Changes in odor quality discrimination following recovery from olfactory nerve transection

Following recovery from olfactory nerve transection, animals regain their ability to discriminate between odors. Odor discrimination is restored after new neurons establish connections with the olfactory bulb. However, it is not known if the new connections alter odor quality perception. To address this question, 20 adult hamsters were first trained to discriminate between cinnamon and strawberry odors. After reaching criterion (> or = 90% correct response), half of the animals received a bilateral nerve transection (BTX) and half a surgical sham procedure. Animals were not tested again until day 40, a point in recovery when connections are re-established with the bulb. When BTX animals were tested without food reinforcement, they could not perform the odor discrimination task. Sham animals, however, could discriminate, demonstrating that the behavioral response had not been extinguished during the 40 day period. When reinforcement was resumed, BTX animals were able to discriminate between cinnamon and strawberry after four test sessions. In addition, their ability to discriminate between these two familiar odors was no different than that of BTX and sham animals tested with two novel odors, baby powder and coffee. These findings suggest that, after recovery from nerve transection, there are alterations in sensory perception and that restoration of odor quality discrimination requires that the animal must again learn to associate individual odor sensations with a behavioral response.      

Elucidating the role of oxidative stress in the therapeutic effect of rutin on experimental acute pancreatitis

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) may be severe and cause hospitalization or death, and the available treatment is insufficient to control pancreatic inflammation and pain. Rutin is a natural flavonoid with the potential to treat AP via anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antioxidant activities.

Aim: This study investigated the beneficial effects of rutin on experimental AP induced by l-arginine administration in mice.

Methods: The l-arginine-induced AP model was used in Swiss mice (n?=?6–8). Mice submitted to AP induction were treated with rutin (37.5, 75, or 150?mg kg^?1, p.o.) or vehicle (saline) after 24, 36, 48, and 60?h of AP induction. Abdominal hyperalgesia, serum enzymes, interleukin (IL)-6 levels, pancreatic inflammatory parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, antioxidant enzyme activities, and 3-nitrotyrosine contents were measured 72?h after induction.

Results: Mice submitted to l-arginine injections developed abdominal hyperalgesia and increased serum amylase, lipase, C-reactive protein and IL-6 concentrations; and increased pancreatic myeloperoxidase activity, edema index, MDA, and 3-nitrotyrosine contents. A marked decrease in catalase activity was observed in the pancreas without alterations of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity compared with the control group. Rutin treatment significantly impaired all the parameters that were altered by AP induction, but increased catalase and SOD activities in the pancreas compared with the vehicle-treated group.

Conclusion: Rutin treatment exerted a protective effect on l-arginine-induced AP by mechanisms involving the reduction of oxidative stress, which suggests that this flavonoid has a potential for future approaches designed for the management of AP.     

Human activities and climate variability drive fast‐paced change across the world's estuarine–coastal ecosystems

Time series of environmental measurements are essential for detecting, measuring and understanding changes in the Earth system and its biological communities. Observational series have accumulated over the past 2–5 decades from measurements across the world's estuaries, bays, lagoons, inland seas and shelf waters influenced by runoff. We synthesize information contained in these time series to develop a global view of changes occurring in marine systems influenced by connectivity to land. Our review is organized around four themes: (i) human activities as drivers of change; (ii) variability of the climate system as a driver of change; (iii) successes, disappointments and challenges of managing change at the sea‐land interface; and (iv) discoveries made from observations over time. Multidecadal time series reveal that many of the world's estuarine–coastal ecosystems are in a continuing state of change, and the pace of change is faster than we could have imagined a decade ago. Some have been transformed into novel ecosystems with habitats, biogeochemistry and biological communities outside the natural range of variability. Change takes many forms including linear and nonlinear trends, abrupt state changes and oscillations. The challenge of managing change is daunting in the coastal zone where diverse human pressures are concentrated and intersect with different responses to climate variability over land and over ocean basins. The pace of change in estuarine–coastal ecosystems will likely accelerate as the human population and economies continue to grow and as global climate change accelerates. Wise stewardship of the resources upon which we depend is critically dependent upon a continuing flow of information from observations to measure, understand and anticipate future changes along the world's coastlines.     

Length–weight relationships for 35 fish species of the Atlantic Forest,SP/RJ—Brazil

Length–weight relationships (LWRs) for 35 freshwater fish species from the SP/RJ coastal basin in Brazil are presented in this paper. Fishes were captured between 2011 and 2015 on an irregular basis using electrofishing, sieves, trawl nets, cast nets and fish‐traps. In this study new LWRs are reported for 28 species, plus the total weight and length for 34 and nine species, respectively. The study provides new information on less‐studied species and can serve as a basis for management and conservation in this area.     

Effects of pH,Salinity, Biomass Concentration,and Algal Organic Matter on Flocculant Efficiency of Synthetic Versus Natural Polymers for Harvesting Microalgae Biomass

This study investigated the effects of pH, salinity, biomass concentration, and algal organic matter (AOM) on the efficiency of four commercial cationic flocculants. The tannin-based biopolymers Tanfloc SG and SL and the polyacrylamide polymers Flopam FO 4800 SH and FO 4990 SH were tested for flocculation of two microalgae models, the freshwater Chlorella vulgaris and the marine Nannochloropsis oculata. Both biomass concentration and AOM presence affected all polymers evaluated, whereas salinity and pH affected only Flopam and Tanfloc, respectively. A restabilization effect due to overdosing was only observed for Flopam polymers and increasing Tanfloc dose resulted in improved efficiency. Flopam polymers showed a significant decrease in the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II as function of polymer dose for Chlorella, which supported the need for toxicological studies to assess the potential toxicity of Flopam. In overall, Tanfloc was not affected by salinity nor presented potential toxicity therefore being recommended for the flocculation of both freshwater and marine species.     

Overall survival in women with breast cancer: the influence of pepsinogen C gene polymorphism

We aimed to study the role of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the Pepsinogen C (PGC) gene in the clinical outcome of 172 breast cancer patients. The six polymorphic alleles were amplified using PCR. Our results indicate that patients carrying the allele 6 present a higher 5-year survival mean (83.4% of 6 allele carriers were alive at 5 years vs. only 68.6% of noncarriers, p=0.001), suggesting a role for this polymorphism in the outcome of breast cancer patients. We hypothesize that PGC polymorphism can be a predictive biomarker in breast cancer, contributing to an individual profile of great interest in clinical oncology.     

Therapeutic dendritic cell vaccine preparation using tumor RNA transfection: A promising approach for the treatment of prostate cancer

Background

Electroporation is an established technique for enhancing plasmid delivery to many tissues in vivo, including the skin. We have previously demonstrated efficient delivery of plasmid DNA to the skin utilizing a custom-built four-plate electrode. The experiments described here further evaluate cutaneous plasmid delivery using in vivo electroporation. Plasmid expression levels are compared to those after liposome mediated delivery.

Methods

Enhanced electrically-mediated delivery, and less extensively, liposome complexed delivery, of a plasmid encoding the reporter luciferase was tested in rodent skin. Expression kinetics and tissue damage were explored as well as testing in a second rodent model.

Results

Experiments confirm that electroporation alone is more effective in enhancing reporter gene expression than plasmid injection alone, plasmid conjugation with liposomes followed by injection, or than the combination of liposomes and electroporation. However, with two time courses of multiple electrically-mediated plasmid deliveries, neither the levels nor duration of transgene expression are significantly increased. Tissue damage may increase following a second treatment, no further damage is observed after a third treatment. When electroporation conditions utilized in a mouse model are tested in thicker rat skin, only higher field strengths or longer pulses were as effective in plasmid delivery.

Conclusion

Electroporation enhances reporter plasmid delivery to the skin to a greater extent than the liposome conjugation method tested. Multiple deliveries do not necessarily result in higher or longer term expression. In addition, some impact on tissue integrity with respect to surface damage is observed. Pulsing conditions should be optimized for the model and for the expression profile desired.     

Guarana (Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis), an anciently consumed stimulant from the Amazon rain forest: the seeded-fruit transcriptome

Guarana (Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis) is a plant native to the central Amazon basin. Roasted seed extracts have been used as medicinal beverages since pre-Colombian times, due to their reputation as stimulants, aphrodisiacs, tonics, as well as protectors of the gastrointestinal tract. Guarana plants are commercially cultivated exclusively in Brazil to supply the national carbonated soft-drink industry and natural product stores around the world. In this report, we describe and discuss the annotation of 15,387 ESTs from guarana seeded-fruits, highlighting sequences from the flavonoid and purine alkaloid pathways, and those related to biotic stress avoidance. This is the largest set of sequences registered for the Sapindaceae family.     

Advanced monitoring of high-rate anaerobic reactors through quantitative image analysis of granular sludge and multivariate statistical analysis

Four organic loading disturbances were performed in lab-scale EGSB reactors fed with ethanol. In load disturbance 1 (LD1) and 2 (LD2), the organic loading rate (OLR) was increased between 5 and 18.5 kg COD m(-3) day(-1), through the influent ethanol concentration increase, and the hydraulic retention time decrease from 7.8 to 2.5 h, respectively. Load disturbances 3 (LD3) and 4 (LD4) were applied by increasing the OLR to 50 kg COD m(-3) day(-1) during 3 days and 16 days, respectively. The granular sludge morphology was quantified by image analysis and was related to the reactor performance, including effluent volatile suspended solids, indicator of washout events. In general, it was observed the selective washout of filamentous forms associated to granules erosion/fragmentation and to a decrease in the specific acetoclastic activity. These phenomena induced the transitory deterioration of reactor performance in LD2, LD3, and LD4, but not in LD1. Extending the exposure time in LD4 promoted acetogenesis inhibition after 144 h. The application of Principal Components Analysis determined a latent variable that encompasses a weighted sum of performance, physiological and morphological information. This new variable was highly sensitive to reactor efficiency deterioration, enclosing variations between 27% and 268% in the first hours of disturbances. The high loadings raised by image analysis parameters, especially filaments length per aggregates area (LfA), revealed that morphological changes of granular sludge, should be considered to monitor and control load disturbances in high rate anaerobic (granular) sludge bed digesters.