Viborg Hamann (quillwalk3)

The saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis is known predominantly from "predator trap" deposits, which has made many aspects of its life history difficult to infer. Here, we describe an association of at least two subadult and one adult S. fatalis from Pleistocene coastal deposits in Ecuador. The assemblage likely derived from a catastrophic mass mortality event, and thereby provides insights into the behavior of the species. The presence of a P3 in the subadult dentaries suggests inheritance, a rare instance of familial relatedness in the fossil record. The siblings were at least two years old and were associated with an adult that was likely their mother, indicating prolonged parental care in S. fatalis. Comparison with the growth of pantherine cats suggests that S. fatalis had a unique growth strategy among big cats that combines a growth rate that is similar to a tiger and the extended growth period of a lion.To dissect the mechanisms underlying the inflation of variants in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome, we present a large-scale analysis of intra-host genomic diversity, which reveals that most samples exhibit heterogeneous genomic architectures, due to the interplay between host-related mutational processes and transmission dynamics. The decomposition of minor variants profiles unveils three non-overlapping mutational signatures related to nucleotide substitutions and likely ruled by APOlipoprotein B Editing Complex (APOBEC), Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), and Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA (ADAR), highlighting heterogeneous host responses to SARS-CoV-2 infections. A corrected-for-signatures dN/dS analysis demonstrates that such mutational processes are affected by purifying selection, with important exceptions. In fact, several mutations appear to transit toward clonality, defining new clonal genotypes that increase the overall genomic diversity. Furthermore, the phylogenomic analysis shows the presence of homoplasies and supports the hypothesis of transmission of minor variants. This study paves the way for the integrated analysis of intra-host genomic diversity and clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infections.Endomucin is a type I integral membrane glycoprotein, which is expressed in venous and capillary endothelial cells. It consists of 261 amino acids with an extracellular domain that is highly O-glycosylated at serine and threonine residues and has several potential N-glycosylation sites. Endomucin plays an important role in biological processes such as cell interaction, molecular cell signaling, angiogenesis and cell migration, and in recent years it has also been identified as an anti-adhesion molecule and a marker of endothelial cells. While it has been shown to be involved in a number of physiological and pathological mechanisms, many of its functions remain unknown, and further study is needed. This article reviews research progress on the function of endomucin to date, in order to provide guidance for future studies.Characterization of growth and survival of mice displaying early onset hypertonic symptoms is critical as these animals are important for research investigating mechanisms and treatments of pediatric conditions associated with hypertonia, such as cerebral palsy. FIN56 molecular weight Currently, most animal models of cerebral palsy reproduce risk factors for developing this condition, with most failing to develop the physical symptoms or failing to survive in the postnatal period. The B6.Cg-Glrbspa /J (Gly receptor mutation) transgenic mouse (spa mouse), displays symptoms of early onset hypertonia, though little has been reported on growth and survival, with no reports of growth and survival since genotyping became available. We found that the majority of spa mice display symptoms by P14-P16. Of mice surviving to weaning, only ~9% were spa mice. By weaning age, spa mice had significantly lower weights than their heterozygote and wild-type littermates. Of mi