Branch-fidelity in the tree crab Sesarma leptosoma (Decapoda, Grapsidae)

Sesarma lepzosoma is the only species of crab inhabiting the mangrove swamps of East Africa which can climb to the top of tall mature trees, where it feeds on fresh leaves. Twice daily, in the morning and evening, this crab performs mass migrations towards the canopy and spends about three hours on the tree-tops. At dusk it descends to spend the night among the aerial roots of the tree. Two observation stations were built on a Rhizophora mucronata tree, up to 13 metres above ground level, to observe and record the feeding and spatial aspects of the behaviour of this species during its time in the canopy. Observations on the daily migrations of marked specimens showed that the crabs are faithful to a well-defined feeding site; moreover, the migration paths of the marked specimens were exceptionally constant over the whole of the two-month study period. S. leptosoma was observed to feed on mature fresh leaves by scraping the lower surface of the leaf with its chelae. It was also found to spend most of its time on leaf-buds in a particular stage of development. Water which accumulates among the scales covering these buds represents an important water supply for these crabs, which they prestmably use to reduce physiological stress due to water loss. Feeding-site fidelity in S. leptosoma seems to be related more to the chance of finding suitable leaf-buds, which are relatively rare and patchily distributed, than finding leaves, which are abundant and uniformly distributed all over the canopy.     

Pitavastatin in cardiometabolic disease: therapeutic profile

Statins effectively lower low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and reduce cardiovascular risk in people with dyslipidemia and cardiometabolic diseases such as Metabolic syndrome (MetS) or type 2 diabetes (T2D). In addition to elevated levels of LDL-C, people with these conditions often have other lipid-related risk factors, such as high levels of triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and a preponderance of highly atherogenic, small, dense low-density lipoprotein particles. The optimal management of dyslipidemia in people with MetS or T2D should therefore address each of these risk factors in addition to LDL-C. Although statins typically have similar effects on LDL-C levels, differences in chemical structure and pharmacokinetic profile can lead to variations in pleiotropic effects, adverse event profiles and drug-drug interactions. The choice of statin should therefore depend on the characteristics and needs of the individual patient. Compared with other statins, pitavastatin has distinct pharmacological features that translate into a broad range of actions on both apolipoprotein-B-containing and apolipoprotein-A-containing lipoproteins. Studies show that pitavastatin 1 to 4 mg is well tolerated and significantly improves LDL-C and triglyceride levels to a similar or greater degree than comparable doses of atorvastatin, simvastatin or pravastatin, irrespective of diabetic status. Moreover, whereas most statins show inconsistent effects on HDL-C levels, pitavastatin-treated patients routinely experience clinically significant elevations in HDL-C that are maintained and even increased over the long term. In addition to increasing high-density lipoprotein quantity, pitavastatin appears to improve high-density lipoprotein function and to slow the progression of atherosclerotic plaques by modifying high-density lipoprotein-related inflammation and oxidation, both of which are common in patients with MetS and T2D. When choosing a statin, it is important to note that patients with MetS have an increased risk of developing T2D and that some statins can exacerbate this risk via adverse effects on glucose regulation. Unlike many statins, pitavastatin appears to have a neutral and even beneficial effect on glucose regulation, making it a useful treatment option in this high-risk group of patients. Together with pitavastatin’s beneficial effects on the cardiometabolic lipid profile and its low potential for drug-drug interactions, this suggests that pitavastatin might be a useful lipid-lowering option for people with cardiometabolic disease.     

Wastewater: A Potential Bioenergy Resource

Wastewaters are a rich source of nutrients for microorganisms. However, if left unattended the biodegradation may lead to severe environmental hazards. The wastewaters can thus be utilized for the production of various value added products including bioenergy (H₂ and CH₄). A number of studies have reported utilization of various wastewaters for energy production. Depending on the nature of the wastewater, different reactor configurations, wastewater and inoculum pretreatments, co-substrate utilizations along with other process parameters have been studied for efficient product formation. Only a few studies have reported sequential utilization of wastewaters for H₂ and CH₄ production despite its huge potential for complete waste degradation.     

Glycans from Fasciola hepatica Modulate the Host Immune Response and TLR-Induced Maturation of Dendritic Cells

Helminths express various carbohydrate-containing glycoconjugates on their surface, and they release glycan-rich excretion/secretion products that can be very important in their life cycles, infection and pathology. Recent evidence suggests that parasite glycoconjugates could play a role in the evasion of the immune response, leading to a modified Th2-polarized immune response that favors parasite survival in the host. Nevertheless, there is limited information about the nature or function of glycans produced by the trematode Fasciola hepatica, the causative agent of fasciolosis. In this paper, we investigate whether glycosylated molecules from F. hepatica participate in the modulation of host immunity. We also focus on dendritic cells, since they are an important target of immune-modulation by helminths, affecting their activity or function. Our results indicate that glycans from F. hepatica promote the production of IL-4 and IL-10, suppressing IFNγ production. During infection, this parasite is able to induce a semi-mature phenotype of DCs expressing low levels of MHCII and secrete IL-10. Furthermore, we show that parasite glycoconjugates mediate the modulation of LPS-induced maturation of DCs since their oxidation restores the capacity of LPS-treated DCs to secrete high levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-12/23p40 and low levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Inhibition assays using carbohydrates suggest that the immune-modulation is mediated, at least in part, by the recognition of a mannose specific-CLR that signals by recruiting the phosphatase Php2. The results presented here contribute to the understanding of the role of parasite glycosylated molecules in the modulation of the host immunity and might be useful in the design of vaccines against fasciolosis.     

Ethylene and IAA interactions in the inhibition of photoperiodic flower induction of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pharbitis nil</Emphasis>

It has been shown that both IAA and ethylene application inhibit flower induction in the short-day plant Pharbitis nil. However application of IAA has elevated ethylene production in this plant, as well. Strong enhancement of ethylene production is also correlated with the night-break effect, which completely inhibits flowering. In order to determine what the role of IAA and ethylene is in the photoperiodic flower induction in Pharbitis nil, we measured changes in their levels during inductive and non-inductive photoperiods, and the effects of ethylene biosynthesis and action inhibitors on inhibition of flowering by IAA. Our results have shown that the inhibitory effect of IAA on Pharbitis nil flowering is not physiological but is connected with its effect on ethylene biosynthesis.     

INFOS: spectrum fitting software for NMR analysis

Software for fitting of NMR spectra in MATLAB is presented. Spectra are fitted in the frequency domain, using Fourier transformed lineshapes, which are derived using the experimental acquisition and processing parameters. This yields more accurate fits compared to common fitting methods that use Lorentzian or Gaussian functions. Furthermore, a very time-efficient algorithm for calculating and fitting spectra has been developed. The software also performs initial peak picking, followed by subsequent fitting and refinement of the peak list, by iteratively adding and removing peaks to improve the overall fit. Estimation of error on fitting parameters is performed using a Monte-Carlo approach. Many fitting options allow the software to be flexible enough for a wide array of applications, while still being straightforward to set up with minimal user input.     

Influence of the solvent on the conformational-dependent properties of random-coil polypeptides. I. The mean-square of the end-to-end distance and of the dipole moment

Conformational energies for the N-acetyl-N'-methylamides of the 20 natural amino acids were calculated, including the solvent effects, as functions of the angles phi and psi for rotation of the main chain and for six positions chi 1 of the C alpha-C beta bond in the side chain (fixed values for chi 2, chi 3, ...). The computed energies were used to evaluate the mean-square end-to-end distance and mean-square dipole moment of homopolypeptides of the 20 natural amino acids. Ten proteins and three enzymes of current interest were also studied. Slight differences in both properties are found on taking the effects of solvent into consideration. Comparison with other computational and experimental results is made.