| 1. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., et al.
(författare)
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First Dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:12, s. e84041-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dinosaur remains from the Arabian subcontinent are exceedingly rare, and those that have been documented manifest indeterminate affinities. Consequently the discovery of a small, but diagnostic, accumulation of elements from Campanian-Maastrichtian (similar to 75 Ma) deposits in northwestern Saudi Arabia is significant because it constitutes the first taxonomically identifiable dinosaur material described from the Arabian Peninsula. The fossils include a series of possible lithostrotian titanosaur caudal vertebrae, and some isolated theropod marginal teeth that share unique character states and metric parameters (analyzed using multivariate statistical methods) with derived abelisaurids - this is the first justifiable example of a non-avian carnivorous dinosaur clade from Arabia. The recognition of titanosaurians and abelisaurids from Saudi Arabia extends the palaeogeographical range of these groups along the entire northern Gondwanan margin during the latest Cretaceous. Moreover, given the extreme paucity of coeval occurrences elsewhere, the Saudi Arabian fossils provide a tantalizing glimpse into dinosaurian assemblage diversity within the region.
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| 2. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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A review of aquatic vertebrate remains from the Middle-Upper Triassic Jilh Formation of Saudi Arabia
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. - 0035-9211. ; 122:1, s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A recent field survey of the Middle–Upper Triassic (upper Anisian to lowermost Carnian) paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation in central Saudi Arabia has yielded large quantities of vertebrate fossils. These finds prompt a revision of the existing faunal list and include at least one novel stratigraphical occurrence for the Arabian Peninsula. The remains comprise sauropterygian marine reptiles (Psephosauriscus sp., Nothosaurus cf. tchernovi, Nothosaurus cf. giganteus, Simosaurus sp.), a lungfish (Ceratodus sp.),hybodontiform sharks (Hybodus sp.) and saurichthyform actinopterygians (Saurichthys sp.). Palaeobiogeographical assessment reinforces Tethyan affinities for the assemblage and reflects the close proximity of the Arabian region to the ‘Sephardic Realm’, a compositionally distinct circum-Mediterranean faunal province characterized by hypersaline Muschelkalk facies.
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| 3. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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First Triassic lungfish from the Arabian Peninsula
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Paleontology. - 0022-3360 .- 1937-2337. ; 34:1, s. 137-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Triassic lungfish (Dipnoi) have been extensively documented from the Gondwanan continental and marine shelf deposits of Africa and Madagascar (Teixeira, 1949; Lehman et al., 1959; Beltan, 1968; Martin, 1979, 1981; Kemp 1996), Australia (Kemp, 1993, 1994, 1997a, 1998), India (Jainet al., 1964; Jain, 1968), and Antarctica (Dziewa, 1980). Numerous records also exist from Laurasian land masses including Europe (Agassiz, 1838; Schultze, 1981), North America (Case, 1921) and central and eastern Asia (Liu and Yeh, 1957; Vorobyeva, 1967; Martin and Ingavat, 1982). By comparison, nothing is known of contemporary lungfish fossils from the Middle East. Thus, the recent recovery of asingle tooth plate representing a new geographic occurrence of the genus Ceratodus Agassiz, 1838 from paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation, a latest Anisian to lower Carnian unit that crops out along the eastern margin of the Proterozoic Arabian Shield in central Saudi Arabia, is significant because it provides the stratigraphically oldest record of dipnoans from the Arabian Peninsula.
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| 4. |
- Håkansson, Krister, 1952-, et al.
(författare)
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Depressive signs in midlife : A risk factor for cognitive impairment in later life?
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD) 2010. - Chicago, USA : Alzheimer's Association.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Although depression has been associated with dementia, the nature of this relation is still unclear. Establishing causality from previous studies has been complicated by the typical use of a short follow-up and participants aged over 70 already at baseline. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate if depressive signs already in midlife are related to cognitive impairment in later life. Methods: Participants were derived from random, population-based samples previously investigated in 1972, 1977, 1982, or 1987. Their mean age at baseline was 50.4 years (SD 6.0). After an average follow-up of 21 years, 1449 individuals (73%) aged 65 to 79 years were re-examined in 1998. At the re-examination some form of cognitive impairment was diagnosed in 139 of the participants: 82 with mild cognitive impairment and 57 with dementia (48 of these with Alzheimer’s disease). Signs of depression were estimated through responses to three questions concerning the perception of a hopeless future, impossible life goals and loneliness. The relation between depressive signs in midlife and cognitive impairment in later life was analyzed with logistic regression with adjustments for age, gender, apolipoprotein e4 status and a number of midlife health and lifestyle indicators, including blood pressure, cholesterol and marital status. Results: Depressive signs in midlife, as measured in this study, were significantly related to general cognitive impairment in later life, but also separately to both mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. When dichotomized into high versus low levels of depressive signs the odds ratios were 2.19 (1.1 to 4.3) for mild cognitive impairment and 3.81 (1.3 to 11.5) for Alzheimer’s disease. Significant associations were also found between the separate measures of hopelessness and loneliness on the one hand and the separate outcomes of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease on the other. Conclusions: The results support a causal relation between depressive signs relatively early in life and cognitive function in later life. Clinical relevance includes the long-term health implications of depressive signs in midlife also for the risk of dementia.
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| 5. |
- Kamat, Nasir, et al.
(författare)
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High incidence of microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity in three loci in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy : a prospective study
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407. ; 12, s. 373-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate potential chemotherapy-induced microsatellite instability, loss of heterozygosity, loss of expression in mismatch repair proteins and associations with clinical findings in breast cancer patients, especially resistance to chemotherapy and/or development of other tumors in the four years following chemotherapy treatment. Methods: A comprehensive study of chemotherapy-related effects with a follow-up period of 48 months post treatment was conducted. A total of 369 peripheral blood samples were collected from 123 de novo breast cancer patients. Microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity in five commonly used marker loci (including Tp53-Alu of the tumor suppressor gene TP53) were analyzed in blood samples. Sampling was conducted on three occasions; 4-5 weeks prior to the first chemotherapy session (pre-treatment), to serve as a baseline, followed by two consecutive draws at 12 weeks intervals from the first collection. Mismatch repair protein expression was evaluated in cancer tissues using immunohistochemistry for three mismatch-repair related proteins. Results: A total of 70.7% of the patients showed microsatellite instability for at least one locus, including 18.6% marked as high-positive and 52.1% as low-positive; 35.8% showed loss of heterozygosity in addition to microsatellite instability, while 29.3% exhibited microsatellite stability. The following incidence rates for microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity were detected: 39.1% positive for Tp53-Alu, 31.1% for locus Mfd41, and 25.3% for locus Mfd28. A higher occurrence of loss of heterozygosity was noted with alleles 399 and 404 of Tp53-Alu. The mismatch repair protein expression analysis showed that the chemotherapy caused a loss of 29.3% in hMLH1 expression, and 18.7% and 25.2% loss in hMSH2 and P53 expression, respectively. A strong correlation between low or deficient hMSH2 protein expression and occurrence of mismatch repair/loss of heterozygosity events in Mfd41, Tp53-Alu, and Mfd28 was evident. A significant association between mismatch repair/loss of heterozygosity and incidence of secondary tumors was also established. Conclusion: Our results suggest that microsatellite instability, loss of heterozygosity, and deficiency in mismatch repair may serve as early prognostic factors for potential chemotherapy-related side effects in breast cancer patients.
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| 6. |
- Solé-Domènech, Santiago, et al.
(författare)
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Localization of cholesterol, amyloid and glia in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse brain tissue using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and immunofluorescence imaging
- 2013
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 125:1, s. 145-157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The spatial distributions of lipids, amyloid-beta deposits, markers of neurons and glial cells were imaged, at submicrometer lateral resolution, in brain structures of a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease using a new methodology that combines time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and confocal fluorescence microscopy. The technology, which enabled us to simultaneously image the lipid and glial cell distributions in Tg2576 mouse brain structures, revealed micrometer-sized cholesterol accumulations in hippocampal regions undergoing amyloid-beta deposition. Such cholesterol granules were either associated with individual amyloid deposits or spread over entire regions undergoing amyloidogenesis. Subsequent immunohistochemical analysis of the same brain regions showed increased microglial and astrocytic immunoreactivity associated with the amyloid deposits, as expected from previous studies, but did not reveal any particular astrocytic or microglial feature correlated with cholesterol granulation. However, dystrophic neurites as well as presynaptic vesicles presented a distribution similar to that of cholesterol granules in regions undergoing amyloid-beta accumulation, thus indicating that these neuronal endpoints may retain cholesterol in areas with lesions. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence for an altered cholesterol distribution near amyloid deposits that would have been missed by several other lipid analysis methods, and opens for the possibility to study in detail the putative liaison between lipid environment and protein structure and function in Alzheimer's disease.
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| 7. |
- Bjartmar, Lisa, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term treatment with antidepressants, but not environmental stimulation, induces expression of NP2 mRNA in hippocampus and medial habenula
- 2010
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Ingår i: Brain Research. - : Elsevier. - 0006-8993 .- 1872-6240. ; 1328, s. 24-33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neuronal Pentraxin 2 (NP2, Narp), known to mediate clustering of glutamatergic AMPA receptors at synapses, is involved in activity-dependent synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity. In experimental settings, antidepressant treatment as well as a stimulating environment has a positive influence on cognition and hippocampal plasticity. This study demonstrates that NP2 mRNA is robustly expressed in the hippocampus and the medial habenula (MHb), both regions implicated in cognitive functions. Furthermore, NP2 mRNA expression is enhanced in the hippocampal subregions as well as in the MHb after long-term treatment with antidepressant drugs of various monoaminergic profiles, indicating a common mode of action of different antidepressant drugs. This effect occurs at the time frame where clinical response is normally achieved. In contrast, neither environmental enrichment nor deprivation has any influence on long-term NP2 mRNA expression. These findings support an involvement of NP2 in the pathway of antidepressant induced plasticity, but not EE induced plasticity; that NP2 might constitute a common link for the action of different types of antidepressant drugs and that the MHb could be a putative region for further studies of NP2.
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| 8. |
- Bora, Tanujjal, et al.
(författare)
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Controlled side coupling of light to cladding mode of ZnO nanorod coated optical fibers and its implications for chemical vapor sensing
- 2014
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Ingår i: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical. - : Elsevier. - 0925-4005 .- 1873-3077. ; 202, s. 543-550
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Controlled light coupling from surrounding to the cladding mode of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod coated multimode optical fiber induced by the light scattering properties of the nanorod coating and their applications of sensing are reported here. A dense and highly ordered array of ZnO nanorods is grown on the cladding of silica fibers by using low temperature hydrothermal process and the effect of the hydrothermal growth conditions of the nanorods on the light scattering and coupling to the optical fibers is experimentally investigated. The nanorod length and its number per unit area are found to be most crucial parameters for the optimum side coupling of light into the fibers. Maximum excitation of the cladding mode by side coupling of light is obtained with ZnO nanorods of length similar to 2.2 mu m, demonstrating average coupling efficiency of similar to 2.65%. Upon exposure to different concentrations of various chemical vapors, the nanorod coated fibers demonstrated significant enhancement in the side coupled light intensity, indicating the potential use of these ZnO nanorod coated fibers as simple, low cost and efficient optical sensors. The sensor responses to methanol, ethanol, toluene and benzene vapor were investigated and compared, while the effect of humidity in the sensing environment on the sensor performance was explored as well.
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| 9. |
- Codita, Alina, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of spatial and cognitive enrichment on activity pattern and learning performance in three strains of mice in the IntelliMaze.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Behavior Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-8244 .- 1573-3297. ; 42:3, s. 449-460
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The IntelliMaze allows automated behavioral analysis of group housed laboratory mice while individually assigned protocols can be applied concomitantly for different operant conditioning components. Here we evaluate the effect of additional component availability (enrichment) on behavioral and cognitive performance of mice in the IntelliCage, by focusing on aspects that had previously been found to consistently differ between three strains, in four European laboratories. Enrichment decreased the activity level in the IntelliCages and enhanced spatial learning performance. However, it did not alter strain differences, except for activity during the initial experimental phase. Our results from non-enriched IntelliCages proved consistent between laboratories, but overall laboratory-consistency for data collected using different IntelliCage set-ups, did not hold for activity levels during the initial adaptation phase. Our results suggest that the multiple conditioning in spatially and cognitively enriched environments are feasible without affecting external validity for a specific task, provided animals have adapted to such an IntelliMaze.
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| 10. |
- Codita, Alina, et al.
(författare)
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Impaired behavior of female tg-ArcSwe APP mice in the IntelliCage : A longitudinal study
- 2010
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Ingår i: Behavioural Brain Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-4328 .- 1872-7549. ; 215:1, s. 83-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transgenic animals expressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) are used as models for Alzheimer disease (AD). Ideally, behavioral tests improve the predictive validity of studies on animals by mirroring the functional impact of AD-like neuropathology. Learning and memory studies in APP transgenic models have been difficult to replicate. Standardization of procedures, automatization or improved protocol design can improve reproducibility. Here the IntelliCage, an automated system, was used for behavioral testing of APP female transgenic mice with both the Arctic and Swedish mutations, the tg-ArcSwe model. Protocols covering exploration, operant learning, place learning and extinction of place preference as well as passive avoidance tests were used for longitudinal characterization of behavior. Differences in exploratory activity were significant at four months of age, when plaque-free tg-ArcSwe mice visited less frequently the IntelliCage corners and initially performed fewer visits with licks compared to non-tg animals, inside the new environment. Fourteen months old tg-ArcSwe mice required a longer time to re-habituate to the IntelliCages than non-tg mice. At both ages tg-ArcSwe mice perseverated in place preference extinction test. Fourteen months old tg-ArcSwe mice were impaired in hippocampus-dependent spatial passive avoidance learning. This deficit was found to inversely correlate to calbindin-D28k immunoreactivity in the polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus. Reduced water intake and body weight were observed in 4 months old tg-ArcSwe animals. The body weight difference increased with age. Thus behavioral and metabolic changes in the tg-ArcSwe APP model were detected using the IntelliCage, a system which provides the opportunity for standardized automated longitudinal behavioral phenotyping.
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