A comparison of back-calculated lengths of silver carp derived from bony structures

Linear relationships were found between body length–scale radius, body length-cleithrum length and body length-urohyal length ( r =0·949, 0·984 and 0·974 respectively) in silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. Out of 180 comparisons, which were made between different methods of back-calculating length and ageing structures at ages 2-7 years, the differences were not significant ( P ≥ 0·05) in 132 (73·3%) cases. There were no significant differences among different methods in older age classes and between the Fraser-Lee method and body proportional method (BPH) at all ages. The results demonstrated that in all structures, back-calculated lengths estimated by the scale proportional hypotheses (SPH) were less than the other methods. For scales, SPH was similar to the direct proportional method of Dahl-Lea (DPM) but for cleithra and urohyal bones it was similar to BPH and Fraser-Lee. As the fish increased in age, the differences between back-calculated lengths decreased. When lengths were back-calculated using cleithra and urohyal bones, differences between the structures at age 2 years were 17 mm from DPM, 33 mm from SPH, 37 mm from BPH and 37 mm from Fraser-Lee, while at age 8 years mean differences were 7 mm from DPM and 8 mm from the SPH, BPH and Fraser-Lee methods. It is suggested that the differences would be less if: (1) back-calculated lengths are based on a large number of random samples; (2) measurements of scale radius, cleithrum length and urohyal length were precise; (3) determination of focus or origin were precise; (4) the sampling of scales were from the same row.     

Hospital Patient‐Care and Outside‐the‐Hospital Energy Profiles for Hemodialysis Services

Studies investigated the patient‐care (in‐hospital) and outside‐the‐hospital energy consumptions for delivering the hemodialysis (HD) service. A life cycle inventory methodology was used for this patient‐based analysis for two hospitals located in Wichita, Kansas. It was found that, for both hospitals, the actual HD machines consumed approximately 3.5 kilowatt‐hours (kWh) of electrical energy per HD, only 8% to 16% of the total energy used for delivering the HD service (in hospital). This increases to 9.6 to 28.9 kWh of hospital billable energy for the whole system of HD machine, auxiliaries, and dialysis water treatment. Converting these hospital direct electrical energy values to natural resource energy (nre) then adding the cradle‐to‐gate natural resource energy for the manufacturing and supply chain of all the HD consumables, the total is 78 to 149 kWh nre/HD. The nre measures all the direct fuel burned to generate energy and is thus directly related to emissions to the air, water, and land and is a direct secondary impact on public health from HD. The ratio of outside‐the‐hospital energy to direct hospital HD electrical energy consumption is 4:1 to 7:1, so a broader base exists for improvement than just the hospital.     

The clinical importance of CD4+CD7− in human diseases

The CD7 antigen is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily that expresses on the surface of all thymocytes, a majority of mature T cells, and also natural killer cells. Interestingly, under physiological and different pathological conditions, the loss of CD7 antigen occurred in the subset of CD4⁺ memory T cells. Various functions have been proposed for CD7, including its role in the activation and intercellular adhesiveness of T cells. Several studies indicate that the number of CD4⁺CD7⁻ T cells increases in diseases such as chronic inflammation and T-cell malignancies, these being skin inflammatory lesions. Therefore, this can be useful for the diagnosis of cancer cells, especially with reference to blood origin, treatment monitoring, and establishment of new therapies. Therefore, a comprehensive review could be useful to increase our knowledge about the clinical importance of these cells in human disease.     

Possible correlation between high circulatory levels of trimethylamine-N-oxide and 2177G>C polymorphisms of hepatic flavin containing monooxygenase 3 in Kurdish Population with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Molecular Biology Reports - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multifactorial disorder with complicated pathophysiology. Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) has been thought to be correlated...     

Differences in fennel seed responses to drought stress at the seed formation stage in sensitive and tolerant genotypes

To understand the effects of drought on fennel seed production and determine the underlying molecular processes, various fennel genotypes were exposed to drought stress. The yield and quality, including aromatic oil content, of fennel seeds were reduced by drought during seed development. To explore drought-induced biological processes in fennel, a label-free/gel-free proteomic analysis was performed. In Gaziantep and Tatmaj cultivars, which are sensitive and tolerant fennel genotypes, respectively, 106 and 92 drought-responsive proteins were identified. Comparison of protein-functional profiles indicated that proteins classified in stress, cell, and protein synthesis/degradation categories consisted important responsive mechanisms against drought stress. Pathway analysis visualized that the tricarboxylic acid cycle is important for both cultivars. In Tatmaj, moderate activation of proteins related to oxidative pentose phosphate pathway was detected along with an increase in photosynthesis-related proteins. Furthermore, cluster analysis of drought-responsive proteins using protein abundance at milky, dough, and mature stages identified protein homeostasis as a mechanism of drought tolerance in fennel. These results suggest that coordinated energy consumption and supply might be a drought-tolerance mechanism in fennel plants.

     

Apelin and stem cells: the role played in the cardiovascular system and energy metabolism

Apelin, a member of the adipokine family, is widely distributed in the body and exerts cytoprotective effects on many organs. Apelin isoforms are involved in different physiological processes, including regulation of the cardiovascular system, cardiac contractility, angiogenesis, and energy metabolism. Several investigations have been performed to study the effect of apelin on stem cell therapy. This review aims to summarize the literature representing the effects of apelin on stem cell properties. Furthermore, this review discusses the therapeutic potential of apelin‐treated stem cells for cardiovascular diseases and demonstrates the effect of stem cells overexpressing apelin on energy metabolism. Stem cells with their unique characteristics play a crucial role in the maintenance of tissue integrity. These cells participate in tissue regeneration via multiple mechanisms. Although preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of stem cells in various diseases, their application in regenerative medicine has not been efficient. A number of strategies such as genetic modification or treatment of stem cells with different factors have been used to improve the efficacy of cell therapy and to increase their survival after transplantation. This article reviews the effect of apelin treatment on the efficacy of cell therapy.     

Molecular phylogeny of the subterranean genus Niphargus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in the Middle East: a comparison with European Niphargids

The subterranean genus Niphargus is one of the most species‐rich genera among freshwater amphipods in the world, distributed in the Western Palearctic. Thus far, taxonomic and phylogenetic research has focused mainly on the European half of the genus range. In this study, 25 populations of Niphargus from Iran, Lebanon and the Crimean Peninsula were investigated. Bayesian inference based on 28S, H3 and COI gene sequences suggests that populations from the area belong to four different clades. Three species from Crimea and one species from Iran are nested at basal nodes, indicating their rather ancient origin. The rest of the species are younger and belong to two separate clades. One Crimean species is a sister‐species to east Romanian species. The second clade includes one species from Lebanon and all but one population from Iran. The origin of this clade corresponds to marine transgression between the Black Sea and Mediterranean approximately 12 Mya. This clade was further investigated taxonomically. Revision of qualitative morphological traits and unilocus species delimitation methods using COI suggest that this clade comprises 12–16 species, of which only three have been described so far. Multilocus coalescence delimitation methods (using fragments of COI, 28S, H3 and ITS) strongly supported 11 of these species. The remaining populations comprise at least two species complexes that require further and more detailed taxonomic research. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

Tolerogenic probiotics Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus promote anti-inflammatory profile of macrophages-derived monocytes of newly diagnosed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is known as an autoimmune disorder that is characterized by the breakdown of self-tolerance, resulting in disease onset and progression. Macrophages have been implicated as a factor in the development of SLE through faulty phagocytosis of dead cells or an imbalanced M1/M2 ratio. The study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on M1 and M2 macrophages in new case lupus patients. For this purpose, blood monocytes were collected from lupus patients and healthy people and were cultured for 5 days to produce macrophages. For 48 h, the macrophages were then cocultured with either probiotics or lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Flow cytometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction were then used to analyze the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) 14, CD80, and human leukocyte antigen – DR (HLADR) markers, as well as cytokine expression (interleukin [IL]1-β, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor α [TNF-α], IL-10, and transforming growth factor beta [TGF-β]). The results indicated three distinct macrophage populations, M0, M1, and M2. In both control and patient-derived macrophage-derived monocytes (MDMs), the probiotic groups showed a decrease in CD14, CD80, and HLADR expression compared to the LPS group. This decrease was particularly evident in M0 and M2 macrophages from lupus patients and M1 macrophages from healthy subjects. In addition, the probiotic groups showed increased levels of IL-10 and TGF-β and decreased levels of IL-12, IL1-β, and TNF-α in MDMs from both healthy and lupus subjects compared to the LPS groups. Although there was a higher expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in lupus patients, there was a higher expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines in healthy subjects. In general, L. delbrueckii and L. rhamnosus could induce anti-inflammatory effects on MDMs from both healthy and lupus subjects.