Morphological Identification of Parasites Found in Ducks (Family Anatidae) Along the Mississippi River: A Parasitology Class Project

Ducks (Anatidae) can be found across much of the United States and are hosts to a variety of parasites such as nematodes, trematodes or cestodes. This study focused on identifying the species of the parasites found within ducks based on their morphological features. The morphological structures consisted of body shape, internal organs, mouthparts, and length. The ducks used in this study were legally harvested and donated by hunters from areas across the Mississippi River in Buffalo County and Trempealeau County Wisconsin. A total of 108 ducks have been analyzed for parasites. It is important to identify the types of parasites that use ducks as a host, to see if they are harmful to the ducks so that they can be better managed. Necropsy was performed on different species of ducks to extract endo and ectoparasites. The extracted parasites were stained using carmine borax so they could be viewed using microscopy. While examining the parasites under the microscope, length and width measurements were taken as well as identifying key features like hold fast organs. A published key was used as a guide to identify parasites based on the measurements and key features present. The identified parasites were compared with DNA analysis from another research group to help ensure that the identification of the parasites was correct. Finally, identifications were compared to published articles containing past research found on parasites in ducks

Flux-Enabled Exploration of the Role of Sip1 in galactose yeast metabolism

13C metabolic flux analysis (13C MFA) is an important systems biology technique that has been used to investigate microbial metabolism for decades. The heterotrimer Snf1 kinase complex plays a key role in the preference Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibits for glucose over galactose, a phenomenon known as glucose repression or carbon catabolite repression. The SIP1 gene, encoding a part of this complex, has received little attention, presumably, because its knockout lacks a growth phenotype. We present a fluxomic investigation of the relative effects of the presence of galactose in classically glucose-repressing media and/or knockout of SIP1 using a multi-scale variant of 13C MFA known as 2-Scale 13C metabolic flux analysis (2S-13C MFA). In this study, all strains have the galactose metabolism deactivated (gal1Δ background) so as to be able to separate the metabolic effects purely related to glucose repression from those arising from galactose metabolism. The resulting flux profiles reveal that the presence of galactose in classically glucose-repressing conditions, for a CEN.PK113-7D gal1Δ background, results in a substantial decrease in pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) flux and increased flow from cytosolic pyruvate and malate through the mitochondria toward cytosolic branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis. These fluxomic redistributions are accompanied by a higher maximum specific growth rate, both seemingly in violation of glucose repression. Deletion of SIP1 in the CEN.PK113-7D gal1Δ cells grown in mixed glucose/galactose medium results in a further increase. Knockout of this gene in cells grown in glucose-only medium results in no change in growth rate and a corresponding decrease in glucose and ethanol exchange fluxes and flux through pathways involved in aspartate/threonine biosynthesis. Glucose repression appears to be violated at a 1/10 ratio of galactose-to-glucose. Based on the scientific literature, we may have conducted our experiments near a critical sugar ratio that is known to allow galactose to enter the cell. Additionally, we report a number of fluxomic changes associated with these growth rate increases and unexpected flux profile redistributions resulting from deletion of SIP1 in glucose-only medium

A Cas9-based toolkit to program gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Despite the extensive use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a platform for synthetic biology, strain engineering remains slow and laborious. Here, we employ CRISPR/Cas9 technology to build a cloning-free toolkit that addresses commonly encountered obstacles in metabolic engineering, including chromosomal integration locus and promoter selection, as well as protein localization and solubility. The toolkit includes 23 Cas9-sgRNA plasmids, 37 promoters of various strengths and temporal expression profiles, and 10 protein-localization, degradation and solubility tags. We facilitated the use of these parts via a web-based tool, that automates the generation of DNA fragments for integration. Our system builds upon existing gene editing methods in the thoroughness with which the parts are standardized and characterized, the types and number of parts available and the ease with which our methodology can be used to perform genetic edits in yeast. We demonstrated the applicability of this toolkit by optimizing the expression of a challenging but industrially important enzyme, taxadiene synthase (TXS). This approach enabled us to diagnose an issue with TXS solubility, the resolution of which yielded a 25-fold improvement in taxadiene production

Urf: Islamic Biomedical Ethics in Rural Mali

Anxious faces gather at the entrance to La Grande Mosquée de Sanankoroba, an imposing cement structure amongst small mud homes, awaiting the imam’s decision. He is not a mujtahid , but offers fatwas nonetheless; today’s is on birth control. Men crowd around—and a few women at the rear—to hear him speak out against birth control, against the use of oral contraception, for being against Islam and against God’s plan. And when his speech finishes, the faces disappear, back into their homes, and little discussion ensues. Instead, men return to their wives to share the verdict, to denounce family planning as haraam, and add to Mali’s already engorged birth rate. But is family planning truly against Islam, and does this Imam, who is not a mujtahid, have the right to offer fatwas? Is his ruling valid, and does it matter? All that matters now is that an entire village believes birth control is un-Godlike, and few will use it. But what does Islam actually say about family planning? Who determines Islamic biomedical ethics and how? And how does this translate to the people of Sanankoroba? The complex discourse between science and religion presents itself at every opportunity, its existence offering conflicts since the dual debut of these two faiths. Textbooks, novels, and manifestoes have been written about this conflict, and I do not claim expertise in any area of this debate. Instead, I seek to begin to examine the interplay between science and religion as it relates to Islamic biomedical ethics, and its implications for the people of Mali. Understanding religious approaches to science results in more appropriate, and therefore more effective, treatments, which benefit patient and healthcare worker alike. Ninety percent of Malians practice some form of Islam, mainly Sunni and Wahhabist Islam, and Islam plays a crucial role in medical care: medications that must be taken on an exact schedule are timed to morning or evening prayers in villages where clocks are not prevalent; excision, practiced by ninety-six percent of Malians, causes extreme pain and excessive haemorrhaging during childbirth. To this end, I wanted to understand how Islamic biomedical ethics are understood amongst Malians, particularly amongst rural Malians, if and how they are applied, what possible conflicts result, and how they can be reconciled. To enhance the feasibility of this study in the short time available, and enable a slightly in-depth look at complex subjects, I chose three biomedical topics of interest to me: abortion, birth control, and religious observances during pregnancy. I studied these topics through topical, official Islam, using scholarly works as the basis of my research, through medical observations, and through interviews with healthcare workers and patients at my field site. This study was done mostly out of personal interest—to finally link my religious studies major and medical school aspirations—but also out of a desire to understand Malian opinions so to better reconcile medicine and Malian Islam in the future

Cranial autonomic symptoms in pediatric migraine are the rule, not the exception

OBJECTIVE: The presence of cranial autonomic symptoms often leads to a misdiagnosis of “sinus headache” in adult migraineurs, leading to unnecessary treatments and delaying appropriate migraine therapy. In this study, we examined the frequency of cranial autonomic symptoms in pediatric/adolescent patients with migraine. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included all pediatric and adolescent patients with migraine evaluated by a single investigator at 4 different sites over the course of the study period. RESULTS: Of 125 pediatric migraineurs, 62% had at least one cranial autonomic symptom based on current International Classification of Headache Disorders, second edition (ICHD-II) criteria, and 70% based on proposed ICHD-III criteria. The majority had more than one cranial autonomic symptom and the symptoms tended to be bilateral. Age, sex, laterality of headache, presence of aura, and whether migraine was episodic vs chronic did not influence the likelihood of having cranial autonomic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric/adolescent migraine, the presence of cranial autonomic symptoms appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Clinicians should be careful to consider migraine when evaluating a child with headache and associated ocular or nasal symptoms so as to avoid giving a misdiagnosis of sinus headache

Outcomes of Greater Occipital Nerve Injections in Pediatric Patients With Chronic Primary Headache Disorders

BackgroundChronic migraine is common in pediatrics and generally disabling. In adults, infiltration of the area around the greater occipital nerve can provide short- to medium-term benefit in some patients. This study reports the efficacy of greater occipital nerve infiltrations in pediatric patients with chronic primary headache disorders.MethodsRetrospective chart review of patients <18 years with a chronic primary headache disorder undergoing a first-time injection. Infiltrations were unilateral and consisted of a mixture of methylprednisolone acetate, adjusted for weight, and lidocaine 2%.ResultsForty-six patients were treated. Thirty-five (76%) had chronic migraine, 9 (20%) new daily persistent headache (NDPH), and 2 (4%) a chronic trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia. Medication overuse was present in 26%. Ages ranged from 7 to 17 years. Follow-up data were available for 40 (87%). Overall, 53% (21/40) benefitted, and 52% (11/21) benefitted significantly. Benefit onset ranged from 0 to 14 days, mean 4.7 (SD 4.3), with mean benefit duration of 5.4 (SD 4.9) weeks. In chronic migraine, 62% (18/29) benefitted, and 56% (10/18) significantly benefitted. In NDPH, 33% (3/9) benefitted; 33% (n = 1) significantly. Neither child with a chronic trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia benefitted. In logistic regression modeling, medication overuse, age, sex, and sensory change in the distribution of the infiltrated nerve did not predict outcome. There were no serious side effects.ConclusionsGreater occipital nerve injections benefitted 53% of pediatric patients with chronic primary headache disorders. Efficacy appeared greater in chronic migraine than NDPH. Given the benign side effect profile, a greater occipital nerve infiltration seems appropriate before more aggressive approaches

Cranial autonomic symptoms in pediatric migraine are the rule, not the exception

ObjectiveThe presence of cranial autonomic symptoms often leads to a misdiagnosis of "sinus headache" in adult migraineurs, leading to unnecessary treatments and delaying appropriate migraine therapy. In this study, we examined the frequency of cranial autonomic symptoms in pediatric/adolescent patients with migraine.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included all pediatric and adolescent patients with migraine evaluated by a single investigator at 4 different sites over the course of the study period.ResultsOf 125 pediatric migraineurs, 62% had at least one cranial autonomic symptom based on current International Classification of Headache Disorders, second edition (ICHD-II) criteria, and 70% based on proposed ICHD-III criteria. The majority had more than one cranial autonomic symptom and the symptoms tended to be bilateral. Age, sex, laterality of headache, presence of aura, and whether migraine was episodic vs chronic did not influence the likelihood of having cranial autonomic symptoms.ConclusionsIn pediatric/adolescent migraine, the presence of cranial autonomic symptoms appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Clinicians should be careful to consider migraine when evaluating a child with headache and associated ocular or nasal symptoms so as to avoid giving a misdiagnosis of sinus headache