What to expect from high throughput genomics in metastatic breast cancers?

peer reviewe

The scurs inheritance: new insights from the French Charolais breed

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Polled animals are valued in cattle industry because the absence of horns has a significant economic impact. However, some cattle are neither polled nor horned but have so-called scurs on their heads, which are corneous growths loosely attached to the skull. A better understanding of the genetic determinism of the scurs phenotype would help to fine map the polled locus. To date, only one study has attempted to map the <it>scurs </it>locus in cattle. Here, we have investigated the inheritance of the scurs phenotype in the French Charolais breed and examined whether the previously proposed localisation of the <it>scurs </it>locus on bovine chromosome 19 could be confirmed or not.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results indicate that the inheritance pattern of the scurs phenotype in the French Charolais breed is autosomal recessive with complete penetrance in both sexes, which is different from what is reported for other breeds. The frequency of the <it>scurs </it>allele (<it>Sc</it>) reaches 69.9% in the French Charolais population. Eleven microsatellite markers on bovine chromosome 19 were genotyped in 267 offspring (33 half-sib and full-sib families). Both non-parametric and parametric linkage analyses suggest that in the French Charolais population the <it>scurs </it>locus may not map to the previously identified region. A new analysis of an Angus-Hereford and Hereford-Hereford pedigree published in 1978 enabled us to calculate the frequency of the <it>Sc </it>allele in the Hereford breed (89.4%) and to study the penetrance of this allele in males heterozygous for both <it>polled </it>and <it>scurs </it>loci (40%). This led us to revise the inheritance pattern of the scurs phenotype proposed for the Hereford breed and to suggest that allele <it>Sc </it>is not fully but partially dominant in double heterozygous males while it is always recessive in females. Crossbreeding involving the Charolais breed and other breeds gave results similar to those reported in the Hereford breed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest the existence of unknown genetics factors modifying the expression of the <it>scurs </it>locus in double heterozygous Hereford and Angus males. The specific inheritance pattern of the <it>scurs </it>locus in the French Charolais breed represents an opportunity to map this gene and to identify the molecular mechanisms regulating the growth of horns in cattle.</p

Functional study in NSE-Hu-Bcl-2 transgenic mice: a model for retinal diseases starting in Müller cells

In NSE-Hu-Bcl-2 transgenic mice, line 71, retina undergoes early postnatal degeneration linked to the prior death of Müller cells. The purpose of this study was to complete the characterization of this retinal dysfunction by using electroretinographic (ERG) recordings in both scotopic and photopic conditions. Here, we showed that both rod and cone systems were profoundly affected in NSE-Hu-Bcl-2 transgenic mice as soon as 15 postnatal days in accordance with histological study performed previousl

Modification of PCV-2 virulence by substitution of the genogroup motif of the capsid protein

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) is the causal agent of the post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). PCV-2 are small single-stranded circular DNA viruses clustered into two main genogroups: PCV-2a and PCV-2b. Each genogroup present a specific highly-conserved motif of six amino acids (between amino acids 86 and 91) in the PCV-2 capsid protein. The aim of this study was to verify whether the motif located in the capsid protein and specific to each PCV-2 genogroup contributes to virulence. Two parental DNA clones, PCV-2a and PCV-2b, were constructed as well as two mutants DNA clones, PCV-2a/motif 2b and PCV-2b/motif 2a by exchanging the capsid motif of each genogroup. The four DNA clones were characterized in vitro as well as in vivo. Cells transfected by the four DNA clones produced infectious viruses. In specific-pathogen-free piglets transfected by the four infectious DNA clones, PCV-2b/motif 2a virulence was not attenuated while the PCV-2a/motif 2b virulence was drastically reduced compared to their parent virulence. These results suggest that the amino acids between positions 86 and 91 of the capsid protein are determinant for the virulence of isolates. However, the environment of this motif seems also involved

Impact of oceanic floods on particulate metal inputs to coastal and deep-sea environments: A case study in the NW Mediterranean Sea

An exceptional flood event, accompanying a marine storm, was investigated simultaneously at the entrance and the exit of the Gulf of Lion's hydrosystem (NW Mediterranean) in December 2003. Cs, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb signatures of both riverine and shelf-exported particles indicate that continental inputs and resuspended prodeltaic sediments were intensively mixed with resuspended sediments from middle/outer shelf areas during advective transport. As a result, particles leaving the Gulf of Lion inherited the mean signature of shelf bottom sediments, exporting anthropogenic Pb and Zn out into the open sea. When assessing the particulate metal budget in relation with the event, it appears that the output fluxes accounted for between 15% and 60% of the input fluxes, depending on the element and the period of reference. This trend is also observed for annual budgets, which were drawn up by compiling the data from this study and the literature. Results evidenced that, except some element fluxes during extreme output scenario, outputs never counter-balance the inputs. In its current functioning, the Gulf of Lion's shelf seems to act as a retention/sink zone for particulate metals. Regarding anthropogenic fluxes, the contribution of the oceanic flood of December 2003 to the mean annual scenario is considerable. Environmental impacts onto coastal and deep-sea ecosystems should therefore tightly depend on both the intensity and the frequency of event-dominated sediment transport

Path constraints in semistructured data

International audienceWe consider semistructured data as multirooted edge-labelled directed graphs, and path inclusion constraints on these graphs. A path inclusion constraint pnot precedes, equalsq is satisfied by a semistructured data if any node reached by the regular query p is also reached by the regular query q. In this paper, two problems are mainly studied: the implication problem and the problem of the existence of a finite exact model. - We give a new decision algorithm for the implication problem of a constraint pnot precedes, equalsq by a set of bounded path constraints pinot precedes, equalsui where p, q, and the pi's are regular path expressions and the ui's are words, improving in this particular case, the more general algorithms of S. Abiteboul and V. Vianu, and N. Alechina et al. In the case of a set of word equalities ui≡vi, we provide a more efficient decision algorithm for the implication of a word equality u≡v, improving the more general algorithm of P. Buneman et al. We prove that, in this case, implication for nondeterministic models is equivalent to implication for (complete) deterministic ones. - We introduce the notion of exact model: an exact model of a set of path constraints Click to view the MathML source satisfies the constraint pnot precedes, equalsq if and only if this constraint is implied by Click to view the MathML source. We prove that any set of constraints has an exact model and we give a decidable characterization of data which are exact models of bounded path inclusion constraints sets

Book Review: True West: Authenticity and the American West

In the culture of the American West, the term authenticity comes close to frontier in its ubiquity, resonance, and elusiveness. The fifteen essays in this outstanding collection clarify how authenticity has functioned in cultural and literary settings. Instead of simply distinguishing the fake from the authentic, they explore the nature and consequences of quests for and claims to authenticity. Readers interested in the Great Plains will find rewarding essays on literature, environment, and the uses of American Indian history

Rencontrer une œuvre des Beatles en histoire des arts à l’école primaire. Une approche comparatiste en didactique

Cet article rend compte d’une situation d’enseignement-apprentissage en histoire des arts, en classe de CM1. Les œuvres étudiées sont la chanson des Beatles A Day in The Life et la pochette de l’album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band où figure cette chanson. L’analyse des séances de classe se situe dans le cadre de la Théorie de l’Action Conjointe en Didactique (TACD). Elle vise à comprendre comment l’action conjointe du professeur et des élèves produit des liens entre ces œuvres, avec d’autres œuvres qui les éclairent et avec leur dimension historique. Cet enseignement d’histoire des arts appelle le croisement de différents domaines disciplinaires. L’objet de cet article est d’essayer de comprendre les modalités de cette rencontre. En ce sens, il constitue un objet d’étude privilégié pour une approche comparatiste en didactique.The aim of this article is to describe a class situation where the teacher has to teach the history of the arts to nine-year olds. This Year Four class studied a song by the Beatles, A day in the life as well as the cover of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The analysis of these classes is carried out in the framework of the JATD. It tries to understand how this joint action of teacher and pupil creates connections between these artistic works and other works that shed light on them within their historical context. The teaching of the history of the arts involves the interaction of different disciplinary fields. It consists of the study of this subject, which is not common, in order to undertake a comparative approach

Groupe de travail en anthropologie sociale comparative

Jean-Claude Galey, directeur d’étudesCécile Barraud, directrice de recherche au CNRSAndré Iteanu, directeur d’études à lΈΡΗΕ Compte rendu non communiqu