Sex pheromone signal and stability covary with fitness

If sexual signals are costly, covariance between signal expression and fitness is expected. Signal–fitness covariance is important, because it can contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation in signals that are under natural or sexual selection. Chemical signals, such as female sex pheromones in moths, have traditionally been assumed to be species-recognition signals, but their relationship with fitness is unclear. Here, we test whether chemical, conspecific mate finding signals covary with fitness in the moth Heliothis subflexa. Additionally, as moth signals are synthesized de novo every night, the maintenance of the signal can be costly. Therefore, we also hypothesized that fitness covaries with signal stability (i.e. lack of temporal intra-individual variation). We measured among- and within-individual variation in pheromone characteristics as well as fecundity, fertility and lifespan in two independent groups that differed in the time in between two pheromone samples. In both groups, we found fitness to be correlated with pheromone amount, composition and stability, supporting both our hypotheses. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to report a correlation between fitness and sex pheromone composition in moths, supporting evidence of condition-dependence and highlighting how signal–fitness covariance may contribute to heritable variation in chemical signals both among and within individuals

Titanium based cranial reconstruction using incremental sheet forming

In this paper, we report recent work in cranial plate manufacturing using incremental sheet forming (ISF) process. With a typical cranial shape, the ISF process was used to manufacture the titanium cranial shape by using different ISF tooling solutions with and without backing plates. Detailed evaluation of the ISF process including material deformation and thinning, geometric accuracy and surface finish was conducted by using a combination of experimental testing and Finite Element (FE) simulation. The results show that satisfactory cranial shape can be achieved with sufficient accuracy and surface finish by using a feature based tool path generation method and new ISF tooling design. The results also demonstrate that the ISF based cranial reconstruction has the potential to achieve considerable lead time reduction as compared to conventional methods for cranial plate manufacturing. This outcome indicates that there is a potential for the ISF process to achieve technological advances and economic benefits as well as improvement to quality of life

Polymorphisms in MTHFR, MS and CBS Genes and Homocysteine Levels in a Pakistani Population

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia (\u3e15 mol/L) is highly prevalent in South Asian populations including Pakistan. In order to investigate the genetic determinants of this condition, we studied 6 polymorphisms in genes of 3 enzymes--methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR, C677T, A1298C), methionine synthase (MS, A2756G), cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS, T833C/844ins68, G919A) involved in homocysteine metabolism and investigated their interactions with nutritional and environmental factors in a Pakistani population. Methodology/Principal Findings: In a cross-sectional survey, 872 healthy adults (355 males and 517 females, age 18-60 years) were recruited from a low-income urban population in Karachi. Fasting venous blood was obtained and assessed for plasma/serum homocysteine, folate, vitamin B12, pyridoxal phosphate and blood lead. DNA was isolated and genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP (restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism) based assays. The average changes in homocysteine levels for MTHFR 677CT and TT genotypes were positive [beta(SE beta), 2.01(0.63) and 16.19(1.8) mol/L, respectively]. Contrary to MTHFR C677T polymorphism, the average changes in plasma homocysteine levels for MS 2756AG and GG variants were negative [beta(SE beta), -0.56(0.58) and -0.83(0.99) mol/L, respectively]. The average change occurring for CBS 844ins68 heterozygous genotype (ancestral/insertion) was -1.88(0.81) mol/L. The combined effect of MTHFR C677T, MS A2756G and CBS 844ins68 genotypes for plasma homocysteine levels was additive (p valu

Determinants of DNA yield and purity collected with buccal cell samples

Buccal cells are an important source of DNA in epidemiological studies, but little is known about factors that influence amount and purity of DNA. We assessed these factors in a self-administered buccal cell collection procedure, obtained with three cotton swabs. In 2,451 patients DNA yield and in 1,033 patients DNA purity was assessed. Total DNA yield ranged from 0.08 to 1078.0 μg (median 54.3 μg; mean 82.2 μg ± SD 92.6). The median UV 260:280 ratio, was 1.95. Samples from men yielded significantly more DNA (median 58.7 μg) than those from women (median 44.2 μg). Diuretic drug users had significantly lower purity (median 1.92) compared to other antihypertensive drug users (1.95). One technician obtained significantly lower DNA yields. Older age was associated with lower DNA purity. In conclusion, DNA yield from buccal swabs was higher in men and DNA purity was associated with age and the use of diuretics

Association between polymorphisms in the coagulation factor VII gene and coronary heart disease risk in different ethnicities: a meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have examined the association between polymorphisms in the coagulation factor VII gene and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but those studies have been inconclusive. This study was conducted to assess the associations between these polymorphisms and CHD and evaluated the associations in different ethnicities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Literature-based searching was conducted to collect data and two methods, namely fixed-effects and random-effects, were performed to pool the odds ratio (OR), together with the 95% confidence interval (CI). Publication bias and between-study heterogeneity were also examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-nine case-control studies of the three polymorphisms, R353Q (rs6046), HVR4 and -323Ins10 (rs36208070) in factor VII gene and CHD were enrolled in this meta-analysis, including 9,151 cases of CHD and 14,099 controls for R353Q, 2,863 cases and 2,727 controls for HVR4, and 2,862 cases and 4,240 controls for -323Ins10. Significant association was only found in Asian population for R353Q (Q vs R), with pooled OR of 0.70(95%CI: 0.55, 0.90). For the -323Ins10 polymorphism (10 vs 0), we found significant associations in both Asian and European populations, with pooled ORs of 0.74(95%CI: 0.61, 0.88) and 0.63(95%CI: 0.53, 0.74), respectively. Marginal significant association was found between HVR4 (H7 vs H5+H6) and CHD (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.78, 1.00). There was no evidence of publication bias, but between-study heterogeneity was found in the analyses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The -323Ins10 polymorphism in factor VII gene is significantly associated with CHD in both Asian and European populations, while R353Q polymorphism showed trend for association with CHD in Asians. Lack of association was found for HVR4 polymorphism. Further studies are needed to confirm the association, especially for -323Ins10 polymorphism.</p

Low Enzymatic Activity Haplotypes of the Human Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene: Enrichment for Marker SNPs

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that plays a key role in the modulation of catechol-dependent functions such as cognition, cardiovascular function, and pain processing. Three common haplotypes of the human COMT gene, divergent in two synonymous and one nonsynonymous (val158met) position, designated as low (LPS), average (APS), and high pain sensitive (HPS), are associated with experimental pain sensitivity and risk of developing chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions. APS and HPS haplotypes produce significant functional effects, coding for 3- and 20-fold reductions in COMT enzymatic activity, respectively. In the present study, we investigated whether additional minor single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), accruing in 1 to 5% of the population, situated in the COMT transcript region contribute to haplotype-dependent enzymatic activity. Computer analysis of COMT ESTs showed that one synonymous minor SNP (rs769224) is linked to the APS haplotype and three minor SNPs (two synonymous: rs6267, rs740602 and one nonsynonymous: rs8192488) are linked to the HPS haplotype. Results from in silico and in vitro experiments revealed that inclusion of allelic variants of these minor SNPs in APS or HPS haplotypes did not modify COMT function at the level of mRNA folding, RNA transcription, protein translation, or enzymatic activity. These data suggest that neutral variants are carried with APS and HPS haplotypes, while the high activity LPS haplotype displays less linked variation. Thus, both minor synonymous and nonsynonymous SNPs in the coding region are markers of functional APS and HPS haplotypes rather than independent contributors to COMT activity

Schistosomes Induce Regulatory Features in Human and Mouse CD1dhi B Cells: Inhibition of Allergic Inflammation by IL-10 and Regulatory T Cells

Chronic helminth infections, such as schistosomes, are negatively associated with allergic disorders. Here, using B cell IL-10-deficient mice, Schistosoma mansoni-mediated protection against experimental ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation (AAI) was shown to be specifically dependent on IL-10-producing B cells. To study the organs involved, we transferred B cells from lungs, mesenteric lymph nodes or spleen of OVA-infected mice to recipient OVA-sensitized mice, and showed that both lung and splenic B cells reduced AAI, but only splenic B cells in an IL-10-dependent manner. Although splenic B cell protection was accompanied by elevated levels of pulmonary FoxP3+ regulatory T cells, in vivo ablation of FoxP3+ T cells only moderately restored AAI, indicating an important role for the direct suppressory effect of regulatory B cells. Splenic marginal zone CD1d+ B cells proved to be the responsible splenic B cell subset as they produced high levels of IL-10 and induced FoxP3+ T cells in vitro. Indeed, transfer of CD1d+ MZ-depleted splenic B cells from infected mice restored AAI. Markedly, we found a similarly elevated population of CD1dhi B cells in peripheral blood of Schistosoma haematobium-infected Gabonese children compared to uninfected children and these cells produced elevated levels of IL-10. Importantly, the number of IL-10-producing CD1dhi B cells was reduced after anti-schistosome treatment. This study points out that in both mice and men schistosomes have the capacity to drive the development of IL-10-producing regulatory CD1dhi B cells and furthermore, these are instrumental in reducing experimental allergic inflammation in mice