Novel evolutionary pathways of sex-determining mechanisms.

Evolutionary transitions between sex-determining mechanisms (SDMs) are an enigma. Among vertebrates, individual sex (male or female) is primarily determined by either genes (genotypic sex determination, GSD) or embryonic incubation temperature (temperature-dependent sex determination, TSD), and these mechanisms have undergone repeated evolutionary transitions. Despite this evolutionary lability, transitions from GSD (i.

Functional characterization and multimodal imaging of treatment-naive "quiescent" choroidal neovascularization.

Purpose: To investigate the multimodal morphological and functional characteristics of treatment-naïve "quiescent" choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to AMD.

Methods: Eleven patients with treatment-naïve "quiescent" CNV that consecutively presented over a 6-month period, underwent multimodal morphological and functional assessment (including indocyanine green angiography [ICGA], spectral-domain optical coherence tomography [SD-OCT], microperimetry, and preferential hyperacuity perimeter [PHP]). For the purpose of this study, asymptomatic previously untreated CNVs showing absence of intraretinal/subretinal exudation in two consecutive visits (at least 6 months apart) were defined as treatment-naïve "quiescent" CNV.

FOXL2: a central transcription factor of the ovary.

Forkhead box L2 (FOXL2) is a gene encoding a forkhead transcription factor preferentially expressed in the ovary, the eyelids and the pituitary gland. Its germline mutations are responsible for the blepharophimosis ptosis epicanthus inversus syndrome, which includes eyelid and mild craniofacial defects associated with primary ovarian insufficiency. Recent studies have shown the involvement of FOXL2 in virtually all stages of ovarian development and function, as well as in granulosa cell (GC)-related pathologies.

Depression, social factors, and farmworker health care utilization.

Purpose: Farmworkers frequently live in rural areas and experience high rates of depressive symptoms. This study examines the association between elevated depressive symptoms and health care utilization among Latino farmworkers.

Methods: Data were obtained from 2,905 Latino farmworkers interviewed for the National Agricultural Workers Survey.

Appearance of regressing drusen on optical coherence tomography in age-related macular degeneration.

Objective: To describe and interpret a multilaminar sub-retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) intense hyper-reflectivity observed in vivo in eyes clinically diagnosed with regressing drusen.

Design: Observational case series.

Participants: Twenty-three consecutive patients clinically diagnosed with regressing calcific drusen due to nonneovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Impact of reticular pseudodrusen on macular function.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of reticular pseudodrusen on macular function using microperimetry.

Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients (18 eyes) with reticular pseudodrusen (Group 1), and without medium/large drusen, underwent microperimetry. Eighteen age-matched and sex-matched subjects (18 eyes) with typical drusen and without pseudodrusen (Group 2) also underwent microperimetry.

Structure of the mammalian ribosomal 43S preinitiation complex bound to the scanning factor DHX29.

Eukaryotic translation initiation begins with assembly of a 43S preinitiation complex. First, methionylated initiator methionine transfer RNA (Met-tRNAi(Met)), eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 2, and guanosine triphosphate form a ternary complex (TC). The TC, eIF3, eIF1, and eIF1A cooperatively bind to the 40S subunit, yielding the 43S preinitiation complex, which is ready to attach to messenger RNA (mRNA) and start scanning to the initiation codon.

Molecular cytogenetic map of the central bearded dragon, Pogona vitticeps (Squamata: Agamidae).

Reptiles, as the sister group to birds and mammals, are particularly valuable for comparative genomic studies among amniotes. The Australian central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is being developed as a reptilian model for such comparisons, with whole-genome sequencing near completion. The karyotype consists of 6 pairs of macrochromosomes and 10 pairs microchromosomes (2n = 32), including a female heterogametic ZW sex microchromosome pair.

Product Registration in Developing Countries: A Proposal for an Integrated Regional Licensing System Among Countries in Regional Economic Blocs.

The product pipeline for diseases that disproportionately affect the developing world has considerably expanded over the last decade. Indeed, there are about 134 products for these diseases in the pipeline, including vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, microbicides, and vector control tools, and dozens of these products are currently being evaluated in human trials in developing countries where the disease of interest exists. While these efforts are underway, the need to identify regulatory pathways for licensing these new products is becoming obvious to many manufacturers.

Resolving the phylogenetic history of the short-necked turtles, genera Elseya and Myuchelys (Testudines: Chelidae) from Australia and New Guinea.

Phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of the short-necked turtles of the genera Elseya, Myuchelys, and Emydura in Australia and New Guinea have long been debated as a result of conflicting hypotheses supported by different data sets and phylogenetic analyses. To resolve this contentious issue, we analyzed sequences from two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and ND4) and one nuclear intron gene (R35) from all species of the genera Elseya, Myuchelys, Emydura, and their relatives. Phylogenetic analyses using three methods (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference) produce a single, well resolved, and strongly corroborated hypothesis, which provides support for the three genera, with the exception that the genus Myuchelys is paraphyletic - Myuchelys purvisi is the sister taxon to the remaining Elseya, Myuchelys and Emydura.

How bad metals turn good: spectroscopic signatures of resilient quasiparticles.

We investigate transport in strongly correlated metals. Within dynamical mean-field theory, we calculate the resistivity, thermopower, optical conductivity and thermodynamic properties of a hole-doped Mott insulator. Two well-separated temperature scales are identified: T(FL) below which Landau Fermi liquid behavior applies, and T(MIR) above which the resistivity exceeds the Mott-Ioffe-Regel value and bad-metal behavior is found.

A Review of Regulatory Mechanisms Used by the WHO, EU, and US to Facilitate Access to Quality Medicinal Products in Developing Countries With Constrained Regulatory Capacities.

Adequate medicine regulation requires nations to establish robust regulatory agencies that will subject all pharmaceutical products to pre- and postmarketing evaluation. These agencies are essential for any country wishing to ensure that the medicinal products it authorizes for use in its territory meet internationally agreed standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. Many developing nations, however, lack regulatory systems that can guarantee this set of requirements.

High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of the Trypanosoma brucei ribosome.

Ribosomes, the protein factories of living cells, translate genetic information carried by messenger RNAs into proteins, and are thus involved in virtually all aspects of cellular development and maintenance. The few available structures of the eukaryotic ribosome reveal that it is more complex than its prokaryotic counterpart, owing mainly to the presence of eukaryote-specific ribosomal proteins and additional ribosomal RNA insertions, called expansion segments. The structures also differ among species, partly in the size and arrangement of these expansion segments.

Affinity grid-based cryo-EM of PKC binding to RACK1 on the ribosome.

Affinity grids (AG) are specialized EM grids that bind macromolecular complexes containing tagged proteins to obtain maximum occupancy for structural analysis through single-particle EM. In this study, utilizing AG, we show that His-tagged activated PKC βII binds to the small ribosomal subunit (40S). We reconstructed a cryo-EM map which shows that PKC βII interacts with RACK1, a seven-bladed β-propeller protein present on the 40S and binds in two different regions close to blades 3 and 4 of RACK1.

Effect of envelope proteins on the mechanical properties of influenza virus.

The envelope of the influenza virus undergoes extensive structural change during the viral life cycle. However, it is unknown how lipid and protein components of the viral envelope contribute to its mechanical properties. Using atomic force microscopy, here we show that the lipid envelope of spherical influenza virions is ∼10 times softer (∼0.

Salinity of incubation media influences embryonic development of a freshwater turtle.

Variations in water potential have marked effects on aspects of embryological development in reptiles. Therefore variation in the salinity of the incubation environment is likely to have significant consequences on the early life stage. The combination of an extended incubation period, coupled with the real threat of soil salinisation within their range makes Chelodina expansa an ideal model to assess the influence of salinity on turtle embryology.

Interaction-induced impeding of decoherence and anomalous diffusion.

We study how the interplay of dissipation and interactions affects the dynamics of a bosonic many-body quantum system. In the presence of both dissipation and strongly repulsive interactions, observables such as the coherence and the density fluctuations display three dynamical regimes: an initial exponential variation followed by a power-law regime, and finally a slow exponential convergence to their asymptotic values. These very long-time scales arise as dissipation forces the population of states disfavored by interactions.

Origin of the high Néel temperature in SrTcO3.

We investigate the origin of the high Néel temperature recently found in Tc4+ perovskites. The electronic structure in the magnetic state of SrTcO3 and its 3d analogue SrMnO3 is calculated within a framework combining band-structure and many-body methods. In agreement with experiment, for SrTcO3 a smaller magnetic moment and 4 times larger Néel temperature are found.

Impact of the reference values on the clinically-relevant cut-offs. The example of cortisol testing in children.

Background: After modification of our routine cortisol assay, we questioned the reference ranges for basal and stimulated cortisol plasma concentration in children.

Methods: We retrospectively addressed the relevance of using the manufacturer's normal reference range for basal cortisol and investigated its response to glucagon-betaxolol testing.

Results: Basal morning cortisol was 260 (98-604) nmol/L [manufacturer's normal range (185-624) nmol/L: 26% subjects had "low" basal cortisol].

Discovery of novel protein partners of the transcription factor FOXL2 provides insights into its physiopathological roles.

FOXL2 transcription factor is responsible for the Blepharophimosis Ptosis Epicantus inversus Syndrome (BPES), a genetic disease involving craniofacial malformations often associated with ovarian failure. Recently, a somatic FOXL2 mutation (p.C134W) has been reported in >95% of adult-type granulosa cell tumors.

Janus-faced influence of Hund's rule coupling in strongly correlated materials.

We show that in multiband metals the correlations are strongly affected by Hund's rule coupling, which depending on the filling promotes metallic, insulating or bad-metallic behavior. The quasiparticle coherence and the proximity to a Mott insulator are influenced distinctly and, away from single- and half-filling, in opposite ways. A strongly correlated bad metal far from a Mott phase is found there.