Nervous Necrosis Virus Replicates Following the Embryo Development and Dual Infection with Iridovirus at Juvenile Stage in Grouper

Infection of virus (such as nodavirus and iridovirus) and bacteria (such as Vibrio anguillarum) in farmed grouper has been widely reported and caused large economic losses to Taiwanese fish aquaculture industry since 1979. The multiplex assay was used to detect dual viral infection and showed that only nervous necrosis virus (NNV) can be detected till the end of experiments (100% mortality) once it appeared. In addition, iridovirus can be detected in a certain period of rearing. The results of real-time PCR and in situ PCR indicated that NNV, in fact, was not on the surface of the eggs but present in the embryo, which can continue to replicate during the embryo development. The virus may be vertically transmitted by packing into eggs during egg development (formation) or delivering into eggs by sperm during fertilization. The ozone treatment of eggs may fail to remove the virus, so a new strategy to prevent NNV is needed

Secret lifestyles of Neurospora crassa

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Factors Influencing the Competency of Head Nurses When Assisting With Inhospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

AbstractObjectiveHead nurses in a hospital setting work to maintain the quality of nursing care and ensure that staff nursing skills are up-to-date. Although cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CFR) is most often performed by physicians in a hospital, nurses play crucial assistance roles, including the administration of medication, record-keeping, obtaining intravenous access, and helping with intubation. Patient outcome is therefore related to nurses' skill level in CFR. We hypothesized that the more senior head nurses would be more skillful at assisting with CFR.Materials and MethodsWe conducted an observational study of 55 head nurses, who were asked to perform a 4-minute simulation in which they assisted with CFR using a resuscitation manikin. We collected demographic data, including age and years since becoming a nurse and becoming a head nurse, together with a stress score, which assessed the stress felt by the nurses while taking the test. These measures were analyzed along with the accuracy of the nurses' skills while performing CFR.ResultsTwenty-two skills were evaluated, with each skill graded as either a pass or fail. Only 30/55 (54.5%) of the head nurses passed all 22 skills. There was a significant difference in the numbers of skills with a pass rating (p = 0.043) in relation to the units where the head nurses were employed. Their performance also showed a strong negative correlation with age (p = 0.001), work experience (p = 0.028), and time since becoming head nurse (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the numbers of skills with a pass rating and pre-test stress score (p = 0.129).ConclusionIn our study, the head nurses of surgical wards, medical wards, and intensive care units had better scores than the head nurses of pediatric, obstetrics-gynecology, and other units. In contrast with our original hypothesis, we found that the more senior head nurses' skills when assisting with CFR were poorer than those of their more junior colleagues. This suggests that senior head nurses should undergo frequent refresher courses, not only to help maintain their life-saving abilities, but also so that they can better mentor less experienced nurses in situations requiring CFR

De novo Assembly of a 40 Mb Eukaryotic Genome from Short Sequence Reads: Sordaria macrospora, a Model Organism for Fungal Morphogenesis

Filamentous fungi are of great importance in ecology, agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology. Thus, it is not surprising that genomes for more than 100 filamentous fungi have been sequenced, most of them by Sanger sequencing. While next-generation sequencing techniques have revolutionized genome resequencing, e.g. for strain comparisons, genetic mapping, or transcriptome and ChIP analyses, de novo assembly of eukaryotic genomes still presents significant hurdles, because of their large size and stretches of repetitive sequences. Filamentous fungi contain few repetitive regions in their 30–90 Mb genomes and thus are suitable candidates to test de novo genome assembly from short sequence reads. Here, we present a high-quality draft sequence of the Sordaria macrospora genome that was obtained by a combination of Illumina/Solexa and Roche/454 sequencing. Paired-end Solexa sequencing of genomic DNA to 85-fold coverage and an additional 10-fold coverage by single-end 454 sequencing resulted in ∼4 Gb of DNA sequence. Reads were assembled to a 40 Mb draft version (N50 of 117 kb) with the Velvet assembler. Comparative analysis with Neurospora genomes increased the N50 to 498 kb. The S. macrospora genome contains even fewer repeat regions than its closest sequenced relative, Neurospora crassa. Comparison with genomes of other fungi showed that S. macrospora, a model organism for morphogenesis and meiosis, harbors duplications of several genes involved in self/nonself-recognition. Furthermore, S. macrospora contains more polyketide biosynthesis genes than N. crassa. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that some of these genes may have been acquired by horizontal gene transfer from a distantly related ascomycete group. Our study shows that, for typical filamentous fungi, de novo assembly of genomes from short sequence reads alone is feasible, that a mixture of Solexa and 454 sequencing substantially improves the assembly, and that the resulting data can be used for comparative studies to address basic questions of fungal biology

Development of Pedigree Classification Using Microsatellite and Mitochondrial Markers for Giant Grouper Broodstock (Epinephelus lanceolatus) Management in Taiwan

Most giant groupers in the market are derived from inbred stock. Inbreeding can cause trait depression, compromising the animals’ fitness and disease resistance, obligating farmers to apply increased amounts of drugs. In order to solve this problem, a pedigree classification method is needed. Here, microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA were used as genetic markers to analyze the genetic relationships among giant grouper broodstocks. The 776-bp fragment of high polymorphic mitochondrial D-loop sequence was selected for measuring sibling relatedness. In a sample of 118 giant groupers, 42 haplotypes were categorized, with nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.00773 and haplotype diversity (HD) of 0.983. Furthermore, microsatellites were used for investigation of parentage. Six out of 33 microsatellite loci were selected as markers based on having a high number of alleles and compliance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Microsatellite profiles based on these loci provide high variability with low combined non-exclusion probability, permitting practical use in aquaculture. The method described here could be used to improve grouper broodstock management and lower the chances of inbreeding. This approach is expected to lead to production of higher quality groupers with higher disease resistance, thereby reducing the need for drug application

Synthesis and Characterization of Cationic Glycidyl-Based Poly(aminoester)-Folic Acid Targeting Conjugates and Study on Gene Delivery

A new poly(aminoester) (EPAE-FA) containing folic acid and amino groups in the backbone and side chain was synthesized. EPAE-FA self-assembled readily with the plasmid DNA (pCMV-βgal) in HEPES buffer and was characterized by dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, fluorescence images, and XTT cell viability assays. To evaluate the transfection effect of graft ratio of FA on the EPAE system, EPAE-FA polymers with two different graft ratios (EPAE-FA12k and EPAE-FA14k) were also prepared. This study found that all EPAE-FA polymers were able to bind plasmid DNA and yielded positively charged complexes with nano-sized particles ( &lt; 200 nm). To assess the transfection efficiency mediated by EPAE and EPAE-FA polymers, we performed &lt;em&gt;in vitro &lt;/em&gt;transfection activity assays using FR-negative (COS-7) and FR-positive (HeLa) cells. The EPAE-FA12k/DNA and EPAE-FA14k/DNA complexes were able to transfect HeLa cell &lt;em&gt;in vitro &lt;/em&gt;with higher transfection efficiency than PEI25k/DNA at the similar weight ratio. These results demonstrated that the introduction of FA into EPAE system had a significant effect on transferring ability for FR-positive cells (HeLa). Examination of the cytotoxicity of PEI25k and EPAE-FA system revealed that EPAE-FA system had lower cytotoxicity. In this paper, EPAE-FA seemed to be a novel cationic poly(aminoester) for gene delivery and an interesting candidate for further study

Effects of tamoxifen on traumatic brain injury-induced depression in male rats

AbstractBackground/IntroductionPrevious studies have investigated the neuroprotective effects of tamoxifen (TMX), but its antidepressant-like effects in traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain unclear.Purposes/AimsThe present study was conducted to determine whether TMX can attenuate TBI-induced depression-like behavior and whether this effect involves the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2).MethodsAnesthetized male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into four groups: sham-operated controls, TBI controls, TBI + TMX treatment (1 mg/kg), and TMX (1 mg/kg) + ERK1/2 antagonist, SL327 (30 mg/kg). Depression-like behaviors were evaluated through forced swim tests on Day 4, Day 8, and Day 15. On Day 15 after TBI, phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) expression was investigated by Western blotting; neuronal apoptosis, p-ERK1/2, B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/lymphoma 2 (BCL2), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in neuronal cells were evaluated using double immunofluorescence.ResultsOn Day 15 after TBI, TMX significantly reduced the duration of TBI-induced immobility compared with the TBI controls. The frequency of neuronal apoptosis and numbers of BCL2-positive, BDNF-positive, and p-ERK1/2-positive neuronal cells in hippocampal CA3 were significantly improved by TMX. However, these TMX effects were significantly blocked by SL327 administration.ConclusionOur results suggest that intraperitoneal injection of TMX may ameliorate TBI-induced depression-like behavior in rats by increasing neuronal p-ERK1/2 expression, which may be associated with neuronal Bcl2 and BDNF expression and decreased neuronal apoptosis. This effect might represent a mechanism underlying the recovery from depression-like behavior

Comparative analysis of genome sequences of the conifer tree pathogen, Heterobasidion annosum s.s.

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Endovascular stenting for nutcracker syndrome

Nutcracker syndrome (NCS) is a rare pathology manifested by pain or hematuria in males and females alike. It can be easily overlooked, and should be considered in young men or women with symptoms of extended duration. We present a case of a 54-year-old female with chronic lower abdominal pain radiating to the left thigh of 4 years in duration. Computed tomography (CT) eventually revealed engorged left renal, gonadal, and uterine veins due to compression between the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and the abdominal aorta, consistent with NCS. After a successful endovascular stenting and a 6-month period of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, the patient returned to stable health. NCS, while rare, should be suspected in patients of both sexes with persistent pain or hematuria