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Environmental metabolomics has the potential to facilitate the establishment of a new suite of tools for assessing the physiological status of important wildlife species. A first step in developing such tools is to evaluate the impacts of various capture techniques on metabolic profiles as capture is necessary to obtain the biological samples required for assays. This study employed 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolite profiling of 562 blood serum samples from wild bighorn sheep to identify characteristic molecular serum makers of three capture techniques (dart, dropnet, and helicopter-based captures) to inform future sampling protocols for metabolomics studies, and to provide insights into the physiological impacts of capture. We found that different capture techniques induce distinct changes in amino acid serum profiles, the urea cycle, and glycolysis, and attribute the differences in metabolic patterns to differences in physical activity and stress caused by the different capture methods. These results suggest that when designing experiments involving the capture of wild animals, it may be prudent to employ a single capture technique to reduce confounding factors. Our results also supports administration of tranquilizers as soon as animals are restrained to mitigate short-term physiological and metabolic responses when using pursuit and physical restraint capture techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with both orthopaedic surgery and tumour growth. In this study, we identify risk factors associated with VTE in patients with musculoskeletal tumours using two national datasets. Methods: The ACS-NSQIP and NIS databases were queried for patients undergoing surgery with a diagnosis of benign or malignant musculoskeletal tumours. Chi-square and binary logistic regression analyses were used to determine risk factors for VTE. Results: The incidence of VTE was 2% in both databases. Patients with malignant tumours, those with tumours of the pelvis, sacrum, or coccyx, obesity, arrhythmias, paralysis, metastatic disease, coagulopathy, and recent weight loss were at increased risk for VTE. In patients with benign tumours, those who were African American, those with tumours of the pelvis, sacrum, or coccyx, diabetes, anaemia, and coagulopathy were at increased risk of VTE. Conclusions: Patients with malignant or benign lesion are at greater risk of VTE if they are age 30 and over, of the African American population, or with tumors of the pelvis/sacrum/coccyx, or any of the following comorbidities: pulmonary disease, paralysis, other neurological disorders, or coagulopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Position Paper was prepared by members of the Task Force on Global Food Security of the International Society for Plant Pathology. An objective approach is proposed to the assessment of the potential of genetic modification (GM) to reduce the impact of crop diseases. The addition of GM to the plant breeder's conventional toolbox facilitates gene-by-gene introduction into breeding programmes of well-defined characters, while also allowing access to genes from a greatly extended range of organisms. The current status of GM crops is outlined. GM could make an additional contribution to food security but its potential has been controversial, sometimes because of fixed views that GM is unnatural and risky. These have no factual basis: GM technology, where adopted, is widely regulated and no evidence has been reported of adverse consequences for human health. The potential benefits of GM could be particularly valuable for the developing world but there are numerous constraints. These include cost, inadequate seed supply systems, reluctance to adopt unfamiliar technology, concern about markets, inadequacy of local regulatory systems, mismatch between research and growers' needs, and limited technical resources. The lower cost of new gene-editing methods should open the practice of GM beyond multinational corporations. As yet there are few examples of utilization of GM-based resistance to plant diseases. Two cases, papaya ringspot virus and banana xanthomonas wilt, are outlined. In the developing world there are many more potential cases whose progress is prevented by the absence of adequate biosafety regulation. It is concluded that there is untapped potential for using GM to introduce disease resistance. An objective approach to mobilizing this potential is recommended, to address the severe impact of plant disease on food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main conclusion: Provides a first comprehensive review of integrated physiological and molecular aspects of desiccation tolerance Xerophyta viscosa . A synopsis of biotechnological studies being undertaken to improve drought tolerance in maize is given. Xerophyta viscosa (Baker) is a monocotyledonous resurrection plant from the family Vellociacea that occurs in summer-rainfall areas of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. It inhabits rocky terrain in exposed grasslands and frequently experiences periods of water deficit. Being a resurrection plant it tolerates the loss of 95 % of total cellular water, regaining full metabolic competency within 3 days of rehydration. In this paper, we review some of the molecular and physiological adaptations that occur during various stages of dehydration of X. viscosa, these being functionally grouped into early and late responses, which might be relevant to the attainment of desiccation tolerance. During early drying (to 55 % RWC) photosynthesis is shut down, there is increased presence and activity of housekeeping antioxidants and a redirection of metabolism to the increased formation of sucrose and raffinose family oligosaccharides. Other metabolic shifts suggest water replacement in vacuoles proposed to facilitate mechanical stabilization. Some regulatory processes observed include increased presence of a linker histone H1 variant, a Type 2C protein phosphatase, a calmodulin- and an ERD15-like protein. During the late stages of drying (to 10 % RWC) there was increased expression of several proteins involved in signal transduction, and retroelements speculated to be instrumental in gene silencing. There was induction of antioxidants not typically found in desiccation-sensitive systems, classical stress-associated proteins (HSP and LEAs), proteins involved in structural stabilization and those associated with changes in various metabolite pools during drying. Metabolites accumulated in this stage are proposed, inter alia, to facilitate subcellular stabilization by vitrification process which can include glass- and ionic liquid formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small number of studies show that music training is associated with improvements in reading or in its component skills. A central question underlying this present research is whether musical activity can enhance the acquisition of reading skill, potentially before formal reading instruction begins. We explored two dimensions of this question: an investigation of links between kindergartners' music rhythm skills and their phonological awareness in kindergarten and second grade; and an investigation of whether kindergartners who receive intensive musical training demonstrate more phonological skills than kindergartners who receive less. Results indicated that rhythm skill was related to phonological segmentation skill at the beginning of kindergarten, and that children who received more music training during kindergarten showed improvement in a wider range of phonological awareness skills at the end of kindergarten than children with less training. Further, kindergartners' rhythm ability was strongly related to their phonological awareness and basic word identification skills in second grade. We argue that rhythm sensitivity is a pre-cursor skill to oral language acquisition, and that the ability to perceive and manipulate time intervals in sound streams may link performance of rhythm and phonological tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of two auditory processing interventions for developmental dyslexia, one based on rhythm and one based on phonetic training. Thirty-three children with dyslexia participated and were assigned to one of three groups (a) a novel rhythmic processing intervention designed to highlight auditory rhythmic information in non-speech and speech stimuli; (b) a commercially-available phoneme discrimination intervention; and (c) a no-intervention control. The intervention lasted for 6 weeks. Both interventions yielded equivalent and significant gains on measures of phonological awareness (at both rhyme and phoneme levels), with large effect sizes at the phoneme level. Both programs had medium effect sizes on literacy outcome measures, although gains were non-significant when compared to the controls. The data suggest that rhythmic training has an important role to play in developing the phonological skills that are critical for efficient literacy acquisition. It is suggested that combining both prosodic/rhythmic and phonemic cues in auditory training programs may offer advantages for children with developmental dyslexia. This may be especially true for those who appear resistant to conventional phonics training methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across languages, children with developmental dyslexia are known to have impaired lexical phonological representations. Here, we explore associations between learning new phonological representations, phonological awareness, and sensitivity to amplitude envelope onsets (rise time). We show that individual differences in learning novel phonological representations are related to individual differences in both rise time categorization and rise time discrimination when non-verbal IQ and short-term memory skills are controlled. This is consistent with the developmental claim that difficulties in the basic auditory processing of rise time cause difficulties in setting up the phonological lexicon from infancy, leading to impairments in phonological awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been proposed that sensitivity to the parameters underlying speech rhythm may be important in setting up well-specified phonological representations in the mental lexicon. However, different acoustic parameters may contribute differentially to rhythm and stress in different languages. Here we contrast sensitivity to one such cue, amplitude envelope onset (rise time), in dyslexic and normally-developing children in two languages, Hungarian and English, ages from 7 to 11. Dyslexic and control children received phonological tasks, reading and spelling tasks and auditory processing tasks. While sensitivity to rise time was related to phonological representation in both languages, clear differences were found between languages. It is suggested that these differences may reflect differential language-specific weighting of different acoustic cues to rhythm and stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between general auditory processing, Chinese tone processing, English phonemic processing and English reading skill in a group of Chinese-English bilingual children with a tonal L1 and Korean-English counterparts with a non-tonal L1. We found that general auditory processing contributed to variance in English word reading skill for Chinese children after controlling for Chinese tone and English phoneme deletion skill. English phonemic processing, on the other hand, explained a significant amount of unique variance in English reading for Korean children after controlling for general auditory and Chinese tone skill. These findings suggest that Chinese children relied more on general auditory processing in reading English, whereas Korean children relied more on phonemic skill in reading English. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of cross-language differences in bilingual reading acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore whether structural characteristics of the phonological lexicon affect serial recall in typically developing and dyslexic children. Recent work has emphasized the importance of long-term phonological representations in supporting short-term memory performance. This occurs via redintegration (reconstruction) processes, which show significant neighborhood density effects in adults. We assessed whether serial recall in children was affected by neighborhood density in word and nonword tasks. Furthermore, we compared dyslexic children with typically developing children of the same age or reading level. Dyslexic children are held to have impaired phonological representations of lexical items. These impaired representations may impair or prevent the use of long-term phonological representations to redintegrate short-term memory traces. We report significant rime neighborhood density effects for serial recall of both words and nonwords, for both dyslexic and typically developing children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cDNA corresponding to 1-Cys peroxiredoxin, an evolutionarily conserved thiol-specific antioxidant enzyme, was isolated from Xerophyta viscosa Baker, a resurrection plant indigenous to Southern Africa and belonging to the family Velloziaceae. The cDNA, designated XvPer1, contains an open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide of 219 residues with a predicted molecular weight of 24.2 kDa. The XvPer1 polypeptide shows significant sequence identity (approx. 70%) to other recently identified plant 1-Cys peroxiredoxins and relatively high levels of sequence similarity (approx. 40%) to non-plant 1-Cys peroxiredoxins. The XvPer1 cDNA contains a putative polyadenylation site. As for all 1-Cys peroxiredoxins identified to date, the amino acid sequence proposed to constitute the active site of the enzyme, PVCTTE, is highly conserved in XvPer1. It also contains a putative bipartite nuclear localization signal. Southern blot analysis revealed that there is a single copy of XvPer1 in the X. viscosa genome. All angiosperm 1-Cys peroxiredoxins described to date are seed-specific and absent in vegetative tissues even under stress conditions; therefore, XvPer1 is unique in that it is expressed in the vegetative tissues of X. viscosa. The XvPer1 transcript was absent in fully hydrated X. viscosa tissue but levels increased in tissues subjected to abiotic stresses such as dehydration, heat (42 °C), high light intensity (1,500 µmol photons m–2 s–1) and when treated with abscisic acid (100 µM ABA) and sodium chloride (100 mM NaCl). Western blot analyses correlated with the patterns of expression of XvPer1 transcripts under different stress conditions. Immunofluorescence analyses revealed that XvPer1 is localized in the nucleus of dehydrated X. viscosa leaf cells. These results suggest that XvPer1 is a stress-inducible gene, which may function to protect nucleic acids within the nucleus against oxidative injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the counterclockwise P-T path for anatectic pelites in south-central of Massachusetts. Discussion on metamorphism; Assemblages of pegmatites and garnet leucosomes; Analysis on the petrographic features and mineral chemistry of rocks.

An aldose reductase homologue (ALDRXV4) was cloned from the resurrection plant Xerophyta viscosa Baker using complementation by functional sufficiency in Escherichia coli. A cDNA library constructed from X. viscosa leaves dehydrated to 85%, 37% and 5% relative water contents (RWC) was converted into an infective phagemid library. Escherichia coli (srl::Tn10) cells transformed with ds-pBluescript phagemids were selected on minimal medium plates supplemented with 1 mM isopropyl β-d-thiogalactopyranoside and 1.25 M sorbitol. Nine cDNA clones that conferred tolerance to the osmotically stressed E. coli cells were selected. The phagemid from one clone contained the ALDRXV4 insert. The E. coli cells expressing ALDRXV4 were capable of tolerating the osmotic stress, whereas control cultures were not. The ALDRXV4 insert contained an open reading frame that can code for 319 amino acids, and the predicted protein had a calculated Mr of 35,667. Amino acid sequence comparisons revealed significant similarity to several aldose reductases, with the highest similarity to aldose reductase proteins from Hordeum vulgare, Bromus inermis and Avena fatua, in the order of 66%, 65% and 65% respectively. Northern blot analysis revealed that ALDRXV4 was expressed only under dehydration conditions in X. viscosa leaves. Western blot analysis detected a protein of 36 kDa under dehydration conditions only. Aldose reductase activity levels in X. viscosa leaves increased as the leaf RWC decreased, whereas there was no significant change in aldose reductase activity in Sporobolus stafianus as the leaf RWC decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence for genetic contributions to reading disability, but the phenotypic heterogeneity associated with the clinical diagnosis may make identification of the underlying genetic basis difficult. In order to elucidate distinct phenotypic features that may be contributing to the genotypic heterogeneity, we assessed the familial aggregation patterns of Verbal IQ and 24 phenotypic measures associated with dyslexia in 102 nuclear families ascertained through probands in grades 1 through 6 who met the criteria for this disorder. Correlations between relatives were computed for all diagnostic phenotypes, using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach. GEE is a recently developed semiparametric method for handling correlated data. The method is robust to model misspecification and flexible in adjusting for the subjects‘ characteristics and pedigree sizes as well as for the ascertainment process, while estimating the correlations between related subjects. The Nonword Memory (NWM) subtest of a prepublication version of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) and Phonemic Decoding Efficiency (PDE) subtest of a prepublication version of the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) showed correlation patterns in relatives that are strongly supportive of a genetic basis. The Wechsler Scale Digit Span, the Word Attack subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—Revised, and the Spelling subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test—Third Edition had slightly weaker evidence of a genetic basis. Five additional phenotypes (the Spelling subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, the Accuracy, Rate, and Comprehension subtests of the Gray Oral Reading Test—Third Edition, and Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters and Numbers) gave suggestive evidence of such a pattern. The results cross-validate in that evidence for a pattern consistent with a genetic basis was obtained for two measures of phonological short-term memory (CTOPP Nonword Memory and WISCIII or WAIS-R Digit Span), for two measures of phonological decoding (WRMT-R Word Attack and TOWRE Phonemic Decoding Efficiency), and for two measures of spelling from dictation (WRAT-3 Spelling and, to a lesser extent, WIAT Spelling). These measures are thus good candidates for more sophisticated segregation analyses that can formulate models for incorporation into linkage analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), characterized by obstruction of pre-capillary pulmonary arteries, leads to sustained elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure (mean >25 mm Hg at rest or >30 mm Hg during exercise). The aetiology is unknown, but the histological features reveal proliferation of endothelial and smooth muscle cells with vascular remodelling (Fig. 1). More than one affected relative has been identified in at least 6% of cases (familial PPH, MIM 178600). Familial PPH (FPPH) segregates as an autosomal dominant disorder with reduced penetrance and has been mapped to a locus designated PPH1 on 2q33, with no evidence of heterogeneity. We now show that FPPH is caused by mutations in BMPR2, encoding a TGF-β type II receptor (BMPR-II). Members of the TGF-β superfamily transduce signals by binding to heteromeric complexes of type I and II receptors, which activates serine/threonine kinases, leading to transcriptional regulation by phosphorylated Smads. By comparison with in vitro studies, identified defects of BMPR-II in FPPH are predicted to disrupt ligand binding, kinase activity and heteromeric dimer formation. Our data demonstrate the molecular basis of FPPH and underscore the importance in vivo of the TGF-β signalling pathway in the maintenance of blood vessel integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A local isolate of Bacillus thuringiensis, designated L1-2, that is toxic to Chilo partellus was found to be toxic to the adult tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans. The δ-endotoxin crystals derived from the isolate gave a major protein band with a molecular weight of Mr 130,000–140,000 on denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The sequence of the cloned gene was found to be similar to that of the B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HD-73 cryIA(c) gene, having one amino acid difference at position 148 and four additional DNA differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus subtilis strain 1A297 was shown to relieve the glucose repression of a cloned B. amyloliquefaciens α-amylase gene carried on the hybrid plasmid pVC102 without affecting its temporal activation. However, glucose repression of α-amylase occurred when pVC102, was introduced into B. subtilis strain 1A289. Glucose repression was relieved by α-methyl- d-glucoside, an analog of glucose that blocks its uptake. The relief of glucose repression in 1A297 did not act at the level of plasmid copy number. As 1A297 was capable of exerting glucose repression on a homologous chromosomally encoded gene, it is postulated that the putative trans-acting product involved in glucose repression in B. subtilis (Nicholson and Chambliss, 1986, J. Bacteriol. 165:663-670) is altered in strain 1A297 and does not recognize the B. amyloliquefaciens α-amylase gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classification of an industrial strain of Bacillus from which we have previously cloned an α-amylase gene yielded ambiguous results with classical methods. However, positive identification as B. amyloliquefaciens was obtained by DNA analysis, by use of restriction enzyme 'fingerprinting' and DNA hybridization analysis of genomic DNA, and by characterization of the purified α-amylase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the stability during fermentation of a hybrid plasmid carrying a Bacillus α-amylase gene in Bacillus subtilis. In the absence of antibiotic selection plasmid loss was associated largely with the post-exponential phases of growth and decline. In fermentations containing selective antibiotics, various deleted plasmids were recovered during late stationary phase, regardless of whether the host was rec or recE. We therefore propose that the plasmid loss observed during late growth in antibiotic-free fermentations is due to deletion events which include the origin of plasmid replication. The structure of the deleted plasmids was determined and the sequences in the vicinity of the end-points analysed. When the deleted plasmids were subjected to further fermentations in the absence of selective antibiotics, they were completely stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genes for the α-amylase and neutral protease were cloned from an industrial Bacillus isolate, Bsl, onto two separate plasmids and introduced into a B. subtilis strain. Both plasmids were stably maintained in this strain. Analysis of the extracellular proteins showed that the plasmidcarrying strain produced predominantly the Bsl α-amylase and neutral protease with few contaminating B. subtilis exoenzymes. The presence of high levels of protease enabled the strain to produce considerably more α-amylase when grown on a complex industrial medium rich in protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality traits (e.g. activity, exploration, boldness) are frequently correlated with each other and with various other traits of biological importance. According to the performance, allocation, and independent models of energy management, the relationship between personality traits and resting metabolic rate (RMR) is predicted to be either positive, negative, or nil. As for the relationship between personality traits and locomotor performance, the trait compensation and co-specialisation hypotheses respectively predict a positive and negative relationship. To test for associations between personality, metabolism, and performance, we studied a wild population of Karoo bush rat (Myotomys unisulcatus) in South Africa. During summer 2018, we captured 45 individuals (38 females and 7 males) a total of 293 times and repeatedly measured docility (time spent immobile during a bag test), exploration (distance moved in an open-field test), sprint speed, and RMR. We found a behavioural syndrome in our population, as more docile individuals covered less distance in the exploration test (r ± SE = − 0.74 ± 0.21). RMR was not correlated with any trait; therefore, the independent energy management model applies to this population. Fast sprinters were less explorative in the novel environment than slow sprinters (r ± SE = − 0.41 ± 0.21), going against the prediction of the phenotypic compensation hypothesis and suggesting co-specialisation of these traits. A similar result was previously observed in two other rodent species, suggesting that exploratory behaviour and locomotor performance may interact in an additive instead of compensatory way. Given the apparent complexity of the links between performance, behaviour, and metabolism, more studies are needed in order to understand their relationships. Significance statement: In this study, we test alternative energy management models and hypotheses predicting different relationships between behavioural, performance, and metabolic traits. Our results support the independent model of energy management, since resting metabolic rate was not correlated with either docility or exploration. The negative relationship between exploration and sprint speed is counter to the intuitive idea that more explorative individuals should be better equipped to deal with the increased risks of predation, but instead supports the co-specialisation hypothesis. Finally, we emphasise the importance of partitioning the variance in raw measurements as a way to better appreciate the variability in measurements of metabolic rate and locomotor performance. Such multilevel analyses provide an idea of the relative variability at among-individual level vs. other levels (tests, trials, and residuals), which might have important implications for the understanding of how factors like stress and motivation might potentially generate or obfuscate relationships between behavioural, performance, and metabolic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]