Techniques in facial identification: Computer-aided facial reconstruction using a laser scanner and video superimposition

A facial image was reconstructed from the skull, part of a complete skeleton found in woodland, of a male person who had hanged himself from a tree. In addition, video superimposition was carried out with antemortem photographs of a person suspected of being the victim, and a good match was obtained. In a further case, a cheaper video-transparency superimposition was carried out, with identity later being confirmed on the basis of dental records. The techniques and the problems encountered are discussed. According to our experience, 3D computer reconstruction and video superimposition have a useful role in the process of identification, particularly in the early stages of an investigation and when other more definitive methods may not be available.     

The inheritance of microstructure variation in the song of four generations of Roller canaries

The microstructure of the calls and songs of four generations of Roller canaries was analyzed and compared. Many of the characteristics of the internal structure of the syllable show distributions in the progeny that suggest quantitative inheritance. The presence or absence of an underharmonic and the presence of a block underharmonic show a qualitative type of inheritance.     

Development of a real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer PCR to identify the main pathogenic Campylobacter spp.

A simple real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) PCR, targeting the gyrA gene outside the quinolone resistance-determining region, was developed to identify Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. These species were distinguished easily, as the corresponding melting points showed a difference of 15 degrees C. A second assay using the same biprobe and PCR conditions, but different PCR primers, was also developed to identify the less frequently encountered Campylobacter fetus. These assays were applied to 807 Campylobacter isolates from clinical specimens. Compared to phenotypic identification tests, the FRET assay yielded the same results for all except three of the isolates. Analysis by standard PCR and 16S rDNA sequencing demonstrated that two of these isolates were hippurate-negative C. jejuni strains, resulting in an erroneous phenotypic identification, while the third was an isolate of C. coli that contained a gyrA gene typical of C. jejuni, resulting in misidentification by the FRET assay. The FRET assay identified more isolates than standard PCR, which failed to yield amplification products with c. 10% of isolates. It was concluded that the FRET assays were rapid, reliable, reproducible and relatively cost-efficient, as they require only one biprobe and can be performed directly on boiled isolates.     

Ethylene–Propylene Copolymerisations: Effect of Metallocene Structure on Termination Reactions and Polymer Microstructure

Summary: Ethylene–propylene (EP) copolymerisations were performed with two sterically different metallocenes activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) in an attempt to better understand the effect of catalyst structure on termination reactions and polymer microstructure. The metallocene precursors under investigation were rac‐dimethylsilylbis(2‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1‐indenyl)zirconium dichloride ( 1 ) and a more sterically hindered counterpart rac‐dimethylsilylbis(2‐isopropyl‐4‐[3,5‐dimethylphenyl]indenyl) zirconium dichloride ( 2 ). For both catalyst systems, the most common termination mechanism was chain transfer to aluminium. In addition, for polymer samples polymerised with 1 /MAO, chain growth was terminated by chain transfer to Zr metal in propylene‐rich polymerisations and by chain transfer to ethylene monomer in ethylene‐rich polymerisations. The steric hindrance of 2 was able to suppress the chain transfer to the ethylene monomer, and chain transfer to Zr metal was also found in the ethylene‐rich polymerisations. The greater steric hindrance of 2 also affected the EP copolymer microstructure: regioregularity in the propylene‐rich copolymers was greater and isotacticity less with 2 /MAO than with 1 /MAO.

The catalyst precursors used: rac‐dimethylsilylbis(2‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1‐indenyl)zirconium dichloride ( 1 ) and rac‐dimethylsilylbis(2‐isopropyl‐4‐[3,5‐dimethylphenyl]indenyl) zirconium dichloride ( 2 ).     

Drinking spout orifice size affects licking behavior in inbred mice

Using a lickometer, we assessed the effect of drinking spout orifice size on the licking behavior of inbred mice [C57BL/6J, SWR/J, 129P3/J and DBA/2J]. Animals licked from drinking spout sipper tubes that had what were defined as either a large (2.7 mm) or a small (1.5 mm) orifice. Mice took approximately twice as many licks from a stationary single small orifice drinking spout than when licking from a spout with a large orifice during separate 30-min sessions. However, their total intake volume was approximately the same. We calculated that mice received a mean of 0.55 muL per lick from the drinking tubes with a small orifice and a mean of 1.15 muL per lick from the drinking tubes with a large orifice. Thus, the animals appear to have regulated their fluid intake by proportionally adjusting their licking as a function of the lick volume. On average, this regulation occurred through modulation of the size of licking bursts and not their frequency. However, strain differences in compensation strategy were observed. When licking was restricted to a series of 5-s trials in a 30-min brief access test session, the smaller orifice size increased the range of responsiveness that was expressed. Mice increased their average licks per trial by 20% and took 60% more trials when licking from a spout with a small orifice. Interestingly, when the orifice size was quasi-randomly varied within a brief access session, licking was greater from large orifice drinking spouts, suggesting that water delivered from the two orifice sizes differs in its reinforcement efficacy. These findings demonstrate that drinking spout orifice size can significantly influence experimental outcomes in licking tests involving mice and care should be taken in controlling this variable in testing the effects of taste or other factors on ingestive behavior.     

Identification of antigenic epitopes in the haemagglutinin protein of H7 avian influenza virus

ABSTRACT

The H7 subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) has been reported to infect not only poultry but also humans. The haemagglutinin (HA) protein is the major surface antigen of AIV and plays an important role in viral infection. In this study, five monoclonal antibodies (mAbs, 2F8, 3F6, 5C11, 5E2 and 5C12) against the HA protein of H7 virus were produced and characterized. Epitope mapping indicated that ¹⁰³RESGSS¹⁰⁷ was the minimal linear epitope recognized by the mAbs 2F8/3F6/5C11, and mAbs 5E2/5C12 recognized the epitope 103-145aa. The protein sequence alignment of HA indicated that the two epitopes were not found in other subtypes of AIV, and none of the five mAbs cross-reacted with other subtypes, suggesting these mAbs are specific to H7 virus. The epitope ¹⁰³RESGSS¹⁰⁷ was highly conserved among Eurasian lineage strains of H7 AIV, whereas three amino acid substitutions (E104R, E104K and E104G) in the epitope occurred in 98.44% of North-American lineage strains. Any of these single mutations prevented the mutated epitope from being recognized by mAbs 2F8/3F6/5C11; thus, these mAbs can distinguish between Eurasian and North-American lineages of H7 strains. Furthermore, the mAbs 2F8, 3F6 and 5C11 could be highly blocked with H7-positive serum in blocking assays, revealing that ¹⁰³RESGSS¹⁰⁷ may be a dominant epitope stimulating the production of antibodies during viral infection. These results may facilitate future investigations into the structure and function of HA protein, as well as surveillance and detection of H7 virus.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

• Five mAbs against HA protein of H7 AIV were generated and characterized.

• Two novel epitopes ¹⁰³RESGSS¹⁰⁷ and 103-145aa were identified.

• The epitope ¹⁰³RESGSS¹⁰⁷ differs between Eurasian and North-American lineages.

• The mAbs 2F8, 3F6 and 5C11 could distinguish two lineages of H7 strains.

     

Determination of rate-constants as a method to describe passive expiration

To describe the relaxed expiration by a two-compartment model, we introduced a gas/energy transfer between the lung compartment (V₁) and a second one (V₂). If V₂ were a real volume, the rate-constants (i.e. the flow/volume ratios) of the compartments would describe a real gas-exchange. Alternatively, if a viscoelastic behaviour of the lung or an energy-exchange between compartments was simulated, V₂ would become a "pseudo-volume". We studied nine mechanically ventilated subjects. Changes in volume were transduced by respiratory inductive plethysmography. The rate-constants were assumed (together with the initial volumes of the compartments) as parameters to fit the total volume [V₁(t)+V₂(t)]. Once the best fitting was performed using these "physiological" parameters, the system was directly identified and the compartments were independently analysed. The time profile of the second compartment showed a maximum that depended on the value of the rate-constants. Appropriate tests confirmed the reliability of our procedure. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrated that the energy/volume of the second compartment may increase at the beginning of expiration and then decrease, showing a maximum, even though the total curve can only be a decreasing one. In other words, the slowing down of the curve representing expiratory volume is due not only to the longer emptying of the second compartment, but also to the interaction between the two compartments. As presently proposed, this interaction can be represented by either a gas exchange between two actual volumes, or a mechanical energy transfer between the lung and the tissue compartment.     

Multidimensional Chromatographic and Hyphenated Techniques for Hydrophilic Copolymers, 1

Summary: The chromatographic analysis of hydrophilic copolymers is complicated due to the fact that in most cases aqueous eluents must be used. In aqueous eluents different polar and ionic effects may disturb the selective interactions between the macromolecules and the stationary phase making it impossible to separate such copolymers with regard to chemical composition. Therefore, 2D chromatography combining a separation according to composition with a separation according to molar mass has been applied mostly to polymers that are soluble in organic solvents. The present contribution describes experimental approaches to analyze such hydrophilic copolymers by 2D‐chromatography. For a model polymer system resulting from the copolymerization of methacrylic acid and a poly(ethylene glycol) macromonomer, it is shown that different analytical techniques including SEC, LC‐CC, MALDI‐TOF MS and 2D chromatography can be used to analyze the different parameters of molecular heterogeneity of such copolymers.

2D separation of poly(MPEG‐MM 2), 1^st dimension: LC‐CC, 2^nd dimension: SEC.     

Analysis of dynamic cerebral autoregulation using an ARX model based on arterial blood pressure and middle cerebral artery velocity simulation

The study aimed to model the cerebrovascular system, using a linear ARX model based on data simulated by a comprehensive physiological model, and to assess the range of applicability of linear parametric models. Arterial blood pressure (ABP) and middle cerebral arterial blood flow velocity (MCAV) were measured from 11 subjects non-invasively, following step changes in ABP, using the thigh cuff technique. By optimising parameters associated with autoregulation, using a non-linear optimisation technique, the physiological model showed a good performance (r=0.83±0.14) in fitting MCAV. An additional five sets of measured ABP of length 236±154 s were acquired from a subject at rest. These were normalised and rescaled to coefficients of variation (CV=SD/mean) of 2% and 10% for model comparisons. Randomly generated Gaussian noise with standard deviation (SD) from 1% to 5% was added to both ABP and physiologically simulated MCAV (SMCAV), with ‘normal’ and ‘impaired’ cerebral autoregulation, to simulate the real measurement conditions. ABP and SMCAV were fitted by ARX modelling, and cerebral autoregulation was quantified by a 5 s recovery percentage R5% of the step responses of the ARX models. The study suggests that cerebral autoregulation can be assessed by computing the R5% of the step response of an ARX model of appropriate order, even when measurement noise is considerable.