Review of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Banjos</Emphasis> (Perciformes: Banjosidae) with descriptions of two new species and a new subspecies

A taxonomic review of the genus Banjos (Perciformes: Banjosidae), previously restricted to a single species, Banjos banjos (Richardson 1846), recorded from the northwestern Pacific Ocean from the South China Sea north to Japan, as well as Lombok (Indonesia), New Caledonia and Australia, resulted in the recognition of three species, including B. banjos (northwestern Pacific Ocean, Indonesia and western Australia), Banjos aculeatus sp. nov. (eastern Australia) and Banjos peregrinus sp. nov. [northern Australia (Timor Sea)]. Records of B. banjos from New Caledonia probably also represent B. aculeatus, which is clearly distinct from other congeners in having a relatively long, strongly serrated spine at the posteroventral angle of the preopercle and an entirely dusky membrane on the spinous dorsal fin in juveniles < ca. 70 mm SL, in addition to slightly longer first and second dorsal-fin spines. Banjos peregrinus is characterized by a relatively greater head length, orbit diameter, postorbital length and pre-pelvic-fin length, as well as poorly developed serration of the exposed margin of the cleithrum. Within B. banjos, a population from the southeastern Indian Ocean, including Indonesia and western Australia, is regarded as a distinct subspecies (Banjos banjos brevispinis ssp. nov.), distinguishable from B. b. banjos from the northwestern Pacific Ocean by a relatively narrow least interorbital width, and shorter second and eighth dorsal-fin spines. Ontogenetic morphological changes within the genus and the status of the holotype of Anoplus banjos Richardson 1846 are discussed in detail.     

Risk factors for bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs

Objective

Osteoporosis is a complication of rheumatoid arthritis. We examined the risk factors for bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density was measured at two time points in 153 patients with rheumatoid arthritis managed with biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. We examined patients’ variables to identify risk factors for least significant reduction of bone mineral density.

Results

Least significant reduction of lumbar spine bone mineral density (≤ ? 2.4%) was seen in 13.1% of patients. Least significant reduction of femoral neck bone mineral density (≤ ? 1.9%) was seen in 34.0% of patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a risk factor for least significant reduction of the lumbar spine was high-dose methylprednisolone use. Multiple regression analysis showed that a risk factor for least significant reduction of the femoral neck was short disease duration. Our findings showed that a risk factor for femoral neck bone mineral density reduction was a short disease duration. These findings suggest that rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving treatment with biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs may benefit from earlier osteoporosis treatments to prevent femoral neck bone loss.

     

Chimeras of the integrin beta subunit mid-region reveal regions required for heterodimer formation and for activation.

A central region of the beta2 integrin subunit, RN (residues D300 to C459), was replaced by the equivalent sequences from beta1 and beta7 to give the chimeras beta2RN1 and beta2RN7. Whilst the former construct failed to form heterodimer at the cell surface with alphaL, the later of these could be expressed together with the alphaL subunit to form a variant LFA-1. Based on recent modelling work, the RN region consists of two parts, one is the C-terminal end of the putative A-domain (RB, residues D300 to A359), and the other the mid-region (BN, residues Y360 to C459). Chimeras exchanging the two component regions were made. Of the four resultant chimeras, only the beta2RB1 chimera failed to support LFA-1 expression. Thus the beta1 specific residues of this region affect the interaction with the alphaL subunit. Whereas the alphaL/beta2RB7 LFA-1 variant is wildtype like with respect to ICAM-1 adhesion, the alphaLbeta2BN1 and alphaLbeta2BN7, as well as the alphaLbeta2RN7, variants are more adhesive than the wildtype. These results suggest that an authentic beta2 mid-region is, in part, required for maintaining the LFA-1 in a resting state.     

Examination of the quality of various force fields and solvation models for the equilibrium simulations of GA88 and GB88

Elucidating the relationship between sequence and conformation is essential for the understanding of functions of proteins. While sharing 88 % sequence identity and differing by only seven residues, GA88 and GB88 have completely different structures and serve as ideal systems for investigating the relationship between sequence and function. Benefiting from the continuous advancement of the computational ability of modern computers, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is now playing an increasingly important role in the study of proteins. However, the reliability of MD simulations is limited by the accuracy of the force fields and solvent model approximations. In this work, several AMBER force fields (AMBER03, AMBER99SB, AMBER12SB, AMBER14SB, AMBER96) and solvent models (TIP3P, IGB5, IGB7, IGB8) have been employed in the simulations of GA88 and GB88. The statistical results from 19 simulations show that GA88 and GB88 both adopt more compact structures than the native structures. GB88 is more stable than GA88 regardless of the force fields and solvent models utilized. Most of the simulations overestimated the salt bridge interaction. The combination of AMBER14SB force field and IGB8 solvent model shows the best overall performance in the simulations of both GA88 and GB88. AMBER03 and AMBER12SB also yield reasonable results but only in the TIP3P explicit solvent model.     

The role of bryozoans in fossil reefs—an example from the Middle Devonian of the Western Sahara

Stenolaemate bryozoans with their stable calcitic skeletons play a significant role in reef building. In the Middle Devonian Sabkhat Lafayrina reef complex (Western Sahara), bryozoans are abundant and diverse. Although they do not form part of the principal framework of reefs, bryozoans are involved significantly in reef growth, especially in the initial stage. In this way, bryozoans are important with respect to initiating reef growth. They contribute greatly to sediment stabilization, making it possible for principal reef builders to grow on hardened and stabilized substrates, and also play sediment-baffling and sediment-filling roles. The aim of this study is to document the diversity of bryozoans in a Middle Devonian reef complex and to estimate their potential for initiation and contribution to reef structures.     

Chicken IL-6 is a heat-shock gene

The febrile response is elicited by pyrogenic cytokines including IL-6 in response to microorganism infections and diseases in vertebrates. Mammalian HSF1, which senses elevations in temperature, negatively regulates the response by suppressing pyrogenic cytokine expression. We here showed that HSF3, an avian ortholog of mammalian HSF1, directly binds to and activates IL-6 during heat shock in chicken cells. Other components of the febrile response mechanism, such as IL-1β and ATF3, were also differently regulated in mammalian and chicken cells. These results suggest that the febrile response is exacerbated by a feed-forward circuit composed of the HSF3-IL-6 pathway in birds.     

Mediatietherapie bij ouderen met een persoonlijkheidsstoornis: Een verpleegkundige benadering

Behavioural counselling by nurses can enhance quality of life in elderly with a personality disorder. Although nurses have a crucial role in day-to-day treatment, there is a lack of evidence-based approaches. Based on the cognitive therapy, the treatment protocol Cognitive Model for Behavioural Interventions (CoMBI) provides an alternative nursing approach for personality disorders.     

Proteome-wide evidence for enhanced positive Darwinian selection within intrinsically disordered regions in proteins

Background  

Understanding the adaptive changes that alter the function of proteins during evolution is an important question for biology and medicine. The increasing number of completely sequenced genomes from closely related organisms, as well as individuals within species, facilitates systematic detection of recent selection events by means of comparative genomics.     

Persistence of Dispersal-limited Species in Structured Dynamic Landscapes

Dynamic landscape models have generally assumed random distributions of habitat although real landscapes show spatial organization at many scales. To explore the role of spatial structure in determining the frequency of dispersal-limited forest species, we used a cellular landscape model divided into two zones. Zones were distributed in a random, clustered, or regular spatial pattern. Within each zone habitat cells were randomly destroyed and regenerated, and habitat density and turnover rate were systematically varied. A hypothetical habitat-limited species dispersed between adjacent habitat cells. All trials showed a reduced species frequency relative to a static landscape. Reduction was greater at low habitat density (P = 0.30) than at high density (0.90) suggesting the importance of habitat connectivity in controlling species frequency. The greatest reduction occurred when habitat was concentrated in a small, regularly distributed zone at low habitat density reflecting the enforced isolation of individual habitat cells. Very little reduction was observed when habitat cells were packed into a small clustered zone, a situation promoting connectivity between cells. Moderate–severe frequency reduction occurred when habitat turnover was concentrated in a clustered zone at high habitat density, but little was observed when turnover was widely distributed in a regular or random pattern. These results can be interpreted in terms of a source-sink function in which spatial pattern controlled the degree of contact between landscape zones and determined opportunities for dispersal between habitat cells. We conclude that clustering of forest habitat has the potential to maintain herb species frequency in sparsely forested landscapes. Conversely, clustering of forest disturbance in heavily forested regions, or regular distribution of forest stands (as often occurs in agricultural regions) creates areas which are difficult to colonize, and should be avoided.