Quantitative assessment of trunk deformation during running

The trunk has a multi-segmental structure and is composed of the cervical, thoracic, and lumber spines and surrounding soft tissue elements; this allows flexible deformation during dynamic movements. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess trunk deformation during dynamic movement. Ten male subjects performed running at four different speeds: 8 km/h, 10 km/h, 12 km/h, and 14 km/h. Forty reflective markers were placed on the backs of these individuals to define 56 small triangular areas, and three-dimensional kinematic data was recorded with a motion capture system. The coefficients of variation (CV) of the horizontal and vertical lengths between two adjacent markers and the standard deviation (SD) of the normal vectors of triangular areas were calculated as measures for translational and angular trunk deformation, respectively. Up to about 14% of CV and 78° of SD appeared as the measure of translational and angular deformation, respectively. These results imply that the trunk underwent a significant amount of position-specific deformation. These findings would be useful in the construction of an optimal trunk segment model to represent the complex and flexible trunk movement during dynamic movements.     

温度对草小卷蛾发育的影响及其实验种群生命表

【目的】研究温度对草小卷蛾Celypha flavipalpana Herrich-Schaffer种群动态和繁殖情况的影响。【方法】本研究在不同条件下(20~32℃,16L︰8D,RH=70%~80%)对草小卷蛾的发育起点温度和有效积温进行系统研究,并于26℃下建立实验种群生命表和生殖力表。【结果】经统计分析,其卵、幼虫、蛹、成虫及全世代的发育起点温度(℃)分别为14.30±2.43、6.45±1.57、11.01±1.78、12.40±2.7和9.48±2.19,有效积温(日·度)分别为45.05±8.88、492.01±42.48、107.53±13.63、65.51±12.39和671.86±94.19;实验种群趋势指数I>1,次代种群数量呈12.13倍趋势增长,净增值率R0=15.85,世代平均周期T=39.99,内禀增长率rm=0.0691,周限增长速率λ=1.0715,种群倍增时间t=10.0331。【结论】在20~28℃,草小卷蛾各虫态发育历期随着温度的升高而逐渐缩短,32℃下幼虫期和蛹期发育速率减慢,部分幼虫出现休眠状态;26℃下次代实验种群数量呈增长趋势。     

温度和食料对白眉野草螟幼虫生长发育的影响

【目的】白眉野草螟Agriphila aeneociliella(Eversmann)是近年在我国小麦上新发现的一种害虫,以幼虫在小麦茎基部取食危害,造成缺苗断垄,对我国小麦的安全生产构成潜在的威胁。本研究旨在明确温度和食料对其生长发育的影响,对该害虫的预测预报和有效防控具有重要的指导意义。【方法】在光周期14L∶10D,RH 70%±5%的条件下,设置系列恒定温度,用小麦作饲料,记录和分析不同温度下幼虫各龄的发育历期、存活率,明确其发育起点温度、有效积温;设置温度25℃,光周期14L∶10D,RH 70%±5%的条件,分别用小麦、玉米和人工饲料饲养,分析不同食料对其生长发育和成活率的影响。【结果】在恒温(13~29℃)范围内,白眉野草螟幼虫发育历期随温度升高而逐渐缩短,存活率没有明显差异;在恒温33℃,该虫不能完成幼虫期生长发育而死亡。不同食料饲养后,幼虫各龄发育历期存在显著差异,顺序为取食小麦取食玉米取食人工饲料,尤其是1-3龄幼虫差异最为明显,取食小麦、玉米的4-6龄幼虫发育历期差异未到达显著水平,但显著低于取食人工饲料的幼虫。【结论】白眉野草螟幼虫具有很强的温度适应能力,不同温度对其发育历期具有显著的影响;在目前白眉野草螟发生危害区的主要粮食作物中,小麦为其最适宜寄主,室内条件下取食玉米也能完成幼虫期的生长发育。本研究为制定白眉野草螟在我国的潜在发生危害区提供了理论数据,为田间种群动态变化的预测预报和综合治理提供了技术支撑。     

Effects of semi-group housing and floor type on pododermatitis,spinal deformation and bone quality in rabbit does

The most common housing system for reproduction rabbits, individual cage housing on a wire floor, is increasingly scrutinized because of its potential detrimental impact on animal welfare. We compared three types of housing: (1) individual cage housing on a wire floor (3952 cm²/doe, maximum roof height 63 cm, one 1000 cm² plastic footrest/doe), (2) semi-group housing on a wire floor (5000 cm²/doe, roofless, one 1000 cm² plastic footrest/doe) and (3) the same semi-group housing, but with a fully plastic slatted floor. In all housing systems, does had free access to an elevated platform. In the semi-group housing pens, four does were housed communally during 21 days of the reproduction cycle (to allow more space for locomotion and to increase opportunities for social contact), and individually during the other 21 days of the cycle (to minimize doe–doe and doe–kit aggression that peaks around kindling). In all, 24 Hycole does were included per system. The does entered the experiment at 203 days of age (after their first parity). The experiment consisted of four reproductive cycles, ending at 369 days of age. Pododermatitis was scored in cycles 1, 2 and 4. At the end of the 4^th cycle the does were euthanized and X-rays were taken to assess spinal deformation. Tibia and femur length, width and cortical thickness were determined and bone strength was assessed using a shear test, as a measure of bone quality. Although severe pododermatitis was absent, the prevalence of plantar hyperkeratosis (hair loss and callus formation) at the end of the 4^th cycle was much greater on the wire floor (65% and 68% for semi-group housing and individual cages, respectively) than on the plastic floor (5%, P<0.0001), even though the wire floors were equipped with a plastic footrest known to decrease hyperkeratosis. In contrast to our expectations, semi-group housing did not affect the prevalence of spinal deformations (P>0.10), but in line with our expectations bone quality was affected favourably by semi-group housing. The tibial cortex (and to a lesser extent the femoral cortex) was thicker in semi-group housing than in individual cages (1.45, 1.46 and 1.38 mm for semi-group housing on wire, semi-group housing on plastic and individual housing on wire, respectively, P=0.045). What this increase in cortical thickness means in terms of doe welfare requires further study, as it may reflect an increase in activity resulting either from increased space for locomotion, or from fleeing aggressive pen mates.     

iPSC‐derived human mesenchymal stem cells improve myocardial strain of infarcted myocardium

We investigated global and regional effects of myocardial transplantation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) in infarcted myocardium. Acute myocardial infarction (MI) was induced by ligation of left coronary artery of severe combined immunodeficient mice before 2 × 10⁵ iMSCs or cell‐free saline were injected into peri‐infarcted anterior free wall. Sham‐operated animals received no injection. Global and regional myocardial function was assessed serially at 1‐week and 8‐week by segmental strain analysis by using two dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography. Early myocardial remodelling was observed at 1‐week and persisted to 8‐week with global contractility of ejection fraction and fractional area change in saline‐ (32.96 ± 14.23%; 21.50 ± 10.07%) and iMSC‐injected (32.95 ± 10.31%; 21.00 ± 7.11%) groups significantly depressed as compared to sham control (51.17 ± 11.69%, P < 0.05; 34.86 ± 9.82%, P < 0.05). However, myocardial dilatation was observed in saline‐injected animals (4.40 ± 0.62 mm, P < 0.05), but not iMSCs (4.29 ± 0.57 mm), when compared to sham control (3.74 ± 0.32 mm). Furthermore, strain analysis showed significant improved basal anterior wall strain (28.86 ± 8.16%, P < 0.05) in the iMSC group, but not saline‐injected (15.81 ± 13.92%), when compared to sham control (22.18 ± 4.13%). This was corroborated by multi‐segments deterioration of radial strain only in saline‐injected (21.50 ± 5.31%, P < 0.05), but not iMSC (25.67 ± 12.53%), when compared to sham control (34.88 ± 5.77%). Improvements of the myocardial strain coincided with the presence of interconnecting telocytes in interstitial space of the infarcted anterior segment of the heart. Our results show that localized injection of iMSCs alleviates ventricular remodelling, sustains global and regional myocardial strain by paracrine‐driven effect on neoangiogenesis and myocardial deformation/compliance via parenchymal and interstitial cell interactions in the infarcted myocardium.     

Displacement smoothing for the precise MRI-based measurement of strain in soft biological tissues

Displacement and strain are fundamental quantities that describe the normal and pathological mechanical function of soft biological materials. Non-invasive imaging techniques, including displacement-encoded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enable the direct calculation of biomaterial displacements during the application of extrinsic mechanical forces. However, because strain is derived from measured MRI-based displacements, data processing must be accomplished to minimise the propagation and amplification of errors. Here, we evaluate smoothing methods (including averaging filters, splines, finite impulse response filters and wavelets) that enable the calculation of strain in biomaterials from MRI-based displacements for minimal error, defined in terms of bias and precision. Displacement and strain precisions were improved using all smoothing methods studied. Precision generally increased with the number of smoothing iterations (i.e. repeated applications) of a chosen smoothing method. The bias depended on the smoothing method and tended to increase with the number of smoothing iterations. A Gaussian filter characterised complex and heterogeneous strain fields with maximum precision and minimum bias. The results suggest that the optimal choice of smoothing method to compute strain for a given biomaterial or tissue application depends on a careful consideration of trade-offs between the improved precision (with increased data smoothing) and the trending increase in bias.     

Evidence of colorectal cancer risk associated variant Lys25Ser in the proximity of human bone morphogenetic protein 2

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer and fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. It has been shown that the nsSNP variants play an important role in diseases, however it remained unclear how these variants are associated with the disease. Recently, several CRC risk associated SNPs have been discovered, however rs961253 (Lys25Arg at 20p12.3) located in the proximity of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) and fermitin family homolog 1 Fermt1 genes have been reported to be highly associated with the CRC risk. Here we provide evidence for the first time in silico biological functional and structural implications of non-synonymous (nsSNPs) CRC disease-associated variant Lys25Arg via molecular dynamic (MD) simulation. Protein structural analysis was performed with a particular variant allele (A/C, Lys25Arg) and compared with the predicted native protein structure. Our results showed that this nsSNP will cause changes in the protein structure and as a result is associated with the disease. In addition to the native and mutant 3D structures of CRC associated risk allele protein domain (CRAPD), they were also analyzed using solvent accessibility models for further protein stability confirmation. Taken together, this study confirmed that this variant has functional effect and structural impact on the CRAPD and may play an important role in CRC disease progression; hence it could be a reasonable approach for studying the effect of other deleterious variants in future studies.     

Characterizing the structural variability of HIV-2 protease upon the binding of diverse ligands using a structural alphabet approach

Abstract

The HIV-2 protease (PR2) is an important target for designing new drugs against the HIV-2 infection. In this study, we explored the structural backbone variability of all available PR2 structures complexed with various inhibitors using a structural alphabet approach. 77% of PR2 positions are structurally variable, meaning they exhibit different local conformations in PR2 structures. This variability was observed all along the structure, particularly in the elbow and flap regions. A part of these backbone changes observed between the 18 PR2 is induced by intrinsic flexibility, and ligand binding putatively induces others occurring in the binding pocket. These latter changes could be important for PR2 adaptation to diverse ligands and are accompanied by changes outside the binding pocket. In addition, the study of the link between structural variability of the pocket and PR2–ligand interactions allowed us to localize pocket regions important for ligand binding and catalytic function, regions important for ligand recognition that adjust their backbone in response to ligand binding and regions important for the pocket opening and closing that have large intrinsic flexibility. Finally, we suggested that differences in ligand effectiveness for PR2 could be partially explained by different backbone deformations induced by these ligands. To conclude, this study is the first characterization of the PR2 structural variability considering ligand diversity. It provides information about the recognition of PR2 to various ligands and its mechanisms to adapt its local conformation to bound ligands that could help understand the resistance of PR2 to its inhibitors, a major antiretroviral class.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma