Should Health Professionals Screen All Women for Domestic Violence?

BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE: The US and Canadian task forces on preventive health recently declared that there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against routine universal screening of women for domestic violence. Yet some experts argue that routine enquiry is justified.     

Reproductive responses of early postpartum dairy cattle to continuous treatment with a GnRH agonist (deslorelin) for 28 days to delay the resumption of ovulation

An experiment was conducted to investigate the potential of chronic delivery of a potent GnRH agonist (deslorelin) via subcutaneous implants to delay the resumption of ovulatory cycles in postpartum dairy cattle. Cows received either a single deslorelin implant (n=40; DES) within 7 days of calving or were untreated (n=24; CON). Blood samples were collected thrice weekly during the period the implants were in place. Plasma concentrations of progesterone (P4) and 17beta-oestradiol (E2) were measured along with selected serum metabolites. Implants were removed after 28 days and cattle monitored daily for behavioral oestrus. Serial weekly blood samples were collected to detect the occurrence of ovulation. Cows were artificially inseminated as they were detected in oestrus from 30 days after implant removal. Pregnancy status was subsequently determined by manual palpation of uterine contents at strategic intervals.Insertion of implants induced ovulation in 3/40 cows as determined by a rise in progesterone 7 days later. Deslorelin implants delayed the onset of ovulatory cycles compared with untreated herdmates (mean 43.4+/-4.2 versus 57.3+/-1.6 days postpartum; P<0.001). A noticeable delay of at least 12 days was observed between implant removal and the first animals ovulating. Mean plasma E2 concentrations during the period the implants were in place were similar for DES and CON cows that experienced a prolonged spontaneous postpartum anoestrus (low P4 >60 days), although both groups had concentrations only 20% of CON cows that had ovulated prior to 30 days postpartum.The patterns of recovery following implant removal were highly variable. A number of DES cows showed a low and transient rise in plasma progesterone around 21 days after implant removal. Some cows displayed oestrus but did not appear to form a fully functional corpus luteum with this phenomenon being more prevalent among DES cows (7 of 37 versus 1 of 21; P<0.05). Overall, significantly more DES cows were detected in oestrus without ovulating compared to CON cows. Final pregnancy rates did not differ between DES and CON groups. The mean time to conception for DES cows was longer (21.2+/-5.6 versus 41.1+/-7.4 days, CON versus DES; P<0.01). This difference was not present if the time from first ovulation to conception was compared (50.5+/-5.3 versus 43.5+/-9.3 days, CON versus DES; P>0.05). Deslorelin implants provided a reliable method of inducing anoestrus when treatment was initiated prior to 3 days postpartum. A variable pattern of recovery was observed which delayed conception but did not ultimately reduce the final proportion pregnant at the completion of mating. The study demonstrates the potential of GnRH agonists to control postpartum reproductive function to manipulate the fertility of dairy cows.     

Gibberellin A43 and other terpenes in endosperm of Echinocystis macrocarpa

By GC-MS the following acidic constituents of the endosperm of Echinocystis macrocarpa were identified: abscisic acid and its trans,trans-isomer, 4′-dihydrophaseic acid, GA₄, GA₇, iso-GA₇, GA₂₄, GA₂₅, two isomers of GA₁₃, GA₄₃, ent-6α,7α,17-trihydroxy-16αH-kauran-19-oic acid and ent-6α,7α, 16β, 17-tetrahydroxykauran- 19-oic acid. The structures of the last three new natural products were confirmed by partial synthesis. ent-Kaurene was detected in the neutral fraction.     

The Human Cathelicidin LL-37 Has Antiviral Activity against Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Respiratory syncytial virus is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness among infants, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Currently, there is no effective vaccine or disease modifying treatment available and novel interventions are urgently required. Cathelicidins are cationic host defence peptides expressed in the inflamed lung, with key roles in innate host defence against infection. We demonstrate that the human cathelicidin LL-37 has effective antiviral activity against RSV in vitro, retained by a truncated central peptide fragment. LL-37 prevented virus-induced cell death in epithelial cultures, significantly inhibited the production of new infectious particles and diminished the spread of infection, with antiviral effects directed both against the viral particles and the epithelial cells. LL-37 may represent an important targetable component of innate host defence against RSV infection. Prophylactic modulation of LL-37 expression and/or use of synthetic analogues post-infection may represent future novel strategies against RSV infection.     

Amino acid pools in mitotic and interphase HeLa cells

Mitotic HeLa cells collected by shake-off synchronizing procedures were found to have elevated amino acid influx rates into the acid-extractable pool. Combined use of colchicine or chilling before testing abolished the increased uptake; high external concentrations of Mg²⁺ further enhanced it. Telophase and subsequent interphase populations showed a lower uptake rate which remained constant throughout most of the next cycle.     

Retrieval and Mapping of Soil Texture Based on Land Surface Diurnal Temperature Range Data from MODIS

Numerous studies have investigated the direct retrieval of soil properties, including soil texture, using remotely sensed images. However, few have considered how soil properties influence dynamic changes in remote images or how soil processes affect the characteristics of the spectrum. This study investigated a new method for mapping regional soil texture based on the hypothesis that the rate of change of land surface temperature is related to soil texture, given the assumption of similar starting soil moisture conditions. The study area was a typical flat area in the Yangtze-Huai River Plain, East China. We used the widely available land surface temperature product of MODIS as the main data source. We analyzed the relationships between the content of different particle soil size fractions at the soil surface and land surface day temperature, night temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) during three selected time periods. These periods occurred after rainfalls and between the previous harvest and the subsequent autumn sowing in 2004, 2007 and 2008. Then, linear regression models were developed between the land surface DTR and sand (> 0.05 mm), clay (< 0.001 mm) and physical clay (< 0.01 mm) contents. The models for each day were used to estimate soil texture. The spatial distribution of soil texture from the studied area was mapped based on the model with the minimum RMSE. A validation dataset produced error estimates for the predicted maps of sand, clay and physical clay, expressed as RMSE of 10.69%, 4.57%, and 12.99%, respectively. The absolute error of the predictions is largely influenced by variations in land cover. Additionally, the maps produced by the models illustrate the natural spatial continuity of soil texture. This study demonstrates the potential for digitally mapping regional soil texture variations in flat areas using readily available MODIS data.     

Native N-glycopeptide thioester synthesis through N→S acyl transfer

Peptide thioesters are important tools for the total synthesis of proteins using native chemical ligation (NCL). Preparation of glycopeptide thioesters, that enable the assembly of homogeneously glycosylated proteins, is complicated by the perceived fragile nature of the sugar moiety. Herein, we demonstrate the compatibility of thioester formation via N→S acyl transfer with native N-glycopeptides and report observations that will aid in their preparation.     

An insertion mutant in DQA1*0501 restores susceptibility to HLA-DM: implications for disease associations

HLA-DM (DM) catalyzes CLIP release, stabilizes MHC class II molecules, and edits the peptide repertoire presented by class II. Impaired DM function may have profound effects on Ag presentation events in the thymus and periphery that are critical for maintenance of self-tolerance. The associations of the HLA-DQ2 (DQ2) allele with celiac disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus have been appreciated for a long time. The explanation for these associations, however, remains unknown. We previously found that DQ2 is a poor substrate for DM. In this study, to further characterize DQ2-DM interaction, we introduced point mutations into DQ2 on the proposed DQ2-DM interface to restore the sensitivity of DQ2 to DM. The effects of mutations were investigated by measuring the peptide dissociation and exchange rate in vitro, CLIP and DQ2 expression on the cell surface, and the presentation of α-II-gliadin epitope (residues 62-70) to murine, DQ2-restricted T cell hybridomas. We found that the three α-chain mutations (α+53G, α+53R, or αY22F) decreased the intrinsic stability of peptide-class II complex. More interestingly, the α+53G mutant restored DQ2 sensitivity to DM, likely due to improved interaction with DM. Our data also suggest that α-II-gliadin 62-70 is a DM-suppressed epitope. The DQ2 resistance to DM changes the fate of this peptide from a cryptic to an immunodominant epitope. Our findings elucidate the structural basis for reduced DQ2-DM interaction and have implications for mechanisms underlying disease associations of DQ2.