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21.
Background
The species is a fundamental unit of biological pattern and process, but its delimitation has proven a ready source of argument and disagreement. Here, we discuss four key steps that utilize statistical thresholds to describe the morphological variability within a sample and hence assess whether there is evidence for one or multiple species. Once the initial set of biologically relevant traits on comparable individuals has been identified, there is no need for the investigator to hypothesise how specimens might be divided among groups, nor the traits on which groups might be separated. 相似文献22.
In fish, vision may be impaired when eye tissue is in direct contact with environmental conditions that limit aerobic ATP production. We hypothesized that the visual acuity of fishes exposed to hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-rich water would be altered owing to changes in cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity. Using the H2S-tolerant mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus), we showed that a 10 min exposure to greater than or equal to 200 µM of H2S impaired visual acuity and COX activity in the eye. Visual acuity and COX activity were restored in fish allowed to recover in H2S-free water for up to 1 h. Since K. marmoratus are found in mangrove pools with H2S concentrations exceeding 1000 µM, visual impairment may impact predator avoidance, navigation and foraging behaviour in the wild. 相似文献
23.
SUMMARY: We propose a general multistate transition model. The model is developed for the analysis of repeated episodes of multiple states representing different health status. Transitions among multiple states are modeled jointly using multivariate latent traits with factor loadings. Different types of state transition are described by flexible transition-specific nonparametric baseline intensities. A state-specific latent trait is used to capture individual tendency of the sojourn in the state that cannot be explained by covariates and to account for correlation among repeated sojourns in the same state within an individual. Correlation among sojourns across different states within an individual is accounted for by the correlation between the different latent traits. The factor loadings for a latent trait accommodate the dependence of the transitions to different competing states from a same state. We obtain the semiparametric maximum likelihood estimates through an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. The method is illustrated by studying repeated transitions between independence and disability states of activities of daily living (ADL) with death as an absorbing state in a longitudinal aging study. The performance of the estimation procedure is assessed by simulation studies. 相似文献
24.
van Duin D Mohanty S Thomas V Ginter S Montgomery RR Fikrig E Allore HG Medzhitov R Shaw AC 《Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)》2007,178(2):970-975
The effects of aging on human TLR function remain incompletely understood. We assessed TLR function and expression in peripheral blood monocytes from 159 subjects in 2 age categories, 21-30 and >65 years of age, using a multivariable mixed effect model. Using flow cytometry to assess TLR-induced cytokine production, we observed a substantial, highly significant defect in TLR1/2-induced TNF-alpha (p = 0.0003) and IL-6 (p < 0.0001) production, in older adults compared with young controls. In contrast to findings in aged mice, other TLR (including TLR2/6)-induced cytokine production appeared largely intact. These differences were highly significant even after correcting for covariates including gender, race, medications, and comorbidities. This defect in TLR1/2 signaling may result from alterations in baseline TLR1 surface expression, which was decreased by 36% in older adults (p < 0.0001), whereas TLR2 surface expression was unaffected by aging. Production of IL-6 (p < 0.0001) and TNF-alpha (p = 0.003) after stimulation by N-palmitoyl-S-[2,3-bis(palmitoyloxy)-(2R,S)-propyl]-Cys-[S]-Ser1-[S]-Lys(4) trihydrochloride was strongly associated with TLR1 surface expression. Diminished TLR1/2 signaling may contribute to the increased infection-related morbidity and mortality and the impaired vaccine responses observed in aging humans. 相似文献
25.
Wytske A Altenburg Marieke L Duiverman Nick HT ten Hacken Huib AM Kerstjens Mathieu HG de Greef Peter J Wijkstra Johan B Wempe 《Respiratory research》2015,16(1)
Background
Although the endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT) has proven to be responsive to change in exercise capacity after pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for COPD, the minimally important difference (MID) has not yet been established. We aimed to establish the MID of the ESWT in patients with severe COPD and chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure following PR.Methods
Data were derived from a randomized controlled trial, investigating the value of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation added to PR. Fifty-five patients with stable COPD, GOLD stage IV, with chronic respiratory failure were included (mean (SD) FEV1 31.1 (12.0) % pred, age 62 (9) y). MID estimates of the ESWT in seconds, percentage and meters change were calculated with anchor based and distribution based methods. Six minute walking distance (6MWD), peak work rate on bicycle ergometry (Wpeak) and Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) were used as anchors and Cohen’s effect size was used as distribution based method.Results
The estimated MID of the ESWT with the different anchors ranged from 186–199 s, 76–82% and 154–164 m. Using the distribution based method the MID was 144 s, 61% and 137 m.Conclusions
Estimates of the MID for the ESWT after PR showed only small differences using different anchors in patients with COPD and chronic respiratory failure. Therefore we recommend using a range of 186–199 s, 76–82% or 154–164 m as MID of the ESWT in COPD patients with chronic respiratory failure. Further research in larger populations should elucidate whether this cut-off value is also valid in other COPD populations and with other interventions.Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.Gov (ID ). NCT00135538Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-015-0182-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献26.
We investigated changes in rat liver tissues following administration of thymoquinone (TQ) against 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) induced hepatotoxicity. Fifty rats were assigned randomly to five groups of 10 as follows: control, corn oil, TCDD, TQ and TCDD + TQ. Biochemical and histopathological analyses were conducted on liver tissue. We found that 30 day TCDD administration caused histopathological changes in liver including thickening of Glisson’s capsule, intracytoplasmic vacuolization in hepatocytes, sinusoidal dilation, vascular and sinusoidal congestion and inflammatory cell infiltration. TCDD administration increased malondialdehyde (MDA), total oxidant status (TOS), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in rat liver tissue and reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels compared to all other groups. In the TQ treated group, GSH, SOD, CAT and TAS levels increased compared to all other groups. MDA, TOS, ALT, AST, ALP levels decreased compared to all other groups. Our histological findings were consistent with the biochemical findings. The oxidative and histologic effects of TCDD were eliminated by TQ treatment. TCDD administration caused oxidative stress in rat liver and TQ administered with TCDD prevented TCDD induced hepatotoxicity. TQ could be considered an alternative anti-TCDD toxicity agent. 相似文献
27.
Dana W. Dunne Albert Shaw Linda K. Bockenstedt Heather G. Allore Shu Chen Stephen E. Malawista Lin Leng Yuka Mizue Marta Piecychna Lin Zhang Virginia Towle Richard Bucala Ruth R. Montgomery Erol Fikrig 《PloS one》2010,5(6)
Background
An increasing number of patients have medical conditions with altered host immunity or that require immunosuppressive medications. While immunosuppression is associated with increased risk of infection, the precise effect of immunosuppression on innate immunity is not well understood. We studied monocyte Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression and cytokine production in 137 patients with autoimmune diseases who were maintained on immunosuppressive medications and 419 non-immunosuppressed individuals.Methodology/Principal Findings
Human peripheral blood monocytes were assessed for surface expression of TLRs 1, 2, and 4. After incubation with TLR agonists, in vitro production of the cytokines IL-8, TNFα, and MIF were measured by ELISA as a measure of TLR signaling efficiency and downstream effector responsiveness. Immunosuppressed patients had significantly higher TLR4 surface expression when compared to non-immunosuppressed adults (TLR4 %-positive 70.12±2.28 vs. 61.72±2.05, p = 0.0008). IL-8 and TNF-α baseline levels did not differ, but were significantly higher in the autoimmune disease group following TLR stimulation. By contrast, baseline MIF levels were elevated in monocytes from immunosuppressed individuals. By multivariable analyses, IL-8 and TNFα, but not MIF levels, were associated with the diagnosis of an underlying autoimmune disease. However, only MIF levels were significantly associated with the use of immunosuppressive medications.Conclusions/Significance
Our results reveal that an enhanced innate immune response is a feature of patients with autoimmune diseases treated with immunosuppressive agents. The increased risk for infection evident in this patient group may reflect a dysregulation rather than a simple suppression of innate immunity. 相似文献28.
Aim
Female cardiac transplant recipients' aerobic capacity is 60% lower than sex and age-predicted values. The effect of exercise training on restoring the impaired aerobic endurance and muscle strength in female cardiac transplant recipients is not known. This study examined the effect that aerobic and strength training have on improving aerobic endurance and muscle strength in female cardiac transplant recipients.Methods
20 female cardiac transplant recipients (51 ± 11 years) participated in this investigation. The subjects performed a baseline six-minute walk test and a leg-press strength test when they were discharged following cardiac transplantation. The subjects then participated in a 12-week exercise program consisting of aerobic and lower extremity strength training. Baseline assessments were repeated following completion of the exercise intervention.Results
At baseline, the cardiac transplant recipients' aerobic endurance was 50% lower than age-matched predicted values. The training program resulted in a significant increase in aerobic endurance (pre-training: 322 ± 104 m vs. post-training: 501 ± 99 m, p < 0.05) and leg-press strength (pre-training: 48 ± 16 kg. vs. post-training: 78 ± 27 kg, p < 0.05).Conclusion
Aerobic and strength training are effective interventions that can partially restore the impaired aerobic endurance and strength found in female cardiac transplant recipients. 相似文献29.
Higher-level snake phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences of 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
Portions of two mitochondrial genes (12S and 16S ribosomal RNA) were
sequenced to determine the phylogenetic relationships among the major
clades of snakes. Thirty-six species, representing nearly all extant
families, were examined and compared with sequences of a tuatara and three
families of lizards. Snakes were found to constitute a monophyletic group
(confidence probability [CP] = 96%), with the scolecophidians (blind
snakes) as the most basal lineages (CP = 99%). This finding supports the
hypothesis that snakes underwent a subterranean period early in their
evolution. Caenophidians (advanced snakes), excluding Acrochordus, were
found to be monophyletic (CP = 99%). Among the caenophidians, viperids were
monophyletic (CP = 98%) and formed the sister group to the elapids plus
colubrids (CP = 94%). Within the viperids, two monophyletic groups were
identified: true vipers (CP = 98%) and pit vipers plus Azemiops (CP = 99%).
The elapids plus Atractaspis formed a monophyletic clade (CP = 99%). Within
the paraphyletic Colubridae, the largely Holarctic Colubrinae was found to
be a monophyletic assemblage (CP = 98%), and the Xenodontinae was found to
be polyphyletic (CP = 91%). Monophyly of the henophidians (primitive
snakes) was neither supported nor rejected because of the weak resolution
of relationships among those taxa, except for the clustering of Calabaria
with a uropeltid, Rhinophis (CP = 94%).
相似文献
30.
Cloning and expression of the human S100 beta gene 总被引:4,自引:0,他引:4
R J Allore W C Friend D O'Hanlon K M Neilson R Baumal R J Dunn A Marks 《The Journal of biological chemistry》1990,265(26):15537-15543