Effect of Nonionizing Radiation on Progesterone Treatment in Endometrial Hyperplasia: An Experimental Rat Study

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The aim of the study was to evaluate the negative effect of nonionizing radiation on the treatment of endometrial hyperplasia (EH) with oral progesterone. <b><i>Design:</i></b> Forty oophorectomized Wistar Albino female rats were included in this experimental rat study. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> The 4 groups were planned as follows: Group A; sham group; Group B; group receiving oral estradiol hemihydrate 4 mg/kg/day; Group C; 4 mg/kg/day oral estradiol hemihydrate followed with 1 mg/day medroxy progesterone acetate (MPA) and Group D; 4 mg/kg/day oral estradiol hemihydrate followed with 1 mg/day MPA with exposure to nonionizing radiation at 1800 mHz/3 h/day. After the experimental model, uterine horns were sampled and the preparations were evaluated for pathological parameters (glandular density, epithelial cell length, and luminal epithelial cell length) via light microscopy. Nonionizing radiation was created by a signal generator and a compatible mobile phone. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Estrogen was found to increase all parameters related to EH (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05). Progesterone treatment was found to decrease parameters related to EH (Group B vs. C; luminal epithelial cell length, glandular density, and epithelial length; 11.2 vs. 13.2 μm <i>p</i> = 0.007; 32.5 vs. 35.5, <i>p</i> = 0.068; and 219.9 μm vs. 285 µm, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001, respectively). Final analyses revealed reduced effectiveness of progesterone treatment in the rats exposed to nonionizing radiation (Group C vs. D); luminal epithelial cell length, glandular density, and epithelial length (11.2 μm vs. 13.5 μm, <i>p</i> = 0.179; 32.5 vs. 52, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001; and 219.9 μm vs. 374.1 μm, <i>p</i> = 0.001, respectively). <b><i>Limitations:</i></b> The limitations of our study are that the results of animal experiments may not be appropriate for direct adaptation to humans and the relatively low number of rats included in the study. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Nonionizing radiation reduces the effect of progesterone in patients receiving treatment for EH.

Emergent spatiotemporal population dynamics with cell-length control of synthetic microbial consortia

The increased complexity of synthetic microbial biocircuits highlights the need for distributed cell functionality due to concomitant increases in metabolic and regulatory burdens imposed on single-strain topologies. Distributed systems, however, introduce additional challenges since consortium composition and spatiotemporal dynamics of constituent strains must be robustly controlled to achieve desired circuit behaviors. Here, we address these challenges with a modeling-based investigation of emergent spatiotemporal population dynamics using cell-length control in monolayer, two-strain bacterial consortia. We demonstrate that with dynamic control of a strain’s division length, nematic cell alignment in close-packed monolayers can be destabilized. We find that this destabilization confers an emergent, competitive advantage to smaller-length strains—but by mechanisms that differ depending on the spatial patterns of the population. We used complementary modeling approaches to elucidate underlying mechanisms: an agent-based model to simulate detailed mechanical and signaling interactions between the competing strains, and a reductive, stochastic lattice model to represent cell-cell interactions with a single rotational parameter. Our modeling suggests that spatial strain-fraction oscillations can be generated when cell-length control is coupled to quorum-sensing signaling in negative feedback topologies. Our research employs novel methods of population control and points the way to programming strain fraction dynamics in consortial synthetic biology.

Ray Traits of Juvenile Wood and Mature Wood: Pinus massonia and Cunninghamia lanceolata

Ray traits affect secondary xylem development and wood properties. Pinus massonia and Cunninghamia lanceolata, commercially important timber species, were chosen to study the differences in wood ray traits of juvenile versus mature wood. Seven ray traits, i.e., percentage of rays, ray spacing, ray number, uniseriate ray height, fusiform ray height, ray parenchyma cell length and ray tracheid length, as well as eight wood axial tissue traits, were investigated quantitatively. Intraspecific variations in ray traits and axial tissue traits between juvenile wood and mature wood were displayed in violin plots. The results showed that anatomical differences between juvenile wood and mature wood were significant for both ray traits and axial tissue traits. Juvenile wood generally possessed the larger percentage of rays, higher ray spacing and ray number, smaller ray height and shorter ray cells than mature wood. A positive correlation was present between the ray parenchyma cell length and ray tracheid length. Negative correlations of the ray number and ray spacing with uniseriate ray height were found. Additionally, the axial tracheid cell wall thickness all had Pearson’s correlations with ray spacing, ray number and ray parenchyma cell length.

Tetrahymena meiosis: Simple yet ingenious

The presence of meiosis, which is a conserved component of sexual reproduction, across organisms from all eukaryotic kingdoms, strongly argues that sex is a primordial feature of eukaryotes. However, extant meiotic structures and processes can vary considerably between organisms. The ciliated protist Tetrahymena thermophila, which diverged from animals, plants, and fungi early in evolution, provides one example of a rather unconventional meiosis. Tetrahymena has a simpler meiosis compared with most other organisms: It lacks both a synaptonemal complex (SC) and specialized meiotic machinery for chromosome cohesion and has a reduced capacity to regulate meiotic recombination. Despite this, it also features several unique mechanisms, including elongation of the nucleus to twice the cell length to promote homologous pairing and prevent recombination between sister chromatids. Comparison of the meiotic programs of Tetrahymena and higher multicellular organisms may reveal how extant meiosis evolved from proto-meiosis.

Scaling of subcellular actin structures with cell length through decelerated growth

How cells tune the size of their subcellular parts to scale with cell size is a fundamental question in cell biology. Until now, most studies on the size control of organelles and other subcellular structures have focused on scaling relationships with cell volume, which can be explained by limiting pool mechanisms. Here, we uncover a distinct scaling relationship with cell length rather than volume, revealed by mathematical modeling and quantitative imaging of yeast actin cables. The extension rate of cables decelerates as they approach the rear of the cell, until cable length matches cell length. Further, the deceleration rate scales with cell length. These observations are quantitatively explained by a 'balance-point' model, which stands in contrast to the limiting pool mechanisms and that senses the linear dimensions of the cell.

The nesting and mating behavior of Andrena patella (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae)

This study of nesting and associated behavior patterns of Andrena patella was carried out at 27 locations with different landscape categories, from 2013 to 2016. The research areas chosen were generally flat or marshy areas. A total of 15 major nest aggregations were spotted and 120 nests were excavated. This species nests in soil, males emerge earlier than females, and mating occurred on flowers during the foraging season, in the 3rd week of May. The various nest and cell parameters showed low variability in the different years and different sites, but nest cell length, diameter and number varied significantly, as well as depth even at the same site. The nests were multi-cellular, oblique to horizontal, and cell shape was oval. The mating attempts of the pairs and copulatory behavior involved various steps which were completed in a very few seconds. The males appeared first on the flowers, near to the nesting site, and lived shorter than the females. The females started foraging in the 2nd to 3rd weeks of May and laid eggs in the 1st week of June. The adult phenology, egg placement, cell provision and larval feeding are described.

Emergent spatiotemporal population dynamics with cell-length control of synthetic microbial consortia

Increased complexity of engineered microbial biocircuits highlights the need for distributed cell functionality due to concomitant increases of metabolic and regulatory burdens imposed on single-strain topologies. Distributed systems, however, introduce additional challenges since consortium composition and spatiotemporal dynamics of constituent strains must be robustly controlled to achieve desired circuit behaviors. Here, we address these challenges with a modeling-based investigation of emergent spatiotemporal population dynamics that result from cell-length control of monolayer, two-strain bacterial consortia. We demonstrate that with dynamic control of a strain's division length, nematic cell alignment in close-packed monolayers can be destabilized. We found this destabilization conferred an emergent, competitive advantage on smaller-length strains---but by mechanisms that differed depending on the spatial patterns of the population. We used complementary modeling approaches to elucidate underlying mechanisms: an agent-based model to simulate detailed mechanical and signaling interactions between the competing strains and a reductive, stochastic lattice model to represent cell-cell interactions with a single rotational parameter. Our modeling suggests that spatial strain-fraction oscillations can be generated when cell-length control is coupled to quorum-sensing signaling in negative feedback topologies. Our research employs novel methods of population control and points the way to programming strain fraction dynamics in consortial synthetic biology.

Antarctic population of Anteholosticha sigmoidea (Foissner, 1982) Berger, 2003 (Ciliophora: Urostylidae) with notes on its phylogenetic position

Anteholosticha sigmoidea (Foissner, 1982) Berger, 2003 was isolated from a wet soil sample collected on King George Island, Antarctica. Morphological observations and molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the gene sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) were used to identify the species. Anteholosticha sigmoidea can be divided into two groups: group I (three populations described by Foissner 1982) and group II (described by Foissner 1984) based on the morphological differences. Group I differs from group II by the length of the midventral complex (65.1% vs. 52.5% of the cell length), the number of adoral membranelles (25–28 vs. 16–24), and the number of dorsal bristles in kinety 1 (16 bristles vs. nine bristles). Group I differs from the Antarctica population by the absence/presence of the collecting canals of the contractile vacuole and the number of macronuclear nodules (6–12 vs. 13–19). Group II differs from the Antarctica population by the number of macronuclear nodules (five to nine vs. 13–19); the arrangement of cortical granules (forming longitudinal rows vs. irregularly distributed); the length of the midventral complex (64.7% vs. 53.8% of cell length). In the phylogenetic analyses, A. sigmoidea was not nested with any species, and the gene tree indicated polyphyly of the genus Anteholosticha.