Isolation and Characterization of Intestinal Epithelial Cells from Normal and SIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques

Impairment of intestinal epithelial barriers contributes to the progression of HIV/SIV infection and leads to generalized HIV-induced immune-cell activation during chronic infection. Rhesus macaques are the major animal model for studying HIV pathogenesis. However, detailed characterization of isolated rhesus epithelial cells (ECs) from intestinal tissues is not well defined. It is also not well documented whether isolated ECs had any other cell contaminants from intestinal tissues during the time of processing that might hamper interpretation of EC preparations or cultures. In this study, we identify and characterize ECs based on flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry methods using various enzymatic and mechanical isolation techniques to enrich ECs from intestinal tissues. This study shows that normal healthy ECs differentially express HLA-DR, CD23, CD27, CD90, CD95 and IL-10R markers. Early apoptosis and upregulation of ICAM-1 and HLA-DR in intestinal ECs are thought to be the key features in SIV mediated enteropathy. The data suggest that intestinal ECs might be playing an important role in mucosal immune responses by regulating the expression of different important regulatory and adhesion molecules and their function

Received wisdom versus reality: height, nutrition, and urbanization in mid-nineteenth-century France

Since the pioneering study of Le Roy Ladurie and his team, the idea that mean height can be considered as a reliable indicator of the standard of living has emerged from a long debate among historians and economists. Considering height in this respect, nineteenth-century France, unlike most Western countries, did not pay an urban penalty. Thanks to a substantial set of individual data (105,324 observations), based on the draft lottery of Frenchmen born in the year 1848, we are able to prove that this "French exception" did not, in fact, exist. The larger the town, the shorter were the conscripts. Among the towns, Paris had the shortest conscripts. By combining individual data with the agricultural survey of 1852, we are able to identify those factors that compensated for this urban penalty-that were positively correlated with height: nutritional availability, the literacy rate, and life expectancy. Footnote Informatio

A Coupled Reactive-Transport Model for Electrokinetic Remediation

In this chapter, we present a model for the reactive-transport of chemical species through partially saturated porous media for electrokinetic remediation processes. A generalized theoretical model is presented, easily adaptable to specific remediation setups, target contaminants and supporting matrices; and we give detailed guidelines for the implementation of tailor-made numerical methods for the computer-aided solution. The model is subdivided into two coupled modules: one for reactive-transport, numerically solved by means of a non-linear finite element method; and another one for chemical equilibrium, solved using an enhanced Newton–Raphson method

Population genetic differentiation of height and body mass index across Europe

Across-nation differences in the mean values for complex traits are common, but the reasons for these differences are unknown. Here we find that many independent loci contribute to population genetic differences in height and body mass index (BMI) in 9,416 individuals across 14 European countries. Using discovery data on over 250,000 individuals and unbiased effect size estimates from 17,500 sibling pairs, we estimate that 24% (95% credible interval (CI) = 9%, 41%) and 8% (95% CI = 4%, 16%) of the captured additive genetic variance for height and BMI, respectively, reflect population genetic differences. Population genetic divergence differed significantly from that in a null model (height, P < 3.94 7 10(-8); BMI, P < 5.95 7 10(-4)), and we find an among-population genetic correlation for tall and slender individuals (r = -0.80, 95% CI = -0.95, -0.60), consistent with correlated selection for both phenotypes. Observed differences in height among populations reflected the predicted genetic means (r = 0.51; P < 0.001), but environmental differences across Europe masked genetic differentiation for BMI (P < 0.58)