Yusufgates4600

The lower jaw of early tetrapods is composed of several intramembranous ossifications. However, a tendency toward the independent reduction of the number of bones has been observed in the mandible of mammals, lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodiles, and birds. Regarding archosaurs, the coronoid and prearticular bones are interpreted to be lost during the evolution of stem-birds and stem-crocodiles, respectively, but the homology of the post-dentary bones retained in living pseudosuchians remains unclear. Here, we combine paleontological and embryological evidence to explore in detail the homology of the crocodylian post-dentary bones. We study the mandible embryogenesis on a sample of 71 embryos of Caiman and compare this pattern with the mandibular transformations observed across pseudosuchian evolution. In the pre-hatching ontogeny of caimans, at least five intramembranous ossification centers are formed along the margins of the internal mandibular fenestra (perifenestral centers) and, subsequently, merge to form the coronoid (three intramembranous centers), angular (one intramembranous center), and articular (one intramembranous and one chondral center). In the fossil record, an independent prearticular is lost around the base of Mesoeucrocodylia (optimized as reappearing in Thalattosuchia if they are placed within Neosuchia), and the coronoid is apomorphically lost in notosuchians. The integration of embryological and paleontological data indicates that most perifenestral centers are involved in the origin of the prearticular of non-mesoeucrocodylian pseudosuchians. These centers are rearranged during the evolution to contribute to different post-dentary bones in mesoeucrocodylians bolstering the idea that the coronoid and the articular of Crocodylia are not completely homologous to those of other diapsids.

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) represents an essential cause of drug-resistant epilepsy with surgery as an effective treatment option. This study aimed to identify the important predictors of favorable surgical outcomes and the impact of the interictal scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns in predicting postsurgical seizure outcomes.

We retrospectively evaluated 210 consecutive patients between 2015 and 2019. They were diagnosed with FCD by pathology, underwent resection, and had at least one year of postsurgical follow-up. Predictors of seizure freedom were analyzed.

Based on the information at the latest follow-up, seizure outcome was classified as Engel Class I (seizure-free) in 81.4% and Engel Class II-IV (non-seizure-free) in 18.6% of patients. There were 43, 105, and 62 cases of FCD type I, type II, and type III, respectively. The interictal EEG showed a repetitive discharge pattern (REDP) in 87 (41.4%) patients, polyspike discharge pattern (PDP) in 41 (19.5%), and the coexistence of REDP and calp EEG patterns were revealed to be predictive of excellent surgical outcomes and may help clinical decision-making and enable better presurgical evaluation.

Bovine eimeriosis is thought to be very important for the productivity and health of cattle all over the world. Despite the importance of cattle farming in Sylhet, little is known about the prevalence of bovine Eimeria spp. and the risk factors connected with it.

We conducted a study to evaluate the prevalence, species diversity and associated risk factors of Eimeria spp. in a population of 50 cattle farms from 12 upazilas (sub-district) in Sylhet district.

Faecal samples were collected randomly from a total of 554 calves ranging in age from 1 month to 2years old during a period of 7 months. We used Flotation and McMaster techniques for parasitological examination. Species identification was done by using their morphological and morphometric characteristics.

Out of 554 calves, 308 were found to be positive for Eimeria species (55.60%). Seven species of Eimeria were identified. Among the identified species, E. bovis (38.98%), E. zuernii (26.17%) and E. alabamensis (22.38%) were found to be the most prees in the study area'. Thus, the findings of this study could be used as tools for adoptive surveillance and effective control and prevention of the disease in cattle populations in this region.Medical education's treatment of obstetric-related anatomy exemplifies historical sex bias in medical curricula. Foundational obstetric and midwifery textbooks teach that clinical pelvimetry and the Caldwell-Moloy classification system are used to assess the pelvic capacity of a pregnant patient. We describe the history of these techniques-ostensibly developed to manage arrested labors-and offer the following criticisms. The sample on which these techniques were developed betrays the bias of the authors and does not represent the sample needed to address their interest in obstetric outcomes. Caldwell and Moloy wrote as though the size and shape of the bony pelvis are the primary causes of "difficult birth"; today we know differently, yet books still present their work as relevant. The human obstetric pelvis varies in complex ways that are healthy and normal such that neither individual clinical pelvimetric dimensions nor the artificial typologies developed from these measurements can be clearly correlated with obstetric outcomes. We critique the continued inclusion of clinical pelvimetry and the Caldwell-Moloy classification system in biomedical curricula for the racism that was inherent in the development of these techniques and that has clinical consequences today. We call for textbooks, curricula, and clinical practices to abandon these outdated, racist techniques. In their place, we call for a truly evidence-based practice of obstetrics and midwifery, one based on an understanding of the complexity and variability of the physiology of pregnancy and birth. Instead of using false typologies that lack evidence, this change would empower both pregnant people and practitioners.The Afrotheria clade includes a large group of extant mammals, and the aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is the only representative of the order Tubulidentata in it. Here, we studied the morphological nature of the orbital region, eye tunics, upper and lower eyelids, superficial gland of the third eyelid, the third eyelid, deep gland of the third eyelid, and lacrimal gland in post-mortem specimens obtained from three captive aardvarks, two young and one adult. The obtained samples were analyzed using macroscopic, histological, and histochemical methods. We observed choroidal tapetum lucidum fibrosum in all specimens, which was typical for aardvarks. The superficial gland of the third eyelid was a compound multilobar tubular branched gland of a mucous nature. The deep gland of the third eyelid produced a serous secretion. The seromucous secretion was typical for the lacrimal gland. We compared the morphological data of the O. afer skull with that from other endemic African mammals in the Afrotheria clade. We found that other authors provided different anatomical names for some bones and foramina located within the orbit. The types and function of eyelid glands, as well as eyeball glands of aardvarks, can primarily be connected with their habitat. Our study may constitute an introduction to the ontogenesis of individual eyeball glands in aardvarks.Isoprenoids with reduced Z,E-mixed prenyl groups are found in various organisms. To date, only polyprenol reductases (PR-Dol) involved in dolichol biosynthesis have been identified as enzymes capable of reducing Z,E-mixed prenyl groups. Although C35 -isoprenoids with reduced Z,E-mixed prenyl groups are found in mycobacteria, Z,E-mixed heptaprenyl reductase (HepR) remains unidentified. In the present study, the identification and functional analysis of HepR was performed. No PR-Dol homolog gene was detected in the genome of Mycolicibacterium vanbaalenii. However, a homolog of geranylgeranyl reductase (GGR), which reacts with an all-E prenyl group as a substrate, was encoded in the genome; thus, we analyzed it as a HepR candidate. In vitro enzymatic assay and in vivo gene suppression analysis identified the GGR homolog as HepR and revealed that HepR catalyzes the reduction of ω- and E- prenyl units in Z,E-mixed heptaprenyl diphosphates, and C35 -isoprenoids are mainly biosynthesized using E,E,E-geranylgeranyl diphosphate as a precursor. Thus, it was demonstrated that the Z,E-mixed prenyl reductase family exists in the GGR homologs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first identification of a new type of Z,E-mixed prenyl reductase with no sequence homology to PR-Dol. The substrate specificity of HepR significantly differed from that of GGR, suggesting that it is a new enzyme. HepR homologs are widely distributed in mycobacterial genomes, and lipid analysis suggests that many strains, including pathogenic species, produce HepR metabolites. The discovery of this new enzyme will promote further research on Z,E-mixed isoprenoids.Shear wave elastography (SWE) is an ultrasound-based stiffness quantification technology that is used for noninvasive liver fibrosis assessment. However, despite widescale clinical adoption, SWE is largely unused by preclinical researchers and drug developers for studies of liver disease progression in small animal models due to significant experimental, technical, and reproducibility challenges. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a tool designed specifically for assessing liver stiffness and echogenicity in small animals to better enable longitudinal preclinical studies. A high-frequency linear array transducer (12-24 MHz) was integrated into a robotic small animal ultrasound system (Vega; SonoVol, Inc., Durham, NC) to perform liver stiffness and echogenicity measurements in three dimensions. The instrument was validated with tissue-mimicking phantoms and a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Female C57BL/6J mice (n = 40) were placed on choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet and imaged longitudinally for 15 weeks. A subset was sacrificed after each imaging timepoint (n = 5) for histological validation, and analyses of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed. Results demonstrated that robotic measurements of echogenicity and stiffness were most strongly correlated with macrovesicular steatosis (R2 = 0.891) and fibrosis (R2 = 0.839), respectively. For diagnostic classification of fibrosis (Ishak score), areas under ROC (AUROCs) curves were 0.969 for ≥Ishak1, 0.984 for ≥Ishak2, 0.980 for ≥Ishak3, and 0.969 for ≥Ishak4. For classification of macrovesicular steatosis (S-score), AUROCs were 1.00 for ≥S2 and 0.997 for ≥S3. Average scanning and analysis time was less then 5 minutes/liver. Conclusion Robotic SWE in small animals is feasible and sensitive to small changes in liver disease state, facilitating in vivo staging of rodent liver disease with minimal sonographic expertise.Vegetation is a key component in the global carbon cycle as it stores ~450 GtC as biomass, and removes about a third of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, in some regions, the rate of plant carbon uptake is beginning to slow, largely because of water stress. Here, we develop a new observation-based methodology to diagnose vegetation water stress and link it to environmental drivers. see more We used the ratio of remotely sensed land surface to near surface atmospheric temperatures (LST/Tair ) to represent vegetation water stress, and built regression tree models (random forests) to assess the relationship between LST/Tair and the main environmental drivers of surface energy fluxes in the tropical Americas. We further determined ecosystem traits associated with water stress and surface energy partitioning, pinpointed critical thresholds for water stress, and quantified changes in ecosystem carbon uptake associated with crossing these critical thresholds. We found that the top drivers of LST/Tair , explaining over a quarter of its local variability in the study region, are (1) radiation, in 58% of the study region; (2) water supply from precipitation, in 30% of the study region; and (3) atmospheric water demand from vapor pressure deficits (VPD), in 22% of the study region.