\u3cem\u3eRhizobium phaseoli\u3c/em\u3e Symbiotic Mutants with Transposon Tn5 Insertions

Rhizobium phaseoli CFN42 DNA was mutated by random insertion of Tn5 from suicide plasmid pJB4JI to obtain independently arising strains that were defective in symbiosis with Phaseolus vulgaris but grew normally outside the plant. When these mutants were incubated with the plant, one did not initiate visible nodule tissue (Nod-), seven led to slow nodule development (Ndv), and two led to superficially normal early nodule development but lacked symbiotic nitrogenase activity (Sna-). The Nod- mutant lacked the large transmissible indigenous plasmid pCFN42d that has homology to Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase (nif) genes. The other mutants had normal plasmid content. In the two Sna- mutants and one Ndv mutant, Tn5 had inserted into plasmid pCFN42d outside the region of nif homology. The insertions of the other Ndv mutants were apparently in the chromosome. They were not in plasmids detected on agarose gels, and, in contrast to insertions on indigenous plasmids, they were transmitted in crosses to wild-type strain CFN42 at the same frequency as auxotrophic markers and with the same enhancement of transmission by conjugation plasmid R68.45. In these Ndv mutants the Tn5 insertions were the same as or very closely linked to mutations causing the Ndv phenotype. However, in two mutants with Tn5 insertions on plasmid pCFN42d, an additional mutation on the same plasmid, rather than Tn5, was responsible for the Sna- or Ndv phenotype. When plasmid pJB4JI was transferred to two other R. phaseoli strains, analysis of symbiotic mutants was complicated by Tn5-containing deleted forms of pJB4JI that were stably maintained

Collection and freezing of equine epididymal spermatozoa

The epididymis and vas deferens store an important number of fertile spermatozoa called the extragonadal sperm reserves. These stored spermatozoa can be collected in an ultimate attempt to preserve viable spermatozoa of a critically ill or dying stallion. Epididymides are collected via routine castration. After cooled transport of the testicles and epididymides, spermatozoa are collected either by retrograde flushing or by the float-up method. Retrograde flushing usually results in a much higher sperm yield and is considered the method of choice. Epididymal spermatozoa can be frozen using standard freezing protocols

Oviductal and uterine leiomyomata in mares

This paper describes a case of a sessile uterine leiomyoma in a 17-year-old chronic infertile Selle Francais mare. The mass was removed by transendoscopic electrocoagulation. In the same period, 725 mares were screened for oviductal and uterine solid masses in a slaughterhouse survey. Two uterine masses and one oviductal mass were detected in three different mares. Histological and immunohistochemical examination revealed leiomyoma in the four masses. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of an oviductal leiomyoma in a mare

Respiratory physiotherapy interventions focused on exercise training and enhancing physical activity levels in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are likely to be cost-effective: a systematic review

Question: What is the cost-effectiveness of respiratory physiotherapy interventions for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Design: Systematic review of full economic evaluations alongside clinical trials published between 1997 and 2021. Reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion, extracted data and assessed methodological quality. Participants: People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Intervention: Respiratory physiotherapy interventions as defined in the respiratory physiotherapy curricu- lum of the European Respiratory Society. Outcome measures: Costs expressed in monetary units, effect sizes expressed in terms of disease-specific quality of life (QOL), quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or monetary units. Results: This review included 11 randomised trials with 3,261 participants. The interventions were pulmonary rehabilitation, airway clearance techniques, an integrated disease-management program and an early assisted discharge program, including inpatient respiratory physiotherapy. Meta-analysis was consid- ered irrelevant due to the extensive heterogeneity of the reported interventions. A total of 45 incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were extracted. Regardless of the economic perspectives, 67% of all QOL- related ICERs and 71% of all QALY-related ICERs were situated in the north-east or south-east quadrants of the cost-effectiveness plane. Six studies could be seen as cost-effective when compared with a specified cost- effectiveness threshold per QALY gained. Conclusion: Respiratory physiotherapy interventions focusing on exercise training in combination with enhancing physical activity levels are likely to be cost-effective in terms of costs per unit QOL gained and QALYs. Some uncertainty still exists on the various estimates of cost- effectiveness due to differences in the content and intensity of the type of interventions, outcome measures and comparators. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42018088699

Isotropic non-white matter partial volume effects in constrained spherical deconvolution

Diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging method, which can be used to investigate neural tracts in the white matter (WM) of the brain. Significant partial volume effects (PVEs) are present in the DVV signal due to relatively large voxel sizes. These PVEs can be caused by both non-WM tissue, such as gray matter (GM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and by multiple non-parallel WM fiber populations. High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) methods have been developed to correctly characterize complex WM fiber configurations, but to date, many of the HARDI methods do not account for non-WM PVEs. In this work, we investigated the isotropic PVEs caused by non-WM tissue in WM voxels on fiber orientations extracted with constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD). Experiments were performed on simulated and real DW-MRI data. In particular, simulations were performed to demonstrate the effects of varying the diffusion weightings, signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), fiber configurations, and tissue fractions. Our results show that the presence of non-WM tissue signal causes a decrease in the precision of the detected fiber orientations and an increase in the detection of false peaks in CSD. We estimated 35-50% of WM voxels to be affected by non-WM PVEs. For HARDI sequences, which typically have a relatively high degree of diffusion weighting, these adverse effects are most pronounced in voxels with GM PVEs. The non-WM PVEs become severe with 50% GM volume for maximum spherical harmonics orders of 8 and below, and already with 25% GM volume for higher orders. In addition, a low diffusion weighting or SNR increases the effects. The non-WM PVEs may cause problems in connectomics, where reliable fiber tracking at the WM G M interface is especially important. We suggest acquiring data with high diffusion-weighting 2500-3000 s/mm(2), reasonable SNR (similar to 30) and using lower SH orders in GM contaminated regions to minimize the non-WM PVEs in CSD

How models can support ecosystem-based management of coral reefs

Despite the importance of coral reef ecosystems to the social and economic welfare of coastal communities, the condition of these marine ecosystems have generally degraded over the past decades. With an increased knowledge of coral reef ecosystem processes and a rise in computer power, dynamic models are useful tools in assessing the synergistic effects of local and global stressors on ecosystem functions. We review representative approaches for dynamically modeling coral reef ecosystems and categorize them as minimal, intermediate and complex models. The categorization was based on the leading principle for model development and their level of realism and process detail. This review aims to improve the knowledge of concurrent approaches in coral reef ecosystem modeling and highlights the importance of choosing an appropriate approach based on the type of question(s) to be answered. We contend that minimal and intermediate models are generally valuable tools to assess the response of key states to main stressors and, hence, contribute to understanding ecological surprises. As has been shown in freshwater resources management, insight into these conceptual relations profoundly influences how natural resource managers perceive their systems and how they manage ecosystem recovery. We argue that adaptive resource management requires integrated thinking and decision support, which demands a diversity of modeling approaches. Integration can be achieved through complimentary use of models or through integrated models that systemically combine all relevant aspects in one model. Such whole-of-system models can be useful tools for quantitatively evaluating scenarios. These models allow an assessment of the interactive effects of multiple stressors on various, potentially conflicting, management objectives. All models simplify reality and, as such, have their weaknesses. While minimal models lack multidimensionality, system models are likely difficult to interpret as they require many efforts to decipher the numerous interactions and feedback loops. Given the breadth of questions to be tackled when dealing with coral reefs, the best practice approach uses multiple model types and thus benefits from the strength of different models types

White matter microstructure of the neural emotion regulation circuitry in mild traumatic brain injury

Emotion regulation is related to recovery after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This longitudinal tractography study examined white matter tracts subserving emotion regulation across the spectrum of mTBI, with a focus on persistent symptoms. Four groups were examined: (a) symptomatic (n = 33) and (b) asymptomatic (n = 20) patients with uncomplicated mTBI (i.e., no lesions on computed tomography [CT]), (c) patients with CT-lesions in the frontal areas (n = 14), and (d) healthy controls (HC) (n = 20). Diffusion and conventional MRI were performed approximately 1- and 3-months post-injury. Whole-brain deterministic tractography followed by region of interest analyses was used to identify forceps minor (FM), uncinate fasciculus (UF), and cingulum bundle as tracts of interest. An adjusted version of the ExploreDTI Atlas Based Tractography method was used to obtain reliable tracts for every subject. Mean fractional anisotropy (FA), mean, radial and axial diffusivity (MD, RD, AD), and number of streamlines were studied per tract. Linear mixed models showed lower FA, and higher MD, and RD of the right UF in asymptomatic patients with uncomplicated mTBI relative to symptomatic patients and HC. Diffusion alterations were most pronounced in the group with frontal lesions on CT, particularly in the FM and UF; these effects increased over time. Within the group of patients with uncomplicated mTBI, there were no associations of diffusion measures with the number of symptoms nor with lesions on conventional MRI. In conclusion, mTBI can cause microstructural changes in emotion regulation tracts, however, no explanation was found for the presence of symptoms

Mushrooms Red Book of Ukraine in Culture. 1. Patterns of Growth Hericium coralloides

На території НПП «Гуцульщина» виявлено лише три локалітети Hericium coralloides – гриба, занесеного до Червоної книги України. У результаті проведених досліджень виділено в чисту культуру аборигенний штам К01. Як для виділення, так і для підтримки та забезпечення життєздатності гриба в культурі картопельно-глюкозний агар виявився оптимальним серед апробованих середовищ. Індивідуальні особливості росту H. coralloides К01 вказують на вузькі трофічні можливості цього штаму при поверхневому культивуванні, оскільки з п’яти апробованих середовищ придатними для росту виявилися лише два. Цей штам гриба вважаємо перспективним для використання як інокулянта відповідних субстратів у природному середовищі, оскільки для нього характерні високі показники радіального росту, короткий період log-фази та утворення в чистій культурі стадії телеоморфи. The national park «Hutsulshchyna» found only three localities of Hericium coralloides − mushroom Red Book of Ukraine. The result of the research was to obtain in a pure culture of the native strain K01. As for the release, and to support and ensure the viability of the fungus in culture potato - glucose agar was the best among the tested environments. Individual features of the growth of H. coralloides K01 indicate the narrow trophic features of this strain at cultivation because from five tested media suitable for growth were only two. This strain K01 H. coralloides may be considered promising for use as an inoculant respective substrates in the environment , because it is characterized by high rates of radial growth , a short period of log- phase and ability to form stage teleomorfy in pure culture.Роботу виконано у НПП «Гуцульщина», ННЦ «Інститут біології» КНУ ім. Т. Шевченк

Comparison of Carboplatin With 5-Fluorouracil vs. Cisplatin as Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) including three cycles of cisplatin is considered the standard of care for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC). However, around one-third of the patients cannot complete cisplatin because of toxicity. Carboplatin plus 5-fluorouracil (carbo-5FU) is another accepted treatment option with a different toxicity profile. We compared tolerability and efficacy of concomitant carbo-5FU and cisplatin. Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of LA-HNSCC patients treated with CRT in two Dutch cancer centers between 2007 and 2016. All patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy. One center routinely administered carboplatin 300–350 mg/m2 at day 1, 22, and 43 followed by 5FU 600 mg/m2/day for 96 h. The other center used cisplatin 100 mg/m2 at day 1, 22, and 43. The primary endpoint of this study was chemotherapy completion rate. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), locoregional control (LRC) and distant metastasis–free interval (DMFS), toxicity, and unplanned admissions. Results: In the carbo-5FU cohort (n = 211), 60.2% of the patients completed chemotherapy vs. 76.7% (p < 0.001) of the patients in the cisplatin cohort (n = 223). Univariate analysis showed a higher risk of death in the carbo-5FU cohort [hazard ratio (HR) 1.53, 95% CI, 1.09–2.14, p = 0.01] with a 3-year OS of 65.4 vs. 76.5% for cisplatin. OS was independently associated with T and N stage and p16 status, but not with chemotherapy regimen (HR 1.08, 95% CI, 0.76–1.55, p = 0.65). Three-year DFS was 70.0% for carbo-5FU vs. 78.6% for cisplatin (HR 1.37, 95% CI, 0.93–2.01, p = 0.05). A similar outcome was observed for both LRC (HR 1.27, 95% CI, 0.74–2.09, p = 0.4) and DMFS (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.62–1.90, p = 0.77). The risk of discontinuation for chemotherapy-associated toxicity was higher in the carbo-5FU cohort than in the cisplatin cohort (relative risk = 1.69). Conclusion: LA-HNSCC patients treated with concomitant carbo-5FU completed chemotherapy less frequently than patients treated with cisplatin. Treatment regimen was not an independent prognostic factor for OS