Ground beetle assemblages and distribution of functional traits in olive orchards and vineyards depend on the agricultural management practice

BioControl - Biodiversity in the Mediterranean is undergoing a decline resulting in reduced ecosystem service provisions. Here we analysed the functional diversity of ground beetles in...     

Intravascular plug formation induced by poly-APS is the principal mechanism of the toxin's lethality in rats/rat tissues

Toxic water soluble polymeric 3-alkylpyridinium salts isolated from the sponge Raniera sarai strongly inhibited AChE in vitro. In vivo, experimental animals died due to plugs formed in microcirculation. The mechanism of this plug formation is unknown. In vitro, the toxin did not affect the coagulation rate, but the rate of platelet aggregation was accelerated in a dose-dependent manner. The hemolytic activity of poly-APS was diminished by the addition of serum proteins in a dose-dependent manner. These results support the conclusion that non-specific binding to proteins is the underlying mechanism of the lethality of poly APS.     

Season of sampling and season of birth influence serotonin metabolite levels in human cerebrospinal fluid

Background

Animal studies have revealed seasonal patterns in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine (MA) turnover. In humans, no study had systematically assessed seasonal patterns in CSF MA turnover in a large set of healthy adults.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Standardized amounts of CSF were prospectively collected from 223 healthy individuals undergoing spinal anesthesia for minor surgical procedures. The metabolites of serotonin (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 5-HIAA), dopamine (homovanillic acid, HVA) and norepinephrine (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, MPHG) were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Concentration measurements by sampling and birth dates were modeled using a non-linear quantile cosine function and locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOESS, span = 0.75). The cosine model showed a unimodal season of sampling 5-HIAA zenith in April and a nadir in October (p-value of the amplitude of the cosine = 0.00050), with predicted maximum (PC_max) and minimum (PC_min) concentrations of 173 and 108 nmol/L, respectively, implying a 60% increase from trough to peak. Season of birth showed a unimodal 5-HIAA zenith in May and a nadir in November (p = 0.00339; PC_max = 172 and PC_min = 126). The non-parametric LOESS showed a similar pattern to the cosine in both season of sampling and season of birth models, validating the cosine model. A final model including both sampling and birth months demonstrated that both sampling and birth seasons were independent predictors of 5-HIAA concentrations.

Conclusion

In subjects without mental illness, 5-HT turnover shows circannual variation by season of sampling as well as season of birth, with peaks in spring and troughs in fall.     

Importance of circulating platelet aggregates and haemodynamic changes in ophthalmic artery and progression of visual field loss at pseudoexfoliation glaucoma

The aim of this work is to examine the role of circulating platelet aggregates (CPA) at pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PXG), haemodynamic changes in the ophthalmic artery by ultrasonic color Doppler, searching for visual field progression. Vascular component at PXG and its role in VF progression dynamics has not been sufficiently explained, as well as CPA influence to ischaemic events related to optic nerve damage and VF progression. The examination included 80 patients, where of 35 (44%) men average age 68.3 +/- 7.0 and 45 (56%) women average age 65.7 +/- 7.0 (t = 1.66; p = 0.101). Forthy of them suffered from primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) as a control group (healthy), and 40 from pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PXG) as an experimental group. All the examinees underwent complete ophthalmological examination: visual acuity, ocular fundus, intraocular pressure measured, anterior eye segment biomicroscopy with gonioscopy performed. Also VF examination was performed three times at 6 months intervals. Laboratory testing of CPA proportion values was performed by means of Wu an Hoak method and ultrasonic measurement of blood perfusion in the carotid tree, particularly concerning ophthalmic artery by means of color Doppler. Obtained decreased values of CPA proportion resulted in hypercoagulability of blood in PXG group. At PXG were also found increased blood flow resistivity indexes in ophthalmic artery (RI AO) and internal carotid artery (RI ACI), resulting with ischemia and hypoxia and finally progression of the visual filed damage. In conclusion, our study shows that examining CPA and ultrasonic monitoring of vascular parameters in ophthalmic artery with color Doppler may be the way of better understanding the vascular role in PXG prognosis.     

Selective 3-amino-2-pyridinone acetamide thrombin inhibitors incorporating weakly basic partially saturated heterobicyclic P1-arginine mimetics

Novel, highly selective and potent thrombin inhibitors were identified as a result of combing the 3-benzylsulfonylamino-2-pyridinone acetamide P(2)-P(3) surrogate with weakly basic partially saturated heterobicyclic P(1)-arginine mimetics 1-8. The design, synthesis, biological activity, and the binding modes of non-covalent thrombin inhibitors featuring P(1)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindazole, 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinazoline, and 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzothiazole moieties are described.     

Charcot–Marie–Tooth mutation in glycyl-tRNA synthetase stalls ribosomes in a pre-accommodation state and activates integrated stress response

Toxic gain-of-function mutations in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases cause a degeneration of peripheral motor and sensory axons, known as Charcot–Marie–Tooth (CMT) disease. While these mutations do not disrupt overall aminoacylation activity, they interfere with translation via an unknown mechanism. Here, we dissect the mechanism of function of CMT mutant glycyl-tRNA synthetase (CMT-GARS), using high-resolution ribosome profiling and reporter assays. We find that CMT-GARS mutants deplete the pool of glycyl-tRNA^Gly available for translation and inhibit the first stage of elongation, the accommodation of glycyl-tRNA into the ribosomal A-site, which causes ribosomes to pause at glycine codons. Moreover, ribosome pausing activates a secondary repression mechanism at the level of translation initiation, by inducing the phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eIF2 and the integrated stress response. Thus, CMT-GARS mutant triggers translational repression via two interconnected mechanisms, affecting both elongation and initiation of translation.