Transcriptional recapitulation and subversion of embryonic colon development by mouse colon tumor models and human colon cancer

Colon tumors from four independent mouse models and 100 human colorectal cancers all exhibited striking recapitulation of embryonic colon gene expression from embryonic days 13.5-18.5

Salmonella typhi central nervous system infection

This report aims to document Salmonella typhi as a cause of central nervous system infection

Awaking a sleeping epidemic

Two patients with African sleeping sickness (SS) presented to the neurology unit, Pretoria Academic Hospital, during 2004 and 2005. SS has shown a recent resurgence, with epidemics in the Sudan, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The number of infected people in Africa is currently estimated at more than 500 000. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 20 Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and 30 T. b. rhodesiense infections are diagnosed yearly outside endemic areas in Africa. Migration, tourism, peacekeeping and military interventions and the re-emergence of SS epidemics might increase these numbers.1 The electroencephalogram (EEG) is often useful in the diagnosis of coma and delirium, but has not been widely used in the diagnosis of SS. The EEG is proposed as a novel way to follow disease progression, treatment response and treatmentinduced encephalopathy.Due to large file sizes, articles (pdfs) may take a while to downloa

A STRATEGY TO IDENTIFY DOMINANT POINT MUTANT MODIFIERS OF A QUANTITATIVE TRAIT

ABSTRACT A central goal in the analysis of complex traits is to identify genes that modify a phenotype. Modifiers of a cancer phenotype may act either intrinsically or extrinsically on the salient cell lineage. Germline point mutagenesis by ethylnitrosourea can provide alleles for a gene of interest that include loss-, gain-, or alteration-of-function. Unlike strain polymorphisms, point mutations with heterozygous quantitative phenotypes are detectable in both essential and nonessential genes, and are unlinked from other variants that might confound their identification and analysis. This report analyzes strategies seeking quantitative mutational modifiers of Apc Min in the mouse. To identify a quantitative modifier of a phenotype of interest, a cluster of test progeny is needed. The cluster size can be increased as necessary for statistical significance if the founder is a male whose sperm is cryopreserved. A second critical element in this identification is a mapping panel free of polymorphic modifiers of the phenotype, to enable lowresolution mapping followed by targeted resequencing to identify the causative mutation. Here, we describe the development of a panel of six "isogenic mapping partner lines" for C57BL/6J, carrying single-nucleotide markers introduced by mutagenesis. One such derivative, B6.SNVg, shown to be phenotypically neutral in combination with Apc Mi

Assessing the impact of body image concerns on functioning across life domains: Development and validation of the Body Image Life Disengagement Questionnaire (BILD-Q) among British adolescents

Assessing the impact of body image on engagement in a range of life domains is important; however, there is a lack of validated measures for adolescents. The current research developed the Body Image Life Disengagement Questionnaire (BILD-Q) and validated it among four samples of British adolescents. Study 1 (N = 1707; 11–13 years) indicated a 9-item unidimensional scale based on Exploratory Factory Analysis. In Study 2 (N = 1403; 11–13 years), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed an acceptable fit overall, but better among girls than boys. Further exploration with CFA in Study 3 (N = 2034; 13–14 years) showed a good to excellent fit overall, and acceptable among both boys and girls. The scale showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and gender invariance indicated the scale can be used comparatively. In Study 4 (N = 288; 13–14 years), convergent validity was supported via expected relationships with body image and related constructs. Concurrent and predictive incremental validity were also evidenced via explaining significant unique variance in well-being. These studies provide support for the BILD-Q as a reliable and valid measure of broader impacts of body image among adolescents, which may benefit intervention evaluation and policy change efforts

Data from: Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna

What are the greatest sizes that the largest marine megafauna obtain? This is a simple question with a difficult and complex answer. Many of the largest-sized species occur in the world’s oceans. For many of these, rarity, remoteness, and quite simply the logistics of measuring these giants has made obtaining accurate size measurements difficult. Inaccurate reports of maximum sizes run rampant through the scientific literature and popular media. Moreover, how intraspecific variation in the body sizes of these animals relates to sex, population structure, the environment, and interactions with humans remains underappreciated. Here, we review and analyze body size for 25 ocean giants ranging across the animal kingdom. For each taxon we document body size for the largest known marine species of several clades. We also analyze intraspecific variation and identify the largest known individuals for each species. Where data allows, we analyze spatial and temporal intraspecific size variation. We also provide allometric scaling equations between different size measurements as resources to other researchers. In some cases, the lack of data prevents us from fully examining these topics and instead we specifically highlight these deficiencies and the barriers that exist for data collection. Overall, we found considerable variability in intraspecific size distributions from strongly left- to strongly right-skewed. We provide several allometric equations that allow for estimation of total lengths and weights from more easily obtained measurements. In several cases, we also quantify considerable geographic variation and decreases in size likely attributed to humans