A Perspective on Tongue Diagnosis in Patients with Breast Cancer

Introduction. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women and patients with BC often undergo complex treatment. In Taiwan, nearly 80% of patients with BC seek traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) during adjuvant chemotherapy to relieve discomfort and side effects. This study investigated tongue features and pattern differentiation through noninvasive TCM tongue diagnosis in patients with BC. Materials and Methods. This cross-sectional, case-controlled, retrospective observational study collected patient data through a chart review. The tongue features were extracted using the automatic tongue diagnosis system (ATDS). Nine tongue features, including tongue shape, tongue color, fur thickness, fur color, saliva, tongue fissures, ecchymoses, teeth marks, and red dots, were analyzed. Results and Discussion. Objective image analysis techniques were used to identify significant differences in the many tongue features between BC patients and non-BC individuals. A significantly larger proportion of patients with BC had a small tongue ( p < 0.001 ), pale tongue ( p < 0.001 ), thick fur ( p < 0.001 ), yellow fur ( p < 0.001 ), wet saliva ( p < 0.001 ), thick tongue fur ( p < 0.001 ), fissures ( p = 0.040 ), and ecchymoses in the heart-lung area ( p = 0.013 ). According to logistic regression, small tongue shape, pale tongue color, yellow fur color, wet saliva, and the amounts of fissures were associated with a significantly increased odds ratio for BC. Conclusions. This study showed significant differences in tongue features, such as small tongue shape, pale tongue color, thick fur, yellow fur color, wet saliva, fissure, and ecchymoses in the heart-lung area in patients with BC. These tongue features would imply yin deficiency, deficiencies of blood, stagnation of heat, and phlegm/blood stasis in TCM theory. There is a need to investigate effective and safe treatment to enhance the role of TCM in integrated medical care for patients with BC.

Les modes de conceptualisation des unités d'hérédité au XIXe siècle : Spencer, Haeckel et Elsberg

Ever since the end of the 19th century, the biological sciences have been preoccupied with the elucidation of the complex mechanisms underlying heredity. They were faced with a fundamental problem: how does a given phenotypic trait (e.g., skin or fur color) correspond to a physical entity, more often than not putative, responsible for its transmission from one generation to the next. The discovery and subsequent characterization of the unit of inheritance (unité d’hérédité) is thus the central focus of research on heredity in many fields, namely genetics, population genetics, molecular biology, and, more recently, genomics. What we now call gene since Johanssen coined the term, however, has a long and troubled past characterized by various successive conceptualizations. These have left sometimes confusing and even contradictory features in modern scientific discourse, of which we intend to understand the origins. The present article aims to examine the different embodiments of the concept unit of inheritance in the works of two key 19th century authors: Spencer and Haeckel. Elsberg, a rival of Haeckel, will also be considered. Using an analysis of indices of conceptualization in discourse, we show the various metaphorical conceptualization modes active in their respective theories and examine how they manifest themselves in English and in French.

ConnectedBio

Teaching and understanding evolution is challenging because students must synthesize several biological processes that are traditionally taught separately. We developed a set of free online lessons and activities centered on a single evolutionary phenomenon – why deer mice have different fur colors in different subpopulations – to help high school students better understand how these different biological processes, operating at different scales, work together to influence a single organismal trait. Through scaffolded investigations, guiding questions, model building, and pointed analysis, students learn how ecology, cellular biology, molecular biology, genetic inheritance, and population genetics all work together to influence a shift in fur color over time. Using an innovative multilevel simulation, students manipulate and examine these different processes from the population level all the way down to the DNA level. In this article, we describe the lessons and materials we have developed for high school biology students. We outline the learning goals and highlight the major components of the technology and activities in each lesson. We then provide information on how to access our curricular and support materials, and conclude with user feedback from our pilot testing.

Genome Analysis of Sable Fur Color Links a Lightened Pigmentation Phenotype to a Frameshift Variant in the Tyrosinase-Related Protein 1 Gene

Sable (Martes zibellina) is one of the most valuable species of fur animals. Wild-type sable fur color varies from sandy-yellow to black. Farm breeding and 90 years of directional selection have resulted in a generation of several sable breeds with a completely black coat color. In 2005, an unusually chocolate (pastel) puppy was born in the Puschkinsky State Fur Farm (Russia). We established that the pastel phenotype was inherited as a Mendelian autosomal recessive trait. We performed whole-genome sequencing of the sables with pastel fur color and identified a frameshift variant in the gene encoding membrane-bound tyrosinase-like enzyme (TYRP1). TYRP1 is involved in the stability of the tyrosinase enzyme and participates in the synthesis of eumelanin. These data represent the first reported variant linked to fur color in sables and reveal the molecular genetic basis for pastel color pigmentation. These data are also useful for tracking economically valuable fur traits in sable breeding programs.

QUANTIFYING PELAGE COLORATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA SPINY RATS GENUS Maxomys (MURIDAE: RODENTIA) USING SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS

We documented preliminary study of coat color variations within Maxomys, one of the most common rats in the Southeast Asian region. We sampled the skin specimens that mostly deposited at Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Indonesia. Quantitative measurements of coat color using spectrophotometer revealed no significant difference in the dorsal pelage showing mostly dark brown (L*= 25-30, a*= 5-7, b*= 10-15). The ventral colorations were variable among the species. We classified five different color types based on the measurements: whitish grey (M. baeodon, M. whiteheadi, M. musschenbroekii, M. bartelsii, and M. dollmani), orange dark brown (M. hylomyoides), chestnut orange (M. ochraceiventer), yellowish brown (M. alticola) and creamy white (M. rajah, M. hellwaldii, and M. surifer). These fur color characteristics can be useful in species recognition, together with the craniometric features. Furthermore, molecular study of coat color variation within Maxomys spp. is needed to elucidate the mechanisms of phenotypic variation in morphology that affect the patterns of divergence, speciation and evolutionary history of Maxomys. Here, we failed to obtain the sequences from Maxomys using Mc1r (melanocortin-1 receptor) gene, and probably will be better to use other gene such as ASIP (agouti signaling peptide) gene.

Index selection of Kazakh karakul sur-type sheep with platinum shades

Aim of the study: Karakul sheep farming is one of the effective subsectors of animal breeding in the southwestern region of Kazakhstan. Sheep coloring is a result of genetic factors. Breeding can provide farmers with offspring of the desired color through the selection of parental couples. Materials: This research introduces an index method for breeding sur-type sheep with the proportion of underfur fibers under 25%. Such a proportion of underfur fibers provides a 15.25% deeper color within the breed at the 25.3% higher chance of getting platinum shades. Methods: Platinum coloring in sheep makes them less piebald. The inheritance index is quite stable and is within 55.66-65.66%. In the breeding flock, the initial proportion of sur-type lambs which could be used in coat making (elite class) was up to 8.72%. The analysis of platinum color heritability by Kazakh sur-type karakul sheep shows that this color is inherited as a dominant one in the line breeding. The share of sur-type sheep with platinum shades was between 85.85% and 87.27%. Results: The difference in the inherited trait between the groups of sheep selected according to the proportion of underfur fibers was insignificant, 0.99-1.42% (P > 0.05). The stabilizing selection introduced into the theory of line breeding of Kazakh sur-type sheep allowed optimizing the variability of selected features to the level of desired parameters. The authors have proposed the index selection method for sur-type sheep breeding that can be applied to improve the Atyrau sheep flock, to increase their genetic potential, and to apply various line breeding levels to accelerate the breeding process. Conclusions: The originally designed method for improving breeding indexes will be useful when setting optimal breeding goals (fur color and quality) and assessing genetic parameters of a certain sheep flock. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee attached to the Far Eastern State Agrarian University (Protocol No. 5 of 25 May 2010).

Studi Karakteristik Sifat Kualitatif Dan Morfometrik Induk Ayam Kampung Dengan Berbagai Tipe Jengger Di Pulau Lombok

This study aimed to identify the diversity of qualitative and morphometric traits of Kampung chickens based on the comb-types in Lombok Island. Four hundred and seventeen Kampung chickens that are maintained traditionally were used in this study. The method used was a survey. The determination of location was done by purposive sampling, and samples taken were selected by random sampling. Qualitative data included comb-type, fur color, skin color, and foot color. Morphometric data included comb height, shank length, tibia length, femur length, the distance between pubic bones, the distance between the pubic bone and breastbone and body weight. Data were analyzed using simple statistical analysis. The results show that there were 4 (four) types of comb namely walnut comb (36.45 percent), single (30.45 percent), pea (24.46 percent) and rose (8.64 percent). Fur colors found were black, golden, striated and white. White fur color was only found in pea combs. The earlobe colors were red and white. Shank colors were black, white and yellow. The skin colors were yellow and white. The highest morphometrics of Kampung chicken was found in chickens with the type of rose comb which showed comb height of 12.16 + 2.78mm, shank length of 74.26 + 11.62mm, tibia length of 88.47 + 11.87mm, femur length of 82.11 + 12.45mm, distance of two pubic bones of 35.95 + 7.32mm), distance between the pubic bone and breastbone of 54.74 + 9.86mm and body weight of 1658.19 + 339.63gram.

Characterization of POU2F1 Gene and Its Potential Impact on the Expression of Genes Involved in Fur Color Formation in Rex Rabbit

The naturally colorful fur of the Rex rabbit is becoming increasingly popular in the modern textile market. Our previous study found that POU class 2 homeobox 1 gene (POU2F1) potentially affects the expression of genes involved in fur color formation in the Rex rabbit, but the function and regulation of POU2F1 has not been reported. In this study, the expression patterns of POU2F1 in Rex rabbits of various colors, as well as in different organs, were analyzed by RT-qPCR. Interference and overexpression of POU2F1 were used to identify the potential effects of POU2F1 on other genes related to fur color formation. The results show that the levels of POU2F1 expression were significantly higher in the dorsal skin of the brown and protein yellow Rex rabbits, compared with that of the black one. POU2F1 mRNAs were widespread in the tissues examined in this study and showed the highest level in the lungs. By transfecting rabbit melanocytes with an POU2F1-overexpression plasmid, we found that the POU2F1 protein was located at the nucleus, and the protein showed the classic characteristics of a transcription factor. In addition, abnormal expression of POU2F1 significantly affected the expression of pigmentation-related genes, including SLC7A11, MITF, SLC24A5, MC1R, and ASIP, revealing the regulatory roles of POU2F1 on pigmentation. The results provide the basis for further exploration of the role of POU2F1 in fur color formation of the Rex rabbit.