Absence of a causal relationship between environmental and body temperature in dairy cows (Bos taurus) under moderate climatic conditions

1.

Continuous body temperature records from dairy cows for 46 days of summer and contemporary data for climate temperature humidity index (THI) were analysed.     

Novel Reporter Alleles of GSK-3α and GSK-3β

Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK-3) is a key player in development, physiology and disease. Because of this, GSK-3 inhibitors are increasingly being explored for a variety of applications. In addition most analyses focus on GSK-3β and overlook the closely related protein GSK-3α. Here, we describe novel GSK-3α and GSK-3β mouse alleles that allow us to visualise expression of their respective mRNAs by tracking β-galactosidase activity. We used these new lacZ alleles to compare expression in the palate and cranial sutures and found that there was indeed differential expression. Furthermore, both are loss of function alleles and can be used to generate homozygous mutant mice; in addition, excision of the lacZ cassette from GSK-3α creates a Cre-dependent tissue-specific knockout. As expected, GSK3α mutants were viable, while GSK3β mutants died after birth with a complete cleft palate. We also assessed the GSK-3α mutants for cranial and sternal phenotypes and found that they were essentially normal. Finally, we observed gestational lethality in compound GSK-3β^−/−; GSK3α^+/− mutants, suggesting that GSK-3 dosage is critical during embryonic development.     

Hormonal changes around oestrus of farmed fallow deer, Dama dama

Concentrations of LH, progesterone, oestradiol-17 beta and androstenedione were measured in serum from blood samples collected from 6 fallow does every hour for 46 h during a spontaneous oestrus. Four does had similar serum hormone profiles, with a pronounced preovulatory LH surge (approximately 20 ng/ml) occurring within 4 h of the onset of oestrus, a small elevation (from 0.1 to 0.3 ng/ml) of progesterone at the onset of oestrus, a gradual but non-significant increase (up to 25 pg/ml) of oestradiol-17 beta and a marked 2-fold increase of serum androstenedione concentrations occurring immediately at the onset of oestrus. The remaining 2 does showed pronounced increases in serum progesterone concentrations at the onset of oestrus and a reduction in the initial LH surge. One of these does exhibited a second preovulatory LH surge within the sampling period.     

NaCl-preferring NZB/B1NJ mice and NaCl-avoiding CBA/J mice have similar amiloride inhibition of chorda tympani responses to NaCl

Integrated chorda tympani nerve responses to NaCl were studied in two mouse strains, an NaCl-preferring NZB/B1NJ and an NaCl-avoiding CBA/J. The NaCl responses of both strains had similar magnitude and were suppressed by amiloride to a similar extent. This suggests that peripheral gustatory responsiveness to NaCl is not the only mechanism underlying mouse strain variation in NaCl acceptance.      

Human herpesvirus 6 is closely related to human cytomegalovirus.

A sequence of 21,858 base pairs from the genome of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) strain U1102 is presented. The sequence has a mean composition of 41% G + C, and the observed frequency of CpG dinucleotides is close to that predicted from this mononucleotide composition. The sequence contains 17 complete open reading frames (ORFs) and part of another at the 5' end of the sequence. The predicted protein products of two of these ORFs have no recognizable homologs in the genomes of other sequenced human herpesviruses (i.e., Epstein-Barr virus [EBV], human cytomegalovirus [HCMV], herpes simplex virus [HSV], and varicella-zoster virus [VZV]). However, the products of nine other ORFs are clearly homologous to a set of genes that is conserved in all other sequenced herpesviruses, including homologs of the alkaline exonuclease, the phosphotransferase, the spliced ORF, and the major capsid protein genes. Measurements of similarity between these homologous sequences showed that HHV-6 is clearly most closely related to HCMV. The degree of relatedness between HHV-6 and HCMV was commensurate with that observed in comparisons between HSV and VZV or EBV and herpesvirus saimiri and significantly greater than its relatedness to EBV, HSV, or VZV. In addition, the gene for the major capsid protein and its 5' neighbor are reoriented with respect to the spliced ORFs in the genomes of both HHV-6 and HCMV relative to the organization observed in EBV, HSV, and VZV. Three ORFs in HHV-6 have recognizable homologs only in the genome of HCMV. Despite differences in gross composition and size, we conclude that the genomes of HHV-6 and HCMV are closely related.     

Squash ball to eye ball: the likelihood of squash players incurring an eye injury.

The records of the 118 patients treated as Southampton Eye Hospital during 1978-9 for injuries incurred while playing squash, badminton, tennis, table tennis, cricket, and football show that for squash the main cause of eye injury was the player being hit by the ball. Severe eye injuries--those requiring treatment as an inpatient--were rare but much more frequent than such injuries in other sports. Less serious injuries--those requiring treatment as an outpatient--were also rare, with a frequency comparable with that of similar injuries in football and badminton. Squash players are most unlikely to incur an eye injury, but should this occur it has far-reaching consequences both in the short and the long term. Each individual player must weigh these chances and consequences against the possible inconvenience of using some form of eye protection.     

Enantioselectivity of aromatase inhibitors: Substituted 3-(4-aminophenyl)pyrrolidine-2,5-diones

The (+)-, (?)-, and (±)-forms of 1- and 1,3-substituted 3-(4-aminophenyl)pyrrolidine-2,5-dione have been examined as inhibitors of P450_AROM and P450_CSCC. The inhibitory potency for P450_AROM resided in the (+)-enantiomers of ( 1 ), ( 2 ), and ( 4 ) and the (?)-enantiomers of ( 3 ) and ( 5 ). These findings have been accommodated within a molecular graphics-derived model for binding of P450_AROM inhibitors to the substrate binding site. Crystallography showed that (+)-( 2 ) has the (R)-configuration. Spectral binding studies with human placental P450_AROM showed type II binding but although the K_S values were in line with the IC₅₀ values for individual compounds there was no overall correlation between K_S and IC₅₀ within the series. There was little difference in the inhibitory potency of the enantiomers and racemate of individual compounds toward P450_CSCC. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.