LOUPING-ILL VIRUS SEROSURVEY OF WILLOW PTARMIGAN (LAGOPUS LAGOPUS LAGOPUS) IN NORWAY.

In Norway, the Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus lagopus) is experiencing population declines and is nationally Red Listed as Near Threatened. Although disease has not generally been regarded as an important factor behind population fluctuations for Willow Ptarmigan in Norway, disease occurrence has been poorly investigated. Both louping-ill virus (LIV) and the closely related tick-borne encephalitis virus are found along the southern part of the Norwegian coast.

Quantifying suitable late summer brood habitats for willow ptarmigan in Norway.

Background: Habitat models provide information about which habitat management should target to avoid species extinctions or range contractions. The willow ptarmigan inhabits alpine- and arctic tundra habitats in the northern hemisphere and is listed as near threatened (NT) in the Norwegian red list due to declining population size. Habitat alteration is one of several factors affecting willow ptarmigan populations, but there is a lack of studies quantifying and describing habitat selection in willow ptarmigan.

Improved catalyzed reporter deposition, iCARD.

Novel reporters have been synthesized with extended hydrophilic linkers that in combination with polymerizing cross-linkers result in very efficient reporter deposition. By utilizing antibodies to stain HER2 proteins in a cell line model it is demonstrated that the method is highly specific and sensitive with virtually no background. The detection of HER2 proteins in tissue was used to visualize individual antigens as small dots visible in a microscope.

Optimal protocol for PTEN immunostaining; role of analytical and preanalytical variables in PTEN staining in normal and neoplastic endometrial, breast, and prostatic tissues.

In some tumors, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) inactivation may have prognostic importance and predictive value for targeted therapies. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) may be an effective method to demonstrate PTEN loss. It was claimed that PTEN IHC showed poor reproducibility, lack of standardization, and variable effects of preanalytical factors.

Home range size variation in a recovering wolf population: evaluating the effect of environmental, demographic, and social factors.

Home range size in mammals is a key ecological trait and an important parameter in conservation planning, and has been shown to be influenced by ecological, demographic and social factors in animal populations. Information on space requirements is especially important for carnivore species which range over very large areas and often come into direct conflict with human interest. We used long-term telemetry-location data from a recovering wolf population in Scandinavia to investigate variation in home range size in relation to environmental and social characteristics of the different packs.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) immunoreactivity: specificity of three pharmacodiagnostic antibodies.

Aims: The availability of specific antibody-based test systems is essential to testing of HER2 protein expression. Here, we mapped epitopes recognized by three pharmacodiagnostic HER2 antibodies and investigated their specificity towards peptides and fusion proteins homologous to the intracellular domains of HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4. The investigated antibodies were PATHWAY(®) HER2 (clone 4B5; Ventana Medical Systems Inc.

Shoot, shovel and shut up: cryptic poaching slows restoration of a large carnivore in Europe.

Poaching is a widespread and well-appreciated problem for the conservation of many threatened species. Because poaching is illegal, there is strong incentive for poachers to conceal their activities, and consequently, little data on the effects of poaching on population dynamics are available. Quantifying poaching mortality should be a required knowledge when developing conservation plans for endangered species but is hampered by methodological challenges.

The Nature Index: a general framework for synthesizing knowledge on the state of biodiversity.

The magnitude and urgency of the biodiversity crisis is widely recognized within scientific and political organizations. However, a lack of integrated measures for biodiversity has greatly constrained the national and international response to the biodiversity crisis. Thus, integrated biodiversity indexes will greatly facilitate information transfer from science toward other areas of human society.

Mammostrat as a tool to stratify breast cancer patients at risk of recurrence during endocrine therapy.

Introduction: Patients with early-stage breast cancer, treated with endocrine therapy, have approximately 90% 5-year disease-free survival. However, for patients at higher risk of relapse despite endocrine therapy, additional adjuvant therapy, such as chemotherapy, may be indicated. The challenge is to prospectively identify such patients.

Histological grading of invasive breast carcinoma--a simplification of existing methods in a large conservation series with long-term follow-up.

Aims: To assess the validity of grading in the Edinburgh Breast Conservation Series; a consecutive cohort of 1812 early breast cancer patients treated by breast conservation and radiotherapy between 1981 and 1998 in a single specialist centre with > or =9 years' follow-up and full staging data.

Methods And Results: A single pathologist (J.St.

Severe inbreeding depression in a wild wolf (Canis lupus) population.

The difficulty of obtaining pedigrees for wild populations has hampered the possibility of demonstrating inbreeding depression in nature. In a small, naturally restored, wild population of grey wolves in Scandinavia, founded in 1983, we constructed a pedigree for 24 of the 28 breeding pairs established in the period 1983-2002. Ancestry for the breeding animals was determined through a combination of field data (snow tracking and radio telemetry) and DNA microsatellite analysis.

Identification of RAS-mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway modulators in an ERF1 redistribution screen.

The RAS-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway has a central role in regulating the proliferation and survival of both normal and tumor cells. This pathway has been 1 focus area for the development of anticancer drugs, resulting in several compounds, primarily kinase inhibitors, in clinical testing. The authors have undertaken a cell-based, high-throughput screen using a novel ERF1 Redistribution assay to identify compounds that modulate the signaling pathway.

High content screening for G protein-coupled receptors using cell-based protein translocation assays.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been one of the most productive classes of drug targets for several decades, and new technologies for GPCR-based discovery promise to keep this field active for years to come. While molecular screens for GPCR receptor agonist- and antagonist-based drugs will continue to be valuable discovery tools, the most exciting developments in the field involve cell-based assays for GPCR function. Some cell-based discovery strategies, such as the use of beta-arrestin as a surrogate marker for GPCR function, have already been reduced to practice, and have been used as valuable discovery tools for several years.

Identification of Akt pathway inhibitors using redistribution screening on the FLIPR and the IN Cell 3000 analyzer.

The PI3-kinase/Akt pathway is an important cell survival pathway that is deregulated in the majority of human cancers. Despite the apparent druggability of several kinases in the pathway, no specific catalytic inhibitors have been reported in the literature. The authors describe the development of a fluorometric imaging plate reader (FLIPR)-based Akt1 translocation assay to discover inhibitors of Akt1 activation.

GENETIC VARIATION AND TERRITORIALITY IN WILLOW PTARMIGAN (LAGOPUS LAGOPUS LAGOPUS).

We examined eight polymorphic esterase loci in 526 juvenile and adult willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus lagopus) collected during autumn and spring over five years. The genetic structure of territorial birds during spring differed from birds on the study area in autumn. This can not be explained by selective winter mortality since juvenile birds in the autumn had the same genetic structure as the adults who had lived through at least one winter.