Live weight parameters in Dorper, Damara and Australian Merino lambs subjected to restricted feeding

Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a serious constraint to ruminant production in tropical and Mediterranean climates. SWL is controlled using supplementation, costly and difficult to implement in extensive production systems; or alternatively, using breeds with a natural adaptation to tropical climates, namely hair and fat tailed sheep. Albeit a 15-year presence in Australia, little is known on how Dorper and Damara sheep compared to the most widely used sheep breed in Australia, the Australian Merino. In this trial, the responses of the Damara, Dorper and Merino breeds to nutritional stress were compared during a 42-day trial. Seventy-two ram lambs, 24 from each breed, were randomly allocated to a growth (gaining 100 g/day) or a restricted diet (losing 100 g/day). Animals were weighed twice weekly. Individual rations were calculated from bodyweight, with animals being confined to consume their ration daily. The breeds were compared for bodyweight changes as a percentage of their initial weight for three periods (Days 0–10, 10–21 and 21–42). The significant differences between breeds in the percentage growth rates were that the Damara breed lost more weight than the other breeds on the restricted diet from Days 10 to 21 and gained less weight on the growth diet during Days 21–42. For all other periods the weights of Damara, Dorper and Merino breeds were not significantly different. By Day 24 all breeds had stopped losing weight on the restricted diet. We conclude that under confined feeding and considering growth parameters, the three breeds performed similarly

The W51 Giant Molecular Cloud

We present 45"-47" angular resolution maps at 50" sampling of the 12CO and 13CO J=1-0 emission toward a 1.39 deg x 1.33 deg region in the W51 HII region complex. These data permit the spatial and kinematic separation of several spectral features observed along the line of sight to W51, and establish the presence of a massive (1.2 x 10^6 Mo), large (83 pc x 114 pc) giant molecular cloud (GMC), defined as the W51 GMC, centered at (l,b,V) = (49.5 deg, -0.2 deg, 61 km/s). A second massive (1.9 x 10^5 Mo), elongated (136 pc x 22 pc) molecular cloud is found at velocities of about 68 km/s along the southern edge of the W51 GMC. Of the five radio continuum sources that classically define the W51 region, the brightest source at lambda 6cm (G49.5-0.4) is spatially and kinematically coincident with the W51 GMC and three (G48.9-0.3, G49.1-0.4, and G49.2-0.4) are associated with the 68 km/s cloud. Published absorption line spectra indicate that the fifth prominent continuum source (G49.4-0.3) is located behind the W51 molecular cloud. The W51 GMC is among the upper 1% of clouds in the Galactic disk by size and the upper 5-10% by mass. While the W51 GMC is larger and more massive than any nearby molecular cloud, the average H2 column density is not unusual given its size and the mean H2 volume density is comparable to that in nearby clouds. The W51 GMC is also similar to other clouds in that most of the molecular mass is contained in a diffuse envelope that is not currently forming massive stars. We speculate that much of the massive star formation activity in this region has resulted from a collision between the 68 km/s cloud and the W51 GMC.Comment: Accepted for publication by the Astronomical Journal. 21 pages, plus 7 figures and 1 tabl

When Is Antipsychotic Polypharmacy Supported by Research Evidence? Implications for QI

Background: Concurrent use of multiple standing antipsychotics (antipsychotic polypharmacy) is increasingly common among both inpatients and outpatients. Although this has often been cited as a potential quality-of-care problem, reviews of research evidence on antipsychotic polypharmacy have not distinguished between appropriate versus inappropriate use. Methods A MEDLINE search from 1966 to December 2007 was completed to identify studies comparing changes in symptoms, functioning, and/or side effects between patients treated with multiple antipsychotics and patients treated with a single antipsychotic. The studies were reviewed in two groups on the basis of whether prescribing was concordant with guideline recommendations for multiple-antipsychotic use. Results A review of the literature, including three randomized controlled trials, found no support for the use of antipsychotic polypharmacy in patients without an established history of treatment resistance to multiple trials of monotherapy. In patients with a history of treatment resistance to multiple monotherapy trials, limited data support antipsychotic polypharmacy, but positive outcomes were primarily found in studies of clozapine augmented with a second-generation antipsychotic. Discussion Research evidence is consistent with the goal of avoiding antipsychotic polypharmacy in patients who lack guideline-recommended indications for its use. The Joint Commission is implementing a core measure set for Hospital-Based Inpatient Psychiatric Services. Two of the measures address antipsychotic polypharmacy. The first measure assesses the overall rate. The second measure determines whether clinically appropriate justification has been documented supporting the use of more than one antipsychotic medication

Synthesis and Characterization of Two Metallic Spin-Glass Phases of FeMo₄Ge₃

Polycrystalline samples of FeMo4Ge3 have been synthesized by the reduction of an oxide mixture at 1248 K and characterized by a combination of diffraction, muon spin relaxation (µ+SR), Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetometry, transport, and heat-capacity measurements. The compound adopts a tetragonal W5Si3 structure (space group I4/mcm); the iron and molybdenum atoms are disordered over two crystallographic sites, 16k and either 4a or 4b. The synthesis conditions determine which fourfold site is selected; occupation of either leads to the presence of one-dimensional chains of transition metals in the structure. In both cases, the electrical resistivity below 200 K is ~175 µΩ cm. The dc magnetization rapidly rises below 35 K (Fe/Mo on 16k and 4b sites) or 16 K (16k and 4a sites), and a magnetization of 1µB or 0.8µB per Fe atom is observed in 4 T at 2 K. The ac susceptibility and the heat capacity both suggest that these are glasslike magnetic transitions, although the transition shows a more complex temperature dependence (with two maxima in χ ) when the 4b sites are partially occupied by iron. No long-range magnetic order is thought to be present at 5 K in either structural form; this has been proven by neutron diffraction and µ+SR for the case when Fe and Mo occupy the 16k and 4b sites

Does the fat tailed Damara ovine breed have a distinct lipid metabolism leading to a high concentration of branched chain fatty acids in tissues?

Articles in International JournalsFat tailed sheep breeds are known for their adaptation to nutritional stress, among other harsh production conditions. Damara sheep, native to Southern Africa, have recently been exported to other areas of the world, particularly Australia, aiming to produce lamb in semi-arid regions. Damaras have a unique hanging fat tail, a fat depot able to be mobilized under nutritional stress. In this article we perform an in-depth characterization of the fatty acid profiles of the fat tail in underfed and control Damara rams. Profiles were very similar between experimental groups, with the exception of palmitic acid (16:0) that was lower (P = 0.014) in underfed animals. However, the most striking result was the very high proportions of non-terminal branched chain fatty acids found in the fat tail adipose tissue, as well as the gastrocnemius muscle of Damara rams. The muscle of Dorper and Merino rams used in the same experiment did not present non-terminal branched chain fatty acids, suggesting that Damara rams have a unique lipid metabolism. Herein, we interpret this trait relating it to a higher ability of Damara sheep to digest fibrous fodder and to putative differences in the propionate metabolism by comparison to other sheep breeds

Characterisation of Bombyx mori odorant-binding proteins reveals that a general odorant-binding protein discriminates between sex pheromone components

In many insect species, odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are thought to be responsible for the transport of pheromones and other semiochemicals across the sensillum lymph to the olfactory receptors (ORs) within the antennal sensilla. In the silkworm Bombyx mori, the OBPs are subdivided into three main subfamilies; pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs), general odorant-binding proteins (GOBPs) and antennal-binding proteins (ABPs). We used the MotifSearch algorithm to search for genes encoding putative OBPs in B. mori and found 13, many fewer than are found in the genomes of fruit flies and mosquitoes. The 13 genes include seven new ABP-like OBPs as well as the previously identified PBPs (three), GOBPs (two) and ABPx. Quantitative examination of transcript levels showed that BmorPBP1, BmorGOBP1, BmorGOBP2 and BmorABPx are expressed at very high levels in the antennae and so could be involved in olfaction. A new two-phase binding assay, along with other established assays, showed that BmorPBP1, BmorPBP2, BmorGOBP2 and BmorABPx all bind to the B. mori sex pheromone component (10E,12Z)-hexadecadien-1-ol (bombykol). BmorPBP1, BmorPBP2 and BmorABPx also bind the pheromone component (10E,12Z)-hexadecadienal (bombykal) equally well, whereas BmorGOBP2 can discriminate between bombykol and bombykal. X-ray structures show that when bombykol is bound to BmorGOBP2 it adopts a different conformation from that found when it binds to BmorPBP1. Binding to BmorGOBP2 involves hydrogen bonding to Arg110 rather than to Ser56 as found for BmorPBP1

The ovine hepatic mitochondrial proteome: understanding seasonal weight loss tolerance in two distinct breeds

Research ArticleSeasonal weight loss (SWL) is a primary constraint for farmers in the Mediterranean and tropics. One cost-effective solution to SWL is utilizing breeds like the Damara sheep that have adapted to deal with nutritional stress. Previous studies concluded that one of the adaptation mechanisms of SWL is a specialized fatty acid metabolism. Accordingly, hepatic-mitochondrial proteomes were compared across two different breeds (24 sheep total, Merino, n = 12 and Damara, n = 12) and two different diets (restricted vs unrestricted diet, 6 per breed, per diet, 24 total). Mitochondrial-proteins were isolated and relatively quantified using Blue native PAGE / 2D-electrophoresis and then analyzed via mass spectrometry. The tool ReviGO summarized the proteomes’ gene-ontology terms. A total of 50 proteins were identified with 7 changing significantly in abundance (ANOVA p-value<0.05). Specific abundance patterns of corticosteroid and inflammatory response-associated proteins such as annexin and glutamate dehydrogenase suggests that the Damara has an unusual inflammation response when subjected to SWL in addition to its unique metabolism. All significant proteins warrant further study; Annexin in particular shows promise as a potentially useful biomarkerinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Computational Modeling for the Activation Cycle of G-proteins by G-protein-coupled Receptors

In this paper, we survey five different computational modeling methods. For comparison, we use the activation cycle of G-proteins that regulate cellular signaling events downstream of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) as a driving example. Starting from an existing Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) model, we implement the G-protein cycle in the stochastic Pi-calculus using SPiM, as Petri-nets using Cell Illustrator, in the Kappa Language using Cellucidate, and in Bio-PEPA using the Bio-PEPA eclipse plug in. We also provide a high-level notation to abstract away from communication primitives that may be unfamiliar to the average biologist, and we show how to translate high-level programs into stochastic Pi-calculus processes and chemical reactions.Comment: In Proceedings MeCBIC 2010, arXiv:1011.005

Iridoid Sex Pheromone Biosynthesis in Aphids Mimics Iridoid?Producing Plants

Biosynthesis of (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)?nepetalactol (1) and (4aS,7S,7aR)?nepetalactone (2) in plants involves iridoid synthase (ISY), an atypical reductive cyclase that catalyses the reduction of 8?oxogeranial into the reactive enol of (S)?8?oxocitronellal, and cyclization of this enol intermediate, either non?enzymatically or by a nepetalactol?related short chain dehydrogenase enzyme (NEPS) that yields the nepetalactols. In this study, we investigated the biosynthesis in?vivo of 1 and 2 in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, using a library of isotopically?labelled monoterpenoids as molecular probes. Topical application of deuterium?labelled probes synthesized from geraniol and nerol resulted in production of 2H4?lactol 1 and 2H4?lactone 2. However, deuterium incorporation was not evident using labelled probes synthesized from (S)?citronellol. These results suggest that iridoid biosynthesis in animals, specifically aphids, may follow a broadly similar route to that characterised for plants