The Bovine Respiratory Disease Coordinated Agricultural Project (BRD CAP) is a 5-year project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with an overriding objective to use the ...tools of modern genomics to identify cattle that are less susceptible to BRD. To do this, two large genome wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted using a case:control design on preweaned Holstein dairy heifers and beef feedlot cattle. A health scoring system was used to identify BRD cases and controls. Heritability estimates for BRD susceptibility ranged from 19 to 21% in dairy calves to 29.2% in beef cattle when using numerical scores as a semi-quantitative definition of BRD. A GWAS analysis conducted on the dairy calf data showed that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects explained 20% of the variation in BRD incidence and 17-20% of the variation in clinical signs. These results represent a preliminary analysis of ongoing work to identify loci associated with BRD. Future work includes validation of the chromosomal regions and SNPs that have been identified as important for BRD susceptibility, fine mapping of chromosomes to identify causal SNPs, and integration of predictive markers for BRD susceptibility into genetic tests and national cattle genetic evaluations.
Amorphous titanium hydrogenphosphate, originally prepared to act as an inorganic sorbent superior for K+ and other alkaline metal ions of certain size, proved to be also an active catalyst in alcohol ...dehydration. Its activity was tested in cyclohexanol, methanol, and pentanol conversions. The reactions were selective and thus cyclohexene was practically the only product of cyclohexanol dehydration, methanol gave dimethyl ether (DME) as the main product and pentanol yielded pentene isomers, the mutual ratios of which depended on temperature and contact times. Characteristically, the studied catalysts acquired their high activity only after a period of work at temperatures higher than 275°C, the temperature of an endothermic transition observed in DTA. After the catalyst had been activated, it retained its activity even while working at lower temperatures, but lost it upon staying at room temperature for longer times. Most probably, these changes are related to the increase in the interlayer distance and the insertion of water and alcohol, making thus the inner acidic sites available for the reaction.
The objective of the present study was to analyse the potential synergistic influence of the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (I/D ACE) and the A1166C ...polymorphism of the angiotensin-II type 1 receptor gene polymorphisms (A1166C AT1R) on the left ventricular size and performance. Three hundred sixty and one consecutive, Caucasian patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled into the study. Left ventricular diameter, mass and function were evaluated by echocardiography. Screening for the I/D ACE and A1166C AT1R genotypes was performed by polymerase chain reaction of genomic DNA, followed by restriction enzyme digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis. The I/D ACE and A1166C AT1R genotypes separately were not significantly associated with the left ventricular size and function parameters in CAD patients. However, trends towards decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as well as increased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were observed when patients with genotype DD+CC/AC and DD+CC were compared to patients homozygous only in one locus (DD or CC). Significant increase in LVEDD and LVMI was observed only in patients with a history of anterior myocardial infarction with combined genotype DD+CC/AC or DD+CC. This study does not support the role of the ACE I/D and AT1R A1166C polymorphisms in the determination of the left ventricular size and performance in patients with significant coronary atherosclerosis. However, it indicates that the influence of polymorphisms may be present in specific patient populations.
Derivatives of 6-azauracil were lithiated at −100°C with and without an electrophilic agent. Reactions of appropriate 6-azauracils with
t-butyllithium and lithium diisopropylamide gave, as a result ...of a ring contraction, compounds
5 and
6. The structure of compound
5 was undeniably established by X-ray analysis. A mechanism of the novel ring transformation of 1,2,4-triazines to imidazoles is discussed.
Four groups of foodstuffs were irradiated in a 60Co source with doses from 0.3 to 10 kGy and subsequently measured by EPR spectrometry at room temperature in air: (1) poultry bones and fins, scales ...and bones of carp, (2) seeds of selected fruits, (3) dehydrated mushrooms, and (4) a selected set of spices and herbs. Qualitative and, in some cases, quantitative data related to the absorbed dose of radiation were collected. In the irradiated bones from poultry and carp an asymmetric singlet (g = 2.0030, g = 1.9973; deltaHpp = 0.85 mT) was detected which was stable at room temperature and was similar to that previously found in irradiated mammalian bones. Another stable EPR signal (g(0) = 2.0024, deltaHpp = 0.56 mT) was found in the fins and scales of carp which was about five times more intense in fins than in scales. In pips of pears irradiated with a dose of 3 kGy, a signal which was about twice as intense its the endogenous signal was recorded. A multicomponent EPR signal derived from the stones of dates differed from the endogenous signal even when a low dose (0.5 kGy) was applied. A multicomponent EPR signal is also observed in dried mushrooms irradiated with a dose of 3 kGy. In white mustard, paprika and chilli no native EPR signal exists and a radiation-induced stable EPR signal can still be observed after a period of 3 months. The radiation-induced EPR signal in black pepper was highly sensitive to moisture and disappeared, yet the native signal survived. The pilot experiments performed with irradiated stones of cherries, plums, lemons, apple pips, raspberries, cranberries, red currants, black currants, gooseberries and tomatoes showed the induction of short-lived EPR signals of no practical use for the control of food irradiation.
