Cardiovascular response to acute hypoxemia induced by prolonged breath holding in air

Prolonged breath hold (BH) represents a valid model for studying the cardiac adaptation to acute hypoxemia in humans. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) allows a three-dimensional, high-resolution, noninvasive, and nonionizing anatomical and functional evaluation of the heart. The aim of the study was to assess the adaptation of the cardiovascular system to prolonged BH in air. Ten male volunteer diving athletes (age 30 +/- 6 yr) were studied during maximal BH duration with CMR. Four epochs were studied: I, rest; II and III, intermediate BH; and IV, peak BH. Oxygen saturation (So(2)), heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), systemic vascular resistance (VR), end-diastolic (EDV) and end-systolic volumes (ESV), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), ejection fraction (EF), maximal elastance index (EL), systolic wall thickening (SWT), and end-systolic wall stress (ESWS) of the left ventricle (LV) were measured in all four BH epochs. Average BH duration was 3.7 +/- 0.3 min. So(2) was reduced (I: 97 +/- 0.2%, range 96-98%, vs. IV: 84 +/- 2.0%, range 76-92%; P < 0.00001). BP, EDV, ESV, SV, CO, and ESWS linearly increased from epochs I to IV, whereas EF, EL, and SWT showed an opposite behavior, decreasing from resting to epoch IV (all trends are P < 0.01). During prolonged BH in air, a marked enlargement of the LV chamber occurs in healthy diving athletes. This response to acute hypoxemia allows SV,CO, and arterial pressure to be maintained despite the severe reduction in LV contractile function.     

Conformational dynamics of active site loop in Escherichia coli phytase

Phytases catalyze the release of phosphate by stepwise hydrolysis of phytate, a major source of phosphate in cereal grains, legumes, and oilseeds. Phytase improves, as a feed supplement, the nutritional quality of phytate rich diets and eventually reduce environmental pollution. Recently, phytases from enterobacteriaceae family have attracted industrial interest due to their high specific activity (2500–4000 U/mg). However, only limited information is available concerning structural dynamics of this class of enzymes. In this study, 50 nanosecond molecular dynamics simulation was performed on two Escherichia coli phytase structures (closed and open active site loop) to investigate conformational dynamics of the active site loop. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) reveal significant difference in the conformational dynamics of active site compared to reported crystal structure. Molecular dynamic studies indicated that the movement in the active site of E. coli phytase is mainly confined by the active site loop resulted in wider opening of the loop in absence of phytate. The molecular dynamics studies highlight the possible role of loop residues as prerequisite for highly active phytases. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 93: 994–1002, 2010.     

Effects of respiratory muscle unloading on leg muscle oxygenation and blood volume during high-intensity exercise in chronic heart failure

Blood flow requirements of the respiratory muscles (RM) increase markedly during exercise in chronic heart failure (CHF). We reasoned that if the RM could subtract a fraction of the limited cardiac output (QT) from the peripheral muscles, RM unloading would improve locomotor muscle perfusion. Nine patients with CHF (left ventricle ejection fraction = 26 +/- 7%) undertook constant-work rate tests (70-80% peak) receiving proportional assisted ventilation (PAV) or sham ventilation. Relative changes (Delta%) in deoxy-hemoglobyn, oxi-Hb ([O2Hb]), tissue oxygenation index, and total Hb ([HbTOT], an index of local blood volume) in the vastus lateralis were measured by near infrared spectroscopy. In addition, QT was monitored by impedance cardiography and arterial O2 saturation by pulse oximetry (SpO2). There were significant improvements in exercise tolerance (Tlim) with PAV. Blood lactate, leg effort/Tlim and dyspnea/Tlim were lower with PAV compared with sham ventilation (P < 0.05). There were no significant effects of RM unloading on systemic O2 delivery as QT and SpO2 at submaximal exercise and at Tlim did not differ between PAV and sham ventilation (P > 0.05). Unloaded breathing, however, was related to enhanced leg muscle oxygenation and local blood volume compared with sham, i.e., higher Delta[O2Hb]% and Delta[HbTOT]%, respectively (P < 0.05). We conclude that RM unloading had beneficial effects on the oxygenation status and blood volume of the exercising muscles at similar systemic O2 delivery in patients with advanced CHF. These data suggest that blood flow was redistributed from respiratory to locomotor muscles during unloaded breathing.     

Detecting successional changes in tropical forest structure using GatorEye drone-borne lidar

Drone-based remote sensing is a promising new technology that combines the benefits of ground-based and satellite-derived forest monitoring by collecting fine-scale data over relatively large areas in a cost-effective manner. Here, we explore the potential of the GatorEye drone-lidar system to monitor tropical forest succession by canopy structural attributes including canopy height, spatial heterogeneity, gap fraction, leaf area density (LAD) vertical distribution, canopy Shannon index (an index of LAD), leaf area index (LAI), and understory LAI. We focus on these variables’ relationship to aboveground biomass (AGB) stocks and species diversity. In the Caribbean lowlands of northeastern Costa Rica, we analyze nine tropical forests stands (seven second-growth and two old-growth). Stands were relatively homogenous in terms of canopy height and spatial heterogeneity, but not in their gap fraction. Neither species density nor tree community Shannon diversity index was significantly correlated with the canopy Shannon index. Canopy height, LAI, and AGB did not show a clear pattern as a function of forest age. However, gap fraction and spatial heterogeneity increased with forest age, whereas understory LAI decreased with forest age. Canopy height was strongly correlated with AGB. The heterogeneous mosaic created by successional forest patches across human-managed tropical landscapes can now be better characterized. Drone-lidar systems offer the opportunity to improve assessment of forest recovery and develop general mechanistic carbon sequestration models that can be rapidly deployed to specific sites, an essential step for monitoring progress within the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.     

SAP97 and Cortactin Remodeling in Arrhythmogenic Purkinje Cells

Because structural remodeling of several proteins, including ion channels, may underlie the abnormal action potentials of Purkinje cells (PCs) that survive in the 48 hr infarcted zone of the canine heart (IZPCs), we sought to determine the subcellular structure and function of the K_V1.5 (KCNA5) protein in single IZPCs. Clustering of the Kv1.5 subunit in axons is regulated by a synapse-associated protein, SAP97, and is linked to an actin-binding protein, cortactin, and an intercellular adhesion molecule, N-cadherin. To understand the functional remodeling of the Kv1.5 channel and its regulation in IZPCs, Kv1.5 currents in PCs were measured as the currents blocked by 10 µM RSD1379 using patch-clamp techniques. Immunocytochemistry and confocal imaging were used for both single and aggregated IZPCs vs normal PCs (NZPCs) to determine the relationship of Kv1.5 with SAP-97, cortactin and N-cadherin. In IZPCs, both the sarcolemma (SL) and intercalated disk (ID) Kv1.5 protein are abundant, and the amount of cytosolic Kv1.5 protein is greatly increased. SAP-97 is also increased at IDs and has notable cytosolic localization suggesting that SAP-97 may regulate the functional expression and stabilization of Kv1.5 channels in IZPCs. Cortactin, which is located with N-cadherin at IDs in NZPCs, remains at IDs but begins to dissociate from N-cadherin, often forming ring structures and colocalizing with Kv1.5 within IZPCs. At the same time, cortactin/Kv1.5 colocalization is increased at the ID, suggesting an ongoing active process of membrane trafficking of the channel protein. Finally, the Kv1.5 current, measured as the RSD1379-sensitive current, at +40 mV did not differ between NZPCs (0.81±0.24 pA/pF, n = 14) and IZPCs (0.83±0.21 pA/pF, n = 13, NS). In conclusion, the subcellular structural remodeling of Kv1.5, SAP97 and cortactin maintained and normalized the function of the Kv1.5 channel in Purkinje cells that survived myocardial infarction.     

Sucrose breakdown within guard cells provides substrates for glycolysis and glutamine biosynthesis during light‐induced stomatal opening

Sucrose has long been thought to play an osmolytic role in stomatal opening. However, recent evidence supports the idea that the role of sucrose in this process is primarily energetic. Here we used a combination of stomatal aperture assays and kinetic [U‐¹³C]‐sucrose isotope labelling experiments to confirm that sucrose is degraded during light‐induced stomatal opening and to define the fate of the C released from sucrose breakdown. We additionally show that addition of sucrose to the medium did not enhance light‐induced stomatal opening. The isotope experiment showed a consistent ¹³C enrichment in fructose and glucose, indicating that during light‐induced stomatal opening sucrose is indeed degraded. We also observed a clear ¹³C enrichment in glutamate and glutamine (Gln), suggesting a concerted activation of sucrose degradation, glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This is in contrast to the situation for Gln biosynthesis in leaves under light, which has been demonstrated to rely on previously stored C. Our results thus collectively allow us to redraw current models concerning the influence of sucrose during light‐induced stomatal opening, in which, instead of being accumulated, sucrose is degraded providing C skeletons for Gln biosynthesis.     

Rock art at the pleistocene/holocene boundary in Eastern South America

Background

Most investigations regarding the First Americans have primarily focused on four themes: when the New World was settled by humans; where they came from; how many migrations or colonization pulses from elsewhere were involved in the process; and what kinds of subsistence patterns and material culture they developed during the first millennia of colonization. Little is known, however, about the symbolic world of the first humans who settled the New World, because artistic manifestations either as rock-art, ornaments, and portable art objects dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition are exceedingly rare in the Americas.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here we report a pecked anthropomorphic figure engraved in the bedrock of Lapa do Santo, an archaeological site located in Central Brazil. The horizontal projection of the radiocarbon ages obtained at the north profile suggests a minimum age of 9,370±40 BP, (cal BP 10,700 to 10,500) for the petroglyph that is further supported by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates from sediment in the same stratigraphic unit, located between two ages from 11.7±0.8 ka BP to 9.9±0.7 ka BP.

Conclusions

These data allow us to suggest that the anthropomorphic figure is the oldest reliably dated figurative petroglyph ever found in the New World, indicating that cultural variability during the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in South America was not restricted to stone tools and subsistence, but also encompassed the symbolic dimension.