Effects of Blood Transfusion on Exercise Capacity in Thalassemia Major Patients

Anemia has an important role in exercise performance. However, the direct link between rapid changes of hemoglobin and exercise performance is still unknown.To find out more on this topic, we studied 18 beta-thalassemia major patients free of relevant cardiac dysfunction (age 33.5±7.2 years,males = 10). Patients performed a maximal cardiopulmolmonary exercise test (cycloergometer, personalized ramp protocol, breath-by-breath measurements of expired gases) before and the day after blood transfusion (500 cc of red cell concentrates). After blood transfusion, hemoglobin increased from 10.5±0.8 g/dL to 12.1±1.2 (p<0.001), peak VO₂ from 1408 to 1546mL/min (p<0.05), and VO₂ at anaerobic threshold from 965 to 1024mL/min (p<0.05). No major changes were observed as regards heart and respiratory rates either at peak exercise or at anaerobic threshold. Similarly, no relevant changes were observed in ventilation efficiency, as evaluated by the ventilation vs. carbon dioxide production relationship, or in O₂ delivery to the periphery as analyzed by the VO₂ vs. workload relationship. The relationship between hemoglobin and VO₂ changes showed, for each g/dL of hemoglobin increase, a VO₂ increase = 82.5 mL/min and 35 mL/min, at peak exercise and at anaerobic threshold, respectively. In beta-thalassemia major patients, an acute albeit partial anemia correction by blood transfusion determinates a relevant increase of exercise performance, observed both at peak exercise and at anaerobic threshold.     

Annual Acoustic Presence of Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) Offshore Eastern Sicily,Central Mediterranean Sea

In recent years, an increasing number of surveys have definitively confirmed the seasonal presence of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in highly productive regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite this, very little is yet known about the routes that the species seasonally follows within the Mediterranean basin and, particularly, in the Ionian area. The present study assesses for the first time fin whale acoustic presence offshore Eastern Sicily (Ionian Sea), throughout the processing of about 10 months of continuous acoustic monitoring. The recording of fin whale vocalizations was made possible by the cabled deep-sea multidisciplinary observatory, “NEMO-SN1”, deployed 25 km off the Catania harbor at a depth of about 2,100 meters. NEMO-SN1 is an operational node of the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-column Observatory (EMSO) Research Infrastructure. The observatory was equipped with a low-frequency hydrophone (bandwidth: 0.05 Hz–1 kHz, sampling rate: 2 kHz) which continuously acquired data from July 2012 to May 2013. About 7,200 hours of acoustic data were analyzed by means of spectrogram display. Calls with the typical structure and patterns associated to the Mediterranean fin whale population were identified and monitored in the area for the first time. Furthermore, a background noise analysis within the fin whale communication frequency band (17.9–22.5 Hz) was conducted to investigate possible detection-masking effects. The study confirms the hypothesis that fin whales are present in the Ionian Sea throughout all seasons, with peaks in call detection rate during spring and summer months. The analysis also demonstrates that calls were more frequently detected in low background noise conditions. Further analysis will be performed to understand whether observed levels of noise limit the acoustic detection of the fin whales vocalizations, or whether the animals vocalize less in the presence of high background noise.     

The hemolytic activity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Karenia selliformis</Emphasis> and two clones of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Karenia brevis</Emphasis> throughout a growth cycle

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, occur annually along the Gulf coast of Florida. Other species, like Karenia selliformis, are at times found in association. Hemolytic activity, the ability to lyse red blood cells, of two K. brevis clones (SP3 non-toxic (N-tox) and SP3 super toxic (S-tox)) from the Gulf of Mexico and a single clone of K. selliformis from New Zealand was investigated throughout a growth cycle. Activity is reported as effective concentration (EC₅₀) values, the quantitative measure of hemolysis of human erythrocytes expressed as cell numbers. Both cells and media of K. selliformis cultures consistently produced potent levels of hemolysis (maximum EC₅₀ = 4.88 × 10³ cells) from inoculation until the population declined 35 days later. For SP3 N-tox and S-tox, no hemolytic activity was detectable until day 26 of sampling. The media of both SP3 N-tox and SP3 S-tox cultures consistently contained non-detectable or low levels of hemolysis compared to K. selliformis. Maximum EC₅₀s for the SP3 clones were 1.80 × 10⁶ and 1.97 × 10⁶ cells, respectively. The experimental EC₅₀ values observed represent ecologically relevant cell densities for K. selliformis, but not for the K. brevis clones. In addition, the hemolytic activity of gymnodimine A and various PbTx derivatives was examined in this study. Our findings indicate that the hemolytic capability of these dinoflagellates, especially K. selliformis, represents an additional component of toxicity aside from their already recognized toxins and that this activity may play a larger role than was previously considered. The purpose of this study was to extend the knowledge of the biology and toxicology of species within the genus Karenia.     

Remarks on some Eurasian pliocervines: Characteristics, evolution, and relationships with the tribe Cervini

In order to define the ancestors of the Eurasian genera Axis and Rusa, the representatives of the tribe Pliocervini have been reviewed, with the exclusion of the genus Pliocervus. The fossil remains referred to Pliocervini stored in the Palaeontological Museum of Mechnikov Odessa National University and studied by Khomenko [Khomenko, I., 1913. Meotian fauna of v. Tarakliya of Bendery district. Annuaire géologique et minéralogique de la Russie. 1. The ancestors of modern and fossil Cervinae. 2. Giraffidae and Cavicornia 15, 107-132 (in Russian)] are reappraised: these remains are attributed to Cervavitus novorossiae (Khomenko, 1913). The fossil deer collected from the locality of Novoelizavetovka (Odessa region, Ukraine) and observed in the same Museum of the Odessa National University, is referred to Cervavitus variabilis Alexeev (1915).The fossil material from Shanxi and Honan provinces (China), described by Zdansky [Zdansky, O., 1925. Fossil Hirsche Chinas. Palaeontologia Sinica C 2, 1-94] and Teilhard de Chardin and Trassaert [Teilhard de Chardin, P., Trassaert, M., 1937. The Pliocene Camelidae, Giraffidae and Cervidae of southeastern Shansi.] is referred to Cervavitus shanxius Dong and Hu, 1994. The phylogenetic relationships between Pliocervini from China and the European ones are investigated on the basis of the morphological, biochronological and paleogeographical data. These elements and the suggestions of the more recent genetical and biometrical data may indicate that the origin of the two genera Axis and Rusa could be recognized into the Chinese pliocervines.     

Symptoms induced by transgenic expression of p23 from Citrus tristeza virus in phloem‐associated cells of Mexican lime mimic virus infection without the aberrations accompanying constitutive expression

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is phloem restricted in natural citrus hosts. The 23‐kDa protein (p23) encoded by the virus is an RNA silencing suppressor and a pathogenicity determinant. The expression of p23, or its N‐terminal 157‐amino‐acid fragment comprising the zinc finger and flanking basic motifs, driven by the constitutive 35S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus, induces CTV‐like symptoms and other aberrations in transgenic citrus. To better define the role of p23 in CTV pathogenesis, we compared the phenotypes of Mexican lime transformed with p23‐derived transgenes from the severe T36 and mild T317 CTV isolates under the control of the phloem‐specific promoter from Commelina yellow mottle virus (CoYMV) or the 35S promoter. Expression of the constructs restricted to the phloem induced a phenotype resembling CTV‐specific symptoms (vein clearing and necrosis, and stem pitting), but not the non‐specific aberrations (such as mature leaf epinasty and yellow pinpoints, growth cessation and apical necrosis) observed when p23 was ectopically expressed. Furthermore, vein necrosis and stem pitting in Mexican lime appeared to be specifically associated with p23 from T36. Phloem‐specific accumulation of the p23Δ158–209(T36) fragment was sufficient to induce the same anomalies, indicating that the region comprising the N‐terminal 157 amino acids of p23 is responsible (at least in part) for the vein clearing, stem pitting and, possibly, vein corking in this host.     

GROWTH AND PROBABLE GAMETE FORMATION IN THE MARINE DINOFLAGELLATE CERATIUM SCHRANKII1

Growth and formation of probable gametes in clonal cultures of Ceratium schrankii Kofoid isolated from the Gulf of Naples were monitored at 15, 20 and 25°C (12:12h LD period). Sustained division rates (k) of 0.15 div d ^?1 at 15°C and elevated ones at 20°C (0.27 div d^?1) and 25°C (0.25 div d^?1) were obtained. “Gamete” formation occurred at each temperature with few “gametes” observed at 15°C, and the greatest numbers at 20° and 25°C. This process in each parent cell involved two successive divisions with the first division forming tow “pregametes” which, within a few hours, divided again to form four motile unicells. These “gametes” remained motile for at least 24 h and normally survived for no longer tahn 48 h. Depending on the initial population at the onset of “gamete” formation, the impact on Ceratium populations was to cause either a momentary pause in log growth or a reversible decline in the populaiton.     

Green tea polyphenol extract attenuates colon injury induced by experimental colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterised by oxidative and nitrosative stress, leukocyte infiltration, and up-regulation of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) expression in the colon. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of green tea extract in rats subjected to experimental colitis induced by intracolonic instillation of dinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (DNBS). At 4 days after DNBS administration the rats were sacrificed. Treatment with green tea extract significantly attenuated diarrhoea and loss of body weight. This was associated with a remarkable amelioration of the disruption of the colonic architecture, significant reduction of colonic myeloperoxidase (MPO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production. Green tea extract also reduced the appearance of nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity in the colon and reduced the up-regulation of ICAM-1.