A comparative view of early development in the corals Favia lizardensis, Ctenactis echinata, and Acropora millepora - morphology, transcriptome, and developmental gene expression

Fasta file of sequences of PCR products. (TXT 7 kb

Development and application of a simple LC-MS method for the determination of plasma maraviroc concentrations

Maraviroc is an orally available antagonist of the CCR5 chemokine receptor, which acts as a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) coreceptor. Binding of maraviroc to this receptor blocks HIV-1 attachment to the coreceptor and prevents HIV-1 from entering host cells.Maraviroc does not require intracellular processing to exert this activity. Drug interaction studies have shown changes in maraviroc exposure when given with other anti-HIV medications, and thus quantification of maraviroc in human plasma is important to manage drug interactions and to evaluate the relationship between plasma concentrations and treatment response. We developed a conventional LCMS method for determining plasma maraviroc concentrations, validated by estimating precision and accuracy for inter- and intraday analysis in the concentration range of 0.011-2.188g/ml. The calibration curve was linear within this range. The average accuracy ranged from 92.7% to 99.7%, while the relative standard deviations of both interand intraday assays were less than 7.1%. Recovery of maraviroc exceeded 86.7%. Our LCMS method provides a conventional, accurate and precise way to determine the maraviroc concentration in human plasma. This method enables dose adjustment based on monitoring plasma maraviroc concentrations and permits management of drug interactions and toxicity

Survival Dynamics of Reef Coral Larvae With Special Consideration of Larval Size and the Genus Acropora

Temporal dynamics of larval survival were examined in vitro in four broadcast-spawning reef coral species, Acropora hyacinthus, A. japonica, A. solitaryensis, and Goniastrea pectinata. Larval size was treated as an important characteristic that may relate to larval lifespan. Two patterns were observed in larval survival dynamics between the three Acropora species (mean initial larval size; 0.05-0.08 mm3) and G. pectinata (0.02 mm3), based on the timing of a sharp drop in larval survival rates (ca. > 50% reduction over a 1-2 week period). Consequently, the majority of larvae of the three Acropora species had a lifespan of less than 2-3 weeks, whereas those of G. pectinata were extended a further 2-3 weeks despite the smaller larval size. No significant relationship was detected between the initial larval size and larval lifespan in any of the four reef coral species. These results suggest that (1) larval dispersal of spawning Acropora species may be on a more local scale than that of G. pectinata and most other reef coral species previously reported, and (2) larval size is not a good estimator of larval lifespan in reef coral species