Urinary excretion of prostacyclin and thromboxane metabolites in climacteric women: effect of estrogen-progestin replacement therapy

To study the role of vasodilatory prostacyclin and vasoconstrictory thromboxane A2 in climacteric vascular instabilities, overnight urine samples were collected from sixteen women suffering from hot flushes and sweating before, during and after the six months' cyclic estradiol-desogestrel therapy as well as from ten non-climacteric control women. The urine was assayed for 6-keto-PGF1a and 2,3-dinor-6-keto-PGF1a (metabolites of prostacyclin) as well as for thromboxane B2 and 2,3-dinor-thromboxane B2 (metabolites of thromboxane A2) by means of HPLC and radioimmunoassay. No difference was seen in baseline prostaroid output between the climacteric and non-climacteric study groups. Furthermore, no relation was observed between individual prostanoid excretion and severity of vasomotor symptoms before replacement therapy. The replacement therapy abolished or markedly alleviated hot flushes and sweating, but prostanoid output did not change. Our data imply that climacteric symptoms are not accompanied by changes in the production of prostacyclin and thromboxane A2.     

Visual Features Underlying Perceived Brightness as Revealed by Classification Images

Along with physical luminance, the perceived brightness is known to depend on the spatial structure of the stimulus. Often it is assumed that neural computation of the brightness is based on the analysis of luminance borders of the stimulus. However, this has not been tested directly. We introduce a new variant of the psychophysical reverse-correlation or classification image method to estimate and localize the physical features of the stimuli which correlate with the perceived brightness, using a brightness-matching task. We derive classification images for the illusory Craik-O''Brien-Cornsweet stimulus and a “real” uniform step stimulus. For both stimuli, classification images reveal a positive peak at the stimulus border, along with a negative peak at the background, but are flat at the center of the stimulus, suggesting that brightness is determined solely by the border information. Features in the perceptually completed area in the Craik-O''Brien-Cornsweet do not contribute to its brightness, nor could we see low-frequency boosting, which has been offered as an explanation for the illusion. Tuning of the classification image profiles changes remarkably little with stimulus size. This supports the idea that only certain spatial scales are used for computing the brightness of a surface.     

Ectomycorrhization of Tricholoma matsutake and two major conifers in Finland—an assessment of in vitro mycorrhiza formation

This study aimed to test the ability of Tricholoma matsutake isolates to form mycorrhizas with aseptic seedlings of Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) Karst. Germinated seedlings of Scots pine and Norway spruce were separately inoculated with either isolates originating from Finland or Japan. Eight months after inoculation, the Finnish isolate had formed a sheath and Hartig net on both host species. Ectomycorrhizal Scots pine seedlings inoculated with the Finnish isolate showed the same shoot height and dry mass as the controls. Ectomycorrhizal Norway spruce seedlings inoculated with the Finnish isolate had similar shoot height but slightly less dry mass than the control seedlings. For both tree species, inoculation with the Finnish isolate resulted in reduced total nitrogen content per seedling, but carbon content was unaffected. Inoculation with the Japanese isolate resulted in an initial Hartig net-like structure in pine but not in spruce. No typical Hartig net was observed on either tree species. Furthermore, seedlings of both species inoculated with the Japanese isolate showed significantly reduced growth, dry mass, nitrogen, and carbon content per seedling and shoot height (in spruce) compared to the controls. This study documents and describes the in vitro ectomycorrhization between T. matsutake and Scots pine or Norway spruce and the variable mycorrhizal structures that matsutake isolates can form.     

Protein body formation in leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana: a concentration‐dependent mechanism influenced by the presence of fusion tags

Protein bodies (PBs) are endoplasmic reticulum (ER) derived organelles originally found in seeds whose function is to accumulate seed storage proteins. It has been shown that PB formation is not limited to seeds and green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to either elastin‐like polypeptide (ELP) or hydrophobin (HFBI) fusion tags induce the formation of PBs in leaves of N. benthamiana. In this study, we compared the ELP‐ and HFBI‐induced PBs and showed that ELP‐induced PBs are larger than HFBI‐induced PBs. The size of ELP‐ and HFBI‐induced PBs increased over time along with the accumulation levels of their fused protein. Our results show that PB formation is a concentration‐dependent mechanism in which proteins accumulating at levels higher than 0.2% of total soluble protein are capable of inducing PBs in vivo. Our results show that the presence of fusion tags is not necessary for the formation of PBs, but affects the distribution pattern and size of PBs. This was confirmed by PBs induced by fluorescent proteins as well as fungal xylanases. We noticed that in the process of PB formation, secretory and ER‐resident molecules are passively sequestered into the lumen of PBs. We propose to use this property of PBs as a tool to increase the accumulation levels of erythropoietin and human interleukin‐10 by co‐expression with PB‐inducing proteins.     

Effects of Auditory Attention Training with the Dichotic Listening Task: Behavioural and Neurophysiological Evidence

Facilitation of general cognitive capacities such as executive functions through training has stirred considerable research interest during the last decade. Recently we demonstrated that training of auditory attention with forced attention dichotic listening not only facilitated that performance but also generalized to an untrained attentional task. In the present study, 13 participants underwent a 4-week dichotic listening training programme with instructions to report syllables presented to the left ear (FL training group). Another group (n = 13) was trained using the non-forced instruction, asked to report whichever syllable they heard the best (NF training group). The study aimed to replicate our previous behavioural results, and to explore the neurophysiological correlates of training through event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We partially replicated our previous behavioural training effects, as the FL training group tended to show more allocation of auditory spatial attention to the left ear in a standard dichotic listening task. ERP measures showed diminished N1 and enhanced P2 responses to dichotic stimuli after training in both groups, interpreted as improvement in early perceptual processing of the stimuli. Additionally, enhanced anterior N2 amplitudes were found after training, with relatively larger changes in the FL training group in the forced-left condition, suggesting improved top-down control on the trained task. These results show that top-down cognitive training can modulate the left-right allocation of auditory spatial attention, accompanied by a change in an evoked brain potential related to cognitive control.     

Neural Circuits for Cognitive Appetite Control in Healthy and Obese Individuals: An fMRI Study

The mere sight of foods may activate the brain’s reward circuitry, and humans often experience difficulties in inhibiting urges to eat upon encountering visual food signals. Imbalance between the reward circuit and those supporting inhibitory control may underlie obesity, yet brain circuits supporting volitional control of appetite and their possible dysfunction that can lead to obesity remain poorly specified. Here we delineated the brain basis of volitional appetite control in healthy and obese individuals with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-seven morbidly obese women (mean BMI = 41.4) and fourteen age-matched normal-weight women (mean BMI = 22.6) were scanned with 1.5 Tesla fMRI while viewing food pictures. They were instructed to inhibit their urge to eat the foods, view the stimuli passively or imagine eating the foods. Across all subjects, a frontal cortical control circuit was activated during appetite inhibition versus passive viewing of the foods. Inhibition minus imagined eating (appetite control) activated bilateral precunei and parietal cortices and frontal regions spanning anterior cingulate and superior medial frontal cortices. During appetite control, obese subjects had lower responses in the medial frontal, middle cingulate and dorsal caudate nuclei. Functional connectivity of the control circuit was increased in morbidly obese versus control subjects during appetite control, which might reflect impaired integrative and executive function in obesity.     

Accuracy and Feasibility of Point-Of-Care White Blood Cell Count and C-Reactive Protein Measurements at the Pediatric Emergency Department

Background

Several point-of-care (POC) tests are available for evaluation of febrile patients, but the data about their performance in acute care setting is sparse. We investigated the analytical accuracy and feasibility of POC tests for white blood cell (WBC) count and C-reactive protein (CRP) at the pediatric emergency department (ED).

Methods

In the first part of the study, HemoCue WBC and Afinion AS100 CRP POC analyzers were compared with laboratory’s routine WBC (Sysmex XE-2100) and CRP (Modular P) analyzers in the hospital central laboratory in 77 and 48 clinical blood samples, respectively. The POC tests were then adopted in use at the pediatric ED. In the second part of the study, we compared WBC and CRP levels measured by POC and routine methods during 171 ED patient visits by 168 febrile children and adolescents. Attending physicians performed POC tests in capillary fingerprick samples.

Results

In parallel measurements in the laboratory both WBC and CRP POC analyzers showed good agreement with the reference methods. In febrile children at the emergency department (median age 2.4 years), physician performed POC determinations in capillary blood gave comparable results with those in venous blood analyzed in the laboratory. The mean difference between POC and reference test result was 1.1 E9/L (95% limits of agreement from -6.5 to 8.8 E9/L) for WBC and -1.2 mg/L (95% limits of agreement from -29.6 to 27.2 mg/L) for CRP.

Conclusions

POC tests are feasible and relatively accurate methods to assess CRP level and WBC count among febrile children at the ED.     

Climate‐induced warming imposes a threat to north European spring ecosystems

Interest in climate change effects on groundwater has increased dramatically during the last decade. The mechanisms of climate‐related groundwater depletion have been thoroughly reviewed, but the influence of global warming on groundwater‐dependent ecosystems (GDEs) remains poorly known. Here we report long‐term water temperature trends in 66 northern European cold‐water springs. A vast majority of the springs (82%) exhibited a significant increase in water temperature during 1968–2012. Mean spring water temperatures were closely related to regional air temperature and global radiative forcing of the corresponding year. Based on three alternative climate scenarios representing low (RCP2.6), intermediate (RCP6) and high‐emission scenarios (RCP8.5), we estimate that increase in mean spring water temperature in the region is likely to range from 0.67 °C (RCP2.6) to 5.94 °C (RCP8.5) by 2086. According to the worst‐case scenario, water temperature of these originally cold‐water ecosystems (regional mean in the late 1970s: 4.7 °C) may exceed 12 °C by the end of this century. We used bryophyte and macroinvertebrate species data from Finnish springs and spring‐fed streams to assess ecological impacts of the predicted warming. An increase in spring water temperature by several degrees will likely have substantial biodiversity impacts, causing regional extinction of native, cold‐stenothermal spring specialists, whereas species diversity of headwater generalists is likely to increase. Even a slight (by 1 °C) increase in water temperature may eliminate endemic spring species, thus altering bryophyte and macroinvertebrate assemblages of spring‐fed streams. Climate change‐induced warming of northern regions may thus alter species composition of the spring biota and cause regional homogenization of biodiversity in headwater ecosystems.