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.     

Single-cell transcriptomic atlas of primate cardiopulmonary aging

Aging is a major risk factor for many diseases,especially in highly prevalent cardiopulmonary comorbidities and infectious diseases including Coronavirus Diseas...     

橘小实蝇成虫肠道可培养细菌群落结构分析

【目的】研究橘小实蝇(Bactrocera dorsalis) 3个种群(实验室正常喂养种群、实验室无菌糖水喂养种群和野生种群)成虫肠道可培养细菌的群落结构组成。【方法】利用16S rRNA基因的聚合酶链式反应-变性梯度凝胶电泳(PCR-DGGE)分析技术,结合菌落形态观察和生理生化特征鉴定细菌种类。【结果】从橘小实蝇3个种群成虫肠道600株可培养细菌得到53种不同细菌遗传型,分属于肠杆菌科(Enterobacteriaceae)、肠球菌科(Enterococcaceae)和芽孢杆菌科(Bacillaceae)等3个科。其中肠杆菌科是肠道可培养细菌最优势的细菌种类。同样以序列相似性大于97%的菌株归为相同的细菌种类为标准,找到了橘小实蝇3个种群可培养细菌的共有菌种,结合菌落形态观察和生理生化特征鉴定,确定共有菌种为肠杆菌属5株,克雷伯氏菌属2株,柠檬酸杆菌属1株,泛菌属1株,肠球菌属2株,以及芽孢杆菌属4株。【结论】通过研究橘小实蝇成虫肠道可培养细菌群落结构组成,可为探讨肠道菌群对寄主的生理功能和生态学意义奠定基础,最终为利用微生物防治此类害虫提供新思路。     

我国甜菜夜蛾间歇性暴发的非均衡性循环波动

[摘要] 为进一步了解我国甜菜夜蛾Spodoptera exigua ( Hbner)间歇性暴发成灾的规律,作者应用时间序列分析技术研究了我国甜菜夜蛾间歇性暴发的时间序列波动规律。结果表明,在1949—2008年的60a中,我国甜菜夜蛾大尺度暴发总年频次为120次,各年度暴发次数(年频次)存在着非均衡性循环波动特征,并且在其波动过程中呈明显的上升趋势。按“年频次”强度,可将我国1949—2008年60a中甜菜夜蛾发生过程,划分成两个明显不同的阶段。第一阶段（1949—1984年）为平稳低发阶段,36a总年频次量为4次,年平均仅0.11次;第二阶段（1985—2008年）则为波浪式上升性高发阶段,24a总年频次为116次,年平均4.83次（为第一阶段的43.91倍））。按第二阶段24a（1985—2008）数据进行自相关系数和频谱图分析,结果表明,我国甜菜夜蛾大尺度暴发存在2.8a和11.2a2种不同长度的循环周期,其暴发趋势指数对滞后1a和滞后4a的影响为正相关,而对滞后5a和滞后6a的影响则为负相关。本文根据甜菜夜蛾暴发指数的非均衡周期性特征,建立了以时间序列为自变量的甜菜夜蛾暴发指数非均衡周期性预测模型,经回代结果检验,理论值与实测值之间无显著差异。     

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.     

转Bt水稻土壤跳虫群落组成及其数量变化

以转Bt水稻恢复系"克螟稻"(Cry1Ab纯合基因型)和"华恢1号"(Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac融合基因型)以及融合基因型转Bt水稻杂交系"Bt汕忧63",及其对照亲本水稻"秀水11"、"明恢63"和"汕优63"稻田土壤跳虫类群为对象,系统研究转Bt水稻种植下土壤跳虫群落组成及其数量动态变化,以评价不同基因型和不同育种品系转Bt水稻种植下稻田土壤生态安全性。结果表明,转Bt水稻种植导致土壤跳虫个别稀有类群的消失,并显著影响半土生和真土生类群以及土壤跳虫总量,但对群落多样性、均匀度和种类丰富度等影响不显著。与对照亲本相比,Cry1Ab转Bt稻田半土生类群和土壤跳虫总量及其种类丰富度指标显著增加了54.7%、44.4%和26.7%;Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac转Bt杂交稻田球角跳属百分比和真土生跳虫数量显著增加了212.3%和180.4%。就恢复系处理而言,与Cry1Ab转Bt水稻相比,Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac转Bt水稻种植导致棘跳属、球角跳属和原等跳属百分比以及半土生跳虫数量分别显著降低了62.1%、56.7%、61.8%和43.4%,同时,显著提高了裔符跳属百分比达88.2%。就Cry1Ab+Cry1Ac融合基因型转Bt水稻而言,与恢复系相比,转Bt杂交稻种植导致球角跳属和原等跳属百分比,半土生类群和土壤跳虫总量及其种类丰富度和群落多样性显著增加了312.9%和171.6%,302.4%和233.2%,以及54.0%和26.7%,同时,显著降低了裔符跳属百分比达65.5%。