Orthopoxvirus DNA in Eurasian Lynx, Sweden

Cowpox virus, which has been used to protect humans against smallpox but may cause severe disease in immunocompromised persons, has reemerged in humans, domestic cats, and other animal species in Europe. Orthopoxvirus (OPV) DNA was detected in tissues (lung, kidney, spleen) in 24 (9%) of 263 free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Sweden. Thymidine kinase gene amplicon sequences (339 bp) from 21 lynx were all identical to those from cowpox virus isolated from a person in Norway and phylogenetically closer to monkeypox virus than to vaccinia virus and isolates from 2 persons with cowpox virus in Sweden. Prevalence was higher among animals from regions with dense, rather than rural, human populations. Lynx are probably exposed to OPV through predation on small mammal reservoir species. We conclude that OPV is widely distributed in Sweden and may represent a threat to humans. Further studies are needed to verify whether this lynx OPV is cowpox virus

Soil genesis and development, lesson 3: Soil forming factors

This lesson explores the five major factors of soil formation—(1) climate, (2) organisms, (3) time, (4) topography, and (5) parent material—and their influence in forming soil. The distinction between active and passive factors, moisture and temperature regimes, organism and topographic influences, and parent material sources are described. At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to do the following: 1. Identify the five factors of soil formation. 2. Explain the effects of each of the factors on soil formation. 3. Explain how types of parent material differ in terms of mode of deposition and degree of sorting. The lesson is written to target educational needs of lower-level undergraduate students and is available for use by the public and educational institutions

Soil genesis and development, lesson 2: Weathering processes of rocks and minerals

Weathering of rocks and minerals, which include physical, chemical, and biological processes, contributes to the development of soil. The degree of weathering depends not only on the rock and mineral composition but also on climate and biological activities. Experiential learning activities for different global regions support the learning objectives. At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to do the following: 1. Describe how climatic factors influence the weathering of rocks and minerals. 2. Define and distinguish physical, chemical, and biological weathering processes. The lesson is written to target educational needs of lower-level undergraduate students in earth and environmental sciences and is available for use by the public and educational institutions

Soil genesis and development, lesson 4: Soil profile development

The processes occurring over time in a soil are reflected in vertical and lateral physical and chemical characteristics of that soil. The four soil forming processes, in conjunction with the five factors of soil formation, organize parent material into a soil profile that consists of soil horizons. These processes can occur over millennia; however, they can also be influenced by short-term variables such as human use. Understanding the processes enables interpretation of the natural history of a soil and provides a starting point to evaluate how future changes will affect the soil resource. Combining landscape history with knowledge of principles of soil profile development allows for more precise and effective land use planning, from residential development to precision agricultural practices. At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to do the following: 1. Describe the four major soil forming processes. 2. Describe how these four processes redistribute soil materials in vertical and horizontal dimensions. 3. Explain which soil processes are dominant in each soil horizon. 4. Develop a profile horizon sequence based on given soil properties and a set of soil forming factors 5. Describe the general soil forming processes based on the soil forming factors that led to the development of a given soil profile. The lesson is written to target educational needs of lower-level undergraduate students and is open for use by the public and educational institutions

Soil genesis and development, lesson 5: Soil classification and geography

The system of soil classification developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is called Soil Taxonomy. This lesson focuses on broad descriptions of soils at the Order level of classification. At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to do the following: 1. Describe the structure of the USDA soil taxonomic system. 2. Describe the defining characteristic(s) of each of the 12 soil Orders. 3. Apply the concept of soil forming factors to the formation and occurrence of each of the 12 soil Orders. 4. Identify regional scale occurrences of soil orders in the USA. The lesson is written to target educational needs of lowerlevel undergraduate students and is open for use by the public and educational institutions

Soil genesis and development, lesson 1: Rocks, minerals, and soils

Most soil parent materials were rocks at some time in their history. The minerals in rocks may contribute to soil fertility and other soil properties long after the original rock is gone. Consequently, it is a valuable skill to be able to identify broad categories of rock. This lesson will discuss igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and the minerals found in them. The lesson will also provide opportunities for students to identify rocks based on given characteristics. At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to do the following: 1. Classify rocks based on visual characteristics according to the major types: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. 2. Predict the influence of “parent” rock on soil properties. The lesson uses an interactive approach, embedding questions in each section of the lesson. The lesson is written to target educational needs of lower-level undergraduate students and is open for use by the public and educational institutions

Molecular and morphometric variation in European populations of the articulate brachiopod <i>Terebeatulina retusa</i>

Molecular and morphometric variation within and between population samples of the articulate brachiopod &lt;i&gt;Terebratulina&lt;/i&gt; spp., collected in 1985-1987 from a Norwegian fjord, sea lochs and costal sites in western Scotland, the southern English Channel (Brittany) and the western Mediterranean, were measured by the analysis of variation in the lengths of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments produced by digestion with nine restriction endonucleases and by multivariate statistical analysis of six selected morphometric parameters. Nucleotide difference within each population sample was high. Nucleotide difference between population samples from the Scottish sites, both those that are tidally contiguous and those that appear to be geographically isolated, were not significantly different from zero. Nucleotide differences between the populations samples from Norway, Brittany, Scotland and the western Mediterranean were also very low. Morphometric analysis confirmed the absence of substantial differentiation

The Role of Innate APOBEC3G and Adaptive AID Immune Responses in HLA-HIV/SIV Immunized SHIV Infected Macaques

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Annexin A2 antibodies but not inhibitors of the annexin A2 heterotetramer impair productive HIV-1 infection of macrophages in vitro

During sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), macrophages are initial targets for HIV infection. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) has been shown to protect against HIV infection of macrophages through interactions with annexin A2 (A2), which is found on the macrophage cell surface as a heterotetramer (A2t) consisting of A2 and S100A10. Therefore, we investigated potential protein-protein interactions between A2 and HIV-1 gp120 through a series of co-immunoprecipitation assays and a single molecule pulldown (SiMPull) technique. Additionally, inhibitors of A2t (A2ti) that target the interaction between A2 and S100A10 were tested for their ability to impair productive HIV-1 infection of macrophages. Our data suggest that interactions between HIV-1 gp120 and A2 exist, though this interaction may be indirect. Furthermore, an anti-A2 antibody impaired HIV-1 particle production in macrophages in vitro, whereas A2ti did not indicating that annexin A2 may promote HIV-1 infection of macrophages in its monomeric rather than tetrameric form

Admixture in the Hispanics of the San Luis Valley, Colorado, and its implications for complex trait gene mapping

Hispanic populations are a valuable resource that can and should facilitate the identification of complex trait genes by means of admixture mapping (AM). In this paper we focus on a particular Hispanic population living in the San Luis Valley (SLV) in Southern Colorado.We used a set of 22 Ancestry Informative Markers (AIMs) to describe the admixture process and dynamics in this population. AIMs are defined as genetic markers that exhibit allele frequency differences between parental populations ≥30%, and are more informative for studying admixed populations than random markers. The ancestral proportions of the SLV Hispanic population are estimated as 62.7 ± 2.1% European, 34.1 ± 1.9% Native American and 3.2 ± 1.5% West African. We also estimated the ancestral proportions of individuals using these AIMs. Population structure was demonstrated by the excess association of unlinked markers, the correlation between estimates of admixture based on unlinked marker sets, and by a highly significant correlation between individual Native American ancestry and skin pigmentation (R 2 = 0.082, p < 0.001). We discuss the implications of these findings in disease gene mapping efforts.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65937/1/j.1529-8817.2003.00084.x.pd