Raising and Maintaining from Tadpole to Adult.

is a powerful model organism for cell and developmental biology research. Recently, precise gene-editing methods such as CRISPR-Cas9 have allowed facile creation of mutants. The ability to raise and maintain lines of wild-type and mutant animals through all life stages is thus critical for researchers using this model organism.

Cancer Drug Toxicity: Moving from Patient to Survivor.

Millions of individuals worldwide are living with cancer and have remained disease-free for more than 5 years. These individuals are considered to be cancer survivors. The advent of new targeted therapies and personalized treatment modalities have contributed to this increased survivorship.

Seasonality of fire weather strongly influences fire regimes in South Florida savanna-grassland landscapes.

Fire seasonality, an important characteristic of fire regimes, commonly is delineated using seasons based on single weather variables (rainfall or temperature). We used nonparametric cluster analyses of a 17-year (1993-2009) data set of weather variables that influence likelihoods and spread of fires (relative humidity, air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, soil moisture) to explore seasonality of fire in pine savanna-grassland landscapes at the Avon Park Air Force Range in southern Florida. A four-variable, three-season model explained more variation within fire weather variables than models with more seasons.

A structural equation model analysis of relationships among ENSO, seasonal descriptors and wildfires.

Seasonality drives ecological processes through networks of forcings, and the resultant complexity requires creative approaches for modeling to be successful. Recently ecologists and climatologists have developed sophisticated methods for fully describing seasons. However, to date the relationships among the variables produced by these methods have not been analyzed as networks, but rather with simple univariate statistics.

Relationship between soil cellulose decomposition and oil contamination after an oil spill at Swanson Creek, Maryland.

In wetlands, oil spills may affect decomposition in soils, which controls organic matter accumulation, the primary contributor to positive elevation change. In this study we examined how oil from a spill affected organic matter decomposition in soils of a brackish intertidal marsh in Maryland. Decomposition was measured using the cellulose (cotton) strip technique.

Use of enoxaparin in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Purpose: To determine whether low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) can be an alternative to unfractionated heparin (UH) for patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome (HIT).

Methods: The diagnosis of HIT was established in 126 patients by platelet aggregometry with UH (1 U/ml). These plasma samples were also tested for the ability to aggregate platelets in the presence of the LMWH enoxaparin (1 U/ml).

Role of platelet-activating factor in skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury.

These studies indicate that PAF, a known stimulator of aggregation, secretory and/or contractile activity of platelets, neutrophils, smooth muscle and other cells, is produced by skeletal muscle during IRI. The maximum increase occurs at 10 to 15 minutes and continues for at least an hour. Infusions of PAF into skeletal muscle subjected to 20 minutes of ischemia and 20 hours of reperfusion resulted in tissue necrosis similar to that produced by 5 hours of ischemia and 20 hours of reperfusion.

Neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser fusion of endarterectomy flaps.

Purpose: This study evaluated the efficacy of neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser welding of flaps in canine arteries and in securing the distal flap during human carotid endarterectomy.

Methods: Endarterectomy flaps were created in both common carotid and both common femoral arteries in 12 dogs. The flaps were repaired with either the neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser or with 6-0 polypropylene sutures.

Molecular marker analysis of genes controlling morphological variation in Brassica rapa (syn. campestris).

Construction of a detailed RFLP linkage map of B. rapa (syn. campestris) made it possible, for the first time, to study individual genes controlling quantitative traits in this species.

Comparison of RAPD and RFLP genetic markers in determining genetic similarity among Brassica oleracea L. genotypes.

Genetic similarity among 45 Brassica Oleracea genotypes was compared using two molecular markers, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). The genotypes included 37 broccolis (var. italica), five cauliflowers (var.

Genetic analysis of morphological variation in Brassica oleracea using molecular markers.

A cross between the open-pollinated Brassica oleracea cabbage cultivar 'Wisconsin Golden Acre' and the hybrid broccoli cultivar 'Packman' was used with molecular markers to investigate the genetic control of morphological variation. Twenty-two traits derived from leaf, stem, and flowering measurements were analyzed in 90 F2 individuals that were also classified for genotype by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. Seventy-two RFLP loci, which covered the mapped genome at an average of 10 map-unit intervals on all nine linkage groups, were tested individually for associations to phenotypic measurements by single factor ANOVA, and markers with significant associations (P<0.

Early mucosal and microvascular changes in feline intestinal transplants.

Background: Bowel transplantation in humans is being performed with increasing success, but little is known about the early physiological alterations occurring in the graft. The objectives of this study were to characterize the mucosal and microvascular alterations that occur in the early stages of reperfusion of small intestinal allografts after varying intervals of hypothermic preservation and to assess the role of reactive oxygen metabolites and leukocyte adhesion glycoproteins in mediating these alterations.

Methods: A feline model of small intestinal transplantation was developed in which ileal grafts underwent 0-24 hours of cold ischemia before reperfusion.

Absence of intestinal bile promotes bacterial translocation.

Previously, the authors documented that extrahepatic biliary obstruction promotes the systemic translocation of bacteria from the intestine to visceral tissues. The current experiments were performed to determine whether it was the absence of intestinal bile or the presence of biliary obstruction that promoted bacterial translocation. Four groups of rats were studied: 1) nonoperated controls (n = 20), sham common bile duct-ligated (n = 22), common bile duct-ligated (n = 25), and common bile duct-diverted (choledochovesical bypass) (n = 23).

A linkage map ofBrassica rapa (syn.campestris) based on restriction fragment length polymorphism loci.

A detailed linkage map ofB. rapa (syn.campestris) was constructed based on segregation of 280 restriction fragment length polymorphism loci, detected by using 188 genomic DNA clones as probes on DNAs from a F2 population of Chinese cabbage 'MichihilF'×'Spring broccoli.

Linkage arrangement of restriction fragment length polymorphism loci in Brassica oleracea.

A detailed genetic linkage map of Brassica oleracea was constructed based on the segregation of 258 restriction fragment length polymorphism loci in a broccoli × cabbage F2 population. The genetic markers defined nine linkage groups, covering 820 recombination units. A majority of the informative genomic DNA probes hybridized to more than two restriction fragments in the F2 population.

Hybrid Escherichia coli sensory transducers with altered stimulus detection and signaling properties.

The tar and tap loci of Escherichia coli encode methyl-accepting inner membrane proteins that mediate chemotactic responses to aspartate and maltose or to dipeptides. These genes lie adjacent to each other in the same orientation on the chromosome and have extensive sequence homology throughout the C-terminal portions of their coding regions. Many spontaneous deletions in the tar-tap region appear to be generated by recombination between these regions of homology, leading to gene fusions that produce hybrid transducer molecules in which the N terminus of Tar is joined to the C terminus of Tap.

Construction of genetic linkage maps in maize and tomato using restriction fragment length polymorphisms.

Genetic linkage maps were constructed for both maize and tomato, utilizing restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) as the source of genetic markers. In order to detect these RFLPs, unique DNA sequence clones were prepared from either maize or tomato tissue and hybridized to Southern blots containing restriction enzyme-digested genomic DNA from different homozygous lines. A subsequent comparison of the RFLP inheritance patterns in F2 populations from tomato and maize permitted arrangement of the loci detected by these clones into genetic linkage groups for both species.

Genetics of methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins in Escherichia coli: null phenotypes of the tar and tap genes.

The tar and tap genes are located adjacent to one another in an operon of chemotaxis-related functions. They encode methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins implicated in tactic responses to aspartate and maltose stimuli. The functional roles of these two gene products were investigated by isolating and characterizing nonpolar, single-gene deletion mutants at each locus.

Restriction fragment polymorphisms as probes for plant diversity and their development as tools for applied plant breeding.

Maize and tomato cDNA clones have been hybridized in Southern blotting experiments to plant genomic DNA prepared from different lines to detect restriction fragment polymorphisms (RFPs). In maize we have found that a high degree of genetic variability is present, even among domestic inbred lines. Most randomly chosen maize cDNA clones can be used to detect elements of this variability.

Genetics of methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins in Escherichia coli: organization of the tar region.

The tar locus of Escherichia coli specifies one of the major species of methyl-accepting proteins involved in the chemotactic behavior of this organism. The physical and genetic organization of the tar region was investigated with a series of specialized lambda transducing phages and plasmid clones. The tar gene was mapped at the promoter-proximal end of an operon containing five other chemotaxis-related loci.

Realignment of the genetic map of the terminus of the rIIB cistron of bacteriophage T4.

Duplication end-point mapping in the rIIB cistron indicates that the order of the BS-B10b segments is the inverse of that presented in Benzer's (1961) genetic maps. This findings is supported by two- and three-factor crosses and the phenotypes of rII deletions extending into the D region.