Long-term enhancement of pulmonary gas exchange after high-altitude residence during maturation.

In a previous study, our laboratory showed that young dogs born at sea level (SL) and raised from 2.5 mo of age to beyond somatic maturity at a high altitude (HA) of 3,100 m show enhanced resting lung function (Johnson RL Jr, Cassidy SS, Grover RF, Schutte JE, and Epstein RH. J Appl Physiol 59: 1773-1782, 1985). To examine whether HA-induced adaptation improves pulmonary gas exchange during exercise and whether adaptation is reversible when animals return to SL before somatic maturity, we raised 2.5-mo-old foxhounds at HA (3,800 m) for 5 mo (to age 7.5 mo) before returning them to SL. Lung function was measured under anesthesia 1 mo and 2 yr after return to SL and during exercise approximately 1 yr after return. In animals exposed to HA relative to simultaneous litter-matched SL controls, resting circulating blood and erythrocyte volumes, lung volumes, septal volume estimated by a rebreathing technique, and lung tissue volume estimated by high-resolution computed tomography scan were persistently higher. Lung diffusing capacity, membrane diffusing capacity, and pulmonary capillary blood volume estimated at a given cardiac output were significantly higher in animals exposed to HA, whereas maximal oxygen uptake and hematocrit were similar between groups. We conclude that relatively short exposure to HA during somatic maturation improves long-term lung function into adulthood.     

Underestimation of D-glucose phosphorylation as measured by 3H2O production from D-[2-3H]glucose

In rat pancreatic islets, tumoral islet cells (RINm5F line), parotid gland, and in human erythrocytes, but not in rat hepatocytes, the production of 3H2O from D-[2-3H]glucose is 20-30% lower than from D-[5-3H]glucose. This coincides with the production of tritiated lactic acid from D-[2-3H]glucose and may be attributable to an intramolecular hydrogen transfer in the phosphoglucoisomerase reaction. It is concluded that the production of 3H2O from D-[2-3H]glucose is not a reliable tool to assess the total rate of hexose phosphorylation.     

Climate–ecosystem modelling made easy: The Land Sites Platform

Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) provide a state-of-the-art process-based approach to study the complex interplay between vegetation and its physical environment. For example, they help to predict how terrestrial plants interact with climate, soils, disturbance and competition for resources. We argue that there is untapped potential for the use of DGVMs in ecological and ecophysiological research. One fundamental barrier to realize this potential is that many researchers with relevant expertize (ecology, plant physiology, soil science, etc.) lack access to the technical resources or awareness of the research potential of DGVMs. Here we present the Land Sites Platform (LSP): new software that facilitates single-site simulations with the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator, an advanced DGVM coupled with the Community Land Model. The LSP includes a Graphical User Interface and an Application Programming Interface, which improve the user experience and lower the technical thresholds for installing these model architectures and setting up model experiments. The software is distributed via version-controlled containers; researchers and students can run simulations directly on their personal computers or servers, with relatively low hardware requirements, and on different operating systems. Version 1.0 of the LSP supports site-level simulations. We provide input data for 20 established geo-ecological observation sites in Norway and workflows to add generic sites from public global datasets. The LSP makes standard model experiments with default data easily achievable (e.g., for educational or introductory purposes) while retaining flexibility for more advanced scientific uses. We further provide tools to visualize the model input and output, including simple examples to relate predictions to local observations. The LSP improves access to land surface and DGVM modelling as a building block of community cyberinfrastructure that may inspire new avenues for mechanistic ecosystem research across disciplines.     

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Greek Version of the SARC-F for evaluating sarcopenia in Greek older adults

Objective:To translate and validate into Greek, the SARC-F questionnaire, a screening tool for sarcopenia.Methods:Questionnaire was back-translated and culturally adapted into Greek according to guidelines proposed by the World Health Organization. A convenience sample of 197 Greek elderly people (71.6±7.8 years, 68.5% women) was recruited, 64 of which were classified as persons at risk of sarcopenia according to the SARC-F. Internal consistency, test-retest and inter-rater reliability were evaluated. Validity (sensitivity, specificity, predictive positive value and predictive negative value) was assessed against the definition from the European Working Group of Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), which is considered gold standard. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis was also performed to calculate the area under the curve.Results:SARC-F demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93) and excellent inter-rater and test-retest reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.91 (95% CI 0.79-0.96), and 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.95), respectively. According to the definition of sarcopenia from the EWGSOP2, 53 (26.85) participants were identified as probable sarcopenic and 23 (11.6%) as sarcopenic. Sensitivity of the tool for sarcopenia was 34.4 and specificity was 93.2. Positive predictive values were 26.4 and negative predictive values were 66.6%.Conclusion:Τhe SARC-F was successfully adapted into Greek language. The Greek SARC-F revealed low sensitivity but high specificity with EWGSOP2 sarcopenia definitions, indicating that it can detect with precision the absence of sarcopenia.     

Precision of Age Estimates Obtained from Five Calcified Structure for Wels Catfish,Silurus glanis

Journal of Ichthyology - In this study, vertebrae, otoliths (asteriscus and lapillus), sectioned lapillus and pectoral fin rays were evaluated for age determination of Silurus glanis L., 1758...     

Genomic regions associated with microdeletion/microduplication syndromes exhibit extreme diversity of structural variation

Segmental duplications (SDs) are a class of long, repetitive DNA elements whose paralogs share a high level of sequence similarity with each other. SDs mediate chromosomal rearrangements that lead to structural variation in the general population as well as genomic disorders associated with multiple congenital anomalies, including the 7q11.23 (Williams–Beuren Syndrome, WBS), 15q13.3, and 16p12.2 microdeletion syndromes. Population-level characterization of SDs has generally been lacking because most techniques used for analyzing these complex regions are both labor and cost intensive. In this study, we have used a high-throughput technique to genotype complex structural variation with a single molecule, long-range optical mapping approach. We characterized SDs and identified novel structural variants (SVs) at 7q11.23, 15q13.3, and 16p12.2 using optical mapping data from 154 phenotypically normal individuals from 26 populations comprising five super-populations. We detected several novel SVs for each locus, some of which had significantly different prevalence between populations. Additionally, we localized the microdeletion breakpoints to specific paralogous duplicons located within complex SDs in two patients with WBS, one patient with 15q13.3, and one patient with 16p12.2 microdeletion syndromes. The population-level data presented here highlights the extreme diversity of large and complex SVs within SD-containing regions. The approach we outline will greatly facilitate the investigation of the role of inter-SD structural variation as a driver of chromosomal rearrangements and genomic disorders.     

Calcium hypochlorite on mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (NIH3T3) in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity: MTT and comet assay

Molecular Biology Reports - Antimicrobial irrigation solutions are widely used under clinical settings. Their effect on dental tissue is a subject of recent research, which aims for a safer...     

The effects of the neurotoxic agent emamectin benzoate on the expression of immune and stress-related genes and blood serum profiles in the Rainbow trout

Molecular Biology Reports - Emamectin, a neurotoxic agent, is a semi-synthetic insecticide that belongs to the Avermectin family and is used against helmintic infections in the Salmonidae family....