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I. Introduction During 1901 a boring was made near Lyme Regis in search. of coal, and was carried to the depth of 1300 feet without reaching the base of the Upper Triassic marls. The story of this endeavour to find coal at a place where no geologist would have recommended the attempt, is one which has often been repeated at different places. The undertaking was promoted by a ‘practical man’ who had experience of coal-mining in South Wales, and who had convinced himself that coal was likely to be found at no great depth near Lyme Regis. He obtained permission to bore, and induced a certain number of persons to form a syndicate, for the purpose of making a boring to ascertain the depth at which the expected Coal-Measures were to be found. The results of the boring have a twofold interest: first, to all people in the South-west of England they should be a warning against the folly of expecting to find Coal-Measures at a depth of less than 2000 feet below any part of Western Dorset; secondly, they are of interest to geologists, for the information which is thus afforded as to the great thickness of the Keuper Marls in Devon and Dorset. It was anticipated that coal would be reached at a depth of less than 600 feet, and when this limit was passed without success it was decided to continue the boring to 1200 feet. At this depth it would have been abandoned, had it not

I. Definition and Theories of Origin The peculiar deposit which has been termed ‘Clay-with-Flints’ is well known to most English geologists, as occurring in sheets or patches of various sizes over a large area in the South of England, from Hertfordshire on the north to Sussex on the south, and from Kent on the east to Devon on the west. It almost always lies on the surface of the Upper Chalk, but in Dorset it passes onto the Middle and Lower Chalk, and in Devon it is found on the Chert-Beds of the Selbornian Group. The existence of a red clay full of flints, lying as a soil or deposit on the surface of the Chalk, was well known to geologists in the middle of last century, such as Trimmer, Lyell, and Prestwich; and some appear to have regarded it as a residue derived from the solution and disintegration of the Chalk, but Joshua Trimmer in 1851 maintained that it and the other ‘soils which cover the Chalk of Kent’ were the result of aqueous transport. It was not until 1861 that it was described as a special accumulation or aggregation by Mr. Whitaker, under the name of Clay-with-Flints; and not until 1864 that he ventured to suggest an explanation of its formation. His belief was and still is that ‘the Clay-with-Flints is of many ages, and may be forming even at the present day, and that it is owing in great part to the slow decomposition of the Chalk

The aims of this study were (i) to investigate changes in the global transcriptome of bovine endometrial explants induced by exposure to blastocysts, (ii) to investigate if male and female blastocysts elicit a differential response in the endometrial transcriptome in vitro and (iii) to determine whether bovine endometrium responds to the presence of murine embryos. In Experiment 1, endometrial explants from the same uterus were cultured for 6 h with or without 20 in vitro-produced bovine blastocysts. In Experiment 2, endometrial explants were cultured with male or female bovine blastocysts produced in vitro by IVF either using sex-sorted semen or conventional unsorted semen followed by embryo sexing based on a biopsy. In Experiment 3, endometrial explants were cultured alone or in the presence of bovine blastocysts (n = 25) or murine blastocysts (n = 25). Following culture, explants were snap frozen and stored at −80°C until RNA extraction, qPCR or RNA-Seq. Culture with bovine blastocysts increased endometrial expression of 40 transcripts, all of which were interferon-tau induced. Culture with male or female bovine blastocysts increased transcript abundance of five classic interferon-stimulated genes (MX1, MX2, ISG15, OASY1, RSAD2) in explants; however, there was no difference in abundance of transcripts previously reported to be related to embryonic sex (IFNAR1, IFNAR2, CTGF, ARTN, SLC2A1, SLC2A5). Exposure to murine blastocysts did not elicit any detectable change in transcript abundance. These findings, coupled with our previous data, indicate that very local, interferon-tau-induced changes in endometrial gene expression occur in response to blastocysts; whether such changes play any role in subsequent pregnancy recognition remains to be established.

Trigeminal somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded over the scalp using non-cephalic reference sites following mechanical taps to the face. A negative wave form, Nf17, was recorded bilaterally with its highest amplitude over the frontal scalp contralateral to the side of stimulation. A localized negative wave form, Np25, was recorded over the centro-parietal scalp contralateral to the side of stimulation. Np25 had an onset latency of 16.46 msec. The location and restricted spatial distribution of Np25 suggest that it represents the initial activation of the face area of the primary sensory cortex. The widespread bilateral nature of Nf17 and its latency of onset preceding that of Np25 suggest that Nf17 may be a 'far-field' potential reflecting activity in subcortical sensory pathways subserving the face.

Although steroidal monoketones with the carbonyl group in ring B or C are relatively unreactive towards Rhizopus nigricans, 2-, 3-, 16-, and 17-ketones give modest yields of dihydroxy-derivatives. The position of the carbonyl group influences the direction of the hydroxylation process: comparison of the 11,16-dihydroxylation of 3-ketones with the 3,7-dihydroxylation of 17-ketones suggests that a reversal effect is operating.16-Hydroxylation, not previously recorded with this fungus, occurs commonly with the present androstane and estrane derivatives, i.e. steroids lacking side-chains at position 17. Estr-4-en-3-one gives three 16-oxygenated products (total yield 68%), the main one being the 10β,16β-dihydroxy-Δ4-3-ketone.

Renal biopsies from two patients with active lupus nephritis showed Feulgenpositive “fibrinoid” forming glomerular capillary “wire loops.” Electron microscopy demonstrated this material on the endothelial side of basement membrane, within endothelial cell vesicles, and in the capillary lumen. This localization suggests that “wire loop” pathogenesis involves formation in the glomerular capillary lumen of a complex DNA-containing precipitate which undergoes endothelial cell phagocytosis and deposition on the subendothelial side of the basement membrane. Biopsias renal ab duo patientes con active nephritis a lupus monstrava un “fibrinoide” positive a Feulgen que fomava “ansas filari” glomerulo-capillari. Le microscopio electronic demonstrava que iste material esseva al latere endothelial del membrana basilari, intra vesiculas de cellulas endothelial, e in le lumine capillari. Iste localisation suggere que pathogenese a “ansa filari” es associate con le formation, intra le lumine glomerulo-capillari, de un complexe precipitato a contento de acido desoxyribonucleic que suffre phagocytosis per cellulas endothelial e deposition al latere subendothlial del membrana basilari.

Background An unusual presentation of skin disease was identified in two related neonatal Pedigree Limousin calves presented to University Veterinary Hospital, University College Dublin, following detailed post mortem examination a diagnosis of dermatosparaxis was made. Dermatosparaxis in animals or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is the analogous condition seen in humans, is a connective tissue disorder characterised by extreme skin fragility. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first report of such a diagnosis in the Limousin breed and the features of this lethal phenotype were severe in comparison to previous reports of the condition. Case presentation Two calves, which were full siblings, a pedigree Limousin bull (Calf A) and pedigree Limousin heifer (Calf B) were examined clinically after presenting collapsed since birth, both had grossly abnormal skin with multiple skin fissures visible and both calves were subsequently euthanised. Both calves underwent gross post mortem examination, after which histological samples were reviewed and electron microscopical examination of selected skin samples was carried out. Histological features of dysplastic dermal collagen were identified. The diagnosis of dermatosparaxis in the Limousin breed was confirmed. Genetic testing was conducted to determine if the current cases had the same mutation as has previously been described in Belgian Blue cattle. Some common parentage was traced but genetic testing did not show a similar mutation to that previously described in cattle. The specific genetic cause in this case is unknown. Conclusions This is the first report of dermatosparaxis in the Limousin and the presentation of the dermatosparaxis phenotype has some noteworthy features thus further genetic testing is required to pinpoint the causative mutation or other genetic defect. Given the popularity of the breed and the lethal nature of the phenotype in this case it is important to raise awareness of the condition.

Background Digital gene expression profiling was used to characterize the assembly of genes expressed in equine skeletal muscle and to identify the subset of genes that were differentially expressed following a ten-month period of exercise training. The study cohort comprised seven Thoroughbred racehorses from a single training yard. Skeletal muscle biopsies were collected at rest from the gluteus medius at two time points: T1 - untrained, (9 ± 0.5 months old) and T2 - trained (20 ± 0.7 months old). Results The most abundant mRNA transcripts in the muscle transcriptome were those involved in muscle contraction, aerobic respiration and mitochondrial function. A previously unreported over-representation of genes related to RNA processing, the stress response and proteolysis was observed. Following training 92 tags were differentially expressed of which 74 were annotated. Sixteen genes showed increased expression, including the mitochondrial genes ACADVL, MRPS21 and SLC25A29 encoded by the nuclear genome. Among the 58 genes with decreased expression, MSTN, a negative regulator of muscle growth, had the greatest decrease. Functional analysis of all expressed genes using FatiScan revealed an asymmetric distribution of 482 Gene Ontology (GO) groups and 18 KEGG pathways. Functional groups displaying highly significant (P < 0.0001) increased expression included mitochondrion, oxidative phosphorylation and fatty acid metabolism while functional groups with decreased expression were mainly associated with structural genes and included the sarcoplasm, laminin complex and cytoskeleton. Conclusion Exercise training in Thoroughbred racehorses results in coordinate changes in the gene expression of functional groups of genes related to metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation and muscle structure.