Avian biodiversity in the coastal wetlands of the Okahukura Peninsula

The Tapora Landcare Group, operating on the Okahukura Peninsula, has the long-term goal of making this region predator fenced. The aim of this study was to obtain information on the current status of avian biodiversity and the bird community across the band of coastal wetlands on the Okahukura Peninsula. Bird counts were conducted and playback lures used to detect three cryptic wetland species: fernbirds (Bowdleria punctata); spotless crakes (Porzana tabuensis); and banded rails (Gallirallus philippensis). Fernbirds and banded rails were detected at seven of the eight wetland sites sampled whereas spotless crakes were detected at two sites. The native species with the highest relative abundance across the eight sites were silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) and South Island pied oystercatchers (Haematopus finschi). Changes in avian biodiversity over time in the region can now be monitored, and comprehensive long-term data on the status of avian biodiversity over time obtained.     

AUV-based bed roughness mapping over a tropical reef

Identifying fixed bed roughness scales of hydrodynamic relevance to waves and currents is challenging around coral reefs due to their highly inhomogeneous bathymetry. In order to characterize the spatial variability in reef roughness, a quantitative analysis of high-resolution sidescan sonar backscatter is performed for the identification of distinct substrates around a tropical reef and is related to echo sounder-based roughness measurements. Data were collected in the vicinity of the Kilo Nalu Observatory on the south shore of Oahu using sidescan sonar and a narrow beam echo sounder incorporated in a REMUS-100 (Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS) autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). With basic statistics and principal component analysis of variables derived from the backscatter data, it is possible to discriminate between areas of rough reef, bare reef, and rippled sand. Echo sounder-derived spectral analysis did not reveal dominant length scales. However, by combining the seabed classification obtained from sidescan measurements with echo sounder data, spectral root mean square (RMS) height values of approximately 3.3 cm and 7.3 cm are assigned to the bare reef and rough reef areas, respectively, for roughness with wavelengths between 0.2 and 6 m.     

The results of prolonged action of GLP-1 on some metabolic parameters

Glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) is widely considered as a potential drug against diabetes mellitus and obesity. It strongly stimulates the pancreas to produce and release insulin, even a few minutes after meal consumption. Because of this action, GLP-1 has been called an "incretin hormone". Moreover, GLP-1 decreases the level of glucose in the blood, independently of insulin. An obstacle to clinical application is the very short half-time of GLP-1 degradation by dipeptidyl-peptidase IV in the blood. This research was aimed at tracing all possible changes evoked by long-term application of GLP-1 in rats and comparison of two methods of application: osmotic minipumps and daily injections. In the 13-day experiment, samples of blood, muscle and liver from 24 male Wistar rats were used. Analysis included glycogen, glucose, triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, triiodotyronin, thyroxin, insulin and glucagon concentrations. The results show a lack of significant differences between both methods of application. We suggest this may be evoked by adaptation of the organism to the prolonged action of GLP-1.     

The mechanism of insulin resistance in peripheral tissues

Chronic metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, described as the epidemics of XXI century, are connected to the resistance of peripheral tissues, such as liver, muscle and fat, to insulin. Insulin resistance, which precedes the development of type 2 diabetes by several years, is difficult to diagnose, mainly because of practical limitations to the use of "gold standard" hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique for screening. It is also begins a certain vicious circle, in which insulin resistant peripheral tissues force pancreatic beta cells to increased insulin release, and sustained high concentrations of insulin cause further development of insulin resistance. Currently, there are two major hypotheses describing the mechanism of insulin resistance: one relating to the "lipid overload" in liver and muscle cells as the key factor and another one emphasizing the role of lipid accumulation in adipocytes, which leads to the overgrowth of fatty tissue and chronic local inflammation.     

Spectroscopic properties and temperature induced electronic configuration changes of all-<Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis> and 15-<Emphasis Type="Italic">cis</Emphasis> β-carotenes in ionic liquids

The clear vibrational structure of fluorescence spectrum of β-carotene in the solvent is reported for the first time at room temperature. This finding is in good agreement with recently discovered covalent 3 ¹A _g ⁻ new carotenoid state. The fluorescence yield of β-carotene in ionic liquid (1-methyl-3-octyloxymethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) is around hundred times higher than in standard solvent n-hexane. The all-trans and 15-cis β-carotene fluorescence yields in ionic liquid are 1.96±0.03 and 2.53±0.03 %, respectively. The ionic liquid is a very useful tool for modelling photosynthetic system in situ. We present the electronic absorption data of β-carotene in ionic liquids (so called neoteric solvents) with special interest in the absorption changes as a function of temperature in the range 0–90 °C (273–363 K). Ionic liquids are also very good medium for temperature study, because they are not changing up to several hundred °C and also not evaporating during heating. The relationship between spectral characteristics of β-carotene in new generation solvents with increasing and decreasing temperature is evaluated. The energy value of the ionic state 1 ¹B _u ⁺ of synthetic β-carotene in ionic liquids exhibits a linear and temperature reversible dependence on temperature up to 30 °C (303 K) and up to 40 °C (313 K) for 15-cis and all-trans β-carotenes, respectively. This is valid for both 0-0 and 0-1 transitions.     

The incidence of inflammation among patients suffering from cervix cancer with positive beta haemolytic streptococci cultures from genital tract

AimThe main goal of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of positive beta haemolytic streptococci culture from the genital tract on patients receiving radiation therapy who suffer from cervical cancer. The other aim was to observe radiation therapy complications.BackgroundGroup B streptococci (GBS), group C streptococci (GCS) and group G streptococci (GGS) have been described as frequent invasive pathogens in elderly patients, often in association with underlying medical conditions including immunodeficiency and cancer.Materials and methodsIn the years 2006–2015, vaginal swabs from 452 patients were examined. A total of 118 women with positive beta haemolytic streptococci (BHS) groups A, B, C, F, G cultures were analysed, of whom 111 were diagnosed with cervix cancer of IB to IVA degree according to the FIGO 1988 clinical classification.ResultsOf the 452 patients suffering from cervix cancer 26.1% were positive for A, B, C, F or G group BHS isolated from the genital tract. All of the 114 examined strains were sensitive to beta-lactam antibiotics. The antimicrobials for which resistance was noted were erythromycin, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline.ConclusionsPositive cultures of BHS from the genital tract were demonstrated to occur in patients with cervix cancer. Complications were found during radiotherapy in 30 (27%) of these patients, including 20 (18%) patients suffering from clinical symptoms of inflammation. When beta-lactam antibiotics are not recommended because of allergy, sensitivity tests to other drugs are necessary.     

Inverse Association between Obesity Predisposing FTO Genotype and Completed Suicide

The A allele of rs9939609 in the FTO gene predisposes to increased body mass index (BMI) and obesity. Recently we showed an inverse association between the obesity related A allele of rs9939609 and alcohol dependence which was replicated by others. Since this finding raises a possibility that FTO may be associated with other psychiatric phenotypes, we aimed to examine association of rs9939609 with completed suicide. We genotyped rs9939609 in 912 suicide victims and 733 controls using TaqMan approach. We observed an inverse association between suicide and the rs9939609 A allele (OR = 0.80, P = 0.002, P_cor = 0.006) with genotype distribution suggesting a co-dominant effect. Given the link between alcoholism and suicide under influence of alcohol reported in Polish population, confounding by alcohol addiction was unlikely due to apparently similar effect size among cases who were under influence of ethanol at the time of death (OR = 0.76, P = 0.003, N = 361) and those who were not (OR = 0.80, P = 0.007, N = 469). The search for genotype-phenotype correlations did not show significant results. In conclusion, our study proves that there is an inverse association between rs9939609 polymorphism in FTO gene and completed suicide which is independent from association between FTO and alcohol addiction.     

Behavioral and IL-2 responses to diosgenin in ovariectomized rats

Neuroimmune system is involved in communication between the endocrine and nervous systems, which may take part in the effects of dioscorea, reversing changes of anxiety-like behavior and interleukin (IL)-2 levels in the brains of ovariectomized (OVX) rats. This study was aimed at evaluating administration of diosgenin, an ingredient of dioscorea, on neuroimmune and behavioral functions in OVX animals. One month after ovariectomy, female Wistar rats were fed daily with diosgenin (0, 10, 50 or 100 mg/kg/day) and the elevated plus-maze and learned helplessness tests were used to measure anxiety-like and depressive behaviors after 23 and 24 days of diosgenin treatment, respectively. In the learned helplessness test, the rats needed to cross from one compartment of the shuttle box to the opposite compartment to avoid or escape the shock. If the rat failed to escape the shock in 10 sec, a "failure" was recorded. Two days after the behavioral tests, the brain was removed to measure levels of IL-2 which was used as an indicator of neuroimmune function. Anxiety-like behavior in the OVX rats was not affected by diosgenin treatment. However, avoidance behavior in the learned helplessness test in the OVX rats with high anxiety (HA) levels was improved by treatment with diosgenin at the dosage of 10mg/kg/day. Interestingly, the number of failures in the same test was increased when the dosage of diosgenin was increased to 50 mg/kg/day, and this was accompanied by an increase in IL-2 levels in the pituitary gland. In addition, treatment with 100 mg/kg/day of diosgenin resulted in decreased IL-2 levels in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex of the OVX rats with low anxiety levels, and in increased IL-2 levels in the amygdala of OVX HA rats. These results show that chronic diosgenin treatment influences IL-2 levels in the brain of OVX rats and affects depressive behavior in OVX HA rats, but not OVX low anxiety rats.     

Tocochromanols, plastoquinol, and other biological prenyllipids as singlet oxygen quenchers-determination of singlet oxygen quenching rate constants and oxidation products

Singlet oxygen quenching rate constants for tocopherol and tocotrienol homologues have been determined in organic solvents of different polarities, as well as for other biological prenyllipids such as plastoquinol, ubiquinol, and alpha-tocopherolquinol. The obtained results showed that the quenching activity of tocochromanols was mainly due to the chromanol ring of the molecule and the activity increased with the number of the methyl groups in the ring and solvent polarity. Among prenylquinols, alpha-tocopherolquinol was the most active scavenger of singlet oxygen followed by ubiquinol and plastoquinol. The oxidation products of tocopherols were identified as 8a-hydroperoxy-tocopherones which are converted to the corresponding tocopherolquinones under acidic conditions. The primary oxidation products of prenylquinols, containing unsaturated side chains, were the corresponding prenylquinones that were further oxidized to hydroxyl side-chain derivatives. In the case of plastochromanol, the gamma-tocotrienol homologue found in some seed oils, mainly the hydroxyl derivatives were formed, although 8a-hydroperoxy-gamma-tocopherones were also formed to a minor extent, both from plastochromanol and from its hydroxyl, side-chain derivatives. The obtained results were discussed in terms of the activity of different prenyllipids as singlet oxygen scavengers in vivo.