Utrecht University

About: Utrecht University is a education organization based out in Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 58176 authors who have published 139351 publications receiving 6214282 citations. The organization is also known as: UU & Universiteit Utrecht.

Cloning of the mycobacterial epitope recognized by T lymphocytes in adjuvant arthritis

Abstract: Adjuvant arthritis (AA) is a chronic disease inducible in rats by immunization with an antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis1. After the isolation of arthritogenic T-cell lines2 and clones3, it became possible to demonstrate that the critical M. tuberculosis antigen contained an epitope cross-reactive with a self-antigen in joint cartilage4–6. Like AA rats, patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated specific T-lymphocyte reactivity to the M. tuberculosis fraction containing the cross-reactive epitope7. To characterize the critical M. tuberculosis epitope we used AA T-cell clones to screen mycobacterial antigens expressed in Escherichia coli and genetically engineered truncated proteins and synthetic peptides. The AA T-cell clones recognized an epitope formed by the amino acids at positions 180–188 in the sequence of a Mycobacterium bovis BCG antigen8. Administration of this antigen to rats induced resistance to subsequent attempts to produce AA.

Economic effects of bovine mastitis and mastitis management: a review.

Abstract: Several studies have been published since 1990 on the economics of mastitis and mastitis management However, hardly any of these studies has discussed the consistency of results with other studies In the present paper, the economic factors associated with mastitis are explained, providing a framework for economic analysis As a second step calculations of the costs of mastitis and the costs in relation to the benefits of mastitis management published since 1990 in peer-reviewed journals are extensively reviewed and analysed The result shows a large variation in the calculated costs and benefits of mastitis and mastitis management between the different studies Moreover, it is clear that important factors were ignored in some of the studies The framework provided in this paper can provide a basis for analysis for future studies on the economics of mastitis and mastitis management

A survey of content based 3D shape retrieval methods

Abstract: Recent developments in techniques for modeling, digitizing and visualizing 3D shapes has led to an explosion in the number of available 3D models on the Internet and in domain-specific databases. This has led to the development of 3D shape retrieval systems that, given a query object, retrieve similar 3D objects. For visualization, 3D shapes are often represented as a surface, in particular polygonal meshes, for example in VRML format. Often these models contain holes, intersecting polygons, are not manifold, and do not enclose a volume unambiguously. On the contrary, 3D volume models, such as solid models produced by CAD systems, or voxels models, enclose a volume properly. This paper surveys the literature on methods for content based 3D retrieval, taking into account the applicability to surface models as well as to volume models. The methods are evaluated with respect to several requirements of content based 3D shape retrieval, such as: (1) shape representation requirements, (2) properties of dissimilarity measures, (3) efficiency, (4) discrimination abilities, (5) ability to perform partial matching, (6) robustness, and (7) necessity of pose normalization. Finally, the advantages and limitations of the several approaches in content based 3D shape retrieval are discussed.

Genomic Analysis of the Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Abstract: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38-39 Mb genomes include 11,860-14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared to ,1% of B. cinerea. The arsenal of genes associated with necrotrophic processes is similar between the species, including genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and oxalic acid production. Analysis of secondary metabolism gene clusters revealed an expansion in number and diversity of B. cinerea-specific secondary metabolites relative to S. sclerotiorum. The potential diversity in secondary metabolism might be involved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Comparative genome analysis revealed the basis of differing sexual mating compatibility systems between S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea. The organization of the mating-type loci differs, and their structures provide evidence for the evolution of heterothallism from homothallism. These data shed light on the evolutionary and mechanistic bases of the genetically complex traits of necrotrophic pathogenicity and sexual mating. This resource should facilitate the functional studies designed to better understand what makes these fungi such successful and persistent pathogens of agronomic crops.