A Pilot Study to Measure Upper Extremity H-reflexes Following Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Therapy after Stroke

Upper extremity (UE) hemiparesis persists after stroke, limiting hand function. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is an effective intervention to improve UE recovery, although the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Our objective was to establish a reliable protocol to measure UE agonist–antagonist forearm monosynaptic reflexes in a pilot study to determine if NMES improves wrist function after stroke. We established the between-day reliability of the H-reflex in the extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL) and flexor carpi radialis (FCR) musculature for individuals with prior stroke (n = 18). The same-day generation of ECRL/FCR H-reflex recruitment curves was well tolerated, regardless of age or UE spasticity. The between-day reliability of the ECRL H-reflex was enhanced above FCR, similar to healthy subjects [20], with the Hmax the most reliable parameter quantified in both muscles. H-reflex and functional measures following NMES show the potential for NMES-induced increases in ECRL Hmax, but confirmation requires a larger clinical study. Our initial results support the safe, easy, and efficacious use of in-home NMES, and establish a potential method to measure UE monosynaptic reflexes after stroke

Characterisation and cross-amplification of polymorphic microsatellite loci in ant-associated root-aphids

Twenty-six polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed for four species of ant-associated root-aphids: Geoica utricularia, Forda marginata, Tetraneura ulmi and Anoecia corni. We found up to 9 alleles per locus, with an average of 4.8. We also report polymorphic cross-amplification of eleven of these markers between different pairs of study species. Furthermore, we tested previously published aphid microsatellites and found one locus developed for Pemphigus bursarius to be polymorphic in G. utricularia. These microsatellite markers will be useful to study the population structure of aphids associated with the ant Lasius flavus and possibly other ants. Such studies are relevant because: 1. L. flavus mounds and their associated flora and fauna are often key components in protected temperate grasslands, and 2. L. flavus and its diverse community of root-aphids provide an interesting model system for studying the long-term stability of mutualistic interactions

Key account management as a firm capability

Firms manage numerous inter-organizational relationships. Key account management (KAM) is a concept used to manage a specific subset of these relationships, i.e. a supplier firm's relationships with strategically important customers. Scholars have studied different elements of KAM such as actors, resources, or relationships. Surprisingly few studies discuss the link between KAM and competitive advantage. By adopting a capability perspective on KAM, we seek to develop a theoretical basis to better explain its performance-implications. The capability perspective is compatible with extant approaches and complements them with new arguments concerning the value that a KAM system has in competition. The purpose of our article is to develop a conceptual model of a supplier firm's KAM capability and to indicate avenues for future research

Gene copy number variation throughout the Plasmodium falciparum genome

BACKGROUND: Gene copy number variation (CNV) is responsible for several important phenotypes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, including drug resistance, loss of infected erythrocyte cytoadherence and alteration of receptor usage for erythrocyte invasion. Despite the known effects of CNV, little is known about its extent throughout the genome. RESULTS: We performed a whole-genome survey of CNV genes in P. falciparum using comparative genome hybridisation of a diverse set of 16 laboratory culture-adapted isolates to a custom designed high density Affymetrix GeneChip array. Overall, 186 genes showed hybridisation signals consistent with deletion or amplification in one or more isolate. There is a strong association of CNV with gene length, genomic location, and low orthology to genes in other Plasmodium species. Sub-telomeric regions of all chromosomes are strongly associated with CNV genes independent from members of previously described multigene families. However, approximately 40% of CNV genes were located in more central regions of the chromosomes. Among the previously undescribed CNV genes, several that are of potential phenotypic relevance are identified. CONCLUSION: CNV represents a major form of genetic variation within the P. falciparum genome; the distribution of gene features indicates the involvement of highly non-random mutational and selective processes. Additional studies should be directed at examining CNV in natural parasite populations to extend conclusions to clinical settings

Terror from the Sky: Unconventional Linguistic Clues to the Negrito Past

Within recorded history. most Southeast Asian peoples have been of southern Mongoloid physical type, whether they speak Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, or Hmong-Mien languages. However, population distributions suggest that this is a post-Pleistocene phenomenon and that for tens of millennia before the last glaciation ended Greater Mainland Southeast Asia, which included the currently insular world that rests on the Sunda Shelf, was peopled by short, dark-skinned, frizzy-haired foragers whose descendants in the Philippines came to be labeled by the sixteenth-century Spanish colonizers as negritos, a term that has since been extended to similar groups throughout the region. There are three areas in which these populations survived into the present so as to become part of written history: the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and the Andaman Islands. All Philippine negritos speak Austronesian languages, and all Malayan negritos speak languages in the nuclear Mon-Khmer branch of Austroasiatic, but the linguistic situation in the Andamans is a world apart. Given prehistoric language shifts among both Philippine and Malayan negritos, the prospects of determining whether disparate negrito populations were once a linguistically or culturally unified community would appear hopeless. Surprisingly, however, some clues to a common negrito past do survive in a most unexpected way

Balanço de Energia para uma Cultura de Cana-de-açúcar no Estado de Alagoas

Balanço de energia para uma cultura de cana-de-açúcar noestado de Alagoa

Trypanocidal and leishmanicidal activity of six limonoids

Six limonoids [kotschyienone A and B (1, 2), 7-deacetylgedunin (3), 7-deacetyl-7-oxogedunin (4), andirobin (5) and methyl angolensate (6)] were investigated for their trypanocidal and leishmanicidal activities using bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei and promastigotes of Leishmania major. Whereas all compounds showed anti-trypanosomal activity, only compounds 1–4 displayed anti-leishmanial activity. The 50% growth inhibition (GI 50) values for the trypanocidal and leishmanicidal activity of the compounds ranged between 2.5 and 14.9 μM. Kotschyienone A (1) was found to be the most active compound with a minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) value of 10 μM and GI 50 values between 2.5 and 2.9 μM. Only compounds 1 and 3 showed moderate cytotoxicity against HL-60 cells with MIC and GI 50 values of 100 μM and 31.5–46.2 μM, respectively. Compound 1 was also found to show activity against intracellular amastigotes of L. major with a GI 50 value of 1.5 μM. The results suggest that limonoids have potential as drug candidates for the development of new treatments against trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis

Low diversity and host specificity in the gut microbiome community of Eciton army ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae) in a Costa Rican rainforest

Neotropical army ants of the genus Eciton are top arthropod predators in tropical rainforests. Microbial symbionts, including Unclassified Firmicutes (UF) and Unclassified Entomoplasmatales (UE), are associated with this genus and likely play a significant role in the biology of these ants. While previous work focused on associations of army ants and gut microbes across large geographic scales, here we report a community survey of the gut microbes colonizing the six sympatric Eciton army ant species in a single Costa Rican location. Furthermore, we characterized the gut microbiota associated with different army ant castes in the swarm-raiding species Eciton burchellii. We employed a combination of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicon sequencing as well as fluorescence and electron microscopy to identify gut microbes and to verify their presence in ant guts. We also measured the diversity and interaction specificity of the ant-gut microbe interaction network. The two most dominant operational taxonomic unit (OTU) phylotypes in all species were related to UF and UE previously found in army ants, followed by OTUs assigned to the genus Weissella. Furthermore, the worker castes of E. burchellii shared similar gut microbiota, also dominated by UF and UE phylotypes. Overall, we found a low diversity of gut microbes and a low interaction specificity between army ants and microbes at the community level, mainly because most microbe strains were detected in various Eciton species. The fluorescence in-situ hybridization analyses documented the presence of the two dominant phylotypes within ant guts, and electron microscopy located bacterial biofilms in the hindgut near the microvilli. Their morphology suggests that these bacteria probably belong to the dominant phylotypes UF and UE. Taken together, our results confirm that the Eciton gut microbiome is consistently dominated by a few species of specialized bacteria that may improve nutrient uptake efficiency of host ants. Further research should employ multi-omics and culture-dependent strategies to fully understand the role of these potential symbionts in ant ecophysiology

A Re-Annotation of the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Genome

Discrepancies in gene and orphan number indicated by previous analyses suggest that S. cerevisiae would benefit from a consistent re-annotation. In this analysis three new genes are identified and 46 alterations to gene coordinates are described. 370 ORFs are defined as totally spurious ORFs which should be disregarded. At least a further 193 genes could be described as very hypothetical, based on a number of criteria. It was found that disparate genes with sequence overlaps over ten amino acids (especially at the N-terminus) are rare in both S. cerevisiae and Sz. pombe. A new S. cerevisiae gene number estimate with an upper limit of 5804 is proposed, but after the removal of very hypothetical genes and pseudogenes this is reduced to 5570. Although this is likely to be closer to the true upper limit, it is still predicted to be an overestimate of gene number. A complete list of revised gene coordinates is available from the Sanger Centre (S. cerevisiae reannotation: ftp://ftp/pub/yeast/SCreannotation)

Whole Blood Profiling of T-cell-Derived microRNA Allows the Development of Prognostic models in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: MicroRNAs [miRNAs] are cell-specific small non-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression and have been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] pathogenesis. Here we define the cell-specific miRNA profiles and investigate its biomarker potential in IBD. Methods: In a two-stage prospective multi-centre case control study, next generation sequencing was performed on a discovery cohort of immunomagnetically separated leukocytes from 32 patients (nine Crohn''s disease [CD], 14 ulcerative colitis [UC], eight healthy controls) and differentially expressed signals were validated in whole blood in 294 patients [97 UC, 98 CD, 98 non-IBD, 1 IBDU] using quantitative PCR. Correlations were analysed with phenotype, including need for early treatment escalation as a marker of progressive disease using Cox proportional hazards. Results: In stage 1, each leukocyte subset [CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells and CD14+ monocytes] was analysed in IBD and controls. Three specific miRNAs differentiated IBD from controls in CD4+ T-cells, including miR-1307-3p [p = 0.01], miR-3615 [p = 0.02] and miR-4792 [p = 0.01]. In the extension cohort, in stage 2, miR-1307-3p was able to predict disease progression in IBD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.98, interquartile range [IQR]: 1.20-3.27; logrank p = 1.80 × 10-3), in particular CD [HR 2.81; IQR: 1.11-3.53, p = 6.50 × 10-4]. Using blood-based multimarker miRNA models, the estimated chance of escalation in CD was 83% if two or more criteria were met and 90% for UC if three or more criteria are met. Interpretation: We have identified and validated unique CD4+ T-cell miRNAs that are differentially regulated in IBD. These miRNAs may be able to predict treatment escalation and have the potential for clinical translation; further prospective evaluation is now indicated