Isotopic Composition of Carbon in Humus Acids of Albic Retisols and Luvic Chernozems

Eurasian Soil Science - Carbon isotope ratios in soil organic matter are often used in paleoecological research for reconstructing climate and plant communities (type of photosynthesis). The...     

禽流感病毒抗原超滤浓缩重要参数的动态变化

采用世界先进的切向流超滤浓缩技术，对禽流感病毒（H9N2亚型）超滤浓缩成倍体积，测定血凝价HA和半数感染量EID50。结果HA成倍增加，废液HA呈阴性，病毒回收率达100％；受宿主鸡胚系统的影响，EID50与病毒量之间不是简单的直线关系，但病毒的活性不受影响。结果表明，所用超滤系统适用于禽流感病毒抗原的浓缩。     

Major Australian-Antarctic plate reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor bend time

A marked bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain supposedly resulted from a recent major reorganization of the plate-mantle system there 50 million years ago. Although alternative mantle-driven and plate-shifting hypotheses have been proposed, no contemporaneous circum-Pacific plate events have been identified. We report reconstructions for Australia and Antarctica that reveal a major plate reorganization between 50 and 53 million years ago. Revised Pacific Ocean sea-floor reconstructions suggest that subduction of the Pacific-Izanagi spreading ridge and subsequent Marianas/Tonga-Kermadec subduction initiation may have been the ultimate causes of these events. Thus, these plate reconstructions solve long-standing continental fit problems and improve constraints on the motion between East and West Antarctica and global plate circuit closure.     

Possible parachordoma in a dog

Abstract

CASE HISTORY: A 15-mm diameter mass developed in the S/C tissue overlying the right lateral gluteal muscle of a 6½-year-old female Flat-coated Retriever.

PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Cytological preparations following aspiration of the mass were highly cellular and consisted of a population of large polygonal cells containing single to multiple nuclei, large prominent nucleoli, and intracytoplasmic vacuoles. Histologically, the neoplasm consisted of similar large cells surrounded by thick fibrous connective tissue trabeculae. The large polygonal cells reacted positively with antibodies against vimentin, low- and high-molecular-weight variants of cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), but not with antibodies to desmin or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).

DIAGNOSIS: The clinical, gross, histological and immunohistochemical findings are similar to those reported for parachordomas in humans. Neither recurrence nor metastases were noted 18 months after surgical excision of the mass.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This is the first reported case of a possible parachordoma in a dog, a benign tumour with cytological features of malignancy.     

A Novel C1q Domain-Containing Protein Isolated from the Mollusk Modiolus kurilensis Recognizing Glycans Enriched with Acidic Galactans and Mannans

C1q domain-containing (C1qDC) proteins are a group of biopolymers involved in immune response as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in a lectin-like manner. A new protein MkC1qDC from the hemolymph plasma of Modiolus kurilensis bivalve mollusk widespread in the Northwest Pacific was purified. The isolation procedure included ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by affinity chromatography on pectin-Sepharose. The full-length MkC1qDC sequence was assembled using de novo mass-spectrometry peptide sequencing complemented with N-terminal Edman’s degradation, and included 176 amino acid residues with molecular mass of 19 kDa displaying high homology to bivalve C1qDC proteins. MkC1qDC demonstrated antibacterial properties against Gram-negative and Gram-positive strains. MkC1qDC binds to a number of saccharides in Ca²⁺-dependent manner which characterized by structural meta-similarity in acidic group enrichment of galactose and mannose derivatives incorporated in diversified molecular species of glycans. Alginate, κ-carrageenan, fucoidan, and pectin were found to be highly effective inhibitors of MkC1qDC activity. Yeast mannan, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), peptidoglycan (PGN) and mucin showed an inhibitory effect at concentrations three orders of magnitude greater than for the most effective saccharides. MkC1qDC localized to the mussel hemal system and interstitial compartment. Intriguingly, MkC1qDC was found to suppress proliferation of human adenocarcinoma HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner, indicating to the biomedical potential of MkC1qDC protein.     

Evaluation of genetic diversity of reindeer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rangifer tarandus</Emphasis>) by means of multilocus DNA fingerprinting

The parameters of intragroup and intergroup genetic similarity coefficients, genetic distances, and DNA marker fragments of reindeer of the wild type and Nentsi and Evenk breeds inhabiting various regions of Krasnoyarsk krai are obtained by the DNA fingerprinting method. Noticeable divergence of reindeer of the wild type and Evenk breed is found.     

The Comet assay for detection of DNA damage in canine sperm

Sperm DNA integrity is a fundamental prerequisite in fertilization and embryo development. Among DNA integrity tests, the Comet assay is an accurate and sensitive test for the detection of sperm oxidative damage. The aim of this work was to evaluate sperm oxidative damage using the Comet assay and to study the correlation between Comet and routine assays for the evaluation of semen quality. Dogs were divided in two groups: group A (n = 6), comprising dogs with abnormal spermiogram, that is astheno‐, terato‐ or oligoasthenoteratozoospermic (OAT); and group B (n = 8), comprising normospermic dogs. The distribution of sperm oxidative damage was significantly different between the two groups (p = .001): group A—median: 31.55%, interquartile range (IQR): 30.18–38.01; group B—median: 0.90%, IQR: 0.65–1.96. The correlation between oxidative damage and abnormal morphology was high (r = .846; p < .001). There was a negative correlation between progressive motility and oxidative damage (r = ?.792; p = .001). Basal and oxidative DNA damage of spermatozoa are increased in dogs with non‐normospermic semen. In conclusion, and considering the elevated correlation with classical tests of sperm quality, the Comet assay has ample potential for clinical and research purposes in dogs.     

The relationship between Adirondack lake pH and levels of mercury in yellow perch

Levels of total mercury in yellow perch Perca flavescens from Adirondack lakes were studied in relation to characteristics of the lakes to determine why some lakes had fish with higher concentrations of mercury. Almost all mercury in fish is in the form of methylmercury, which can pose significant health hazards to humans who consume such fish. Fish mercury concentrations and water chemistry data were analyzed from eight Adirondack lakes. Four lakes (Halfmoon Lake, Sand Pond, Rock Pond, and Upper Sister Lake) had pH values of less than 5.0. Four other lakes (Lake Adirondack, Kings Flow, Harris Lake, and Lake Kushaqua) had pH values of more than 7.0. The acidic lakes also had high levels of aluminum and low acid-neutralizing capacity relative to the neutral lakes. Yellow perch (n = 100) from the acidic lakes had significantly higher levels of mercury than did those (n = 102) from the neutral lakes (P < 0.001), and the total mercury concentration increased with both length and weight of the fish. We conclude that the pH of the lake water is a major factor in determining the concentration of methylmercury in yellow perch.     

New sources of compact spike morphology determined by the genes on chromosome 5A in hexaploid wheat

Little is known about the relationship between compact spike loci in hexaploid wheat species. We studied two new compact spike mutants of common wheat Triticum aestivum L. (2n?=?6x?=?42, genome formula BBAADD). The new compact spike genes, C ⁷³⁹ of MCK 739 and Cp of near-isogenic line Mironovskaya 808 (Vrn1), were mapped using aneuploid stocks and microsatellite markers. The C ⁷³⁹ and Cp loci were distally linked with the microsatellite marker Xbarc319 in the F₂ populations of MCK 739?×?‘Novosibirskaya 67’ and Cp-Mironovskaya 808 (Vrn1)?×?‘Saratovskaya 29’. It was evident that the loci affecting compact spikes in T. aestivum mutants were located on chromosome 5AL distal from Q locus. These loci also affected to semi-dwarfism. We named this locus Cp1 (C ompact p lant 1) for all accessions. Cp1 was allelic to C ¹⁷⁶⁴⁸ gene located on the chromosome 5AL of tetraploid wheat [Triticum durum Desf. (2n?=?4x?=?28, genome formula BBAA)]. These dominant genes on chromosome 5AL will be utilized as new gene resources of compact spike morphology in hexaploid wheat. Relationship between loci Q and Cp1 was also discussed.