Estimating Youth Locomotion Ground Reaction Forces Using an Accelerometer-Based Activity Monitor

To address a variety of questions pertaining to the interactions between physical activity, musculoskeletal loading and musculoskeletal health/injury/adaptation, simple methods are needed to quantify, outside a laboratory setting, the forces acting on the human body during daily activities. The purpose of this study was to develop a statistically based model to estimate peak vertical ground reaction force (pVGRF) during youth gait. 20 girls (10.9±0.9 years) and 15 boys (12.5±0.6 years) wore a Biotrainer AM over their right hip. Six walking and six running trials were completed after a standard warm-up. Average AM intensity (g) and pVGRF (N) during stance were determined. Repeated measures mixed effects regression models to estimate pVGRF from Biotrainer activity monitor acceleration in youth (girls 10–12, boys 12–14 years) while walking and running were developed. Log transformed pVGRF had a statistically significant relationship with activity monitor acceleration, centered mass, sex (girl), type of locomotion (run), and locomotion type-acceleration interaction controlling for subject as a random effect. A generalized regression model without subject specific random effects was also developed. The average absolute differences between the actual and predicted pVGRF were 5.2% (1.6% standard deviation) and 9% (4.2% standard deviation) using the mixed and generalized models, respectively. The results of this study support the use of estimating pVGRF from hip acceleration using a mixed model regression equation.     

Possible consequences of an inability of plants to control manganese uptake

Plant and Soil - This commentary presents several thoughts elicited by the observation of Lambers et al. (Plant Soil, 2021) in this Special Issue that the release of carboxylates by roots increases...     

Species delineation using Bayesian model-based assignment tests: a case study using Chinese toad-headed agamas (genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phrynocephalus</Emphasis>)

Background  

Species are fundamental units in biology, yet much debate exists surrounding how we should delineate species in nature. Species discovery now requires the use of separate, corroborating datasets to quantify independently evolving lineages and test species criteria. However, the complexity of the speciation process has ushered in a need to infuse studies with new tools capable of aiding in species delineation. We suggest that model-based assignment tests are one such tool. This method circumvents constraints with traditional population genetic analyses and provides a novel means of describing cryptic and complex diversity in natural systems. Using toad-headed agamas of the Phrynocephalus vlangalii complex as a case study, we apply model-based assignment tests to microsatellite DNA data to test whether P. putjatia, a controversial species that closely resembles P. vlangalii morphologically, represents a valid species. Mitochondrial DNA and geographic data are also included to corroborate the assignment test results.     

Parent-of-origin effects cause genetic variation in pig performance traits

In order to assess the relative importance of genomic imprinting for the genetic variation of traits economically relevant for pork production, a data set containing 21 209 records from Large White pigs was analysed. A total of 33 traits for growth, carcass composition and meat quality were investigated. All traits were recorded between 1997 and 2006 at a test station in Switzerland and the pedigree included 15 747 ancestors. A model with two genetic effects for each animal was applied: the first corresponds to a paternal and the second to a maternal expression pattern of imprinted genes. The imprinting variance was estimated as the sum of both corresponding genetic variances per animal minus twice the covariance. The null hypothesis of no imprinting was tested by a restricted maximum likelihood ratio test with two degrees of freedom. Genomic imprinting significantly contributed to the genetic variance of 19 traits. The proportion of the total additive genetic variance that could be attributed to genomic imprinting was of the order between 5% and 19%.     

Enhancement of U4/U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle association in Cajal bodies predicted by mathematical modeling

Spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) undergo specific assembly steps in Cajal bodies (CBs), nonmembrane-bound compartments within cell nuclei. An example is the U4/U6 di-snRNP, assembled from U4 and U6 monomers. These snRNPs can also assemble in the nucleoplasm when cells lack CBs. Here, we address the hypothesis that snRNP concentration in CBs facilitates assembly, by comparing the predicted rates of U4 and U6 snRNP association in nuclei with and without CBs. This was accomplished by a random walk-and-capture simulation applied to a three-dimensional model of the HeLa cell nucleus, derived from measurements of living cells. Results of the simulations indicated that snRNP capture is optimal when nuclei contain three to four CBs. Interestingly, this is the observed number of CBs in most cells. Microinjection experiments showed that U4 snRNA targeting to CBs was U6 snRNP independent and that snRNA concentration in CBs is approximately 20-fold higher than in nucleoplasm. Finally, combination of the simulation with calculated association rates predicted that the presence of CBs enhances U4 and U6 snRNP association by up to 11-fold, largely owing to this concentration difference. This provides a chemical foundation for the proposal that these and other cellular compartments promote molecular interactions, by increasing the local concentration of individual components.     

Characterization of bacterial growth and the influence of antibiotics by means of UV resonance Raman spectroscopy

In this work we monitor the bacterial growth of a Bacillus pumilus batch culture by means of UV resonance Raman spectroscopy. Excitation with a wavelength of 244 nm especially enhances the Raman scattering of the aromatic amino acids and the nucleic acid bases and therefore is a good method to track the metabolic changes that occur during bacterial growth. Furthermore, a drug from the fluoroquinolone group is added to the bacterial suspension at the beginning of the exponential growth phase. With the help of chemometrical methods such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) it is possible to visualize the small changes that occur in the UV resonance Raman spectra due to the interaction of the drug with its biological targets DNA and the enzyme gyrase within the bacterial cell.     

Homer1a signaling in the amygdala counteracts pain-related synaptic plasticity, mGluR1 function and pain behaviors

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) play an important role in the control of membrane excitability. We previously reported that the excitability of nociceptor was increased by hypotonic stimulation. The present study tested the effect of hypotonicity on tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium current (TTX-S current) in cultured trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons. Our data show that after hypotonic treatment, TTX-S current was increased. In the presence of hypotonicity, voltage-dependent activation curve shifted to the hyperpolarizing direction, while the voltage-dependent inactivation curve was not affected. Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 receptor (TRPV4) activator increased TTX-S current and hypotonicity-induced increase was markedly attenuated by TRPV4 receptor blockers. We also demonstrate that inhibition of PKC attenuated hypotonicity-induced inhibition, whereas PKA system was not involved in hypotonic-response. We conclude that hypotonic stimulation enhances TTX-S current, which contributes to hypotonicity-induced nociception. TRPV4 receptor and PKC intracellular pathway are involved in the increase of TTX-S current by hypotonicity.     

Charge isomers of myelin basic protein: structure and interactions with membranes, nucleotide analogues, and calmodulin

As an essential structural protein required for tight compaction of the central nervous system myelin sheath, myelin basic protein (MBP) is one of the candidate autoantigens of the human inflammatory demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis, which is characterized by the active degradation of the myelin sheath. In this work, recombinant murine analogues of the natural C1 and C8 charge components (rmC1 and rmC8), two isoforms of the classic 18.5-kDa MBP, were used as model proteins to get insights into the structure and function of the charge isomers. Various biochemical and biophysical methods such as size exclusion chromatography, calorimetry, surface plasmon resonance, small angle X-ray and neutron scattering, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, and conventional as well as synchrotron radiation circular dichroism were used to investigate differences between these two isoforms, both from the structural point of view, and regarding interactions with ligands, including calmodulin (CaM), various detergents, nucleotide analogues, and lipids. Overall, our results provide further proof that rmC8 is deficient both in structure and especially in function, when compared to rmC1. While the CaM binding properties of the two forms are very similar, their interactions with membrane mimics are different. CaM can be used to remove MBP from immobilized lipid monolayers made of synthetic lipids--a phenomenon, which may be of relevance for MBP function and its regulation. Furthermore, using fluorescently labelled nucleotides, we observed binding of ATP and GTP, but not AMP, by MBP; the binding of nucleoside triphosphates was inhibited by the presence of CaM. Together, our results provide important further data on the interactions between MBP and its ligands, and on the differences in the structure and function between MBP charge isomers.