Validity and reliability of 3D marker based scapular motion analysis: A systematic review

Methods based on cutaneous markers are the most popular for the recording of three dimensional scapular motion analysis. Numerous methods have been evaluated, each showing different levels of accuracy and reliability. The aim of this review was to report the metrological properties of 3D scapular kinematic measurements using cutaneous markers and to make recommendations based on metrological evidence.     

Isolation drives taxonomic and functional nestedness in tropical reef fish faunas

Taxonomic nestedness, the degree to which the taxonomic composition of species‐poor assemblages represents a subset of richer sites, commonly occurs in habitat fragments and islands differing in size and isolation from a source pool. However, species are not ecologically equivalent and the extent to which nestedness is observed in terms of functional trait composition of assemblages still remains poorly known. Here, using an extensive database on the functional traits and the distributions of 6316 tropical reef fish species across 169 sites, we assessed the levels of taxonomical vs functional nestedness of reef fish assemblages at the global scale. Functional nestedness was considerably more common than taxonomic nestedness, and generally associated with geographical isolation, where nested subsets are gradually more isolated from surrounding reef areas and from the center of biodiversity. Because a nested pattern in functional composition implies that certain combinations of traits may be represented by few species, we identified these groups of low redundancy that include large herbivore‐detritivores and omnivores, small piscivores, and macro‐algal herbivores. The identified patterns of nestedness may be an outcome of the interaction between species dispersal capabilities, resource requirements, and gradients of isolation among habitats. The importance of isolation in generating the observed pattern of functional nestedness within biogeographic regions may indicate that disturbance in depauperate and isolated sites can have disproportionate effects on the functional structure of their reef fish assemblages.     

Long-Term GABA Administration Induces Alpha Cell-Mediated Beta-like Cell Neogenesis

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6-Amino-chrysene, a potent inhibitor of transferase activity in single living RTG2 cells

Previous reports on the inhibitory effect of 6-amino-chrysene (6AC) on benzo(a)pyrene (BP) metabolism using single living cells have suggested that aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) is not the only pathway for 6AC metabolism. We present here results demonstrating that direct glucuronidation may constitute an alternative pathway for 6AC elimination. First, we describe the conjugate of 6AC to UDP-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) in solution. We performed competition experiments between 6AC and monohydroxy BP, which are known to be good substrates for glucuronic transferase (GT), in RTG2 cells, using microspectrofluorimetry. Because of intracellular accumulation of fluorescent metabolites during BP metabolism, RTG2 cells can be used as a tool for simultaneous study of AHH and GT activities. When RTG2 cells have been simultaneously treated with BP and 6AC, GT appeared to be a more specific target for 6AC than AHH in these cells. Therefore, 6AC can be expected to act as a more specific inhibitor for GT than for AHH activity.     

Genus delimitation,biogeography and diversification of Choristoneura Lederer (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) based on molecular evidence

Widely known for pest species that include major modulators of temperate forests, the genus Choristoneura is part of the species‐rich tribe Archipini of leafroller moths (Tortricidae). Delimitation of the genus has remained unresolved because no phylogeny has included species endemic to Africa and studies have often omitted the type species of the genus. Further taxonomic confusion has been generated by the transfer of Archips occidentalis (Walsingham) to Choristoneura, creating a homonym with Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, an important defoliator of North American forests. To define the limits of the genus, we reconstructed a phylogeny using DNA sequences for mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and nuclear ribosomal 28S genes. Our ingroup included 23 Choristoneura species‐level taxa, complemented by a large sample of outgroups comprising 82 species of Archipini and other Tortricidae. We generated a time‐calibrated tree using fossil and secondary calibrations and we inferred biogeographic and diversification processes in Choristoneura. Our analysis recovered the genus as polyphyletic, with Archips occidentalis, Choristoneura simonyi and Choristoneura evanidana excluded from the main clade. Based on the recovered phylogenies and a redefinition, we restrict Choristoneura primarily to species with a northern hemisphere distribution. Our analysis supports A. occidentalis as the sister group of Cacoecimorpha pronubana, C. simonyi as the sister of ‘Xenotemna’ pallorana, and C. evanidana as the sister of Archips purpurana. A new combination is proposed: Archips evanidana comb.n. ; the availability of ‘Xenotemna’ as a valid name is discussed and A. occidentalis is considered as an orphaned name within the Archipini. We found support for a Holarctic origin of Choristoneura about 23 Ma, followed by early divergence in the Palearctic region. The main divergence occurred at 16 Ma, with one clade in the Nearctic and another in the Palearctic. Subsequent cladogenetic events were synchronous and related to herbivorous specialization, with each clade divided into coniferophagous and polyphagous lineages. Their specialization as conifer feeders temporally matched the expansion of boreal forest during the Miocene.     

On the Procompsognathus postcranium (Late Triassic, Germany)

A review of the historical background of the material housed in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde (Stuttgart) and ascribed to Procompsognathus triassicus (Upper Triassic, Germany) is provided. The systematic position of the postcranial remains is discussed. The combined results of cladistic analyses suggest that the type material, an incomplete postcranial skeleton in two pieces (SMNS 12591), is from a theropod close to Segisaurus and Coelophysis. An isolated manus (SMNS 12352a) is definitely not theropodan, but could be from any small basal archosaur. The remarkable diversity of the carnivorous guild that dwelled in southern Germany before the end-Triassic events is underlined.     

Upstream Regulators and Downstream Effectors of NADPH Oxidases as Novel Therapeutic Targets for Diabetic Kidney Disease

Oxidative stress has been linked to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, the complication of diabetes in the kidney. NADPH oxidases of the Nox family, and in particular the homologue Nox4, are a major source of reactive oxygen species in the diabetic kidney and are critical mediators of redox signaling in glomerular and tubulointerstitial cells exposed to the diabetic milieu. Here, we present an overview of the current knowledge related to the understanding of the role of Nox enzymes in the processes that control mesangial cell, podocyte and tubulointerstitial cell injury induced by hyperglycemia and other predominant factors enhanced in the diabetic milieu, including the renin-angiotensin system and transforming growth factor-β. The nature of the upstream modulators of Nox enzymes as well as the downstream targets of the Nox NADPH oxidases implicated in the propagation of the redox processes that alter renal biology in diabetes will be highlighted.     

Demonstration of the heterogeneity of the intracellular activity of oxidases by quantitative microspectrofluorimetry: comparison of two cell strains

A microspectrofluorimeter has been used for kinetic studies of the decrease of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) fluorescence in single living cells (3T3 and RTG2 fibroblasts). These studies allow the determination of activation rate constants (k) for PAH. The distribution of the cellular populations has been represented as a function of k. The histograms show: an heterogeneity of the cellular population; differences between the metabolic activities of the two strains; modifications of the metabolization depending upon the probe tested.