Search

Graphical abstract:

AbstractThe raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides)is a representative of Canidae and is closely related to red fox-like canids, although the species exhibits high distinctiveness in the family. These animals were farmed for fur products, but thousands were intentionally released into the wild in western Russia. This newly established alien species in Europe has spread rapidly into many European countries. The aim of the study was to determine the origin of Polish populations by comparing the mitochondrial molecular marker cytochrome b (cytb) sequences of Polish wild and farm individuals with wild raccoon dogs from the western Russia and Asian specimens whose sequences were obtained from GenBank resources. The results of our phylogenetic analysis support the previous suggestions on the existence of two main clades clearly referring to continental and Island populations. Polish individuals were classified into a highly diverse continental group. The relationships between the haplotypes within the clade together with estimated values of genetic diversity parameters indicate that the Polish raccoon dog populations exhibit high genetic similarity to the Russian population. In combination with the history of introduction of the species to Europe, this suggests the most probable assignment of the Polish populations to the subspecies N. procyonoides ussuriensis. Our results indicate the presence of two Japanese haplotypes within the continental group, which is inconsistent with the assumed scenario of post-glacial expansion of raccoon dogs excluding gene flow between continental and Island populations.

In recent decades, intensive research on non-avian dinosaurs has strongly suggested that these animals were restricted to terrestrial environments1. Historical proposals that some groups, such as sauropods and hadrosaurs, lived in aquatic environments2,3were abandoned decades ago4–6. It has recently been argued that at least some of the spinosaurids—an unusual group of large-bodied theropods of the Cretaceous era—were semi-aquatic7,8, but this idea has been challenged on anatomical, biomechanical and taphonomic grounds, and remains controversial9–11. Here we present unambiguous evidence for an aquatic propulsive structure in a dinosaur, the giant theropod Spinosaurus aegyptiacus7,12. This dinosaur has a tail with an unexpected and unique shape that consists of extremely tall neural spines and elongate chevrons, which forms a large, flexible fin-like organ capable of extensive lateral excursion. Using a robotic flapping apparatus to measure undulatory forces in physical models of different tail shapes, we show that the tail shape of Spinosaurusproduces greater thrust and efficiency in water than the tail shapes of terrestrial dinosaurs and that these measures of performance are more comparable to those of extant aquatic vertebrates that use vertically expanded tails to generate forward propulsion while swimming. These results are consistent with the suite of adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle and piscivorous diet that have previously been documented for Spinosaurus7,13,14. Although developed to a lesser degree, aquatic adaptations are also found in other members of the spinosaurid clade15,16, which had a near-global distribution and a stratigraphic range of more than 50 million years14, pointing to a substantial invasion of aquatic environments by dinosaurs.

Aleutian disease is one of the most serious disease entities affecting mink farms. The disease causes significant economic losses in mink breeding countries. The aim of the study was to optimize a diagnostic test based on duplex PCR to enable detection of Aleutian disease virus in biological and environmental samples.

Canine parvovirus type 2 is one of the most common causes of death among puppies. Despite preventive vaccination, the disease continues to be diagnosed. The aim of the study was to provide a molecular characterization of CPV-2 isolates found in southeastern Poland. Genetic CPV-2 material was isolated from the blood (n=10) and feces (n=50) of infected dogs. The presence of CPV-2 was confirmed by amplification of sequences coding both VP1 and VP2 protein. The products of the PCR reaction with primers amplifying VP2 protein were sequenced and used for genotyping. Bioinformatics analysis of the sequenced PCR product was performed to determine the phylogenetic relationships with variants recorded in the public databases. Based on the analysis of polymorphism in the nucleotide sequence 7 nucleotide variants were detected and assigned into four amino acid groups. Representatives of three groups contained asparagine at amino acid position 426 of the VP2 protein, which is characteristic of CPV-2a. The variant from the fourth group belonged to type CPV-2b. CPV-2a is the dominant antigenic type of CPV-2 in Poland. The pathogen’s high degree of polymorphism is manifested not only by the presence of numerous variants within the type, but also by the presence of representatives of type CPV-2b. Further studies of the molecular epidemiology of CPV-2 are necessary to optimize the effectiveness of preventive measures.

The paper presents determinants of location of the multicultural complex of archaeological sites in the vicinity of Ulów, in the Central Roztocze upland region in south-eastern Poland. Archaeological research revealed that in the area assumed to be devoid of settlements, the settlements of prehistoric and historical communities functioned from the Palaeolithic to modern times. The region was also subjected to environmental examination. Location of sites was analysed, taking into account a convenience of communication in a regional scale and local environmental conditions. Analysis of hydrogeological, geomorphological and soil conditions was carried out, taking into account water supply, communication and the farming development. In-depth analysis included micromorphological DTM (Digital Terrain Model) and geological and soil probing. The area was found to be located on the crossing of prehistoric communication routes the course of which depended on the variability of the physiographic parameters of regions. The functioning of new cultures in the same place resulted from specific local conditions such as: easily arable soils, favourable microclimate, and particularly access to water. The presence of a source of water in a plateau area is determined tectonically (strike-slip fault), lithologically (impermeable marl horizon), and geomorphologically (dissection of the aquifer by an erosion-denudation valley).

Introduction.Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease with an epidemic character. Its prevalence is associated with lifestyle, many environmental factors, and genetic determinants. Implementation of diet therapy is the basis for treatment of the disease.

The gene IGF1 has been shown to have a significant influence on the size of individuals, including animals of the Canidae family. In this study we determined SNP mutations of the IGF1 gene in dogs, raccoon dogs and farmed and free-living red foxes from Poland and Canada. No SNP mutations were noted in dogs or raccoon dogs, but a total of 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in foxes, including 12 substitutions, as well as one new mutation missense variant (exon 6) in wild Polish foxes and one synonymous mutation variant in wild foxes from Canada. We identified specific SNP profiles characteristic only for farmed foxes and only for wild foxes, as well as specific SNP profiles or wild foxes from North America (Canada) and from Europe (Poland).

The aim of the study was to determine the mechanical and geometric properties as well as bone tissue density of long bones in primiparous and multiparous dams of minks supplemented with β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) and/or 2-oxoketoglutarate (2-Ox) during gestation. Powdered 2-Ox was given at the daily dosage of 0.4 g/kg b.w. separately or simultaneously with HMB, which was administered at the daily dosage of 0.02 g/kg b.w. The study demonstrates for the first time that administration of 2-Ox and/or HMB to dams markedly influences bone tissue density and the mechanical and geometrical properties of mother`s bones in minks. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the supplementation was more effective in the thoracic limb, which was comprehensively used in contrast to the pelvic limb. The mechanical parameters and bone tissue density significantly increased in the humerus in multiparous minks. Only such diet may provide satisfactory production results in the animals. Nutritional deficiencies occurring during pregnancies may trigger body`s own reserves to cover the bone mass increase in developing foetuses and support milk production. This can prevent regeneration of dams’ organisms, which negatively affects their reproductive performance. 2-Ox or HMB may be regarded as a protective metabolite when administered orally to minks, counteracting the negative influences of pregnancy and lactation periods on bones condition. Both simultaneous treatment with 2-Ox and HMB and their separate administration were equally effective.

The aim of this study was to detect possible differences between farmed and wild-living raccoon dogs. Analysis of polymorphism in 15 microsatellite sequences led to the conclusion that raccoon dogs raised on Polish farms and wild raccoon dogs living in Poland are two genetically distinct groups of animals. Wild Polish raccoon dogs are genetically more similar to the population of wild animals from the Kaliningrad Region than to farmed animals. The analysis of microsatellite loci showed clear genetic differences between farmed and wild-living populations of raccoon dog, despite only 50 years of isolation of the two groups of animals. The farmed population was characterized by higher genetic variation than the wild-living population. On the basis of the analyses three microsatellite loci (INU014, Ren13J22 and Ren41D20) were proposed for determination of the origin of animals that have escaped from farms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact behaviour and damage characterization of carbon fibre reinforced aluminium hybrid laminates (Al/CFRP) in comparison to classic carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) at low-velocity and low-energy impact. Impact damage characteristic with damage initiation and progression, internal failure modes and understanding of the role of the metal layers in the impact behaviour under low-energy were examined and discussed. The damage mechanism of the tested laminates is very complex. There is an internal degradation of the material, with the plastic deformation in case of fibre metal laminates. Characteristic matrix cracks (bending and shearing cracks) running at the fibre–matrix interface in composite layers are the first damage mode. The critical damage mode is delaminations observed between composite layers with different orientation as well as delaminations at the metal–composite interface in fibre metal laminates. For the tested materials, particularly carbon fibre reinforced composites, the absorbed impact energy is mainly connected with elastic response and damage of the laminate. In case of fibre metal laminates the absorbed energy is also connected with plastic deformation of the laminate, occurring especially in the metal layers. High impact resistance of fibre metal laminates indicates that metal (aluminium) layers may prevent delamination propagation and impactor penetration.

•The intracellular free iron in E.coli hemHappear to be double that in wt strain.•Increased Fe(II) and AlkB concentrations result in decreased MMS-induced mutations.•Dealkylation of dNTPs takes place in the presence of Fe(II) and not requires AlkB.

Creation of interspecific hybrids is widely common among plants and animals in order to improve economically important traits for humans. The studied material consisted of chromosomal preparations in the metaphase stage obtained from interspecies hybrids of arctic foxes (Alopex

Selected genes were analyzed in silicoin three species: red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), and dog (Canis lupus familiaris). This type of analysis exemplifies current and potential research on gene expression. Four nucleotide sequences, of the genes IGF1, MYO15A, PAX3and MC1R, were obtained from the NCBI online database. The analyses focused on the presence of CpG islands and two analytical techniques, BSP and MSP. The results from three computer programs, CpG Island Searcher®, BiSearch®and MethPrimer®, were discussed in detail. The applications were compared in terms of their functionality and usefulness.

Understanding the surface chemistry and reactivity of 2D MXenes is of fundamental importance in developing more advanced functional materials. In this work, we describe multilayered Ti3C2MXene-based materials such as Ti3C2/Al3＋, Ti3C2/In3+and Ti3C2/Ga3+, obtained by modifying the MXene surface with aluminum-, indium- and gallium alkoxides. In the synthesis of these materials, organometallic compounds of group 13 metals (Et3Al, Me3In, and Et3Ga) were chosen as precursors for the alkoxides to modify the surface. To attach organometallic compounds to the MXene surface, their high reactivity towards the terminal OH, = O and F groups present on the MXene surface was used. In the next step, exposure of the surface-attached aluminum-, indium and gallium alkyls to air allowed their transformation into metal alkoxides due to the high reactivity of the metal-carbon bonds to oxygen and water. In our method of MXene modification, the alkoxide precursors can be extended to other organometallic compounds, such as groups 1, 2 and 12 alkyls. Microbiological studies of the developed 2D Ti3C2/Al3＋, Ti3C2/In3+and Ti3C2/Ga3+alkoxides showed no acute ecotoxicity to the tested microorganisms. The obtained materials did not influence bioluminescent/biosensor-type microorganisms nor reduce the viability of other types of microorganisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia colior Candida albicans.The obtained results clearly indicate that the surface modification of 2D Ti3C2MXene with group 13 metal compounds is highly prospective toward the development of various types of materials that do not show any adverse effects to living organisms.

This study was designed to determine the degree of genetic distinctiveness between farmed and wild foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Analysis of polymorphism in 16 microsatellite sequences led to the conclusion that red foxes raised on Polish farms and wild foxes living in Poland are two groups of genetically distinct animals. Farmed Polish foxes are genetically more similar to the population of wild animals from North America than they are to the free-living population in Poland, as confirmed by the fact that the farmed animals are descended from animals raised in Canada.

We have developed a novel method for efficient structuring of the surface of materials by applying femtosecond near infrared laser pulses simultaneously with a weak extreme ultraviolet beam, which leads to a very strong radiation-matter interaction and brings a dramatic increase of the surface processing speed. We present our recent experimental results on surface nanostructuring of thin films of amorphous carbon and polymethyl methacrylate deposited on bulk substrates and discuss the underlying physical mechanisms. In the case of amorphous carbon, large areas of laser-induced periodic surface structures with a spatial period of 550 nm were created, having their origin in laser-induced convective currents. Our method provides a powerful tool for fast modification of tribological properties of the irradiated sample.

Assessment of Selenium Concentration in Selected Organs of Farmed Raccoon Dogs (Nyctereutes Procyonoides)The aim of the study was to determine selenium concentrations in the liver, kidneys, lungs, heart and muscles of farmed raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and to evaluate their impact on hair coat quality. Selenium concentration was determined using the modified Watkinson's spectrofluorometric method. Subjects were 20 farmed raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) at the age of 8-9 months, which were kept on a farm in south-eastern Poland. The results show that liver selenium content averaged 0.23±0.10 μg/g w.w. (wet weight). The concentrations ranged from 0.04 to 0.49 μg/g w.w. Kidney selenium concentration (0.49±0.17 μg/g w.w. on average) was over twice that of liver concentration. Animals with higher scores for hair coat quality had lower selenium concentrations in the kidneys and liver, and higher selenium concentrations in muscles, but the differences were not significant. When relating Se concentrations determined in the liver of raccoon dogs to the biochemical criteria, it is concluded that 80% of the analysed raccoon dogs were deficient in this element and 20% had marginal levels. The results obtained in our study suggest that the food used on the farm did not fully meet the Se requirement of the raccoon dogs.

We present results on development and experimental implementation of a 1-kHz, coherent extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radia- tion source based on high-order harmonic generation of the femtosecond, near-infrared laser pulses produced by the titanium-doped sapphire laser system (35 fs, 1.2 mJ, 810 nm) at the Institute of Physics AS CR / PALS Centre. The source comprises a low-density static gas cell filled with a conversion medium, typically argon. The comprehensive optimization of the XUV harmonic source has been performed with respect to major parameters such as gas pressure in the cell, cell length, position of the focus of the driving laser field with respect to the gas cell position, size of the driving near-infrared laser beam, chirp of the femtosecond pulse, and the focal length of the lens deployed in the experimental setup. Harmonic spectra were recorded using an XUV transmission grating spectrometer developed specifically for this purpose. Detailed characterization of the XUV source has been performed including measurement of the XUV beam profile, M2 parameter of the beam, absolute energy, and spatial coherence.

Asymmetric broadband connections in the home provide a limited upstream pipe to the Internet. This limitation makes various applications, such as remote backup and sharing high definition video, impractical. However, homes in a neighborhood often have high bandwidth wireless networks, whose bandwidth exceeds that of a single wired uplink. Moreover, most (wired and wireless) connections are idle most of the time. In this paper, we examine the fundamental requirements of a system that aggregates upstream broadband connections in a neighborhood using wireless communication between homes. A scheme addressing this problem must operate efficiently in an environment that is: i) highly lossy; ii) broadcast in nature; and iii) half-duplex. We propose a novel scheme, Link-alike, that addresses those three challenges using opportunistic wireless reception, a novel wireless broadcast rate control scheme, and preferential use of the wired downlink. Through analytical and experimental evaluation, we demonstrate that our approach provides significantly better throughput than previous solutions based on TCP or UDP unicast.

A multiplex PCR assay was developed for the detection and differentiation of the Yersinia enterocoliticaand Yersinia pseudotuberculosisisolates in both pure bacterial cultures and pig tonsils. The assay was based on the amplification of the ail, inv, yadA, and ystBgenes. The PCR products, corresponding to the ailgene and the plasmid-borne yadAgene or only one product corresponding to the ailgene, were detected in Y. enterocolitica4 biotype isolates. All of the Y. pseudotuberculosisisolates (n= 6) tested gave a positive PCR reaction for the invgene. For all tested Y. enterocolitica1A biotype isolates (n= 31), one product corresponding to the ystBgene was observed. The multiplex PCR assay was used to detect Y. enterocoliticaand Y. pseudotuberculosisstrains in pig tonsil samples obtained from 80 slaughtered pigs from three different herds. The presence of at least one of the specific PCR amplification products of ail-, ystB-, yadA-, and inv-specific sequences was observed in 11 samples (13.75%). These results of the multiplex PCR assay were compared with the results of conventional, microbiological testing. Y. enterocoliticaisolates were cultured from only 3 (3.75%) of the 80 pig tonsils examined. The multiplex PCR assay was shown to be an efficient tool for differentiation between the pYV plasmid–bearing Y. enterocoliticaisolates, the plasmidless Y. enterocoliticaisolates, the Y. enterocoliticabiotype 1A isolates, and the Y. pseudotuberculosisisolates with and without the pYV plasmid in naturally contaminated pig tonsils. This indicates that this assay is useful to control food processing and track the source of contamination.

ABSTRACTTo study the population structure of Enterococcus faecalisfrom Polish hospitals, 291 isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and a novel multilocus sequence typing scheme (P. Ruiz-Garbajosa et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 44:2220-2228, 2006). The isolates originated from geographically widespread medical institutions and were recovered during a 10-year period (1996 to 2005) from different clinical sources. The analysis grouped the isolates into five epidemic and 71 sporadic clones. The importance of the previously identified global clonal complexes CC2 and CC9 was corroborated by our findings that two of the Polish epidemic clones, A and J, were classified into these clonal complexes (CCs). However, the two most predominant clones, C (ST40) and F (CC87), did not cluster in the aforementioned CCs and may represent novel epidemic CCs. These clones may have emerged in Central Europe. Clone F, carrying glycopeptide resistance determinants of VanA or VanB phenotypes, caused several outbreaks in hematology units and appeared to be the most prevalent clone in recent years in Poland. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and additional tests for pathogenicity-related phenotypes (hemolysin and gelatinase production) and genes (asa1and esp) were performed to further characterize these epidemic clones. Multidrug resistance, glycopeptide resistance, presence of asa1, and production of hemolysin appeared to be statistically significant features related to epidemicity. Production of gelatinase was significant for two of the epidemic clones, whereas presence of the espgene was not specific for the epidemic clones.

ABSTRACTA major limitation of adenovirus type 5 (Ad5)-based gene therapy, the inability to target therapeutic genes to selected cell types, is attributable to the natural tropism of the virus for the widely expressed coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor (CAR) protein. Modifications of the Ad5 fiber knob domain have been shown to alter the tropism of the virus. We have developed a novel system to rapidly evaluate the function of modified fiber proteins in their most relevant context, the adenoviral capsid. This transient transfection/infection system combines transfection of cells with plasmids that express high levels of the modified fiber protein and infection with Ad5.ßgal.?F, an E1-, E3-, and fiber-deleted adenoviral vector encoding ß-galactosidase. We have used this system to test the adenoviral transduction efficiency mediated by a panel of fiber protein mutants that were proposed to influence CAR interaction. A series of amino acid modifications were incorporated via mutagenesis into the fiber expression plasmid, and the resulting fiber proteins were subsequently incorporated onto adenoviral particles. Mutations located in the fiber knob AB and CD loops demonstrated the greatest reduction in fiber-mediated gene transfer in HeLa cells. We also observed effects on transduction efficiency with mutations in the FG loop, indicating that the binding site may extend to the adjacent monomer in the fiber trimer and in the HI loop. These studies support the concept that modification of the fiber knob domain to diminish or ablate CAR interaction should result in a detargeted adenoviral vector that can be combined simultaneously with novel ligands for the development of a systemically administered, targeted adenoviral vector.

A growing number of antiangiogenesis strategies have been investigated for the treatment of cancer and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases. One of the most promising strategies is to systemically administer one or more antiangiogenic proteins frequently enough to achieve a sufficient long-term steady state level of the protein(s) to achieve the maximum beneficial effect. However, the utility of this strategy is limited because of many technical difficulties, including obtaining both the quantity and quality of the protein(s) necessary for optimal therapeutic benefit. To overcome these difficulties, we hypothesized that a single administration of a replication-defective adenoviral vector expressing a secretable antiangiogenic protein could achieve an optimal long-term systemic concentration. We constructed a recombinant adenoviral vector, Av3mEndo, which encodes a secretable form of murine endostatin. We demonstrated secretion of endostatin from several cell lines transduced with Av3mEndo. Partially purified endostatin secreted from Av3mEndo-transduced mammalian cells was shown to potently inhibit endothelial cell migration in vitro. A single intravenous administration of Av3mEndo in mice was shown to result in (1) prolonged and elevated levels of circulating endostatin, (2) partial inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis in a VEGF implant angiogenesis model, and (3) prolonged survival and in 25% of mice the complete prevention of tumor growth in a prophylactic human colon/liver metastasis xenograft murine model. These results support our contention that adenoviral vectormediated expression of an antiangiogenic protein(s) represents an attractive therapeutic approach to cancer and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases.