Individual Recognition in Domestic Cattle (Bos taurus): Evidence from 2D-Images of Heads from Different Breeds

BACKGROUND: In order to maintain cohesion of groups, social animals need to process social information efficiently. Visual individual recognition, which is distinguished from mere visual discrimination, has been studied in only few mammalian species. In addition, most previous studies used either a small number of subjects or a few various views as test stimuli. Dairy cattle, as a domestic species allow the testing of a good sample size and provide a large variety of test stimuli due to the morphological diversity of breeds. Hence cattle are a suitable model for studying individual visual recognition. This study demonstrates that cattle display visual individual recognition and shows the effect of both familiarity and coat diversity in discrimination. [br/]METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested whether 8 Prim'Holstein heifers could recognize 2D-images of heads of one cow (face, profiles, (3/4) views) from those of other cows. Experiments were based on a simultaneous discrimination paradigm through instrumental conditioning using food rewards. In Experiment 1, all images represented familiar cows (belonging to the same social group) from the Prim'Holstein breed. In Experiments 2, 3 and 4, images were from unfamiliar (unknown) individuals either from the same breed or other breeds. All heifers displayed individual recognition of familiar and unfamiliar individuals from their own breed. Subjects reached criterion sooner when recognizing a familiar individual than when recognizing an unfamiliar one (Exp 1: 3.1+/-0.7 vs. Exp 2: 5.2+/-1.2 sessions; Z = 1.99, N = 8, P = 0.046). In addition almost all subjects recognized unknown individuals from different breeds, however with greater difficulty. [br/] CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrated that cattle have efficient individual recognition based on categorization capacities. Social familiarity improved their performance. The recognition of individuals with very different coat characteristics from the subjects was the most difficult task. These results call for studies exploring the mechanisms involved in face recognition allowing interspecies comparisons, including humans

Renal ischemia–reperfusion injury causes intercalated cell-specific disruption of occludin in the collecting duct

Renal ischemic events open tight junctions and disrupt epithelial polarity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury on expression and distribution of the tight junction proteins, occludin and ZO-1, in the rat kidney. IR injury was induced by clamping both renal pedicles for 30 min and animals were killed at 6 h after the reperfusion. IR injury decreased blood bicarbonate level, but did not persistently alter pH, Na+, K+, or Cl−. In control kidneys, occludin immunoreactivity was intense in the tight junctions in the thick ascending limb, distal convoluted tubule, and collecting duct, moderate in the thin limbs of the loop of Henle, and was not detected in the proximal tubule, glomerulus, and blood vessels. ZO-1 was expressed in the same sites in which occludin was expressed, and additionally was also expressed in the proximal tubule, glomerulus, and vascular endothelial cells. IR kidneys exhibited damaged renal tubular epithelial cells in both proximal tubule and collecting duct segments in the outer medulla. In the collecting duct, the response of intercalated cells and principal cells differed. Following IR injury, intercalated cells, but not principal cells, lost their normal epithelial polarity and were frequently extruded into the tubule lumen. Occludin, instead of being localized to tight junctions, was localized diffusely in the cytoplasm in intercalated cells of IR kidneys. Principal cells, in contrast, were not detectably affected and neither occludin nor ZO-1 expression were altered in response to IR injury. The normal localization of ZO-1 expression to tight junction sites in both the proximal tubule and collecting duct was altered in response to IR, and, instead, ZO-1 expression was present diffusely in the cytoplasm. IR injury did not alter detectably either occludin or ZO-1 localization to the tight junction of the thick ascending limb cells. The abundance of total occludin protein by immunoblot analysis was not changed with IR injury. These results demonstrate that renal IR injury causes tight junction disruptions in both the proximal tubule and the collecting duct, and that altered distribution of the tight junction protein, occludin, may play a critical role in the collecting duct dysfunction which IR induces

Individual and neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics in relation to smoking prevalence among black and white adults in the Southeastern United States: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Low individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher prevalence of cigarette smoking. Recent work has examined whether neighborhood-level SES may affect smoking behavior independently from individual-level measures. However, few comparisons of neighborhood-level effects on smoking by race and gender are available.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional data from adults age 40-79 enrolled in the Southern Community Cohort Study from 2002-2009 (19, 561 black males; 27, 412 black females; 6, 231 white males; 11, 756 white females) were used in Robust Poisson regression models to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for current smoking in relation to individual-level SES characteristics obtained via interview and neighborhood-level SES characteristics represented by demographic measures from US Census block groups matched to participant home addresses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several neighborhood-level SES characteristics were modestly associated with increased smoking after adjustment for individual-level factors including lower percentage of adults with a college education and lower percentage of owner-occupied households among blacks but not whites; lower percentage of households with interest, dividends, or net rental income among white males; and lower percentage of employed adults among black females.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lower neighborhood-level SES is associated with increased smoking suggesting that cessation programs may benefit from targeting higher-risk neighborhoods as well as individuals.</p

Risk Factors for Obesity and High Blood Pressure in Chinese American Children: Maternal Acculturation and Children’s Food Choices

The objective of this study is to explore risk factors associated with overweight and high blood pressure in Chinese American children. Students and their parents were recruited from Chinese language schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Data were collected on 67 children and their mothers, and included children’s weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, blood pressure, level of physical activity, dietary intake, usual food choice, knowledge about nutrition and physical activity, and self-efficacy regarding diet and physical activity. Mothers completed questionnaires on demographic data and acculturation. About 46% of children had a body mass index exceeding the 85th percentile. Lower level of maternal acculturation is a risk factor for overweight and higher waist to hip ratio. Children’s unhealthy food choices were predictive of high body mass index and high systolic blood pressure, whereas older age and less physical activity in children were predictors of high diastolic blood pressure. Developing culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate interventions to reduce overweight and high blood pressure is critical to reduce health disparities among minority children

Chronic Maternal Depression Is Associated with Reduced Weight Gain in Latino Infants from Birth to 2 Years of Age

BACKGROUND: Latino children are at increased risk for mirconutrient deficiencies and problems of overweight and obesity. Exposures in pregnancy and early postpartum may impact future growth trajectories. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between prenatal and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms experienced in pregnancy and infant growth from birth to 2 years of age in a cohort of Latino infants. METHODS: We recruited pregnant Latina mothers at two San Francisco hospitals and followed their healthy infants to 24 months of age. At 6, 12 and 24 months of age, infants were weighed and measured. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed prenatally and at 4-6 weeks postpartum. Women who had high depressive symptoms at both time periods were defined as having chronic depression. Logistic mixed models were applied to compare growth curves and risk for overweight and underweight based on exposure to maternal depression. RESULTS: We followed 181 infants to 24 months. At 12 and 24 months, respectively, 27.4% and 40.5% were overweight, and 5.6% and 2.2% were underweight. Exposure to chronic maternal depression was associated with underweight (OR = 12.12, 95%CI 1.86-78.78) and with reduced weight gain in the first 2 years of life (Coef = -0.48, 95% CI -0.94-0.01) compared with unexposed infants or infants exposed to episodic depression (depression at one time point). Exposure to chronic depression was also associated with reduced risk for overweight in the first 2 years of life (OR 0.28, 95%CI 0.03-0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to chronic maternal depression in the pre- and postnatal period was associated with reduced weight gain in the first two years of life and greater risk for failure to thrive, in comparison with unexposed infants or those exposed episodically. The infants of mothers with chronic depression may need additional nutritional monitoring and intervention

Spine neck plasticity regulates compartmentalization of synapses

Dendritic spines have been proposed to transform synaptic signals through chemical and electrical compartmentalization. However, the quantitative contribution of spine morphology to synapse compartmentalization and its dynamic regulation are still poorly understood. We used time-lapse super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) imaging in combination with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) measurements, two-photon glutamate uncaging, electrophysiology and simulations to investigate the dynamic link between nanoscale anatomy and compartmentalization in live spines of CA1 neurons in mouse brain slices. We report a diversity of spine morphologies that argues against common categorization schemes and establish a close link between compartmentalization and spine morphology, wherein spine neck width is the most critical morphological parameter. We demonstrate that spine necks are plastic structures that become wider and shorter after long-term potentiation. These morphological changes are predicted to lead to a substantial drop in spine head excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) while preserving overall biochemical compartmentalization

Phenylbutyrate Counteracts Shigella Mediated Downregulation of Cathelicidin in Rabbit Lung and Intestinal Epithelia: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy

BACKGROUND: Cathelicidins and defensins are endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are downregulated in the mucosal epithelia of the large intestine in shigellosis. Oral treatment of Shigella infected rabbits with sodium butyrate (NaB) reduces clinical severity and counteracts the downregulation of cathelicidin (CAP-18) in the large intestinal epithelia. AIMS: To develop novel regimen for treating infectious diseases by inducing innate immunity, we selected sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (PB), a registered drug for a metabolic disorder as a potential therapeutic candidate in a rabbit model of shigellosis. Since acute respiratory infections often cause secondary complications during shigellosis, the systemic effect of PB and NaB on CAP-18 expression in respiratory epithelia was also evaluated. METHODS: The readouts were clinical outcomes, CAP-18 expression in mucosa of colon, rectum, lung and trachea (immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR) and release of the CAP-18 peptide/protein in stool (Western blot). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Significant downregulation of CAP-18 expression in the epithelia of rectum and colon, the site of Shigella infection was confirmed. Interestingly, reduced expression of CAP-18 was also noticed in the epithelia of lung and trachea, indicating a systemic effect of the infection. This suggests a causative link to acute respiratory infections during shigellosis. Oral treatment with PB resulted in reduced clinical illness and upregulation of CAP-18 in the epithelium of rectum. Both PB and NaB counteracted the downregulation of CAP-18 in lung epithelium. The drug effect is suggested to be systemic as intravenous administration of NaB could also upregulate CAP-18 in the epithelia of lung, rectum and colon. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that PB has treatment potential in human shigellosis. Enhancement of CAP-18 in the mucosal epithelia of the respiratory tract by PB or NaB is a novel discovery. This could mediate protection from secondary respiratory infections that frequently are the lethal causes in dysentery

Using European travellers as an early alert to detect emerging pathogens in countries with limited laboratory resources

BACKGROUND: The volume, extent and speed of travel have dramatically increased in the past decades, providing the potential for an infectious disease to spread through the transportation network. By collecting information on the suspected place of infection, existing surveillance systems in industrialized countries may provide timely information for areas of the world without adequate surveillance currently in place. We present the results of a case study using reported cases of Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 (Sd1) in European travellers to detect "events" of Sd1, related to either epidemic cases or endemic cases in developing countries. METHODS: We identified papers from a Medline search for reported events of Sd1 from 1940 to 2002. We requested data on shigella infections reported to the responsible surveillance entities in 17 European countries. Reports of Sd1 from the published literature were then compared with Sd1 notified cases among European travellers from 1990 to 2002. RESULTS: Prior to a large epidemic in 1999–2000, no cases of Sd1 had been identified in West Africa. However, if travellers had been used as an early warning, Sd1 could have been identified in this region as earlier as 1992. CONCLUSION: This project demonstrates that tracking diseases in European travellers could be used to detect emerging disease in developing countries. This approach should be further tested with a view to the continuous improvement of national health surveillance systems and existing European networks, and may play a significant role in aiding the international public health community to improve infectious disease control

Uncoupled Embryonic and Extra-Embryonic Tissues Compromise Blastocyst Development after Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is the most efficient cell reprogramming technique available, especially when working with bovine species. Although SCNT blastocysts performed equally well or better than controls in the weeks following embryo transfer at Day 7, elongation and gastrulation defects were observed prior to implantation. To understand the developmental implications of embryonic/extra-embryonic interactions, the morphological and molecular features of elongating and gastrulating tissues were analysed. At Day 18, 30 SCNT conceptuses were compared to 20 controls (AI and IVP: 10 conceptuses each); one-half of the SCNT conceptuses appeared normal while the other half showed signs of atypical elongation and gastrulation. SCNT was also associated with a high incidence of discordance in embryonic and extra-embryonic patterns, as evidenced by morphological and molecular “uncoupling”. Elongation appeared to be secondarily affected; only 3 of 30 conceptuses had abnormally elongated shapes and there were very few differences in gene expression when they were compared to the controls. However, some of these differences could be linked to defects in microvilli formation or extracellular matrix composition and could thus impact extra-embryonic functions. In contrast to elongation, gastrulation stages included embryonic defects that likely affected the hypoblast, the epiblast, or the early stages of their differentiation. When taking into account SCNT conceptus somatic origin, i.e. the reprogramming efficiency of each bovine ear fibroblast (Low: 0029, Med: 7711, High: 5538), we found that embryonic abnormalities or severe embryonic/extra-embryonic uncoupling were more tightly correlated to embryo loss at implantation than were elongation defects. Alternatively, extra-embryonic differences between SCNT and control conceptuses at Day 18 were related to molecular plasticity (high efficiency/high plasticity) and subsequent pregnancy loss. Finally, because it alters re-differentiation processes in vivo, SCNT reprogramming highlights temporally and spatially restricted interactions among cells and tissues in a unique way

Aerosol forcing of the position of the intertropical convergence zone since AD1550

The position of the intertropical convergence zone is an important control on the distribution of low-latitude precipitation. Its position is largely controlled by hemisphere temperature contrasts1, 2. The release of aerosols by human activities may have resulted in a southward shift of the intertropical convergence zone since the early 1900s (refs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6) by muting the warming of the Northern Hemisphere relative to the Southern Hemisphere over this interval1, 7, 8, but this proposed shift remains equivocal. Here we reconstruct monthly rainfall over Belize for the past 456 years from variations in the carbon isotope composition of a well-dated, monthly resolved speleothem. We identify an unprecedented drying trend since ad 1850 that indicates a southward displacement of the intertropical convergence zone. This drying coincides with increasing aerosol emissions in the Northern Hemisphere and also marks a breakdown in the relationship between Northern Hemisphere temperatures and the position of the intertropical convergence zone observed earlier in the record. We also identify nine short-lived drying events since ad 1550 each following a large volcanic eruption in the Northern Hemisphere. We conclude that anthropogenic aerosol emissions have led to a reduction of rainfall in the northern tropics during the twentieth century, and suggest that geographic changes in aerosol emissions should be considered when assessing potential future rainfall shifts in the tropics