Periodicity and time trends in the prevalence of total births and conceptions with congenital malformations among Jews and Muslims in Israel, 1999‐2006: A time series study of 823,966 births

BACKGROUND Congenital malformations (CMs) are a leading cause of infant disability. Geophysical patterns such as 2‐year, yearly, half‐year, 3‐month, and lunar cycles regulate much of the temporal biology of all life on Earth and may affect birth and birth outcomes in humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare trends and periodicity in total births and CM conceptions in two Israeli populations. METHODS Poisson nonlinear models (polynomial) were applied to study and compare trends and geophysical periodicity cycles of weekly births and weekly prevalence rate of CM (CMPR), in a time‐series design of conception date within and between Jews and Muslims. The population included all live births and stillbirths (n = 823,966) and CM (three anatomic systems, eight CM groups [n = 2193]) in Israel during 2000 to 2006. Data were obtained from the Ministry of Health. RESULTS We describe the trend and periodicity cycles for total birth conceptions. Of eight groups of CM, periodicity cycles were statistically significant in four CM groups for either Jews or Muslims. Lunar month and biennial periodicity cycles not previously investigated in the literature were found to be statistically significant. Biennial cycle was significant in total births (Jews and Muslims) and syndactyly (Muslims), whereas lunar month cycle was significant in total births (Muslims) and atresia of small intestine (Jews). CONCLUSION We encourage others to use the method we describe as an important tool to investigate the effects of different geophysical cycles on human health and pregnancy outcomes, especially CM, and to compare between populations. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Spatial Risk Analysis of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis,A Global Emerging Fungal Pathogen

EcoHealth - Chytridiomycosis, a leading cause for the global decline in the number of amphibians, is caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. In this study, global distribution...     

Haplotype mining panel for genetic dissection and breeding in Eucalyptus

To improve our understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying complex traits in plants, a comprehensive analysis of gene variants is required. Eucalyptus is an important forest plantation genus that is highly outbred. Trait dissection and molecular breeding in eucalypts currently relies on biallelic single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. These markers fail to capture the large amount of haplotype diversity in these species, and thus multi-allelic markers are required. We aimed to develop a gene-based haplotype mining panel for Eucalyptus species. We generated 17 999 oligonucleotide probe sets for targeted sequencing of selected regions of 6293 genes implicated in growth and wood properties, pest and disease resistance, and abiotic stress responses. We identified and phased 195 834 SNPs using a read-based phasing approach to reveal SNP-based haplotypes. A total of 8915 target regions (at 4637 gene loci) passed tests for Mendelian inheritance. We evaluated the haplotype panel in four Eucalyptus species (E. grandis, E. urophylla, E. dunnii and E. nitens) to determine its ability to capture diversity across eucalypt species. This revealed an average of 3.13–4.52 haplotypes per target region in each species, and 33.36% of the identified haplotypes were shared by at least two species. This haplotype mining panel will enable the analysis of haplotype diversity within and between species, and provide multi-allelic markers that can be used for genome-wide association studies and gene-based breeding approaches.     

Cancer-associated exportin-6 upregulation inhibits the transcriptionally repressive and anticancer effects of nuclear profilin-1

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Production of an endothelial cell migratory signal in rat endometrium during early pregnancy

Rat endometrial explants were cultured in a three-dimensional collagen/endothelial cell matrix to measure angiogenic activity, as represented by migration of vascular endothelial cells towards the explants. Minimal endothelial cell migratory activity was observed with endometrial explants taken during the four-day oestrous cycle and days 3 and 4 of pregnancy. In contrast, a surge of endothelial cell migration occurred in response to endometrial explants taken from day-5-pregnant rats. Activity was found in explants taken approximately 5 h prior to implantation, but returned to minimal levels by day 6 of pregnancy. Endothelial cell migration remained minimal in response to both implantation and intersite tissue explants taken from days 6 and 7 of pregnancy. Endometrium from ovariectomised rats produced no endothelial cell migratory activity as measured by this technique. However, near preimplantation levels of endothelial cell migratory activity could be induced in ovariectomised rat endometrium by administering progesterone for 72 hours. Oestrogen given in conjunction with progesterone had no additional effect. These results demonstrate the presence of an endometrial signal that controls endothelial cell migration, and demonstrate this activity can be induced by progesterone without the addition of oestrogen.