Variation of mohair staple length across Angora goat fleeces : implications for animal selection and fleece evaluation

The present study aimed to determine how the average mohair staple length (SL) differences between nine sampling sites vary between sex and flock, to identify differences in SL variability between sampling sites as a result of between-animal and between-sire variability and to determine SL correlations between sampling sites in between-animal and between-sire variability. Australian Angora goats (n=301) from two farms in southern Australia were sampled at 12 and 18 months of age at nine sites (mid side, belly, brisket, hind flank, hip, hock, mid back, neck and shoulder). Staples were taken prior to shearing at skin level and stretched SL determined. For each shearing, differences in SL between sampling sites, how these differences were affected by farm, sex and sire, and the covariance between sites for sire and individual animal effects were investigated by restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analyses. The median mid-side SL at 12 and 18 months of age was 110 and 130 mm, respectively, but the actual range in mid-side SL was 65&ndash;165 mm. There was an anterior&ndash;posterior decline in SL with the hock being particularly short. There was no evidence that the between-site correlation of the sire effects differed from 1, indicating that genetic selection for SL at one site will be reflected in SL over the whole fleece. However, low heritabilities of SL at the hock, belly and brisket or at any site at 12 months of age were obtained. There was more variability between sites than between sires, but the between-animal variation was greater. The hip and mid-back sites can be recommended for within-flock (culling) and genetic selection for SL due to their low sampling variability, moderate heritability and ease of location. <br /

Differential Gene Expression in Liver, Gill, and Olfactory Rosettes of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) After Acclimation to Salinity.

Most Pacific salmonids undergo smoltification and transition from freshwater to saltwater, making various adjustments in metabolism, catabolism, osmotic, and ion regulation. The molecular mechanisms underlying this transition are largely unknown. In the present study, we acclimated coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) to four different salinities and assessed gene expression through microarray analysis of gills, liver, and olfactory rosettes. Gills are involved in osmotic regulation, liver plays a role in energetics, and olfactory rosettes are involved in behavior. Between all salinity treatments, liver had the highest number of differentially expressed genes at 1616, gills had 1074, and olfactory rosettes had 924, using a 1.5-fold cutoff and a false discovery rate of 0.5. Higher responsiveness of liver to metabolic changes after salinity acclimation to provide energy for other osmoregulatory tissues such as the gills may explain the differences in number of differentially expressed genes. Differentially expressed genes were tissue- and salinity-dependent. There were no known genes differentially expressed that were common to all salinity treatments and all tissues. Gene ontology term analysis revealed biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components that were significantly affected by salinity, a majority of which were tissue-dependent. For liver, oxygen binding and transport terms were highlighted. For gills, muscle, and cytoskeleton-related terms predominated and for olfactory rosettes, immune response-related genes were accentuated. Interaction networks were examined in combination with GO terms and determined similarities between tissues for potential osmosensors, signal transduction cascades, and transcription factors

Receptor chimeras demonstrate that the C-terminal domain of the human cytomegalovirus US27 gene product is necessary and sufficient for intracellular receptor localization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is ubiquitous in the population but generally causes only mild or asymptomatic infection except in immune suppressed individuals. HCMV employs numerous strategies for manipulating infected cells, including mimicry of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The HCMV US27 gene product is a putative GPCR, yet no ligand or signaling has been identified for this receptor. In the present study, immunofluorescence microscopy was used to examine the cellular distribution of wild type US27, as well as US27 deletion mutants and chimeric receptors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In transiently transfected cells, wild type US27 was found primarily in intracellular compartments, in striking contrast to the cell surface distribution seen for the human cellular chemokine receptor CXCR3. When the N-terminal extracellular domains of the two receptors were swapped, no change in protein localization was observed. However, swapping of the C-terminal intracellular domains resulted in a significant change in receptor distribution. A chimera that contained US27 fused to the C-terminal intracellular tail of CXCR3 exhibited surface distribution similar to that of wild-type CXCR3. When the C-terminal domain of US27 was fused to CXCR3, this chimeric receptor (CXCR3/US27-CT) was found in the same intracellular pattern as wild-type US27. In addition, a US27 mutant lacking the C-terminus (US27ΔCT) failed to accumulate inside the cell and exhibited cell surface distribution. Co-localization with organelle-specific markers revealed that wild-type US27 was found predominantly in the Golgi apparatus and in endosomal compartments, whereas the US27/CXCR3-CT chimera, US27ΔCT and US27Δ348 mutants were not localized to endosomal compartments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results indicate that the C-terminal domain of the HCMV US27 protein, which contains a di-leucine endocytic sorting motif, is both necessary and sufficient for intracellular localization, which may also help explain why no cellular ligands have yet been identified for this viral receptor.</p

Universal law of fractionation for slightly polydisperse systems

By perturbing about a general monodisperse system, we provide a complete description of two-phase equilibria in any system which is slightly polydisperse in some property (e.g., particle size, charge, etc.). We derive a universal law of fractionation which is corroborated by comprehensive experiments on a model colloid-polymer mixture. We furthermore predict that phase separation is an effective method of reducing polydispersity only for systems with a skewed distribution of the polydisperse property

Is copyright blind to the visual?

This article argues that, with respect to the copyright protection of works of visual art, the general uneasiness that has always pervaded the relationship between copyright law and concepts of creativity produces three anomalous results. One of these is that copyright lacks much in the way of a central concept of 'visual art' and, to the extent that it embraces any concept of the 'visual', it is rooted in the rhetorical discourse of the Renaissance. This means that copyright is poorly equipped to deal with modern developments in the visual arts. Secondly, the pervasive effect of rhetorical discourse appears to have made it particularly difficult for copyright law to strike a meaningful balance between protecting creativity and permitting its use in further creative works. Thirdly, just when rhetorical discourse might have been useful in identifying the significance and materiality of the unique one-off work of visual art, copyright law chooses to ignore its implications

Substance Use and Imagery In Hip Hop, R&B, and Popular YouTube Music Videos

Background: There are over four billion YouTube views per day with “music” the most searched topic. Among US internet users, 8.3 million YouTube users are under 18 years old. Incorporation of substance use imagery in YouTube videos has a considerable potential influence on young viewing audience behavior. This study identifies patterns of substance use portrayal and imagery in YouTube music videos. Methods: The 2014 popular music Billboard R&B/ Hip-hop weekly charts were used to identify the top 25 songs each week which resulted in 112 unique ranked songs; of these, 94 had official videos which were coded. All videos were coded for substance use presence and imagery with an overlap subset tested for reliability by three independent coders. Results: Preliminary results suggest gender differences in types of substance used and imagery. A significant proportion of videos contained blatant product placement of alcohol brands. Of the videos coded, 86% contained at least one substance reference or image. Conclusion: Portrayal of substance use by artists creates social norms that may promote use in youth. Public Health needs to understand in the role of music videos and its influence in uptake of substance use in adolescents. Important gender differences will be discussed

Lipidomic QTL in Diversity Outbred mice identifies a novel function for α/β hydrolase domain 2 (Abhd2) as an enzyme that metabolizes phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin.

We and others have previously shown that genetic association can be used to make causal connections between gene loci and small molecules measured by mass spectrometry in the bloodstream and in tissues. We identified a locus on mouse chromosome 7 where several phospholipids in liver showed strong genetic association to distinct gene loci. In this study, we integrated gene expression data with genetic association data to identify a single gene at the chromosome 7 locus as the driver of the phospholipid phenotypes. The gene encodes α/β-hydrolase domain 2 (Abhd2), one of 23 members of the ABHD gene family. We validated this observation by measuring lipids in a mouse with a whole-body deletion of Abhd2. The Abhd2KO mice had a significant increase in liver levels of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Unexpectedly, we also found a decrease in two key mitochondrial lipids, cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol, in male Abhd2KO mice. These data suggest that Abhd2 plays a role in the synthesis, turnover, or remodeling of liver phospholipids