Evolution, characterization and phylogenetic utility of ITS2 gene in Orthoptera and some Polyneoptera: Highly variable at the order level and highly conserved at the species level

ITS2 is often suggested as a potential marker for evolutionary studies and species barcoding. However, there are many lineages have not been studied. This study focuses on ITS2 in Polyneoptera at the order and species levels. ITS2 sequences representing six polyneopteran orders and 15 species in the genus Anterastes are studied. We arrived at the following conclusions: (i) ITS2 is highly variable and contains little phylogenetic information in Polyneoptera, (ii) the shortest length and the highest GC content of ITS2 is found in Orthoptera among insects, (iii) the secondary structure exhibits general characteristics of eukaryotes especially in helices II and III, and with no order-specific architecture, (iv) ITS2 is highly conserved at the species level, both in linear sequences and secondary structures, (v) helices I, IA, II, IIA and III almost invariable in nucleotide sequence shared by all species in the genus. At the generic level, the most conspicuous result is the variable pattern in ITS2. It is highly conserved in helical sequences, but highly variable in non/peri-helical regions which we considered to be mutation islands. These frequently mutated regions contain a significant amount of molecular homoplasy, thus, the utility of ITS2 in phylogenetic analyses and species barcoding is low, at least in Polyneoptera.

The Effect of Intraspinal Micro Stimulation With Variable Stimulating Pattern in Adult Rat With Induction of Spinal Cord Injury in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries

Background: Spinal cord injury is one of the diseases that, no specific treatment has yet found despite the variety of works that have done in this field. Different approaches to treat such injuries have investigated today. One of them is invasive intra-spinal interventions such as electrical stimulation. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the protocol for intra-spinal variable and fixed electrical stimulation has been investigated in order to recover from spinal cord injury. Methods: In the study, 18 Wistar male rats randomly divided into Three groups, including intraspinal electrical stimulation (IES), IES with variable pattern of stimulation (VP IES) and a sham group. Animals initially subjected to induced spinal cord injury. After one week, the animal movement was recorded on the treadmill during practice using a camera and angles of the ankle joint were measured using the Tracker software. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by nonlinear evaluations in the phase space. Results: The motion analyses and kinematic analyses were carried out on all groups. According to the achieved results, the gait dynamics of the VP IES group has the most conformity to the gait dynamics of the healthy group. Also, the best quality of the balance preservation observed in the VP IES group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the IES with variable pattern of stimulation along with exercise therapy has significant gait restorative effects and increases the range of motion in rats with induced spinal cord injury.

Better than blocking: building and using multiple variable pattern indexes (MVPi) to screen data sources for possible matches and reduce linkage search space

IntroductionScaling up data linkage presents a challenging problem that has no straightforward solution. Lacking a prescribed ID in common between two data sources, the number of records to compare increases geometrically with data volume. Data linkers have for the main part resorted to “blocking” on demographic or other identifying variables. Objectives and ApproachAmong the more efficient of better blocking methods, carefully constructed multiple variable pattern indexes (MVPi) offer a robust and efficient method for reduction of linkage search spaces in Big Data. This realistic, large-scale demonstration of MVPi combines 30,156 SSA Death Master File (DMF) and NDI matches on SSN with equal dates of death (true matches) and 16,332 DMF records with different or missing SSN, and links the total of 46,448 records on names, date of birth, and postal code (ignoring SSN) to >94MM DMF records. The proportion of true matches not linked tests for loss of information during the blocking phase of data linkage. ResultsBlocking has an obvious cost in terms of completeness of linkage: any errors in a single blocking variable mean that blocking will miss true matches. Remedies for this problem usually add more blocking variables and stages, or make better use of information in blocking variables, requiring more time and computing resources. MVPi screening makes fuller use of information in blocking variables, but does so in this demonstration in one cohort (>30K) and DMF (>94MM) data sets. In this acid-test demonstration with few identifying variables and messy data, MVPi screening failed to link less than eight percent of the cohort records to its corresponding true match in the SSA DMF. MVPi screening reduced trillions of possible pairs requiring comparisons to a manageable 83MM . Conclusion/ImplicationsThe screening phase of a large-scale linkage project reduces linkage search space to the pairs of records more likely to be true matches, but it may also lead to selectivity bias and underestimates of the sensitivity (recall) of data linkage methods. Efficient MVPi screening allows fuller use of identifying information.

Greyscale and contrast enhanced ultrasonography for characterization of gastric malignant tumors

Aims: To evaluate the utility of grey scale ultrasonography (US) and contrast enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) for characterization of malignant gastric tumors.Material and methods: The study was conducted prospectively and it included a number of 30 patients with malignant gastric tumors diagnosed through upper tract endoscopy and biopsy: 25 adenocarcinomas, 3 lymphomas, and 2 stromal tumors. All the patients were examined by US, followed immediately by CEUS, using both oral and intravenous contrast agents. CEUS assessed the dynamics of the contrast agent during the arterial phase and the venous phase. The distribution characteristics of the contrast agent inside the region of interest (ROI) were also evaluated. Twenty four patients underwent surgery.Results: Adenocarcinomas presented heterogeneous enhancement with variable pattern, followed by a delayed wash-out in almost all of the situations. Lymphomas presented a variable pattern, intensity and homogeneity of the enhancement, followed by delayed wash-out. Stromal tumors showed early arterial intense and homogenous enhancement followed by moderate wash-out in venous phase.Conclusions: Grey scale US and CEUS are useful methods in characterizing gastric tumors and contribute to a more adequate evaluation of the lesions. The dynamics of the contrast agent may be suggestive for the anatomopathological nature of the tumor. Larger studies will be necessary in order to determine thepractical value of the method.

How animals follow the stars

Throughout history, the stars have provided humans with ever more information about our world, enabling increasingly accurate systems of navigation in addition to fuelling some of the greatest scientific controversies. What information animals have evolved to extract from a starry sky and how they do so, is a topic of study that combines the practical and theoretical challenges faced by both astronomers and field biologists. While a number of animal species have been demonstrated to use the stars as a source of directional information, the strategies that these animals use to convert this complex and variable pattern of dim-light points into a reliable ‘stellar orientation’ cue have been more difficult to ascertain. In this review, we assess the stars as a visual stimulus that conveys directional information, and compare the bodies of evidence available for the different stellar orientation strategies proposed to date. In this context, we also introduce new technologies that may aid in the study of stellar orientation, and suggest how field experiments may be used to characterize the mechanisms underlying stellar orientation.

Internal stress distribution in weld-affected zone under the effect of constrained loads

The paper presents the experimental results of identify the redistribution pattern under the influence of mechanic cycle loads. The subject of the research was the weld metal zone of the uniform joint made of steel X12Cr1MoV. The research method was to organize the mechanic cyclic deformation of sample and to increase the load in each regular load cycle. The result of the work is the determination of sign-variable pattern of internal stress changes under deformation leading to propagation of fatigue and destruction.