Ganglioglioma of the neurohypophysis

The normal infundibulum and neurohypophysis consist entirely of neuronal processes, the neuronal cell bodies of which lie within the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus and supportive glial cells or pituicytes. The finding of neurons within the neurohypophysis is exceedingly rare, as are ganglion cell tumors at this site. In this paper, we report a ganglion cell tumor of the neurohypophysis found incidentally at autopsy. Despite chronic hypertension and the finding of some vasopressin immunoreactivity in lesional neurons, the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) was excluded on the basis of normal serum sodium levels. The morphologic and immunohistochemical features of the tumor are presented, cytogenetic considerations are discussed, and literature regarding neuronal lesions of the pituitary gland is reviewe

Assessing pathological changes within the nucleus ambiguus of horses with Recurrent Laryngeal Neuropathy: an extreme, length-dependent axonopathy

Equine recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is a naturally occurring model of length‐dependent axonopathy characterised by asymmetrical degeneration of recurrent laryngeal nerve axons (RLn). Distal RLn degeneration is marked, however it is unclear whether degeneration extends to include cell bodies (consistent with a neuronopathy). With examiners blinded to RLN severity, brainstem location and side, we examined correlations between RLN severity (assessed using left distal RLn myelinated axon count) and histopathological features (including chromatolysis and glial responses) in the nucleus ambiguus cell bodies, and myelinated axon count of the right distal RLn of 16 horses

After the sunset: the residual effect of temporary legislation

The difference between permanent legislation and temporary legislation is the default rule of termination: permanent legislation governs perpetually, while temporary legislation governs for a limited time. Recent literature on legislative timing rules considers the effect of temporary legislation to stop at the moment of expiration. When the law expires, so does its regulatory effect. This article extends that literature by examining the effect of temporary legislation beyond its expiration. We show that in addition to affecting compliance behavior which depends on statutory enforcement, temporary legislation also affects compliance behavior which does not depend on statutory enforcement, and more generally, organizational behavior after a sunset. When temporary legislation expires therefore, it can continue to administer regulatory and other effects. We specify the conditions for this process and give the optimal legislative response

Mapping an atlas of tissue-specific drosophila melanogaster metabolomes by high resolution mass spectrometry

Metabolomics can provide exciting insights into organismal function, but most work on simple models has focussed on the whole organism metabolome, so missing the contributions of individual tissues. Comprehensive metabolite profiles for ten tissues from adult Drosophila melanogaster were obtained here by two chromatographic methods, a hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) method for polar metabolites and a lipid profiling method also based on HILIC, in combination with an Orbitrap Exactive instrument. Two hundred and forty two polar metabolites were putatively identified in the various tissues, and 251 lipids were observed in positive ion mode and 61 in negative ion mode. Although many metabolites were detected in all tissues, every tissue showed characteristically abundant metabolites which could be rationalised against specific tissue functions. For example, the cuticle contained high levels of glutathione, reflecting a role in oxidative defence; the alimentary canal (like vertebrate gut) had high levels of acylcarnitines for fatty acid metabolism, and the head contained high levels of ether lipids. The male accessory gland uniquely contained decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine. These data thus both provide valuable insights into tissue function, and a reference baseline, compatible with the FlyAtlas.org transcriptomic resource, for further metabolomic analysis of this important model organism, for example in the modelling of human inborn errors of metabolism, aging or metabolic imbalances such as diabetes

Contrast Adaptive Tissue Classification by Alternating Segmentation and Synthesis

Deep learning approaches to the segmentation of magnetic resonance images have shown significant promise in automating the quantitative analysis of brain images. However, a continuing challenge has been its sensitivity to the variability of acquisition protocols. Attempting to segment images that have different contrast properties from those within the training data generally leads to significantly reduced performance. Furthermore, heterogeneous data sets cannot be easily evaluated because the quantitative variation due to acquisition differences often dwarfs the variation due to the biological differences that one seeks to measure. In this work, we describe an approach using alternating segmentation and synthesis steps that adapts the contrast properties of the training data to the input image. This allows input images that do not resemble the training data to be more consistently segmented. A notable advantage of this approach is that only a single example of the acquisition protocol is required to adapt to its contrast properties. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approaching using brain images from a set of human subjects scanned with two different T1-weighted volumetric protocols.Comment: 10 pages. MICCAI SASHIMI Workshop 202

TYROBP genetic variants in early-onset Alzheimer's disease

We aimed to identify new candidate genes potentially involved in early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). Exome sequencing was conducted on 45 EOAD patients with either a family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD, <65 years) or an extremely early age at the onset (≤55 years) followed by multiple variant filtering according to different modes of inheritance. We identified 29 candidate genes potentially involved in EOAD, of which the gene TYROBP, previously implicated in AD, was selected for genetic and functional follow-up. Using 3 patient cohorts, we observed rare coding TYROBP variants in 9 out of 1110 EOAD patients, whereas no such variants were detected in 1826 controls (p = 0.0001), suggesting that at least some rare TYROBP variants might contribute to EOAD risk. Overexpression of the p.D50_L51ins14 TYROBP mutant led to a profound reduction of TREM2 expression, a well-established risk factor for AD. This is the first study supporting a role for genetic variation in TYROBP in EOAD, with in vitro support for a functional effect of the p.D50_L51ins14 TYROBP mutation on TREM2 expression

Effects of dietary supplementation of nickel and nickel-zinc on femoral bone structure in rabbits

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) are trace elements present at low concentrations in agroecosystems. Nickel, however, may have toxic effects on living organisms and is often considered as a contaminant. This study reports the effect of peroral administrated Ni or a combination of Ni and Zn on femoral bone structure in rabbits.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One month-old female rabbits were divided into three groups of five animals each. Group 1 rabbits were fed a granular feed mixture with addition of 35 g NiCl₂per 100 kg of mixture for 90 days. In group 2, animals were fed a mixture containing 35 g NiCl₂and 30 g ZnCl₂per 100 kg of mixture. Group 3 without administration of additional Ni or Zn served as control. After the 90-day experimental period, femoral length, femoral weight and histological structure of the femur were analyzed and compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results did not indicate a statistically significant difference in either femoral length or weight between the two experimental groups and the control group. Also, differences in qualitative histological characteristics of the femora among rabbits from the three groups were absent, except for a fewer number of secondary osteons found in the animals of groups 1 and 2. However, values for vascular canal parameters of primary osteons were significantly lower in group 1 than in the control one. Peroral administration of a combination of Ni and Zn (group 2) led to a significant decreased size of the secondary osteons.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study indicates that dietary supplementation of Ni (35 g NiCl₂per 100 kg of feed mixture) and Ni-Zn combination (35 g NiCl₂and 30 g ZnCl₂per 100 kg of the mixture) affects the microstructure of compact bone tissue in young rabbits.</p

Anal and oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in HIV-infected subjects in northern Italy: a longitudinal cohort study among men who have sex with men

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A study including 166 subjects was performed to investigate the frequency and persistence over a 6-month interval of concurrent oral and anal Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected men who have sex with men (MSM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with no previously documented HPV-related anogenital lesion/disease were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect HPV from oral and anal swabs and to detect Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) DNA in saliva on 2 separate specimen series, one collected at baseline and the other collected 6 months later. A multivariate logistic analysis was performed using anal HPV infection as the dependent variable versus a set of covariates: age, HIV plasma viral load, CD4+ count, hepatitis B virus (HBV) serology, hepatitis C virus (HCV) serology, syphilis serology and HHV-8 viral shedding. A stepwise elimination of covariates with a p-value > 0.1 was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall prevalence of HPV did not vary significantly between the baseline and the follow-up, either in the oral (20.1 and 21.3%, respectively) or the anal specimens (88.6 and 86.3%). The prevalence of high-risk (HR) genotypes among the HPV-positive specimens was similar in the oral and anal infections (mean values 24.3% and 20.9%). Among 68 patients with either a HR, low-risk (LR) or undetermined genotype at baseline, 75% had persistent HPV and the persistence rates were 71.4% in HR infections and 76.7% in LR infections. There was a lack of genotype concordance between oral and anal HPV samples. The prevalence of HR HPV in anus appeared to be higher in the younger patients, peaking (> 25%) in the 43-50 years age group. A decrease of the high level of anal prevalence of all genotypes of HPV in the patients > 50 years was evident. HHV-8 oral shedding was positively related to HPV anal infection (p = 0.0046). A significant correlation was found between the persistence of HHV-8 shedding and HIV viral load by logistic bivariate analysis (Odds Ratio of HHV-8 persistence for 1-log increase of HIV viral load = 1.725 ± 0.397, p = 0.018).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A high prevalence of HPV infection was found in our cohort of HIV-infected MSM, with a negative correlation between anal HPV infection and CD4 cell count.</p

Population transcriptomics of Drosophila melanogaster females

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Variation at the level of gene expression is abundant in natural populations and is thought to contribute to the adaptive divergence of populations and species. Gene expression also differs considerably between males and females. Here we report a microarray analysis of gene expression variation among females of 16 <it>Drosophila </it><it>melanogaster </it>strains derived from natural populations, including eight strains from the putative ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa and eight strains from Europe. Gene expression variation among males of the same strains was reported previously.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We detected relatively low levels of expression polymorphism within populations, but much higher expression divergence between populations. A total of 569 genes showed a significant expression difference between the African and European populations at a false discovery rate of 5%. Genes with significant over-expression in Europe included the insecticide resistance gene <it>Cyp6g1</it>, as well as genes involved in proteolysis and olfaction. Genes with functions in carbohydrate metabolism and vision were significantly over-expressed in the African population. There was little overlap between genes expressed differently between populations in females and males.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that adaptive changes in gene expression have accompanied the out-of-Africa migration of <it>D. melanogaster</it>. Comparison of female and male expression data indicates that the vast majority of genes differing in expression between populations do so in only one sex and suggests that most regulatory adaptation has been sex-specific.</p

Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in clinically healthy German sheep flocks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Current epidemiological data on the situation of <it>Coxiella (C.) burnetii </it>infections in sheep are missing, making risk assessment and the implementation of counteractive measures difficult. Using the German state of Thuringia as a model example, the estimated sero-, and antigen prevalence of <it>C. burnetii </it>(10% and 25%, respectively) was assessed at flock level in 39/252 randomly selected clinically healthy sheep flocks with more than 100 ewes and unknown abortion rate.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The CHECKIT™ Q-fever Test Kit identified 11 (28%) antibody positive herds, whereas real-time PCR revealed the presence of <it>C. burnetii </it>DNA in 2 (5%) of the flocks. Multiple-locus variable number of tandem repeats analysis of 9 isolates obtained from one flock revealed identical profiles. All isolates contained the plasmid QpH1.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results demonstrate that <it>C. burnetii </it>is present in clinically inconspicuous sheep flocks and sporadic flare-ups do occur as the notifications to the German animal disease reporting system show. Although <it>C. burnetii </it>infections are not a primary veterinary concern due to the lack of significant clinical impact on animal health (with the exception of goats), the eminent zoonotic risk for humans should not be underestimated. Therefore, strategies combining the interests of public and veterinary public health should include monitoring of flocks, the identification and culling of shedders as well as the administration of protective vaccines.</p