Cellular and molecular characterization of an embryonic cell line (BME26) from the tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

The cellular and molecular characteristics of a cell line (BME26) derived from embryos of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus were studied. The cells contained glycogen inclusions, numerous mitochondria, and vesicles with heterogeneous electron densities dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Vesicles contained lipids and sequestered palladium meso-porphyrin (Pd-mP) and rhodamine-hemoglobin, suggesting their involvement in the autophagic and endocytic pathways. The cells phagocytosed yeast and expressed genes encoding the antimicrobial peptides (microplusin and defensin). A cDNA library was made and 898 unique mRNA sequences were obtained. Among them, 556 sequences were not significantly similar to any sequence found in public databases. Annotation using Gene Ontology revealed transcripts related to several different functional classes. We identified transcripts involved in immune response such as ferritin, serine proteases, protease inhibitors,. antimicrobial peptides, heat shock protein, glutathione S-transferase, peroxidase, and NADPH oxidase. BME26 cells transfected with a plasmid carrying a red fluorescent protein reporter gene (DsRed2) transiently expressed DsRed2 for up to 5 weeks. We conclude that BME26 can be used to experimentally analyze diverse biological processes that occur in R. (B.) microplus such as the innate immune response to tick-borne pathogens. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vård i livets slut av personer med demens. Personal och anhörigas upplevelse av given vård : En metasyntes

Palliativt förhållningssätt kännetecknas av helhetssyn av människan och uppnås genom stöttning av individen att leva med värdighet och största möjliga välbefinnande till livets slut oavsett diagnos eller ålder. Demens är en sjukdom som är svårt handikappande för den som drabbas och för de anhöriga är sjukdomen förödande. Den palliativa vården av personer med demens är inte optimerad. Studier visar att det dels beror på demenssjukdomen som är svår att vårda och dels för att stöd till de personer som vårdar sina anhöriga och det sociala kommunala nätverket har brister. Syfte: Att analysera upplevelsen av given vård i livets slutskede hos personer med demensdiagnos ur personalens och anhörigas perspektiv. Metod: Metasyntes utförd med Howell Major och Savin-Badins analysmodell, Qualitative Research Synthesis. Resultat: Kunskap och personcentrering var de två begrepp som blev produkten av syntesen. Begreppen fungerar som motsatser, om det finns kunskap och personcentrering så finns en bra upplevelse av given vård hos personal och anhöriga och om det brister i kunskap och personcentrering blir upplevelsen sämre. Diskussion: Kunskap om demens bland personal har i syntesen visats vara en indikator för god vård vid livets slut. Utbildning i demenssjukdom bör ske kontinuerligt och på olika nivåer beroende på vilken personalkategori som utbildas. Konklusion: Palliativ vård och demens måste få utrymme i utbildningarna av all personal, från undersköterska till specialistläkare.

Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height

Using genome-wide data from 253,288 individuals, we identified 697 variants at genome-wide significance that together explained one-fifth of the heritability for adult height. By testing different numbers of variants in independent studies, we show that the most strongly associated ∼2,000, ∼3,700 and ∼9,500 SNPs explained ∼21%, ∼24% and ∼29% of phenotypic variance. Furthermore, all common variants together captured 60% of heritability. The 697 variants clustered in 423 loci were enriched for genes, pathways and tissue types known to be involved in growth and together implicated genes and pathways not highlighted in earlier efforts, such as signaling by fibroblast growth factors, WNT/β-catenin and chondroitin sulfate-related genes. We identified several genes and pathways not previously connected with human skeletal growth, including mTOR, osteoglycin and binding of hyaluronic acid. Our results indicate a genetic architecture for human height that is characterized by a very large but finite number (thousands) of causal variants.2014

The First Provenance Challenge

The first Provenance Challenge was set up in order to provide a forum for the community to understand the capabilities of different provenance systems and the expressiveness of their provenance representations. To this end, a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging workflow was defined, which participants had to either simulate or run in order to produce some provenance representation, from which a set of identified queries had to be implemented and executed. Sixteen teams responded to the challenge, and submitted their inputs. In this paper, we present the challenge workflow and queries, and summarise the participants contributions.

The Pollination Biology and Mating System of a Peripheral Population of Witheringia solanacea (Solanaceae)

Pollinator visitation rates over the life of a flower are determined by pollinator abundance and floral longevity. If flowers are not visited frequently enough, pollen limitation may occur, favoring the evolution of self-compatibility (SC). In plant species with varying SC levels, central populations often are self-incompatible (SI) and peripheral populations are SC. Witheringia solanacea (Solanaceae) is a species that follows this trend with the exception of one population in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which is peripheral yet SI. I investigated this population using multiple techniques including floral bagging, pollinator observations, microsatellite analysis, and floral longevity manipulations. My results confirmed the self-incompatibility of the Monteverde population and indicated low but perhaps adequate rates of pollinator visitation per flower per hour. I found reduced genetic diversity at Monteverde and gene flow occurring unidirectionally from San Luis (a central population) to Monteverde. In the greenhouse, there was more of an effect of male than female function on floral longevity, but the largest differences were environmental. Flowers stayed open substantially longer when cool, cloudy weather was simulated and shorter when conditions were hot and sunny. The results indicate that the Monteverde population of W. solanacea is SI because 1) it is unable to maximize its fitness due to gene flow from San Luis and its relatively recent colonization of the area and 2) pollen limitation may not be severe because of supplemental pollinator availability from other Witheringia species in the area and increased floral longevities due to cool and cloudy conditions.