Dynamic Scapular Movement Analysis: Is It Feasible and Reliable in Stroke Patients during Arm Elevation?

Knowledge of three-dimensional scapular movements is essential to understand post-stroke shoulder pain. The goal of the present work is to determine the feasibility and the within and between session reliability of a movement protocol for three-dimensional scapular movement analysis in stroke patients with mild to moderate impairment, using an optoelectronic measurement system. Scapular kinematics of 10 stroke patients and 10 healthy controls was recorded on two occasions during active anteflexion and abduction from 0° to 60° and from 0° to 120°. All tasks were executed unilaterally and bilaterally. The protocol’s feasibility was first assessed, followed by within and between session reliability of scapular total range of motion (ROM), joint angles at start position and of angular waveforms. Additionally, measurement errors were calculated for all parameters. Results indicated that the protocol was generally feasible for this group of patients and assessors. Within session reliability was very good for all tasks. Between sessions, scapular angles at start position were measured reliably for most tasks, while scapular ROM was more reliable during the 120° tasks. In general, scapular angles showed higher reliability during anteflexion compared to abduction, especially for protraction. Scapular lateral rotations resulted in smallest measurement errors. This study indicates that scapular kinematics can be measured reliably and with precision within one measurement session. In case of multiple test sessions, further methodological optimization is required for this protocol to be suitable for clinical decision-making and evaluation of treatment efficacy.     

Action Spectra of Zebrafish Cone Photoreceptors

Zebrafish is becoming an increasingly popular model in the field of visual neuroscience. Although the absorption spectra of its cone photopigments have been described, the cone action spectra were still unknown. In this study we report the action spectra of the four types of zebrafish cone photoreceptors, determined by measuring voltage responses upon light stimulation using whole cell patch clamp recordings. A generic template of photopigment absorption spectra was fit to the resulting action spectra in order to establish the maximum absorption wavelength, the A2-based photopigment contribution and the size of the β-wave of each cone-type. Although in general there is close correspondence between zebrafish cone action- and absorbance spectra, our data suggest that in the case of MWS- and LWS-cones there is appreciable contribution of A2-based photopigments and that the β-wave for these cones is smaller than expected based on the absorption spectra.     

Small Hydrophobic Protein of Human Metapneumovirus Does Not Affect Virus Replication and Host Gene Expression In Vitro

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) encodes a small hydrophobic (SH) protein of unknown function. HMPV from which the SH open reading frame was deleted (HMPVΔSH) was viable and displayed similar replication kinetics, cytopathic effect and plaque size compared with wild type HMPV in several cell-lines. In addition, no differences were observed in infection efficiency or cell-to-cell spreading in human primary bronchial epithelial cells (HPBEC) cultured at an air-liquid interphase. Host gene expression was analyzed in A549 cells infected with HMPV or HMPVΔSH using microarrays and mass spectrometry (MS) based techniques at multiple time points post infection. Only minor differences were observed in mRNA or protein expression levels. A possible function of HMPV SH as apoptosis blocker, as proposed for several members of the family Paramyxoviridae, was rejected based on this analysis. So far, a clear phenotype of HMPV SH deletion mutants in vitro at the virus and host levels is absent.     

Effects of Isometric Scaling on Vertical Jumping Performance

Jump height, defined as vertical displacement in the airborne phase, depends on vertical takeoff velocity. For centuries, researchers have speculated on how jump height is affected by body size and many have adhered to what has come to be known as Borelli’s law, which states that jump height does not depend on body size per se. The underlying assumption is that the amount of work produced per kg body mass during the push-off is independent of size. However, if a big body is isometrically downscaled to a small body, the latter requires higher joint angular velocities to achieve a given takeoff velocity and work production will be more impaired by the force-velocity relationship of muscle. In the present study, the effects of pure isometric scaling on vertical jumping performance were investigated using a biologically realistic model of the human musculoskeletal system. The input of the model, muscle stimulation over time, was optimized using jump height as criterion. It was found that when the human model was miniaturized to the size of a mouse lemur, with a mass of about one-thousandth that of a human, jump height dropped from 40 cm to only 6 cm, mainly because of the force-velocity relationship. In reality, mouse lemurs achieve jump heights of about 33 cm. By implication, the unfavourable effects of the small body size of mouse lemurs on jumping performance must be counteracted by favourable effects of morphological and physiological adaptations. The same holds true for other small jumping animals. The simulations for the first time expose and explain the sheer magnitude of the isolated effects of isometric downscaling on jumping performance, to be counteracted by morphological and physiological adaptations.     

Antibody-dependent cell lysis by NK cells is preserved after sarcoma-induced inhibition of NK cell cytotoxicity

Osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma tumor cells are susceptible to IL15-induced or antibody-mediated cytolytic activity of NK cells in short-term cytotoxicity assays. When encountering the tumor environment in vivo, NK cells may be in contact with tumor cells for a prolonged time period. We explored whether a prolonged interaction with sarcoma cells can modulate the activation and cytotoxic activity of NK cells. The 40 h coculture of NK cells with sarcoma cells reversibly interfered with the IL15-induced expression of NKG2D, DNAM-1 and NKp30 and inhibited the cytolytic activity of NK cells. The inhibitory effects on receptor expression required physical contact between NK cells and sarcoma cells and were independent of TGF-β. Five days pre-incubation of NK cells with IL15 prevented the down-regulation of NKG2D and cytolytic activity in subsequent cocultures with sarcoma cells. NK cell FcγRIIIa/CD16 receptor expression and antibody-mediated cytotoxicity were not affected after the coculture. Inhibition of NK cell cytotoxicity was directly linked to the down-regulation of the respective NK cell-activating receptors. Our data demonstrate that the inhibitory effects of sarcoma cells on the cytolytic activity of NK cells do not affect the antibody-dependent cytotoxicity and can be prevented by pre-activation of NK cells with IL15. Thus, the combination of cytokine-activated NK cells and monoclonal antibody therapy may be required to improve tumor targeting and NK cell functionality in the tumor environment.     

Herbivore trampling as an alternative pathway for explaining differences in nitrogen mineralization in moist grasslands

Studies addressing the role of large herbivores on nitrogen cycling in grasslands have suggested that the direction of effects depends on soil fertility. Via selection for high quality plant species and input of dung and urine, large herbivores have been shown to speed up nitrogen cycling in fertile grassland soils while slowing down nitrogen cycling in unfertile soils. However, recent studies show that large herbivores can reduce nitrogen mineralization in some temperate fertile soils, but not in others. To explain this, we hypothesize that large herbivores can reduce nitrogen mineralization in loamy or clay soils through soil compaction, but not in sandy soils. Especially under wet conditions, strong compaction in clay soils can lead to periods of soil anoxia, which reduces decomposition of soil organic matter and, hence, N mineralization. In this study, we use a long-term (37-year) field experiment on a salt marsh to investigate the hypothesis that the effect of large herbivores on nitrogen mineralization depends on soil texture. Our results confirm that the presence of large herbivores decreased nitrogen mineralization rate in a clay soil, but not in a sandy soil. By comparing a hand-mown treatment with a herbivore-grazed treatment, we show that these differences can be attributed to herbivore-induced changes in soil physical properties rather than to above-ground biomass removal. On clay soil, we find that large herbivores increase the soil water-filled porosity, induce more negative soil redox potentials, reduce soil macrofauna abundance, and reduce decomposition activity. On sandy soil, we observe no changes in these variables in response to grazing. We conclude that effects of large herbivores on nitrogen mineralization cannot be understood without taking soil texture, soil moisture, and feedbacks through soil macrofauna into account.     

Sex‐dependent alterations in BDNF‐TrkB signaling in the hippocampus of reelin heterozygous mice: a role for sex steroid hormones

Neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia may be caused by a combination of gene × environment, gene × gene, and/or gene × sex interactions. Reduced expression of both Reelin and Brain‐Derived Neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been associated with schizophrenia in human post‐mortem studies. However, it remains unclear how Reelin and BDNF interact (gene × gene) and whether this is sex‐specific (gene × sex). This study investigated BDNF‐TrkB signaling in the hippocampus of male and female Reelin heterozygous (Rln^+/?) mice. We found significantly increased levels of BDNF in the ventral hippocampus (VHP) of female, but not male Rln^+/? compared to wild‐type (WT) controls. While levels of TrkB were not significantly altered, phosphorylated TrkB (pTrkB) levels were significantly lower, again only in female Rln^+/? compared to WT. This translated to downstream effects with a significant decrease in phosphorylated ERK1 (pERK1). No changes in BDNF, TrkB, pTrkB or pERK1/2 were observed in the dorsal hippocampus of Rln^+/? mice. Ovariectomy (OVX) had no effect in WT controls, but caused a significant decrease in BDNF expression in the VHP of Rln^+/? mice to the levels of intact WT controls. The high expression of BDNF was restored in OVX Rln^+/? mice by 17β‐estradiol treatment, suggesting that Rln^+/? mice respond differently to an altered estradiol state than WT controls. In addition, while OVX had no significant effect on TrkB or ERK expression/phosphorylation, OVX + estradiol treatment markedly increased TrkB and ERK1 phosphorylation in Rln^+/? and, to a lesser extent in WT controls, compared to intact genotype‐matched controls. These data may provide a better understanding of the interaction of Reelin and BDNF in the hippocampus, which may be involved in schizophrenia.