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Diclofenac toxicity in old world vultures is well described in the literature by both the severity of the toxicity induced and the speed of death. While the mechanism of toxicity remains unknown at present, the necropsy signs of gout suggests primary renal involvement at the level of the uric acid excretory pathways. From information in the chicken and man, uric acid excretion is known to be a complex process that involves a combination of glomerular filtration and active tubular excretion. For the proximal convoluted tubules excretion occurs as a two-step process with the basolateral cell membrane using the organic anion transporters and the apical membrane using the multidrug resistant protein to transport uric acid from the blood into the tubular fluid. With uric acid excretion seemingly inhibited by diclofenac, it becomes important to characterize these transporter mechanism at the species level. With no information being available on the molecular characterization/expression of MRPs of Gyps africanus, for this study we used next generation sequencing, and Sanger sequencing on the renal tissue of African white backed vulture (AWB), as the first step to establish if the MRPs gene are expressed in AWB. In silico analysis was conducted using different software to ascertain the function of the latter genes. The sequencing results revealed that the MRP2 and MRP4 are expressed in AWB vultures. click here Phylogeny of avian MRPs genes confirms that vultures and eagles are closely related, which could be attributed to having the same ancestral genes and foraging behavior. In silico analysis confirmed the transcribed proteins would transports anionic compounds and glucose.Social insects have co-existed with microbial species for millions of years and have evolved a diversity of collective defenses, including the use of antimicrobials. While many studies have revealed strategies that ants use against microbial entomopathogens, and several have shown ant-produced compounds inhibit environmental bacterial growth, few studies have tested whether exposure to environmental bacteria represents a health threat to ants. We compare four ant species’ responses to exposure to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria in order to broaden our understanding of microbial health-threats to ants and their ability to defend against them. In a first experiment, we measure worker mortality of Solenopsis invicta, Brachymyrmex chinensis, Aphaenogaster rudis, and Dorymyrmex bureni in response to exposure to E. coli and S. epidermidis. We found that exposure to E. coli was lethal for S. invicta and D. bureni, while all other effects of exposure were not different from experimental controls. In a second experiment, we compared the antimicrobial ability of surface extracts from bacteria-exposed and non-exposed S. invicta and B. chinensis worker ants, to see if exposure to E. coli or S. epidermidis led to an increase in antimicrobial compounds. We found no difference in the inhibitory effects from either treatment group in either species. Our results demonstrate the susceptibility to bacteria is varied across ant species. This variation may correlate with an ant species’ use of surface antimicrobials, as we found significant mortality effects in species which also were producing antimicrobials. Further exploration of a wide range of both bacteria and ant species is likely to reveal unique and nuanced antimicrobial strategies and deepen our understanding of how ant societies respond to microbial health threats.The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is the main bycatch species in established and exploratory inshore longline fisheries for Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) on the east coast of Baffin Island, Canada. Bycatch and entanglement in longline gear has at times been substantial and post-release survival is questionable when Greenland sharks are released with trailing fishing gear. This study investigated the effect of the type of fishing line used in the gangion and gangion breaking strength on catch rates of Greenland shark and Greenland halibut in bottom set longlines. Circle (size 14/0, 0° offset) hooks were used throughout the study. Behavior of captured sharks, mode of capture (i.e., jaw hook and/or entanglement), level of entanglement in longline gear, time required to disentangle sharks and biological information (sex, body length and health status) were recorded. Catch rates of Greenland shark were independent of monofilament nylon gangion breaking strength and monofilament gangitifilament to monofilament gangions in Greenland halibut longline fisheries.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is immune-mediated primary glomerulonephritis, which is the most common reason leading to renal failure worldwide. The exact pathogenesis of IgAN is not well defined. Accumulating evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play crucial roles in the immune disease by involving in the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network mechanism. At present, the studies of the circRNA profiles and circRNA-associated ceRNA networks in the IgAN are still scarce. This study aimed to elucidate the potential roles of circRNA-associated ceRNA networks of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in IgAN patients.

CircRNA sequencing was used to identify the differential expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) of PBMCs in IgAN and healthy controls; limma packages from data sets GSE25590 and GSE73953 in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, were used to identify differentially expressed micro RNAs (miRNAs) and message RNAs (mRNAs). A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network was constructed to fwhile, Hepatitis B, GnRH signaling, and Prion disease were the most significant enrichment GO terms (

<0.01). PPI network based on STRING analysis identified 4 potentially hub genes. Finally, Ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing 16 (ASB16), SEC24 homolog C, COPII coat complex component (SEC24C) were confirmed by qRT-PCR (

<0.05) and were identified as the hub genes of the ceRNA network in our study.

Our study identified a novel circRNA-mediated ceRNA regulatory network mechanisms in the pathogenesis of IgAN.

Our study identified a novel circRNA-mediated ceRNA regulatory network mechanisms in the pathogenesis of IgAN.