Revision of the genus Centrophorus (Squaliformes: Centrophoridae): Part 1-Redescription of Centrophorus granulosus (Bloch & Schneider), a senior synonym of C-acus Garman and C-niaukang Teng

The genus Centrophorus is one of the most taxonomically complex and confusing elasmobranch groups. A revision of this group is currently underway and this first paper sets an important foundation in this process by redescribing the type species of the genus-Centrophorus granulosus. This taxon name has been previously applied to two different morphotypes: a large species \u3e 1.5 m TL and a smaller species similar to 1 m TL. Centrophorus acus and C. niaukang are the most commonly used names applied to the larger morphotype. The original description of C. granulosus was based on a large specimen of similar to 1.5 m TL, but subsequent redescriptions were based on either of the large or small morphotypes. Centrophorus granulosus is herein redescribed as a large species and a neotype is designated. Centrophorus acus and C. niaukang are found to be junior synonyms of C. granulosus. Centrophorus granulosus is distinguishable from its congeners by its large size, dermal denticle shape, colouration and a number of morphological and biological characteristics. Ontogenetic changes in morphology, dentition and denticle shape for this species are described in detail

Release of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sFlt-1) during coronary artery bypass surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was conducted to follow plasma concentrations of sFlt-1 and sKDR, two soluble forms of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with extracorporeal circulation (ECC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Plasma samples were obtained before, during and after surgery in 15 patients scheduled to undergo CABG. Levels of sFlt-1 and KDR levels were investigated using specific ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 75-fold increase of sFlt-1 was found during cardiac surgery, sFlt-1 levels returning to pre-operative values at the 6^thpost-operative hour. In contrast sKDR levels did not change during surgery. The ECC-derived sFlt-1 was functional as judge by its inhibitory effect on the VEGF mitogenic response in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Kinetic experiments revealed sFlt-1 release immediately after the beginning of ECC suggesting a proteolysis of its membrane form (mFlt-1) rather than an elevated transcription/translation process. Flow cytometry analysis highlighted no effect of ECC on the shedding of mFlt-1 on platelets and leukocytes suggesting vascular endothelial cell as a putative cell source for the ECC-derived sFlt-1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>sFlt-1 is released during CABG with ECC. It might be suggested that sFlt-1 production, by neutralizing VEGF and/or by inactivating membrane-bound Flt-1 and KDR receptors, might play a role in the occurrence of post-CABG complication.</p

What Goes in Must Come out: Testing for Biases in Molecular Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are widely distributed microbes that form obligate symbioses with the majority of terrestrial plants, altering nutrient transfers between soils and plants, thereby profoundly affecting plant growth and ecosystem properties. Molecular methods are commonly used in the study of AM fungal communities. However, the biases associated with PCR amplification of these organisms and their ability to be utilized quantitatively has never been fully tested. We used Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis to characterise artificial community templates containing known quantities of defined AM fungal genotypes. This was compared to a parallel in silico analysis that predicted the results of this experiment in the absence of bias. The data suggest that when used quantitatively the TRFLP protocol tested is a powerful, repeatable method for AM fungal community analysis. However, we suggest some limitations to its use for population-level analyses. We found no evidence of PCR bias, supporting the quantitative use of other PCR-based methods for the study of AM fungi such as next generation amplicon sequencing. This finding greatly improves our confidence in methods that quantitatively examine AM fungal communities, providing a greater understanding of the ecology of these important fungi

Outcome following patent ductus arteriosus ligation in premature infants:A retrospective cohort analysis

BACKGROUND: The patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is an important problem in premature infants. Surgical PDA ligation is usually only be considered when medical treatment has either failed or was contraindicated. The aims of our study were to determine the mortality and morbidity following patent ductus arteriosus ligation in premature infants, and whether prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor (PSI) use prior to ligation affects outcome. METHODS: A retrospective case note review study to determine the outcome of premature infants undergoing patent ductus arteriosus ligation in one tertiary neonatal intensive care unit and two paediatric cardiothoracic centres. RESULTS: We had follow-up data on 87 infants. Cumulative mortality rates at 7 days, 30 days and at hospital discharge were 2%, 8% and 20% respectively. The incidence of chronic lung disease, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis and retinopathy of prematurity were 77%, 39%, 26% and 28% respectively. There was no difference in mortality, incidence of chronic lung disease or duration of oxygen dependence between those who had and those who had not received a PSI prior to surgical ligation. In those who had received 2 or more courses of PSI prior to surgical ligation, there was a trend to increase in the duration of oxygen therapy and chronic lung disease, but no difference in mortality. CONCLUSION: This study shows that patent ductus arteriosus ligation is a relatively safe procedure (30 day survival 92%) but there is substantial late mortality and a high incidence of morbidity in the survivors. 2 or more courses of PSI prior to surgical ligation trends to increased oxygen dependence and chronic lung disease. This high risk population requires careful follow-up. A definitive prospective cohort study is lacking

Sexually dimorphic characteristics of the small intestine and colon of prepubescent C57BL/6 mice

Background There is increasing appreciation for sexually dimorphic effects, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are only partially understood. In the present study, we explored transcriptomics and epigenetic differences in the small intestine and colon of prepubescent male and female mice. In addition, the microbiota composition of the colonic luminal content has been examined. Methods At postnatal day 14, male and female C57BL/6 mice were sacrificed and the small intestine, colon and content of luminal colon were isolated. Gene expression of both segments of the intestine was analysed by microarray analysis. DNA methylation of the promoter regions of selected sexually dimorphic genes was examined by pyrosequencing. Composition of the microbiota was explored by deep sequencing. Results Sexually dimorphic genes were observed in both segments of the intestine of 2-week-old mouse pups, with a stronger effect in the small intestine. Amongst the total of 349 genes displaying a sexually dimorphic effect in the small intestine and/or colon, several candidates exhibited a previously established function in the intestine (i.e. Nts, Nucb2, Alox5ap and Retnlγ). In addition, differential expression of genes linked to intestinal bowel disease (i.e. Ccr3, Ccl11 and Tnfr) and colorectal cancer development (i.e. Wt1 and Mmp25) was observed between males and females. Amongst the genes displaying significant sexually dimorphic expression, nine genes were histone-modifying enzymes, suggesting that epigenetic mechanisms might be a potential underlying regulatory mechanism. However, our results reveal no significant changes in DNA methylation of analysed CpGs within the selected differentially expressed genes. With respect to the bacterial community composition in the colon, a dominant effect of litter origin was found but no significant sex effect was detected. However, a sex effect on the dominance of specific taxa was observed. Conclusions This study reveals molecular dissimilarities between males and females in the small intestine and colon of prepubescent mice, which might underlie differences in physiological functioning and in disease predisposition in the two sexes

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells.

We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.This work is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC); Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences(CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS), China; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and UK Researchand Innovation (UKRI)/NIHR through the UK Coro-navirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC). Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples and collation of data wasundertaken by the COG-UK CONSORTIUM. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI),the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR),and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. T.I.d.S. is supported by a Well-come Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (110058/Z/15/Z). L.T. is supported by the Wellcome Trust(grant number 205228/Z/16/Z) and by theUniversity of Liverpool Centre for Excellence in Infectious DiseaseResearch (CEIDR). S.D. is funded by an NIHR GlobalResearch Professorship (NIHR300791). L.T. and S.C.M.are also supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Medical Countermeasures Initiative contract75F40120C00085 and the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) inEmerging and Zoonotic Infections (NIHR200907) at University of Liverpool inpartnership with Public HealthEngland (PHE), in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford.L.T. is based at the University of Liverpool. M.D.P. is funded by the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical ResearchCentre (BRC – IS-BRC-1215-20017). ISARIC4C is supported by the MRC (grant no MC_PC_19059). J.C.K.is a Wellcome Investigator (WT204969/Z/16/Z) and supported by NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centreand CIFMS. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or MRC

The 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign: An Overview

A major goal of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to make accurate images with resolutions of tens of milliarcseconds, which at submillimeter (submm) wavelengths requires baselines up to ~15 km. To develop and test this capability, a Long Baseline Campaign (LBC) was carried out from September to late November 2014, culminating in end-to-end observations, calibrations, and imaging of selected Science Verification (SV) targets. This paper presents an overview of the campaign and its main results, including an investigation of the short-term coherence properties and systematic phase errors over the long baselines at the ALMA site, a summary of the SV targets and observations, and recommendations for science observing strategies at long baselines. Deep ALMA images of the quasar 3C138 at 97 and 241 GHz are also compared to VLA 43 GHz results, demonstrating an agreement at a level of a few percent. As a result of the extensive program of LBC testing, the highly successful SV imaging at long baselines achieved angular resolutions as fine as 19 mas at ~350 GHz. Observing with ALMA on baselines of up to 15 km is now possible, and opens up new parameter space for submm astronomy