First Appearance (first + appearance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Life Sciences


Selected Abstracts


Islam and Human Rights: A Case of Deceptive First Appearances

JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 2 2002
Daniel Price
It is a common belief that Islamic-based government, when serving as an ideological foundation for government, facilitates the poor protection of human rights. However, most studies of the relationship between Islam and individual rights have been at the theoretical and anecdotal levels. In this article, I test the relationship between Islam and human rights across a sample of 23 predominately Muslim countries and a control group of non-Muslim developing nations, while controlling for other factors that have been shown to affect human rights practices. I found that the influence of Islamic political culture on government has a statistically insignificant relationship with the protection of human rights. [source]


Innovation and evolution at the edge: origins and fates of gastropods with a labral tooth

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2001
GÉERAT J. VERMEIJ
I combined data from the taxonomy, phytogeny, functional morphology, biogeography, and fossil record of gastropods to probe the origins, distribution, and fates of predatory gastropod clades characterized by the presence of a labral tooth, a downwardly projecting tooth or spine formed at the edge of the outer lip of the shell. A labral tooth occurs in at least 608 species, of which 251 are Recent. Studies of the type and position of the labral tooth, along with other characters, indicate that the labral tooth has evolved independently at least 58 times, beginning in the Campanian epoch of the late Cretaceous. The labral tooth plays a more or less active part in predation on relatively large prey animals that are protected by a hard skeleton. In the Recent fauna, tooth-bearing species are overwhelmingly warm-temperate to tropical in distribution (240 of 251 species; 96%). Within Muricidae (excluding Coralliophilinae), however, there is no discernible latitudinal gradient in the number of tooth-bearing species relative to total regional diversity. First appearances of clades with a labral tooth are overwhelmingly concentrated in the late Oligocene to Pleistocene interval, with the largest number appearing during the early Miocene (12 clades). The temporal pattern differs significantly from that expected on the basis of the number of faunas available per time interval, and is therefore not an artifact of sampling or fossil preservation. The most consistent factor associated with, and permitting the repeated evolution of, the labral tooth is high planktonic primary productivity. Two factors may account for the link between primary productivity and the evolution of labral téeth: (1) the general economic opportunity afforded by ready availability of an access to nutrients, and (2) the greater abundance and sizes range of available suspension-féeding prey animals. Incumbency,the presence of already well-adapted species,often controls evolutionary opportunity. The complementary distributions of major tooth-bearing clades in many parts of the world point to the role of well-adapted incumbents in limiting the adaptive exploration by other clades that could in principle evolve a labral tooth. The elimination of incumbents by extinction, however, does not provide opportunities for other clades to fill the adaptive void. [source]


,First' appearances in the Cenozoic land-mammal record of the Greater Antilles: significance and comparison with South American and Antarctic records

JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2005
R.D.E. MacPhee
Abstract Aim, Through analysis of fossil records, the aim of this paper is to show that fossil representatives of at least three land-mammal clades (pitheciine atelid primates, heteropsomyine echimyid rodents, and megalonychid phyllophagan xenarthrans) that once lived in the Greater Antilles are as old as, if not older than, ,first' occurrences of these same groups on the South American mainland. Location, Greater Antilles, South America, Antarctic Peninsula. Methods, Analysis of Cenozoic land-mammal fossil records for the three areas. Results, Comparison reveals an interesting similarity to the Tertiary vertebrate palaeontological record for the Antarctic Peninsula (Seymour Island), in the sense that the latter also includes early (Eocene) representatives of some typical ,South American' groups (e.g. meridiungulates, sloths, certain marsupial groups). Conclusions, Given how limited the Antillean and Antarctic records are in quantity and quality, it seems unlikely that these ,first' appearances have much bearing on real origins (basal divergences). Rather, it suggests that the fossil basis for interpreting the origin and earliest diversification of ,South American' clades during the latest Cretaceous/early Cenozoic is probably even scantier than generally realized. In particular, the Antillean record strengthens arguments that some crown-group continental lineages are considerably older than fossil evidence currently allows , a point increasingly (if unevenly) supported by molecular studies of many of the same clades. [source]


Effects of the presence of the father on pup development in California mice (Peromyscus californicus)

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2003
Mauro L. Vieira
Abstract Pup development and behavior in California mice were studied in litters housed with single mothers, or with fathers and mothers living together. Behavior of pups was recorded during a 15-min session every 2 days from 10 to 30 days of age. Physical contact, locomotion, grooming, and physical development indicators were recorded. It was found that the physical contact between siblings was greater and there was a tendency to have more contact between pup and either parent in the group in which the father was present. Finally, it was noted that the presence of the father did not affect either the first appearance of pup behavior during development or physical growth. In conclusion, the results indicate that the presence of the father had a greater influence on social contact between the different members of the litter than on pup behavioral development and physical growth. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 42: 246,251, 2003. [source]


Contrast Echocardiography: Clinical Utility

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 2000
Gerald Maurer M.D.
This article reviews the advances made by the echocardiography contrast agents from their first appearance in the early 1970s with homemade preparations up to the new generation of transpul-monary contrast agents made of small microbubbles capable of transversing the lung's capillary bed. The great progress in contrast agent development has kept pace with the progress made by echocar-diographic equipment, thus making the study of myocardial perfusion in the clinical settings a near-future reality. This article also discusses the medical need that myocardial contrast echo has the potential to satisfy. [source]


The combination of flow injection with electrophoresis using capillaries and chips

ELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 1 2009
Wen-juan Lü
Abstract The technique of combined flow injection CE (FI-CE) integrates the essential favorable merits of FI and CE. It utilizes the various excellent on-line sample pretreatments and preconcentration (such as cloud point extraction, SPE, ion-exchange, dynamic pH junction and head-column field-amplified sample stacking technique) of FI, which has the advantages of high speed, accuracy, precision and avoiding manual handling of sample and reagents. Therefore, the coupling of FI-CE is an attractive technique; it can significantly expand the application of CE and has achieved many publications since its first appearance. The basic principles, instrumental developments and applications of FI-CE system from 2006 to 2008 are reviewed. [source]


The Politics of Revision in Samuel Daniel's The Civil Wars

ENGLISH LITERARY RENAISSANCE, Issue 3 2008
Gillian Wright
Samuel Daniel's historical poem The Civil Wars has traditionally been regarded as a conservative text, committed in presentation and in practice to upholding the principle of hereditary right in monarchy. Such a view overlooks Daniel's many complex revisions to the poem between its first appearance in print in 1595 and the final,though still unfinished,version published in 1609. Comparative analysis of the different printed editions of the poem shows that between 1595 and 1609 Daniel's political priorities changed significantly, especially on the question of the role and legitimacy of kingship. Whereas the 1595 Civil Wars does indeed adopt a broadly conservative attitude to the rights of hereditary monarchs, the 1609 text of the poem no longer automatically endorses kingly authority but instead consistently privileges the monarch's commitment to the "publique good" and the just execution of the laws. This subtle but radical pattern of change culminates in Daniel's vignette of Elizabeth Grey and Edward IV (1609, Book VIII), which departs from the poet's sources in representing Grey's resistance to Edward's attempted seduction in explicitly politicized terms. This observable shift in Daniel's political values also foreshadows later aspects of his historiography in the prose Collection of the Historie of England (1618). (G.W.) [source]


SIMPEROTA 1/3 , a decision support system for blue mould disease of tobacco,

EPPO BULLETIN, Issue 2 2007
P. Racca
Blue mould (Peronospora tabacina) is the most serious threat to German tobacco crops. In order to efficiently control the disease whilst minimizing the risk of nontolerable fungicide residue levels on tobacco leaves, a decision support system has been developed which optimizes the timing of fungicide treatments. The DSS consists of two models, SIMPEROTA 1, which forecasts the dates of blue mould first appearance and SIMPEROTA 3 which forecasts the dates of fungicide applications. Crucial biological processes are included in the models (infection, mycelium growth, sporulation and spore release). Input parameters are temperature, relative humidity and leaf wetness recorded on an hourly basis. Validation with data from 2003 and 2006 showed that SIMPEROTA 1 gave satisfying results. The model is suitable for practical use and can be employed for steering monitoring efforts of extension services and for the timing of the first fungicide treatment. SIMPEROTA 3 gives advice on follow-up treatments and the length of spraying intervals, but this model needs to be validated before being introduced into practice. [source]


HEPATITIS C AND ADDICTION: Retention rate and side effects in a prospective trial on hepatitis C treatment with pegylated interferon alpha-2a and ribavirin in opioid-dependent patients

ADDICTION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Nina Ebner
ABSTRACT Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection is present in 30 to 98% of intravenous drug users. Intravenous substance abuse represents the main route of HCV transmission in industrialized countries. A multi-centre, randomized, controlled, prospective study assessed sustained virological response (SVR), adverse events such as depressive episodes and retention rate of HCV treatment in opioid-dependent patients. Stabilized, opioid-dependent patients with chronic HCV infection (genotype 2 or 3) received pegylated interferon alpha-2a in combination with ribavirin 800 mg/day (Group A) or 400 mg/day (Group B). Participants were randomized, blocked and stratified by genotype and viral load. A standardized psychiatric assessment, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Van Zerssen's list of complaints were administered at each study visit. In 31 months, 300 opioid-dependent patients were screened; 190 (63.3%) were hepatitis C antibody positive. According to study protocol, out of 75 ,potential-to-treat' patients with genotype 2 or 3, 17 stable patients (22.6%) were included in the study. All participants completed the study. Significant haemoglobin decreases occurred in both Groups A (P = 0.001) and B (P = 0.011). All the patients had an end-of-treatment (week 24) HCV RNA negativity. Fifteen (88.2%) achieved SVR at week 48. Overall, 52.9% developed depressive symptoms during treatment. Because of the prompt initiation of antidepressant medication at first appearance of depressive symptoms, no severe depressive episodes occurred. Our data show a high retention rate and reliability, and good viral response for both treatments. Hepatitis C treatment in stable opioid-dependent patients was efficacious, suggesting that addiction clinics can offer antiviral therapy in combination with agonistic treatment as part of multi-disciplinary treatment. [source]


Age-dependent cognitive decline in the APP23 model precedes amyloid deposition

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2003
Debby Van Dam
Abstract Heterozygous APP23 mice, expressing human amyloid-precursor protein with the Swedish double mutation and control littermates, were subjected to behavioral and neuromotor tasks at the age of 6,8 weeks, 3 and 6 months. A hidden-platform Morris-type water maze showed an age-dependent decline of spatial memory capacities in the APP23 model. From the age of 3 months onwards, the APP23 mice displayed major learning and memory deficits as demonstrated by severely impaired learning curves during acquisition and impaired probe trial performance. In addition to the cognitive deficit, APP23 mice displayed disturbed activity patterns. Overnight cage-activity recording showed hyperactivity in the transgenics for the three age groups tested. However, a short 2-h recording during dusk phase demonstrated lower activity levels in 6-month-old APP23 mice as compared to controls. Moreover, at this age, APP23 mice differed from control littermates in exploration and activity levels in the open-field paradigm. These findings are reminiscent of disturbances in circadian rhythms and activity observed in Alzheimer patients. Determination of plaque-associated human amyloid-,1,42 peptides in brain revealed a fivefold increase in heterozygous APP23 mice at 6 months as compared to younger transgenics. This increase coincided with the first appearance of plaques in hippocampus and neocortex. Spatial memory deficits preceded plaque formation and increase in plaque-associated amyloid-,1,42 peptides, but probe trial performance did correlate negatively with soluble amyloid-, brain concentration in 3-month-old APP23 mutants. Detectable plaque formation is not the (only) causal factor contributing to memory defects in the APP23 model. [source]


Terminal addition, the Cambrian radiation and the Phanerozoic evolution of bilaterian form

EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2005
David K. Jacobs
Summary We examine terminal addition, the process of addition of serial elements in a posterior subterminal growth zone during animal development, across modern taxa and fossil material. We argue that terminal addition was the basal condition in Bilateria, and that modification of terminal addition was an important component of the rapid Cambrian evolution of novel bilaterian morphology. We categorize the often-convergent modifications of terminal addition from the presumed ancestral condition. Our focus on terminal addition and its modification highlights trends in the history of animal evolution evident in the fossil record. These trends appear to be the product of departure from the initial terminal addition state, as is evident in evolutionary patterns within-fossil groups such as trilobites, but is also more generally related to shifts in types of morphologic change through the early Phanerozoic. Our argument is contingent on dates of metazoan divergence that are roughly convergent with the first appearance of metazoan fossils in the latest Proterozoic and Cambrian, as well as on an inference of homology of terminal addition across bilaterian Metazoa. [source]


The New Men's History and the Peculiar Absence of Gendered Power: Some Remedies from Early American Gender History

GENDER & HISTORY, Issue 1 2004
Toby L. Ditz
Historians with feminist commitments have expressed reservations about men's history and men's studies. This unease has existed more or less from the first appearance of men's history as a specialised area of inquiry, and shows no signs of abating. The first part of this article explores the sources of this unease. It discusses several guiding premises of men's history and shows that they tend to lead to the occlusion of men's gendered power over women. Nonetheless, the scrutiny of the gender of men is the logical outgrowth of several decades of theoretical and empirical work on gender,witness the many historians of women and gender who have recently turned their attention to the systematic study of manliness and masculinity. With the help of examples drawn from the scholarship on the history of the British colonies in America and the early United States, the second part of this article enumerates several strategies for successfully highlighting men's gendered power in histories of manliness and masculinity. [source]


Analysis of hopanes and steranes in single oil-bearing fluid inclusions using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)

GEOBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
S. SILJESTRÖM
Steranes and hopanes are organic biomarkers used as indicators for the first appearance of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria on Earth. Oil-bearing fluid inclusions may provide a contamination-free source of Precambrian biomarkers, as the oil has been secluded from the environment since the formation of the inclusion. However, analysis of biomarkers in single oil-bearing fluid inclusions, which is often necessary due to the presence of different generations of inclusions, has not been possible due to the small size of most inclusions. Here, we have used time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to monitor in real time the opening of individual inclusions trapped in hydrothermal veins of fluorite and calcite and containing oil from Ordovician source rocks. Opening of the inclusions was performed by using a focused C60+ ion beam and the in situ content was precisely analysed for C27,C29 steranes and C29,C32 hopanes using Bi3+ as primary ions. The capacity to unambiguously detect these biomarkers in the picoliter amount of crude oil from a single, normal-sized (15,30 ,m in diameter) inclusion makes the approach promising in the search of organic biomarkers for life's early evolution on Earth. [source]


Gideon Mantell's inaugural publication

GEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 6 2002
Anthony Brook
The Sussex-born scientific genius, Gideon Mantell (1790,1852), who died 150 years ago, gained fame as the discoverer of Iguanodon and other dinosaurian fossils, but it is a little-known fact that his very first appearance in print related to archaeology rather than geology. [source]


Environmental change and the phenology of European aphids

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 8 2007
RICHARD HARRINGTON
Abstract Aphids, because of their short generation time and low developmental threshold temperatures, are an insect group expected to respond particularly strongly to environmental changes. Forty years of standardized, daily data on the abundance of flying aphids have been brought together from countries throughout Europe, through the EU Thematic Network ,EXAMINE'. Relationships between phenology, represented by date of first appearance in a year in a suction trap, of 29 aphid species and environmental data have been quantified using the residual maximum likelihood (REML) methodology. These relationships have been used with climate change scenario data to suggest plausible changes in aphid phenology. In general, the date of first record of aphid species in suction traps is expected to advance, the rate of advance varying with location and species, but averaging 8 days over the next 50 years. Strong relationships between aphid phenology and environmental variables have been found for many species, but they are notably weaker in species living all year on trees. Canonical variate analysis and principal coordinate analysis were used to determine ordinations of the 29 species on the basis of the presence/absence of explanatory variables in the REML models. There was strong discrimination between species with different life cycle strategies and between species feeding on herbs and trees, suggesting the possible value of trait-based groupings in predicting responses to environmental changes. [source]


Bullous variant of Sweet's syndrome

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 11 2005
Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht MD
A 69-year-old woman presented to our clinic as an emergency with erythematous, well-circumscribed plaques, which were partly vesicular, on her extremities and in her armpits, and additionally hemorrhagic blisters on both her palms and her fingers (Fig. 1a), which had developed 2 days after the first appearance of the skin lesions. The rapid onset of the lesions (within a few hours) and the pain associated with them were extremely troublesome to the patient. On admission she complained of fever, tiredness and being easily fatigued. Because of a urinary tract infection 1 month prior to admission, trospiumchloride was given. On clinical examination, body temperature was found to be above 38 °C and infraclavicular lymph nodes were enlarged but not tender. Figure 1. (a) Bullae on the patient's right hand. (b) Multiple partly confluent vesicles with neutrophilic granulocytes intraepidermally and a dense interstitial perivascular infiltration of neutrophilic granulocytes and lymphomononuclear cells (H&E, ×200) Normal or negative laboratory tests included blood counts, liver and kidney parameters, electrolytes and infection screen. Laboratory examination demonstrated minor leukocytosis and absolute neutrophilia (white blood cell count 10 440 cells/µL, neutrophils 8030 cells/µL). X-ray screening, abdominal ultrasound and laboratory investigations were all normal. There was no response to antibiotics when erythromycine was given. However, there was a good response to systemic corticosteroids. The patient was treated with a low dosage of prednisolone, beginning at 50 mg/day, which was then tapered off. Skin lesions resolved within 7 days. Histology from a lesion on the patient's left forearm showed a dense interstitial inflammatory infiltration consisting predominantly of neutrophilic granulocytes from the subepidermal layer to the middle of the reticular dermis. Inflammatory cells penetrated into both blood vessels and vessel walls; vasculitis was not prominent. In the lower dermis, perivascular infiltrations of lymphomononuclear cells were found. In addition, intraepidermally multiple partly confluent vesicles, with inclusions of neutrophilic granulocytes, were found, confirming the diagnosis of this rare variant of an acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Fig. 1b). [source]


Mast cells in the amphibian brain during development

JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 3 2010
Claudia Pinelli
Abstract This is the first descriptive study of ontogenesis and anatomical distribution of mast cells in the developing brain of three different amphibian species. In the toad and the green frog, mast cells are preferentially located in: (i) the meningeal lining (pia mater), (ii) the choroid plexuses, both anterior and posterior, and (iii) the neuropil, in close association with the epithelial cell lining of blood vessels. It is only in the perennially aquatic African clawed frog that mast cells never appear inside brain ventricles and within the neuropil. Mast cells first become identifiable in brain of different species in different stages of development. While there are differences in the number of mast cells in different species at different stages of development, the number nearly doubles in all three species during the transition from pro-metamorphic stage of larval development to the peak of metamorphic climax. Furthermore, the number of mast cells is comparatively higher in the toad and remarkably lower in the fully aquatic Xenopus laevis, in which species the first appearance of identifiable mast cells during larval development occurs much later than in equivalent stages of development of the toad and the green frog. The secretory nature of mast cells can be assumed by the presence of cytoplasmic granules, which may show species-specific texture. Further experimental analyses are required to unveil the usefulness of mast cells in the amphibian brain. [source]


Process in the evolution of bird migration and pattern in avian ecogeography

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000
Christopher P. Bell
Current ideas about the evolution of bird migration equate its origin with the first appearance of fully migratory populations, and attribute its evolution to a selective advantage generated by increased breeding success, gained through temporary emigration from resident populations to breed in under-exploited seasonal areas. I propose an alternative hypothesis in which migration first appears as a temporary directional shift away from the breeding site outside the reproductive period, in response to seasonal variation in the direction and/or severity of environmental gradients. Fully migratory populations then appear through either extinction of sedentary phenotypes, or colonisation of vacant seasonal areas by migrants. Where colonisation occurs, resident ancestral populations can be driven to extinction by competition from migrants which invade their range outside the breeding season, resulting in fully migratory species. An analogous process drives the evolution of migration between high latitudes and the tropics, since extension of breeding range into higher latitudes may drive low latitude populations to extinction, resulting in an overall shift of breeding range. This process can explain reverse latitudinal gradients in avian diversity in the temperate zone, since the breeding ranges of migratory species concentrate in latitudes where they enjoy the highest breeding success. Near absence of forest-dwelling species among Palaearctic-African migrants is attributable to the lack of forest in northern Africa for much of the Tertiary, which has precluded selection both for southward extension of migration by west Palaearctic forest species, and northward breeding colonisation by African forest species. [source]


A Novel Early Onset Lethal Form of Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Maps to Chromosome 7p14-p22

JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 10 2007
Ph.D., ZAHURUL A. BHUIYAN M.D.
Introduction: Previously, autosomal dominant catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT [1]) was mapped to chromosome 1q42,43 with identification of pathogenic mutations in RYR2. Autosomal recessive CPVT (2) was mapped to chromosome 1p13,21, leading to the identification of mutations in CASQ2. In this study, we aimed to elucidate clinical phenotypes of a new variant of CPVT (3) in an inbred Arab family and also delineate the chromosomal location of the gene causing CPVT (3). Methods and Results: In a highly inbred family, clinical symptoms of CPVT appeared early in childhood (7,12 years) and in three of the four cases, the first appearance of symptoms turned into a fatal outcome. Parents of the affected children were first-degree cousins and without any symptoms. Segregation analysis suggested an autosomal recessive inheritance. A genome-wide search using polymorphic DNA markers mapped the disease locus to a 25-Mb interval on chromosome 7p14-p22. A maximal multipoint LOD score of 3.17 was obtained at marker D7S493. Sequencing of putative candidate genes, SP4, NPY, FKBP9, FKBP14, PDE1C, and TBX20, in and around this locus, did not reveal any mutation. Conclusions: We have identified a novel highly malignant autosomal recessive form of CPVT and mapped this disorder to a 25-Mb interval on chromosome 7p14-p22. [source]


Melting and melt segregation in the aureole of the Glenmore Plug, Ardnamurchan

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
M. B. HOLNESS
Abstract Contact metamorphism caused by the Glenmore plug in Ardnamurchan, a magma conduit active for 1 month, resulted in partial melting, with melt now preserved as glass. The pristine nature of much of the aureole provides a natural laboratory in which to investigate the distribution of melt. A simple thermal model, based on the first appearance of melt on quartz,feldspar grain boundaries, the first appearance of quartz paramorphs after tridymite and a plausible magma intrusion temperature, provides a time-scale for melting. The onset of melting on quartz,feldspar grain boundaries was initially rapid, with an almost constant further increase in melt rim thickness at an average rate of 0.5,1.0 × 10,9 cm s,1. This rate was most probably controlled by the distribution of limited amounts of H2O on the grain boundaries and in the melt rims. The melt in the inner parts of the aureole formed an interconnected grain-boundary scale network, and there is evidence for only limited melt movement and segregation. Layer-parallel segregations and cross-cutting veins occur within 0.6 m of the contact, where the melt volume exceeded 40%. The coincidence of the first appearance of these signs of the segregation of melt in parts of the aureole that attained the temperature at which melting in the Qtz,Ab,Or system could occur, suggests that internally generated overpressure consequent to fluid-absent melting was instrumental in the onset of melt movement. [source]


Environmental triggers of type 1 diabetes

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 3 2001
JJ Couper
Abstract: High risk HLA class II alleles account for 40% of the genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in Caucasians, but the majority of the genetically predisposed do not develop the disease. This supports some environmental modification of the autoimmune destruction of , cells that precedes type 1 diabetes. Identical twin studies and geographical variation in incidence also argue for a critical role of environmental factors. Attention has been directed to the possible harmful effect of cow's milk protein (or protective effect of breast-feeding) and enteric infections in early life. Natural history studies that follow children at increased risk of type 1 diabetes provide the best opportunity to study environmental triggers. The Australian Baby Diab Study has followed approximately 500 babies from birth who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. No prospective association between duration of breast-feeding or introduction of cow's milk and the development of islet autoimmunity was found. The same Australian cohort demonstrated a relationship between rotavirus infection and the first appearance or increase in islet antibodies. Enteroviral infection is seen more frequently in prediabetic children and prior to the onset of islet autoimmunity in Finnish cohorts. Environmental factors may interact. Breast milk protects against enteric infections; enteric infections in turn could increase immunity to dietary antigens by increasing intestinal permeability. It is also possible that an alteration in gut mucosal immune function in genetically susceptible individuals underlies any effect of dietary or viral proteins on the development of islet autoimmunity in early life. [source]


Oral mucosa alterations induced by cyclosporin in mice: morphological features

JOURNAL OF PERIODONTAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2002
A. T. Meller
Background and objective:, The mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of cyclosporin A-induced gingival hyperplasia are not well understood. The present work aimed at developing a mouse model with the characteristics of the human process, i.e. time of appearance, dose dependency and the capacity of developing in a variety of genetic backgrounds. This model would present the advantages of using a very well known animal species, small and easy to handle, with a number of experimental reagents (antibodies, etc.) already available against its products. Methods:, Three different strains of mice were used: CBA, F1(C57Bl × DBA), Balb/c. Groups of mice received different concentrations of cyclosporin A (CSA) (10 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally five times a week. Anatomical and histological alterations were recorded at various time intervals. Results:, All strains of mice presented gingival hyperplasia after 8 weeks of CSA treatment. A dose-dependency was observed with regard to the time of first appearance of alterations. Increased redness was seen in all animals at the sixth week, independent of the dosage used. Histologic examination exhibited increased vascularization, epithelial and connective tissue thickening, edema and a mononuclear infiltrate. Conclusions:, It was possible to develop CSA-induced gingival hyperplasia in mice with the characteristics described in humans and other species. The use of this animal model may help in the elucidation of the process involved in CSA-induced gingival overgrowth. [source]


41 Incidence of paralytic shellfish toxin in bivalve mollusc tissue from the oregon coast

JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2003
R. C. Everroad
Saxitoxin and domoic acid sequestration by bivalve molluscs occurs periodically along the Oregon coast, presumably as a result of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Since 1958 and more continuously since 1979, the Oregon Shellfish Program (OSP) has assayed toxin levels in these molluscs as part of a monitoring program for paralytic (PSP) and amnesic (ASP) shellfish poisoning. We have created a working data base for all PSP sampling by the OSP between 1958 and 2001 and have examined the data for spatial and temporal trends in the appearance of toxin in shellfish, amount of toxin, and apparent duration of toxic events. In this report, we examine the data from the five stations with the longest record of continuous sampling (1979,2000) for evidence of correlation with El Nińo events, upwelling, and/or a pattern of increasing frequency or intensity of toxic events. We also compare the pattern of appearance of toxin at open coast stations with the timing of first appearance of toxin in shellfish at adjacent estuarine stations. This is an important analysis because, in Oregon, shellfish closures due to PSP occur frequently in mussel beds on the open coast and the source of toxin-producing organisms is unknown. [source]


Components of Partial Disease Resistance in Wheat Detected in a Detached Leaf Assay Inoculated with Microdochium majus using First, Second and Third Expanding Seedling Leaves

JOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
R. A. Browne
Abstract The use of first, second and third expanding seedling leaves of wheat (L1, L2 and L3 respectively), inoculated with conidial suspensions of Microdochium majus (syn. Microdochium nivale var. majus) in a detached leaf assay, for detecting components of partial disease resistance (PDR) was investigated across a range of wheat cultivars. Incubation periods (period from inoculation to first appearance of symptoms; a dull grey,green water-soaked lesion) and latent periods (period from inoculation to the first appearance of sporodochia) were longest and lesions smallest on L3. The expression of PDR components on L2 was intermediate to those on L1 and L3. The longer latent periods on L3 typically occurred after leaf senescence contrasting with latent periods on L1 and L2 where sporulation most frequently occurred on relatively green leaf tissue. Cultivar differences in the first appearance of symptoms, incubation period, which occurred before any leaf senescence was observed, correlated significantly across all leaf positions. Similarly cultivar differences in latent period were correlated for L1 and L2. However, latent periods on L3, which were the least consistent between cultivars across experiments, were not correlated with those of L1 or L2 in any experiment. The results indicate that due to the delay in sporulation until after leaf senescence, observations on latent period in L3 are less representative of what occurs in the whole plant where infection of living tissue is of greatest interest. This work indicates that the selection of the first or second expanding leaf of wheat is optimal for the use in the detached leaf assay using M. majus for studying components of PDR. [source]


Patrick O'Farrell: An Expanded Memory

JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 1 2007
EDMUND CAMPION
This paper provides an analysis of the contribution to the Catholic history of Australia by Patrick O'Farrell. Eschewing footnotes, like O'Farrell himself, Campion considers the changes of tone, emphasis, and content which enrich the new editions of the history, from its first appearance in 1968 through subsequent rewriting in 1977, 1985, and 1992. It is argued that O'Farrell responded to the transformation of the Catholic world in the intervening decades but also to new research in Australian Catholic historiography, much of which he was responsible for fostering. [source]


Relationship between faecal character and intestinal transit time in normal dogs and diet-sensitive dogs

JOURNAL OF SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE, Issue 7 2002
V. E. Rolfe
The relationship between stool character and whole gut transit time (WGTT), which is the average time for the passage of material through the lumen of the alimentary tract from ingestion to defecation, was studied in eight control dogs and 12 dogs with nonspecific dietary sensitivity. Dogs were fed four diets in a cross-over design, and faecal quality was assessed daily and WGTT determined using plastic pellets. Faecal quality was unaffected by diet in the control dogs. Dogs with dietary sensitivity produced looser faeces compared with the control dogs, and this was significant for two of the diets. There was no significant effect of diet on mean WGTT within or between groups. Minimum WGTT, which was the interval to the first appearance of markers in faeces, was shorter in sensitive dogs compared with controls, and this was significant for two of the four diets. There were significant, inverse relationships between minimum WGTT and both mean faeces score and percentage unacceptable defecations. These data suggest that rapid transit of certain dietary components may impact negatively on stool quality and contribute to loose faeces in dogs with non-specific dietary sensitivity. [source]


Darwin, Galton and the Statistical Enlightenment

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 3 2010
Stephen M. Stigler
Summary., On September 10th, 1885, Francis Galton ushered in a new era of Statistical Enlightenment with an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Aberdeen. In the process of solving a puzzle that had lain dormant in Darwin's Origin of Species, Galton introduced multivariate analysis and paved the way towards modern Bayesian statistics. The background to this work is recounted, including the recognition of a failed attempt by Galton in 1877 as providing the first use of a rejection sampling algorithm for the simulation of a posterior distribution, and the first appearance of a proper Bayesian analysis for the normal distribution. [source]


Cambrian high-resolution biostratigraphy and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy in Scania, Sweden: first record of the SPICE and DICE excursions in Scandinavia

LETHAIA, Issue 1 2009
PER AHLBERG
A core drilling (Andrarum-3), from the classical locality at Andrarum, Scania, southernmost Sweden, penetrated a 28.90-m-thick Cambrian succession. The core comprises dark grey to black, finely laminated mudstones and shales with early concretionary carbonate lenses (stinkstones or orsten) and a few primary carbonate beds. The middle Cambrian (provisional Series 3) part of the core comprises 17.35 m, whereas the Furongian Series (upper Cambrian) part covers the remaining 11.55 m. Nineteen trilobite and two phosphatocopine genera are present in the middle Cambrian, whereas the less diverse Furongian interval yielded four trilobite and three phosphatocopine genera. Other, less frequent, faunal elements include conodonts (s. l.), brachiopods, sponge spicules, bradoriids, and coprolites. Trilobites and phosphatocopines were used to subdivide the core into seven biozones ranging from the Ptychagnostus atavus Zone to the Parabolina spinulosa Zone (P. spinulosa Subzone). Carbon isotopic analyses (,13Corg) through the core show two important excursions, the negative DrumIan Carbon isotope Excursion (DICE) in the Pt. atavus Zone, and the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE) beginning near the first appearance of Glyptagnostus reticulatus and extending upward into the Olenus and Agnostus (Homagnostus) obesus Zone. The DICE displays a peak value, in the samples at hand, of ,30.45,,13Corg in the lower part of the P. atavus Zone. The ,13Corg values increase through the overlying L. laevigata and A. pisiformis zones and display peak values of c. ,28.00,,13Corg in the lowermost Furongian Olenus wahlenbergi and O. attenuatus subzones. Thereafter the values decrease significantly through the O. scanicus Subzone. Both isotopic excursions have been documented from several palaeocontinents, but never before from Baltica. Moreover, for the first time these excursions are recorded from organic matter in an alum shale setting. The recorded shift of +1.50,2.00,,13Corg is approximately half the magnitude of the SPICE documented from other regions. This discrepancy may be related to temporal variations in the type, origin, or diagenesis of the organic fraction analysed. [source]


Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Furongian Series and Paibian Stage (Cambrian)

LETHAIA, Issue 4 2004
SHANCHI PENG
The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Furongian Series (uppermost series of the Cambrian System) and the Paibian Stage (lowermost stage of the Furongian Series), has been recently defined and ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The boundary stratotype is 369,metres above the base of the Huaqiao Formation in the Paibi section, northwestern Hunan Province, China. This point coincides with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Glyptagnostus reticulatus, and occurs near the base of a large positive carbon isotopic excursion (SPICE excursion). [source]


Palaeobiology and evolution of the earliest agglutinated Foraminifera: Platysolenites, Spirosolenites and related forms

LETHAIA, Issue 1 2001
Duncan McIlroy
Tubular agglutinated fossils of Platysolenites antiquissimus Eichwald, 1860, P. cooperi n.sp. and Spirosolenites spiralis Glaessner, 1979 are examined from selected lower Cambrian successions in Avalonia (England; Wales; Newfoundland) and Baltica (Russia and Estonia). Platysolenites cooperi n.sp. is shown to extend below the first appearance of P. antiquissimus in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian boundary stratotype region, SE Newfoundland, and to occur at higher stratigraphic levels in Wales and Finnmark. Taphonomic, teleological and ultrastructural studies on well-preserved material are consistent with a similar grade of organization and mode of life for P. antiquissimus and the living astrorhizacean foraminiferid Bathysiphon. However, agglutinated proloculi are here described from both rectilinear P. antiquissimus and coiled S. spiralis, which suggests that neither were typical astrorhizaceans. [source]