Natural Genetic Variation in Complex Mating Behaviors of Male <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis>

Mating behavior, including courtship and copulation, is a main component of male fitness, especially in species with no parental care. Variation in this behavior can thus be a target for mate choice and sexual selection, and can lead to evolution. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has well-documented complex male courtship comprised of a sequence behaviors, and is an ideal model for behavior-genetic analysis. In order to evaluate genetic differences in the temporal pattern of mating behavior, we developed a high-throughput method that allows us to document the progression of male courtship and copulation using an ordinal scale (male mating progression scale, MMP). Using this method, we document natural genetic variation in the temporal pattern of behavior that was not detected using other metrics. This method was robust enough to detect genetic variation in this trait for males placed with both virgin and mated female targets.     

Patterns of invasion and histological growth as prognostic indicators in urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract

The biological significance of squamous and glandular differentiation and different patterns of invasion in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma is unclear. We reviewed 268 cases of consecutive upper urinary tract carcinomas with respect to the presence of squamous and/or glandular differentiation and different patterns of invasion (nodular, trabecular, and infiltrative) and correlated data with patient outcome. Squamous or glandular differentiation occurred in 47/268 (18%) tumors and its presence correlated with high tumor stage (P<0.001) and grade (P<0.001). Invasive patterns were nodular in 49/227 (22%), trabecular in 95/227 (42%), and infiltrative in 83/227 (37%) tumors. The nodular pattern prevailed in low stage (P<0.001) and low-grade (P<0.001) tumors, whereas the infiltrative pattern prevailed in high stage (P<0.001) and high-grade (P<0.001) tumors. Multivariate analysis proved that tumor stage (P<0.001) and the infiltrative pattern (P<0.001) are independent predictors of metastasis-free survival, whereas tumor grade and squamous and glandular differentiation lacked independent influence on patient outcome. In conclusion, the infiltrative pattern of invasion significantly correlated with advanced disease and poor patient outcome. In contrast, the presence of squamous and/or glandular invasion did not prove independent influence on patient outcome. The pattern of invasion should be commented upon separately in the pathology report.     

ON-OFF units in the mustached bat inferior colliculus are selective for transients resembling “acoustic glint” from fluttering insect targets

Summary Of 311 single units studied in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) in 18 mustached bats (Pteronotus parnelli), a small but significantopulation (13%) of cells with on-off discharge patterns to tone bursts at best frequency (BF) was found in the dorsoposterior division. In contrast to units with the same BF's but other discharge patterns, the majority of ON-OFF units were unresponsive to sinusoidally amplitudemodulated tone bursts (SAM). To define the contribution of linear and nonlinear components to the responses of ICC neurons to amplitude modulation, we tested some of these neurons with a long, seamlessly repeating pseudorandom sequence of ternary amplitude-modulated tones at BF. Wiener-like kernels were subsequently derived from cross-correlation of spikes with acoustic events in the sequence. These kernels provided estimates of neural impulse responses that proved unusual in SAM-unresponsive ON-OFF units. First, their estimated impulse response had no linear component. Second, the predicted second-order impulse responses to both increments and decrements in stimulus intensity were long (about 20 ms) and nearly identical in shape: triphasic, with the positive phase bounded by leading and trailing negative periods. The similar shape of responses to increments and decrements in these neurons suggests a full-wave rectifier. The triphasic, initially negative condorder prediction of the impulse response accounted for an unusual result in experiments measuring the recovery cycle of ON-OFF units using a pair of identical stimulus pulses separated by various time delays. This recovery cycle can be related to their response to amplitude modulation. As the delay between two brief, near-threshold BF tone bursts decreased, the response to the first tone diminished, rather than to the second. The second-order prediction of this experiment derived from impulse responses obtained with pseudorandom noise suggests that, at short interpulse intervals, the initial negative phase of the response to the later stimulus cancels the positive phase of the response to the first. Such cancellation at short interpulse intervals may help explain why the majority of ON-OFF units are unresponsive to SAM. The unusual properties of these ON-OFF units make them ideally suited to respond selectively to infrequent acoustic transients superimposed on an ongoing background of modulation. Such patterns are commonly encountered by mustached bats foraging in cluttered habitats for small, fluttering insects, which generate acoustic glints upon a background of modulated echoes from the surroundings (Schnitzler et al. 1983; Henson et al. 1987).     

A pattern search method for putative anchor residues in T cell epitopes

The binding affinity between an antigenic peptide and its particular major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule seems to be largely determined by only a few residues. These residues have been called “anchors” because of their property of fitting into “pockets” inside the groove of the MHC molecule. To predict natural antigenic epitopes within a longer sequence, it therefore appears to be important to know the motif or pattern describing the anchors, i.e. the anchors amino acid residue preference and the distance between anchor residues. A large set of MHC class I-restricted peptides has been described. Peptide sequences vary in length and lack an obvious common sequence motif. For a list of peptides belonging to one type of MHC class I molecule, we describe a method to find the most prominent sequence motif with at least two anchor residues. Briefly, antigenic sequences are aligned, and two anchor positions are searched for, where all anchor residues share a high similarity. The alignments are scored according to the similarity of their anchor residues. We show that the motifs predicted for the MHC alleles A2.1, B27, K^b, K^d, D^b are in substantial agreement with experimental data. We derive binding motifs for the MHC class I alleles HLA-A1, All, B8, B14, H-2L^d and for the MHC class II alleles I-A^b and I-A^s. In some cases, higher scores were obtained by allowing a slight variation in the number of residues between anchors. Therefore, we support the view that the length of epitopes belonging to a particular class I MHC is not uniform. This method can be used to predict the natural short epitope inside longer antigenic peptides and to predict the epitopes anchor residues. Anchor motifs can be used to search for antigenic regions in sequences of infectious viruses, bacteria and parasites.     

Concurrent validation of an index to estimate fall risk in community dwelling seniors through a wireless sensor insole system: A pilot study

Falls are a major health problem for older adults with immediate effects, such as fractures and head injuries, and longer term effects including fear of falling, loss of independence, and disability. The goals of the WIISEL project were to develop an unobtrusive, self-learning and wearable system aimed at assessing gait impairments and fall risk of older adults in the home setting; assessing activity and mobility in daily living conditions; identifying decline in mobility performance and detecting falls in the home setting. The WIISEL system was based on a pair of electronic insoles, able to transfer data to a commercially available smartphone, which was used to wirelessly collect data in real time from the insoles and transfer it to a backend computer server via mobile internet connection and then onwards to a gait analysis tool. Risk of falls was calculated by the system using a novel Fall Risk Index (FRI) based on multiple gait parameters and gait pattern recognition. The system was tested by twenty-nine older users and data collected by the insoles were compared with standardized functional tests with a concurrent validity approach. The results showed that the FRI captures the risk of falls with accuracy that is similar to that of conventional performance-based tests of fall risk. These preliminary findings support the idea that theWIISEL system can be a useful research tool and may have clinical utility for long-term monitoring of fall risk at home and in the community setting.     

HOSTILITY AS A MODERATOR OF PHYSICAL REACTIVITY AND RECOVERY TO STRESS

This experiment was designed to assess differences in physiological reactivity and recovery to stress among low- and high-hostile men. Specifically, 25 low- and 25 high-hostile undergraduates were identified using the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (Cook & Medley, 1954). To ensure homogeneity, all subjects were right-handed and had a general right hemibody preference, as indicated by a score of +7 or higher on the Coren, Porac, and Duncan Laterality Test (Corer, Porac, & Duncan, 1979). All subjects underwent a traditional cold-pressor stressor test. Physiological measures heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were recorded before the stressor (Prestress), after the stressor (Poststress), and then again 9 min later (Recovery). Increased physiological arousal between pre- and poststress measurements was used as an indicator of reactivity. Subsequent decreases in physiological arousal were used as recover measures. Given the current models of negative emotion and hostility, it was expected that high-hostiles, relative to low-hostiles, would evidence increased physio logical arousal and decreased recovery to stress. Interestingly, high-hostiles experienced significantly greater reactivity to stress in heart rate only, and no group differences were found with regard to recovery. Results are discussed in terms of previous research and current models of emotion.     

基于信息熵的乙肝后肝硬化证素提取及病机分析

目的:提取乙肝后肝硬化证候要素(证素)并分析其组成及分布规律,探讨肝硬化的病机特点。方法:收集294例病毒性乙型肝炎(乙肝)后肝硬化患者的四诊资料,采用基于信息熵的复杂系统划分方法(信息熵法)提取证候要素(证素),确定症状贡献度,并通过诊断阈值,分析乙肝后肝硬化证素组成及分布规律。结果:乙肝后肝硬化患者存在着脾虚、肾气虚、肝阴虚、痰湿、气滞、肝郁、湿热7个主要证素,并有1个至多个证素存在,其中脾虚、气滞、湿热出现频率较高。结论:信息熵法可以用于乙肝后肝硬化证候要素的提取。乙肝后肝硬化的病机复杂,其中脾虚、气滞、湿热可能是其主要的病机因素。     

高压氧综合治疗对非动脉炎性前部缺血性视神经病变患者的临床疗效

目的:探讨高压氧综合治疗非动脉炎性前部缺血性视神经病变(non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy,NAION)患者的临床疗效。方法:选取2017年1月至2019年1月郑州市第二人民医院收治的NAION患者110例,采用随机数字表法将患者分为对照组(55例)和高压氧...     

肾外型肾盂-1种正常肾盂形态

目的：进一步明确影像诊断中肾盂正常形态的影像表现及分型。方法：对1240例静脉肾盂造影患者影像中的肾盂形态，采用3人阅片的方式确立肾盂形态，其中120例又进行了B超和CT的对照检查。结果：按肾盂所处于的位置可分为肾内型肾盂和肾外型肾盂；就其形态可为常见型、分枝型、壶腹型和移行型。结论：肾外型肾盂是一种正常的肾盂形态，肾外型肾盂并不罕见。     

Imaging strategy and outcome following partial nephrectomy

Objectives

The aim of this study was to analyze the outcomes of surveillance after partial nephrectomy (PN) in a single institution and the relevance of imaging studies in detecting recurrence.