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Cognitive risk factors are key in the vulnerability for internalizing disorders. Cognitive risk factors modulate the way individuals process information from the environment which in turn impacts the day-to-day affective experience. In 296 young adults, we assessed two transdiagnostic, general risk factors-repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and anxiety sensitivity in a high-RNT subsample (

Background A variety of human computer interfaces are used by robotic surgical systems to control and actuate camera scopes during minimally invasive surgery. The purpose of this review is to examine the different user interfaces used in both commercial systems and research prototypes. Methods A comprehensive scoping review of scientific literature was conducted using PubMed and IEEE Xplore databases to identify user interfaces used in commercial products and research prototypes of robotic surgical systems and robotic scope holders. Papers related to actuated scopes with human–computer interfaces were included. Several aspects of user interfaces for scope manipulation in commercial and research systems were reviewed. Results Scope assistance was classified into robotic surgical systems (for multiple port, single port, and natural orifice) and robotic scope holders (for rigid, articulated, and flexible endoscopes). Benefits and drawbacks of control by different user interfaces such as foot, hand, voice, head, eye, and tool tracking were outlined. In the review, it was observed that hand control, with its familiarity and intuitiveness, is the most used interface in commercially available systems. Control by foot, head tracking, and tool tracking are increasingly used to address limitations, such as interruptions to surgical workflow, caused by using a hand interface. Conclusion Integrating a combination of different user interfaces for scope manipulation may provide maximum benefit for the surgeons. However, smooth transition between interfaces might pose a challenge while combining controls.

Published by Elsevier Ltd., Background: Differences in the distribution of individual-level clinical risk factors across regions do not fully explain the observed global disparities in COVID-19 outcomes. We aimed to investigate the associations between environmental and societal factors and country-level variations in mortality attributed to COVID-19 among people with rheumatic disease globally. Methods: In this observational study, we derived individual-level data on adults (aged 18-99 years) with rheumatic disease and a confirmed status of their highest COVID-19 severity level from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) registry, collected between March 12, 2020, and Aug 27, 2021. Environmental and societal factors were obtained from publicly available sources. The primary endpoint was mortality attributed to COVID-19. We used a multivariable logistic regression to evaluate independent associations between environmental and societal factors and death, after controlling for individual-level risk factors. We used a series of nested mixed-effects models to establish whether environmental and societal factors sufficiently explained country-level variations in death. Findings: 14 044 patients from 23 countries were included in the analyses. 10 178 (72·5%) individuals were female and 3866 (27·5%) were male, with a mean age of 54·4 years (SD 15·6). Air pollution (odds ratio 1·10 per 10 μg/m3 [95% CI 1·01-1·17]; p=0·0105), proportion of the population aged 65 years or older (1·19 per 1% increase [1·10-1·30]; p, MAG is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (grant numbers K01 AR070585 and K24 AR074534 [JY]). KDW is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Rheumatology Research Foundation Scientist Development award. JAS is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (grant numbers K23 AR069688, R03 AR075886, L30 AR066953, P30 AR070253, and P30 AR072577), the Rheumatology Research Foundation (K Supplement Award and R Bridge Award), the Brigham Research Institute, and the R. Bruce and Joan M. Mickey Research Scholar Fund. NJP is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (T32-AR-007258). AD-G is supported by grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rheumatology Research Foundation. RH was supported by the Justus-Liebig University Giessen Clinician Scientist Program in Biomedical Research to work on this registry. JY is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (K24 AR074534 and P30 AR070155).

We introduce a set of global high-resolution (0.05°) precipitation (P) climatologies corrected for bias using streamflow (Q) observations from 9372 stations worldwide. For each station, we inferred the “true” long-termPusing a Budyko curve, which is an empirical equation relating long-termP,Q, and potential evaporation. We subsequently calculated long-term bias correction factors for three state-of-the-artPclimatologies [the “WorldClim version 2” database (WorldClim V2); Climatologies at High Resolution for the Earth’s Land Surface Areas, version 1.2 (CHELSA V1.2 ); and Climate Hazards Group Precipitation Climatology, version 1 (CHPclim V1)], after which we used random-forest regression to produce global gap-free bias correction maps for thePclimatologies. Monthly climatological bias correction factors were calculated by disaggregating the long-term bias correction factors on the basis of gauge catch efficiencies. We found that all three climatologies systematically underestimatePover parts of all major mountain ranges globally, despite the explicit consideration of orography in the production of each climatology. In addition, all climatologies underestimatePat latitudes >60°N, likely because of gauge undercatch. Exceptionally high long-term correction factors (>1.5) were obtained for all threePclimatologies in Alaska, High Mountain Asia, and Chile—regions characterized by marked elevation gradients, sparse gauge networks, and significant snowfall. Using the bias-corrected WorldClim V2, we demonstrated that other widely usedPdatasets (GPCC V2015, GPCP V2.3, and MERRA-2) severely underestimatePover Chile, the Himalayas, and along the Pacific coast of North America. MeanPfor the global land surface based on the bias-corrected WorldClim V2 is 862 mm yr−1(a 9.4% increase over the original WorldClim V2). The annual and monthly bias-correctedPclimatologies have been released as the Precipitation Bias Correction (PBCOR) dataset, which is available online (http://www.gloh2o.org/pbcor/).

Study region Nile Basin, Africa. Study focus The accurate representation of precipitation ( P ) and actual evapotranspiration (ETa) patterns is crucial for water resources management, yet there remains a high spatial and temporal variability among gridded products, particularly over data-scarce regions. We evaluated the performance of eleven state-of-the-art P products and seven ETa products over the Nile Basin using a four-step procedure: (i) P products were evaluated at the monthly scale through a point-to-pixel approach; (ii) streamflow was modelled using the Random Forest machine learning technique, and simulated for well-performing catchments for 2009–2018 (to correspond with ETa product availability); (iii) ETa products were evaluated at the multiannual scale using the water balance method; and (iv) the ability of the best-performing P and ETa products to represent monthly variations in terrestrial water storage ( Δ TWS) was assessed through a comparison with GRACE Level-3 data. New hydrological insights for the region CHIRPSv2 was the best-performing P product (median monthly KGE’ of 0.80) and PMLv2 and WaPORv2.1 the best-performing ETa products over the majority of the evaluated catchments. The application of the water balance using these best-performing products captures the seasonality of Δ TWS well over the White Nile Basin, but overestimates seasonality over the Blue Nile Basin. Our study demonstrates how gridded P and ETa products can be evaluated over extremely data-scarce conditions using an easily transferable methodology.

This case report describes a 52-year-old male patient, with the incidental finding of inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) fragments impacted into the right ventricle, secondary to IVCF fragmentation and subsequent embolization. While IVCFs are prescribed to prevent pulmonary embolizations when anticoagulation is either contraindicated, or has failed, IVCF embolizations to the heart represent an extremely rare, but potentially life-threatening complication. Of note, at the time of writing, the utility and effectiveness of IVCF are not fully established. Intracardiac embolizations of IVCF typically present with complications such as hypotension, cardiac tamponade, arrhythmias, ventricle perforation, bleeding, cardiac arrest, and death. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of an asymptomatic kidney transplant recipient found to have right ventricle embolizations of IVCF fragments through routine assessment. Additionally, this is also the first report of an asymptomatic patient who presented IVCF fragments embolized to the right ventricle and left gonadal vein in the same clinical setting.

Funding Information: Field work scholarships, stakeholder workshops and travelling costs were supported by the CNRD Network Project ( www.cnrd.info ) and the Tropiseca project ( https://www.researchgate.net/project/TROPISECA-Multi-lateral-University-Cooperation-on-the-Management-of-Droughts-in-Tropical-Catchments ) funded by the German Federal Ministry of International Cooperation (BMZ)/ German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors Droughts are causing severe damages to tropical countries worldwide. Although water abundant, their resilience to water shortages during dry periods is often low. As there is little knowledge about tropical drought characteristics, reliable methodologies to evaluate drought risk in data scarce tropical regions are needed. We combined drought hazard and vulnerability related data to assess drought risk in four rural tropical study regions, the Muriaé basin, Southeast Brazil, the Tempisque-Bebedero basin in Costa Rica, the upper part of the Magdalena basin, Colombia and the Srepok, shared by Cambodia and Vietnam. Drought hazard was analyzed using the variables daily river discharge, precipitation and vegetation condition. Drought vulnerability was assessed based on regionally available socioeconomic data. Besides illustrating the relative severity of each indicator value, we developed drought risk maps combining hazard and vulnerability for each grid-cell. While for the Muriaé, our results identified the downstream area as being exposed to severe drought risk, the Tempisque showed highest risk along the major streams and related irrigation systems. Risk hotspots in the Upper Magdalena were found in the central valley and the dryer Southeast and in the Srepok in the agricultural areas of Vietnam and downstream Cambodia. Local scientists and stakeholders have validated our results and we believe that our drought risk assessment methodology for data scarce and rural tropical regions offers a holistic, science based and innovative framework to generate relevant drought related information. Being applied to other tropical catchments, the approaches described in this article will enable the selection of data sets, indices and their classification - depending on basin size, spatial resolution and seasonality. At its current stage, the outcomes of this study provide relevant information for regional planners and water managers dealing with the control of future drought disasters in tropical regions.

Droughts are causing severe damages to water abundant tropical countries worldwide. Their resilience to water shortages tends to be low, often due to a lack of water infrastructure. Moreover, drought characteristics and risk in tropical catchments are poorly understood, which makes it difficult to select adequate adaptation measures. Thus, reliable methodologies to evaluate spatially distributed drought risk in data scarce tropical catchments are urgently needed. We combined drought hazard and vulnerability related information to assess drought risk in four rural tropical study regions, the Muriaé, subcatchment of the Paraíba do Sul in Southeast Brazil, the Tempisque-Bebedero in North Costa Rica, the upper part of the Magdalena basin, Colombia and the Srepok, a Mekong tributary shared by Cambodia and Vietnam. Drought hazard was defined based on three variables, daily river discharge and precipitation and vegetation condition. Conditions below defined thresholds were transformed into a cumulative drought index. To assess vulnerability, we reclassified and weighted globally and regionally available gridded socioeconomic data to represent the potential of a drought to cause damages in selected socioeconomic sectors of rural tropical regions. Besides illustrating the relative severity of each indicator value, we developed drought risk maps combining hazard and vulnerability severity for each grid cell. While for the Muriaé our results clearly identified the downstream area as being exposed to severe drought risk, the Tempisque showed highest risk along the major streams and related irrigation systems. Risk hotspots in the Upper Magdalena were found in the central valley and the dryer Southeast and in the Srepok in the agricultural areas of Vietnam and downstream in Cambodia. Plausibility of results was confirmed by local scientists and stakeholders, who evaluated the results for each indicator and risk hotspot. The presented risk assessment methodology for data scarce and rural tropical areas offers a holistic, science based and innovative solution to provide relevant drought related information. Being applied to individual catchments, the findings described in this article will enable the selection of data sets, indices and their classification - depending on basin size, spatial resolution and seasonality. At its current stage, the outcomes of this study provide relevant information for regional planners and water managers dealing with the control of future drought disasters in tropical regions.

In developing countries, an accurate representation of the spatio-temporal variability of rainfall is currently severely limited, therefore, satellite-based rainfall estimates (SREs) are promising alternatives. In this work, six state-of-the-art SREs (TRMM 3B42v7, TRMM 3B42RT, CHIRPSv2, CMORPHv1, PERSIANN-CDR, and MSWEPv2) are evaluated over three different basins in Latin-America, using a point-to-pixel comparison at daily, monthly, and seasonal timescales. Three continuous (root mean squared error, modified Kling-Gupta efficiency, and percent bias) and three categorical (probability of detection, false alarm ratio, and frequency bias) indices are used to evaluate the performance of the different SREs, and to assess if the upscaling procedure used, in CHIRPSv2 and MSWEPv2, to enable a consistent point-to-pixel comparison affects the evaluation of the SREs performance at different time scales. Our results show that for Paraiba do Sul in Brazil, MSWEPv2 presented the best performance at daily and monthly time scales, while CHIRPSv2 performed the best at these timescales over the Magdalena River Basin in Colombia. In the Imperial River Basin in Chile, MSWEPv2 and CHIRPSv2 performed the best at daily and monthly time scales, respectively. When the basins were evaluated at seasonal scale, CMORPHv1 performed the best for DJF and SON, TRMM 3B42v7 for MAM, and PERSIANN-CDR for JJA over Imperial Basin. MSWEPv2 performed the best over Paraiba do Sul Basin for all seasons and CHIRPSv2 showed the best performance over Magdalena Basin. The Modified Kling-Gupta efficiency (KGE′) proved to be a useful evaluation index because it decomposes the performance of the SREs into linear correlation, bias, and variability parameters, while the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) is not recommended for evaluating SREs performance because it gives more weight to high rainfall events and its results are not comparable between areas with different precipitation regimes. On the other hand, CHIRPSv2 and MSWEPv2 presented different performance, for some study areas and time scales, when evaluated with their original spatial resolution (0.05° and 0.1, respectively) with respect to the evaluation resulting after applying the spatial upscaling (to a unified 0.25), showing that the upscaling procedure might impact the SRE performance. We finally conclude that a site-specific validation is needed before using any SRE, and we recommend to evaluate the SRE performance before and after applying any upscaling procedure in order to select the SRE that best represents the spatio-temporal precipitation patterns of a site.

Maintenance of the corpus luteum (CL) during pregnancy is essential for continuing the elevated circulating progesterone (P4) that is required to maintain pregnancy. The mechanisms that protect the CL during early pregnancy when the non-pregnant animal would typically undergo CL regression have been extensively investigated. It is clear uterine prostaglandin F2α (PGF) causes regression of the CL in non-pregnant ruminants and that maintenance of the CL during early pregnancy is dependent upon secretion of interferon-tau (IFNT) from the elongating embryo. A number of specific mechanisms appear to be activated by IFNT. Most studies indicate that there is an inhibition of oxytocin-induced secretion of uterine PGF. There is also evidence for increased resistance to PGF action, perhaps due to secretion of PGE2 and PGE1 or direct endocrine actions of circulating IFNT. These mechanisms occur concurrently and each may help to maintain the CL during the first month of pregnancy. However, during the second month of pregnancy, IFNT is no longer secreted by the embryo. Attachment of the embryo to the uterus and subsequent placentome development have been linked to silencing of expression from the IFNT gene. In addition, there is some evidence that oxytocin responsiveness of the uterus returns during the second month of pregnancy leading to substantial basal secretion of PGF and perhaps PGF pulses. There is also no evidence that the CL during the second month of pregnancy is resistant to the actions of PGF as observed during the first month. Thus, this manuscript attempts to compare the mechanisms that maintain the CL during the first and second months of pregnancy in ruminants and provides a new, speculative, physiological model for maintenance of the CL during month two of pregnancy that is distinct from the previously-described mechanisms that maintain the CL during the first month of pregnancy.

RESUMEN. La relación existente entre el medioambiente y los antimicrobianos, es un tema todavía poco explorado en el Paraguay. Los antimicrobianos son agentes quimioterapéuticos que restringen o anulan el crecimiento de microorganismos. En la actualidad son de amplia utilización en medicamentos humanos y veterinarios, así como en: la agricultura, la acuicultura, la apicultura y la ganadería, sea con objetivos terapéuticos o promotores del crecimiento, que han impactado de manera positiva o de manera negativa. Entre los impactos negativos del uso de los antimicrobianos, se mencionan la aparición de bacterias resistentes a los efectos de estos fármacos, así como la diseminación de las mismas, mediante elementos del medioambiente como el agua. Esta revisión bibliográfica, a más de abordar estos aspectos de manera general, también contempla las posibles alternativas de mitigación de los efectos del vertido de antimicrobianos en el medioambiente, así como las políticas internacionales actuales. La recopilación de información actualizada extraída de diferentes plataformas de búsqueda ha permitido poner de manifiesto la situación actual de la problemática. ABSTRACT. The relationship between the environment and antibiotics, a subject that has not yet been fully explored in Paraguay. Antibiotics are chemotherapeutic agents that restrict or nullify the growth of microorganisms. Currently they are widely used in human and veterinary medicaments, in a beneficial way in agriculture, aquaculture, apiculture and livestock, be with therapeutic targets or growth promoters, which have impacted positively or negatively. Between the negative impacts of the use of antimicrobials, mention is made of the appearance of bacteria resistant to the effects of these drugs as well as their dissemination, through elements of the environment such as water. This review, besides addressing these aspects, also contemplates possible alternatives for mitigating the effects of the spill on the environment, as well as current international policies. The collection of updated information extracted from different search platforms has made it possible to highlight the current situation of the problem.

Proper satellite-based crop monitoring applications at the farm-level often require near-daily imagery at medium to high spatial resolution. The synthesizing of ongoing satellite missions by ESA (Sentinel 2) and NASA (Landsat7/8) provides this unprecedented opportunity at a global scale; nonetheless, this is rarely implemented because these procedures are data demanding and computationally intensive. This study developed a complete stream processing in the Google Earth Engine cloud platform to generate harmonized surface reflectance images of Landsat7,8 and Sentinel 2 missions. The harmonized images were generated for two agriculture schemes in Bekaa (Lebanon) and Ninh Thuan (Vietnam) during the period 2018-2019. We evaluated the performance of several pre-processing steps needed for the harmonization including image co-registration, brdf correction, topographic correction, and band adjustment. This study found that the miss-registration between Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 images, varied from 10 meters in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam to 32 meters in Bekaa, Lebanon, and if not treated, posed a great impact on the quality of the harmonized dataset. Analysis of a pair overlapped L8-S2 images over the Bekaa region showed that after the harmonization, all band-to-band spatial correlations were greatly improved from (0.57, 0.64, 0.67, 0.75, 0.76, 0.75, 0.79) to (0.87, 0.91, 0.92, 0.94, 0.97, 0.97, 0.96) in bands (blue, green, red, nir,swir1,swir2, ndvi) respectively. We demonstrated that dense observation of the harmonized dataset can be very helpful for characterizing cropland in highly dynamic areas. We detected unimodal, bimodal and trimodal shapes in the temporal NDVI patterns (likely cycles of paddy rice) in Ninh Thuan province only during the year 2018. We fitted the temporal signatures of the NDVI time series using harmonic (Fourier) analysis. Derived phase (angle from the starting point to the cycle's peak) and amplitude (the cycle's height) were combined with max-NDVI to generate an R-G-B image. This image highlighted croplands as colored pixels (high phase and amplitude) and other types of land as grey/dark pixels (low phase/amplitude). Generated harmonized datasets that contain surface reflectance images (bands blue, green, red, nir, swir1, swir2, and ndvi at 30 meters) over the two studied sites are provided for public usage and testing.

RESUMEN. El objetivo fue medir el efecto de la Stevia rebaudiana en los indicadores ruminales (pH, recuento de protozoarios, prueba de reductasas) en ovinos provistos de fístula ruminal y alimentados con balanceado de engorde. Para el estudio se utilizaron 3 ovinos, con cánula ruminal confinados en boxes diferentes, sometidos a tratamientos: (TC) 3 animales adaptados a la alimentación con forraje a base de pasto colonial (Panicum maximun); (T1) 3 alimentados con concentrado a base de maíz molido y expeler de almendra de coco acompañado de pasto picado; (T2) 3 alimentados con concentrado, pasto colonial, más hojas de Stevia Rebaudiana al 1%; y (T3) 3 alimentados con concentrado, pasto colonial, más hojas de Stevia rebaudiana al 2%. Las raciones fueron ofrecidas 2 veces al día y las tomas de muestras fueron hechas por la mañana y tarde. Los resultados obtenidos en cuanto al pH en los T1, T2 y T3 demostraron un descenso de sus valores con respecto al TC (p

The accurate representation of spatio-temporal patterns of precipitation is an essential input for numerous environmental applications. However, the estimation of precipitation patterns derived solely from rain gauges is subject to large uncertainties. We present the Random Forest based MErging Procedure (RF-MEP), which combines information from ground-based measurements, state-of-the-art precipitation products, and topography-related features to improve the representation of the spatio-temporal distribution of precipitation, especially in data-scarce regions. RF-MEP is applied over Chile for 2000—2016, using daily measurements from 258 rain gauges for model training and 111 stations for validation. Two merged datasets were computed: RF-MEP3P (based on PERSIANN-CDR, ERA-Interim, and CHIRPSv2) and RF-MEP5P (which additionally includes CMORPHv1 and TRMM 3B42v7). The performances of the two merged products and those used in their computation were compared against MSWEPv2.2, which is a state-of-the-art global merged product. A validation using ground-based measurements was applied at different temporal scales using both continuous and categorical indices of performance. RF-MEP3P and RF-MEP5P outperformed all the precipitation datasets used in their computation, the products derived using other merging techniques, and generally outperformed MSWEPv2.2. The merged P products showed improvements in the linear correlation, bias, and variability of precipitation at different temporal scales, as well as in the probability of detection, the false alarm ratio, the frequency bias, and the critical success index for different precipitation intensities. RF-MEP performed well even when the training dataset was reduced to 10% of the available rain gauges. Our results suggest that RF-MEP could be successfully applied to any other region and to correct other climatological variables, assuming that ground-based data are available. An R package to implement RF-MEP is freely available online at https://github.com/hzambran/RFmerge .

Concentration-dependent supramolecular self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules in water furnishes a variety of nanostructured lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs), which typically display high symmetry bicontinuous network and discontinuous micellar morphologies. Aqueous dispersions of soft spherical micelles derived from small molecule amphiphile hydration typically pack into exemplary body-centered cubic and closest-packed LLCs. However, investigations of hydrated mixtures of the ionic surfactant tetramethylammonium decanoate loaded with 40 wt % n-decane (TMADec-40) revealed the formation of a high symmetry bicontinuous double diamond LLC, as well as cubic C15 and hexagonal C14 Laves LLC phases that mirror the MgCu2 and MgZn2 intermetallic structure types, respectively. Detailed small-angle X-ray scattering analyses demonstrate that the complex C15 and C14 LLCs exhibit large unit cells, in which 12 or more ∼3–4 nm diameter micelles of multiple discrete sizes arrange into tetrahedral close packing arrangement...

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T17:51:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-04-01 BARD-US Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund WI Experiment Station as Hatch Project from Sao Paulo, Brazil Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Colombian government In ruminants, uterine pulses of prostaglandin (PG) F-2 alpha characterize luteolysis, while increased PGE(2)/PGE(1) distinguish early pregnancy. This study evaluated intrauterine (IU) infusions of PGF(2 alpha) and PGE(1) pulses on corpus luteum (CL) function and gene expression. Cows on day 10 of estrous cycle received 4 IU infusions (every 6 h; n = 5/treatment) of saline, PGE(1) (2 mg PGE(1)), PGF(2 alpha) (0.25 mg PGF(2 alpha)), or PGE(1) + PGF(2 alpha). A luteal biopsy was collected at 30 min after third infusion for determination of gene expression by RNA-Seq. As expected, IU pulses of PGF(2 alpha) decreased (P < 0.01) P4 luteal volume. However, there were no differences in circulating P4 or luteal volume between saline, PGE(1), and PGE(1) + PGF(2 alpha), indicating inhibition of PGF(2 alpha)-induced luteolysis by IU pulses of PGE(1). After third pulse of PGF(2 alpha), luteal expression of 955 genes were altered (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.01), representing both typical and novel luteolytic transcriptomic changes. Surprisingly, after third pulse of PGE(1) or PGE(1) + PGF(2 alpha), there were no significant changes in luteal gene expression (FDR > 0.10) compared to saline cows. Increased circulating concentrations of the metabolite of PGF(2 alpha) (PGFM; after PGF(2 alpha) and PGE(1) + PGF(2 alpha)) and the metabolite PGE (PGEM; after PGE(1) and PGE(1) + PGF(2 alpha)) demonstrated that PGF(2 alpha) and PGE(1) are entering bloodstream after IU infusions. Thus, IU pulses of PGF(2 alpha) and PGE(1) allow determination of changes in luteal gene expression that could be relevant to understanding luteolysis and pregnancy. Unexpectedly, by third pulse of PGE(1), there is complete blockade of either PGF(2 alpha) transport to the CL or PGF(2 alpha) action by PGE(1) resulting in complete inhibition of transcriptomic changes following IU PGF(2 alpha) pulses. Summary Sentence Treatment with PGF(2 alpha) induced dramatic changes in expression of 955 genes, based on RNA-Seq after the third PGF(2 alpha) pulse (FDR < 0.01), whereas simultaneous treatment with pulses of PGE(1) blocked luteolysis and gene expression induced by PGF(2 alpha). Univ Wisconsin, Dept Dairy Sci, 1675 Observ Dr,Room 850, Madison, WI 53706 USA Sao Paulo State Univ, Sch Vet Med & Anim Sci, Dept Anim Reprod & Vet Radiol, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Florida, Dept Anim Sci, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA Univ Florida, Genet Inst, Gainesville, FL USA Univ Francisco Paula Santander, Dept Agr & Anim Sci, Cucuta, Colombia Univ Sao Paulo, Escola Super Agr Luiz de Gueiroz, Dept Anim Sci, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil Ohio State Univ, Dept Anim Sci, Columbus, OH 43210 USA Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Dept Anim Sci, Rehovot, Israel Sao Paulo State Univ, Sch Vet Med & Anim Sci, Dept Anim Reprod & Vet Radiol, Botucatu, SP, Brazil BARD-US Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund: IS-4799-15 WI Experiment Station as Hatch Project from Sao Paulo, Brazil: WIS01240 Colombian government: 497/2009

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of daily top-dressing (individually feeding on the top of the total mixed ration) with rumen-protected methionine (RPM) from 30 ± 3 until 126 ± 3 Days in milk on productive and reproductive performance in lactating dairy cows. A total of 309 lactating dairy Holstein cows (138 primiparous and 171 multiparous) were randomly assigned to treatment diets containing either RPM (21.2 g of RPM + 38.8 g of dried distillers grain; 2.34% Methionine [Met] of metabolizable protein [MP]) or Control (CON; 60 g of dried distillers grain; 1.87% Met of MP). Plasma amino acids were evaluated at the time of artificial insemination (AI) and near pregnancy diagnosis. Milk production and milk composition were evaluated monthly. Pregnancy was diagnosed on Day 28 (by Pregnancy-specific protein B [PSPB]), 32, 47, and 61 (by ultrasound) and sizes of embryonic and amniotic vesicle were determined by ultrasound on Day 33 after AI. Feeding RPM increased plasma Met at 6, 9, 12, and 18 hours after top-dressing with a peak at 12 hours (52.4 vs 26.0 μM; P < 0.001) and returned to basal by 24 hours. Cows fed RPM had a small increase in milk protein percentage (3.08 vs 3.00%; P = 0.04) with no differences on milk yield and milk protein yield. Additionally, in multiparous cows, RPM feeding increased milk protein (3.03 vs 2.95%; P = 0.05) and fat (3.45 vs 3.14%; P = 0.01) percentages, although no effects were observed in primiparous cows. In multiparous cows fed RPM, pregnancy loss was lower between Days 28 to 61 (19.6 [10/51] vs. 6.1% [3/49]; P = 0.03) or between Days 32 to 61 (8.9 [4/45] vs. 0 [0/0] %; P = 0.03), although, there was no effect of treatment on pregnancy loss in primiparous cows. Consistent with data on pregnancy loss, RPM feeding increased embryonic abdominal diameter (P = 0.01) and volume (P = 0.009) and amniotic vesicle volume (P = 0.04) on Day 33 of pregnancy in multiparous cows but had no effect on embryonic size in primiparous cows. Thus, the increase in plasma Met concentrations after feeding RPM was sufficient to produce a small increase in milk protein percentage and to improve embryonic size and pregnancy maintenance in multiparous cows. Further studies are needed to confirm these responses and understand the biological mechanisms that underlie these responses as well as the timing and concentrations of circulating Met that are needed to produce this effect.

In bovine pregnancy, regression or maintenance of the corpus luteum (CL) is mediated through local communication pathways between embryo, uterus, and ovary with Days 16 to 25 of pregnancy generally recognized as the pivotal period determining either luteolysis or prevention of luteolysis. To evaluate this concept, accessory CL was generated by treating Holstein lactating dairy cows (n = 718) with GnRH on Day 5 of the first follicular wave to produce an accessory CL on the ovary either contralateral or ipsilateral to the gravid horn. In pregnant cows, 66.2% (86/130) of contralateral CL regressed by Day 75 of pregnancy, whereas few ipsilateral accessory CL regressed (11.9%; 8/67), on the basis of similar criteria (P

Temporal and spatial control of growth factor gradients is critical for tissue patterning and differentiation. Reinitiation of this developmental program is also required for regeneration of tissues during wound healing and tissue regeneration. Devising methods for reconstituting growth factor gradients remains a central challenge in regenerative medicine. In the current study we develop a novel gene therapy approach for temporal and spatial control of two important growth factors in bone regeneration, vascular endothelial growth factor, and bone morphogenetic protein 2, which involves application of high intensity focused ultrasound to cells engineered with a heat-activated- and ligand-inducible gene switch. Induction of transgene expression was tightly localized within cell-scaffold constructs to subvolumes of ∼30 mm³, and the amplitude and projected area of transgene expression was tuned by the intensity and duration of ultrasound exposure. Conditions for ultrasound-activated transgene expression resulted in minimal cytotoxicity and scaffold damage. Localized regions of growth factor expression also established gradients in signaling activity, suggesting that patterns of growth factor expression generated by this method will have utility in basic and applied studies on tissue development and regeneration.

Our objective was to compare several experimental preparations of a single injection of long-acting recombinant bovine FSH (rbFSH; types A and B) to a porcine pituitary-derived FSH (Folltropin) to superovulate Holstein dairy heifers. Nonlactating, nonpregnant virgin Holstein heifers (n = 56) aged 12 to 15 months were randomly assigned to one of four superstimulatory treatments. Beginning at a random stage of the estrous cycle, all follicles greater than 5 mm were aspirated. Thirty-six hours later, heifers received an intravaginal P4 device and superstimulatory treatments were initiated. Treatments were (1) 300 mg of pituitary-derived FSH (Folltropin) administered in eight decreasing doses over a period of 3.5 days; (2) a single injection of 50 μg of A-rbFSH; (3) a single injection of 100 μg of A-rbFSH; and (4) a single injection of 50 μg of B-rbFSH. All heifers received 25 mg PGF2α at 48 and 72 hours after the insertion of P4 device. At 84 hours after insertion, P4 devices were removed, and ovulation was induced 24 hours later with hCG (2500 IU). Heifers were inseminated at 12 and 24 hours after hCG treatment. The number of ovulatory follicles was greatest for heifers treated with Folltropin and B50-rbFSH, least for heifers treated with A50-rbFSH, and was intermediate for heifers treated with A100-rbFSH (25.7 ± 3.2, 18.9 ± 3.2, 5.9 ± 0.9, and 16.6 ± 3.1, respectively; P < 0.001). The number of corpora lutea was greatest for heifers treated with Folltropin, B50-rbFSH, and A100-rbFSH, and least for heifers treated with A50-rbFSH (19.1 ± 2.4, 16.1 ± 3.0, 15.9 ± 2.9, and 2.6 ± 0.9, respectively; P < 0.001). The number of good-quality embryos differed among treatments and was greatest for heifers treated with B50-rbFSH, Folltropin, and A100-rbFSH and least for heifers treated with A50-rbFSH (7.6 ± 2.4, 6.5 ± 1.7, 4.3 ± 1.5, and 0.8 ± 0.5, respectively; P < 0.001). In conclusion, a single injection of a preparation of long-acting rbFSH (either 100 μg of A-rbFSH or 50 μg of B-rbFSH but not 50 μg of A-rbFSH) produced similar superovulatory responses resulting in the production of good-quality embryos when compared with a pituitary-derived FSH preparation administered twice daily for 4 days. More studies using different types of cattle and different doses of rbFSH are needed to confirm the findings reported in this preliminary study.

The discovery of progesterone (P4) and elucidation of the mechanisms of P4 action have an important place in the history of endocrinology and reproduction. Circulating P4 concentration is determined by a balance between P4 production, primarily by the corpus luteum (CL), and P4 metabolism, primarily by the liver. The volume of luteal tissue and number and function of large luteal cells are primary factors determining P4 production. Rate of P4 metabolism is generally determined by liver blood flow and can be of critical importance in determining circulating P4 concentrations, particularly in dairy cattle. During timed artificial insemination (AI) protocols, elevations in P4 are achieved by increasing number of CL by creating accessory CL or by supplementation with exogenous P4. Dietary manipulations can also alter circulating P4, although practical methods to apply these techniques have not yet been reported. Elevating P4 before the timed AI generally decreases double ovulation and increases fertility to the timed AI. Near the time of AI, slight elevations in circulating P4, possibly due to inadequate luteal regression, can dramatically reduce fertility. After AI, circulating P4 is critical for embryo growth and establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Many studies have attempted to improve fertility by elevating P4 after timed AI. Our recent meta-analysis and manipulative study indicated small fertility benefits (3% to 3.5%) mostly in primiparous cows. Thus, previous research has provided substantial insight into mechanisms regulating circulating P4 concentrations and actions. Understanding this prior research can focus future research on P4 manipulation to improve reproductive success.

El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar el efecto antihelmíntico de ivermectina y doramectina en bovinos desmamantes de las ciudades de Abaí y Caapucú (departamentos de Caazapá y Paraguari, Paraguay). A tal efecto se tomaron muestras de 40 bovinos con cargas parasitarias superiores a 400 huevos por gramo de heces, divididos en dos grupos de veinte animales cada uno. Un grupo fue medicado con ivermectina y el otro con doramectina, en ambos casos a dosis de 0,2 mg/kg de peso, vía subcutánea. Las dosis se repitieron 15 días después. Los análisis coprológicos (McMaster) se efectuaron a los 15, 30, 45 y 60 días. Al final, en los animales tratados con ivermectina y doramectina se constataron respectivamente niveles de 83 y 8 huevos por gramo de heces (p

Tropical cow-calf operations using Bos indicus crossbreds are characterized by extended periods of time before the establishment of ovarian cyclicity. The aim was to determine whether the increase of progesterone concentrations during postpartum anestrous using intravaginal devices along with injection of estradiol benzoate would advance the occurrence of first ovulation after calving. 269 suckled crossbred cows kept in different farms at North-Santander (Colombia) were randomized in one of the following treatments: 1:Control (n = 88) no further treatment; 2:P4 (n = 91) cows received an intravaginal device containing 0.588 g of progesterone during 7 days at day 50±3 after calving; 3:P4+E2 (n = 90) as treatment 2 plus an additional injection of 2.0 mg of estradiol benzoate at the time of device insertion. Ovarian ultrasound was performed weekly starting on the day of treatments until ovulation (disappearance of a dominant follicle with later appearance of a corpus luteum within two consecutive examinations). Calving-Ovulation Interval was recorded and means between groups were analyzed using ANOVA (α=0.05). For the control group, COI tended (P = 0.08) to be longer for primiparous cows (149.6±4.5 days, n = 14) compared to multiparous cows (140.4±2.1d, n = 74). Treatment with P4 reduced the COI for both primiparous (105.3±5.4d, n = 15; P < 0.0001) and multiparous (96.4±3.0d, n = 76; P < 0.0001) compared to the controls (P = 0.21 between groups of age). When primiparous cows were treated with P4+E2 the COI decreased compared to both P4 and control treatments (82.3±2.8d, n = 17; P < 0.0001). However, in multiparous cows there was no effect of P4+E2 compared to P4 treatment (94.6±2.6d, n = 73; P = 0.65), then COI was shorter for primiparous compared to multiparous cows (P = 0.03) with P4+E2 treatment. The use of an intravaginal device containing progesterone advances the time of first ovulation after calving in suckled cows. Additional use of estradiol benzoate reduces the time for first ovulation in primiparous but not multiparous cows.

In ruminants, there are specific times during the estrous cycle or pregnancy when the corpus luteum (CL) may undergo regression. This review has attempted to summarize the physiological and cellular mechanisms involved in CL regression or maintenance during four distinct periods. The first period is near day 7 when animals that are ovulating after a period of low circulating progesterone (P4), such as first pubertal ovulation or first postpartum ovulation, are at risk of having a premature increase in Prostaglandin F2α (PGF) secreted from the uterus resulting in early CL regression and a short estrous cycle. The second period is when normal luteolysis occurs at day 18-25 of the cycle or when the CL is rescued by interferon-tau secreted by the elongating embryo. The uterine mechanisms that determine the timing of this luteolysis or the prevention of luteolysis have been generally defined. Induction and activation of endometrial E2 receptors result in induction of endometrial oxytocin receptors that can now be activated by normal pulses of oxytocin. Of particular importance is the observation that the primary mechanisms are only activated through local (ipsilateral) and not a systemic route due to transfer of PGF from the uterine vein to the ovarian artery. In addition at the CL level, studies are providing definition to the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are activated in response to uterine PGF pulses or pregnancy. The third period that is discussed occurs in the second month of pregnancy (day 28-60) when undefined mechanisms result in CL maintenance of an ipsilateral CL but regression of a contralateral (opposite side from pregnancy) CL. The final period that is discussed is regression of the CL just prior to parturition. Although, cortisol from the fetus appears to be the primary initiator of luteolysis, PGF seems to be the final signal that causes regression of the CL. Thus, in all four periods, regression of the CL is likely to be caused by the direct actions of PGF that is secreted from the uterus. The uterine mechanisms that result in secretion of PGF seem to be normally inhibited during the early luteal phase, making short luteal phases not a normal event, and are altered during early pregnancy (day 18-25) resulting in prevention of luteolysis. During much of pregnancy, the mechanisms that cause PGF secretion from the uterus in response to oxytocin are intact but luteolysis does not normally occur, perhaps due to lack of efficient utero-ovarian transfer of PGF.

Recent GWAS have identified SNPs at a human chromosom1 locus associated with coronary artery disease risk and LDL cholesterol levels. The SNPs are also associated with altered expression of hepatic sortilin-1 (SORT1), which encodes a protein thought to be involved in apoB trafficking and degradation. Here, we investigated the regulation of Sort1 expression in mouse models of obesity. Sort1 expression was markedly repressed in both genetic (ob/ob) and high-fat diet models of obesity; restoration of hepatic sortilin-1 levels resulted in reduced triglyceride and apoB secretion. Mouse models of obesity also exhibit increased hepatic activity of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and ER stress, and we found that administration of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin to ob/ob mice reduced ER stress and increased hepatic sortilin-1 levels. Conversely, genetically increased hepatic mTORC1 activity was associated with repressed Sort1 and increased apoB secretion. Treating WT mice with the ER stressor tunicamycin led to marked repression of hepatic sortilin-1 expression, while administration of the chemical chaperone PBA to ob/ob mice led to amelioration of ER stress, increased sortilin-1 expression, and reduced apoB and triglyceride secretion. Moreover, the ER stress target Atf3 acted at the SORT1 promoter region as a transcriptional repressor, whereas knockdown of Atf3 mRNA in ob/ob mice led to increased hepatic sortilin-1 levels and decreased apoB and triglyceride secretion. Thus, in mouse models of obesity, induction of mTORC1 and ER stress led to repression of hepatic Sort1 and increased VLDL secretion via Atf3. This pathway may contribute to dyslipidemia in metabolic disease.

Introducción: A pesar del uso extendido del formulario de Zung para ansiedad no se encontraron artículos sobre la invarianza de la prueba. Objetivo: Establecer la invarianza por género del formulario para ansiedad autodiligenciado de Zung desde la Teoría Clásica. Métodos: Muestra no aleaotoria de 336 mujeres y 205 hombres estudiantes de varias universidades colombianas que diligenciaron el formulario. El análisis se realizo con análisis confimatorio de factores. Se investigó la invarianza dimensional, de configuración y métrica. Resultados: Se encontró que las invarianzas dimensional y de configuración se cumplen al demostrarse que el constructo es unidimensional en los 2 géneros, seleccionando los modelos con el Criterio de información Bayesiano y que la carga de los ítems es en general alta. No así la invarianza métrica para la cual debieron eliminarse 9 ítems para lograr invarianza en las cargas. Conclusión: El formulario de Zung presenta invarianzas dimensional, de configuración y métrica con 11 ítems. Salud UIS 2011; 43 (2): 159-166Introduction: There is not a published report of the invariance of anxiety Zung test, although is widely used. Objective: To stablish gender invariance of the Zung self-rating anxiety scale using Classical Test Theory. Methods: A non random sample of 336 women and 205 men students from several colombian universities that answered the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Dimensional, configurational and metric invariance were investigated. Results: Dimensional and configurational invariance are met because for both genders theres is one dimension, using Bayesian Information Crietria as the model selection strategy, and the loadings are generally high. The metric invariance was obtained after deleting 9 items. Conclusion: Eleven items of The Zung self-rating anxiety scale show dimensional, configurational and metric invariance. Salud UIS 2011; 43 (2): 159-166

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a second treatment with prostaglandin F2α (PGF) during Ovsynch on regression of the corpus luteum (CL) and on fertility to the timed artificial insemination. Two experiments were performed. In both experiments, cows were randomized to receive (1) no additional treatments with PGF = 1 PGF, or (2) a second PGF treatment at 24 h after the first PGF treatment = 2 PGF. The first experiment (n = 344 synchronized lactating dairy cows that received artificial insemination at 81 ± 3 d in milk) used the Double-Ovsynch protocol for synchronizing ovulation. Blood samples were collected at the PGF and final GnRH treatments (72 and 16 h before timed artificial insemination) during the breeding Ovsynch protocol, to determine CL regression in response to the protocol. Treatment with 2 PGF increased CL regression from 83.0% with 1 PGF to 97.0% with 2 PGF. The effect of 2 PGF on CL regression was observed in both primiparous and multiparous cows. Cows with lower (2.0 to 4.8 ng/mL) versus greater (4.9 to 12.0 ng/mL) circulating progesterone at the time of PGF had lower percentage of cows with complete CL regression after 1 PGF (66.7 vs. 88.1%) but not after 2 PGF (95.1 vs. 97.6%). Experiment 2 used 2,148 lactating dairy cows on 11 dairy farms in 4 different regions of the United States. Cows were synchronized with Ovsynch and received timed artificial insemination at 60 ± 3 d in milk. Cows that received 2 PGF had a tendency for increased pregnancies per artificial insemination (P/AI) compared with cows with 1 PGF (36.1 vs. 33.3%). This tendency for improvement in P/AI was observed in multiparous but not in primiparous cows. Combining data from the 2 experiments indicated a 9.45% relative increase in P/AI for cows receiving 2 compared with 1 PGF (37.6 vs. 34.4%) with the increase in P/AI observed in multiparous but not in primiparous cows. Thus, a second PGF treatment in Ovsynch-type protocols can increase pregnancy success by about 10%, primarily due to enhanced fertility in multiparous cows.

Network-phase lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) derived from the water-directed self-assembly of small molecule amphiphiles comprise a useful class of soft nanomaterials, with wide-ranging applications in structural biology and membrane science. However, few known surfactants enable access to these mesophases over wide temperature and amphiphile concentration phase windows. Recent studies have demonstrated that gemini ("twin tail") dicarboxylate surfactants, in which alkyl carboxylates are covalently linked near the headgroups by a hydrophobic bridge, exhibit increased propensities to form double gyroid network phase LLCs. We demonstrate herein that the lyotropic self-assembly behaviors of gemini dicarboxylates sensitively depend on the linker length, whereby odd-carbon linkers stabilize the double gyroid network LLC over unprecedented amphiphile concentration windows up to ∼45 wt % wide between T ≈ 22-80 °C. These self-assembly phenomena, which arise from the linker length-dependent preferred molecular conformations of these amphiphiles, will broaden the technological applications of these nanostructured LLCs.

The mammalian high mobility group protein AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) is a chromosomal architectural transcription factor involved in cell transformation and oncogenesis. It consists of three positively charged "AT-hooks" and a negatively charged C-terminus. Sequence analyses, circular dichroism experiments, and gel-filtration studies showed that HMGA2, in the native state, does not have a defined secondary or tertiary structure. Surprisingly, using combined approaches of 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) chemical cross-linking, analytical ultracentrifugation, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and mass spectrometry, we discovered that HMGA2 is capable of self-associating into homodimers in aqueous buffer solution. Our results showed that electrostatic interactions between the positively charged "AT-hooks" and the negatively charged C-terminus greatly contribute to the homodimer formation.

Osmotic stress constitutes a major bacterial stress factor in the soil and during industrial fermentation. In this paper, we quantified the metabolic response, in terms of metabolic flux redistribution, of a lysine-overproducing strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum grown under continuous culture, to gradually increasing osmolality. Oxygen and carbon dioxide evolution rates, and the changes in concentration of extracellular, as well as intracellular, metabolites were measured throughout the osmotic gradient. The metabolic fluxes were estimated from these measurements and from the mass balance constraints at each metabolite-node of the assumed metabolic reaction network. Our results show that formation rates of compatible solutes--trehalose first and proline at a later stage of the gradient--increased with osmotic stress to equilibrate the external osmotic pressure. Estimated flux distributions indicate that the observed increase in the glucose specific uptake rate with osmotic stress is channeled through the main energy generating pathways-- glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle--while the flux through the pentose phosphate pathway remains constant throughout the gradient. This results in a significant increase in the net specific ATP production rate, which may possibly be used to support the higher energy requirements required for cellular maintenance at high osmolalities. Finally, nodal analysis confirmed that the PEP/pyruvate node is essentially rigid and that the glucose-6-phosphate, oxaloacetate and alpha-ketoglutarate nodes are flexible and therefore adaptable to changes in osmotic pressure in C. glutamicum.

A strategy to enhance the speed and power characteristics of an industrial circuit is demonstrated in this paper. It is shown that nonzero clock skew scheduling can improve circuit performance while relaxing the strict timing constraints of the critical data paths within a high speed system. A software tool implementing a nonzero clock skew scheduling algorithm is described together with a methodology that generates the required clock signal delays. Furthermore, a technique that significantly reduces the power dissipated in the noncritical data paths is demonstrated. The application of this technique combined with nonzero clock skew scheduling to the slower data paths is also described. Speed improvements of up to 18% and power savings greater than 80% are achieved in certain functional blocks of an industrial high performance microprocessor.

Phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (PC-TP) is a cytosolic protein of unknown function that catalyzes intermembrane transfer of phosphatidylcholines in vitro. Using stably transfected CHO cells, we explored the influence of PC-TP on apolipoprotein A-I- and high density lipoprotein 3 (HDL(3))-mediated lipid efflux. In proportion to its cellular level of expression, PC-TP accelerated apolipoprotein A-I-mediated phospholipid and cholesterol efflux as pre-beta-HDL particles. PC-TP increased rates of efflux of both lipids by2-fold but did not affect mRNA levels or the activity of ATP-binding cassette A1, a plasma membrane protein that regulates apolipoprotein A-I-mediated lipid efflux. Overexpression of PC-TP was associated with only slight increases in HDL(3)-mediated phospholipid efflux and no changes in cholesterol efflux. In scavenger receptor BI-overexpressing cells, PC-TP expression minimally influenced apolipoprotein A-I- or HDL(3)-mediated lipid efflux. PC-TP did not affect cellular phospholipid compositions, phosphatidylcholine contents, or phosphatidylcholine synthetic rates. These findings suggest that a physiological function of PC-TP is to replenish the plasma membrane with phosphatidylcholines that are removed during pre-beta-HDL particle formation due to the activity of ATP-binding cassette A1.

Macrophages are the predominant cellular component of atherosclerotic lesions, where they scavenge oxidatively modified lipoproteins while defending themselves against cholesterol-induced cytotoxicity by adaptive mechanisms that depend in part on the synthesis, distribution and efflux of phosphatidylcholines. PC-TP (phosphatidylcholine transfer protein) is a START (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer) domain protein that catalyses the intermembrane transfer of phosphatidylcholines and promotes apolipoprotein AI-mediated lipid efflux when overexpressed in the cytosol of Chinese-hamster ovary cells. To explore a role for PC-TP in the adaptive responses of macrophages to cholesterol loading, we utilized peritoneal macrophages from mice with homozygous disruption of the gene encoding PC-TP (Pctp−/−) and wild-type littermate controls. PC-TP was abundantly expressed in macrophages from wild-type but not Pctp−/− mice. In cholesteryl ester-loaded macrophages from Pctp−/− mice, the apolipoprotein AI-mediated efflux of phospholipids and cholesterol was decreased. This could be attributed to proportional decreases in the expression levels of ATP-binding cassette A1. Also, in response to free cholesterol loading, the absence of PC-TP from macrophages was associated with marked increases in apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that PC-TP in macrophages may serve an atheroprotective role by defending against cholesterol-induced cytotoxicity.

There are many causes for peripheral facial nerve palsy, such as an isolated phenomenon occurring in a healthy person (Bell's palsy), a manifestation of a systemic illness, or a component of a more widespread neurological disease. Plasma cell granuloma is the proliferation of polyclonal, nonneoplastic plasma cells. Several cases have been reported in the literature in which plasma cell granulomas have affected the brain, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, salivary glands, and skin. We report a case of peripheral facial nerve palsy produced by a plasma cell granuloma that was confirmed by histological and immunohistochemical studies.

Long-term cultures of SV40-infected human keratinocytes contain integrated, but structurally altered copies of the viral sequences. The presence of these sequences is required for expression of properties associated with the transformed phenotype including immortalization. The integrated viral sequences in an anchorage-independent line of viral-transformed human keratinocytes have been found to be contained on two BamHI fragments of about 6.9 and 5.2 kb. In the larger fragment the viral sequences were present as two tandemly repeated subgenomic fragments containing the viral origin/promoter region with nucleotide alterations that affect enhancer function, the origin of replication and T antigen binding site 1. The viral early gene promoter in one integrant gave rise to an unspliced fusion transcript comprised of a short portion of the viral early gene leader sequence and the flanking human sequences. The smaller fragment consisted of full-length SV40 containing a nine-nucleotide insertion in the C-terminal portion of the SV40 T antigen, a region involved in the regulation of viral host range.