395 research outputs found
Letter concerning âEnzyme replacement therapy in a patient with Fabry disease and the development of IgE antibodies against agalsidase beta but not agalsidase alphaâ, by Tanaka et al.
FWN â Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide
Do female association preferences predict the likelihood of reproduction?
Sexual selection acting on male traits through female mate choice is commonly inferred from female association preferences in dichotomous mate choice experiments. However, there are surprisingly few empirical demonstrations that such association preferences predict the likelihood of females reproducing with a particular male. This information is essential to confirm association preferences as good predictors of mate choice. We used green swordtails (<i>Xiphophorus helleri</i>) to test whether association preferences predict the likelihood of a female reproducing with a male. Females were tested for a preference for long- or short-sworded males in a standard dichotomous choice experiment and then allowed free access to either their preferred or non-preferred male. If females subsequently failed to produce fry, they were provided a second unfamiliar male with similar sword length to the first male. Females were more likely to reproduce with preferred than non-preferred males, but for those that reproduced, neither the status (preferred/non-preferred) nor the sword length (long/short) of the male had an effect on brood size or relative investment in growth by the female. There was no overall preference based on sword length in this study, but male sword length did affect likelihood of reproduction, with females more likely to reproduce with long- than short-sworded males (independent of preference for such males in earlier choice tests). These results suggest that female association preferences are good indicators of female mate choice but that ornament characteristics of the male are also important
Treatment of Fabry Disease: Outcome of a Comparative Trial with Agalsidase Alfa or Beta at a Dose of 0.2 mg/kg
Two different enzyme preparations, agalsidase alfa (Replagal(TM), Shire) and beta (Fabrazyme(TM), Genzyme), are registered for treatment of Fabry disease. We compared the efficacy of and tolerability towards the two agalsidase preparations administered at identical protein dose in a randomized controlled open label trial.Thirty-four Fabry disease patients were treated with either agalsidase alfa or agalsidase beta at equal dose of 0.2 mg/kg biweekly. Primary endpoint was reduction in left ventricular mass after 12 and 24 months of treatment. Other endpoints included occurrence of treatment failure (defined as progression of cardiac, renal or cerebral disease), glomerular filtration rate, pain, anti-agalsidase antibodies, and globotriaosylceramide levels in plasma and urine. After 12 and 24 months of treatment no reduction in left ventricular mass was seen, which was not different between the two treatment groups. Also, no differences in glomerular filtration rate, pain and decline in globotriaosylceramide levels were found. Antibodies developed only in males (4/8 in the agalsidase alfa group and 6/8 in the agalsidase beta group). Treatment failure within 24 months of therapy was seen in 8/34 patients: 6 male patients (3 in each treatment group) and 2 female patients (both agalsidase alfa). The occurrence of treatment failures did not differ between the two treatment groups; chi(2) = 0.38 p = 0.54.Our study revealed no difference in reduction of left ventricular mass or other disease parameters after 12 and 24 months of treatment with either agalsidase alfa or beta at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg biweekly. Treatment failure occurred frequently in both groups and seems related to age and severe pre-treatment disease.International Standard Randomized Clinical Trial ISRCTN45178534 [http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN45178534]
Sketch-a-Net: A Deep Neural Network that Beats Humans
This Project received support from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement #640891, and the Royal Society and Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Grant #IE141387 and #61511130081. We gratefully acknowledge the support of NVIDIA Corporation for the donation of the GPUs used for this research
The Molecular Signature Underlying the Thymic Migration and Maturation of TCRαÎČ+CD4+CD8- Thymocytes
BACKGROUND: After positive selection, the newly generated single positive (SP) thymocytes migrate to the thymic medulla, where they undergo negative selection to eliminate autoreactive T cells and functional maturation to acquire immune competence and egress capability. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To elucidate the genetic program underlying this process, we analyzed changes in gene expression in four subsets of mouse TCRαÎČ(+)CD4(+)CD8(-) thymocytes (SP1 to SP4) representative of sequential stages in a previously defined differentiation program. A genetic signature of the migration of thymocytes was thus revealed. CCR7 and PlexinD1 are believed to be important for the medullary positioning of SP thymocytes. Intriguingly, their expression remains at low levels in the newly generated thymocytes, suggesting that the cortex-medulla migration may not occur until the SP2 stage. SP2 and SP3 cells gradually up-regulate transcripts involved in T cell functions and the Foxo1-KLF2-S1P(1) axis, but a number of immune function-associated genes are not highly expressed until cells reach the SP4 stage. Consistent with their critical role in thymic emigration, the expression of S1P(1) and CD62L are much enhanced in SP4 cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results support at the molecular level that single positive thymocytes undergo a differentiation program and further demonstrate that SP4 is the stage at which thymocytes acquire the immunocompetence and the capability of emigration from the thymus
Photonic hydrogel sensors
Analyte-sensitive hydrogels that incorporate optical structures have emerged as sensing platforms for point-of-care diagnostics. The optical properties of the hydrogel sensors can be rationally designed and fabricated through self-assembly, microfabrication or laser writing. The advantages of photonic hydrogel sensors over conventional assay formats include label-free, quantitative, reusable, and continuous measurement capability that can be integrated with equipment-free text or image display. This Review explains the operation principles of photonic hydrogel sensors, presents syntheses of stimuli-responsive polymers, and provides an overview of qualitative and quantitative readout technologies. Applications in clinical samples are discussed, and potential future directions are identified
Finding needles in haystacks:Linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi
DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition
often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence
data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has
never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome
projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for
en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a
set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi.
The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the
nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Reannotated
and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci
(RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with
NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve
the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference
sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.The Intramural Research Programs
of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, National
Library of Medicine and the National Human Genome Research
Institute, both at the National Institutes of Health.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA177353am201
Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe - from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation
Volume: 100Start Page: 55End Page: 14
Non-Standard Errors
In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants
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