Changes in the relative thickness of individual subcutaneous adipose tissue layers in growing pigs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer is an important parameter at all stages of pig production. It is used to inform decisions on dietary requirements to optimize growth, in gilts to promote longevity and finally to assist in the calculation of payments to producers that allow for general adiposity. Currently for reasons of tradition and ease, total adipose thickness measurements are made at one or multiple sites although it has been long recognized that up to three well defined layers (outer (L1), middle (L2), and inner (L3)) may be present to make up the total. Various features and properties of these layers have been described. This paper examines the contribution of each layer to total adipose thickness at three time points and describes the change in thickness of each layer per unit change in body weight in normal growing pigs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A group of nine pigs was examined using 14 MHz linear array transducer on three separate occasions. The average weight was 51, 94 and 124 kg for each successive scan. The time between scanning was approximately 4 weeks. The proportion of each layer to total thickness was modeled statistically with scan session as a variable and the change in absolute thickness of each layer per unit change in body weight was modeled in a random regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a significant change in ratios between scans for the middle and inner layers (<it>P </it>< 0.001). The significant changes were seen between the first and second, and between the first and final, scan sessions. The change in thickness per unit change in body weight was greatest for L2, followed by L1 and L3.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrate that subcutaneous adipose layers grow at different rates relative to each other and to change in body weight and indicate that ultrasound can be used to track these differences.</p

Normal levels of p27Xic1 are necessary for somite segmentation and determining pronephric organ size

The Xenopus laevis cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p27Xic1 has been shown to be involved in exit from the cell cycle and differentiation of cells into a quiescent state in the nervous system, muscle tissue, heart and retina. We show that p27Xic1 is expressed in the developing kidney in the nephrostomal regions. Using over-expression and morpholino oligonucleotide (MO) knock-down approaches we show normal levels of p27Xic1 regulate pronephros organ size by regulating cell cycle exit. Knock-down of p27Xic1 expression using a MO prevented myogenesis, as previously reported; an effect that subsequently inhibits pronephrogenesis. Furthermore, we show that normal levels of p27Xic1 are required for somite segmentation also through its cell cycle control function. Finally, we provide evidence to suggest correct paraxial mesoderm segmentation is not necessary for pronephric induction in the intermediate mesoderm. These results indicate novel developmental roles for p27Xic1, and reveal its differentiation function is not universally utilised in all developing tissues

Whether ideal free or not, predatory mites distribute so as to maximize reproduction

Ideal free distribution (IFD) models predict that animals distribute themselves such that no individual can increase its fitness by moving to another patch. Many empirical tests assume that the interference among animals is independent of density and do not quantify the effects of density on fitness traits. Using two species of predatory mites, we measured oviposition as a function of conspecific density. Subsequently, we used these functions to calculate expected distributions on two connected patches. We performed an experimental test of the distributions of mites on two such connected patches, among which one had a food accessibility rate that was twice as high as on the other. For one of the two species, Iphiseius degenerans, the distribution matched the expected distribution. The distribution also coincided with the ratio of food accessibility. The other species, Neoseiulus cucumeris, distributed itself differently than expected. However, the oviposition rates of both species did not differ significantly from the expected oviposition rates based on experiments on single patches. This suggests that the oviposition rate of N. cucumeris was not negatively affected by the observed distribution, despite the fact that N. cucumeris did not match the predicted distributions. Thus, the distribution of one mite species, I. degenerans, was in agreement with IFD theory, whereas for the other mite species, N. cucumeris, unknown factors may have influenced the distribution of the mites. We conclude that density-dependent fitness traits provide essential information for explaining animal distributions

Conditional mouse models demonstrate oncogene-dependent differences in tumor maintenance and recurrence

Diversity in the pathophysiology of breast cancer frustrates therapeutic progress. We need to understand how mechanisms activated by specific combinations of oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and hormonal signaling pathways govern response to therapy and prognosis. A recent series of investigations conducted by Chodosh and colleagues offers new insights into the similarities and differences between specific oncogenic pathways. Expression of three oncogenes relevant to pathways activated in human breast cancers (c-myc, activated neu and Wnt1) were targeted to murine mammary epithelial cells using the same transgenic tetracycline-responsive conditional gene expression system. While the individual transgenic lines demonstrate similarly high rates of tumor penetrance, rates of oncogene-independent tumor maintenance and recurrence following initial regression are significantly different, and are modifiable by mutations in specific cooperating oncogenes or loss of tumor suppressor gene expression. The experiments make three notable contributions. First, they illustrate that rates of tumor regression and recurrence following initial regression are dependent upon the pathways activated by the initiating oncogene. The experiments also demonstrate that altered expression or mutation of specific cooperating oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes results in different rates of tumor regression and recurrence. Finally, they exemplify the power of conditional mouse models for elucidating how specific molecular mechanisms give rise to the complexity of human cancer

Increase in mammography detected breast cancer over time at a community based regional cancer center: a longitudinal cohort study 1990–2005

Background: Coincident with the advent of mammography screening, breast carcinoma in situ has increased in the US population. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of all women presenting with primary breast cancer, aged 21-94, and biopsy confirmed Stage 0-IV from 1990-2005 identified and tracked by our registry. Clinical presentation characteristics including age, race, TNM stage, family and pregnancy history, histologic type and method of detection by patient (PtD), physician (PhysD) or mammography (MgD) were chart abstracted at time of diagnosis. Cases with unknown or other method of detection (n = 84), or unusual cell types (n = 26) were removed (n = 6074). Results: From 1990 to 1998 the percentage of PtD and MgD cases was roughly equivalent. In 1999 the percentage of MgD cases increased to 56% and PtD dropped to 37%, a significant 20% differential, constant to 2005 (Pearson chi square = 120.99, p less than .001). Overall, percent TNM stage 0 (breast carcinoma in situ) cases increased after 1990, percent stage I and III cases declined, and stage II and IV cases remained constant (Pearson chi square = 218.36, p less than .001). Increase in MgD over time differed by age group with an 8.5% increase among women age 40-49 and 12% increase among women age 50-95. Women age 21-39 rarely had MgD BC. In forward stepwise logistic regression modeling, significant predictors of MgD BC by order of entry were TNM stage, age at diagnosis, diagnosis year, and race (chi square = 1867.56, p less than .001). Conclusion: In our cohort the relative proportion of mammography detected breast cancer increased over time with a higher increase among women age 50+ and an increase of breast carcinoma in situ exclusively among MgD cases. The increase among women currently targeted by mammography screening programs (age = 50) combined with an increase of breast carcinoma in situ most often detected by mammography screening indicates a possible incidence shift to lower stage breast cancer as a result of mammographic detection.Kaplan Research Fun

High Resolution Genotyping of Clinical Aspergillus flavus Isolates from India Using Microsatellites

Contains fulltext : 124312.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Worldwide, Aspergillus flavus is the second leading cause of allergic, invasive and colonizing fungal diseases in humans. However, it is the most common species causing fungal rhinosinusitis and eye infections in tropical countries. Despite the growing challenges due to A. flavus, the molecular epidemiology of this fungus has not been well studied. We evaluated the use of microsatellites for high resolution genotyping of A. flavus from India and a possible connection between clinical presentation and genotype of the involved isolate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A panel of nine microsatellite markers were selected from the genome of A. flavus NRRL 3357. These markers were used to type 162 clinical isolates of A. flavus. All nine markers proved to be polymorphic displaying up to 33 alleles per marker. Thirteen isolates proved to be a mixture of different genotypes. Among the 149 pure isolates, 124 different genotypes could be recognized. The discriminatory power (D) for the individual markers ranged from 0.657 to 0.954. The D value of the panel of nine markers combined was 0.997. The multiplex multicolor approach was instrumental in rapid typing of a large number of isolates. There was no correlation between genotype and the clinical presentation of the infection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There is a large genotypic diversity in clinical A. flavus isolates from India. The presence of more than one genotype in clinical samples illustrates the possibility that persons may be colonized by multiple genotypes and that any isolate from a clinical specimen is not necessarily the one actually causing infection. Microsatellites are excellent typing targets for discriminating between A. flavus isolates from various origins

Evidence of Dopaminergic Processing of Executive Inhibition

Inhibition of unwanted response is an important function of the executive system. Since the inhibitory system is impaired in patients with dysregulated dopamine system, we examined dopamine neurotransmission in the human brain during processing of a task of executive inhibition. The experiment used a recently developed dynamic molecular imaging technique to detect and map dopamine released during performance of a modified Eriksen's flanker task. In this study, young healthy volunteers received an intravenous injection of a dopamine receptor ligand (11C-raclopride) after they were positioned in the PET camera. After the injection, volunteers performed the flanker task under Congruent and Incongruent conditions in a single scan session. They were required to inhibit competing options to select an appropriate response in the Incongruent but not in the Congruent condition. The PET data were dynamically acquired during the experiment and analyzed using two variants of the simplified reference region model. The analysis included estimation of a number of receptor kinetic parameters before and after initiation of the Incongruent condition. We found increase in the rate of ligand displacement (from receptor sites) and decrease in the ligand binding potential in the Incongruent condition, suggesting dopamine release during task performance. These changes were observed in small areas of the putamen and caudate bilaterally but were most significant on the dorsal aspect of the body of left caudate. The results provide evidence of dopaminergic processing of executive inhibition and demonstrate that neurochemical changes associated with cognitive processing can be detected and mapped in a single scan session using dynamic molecular imaging

Имитация распределенной обработки информации в вычислительных системах и локальных вычислительных сетях

Предложено использовать для анализа вариантов организации распределенной обработки информации в вычислительных системах и локальных вычислительных сетях вероятностный граф реализации вычислительного процесса с явными связями типа вероятностных сетевых графиков.Запропоновано використовувати для аналізу варіантів організації розподіленої обробки інформації в обчислювальних системах і в локальних обчислювальних мережах імовірнісний граф реалізації обчислювального процесу з явними зв’язками типу імовірнісних сіткових графіків.It іs оffered to use for analyzing variants of organization of distributed information processing in computing systems and local computing networks a probabilistic graph for realizing a computing process with evident relationships of the type probabilistic network diagrams

Virtual pathway explorer (viPEr) and pathway enrichment analysis tool (PEANuT): creating and analyzing focus networks to identify cross-talk between molecules and pathways

BACKGROUND: Interpreting large-scale studies from microarrays or next-generation sequencing for further experimental testing remains one of the major challenges in quantitative biology. Combining expression with physical or genetic interaction data has already been successfully applied to enhance knowledge from all types of high-throughput studies. Yet, toolboxes for navigating and understanding even small gene or protein networks are poorly developed. RESULTS: We introduce two Cytoscape plug-ins, which support the generation and interpretation of experiment-based interaction networks. The virtual pathway explorer viPEr creates so-called focus networks by joining a list of experimentally determined genes with the interactome of a specific organism. viPEr calculates all paths between two or more user-selected nodes, or explores the neighborhood of a single selected node. Numerical values from expression studies assigned to the nodes serve to score identified paths. The pathway enrichment analysis tool PEANuT annotates networks with pathway information from various sources and calculates enriched pathways between a focus and a background network. Using time series expression data of atorvastatin treated primary hepatocytes from six patients, we demonstrate the handling and applicability of viPEr and PEANuT. Based on our investigations using viPEr and PEANuT, we suggest a role of the FoxA1/A2/A3 transcriptional network in the cellular response to atorvastatin treatment. Moreover, we find an enrichment of metabolic and cancer pathways in the Fox transcriptional network and demonstrate a patient-specific reaction to the drug. CONCLUSIONS: The Cytoscape plug-in viPEr integrates –omics data with interactome data. It supports the interpretation and navigation of large-scale datasets by creating focus networks, facilitating mechanistic predictions from –omics studies. PEANuT provides an up-front method to identify underlying biological principles by calculating enriched pathways in focus networks. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2017-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users