Viruses infecting salmonid fishes from Oregon : A. The occurrence and distribution of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus. B. The development of an attenuated strain of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) for immunization of salmonids

The occurrence and distribution of fish viruses in Oregon were determined by the examination of anadromous and fresh water salmonids. Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) was isolated and identified from asymptomatic adult coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook (0. tshawytscha) salmon returning to the Columbia River system. Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus was also identified as the causative agent of severe losses of eastern brook trout juveniles (Salvelinus fontinalis) at the Fall River trout hatchery in central Oregon. This was the first documented IPNV epizootic in fish from Oregon. A high incidence of IPNV was detected in eastern brook trout populations from central Oregon indicating that this virus poses a threat to the rearing of that species in Oregon. An attenuated strain of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) was developed for use as a water-borne vaccine for the control of IHNV disease. This water-brone vaccine is easily administered as an immunizing agent by direct addition to the water containing fish. The attenuated IHNV water-borne vaccine strain was determined to be one hundred three times less virulent than the wild type strain from which it was derived. This vaccine was proven to be efficacious against high levels of both water route and injected challenges of virulent wild type virus in kokanee (0. nerka) and sockeye salmon (0. nerka). Other parameters for the development of an effective vaccine preparation were also tested. An optimal exposure period to the immunizing virus of 48 hours was determined as were the minimum immunizing dose for sockeye and chinook salmon. The attenuated IHNV water-borne vaccine produced immunity with a duration of at least 110 days and was shown to provide protection to sockeye salmon challenged with four isolates of virulent IHNV from different geographic locations. Another method of immunization, vacuum infiltration, was tested using a second strain of attenuated IHNV as an immunizing agent. Even though this method of immunization was effective in eliciting a protective immune response in chinook and kokanee salmon, it did not produce the level of protection provided by the attenuated IHNV water-borne vaccine

Begonias de las montañas del NO argentino

Begonia (Begoniaceae) es uno de los géneros más grandes de plantas vasculares con alrededor de 1.500 especies distribuidas en áreas tropicales y subtropicales. En Argentina están presentes 16 especies, siendo el noroeste la región con mayor concentración de begonias. Este género es un elemento florístico frecuente tanto de Bosques como de Pastizales Montanos de Yungas, asociados principalmente a lugares con afloramientos rocosos o quebradas húmedas. En esta contribución, presentamos una lista actualizada de las begonias que crecen en las montañas del NO argentino, breves notas taxonómicas y datos sobre la ecología de cada una, y finalmente una clave para la identificación de las especies.Fil: Martín, Claudia Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Romeo, Raquel Ángela. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios de Diversidad Vegetal.; ArgentinaFil: Tebbit, Mark. California University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Guerrero Ospina, Juan Camilo. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; ArgentinaXII Jornadas Científico-Técnicas de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNJuSan Salvador de JujuyArgentinaUniversidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agraria

Hypersensitive K303R oestrogen receptor-α variant not found in invasive carcinomas

INTRODUCTION: Genetic abnormalities or mutations in premalignant breast lesions may have a role in progression toward malignancy or influence the behaviour of subsequent disease. The A908G (Lys303→Arg) change in the gene encoding oestrogen receptor-α (ER-α) creates a hypersensitivity to oestradiol and would have significant consequences if present in breast carcinoma, especially those treated with endocrine therapy. We have therefore examined a panel of endocrine-treated invasive carcinomas for the presence of this mutation. METHODS: Sequencing of control DNA was shown to detect mutation present in as little as 15% of the starting material. Enrichment for the mutation by using MboII restriction digestion allowed the detection of mutant present at 1% or less. We applied these techniques to genomic DNA and cDNA from 136 invasive breast carcinomas. RESULTS: No evidence of the A908G mutation was found with either technique. The incidence of this mutation in our panel of tumours is therefore significantly less than previously reported. CONCLUSION: The fact that the mutation was not found leads us to believe that this mutation is absent from most cells in invasive carcinomas and furthermore that the major expression product of the ER-α gene in cancers does not contain the K303R mutation. It is therefore unlikely to influence the effectiveness of endocrine treatment

The estrogen receptor-α A908G (K303R) mutation occurs at a low frequency in invasive breast tumors: results from a population-based study

INTRODUCTION: Evidence suggests that alterations in estrogen signaling pathways, including estrogen receptor-α (ER-α), occur during breast cancer development. A point mutation in ER-α (nucleotide A908G), producing an amino acid change from lysine to arginine at codon 303 (K303R) results in receptor hypersensitivity to estrogen. This mutation was initially reported in one-third of hyperplastic benign breast lesions, although several recent studies failed to detect it in benign or malignant breast tissues. METHODS: We screened 653 microdissected, newly diagnosed invasive breast tumors from patients in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study of breast cancer in African American and white women in North Carolina, for the presence of the ER-α A908G mutation by using single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and (33)P-cycle sequencing. RESULTS: We detected the ER-α A908G mutation in 37 of 653 (5.7%) breast tumors. The absence of this mutation in germline DNA confirmed it to be somatic. Three tumors exhibited only the mutant G base at nucleotide 908 on sequencing, indicating that the wild-type ER-α allele had been lost. The ER-α A908G mutation was found more frequently in higher-grade breast tumors (odds ratio (OR) 2.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09 to 7.34, grade II compared with grade I), and in mixed lobular/ductal tumors (OR 2.10; 95% CI 0.86 to 5.12) compared with ductal carcinomas, although the latter finding was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This population-based study, the largest so far to screen for the ER-α A908G mutation in breast cancer, confirms the presence of the mutant in invasive breast tumors. The mutation was associated with higher tumor grade and mixed lobular/ductal breast tumor histology

Causes and Consequences of Inflation

While ethical implications of direct taxation systems have recently received renewed attention, a more veiled scheme remains unnoticed: inflation. We overview the causes of inflation and assess its consequences. Salient wealth redistributions are a defining feature of inflation, as savers and fixed income individuals see a relative wealth reduction. While avoiding this “tax” is difficult in many instances due to the primacy of money in a monetary economy, the tax codes of most developed countries allow avoidance techniques to be employed. We analyze three ways that inflation may be avoided in an attempt to preserve personal wealth, as well as the consequences of such practices

Teaching how to Listen. Blended Learning for the Development and Assessment of Listening Skills in a Second Language

This paper discusses the integration and effectiveness of blended learning for the development and assessment of listening skills in a second language. The development of oral abilities (listening and speaking) is one of the most challenging and neglected aspects of second language learning (Vandergrift & Goh 2012, Graham & Santos 2015). Listening comprehension work in particular is crucial in the early stages of second language acquisition, and, therefore, for ab-initio language students, for whom processing and decoding auditory input can be very challenging. In 2014 a set of online listening quizzes was created and integrated into two ab-initio Italian courses. The aim was to offer engaging, flexible listening comprehension practice and assessment, which would extend the students’ learning experience, stimulate their learning motivation and allow for a better use of face-to-face teaching in the classroom environment. Having conceptualised listening as a process rather than a product we designed tasks to teach learners how to listen, rather than merely test their comprehension. The validity of the quizzes as a means for the development of listening skills and as a tool for formative and summative assessment was subjected to systematic analysis via an online student survey. The large amount of data collected reveals that the quizzes were a key element in the development of listening skills and the delivery mode did not only meet the students’ learning needs but it was clearly preferred to in-class assessment