Identifying novel genetic determinants of hemostatic balance

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73734/1/j.1538-7836.2005.01461.x.pd

Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses

In many vertebrate societies, forced eviction of group members is an important determinant of population structure, but little is known about what triggers eviction. Three main explanations are (1) the reproductive competition hypothesis; (2) the coercion of cooperation hypothesis; and (3) the adaptive forced dispersal hypothesis. The last hypothesis proposes that dominant individuals use eviction as an adaptive strategy to propagate copies of their alleles through a highly structured population. We tested these hypotheses as explanations for eviction in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using a 16-year dataset on life history, behaviour and relatedness. In this species, groups of females, or mixed-sex groups, are periodically evicted en masse. Our evidence suggests that reproductive competition is the main ultimate trigger for eviction for both sexes. We find little evidence that mass eviction is used to coerce helping, or as a mechanism to force dispersal of relatives into the population. Eviction of females changes the landscape of reproductive competition for remaining males, which may explain why males are evicted alongside females. Our results show that the consequences of resolving within-group conflict resonate through groups and populations to affect population structure, with important implications for social evolution

Neuronal circuitry for pain processing in the dorsal horn

Neurons in the spinal dorsal horn process sensory information, which is then transmitted to several brain regions, including those responsible for pain perception. The dorsal horn provides numerous potential targets for the development of novel analgesics and is thought to undergo changes that contribute to the exaggerated pain felt after nerve injury and inflammation. Despite its obvious importance, we still know little about the neuronal circuits that process sensory information, mainly because of the heterogeneity of the various neuronal components that make up these circuits. Recent studies have begun to shed light on the neuronal organization and circuitry of this complex region

Voxelwise distribution of acute ischemic stroke lesions in patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation: Trigger of arrhythmia or only target of embolism?

Objective Atrial fibrillation (AF) is frequently detected after ischemic stroke for the first time, and brain regions involved in autonomic control have been suspected to trigger AF. We examined whether specific brain regions are associated with newly detected AF after ischemic stroke. Methods Patients with acute cerebral infarctions on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging were included in this lesion mapping study. Lesions were mapped and modeled voxelwise using Bayesian Spatial Generalised Linear Mixed Modeling to determine differences in infarct locations between stroke patients with new AF, without AF and with AF already known before the stroke. Results 582 patients were included (median age 68 years; 63.2% male). AF was present in 109/582 patients [(18.7%); new AF: 39/109 (35.8%), known AF: 70/109 (64.2%)]. AF patients had larger infarct volumes than patients without AF (mean: 29.7 ± 45.8 ml vs. 15.2 ± 35.1 ml; p<0.001). Lesions in AF patients accumulated in the right central middle cerebral artery territory. Increasing stroke size predicted progressive cortical but not pontine and thalamic involvement. Patients with new AF had more frequently lesions in the right insula compared to patients without AF when stroke size was not accounted for, but no specific brain region was more frequently involved after adjustment for infarct volume. Controlled for stroke size, left parietal involvement was less likely for patients with new AF than for those without AF or with known AF. Conclusions In the search for brain areas potentially triggering cardiac arrhythmias infarct size should be accounted for. After controlling for infarct size, there is currently no evidence that ischemic stroke lesions of specific brain areas are associated with new AF compared to patients without AF. This challenges the neurogenic hypothesis of AF according to which a relevant proportion of new AF is triggered by ischemic brain lesions of particular locations

Identification of plastic constitutive parameters at large deformations from three dimensional displacement fields

The aim of this paper is to provide a general procedure to extract the constitutive parameters of a plasticity model starting from displacement measurements and using the Virtual Fields Method. This is a classical inverse problem which has been already investigated in the literature, however several new features are developed here. First of all the procedure applies to a general three-dimensional displacement field which leads to large plastic deformations, no assumptions are made such as plane stress or plane strain although only pressure-independent plasticity is considered. Moreover the equilibrium equation is written in terms of the deviatoric stress tensor that can be directly computed from the strain field without iterations. Thanks to this, the identification routine is much faster compared to other inverse methods such as finite element updating. The proposed method can be a valid tool to study complex phenomena which involve severe plastic deformation and where the state of stress is completely triaxial, e.g. strain localization or necking occurrence. The procedure has been validated using a three dimensional displacement field obtained from a simulated experiment. The main potentialities as well as a first sensitivity study on the influence of measurement errors are illustrated

Recognition of cancer warning signs and anticipated time to help-seeking in a population sample of adults in the UK

Background: Not recognising a symptom as suspicious is a common reason given by cancer patients for delayed help-seeking; but inevitably this is retrospective. We therefore investigated associations between recognition of warning signs for breast, colorectal and lung cancer and anticipated time to help-seeking for symptoms of each cancer. Methods: Computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted with a population-representative sample (N=6965) of UK adults age greater than or equal to50 years, using the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer scale. Anticipated time to help-seeking for persistent cough, rectal bleeding and breast changes was categorised as >2 vs less than or equal to2 weeks. Recognition of persistent cough, unexplained bleeding and unexplained lump as cancer warning signs was assessed (yes/no). Associations between recognition and help-seeking were examined for each symptom controlling for demographics and perceived ease of health-care access. Results: For each symptom, the odds of waiting for >2 weeks were significantly increased in those who did not recognise the related warning sign: breast changes: OR=2.45, 95% CI 1.47–4.08; rectal bleeding: OR=1.77, 1.36–2.30; persistent cough: OR=1.30, 1.17–1.46, independent of demographics and health-care access. Conclusion: Recognition of warning signs was associated with anticipating faster help-seeking for potential symptoms of cancer. Strategies to improve recognition are likely to facilitate earlier diagnosis

Lipids and nutrition of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, from hatch to puerulus

We examined the lipid class and fatty-acid composition of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, phyllosomas larvae and puerulus stage to improve understanding of their nutrition in relation to aquaculture. Lipid is critical in the nutrition of larval crustaceans, including lobsters. Specimens were from Tasmanian waters, Australia, and North Island, New Zealand, waters. Analyses were by TLC-FID and capillary GC and GC-MS. Phyllosomas larvae and nektonic pueruli were low in storage lipid (triacylglycerol), and phospholipid was the major lipid class. Sterol, mainly cholesterol, was the next most abundant class. The ratio of the essential omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA) was lower in newly hatched phyllosomas (1.2-1.3) than in other phyllosomas (stages III-XI; 2.8-6.7) and pueruli (3.8). Ratios of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) to EPA were also lower in newly hatched phyllosomas (0.5) than in later-stage phyllosomas (1.5-2.1) and pueruli (1.2). We have followed up these compositional data by successfully enriching the live diet (Artemia) of early phyllosomas with AA, EPA and DHA. This dietary manipulation has achieved ratios of these key polyunsaturated fatty acids similar to those of wild phyllosomas. These findings will be of significance to the future of rock-lobster aquaculture

An NIH intramural percubator as a model of academic-industry partnerships: from the beginning of life through the valley of death

In 2009 the NIH publicly announced five strategic goals for the institutes that included the critical need to translate research discoveries into public benefit at an accelerated pace, with a commitment to find novel ways to engage academic investigators in the process. The emphasis on moving scientific advancements from the laboratory to the clinic is an opportune time to discuss how the NIH intramural program in Bethesda, the largest biomedical research center in the world, can participate in this endeavor. Proposed here for consideration is a percolator-incubator program, a 'percubator' designed to enable NIH intramural investigators to develop new medical interventions as quickly and efficiently as possible