Prolonged whelping in bitches

Physiological whelping occurs at the end of gestation and involves the expulsion of fetus/pups through the genital tract aided by natural forces. These reports draw the attention of practitioners and breeders to the possibility of some unusual events during whelping and precautions to be taken in its management. They also highlight some unethical practices by breeders that may put in jeopardy processes and outcome of whelping. Two bitches separately presented to a Veterinary Hospital with history of dystocia were investigated. The dystocia was characterized by prolonged inter-whelping interval (more than 72 hours) in the first and unproductive labour in the second. Administration of appropriate doses of oxytocin led to the relief of the dystocia in both cases. The misuse of oxytocin by breeders was probably responsible for alteration in whelping events. The above reports suggest that dystocia should be thoroughly evaluated, an appropriate obstetric management regimen be established, strict enforcement of regulations guiding drug handling by non-professionals should be recommended.Keywords: Bitch, Dystocia, Oxytocin, Unethical practices, Unusual whelpin

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Altruism can proliferate through group/kin selection despite high random gene flow

The ways in which natural selection can allow the proliferation of cooperative behavior have long been seen as a central problem in evolutionary biology. Most of the literature has focused on interactions between pairs of individuals and on linear public goods games. This emphasis led to the conclusion that even modest levels of migration would pose a serious problem to the spread of altruism in group structured populations. Here we challenge this conclusion, by analyzing evolution in a framework which allows for complex group interactions and random migration among groups. We conclude that contingent forms of strong altruism can spread when rare under realistic group sizes and levels of migration. Our analysis combines group-centric and gene-centric perspectives, allows for arbitrary strength of selection, and leads to extensions of Hamilton's rule for the spread of altruistic alleles, applicable under broad conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Supplementary material with 50 pages and 26 figure

Two-stage directed self-assembly of a cyclic [3]catenane.

Interlocked molecules possess properties and functions that depend upon their intricate connectivity. In addition to the topologically trivial rotaxanes, whose structures may be captured by a planar graph, the topologically non-trivial knots and catenanes represent some of chemistry's most challenging synthetic targets because of the three-dimensional assembly necessary for their construction. Here we report the synthesis of a cyclic [3]catenane, which consists of three mutually interpenetrating rings, via an unusual synthetic route. Five distinct building blocks self-assemble into a heteroleptic triangular framework composed of two joined Fe(II)3L3 circular helicates. Subcomponent exchange then enables specific points in the framework to be linked together to generate the cyclic [3]catenane product. Our method represents an advance both in the intricacy of the metal-templated self-assembly procedure and in the use of selective imine exchange to generate a topologically complex product.This work was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and a Marie Curie fellowship for J.J.H. (ITN-2010–264645). The authors thank the Diamond Light Source (UK) for synchrotron beamtime on I19 (MT7984 and MT8464).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchem.220

Discovering privileged topologies of molecular knots with self-assembling models

Despite the several available strategies to build complex supramolecular constructs, only a handful of different molecular knots have been synthesised so far. Here, in response to the quest for further designable topologies, we use Monte Carlo sampling and molecular dynamics simulations, informed by general principles of supramolecular assembly, as a discovery tool for thermodynamically and kinetically accessible knot types made of helical templates. By combining this approach with the exhaustive enumeration of molecular braiding patterns applicable to more general template geometries, we find that only few selected shapes have the closed, symmetric and quasi-planar character typical of synthetic knots. The corresponding collection of admissible topologies is extremely restricted. It covers all known molecular knots but it especially includes a limited set of novel complex ones that have not yet been obtained experimentally, such as 10124 and 15n41185, making them privileged targets for future self-assembling experiments

Legacy Effects of Canopy Disturbance on Ecosystem Functioning in Macroalgal Assemblages

Macroalgal assemblages are some of the most productive systems on earth and they contribute significantly to nearshore ecosystems. Globally, macroalgal assemblages are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities such as sedimentation, eutrophication and climate change. Despite this, very little research has considered the potential effects of canopy loss on primary productivity, although the literature is rich with evidence showing the ecological effects of canopy disturbance. In this study we used experimental removal plots of habitat-dominating algae (Order Fucales) that had been initiated several years previously to construct a chronosequence of disturbed macroalgal communities and to test if there were legacy effects of canopy loss on primary productivity. We used in situ photo-respirometry to test the primary productivity of algal assemblages in control and removal plots at two intertidal elevations. In the mid tidal zone assemblage, the removal plots at two sites had average primary productivity values of only 40% and 60% that of control areas after 90 months. Differences in productivity were associated with lower biomass and density of the fucoid algal canopy and lower taxa richness in the removal plots after 90 months. Low-shore plots, established three years earlier, showed that the loss of the large, dominant fucoid resulted in at least 50% less primary productivity of the algal assemblage than controls, which lasted for 90 months; other smaller fucoid species had recruited but they were far less productive. The long term reduction in primary productivity following a single episode of canopy loss of a dominant species in two tidal zones suggests that these assemblages are not very resilient to large perturbations. Decreased production output may have severe and long-lasting consequences on the surrounding communities and has the potential to alter nutrient cycling in the wider nearshore environment

Evolutionary connectionism: algorithmic principles underlying the evolution of biological organisation in evo-devo, evo-eco and evolutionary transitions

The mechanisms of variation, selection and inheritance, on which evolution by natural selection depends, are not fixed over evolutionary time. Current evolutionary biology is increasingly focussed on understanding how the evolution of developmental organisations modifies the distribution of phenotypic variation, the evolution of ecological relationships modifies the selective environment, and the evolution of reproductive relationships modifies the heritability of the evolutionary unit. The major transitions in evolution, in particular, involve radical changes in developmental, ecological and reproductive organisations that instantiate variation, selection and inheritance at a higher level of biological organisation. However, current evolutionary theory is poorly equipped to describe how these organisations change over evolutionary time and especially how that results in adaptive complexes at successive scales of organisation (the key problem is that evolution is self-referential, i.e. the products of evolution change the parameters of the evolutionary process). Here we first reinterpret the central open questions in these domains from a perspective that emphasises the common underlying themes. We then synthesise the findings from a developing body of work that is building a new theoretical approach to these questions by converting well-understood theory and results from models of cognitive learning. Specifically, connectionist models of memory and learning demonstrate how simple incremental mechanisms, adjusting the relationships between individually-simple components, can produce organisations that exhibit complex system-level behaviours and improve the adaptive capabilities of the system. We use the term “evolutionary connectionism” to recognise that, by functionally equivalent processes, natural selection acting on the relationships within and between evolutionary entities can result in organisations that produce complex system-level behaviours in evolutionary systems and modify the adaptive capabilities of natural selection over time. We review the evidence supporting the functional equivalences between the domains of learning and of evolution, and discuss the potential for this to resolve conceptual problems in our understanding of the evolution of developmental, ecological and reproductive organisations and, in particular, the major evolutionary transitions

Analytic philosophy for biomedical research: the imperative of applying yesterday's timeless messages to today's impasses

The mantra that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" (attributed to the computer scientist Alan Kay) exemplifies some of the expectations from the technical and innovative sides of biomedical research at present. However, for technical advancements to make real impacts both on patient health and genuine scientific understanding, quite a number of lingering challenges facing the entire spectrum from protein biology all the way to randomized controlled trials should start to be overcome. The proposal in this chapter is that philosophy is essential in this process. By reviewing select examples from the history of science and philosophy, disciplines which were indistinguishable until the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that progress toward the many impasses in biomedicine can be achieved by emphasizing theoretical work (in the true sense of the word 'theory') as a vital foundation for experimental biology. Furthermore, a philosophical biology program that could provide a framework for theoretical investigations is outlined

Postural Control during the Stroop Test in Dyslexic and Non Dyslexic Teenagers

Postural control in quiet stance although simple still requires some cognitive resources; dual cognitive tasks influence further postural control. The present study examines whether or not dyslexic teenagers experience postural instability when performing a Stroop dual task for which their performances are known to be poor. Fifteen dyslexics and twelve non-dyslexics (14 to 17 years old) were recruited from the same school. They were asked to perform three tasks: (1) fixate a target, (2) perform an interference Stroop test (naming the colour or the word rather than reading the word), (3) performing flexibility Stroop task: the subject performed the interference task as in (2) except when the word was in a box, in which case he had to read the word. Postural performances were measured with a force platform. The results showed a main task effect on the variance of speed of body sway only: such variance was higher in the flexibility task than for the other two tasks. No group effect was found for any of the parameters of posture (surface, mediolateral and anteroposterior sway, variance of speed). Further wavelet analysis in the time-frequency domain revealed an increase in the spectral power of the medium frequency range believed to be related to cerebellum control; an accompanying increase in the cancellation time of the high frequency band related to reflexive loops occurred for non-dyslexics only. These effects occurred for the flexibility task and could be due to its high cognitive difficulty. Dyslexics displayed shorter cancellation time for the medium frequency band for all tasks, suggesting less efficient cerebellar control, perhaps of eye fixation and attention influencing body sway. We conclude that there is no evidence for a primary posture deficit in 15 year old teenagers who come from the general population and who were recruited in schools

Overexpression of the Axl tyrosine kinase receptor in cutaneous SCC-derived cell lines and tumours

The molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of squamous cell skin cancers (SSC) are poorly understood. We have used oligonucleotide microarrays to compare the differences in cellular gene expression between a series of keratinocyte cell that mimic disease progression with the aim of identifying genes that may potentially contribute towards squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) progression in vivo, and in particular to identify markers that may serve as potential therapeutic targets for SCC treatment. Gene expression differences were corroborated by polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. We identified Axl, a receptor tyrosine kinase with transforming potential that has also been shown to have a role in cell survival, adhesion and chemotaxis, was upregulated in vitro in SCC-derived cells compared to premalignant cells. Extending the investigation to tumour biopsies showed that the Axl protein was overexpressed in vivo in a series of SCCs