Empirical choice of sampling procedures for optimal research design in the longitudinal study of primate behavior

A method is suggested to evaluate on an empirical basis sampling plans for the longitudinal study of primate behavior in those very common situations in which the mathematical structure of behavior is unknown. The method is based on a randomization procedure applied to a pilot sample of the behavior organized so that cost of implementation of a sampling plan can be evaluated vis á vis the sampling error intrinsic to the plan.     

Immunocytolocalization of glutamine synthetase in mesophyll and phloem of leaves ofSolanum tuberosum L.

Summary Localization of glutamine synthetase inSolanum tuberosum leaves was investigated by techniques of Western tissue printing and immunogold electron microscopy. Anti-GS antibodies used in immunolocalization recognize two peptides (45 kDa and 42 kDa) on Western blots. Antibody stained tissue prints on nitrocellulose membranes allowed low resolution localization of GS. Immunostaining was most evident in the adaxial phloem of the leaf midribs and petiole veins. High-resolution localization of glutamine synthetase by immunogold electron microscopy revealed that this enzyme occurs in both the chloroplasts and the cytosol ofS. tuberosum leaf cells. However, GS was specifically associated with the chloroplasts of mesophyll cells and with the cytoplasm of phloem companion cells. The evidence for cell-specific localization of chloroplast and cytosolic GS presented here agrees with the recently reported cell-specific pattern of expression of GUS reporter gene, directed by promoters for chloroplast and cytosolic GS form in tobacco transgenic plants. These data provide additional clues to the interpretation of the functional role of these different isoenzymes and its relationship with their specific localization.Abbreviations BSA bovine serum albumin - EM electron microscope - GOGAT glutamate synthase - GS glutamine synthetase - GUS -glucuronidase - IgG immunoglobulin - PBS phosphate buffer saline - SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis     

ImmobilizedAspergillus terreus in itaconic acid production from glucose

Summary The production of itaconic acid by immobilizedAspergillus terreus TKK 200-5-1 was studied both in shake flask cultures, and in continuous column bioreactors. The effect of glucose and ammonium nitrate concentrations, and of pH were examined using a statistical experimental plan. The highest itaconic acid product concentration could be reached at the highest investigated glucose concentration of 150 g/l and the highest initial pH of 3.75, in the absence of ammonium nitrate. In a continuous packed bed column system operated fro 4.5 months itaconic acid was obtained at a productivity of 328 mg/d per gram of polyurethane foam carrier.     

Rescue of embryonic cells homozygous for a lethal haplotype of the T/t complex: tw12

A series of recessive mutations which arrest embryonic development are located within the T/t region of chromosome 17 in the mouse. To assess whether these mutations cause death in specific differentiating cells or in all cells of the embryo, we removed the embryonic cells from normal developmental constraints and attempted to grow them ectopically in vivo and in vitro. We have succeeded in producing teratomas and teratocarcinomas by transplantation of inner cell masses from blastocysts of $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{w12}}\text{+}$ and $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{w12}}\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{w12}}$ genotypes. The ability of embryonic cells to grow as tumors was not affected by their genotype; 7 of the 17 tumors were homozygous for t^w12, 7 were heterozygous, and 3 could not be analyzed. Virtually all the tumors of both genotypes contained derivatives of all three germ layers. Neuroepithelial and mature nervous tissue was present in all homozygous tumors and all except one heterozygous tumor. However, no cartilage or bone was found in 5 of 5 t^w12 homozygous tumors, while both tissues were present in 3 of 4 t^w12 heterozygous tumors. This observation is compatible with the abnormalities characteristic of $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{w12}}\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{w12}}$ embryos, which show very localized effects in nervous tissue and more general effects on bone and cartilage formation. Cells derived from homozygous tumors were capable of at least limited growth in culture and a cell line has been derived from one of them. The p63/6.9a marker protein was used to determine the presence of the t^w12 haplotype in the tumor and cultured cells. We conclude that the lethality associated with the t^w12 haplotype is due to lethality of specific cells, and not all cell types.     

Hormonal control of uteroglobin secretion in rabbit uterus. Inhibition of uteroglobin synthesis and messenger ribonucleic acid accumulation by oestrogen and anti-oestrogen administration

Investigations were conducted to quantify activity of uteroglobin mRNA and secretion of uteroglobin in rabbit uterus after administration of progesterone and 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone, either alone or concomitantly with oestradiol-17beta and tamoxifen, a non-steroidal anti-oestrogen. Poly(A)-containing mRNA was isolated from the uterine tissue by extraction with phenol/chloroform, precipitation with ethanol and chromatography on oligo(dT)-cellulose. Cell-free translation in vitro of the poly(A)-containing mRNA was carried out in a wheat-germ lysate, and the product isolated by specific immuno-precipitation with anti-uteroglobin antiserum purified by affinity chromatography. Radioimmunoassay was utilized to determine uteroglobin content in the uterine flushings and tissue preparations. When given for 5 days, both progesterone (1mg/kg per day) and 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (25mg/kg per day) elicited a marked induction of uteroglobin secretion, which was accompanied with accumulation of uteroglobin mRNA in the tissue. Concomitant administration of oestradiol-17beta (50mug/kg per day) or tamoxifen (12.5mg/kg per day) significantly decreased both progesterone- and 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone-induced uteroglobin secretion, with a parallel decrease in the uteroglobin-mRNA activity. The decline in the uteroglobin content of the uterine flushes brought about by oestradiol-17beta or tamoxifen administration was not due to inhibition of secretion of this protein by the endometrial cells, since a simultaneous decrease occurred in the tissue uteroglobin content. After a 5-day pretreatment with progesterone (1mg/kg per day), administration of oestradiol-17beta (50mug/kg per day) during the ensuing 4 days greatly accelerated the decay of the uteroglobin content in the uterine fluid.     

Induction of mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by guanidine hydrochloride II. Conditions that prevent induction

The induction of ⁻ “petite” mutants by guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) is inhibited in several conditions. Anaerobiosis inhibited the induction either with or without cell multiplication. Both nalidixic acid (NA) and cycloheximide (CH) inhibited the induction of mutants. On the other hand, chloramphenicol (CAP) produced a dual effect: at low concentration it stimulated, at high concentration it inhibited, the induction. The effect of these different inhibitors on the transformation of ⁺ mother cells into ⁻ by GuHCl is discussed.     

Performance bonuses and the quality of primary health care delivered by family health teams in Brazil: A difference-in-differences analysis

BackgroundPay-for-performance (P4P) programmes to incentivise health providers to improve quality of care have been widely implemented globally. Despite intuitive appeal, evidence on the effectiveness of P4P is mixed, potentially due to differences in how schemes are designed. We exploited municipality variation in the design features of Brazil’s National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ) to examine whether performance bonuses given to family health team workers were associated with changes in the quality of care and whether the size of bonus mattered.Methods and findingsFor this quasi-experimental study, we used a difference-in-differences approach combined with matching. We compared changes over time in the quality of care delivered by family health teams between (bonus) municipalities that chose to use some or all of the PMAQ money to provide performance-related bonuses to team workers with (nonbonus) municipalities that invested the funds using traditional input-based budgets. The primary outcome was the PMAQ score, a quality of care index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on several hundred indicators (ranging from 598 to 660) of health care delivery. We did one-to-one matching of bonus municipalities to nonbonus municipalities based on baseline demographic and economic characteristics. On the matched sample, we used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association of any bonus and size of bonus with the prepost change over time (between November 2011 and October 2015) in the PMAQ score. We performed subgroup analyses with respect to the local area income of the family health team. The matched analytical sample comprised 2,346 municipalities (1,173 nonbonus municipalities; 1,173 bonus municipalities), containing 10,275 family health teams that participated in PMAQ from the outset. Bonus municipalities were associated with a 4.6 (95% CI: 2.7 to 6.4; p < 0.001) percentage point increase in the PMAQ score compared with nonbonus municipalities. The association with quality of care increased with the size of bonus: the largest bonus group saw an improvement of 8.2 percentage points (95% CI: 6.2 to 10.2; p < 0.001) compared with the control. The subgroup analysis showed that the observed improvement in performance was most pronounced in the poorest two-fifths of localities. The limitations of the study include the potential for bias from unmeasured time-varying confounding and the fact that the PMAQ score has not been validated as a measure of quality of care.ConclusionsPerformance bonuses to family health team workers compared with traditional input-based budgets were associated with an improvement in the quality of care.

Nasser Fardousi and colleagues investigate the association between performance bonuses and the quality of primary health care delivered by family health teams in Brazil.