Comparison of two histological techniques for age determination in small cetaceans

Peer reviewedPreprin

High-quality percussion drilling with ultrashort laser pulses

The influence of the laser fluence on the quality of percussion-drilled holes was investigated both experimentally and by an analytical model. The study reveals that the edge quality of the drilled microholes depends on the laser fluence reaching the rear exit of the hole and changes with the number of pulses applied after breakthrough. The minimum fluence that must reach the hole’s exit in order to obtain high-quality microholes in stainless steel was experimentally found to be 2.8 times the ablation threshold.Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und EnergieDeutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftProjekt DEA

Strong Expression of Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 by Renal Cell Carcinoma Correlates with Advanced Disease

Diverse chemokines and their receptors have been associated with tumor growth, tumor dissemination, and local immune escape. In different tumor entities, the level of chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression has been linked with tumor progression and decreased survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of CXCR4 expression on the progression of human renal cell carcinoma. CXCR4 expression of renal cell carcinoma was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 113 patients. Intensity of CXCR4 expression was correlated with both tumor and patient characteristics. Human renal cell carcinoma revealed variable intensities of CXCR4 expression. Strong CXCR4 expression of renal cell carcinoma was significantly associated with advanced T-status (P = .039), tumor dedifferentiation (P = .0005), and low hemoglobin (P = .039). In summary, strong CXCR4 expression was significantly associated with advanced dedifferentiated renal cell carcinoma

Whole-genome plasma sequencing reveals focal amplifications as a driving force in metastatic prostate cancer

Genomic alterations in metastatic prostate cancer remain incompletely characterized. Here we analyse 493 prostate cancer cases from the TCGA database and perform whole-genome plasma sequencing on 95 plasma samples derived from 43 patients with metastatic prostate cancer. From these samples, we identify established driver aberrations in a cancer-related gene in nearly all cases (97.7%), including driver gene fusions (TMPRSS2:ERG), driver focal deletions (PTEN, RYBP and SHQ1) and driver amplifications (AR and MYC). In serial plasma analyses, we observe changes in focal amplifications in 40% of cases. The mean time interval between new amplifications was 26.4 weeks (range: 5–52 weeks), suggesting that they represent rapid adaptations to selection pressure. An increase in neuron-specific enolase is accompanied by clonal pattern changes in the tumour genome, most consistent with subclonal diversification of the tumour. Our findings suggest a high plasticity of prostate cancer genomes with newly occurring focal amplifications as a driving force in progression

Controls on gut phosphatisation : the trilobites from the Weeks Formation Lagerstätte (Cambrian; Utah)

Despite being internal organs, digestive structures are frequently preserved in Cambrian Lagerstätten. However, the reasons for their fossilisation and their biological implications remain to be thoroughly explored. This is particularly true with arthropods--typically the most diverse fossilised organisms in Cambrian ecosystems--where digestive structures represent an as-yet underexploited alternative to appendage morphology for inferences on their biology. Here we describe the phosphatised digestive structures of three trilobite species from the Cambrian Weeks Formation Lagerstätte (Utah). Their exquisite, three-dimensional preservation reveals unique details on trilobite internal anatomy, such as the position of the mouth and the absence of a differentiated crop. In addition, the presence of paired pygidial organs of an unknown function is reported for the first time. This exceptional material enables exploration of the relationships between gut phosphatisation and the biology of organisms. Indeed, soft-tissue preservation is unusual in these fossils as it is restricted to the digestive structures, which indicates that the gut played a central role in its own phosphatisation. We hypothesize that the gut provided a microenvironment where special conditions could develop and harboured a source of phosphorus. The fact that gut phosphatization has almost exclusively been observed in arthropods could be explained by their uncommon ability to store ions (including phosphorous) in their digestive tissues. However, in some specimens from the Weeks Formation, the phosphatisation extends to the entire digestive system, suggesting that trilobites might have had some biological particularities not observed in modern arthropods. We speculate that one of them might have been an increased capacity for ion storage in the gut tissues, related to the moulting of their heavily-mineralised carapace

Ancient variation of the AvrPm17 gene in powdery mildew limits the effectiveness of the introgressed rye Pm17 resistance gene in wheat

Introgressions of chromosomal segments from related species into wheat are important sources of resistance against fungal diseases. The durability and effectiveness of introgressed resistance genes upon agricultural deployment is highly variable-a phenomenon that remains poorly understood, as the corresponding fungal avirulence genes are largely unknown. Until its breakdown, the Pm17 resistance gene introgressed from rye to wheat provided broad resistance against powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis). Here, we used quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping to identify the corresponding wheat mildew avirulence effector AvrPm17. It is encoded by two paralogous genes that exhibit signatures of reoccurring gene conversion events and are members of a mildew sublineage specific effector cluster. Extensive haplovariant mining in wheat mildew and related sublineages identified several ancient virulent AvrPm17 variants that were present as standing genetic variation in wheat powdery mildew prior to the Pm17 introgression, thereby paving the way for the rapid breakdown of the Pm17 resistance. QTL mapping in mildew identified a second genetic component likely corresponding to an additional resistance gene present on the 1AL.1RS translocation carrying Pm17. This gene remained previously undetected due to suppressed recombination within the introgressed rye chromosomal segment. We conclude that the initial effectiveness of 1AL.1RS was based on simultaneous introgression of two genetically linked resistance genes. Our results demonstrate the relevance of pathogen-based genetic approaches to disentangling complex resistance loci in wheat. We propose that identification and monitoring of avirulence gene diversity in pathogen populations become an integral part of introgression breeding to ensure effective and durable resistance in wheat

Global genomic analyses of wheat powdery mildew reveal association of pathogen spread with historical human migration and trade

The fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici causes wheat powdery mildew disease. Here, we study its spread and evolution by analyzing a global sample of 172 mildew genomes. Our analyses show that B.g. tritici emerged in the Fertile Crescent during wheat domestication. After it spread throughout Eurasia, colonization brought it to America, where it hybridized with unknown grass mildew species. Recent trade brought USA strains to Japan, and European strains to China. In both places, they hybridized with local ancestral strains. Thus, although mildew spreads by wind regionally, our results indicate that humans drove its global spread throughout history and that mildew rapidly evolved through hybridization.Centro de Investigaciones AgropecuariasFil: Sotiropoulos, Alexandros G. University of Zurich. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology; SuizaFil: Arango-Isaza, Epifanía. University of Zurich. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies; SuizaFil: Ban, Tomohiro. Yokohama City University. Kihara Institute for Biological Research; JapónFil: Barbieri, Chiara. University of Zurich. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies; SuizaFil: Barbieri, Chiara. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution; AlemaniaFil: Bourras, Salim. University of Zurich. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology; SuizaFil: Bourras, Salim. University of Agricultural Sciences. Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology; SueciaFil: Cowger, Christina. North Carolina State University; Estados Unidos. USDA-ARS Department of Plant Pathology; Estados UnidosFil: Czembor, Paweł C. National Research Institute. Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute; PoloniaFil: Ben-David, Roi. ARO-Volcani Center. Institute of Plant Sciences. Department of Vegetables and Field Crops; IsraelFil: Dinoor, Amos. University of Jerusalem. The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Environment. Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology; IsraelFil: Ellwood, Simon R. Curtin University. School of Molecular and Life Sciences. Centre for Crop and Disease Management; AustraliaFil: Graf, Johannes. University of Zurich. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology; SuizaFil: Hatta, Koichi. National Agricultural Research Organization. Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center Field Crop Research and Development; JapónFil: Helguera, Marcelo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Wicker, Thomas. University of Zurich. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology; Suiz

Clinician attitudes to pain and use of analgesia in cattle: where are we 10 years on?

Pain in cattle can arise though disease or injury or may result from veterinary or husbandry procedures. Controlling pain is important to safeguard animal welfare. Previous studies indicated that the use of analgesics in cattle has lagged behind use in companion animals. Over the last decade, more analgesic products have become available for use in cattle and there have been increased efforts to communicate the importance and benefits of analgesia. A questionnaire (based on that used in a similar study published in 2006) was sent to UK cattle practitioners asking them to score pain severity for several conditions of cattle and asking about their attitudes towards and use of analgesic medicines. A total of 242 surveys were returned. Male clinicians and those graduating before 1990 scored pain severity significantly lower and were significantly less likely to use NSAIDs. Generally, use of NSAIDs was more common for conditions assigned higher pain scores. However, uptake of NSAID use was much lower for a number of routine procedures in calves than would be expected from the pain scores they were assigned. A need remains to increase use of analgesic products, especially NSAIDs in calves, in line with best practice recommendations

An improved measurement of muon antineutrino disappearance in MINOS

We report an improved measurement of muon anti-neutrino disappearance over a distance of 735km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a muon anti-neutrino enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95e20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of the anti-neutrino "atmospheric" delta-m squared = 2.62 +0.31/-0.28 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) and constrain the anti-neutrino atmospheric mixing angle >0.75 (90%CL). These values are in agreement with those measured for muon neutrinos, removing the tension reported previously.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. In submission to Phys.Rev.Let

The effect of functional splinting on mild dysplastic hips after walking onset

BACKGROUND: For treatment of Graf class IIb dysplastic hips at walking onset a treatment concept with abduction splints allowing patterns as walking and crawling under constant abduction control was investigated. However, as the splint still incapacitates child movements the research question remains whether the physiologically progressing maturation of hips can be significantly altered using such abduction splints for walking children. METHODS: Of 106 children showing late hip dysplasia, 68 children treated with the Hoffman-Daimler (HD-splint) abduction splint were compared with 38 children with neglect of the abduction treatment in this retrospective study. Radiographic analyses were performed measuring the development of the age dependent acetabular angle. RESULTS: The regression analysis for splint treatment showed a significant linear regression for both splint treatment and no splint treatment group (r(2 )= 0,31 respectively r(2 )= 0,33). No statistical difference between both treatment groups was apparent. CONCLUSION: Considering the characteristics of this study, there seems to be no strong rationale supporting the use of an abduction device in growing children. As no significant difference between treatment groups is apparent, a future controlled prospective study on splinting effects can be considered ethically allowed