Effects of a copper-bearing intrauterine device on the ovarian function, body weight gain and pregnancy rate of nulliparous heifers

A copper-bearing intrauterine device (IUD), designed to cause a slight distention of the uterus, was inserted through the cervix into each uterine horn of 230 heifers; an additional 230 heifers served as the control group. Blood was drawn at 0, 1, 2, 20 and 120 d for progesterone and testosterone assays. The heifers were checked twice daily for estrus and examined at 0, 60 and 120 d for weight gain. Thereafter they were bred over a 120-d period. The IUD caused anestrus in 98% of the heifers, with a daily weight gain 25.5 % higher than in the control heifers. Moreover, the device was 100% effective in preventing pregnancy. At 20 and 120 d after IUD insertion progesterone levels averaged 0.7 ng/ml, which was 4 to 5 times lower than in the control animals, suggesting a failure in ovulation or in corpus luteum (CL) formation due to the IUD. Simultaneously, testosterone values were increased up to 8 times in IUD-treated heifers, reaching a mean concentration of 163 pg/ml. Associated histological evaluations of the ovaries from UD-treated heifers revealed the presence of 2 or more cysts per ovary, with marked hyperthecosis in many antral follicles in which the granulosa cell layers were either thinned or lacking. The results suggest that the action of the copper-releasing IUD used in this study resulted in high contraceptive efficiency but also in disturbance of ovarian function. Our findings further raise the possibility of a cause and effect relationship between hyperandrogenism and the higher body weight gain observed in heifers treated with the IUD.     

Lack of geographic variation in anonymous nuclear polymorphisms in the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica

Comparing geographic variation of noncoding nuclear DNA polymorphisms, which presumably are neutral to natural selection, with geographic variation of allozymes is potentially a good way to detect the effects of selection on allozyme polymorphisms. A previous study of four anonymous nuclear markers in the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, found dramatic differences in allele frequency between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, 14 allozyme polymorphisms were fairly uniform in frequency between the two areas. This led to the conclusion that all of the allozyme polymorphisms were kept uniform in frequency by balancing selection. To test the robustness of this pattern, six additional anonymous nuclear DNA polymorphisms were surveyed in oysters from Panacea, Fla, and Charleston, S.C. on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, respectively. Unlike the previously studied DNA markers, the six DNA polymorphisms examined here show geographic variation that is not significantly greater than that of allozymes. The reason for the discrepancy between the two sets of DNA polymorphisms is unclear.      

Motif kernel generated by genetic programming improves remote homology and fold detection

Background  

Protein remote homology detection is a central problem in computational biology. Most recent methods train support vector machines to discriminate between related and unrelated sequences and these studies have introduced several types of kernels. One successful approach is to base a kernel on shared occurrences of discrete sequence motifs. Still, many protein sequences fail to be classified correctly for a lack of a suitable set of motifs for these sequences.     

Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe - from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation

‘Carabidologists do it all’ (Niemelä 1996a) is a phrase with which most European carabidologists are familiar. Indeed, during the last half a century, professional and amateur entomologists have contributed enormously to our understanding of the basic biology of carabid beetles. The success of the field is in no small part due to regular European Carabidologists’ Meetings, which started in 1969 in Wijster, the Netherlands, with the 14th meeting again held in the Netherlands in 2009, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first meeting and 50 years of long-term research in the Dwingelderveld. This paper offers a subjective summary of some of the major developments in carabidology since the 1960s. Taxonomy of the family Carabidae is now reasonably established, and the application of modern taxonomic tools has brought up several surprises like elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Progress has been made on the ultimate and proximate factors of seasonality and timing of reproduction, which only exceptionally show non-seasonality. Triggers can be linked to evolutionary events and plausibly explained by the “taxon cycle” theory. Fairly little is still known about certain feeding preferences, including granivory and ants, as well as unique life history strategies, such as ectoparasitism and predation on higher taxa. The study of carabids has been instrumental in developing metapopulation theory (even if it was termed differently). Dispersal is one of the areas intensively studied, and results show an intricate interaction between walking and flying as the major mechanisms. The ecological study of carabids is still hampered by some unresolved questions about sampling and data evaluation. It is recognised that knowledge is uneven, especially concerning larvae and species in tropical areas. By their abundance and wide distribution, carabid beetles can be useful in population studies, bioindication, conservation biology and landscape ecology. Indeed, 40 years of carabidological research have provided so much data and insights, that among insects - and arguably most other terrestrial organisms - carabid beetles are one of the most worthwhile model groups for biological studies.     

Molecular docking analysis of bioactive compounds from Plectranthus amboinicus with glucokinase

Natural remedies from medicinal plants are known to be effective and reliable appropriate medicine for illnesses. The current research examined Plectranthus amboinicus'' anti diabetic property by docking the bioactive compounds of certain target proteins. We document the molecular docking analysis of bioactive compounds from Plectranthus amboinicus with protein Glucokinase. Molecular docking experiments were carried out in PyRx software. Results of these docking experiments showed that most of the compounds showed very strong interaction with the target protein Glucokinase. Based on the scoring parameters we have selected best four compounds (Rutin, Salvianolic acid, Luteolin and Salvigenin) which showed very good docking score and hydrogen bond interaction for diabetics.     

Role of HLA DRB1*15 and HLA DRB1*16alleles in the genetic susceptibility to develop systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after Chikungunya and Zika viruses infection in México

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disease particularly prevalent in Mexico. Althoughits etiology is unknown, genetic factors strongly influence its presenceas well as triggering factors, such as viral infections, including Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Here,the study presents the appearance of de novoSLE (patients who did not present SLE before de virus infection, corroborated by serological analysis and negative for antinuclear antibodies) cases in Mexicans who live near the southern border of Mexico, who presented clinical symptoms of arthritic, hematological, mucocutaneous and renal SLE, after Zika and/ or Chikungunya virus infection. Low resolution class Ⅱ HLA typing was performed, which found a significantly increased frequency of HLA DRB1*02 (15 and 16)when compared to a group of 99 healthy individuals (P =0.001, OR=4.5, IC95% 1.8~11.0). All the patients were diagnosed with SLE 1 to 3 years after being confirmed with the Zika, and/or Chikungunya infection. At the point of acute viral infection, none of the patients presented clinical signs or symptoms of autoimmunity or were negative for antinuclear antibodies. In genetically susceptible individuals, Zika and Chikungunya viral infection can trigger SLE.     

Regulatory Contexts in the 5'-Region of mRNA from Arabidopsis thaliana Plants and Their Role in Translation Efficiency

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - In this study, the polysome profiling method was used for the separation of mRNA depending on their loading by ribosomes into polysomal and monosomal...     

The Reliability and Sensitivity of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale for Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in an Uncontrolled Setting

Background and Purpose

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is commonly used to measure neurologic function and guide treatment after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in routine stroke clinics. We evaluated its reliability and sensitivity to detect change with consecutive and unique rater combinations in a real-world setting.

Methods

Conservative measures of interrater reliability (unweighted Kappa (κ), Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC_1,1) and sensitivity to detect change (Minimal Detectable Difference (MDD)) were estimated. Sixty-one repeated ratings were completed within 1 week after ICH by physicians and nurses with no investigator intervention.

Results

Reliability (consistency) of the NIHSS total score was good for both physicians vs. nurses and nurses vs. nurses (ICC=0.78, 95%CI: 0.58-0.89 and ICC=0.75, 95%CI: 0.55-0.87 respectively) in this scenario. Reliability (agreement) of items 1C and 9 were excellent (κ>=0.61) for both rater comparisons, however, reliability was poor to fair on most remaining items (κ:0.01-0.60), with item 11 being completely unreliable in this scenario (κ<0.01). The MDD₉₅ of the total NIHSS score was ±10 and ±11 points for physician vs. nurse and nurse vs. nurse comparisons.

Conclusions

The reliability of the NIHSS is good overall for ICH even in an uncontrolled setting. However, on repeated measurements changes in total NIHSS score of at least >=10 points need to be observed for clinicians to be confident that real changes had occurred within 1 week after ICH.