The difference is in the start: impact of timing and start procedure on sprint running performance

The difference is in the start: impact of timing and start procedure on sprint running performance. The purpose of this study was to compare different sprint start positions and to generate correction factors between popular timing triggering methods on 40-m/40-yd sprint time. Fourteen female athletes (17 ± 1 years), personal best 100 m: 13.26 (±0.68) seconds and 11 male athletes (20 ± 5 years), personal best 100 m: 11.58 (±0.74) seconds participated. They performed 2 series of 3 40-m sprints in randomized order: (a) start from the block, measured by means of Brower audio sensor (BAS) and Dartfish video timing (DVT), (b) 3-point start, measured by using hand release pod (HR) and DVT, and (c) standing start, triggered by both photocell across starting line (SFC), and foot release (FR) plus DVT. Video analysis was performed by 2 independent observers and averaged. Simultaneous measurements at national athletics competitions demonstrated that DVT and BAS were equivalent to Omega Timing within the limits of precision of video timing (±0.01 seconds). Hand and floor timer triggering showed small but significant biases compared with movement captured from video (0.02-0.04 seconds), presumably because of sensitivity of pressure thresholds. Coefficient of variation for test-retest timing using different starting positions ranged from 0.7 to 1.0%. Compared with block starts reacting to gunfire, HR, SFC, and FR starts yielded 0.17 ± 0.09, 0.27 ± 0.12, and 0.69 ± 0.11 second faster times, respectively, over 40 m (all p < 0.001) because of inclusion or exclusion of reaction time, plus momentum, and body position differences at trigger moment. Correction factors for the conversion of 40 m/40 yd and 40 yd/40 m were 0.92 and 1.08, respectively. The correction factors obtained from this study may facilitate more meaningful comparisons of published sprint performances.     

Glutathione S-transferases in Festuca arundinacea: identification, characterization and inducibility by safener benoxacor

Over recent years it has emerged how certain no crop-species can be employed in phytoremediating contaminated soils or preventing herbicide pollution; in this contest Festuca arundinacea was investigated. Shoots of Festuca were submitted to fast protein liquid chromatography in order to identify their glutathione S-transferases (GST; EC 2.5.1.18), by a combination of anionic, affinity and RP-HPLC chromatography. The chromatographic procedure revealed satisfactory yield and four GSTs were identified: they were named FaGST I, FaGST II, FaGST III and FaGST IV. Among these, significant differences were observed in the chromatographic behaviours, structure, activity toward a "model" substrate, 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, and responsiveness to the herbicide safener benoxacor. FaGST I showed the highest activity toward the above substrate, and this activity was up-regulated by the herbicide safener. Therefore, FaGST I was purified till homogeneity and was determined to be an heterodimer consisting of two subunits of 28.0 and 27.2kDa. Each subunit of FaGST I was further characterized by means of LC-ESI-MS/MS and immunoblotting analysis, which revealed that both the subunits belong to the tau subclass.     

Brain signal predictions from multi-scale networks using a linearized framework

Simulations of neural activity at different levels of detail are ubiquitous in modern neurosciences, aiding the interpretation of experimental data and underlying neural mechanisms at the level of cells and circuits. Extracellular measurements of brain signals reflecting transmembrane currents throughout the neural tissue remain commonplace. The lower frequencies (≲ 300Hz) of measured signals generally stem from synaptic activity driven by recurrent interactions among neural populations and computational models should also incorporate accurate predictions of such signals. Due to limited computational resources, large-scale neuronal network models (≳ 10⁶ neurons or so) often require reducing the level of biophysical detail and account mainly for times of action potentials (‘spikes’) or spike rates. Corresponding extracellular signal predictions have thus poorly accounted for their biophysical origin.Here we propose a computational framework for predicting spatiotemporal filter kernels for such extracellular signals stemming from synaptic activity, accounting for the biophysics of neurons, populations, and recurrent connections. Signals are obtained by convolving population spike rates by appropriate kernels for each connection pathway and summing the contributions. Our main results are that kernels derived via linearized synapse and membrane dynamics, distributions of cells, conduction delay, and volume conductor model allow for accurately capturing the spatiotemporal dynamics of ground truth extracellular signals from conductance-based multicompartment neuron networks. One particular observation is that changes in the effective membrane time constants caused by persistent synapse activation must be accounted for.The work also constitutes a major advance in computational efficiency of accurate, biophysics-based signal predictions from large-scale spike and rate-based neuron network models drastically reducing signal prediction times compared to biophysically detailed network models. This work also provides insight into how experimentally recorded low-frequency extracellular signals of neuronal activity may be approximately linearly dependent on spiking activity. A new software tool LFPykernels serves as a reference implementation of the framework.     

Understanding the unexpected linearity of the trans-{Mn(NO)2}8 unit in a phthalocyanine complex: some thoughts on dinitrosylheme intermediates in biology

Simple MO arguments provide a qualitative explanation for the near-linear ON-Mn-NO arrangement observed for the trans-{Mn(NO)2}8 anion [Mn(Pc)(NO)2]-, which is unexpected for an Enemark-Feltham electron count n>6. The metal center in this species may be described as low-spin d6("t2g6") and the two unpaired electrons occupy a pair of eu orbitals composed of NO(pi*) components, giving rise to a triplet ground state. In a certain sense, these eu SOMOs may be likened to the SOMO (singly occupied molecular orbital) of the allyl radical. The electronic structure of this species is quite different from that of diamagnetic dinitrosylheme intermediates, which have been spectroscopically characterized in synthetic studies as well as proposed for soluble guanylate cyclase and cytochrome c'. Some speculative remarks are offered as to why this proposal is not an unreasonable one from an electronic-structural perspective.     

Electronic structure of cis-Mo(P)(NO)2, where P is a porphyrin: an organometallic perspective of metalloporphyrin-NO complexes

This study presents a first MO analysis of the stereochemistry of cis-Mo(P)(NO)(2), where the Mo(NO)(2) unit eclipses a pair of opposite Mo-N bonds and also adopts a remarkable horseshoe-like conformation. In addition, we have uncovered a number of analogies--in terms of commonalities of metal-ligand orbital interactions--between the dinitrosylmetalloporphyrins, Fe(P)(NO)(2) and Mo(P)(NO)(2), and the two dialkylmetalloporphyrins, Ru(P)(CH(3))(2), and Zr(P)(CH(3))(2).     

Inhibition of stretch-activated channels during eccentric muscle contraction attenuates p70S6K activation.

Eccentric contractions (EC) are known to result in muscle hypertrophy, potentially through activation of the Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin-p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K) signaling pathway. Previous work has also demonstrated that EC result in the opening of stretch-activated channels (SAC), and inhibition of these channels resulted in an attenuation of EC-induced muscle hypertrophy. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that a known intracellular pathway directly associated with muscle hypertrophy is coupled to the opening of SAC. Specifically, we measured the activation of the Akt, GSK-3beta, p70S6K, and ribosomal protein S6 following a single bout of EC in the rat tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. The TA muscles performed four sets of six repetitions of EC. In vivo blockade of SAC was performed by a continuous oral treatment with streptomycin in the drinking water (4 g/l) or by intravenous infusion of 80 micromol/kg gadolinium (Gd3+). EC increased the degree of Akt and p70S6K phosphorylation in the TA muscle, whereas in animals in which SAC had been inhibited, there was a reduced capacity for EC to induce Akt or p70S6K phosphorylation. Accompanying this reduced activation of Akt and p70S6K was a failure to phosphorylate GSK-3beta or S6 when SAC were inhibited. The results from these data indicate the necessity of functional SAC for the complete activation of Akt and p70S6K pathway in response to EC.     

Competing species in a changing climate: effects of recruitment disturbances on two interacting barnacle species

1. The climate is changing and data-based simulation models can be a valuable tool for predicting population response to such changes and investigate the mechanisms of population change. In this study, a data-based two-species matrix model was constructed to explore the possible effects of elevated sea surface temperature (i.e. climate change) on the interaction between open populations of the south Atlantic barnacle species Chthamalus montagui and the boreal species Semibalanus balanoides in the north-east Atlantic. 2. First, the model was used to perform an elasticity analysis to determine the relative importance of recruitment and survival in the interaction. Further, three scenarios of changes in recruitment, related to climate change, were investigated with model simulations: (i) increased frequencies of low recruitment for S. balanoides; (ii) increased frequencies of high recruitment for C. montagui; (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii). 3. Model simulations showed that in present environmental conditions, S. balanoides occupied most of the space and dominated the interaction through high recruitment and survival. These results matched independent field observations, which validated the model for further analyses. 4. The elasticity analyses showed that although free space was available there was competition for space during recruitment intervals. It was also shown that both populations were sensitive to changes in recruitment. 5. Introducing the three scenarios of recruitment disturbances led to large changes in species abundance and free space. The most significant changes were found when scenario (i) and (ii) were combined, producing a shift in species dynamics towards C. montagui dominance. This demonstrates that recruitment can be an important mechanism in the interaction between populations and that the population response to changes in recruitment depends on the added response of interacting species. 6. In a more general context, this model shows that increased sea surface temperature could rapidly lead to increased competition from southern species at higher latitudes. This might accelerate the effects of climate change on the species distribution at these latitudes and eventually lead to changes in community dynamics on temperate and subarctic shores.     

Diagnosis of the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses: an update

For the majority of families affected by one of the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs), a biochemical and/or genetic diagnosis can be achieved. In an individual case this information not only increases understanding of the condition but also may influence treatment choices and options. The presenting clinical features prompt initial investigation and also guide clinical care. The clinical labels "infantile NCL", "late infantile NCL" and "juvenile NCL", therefore remain useful in practice. In unusual or atypical cases ultra-structural analysis of white blood cells or other tissue samples enables planning and prioritisation of biochemical and genetic tests.This review describes current methods available to achieve clinical, pathological, biochemical and genetic diagnosis in children presenting with symptoms suggestive of one of the NCLs.     

Towards reliable spike-train recordings from thousands of neurons with multielectrodes

The new generation of silicon-based multielectrodes comprising hundreds or more electrode contacts offers unprecedented possibilities for simultaneous recordings of spike trains from thousands of neurons. Such data will not only be invaluable for finding out how neural networks in the brain work, but will likely be important also for neural prosthesis applications. This opportunity can only be realized if efficient, accurate and validated methods for automatic spike sorting are provided. In this review we describe some of the challenges that must be met to achieve this goal, and in particular argue for the critical need of realistic model data to be used as ground truth in the validation of spike-sorting algorithms.