Development of a high-throughput microsatellite typing approach for forensic and population genetic analysis of wild and domestic African Bovini

Conservation management and forensic traceability of African buffalo and cattle rely on the timely provision of unbiased and accurate genetic information. An approach in which 17 cattle microsatellite markers are co-electrophoresed, following amplification in three core multiplex reactions was established for this purpose. Mean allelic richness per locus was 8.24 and 6.47, for buffalo and Bonsmara cattle, respectively, whilst an unbiased match probability of 6.5x×10-17 and 1.03 × 10-16 was obtained for each. These results confirm the usefulness of this rapid, cost-effective typing approach for forensic, paternity and fine-scale genetic analyses of wild and domestic African Bovini tribe member

Development of a high-throughput microsatellite typing approach for forensic and population genetic analysis of wild and domestic African Bovini.

Conservation management and forensic traceability of African buffalo and cattle rely on the timely provision of unbiased and accurate genetic information. An approach in which 17 cattle microsatellitemarkers are co-electrophoresed, following amplification in three core multiplex reactions was established for this purpose. Mean allelic richness per locus was 8.24 and 6.47, for buffalo and Bonsmara cattle, respectively, whilst an unbiased match probability of 6.5x10-17 and 1.03 x 10-16 wasobtained for each. These results confirm the usefulness of this rapid, cost-effective typing approach for forensic, paternity and fine-scale genetic analyses of wild and domestic African Bovini tribe members

Exploration of Resonant Continuum and Giant Resonance in the Relativistic Approach

Single-particle resonant-states in the continuum are determined by solving scattering states of the Dirac equation with proper asymptotic conditions in the relativistic mean field theory (RMF). The regular and irregular solutions of the Dirac equation at a large radius where the nuclear potentials vanish are relativistic Coulomb wave functions, which are calculated numerically. Energies, widths and wave functions of single-particle resonance states in the continuum for ^{120}Sn are studied in the RMF with the parameter set of NL3. The isoscalar giant octupole resonance of ^{120}Sn is investigated in a fully consistent relativistic random phase approximation. Comparing the results with including full continuum states and only those single-particle resonances we find that the contributions from those resonant-states dominate in the nuclear giant resonant processes.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing

Relocation of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, by bee-keepers from southern to northern South Africa in 1990 has caused widespread death of managed African honeybee, A. m. scutellata, colonies. Apis mellifera capensis worker bees are able to lay diploid, female eggs without mating by means of automictic thelytoky (meiosis followed by fusion of two meiotic products to restore egg diploidy), whereas workers of other honeybee subspecies are able to lay only haploid, male eggs. The A. m. capensis workers, which are parasitizing and killing A. m. scutellata colonies in northern South Africa, are the asexual offspring of a single, original worker in which the small amount of genetic variation observed is due to crossing over during meiosis (P. Kryger, personal communication). Here we elucidate two principal mechanisms underlying this parasitism. Parasitic A. m. capensis workers activate their ovaries in host colonies that have a queen present (queenright colonies), and they lay eggs that evade being killed by other workers (worker policing)—the normal fate of worker-laid eggs in colonies with a queen. This unique parasitism by workers is an instance in which a society is unable to control the selfish actions of its members

Particle-unstable nuclei in the Hartree-Fock theory

Ground state energies and decay widths of particle unstable nuclei are calculated within the Hartree-Fock approximation by performing a complex scaling of the many-body Hamiltonian. Through this transformation, the wave functions of the resonant states become square integrable. The method is implemented with Skyrme effective interactions. Several Skyrme parametrizations are tested on four unstable nuclei: 10He, 12O, 26O and 28O.Comment: 5 pages, LaTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

A selective sweep in a microsporidian parasite Nosema-tolerant honeybee population, Apis mellifera

Nosema is a microsporidian parasite of the honeybee, which infects the epithelial cells of the gut. In Denmark, honeybee colonies have been selectively bred for the absence of Nosema over decades, resulting in a breeding line that is tolerant toward Nosema infections. As the tolerance toward the Nosema infection is a result of artificial selection, we screened chromosome 14 for a selective sweep with microsatellite markers, where a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) had been identified to be involved in the reduction in Nosema spores in the honeybees. By comparing the genetic variability of 10 colonies of the selected honeybee strain with a population sample from 22 unselected colonies, a selective sweep was revealed within the previously identified QTL region. The genetic variability of the swept loci was not only reduced in relation to the flanking markers on chromosome 14 within the selected strain but also significantly reduced compared with the same region in the unselected honeybees. This confirmed the results of the previous QTL mapping for reduced Nosema infections. The success of the selective breeding may have driven the selective sweep found in our study.European Union’s Seventh Framework Program BeeDoc, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft project DFG SPP 1399 (MO 373/26-1), Romanian Centre for Bee Biotechnology (RoBeeTech) and China Scholarship Council.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2052hb201

A novel SNP-based tool for estimating C-lineage introgression in the dark honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera)

The natural distribution ofthe honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) hás been changed by humans in recent decades to such an extent that the formerly widest-spread European subspecies, Apís mellifera mellifera, is threatened by extinction through introgression from highly divergent commercial strains in large tracts of its range. Conservation efforts for A. m. mellifera are underway in multiple European countries requiring reliable and cost-efficient molecular tools to identify purebred colonies. Here, we developed four ancestry-informative SNP assays for high sample throughput genotyping using the iPLEX Mass Array system. Our customized assays were tested on DNA from individual and pooled, haploid and diploid honeybee samples extracted from different tissues using a diverse range of protocols. The assays had a high genotyping success rate and yielded accurate genotypes. Performance assessed against whole-genome data showed that individual assays behaved well, although the most accurate introgression estimates were obtained forthe fourassays combined (117 SNPs). The best compromise between accuracy ana genotyping costs was achieved when combining two assays (62 SNPs). We provide a ready-to-use cost-effective tool for accurate molecular identification and estimation of introgression leveis to more effectively monitor and manage A. m. mellífera conservatories.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Obstructive sleep apnea is underrecognized and underdiagnosed in patients undergoing bariatric surgery

The aim of this study was to evaluate prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among patients undergoing bariatric surgery and the predictive value of various clinical parameters: body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). We performed a prospective, multidisciplinary, single-center observational study including all patients on the waiting list for bariatric surgery between June 2009 and June 2010, irrespective of history or clinical findings. Patients visited our ENT outpatient clinic for patient history, ENT and general examination and underwent a full night polysomnography, unless performed previously. As much as 69.9% of the patients fulfilled the criteria for OSA (mean BMI 44.2 ± SD 6.4 kg/m2); 40.4% of the patients met the criteria for severe OSA. The regression models found BMI to be the best clinical predictor, while the ROC curve found the NC to be the most accurate predictor of the presence of OSA. The discrepancy of the results and the poor statistical power suggest that all three clinical parameters are inadequate predictors of OSA. In conclusion, in this large patient series, 69.9% of patients undergoing BS meet the criteria for OSA. More than 40% of these patients have severe OSA. A mere 13.3% of the patients were diagnosed with OSA before being placed on the waiting list for BS. On statistical analysis, increased neck circumference, BMI and the ESS were found to be insufficient predictors of the presence of OSA. Polysomnography is an essential component of the preoperative workup of patients undergoing BS. When OSA is found, specific perioperative measures are indicated

Effects of thermoregulation on human sleep patterns: A mathematical model of sleep-wake cycles with REM-NREM subcircuit

In this paper we construct a mathematical model of human sleep/wake regulation with thermoregulation and temperature e ects. Simulations of this model show features previously presented in experimental data such as elongation of duration and number of REM bouts across the night as well as the appearance of awakenings due to deviations in body temperature from thermoneutrality. This model helps to demonstrate the importance of temperature in the sleep cycle. Further modi cations of the model to include more temperature e ects on other aspects of sleep regulation such as sleep and REM latency are discussedPostprint (author's final draft