Biomechanical background for a noninvasive assessment of bone strength and muscle-bone interactions

New concepts and methods of study in bone biomechanics defy the prevailing idea that bone strength is determined by a systemically-controlled "mineralized mass" which grows until reaching a peak and then is lost at individually-specific rates. In case of bones, "mass" represents actually the substratum of a structure, the stiffness of which does not depend on the mass, but on the intrinsic stiffness and the spatial distribution of the mineralized material. A feed-back system called "bone mechanostat" seems to orient the osteoblastic and osteoclastic processes of bone, modeling and remodeling, according to the sensing by osteocytes of strains caused in the structure by mechanical usage of the skeleton, in specific directions as determined principally by the customary contractions of regional muscles and impact forces. The endocrine-metabolic systems, crucial for the normal skeletal development, modulate the work of osteocytes, blasts and clasts in a systemic way (i.e., not related to a specific direction of the stimuli). Therefore, they tend actually to interact with, rather than contribute to, the biomechanical control of bone structure. Furthermore, no feed-back loop enabling a cybernetic relationship of those systems with bone is known. Instead of passively letting hormones regulate their "mass" in order to optimize their strength, bones would actively self-regulate their architecture following an anisotropic pattern in order to optimize their stiffness (the only known variable to be ever controlled in the skeleton) and strength "despite of" the endocrine systems. Three practical questions derive from those ideas: 1. Osteoporoses are not "intense osteopenias" but "osteopenic fragilities". 2. The diagnosis of osteopenia could be solved densitometrically; but that of bone fragility is a biomechanical problem which requires auxiliary resources for evaluating the stiffness and the spatial distribution of the mineralized material. 3. Osteopenias and osteoporoses should be on time evaluated as related to the mass or strength of the regional muscles, respectively, in order to differentiate between the "primary" (intrinsic lesion of the mechanostat) or "secondary" (systemic) etiologies and the biomechanical origin (disuse) in each case, with important therapeutic implications.     

Muscular Activity and Fatigue in Lower-Limb and Trunk Muscles during Different Sit-To-Stand Tests

Sit-to-stand (STS) tests measure the ability to get up from a chair, reproducing an important component of daily living activity. As this functional task is essential for human independence, STS performance has been studied in the past decades using several methods, including electromyography. The aim of this study was to measure muscular activity and fatigue during different repetitions and speeds of STS tasks using surface electromyography in lower-limb and trunk muscles. This cross-sectional study recruited 30 healthy young adults. Average muscle activation, percentage of maximum voluntary contraction, muscle involvement in motion and fatigue were measured using surface electrodes placed on the medial gastrocnemius (MG), biceps femoris (BF), vastus medialis of the quadriceps (QM), the abdominal rectus (AR), erector spinae (ES), rectus femoris (RF), soleus (SO) and the tibialis anterior (TA). Five-repetition STS, 10-repetition STS and 30-second STS variants were performed. MG, BF, QM, ES and RF muscles showed differences in muscle activation, while QM, AR and ES muscles showed significant differences in MVC percentage. Also, significant differences in fatigue were found in QM muscle between different STS tests. There was no statistically significant fatigue in the BF, MG and SO muscles of the leg although there appeared to be a trend of increasing fatigue. These results could be useful in describing the functional movements of the STS test used in rehabilitation programs, notwithstanding that they were measured in healthy young subjects.     

Sources of Variation in a Two-Step Monitoring Protocol for Species Clustered in Conspicuous Points: Dolichotis patagonum as a Case Study

In species showing distributions attached to particular features of the landscape or conspicuous signs, counts are commonly made by making focal observations where animals concentrate. However, to obtain density estimates for a given area, independent searching for signs and occupancy rates of suitable sites is needed. In both cases, it is important to estimate detection probability and other possible sources of variation to avoid confounding effects on measurements of abundance variation. Our objective was to assess possible bias and sources of variation in a two-step protocol in which random designs were applied to search for signs while continuously recording video cameras were used to perform abundance counts where animals are concentrated, using mara (Dolichotis patagonum) as a case study. The protocol was successfully applied to maras within the Península Valdés protected area, given that the protocol was logistically suitable, allowed warrens to be found, the associated adults to be counted, and the detection probability to be estimated. Variability was documented in both components of the two-step protocol. These sources of variation should be taken into account when applying this protocol. Warren detectability was approximately 80% with little variation. Factors related to false positive detection were more important than imperfect detection. The detectability for individuals was approximately 90% using the entire day of observations. The shortest sampling period with a similar detection capacity than a day was approximately 10 hours, and during this period, the visiting dynamic did not show trends. For individual mara, the detection capacity of the camera was not significantly different from the observer during fieldwork. The presence of the camera did not affect the visiting behavior of adults to the warren. Application of this protocol will allow monitoring of the near-threatened mara providing a minimum local population size and a baseline for measuring long-term trends.     

Frigoriflavimonas asaccharolytica gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel psychrophilic esterase and protease producing bacterium isolated from Antarctica

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - The rod-shaped and Gram-stain-negative bacterial strain 16FT, isolated from an air sample collected at King George Island, maritime Antarctica, was investigated to...     

Analysis of genetic variability in Aristaeomorpha foliacea (crustacea, aristeidae) using DNA-ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) markers

This work reports the first genetic data of Aristaeomorpha foliacea, a marine decapod of high commercial value, from six Mediterranean localities and one new fishing ground in the Mozambique Channel. The use of five Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) primers provided 150 polymorphic loci. Average estimates of genetic diversity did not significantly differ among sampled localities, with a mean value of heterozygosity H = 0.105 ± 0.015. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) allocated > 98% of genetic variability to the within-sample component, displaying values higher than those previously reported in ISSR studies on marine invertebrates. Cluster analyses did not detect geographically or genetically distinct groups. The observed lack of large-scale genetic differentiation is discussed in relation to the high potential for larval dispersal of the species and to features of the marker employed.     

Phylogenetic inference in Odontesthes and Atherina (Teleostei: Atheriniformes) with insights into ecological adaptation

This contribution provides an insight into Atheriniformes systematics based on four mitochondrial regions: 12S rRNA, cytb, COI and control region (2794bp in total). In the Atherinopsoidei (New World silversides), comparisons among five species of Odontesthes, O. argentinensis, O. bonariensis, O. smitti, O. hatcheri and O. incisa revealed a putative marine-freshwater pairing pattern of Odontesthes species, possibly driven by sea level fluctuations of South American waters. This study represents the first data on molecular phylogeny of Odontesthes species that can be of usefulness to biodiversity conservation policies. In the Atherinoidei (Old World silversides), Atherina boyeri was corroborated as a species complex constituted by a marine form, a marine with dark spots form and a brackish form. Concretely, Odontesthes and Atherina may represent geographically replicated models to study genetic adaptation and speciation of marine species to brackish and freshwater habitats. In addition, phylogenetic analyses supported Odontesthes and Atherina as monophyletic taxa and their separation into two differentiated suborders Atherinopsoidei and Atherinoidei, respectively.     

Evaluation of cold stress of young industrial chicory (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cichorium intybus</Emphasis> L.) by chlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> fluorescence imaging. II. Dark relaxation kinetics

Industrial chicory, Cichorium intybus L., has rather poor early vigour under the typical early spring morning conditions of low temperatures and high light intensity. Screening tools are being developed to assess the cold tolerance/sensitivity of young industrial chicory plants under these conditions. Refinement of such tools requires better understanding of the plants’ physiological responses. In this paper we discuss the effects of growth temperature (GT), measurement temperature (MT), and measuring light intensity (ML) on the relaxation of the Kautsky curve. We chose the chicory variety ‘Hera’, as it is known to possess a good average early vigour. Young plants of the variety ‘Hera’ were grown at three temperatures (GT): 16°C (reference), 8°C (intermediate), and 4°C (cold stress). The dark relaxation kinetics were analyzed at different light intensities (ML) in combination with different measurement temperatures (MT). The three components of the nonphotochemical quenching process (NPQ_E, NPQ_T, and NPQ_I) were determined. NPQ_E was not affected by GT but was significantly affected by MT and ML. NPQ_T and NPQ_I were affected by all factors and their interactions. An acclimation effect for plants grown at low GT was detected. Acclimation resulted in lower NPQ_T and NPQ_I values. The halftime of the inhibition depending on NPQ (NPQ_I) was not affected by any of the factors investigated. Based on the data generated, we conclude that NPQ_I is a valuable parameter for screening the cold sensitivity of young industrial chicory plants.     

New betulinic acid derivatives induce potent and selective antiproliferative activity through cell cycle arrest at the S phase and caspase dependent apoptosis in human cancer cells

New semisynthetic derivatives of betulinic acid (BA) RS01, RS02 and RS03 with 18-45 times improved cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells, were tested for their ability to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HepG2, HeLa and Jurkat cells. All the compounds induced significant increase in the population at the S phase more effectively than BA. RS01, RS02 and RS03 were also found to be potent inducers of apoptosis with RS01 being markedly more potent than BA, suggesting that the introduction of the imidazolyl moiety is crucial for enhancing the induction of apoptosis and the cell cycle arrest. The mechanism of apoptosis induction has been studied in HepG2 cells and found to be mediated by activation of the postmitochondrial caspases-9 and -3 cascade and possibly by mitochondrial amplification loop involving caspase-8. These facts were corroborated by detection of mitochondrial cytochrome c release and DNA fragmentation. Because RS01, RS02 and RS03 exhibited significant improved antitumor activity with respect to BA, they may be promising new agents for the treatment of cancer. In particular, RS01 is the most promising compound with an IC₅₀ value 45 times lower than BA on HepG2 cells and 61 times lower than the one found for the non-tumoral Chang liver cells.