A keratoprosthesis prototype for the dog

Objective  To describe the technique for implantation of a novel keratoprosthesis (KP) prototype and evaluate its application for the treatment of corneal blindness in dogs.
Animals studied  Seven dogs, all of them being clinically blind before surgery as a result of severe corneal endothelial disease (5/7) or chronic superficial keratitis (2/7) that were unresponsive to prior therapy.
Procedures  A silicone KP was implanted unilaterally, just anterior to Descemet's membrane, after creating a stromal pocket by deep stromal lamellar dissection.
Results  Implantation of the KP was accomplished without complication in six of seven operated dogs. In the remaining case, an intra-operative complication (perforation of Descemet's membrane) was associated with extrusion of the KP 8 weeks postoperatively. All operated eyes regained limited vision after surgery. Three to six months after implantation purulent keratitis occurred in all five eyes with endothelial disease, necessitating surgical removal of the KP 6 months postoperatively in 5/7 eyes.
Conclusions  This KP prototype shows promise as a treatment for certain blinding corneal diseases. However, changes in the design of this KP, allowing improved stromal integration, will be necessary before its clinical application can be approved.     

Estimating direct genetic and maternal effects affecting rabbit growth and feed efficiency with a factorial design

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the significance of neonatal environment on feed efficiency. For that purpose, rabbits from a line selected for residual feed intake (RFI) during 10 generations (G10 kits) were cross‐fostered with non‐selected control does (i.e., G0 line), and reciprocally. In parallel, sibs were fostered by mothers from their original line. Nine hundred animals were raised in individual (N = 456) or collective (N = 320) cages. Traits analysed in this study were body weight at 32 days and at 63 days, average daily gain (ADG), feed intake between weaning and 63 days (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and RFI. The maternal environment offered by does from the line selected for RFI deteriorated the FCR of the kits, independently of their line of origin, during fattening (+0.08 ± 0.02) compared to FCR of kits nursed by G0 does. The line, the type of housing and the batch were significant effects for all the measured traits: G10 kits were lighter than their G0 counterparts at 32 days (?82.9 ± 9 g, p < 0.0001) and at 63 days (?161 ± 16 g, p < 0.0001). They also had a lower ADG (?2.36 ± 0.36 g/day, p < 0.0001), RFI (?521 ± 24 g/day, p < 0.0001) and a lower FI (?855 ± 31 g, p < 0.0001), resulting in a more desirable feed efficiency (FCR: ?0.35 ± 0.02). There was no significant difference in the contrast of G10 and G0 performances between collective and individual/digestive cages (p > 0.22): ?2.35 g/day versus 2.94 g/day for ADG, ?0.39 versus ?0.40 for FCR, ?577 g versus ?565 g for RFI and ?879 g versus ?859 g for FI, respectively). Thus, no genotype‐by‐environment (housing) interaction is expected at the commercial level, that is, no re‐ranking of the animals due to collective housing.     

B lineage--specific interactions of an immunoglobulin enhancer with cellular factors in vivo

The mouse heavy chain immunoglobulin gene contains a tissue-specific enhancer. The enhancer and flanking sequences were studied in vivo by carrying out dimethyl sulfate protection experiments on living cells, in combination with genomic sequencing. Relative to reactions on naked DNA, there are changes (protections and enhancements) in the reactivity of guanine residues to dimethyl sulfate within the enhancer sequence in myeloma, B, and early B cells, whereas virtually no alterations appear in cells of non-B lineage. Most of the affected residues are in four clusters, in sequences homologous to the octamer 5'CAGGTGGC 3' (C, cytosine; A, adenine; G. guanine; T, thymine). The alterations in the pattern of G reactivity are consistent with the tissue-specific binding of molecules to the mouse immunoglobulin heavy chain enhancer.     

Ovarian Dynamics in Heliconiine Butterflies: Programmed Senescence versus Eternal Youth

New oocytes are generated throughout long lives in butterflies of the genus Heliconius, which as adults feed on amino acids from pollen. In Dryas julia, a related heliconiine that feeds only on nectar and is relatively short-lived, the original oocyte supply is eventually depleted. Such divergent ovarian dynamics in closely related organisms are significant in terms of both their evolutionary basis and their physiological controls.     

Esterase 6 and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

A nonspecific carboxylesterase (esterase 6) of Drosophila melanogaster shows greater activity in adult males than in females and is highly concentrated in the anterior ejaculatory duct of the reproductive tract of the male. Esterase 6 is depleted in males by copulation and is transferred to females early during copulation as a component of the seminal fluid. That esterase 6 may be involved in a system controlling the timing of remating is suggested by differences in the activity of this enzyme in a strain of Drosophila selected for a decrease in time to remating and by differences in the timing of remating in females initially inseminated by males lacking or having active esterase 6.     

Paleo-Eskimo mtDNA genome reveals matrilineal discontinuity in Greenland

The Paleo-Eskimo Saqqaq and Independence I cultures, documented from archaeological remains in Northern Canada and Greenland, represent the earliest human expansion into the New World's northern extremes. However, their origin and genetic relationship to later cultures are unknown. We sequenced a mitochondrial genome from a Paleo-Eskimo human by using 3400-to 4500-year-old frozen hair excavated from an early Greenlandic Saqqaq settlement. The sample is distinct from modern Native Americans and Neo-Eskimos, falling within haplogroup D2a1, a group previously observed among modern Aleuts and Siberian Sireniki Yuit. This result suggests that the earliest migrants into the New World's northern extremes derived from populations in the Bering Sea area and were not directly related to Native Americans or the later Neo-Eskimos that replaced them.     

Monitoring of the intra-dermal tuberculosis skin test performed by Belgian field practitioners

The present study aimed to monitor skin test practices as performed by veterinarian field practitioners in Belgium. For this purpose, an anonymous postal questionnaire was elaborated and dispatched to veterinarians involved in bovine tuberculosis detection. The questionnaire included items focusing on the skin test performance. International experts in the field of bovine tuberculosis were asked to fill the questionnaire and a scoring scale was built as follows: 0 = ‘ideal’ answer, 1 = acceptable answer, whereas 2 = unacceptable answer. Furthermore, experts were asked to rank the questionnaire’s items according to their possible impact on the risk of not detecting reactors. A global score was further calculated for each participant and a comparison of practices was carried out between the two regions of the country, i.e. Wallonia and Flanders. Significant differences were observed between both regions, a harmonization at the country level is thus essential. No veterinarian summed a null score, corresponding to the ideal skin test procedure, which suggests that skin-testing is far from being performed correctly. Field practitioners need to be sensitized to the importance of correctly performing the test. The authors recommend the questionnaire is suitable for application in other countries or regions.     

Sequence variants in SLITRK1 are associated with Tourette's syndrome

Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a genetically influenced developmental neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by chronic vocal and motor tics. We studied Slit and Trk-like 1 (SLITRK1) as a candidate gene on chromosome 13q31.1 because of its proximity to a de novo chromosomal inversion in a child with TS. Among 174 unrelated probands, we identified a frameshift mutation and two independent occurrences of the identical variant in the binding site for microRNA hsa-miR-189. These variants were absent from 3600 control chromosomes. SLITRK1 mRNA and hsa-miR-189 showed an overlapping expression pattern in brain regions previously implicated in TS. Wild-type SLITRK1, but not the frameshift mutant, enhanced dendritic growth in primary neuronal cultures. Collectively, these findings support the association of rare SLITRK1 sequence variants with TS.     

Extracellular proteins limit the dispersal of biogenic nanoparticles

High-spatial-resolution secondary ion microprobe spectrometry, synchrotron radiation-based Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and polyacrylamide gel analysis demonstrated the intimate association of proteins with spheroidal aggregates of biogenic zinc sulfide nanocrystals, an example of extracellular biomineralization. Experiments involving synthetic zinc sulfide nanoparticles and representative amino acids indicated a driving role for cysteine in rapid nanoparticle aggregation. These findings suggest that microbially derived extracellular proteins can limit the dispersal of nanoparticulate metal-bearing phases, such as the mineral products of bioremediation, that may otherwise be transported away from their source by subsurface fluid flow.