Low clonal propagation in Atlantic and Mediterranean populations of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Octocorallia)

Clonal propagation is a common feature of benthic marine organisms. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of clonal reproduction in the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. Mediterranean populations of P. clavata were severely affected by mass mortality events caused by increased water temperature in 1999 and 2003. The populations are characterized by slow growth and episodic recruitment, but after the observed mortalities, an unexpectedly high recovery rate was observed in the severely affected populations from the Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean. Ten years after the last mortality event, we investigated the contribution of clonal propagation in populations from the Ligurian Sea, where some populations were highly affected by mass mortality events, and from the Atlantic, where mortality was never observed. All individuals were genotyped for nine microsatellite loci. The contribution of clonal reproduction varied from 0% to 13% and did not differ significantly between affected and unaffected populations. We confirm by using genetic markers that clonal propagation in P. clavata is not common, and that the contribution of clones is too low to play an important role in red gorgonian reproduction and cannot contribute to population recovery at sites that have been affected by mass mortality events.Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) under the COMPETE program - European Regional Development Fund [PTDC/BIA-BIC/114526/2009]; MARES Grant; Erasmus Mundus [FPA 2011-0016

Cognitive impairment assessment through handwriting (COGITAT) score: a novel tool that predicts cognitive state from handwriting for forensic and clinical applications

IntroductionHandwriting deteriorates proportionally to the writer’s cognitive state. Such knowledge is of special importance in the case of a contested will, where dementia of the testator is claimed, but medical records are often insufficient to decide what the testator’s cognitive state really was. By contrast, if the will is handwritten, handwriting analysis allows us to gauge the testator’s cognitive state at the precise moment when he/she was writing the will. However, quantitative methods are needed to precisely evaluate whether the writer’s cognitive state was normal or not. We aim to provide a test that quantifies handwriting deterioration to gauge a writer’s cognitive state.MethodsWe consecutively enrolled patients who came for the evaluation of cognitive impairment at the Outpatient Clinic for Cognitive Impairment of the Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal and Child Sciences (DINOGMI) of the University of Genoa, Italy. Additionally, we enrolled their caregivers. We asked them to write a short text by hand, and we administered the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Then, we investigated which handwriting parameters correlated with cognitive state as gauged by the MMSE.ResultsOur study found that a single score, which we called the COGnitive Impairment Through hAndwriTing (COGITAT) score, reliably allows us to predict the writer’s cognitive state.ConclusionThe COGITAT score may be a valuable tool to gage the cognitive state of the author of a manuscript. This score may be especially useful in contested handwritten wills, where clinical examination of the writer is precluded

Abrogation of Junctional Adhesion Molecule-A Expression Induces Cell Apoptosis and Reduces Breast Cancer Progression

Intercellular junctions promote homotypic cell to cell adhesion and transfer intracellular signals which control cell growth and apoptosis. Junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) is a transmembrane immunoglobulin located at tight junctions of normal epithelial cells of mammary ducts and glands. In the present paper we show that JAM-A acts as a survival factor for mammary carcinoma cells. JAM-A null mice expressing Polyoma Middle T under MMTV promoter develop significantly smaller mammary tumors than JAM-A positive mice. Angiogenesis and inflammatory or immune infiltrate were not statistically modified in absence of JAM-A but tumor cell apoptosis was significantly increased. Tumor cells isolated from JAM-A null mice or 4T1 cells incubated with JAM-A blocking antibodies showed reduced growth and increased apoptosis which paralleled altered junctional architecture and adhesive function. In a breast cancer clinical data set, tissue microarray data show that JAM-A expression correlates with poor prognosis. Gene expression analysis of mouse tumor samples showed a correlation between genes enriched in human G3 tumors and genes over expressed in JAM-A +/+ mammary tumors. Conversely, genes enriched in G1 human tumors correlate with genes overexpressed in JAM-A−/− tumors. We conclude that down regulation of JAM-A reduces tumor aggressive behavior by increasing cell susceptibility to apoptosis. JAM-A may be considered a negative prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target

Analysis of shared common genetic risk between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy

Because hyper-excitability has been shown to be a shared pathophysiological mechanism, we used the latest and largest genome-wide studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 36,052) and epilepsy (n = 38,349) to determine genetic overlap between these conditions. First, we showed no significant genetic correlation, also when binned on minor allele frequency. Second, we confirmed the absence of polygenic overlap using genomic risk score analysis. Finally, we did not identify pleiotropic variants in meta-analyses of the 2 diseases. Our findings indicate that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy do not share common genetic risk, showing that hyper-excitability in both disorders has distinct origins

Identificación de Poblaciones de Odontesthes smitti a partir de estructuras duras

El pejerrey Odontesthes smitti se distribuye desde la localidad de Mar del Plata hasta el Canal de Beagle e Islas Malvinas, en Argentina. Debido a su importancia económica en la pesca comercial y deportiva, así como el poco conocimiento sobre la dinámica de la especie, resulta importante realizar estudios poblacionales que permitan efectuar un mejor manejo sobre la misma. El objetivo del presente trabajo es establecer la presencia de una o más poblaciones de O. smitti a lo largo de la costa argentina. Para ello, se muestrearon 139 ejemplares de O. smitti en dos puntos: Las Grutas (LG) y Bahía Rosas (BR), Río Negro y 30 ejemplares de Puerto Deseado (PD), Santa Cruz. Se midió la longitud total (LT) de cada ejemplar y se extrajeron sus otolitos; posteriormente se los fotografiaron y se realizaron medidas morfométricas con Image Pro Plus 4.5. Se realizaron regresiones lineales entre el LT del pez vs el largo (LO) y el ancho del otolito (AO). Asimismo, se extrajeron las columnas vertebrales de cinco ejemplares de los tres puntos de muestreo, a fin de realizar una descripción morfológica de los arcos hemales Los resultados para LG y BR presentaron un coeficiente de regresión alto (r2= 0.89) para la relación LO vs LT con pendiente (a=0.02) y ordenada al origen (b= 0.84), mientras que, para PD el coeficiente de regresión fue también alto (r2= 0.86) para la relación LO vs LT, pero con pendiente (a=0.01) y ordenada al origen (b= 0.70). Los arcos hemales presentaron expansiones en el sentido anteroposterior con contacto entre ellos, mientras que en los ejemplares de PD no se observó el contacto entre los arcos hemales. Probablemente esta diferencia se deba a que existan, al menos, dos grupos poblacionales de O. smitti. Uno en el norte y otro en el sur de Patagonia.Fil: Tombari, Andrea Diana. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Atlántica; ArgentinaFil: Saade, Valeria A.. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Atlántica; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Bruno. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Atlántica; ArgentinaFil: Cocito, Laura Leilén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaX Jornadas Nacionales de Ciencias del Mar; VIII Coloquio Nacional de OcenografíaCiudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentinaUniversidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicad

Cold-water coral Madrepora oculata in the eastern Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean): Historical and recent findings

Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems are long-lived, slow-growing and fragile, which makes them especially vulnerable to physical damage. In recent decades, CWCs have been severely threatened by fisheries, hydrocarbon extraction, pollution and other human activities. In the Mediterranean Sea, some investigations have been carried out on CWC ecosystems, mostly focused on their distributions within the central and eastern basins. Historical reports and fishermen's maps for the eastern Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean) from the 1960s document the occurrence of extensive banks of living CWC, mostly Madrepora oculata, between depths of 200 and 500 m. In 2013/2014, multibeam, side scan sonar (SSS) and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys were carried out in that area, specifically in the Levante Canyon, to assess the occurrence, distribution and conservation status of CWC. The SSS and ROV showed numerous trawl tracks and small (10 cm high), dead, buried colonies at 300-500 m. Deeper, between 525 and 575 m, dense populations of living, 1 m high colonies of Madrepora oculata were found on the flanks of Levante Canyon. The deep sites showed colonies overturned or entangled by long-line fishing activities. The discovery of new CWC banks not yet heavily damaged by fishing activities, suggests that urgent measures for conservation should be taken in the Mediterranean and worldwide. The present limitation of trawl-fishing to above 1000 m depth, established by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in 2005, seems to be ineffective, since CWCs are mostly located at less than 1000 m depth in the Ligurian Sea. A network of high-seas/deep-sea marine protected areas (MPAs) would favour a better strategy for protecting substantial areas of CWCs