115 research outputs found
Dryland Clovers: A Phytochemical Resource
Recent developments in the utilisation of phytoestrogens of red clover (Wuttke et al., 2002) have encouraged us to investigate a wider range of Trifolium species for metabolites which could provide new product opportunities. The phytochemistry of the agronomically-important Trifolium species white (Trifolium repens) and red (T. pratense) clovers has been investigated in some detail (Foo et al., 2000; Sivakumaran et al., 2004). However numerous other clover species have been neglected in agriculture due to agronomic issues or the fact they are annuals and require more intensive management. While some of these clover species have been studied for their genetic diversity (Marshall et al., 2002), investigations of the chemical composition of these specific species has not been reported
Eutectic Colony Formation: A Stability Analysis
Experiments have widely shown that a steady-state lamellar eutectic
solidification front is destabilized on a scale much larger than the lamellar
spacing by the rejection of a dilute ternary impurity and forms two-phase cells
commonly referred to as `eutectic colonies'. We extend the stability analysis
of Datye and Langer for a binary eutectic to include the effect of a ternary
impurity. We find that the expressions for the critical onset velocity and
morphological instability wavelength are analogous to those for the classic
Mullins-Sekerka instability of a monophase planar interface, albeit with an
effective surface tension that depends on the geometry of the lamellar
interface and, non-trivially, on interlamellar diffusion. A qualitatively new
aspect of this instability is the occurence of oscillatory modes due to the
interplay between the destabilizing effect of the ternary impurity and the
dynamical feedback of the local change in lamellar spacing on the front motion.
In a transient regime, these modes lead to the formation of large scale
oscillatory microstructures for which there is recent experimental evidence in
a transparent organic system. Moreover, it is shown that the eutectic front
dynamics on a scale larger than the lamellar spacing can be formulated as an
effective monophase interface free boundary problem with a modified
Gibbs-Thomson condition that is coupled to a slow evolution equation for the
lamellar spacing. This formulation provides additional physical insights into
the nature of the instability and a simple means to calculate an approximate
stability spectrum. Finally, we investigate the influence of the ternary
impurity on a short wavelength oscillatory instability that is already present
at off-eutectic compositions in binary eutectics.Comment: 26 pages RevTex, 14 figures (28 EPS files); some minor changes;
references adde
Scaling up the effects of inbreeding depression from individuals to metapopulations
Abstract Inbreeding is common in nature, and many laboratory studies have documented that inbreeding depression can reduce the fitness of individuals. Demonstrating the consequences of inbreeding depression on the growth and persistence of populations is more challenging because populations are often regulated by density- or frequency-dependent selection and influenced by demographic and environmental stochasticity. A few empirical studies have shown that inbreeding depression can increase extinction risk of local populations. The importance of inbreeding depression at the metapopulation level has been conjectured based on population-level studies but has not been evaluated. We quantified the impact of inbreeding depression affecting the fitness of individuals on metapopulation persistence in heterogeneous habitat networks of different sizes and habitat configuration in a context of natural butterfly metapopulations. We developed a spatial individual-based simulation model of metapopulations with explicit genetics. We used Approximate Bayesian Computation to fit the model to extensive demographic, genetic, and life-history data available for the well-studied Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) metapopulations in the Åland islands in SW Finland. We compared 18 semi-independent habitat networks differing in size and fragmentation. The results show that inbreeding is more frequent in small habitat networks, and consequently, inbreeding depression elevates extinction risks in small metapopulations. Metapopulation persistence and neutral genetic diversity maintained in the metapopulations increase with the total habitat amount in and mean patch size of habitat networks. Dispersal and mating behavior interact with landscape structure to determine how likely it is to encounter kin while looking for mates. Inbreeding depression can decrease the viability of small metapopulations even when they are strongly influenced by stochastic extinction-colonization dynamics and density-dependent selection. The findings from this study support that genetic factors, in addition to demographic factors, can contribute to extinctions of small local populations and also of metapopulations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe
Indications for implant removal after fracture healing: a review of the literature
Introduction: The aim of this review was to collect and summarize published data on the indications for implant removal after fracture healing, since these are not well defined and guidelines hardly exist. Methods: A literature search was performed. Results: Though there are several presumed benefits of implant removal, such as functional improvement and pain relief, the surgical procedure can be very challenging and may lead to complications or even worsening of the complaints. Research has focused on the safety of metal implants (e.g., risk of corrosion, allergy, and carcinogenesis). For these reasons, implants have been removed routinely for decades. Along with the introduction of titanium alloy implants, the need for implant removal became a subject of debate in view of potential (dis)advantages since, in general, implants made of titanium alloys are more difficult to remove. Currently, the main indications for removal from both the upper and lower extremity are mostly 'relative' and patient-driven, such as pain, prominent material, or simply the request for removal. True medical indications like infection or intra-articular material are minor reasons. Conclusion: This review illustrates the great variety of view points in the literature, with large differences in opinions and practices about the indications for implant removal after fracture healing. Since some studies have described asymptomatic patients developing complaints after removal, the general advice nowadays is to remove implants after fracture healing only in symptomatic patients and after a proper informed consent. Well-designed prospective studies on this subject are urgently needed in order to form guidelines based on scientific evidence
Weekly Intra-Amniotic IGF-1 Treatment Increases Growth of Growth-Restricted Ovine Fetuses and Up-Regulates Placental Amino Acid Transporters
Frequent treatment of the growth-restricted (IUGR) ovine fetus with intra-amniotic IGF-1 increases fetal growth. We aimed to determine whether increased growth was maintained with an extended dosing interval and to examine possible mechanisms. Pregnant ewes were allocated to three groups: Control, and two IUGR groups (induced by placental embolization) treated with weekly intra-amniotic injections of either saline (IUGR) or 360 µg IGF-1 (IGF1). IUGR fetuses were hypoxic, hyperuremic, hypoglycemic, and grew more slowly than controls. Placental glucose uptake and SLC2A1 (GLUT2) mRNA levels decreased in IUGR fetuses, but SLC2A3 (GLUT3) and SLC2A4 (GLUT4) levels were unaffected. IGF-1 treatment increased fetal growth rate, did not alter uterine blood flow or placental glucose uptake, and increased placental SLC2A1 and SLC2A4 (but not SLC2A3) mRNA levels compared with saline-treated IUGR animals. Following IGF-1 treatment, placental mRNA levels of isoforms of the system A, y+, and L amino acid transporters increased 1.3 to 5.0 fold, while the ratio of phosphorylated-mTOR to total mTOR also tended to increase. Weekly intra-amniotic IGF-1 treatment provides a promising avenue for intra-uterine treatment of IUGR babies, and may act via increased fetal substrate supply, up-regulating placental transporters for neutral, cationic, and branched-chain amino acids, possibly via increased activation of the mTOR pathway
Accelerated inbreeding depression suggests synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations in Drosophila melanogaster
Epistasis may have important consequences for a number of issues in quantitative genetics and evolutionary biology. In
particular, synergistic epistasis for deleterious alleles is relevant to the mutation load paradox and the evolution of sex and
recombination. Some studies have shown evidence of synergistic epistasis for spontaneous or induced deleterious mutations
appearing in mutation-accumulation experiments. However, many newly arising mutations may not actually be segregating
in natural populations because of the erasing action of natural selection. A demonstration of synergistic epistasis for naturally
segregating alleles can be achieved by means of inbreeding depression studies, as deleterious recessive allelic effects are
exposed in inbred lines. Nevertheless, evidence of epistasis from these studies is scarce and controversial. In this paper, we
report the results of two independent inbreeding experiments carried out with two different populations of Drosophila
melanogaster. The results show a consistent accelerated inbreeding depression for fitness, suggesting synergistic epistasis
among deleterious alleles. We also performed computer simulations assuming different possible models of epistasis and
mutational parameters for fitness, finding some of them to be compatible with the results observed. Our results suggest that
synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations not only occurs among newly arisen spontaneous or induced mutations, but
also among segregating alleles in natural populationsWe acknowledge the support by Uvigo
Marine Research Centre funded by the “Excellence in Research
(INUGA)” Programme from the Regional Council of Culture, Education and Universities, with co-funding from the European Union
through the ERDF Operational Programme Galicia 2014-2020. This
work was funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (CGL2016-75904-C2-1-P), Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2016-037) and
Fondos Feder: “Unha maneira de facer Europa.” SD was founded by a
predoctoral (FPI) grant from Ministerio de Economía y
Competitividad, SpainS
Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.
BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700
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