Biological Connections Research Articles

Prioritising seascape connectivity in conservation using network analysis

Summary Connectivity is regarded globally as a guiding principle for conservation planning, but due to difficulties in quantifying connectivity, empirical data remain scarce. Lack of meaningful connectivity metrics is likely leading to inadequate representation of important biological connections in reserve networks. Identifying patterns in landscape connectivity can, theoretically, improve the design of conservation areas. We used a network model to estimate seascape connectivity for coral reef‐associated fishes in a subtropical bay in Australia. The model accounted for two scales of connectivity: (i) within mosaics at a local scale and (ii) among these mosaics at a regional scale. Connections among mosaics were modelled using estimations of post‐larval small and intermediate movement distances represented by home ranges of two fish species. Modelled connectivity patterns were assessed with existing data on fish diversity. For fishes with intermediate home ranges (0–6 km), connectivity [quantified by the index Probability of Connectivity (dPC)] explained 51–60% of species diversity. At smaller home ranges (0–1 km), species diversity was associated closely with intramosaic connectivity quantified by the index dPCintra. Mosaics and their region‐wide connections were ranked for their contribution to overall seascape connectivity and compared against current positions and boundaries of reserves. Our matching shows that only three of the 10 most important mosaics are at least partly encompassed within a reserve, and only a single important regional connection lies within a reserve. Synthesis and applications. Notwithstanding its formal recognition in reserve planning, connectivity is rarely accounted for in practice, mainly because suitable metrics of connectivity are not available in planning phases. Here, we show how a network analysis can be effectively used in conservation planning by identifying biological connectivity inside and outside present reserve networks. Our results demonstrate clearly that connectivity is insufficiently represented within a reserve network. We also provide evidence of key pathways in need of protection to avoid nullifying the benefits of protecting key reefs. The guiding principle of protecting connections among habitats can be achieved more effectively in future, by formally incorporating our findings into the decision framework.

The drivers underlying biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities in soils under sugarcane cultivation

The exploration of microbiomes has been posited as one of the pillars for innovative technologies to improve plant health and production. Agriculture is a promising area for this exploration as soils harbor vast and diverse microbial communities. A better understanding of the drivers influencing microbial biogeographical patterns is necessary to properly exploit this resource. Here, we aimed to describe biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities across a broad spatial scale by sampling soils in 10 distinct farms (a total of 285 soil samples) located at the most important region for sugarcane production in Brazil. Bacterial communities were analyzed in terms of community structure and composition and further correlated with soil characteristics, agricultural practices and geographical distances. Distance decay patterns were found either at the bacterial community level (as determined by T-RFLP and sequencing analyses) and at the distribution of most bacterial phyla. Partial redundancy analysis revealed that soil characteristics (i.e., pH, granulometry, potassium and phosphorus contents) and agricultural practices (i.e., amendments of vinasse, charcoal and mechanical harvesting) explained the differential structuring of bacterial communities to a higher extend than did geographical distance. The co-occurrence/mutual-exclusion analysis suggested a role of biological connections in these assemblages, such as the co-occurrence of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, both negatively correlated with Actinobacteria. Our data constitute the broadest assessment of biogeographical patterns of bacterial communities across agricultural soils. Collectively, it indicates that these bacterial assemblages are suitable for management, what support the development of microbiome-based strategies in agricultural settings.

An evaluation of central penetration from a peripherally administered oxytocin receptor selective antagonist in nonhuman primates

The physiology of the oxytocin receptor has increasingly become a focus of scientific investigation due to its connection with social behavior and psychiatric disorders with impairments in social funciton. Experimental utilization of small molecule and peptide antagonists for the oxytocin receptor has played a role in deciphering these biological and social behavior connections in rodents. Described herein is the evaluation of a potent and selective oxytocin receptor antagonist, ALS-I-41, and details to consider for its use in nonhuman primate behavioral pharmacology experiments utilizing intranasal or intramuscular administration. The central nervous system penetration and rate of metabolism of ALS-I-41 was investigated via mass spectroscopy analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and plasma in the rhesus macaque after intranasal and intramuscular administration. Positron emission tomography was also utilized with [18F] ALS-I-41 in a macaque to verify observed central nervous system (CNS) penetration and to further evaluate the effects of administration rate on CNS penetration of Sprague-Dawley rats in comparison to previous studies.

Physical control of the distributions of a key Arctic copepod in the Northeast Chukchi Sea

The Chukchi Sea is a highly advective regime dominated by a barotropically driven northward flow modulated by wind driven currents that reach the bottom boundary layer of this shallow environment. A general northward gradient of decreasing temperature and food concentration leads to geographically divergent copepod growth and development rates between north and south. The physics of this system establish the biological connection potential between specific regions. The copepod Calanus glacialis is a key grazer, predator, and food source in Arctic shelf seas. Its summer distribution and abundance have direct effects on much of the food web, from phytoplankton to migrating bowhead whales. In August 2012 and 2013, C. glacialis distributions were quantified over Hanna Shoal in the northeast Chukchi Sea. Here an individual-based model with Lagrangian tracking and copepod life stage development capabilities is used to advect and develop these distributions forward and backward in time to determine the source (production locations) and sink (potential overwintering locations) regions of the transient Hanna Shoal C. glacialis population. Hanna Shoal supplies diapause competent C. glacialis to both the Beaufort Slope and the Chukchi Cap, mainly receives juveniles from the broad slope between Hanna Shoal and Herald Valley and receives second year adults from as far south as the Anadyr Gulf and as near as the broad slope between Hanna Shoal and Herald Valley. The 2013 sink region was shifted west relative to the 2012 region and the 2013 adult source region was shifted north relative to the 2012 adult source region. These connection potentials were not sensitive to precise times and locations of release, but were quite sensitive to depth of release. These patterns demonstrate how interannual differences in the physical conditions well south of Hanna Shoal play a critical role in determining the abundance and distribution of a key food source over Hanna Shoal and in the southern Beaufort Sea.

Dispersal mode and flooding regime as drivers of benthic metacommunity structure in a Neotropical floodplain

The metacommunity approach emerged with the interest in investigating how local and regional processes interact to determine community structure. However, species distribution may differ according to biological features (e.g., dispersal mode) or system connectivity. We investigated the distribution patterns and the importance of environmental and spatial variables for benthic invertebrate metacommunity structures in a Neotropical floodplain according to hydrological periods (flood and drought) and dispersal modes (active or passive). We sampled 18 lakes during flood and drought periods in 2011. In both hydrological periods, we found a Clementsian pattern for active dispersers, with environment as the main structuring factor. The high environmental heterogeneity of this floodplain is an important factor providing high availability of favorable habitats for the establishment of active dispersers. Passive dispersers were randomly distributed in both hydrological periods. The importance of only spatial factors during the drought may indicate a restricted dispersal by inability of tracking environmental gradients. We emphasize that understanding biological community determinants could rely on trait-based analysis (i.e., dispersal mode) and complementary approaches (i.e., variance partitioning, and metacommunity structure), considering their variations over time.

Dispersal similarly shapes both population genetics and community patterns in the marine realm.

Dispersal plays a key role to connect populations and, if limited, is one of the main processes to maintain and generate regional biodiversity. According to neutral theories of molecular evolution and biodiversity, dispersal limitation of propagules and population stochasticity are integral to shaping both genetic and community structure. We conducted a parallel analysis of biological connectivity at genetic and community levels in marine groups with different dispersal traits. We compiled large data sets of population genetic structure (98 benthic macroinvertebrate and 35 planktonic species) and biogeographic data (2193 benthic macroinvertebrate and 734 planktonic species). We estimated dispersal distances from population genetic data (i.e., FST vs. geographic distance) and from β-diversity at the community level. Dispersal distances ranked the biological groups in the same order at both genetic and community levels, as predicted by organism dispersal ability and seascape connectivity: macrozoobenthic species without dispersing larvae, followed by macrozoobenthic species with dispersing larvae and plankton (phyto- and zooplankton). This ranking order is associated with constraints to the movement of macrozoobenthos within the seabed compared with the pelagic habitat. We showed that dispersal limitation similarly determines the connectivity degree of communities and populations, supporting the predictions of neutral theories in marine biodiversity patterns.

Surrogate Parenthood: Between Genetics and Intent

INTRODUCTION In an era of stunning technological progress, the notion of ‘parentage’ has become increasingly contentious in the Western world. With leaps and bounds in the field of genetics and assisted reproduction technologies, parenthood as a concept drifts ever further from assumptions of biological gestational connection or genetic similarity.1 In Israel, a pro-natal and ‘child-centric’ society that very much values the idea of raising a family, the current legal landscape remains hostile to the use of third-party reproductive methods such as adoption and surrogacy by certain groups such as gay couples, single individuals, and people with disabilities. Under current law, prospective parents from these groups have no choice but to leave Israel in order to have their children; many go on ‘reproductive tours’ to developing countries and rely on systems of surrogacy there, withstanding tremendous financial, physical, and emotional stress. During the deadly earthquake in Nepal in April 2015, in fact, Israel sent official aircraft and assistance to the country to aid dozens of Israeli men, their newborn babies, and pregnant surrogates who were caught up in the disaster—stirring the old debate within Israeli legal and social circuits about the morality and legitimacy of surrogacy.2 Just a few weeks before the Nepal earthquake, the Israeli Supreme Court handed down its decision on the Ora Mor Yosef case. The case revolved around a disabled single woman, Ora Mor Yosef, who could not bear a child due to her impairment and

A gene-signature progression approach to identifying candidate small-molecule cancer therapeutics with connectivity mapping.

BackgroundGene expression connectivity mapping has gained much popularity recently with a number of successful applications in biomedical research testifying its utility and promise. Previously methodological research in connectivity mapping mainly focused on two of the key components in the framework, namely, the reference gene expression profiles and the connectivity mapping algorithms. The other key component in this framework, the query gene signature, has been left to users to construct without much consensus on how this should be done, albeit it has been an issue most relevant to end users. As a key input to the connectivity mapping process, gene signature is crucially important in returning biologically meaningful and relevant results. This paper intends to formulate a standardized procedure for constructing high quality gene signatures from a user’s perspective.ResultsWe describe a two-stage process for making quality gene signatures using gene expression data as initial inputs. First, a differential gene expression analysis comparing two distinct biological states; only the genes that have passed stringent statistical criteria are considered in the second stage of the process, which involves ranking genes based on statistical as well as biological significance. We introduce a “gene signature progression” method as a standard procedure in connectivity mapping. Starting from the highest ranked gene, we progressively determine the minimum length of the gene signature that allows connections to the reference profiles (drugs) being established with a preset target false discovery rate. We use a lung cancer dataset and a breast cancer dataset as two case studies to demonstrate how this standardized procedure works, and we show that highly relevant and interesting biological connections are returned. Of particular note is gefitinib, identified as among the candidate therapeutics in our lung cancer case study. Our gene signature was based on gene expression data from Taiwan female non-smoker lung cancer patients, while there is evidence from independent studies that gefitinib is highly effective in treating women, non-smoker or former light smoker, advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients of Asian origin.ConclusionsIn summary, we introduced a gene signature progression method into connectivity mapping, which enables a standardized procedure for constructing high quality gene signatures. This progression method is particularly useful when the number of differentially expressed genes identified is large, and when there is a need to prioritize them to be included in the query signature. The results from two case studies demonstrate that the approach we have developed is capable of obtaining pertinent candidate drugs with high precision.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-016-1066-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Effect of Perceived Parent-Child Facial Resemblance on Parents' Trait Anxiety: The Moderating Effect of Parents' Gender.

Father–child facial resemblance is an important cue for men to evaluate paternity. Previous studies found that fathers’ perceptions of low facial resemblance with offspring lead to low confidence of paternity. Fathers’ uncertainty of paternity could cause psychological stress and anxiety, which, after a long time, may further turn into trait anxiety. Conversely, females can ensure a biological connection with offspring because of internal fertilization. The purpose of this study was thus to examine the role of parents’ gender in the effect of parents’ perceived facial resemblance with child on their trait anxiety. In this study, 151 parents (father or mother) from one-child families reported their facial resemblance with child and their trait anxiety. Results showed that (i) males tended to perceive higher facial similarity with child than did females and (ii) males’ perceived facial resemblance with child significantly predicted trait anxiety, whereas females’ perceived facial resemblance did not. These findings suggested that the uncertainty of paternity contributed to the trait anxiety of fathers, but not mothers.

Gene expression profile of THP-1 cells treated with heat-killed Candida albicans.

Mechanisms under immune response against Candida albicans (C. albicans) remain largely unknown. To better understand the mechanisms of innate immune response against C. albicans, we analyzed the gene expression profile of THP-1 cells stimulated with heat-killed C. albicans. THP-1 cells were stimulated with heat-killed C. albicans for 9 hours at a ratio of 1:1, and gene expression profile of the cells was analyzed using Whole Human Genome Oligo Microarray. Differentially expressed genes were defined as change folds more than 2 and with statistical significance. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis were used to systematically identify biological connections of differentially expressed genes, as well as the pathways associated with the immune response against C. albicans. A total of 355 genes were up-regulated and 715 genes were down-regulated significantly. The up-regulated genes were particularly involved in biological process of RNA processing and pathway of the spliceosome. In case of down-regulated genes, the particularly involved immune-related pathways were G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and Ras pathway. We depict the gene expression profile of heat-killed C. albicans stimulated THP-1 cells, and identify the major pathways involved in immune response against C. albicans. These pathways are potential candidate targets for developing anti-C. albicans agent.

The Nanodisc Platform for Determining the Structure and Function of Membrane Proteins

Membrane proteins are involved in numerous vital biological processes, including transport, signal transduction, cell‐viral interaction, neuronal connections and key steps in many metabolic pathways. Integral membrane proteins account for >30% of the human proteome and are the targets of more than half of all currently marketed therapeutic agents. Unfortunately, membrane proteins are inherently recalcitrant to study using the normal toolkit available to scientists and present a challenge in avoiding denaturation or inactivation and in finding inhibitors, activators and specific antibodies. Often, since membrane proteins are inherently insoluble and prone to aggregation and oligomerization when removed from their native membrane environment, the active function of interest is obscured. The Nanodisc platform circumvents these challenges by providing a generally applicable self‐assembled system that renders all classes of membrane proteins, such as receptors, transporters, enzymes, and viral antigens, soluble in aqueous media. Because Nanodisc constructs provide a native‐like bilayer environment that maintain a target's functional activity, they are a versatile tool in the study of ion channels, biased signaling by GPCRs, integrins, cytochrome P450s, various toxins and viral entities. Importantly, the Nanodisc also provides a controlled surface for protein – membrane recognition such as is involved in RAS signaling and blood coagulation. Numerous recent advances in the structural biology of membrane proteins, particularly cryoelectron microscopy and NMR, have been enabled through the use of Nanodiscs. In addition to these opportunities, Nanodiscs provide a nanometer scale vehicle for the in vivo delivery of amphipathic drugs, therapeutic lipids, tethered nucleic acids, imaging agents and active protein complexes. In my presentation I will summarize recent successes using the Nanodisc platform.Support or Funding InformationNational Institutes of Health

Potential enhancement of direct interspecies electron transfer for syntrophic metabolism of propionate and butyrate with biochar in up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors

Promoting direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) to enhance syntrophic metabolism may be a strategy for accelerating the conversion of organic wastes to methane, but microorganisms capable of metabolizing propionate and butyrate via DIET under methanogenic conditions have yet to be identified. In an attempt to establish methanogenic communities metabolizing propionate or butyrate with DIET, enrichments were initiated with up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), similar to those that were previously reported to support communities that metabolized ethanol with DIET that relied on direct biological electrical connections. In the absence of any amendments, microbial communities enriched were dominated by microorganisms closely related to pure cultures that are known to metabolize propionate or butyrate to acetate with production of H2. When biochar was added to the reactors there was a substantial enrichment on the biochar surface of 16S rRNA gene sequences closely related to Geobacter and Methanosaeta species known to participate in DIET.

An integrative data mining approach to identifying adverse outcome pathway signatures.

The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework is a tool for making biological connections and summarizing key information across different levels of biological organization to connect biological perturbations at the molecular level to adverse outcomes for an individual or population. Computational approaches to explore and determine these connections can accelerate the assembly of AOPs. By leveraging the wealth of publicly available data covering chemical effects on biological systems, computationally-predicted AOPs (cpAOPs) were assembled via data mining of high-throughput screening (HTS) in vitro data, in vivo data and other disease phenotype information. Frequent Itemset Mining (FIM) was used to find associations between the gene targets of ToxCast HTS assays and disease data from Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) by using the chemicals as the common aggregators between datasets. The method was also used to map gene expression data to disease data from CTD. A cpAOP network was defined by considering genes and diseases as nodes and FIM associations as edges. This network contained 18,283 gene to disease associations for the ToxCast data and 110,253 for CTD gene expression. Two case studies show the value of the cpAOP network by extracting subnetworks focused either on fatty liver disease or the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR). The subnetwork surrounding fatty liver disease included many genes known to play a role in this disease. When querying the cpAOP network with the AHR gene, an interesting subnetwork including glaucoma was identified. While substantial literature exists to support the potential for AHR ligands to elicit glaucoma, it was not explicitly captured in the public annotation information in CTD. The subnetwork from this analysis suggests a cpAOP that includes changes in CYP1B1 expression, which has been previously established in the literature as a primary cause of glaucoma. These case studies highlight the value in integrating multiple data sources when defining cpAOPs for HTS data.

Abstract P2-03-07: Rhythmic time oscillations of microRNAs in human breast epithelial normal and cancer cell lines

Abstract BACKGROUND: Diverse molecular mechanisms are being reported in human breast cancer (BC), which can affect the biochemical functions throughout malignant cells development. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are an emerging class of modulators of gene expression with relevant roles in several biological processes, as oncogenic, tumor-suppressive, and metastatic-influencing in BC cells. Recently, a few reports have implied the possible pattern of expression (time oscillation) of miRNAs in time that may be related to molecular changes in mammalian cells. These findings suggest a biological connection among normal and cancer cells, and rhythmic regulation of some miRNAs, but such connection has not yet been studied. In this study, we aimed to identify and compare the rhythmic expression of miRNAs in human breast epithelial normal and cancer cell lines. METHODS: We used cell culture to explore three cell lines, one breast epithelial normal (MCF10A) and two cancer (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) cell lines under standard growth conditions in vitro. The cells were synchronized by serum shock (50% horse serum for 2 h), and we collected sample cells (triplicate) for intervals of 4 hours during 48 hours. Collected cells at 12h to 40h (8 time-points) were genome-wide analyzed of miRNA expression using high-throughput Agilent Human miRNA microarray of 2006 human miRNAs. Analysis for identification of rhythmic miRNAs was developed by cosine analysis in R software. RESULTS: We observed diverse oscillation patterns (minimum 6 patterns, i.e. cosine or sine oscillation) of miRNAs in cell lines. Each cell line shows approximately 85 miRNAs with rhythmic oscillation. These also showed distinct phases between cell lines, which could suggest as part of molecular changes in breast normal and cancer cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that miRNAs may present rhythmic oscillation in the regulation of molecular changes of human breast normal and cancer cells. Citation Format: Chacolla RJ, Trevino VM, Scott SP, Moreno JE. Rhythmic time oscillations of microRNAs in human breast epithelial normal and cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-03-07.

Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions?

Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), those surrounded by uplands, exchange materials, energy, and organisms with other elements in hydrological and habitat networks, contributing to landscape functions, such as flow generation, nutrient and sediment retention, and biodiversity support. GIWs constitute most of the wetlands in many North American landscapes, provide a disproportionately large fraction of wetland edges where many functions are enhanced, and form complexes with other water bodies to create spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the timing, flow paths, and magnitude of network connectivity. These attributes signal a critical role for GIWs in sustaining a portfolio of landscape functions, but legal protections remain weak despite preferential loss from many landscapes. GIWs lack persistent surface water connections, but this condition does not imply the absence of hydrological, biogeochemical, and biological exchanges with nearby and downstream waters. Although hydrological and biogeochemical connectivity is often episodic or slow (e.g., via groundwater), hydrologic continuity and limited evaporative solute enrichment suggest both flow generation and solute and sediment retention. Similarly, whereas biological connectivity usually requires overland dispersal, numerous organisms, including many rare or threatened species, use both GIWs and downstream waters at different times or life stages, suggesting that GIWs are critical elements of landscape habitat mosaics. Indeed, weaker hydrologic connectivity with downstream waters and constrained biological connectivity with other landscape elements are precisely what enhances some GIW functions and enables others. Based on analysis of wetland geography and synthesis of wetland functions, we argue that sustaining landscape functions requires conserving the entire continuum of wetland connectivity, including GIWs.

Family “Bonds”: Making Meaning of Parent–Child Relationships in Estrangement Narratives

ABSTRACTFramed by relational dialectics theory, the present study takes a critical approach to the discursive navigation of the parent–child relationship. Specifically, this study explores the ways in which the parent–child relationship is constructed in 52 narrative interviews with adult children who are estranged from their parent(s). Contrapuntal analysis revealed that two discourses compete to illuminate meanings of the parent–child relationship. Three interrelated themes that emphasize biological connection, familial webs, and shared history constitute the Discourse of Relationship Endurance (DRE). Four interrelated themes that emphasize the need for relational maintenance, care/support, love, and individualism constitute the Discourse of Temporal Contingency and resist the DRE. The competition of these discourses, in the form of diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and a discursive hybrid coalesce to making meaning of the parent–child relationship and hold implications for both theory and practice.

Role of the Metabolic Minor Components in the Regulation of Intermolecular Interaction

This work presents a study of intermolecular interactions using the model of the antigen antibody interactions of the ABO system. Absence of knowledge in the field of the ABO antigen’s behavior as a biomolecule and the integration of these structures into cascade of metabolic and physiological processes create the conditions, which promote a successful using this new model in the future. Molecular recognition and designing are included into the main catalog of computer methods of research, which is called “in silico”. Using PASS system, we describe the possible biological effects of pyruvate, lactate, antigen determinants A and B. Pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of influence on activity of the factors regulating inside and intercellular interactions are predicted for such minor components as pyruvate and lactate. Due to variety of the biological effects, glycoproteins A and B are very perspective to study as biological active connections. The obtained knowledge proves that AB0 antigens, as well as other glycoprotein conjugates are important mediators of intercellular adhesion and participants of signal transmission. Using ABO blood group system as a model helped to describe individual differences of parameters—degree and time of the agglutination beginning of antigen/antibody blood types of the AB0—are revealed.

Surrogate Parenthood: Between Genetics and Intent

In an era of stunning technological progress, parenthood as a concept drifts ever further from assumptions of biological gestational connection or genetic similarity. In Israel, a pro-natal society that values the idea of raising a family, the current legal landscape remains hostile to the use of third-party reproductive methods such as adoption and surrogacy by certain groups such as gay couples, single fathers and people with disabilities. Under the current law, prospective parents from these groups have no choice but to leave Israel in order to have their children: many go on “reproductive tours” to developing countries and rely on systems of surrogacy there, withstanding tremendous financial, physical and emotional stress. In April 2015, the Israeli Supreme Court gave its decision on the Ora Mor Yosef case. The case revolved around a disabled single woman who could not bear a child due to her impairment and therefore used the services of an altruistic surrogate. After exhausting all other options, Ora was forced to bring a child into the world who was not genetically related to her; she arranged for the surrogate to be impregnated with a sperm and an egg, both of which had been donated to her. After the child was born, she was given immediately to foster care because, as Welfare Ministry officials argued, Ora was not genetically connected to her. During the trial, the Israeli court emphasized the importance of a genetic tie between the baby born of a surrogacy procedure and its parent.This paper discusses, through comparative analysis, this requirement that a genetic tie exist between babies and their prospective parents in surrogacy cases. It compares and implements an American model of “parenthood by intent” as established by California courts and manifested in the 1998 Buzzanca case, on the case of Ora Mor Yosef.

Prevalence of tooth rotation in identical twins

The twins are a multidisciplinary phenomenon, the most enduring and closest biological connection. The aim was to determine the prevalence of tooth rotation of the intercanine sector in identical twins. The expected frequency is about 20%. Materials and Methods: The study included 40 pairs of identical twins, chronologically aging 18-65. The sample was formed on the basis of data from the registers of births in the municipalities of Serbia and Montenegro. The twins from Tutin, Novi Pazar Sjenica, Raska, Rozaje, Bijelo Polje, Podgorica, Cetinje, Pljevlja, Cacak and Belgrade were examined. Clinical examination recorded the rotation of individual teeth. Results: The most frequent abnormality in 40 pairs of identical twins is rotation lateral incisors - 73, then central incisors - 22 and canines - 14. As regards lateral incisors, the upper ones lead - left: right=25:20. The relation of the lower is 14:14. Among the central incisors, most-often rotated is the upper left incisor - 9, then the upper right - 8, and lower left central incisor - 5 rotations. On average, each twin has 1.36 (11%) of tooth rotation. Conclusion: Identical twins have twice lower occurrence of expected prevalence of teeth rotation.

Connectivity Homology Enables Inter-Species Network Models of Synthetic Lethality.

Synthetic lethality is a genetic interaction wherein two otherwise nonessential genes cause cellular inviability when knocked out simultaneously. Drugs can mimic genetic knock-out effects; therefore, our understanding of promiscuous drugs, polypharmacology-related adverse drug reactions, and multi-drug therapies, especially cancer combination therapy, may be informed by a deeper understanding of synthetic lethality. However, the colossal experimental burden in humans necessitates in silico methods to guide the identification of synthetic lethal pairs. Here, we present SINaTRA (Species-INdependent TRAnslation), a network-based methodology that discovers genome-wide synthetic lethality in translation between species. SINaTRA uses connectivity homology, defined as biological connectivity patterns that persist across species, to identify synthetic lethal pairs. Importantly, our approach does not rely on genetic homology or structural and functional similarity, and it significantly outperforms models utilizing these data. We validate SINaTRA by predicting synthetic lethality in S. pombe using S. cerevisiae data, then identify over one million putative human synthetic lethal pairs to guide experimental approaches. We highlight the translational applications of our algorithm for drug discovery by identifying clusters of genes significantly enriched for single- and multi-drug cancer therapies.