Drosophila nuclear lamin precursor Dm0 is translated from either of two developmentally regulated mRNA species apparently encoded by a single gene.

A cDNA clone encoding a portion of Drosophila nuclear lamins Dm1 and Dm2 has been identified by screening a lambda-gt11 cDNA expression library using Drosophila lamin-specific monoclonal antibodies. Two different developmentally regulated mRNA species were identified by Northern blot analysis using the initial cDNA as a probe, and full-length cDNA clones, apparently corresponding to each message, have been isolated. In vitro transcription of both full-length cDNA clones in a pT7 transcription vector followed by in vitro translation in wheat germ lysate suggests that both clones encode lamin Dm0, the polypeptide precursor of lamins Dm1 and Dm2. Nucleotide sequence analyses confirm the impression that both cDNA clones code for the identical polypeptide, which is highly homologous with human lamins A and C as well as with mammalian intermediate filament proteins. The two clones differ in their 3'-untranslated regions. In situ hybridization of lamin cDNA clones to Drosophila polytene chromosomes shows only a single locus of hybridization at or near position 25F on the left arm of chromosome 2. Southern blot analyses of genomic DNA are consistent with the notion that a single or only a few highly similar genes encoding Drosophila nuclear lamin Dm0 exist in the genome

A cross-sectional observational study of the nutritional intake of UK primary school children from deprived and non-deprived backgrounds: implications for school breakfast schemes

BACKGROUND: This study examined the nutritional intake of 9-11 year old children in Wales, UK, to assess the rationale for, and potential of, school breakfast initiatives. It also examined the possible unintended consequence of over consumption. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional observational design within a randomized controlled trial of a free school breakfast programme. A total of 111 primary schools were randomly assigned to an intervention condition (in which a free school breakfast programme was implemented) or a control condition (in which implementation of the scheme was delayed). Sub-samples of children completed multiple-pass 24-hr dietary recall interviews at baseline (n = 581), and 12 months later (n = 582). Deprivation was assessed for each child in terms of whether or not they were entitled to free school meals. RESULTS: Prior to the introduction of the programme, rates of breakfast skipping were low and there was little evidence of widespread nutritional deficiency. However, there was a subset of children who consumed inadequate levels of a range of vitamins and minerals and 29 % of children ate very little for breakfast (less than 100 kcal). Children that ate larger breakfasts, had higher daily intakes of all nutrients that were examined. Children from deprived backgrounds consumed significantly lower levels of several vitamins and minerals at breakfast. Following the introduction of the breakfast scheme in intervention schools, there was little difference in the nutritional quality of school versus home breakfasts (n = 35 and 211 respectively). Where children ate breakfast at both school and home (n = 33), their overall energy intake was higher, but not significantly so. CONCLUSIONS: Although the overall diet of this group of children was generally good prior to the breakfast scheme, the results suggest that such schemes could be beneficial for a subset of children who are poorly nourished and for those children who consume very little for breakfast. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN18336527

Art as a Means to Disrupt Routine Use of Space

This paper examines the publicly visible aspects of counter-terrorism activity in pedestrian spaces as mechanisms of disruption. We discuss the objectives of counter-terrorism in terms of disruption of routine for both hostile actors and general users of public spaces, categorising the desired effects as 1) triangulation of attention; 2) creation of unexpected performance; and 3) choreographing of crowd flow. We review the potential effects of these existing forms of disruption used in counter-terrorism. We then present a palette of art, advertising, architecture, and entertainment projects that offer examples of the same disruption effects of triangulation, performance and flow. We conclude by reviewing the existing support for public art in counter-terrorism policy, and build on the argument for art as an important alternative to authority. We suggest that while advocates of authority-based disruption might regard the playfulness of some art as a weakness, the unexpectedness it offers is perhaps a key strengt

Impact of Carnivory on Human Development and Evolution Revealed by a New Unifying Model of Weaning in Mammals

Our large brain, long life span and high fertility are key elements of human evolutionary success and are often thought to have evolved in interplay with tool use, carnivory and hunting. However, the specific impact of carnivory on human evolution, life history and development remains controversial. Here we show in quantitative terms that dietary profile is a key factor influencing time to weaning across a wide taxonomic range of mammals, including humans. In a model encompassing a total of 67 species and genera from 12 mammalian orders, adult brain mass and two dichotomous variables reflecting species differences regarding limb biomechanics and dietary profile, accounted for 75.5%, 10.3% and 3.4% of variance in time to weaning, respectively, together capturing 89.2% of total variance. Crucially, carnivory predicted the time point of early weaning in humans with remarkable precision, yielding a prediction error of less than 5% with a sample of forty-six human natural fertility societies as reference. Hence, carnivory appears to provide both a necessary and sufficient explanation as to why humans wean so much earlier than the great apes. While early weaning is regarded as essentially differentiating the genus Homo from the great apes, its timing seems to be determined by the same limited set of factors in humans as in mammals in general, despite some 90 million years of evolution. Our analysis emphasizes the high degree of similarity of relative time scales in mammalian development and life history across 67 genera from 12 mammalian orders and shows that the impact of carnivory on time to weaning in humans is quantifiable, and critical. Since early weaning yields shorter interbirth intervals and higher rates of reproduction, with profound effects on population dynamics, our findings highlight the emergence of carnivory as a process fundamentally determining human evolution

Cross-species protein sequence and gene structure prediction with fine-tuned Webscipio 2.0 and Scipio

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obtaining transcripts of homologs of closely related organisms and retrieving the reconstructed exon-intron patterns of the genes is a very important process during the analysis of the evolution of a protein family and the comparative analysis of the exon-intron structure of a certain gene from different species. Due to the ever-increasing speed of genome sequencing, the gap to genome annotation is growing. Thus, tools for the correct prediction and reconstruction of genes in related organisms become more and more important. The tool Scipio, which can also be used via the graphical interface WebScipio, performs significant hit processing of the output of the Blat program to account for sequencing errors, missing sequence, and fragmented genome assemblies. However, Scipio has so far been limited to high sequence similarity and unable to reconstruct short exons.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scipio and WebScipio have fundamentally been extended to better reconstruct very short exons and intron splice sites and to be better suited for cross-species gene structure predictions. The Needleman-Wunsch algorithm has been implemented for the search for short parts of the query sequence that were not recognized by Blat. Those regions might either be short exons, divergent sequence at intron splice sites, or very divergent exons. We have shown the benefit and use of new parameters with several protein examples from completely different protein families in searches against species from several kingdoms of the eukaryotes. The performance of the new Scipio version has been tested in comparison with several similar tools.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With the new version of Scipio very short exons, terminal and internal, of even just one amino acid can correctly be reconstructed. Scipio is also able to correctly predict almost all genes in cross-species searches even if the ancestors of the species separated more than 100 Myr ago and if the protein sequence identity is below 80%. For our test cases Scipio outperforms all other software tested. WebScipio has been restructured and provides easy access to the genome assemblies of about 640 eukaryotic species. Scipio and WebScipio are freely accessible at <url>http://www.webscipio.org</url>.</p

Reasons for (Non)Participating in a Telephone-Based Intervention Program for Families with Overweight Children

Willingness to participate in obesity prevention programs is low; underlying reasons are poorly understood. We evaluated reasons for (non)participating in a novel telephone-based obesity prevention program for overweight children and their families. percentile) aged 3.5–17.4 years were screened via the CrescNet database, a representative cohort of German children, and program participation (repetitive computer aided telephone counseling) was offered by their local pediatrician. Identical questionnaires to collect baseline data on anthropometrics, lifestyle, eating habits, sociodemographic and psychosocial parameters were analyzed from 433 families (241 participants, 192 nonparticipants). Univariate analyses and binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with nonparticipation. percentile) was higher in participants (58.9% vs.38%,p<0.001). Participating girls were younger than boys (8.8 vs.10.4 years, p<0.001). 87.3% and 40% of participants, but only 72.2% and 24.7% of nonparticipants, respectively, reported to have regular breakfasts (p = 0.008) and 5 regular daily meals (p = 0.003). Nonparticipants had a lower household-net-income (p<0.001), but higher subjective physical wellbeing than participants (p = 0.018) and believed that changes in lifestyle can be made easily (p = 0.05).An important reason for nonparticipation was non-awareness of their child's weight status by parents. Nonparticipants, who were often low-income families, believed that they already perform a healthy lifestyle and had a higher subjective wellbeing. We hypothesize that even a low-threshold intervention program does not reach the families who really need it

Ensemble Composition and Activity Levels of Insectivorous Bats in Response to Management Intensification in Coffee Agroforestry Systems

Shade coffee plantations have received attention for their role in biodiversity conservation. Bats are among the most diverse mammalian taxa in these systems; however, previous studies of bats in coffee plantations have focused on the largely herbivorous leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae). In contrast, we have virtually no information on how ensembles of aerial insectivorous bats – nearly half the Neotropical bat species – change in response to habitat modification. To evaluate the effects of agroecosystem management on insectivorous bats, we studied their diversity and activity in southern Chiapas, Mexico, a landscape dominated by coffee agroforestry. We used acoustic monitoring and live captures to characterize the insectivorous bat ensemble in forest fragments and coffee plantations differing in the structural and taxonomic complexity of shade trees. We captured bats of 12 non-phyllostomid species; acoustic monitoring revealed the presence of at least 12 more species of aerial insectivores. Richness of forest bats was the same across all land-use types; in contrast, species richness of open-space bats increased in low shade, intensively managed coffee plantations. Conversely, only forest bats demonstrated significant differences in ensemble structure (as measured by similarity indices) across land-use types. Both overall activity and feeding activity of forest bats declined significantly with increasing management intensity, while the overall activity, but not feeding activity, of open-space bats increased. We conclude that diverse shade coffee plantations in our study area serve as valuable foraging and commuting habitat for aerial insectivorous bats, and several species also commute through or forage in low shade coffee monocultures

The effect of parental rearing conditions on offspring life history in Anopheles stephensi

Background The environmental conditions experienced by parents are increasingly recognized to impact the success of offspring. Little is known on the presence of such parental effects in Anopheles. If present, parental effects could influence mosquito breeding programmes, some malaria control measures and have epidemiological and evolutionary consequences. Methods The presence of parental effects on offspring emergence time, size, survival, blood meal size and fecundity in laboratory reared An. stephensi were tested. Results Parental rearing conditions did not influence the time taken for offspring to emerge, or their size or survival as adults. However, parental effects were influential in determining the fecundity of daughters. Counter-intuitively, daughters of parents reared in low food conditions produced larger egg clutches than daughters of parents reared in high food conditions. Offspring reared in low food conditions took larger blood meals if their parents had also experienced a low food environment. Conclusion So far as we are aware, this is the first evidence of parental effects on progeny in Anophele

Skewed Exposure to Environmental Antigens Complements Hygiene Hypothesis in Explaining the Rise of Allergy

The Hygiene Hypothesis has been recognized as an important cornerstone to explain the sudden increase in the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in modernized culture. The recent epidemic of allergic diseases is in contrast with the gradual implementation of Homo sapiens sapiens to the present-day forms of civilization. This civilization forms a gradual process with cumulative effects on the human immune system, which co-developed with parasitic and commensal Helminths. The clinical manifestation of this epidemic, however, became only visible in the second half of the twentieth century. In order to explain these clinical effects in terms of the underlying IgE-mediated reactions to innocuous environmental antigens, the low biodiversity of antigens in the domestic environment plays a pivotal role. The skewing of antigen exposure as a cumulative effect of reducing biodiversity in the immediate human environment as well as in changing food habits, provides a sufficient and parsimonious explanation for the rise in allergic diseases in a highly developed and helminth-free modernized culture. Socio-economic tendencies that incline towards a further reduction of environmental biodiversity may provide serious concern for future health. This article explains that the “Hygiene Hypothesis”, the “Old Friends Hypothesis”, and the “Skewed Antigen Exposure Hypothesis” are required to more fully explain the rise of allergy in modern societies

A Modifier Screen for Bazooka/PAR-3 Interacting Genes in the Drosophila Embryo Epithelium

The development and homeostasis of multicellular organisms depends on sheets of epithelial cells. Bazooka (Baz; PAR-3) localizes to the apical circumference of epithelial cells and is a key hub in the protein interaction network regulating epithelial structure. We sought to identify additional proteins that function with Baz to regulate epithelial structure in the Drosophila embryo.The baz zygotic mutant cuticle phenotype could be dominantly enhanced by loss of known interaction partners. To identify additional enhancers, we screened molecularly defined chromosome 2 and 3 deficiencies. 37 deficiencies acted as strong dominant enhancers. Using deficiency mapping, bioinformatics, and available single gene mutations, we identified 17 interacting genes encoding known and predicted polarity, cytoskeletal, transmembrane, trafficking and signaling proteins. For each gene, their loss of function enhanced adherens junction defects in zygotic baz mutants during early embryogenesis. To further evaluate involvement in epithelial polarity, we generated GFP fusion proteins for 15 of the genes which had not been found to localize to the apical domain previously. We found that GFP fusion proteins for Drosophila ASAP, Arf79F, CG11210, Septin 5 and Sds22 could be recruited to the apical circumference of epithelial cells. Nine of the other proteins showed various intracellular distributions, and one was not detected.Our enhancer screen identified 17 genes that function with Baz to regulate epithelial structure in the Drosophila embryo. Our secondary localization screen indicated that some of the proteins may affect epithelial cell polarity by acting at the apical cell cortex while others may act through intracellular processes. For 13 of the 17 genes, this is the first report of a link to baz or the regulation of epithelial structure