Ultrasonic Songs of Male Mice

Previously it was shown that male mice, when they encounter female mice or their pheromones, emit ultrasonic vocalizations with frequencies ranging over 30–110 kHz. Here, we show that these vocalizations have the characteristics of song, consisting of several different syllable types, whose temporal sequencing includes the utterance of repeated phrases. Individual males produce songs with characteristic syllabic and temporal structure. This study provides a quantitative initial description of male mouse songs, and opens the possibility of studying song production and perception in an established genetic model organism

Loss of ATM kinase activity leads to embryonic lethality in mice

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) mutated (ATM) is a key deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage signaling kinase that regulates DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints, and apoptosis. The majority of patients with A-T, a cancer-prone neurodegenerative disease, present with null mutations in Atm. To determine whether the functions of ATM are mediated solely by its kinase activity, we generated two mouse models containing single, catalytically inactivating point mutations in Atm. In this paper, we show that, in contrast to Atm-null mice, both D2899A and Q2740P mutations cause early embryonic lethality in mice, without displaying dominant-negative interfering activity. Using conditional deletion, we find that the D2899A mutation in adult mice behaves largely similar to Atm-null cells but shows greater deficiency in homologous recombination (HR) as measured by hypersensitivity to poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibition and increased genomic instability. These results may explain why missense mutations with no detectable kinase activity are rarely found in patients with classical A-T. We propose that ATM kinase-inactive missense mutations, unless otherwise compensated for, interfere with HR during embryogenesis

DCs Pulsed with Novel HLA-A2-Restricted CTL Epitopes against Hepatitis C Virus Induced a Broadly Reactive Anti-HCV-Specific T Lymphocyte Response

OBJECTIVE: To determine the capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with single or multiple-peptide mixtures of novel hepatitis C virus (HCV) epitopes to stimulate HCV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) effector functions. METHODS: A bioinformatics approach was used to predict HLA-A2-restricted HCV-specific CTL epitopes, and the predicted peptides identified from this screen were synthesized. Subsequent IFN-γ ELISPOT analysis detected the stimulating function of these peptides in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from both chronic and self-limited HCV infected subjects (subjects exhibiting spontaneous HCV clearance). Mature DCs, derived in vitro from CD14(+) monocytes harvested from the study subjects by incubation with appropriate cytokine cocktails, were loaded with novel peptide or epitope peptide mixtures and co-cultured with autologous T lymphocytes. Granzyme B (GrB) and IFN-γ ELISPOT analysis was used to test for epitope-specific CTL responses. T-cell-derived cytokines contained in the co-cultured supernatant were detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: We identified 7 novel HLA-A2-restricted HCV-specific CTL epitopes that increased the frequency of IFN-γ-producing T cells compared to other epitopes, as assayed by measuring spot forming cells (SFCs). Two epitopes had the strongest stimulating capability in the self-limited subjects, one found in the E2 and one in the NS2 region of HCV; five epitopes had a strong stimulating capacity in both chronic and self-limited HCV infection, but were stronger in the self-limited subjects. They were distributed in E2, NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5 regions of HCV, respectively. We also found that mDCs loaded with novel peptide mixtures could significantly increase GrB and IFN-γ SFCs as compared to single peptides, especially in chronic HCV infection subjects. Additionally, we found that DCs pulsed with multiple epitope peptide mixtures induced a Th1-biased immune response. CONCLUSIONS: Seven novel and strongly stimulating HLA-A2-restricted HCV-specific CTL epitopes were identified. Furthermore, DCs loaded with multiple-epitope peptide mixtures induced epitope-specific CTLs responses

Rice carrying capacity and sustainable produce of rice in resources-limited regions

Rice is a main food over the world. With the growing population and urbanization, the demand for the rice is increasing.To ensure the sustainable produce and market supply of rice is most importantto meet the people’s need of rice and the sustainable development. Most of distribution area of rice is in resources-limited regions, and sometime natural calamities infl uences rice yield,quality and market supply almost every year in resources-limited regions over the world. However, there are few reports of rice carrying capacity and sustainable produce of Rice. In this study,author review rice carrying capacity and sustainable produce of rice. In the near future, we should study the rice carrying capacity and regulated the relationship between nature resources and rice plant growth in the resources-limited regions at the right time to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable produce of rice and market supply to serve sustainable development.</p

The Source, Transport, and Removal of Chemical Elements in Rainwater in China

Rainwater is one of the most important parts of water resources and aerosols. The content of chemical elements in rainwater influences air quality significantly. It is extremely important for high-quality sustainable agriculture development and the cultivation of China’s natural landscape to understand and control the sources, transport, and removal of chemical elements in rainwater. Currently, there are some reports on the sources and removal of chemical elements in rainwater; however, these papers do not completely and clearly explain where the chemical elements in the rainwater originate and how they are transported and removed. A review of published literature related to chemical elements in rainwater shows that industrialization and urbanization increase the levels of atmospheric pollutants and trace elements in rainwater, contaminating soil and surface water as well as other natural resources. The Chinese government established a series of sponge cities, rainwater wetlands, rainwater gardens, and biological detention pools to improve the quality of sewage so as to realize the reuse of water resources, the sustainable development of high-quality agriculture, and the cultivation of China’s natural landscape

Male Mice Vocalize in the Ultrasound after Olfactory Exploration of Urinary Cues

<p>A cotton swab containing female mouse urine (top) was introduced at approximately 30 s into a 210-s trial. Arrow indicates the time of first contact with the cotton swab. Recorded acoustical power is represented as a function of time and frequency, with shading increasing with power. Power below 25 kHz was truncated. Bottom, an expansion of a 2-s period showing vocalizations in greater detail. Individual syllables, as identified by an automated algorithm, are spanned by magenta lines below.</p

Features of Vocalizations Relating to Mechanisms of Sound Production

<div><p>(A) Syllable with both a fundamental and first harmonic.</p> <p>(B) Abundance of frequency (vertical axis is frequency, continued from [A]) in syllables with (LJ⁺) and without (LJ⁻) low jumps.</p> <p>(C) Average pitch (top) and mean ± standard deviation log₁₀(power) (bottom) as a function of time, surrounding a downward low jump (for syllables with low jumps) or surrounding the upward crossing of 75 kHz (for syllables without low jumps). Power units are arbitrary but consistent between syllable types. Color scheme is as in (B).</p> <p>(D) Syllable showing extensive temporal overlap and independent frequency modulation among the different notes in the syllable. Syllables are from the same trial analyzed in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030386#pbio-0030386-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a>B.</p></div

Pitch Waveforms of Syllables Lacking Jumps

<div><p>(A) Sonograms of representative syllables, showing a range of oscillatory behavior.</p> <p>(B) Overlay of pitch waveforms for all 361 syllables lacking pitch jumps from the trial analyzed in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030386#pbio-0030386-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a>B. Time and frequency axes have been shifted and globally stretched independently for each syllable to bring waveforms into maximal overlap with a sine wave. The root mean squared error in fit to the sine wave is indicated by dashed lines.</p> <p>(C and D) Histogram of starting (C) and ending (D) phases.</p> <p>(E) Relationship between the oscillation rate (measured in periods/millisecond) and amplitude of the best-fit sine wave. Only syllables with at least 0.3 periods (160/361) are shown; syllables spanning a smaller fraction of a period do not permit an accurate measurement of oscillation rate or amplitude.</p></div

Characterization of Pitch Changes during Syllables

<div><p>(A) Two examples of syllables, represented in terms of their sonogram (top member of each pair of panels) and the extracted pitch versus time (bottom member of pairs).</p> <p>(B) Plot of pitch at one time point versus the next time point (Δ<i>t</i> = 1.02 ms). All such pitch pairs in all syllables from a single trial with 750 syllables are shown, representing a total of 31,303 pitch changes. Particular pitch jumps are placed within the context of their individual syllables at right (top syllable, 98 ms in duration; bottom syllable, 33 ms in duration).</p> <p>(C) Pitch pairs analyzed for single 210-s trials from 45 different mice, containing in aggregate 15,543 syllables and over 600,000 pitch pairs. The distribution of pitch pairs is represented as a two-dimensional histogram; the correspondence between grayscale and number of observations is indicated in the color bar at right. Polygons define the clusters corresponding to the three jump types “u,” “h,” and “d.”</p> <p>(D) Numbers of each type of pitch jump per trial (45 mice, one trial each).</p></div