Whereas major histocompatibility class-1 (MH1) proteins present peptides to T cells displaying a large T-cell receptor (TR) repertoire, MH1Like proteins, such as CD1D and MR1, present glycolipids and microbial riboflavin precursor derivatives, respectively, to T cells expressing invariant TR-α (iTRA) chains. The groove of such MH1Like, as well as iTRA chains used by mucosal-associated invariant...

Dicer, an ribonuclease type III type endonuclease, is the key enzyme involved in biogenesis of microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and thus plays a critical role in RNA interference through post transcriptional regulation of gene expression. This enzyme has not been well studied in the Indian water buffalo, an important species known for disease resistance and high milk prod...

Tiki1 is a Wnt protease and antagonist specifically expressed in the Spemann-Mangold Organizer and is required for head formation in Xenopus embryos. Here we report neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis of vertebrate Tiki genes and their mRNA expression patterns in chick, mouse, and rabbit embryos. Tiki1 and Tiki2 orthologues are highly conserved, and exhibit similar but also different develop...

Sauropods are often imagined to have held their heads high atop necks that ascended in a sweeping curve that was formed either intrinsically because of the shape of their vertebrae, or behaviorally by lifting the head, or both. Their necks are also popularly depicted in life with poses suggesting avian flexibility. The grounds for such interpretations are examined in terms of vertebral osteolog...

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In vivo feasibility of using low-intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) to transiently modulate the function of regional brain tissue has been recently tested in anesthetized lagomorphs [1] and rodents [2-4]. Hypothetically, ultrasonic stimulation of the brain possesses several advantages [5]: it does not necessitate surgery or genetic alteration but could ultimately confer spatial resolutions supe...

Studies of a diverse array of animals have found that young individuals often have robust bones for their body size (i.e. augmented cross-sectional dimensions), limiting fracture risk despite general musculoskeletal immaturity. However, previous research has focused primarily on precocial taxa (e.g. rodents, lagomorphs, bovids, goats and emu). In this study, we examined the ontogenetic scaling ...

The collection of small mammals from lacustrine sediments at deli hill (SW of Sivas city, Central Anatolia) contains seventeen species of rodents and two species of lagomorphs. There are four Muridae: Apodemus dominans, Occitanomys (Rhodomys) vandami nov. sp., Micromys bendai, and Muridae gen. et sp. indet., six Cricetidae: Cricetus cf. lophidens, Mesocricetus cf. primitivus, Cricetulus migrato...

Mammalian herbivores can be divided into two groups on the basis of the principal site of microbial fermentation. Fore-gut fermenters have an expanded and differentiated fore-stomach. Eutherian fore-gut fermenters include sloths, colobid monkeys, hippos, peccaries, camelids and ruminants. Marsupial fore-gut fermenters include the kangaroos, wallabies and rat-kangaroos. Hind-gut fermenters have ...

Understanding multi-scale floral and faunal responses to human land use is crucial for informing natural resource management and conservation planning. However, our knowledge on how land use influences sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems is limited primarily to site-specific studies. To fill this void, studies across large regions are needed that address how species are distributed relative t...