Internalization of Western Ideals on Appearance and Self-Esteem in Jamaican Undergraduate Students

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry - Beauty ideals in the Caribbean are shifting with increased exposure to Western and European standards of appearance. Previous research has shown a consistent...     

Predation avoidance and foraging efficiency contribute to mixed-species shoaling by tropical and temperate fishes

The formation of mixed-species social groups, whereby heterospecifics form and maintain either transient or stable groups with each other, can confer substantial fitness benefits to individuals. Such benefits may arise via multiple mechanisms associated with both predation avoidance and foraging efficiency. In fishes, mixed-species shoaling reportedly occurs where displaced tropical species (known as “vagrants”) interact with resident temperate species, although little is known about the nature and frequency of such interactions. To investigate this phenomenon, we used displaced tropical Indo-pacific Sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis settling in temperate south-eastern Australia as a model system. Underwater visual surveys revealed shoal composition and size differed significantly between open-water and reef habitats, with shoals in open habitats being larger and more speciose. Shoals containing A. vaigiensis were mainly mixed-species, and larger and more speciose in open habitats than nearer to reef. Since both foraging efficiency (via access to plankton) and predation threat likely increase with increasing distance from reef habitat, we suggest that mixed-species shoaling mitigates predation risk whilst allowing increased foraging opportunities for A. vaigiensis in open areas. These findings provide support for the importance of mixed-species shoaling to the persistence of tropical reef fishes in temperate regions.     

Age,growth and reproductive traits of invasive goby Taenioides cirratus in the Chaohu Lake,China

The eel goby Taenioides cirratus (Blyth, 1,860) is a small fish inhabits muddy bottoms of brackish-water in the Indo-West Pacific. It has invaded many inland freshwater lakes in China, such as the Chaohu Lake, Gaoyou Lake and Nansi Lake, and its population increased rapidly in these freshwater lakes in recent years. The age, growth and reproductive traits of T. cirratus invading the Chaohu Lake were studied. A total of 482 specimens (210 females, 204 males and 68 juveniles) with total length (TL) ranging from 9.4 to 20.6 cm were collected using the benthic fyke nets at monthly intervals from March 2018 to February 2019. The sagittal otolith was used for age determination. Monthly variation of marginal increment ratio indicated that the annual forming of opaque band on sagittal otolith was completed during March and April. For both sexes, only four (from 0+ to 3+ years) age groups were observed and 1+ and 2+ years age individuals dominated the population. Back calculated length at age showed males grew faster than females. Both sexes reached maturity at 1+ year age and the TL at first maturity (TL₅₀) was 12.6 cm for females and 11.9 cm for males. Monthly variation of gonado-somatic index indicated that the spawning occurred from May to August. The fecundity ranged from 967 ova to 5,114 ova, with a mean of 3,205 ova. Our study provides a comprehensive data on the key life history traits of T. cirratus for the first time.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Silencing SP1 Alleviated Sevoflurane-Induced POCD Development via Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway

Neurochemical Research - Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common complication induced by anesthesia or surgery, which affects the concentration, cognition and memory of patients....     

Approximation of bias and mean-squared error in two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses

Mendelian randomization (MR) is a type of instrumental variable (IV) analysis that uses genetic variants as IVs for a risk factor to study its causal effect on an outcome. Extensive investigations on the performance of IV analysis procedures, such as the one based on the two-stage least squares (2SLS) procedure, have been conducted under the one-sample scenario, where measures on IVs, the risk factor, and the outcome are assumed to be available for each study participant. Recent MR analysis usually is performed with data from two independent or partially overlapping genetic association studies (two-sample setting), with one providing information on the association between the IVs and the outcome, and the other on the association between the IVs and the risk factor. We investigate the performance of 2SLS in the two-sample–based MR when the IVs are weakly associated with the risk factor. We derive closed form formulas for the bias and mean squared error of the 2SLS estimate and verify them with numeric simulations under realistic circumstances. Using these analytic formulas, we can study the pros and cons of conducting MR analysis under one-sample and two-sample settings and assess the impact of having overlapping samples. We also propose and validate a bias-corrected estimator for the causal effect.     

Deregulation of UCA1 expression may be involved in the development of chemoresistance to cisplatin in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer via regulating the signaling pathway of microRNA-495/NRF2

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. As a platinum-based chemotherapeutic drug, cisplatin has been used for over 30 years in NSCLC treatment while its effects are diminished by drug resistance. Therefore, we aimed to study the potential role of UCA1 in the development of chemoresistance against cisplatin. Real-time polymerase chain reaction, western-blot analysis, and immunofluorescence were used to study the involvement of UCA1, miR-495, and NRF2 in chemoresistance against cisplatin. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was performed to determine the effect of cisplatin on cell proliferation. Computational analysis and luciferase assay were carried out to explore the interaction among UCA1, miR-495, and NRF2. The cisplatin-R group exhibited lower levels of UCA1 and NRF2 expression but a higher level of miR-495 expression than the cisplatin-S group. The growth rate and half-maximal inhibitory concentration of cellular dipeptidyl peptidase (cisplatinum) of the cisplatin-R group were much higher than those in the cisplatin-S group. MiR-495 contained a complementary binding site of UCA1, and the luciferase activity of wild-type UCA1 was significantly reduced after the transfection of miR-495 mimics. MiR-495 directly targeted the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of NRF2, and the luciferase activity of wild-type NRF2 3′-UTR was evidently inhibited by miR-495 mimics. Finally, UCA1 and NRF2 expressions in the effective group were much lower than that in the ineffective group, along with a much higher level of miR-495 expression. We suggested for the first time that high expression of UCA1 contributed to the development of chemoresistance to cisplatin through the UCA1/miR-495/NRF2 signaling pathway.     

Species-specific abundant retrotransposons elucidate the genomic composition of modern sugarcane cultivars

Chromosoma - Modern sugarcane cultivars are highly polyploid and derived from the hybridization of Saccharum officinarum and S. spontaneum, thus leading to singularly complex genomes. The complex...