Typing Late Prehistoric Cows and Bulls—Osteology and Genetics of Cattle at the Eketorp Ringfort on the Öland Island in Sweden

Human management of livestock and the presence of different breeds have been discussed in archaeozoology and animal breeding. Traditionally osteometrics has been the main tool in addressing these questions. We combine osteometrics with molecular sex identifications of 104 of 340 morphometrically analysed bones in order to investigate the use of cattle at the Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden. The fort is dated to 300–1220/50 A.D., revealing three different building phases. In order to investigate specific patterns and shifts through time in the use of cattle the genetic data is evaluated in relation to osteometric patterns and occurrence of pathologies on cattle metapodia. Males were genotyped for a Y-chromosomal SNP in UTY19 that separates the two major haplogroups, Y1 and Y2, in taurine cattle. A subset of the samples were also genotyped for one SNP involved in coat coloration (MC1R), one SNP putatively involved in resistance to cattle plague (TLR4), and one SNP in intron 5 of the IGF-1 gene that has been associated to size and reproduction

Orexins/Hypocretins Acting at Gi Protein-Coupled OX2 Receptors Inhibit Cyclic AMP Synthesis in the Primary Neuronal Cultures

Orexins A and B are newly discovered neuropeptides with pleiotropic activity. They signal through two G protein-coupled receptors: OX1 and OX2. In this study, we examined the expression of orexin receptors and effects of the receptors’ activation on cyclic AMP formation in the primary neuronal cell cultures from rat cerebral cortex. Both types of orexin receptors were expressed in rat cortical neurons; the level of OX2R was markedly higher compared to OX1R. Orexin A (an agonist of OX1R and OX2R) and [Ala11-D-Leu15]orexin B (a selective agonist of OX2R) did not affect basal cyclic AMP formation in the primary neuronal cell cultures. Both peptides (0.001–1 μM) inhibited, in a concentration-dependent manner and IC50 values in low nanomolar range, the increase in the nucleotide production evoked by forskolin (1 μM; a direct activator of adenylyl cyclase), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP27; 0.1 μM), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP; 3 μM). Effects of orexin A on forskolin-, PACAP27-, and VIP-stimulated cyclic AMP synthesis were blocked by TCS OX2 29 (a selective antagonist of OX2R), and unaffected by SB 408124 (a selective antagonist of OX1R). Pretreatment of neuronal cell cultures with pertussis toxin (PTX) abolished the inhibitory action of orexin A on forskolin- and PACAP-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation. It is suggested that in cultured rat cortical neurons orexins, acting at OX2 receptors coupled to PTX-sensitive Gi protein, inhibit cyclic AMP synthesis

HLA class I and II expression in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in relation to tumor HPV status and clinical outcome.

HPV-DNA positive (HPVDNA+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has better clinical outcome than HPV-DNA negative (HPVDNA-) OSCC. Current treatment may be unnecessarily extensive for most HPV+ OSCC, but before de-escalation, additional markers are needed together with HPV status to better predict treatment response. Here the influence of HLA class I/HLA class II expression was explored. Pre-treatment biopsies, from 439/484 OSCC patients diagnosed 2000-2009 and treated curatively, were analyzed for HLA I and II expression, p16(INK4a) and HPV DNA. Absent/weak as compared to high HLA class I intensity correlated to a very favorable disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) in HPVDNA+ OSCC, both in univariate and multivariate analysis, while HLA class II had no impact. Notably, HPVDNA+ OSCC with absent/weak HLA class I responded equally well when treated with induction-chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) or radiotherapy (RT) alone. In patients with HPVDNA- OSCC, high HLA class I/class II expression correlated in general to a better clinical outcome. p16(INK4a) overexpression correlated to a better clinical outcome in HPVDNA+ OSCC. Absence of HLA class I intensity in HPVDNA+ OSCC suggests a very high survival independent of treatment and could possibly be used clinically to select patients for randomized trials de-escalating therapy

Female labour force participation, fertility and public policy in Sweden

This paper analyzes the role of public policy for Sweden's combination of high female labour force participation and high levels of fertility in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We present the central elements in the tax and family policies and use a disaggregated approach to assess their impact on Swedish fertility and female labour force participation. We show that these policies stimulate both fertility and women's paid work by reducing the costs of having children while requiring parents to be employed to collect full benefits. Cet article analyse le rôle des politiques sur le lien entre une forte participation féminine au marché du travail et de hauts niveaux de fécondité en Suède, à la fin des années 1980 et au début des années 1990. Nous présentons d'abord les principaux éléments des politiques fiscales et parentales. Puis nous utilisons une approche désaggrégée pour mettre en évidence leur impact sur la fécondité suédoise et la participation féminine au marché du travail. Nous montrons que ces politiques stimulent à la fois la fécondité et le travail féminin rémunéré en réduisant les coûts en vue d'élever les enfants tout en demandant aux parents d'être actifs pour en recueillir les pleins bénéfices.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42731/1/10680_2005_Article_BF01797210.pd

A chiral capillary electrophoresis method for ropivacaine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations: Validation and comparison with chiral liquid chromatography

A capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of the enantiomeric purity of the local anaesthetic ropivacaine hydrochloride in injection solutions has been validated. The method showed the required limit of quantitation of 0.1% enantiomeric impurity. Good performances were shown for specificity, linearity, system repeatability, intermediate precision and accuracy. Robustness was tested via a full factorial design at two levels and the method proved to be robust. Comparison of the capillary electrophoresis method with the liquid chromatographic method currently used for several years at our laboratory on real samples of ropivacaine injection solutions showed that the techniques do not give significantly different results