Eimeria saudiensis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) in Saudi Arabia

Oocysts of Eimeria saudiensis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) are described from the feces of the Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx, from the Riyadh Zoo, Saudi Arabia. The oocysts were ellipsoidal or slightly ovoid, 31.2 x 24.5 (24.3-36.5 x 20.0-27.6) micron with a bilayered wall about 1.7 micron thick. The micropyle was covered by a dome-shaped cap. The oocyst residuum was absent, but tiny polar granules were present. The sporocysts were elongate ovoid, 14.3 x 7.2 (11.5-18.5 x 6.0-9.0) micron, had a Stieda body, but lacked a substiedal body. The sporocyst residuum was present, composed of numerous small granules. The sporozoites were elongate club-shaped, and contained two prominent refractile bodies.     

Coccidia of the domestic goat (Capra hircus) in Saudi Arabia.

Faeces of 228 domestic goats (Capra hircus) from the central region of Saudi Arabia were examined for the presence of coccidian oocysts. Ten species of coccidia were identified and described. A total of 90.3% of the specimens were positive, most of them contained 100-1000 oocysts per g of faecal sample. Kids less than 1 year old had higher oocyst counts than goatlings or adult goats. Mixed infections with three to five species were found in 69.7% of the specimens and six to eight species were found in 10.1%. Eimeria arloingi and E. hirci were most prevalent. E. alijevi, E. ninakohlyakimovae, E. caprina, E. christenseni and E. apsheronica were less common. E. jolchijevi, E. caprovina and E. punctata were relatively rare.     

Palynofacies analysis for interpreting paleoenvironment and hydrocarbon potential of Triassic–Jurassic strata in the Sichuan Basin,China

The Sichuan Basin is one of the largest petroliferous basins in China. The continental fluvial?lacustrine sediments of the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation and the Lower Jurassic Zhenzhuchong Formation yield diverse fossil organisms and host one of the most important gas reservoirs in the basin. However, paleontological implication for the paleoenvironment and hydrocarbon source is less documented. Here, we report, for the first time for this basin, results from palynofacies analyses combined with thermal alteration data in the Early Mesozoic deposit of the Qilixia section, northeastern Sichuan Basin. The results show that, organic matters in sediments are dominated by phytoclasts, with less abundant palynomorphs and a few amorphous organic matters (AOMs). Four palynofacies assemblages were identified, reflecting depositional settings in a general proximal and oxic fluvial?deltaic environment, with two distal–proximal sedimentary cycles. The prominent dominance of opaque phytoclasts within the lower Zhenzhuchong Formation may be related to frequent wildfires across the Triassic–Jurassic transition. Palynofacies data (especially the relative abundance of opaque phytoclasts) may reflect 405 kyr eccentricity cyclicity pattern. The palynofacies and thermal alteration index (TAI), combined with geochemical data indicate the presence of type III kerogen in mature to post-mature phases, suggesting gas potential of the Xujiahe and Zhenzhuchong formations in the northeastern Sichuan Basin. This study provides significant implications for better understanding the paleoenvironment variations during the Triassic–Jurassic transition and the future gas exploration in this area.     

Live fluorescence and transmission-through-dye microscopic study of actinomycin D-induced apoptosis and apoptotic volume decrease

The effect of actinomycin D on HeLa cells was studied by live fluorescence and transmission-through-dye microscopy—a recently developed technique that permits volume measurements in live cells. In particular, it is well suited for the observation and quantification of the apoptotic volume decrease (AVD), which is widely viewed as an essential feature of apoptosis. The main results from our study are as follows. (1) Apoptosis caused in HeLa cells by actinomycin D proceeds in two morphologically distinct stages: the early stage is characterized by extensive blebbing, and the late stage by a more compact shape. The loss of mitochondrial membrane potential occurs at about the same time as blebbing, and chromatin condensation follows 30–90 min later. Caspase-3 and 7 become activated during the late stage. (2) Because blebbing occurs before activation of caspase-3, it has to be initiated by a different mechanism. Although blebbing is one of the earliest observable changes, it can be selectively inhibited without affecting other apoptotic reactions. (3) The majority of cells experience a temporary volume increase after the appearance of blebs. Eventually, AVD takes over and the cells shrink by approximately 40 % of their initial volume; the volume loss becomes noticeable at the end of the blebbing phase and continues through the late stage. Sometimes, at the end of long incubations, shrinkage gives way to swelling, possibly indicating secondary necrosis. (4) Both early and late apoptosis are accompanied by intracellular accumulation of Na⁺, while low-sodium medium prevents apoptosis. Except for a partial protective effect of quinine, all of the tested blockers of Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl^? channels failed to prevent apoptosis or AVD.     

Determination of the Role of DDX3 a Factor Involved in Mammalian RNAi Pathway Using an shRNA-Expression Library

RNA interference (RNAi) is an endogenous RNA-destruction phenomenon induced by certain double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs). In RNAi, dsRNAs are processed into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which in turn trigger the cleavage of the target mRNA. Here, using a short hairpin RNA-expression library, we identified a DEAD-box helicase 3, DDX3, as an essential factor involved in RNAi pathway and revealed that DDX3 is colocalized with Ago2, an essential factor in RNAi pathway that cleaves target mRNA. Results of experiments with a dominant negative mutant of DDX3 further confirmed that this factor affects the RNAi activity. Together, DDX3 functions to assure mammalian RNAi pathway. Together, our results indicate that DDX3 is a new key molecule to understand the molecular mechanism underlying RNAi pathway in mammals.     

Human immune responses elicited by an intranasal inactivated H5 influenza vaccine

Intranasally administered influenza vaccines could be more effective than injected vaccines, because intranasal vaccination can induce virus-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in the upper respiratory tract, which is the initial site of infection. In this study, immune responses elicited by an intranasal inactivated vaccine of influenza A(H5N1) virus were evaluated in healthy individuals naive for influenza A(H5N1) virus. Three doses of intranasal inactivated whole-virion H5 influenza vaccine induced strong neutralizing nasal IgA and serum IgG antibodies. In addition, a mucoadhesive excipient, carboxy vinyl polymer, had a notable impact on the induction of nasal IgA antibody responses but not on serum IgG antibody responses. The nasal hemagglutinin (HA)-specific IgA antibody responses clearly correlated with mucosal neutralizing antibody responses, indicating that measurement of nasal HA-specific IgA titers could be used as a surrogate for the mucosal antibody response. Furthermore, increased numbers of plasma cells and vaccine antigen-specific Th cells in the peripheral blood were observed after vaccination, suggesting that peripheral blood biomarkers may also be used to evaluate the intranasal vaccine-induced immune response. However, peripheral blood immune cell responses correlated with neutralizing antibody titers in serum samples but not in nasal wash samples. Thus, analysis of the peripheral blood immune response could be a surrogate for the systemic immune response to intranasal vaccination but not for the mucosal immune response. The current study suggests the clinical potential of intranasal inactivated vaccines against influenza A(H5N1) viruses and highlights the need to develop novel means to evaluate intranasal vaccine-induced mucosal immune responses.     

Mosaic double aneuploidy: Down syndrome and XYY

Chromosomal abnormalities are seen in nearly 1% of live born infants. We report a 5-year-old boy with the clinical features of Down syndrome, which is the most common human aneuploidy. Cytogenetic analysis showed a mosaicism for a double aneuploidy, Down syndrome and XYY. The karyotype was 47, XY,+21[19]/48, XYY,+21[6]. ish XYY (DXZ1 × 1, DYZ1 × 2). Mosaic double aneuploidies are very rare and features of only one of the aneuploidies may predominate in childhood. Cytogenetic analysis is recommended even if the typical features of a recognized aneuploidy are present so that any associated abnormality may be detected. This will enable early intervention to provide the adequate supportive care and management.     

Detection of silent cells,synchronization and modulatory activity in developing cellular networks

Developing networks in the immature nervous system and in cellular cultures are characterized by waves of synchronous activity in restricted clusters of cells. Synchronized activity in immature networks is proposed to regulate many different developmental processes, from neuron growth and cell migration, to the refinement of synapses, topographic maps, and the mature composition of ion channels. These emergent activity patterns are not present in all cells simultaneously within the network and more immature “silent” cells, potentially correlated with the presence of silent synapses, are prominent in different networks during early developmental periods. Many current network analyses for detection of synchronous cellular activity utilize activity‐based pixel correlations to identify cellular‐based regions of interest (ROIs) and coincident cell activity. However, using activity‐based correlations, these methods first underestimate or ignore the inactive silent cells within the developing network and second, are difficult to apply within cell‐dense regions commonly found in developing brain networks. In addition, previous methods may ignore ROIs within a network that shows transient activity patterns comprising both inactive and active periods. We developed analysis software to semi‐automatically detect cells within developing neuronal networks that were imaged using calcium‐sensitive reporter dyes. Using an iterative threshold, modulation of activity was tracked within individual cells across the network. The distribution pattern of both inactive and active, including synchronous cells, could be determined based on distance measures to neighboring cells and according to different anatomical layers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 357–374, 2016     

The Association of Gum Bleeding with Respiratory Health in a Population Based Study from Northern Europe

Background

There is little knowledge about how oral and respiratory health is interrelated even though the mucosa of the oral cavity and airways constitutes a continuum and the exposures to these are partly similar.

Aims

To investigate whether gum bleeding is related to asthma, respiratory symptoms and self-reported COPD.

Methods

A postal questionnaire including questions about respiratory and oral health was sent to general population samples in seven Northern European centres. In 13,409 responders, gum bleeding when brushing teeth was reported always/often by 4% and sometimes by 20%. Logistic regressions accounted for age, smoking, educational level, centre and gender. Effects of BMI, cardio-metabolic diseases, early life factors, gastro-oesophageal reflux, dental hygiene, nasal congestion, and asthma medication were addressed.

Results

Gum bleeding always/often was significantly associated with ≥3 asthma symptoms (OR 2.58, 95% CI 2.10–3.18), asthma (1.62 [1.23–2.14]) and self-reported COPD (2.02 [1.28–3.18]). There was a dose-response relationship between respiratory outcomes and gum bleeding frequency (≥3 symptoms: gum bleeding sometimes 1.42 [1.25–1.60], often/always 2.58 [2.10–3.18]), and there was no heterogeneity between centres (p_{heterogeneity} = 0.49). None of the investigated risk factors explained the associations. The observed associations were significantly stronger among current smokers (p_interaction = 0.004).

Conclusions

A consistent link between gum bleeding and obstructive airways disease was observed, not explained by common risk factors or metabolic factors. We speculate that oral pathogens might have unfavourable impact on the airways, and that the direct continuity of the mucosa of the oral cavity and the airways reflects a pathway that might provide novel opportunities for interventions.