Experimental Studies on Habitat Preference and Thermoregulation of Bufo americanus, B. hemiophrys and B. cognatus

This paper reports on responses lo habitat and thermoregulotion exhibited by three species of toads, Bufo omericanus, B. hemiophrys and 8. cognalus, under artificial conditions. The response of the toads to sparse, medium, and dense vegetative cover was investigated by establishing artificial cover types in a sheet-metal enclosure. Each of the three species spent more time in the dense cover than i11 sparse or medium cover. A second experiment to determine if the toads would be attracted by odor to samples of mud, water, and vegetation from their respective ranges suggested that the toads moved randomly to the habitat samples. The role of temperature-regulating ability in habitat selection was evaluated by measuring deep body temperatures of the toads and surface temperature of the substrate under varying environmental conditions. The relations between body and surface temperature were significantly different for the three species as shown by analysis of covariance. 8. omericonus exhibited the most and B. cognotus the least thermoregulotion. The possible roles of these factors in causing the present distribution patterns of the three species ore considered

Emerging Applications of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Trauma

The use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has expanded over the past decade to include a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic applications. These include urgent clinical situations that require timely diagnosis and subsequent treatment. With the introduction of microbubble ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs), CEUS provides increased sensitivity and specificity over conventional ultrasound. Within the trauma setting, CEUS benefits include point of care imaging and an ability to monitor perfusion in real-time. Additionally, UCAs are non-nephrotoxic, and can be used when contrast enhanced CT is contraindicated. In this review, we discuss recent advancements of CEUS within trauma settings

Effect of Human Disturbance on Small Mammal Communities in Itasca State Park, Minnesota

We determined effects of different levels of human disturbance on small mammal richness and relative abundance from live-trapping data obtained in Itasca State Park in northwestern Minnesota. We developed a quantitative measure of human disturbance based on disturbance units and trapped small mammals on three study sites, each reflecting a different level of disturbance. Our data revealed that small mammal diversity decreased with increasing human disturbance. Amount of ground cover and litter depth also appeared to be important in explaining differences in the demographic patterns of small mammals among sites

Immune evasion versus recovery after acute hepatitis C virus infection from a shared source

Acute infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) rarely is identified, and hence, the determinants of spontaneous resolution versus chronicity remain incompletely understood. In particular, because of the retrospective nature and unknown source of infection in most human studies, direct evidence for emergence of escape mutations in immunodominant major histocompatibility complex class I–restricted epitopes leading to immune evasion is extremely limited. In two patients infected accidentally with an identical HCV strain but who developed divergent outcomes, the total lack of HCV-specific CD4+ T cells in conjunction with vigorous CD8+ T cells that targeted a single epitope in one patient was associated with mutational escape and viral persistence. Statistical evidence for positive Darwinian selective pressure against an immunodominant epitope is presented. Wild-type cytotoxic T lymphocytes persisted even after the cognate antigen was no longer present

Relationship between wearer prickle response with fibre and garment properties and Wool ComfortMeter assessment

The prickle evoked by 48 knitted fabrics was assessed by wearers under a defined evaluation protocol. The relationship between the average wearer prickle score and known properties of constituent fibre, yarns and fabrics and fabric evaluation using the Wool ComfortMeter (WCM) was determined using linear modelling. After log transformation, the best model accounted for 87.7% of the variance. The major share of variation could be attributed to differences between mean fibre diameter (MFD) and WCM values. Low prickle scores were linearly associated with lower MFD, lower WCM and lower yarn linear density. There was an indication that yarn twist affected prickle scores and that fabrics composed of cotton evoked less prickle. Measures of fibre diameter distribution or coarse fibre incidence and other fabric properties were not significant. The analysis indicates that wool garments can be constructed to keep wearer assessed prickle to barely detectable levels and textile designers can manipulate a range of parameters to achieve similar wearer comfort responses

Rapid Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detection of the Algal Toxin Domoic Acid

Domoic acid (DA) is a potent toxin produced by bloom-forming phytoplankton in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, which is responsible for causing amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans. ASP symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and in more severe cases confusion, loss of memory, disorientation, and even coma or death. This paper describes the development and validation of a rapid, sensitive, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test kit for detecting DA using a monoclonal antibody. The assay gives equivalent results to those obtained using standard high performance liquid chromatography, fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl high performance liquid chromatography, or liquid chromatography—mass spectrometry methods. It has a linear range from 0.1–3 ppb and was used successfully to measure DA in razor clams, mussels, scallops, and phytoplankton. The assay requires approximately 1.5 h to complete and has a standard 96-well format where each strip of eight wells is removable and can be stored at 4°C until needed. The first two wells of each strip serve as an internal control eliminating the need to run a standard curve. This allows as few as 3 or as many as 36 duplicate samples to be run at a time enabling real-time sample processing and limiting degradation of DA, which can occur during storage. There was minimal cross-reactivity in this assay with glutamine, glutamic acid, kainic acid, epi- or iso-DA. This accurate, rapid, cost-effective, assay offers environmental managers and public health officials an effective tool for monitoring DA concentrations in environment samples

Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.

The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD