Sixty seconds on . . . the circadian rhythm

Is this another youth craze, like the Harlem shuffle?I think you mean the Harlem shake. But no—it’s not one of those crazy dances sweeping social media. The circadian rhythm is what you and I call...

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Leichte frühkindlich entstandene Hirnfunktionsstörungen und ihre Bedeutung für die Entwicklung des Kindes

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Development and characterization of 79 nuclear markers amplifying in viviparous and oviparous clades of the European common lizard

Abstract

The European common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) is a widely distributed species across Europe and Asia exhibiting two reproductive modes (oviparity/viviparity), six major lineages and several sublineages. It has been used to tackle a large variety of research questions, nevertheless, few nuclear DNA sequence markers have been developed for this species. Here we developed 79 new nuclear DNA sequence markers using a clonation protocol. These markers were amplified in several oviparous and viviparous specimens including samples of all extant clades, to test the amplification success and their diversity. 49.4% of the markers were polymorphic and of those, 51.3% amplified in all and 94.9% amplified in 5–7 of the extant Z. vivipara clades. These new markers will be very useful for the study of the population structure, population dynamics, and micro/macro evolution of Z. vivipara. Cross-species amplification in four lizard species (Psammodromus edwardsianus, Podarcis muralis, Lacerta bilineata, and Takydromus sexlineatus) was positive in several of the markers, and six makers amplified in all five species. The large genetic distance between P. edwardsianus and Z. vivipara further suggests that these markers may as well be employed in many other species.

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Vaccination with Human Amniotic Epithelial Cells Confer Effective Protection in a Murine Model of Colon Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

In spite of being the star of therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment, the results of immunotherapeutic approaches are still far from expectations. In this regard, primary prevention of cancer using prophylactic cancer vaccines has gained considerable attention. The immunologic similarities between cancer development and placentation have helped researchers to unravel molecular mechanisms responsible for carcinogenesis and to take advantage of stem cells from reproductive organs to elicit robust anti-cancer immune responses. Here, we showed that vaccination of mice with human amniotic membrane epithelial cells (hAECs) conferred effective protection against colon cancer and led to expansion of systemic and splenic cytotoxic T cell population and induction of cross-protective cytotoxic responses against tumor cells. Vaccinated mice mounted tumor-specific Th1 responses and produced cross-reactive antibodies against cell surface markers of cancer cells. Tumor burden was also significantly reduced in tumor-bearing mice immunized with hAECs. Our findings pave the way for potential future application of hAECs as an effective prophylactic cancer vaccine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Identification of an anellovirus and genomoviruses in ixodid ticks

Abstract

Ticks are blood-feeding arachnids that are vectors of several important human and animal pathogens. Little is known about single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses that are associated with these ectoparasites. As part of a pilot study to identify ssDNA viruses present in ticks, female American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) and blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) were collected in eastern Pennsylvania (USA), and the extracted viral DNA was analyzed using viral metagenomics approaches. Three genomoviruses were recovered from pooled samples of D. variabilis (n = 2) and I. scapularis (n = 1): two belonging to the genus Gemycircularvirus, sharing < 63% pairwise identity with other members within the genus; and the third belonging to the genus Gemykolovirus, sharing < 70% pairwise identity to other gemykoloviruses. Furthermore, a genome of an anellovirus belonging to the sharing 62–65% nucleotide identity with torque teno canis viruses (genus Thetatorquevirus) was also recovered from a D. variabilis pooled sample.

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Multi-locus sequence typing of African swine fever viruses from endemic regions of Kenya and Eastern Uganda (2011–2013) reveals rapid B602L central variable region evolution

Abstract

The central variable region (CVR) within the B602L gene of the African swine fever virus (ASFV) is highly polymorphic within the 23 ASFV genotypes defined by sequencing of the C-terminal end of the p72 locus. Sequencing the p54 gene further discriminates ASFV genotypes that are conserved at the p72 locus. Variation in the thymidine kinase locus is a novel additional tool for ASFV genotyping whose application for this purpose is described for the first time herein. We evaluated genetic variation at these four polymorphic loci in 39 ASFV isolates obtained from outbreaks in Kenya and a region of Eastern Uganda between 2011 and 2013. Analysis of the p72 and p54 loci revealed high genetic conservation among these isolates; all clustered within p72 genotype IX and were similar to isolates associated with earlier outbreaks in East Africa. The thymidine kinase gene of the Kenyan isolates in this study were distinct relative to Southern African isolates and synonymous substitutions were observed among viruses from central Kenya. Analysis of the CVR within the B602L gene revealed two previously unknown polymorphisms that were restricted to Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda. A novel variant was revealed within CVR subgroup XXIV and a novel CVR subgroup XXIVa that contains tetrameric repeat F which has previously only been associated with p72 genotype I, was also identified for the first time in East Africa. Phylogeographic analysis of isolates based on CVR polymorphisms revealed rapid evolution and dissemination of variants present within ASFV genotype IX in East Africa.

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Research on Rapid Identification and Evaluation Technology for Gas Formation during Underbalanced Drilling

The underbalanced drilling (UBD) technology has been widely implemented due to its advantages in drilling efficiency improvement and cost reduction. However, this advanced technology requires very special equipment and operational mechanism, which raises multiple challenges to traditional well logging techniques. In this study, a real-time logging system (MWD/LWD and mud logging) was developed and utilized during underbalanced drilling, to quickly identify and evaluate gas formation. This advanced system enables fast detection of gas formation and determining the formation type while drilling, by monitoring the changes in gas production. This real-time logging system provides a powerful technical support to the gas reservoir drilling and development. A case study has clearly shown that the interpretation and evaluation results based on the real-time logging data agree well with the results of conventional well logging. Therefore, this advanced real-time logging technique can be utilized as an effective guidance for field operation.

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