Size-dependent foraging gene expression and behavioral caste differentiation in Bombus ignitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In eusocial hymenopteran insects, <it>foraging </it>genes, members of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase family, are considered to contribute to division of labor through behavioral caste differentiation. However, the relationship between <it>foraging </it>gene expression and behavioral caste in honeybees is opposite to that observed in ants and wasps. In the previously examined eusocial Hymenoptera, workers behave as foragers or nurses depending on age. We reasoned that examination of a different system of behavioral caste determination might provide new insights into the relationship between <it>foraging </it>genes and division of labor, and accordingly focused on bumblebees, which exhibit size-dependent behavioral caste differentiation. We characterized a <it>foraging </it>gene (<it>Bifor</it>) in bumblebees (<it>Bombus ignitus</it>) and examined the relationship between <it>Bifor </it>expression and size-dependent behavioral caste differentiation.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A putative open reading frame of the <it>Bifor </it>gene was 2004 bp in length. It encoded 668 aa residues and showed high identity to orthologous genes in other hymenopterans (85.3-99.0%). As in ants and wasps, <it>Bifor </it>expression levels were higher in nurses than in foragers. <it>Bifor </it>expression was negatively correlated with individual body size even within the same behavioral castes (regression coefficient = -0.376, P < 0.001, all individuals; -0.379, <it>P </it>= 0.018, within foragers).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate that <it>Bifor </it>expression is size dependent and support the idea that <it>Bifor </it>expression levels are related to behavioral caste differentiation in <it>B. ignitus</it>. Thus, the relationship between <it>foraging </it>gene expression and behavioral caste differentiation found in ants and wasps was identified in a different system of labor determination.</p

Retrospective analysis of definitive radiotherapy for neck node metastasis from unknown primary tumor: Japanese Radiation Oncology Study Group study

Objective: To investigate the optimal treatment method and risk factor of neck node metastasis from unknown primary tumors (NUP) treated by radiotherapy. Methods: Retrospective case study based on a multi-institutional survey was conducted by the Japanese Radiation Oncology Study Group. Patients pathologically diagnosed as having NUP from 1998 to 2007 were identified. Univariate and multivariate analyses of overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), neck progression free survival (NPFS) and mucosal progression free survival (MPFS) were evaluated. Results: In total, 130 patients with median age of 65 years were included. Nodal stages N1, N2a, N2b and N2c were observed for 10, 26, 43, 12 and 39 patients, respectively. All the patients received radiotherapy (RT) with neck dissection in 60 and with chemotherapy in 67 cases. The median doses to the metastatic nodes, prophylactic neck and prophylactic mucosal sites were 60.0, 50.4 and 50.4 Gy, respectively. The median follow-up period for surviving patients was 42 months. Among 12 patients, occult primary tumors in the neck region developed after radiotherapy. The 5-year OS, PFS, NPFS and MPFS were 58.1%, 42.4%, 47.3% and 54.9%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that lower N stage (N1?2b), non-bulky node (<6 cm) and negative extracapsular extension (ECE) status were the factors associated with favorable OS, PFS, NPFS and MPFS. Radical surgery proved to be a favorable factor of OS, NPFS and MPFS. On multivariate analysis, lower N stage and negative ECE status were correlated with improved survival. Conclusions: Lower nodal stage and negative ECE status showed a favorable impact on survival and disease control in patients with NUP treated by radiotherapy

Precise track analysis and application for various radiation fields with high speed microscope and PitFit software

CR-39 plastic is well-known as most sensitive nuclear track detector for proton and heavy ions. CR-39 is widely utilized for not only dosimetric fields such as personal neutron dosimetry and heavy ion dosimetry, environment radiation monitoring, space radiation dosimetry but also various applications such as the spectroscopy of laser-driven ion beams, high energy cosmic ray physics and nuclear physics. Previously, we have developed a high speed microscope system (HSP-1000) for nuclear track measurement with a line sensor camera in place of a traditional CCD camera [1]. The actual scanning speed including all of procedure such as stage movement, image processing on board and writing out image data to hard disk was typically 8.8 min/cm^2. The scanning speed limit strongly depends on the brightness of image for taking picture. Recently, the scanning speed has been drastically improved to be 0.5 min/cm^2 by TDI (time delay integrator) sensor replacing a line sensor. TDI allows to take a high-intensity image by the integration of brightness of lines with two dimensional sensor of 4096 × 96 pixels. For the high speed image acquisition, the image is continuously and automatically focusing with two line sensors system. On the other hand, the track analysis software (PitFit) has been specifically designed for measuring the parameters of etch pit openings [1]. The edge of etch pit is detected through the image analysis procedure of noise eduction and binarization of the image after setting a greyscale threshold. The track size and its position of center are extracted with an ellipse fitting algorithms. This method can easily make analysis of heavy ion tracks due to the high contrast of etch pit compared with background gray level, while it was difficult to detect shallow tracks with similar gray level as background. Recently, thus kind of shallow tracks such as recoiled proton due to neutron and low LET (liner energy transfer) particles of space radiation are easily and automatically extracted with the differential edge detection algorithm. In this report, we will show the advanced track microscope and track analysis system and the applications for various radiation fields.The 26th International Conference on Nuclear Tracks in Solid

Comparative Analyses of Copy-Number Variation in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia Reveal Etiological Overlap and Biological Insights

Summary: Compelling evidence in Caucasian populations suggests a role for copy-number variations (CNVs) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). We analyzed 1,108 ASD cases, 2,458 SCZ cases, and 2,095 controls in a Japanese population and confirmed an increased burden of rare exonic CNVs in both disorders. Clinically significant (or pathogenic) CNVs, including those at 29 loci common to both disorders, were found in about 8% of ASD and SCZ cases, which was significantly higher than in controls. Phenotypic analysis revealed an association between clinically significant CNVs and intellectual disability. Gene set analysis showed significant overlap of biological pathways in both disorders including oxidative stress response, lipid metabolism/modification, and genomic integrity. Finally, based on bioinformatics analysis, we identified multiple disease-relevant genes in eight well-known ASD/SCZ-associated CNV loci (e.g., 22q11.2, 3q29). Our findings suggest an etiological overlap of ASD and SCZ and provide biological insights into these disorders. : Kushima et al. perform comparative analyses of CNVs in ASD and SCZ in a Japanese population. They identify pathogenic CNVs and biological pathways in each disorder with significant overlap. Patients with pathogenic CNVs have a higher prevalence of intellectual disability. Disease-relevant genes are detected in eight well-known ASD/SCZ-associated CNV loci. Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, copy-number variation, array comparative genomic hybridization, genetic overlap, Japanese population, oxidative stress response, genome integrity, lipid metabolism, gene ontolog