Evolutionary Divergence in Brain Size between Migratory and Resident Birds

Despite important recent progress in our understanding of brain evolution, controversy remains regarding the evolutionary forces that have driven its enormous diversification in size. Here, we report that in passerine birds, migratory species tend to have brains that are substantially smaller (relative to body size) than those of resident species, confirming and generalizing previous studies. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on Bayesian Markov chain methods suggest an evolutionary scenario in which some large brained tropical passerines that invaded more seasonal regions evolved migratory behavior and migration itself selected for smaller brain size. Selection for smaller brains in migratory birds may arise from the energetic and developmental costs associated with a highly mobile life cycle, a possibility that is supported by a path analysis. Nevertheless, an important fraction (over 68%) of the correlation between brain mass and migratory distance comes from a direct effect of migration on brain size, perhaps reflecting costs associated with cognitive functions that have become less necessary in migratory species. Overall, our results highlight the importance of retrospective analyses in identifying selective pressures that have shaped brain evolution, and indicate that when it comes to the brain, larger is not always better.     

The Long-Term Influence of Body Mass Index on the Success Rate of Mid-Urethral Sling Surgery among Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence or Stress-Predominant Mixed Incontinence: Comparisons between Retropubic and Transobturator Approaches

Objectives

Mid-urethral sling (MUS) surgery for the treatment of urinary incontinence has been widespread since the introduction of tension-free vaginal tape in the mid-1990s. The majority of studies with short-term follow-up <2 years found no differences in the surgical outcomes according to body mass index (BMI). However, considering the chronic influence of obesity on pelvic floor musculature, it is cautiously speculated that higher BMI could increase stress on pelvic floor and sub-urethral tape, possibly decreasing the long-term success rate in the obese population. We aimed to compare the long-term effects of BMI on the outcomes of MUS between women with retropubic and transobturator approaches.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis on 243 consecutive women who received MUS and were followed up for ≥36 months. The influence of BMI on the success rates was separately estimated and the factors for treatment failure were examined using logistic regression in either approach.

Results

The mean follow-up was 58.4 months, and 30.5% were normal weight, 51.0% overweight, and 18.5% obese. Patients received either the retropubic (30.5%) or transobturator (69.5%) approach. The success rates (%) under the transobturator approach differed according to the BMI groups (94.3, 88.6, and 78.6, respectively; P = 0.037) while those under the retropubic approach were not different according to the BMI groups. However, in multivariate models, only the presence of preoperative mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) was proven to be the risk factor for treatment failure in the transobturator approach (OR 6.39, P = 0.003). The percent of subjects with MUI was higher in obese women than in non-obese women with the transobturator approach.

Conclusions

BMI was not independently associated with failures in either approach. Higher success rates in women with lower BMI in the transobturator approach were attributed to the lower percent of preoperative MUI in those with lower BMI.     

Habitat use by fishes after tidal reconnection of an impounded estuarine wetland in the Indian River Lagoon,Florida (USA)

Most of the wetlands located along the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) ineast-central Florida (USA) have been impounded since the 1950's and1960's to reduce mosquito reproduction. Impounded marsh (i.e.,impoundment) dikes physically separate the wetlands from the estuary toallow artificial flooding of the impoundments during the mosquito breedingperiod (May to October). Presently, Rotational ImpoundmentManagement (RIM) is the preferred impoundment management techniquein the IRL. Impoundments maintained under RIM have culverts installedthrough the dikes which are kept closed during the mosquito breedingseason (to control mosquitos) and are allowed to remain open for theremainder of the year (to allow tidal flow). A 24.3 ha impoundment8 km north of Sebastian Inlet that had been isolated from the IRL for over39 years was studied for 12 months to determine habitat use by fishes aftertidal reconnection and the implementation of RIM. Fish sampling wasconducted with a seine in the perimeter ditch and with clover and minnowtraps in the upper marsh and tidal creek areas of the impoundment. Waterlevel, impoundment bottom topography, and the seasonal nursery functionof the impoundment were factors that contributed to observed patterns offish habitat use during the study. Within the first 15 weeks of perimeterditch sampling, an increase from 9 to 40 species was observed. Transientspecies used the perimeter ditch almost exclusively and entered theimpoundment primarily during the spring open period. Juvenile Pogonias cromis (Linnaeus), Elops saurus Linnaeus, Centropomusundecimalis (Bloch), and Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes were themost abundant recreationally important species, respectively. Habitat useby the most abundant resident species (Gambusia holbrooki Girard,Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur), Cyprinodon variegatus Lacepède, andFundulus confluentus Goode & Bean) was influenced primarily bywater level fluctuations. Resident species used the upper marsh and tidalcreek habitats during summer flooded periods and the cyprinodontids leftthe interior surface of the impoundment last as water levels decreased. Thisstudy is the first to document the recovery of fish populations in areconnected impoundment north of Sebastian Inlet using both active andpassive sampling techniques.     

Thioredoxin and glutaredoxin system proteins—immunolocalization in the rat central nervous system

Background

The oxidoreductases of the thioredoxin (Trx) family of proteins play a major role in the cellular response to oxidative stress. Redox imbalance is a major feature of brain damage. For instance, neuronal damage and glial reaction induced by a hypoxic–ischemic episode is highly related to glutamate excitotoxicity, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Most animal models of hypoxia–ischemia in the central nervous system (CNS) use rats to study the mechanisms involved in neuronal cell death, however, no comprehensive study on the localization of the redox proteins in the rat CNS was available.

Methods

The aim of this work was to study the distribution of the following proteins of the thioredoxin and glutathione/glutaredoxin (Grx) systems in the rat CNS by immunohistochemistry: Trx1, Trx2, TrxR1, TrxR2, Txnip, Grx1, Grx2, Grx3, Grx5, and γ-GCS, peroxiredoxin 1 (Prx1), Prx2, Prx3, Prx4, Prx5, and Prx6. We have focused on areas most sensitive to a hypoxia–ischemic insult: Cerebellum, striatum, hippocampus, spinal cord, substantia nigra, cortex and retina.

Results and conclusions

Previous studies implied that these redox proteins may be distributed in most cell types and regions of the CNS. Here, we have observed several remarkable differences in both abundance and regional distribution that point to a complex interplay and crosstalk between the proteins of this family.

General significance

We think that these data might be helpful to reveal new insights into the role of thiol redox pathways in the pathogenesis of hypoxia–ischemia insults and other disorders of the CNS.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Human and Murine Redox Protein Atlases.     

The first species of Hapalodectes (Mesonychia,Mammalia) from the middle Paleocene of China (Qianshan Basin,Anhui Province) sheds light on the initial radiation of hapalodectids

A lower jaw of the mesonychian Hapalodectes is reported from Nongshanian sediments (Upper Doumu Formation; middle Paleocene) of the Qianshan Basin (Anhui Province, China). The fragmentary mandible is only the third specimen of Hapalodectidae discovered in Paleocene deposits, and the first in south east China; it is moreover the oldest, the two other specimens having been found in Gashatan (late Paleocene) localities. The premolars and molars of the new fossil are morphologically similar to Hapalodectes dux (late Paleocene of Mongolia), which has been considered to be the most primitive hapalodectid, but their relative proportions recall H. paleocenus and the Eocene Hapalodectes species. As a result, the fossil described herein appears to be different from the other previously described species of Hapalodectes in being morphologically intermediate between H. dux and the other Hapalodectes species, notably the Bumbanian Hapalodectes hetangensis and H. huanghaiensis from China; it is thus identified as a new species, Hapalodectes lopatini (possibly a male individual). Its discovery is important because it sheds light on the initial radiation of hapalodectids. The presence of one primitive hapalodectid in Mongolia previously suggested the Mongolian Plateau as the centre of origination of this carnivorous family, but the discovery of H. lopatini in older sediments from south‐east China challenges this hypothesis. In the earliest Eocene, Hapalodectes dispersed from Asia to North America; this event being part of the ‘East of Eden’ dispersals. This event resulted in the geographical separation of two distinct Hapalodectes groups, in North America and south‐eastern China respectively.     

Continuous enantioselective esterification of trans-2-phenyl-1-cyclohexanol using a new Candida rugosa lipase in a packed bed bioreactor

Enantioselective resolution of trans-2-phenyl-1-cyclohexanol (TPCH) by a Candida rugosa lipase, obtained by fermentation in the laboratory, and immobilised on EP100 polypropylene powder has been carried out using isooctane as solvent and propionic acid as esterifying agent. The study have included the utilisation of this biocatalyst in a batch process and the optimisation of the esterification conditions by means of a Box-Hunter-based experimental design. The main variables controlling the process, concentration of acid and alcohol, have been numerically optimised using initial esterification rate as objective function. The optimal concentrations for the batch process were 50 mM for the alcohol and 71 mM for the acid. This esterification reaction kinetics corresponded to a reversible Michaelis-Menten kinetic law for the optimal conditions, which has permitted to select a plug-flow packed bed bioreactor as the most appropriate configuration to minimise the residence time and to avoid shear stress effect on the biocatalyst. The behaviour of the continuous packed bed bioreactor at two different residence times (302 and 582 min) was in accordance with predictions from batch experiments, with slightly deviations (less than 10%). Continuous experiments maintained high values of enantioselectivity (enantiomeric factor was practically 1) and conversion near equilibrium value (35%) when long-time operation was carried out. Besides, long-time stability of biocatalyst has permitted to scale-up the production of enantioenriched (1R,2S)-TPCH propionate to yield gram quantities.     

Integrating Pathways of Parkinson's Disease in a Molecular Interaction Map

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a major neurodegenerative chronic disease, most likely caused by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Information on various aspects of PD pathogenesis is rapidly increasing and needs to be efficiently organized, so that the resulting data is available for exploration and analysis. Here we introduce a computationally tractable, comprehensive molecular interaction map of PD. This map integrates pathways implicated in PD pathogenesis such as synaptic and mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired protein degradation, alpha-synuclein pathobiology and neuroinflammation. We also present bioinformatics tools for the analysis, enrichment and annotation of the map, allowing the research community to open new avenues in PD research. The PD map is accessible at http://minerva.uni.lu/pd_map.