Induction of term labor with intravenous prostaglandin F2α (a comparison of two dosage schedules)

The efficacy of intravenous Prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α) infusion for induction of labor in two different dosage schedules was studied in 90 women between 36 and 43 weeks of gestation. The rate of PGF_2α infusion was increased at four-hour intervals in 36 women in the low dosage group and every hour in 54 women in the high dosage group, never exceeding an infusion rate of 20 μg/min. in either group. Labor was successfully induced in approximately 90% of the patients in each group. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean induction-delivery interval between the two groups at the 5 percent level. Intravenous PGF_2α was found to be effective and safe for both mother and infant in the dosage schedules used in this study for induction of labor.     

Developing a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects

Representatives from agencies involved in natural resource management in the Murray‐Darling Basin gathered for a workshop in November 2010 to develop a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects. The resounding message from this workshop was that the effectiveness of riparian restoration depends on having sound, documented and agreed evidence on the ecological responses to restoration efforts. Improving our capacity to manage and restore riparian ecosystems is constrained by (i) a lack of ecological evidence on the effects of restoration efforts, and (ii) short‐termism in commitment to restoration efforts, in funding of monitoring and in expected time spans for ecosystem recovery. Restoration at the effective spatial scope will invariably require a long‐term commitment by researchers, funding agencies, management agencies and landholders. To address the knowledge gaps that constrain riparian restoration in the Basin, participants endorsed four major fields for future research: the importance of landscape context to restoration outcomes; spatio‐temporal scaling of restoration outcomes; functional effects of restoration efforts; and developing informative and effective indicators of restoration. To improve the monitoring and restoration of riparian zones throughout the Basin, participants advocated an integrated approach: a hierarchical adaptive management framework that incorporates long‐term ecological research.     

An immuno-chemo-proteomics method for drug target deconvolution

Chemical proteomics is an emerging technique for drug target deconvolution and profiling the toxicity of known drugs. With the use of this technique, the specificity of a small molecule inhibitor toward its potential targets can be characterized and information thus obtained can be used in optimizing lead compounds. Most commonly, small molecules are immobilized on solid supports and used as affinity chromatography resins to bind targets. However, it is difficult to evaluate the effect of immobilization on the affinity of the compounds to their targets. Here, we describe the development and application of a soluble probe where a small molecule was coupled with a peptide epitope which was used to affinity isolate binding proteins from cell lysate. The soluble probe allowed direct verification that the compound after coupling with peptide epitope retained its binding characteristics. The PKC-alpha inhibitor Bisindolylmaleimide-III was coupled with a peptide containing the FLAG epitope. Following incubation with cellular lysates, the compound and associated proteins were affinity isolated using anti-FLAG antibody beads. Using this approach, we identified the known Bisindolylmaleimide-III targets, PKC-alpha, GSK3-beta, CaMKII, adenosine kinase, CDK2, and quinine reductase type 2, as well as previously unidentified targets PKAC-alpha, prohibitin, VDAC and heme binding proteins. This method was directly compared to the solid-phase method (small molecule was immobilized to a solid support) providing an orthogonal strategy to aid in target deconvolution and help to eliminate false positives originating from nonspecific binding of the proteins to the matrix.     

Polysaccharide production in liquid cell suspension cultures of Phleum pratense L.

The production of carbohydrates by cell suspension cultures of Phleum pratense (timothy grass) is described. Extracellular polysaccharides similar in monosaccharide composition to native cell wall polymers were accumulated, together with polymers of fructose (fructans). The fructans had similar properties to the intracellular reserve polymers found in intact plants, and were found in both cells and media of young, slow-growing cultures.Production of extracellular polysaccharides differed in cultures grown on sucrose or equimolar glucose/fructose as carbon source. These differences were observed only when autoclaved media were used, and were not related to changes in either pH or osmolarity. Autoclaving medium containing radioactive glucose and fructose produced a novel, unidentified labelled compound which was absent in medium containing labelled sucrose.     

Genetic requirements for potassium ion-dependent colony spreading in Bacillus subtilis

Undomesticated strains of Bacillus subtilis exhibit extensive colony spreading on certain soft agarose media: first the formation of dendritic clusters of cells, followed by spreading (pellicle-like) growth to cover the entire surface. These phases of colonization are dependent on the level of potassium ion (K(+)) but independent of flagella, as verified with a mutant with a hag gene replacement; this latter finding highlights the importance of sliding motility in colony spreading. Exploring the K(+) requirement, directed mutagenesis of the higher-affinity K(+) transporter KtrAB, but not the lower-affinity transporter KtrCD, was found to inhibit surface colonization unless sufficient KCl was added. To identify other genes involved in K(+)-dependent colony spreading, transposon insertion mutants in wild-type strain 3610 were screened. Disruption of genes for pyrimidine (pyrB) or purine (purD, purF, purH, purL, purM) biosynthetic pathways abolished the K(+)-dependent spreading phase. Consistent with a requirement for functional nucleic acid biosynthesis, disruption of purine synthesis with the folic acid antagonist sulfamethoxazole also inhibited spreading. Other transposon insertions disrupted acetoin biosynthesis (the alsS gene), acidifying the growth medium, glutamine synthetase (the glnA gene), and two surfactin biosynthetic genes (srfAA, srfAB). This work identified four classes of surface colonization mutants with defective (i) potassium transport, (ii) surfactin formation, (iii) growth rate or yield, or (iv) pH control. Overall, the ability of B. subtilis to colonize surfaces by spreading is highly dependent on balanced nucleotide biosynthesis and nutrient assimilation, which require sufficient K(+) ions, as well as growth conditions that promote sliding motility.     

Turbidity Structures the Controls of Ecosystem Metabolism and Associated Metabolic Process Domains Along a 75-km Segment of a Semiarid Stream

Ecosystems - Stream ecosystem metabolism contributes to global carbon cycling, yet predicting metabolism across ecosystems remains elusive. Even within stream segments, spatial variation in...     

Musculoskeletal morphology of the pelvis and pelvic fins in the lungfish Protopterus annectens

The West African lungfish (Protopterus annectens) performs benthic, pelvic fin‐driven locomotion with gaits common to tetrapods, the sister group of the lungfishes. Features of P. annectens movement are similar to those of modern tetrapods and include use of the distal region of the pelvic fin as a “foot,” use of the fin to lift the body above the substrate and rotation of the fin around the joint with the pelvis. In contrast to these similarities in movement, the pelvic fins of P. annectens are long, slender structures that are superficially very different from tetrapod limbs. Here, we describe the musculoskeletal anatomy of the pelvis and pelvic fins of P. annectens with dissection, magnetic resonance imaging, histology and 3D‐reconstruction methods. We found that the pelvis is embedded in the hypaxial muscle by a median rostral and two dorsolateral skeletal projections. The protractor and retractor muscles at the base of the pelvic fin are fan‐shaped muscles that cup the femur. The skeletal elements of the fin are serially repeating cartilage cylinders. Along the length of the fin, repeating truncated cones of muscles, the musculus circumradialis pelvici, are separated by connective tissue sheets that connect the skeletal elements to the skin. The simplicity of the protractor and retractor muscles at the base of the fin is surprising, given the complex rotational movement those muscles generate. In contrast, the series of many repeating segmental muscles along the length of the fin is consistent with the dexterity of bending of the distal limb. P. annectens can provide a window into soft‐tissue anatomy and sarcopterygian fish fin function that complements the fossil data from related taxa. This work, combined with previous behavioral examination of P. annectens, illustrates that fin morphologies that do not appear to be capable of walking can accomplish that function, and may inform the interpretation of fossil anatomical evidence. J. Morphol. 275:431–441, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.