The effects of environmental diversity on well-fed and previously undernourished rats: I. Body and brain measurements

Despite extensive gross and microscopic scrutiny, no consistent pathological findings have emerged from studies of autopsy material from schizophrenic patients. Dunlap (1924) carried out the first controlled study involving schizophrenic and control brains and concluded that ‘there was not even a suspicion of consistent organic brain disease as a basis for the psychosis of schizophrenia’. More recently both Wolf and Cowen (1952), and Weinstein (1954), reviewed the neuropathological literature and concluded that there were no consistent findings at autopsy that could be construed as characteristic of schizophrenia. These authors felt that earlier claims were based on failure to appreciate the range of normal variation in the brain as well as a failure to include an adequate control population in the study.

Download Full-text

Spatialization of climate, physical and socioeconomic factors that affect the dairy goat production in Brazil and their impact on animal breeding decisions

Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira ◽

10.1590/s0100-736x2012001100001 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 32 (11) ◽

pp. 1073-1081 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Fernando B. Lopes ◽

Marcelo C. da Silva ◽

Eliane S. Miyagi ◽

Maria C.S. Fioravanti ◽

Olivardo Facó ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Animal Breeding ◽

Dairy Goat ◽

Dairy Goats ◽

Family Farming ◽

Breeding Programs ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

Political Realities ◽

Technical Guidance

Brazil has high climate, soil and environmental diversity, as well as distinct socioeconomic and political realities, what results in differences among the political administrative regions of the country. The objective of this study was to determine spatial distribution of the physical, climatic and socioeconomic aspects that best characterize the production of dairy goats in Brazil. Production indices of milk per goat, goat production, milk production, as well as temperature range, mean temperature, precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index, relative humidity, altitude, agricultural farms; farms with native pasture, farms with good quality pasture, farms with water resources, farms that receive technical guidance, family farming properties, non-familiar farms and the human development index were evaluated. The multivariate analyses were carried out to spatialize climatic, physical and socioeconomic variables and so differenciate the Brazilian States and Regions. The highest yields of milk and goat production were observed in the Northeast. The Southeast Region had the second highest production of milk, followed by the South, Midwest and North. Multivariate analysis revealed distinctions between clusters of political-administrative regions of Brazil. The climatic variables were most important to discriminate between regions of Brazil. Therefore, it is necessary to implement animal breeding programs to meet the needs of each region.

Download Full-text

New records of Monstrilloida Sars, 1901 (Crustacea, Copepoda) on the Brazilian northeastern coast

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/s1676-06032007000200030 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 281-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cristina de Oliveira Dias ◽

Sérgio Luiz Costa Bonecker

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

New Records ◽

Coastal Region ◽

The State ◽

Geographical Range ◽

Nominal Species ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

First Time ◽

Reef Zones ◽

Northeastern Coast

During a series of zooplankton surveys carried out from 2001 through 2005 off the coast of the state of Bahia, Brazil, 98 individuals of monstrilloid copepods were collected. These belong to five species (Monstrilla grandis, Cymbasoma cf. longispinosum, Cymbasoma cf. rigidum, Cymbasoma gracilis, and Cymbasoma quadridens). The first three are recorded for the first time in the Bahia coastal region. The geographical range of C. quadridens is expanded to the Brazilian northeastern coast. The results presented herein increase to nine the number of nominal species of Monstrilloida known from off Bahia; the environmental diversity of Caravelas Channel with highly productive areas and coral reef zones harbor an abundant and diverse monstrilloid fauna that should be surveyed in more detail.

Download Full-text

Alterations in brain morphology by MRI in adults with neurofibromatosis 1

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases ◽

10.1186/s13023-021-02097-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Su Wang ◽

Victor-Felix Mautner ◽

Ralph Buchert ◽

Stephane Flibotte ◽

Per Suppa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Corpus Callosum ◽

Psychometric Testing ◽

Neurofibromatosis 1 ◽

Clinical Severity ◽

Brain Morphology ◽

Only Children ◽

Unaffected Control ◽

Dominant Disease ◽

Brain Measurements ◽

Mri Measurements

Abstract Objective Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a rare autosomal dominant disease that causes the dysregulated growth of Schwann cells. Most reported studies of brain morphology in NF1 patients have included only children, and clinical implications of the observed changes later in life remain unclear. In this study, we used MRI to characterize brain morphology in adults with NF1. Methods Planar (2D) MRI measurements of 29 intracranial structures were compared in 389 adults with NF1 and 112 age- and sex-matched unaffected control subjects. The 2D measurements were correlated with volumetric (3D) brain measurements in 99 of the adults with NF1 to help interpret the 2D findings. A subset (n = 70) of these NF1 patients also received psychometric testing for attention deficits and IQ and was assessed for clinical severity of NF1 features and neurological problems. Correlation analysis was performed between the MRI measurements and clinical and psychometric features of these patients. Results Four of nine corpus callosum measurements were significantly greater in adults with NF1 than in sex- and age-matched controls. All seven brainstem measurements were significantly greater in adults with NF1 than in controls. Increased corpus callosum and brainstem 2D morphology were correlated with increased total white matter volume among the NF1 patients. No robust correlations were observed between the 2D size of these structures and clinical or neuropsychometric assessments. Conclusion Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that dysregulation of brain myelin production is an important manifestation of NF1 in adults.

Download Full-text

Covariate-Profile Similarity Weighting and Bagging Studies with the Study Strap: Multi-Study Learning for Human Neurochemical Sensing

10.1101/856385 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gabriel Loewinger ◽

Prasad Patil ◽

Kenneth Kishida ◽

Giovanni Parmigiani

Keyword(s):

New Technology ◽

R Package ◽

Training Data ◽

Tuning Parameter ◽

Ensemble Classifiers ◽

Profile Similarity ◽

Special Cases ◽

Study Heterogeneity ◽

Brain Measurements ◽

And Training

Prediction settings with multiple studies have become increasingly common. Ensembling models trained on individual studies has been shown to improve replicability in new studies. Motivated by a groundbreaking new technology in human neuroscience, we introduce two generalizations of multi-study ensemble predictions. First, while existing methods weight ensemble elements by cross-study prediction performance, we extend weighting schemes to also incorporate covariate similarity between training data and target validation studies. Second, we introduce a hierarchical resampling scheme to generate pseudo-study replicates (“study straps”) and ensemble classifiers trained on these rather than the original studies themselves. We demonstrate analytically that existing methods are special cases. Through a tuning parameter, our approach forms a continuum between merging all training data and training with existing multi-study ensembles. Leveraging this continuum helps accommodate different levels of between-study heterogeneity.Our methods are motivated by the application of Voltammetry in humans. This technique records electrical brain measurements and converts signals into neurotransmitter concentration estimates using a prediction model. Using this model in practice presents a cross-study challenge, for which we show marked improvements after application of our methods. We verify our methods in simulations and provide the studyStrap R package.

Download Full-text

Kajian Perubahan Ragam Genetik Tanaman Jagung (Zea mays L.) akibat Seleksi

Jurnal Sains Teknologi & Lingkungan ◽

10.29303/jstl.v5i2.111 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 83

Author(s):

I Wayan Sudika ◽

I Wayan Sutresna ◽

Dwi Ratna Anugrahwati

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Block Design ◽

Selection Index ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Mass Selection ◽

Initial Population ◽

Environmental Variance ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

Two Hybrid

This study aimed to determine the change in total genetic diversity after eight cycles of mass selection using a technique of selection index for yield, fresh dry matter, and weight of dry harvested cob, and to find out the average of these three characters compared to the initial population. This experiment was carried out at Pringgabaya District, East Lombok Regency using Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 11 treatments, namely eight selected populations, initial populations and two hybrid varieties. Each treatment was replicated 3 times, resulted in 33 experimental units. Data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance at 0.05 levels. Variance of phenotype is obtained from the variety of samples; while the environmental variance is defined as the average variance of the two hybrid phenotypes. Genetic diversity is obtained from the variety of phenotypes of each population minus the environmental diversity. F-test of 0.05 was performed to find out whether the genetic diversity of the eighth cycle population is the same or different to that of the genetic diversity of the initial population. The average between the initial population and the eighth cycle population was tested using the HSD-test at 0.05 levels. The results showed that the total genetic variation in the population from the eighth cycle selection for yield, harvested dry weight of cobs, and fresh dry matter of maize were smaller than the genetic diversity of the initial population. The average yield, harvested dry cob weight and fresh dry matter weight of population of the eighth cycle selection are higher than the initial population

Download Full-text

Combing Transcriptomes for Secrets of Deep-Sea Survival: Environmental Diversity Drives Patterns of Protein Evolution

Integrative and Comparative Biology ◽

10.1093/icb/icz063 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 786-798 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J R Winnikoff ◽

W R Francis ◽

E V Thuesen ◽

S H D Haddock

Keyword(s):

Amino Acid ◽

Amino Acid Level ◽

Hydrophobic Effect ◽

Extreme Environments ◽

Environmental Parameters ◽

Acid Sites ◽

Temperature Adaptation ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

Cofactor Binding ◽

Ideal System

AbstractCtenophores, also known as comb jellies, live across extremely broad ranges of temperature and hydrostatic pressure in the ocean. Because various ctenophore lineages adapted independently to similar environmental conditions, Phylum Ctenophora is an ideal system for the study of protein adaptation to extreme environments in a comparative framework. We present such a study here, using a phylogenetically-informed method to compare sequences of four essential metabolic enzymes across gradients of habitat depth and temperature. This method predicts convergent adaptation to these environmental parameters at the amino acid level, providing a novel view of protein adaptation to extreme environments and demonstrating the power and relevance of phylogenetic comparison applied to multi-species transcriptomic datasets from early-diverging metazoa. Across all four enzymes analyzed, 46 amino acid sites were associated with depth-adaptation, 59 with temperature-adaptation, and 56 with both. Sites predicted to be depth- and temperature-adaptive occurred consistently near Rossmann fold cofactor binding motifs and disproportionately in solvent-exposed regions of the protein. These results suggest that the hydrophobic effect and ligand binding may mediate efficient enzyme function at different hydrostatic pressures and temperatures. Using predicted adaptive site maps, such mechanistic hypotheses can now be tested via mutagenesis.

Download Full-text

The climatic association of population divergence and future extinction risk of Solanum pimpinellifolium

AoB Plants ◽

10.1093/aobpla/plaa012 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ya-Ping Lin ◽

Cheng-Yueh Lu ◽

Cheng-Ruei Lee

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Coastal Region ◽

Population Divergence ◽

Solanum Pimpinellifolium ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

Genetic Groups ◽

Isolation By Environment ◽

Previous Hypothesis ◽

Northern Peru

Abstract Under intraspecific differentiation driven by differential climatic adaptation, it may be expected that intraspecific genetic groups occur at distinct environments. Populations occupying different niches may therefore differ in their ability to cope with climate change. Here, we addressed this hypothesis with a wild tomato, Solanum pimpinellifolium. This species is distributed from the west side of Andes to the coastal region in Peru and Ecuador and occupies a wide environmental diversity. This environmental diversity is related to the genetic structure of the species providing an ideal material to investigate the isolation by environment hypothesis. While previous hypothesis stated that S. pimpinellifolium originated from northern Peru and migrated northwards and southwards, our results support that S. pimpinellifolium originated from Ecuador and expanded to northern and southern Peru, and during this process, the niche space of S. pimpinellifolium became more associated with cold and drought. We further predicted its fate under anthropogenic climate change. According to our predictions, the northern group will maintain its current extent or even expand to the entire western region of Ecuador. In contrast, we predicted low habitat suitability for the southern group which could potentially lead to the shrinkage of its distribution. In conclusion, we revealed the distinct fates among the differentiated populations driven by environment under global warming conditions.

Download Full-text

Ciliate Environmental Diversity Can Be Underestimated by the V4 Region of SSU rDNA: Insights from Species Delimitation and Multilocus Phylogeny of Pseudokeronopsis (Ciliophora, Spirotrichea)

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms7110493 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

pp. 493 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhan ◽

Li ◽

Xu

Keyword(s):

Species Delimitation ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Sequence Similarity ◽

Large Subunit ◽

Small Subunit ◽

Base Change ◽

Published Data ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

5.8S Rdna ◽

Eukaryotic Microorganisms

Metabarcoding and high-throughput sequencing methods have greatly improved our understanding of protist diversity. Although the V4 region of small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU-V4 rDNA) is the most widely used marker in DNA metabarcoding of eukaryotic microorganisms, doubts have recently been raised about its suitability. Here, using the widely distributed ciliate genus Pseudokeronopsis as an example, we assessed the potential of SSU-V4 rDNA and four other nuclear and mitochondrial markers for species delimitation and phylogenetic reconstruction. Our studies revealed that SSU-V4 rDNA is too conservative to distinguish species, and a threshold of 97% and 99% sequence similarity detected only one and three OTUs, respectively, from seven species. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the present and previously published data, we proposed the multilocus marker including the nuclear 5.8S rDNA combining the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and the hypervariable D2 region of large subunit rDNA (LSU-D2) as an ideal barcode rather than the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene, and the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 as a candidate metabarcoding marker for ciliates. Furthermore, the compensating base change and tree-based criteria of ITS2 and LSU-D2 were useful in complementing the DNA barcoding and metabarcoding methods by giving second structure and phylogenetic evidence.

Download Full-text