The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of maternal nutrient restriction and day of gestation on mRNA expression of syncytin-Rum1, bovine endogenous retrovirus K1 (BERV-K1), ...interferon-tau (INF-τ), and pregnancy specific protein B (PSP-B). At breeding (0 d), crossbred heifers (n = 49; ~15 mo of age; initial BW = 324.9 kg) were assigned to dietary treatments, control (fed to gain 0.45 kg/d BW gain) or restricted (60% of control). Heifers were ovariohysterectomized at d 16, 34, or 50 resulting in a 2 x 3 factorial. Non-bred, non-pregnant heifers (n = 6; NP), on the control diet, were ovariohysterectomized as baseline controls on d 16 of the estrous cycle. The tissues collected consisted of pregnant horn caruncle (P-CAR), pregnant horn inter-caruncle (P-ICAR), non-pregnant horn caruncle (NP-CAR), non-pregnant horn inter-caruncle (NP-ICAR), and fetal membrane (chorioallantoic; FM). Relative gene expression was calculated using the delta delta Ct method with b-actin as the reference gene and NP as the control tissue. Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS with the model including d of gestation, nutritional treatment, and their interaction. There was significant d of gestation × nutrition interaction for expression of BERV-K1 in NP-CAR and INF-τ in FM while all other interactions were not significant (P > 0.08). Expression of INF-τ was influenced by d of gestation and nutritional treatment in FM, with d 16 restricted being greatest (5781 fold; P < 0.01) followed by d 16 control FM (3324 fold); the remaining d and treatments were not different. In FM, BERV-K1 was greatest (P < 0.01) on d 34 (2961 fold) compared with d 16 and 50 (5 and 1861 fold, respectively). Syncytin-Rum1 increased (P = 0.04) in FM throughout the first 50 d (375 fold) of gestation. Syncytin-Rum1 expression in P-ICAR was greatest (P = 0.01) at d 16; however, syncytin- Rum1 expression in P-CAR tended (P = 0.09) to be greater at d 50. Expression of PSP-B increased (P < 0.01) throughout early gestation until d 50 in both NP-CAR (316 fold) and PCAR (18,215 fold). Although nutritional restriction did not influence endogenous retrovirus expression in maternal or fetal tissues, it did influence INF-τ expression. These data suggest that both BERV-K1 and syncytin-Rum1 may interact with PSP-B during the establishment of the fetomaternal interface and syncytial plaques.
Joint replacement surgery is established as a cost-effective treatment for degenerative joint disorders, but periprosthetic bone loss and aseptic loosening of prostheses is the major surgical ...complication of this procedure. Early loosening is related to poor initial fixation and design. Late loosening, which is the major problem and the principal cause of failure of this procedure, is related to wear of the prosthetic components. From the retrieval and analysis of failed implants, hypotheses regarding the mechanism of wear-induced loosening and other causes for implant failure may be developed. The criteria and methods, which we have developed for undertaking analysis, and the potentially valuable information available from these analyses, are reviewed.
The Systematic Collections Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists advises curators and other personnel affiliated with natural history collections in matters relating to administration, ...curation, and accreditation of mammal specimens and their associated data. The Systematic Collections Committee also maintains a list of curatorial standards for managing a collection-accreditation program under the auspices of the American Society of Mammalogists. To date, the Systematic Collections Committee has provided guidance for the more traditional specimen collections (skin, skeletal, fluid, etc.) and specimen data management. Given the rapidly expanding role of genetic resources in biological research, the Systematic Collections Committee herein presents a series of formal guidelines and standards designed to assist collections professionals in the current best practices for curation and maintenance of collections of genetic resources, to ensure long-term integrity of the archived material, and to address personnel safety and guidelines for researchers and curatorial staff. These guidelines and standards are intended to provide constructive guidance and a mechanism of accreditation for collections that vary in scale and infrastructure.
There is a well-established negative association of educational attainment (EA) and other traits related to cognitive ability with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the underlying mechanisms ...are poorly understood.
To investigate the association of PTSD with traits related to EA.
Genetic correlation, polygenic risk scoring, and mendelian randomization (MR) were conducted including 23 185 individuals with PTSD and 151 309 control participants from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for PTSD and up to 1 131 881 individuals assessed for EA and related traits from UK Biobank, 23andMe, and the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium. Data were analyzed from July 3 through November 19, 2018.
Genetic correlation obtained from linkage disequilibrium score regression, phenotypic variance explained by polygenic risk scores, and association estimates from MR.
Summary association data from multiple genome-wide association studies were available for a total of 1 180 352 participants (634 391 53.7% women). Posttraumatic stress disorder showed negative genetic correlations with EA (rg = -0.26; SE = 0.05; P = 4.60 × 10-8). Mendelian randomization analysis, conducting considering a random-effects inverse-variance weighted method, indicated that EA has a negative association with PTSD (β = -0.23; 95% CI, -0.07 to -0.39; P = .004). Investigating potential mediators of the EA-PTSD association, propensity for trauma exposure and risk-taking behaviors were observed as risk factors for PTSD independent of EA (trauma exposure: β = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.52; P = 2.57 × 10-5; risk-taking: β = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.38 to 1.13; P = 1.13 × 10-4), while income may mediate the association of EA with PSTD (MR income: β = -0.18; 95% CI, -0.29 to -0.07; P = .001; MR EA: β = -0.23; 95% CI, -0.39 to -0.07; P = .004; multivariable MR income: β = -0.32; 95% CI, -0.57 to 0.07; P = .02; multivariable MR EA: β = -0.04; 95% CI, -0.29 to 0.21; SE, 0.13; P = .79).
Large-scale genomic data sets add further evidence to the negative association of EA with PTSD, also supporting the role of economic status as a mediator in the association observed.
This study was performed to determine the prognostic significance of the presence of loops defined as periodic acid-Schiff-positive fibrovascular septa that completely surround lobules of tumor cells ...in cases of uveal melanoma.
The presence of loops was evaluated using an ordinary light microscope and routinely stained periodic acid-Schiff and hematoxylin sections from 496 posterior uveal melanomas without knowledge of the follow-up data on the patient.
At 15 years, survival decreased from 67.5% to 33.8% when complete loops were present. Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the presence of loops was an indicator of poor outcome, and was better than age but not as good as the mean diameter of the largest nucleoli, cell type, or tumor size.
The presence of loops, as evaluated in this study, was not as strong an indicator of poor outcome as were loops assessed in a previous study of 234 cases from another laboratory. The authors suspect this difference may be due to their only using routinely stained sections without a green filter, as was used in previously reported studies. The authors description of loops does not require any special equipment and gives sufficiently useful results to justify its inclusion by the pathologist in reports of such specimens. A description of vascular loops should be added to the use of the modified Callender cell type, tumor dimensions, mitotic count, extraocular extension, and lymphocytic infiltration in the final pathologic report.
Aims/hypothesis
Diabetes in pregnancy is linked to development of obesity in the offspring, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) occurs when beta cells are ...unable to compensate for the normal insulin resistance of late pregnancy. In this study, we used a murine model of beta cell dysfunction to examine the effects of maternal GDM on phenotype in male offspring with and without an inherited predisposition for beta cell dysfunction.
Methods
Beta cell-specific aryl-hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-null (β
Arnt
) mice develop GDM from beta cell dysfunction. β
Arnt
and control female mice were used to induce GDM and non-diabetic pregnancies, respectively.
Results
Offspring from GDM pregnancies became spontaneously obese on a normal-chow diet. They were heavier than offspring from non-diabetic pregnancies, with increased body fat. Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) was higher, indicating decreased capacity to switch to lipid oxidation. Metabolic rate in GDM offspring was decreased prior to onset of obesity. The phenotype was more pronounced in β
Arnt
GDM offspring than in GDM offspring of control genotype, demonstrating an interaction between genotype and pregnancy exposure. β
Arnt
GDM offspring had increased hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (
Npy
) and decreased pro-opiomelanocortin (
Pomc
) expression. Weight, body fat, insulin sensitivity and RER in all mice, and hypothalamic
Npy
in β
Arnt
mice were significantly correlated with AUC of maternal late pregnancy glucose tolerance tests (
p
< 0.01), but not with litter size, maternal weight, triacylglycerol or pre-pregnancy glycaemia.
Conclusions/interpretation
In β
Arnt
mice, exposure to GDM and inheritance of genetic beta cell dysfunction had additive effects on male offspring obesity; severity of the offspring phenotype correlated with maternal glycaemia.
During the influenza A (H3N2) season of 2003-2004, several influenza-related complications and deaths were reported in children. Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis complicating influenza A infection ...is very rare. We report a 3-year-old girl who presented with severe pneumonia and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis associated with influenza A infection. Clinicians should be aware of hemophagocytic syndrome as a serious complication of influenza A infection.
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