Electron and ion microprobe analysis of calcium distribution and transport in coral tissues.

It is shown by x-ray microanalysis that a gradient of total intracellular Ca concentration exists from the outer oral ectoderm to the inner skeletogenic calicoblastic ectoderm in the coral Galaxea fascicularis. This suggests an increase in intracellular Ca stores in relation to calcification. Furthermore, Ca concentration in the fluid-filled space of the extrathecal coelenteron is approximately twice as high as in the surrounding seawater and higher than in the mucus-containing seawater layer on the exterior of the oral ectoderm. This is indicative of active Ca2+ transport across the oral epithelium. Polyps were incubated in artificial seawater in which all 40Ca was replaced by 44Ca. Imaging Ca2+ transport across the epithelia by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) using 44Ca as a tracer showed that Ca2+ rapidly entered the cells of the oral epithelium and that 44Ca reached higher concentrations in the mesogloea and extrathecal coelenteron than in the external seawater layer. Very little Ca2+ was exchanged in the mucocytes, cnidocytes or zooxanthellae. These observations again suggest that Ca2+ transport is active and transcellular and also indicate a hitherto unsuspected role in Ca2+ transport for the mesogloea. © 2007, Company of Biologist

A Comparative Analysis of 21st Century Schools in the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China

This study investigated schools in the two largest global economies, the United States and The People’s Republic of China, in order to understand how both educational systems are preparing students to thrive in the global workplace. The study 1) delineates skill sets needed for success in the new economy, 2) identifies and reports on the instructional findings within seven schools in China and seven schools in the United States that describe themselves as preparing students for the 21st century workplace, 3) compares findings between schools studied in both countries, and 4) ends with suggestions for policymakers and school systems wishing to improve student preparedness for the global workplace

Post-LASIK exacerbation of granular corneal dystrophy type 2 in members of a chinese family

PurposeThe post-LASIK exacerbation of corneal dystrophy, otherwise asymptomatic, is almost exclusively associated with the TGFBI gene mutations at codon 124 in exon 4 and codon 555 in exon 12. It is our intention to demonstrate that the pre-operative genetic screening for TGFBI mutations should be mandatory for refractive surgery candidates.Patients and MethodsIn this study, we reviewed the proband's post-LASIK slit-lamp and in vivo confocal microscopy images and genetic testing results, and performed genetic testing on eleven additional members of the family to investigate the penetrance of corneal dystrophy in asymptomatic members who carry the mutation.ResultsThe proband demonstrated a post-LASIK exacerbation of Granular Corneal Dystrophy type 2 (GCD2), identified as a TGFBI R124H mutation. Three of the 11 family members tested positive for the same R124H mutation as the proband.ConclusionThe lesson learned from this case is that the genetic screening of TGFBI mutations must be incorporated into the pre-operative screening procedures to prevent exacerbation and recurrence, which eventually could lead to the need for a corneal transplant.Eye advance online publication, 1 December 2017; doi:10.1038/eye.2017.265

Poleward energy transport: is the standard definition physically relevant at all time scales?

Poleward energy transport in the atmosphere and oceans constitutes an important branch of the global energy budget, and its role in the climate system has been the subject of many studies. In the atmosphere, the transport is affected by “eddies” and large scale meridional cells, both with zero net mass transport across latitude circles, but also partly by processes associated with a net transport of mass across latitude circles. The latter must cease to operate in steady state, but they may be significant when time variability of the heat budget is considered. Indeed, examination of reanalysis data on short (daily to monthly) timescales shows that mass variations on these timescales result in surprisingly large fluctuations (in excess of 10^15 W = 1 PW) in the poleward heat transport. These fluctuations are referred to as “extensive”, for they primarily alter the mass integrated energy of the region considered, but not its averaged value. It is suggested that extensive fluctuations mask more meaningful climate signals present in the heat transport variability on monthly and interannual timescales, and a new formulation is proposed to isolate the latter. This new formulation is applied successfully to reanalysis data and climate model simulations

The fermi arc and fermi pocket in cuprates in a short-range diagonal stripe phase

In this paper we studied the fermi arc and the fermi pocket in cuprates in a short-range diagonal stripe phase with wave vectors $(7\pi/8, 7\pi/8)$, which reproduce with a high accuracy the positions and sizes of the fermi arc and fermi pocket and the superstructure in cuprates observed by Meng et al\cite{Meng}. The low-energy spectral function indicates that the fermi pocket results from the main band and the shadow band at the fermi energy. Above the fermi energy the shadow band gradually departs away from the main band, leaving a fermi arc. Thus we conclude that the fermi arc and fermi pocket can be fully attributed to the stripe phase but has nothing to do with pairing. Incorporating a d-wave pairing potential in the stripe phase the spectral weight in the antinodal region is removed, leaving a clean fermi pocket in the nodal region.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

A second-generation anchored genetic linkage map of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

Background: \ud The tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, a small kangaroo used for decades for studies of reproduction and metabolism, is the model Australian marsupial for genome sequencing and genetic investigations. The production of a more comprehensive cytogenetically-anchored genetic linkage map will significantly contribute to the deciphering of the tammar wallaby genome. It has great value as a resource to identify novel genes and for comparative studies, and is vital for the ongoing genome sequence assembly and gene ordering in this species.\ud \ud Results: \ud A second-generation anchored tammar wallaby genetic linkage map has been constructed based on a total of 148 loci. The linkage map contains the original 64 loci included in the first-generation map, plus an additional 84 microsatellite loci that were chosen specifically to increase coverage and assist with the anchoring and orientation of linkage groups to chromosomes. These additional loci were derived from (a) sequenced BAC clones that had been previously mapped to tammar wallaby chromosomes by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), (b) End sequence from BACs subsequently FISH-mapped to tammar wallaby chromosomes, and (c) tammar wallaby genes orthologous to opossum genes predicted to fill gaps in the tammar wallaby linkage map as well as three X-linked markers from a published study. Based on these 148 loci, eight linkage groups were formed. These linkage groups were assigned (via FISH-mapped markers) to all seven autosomes and the X chromosome. The sex-pooled map size is 1402.4 cM, which is estimated to provide 82.6% total coverage of the genome, with an average interval distance of 10.9 cM between adjacent markers. The overall ratio of female/male map length is 0.84, which is comparable to the ratio of 0.78 obtained for the first-generation map.\ud \ud Conclusions: \ud Construction of this second-generation genetic linkage map is a significant step towards complete coverage of the tammar wallaby genome and considerably extends that of the first-generation map. It will be a valuable resource for ongoing tammar wallaby genetic research and assembling the genome sequence. The sex-pooled map is available online at http://compldb.angis.org.au/

Phase 2 Study of Pomalidomide (CC-4047) Monotherapy for Children and Young Adults With Recurrent or Progressive Primary Brain Tumors

INTRODUCTION: Treatment of recurrent primary pediatric brain tumors remains a major challenge, with most children succumbing to their disease. We conducted a prospective phase 2 study investigating the safety and efficacy of pomalidomide (POM) in children and young adults with recurrent and progressive primary brain tumors. BACKGROUND: METHODS: Patients with recurrent and progressive high-grade glioma (HGG), diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), ependymoma, or medulloblastoma received POM 2.6 mg/m2/day (the recommended phase 2 dose [RP2D]) on days 1-21 of a 28-day cycle. A Simon’s Optimal 2-stage design was used to determine efficacy. Primary endpoints included objective response (OR) and long-term stable disease (LTSD) rates. Secondary endpoints included duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. RESULTS: 46 patients were evaluable for response (HGG, n = 19; DIPG, ependymoma, and medulloblastoma, n = 9 each). Two patients with HGG achieved OR or LTSD (10.5% [95% CI, 1.3%-33.1%]; 1 partial response and 1 LTSD) and 1 patient with ependymoma had LTSD (11.1% [95% CI, 0.3%-48.2%]). There were no ORs or LTSD in the DIPG or medulloblastoma cohorts. The median PFS for patients with HGG, DIPG, ependymoma, and medulloblastoma was 7.86, 11.29, 8.43, and 8.43 weeks, respectively. Median OS was 5.06, 3.78, 12.02, and 11.60 months, respectively. Neutropenia was the most common grade 3/4 adverse event. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with POM monotherapy did not meet the primary measure of success in any cohort. Future studies are needed to evaluate if POM would show efficacy in tumors with specific molecular signatures or in combination with other anticancer agents. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT03257631; EudraCT, identifier 2016-002903-25

Identification of the N-Linked Glycosylation Sites of Vitamin K-Dependent Carboxylase and Effect of Glycosylation on Carboxylase Function †

The vitamin K-dependent carboxylase is an integral membrane protein which is required for the post-translational modification of a variety of vitamin K-dependent proteins. Previous studies have suggested carboxylase is a glycoprotein with N-linked glycosylation sites. In the present study, we identified the N-glycosylation sites of carboxylase by mass spectrometric peptide mapping analyses combined with site-directed mutagenesis. Our mass spectrometric results show that the N-linked glycosylation in carboxylase occurs at positions N459, N550, N605, and N627. Eliminating these glycosylation sites by changing asparagine to glutamine caused the mutant carboxylase to migrate faster in SDS-PAGE gel analyses, adding further evidence that these sites are glycosylated. In addition, the mutation studies identified N525, a site not recoverable by mass spectroscopy analysis, as a glycosylation site. Furthermore, the potential glycosylation site at N570 is glycosylated only if all the five natural glycosylation sites are simultaneously mutated. Removal of the oligosaccharides by glycosidase from wild-type carboxylase or by eliminating the functional glycosylation sites by site-directed mutagenesis did not affect either the carboxylation or epoxidation activity when the small pentapeptide FLEEL was used as substrate, suggesting that N-linked glycosylation is not required for the enzymatic function of carboxylase. In contrast, when site N570 and the five natural glycosylation sites were mutated simultaneously, the resulting carboxylase protein was degraded. Our results suggest that N-linked glycosylation is not essential for carboxylase enzymatic activity but it is important for protein folding and stability

Modeling recursive RNA interference.

An important application of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway is its use as a small RNA-based regulatory system commonly exploited to suppress expression of target genes to test their function in vivo. In several published experiments, RNAi has been used to inactivate components of the RNAi pathway itself, a procedure termed recursive RNAi in this report. The theoretical basis of recursive RNAi is unclear since the procedure could potentially be self-defeating, and in practice the effectiveness of recursive RNAi in published experiments is highly variable. A mathematical model for recursive RNAi was developed and used to investigate the range of conditions under which the procedure should be effective. The model predicts that the effectiveness of recursive RNAi is strongly dependent on the efficacy of RNAi at knocking down target gene expression. This efficacy is known to vary highly between different cell types, and comparison of the model predictions to published experimental data suggests that variation in RNAi efficacy may be the main cause of discrepancies between published recursive RNAi experiments in different organisms. The model suggests potential ways to optimize the effectiveness of recursive RNAi both for screening of RNAi components as well as for improved temporal control of gene expression in switch off-switch on experiments

Infektionsabwehr und lymphatischer Rachenring

Foraging behaviours used by two female Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) were documented during controlled feeding trials. During these trials the seals were presented with prey either free-floating in open water or concealed within a mobile ball or a static box feeding device. When targeting free-floating prey both subjects primarily used raptorial biting in combination with suction, which was used to draw prey to within range of the teeth. When targeting prey concealed within either the mobile or static feeding device, the seals were able to use suction to draw out prey items that could not be reached by biting. Suction was followed by lateral water expulsion, where water drawn into the mouth along with the prey item was purged via the sides of the mouth. Vibrissae were used to explore the surface of the feeding devices, especially when locating the openings in which the prey items had been hidden. The mobile ball device was also manipulated by pushing it with the muzzle to knock out concealed prey, which was not possible when using the static feeding device. To knock prey out of this static device one seal used targeted bubble blowing, where a focused stream of bubbles was blown out of the nose into the openings in the device. Once captured in the jaws, prey items were manipulated and re-oriented using further mouth movements or chews so that they could be swallowed head first. While most items were swallowed whole underwater, some were instead taken to the surface and held in the teeth, while being vigorously shaken to break them into smaller pieces before swallowing. The behavioural flexibility displayed by Australian fur seals likely assists in capturing and consuming the extremely wide range of prey types that are targeted in the wild, during both benthic and epipelagic foraging