murine paired-box-containing genes

Mutations in paired-box-containing (Pax) genes have recently been found to be the primary lesions underlying human genetic disorders such as Waardenburg's Syndrome type 1 and mouse developmental mutants such as undulated (un), splotch (Sp), and small eye (Sey). In addition, PAX-6 is a strong candidate gene for aniridia in man. Eight independent Pax genes have been isolated in the mouse. All eight map to distinct regions of the mouse genome; they do not appear to be clustered in the same way as some groups of homeobox-containing genes. We have now mapped the human homologs of all eight of these genes; PAX genes are found on human Chromosomes (Chr) 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 20.     

ISOLATION AND PROPERTIES OF A CELL FROM LIVER CHARACTERIZED BY LIPID-RICH PARTICLES

A cell has been isolated from explanted rabbit liver which contains, during all phases of its growth in culture, hundreds of lipid-rich particles with a distinct limiting membrane. The cell grows logarithmically with a generation time of 19 to 20 hours and during mitosis the particles are distributed between the daughter cells. Associated with the particles is the high total lipid content of the rabbit liver cell as compared with a rat liver cell, which contains few, if any, lipid-rich particles. This difference in lipid content between the two cells is due primarily to an increase in the triglyceride fraction, in contradistinction to small differences in the polar lipid and sterol ester fractions. The lipid-rich particles have been isolated and found to contain 90 per cent triglyceride on a dry weight basis. The "genetic" factors responsible for the high concentration of lipid-rich particles and triglycerides in the rabbit liver cell require for their full expression one or more factors which are present in much higher effective concentrations in rabbit serum than in horse serum. The hypothesis is advanced that the lipid-rich particles represent a normal state of the non-structural cell lipid. A procedure is described for the quantitative isolation of the lipid of cultured cells.     

THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF ALLELOPATHY IN AILANTHUS ALTISSIMA (SIMAROUBACEAE)

Compounds inhibitory to the growth of neighboring plant species were found in significant concentrations in the leaves and stems of young Ailanthus altissima ramets. The surrounding soil also contained appreciable concentrations of similarly acting toxins. Individuals of neighboring plant species have either incorporated active portions of inhibitory compounds or responded to Ailanthus by producing growth-inhibiting substances. Under greenhouse conditions, individuals of neighboring plant species previously unexposed to Ailanthus in the field were found to be more susceptible to the Ailanthus toxins than individuals previously exposed. Moreover, seeds produced by unexposed populations were also more susceptible to Ailanthus toxins than seeds produced by previously exposed populations. These differences demonstrated that the allelochemicals of Ailanthus altissima exhibited a measurable impact upon neighboring plant species. Since the progeny of these populations displayed a differential response to Ailanthus toxin, this phenotypic difference between the two populations may have a heritable basis.